GardeningNude

Feeding the Hungry – A Homemade Video On How You and Your Children Can Make A Difference For A Food Bank!

According to AmpleHarvest.org,”an estimated 100 billion pounds of food, enough to totally eliminate hunger, is thrown away annually in the United States.” Be shocked – and then make a difference for your community by stopping the waste.

Regularly clean out your food pantry - – if you are not eating the food in your home, donate it to a local food pantry before it gets outdated. If you grow a garden and have leftover vegetables, do not leave it standing on the plants; take it to a local food pantry and donate it to someone who could really use it like we  did in the above video. Organizations like AmpleHarvest.org enable neighbors in need to obtain garden fresh produce that might be left standing unharvested due to over production in home and community gardens. Please send food pantry’s that are unregistered to this website to help make a difference for people in your community.

Above is a homemade video my daughter and I made about collecting vegetables from the garden and taking it to be donated. Having my eight year old help plant and grow the plants, then film our trip, gave her a strong sense of ownership with the experience. Notice how excited and proud she is that she is bringing “her baby” the pumpkin to give to some other child.

All of our children should understand and identify with the feeling of caring for others, most especially those in need right in our very own neighborhoods. Building our community means building our economy and contributing to the emotional health of other human beings. Of all lessons in life, I believe this one should take priority for our children. Grow a garden if you can because it can make a real difference for the world. Teach your family and neighbors how to grow a garden as well. Get started planning right NOW – at the end of this gardening season – to plan for next year’s vegetable garden. Purposely plant vegetables which are easy to grow and which might be mass producers so you can contribute more to help those who really need it. If you cannot grow a garden on your property, invite your neighbors to participate or build a community garden on a local community property.

What will you do to have your children understand the importance of helping the hungry?

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

A Salute To Fermilab Garden Club – Businesses CAN Make A Difference For Food Pantry’s and the Feeding of America’s Hungry

 

Family. Love. Friendship. These things define us, connecting us to the surrounding world and making our lives both enriched and worth living. When I met the Fermilab Garden Club this season, I imagined I would simply see gardens. Instead, I saw lifelong friends living, breathing, and building community.

Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory, a Department of Energy facility in Batavia, Illinois, is a 6,800- acre site of incredible natural beauty as well as a business which houses over 1,000 employees. Almost 90 gardeners lease 200 plots, each 20’ X 40’ on a quiet stretch of Fermilab property. All the plots are individually plowed, fenced, planted, watered, and maintained by the gardeners; employees of Fermilab.

This delightful garden is an energetic conglomeration of people from across the world and has become a unique and special expression of community giving. Encouraged by management at Fermilab, these physicists and employees of all ages come from countries around the globe such as Taiwan, New Zealand, Russia, and India to spend time together in the healthy presence of nature. They all give advice, share friendship, and most importantly -  keep themselves emotionally and physically healthy by being a part of this unique experience.

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Some of the gardeners have been tending these plots for 35 years. Many have special and heartwarming stories about the love they have for nature and the passion they all have for touching the earth and growing food. Flowers are abundant as well, and are grown simply for their beauty. There’s even an orchard which was started over a dozen years ago which produces apples, pears, and plums.

Each gardener harvests nearly enough fresh produce to feed their entire extended families – from children to great-grandchildren. They preserve, freeze, and dry what foods they are able, however, most also give-away hundreds of pounds of food every year to neighbors and local food pantry’s who desperately need the support.

 

Simply put, the Fermilab Garden Club is truly an inspiration filled with love and caring. It is an example of what a small number of people can do when they come together to make a difference for their community.

Across the United States, more and more businesses and neighbors are doing their part to build community during our difficult economic time. Organizations like AmpleHarvest.org, for instance, discovered that American gardeners were struggling to find food pantry’s that would take fresh vegetables and formed a not-for-profit organization to help connect the hungry with local gardens.

According to AmpleHarvest.org,”an estimated 100 billion pounds of food, enough to totally eliminate hunger, is thrown away annually in the United States.” AmpleHarvest.org enables neighbors in need to obtain garden fresh produce that might be left standing unharvested due to over production in home and community gardens. Please send food pantry’s that are unregistered to this website to help make a difference.

If you have extra garden bounty like the Fermilab Garden Club has – or if you have food products in your pantry that are going to be thrown out - please stop and think about your neighbor in need.

Have a food drive at your place of business – fresh veggies included – and make a difference for your community. Better yet, build a garden filled with love like these wonderful gardeners have. You might be building a lifetime of health and wellness.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Greening in Business - Ball Horticulture Teaching Employees How To Tend To Nature and Tend To Their Health With A Community Garden

Think about this – across the globe many businesses, churches, synagogues, mosques, and community centers are surround by a sea of an utterly useless plant – grass! What positive effect does acres of grass have for an organization? You cannot feed people on grass. American businesses and organizations use tons of chemicals to maintain the grass, which then cause damage to our water tables nationwide. If we are not mowing grass with carbon producing equipment, we are wasting water on it. This is such a tremendous and inane waste of our resources. It simply makes no sense.

My proposal to you dear reader – follow Ball Horticulture’s example of ditching some of the grass and building a healthy community. Ball Horticulture’s exciting move has been to do something about all that useless grass. They have created one of the first employee-run community gardens in the nation.

There is an unfathomable connection between nature and health. Healthy veggies grown with no chemicals; sunshine which produces good mood endorphins in our brains when we are exposed to it; fresh air which is a welcome escape from the confines of the typical closed environment office. This is just the beginning of what Ball Horticulture hopes to encourage with the creation of the Ball Horticulture Employee Community Garden.

Susan Schmitz, Trials and Education Manager, gave me a tour of the community gardens. Overflowing with every vegetable imaginable, 120 employees have come together to grow their own fresh food in 5’ X 8’ plots. According to Susan, half of those participating had never grown a vegetable before in their lives.

While Ball Horticulture is obviously experienced with plants, they realized that their various employees might not be. Therefore, to assure a higher success rate, Susan and her team came together to host seasonal training workshops. Knowing that veggies can quickly get out of hand in size, Susan felt the first step was having the employees understand what a 5’ X 8’ plot would look like. She taped the plot out on the floor and set out a couple plants on the imaginary plot to demonstrate spacing.

Education soon expanded to planting, weeding, and maintenance concerns, eventually growing into what veggies might be planted late in the season after the spring veggies peaked.

Susan also had a bi-weekly email resource and a company bulletin board established for further assistance with seasonal suggestions and questions which might help the employees have a better chance of succeeding.

Soon employees were growing masses of veggies and feeling very proud of themselves. They weigh each garden’s harvest on a produce scale so they can keep track of just how much locally grown and healthy food was produced. Many individuals choose to give all their veggies to the Giving Gardens Program, which donates the food to local food pantry’s.

While visiting the gardens, I was astounded at how truly beautiful they are. Each plot is labeled with the “owners” name, giving the employees a strong sense of ownership, responsibility, and accomplishment. Therefore, they are all wonderfully maintained.

Please make a difference in your community by helping people in this difficult economic time. All you businesses, churches, synagogues, mosques, and community centers do your community a favor - DITCH THE GRASS and BUILD A GARDEN. Make a difference today! 

Today’s post is a “Two Fer” – this blog is on both my greening blog – www.gardeningnude.com AND my gardening blog – http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com – ENJOY!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com.

Hydrangea Love – An Entertaining Idea On The Cheap and Green

I might not be Martha Stewart – spending less than $10 for a total entertaining evening in the garden – but perhaps that’s the point. With a very difficult economy on the horizon, it’s time we stopped spending extreme amounts of money for entertaining and started using what we have available to us. 

I choose to use the flowers in my own garden – this is quite a green choice because buying flowers that have been shipped from all over the world is just a ridiculous waste of carbon and energy.

Hydrangea’s are one of my favorite plants ever. It brings back memories of my grandmother every time I see their giant white flower in the garden.

During July they are truly at their height of beauty and every year I cut dozens of their stems and give them as gifts in great bunches tied with rubber bands to neighbors and friends. They make quite a statement on a dining room table or as a display by the front door.

Yesterday I held an America In Bloom meeting at my garden and wanted to make a spectacular display of the Hydrangea’s both as centerpieces and special features throughout the garden. In this photo guests wander my garden enjoying the evening.

My big splurge - for less than $2.00 each – was to purchase two colorful trash cans to use as vases. Cutting the Hydrangea’s at a point slightly above where it has a leaf, I gather a large pile of flowers. Next step is to strip off all the lower leaves to prevent rot in the water, and place them in the improvised vases.

Total cost is less than $4.00 and I have a gorgeous display for my get together which is green and utilizes very little carbon or energy. All the guests brought appetizers and I served summer cocktails made of lemonade, cucumber from the front yard veggie garden I grew for the 2009 “Get It Garden” Challenge and vodka. Simple. Easy. Delightful. Love it!

     

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Ladybird Johnson’s Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas – “Green” and Beautiful!

What do you do when you are in Texas, it’s 110 degrees outside and you want to see something green and get closer to nature? Go to Ladybird Johnson’s Wildflower Center just outside Austin. Above you see Tom Myer, President of the Austin American Marketing Association, smiling with me in front of a cool pool of water. I would have done just about anything to jump in that water – it is hot in Texas! Hot as heck - sweltering beyond imagination. With this in mind, it’s amazing to me that anyone even considers growing grass there. All grass in the region is brown and dead looking, while native plants and natural eco-environments are rich with green life and vivid color.

According to the wildflower center experts, “Lady Bird Johnson, former first lady, and actress Helen Hayes founded an organization in 1982 to protect and preserve North America's native plants and natural landscapes. First as the National Wildflower Research Center and later as the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, this special place exists to introduce people to the beauty and diversity of wildflowers and other native plants.”

What a perfect place to get in touch nature – most of the center’s public gardens grow prairie and xeriscaped plants as well as beautiful native woodlands and meadows. In 2006, the Center became an Organized Research Unit of the University of Texas at Austin and helps the national and international community understand more about its eco-system.

Grass is not very “green” or environmentally friendly because it takes tons of fuel every year to cut grass, and in most of the country grass also requires an unreasonable amount of water and chemicals to be maintained. Why not grow native and xeriscaped plants in your garden for a more sustainable and beautiful green environment? It’s the better choice! If they can do it it sizzling hot Austin, Texas, you can do it too!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Get Yo’ Green On Tuesday – Compost 101 – How To Compost

Food scraps and yard clippings make up one quarter of the United States’ solid waste piling up in landfills. The book, True Green, says, “When this organic matter ends up in landfills and decomposes without air, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas twenty times more potent than carbon dioxide.”

Composting is the way to cleanly convert kitchen and garden waste into productive soil matter without producing toxicity and it is one of nature’s best mulches and soil amendments. You can make it without spending a cent, which helps save you money. Which type of composter should you use? Above is a video which discusses two really fantastic composters – both different styles – sold by Clean Air Gardening.

When adding material to the composter, keep in mind the pile needs a proper ratio of carbon-rich materials, or “browns,” and nitrogen-rich materials, or “greens,” and moisture. Below is a list of browns and greens you might use in your compost pile.

Examples of browns:

• Newspaper, black-and-white print preferred.
• Brown paper bags from the grocery store.
• Shredded cardboard or cotton and paper-based tissues and towels.
• Floor sweepings.
• Straw.
• Aged grass clippings.
• Dead leaves. Do not use dead leaves from diseased plants.

Examples of greens:

• New grass clippings.
• Plant prunings. Do not add prunings from diseased plants.
• Spent flowers and pulled weeds.
• Coffee grounds.
• Tea bags with metal staple removed.
• Kitchen scraps. Avoid items that will root, such as potato skins and onions, unless ground completely. Do not add meat or bones or it will stink to high heaven!
• Barnyard animal manures such as cow, horse, chicken, goat, sheep, and rabbit. Do not use dog, cat, or human manure/feces as they may contain pathogens or diseases that could be harmful.

Managed composting involves active participation, including turning the pile occasionally. On average, it takes between three and four weeks to create compost. The speed is determined by the products you add, if they are chopped up, and how often you turn the pile. A good balance of carbon and nitrogen encourages quicker composting.

The temperature of the managed pile is important—it indicates the activity of the decomposition process. It should be warm or hot to the touch. If it is not, then the microbial activity has slowed down and you need to add more green materials. This heat can be encouraged if you place your compost pile in full sun.

Keeping the pile moist is also important as organic waste needs water to decompose. Gray water, in other words, old dish water or clothes washer water from your home can be drained into a compost pile regularly. The rule of thumb is to keep the pile as moist as a wrung-out sponge. If you actively manage the composting, within a few weeks you will have a rich additive for your garden.

To order the awesome composters used in the video, please go to www.cleanairgardening.com.

Today’s post is a “Two For Tuesday” – this blog is on both my greening blog – www.gardeningnude.com AND my gardening blog – http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com – ENJOY!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com.

“Plant A Row For the Hungry” and Feed America Healthy Food – You Can Make A Difference!

This year I wanted to truly make a difference for my community with the garden and encourage people to grow their own vegetables. Locally grown food is the freshest, plus growing your veggies organically ensures your family has a    healthier meal on the table. Happily, I have taken it a step farther and joined the “Plant A Row For the Hungry” movement. 

The Garden Writers Association has built the wonderful food program called “Plant A Row For the Hungry.” Launched in 1995, Plant A Row is a fantastic organization which encourages gardeners to give surplus garden produce to local food banks, soup kitchens, and service organizations to help feed America's hungry.

Since its inception, Plant A Row and the Garden Writers Foundation has helped to organize concerned citizens across the United States. Amazingly, according to the Plant A Row website, “over 14 million pounds of produce providing over 50 million meals have been donated by American gardeners” through the Plant A Row organization. It has truly made a difference for thousands of families.

My extra row is intermingled in a 200’ perennial bed I have built as a community garden out behind my back fence. Above you can see I posted signs to reduce veggie robbery and let the community know I am donating the produce to help feed the hungry. Every day this garden inspires me to smile in my heart. It makes me feel fantastic to know that I am trying to make a difference.

You can make a difference for your community too – if you have produce you are not going to use, please donate it to a local food bank and help your community.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Get Your Children Out In Nature – Study Cabbage Caterpillars In The Garden

We discovered cabbage worms in our broccoli. Ick. Gross. Blech. Nasty. Then my eight year old and I discovered that the Cabbage Worm Butterfly (known as the “Cabbage White”) is what the Cabbage Worm Caterpillar develops into. What a fantastic way to get your children out in the garden to learn about nature! You can see our discovery in the video above. 

In hopes of seeing the butterflies in our own front yard, we are now rescuing wayward cabbage worms and placing them on all our broccoli. The idea is to save the cabbage, kale, cauliflower, but to use the brocooli as a breeding ground for the little green caterpillars.

We are already finding chrysalis’s around the garden filled with the sleeping babies and cannot wait to see the butterflies emerge.

Get your children out in nature – it is a very green and healthy thing to do and they will love the time you spend together learning. Happily, the front yard veggie garden has turned into a wonderful experiment for our family.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Get Yo’ Green On Tuesday – Use a Rain Barrel to Save Money and Water Plus Help Our Stormwater Systems!

One of the most fantastic ways to practice conservation, save money, AND water is to use a rain barrel! Clean Air Gardening sells some of the best and easiest to install. Above you see an instructional video showing the basics for one of the rain barrels I have from Clean Air Gardening (and how it works with a rain diverter).

During the summer months, residential water use increases approximately 40% – most of it centered around outdoor water use. A rain barrel collects and stores rainwater from rooftops, preventing less strain on our stormwater systems. This water is non-potable, which means not-drinkable. It is stored and can be used later for watering your lawn or garden, washing your car, cleaning tools, and any other purpose you can come up with.

Typically, water from your roof flows through roof gutter downspouts and becomes stormwater runoff, ultimately moving onto paved surfaces and eventually into a storm drain. Many of our stormwater systems are over taxed. All the water from stormwater systems eventually ends up in the ocean. Stormwater runoff is the leading type of residential non-point source pollution and is a large concern for those monitoring our earth’s oceans and water systems.

Water conservation with rain barrels is important. Although it is a small percentage of water saved, every little bit counts. Instead of sending water to the ocean, we should be trying to replace the water in the water aquifer, thereby keeping our water in a more natural state of replenishment while simultaneously reducing stormwater system usage.  

Here are some easy steps for installation of a rain barrel:

1. Find an area under a downspout on your home that is flat and level.

2. Place cement blocks or a stand of some sort on the level ground where your rain barrel will sit. Keep in mind, most rain barrels weigh 400 + pounds when full. By raising up the rain barrel, it will allow a watering can to fit below the spigot and will also have more “gravity” pressure.

3. Place your empty barrel on the blocks and measure where you need to cut your downspout to allow for an elbow or a diverter to drain water into the top of the rain barrel.

4. Place the barrel aside and cut the downspout with a hack saw where you drew your line.

5. Slide an elbow or diverter over the downspout that will allow the water to drain into your barrel.

6. Remove the old downspout and save it for winter. You will need to replace it during winter since you cannot use the rain barrel during harsh winter temperatures.

7. Attach a short hose to the top overflow spigot and direct the hose away from your foundation. A hose can be attached to the bottom spigot too, however, I leave this as an option since I like to fill watering cans by using the bottom spigot.

8. Slide your barrel under the newly reconfigured downspout and you are done.

To order the rain barrel and diverter used in the video, please go to www.cleanairgardening.com. Below you can see the rain barrel and down spout system as it rests today. I love my rain barrel - it has been an awesome tool to help water the front yard vegetable garden I am growing this season.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Get Yo’ Green On Tuesday – Save Landscape Waste From the Landfill

Today I am taking you with me on a field trip to help save some landscaping and gardening materials. Why, you ask? Because this is an easy way to make a difference and I wanted to show you how you can do it too.

Due to overfilled landfills, most states have banned or are beginning to ban “green wastes” such as landscaping waste, yet many states still allow this type of wasteful dumping. In the past, when a landscaping company pulled out tulip bulbs or plant materials and bushes, it went straight to the garbage dump. Currently, many communities are using ordinances requiring construction firms to submit recycling plans for their construction and landscaping projects and to report the amount of materials disposed of and recycled.

America In Bloom (AIB) is a national organization built to help make a difference for communities. Each community has to budget their own funds and is able to do more with donations of old landscaping products. Last year I connected with a large local landscaping firm and asked them to call me the next time they were tossing out landscaping material so I could come collect it for my local AIB organization. This morning I got a phone call from the group letting me know where they had just deposited several thousand tulip bulbs for collection. You can see my little field trip in the video above.

Imagine that these bulbs were once thrown in the garbage, and I was able to save the tulips from the landfill, make a difference for my community gardens, and beautify my city with them with a fairly small effort.

You can do this too - it is one small thing you can do to make a difference for your community.

Today’s post is a “Two For Tuesday” – this blog is on both my greening blog – www.gardeningnude.com AND my gardening blog – http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com – ENJOY!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com.

Smile In The Garden – Get Out In Nature and Enjoy June!

This week my garden has produced the most beautiful flowers of June. Stepping outside I can breathe in fresh air, see humming birds busily drinking nectar, and smile simply for the joy of seeing the outer world in all it’s glory. For me, it’s health embodied.

These two photos show the view I have right outside my front door - - enjoy!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Six Tips to Save Money and Conserve Water

Saving money is especially important in these difficult economic times. Below is a short video demonstrating six easy and simple tips to conserve water – and money - at home.

Every year Americans waste hundreds of gallons of water both at home and business. It is an unnecessary waste. Surprisingly, 97% of the water on earth is salt water, with only 3% being fresh water. Out of that 3%, 2% is unattainable – frozen as ice or in unreachable aquifer’s beneath the ground. That leaves 1% of reachable water on our planet for all of mankind to share.

Not only is it expensive to waste water; it is depleting our globes most precious resource. Make a difference and follow these six easy tips, three indoors and three outdoors, to conserve water on your property and do your small part to make a great difference:

1. Turn off your water while you are doing the dishes.

2. Turn off your water while you are brushing your teeth.

3. Utilize water saving toilets and appliances.

4. In the garden plant sustainably by positioning plants together that have similar water requirements.

5. Mulch your gardens so less water will be required for landscaping.

6. Utilize compost in your garden to enhance the soil’s ability to hold water.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

The Health Benefits of Being in Nature – How a Garden Saved My Life

Joe Lamp’l posted the below “guest post” which I wrote on his Compost Confidential blog site a while back. It received such a positive response, that I wanted to post it here also to let the world know that being in nature regularly DID save my life and it can save your life too. 

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Today's post is by my friend and guest blogger, Shawna Coronado. Little did I know, when I met Shawna only a few months ago on Twitter, her story would be so perfect for a new campaign I was working. With all the cutbacks and reduced media exposure these days to gardening, I embarked on a mission to be a champion for the cause. With apologies to Michael Pollan, I wanted to entitle my campaign; "In Defense of Gardening", but for now, I'm calling it "Why Gardening is Important".

Part of what makes this popular pastime so vital to millions, is the health benefits derived from it. We all know what we get out of it personally as it relates to stress reduction and a bit of exercise, but countless studies worldwide, support just how important the act of gardening really is in so many ways, well beyond simply what we do as a hobby.

So today, I introduce  you to Shawna, and her story of how gardening literally may have saved her young life:

Over 10 years ago, I was very ill of health. A single Mom, I had endometriosis, combined with stress, lack of outdoor exposure, poor eating habits, severe allergies, high blood pressure, asthma, sugar and chemical sensitivities. This escalated to severe upper respiratory problems. I was always sick with bronchitis triggered by allergies as well as non-stop woman issues such as yeast and bacterial infections. I frequently suffered migraines and head and back pain.

All these things and many other pressures began to build in my life. Before I knew it I looked like a skeletal stick figure and weighed only 96 pounds. My back would go out often [due to muscle weakness] and I would be left unable to walk for days or even a week at a time. I worked and came home and rarely went out doors. At one point I took over a dozen prescriptions a day just to survive. It was a grim existence.

One day a surprising thing happened that changed my life; I got the genius idea to build a garden on the city easement area around my front mail box. That experience was the beginning of an incredible journey for me both emotionally and physically. It was a revelation and within a few years, “down-sized” my career, became a professional garden designer and full-time writer. I feel better and look better than I ever have – I am thirty pounds heavier than I was ten years ago, but I look healthy and feel well. It is still necessary for me to take prescriptions, but now I only take three per day instead of over a dozen.

Many gardens later, I am still gardening heartily. Nature has become my source of health. As I became exposed to the outdoors and increased my physical activity, I started feeling relief with all my health ailments. Better diet, exercise, and outdoor exposure truly helped me to recover and feel as if I am alive again. Although far from perfect, it was such a tremendous change that I still feel it could be called “a miracle.” Building my health back through gardening had become such an amazing experience for me that in 2008 I wrote and published "Gardening Nude", a book about better health through environmental exposure and greening.

Gardening and green lifestyle living helps me cope with stress better and in-turn it also helps my body tolerate my allergies and other conditions as well. I make time for the outdoors, and even more important to my plan, I make time for community. Building a healthier community, particularly in the gardening world, is a fantastic prelude to expanding your soul. Meeting people who live in the surrounding area and building wacky relationships with wonderful friends in my community helped me realize how important being a part of a community contributes to my better health and can do so for you too.

Gardening is a natural step towards community. Who has a plant to share or a vegetable to share during the gardening season? Every gardener I know. The simple act of giving to another human being is enough to begin a healthy mental relationship with that person. While making the physical effort to get out into nature and build a garden is important, it is the act of following through with community which will truly make a difference for your emotional health.

It has become my passion to bring community together and to teach people that it is possible to be energetic, healthy, and to live a lifestyle which is good for the environment and the world. It is possible to be less stressed, less isolated and more satisfied with who you are and the life you are living. I know because my family and I are happily living it; the green life.

All thanks to a garden and one determined woman.

Shawna Lee Coronado is an author, columnist, energetic speaker, and environmental and health correspondent. Her book “Gardening Nude” is focused on health improvement by exposure to nature, greening, and community building and can be purchased on www.amazon.com. Find more about Shawna through her website – www.thecasualgardener.com.

Monday Whazzup – A View of My Spring Garden – Hosta Smiles

This glorious Hosta offered a smile as spring sunshine made it’s leaves glow over the weekend. I love you nature!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

How To Plant A “GREEN” and Water Conserving Flowerpot or Container Garden

Every year millions of people plant flowerpots. Although beautiful, one problem with flowerpots is that you sometimes have to water the pots every day, particularly during the hot summer months.

My secret for potting plants insures you do not have to water as much, plus you are able to reduce, reuse, and recycle household products in the process. Last year I watered perhaps once a week, maybe twice a week during the hottest time of the season. (Video demonstration above.)

CONSERVATION CONTAINER PLANTING 101

STEP ONE -

Find a container with a drainage hole and place plastics you cannot recycle or light weight recyclables like milk cartons and water bottles in the bottom of the pot. Make sure you have about five to six inches of space left at the top of the pot for soil. Top your plastic/recycle filled area with sheets of newspaper, a pizza box, or some cardboard to prevent soil from leaking down through the cracks of the pot and being lost from the plant roots.

STEP TWO -

Add growing mix. I prefer a mixture of 3/4 traditional potting soil, 1/4 composted manure (I am using Buff Stuff – a “buffalo” manure), organic time-release fertilizer, and Soil Moist or Soil Moist Mycorrhiza water crystals according to package directions.

STEP THREE - 

Pot your plants. First arrange your plants to see if they all fit. Then plant according to your plan, making sure you plant them up to the crown of the root area. If you utilize a mix of drought tolerant perennials and annuals, you will have to water the pots much less. This year I have used a mixture of Proven Winners annuals and perennials because they have come out with a line of “heat/drought” tolerant annuals which help conserve water usage. Some of my favorites (seen here) include the Proven Winners Supertunia Mini-Silver, Diamond Frost Euphorbia, Graceful Grasses Red Riding Hood, and the Jolly Bee Geranium

STEP FOUR -

Water regularly with a thorough soaking at the base of the plants. Make sure you completely wet the soil with a heavy watering less often instead of watering lightly, but inadequately, more often. This will help the water crystals to obtain and hold water for their “time release” effect and you will spend less time tending your container garden.

Give this reduce, reuse, and recycle planting technique a try and you will see the benefits as less water usage, more money savings, and less plastic products thrown away in the landfills!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Get Yo Green On Tuesday – Native Plants Conserve Water

According to Jim Kleinwachter, a good friend who runs the “Conservation @ Home” program through The Conservation Foundation, native plants are the only way to go. Judging by the gorgeous photos seen here of native Bluebells and other flowers in his woodland garden, I can understand and agree with his mindset. Do the right thing - use native plants in your gardens and help your environment.

The “Conservation @ Home” website gives some wonderful reasons for utilizing natives; “Native plants grow natural without supplemental watering or fertilizers. Once established, native plants thrive on their own and do especially well during drought conditions because their deep roots hold the soil and allow water to filter down deep into the ground where it belongs. Yards with native landscaping reduce local flooding and clean pollution from rainwater before it reaches our rivers, lakes and ponds. And, perhaps the best part is that they attract dozens of species of beneficial wildlife like butterflies and songbirds.”

Consider native plants for your landscaping purposes and you will be surprised how easy, rewarding, and GREEN they are to grow. Best yet, they utilize less water and attract local wildlife which will help make your yard a haven of beauty. Without chemical use and excessive water use it will cost less to maintain. Contact your local nursery to find out more about native plants for your region.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Get Yo Green On Tuesday – Composting Kit And A Way To Save Kitchen Scraps From The Landfill

One of the greenest things you can do is save anything you can from a landfill. Food scraps are particularly difficult for landfills to deal with because when the scraps “melt” into mush they turn into a toxic bacterial soup that runs out of landfills like a river. We, as taxpayers, must clean up this “river” of ick with our tax money. Nice, right?

It seems to me that there’s an easier way to handle the problem: composting. If we compost our own kitchen scraps we are saving energy and money for taxpayers. Compost has the added bonus of being “gold” for your garden. Good deal.

Here’s the catch – last year I failed at composting. Something went wrong and my well intentioned kitchen scraps, leaves, and yard waste did not turn into compost. To help solve the problem I ordered a very cool kitchen scrap composting kit from Clean Air Gardening. It has a cool kitchen countertop pail with a filter so it does not smell, compostable bags, a compost thermometer,  and a “Home Composting Made Easy” book.

What did I do wrong last year? After reading the instruction guide carefully I think my compost pile was not wet enough. This year I put the compost bins right next to my newly installed rain barrels. Seems like it will be a lot easier to transfer water into the compost bin and all will be well.

Meanwhile, I have fallen in love with the awesome non-stinking kitchen countertop pail. Quite a change from the old bucket I was using. If you want to order your own composting kit, it is easy to get online at Clean Air Gardening. Go here - http://www.cleanairgardening.com/composting-kit.html.

Today’s post is a “Two For Tuesday” – this blog is on both my greening blog – www.gardeningnude.com AND my gardening blog – http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com – ENJOY!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com.

Monday Whazzup – 2009 Chicago Flower & Garden Show is More Sustainable!

Saturday I got lucky and nude. Well… metaphorically. As a member of the Garden Writers Association, I was allowed to go to the 2009 Chicago Flower & Garden Show as a preview reporter. This was a wonderful experience as I was able to scope out the main floor before the show opened.

Imagine my complete surprise when I saw a generous amount of green and sustainable solutions being demonstrated to the public at the garden show. More importantly, I saw ways that green solutions can and should be incorporated into our neighborhoods and daily life. Finally the world is starting to get it – greening is not just about recycling or about gardening; it is about a community taking care of each other.

My first view of the day featuring the Chicago Flower & Garden Show’s theme “Our World in Bloom” was from the catwalk high above the show floor and the above shot is what I saw: pergolas and structures built with “green” roofs. Many people have never seen a green roof in action and seeing how very beautiful the green roofs are as well as what important tools they are for reducing heat and therefore energy use in our homes and work environments is a fantastic resource.

Many displays were sustainable in nature, with strong showings from the Chicago Park District and City of Chicago on encouraging people to conserve water and resources which I find particularly important in these difficult economic times. My only desire for improvement would be that there would be even more demonstrations of rain barrels and other water-centric savings ideas. However, this was a fantastic start – I hope there will be lots more next year. Below is a great example of a home with a green roof which utilizes rain barrels and recycled materials to make water features and other sustainable gardening concepts.

THIS is the type of garden show the average homeowner needs to see to help define what water saving and sustainability can mean to the individual homeowner. It IS possible to strip away the excuses and get straight down to energy and money savings. 

Going to see the show for the gardens as well as the sustainability is fantastic, however, it was the gorgeous displays of “greening” examples that will really educate the homeowner about better green lifestyle practices as well as better horticultural practices. Please go to the show and have a look for yourself this week!

To learn more about the show and how to get to Navy Pier for your advanced peek at spring, go to the website – www.chicagoflower.com. Be sure to get there before March 15th or you will miss the excitement.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Garlic Mustard – A Sustainability Disaster in Our Environment By Guest Writer Susan Harris

Today’s blog focuses on a serious disaster happening across the United States and Canada – the devastation of our forest floors by a plant known as “Garlic Mustard.” It is horribly invasive. Being green means stewardship – to the land – to the people. Finding a way to stop the invasion of this and other invasive plants will help us to save the eco-system.

Guest blogger Susan Harris is an awesome garden and sustainability writer, and participates as a editor and blogger for “Garden Rant.com.” Susan writes for  many publications and today's sustainable and relevant blog is written by Susan. Read on....

For as long as anyone can remember, the wooded valley that my back  yard is part of has been covered with English ivy.  Not just on the forest floor but even up into the trees where it matures and produces berries, berries that are then spread far and wide by the birds.  But then came another vine that - can it be? - managed to win the battle of primacy with the ivy - the five-leaf akebia.  It now has a lock on the lowest, wettest parts of the valley.

Then suddenly the fastest spreading invasive plant EVER landed in our valley -  the lovely garlic mustard.  Its beauty (of sorts) is important to mention because when I’ve shown it to neighbors I’ve discovered that it’s been picked, brought indoors and admired!   Oh well.  Even if they removed it by its roots it wouldn’t slow the steady march of garlic mustard across the woodland floor. 

It’s really no wonder this plant is so successful.  It likes the sun, it likes the shade, it seems to like every damn location in North America.

So thank to Barbara Lucas and her pals in the Midwest for this video that goes a long way to showing exactly what mustard garlic looks like and then how to get rid of it.  I think I’ll forward this to my neighborhood Yahoo group with the broad hint that we make ridding our valley of this one plant our New Year’s Resolution for the lovely woodland we share.

Garlic Mustard Identification and Control from Barbara Lucas on Vimeo.

Garlic Mustard Identification and Control from Barbara Lucas on Vimeo.

Susan Harris is a Master Gardener, garden coach, garden and sustainability writer and blogger located the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.  Visit her online at one of these wonderful websites - www.sustainablegardeningblog.com, www.sustainable-gardening.com, www.gardenrant.com or www.dc-urban-gardener-news.com

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! http://www.thecasualgardener.com/, The Green Blog - http://www.gardeningnude.com/, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com/

Gardening Nude Naked Winner of the Week: Naomi Sachs, Nature and Garden Healing Therapy Expert

On Friday's, Gardening Nude The Blog features a special person for the day. This person is the "Naked Winner of the Week." Every person featured in this category is a winner for doing great things for the community and trying to make a difference for the world. You can make a difference too.

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The naked winner of the week for 01-16-09 is ::drum roll please::

Naomi Sachs, for teaching the world how to facilitate health and wellness by experiencing healing therapy gardens and nature. She is the founder of the Therapeutic Landscapes Resource Center and is truly making a difference by helping people recover more quickly from illnesses on both an emotional and physical level. 

Naomi Sachs, ASLA, is the Founder and Executive Director for the not-for-profit organization, Therapeutic Landscapes Resource Center and Database (TLDB). This resource can be found at www.healinglandscapes.org. When Naomi founded the organization, she knew the healing benefits of being out in nature and wanted the world to practice better habits for helping the public heal both emotionally and physically from illnesses.

With the recent addition of the Therapeutic Landscapes Database Blog - http://tldb.blogspot.com - Naomi has been able to bring her inspirational message to more and more people across the globe. Living an outdoor experience, particularly in gardens, can heal the mind and body. 

I was so inspired by Naomi Sachs and her healing designs and group of healing  gardeners, that I wrote a feature about her and her organization in my latest book, Gardening Nude.You will find the full excerpt from the book at the end of this Friday Naked Person of the week with photo excerpts of several of her beautiful nature designs.

TLDB needs help and funding to get the message of experiencing nature for healing out to gardeners and non-gardeners alike - they have an Amazon Associates link on the blog which, if you order books through Amazon via this link, will allow TLDB to earn funding based on your orders. Here's the link - TLDB Amazon Associates Funding Link.

Thank you Naomi Sachs for founding TLDB and truly making a difference for the world. We need more love, generosity, and healing - and healing mentally and physically ill individuals is a beautiful thing to accomplish. Naomi wins a wave and a cheer from all the Gardening Nude readers for making a true difference in the world.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com or The Blogs - www.gardeningnude.com or http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

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Click the link below to continue reading more about Naomi Sachs and how she's healing the world. The write-up below is the full feature excerpt from “Gardening Nude.”

A Garden Can Be Therapy

Therapeutic Landscaping is a relatively new term that is changing the face of traditional landscaping. The term refers to fostering the mental, physical, and spiritual restoration of the human condition in a garden. Therapeutic gardens can be small or large, but all of them encourage total immersion in nature so a person can escape from illness, pain, and depression.

A therapeutic garden can be designed to enhance medical treatments, assist medical staff in giving care, provide relief for a particular medical condition, reduce stress and aggression, or simply provide a place where a busy family can go to heal and relax. A good therapeutic garden is also a green-centered garden, taking advantage of positive environmental practices.

Monday Whazzup - Make a Difference in Nature and In The Life Of A Child

This photo is a picture of my daughter in front of the twelve foot sunflowers we grew in the back garden this year.

Life is what we make it. What if I told you that every day you could make a difference in the life of a child simply by exposing them to nature? You could make your life better and your child's. I know this fact as truth - that exposing children to nature will make a difference for them - because of my own children's reaction to the world surrounding them.

My oldest daughter, a senior in high school, became involved in an environmental class this year and spends several times a week out in a prairie or in the woods studying nature. She can identify prairie plants, talk about beneficial insects, and tell me the sounds that nature makes - more importantly, on the days she is out in nature, she comes home more cheerful and happy. Being outdoors is a mood enhancer. Simple exposure to sunlight and nature helps a young person's brain chemicals, such as serotonin, move the way they should.

This type of energy is the type of energy we want our children to have instead of caffeine- or sugar-generated energy. It is longer lasting, healthier, and stimulates lasting memories. Bottom line; it is fun and makes the kids feel happy.

Testimony to this claim is the Sunflower adventure my youngest daughter and I had together this summer. One afternoon I dumped a handful of sunflower seeds in my hand and said, "will you look at that!"

"What?" said my youngest, leaning low to my hand so she could get a close-up view of the seeds.

"That!" I smile, "This is a sunflower!"

"MOMMMMM, it is not, it's too little!" she answered incredulously.

"It will be in a few months," I said. "Let's go outside and plant them." We got our old shoes on, grabbed a shovel, some popsicle sticks, and a watering can and headed out behind the fence.

Trash In the Environment - Do You Care For Your Community - Or Is It Left To One Lonely Klutz?

'Tis the season to close up the garden - it is ready for the long winter nap - so today I had an adventure. I gather bulbs, gloves, shovel, bucket, and a rake together, balance them delicately in my arms and head out behind the fence to enjoy one last dig in the back garden.

As I take one long stride across the widest part of the bed, I put my foot down and feel as if I am going to over-balance. There's a slippery lump under my left foot and my right foot, now ponderously hanging in the air, is leaving no purchase. With a jerk, I try to find balance, managing to hang on to the armful of equipment with luck. Still teetering in a drunken fashion I take another step and without warning spin another 180 degrees before falling on my hind-in with a whump and cracking the back of my head solidly on the cement walkway.

Cars drive by. No one stops. I lay there looking at the sky for a few minutes, recovering what dignity I have left. Not much at this point, I might add, and get myself up and dust off. When I look back at the garden it looks as if an explosion has happened; bulbs, bucket, gloves, shovels and all equipment laying willy-nilly, and a surprise is laying in middle of the mess.

An unhappy surprise. There in the middle of my garden is a piece of garbage - a slick piece of cellophane wrapper, which is what slipped me up and now had me fuming. Imagine the audacity of that dastardly cellophane; purposely targeting me like that!

Smiles In The Garden - Why I Have No Ass And The World is Right

When I am in the garden during any season I feel fantastic. Being out in nature, breathing the air, living in the sunshine; these things bring a special joy to my heart. Experiencing the challenge and inspiration gardening motivated me to learn more about conservation and environmental concerns. Ultimately the little bit of nature in my back yard become the inspiration to write the greening and health book Gardening Nude because of the positive way it has changed my life forever.

Digging in the garden is fantastic! I have learned to be more physically fit by working my ass off out there in the fresh air. No kidding - I have no ass - even my family teases me about my flat booty. Belts are required daily or my pants would fall down   Fall Sedum Neon with bee resting on flower.  to my knees! There could be worse things in life other than a flat fanny, right? Gardening keeps me green, humble, and helps me see the positives.

When fall hits, the garden season is nearly done and I turn to walking (or skipping should my eight year old come along) as my preferred exercise. Perhaps I might be able to build a booty if I walk more? Well, maybe... anything to help hold my jeans up.

Hydrangea tinted pink with fall's warm color change.

Today I walked my suburban neighborhood enjoying all the changing colors in my neighbors fall gardens and feeling wonderful. To me the world is right and good when nature brings a smile to my face.

My own garden is almost done blooming; just a week ago there were gorgeous flowers, and now the spent seed heads rustle in the wind. In memory of the early fall garden and all its challenging health benefits (a.k.a. the hard work which awarded me with a flat fanny) - I present you with some photos of my garden which I hope will make you smile and lighten your day. Enjoy!

   

Fall Sedum Matrona surrounded by Black Eyed Susans and Catmint.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community!

www.thecasualgardener or The Blog - www.gardeningnude.com

Get Yo Green On Tuesday - Darth Vader is In My Garden!

This green tip is an updated excerpt from Shawna's newspaper column on greening and gardening; The Casual Gardener (www.thecasualgardener.com).

Allergies!!  I got’em!  Particularly to molds.  Fall is a season which brings misery to me, even with my positive health routine. So it might surprise you to find out one of the conservation secret ingredients in my garden is composted leaf mold! 

It seems an irony that one of the best things for your garden drives me to wear an industrial respirator mask.  My  neighbors and children laugh and call me Darth Vader. Although they’re more likely to say, “What the *%$& are you doing with that THING on?” My cat sits in the front window and stares hard at me in terror. Even Harry the Pug barks at me until his little doggy voice is hoarse.

It seems crazy that this sexy costume is my jewelry of choice during the mold season - which, in my neck of the woods begins when the leaves start to fall and lasts until the first hard frost of the year. Yet the truth of the matter is I am not willing to give in to adversity and let the allergies win. In my opinion, exposure to the sunlight and being outside in the garden is healthy and makes me feel like a million bucks – even if I sometimes have to wear a mask. And besides all that – leaf matter is conservation GOLD to your garden.

Get Yo Green On Tuesday - Find Your Recycling Zen

Get Jiggy Wit Yo Recycling Zen - that's right people - we need a serious lesson today on getting jiggy wit it!

Why oh why is it possible that people in the United States still cannot put an aluminum can in a recycling bin? In the city I live in - a lovely green town indeed - we have full-on garbage-man retrieved recycling. No charge. Free. Gratis. FREE PEOPLE. They DO charge, however, for trash pick up. Let's see... PAY for garbage removal or FREE for recycling... hmmm... common sense. Use it.

This is why I was shocked on my morning bike ride when I found this can of Manzanita Sol (made by PepsiCo) sitting next to my back garden. The garden is built on a walking path, so lots of people pass by the spot. Note the can is crushed - I mean, heck, that's half-way to the recycling bin right there.

Gardening Nude Naked Winner of the Week

Every Friday I feature a special person on the Gardening Nude Blog. This person is the "Naked Winner of the Week." Every person featured in this category is a winner for doing great things for the community and is trying to make a difference for the world. You can make a difference too.

- - - - - - -

The naked winner of the week for 10-03-08 is ::drum roll please::

Roger Quackenbush, owner of TulipsNMore Bulb Company for donating profits from his small business to better the world!

One of my initiatives is to encourage corporations of all sizes to give more to environmental organizations so that our children will have a greener earth. Roger Quackenbush is making that happen by donating all the profits from Illinois orders from his small business, www.tulipsnmore.com (an Illinois flower and bulb company) through October 5, 2008 to his local America In Bloom organization.

America in Bloom is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that helps communities nationwide build beautification and environmental enhancement programs through personal and community involvement. Roger volunteers with his local America In Bloom organization and has contributed in the past by hand-digging butterfly and native plant gardens, donating thousands of bulbs to the city, and now by donating the profits from his company as well.

Roger won a case of Mountain Dew - the nectar of the Gods.

Way to go Roger! Thanks for making a difference for your local community and the world!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community!

www.thecasualgardener.com and The Blog - www.gardeningnude.com

Gardening Nude Naked Winner of the Week - Frank Novakowski

Every Friday I feature a special person on the Gardening Nude Blog. This person is the "Naked Winner of the Week." Every person featured in this category is a winner for doing great things for the community and is trying to make a difference for the world. You can make a difference too.

- - - - - - -

The naked winner of the week for 09-25-08 is ::drum roll please::

Teacher and environmentalist Frank Novakowski for recycling trash into treasure!

Wheaton Warrenville South High School has a great Science teacher in Frank Novakowski. One of his favorite classes that he teaches is Environmental Science. His concern over making a difference for the planet is seen when he teaches this class. It represents an opportunity to educate children who might not be exposed to positive environmental ideas.

I believe "Mr. Nova" should have the Naked Winner of the Week award for truly living the life he teaches his students every day.

He and Mrs. Novakowski recycle, compost, and do many other good things for the environment. However, his special recycling achievement was in recently turning trash into treasure. He got a call from a relative telling him about a giant water barrel in an apartment building dumpster. It had a broken spigot, but was otherwise undamaged. They pulled the water barrel out of the trash, and after purchasing a new spigot for less than ten dollars, Mr. Nova attached the water barrel on to his house and now recycles the rain water which comes off his roof. He's saving a valuable resource and saving his family money as well.

Good job Mr. Nova - YOU ROCK!!

Mr. Nova won a special River Birch tree which I've been growing since Arbor Day. It is special because I braided three birch trees together and the braided form will stay for the life of the tree.

Congrats and thanks for being a great "every-day" environmentalist Mr. Nova!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community!

www.thecasualgardener.com and The Blog - www.gardeningnude.com

Get Yo Green On Tuesdays - MOO-NURE Adventure and Product Review

While I was at one of the local Home Depot's, a rather loud and frustrated 40-something mother was standing over her toddler exclaiming, “Jeffrey, take the petunia out of your nose right now!” After careful consideration, I am absolutely sure that when she was her former 22 year old nubile self, she never pictured those words coming out of her mouth. Less than three minutes later she slapped his hand viciously and shouted, “I told you not to eat the ‘MOO-NURE’!”

Now THAT got my attention. I walked over to the giant aisle filled with row upon row of compost and rotted manure pallets - my personal gardening Mecca. With choirs singing and a golden halo surrounding the pallet, I discovered MOO-NURE. Pause here for crescendo.

MOO-NURE is a creatively packaged purple bag of rotted cow poop. No kidding. There’s a rather large photo of a very happy black and white cow on the bag. Yes, I said happy. She’s actually looking out of the corner of her eye in a provocative way; a cow supermodel declaring her poo-confidence.

The label announces that MOO-NURE is 100% Organic Compost with Cow Manure. Words float across the purple and white plastic which tantalize me. Like, “clay breaker,” “excellent rich soil amendment,” “retains moisture,” “mild manure suitable for all flowers.” I read the nitrogen content and my eyebrows raise up so high they touch my hairline.

Quickly I reach for the other composted manure bags – the one’s that are less beautiful and not so happy. They have virtually no nitrogen, yet, in my opinion these sorry non-purple packages are singularly responsible for the miracle Hydrangea growth I have seen in my perennial beds. I frown and thinking carefully, then put two and two together. The secret in my garden has always been rotted cow manure. This lovely purple bag is filled with SUPER-POO, I might even add, happy poo. My garden deserves happy poo, I’m convinced of it.

With a sparkle in my eye and a racing heart, I realize I must have this for my garden! It is remarkable! It is amazing! It is purple! It is poop! Faster than you can say “pee-you” I have heaved five of the 25 pound bags onto my bright orange mega-center cart and raced for the cash register.

With receipt waving in my hand, I run to my car through the maze of flowers and clunk over water hoses with my heavily laden cart. As I reach the car I see Jeffrey and his mother. She’s strapping him into the family van in between increasingly large Jeffrey-screeches. “Jeffrey,” I shout, “you’re a genius!!”

His mother shoots me a vicious, might I say hateful, look. But Jeffrey, of course, smiles at me as I dash by. I smile back and laugh because he’s holding an orange sucker in one hand, which has attached to the hair on the side of his head. His cheeks are covered with a loud brown smear of compost – I’m certain it’s the MOO-NURE.

I drive off feeling satisfied and excited at the thought of the garden waiting for me at home. I’m sure you’ll say I’m a victim of the marketing executives – the “man” has triumphed because I have fallen prey to a smiling cow. Indeed, it is true. I am weak and cannot resist the power of super-poo. The MOO-NURE has been the best rotted manure I have ever used in my garden. It’s the best! My garden is happy now, and I know all is right with the world.

Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community!

 www.thecasualgardener.com or The Blog – www.gardeningnude.com  

The S-ASSY Tomato Saga

The S-assy Tomato Saga I have sassy tomatoes. Say it with me now – “SASSY tomatoes!”

The Sassy Tomato Saga begian with my concern over the environment and the food my family consumes. I mean, c’mon, would you eat bug killer? Every time you buy a non-organically grown fruit or vegetable you allow your family to consume chemical residue. It’s time to give our children better health, isn’t it?

Yet, who can afford organic? It’s expensive - many organic vegetables are flown here from all over the world utilizing extensive transportation which produces a lot of CO2 and contributes to global warming. When I approach the organic produce section I often see the snobby organic fruits wearing stylish plastic coverings; their little elitist fur coats. The answer: buy local. Buying local means you usually get organic as well as better nutrition. Vegies which have been picked at the peak of ripeness have more vitamins and much more flavor.

In an effort to stay local and combat the grocery prices, I decided to grow my own tomatoes this summer. A sweet couple, Susan and Larry Kasprowicz, grew a Polish Heritage tomato plant for me from seed over the winter. Larry is a remarkable survivor. He has Type II diabetes and has survived colon cancer. He has fibrocystic lung disease, emphysema, congestive heart failure, and atrial fibrillation. He gardens to stay alive and healthy – something I highly recommend. Thanks for spreading the tomato love Larry!

Here’s Susan and Larry in their garden – aren’t they adorable?

Susan and he brought the tomato plant and stake over for me and, due to the rain, we planted it a bit late in the spring behind my fence in the area I have designated as a garden for the public. I waited. And waited. Forever. It takes a long time to grow a tomato. I checked on the babies every day and finally, after months, the little buggers began getting larger and started to ripen.

Finally the day came when I could pick my ‘mater. I was so excited! I brought the camera and my garden snippers out and took this photo of the prize tomatoes:

 

I picked one tomato, raised it above my head like an Olympic champion, danced a victory wiggle, and shouted “WAHOO!”

The next day I came back out to pick the other one AND IT HAD BEEN STOLEN! ARGH! DOH! Call the tomato police! Call the FBI! Call Whole Foods! It was a crime of passion I’m sure as these tomatoes taste like heaven.

In fact, I had several tomato plants sprinkled throughout my perennial garden and I was only able to save two tomatoes. Both are MIRACLE tomatoes and I wanted to share the tomato miracle with my husband (and now my readers).

The first miracle is tomato number one. It is shaped rather like the view of a man’s bottom - -

“Honey, I grew a tomato that looks like a butt! Wanna see?”

Husbands reply, “uh, no!”

“But it’s a BUTT!”

“NO!”

The second miracle is tomato number two is square – A SQUARE I TELL YOU - - “Mom you grew a square! How’d you do that?” “uh… my super tomato powers, didn’t you know?”

Why not feed your family locally grown or organic foods? You’ll discover a miracle or two in the process – maybe not a “mooning” tomato – but perhaps better health.

Get healthy! Get Green! Get Community!

www.thecasualgardener.com and www.gardeningnude.com