We’ve been a bit lax the past couple of weeks, so here’s an extra-long weekly round-up for your weekend reading pleasure. Stay cool out there!

• Can’t catch rainwater? Try these tips. (via @waterguru2)
• Succulents!
• Why you should hire introverts.
• Chris Heiler has a few suggestions on how to get free PR.
• Advertisers and consumers are getting tired of QR codes. Related.
• How to use elephants to control weeds.
• Learn how to talk to tree guys.
• Brad Johnson on planting weeds for healthy turf.
• Also: Brad’s book is in stores now.
• ASLA releases a guide to designing sustainable sites.
• Above: Why trees are important.

A few years ago, Brad Johnson set out to hike the Appalachian Trail, a 2,100-mile long path that snakes from Maine to Georgia.

We spoke with Brad, who runs Lawn America in Tulsa, Okla., last March about his journey. Here’s an excerpt from that feature:

“I hate sitting at my desk all day. I always have,” Johnson says. As a kid, he’d spent countless summers hiking in the Rockies, and continued backpacking with his wife and children.

During his trip, Johnson averaged 16 miles a day with a 30-pound pack for four months. Oh, and he raised $105,000 for five local charities.

“I’m no spring chicken. I’m 56 years of age. That’s why I wanted to do it before I retired and couldn’t do it physically. Or be dead,” he says. “We’re not guaranteed anything.”

During the past year, Brad wrote a book about his experiences.

Half the net proceeds sales of “A Compassionate Journey” – which you can pre-order here – will go to Habitat for Humanity, Young Life and the Tulsa Little Lighthouse.

Anyone who’s met Brad knows that he’s a soft-spoken, modest guy who just happens to run a wildly successful lawn care company in the Midwest. But he’s smart and savvy and his story isn’t just about a middle-aged guy plodding through the woods. It’s about understanding – just a little better – his place in the world.