Ed. Note: Laura McLeod is taking over the Green My Ballard column from Rhonda Brown. In her first column, she introduces herself and lets readers know why she is qualified to cover all things green in the neighborhood.

My Ballard roots are as deep and interwoven as those of our old Gravenstein. I’m not sure when it was planted but I have no memory of it being anything but big.

Standing in the northeast corner of the yard, what my family always called “the lot,” it’s a commanding presence, and despite some bias, it still produces some of the most flavorful apples around.

My great grandfather landed in Ballard, and the house where I live, in 1907. In what was little more than two rooms, he made a home for his mother-in-law, his wife and seven surviving children.

Vegetable gardens, fruit trees, a barn and countless chickens were part of their landscape. And while the chickens (and reportedly a cow) are now long gone, the barn remained until it fell off its foundation in the mid-90s; we took it down with a few hefty heaves on a rope tied to the rafters. (The first owners built the house in 1903 while they lived in the barn, as the story goes, so it was really old.)

My grandparents picked up where the great relatives left off (thankfully expanding the house and having fewer children). Grandpa Bennie’s peaches and tomatoes were infamous throughout the neighborhood and probably the city, as he made a point of sharing them with everyone, including the “garbage men” who came ‘round the back to collect and empty the cans.

He grew Roma and Golden Jubilee tomatoes and knew the value of composting, manure and seed saving. He also grew pole beans and peas, which the family diligently canned and put up for the year – an art and science I didn’t inherit the gene for but admire in those who have it.

My 96-year-old neighbor still talks fondly of my grandfather and the bounty he produced.

Despite those roots, I don’t come to gardening naturally. But thanks to both proficient neighbors and Urban Garden Share, I now have a community garden in my yard.

Friends grew food a few years prior, but they moved away and the blackberries threatened to return. A chance meeting with Amy Pennington at a food conference sent me to her just-launched online garden matching service, and suddenly a community garden was in the works. We were lucky enough to be on the inaugural Sustainable Ballard Edible Garden Tour.

My thumb might not be green, but the rest of me gets greener all the time.

The greening started in earnest while living in Vancouver, B.C., in the late 80s and early 90s. I had a roommate who, long before city programs supported this, separated her recyclables, composted food waste and used biodegradable products. Angela didn’t have kids, but I’d hear her tell others she did this “for the children.”

Living with her made it easy to adopt those habits, and I’ve never looked back. She fostered an ongoing interest in healthy food (and how diet intersects with planet-saving practices and how a greener planet supports our health and well-being), how much “stuff” I need, how I interact with my community, and the impact of daily living on the planet.

There’s room for improvement; I still drive to work, but I shop local and buy mostly organic. If it wasn’t for cats, I’d barely have garbage.

I’ve since worked on agricultural, land use and water-related projects, among others, and find that even the little things can make a difference, and that collective effort can go even farther. I hope to learn more and share what I’ve learned here.

There was a time when I couldn’t wait to leave Ballard, and never imagined coming back. But now, I can’t imagine living anywhere else in this city.

What an amazing community it has grown into – self-aware and committed to putting its collective energy where its carbon footprint is. Ballard has become a great place to live, and for those so fortunate, work.

See you in a few weeks!