This blog was started as a way to pull all my various interests and hobbies together in one place and be able to share with anyone interested. The most difficult part perhaps was to pick the blog’s name. I tried GTN Consulting, Scourgebrew, AttilaTheHun and so on. At one one point, GTNConsulting (Green Thumbs Networks) was to be dedicated to my horticulture and gardening interests, ScourgeBrew for my beer brewing endeavors and AttilaTheHun was just another variation in the search for a name. In the end I settled on Grounded World because it just encompasses it all together.

Grounded World is intended to pull all ideas behind the various name incarnations together and chronicle the progress of the projects I engage in. Some of the projects may be about taking over an abandoned urban lot in Pittsburgh and turning it into a pollinator friendly garden, others about exploration of beer brewing or my engagements with the Allegheny County Penn State Master Gardeners as an MG myself.

The need to be grounded is rooted in my childhood, growing up in Hungary. We lived in typical Communist built flat, but spent every weekend on the family farm tending to everything from sour cherry and apple trees to tomatoes, peppers etc and my personal plot of gooseberries, red currants, sorrel and horseradish. A random collection for sure, but it was mine to take care of and mine to enjoy.

Living in Pittsburgh, I still connect with nature the same whether it is via spending time in my yard, taking in the beauty of Frick park, updating my plant and seed tracking database, or tinkering with new approaches to beer brewing.

Attila Csokai