At Home Blog

One of my favorite parts of going across the street for lunch is walking past the big swaths of lavender they've planted around the parking lot. It attracts bees like crazy. I probably look like a dunderhead, but sometimes I can't help stopping on the sidewalk to watch them weaving in and out of the flowers. In light of colony collapse disorder, I have the same hopeful feeling that I get when I see giant crows strutting across the Target parking lot in back of our building; West Nile didn't wipe them out, and I see more of them every year.

If you garden, of course, you know that bees are absolutely crucial for pollinating flowers, fruit trees and most vegetables, and that there's great virtue in putting bee-friendly flora in your beds. This Saturday, a "bee man" from the Eastern Missouri Beekeeper's Association will be at Bowood Farms to lecture on exactly that. There will also be honey and leaflets on starting your own hives - a practice I know to be entirely legal in rural areas, and in the city so long as you keep only two hives. Out in the county, it's a case-by-case thing, so check with your muncipality before buying your smoker and bee suit. The workshop runs from 2 to 4 pm, and is free. Bowood, who I personally consider to be one of the finest nurseries in Missouri, has a schedule of classes running through early fall, including workshops on butterfly gardens and rain gardens. (You can see their full calendar here).

Also, yesterday as I flew into the Tap Room to pick up a growler of Kolsch for a board meeting (a glass of beer all around can be very conducive to brainstorming), I noticed a poster taped to the front door for the Schlaflea Market, "an urban thrift sale." They are describing it as "the most unusual garage sale this side of the Mississippi" and are anticipating up to 100 tables. Goodwill will be there to accept donations of stuff - all the booth fees will go to Goodwill, too. And perhaps once you've rid yourself of dead weight from your closet or basement, you won't feel quite so guilty if you find a good deal on a lamp, or That's Saturday August 2 from 8 to 4, in the Schafly Tap Room parking lot on Locust. It looks like they are still accepting tables, and they've posted a list of goods on their site that Goodwill will NOT accept, including carpet, old computers and printers, food, building materials, old sinks and toilets, chemicals, major appliances and of course, crappy, beat-up old furniture. Save yourself the gas and the trouble by checking that list before you drive down there, especially if you're trying to get rid of an old washing machine!

Good news for fence-sitters looking to buy a house, and for St. Louis as a whole: Forbes rated us as one of their "Best Cities to Buy a Home." We didn't rate as high as Houston, but being rated number 3 isn't bad! Here's their methodology:

"These metrics indicate places where buyers are investing in homes in order to live, not just make a quick buck, and where the housing market is relatively solid. We culled our vacancy and home price information from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Association of Realtors."

In addition, they compared mortage payments versus rent, current vacancy rates and the stability of the local economy. We were sandwiched right between Austin and Philly; here's what they had to say about us:

"St. Louis is a great place to settle because it's not overbuilt and is reasonably priced relative to income. Thanks to the attractive cost of living, many large corporations--including brewing behemoth Anheuser-Busch and financial heavies Stifel Nicolaus and Edward Jones--call St. Louis home. With a family friendly culture, and a steadily appreciating median home price of $145,400, the 'Gateway to the West' is a great place to buy a home."

I was a little disappointed to notice that they made zero mention of our surrounding universities or cultural outlets; that "family-friendly" tag is pretty much a synonym for "boring" (I know this to be true, because I grew up in Salt Lake City, another place that is considered to be culture-free because it gets the same caption). Maybe they should talk to the folks over at Time Out Chicago, who clearly understand that there's more to St. Louis than chicken fingers and playdates.

While researching something else, I stumbled on this blog post from I09 on "Retro Futurism," that featured excerpts from a mid-60s teen Home Ec mag, "Co-Ed," that speculated on what kitchens of the future would look like. The sheer optimism/dopey-ness of this cartoon gave me a lift:

They also swore we'd be sitting on inflatable sofas and using spray-on curtains. The inflatable furniture came to pass somewhat (those odd, Warholian blow-up chairs you see in pictures of swingin' 60s pads back in the day) though sadly, much of the more whimsical stuff did not. Some of the creepier predictions are almost dead-on - check out the bullet point for "Big Brother Watches Little Brother."

This brilliant commentary in the Washington Independent juxatposes Disney's "House of the Future" (in both its current and Midcentury incarnations) with Frank Lloyd Wright's genuinely visionary approach to architecture. Disney's 1957 exhibit was sponsored by Monsanto, and was made almost entirely of plastic (the wrecking ball bounced off it during the first attempt at demolition). It was mostly just a technology showcase, versus Wright's designs, which sought to mirror deep cultural changes:

"Wright was among the first to notice that family life was changing. With the freedom offered by the automobile and new household electric appliances, it was becoming more spontaneous and informal. The stilted formality of the Victorian house, which depended on a large staff of servants, had become obsolete. Wright seized on the moment to sweep away the rabbit warren of parlors, anterooms and sitting rooms into which Victorian life was shoehorned, breaking down walls to make the household space a relaxed and flowing continuum. The graceful integration of dining and living spaces became the hallmark of the modern house -- and remains so to this day."

The most depressing part of this article for me, especially in light of the housing meltdown/climate change/"peak everything,"was near the end of the piece:

"But the Elias family is considerably less futuristic than the house they inhabit. It creates no mental strain to imagine them sitting quite happily in 1957 at that plastic dining room table of the original House of the Future. Rather than envisioning the family of the future, Disney has conjured up an idyllic and reassuring family of the past.

Nowhere is this more clear than in the architecture itself, which offers no alarming space pods or plastics. This Dream Home attempts no such comprehensive rethinking, offers no new architectural vision. On the contrary, it is a contemporary suburban house by Taylor Morrison, a lucrative homebuilding company that specializes in neo-vernacular houses, notable for their bland inoffensiveness.

In the end, the most revealing feature of the house is that it has, rather distressingly, no bathrooms. Whether that is because the bathroom remains the one bastion of the house untouched by the digital revolution, or because this unmistakable hint of physical reality disturbs the unrelenting theme of virtual reality, is not clear."

A house design suggesting humans had become slightly more tolerant of dealing with nature - including the call of - now, that would be progress!

If you haven't yet taken advantage of MoBot's Kemper Center for Home Gardening, know that they'll do soil testing, help you to diagnose weird plant diseases and help you pick out the right plants for the plot you've got. And next week, they're teaching a class on how to best save and savor those tomatoes, parsnips and whatnot growing in your garden plot through the autumn and winter by canning, drying and freezing them. All the details can be found here.

If you, like me, have been feeling guilty about not volunteering to fill sandbags in nearby flooded communities, there is something you can do instead: donate to Slow Food's Terra Madre Relief Fund, set up to help embattled Midwestern farmers, many of whom have lost their farms ... and this year's crops. Most of us are at least a little stretched after coughing up $4+ for gas, but think of it this way: by helping Midwestern farmers, we will be able to help everyone keep down food prices later this year - and that will help everyone. (If ever there was a time when it was clear that we are all connected, it's right now!) See more on St. Louis' Slow Food homepage.

This weekend, antiques dealers from as far away as Cincinnati and Horseshoe Bend, Ark. will set up tables in the Greenfelder Recreation Complex for the third annual Missouri Heritage Art and Antiques Show. Why so many non-Missouri dealers at a Missouri Heritage show, you ask? Well, the heritage part actually comes in after the money is counted. Your admission price goes to support the work of the Webster Groves Historical Society, specifically upkeep on the Christopher Hawken House, the first house in the state to receive federal funds for its restoration. The house was built in 1857 along Big Bend Road, but encroaching development threatened its existence, so in 1970 it was moved to Southwest Park. It's now a museum, open to the public, decorated to period style; they sometimes host traveling exhibits, too, like the doll exhibit that passed through this spring.

The Details:

Missouri Heritage Art and Antiques Show
benefiting the Webster Groves Historical Society
Greensfelder Recreation Complex
550 Weidman Road
Admission: $6
Times: Saturday, June 28th 10am-6pm
Sunday, June 29th 11am-4pm
www.willowrush.com/MO.html

Dana King, whose projects have appeared in our pages many times (she was on one of the designers on our Haven of Grace project, which you can read about in our July/Aug issue, which will hit stands any second now, if it hasn't already) is the creator of an ingenious concept: the Design Hop. Basically, she and fellow designer Gina Adolphson are heading up monthly in-house design clinics where they gather groups of women and then bouce from house to house, moving furniture, hanging pictures in new places and basically helping you to maximize what you've already got. If you wanna set one up for your Jet Set, Dana's blog has all the details.

As gas prices continue their upward creep, many of us are having the epiphany: Yes, Virginia, there are reasons to create dense, walkable urban communities that are built around people, not cars. But of course there are better reasons than that.

Kaid Benfield, the Smarth Growth Director for the National Resources Council, points out many of these benefits in a terrific post on Switchboard this week, wherein he lavishes praise on Old North St. Louis and its continuing renaissance. As Benfield points out, it is a renaissance that is green-minded, resident-driven and creative. Progress has been sustained and careful, with an emphasis on quality rehabs and affordable housing - it is a recovery that's sustainable over the long term, both economically and environmentally. This is in stark contrast to the Ponzi scheme approach to real estate that's gripped the country for the last several years - and we've seen what that can do, both to indvidual families and the economy as a whole.

I love this quote:

“Every now and then I run across a story that is so good, that feels so right, that I thank my lucky stars for the freedom NRDC gave me to evolve my career into working for better, more sustainable communities. This is such a story, and it reveals an historic, diverse, inclusive neighborhood that is reclaiming its identity, restoring its infrastructure, empowering its residents, and securing its future. The community wins, and so does the environment, because the Old North neighborhood in Saint Louis is the very antithesis of sprawl.”

Speaking of green … take note that the Greening the Heartland Conference kicks off next week, which is really exciting! Can’t wait to see the ripples that emanate from that. You can read their blog here. And since we began this post with a mention of gasoline, I’d be remiss in not mentioning that St. Louis Green is sponsoring a screening of the excellent documentary, GasHole, at the Hi-Pointe Theatre this weekend. Check it out.

Probably coming on this one late, but - I am in love with Shorpy, "The 100-year-old photo blog." While looking for St. Louis-related photos, I stumbled on this charmer:

My biggest beef with the modern house is the frankly fuggly design - especially those hideous faux-pine cabinets that seem to be the standard. And plastic countertops. This picture proves that less is more (at least where design, not cabinet space, is concerned). I love the white painted cabinets, the simple hardware, the porcelain farm sink. Heck, I even like that bare bulb; there's something very honest about it. It's hard to tell what they used for the countertops, but it looks like tin. I inspected the photo to try to suss out what she's cooking - I have no clue, but my guess might be cornbread or hush puppies.

The cool thing about Shorpy is they post high-res versions of photos (suitable to print 'n' frame, if you are talented) and sell fine art prints (if you don't feel so talented) from their online store. And there are some amazing images here, perfect for jazzing up a dull corner.

Last night, while watering the plants on my porch (since we're on the second floor, I use a gallon-sized glass bottle, rather than the hose) it maybe occurred to me, just for a fleeting second (as fleeting as a blink from a firefly in the catalpa tree next to the house) why people decide it's too much of a pain to deal with a garden. That hour after work that you could spend indoors, feeling the whoosh of the air conditioning as you kick back with a book, is instead spent out in the yard, where you exert energy, sweat and attract mosquitoes. I feel out of sorts when I don't garden, but for those who like posies but not the labor/perspiration/bug bite equation, here's an answer:

"Wallflowers," are polypropylene blooms equipped with hidden magnets, so you can mount them using a simple thumbtack. They remind me a little of Billie Holiday's gardenias, if a little more streamlined and less saturated with sorrow and jazz-club smoke. UMA (Urban Materials and Accessories, located downtown at 1100 Locust) carries them. They're only $37 - less than a tank of gas (unless you are one of those smart people that drives a scooter!) and last a heck of a lot longer ...

If you've seen the flush of recent articles in the New York Times and the Washington Post about the trend in urban farming, and said to yourself, "Gee - why doesn't St. Louis have something like that?" You'll be pleased to know that actually, we do have something like that. And New Roots Urban Farm and City Seeds are the main suppliers for the North City Farmer's Market, which opens this Saturday. I am going to be in Colorado for my aunt's birthday, so I'm going to miss it (which makes me sad) but I plan on making regular bike trips to the 14th Street Mall this summer to pick up produce. Last year I also bought the most delectable bean pies at the market, from Shabazz Bakery - I'm hoping they will make a return appearance.

The Market is open 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday, with health screenings, bike givaways, live music with Eric McSpadden and Margaret Bianchetta. They also have Alderwoman April Ford-Griffin doing a celebrity cooking demonstration (though what she will be cooking, I'm not sure). The market's right across the street from Crown Candy Kitchen at 14th and St. Louis - if you haven't been up North for a spell, the progress on the 14th Street Mall will blow you away. And if you haven't had ice cream at Crown Candy for a spell, it's the best ice cream in St. Louis hands down - you owe it to yourself to at least eat one tiny cone (after all, you will be picking up all those great organic vegetables, so you can cheat a bit, right?)

For the past few years, my husband and I have been looking at houses, sometimes just in a lazy wouldn't-it-be-nice way, sometimes getting about as close to closing as you can get and still back out. We looked in the city, both north and south. We saw some swell, cute houses with minor problems, some great houses with major problems and some truly horrific houses with black creeping mold on the back wall or mysteriously mushy floors. (It's amazing what people thought they could get away with in 2005, when the housing market was still flush).

As I scanned the headlines this morning, I found this totally inspiring story about artist and fashion designer J. Morgan Puett. Ms. Puett has created "her own world" out in the Pennsylvania wilderness with the help of a troupe of collaborators, a sort of artist's farm they call Mildred's Lane. It's an ongoing project, with the goal of living intensely and with a total sort of wakefulness:

"Toward the back, in the kitchen and dining area, there are hand-hammered metal tables and chairs covered with old flour sacks. Cowhides have been stitched together as floor coverings. Stacks of antique white china fill the metal shelves and the floors are made from smoothly polished concrete. High narrow windows on either side of this space make it feel like an old church.

Ms. Puett’s vision reaches even into the refrigerator, which she has transformed into a strange, constantly shifting vignette of fresh food, old textiles and unusual scientific vials. 'I buy beautiful and grotesque foods and try to put them in a new context,' she said. A broccoli floret sits on an antique candlestick, a pomegranate and brown eggs in a glass vase, carrots in ceramic pots. All liquids are decanted into glass measuring vessels."

The thought of withdrawing from the Pergo-and-spackle world, like Ms. Puett, would be my Lotto dream (though apparently, when she first bought the property, she couldn't afford a $99,000 mortgage and had to buy with three other people - so she's done all of this on a budget). When I read this story, I realized, ah, this is the problem - I've been trying to insert myself into a collective dream that I don't understand, don't buy into and doesn't suit my nature. I have realized that it's not going to be an issue so much of "finding" as "making" a house, in the manner of Ms. Puett. Perhaps we'll find an old Northside beauty that we can gut to the studs and make our own. However ... I'll draw the line here: I just don't have the kind of chutzpah it takes to name a child "Grey Rabbit."

Generally, I am super suspicious of the "green consumerist" impulse, but the other day, while in Target (shopping for something practical, I'm sure, like Kaboom cereal) I drifted past an end-cap and saw some flowerpots that caught my eye. They had an unusual silhouette and were brightly colored, but not in a sickly, chemical, 1960s way. Upon further inspection, I discovered that they were made of rice husks and claimed to be biodegradable! How you prevent the things from just dissolving in the rain, I'm not sure, but there must be some trick to it. I tried to find images of these puppies online, but Target.com doesn't seem to carry them. Although I suspect that good old terra cotta pots are also "biodegradable" and cost a fraction of the amount, some people find their appearance too rough-hewn (or boring). If you're looking for something that's a bit more refined in appearance but NOT made from a petroleum product, these little guys (well, actually, they come in several sizes, including not so little) may be worth looking at. One step better, of course, is to try to seek the same from a mom and pop store like HomeEco rather than Target, and do the local economy a good turn, too.

As my little seedlings wilt on my porch (I'll be potting up some herbs tonight!) the unnaturally cool mornings remind me that spring is not over, and there's still time to get some beds planted. Take a peek at this really inspiring urban gardening story from the New York Times, if you haven't already (I'm also looking forward to this book being released). Though urban homesteading and permaculture have dovetailed, I've been sad to see that the native plant movement has not been folded into the mix more than it has. As urban gardening (and gardening gardening) gets more popular due to rising food prices, I'm hoping that people will plant some indigenous flowery plants for the bees and birds along with their dinner lettuce. MoBot's annual Plants of Merit list is an excellent source for sourcing native plants that are currently available. Go with the perennials (plumbago rhymes with lumbago, but it's awfully pretty) and you'll have perhaps the most low-maintenance garden you can keep ... aside from just letting the weeds run wild, that is.

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• Bees and Fleas
• So Buy a House, Already
• More on Houses of the Future
• "Houses of the Future" Tend To Say More About the Present ... and the Past
• Preserving the Harvest
• A Flood of Goodwill: Slow Food Supports Midwest Farmers
• Missouri Heritage Art and Antiques Show This Weekend
• DesignHop!
• Old North on the Switchboard Blog: "The Very Antithesis of Sprawl."
• Infinite Cabinetry

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