On a lighter note:

I quickly hashed out what I wanted to accomplish with the gardens around the house. Here’s one nook:

Every surface area in the studio is overflowing with seed packets and logs and lists:

Of course, moving into an established garden already has its perks:

especially the lilacs, here in the kitchen and at my bedside table. I love the heady scent that lulls me to sleep.

You can see more photos of the garden on Flickr.
While you’re there, get a taste for some real garden planning in Montanaraven’s “Gardens: From Napkin Sketch to Reality” set. Then look at the hand tool that you can use to make eco-friendly plant pots using newspaper. I found them for sale online here (in the UK) and here (US) and I would love to have one for the kids. About $14.
These wooden pawn-looking tools are great and the children enjoyed planting purple coneflower seeds for our Austin garden using one last year at The Wildflower Center during the Spring kickoff. Fun stuff.