throw and grow : flower grenade

A friend passed along a link to these Flower Grenades. I’m sensitive to weapon paraphernalia but these grenades are for good! And how clever!

“Throw and grow.” Wildflower seeds distribute when these things hit the ground and explode. Available for purchase from Suck UK for £12.00 (but only within the UK…).

(*Images via Twig & Thistle)

scenes from my week : truro, cape cod

As you may have read in previous posts, I spent the past week in Truro, Massachusetts. I escaped email, phone and routine demands and enjoyed a week of biking, beaching, reading and cooking.

It was a celebration of summer!

(Blueberries image via NetState)

pier 41 : red hook, brooklyn

In Saturday’s brilliant sun, we took a ride down to Red Hook’s Pier 41, home to these beautiful plantings and the city’s legendary key lime pie by Steve’s Authentic.

i wouldn’t mind : a green rooftop

Re-Nest posted a gallery of green rooftops today. Remind me to build one of these for Paperfinger’s next studio space.

See the full post and all image references at Re-Nest.

summer : solstice

It’s the longest day of the year. Enjoy the sunlight and happy solstice! Maybe you can partake in one of the many traditions from around the world for celebrating midsummer. Here are a few ideas:

• Candle flames & bonfires – a part of so many Midsummer traditions (like in Ireland, Australia, Canada, France, England, Norway, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Finland)
• Jumping over the flames — as in Estonia, Latvia and Germany. This will guarantee prosperity.
• Eat corn for the corn harvest season in Brazil
• Cook with herbs for the common practice in many places where women, sorceresses and enchantresses gather medicinal plants at Midsummer.
• Music and dancing (everyone does this, but add a maypole for the Russians and Swedes)
• Feasting - always appropriate
• Buy flowers for the ladies and leaves for the men as they do in Latvia
• Declare your love to someone by offering them a small pot with a sweet basil plant growing in it, as is the practice in Lisbon
• Lights to honor Li, the Chinese Goddess of Light
• Frolicking – universal

thanks nasa : earth day photos

To celebrate Earth Day yesterday, folks from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center posted a collection of some of their favorite earth photos in a Flickr set. Remarkable images such as this one above titled “Free Flying.”

View them all here.

(*via Guy Kawasaki)

beekman 1802 : wild poppy seed after-the-garden bar

I love everything Beekman 1802. This is a new product from those friendly folks upstate that’s perfect for you and your green thumbs. As per their usual, the bars of soap are handmade and sourced direct from the farm, made with goats milk. The poppy seeds help with exfoliation and the combination of essential oils help to remove the green stains from a day of gardening. $10/bar from Beekman’s online shop.

http://shop.beekman1802.com/

pop-up garden postcard : postgarden

My postcard overfloweth. Something to write home about. You’ve got garden. A tree grows in… I want to indulge every dorky phrase possible.

This product, Postgarden, was created by A Studio for Design in London. It is a postcard, that folds out as a cardboard pop-up design of either an allotment (below), a botanical garden, or a cityscape. It comes with seeds and a little inner tray. You add water and within a week, your diorama comes to life.

Bummer is that they are only shipping within the European Union at this time, but for those of you there, you can order Postgarden online for £7.50.

(*via Inhabitat)

biodiversity : museum of natural history

I wish this came as wallpaper. The Hall of Biodiversity at the American Museum of Natural History was the highlight of my visit this weekend. This wall of shells was a captivating display. It was a treat to revisit such a New York City asset with dear friends in town from Seattle.

wedding gift guide : lítill terarriums

These small terrariums by Lítill are so appealing — nested in a hand-blown glass vessel.

A line of nine designs are available for purchase on litill.com and range in price from $125-$425.

(*via Notcot via Design Milk)