Creative Recycling and Winter Prep
Creative Recycling and Winter Prep
One of my favorite parts about living at Mezzacello is that I get to experiment and explore how we can be stewards for a better world, AND live amongst beauty, technology, sustainability, and mystery. That is a loaded sentence, but 8 years in, it is still very true. This post is about creative recycling and winter prep.
I hate waste. Search waste on this website and you will find 20 blogposts that reference it. It is a thing for me.
Having the opportunity to recycle and reuse is very important to me. I grew up dirt poor and reuse seems as obvious to me as taking a deep breath in fresh air. So I strive to use every resource that I have available -- as long as it is helpful, healthy, and sustainable.
Not Always On The Same Sheet of Music
Rick and I have disagreements sometimes. I am a hoarder by nature (see growing up dirt poor above). As an Urban Farmer I see 10 uses for everything.
Saving everything can be a liability, sometimes it can look like a trashy yard. But these are paints on a pallet to my artist's mind. Have you ever seen a clean artist's pallet -- after they started painting?
This is not the original direction I started in when I decided to write this post, by the way. But this is where we are going. I reused THREE elements laying about at Mezzacello to save these Crepe Myrtles.
Pride and Joy
These three trees are one of Rick's favorite specimens at Mezzacello. But keeping them alive in this climate and USDA hardiness zone is a challenge. That is why I found these photos so compelling.
It is a perfect commentary on our mission here at Mezzacello: Grow, maintain, sustain, explain. I was able to reuse architectural elements from Rick's formal gardens (peony gates), components from both my hoarding and my tech integration (solar panel boxes) and inputs from our community (bags of leaves) to insulate these trees.
I love that we make space for beauty, resourcefulness, community, technology and grace in our space. this is at the very heart of sustainability. Being human, and being part of the natural world - simultaneously. It is a gift and a privilege and I look forward to more opportunities to do it!
