The Solar Decathlon competition (hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy) has come and gone, but we'd thought we'd share an interesting perspective of it with you. Our mother (MY mother!), Deborah Kuchar of Green Alchemy, was the garden designer for Santa Clara University, the school that took 3rd place. Mother dearest wrote a great story about her experiences with the project, and it's a really good read (lots of photos!).

All of the twenty colleges that got to compete had to come up with a small home that doesn't exceed a certain square footage, utilize solar panel energy, and a slew of other green building techniques. All of the homes were really amazing (they were on display at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.) and it's cool (mother or not!) to read about the event from someone on the inside.

To read/see the story, click here.