I have never really known what to call that strip of land between the sidewalk and the curb, so I googled it.
This is what I found:
Streetside Easement
Grass Bay
Parking Strip
Parkway
Grass Plot
Tree Lawn
Neutral Ground

Whatevs...........was just curious..........
Last year, mine was a neglected, weedy, clay and rock filled strip that nobody gave a shit about. This year, I decided to do something about it and make it pretty. I pulled up all the weeds by hand and shovel. I added dirt from fill dirt in back of the vacant lot. I added mulch from under the compost pile created with all the weed pulling from the year before. And I amended what soil was in those easements with the compost I made from leaves and vegetable scraps.

Some worker guy from over at the Sugar Factory across the street called over while I was weeding and expressed curiosity as to why I was pulling weeds by hand ( as opposed to chemical weed killers, I assume) and I responded that this is how our country was built - by hand - and I'm showing you all how its done. He laughed and said point taken. Honestly, you would think one had never seen someone working with their hands. Wait.............................

I planted wild flowers and marigolds. And then accidentally,  I planted tomatoes from the seeds from the year before. I'm not sure that I want to eat them as I don't know where the dirt came from,  but this little flower garden is starting to bloom and fill out. And it makes me happy to open my door and see a splash of color. Sure, it still needs some constant weeding that I can never seem to get to, but I think the neighbors appreciate it also. The butterfly's and bees sure do!

Guerilla Gardening

 My backyard is too shady for growing much of anything. So Ive been forced to do myself some guerrilla gardening in the lot next door. I did obtain permission from the owner who subsequently put the land up for sale.

Sigh.

But I'm sure it wont sell for a while..

Fingers crossed.

This is my second attempt at growing container vegetables. (not counting all the failed attempts when living in San Francisco) My second attempt here in Crockett where it is  warm and sunny in the summer.

I set them out further into the field where they can get sun. I rigged up a hose to water them with (instead of dragging buckets of water back and forth - oh yes I did.) and this is already helping immensely.

 The tomatoes just don't look great despite water and some fish emulsion. I put compost in with the potting soil before planting. But I think I simply have a lot more to learn about this and all the info that I study online is either contradictory or just plain confusing. Too much water, not enough water, too much this, not enough that. Ive got baby tomatoes coming on finally, so we'll see. Maybe pretty plants just are not so important. And maybe its just going to take a lot to turn my thumb green.

 There are radishes and carrots planted in with the tomatoes also. We'll see if this was a good idea or not. I do want to plant a bin of coriander and one of lettuce. Maybe some more beans ...........maybe one for more carrots and radishes. And lets not forget all the herbs that I lust for. But that's a lot of soil and bins to buy. That's a lot of storing bins through the winter. Maybe small is best to start with since I have a tendency to be a homicidal plant killer.

I planted marigolds and wild flowers in the sidewalk also. I pulled up all the weeds and amended the soil with compost and regular old soil from the lot. I carefully put seeds in rows so that I would see where the plants were coming up. Unfortunately , later on, I had a fit of madness and threw in a mess of flower seeds - thinking they probably wouldn't grow - and whats a few more - the birds will eat the seeds, right? Well I was wrong and stuff has come up that I have no idea what on earth it is. So I thin and thin and hope Im actually pulling weeds and not flowers.. It does look like there are lots of  something flowerie sprouting  in there, so I'll continue thinning it out and see what happens. What a mess.

 2012 is the year of WHATEVER for me. So whatever. If it grows and I learn a thing or two, get to gaze on some garden color, and have some vegetables without toxins, I'll be grateful. Already the butterfly's are flitting around this. Ive done my small part to make them happy.