Well, today was kinda awesome. I recently joined a Homesteaders group via Meetup and got the opportunity to be part of the Garden Crawl this morning, showing my yards gardens to a fellow group of urban homesteaders, and then getting to in turn check out their gardens as well! It was not only a great learning opportunity, but also really fun to meet new creative, smart, unique people who live right here in the same area of town.
And when you find yourself dealing with a slight case of impostor syndrome after seeing so many gorgeous gardens? You breathe deeply and rename it…inspiration! So much so that you find yourself immediately adding to your already overflowing to-do list of garden chores, racing home to do something, ANYTHING to hang on to that momentum. Wheeeee!
So, here’s some shots from the day that sent me into inspire mode…like the late, great Dulcy Mahar, these folks all had their own unique garden personalities and equally interesting stories…
we started here, at mi casa…
definitely a gorgeous morning!
very proud to show ‘em one of the few peaches growing on my dwarf peach tree, after the leaf curl took out much of it due to a very rainy early spring
cruising a mile or so away, i was suddenly in the world of a real pro…such an awesome use of space on a lot about the same size as mine!
don’t you just love these bird feeders? everything flowed so nicely here…
simple yet beautiful…don’t you love this, just waiting for the climbers?!
you never know driving by what kind of sanctuaries people create in their back yard. at this house, the garden and flowers combined really nicely, and i was diggin’ this little moment especially…
is it me or is it just not even real how chard can get so neon? too cool.
i’m a big fan of before & after shots….here, the next gardener shows us what the yard looked like initially…
and AFTER…oh me oh my how lovely is the after? and who knew the lot was this big from the front? a ton of inspiration here, for sure.
and this photo does her chicken-land no justice. it was totally cool. and the girls were more than happy to snack on the dandelions i fed them 
oh, and oh my…i think those were my words when we hit the next house in the laurelhurst neighborhood. how cool is this fence, first of all.
and this is the real deal of curbside composting – what a great idea to create this so all the neighbors can share!
yes, this is a mosaic-tiled toilet serving as a planter. the first time i’ve seen a toilet in a yard that doesn’t appear like, well, a toilet in a yard.
inside the yard, i was googly eyed. especially digging the two hammocks side by side in the garden.
and this reclaimed piece of metal found on craigslist, used now as a gorgeous arbor for grapes…underneath is a porch swing…sigh…
diggin’ the unique touches along the top of the fence
and the upside down wine bottles capturing the most perfect fern without intention…love this!
oh yes, and along the way, miss ellie
there were more gardens and i lost focus on taking more pictures, but the group was cool and i can’t wait to hang with them again!
So glad you’ve connected with some like-minded folks. And so good to see backyards put to good and creative use.
OMG, I love this idea! Garden crawls! So cool! Those gardens are making me so so jealous! I cannot wait for the day I own my own yard and can do whatever I want to it!!! (Your house looks AMAZING, BTW!)
Be still my heart! I love gardens.
Wow those are some fun gardens – how neat to see what other people do. I’ve never seen a mosaic toilet before! Thanks for sharing the photos. Stopping by from Meet and Greet on Reduce Footprints.
Thanks so much for stopping by!!!
the coolest toilet i have ever seen.
Oh nice and what fun! When I was a kid, my great-uncle had a beautiful vegetable garden. Whenever we’d visit, he tell us about what he was growing and how he did it. I realize now, as an adult, that it was a wonderful way to pass information along … we took what he told us and tried gardens of our own. That somehow seems lost today. Maybe the answer is a garden crawl with everyone showing off their efforts and sharing. Very cool!
Thanks! Here in Portland we have a “tour of green homes” every September where people open up their homes to show off what green things they’ve done (an eco version of what most cities have in the ‘Street of Dreams’ – just not so shiny), which I love! So this is the same concept, except at a more informal, community level. Also big plug for Meetup.com as there are so many awesome groups I’ve seen created from this medium, from hiking to cooking to green to spoken word to…whatever!!