I'm sure I've talked about it before, but are you familiar with the concept of a food forest? It's one of the foundations of permaculture: provide a sustainable ecosystem for food production. Can you imagine a yard filled with food year round? The thought of not needing to brave the grocery store every week is motivation enough for me!

Search You Tube for "food forest" and you'll get tons of results. Two of my favorites are Ron Finley's urban LA plot and a Eugene, OR tour by Food Not Lawns author Heather Flores.

If you feel inspired, I hope you'll consider joining Patricia Allison, Ryan Mitchell and me for a Permaculture Primer weekend here in Charlotte, NC this October!