I’m a big fan of YouTube, but I tend to only use if for pretty low-brow purposes (like, say, watching interviews with celebrities). However, when I went to search for something to blog about today, I stumbled on this:

I had searched for “gardening”, thinking I might find a backyard tour or some hastily made how-to videos. Instead I found one of a series of profiles of emerging artists posted by Dwell magazine. The artist featured here, Fritz Haeg, is the mastermind behind “Edible Estates”, a project near and dear to my heart. The project encourages people to turn their lawns into gardens filled with edible plants; this return to victory gardens would serve to bring people closer to the food they eat (while also doing away with wasteful and ecologically disastrous monoculture lawns). As someone with a front-yard vegetable garden, I whole-heartedly agree that this project can accomplish the goals set out for it. This video touches briefly on Edible Estates, but focuses more on Animal Estates, a project devised to encourage a more balanced cohabitation of humans and animals in big cities.

This video is a great example of the hidden gems you can find on YouTube. It’s not some handheld video of poorly executed skateboard moves, or some hyped viral video — it’s interesting content on a specific subject free for anyone to watch. Not only that, but this video, with it’s look at a new art exhibit and accompanying dance workshop, fulfills one of the core aspects of 2.0. It uses computer technology to allow me to get closer to something I wouldn’t otherwise experience.

(Anyone interested in “Edible Estates” can read the book — OCL owns several copies!)

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