Balance Is Not a Fish You Can Catch

Balance is something we hear much about, particularly this time of year. Take a quick look at themes around the blogosphere and you'll find 'balance' often as either the main subject of a New Year's Resolution article or as an idea sprinkled throughout one. While there is certainly much ado about it, balance is a concept that is difficult to find, if not impossible to acquire.

Balance is particularly elusive in our culture. We place a high value on activity, have positive associations about it and make personal judgments from it. We make 'activity' an extreme -- the arch nemesis of balance.

Green + Innovation = Awesome

Growing up in Somerset County, I fondly remember the excitement of fair season in late August. The rides, the animals, the exhibits, the greasy food and cotton candy; it was one of the trademarks of the beginning of autumn. Those fairs, of course, were the products of an agricultural economy. Yesterday (08/14) at Hartwood Acres, Allgheny County debuted a new fair -- the product of a new economy, a green economy -- dubbed the Green + Innovation Festival.

Trying to Be Sustainable & Junk

It's been one of many plans in the works for two years now... this weekend, I finally got my first window-box garden started.

From a cute road side farmer's market stand, I snagged two great looking 1' tall tomatoes plants (Early Girl and Cherry) + a few nice flowering plants (Salvia, Geranium and a third that looks great but whose name escapes me). Target just so happened to be having a sale on planter pots and later that day I also stopped by a local nursery to add green and red leaf lettuce, sweet peas, green beans, chili peppers, green onions and garlic to the garden.

My mother has always had beautiful vegatable gardens and flower box planters adorning the yard and porches for as long as I can remember. Though, she claims that she's never been completely satisfied with her results. For me, the ideal situation is to be able to sprout the plants from seeds in the late winter, and to have an actual small plot of land to plant them in. But, we'll see how this first attempt goes before I invest any more time in the prep work and before investing a lot of $$ in any real estate.

Here's to hoping that in two months time, I'll be reporting on an abundent harvest of fresh vegies instead of mourning a vegie cemetery. TBC...