starting to plan our garden

On Monday, I was suppose to take a class at Missouri Botanical Garden on organic spring gardening. I was all set to become totally inspired as well as increase my knowledge tenfold about how to grow organically. Unfortunately, I signed up late and never made it off the wait list. So it seems I am left to my own devices to figure out the plan for this year's planting. To help me become inspired I am reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. I am about half way through and am very much enjoying it/becoming more and more horrified by the industrialization off our food systems. The book, however, does not provide much helpful information for someone who is just working with a small container garden. 

Last year, I feel like I tried too much in my one planter so this year I am thinking I want to simplify and maybe add more individual planters. I found these plant-a-grams on William-Sonoma's Agrarian website and am thinking about investigating them further as potential guides to follow. 

plant-a-grams by Agrarian for Williams-Sonoma

My primary concern with following one of these plans is it doesn't tell you when to plant i.e. spring or summer; thus its going to take some research to figure out timing as well as if these plants are appropriate for Missouri. I also want to try to find non-GMO seeds/plants so I might end up being limited with my options. Ideally, I would find a magical book that would guide me to becoming a first-class gardener. Realistically, I know such a thing probably doesn't exist but I am on the look out. Any readers have recommendations? I have high hopes for the weekend and visiting some local garden shops to helpful get an actual plan going. Any advice is very much welcome and appreciated!

american dream builders

I just finished watching American Dream Builders on NBC and I have to say I like it. The premise of the show is that established designers and builders compete on teams to completely redo real life spaces. The premiere focused on creating more functional spaces for large, multi-generational families in tudor homes. So far I would say the show's main pluses are:
- It addresses the whole home - the inside as well as the outside.
- It is uses real spaces with real clients.
- The caliber of the contestants - all well known and respected professionals in the field.
- Nate Berkus :) Love him!
Conversely, I think its downfalls are:
- It seems like it is trying to do too much in one episode and all the details and how-to's get lost.
- The designer personalities, at least in this episode, overwhelmed the content of the show.
- There are A LOT of product placements.
- The designers only get to shop at their "designer marketplace" and Lowe's. Not very exciting....
My favorite room from episode one was either the little boy's bedroom from the blue team designed by contestant Darren Moore or the outdoor space on the red team by Dann Foley. 

via AOL Real Estate

via American Dream Builders

The first full episode is available for viewing at NBC.com with weekly episodes airing 8/7c. Happy viewing! 

h&m

I probably should have figured out that H&M has a home line when I discovered that Zara has one - the two seem to work in tandem. It's not a huge amount of items but there are some cute finds for extremely reasonable prices. I particularly like their dish-ware line which comes in plates, bowls and cups and would be a great attention to a spring themed table. See below!

1. Porcelain dish-ware  2.  linen cushion cover  3. zebra bath mat  4. cushion cover  5. boucle cushion cover  6. cotton rug