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So many of you know that I'm sort of into backyard farming. Two things happened over the last week or so that have reinvigorated that. First off, I saw Manny Howard on The Colbert Report. I thought he was pretty funny, and I thought the book he was pitching -- how he turned his backyard in Brooklyn into a farm -- sounded right up my alley, so I bought it with an Amazon.com gift card I "eared" doing online surveys. It came yesterday. The assignment he was given by New York  magazine necessitated that he be a little more gung ho about the whole venture than I need to be, but I think it should prove an interesting read for someone as into this stuff as I am. I know it's a cynical treatment of locavorism, but still...

The other thing that we did this week was discover Laughing Buddha Nursery at 4516 Clearview in Metairie. If you are into any kind of sustainability, this is the place to go. We only left with an old olive oil drum to make into a rain barrel, but the connection we made with the guy working -- probably the owner -- was totally worth the trip. They do everything, from trees and hydroponics to protein production. The small plot of land is a model for what urbanites should be doing everywhere. Check it out.
Location: 4516 Clearview Pkwy, Metairie, LA 70006, USA

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