I miss so many aspects of the garden, and one of the reasons over the past few years our family has planted our own. Digging in the dirt, seeing the origin of the plant pop up through the soil, nurturing nature, and ultimately harvesting the produce with my family… it is all so rewarding and fulfilling.

Now living in Southern California, it seems there is a renewed energy (pun intended) to plant a garden. Maybe it’s the ‘in’ or ‘hip’ thing to do. Maybe it’s the economy. I’m not sure, but I am happy it is making its way into urban environments. Last year, we had more lettuce than we knew what to do with, this year a surprisingly large pumpkin plant has taken over a good area of the garden.

Around the time of last years harvest I installed solar panels on my roof as part of a community solar program I helped organize. In fact, we are about to launch another one in the coming months for the Los Angeles area you can check out more info here.

Today, I took a few minutes to hop on the roof and (Ed Begley Jr style) wash off my panels. No, I’m not a crazy ‘greeny’. I just embraced a few ideas, welcomed back some old habits and ushered in some new habits that make sense to me.

John