Garden goodies from Sunset magazine

Courtyard, Casa de Pilatos, Sevilla, Spain House & Garden was canceled last fall. The publisher, Conde Naste, offered to complete my subscription with issues of Domino. I read an issue of Domino; it's nice, but I miss reading new H&G issues. Plus, the H&G editor is a graduate of my college alma mater. Still searching for a replacement, I read several issues of Sunset Northern California edition. I like the focus on where I live - Northern California - and the magazine offers some great gardens finds. Here are some of my favorites:

• Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco sells plants and supplies for creating “environmentally responsible landscapes.”

• SafeLawns.org Foundation helps lawn owners tend their greensward without chemicals and pesticides.

• What a great idea: Urbanweeds in Seattle will pot your plants! It helps if you live in Seattle, around Fremont Avenue.

• Back to Berkeley, order your spring plants from Bay Flora (bayflora.com). My spring list includes lettuce, spinach, peas, violet, foxglove, and hollyhock.

• More on gardening? Check out Heavy Petal for advice on “not tak[ing] gardening so seriously” and Suburban Habitat – online and in Novato – for “environmentally conscious” garden supplies.

• I have a bamboo cutting board, live black bamboo in a planter, and I gave bamboo kitchenware as Christmas gifts. I like bamboo. I would not mind a bamboo bike, but at $2,695 and up, Craig Calfee’s bike is out of my budget.

• Local ecology is not featured in Greenopia San Francisco Bay Area - The Urban Dweller's Guide to Green Living, but we do offer services for “green” organizations: newsletter design and grant development.

• If you’ve been following Michael Pollan you know his prescription for eating is “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Last spring, in his 10x20 foot front yard garden (it used to be lawn), he grew string beans, carrots, broccoli, kale, cucumbers, herbs, potatoes, and chard.

• Hope from Nell Newman, co-founder of Newman’s Own Organics:

I was a frustrated fundraiser for a small nonprofit environmental group. I saw what my dad was doing with Newman’s Own foods. I thought, I could do that with organic foods and raise money for environmental groups.