Rip up your Lawn - save water, work, use your yard as a grocery store!

As you may have read in previous blogs, I am a great proponent of ripping up your lawn. Why? Well, lawns use an amazingly large amount of water to upkeep, gas mowers contribute to air pollution, and lawns are not native to this area of the country. This is a great time of the year to consider this, as you can coordinate it with your regular spring planting.

Native plants are always a better choice for Mother Earth. Tree of Life Nursery http://www.californianativeplants.com/ has great classes with instructions on how to du this and alternatives once the lawn is removed. There are many beautiful landscape options available. Xeriscape landscaping creates a garden that will withstand drought conditions.

Or, why not grow a vegetable garden? A vegetable garden is not only an attractive alternative to a lawn, but with proper planning it uses significantly less water (30 percent to 60 percent less, depending on which study you read). Growing vegetables as a lawn substitute can be a rewarding experience while creating a very interesting landscape. Urban Plantations will help you with any aspect of this process. http://www.urbanplantations.com/.

A great Green concept for people who want new homes, and don't want to recycle a pre-built home!

Remember, every time you buy, sell or lease any pre-owned home you are recycling©." ~ Darlene H. Grimes, Certified EcoBroker©

This is on the home page of our website http://www.ocgreenrealty.com/ where I like to encourage people to purchase already built homes, and keep as much open space and urban sprawl to a minimum. My partner, Mary Jane Humphreys and our team help you to find a great pre-owned home, then help you with the resources to green it up so you can live healthier, save money, and help save the planet (that's green real estate in a nutshell.)

However, a colleague of mine, Michael Vairin - President & Founder of Builder's Development Group has a great program for those who want a great deal on a lot that will not contribute to urban sprawl. You can read about it on his blog entry from Jan 26th http://blog.buildersdevelopmentgrp.com/

They find smaller lot deals that have been overlooked. Some are infill type new home projects and some are lots in newer projects that did not get finished but since there are usually a small number of lots, it does not make sense for the public home builders in California, so individual buyers can get them and usually at a great price!

Vermiculture? creepy crawlies just in time for Halloween!

I got this e-mail from The Road Less Traveled, one of my favorite stores :

What: Composting Lecture

When: October 25, 2009 3:00 PM

Price: $15.00 per person

Where:The Road Less Traveled

2204 N Main St Santa Ana, CA 92706

714 836-8727

Learn the how, what and where of vermiculture, composting with earthworms, our hungry and efficient friends! Everything you need know plus product to buy to be successful at home! handouts and snacks are included.$15, $10 w/friend

OK, in all my studies for several years now, and in the 70's as a hippie, I have never heard the word "vermiculture". And my friend, Abbot John Drais of Madre Grande Monastery was a Worm Wrangler - he taught me all about worms and castings and how valuable they are, as he spent hours digging up the earth and making the soil a perfect environment for earthworms to sell their poop for organic fertilizer. Apparently it's the shizzle.

Why is it important to green real estate? First, let's properly define it.

According to http://www.vermiculture.com/, it is "The raising and production of earthworms and worm castings"

Well, wikipedia doesn't list it, but they do list Vermicompost: "composting utilizing various species of worms, specifically red wigglers, white worms, and earthworms creating the heterogeneous mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and pure vermicast produced during the course of normal vermiculture operations. Vermicast, similarly known as worm castings, worm humus or worm manure, is the end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by the species of earthworm." That's clear as mud!

So, why is it important to green real estate?

Worm castings used as fertilizer can help your organic garden thrive and not only make your yard a living yard ("greener" than a grass yard - see my blog: Rip up your lawn!"), it can be a profitable yard reaping expensive organic produce and herbs for your family to enjoy. Your family might end up just a little healthier eating fresh and often raw food as you save money on your grocery bill and possibly your doctor bills. A beautiful thriving garden certainly enhances the curb appeal of a home, and last but not least, think of how happy the planet will be when you are not putting toxic fertilizers into it or the storm drains to the ocean.

I suggest if you are interested at all in vermiculture, you do attend the workshop. and you won't be all "muddy" about vermiculture anymore.

Can your yard be a wildlife habitat?

Yes! San Clemente Resident Lori Morgan, did this, and got her yard certified through the National Wildlife Federation. The plants in her yard are specifically planted to attract certain wildlife like butterflies, blue jays, and other birds who next or find shelter in her beautiful yard. She even harvests the seeds of the plants to replant instead of purchasing new seeds. Next, she is shooting for the Certified Monarch Weighstation Habitat.

My daughter is reading a lot of Bride and Bloom magazine, preparing for her wedding next year, but did you know there is also a Bird and Bloom magazine specifically for planting a garden to attract Birds and Butterflies?

This is a photo I took in Costa Rica in a Butterfly Garden. See how when they close their wings, they look like a lizard with an eye open? Inside they are an amazing iridescent blue.