Its Green Festival time in DC (and for LA and SF) and I stopped by to see whats going on in the gardening world and was pleased to find more garden-related vendors than usual. (Though among speakers, not so much.)
First, I discovered some local gardening coaches at Love and Carrots. Its all edibles, and their services include design, installation, and maintenance, in addition to coaching. At their terrific website I found an inspiring portfolio and bios of the people involved. Im a big fan of bios, especially when they move beyond the marketing lingo to reveal trust-building tidbits, like that the founder of Love and Carrots shares her passion for growing food by spending her winters farming and teaching agricultural classes at an orphanage in Guatemala. That alone makes me want to hire her.
I was already a fan of EarthBox, so noticing them here with Oxfam made me stop to ask whats up with that? Turns out they partner with Oxfam and the U.N. to support and promote World Food Day October 16 a day of educating about world hunger, healthy eating and horticulture. Molly Philbin, Earthboxs education director and blurry in my photo here, is passionate about all that.
Another favorite vendor of mine and the source of my free pass to the show is Paul Kelly, the publishing guru behind St. Lynns Press. Click here to find out why Im such a fan.
Heres an innovative new service that may just succeed. The designer behind GOasis creates temporary gardens for events here in this event-filled city. Her website looks promising but isnt populated yet with actual information.
Yes, bees made an appearance.
Also, worms.
And I have no photo to show you, but Air Lawn Care was here, selling their quiet, less polluting mow-and-blow service, with the full range of landscaping services coming soon. As a hater of leaf-blowers, I wish them great success!
Also tabling at the event was Washington Gardener Magazine. Editor Kathy Jentz also gave a DIY talk during the event.
I love the idea behind RazarSharp small, all-electric appliances for small gardens. So far, theyre selling compact chipper-shredders, slim-profile rain collectors (not reallybarrels, on the right in both the photos above), a lawn mower, and an edger that can also be used to mow small gardens, as we see being demonstrating in the photo right above. (Website tip for Razarsharp: ditch the stock photos of people and beef up the About info to include who you are. Green buyers want real people they can trust. See Love and Carrots.)
George Washington Us landscape design program was here, as well as local supplier AquaBarrel, whos a big attender of these shows. Red Dragon flame weeders eliminate the need for herbicides and for bending over. Here I recommend them for weeding green roofs, as green roof plant supplier Ed Snodgrass does and demonstrates in that link.
Compost Cab is a new idea on the scene a company that will supply you with compost bins for kitchen waste (no meat, of course), pick it up every week, and deliver some of it back to you as compost. For only $32 a month! Seriously, Im surprised and impressed that people are spending that kind of money to avoid sending their potato peelings to the landfill. And at a street festival in the Maryland burbs I discovered a local competitor who charges even more $43.50 a month. Amazing.
Lastly, the biggest presence at the green festival by FAR was Ford Motor Company. For real! They had electric and hybrid cars we could take for a spin around town, and agricultural-looking displays like this one showing that car doors can be made out of plants, and lots of hip young people telling us whats up with all this. And whats up is - well, I cant tell you. Though the hip young spokesdude was willing to talk my ear off, my parking meter was just about out of time, so I asked for take-home literature. Sorry! So is it on your website, I ask? You bet! Well, its a big honking website and I couldnt find a word about sustainability or bio doors or the other info in their display. So Ford, keep up the good work but next time, could you print up some info for the festival-goers?
Thats the end of my green-gardening tour. Any new products or services catching your eye lately?
Via: Lots of Gardening at the Green Festival
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