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Welcome to the Cottage.

The Tiny Canal Cottage is a resource for helping folks mindfully conceptualize, decorate and enjoy versatile + smaller home spaces. Founded by designer, consultant, stylist, creative director and author, Whitney Leigh Morris, this family-owned small business recently finished the construction of a new, compact cottage and greenhouse-office in the southeastern US, and are also restoring a little 1800s French farmhouse and its outbuildings with co-stewards. Morris’ focus is crafting flexible, sustainable, and more community-focused home spaces. Explore Whitney’s book, blog, and social channels for years of tips and tales from living and working in — and with — a smaller footprint.

Climate Action Landscaping

Climate Action Landscaping

Post Summary: Your garden, no matter the size, can have a positive impact.

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When we first moved into our tiny cottage by the canals, we found cracked dirt throughout our L shaped yard, which was little more than a shared thoroughfare with our neighbors. Over the years, the earth was transformed into rich soil, vines and plants began to grow and thrive — providing us with food and shade while supplying a habitat for hummingbirds and pollinators, and our vertical gardens produced colorful, low maintenance herbs, veggies, fruits and flowers that enhanced our privacy and cooled our small space in the hot SoCal summers.

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If you steward any amount of outdoor space — whether it’s a small thoroughfare garden like ours at the Cottage in the city, a suburban yard, or rolling acreage, you can transform it into space that has a positive environmental impact.

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Our friends at Shades of Green Permaculture are offering a free, 1-hour training class entitled: Intro to Climate Action Landscaping. This training focuses on how a garden or landscape, no matter the size, can have a positive impact on the planet.

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If you find what you learn to be of interest to your home and lifestyle, Shades of Green Permaculture also offers an incredible Regenerative Backyard Blueprint: A step-by-step guide to transform your yard into an eco-friendly paradise. The “RBB” will teach you how to create a thriving outdoor space that protects biodiversity; grows food, medicine, and pollinator habitat; builds soil; and restores the water cycle.

By the end of the Regenerative Backyard Blueprint program, you will have:

  • An understanding of the climate context and why your decisions matter so you can build your garden in alignment with your values, knowing the bigger impact of your decisions.

  • Clearly articulated your project goal, and have a realistic idea of phasing, timeline and budget.

  • Made a basemap, and put pen to paper to get accurate measurements and map necessary existing conditions, having identified priority areas and elements to include in your plan.

  • Correctly diagnosed the challenges you face with water in your yard, and know how to manage that water as a resource.

  • Spotted opportunities to build soil on your site, and identified which techniques are best for your site.

  • Made sound choices for plant palettes, have a sense of vegetation types, and know where to go and what questions to ask when searching for the perfect plant.

  • Crafted a solid plan for your landscape, with associated material and plant calculations, and have a clear understanding of what is needed to execute your project.

Registration is open from October 12th through October 25th at Shades of Green Permaculture.

Last Minute Halloween Decor

Last Minute Halloween Decor

Using Our Tiny Greenhouse as an Adaptable Sunroom

Using Our Tiny Greenhouse as an Adaptable Sunroom

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