Give me some Green
Since moving here just over a month ago, I have found myself trying to mirror my hometown, Austin, Texas, in some of the things that I do, from searching for local businesses, to doing a lot of hiking. You see, Austin is what they call the oasis of blue and green in a sea of red. All political puns aside, much like the DC Metro area, Austin is literally a very green town; surrounded by lakes, rivers, the rolling hill country, it is very picturesque. Austin is also home to some of the best “green businesses” in the nation. Examples, you ask? I’ll give you two: Eco-Depot and The Natural Gardener.
Hiding on South Congress Avenue, beyond hipster coffee houses and trendy 
Tex-Mex restaurants, you will discover Eco-Depot. A leader in the green-revolution, having been around for pushing fifteen years, Eco-Depot is a hardware type store much like the Ace Hardware Store. I remember the first time I went in the store with my mother and sister in the late summer when they first opened; the man behind the counter had to have been the owner. He was listening to the wind chimes on the front porch of the store, with the back door open as well. There was this beautiful breeze coming through and a sweet herbal perfume wafting through the store; it was so hot outside, but even with the AC off inside, it was quite comfortable. I dipped my hand in a whiskey barrel full of zoisia grass seed and listened to my mother chat up the clerk about linseed oil for about twenty minutes. I was in awe of the bamboo flooring samples which were warm and smooth under my fingertips; this is grass?! I was probably twelve or so, so give me a break. This place is a Mecca of all things green to do it yourself for your own home. You can find an array of eco-friendly products for your home from true linoleum flooring to low VOC paints and even naturally occurring cleaning products; it is a virtual playground for those of us who want to live the reduce-reuse-recycle mantra in our lives.
The Natural Gardener is a haven for the seasoned and burgeoning green-thumb. They advertise as your “organic gardening headquarters.” Exciting, I know! When you pull up to this green gardening center, which is truly off the beaten path, you see mountains of mulch- piles of pine! If you so desire, you can walk the labyrinth of native Texas irises which is enveloped by the towering oak trees, or you can peruse the fully functional vegetable gardens in raised beds near a rolling stream lined and blossoming year round with native plants which will allow your creative juices to start flowing… What will you take away from your experience here? A new rose for your patio garden, or an entire sketchbook of your next do it yourself project? The owner, John Dromgoole, for the last two decades has hosted a radio show where listeners can call in to ask about how to use the ladybugs in their refrigerator to free their lawn of other pests, or how to mix that compost tea for their roses. Is bone meal really what you want for more blossoms this Spring? This man has the answers! The Natural Gardener allows its patrons to soak up the vast knowledge of xero-scaping, or the fine art of utilizing plants, all organically grown and for sale which are indigenous to the area through extensively planned gardens, tours, and highly knowledgeable staff of fellow organic gardeners.
Yes, I know that these greeneries of which I’m talking about are in another city, in another state, in another time zone, but as I said, I’m your most recent transplant and it just seems natural to try to find things that are familiar. What I would like to do is venture out into my new community, learning as much as I can about the fabulous avenues of green living available here and report back, answer questions and hopefully shed a little light on some things that maybe you already heard about, but hadn’t quite mustered up the interest to dive in for yourselves. I am positive that the DC metro area has its very own “Eco-Depot” and “Natural Gardener.” I just want to find them, grill them for information and then report back. In the past, I’ve been like most people and avoided venturing out of my comfort zone, but how much more uncomfortable can you get, packing up from your home of 28 years, leaving a rich network of family and friends behind to move somewhere you don’t know anyone? Yeah. That’s what I’m talkin’ about. What I promise to do is to dive in head-long into my new hometown to discover its little green intricacies and then share them with likeminded folks, as well as sharing what I already know and feel you all could benefit from. Learning about our surrounding community can be such a wondrous thing! Sound like a plan?
-Genevieve (the newest Arbour Realty contributor)
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