“Love Life, Not Stuff”, that is the title to a great post written by Leo Babauta regarding the fact that folks have made acquiring so much “stuff” a priority, that we have lost our love for life……….
“Our obsession with stuff has become unhealthy. When we have a void in our lives, we buy things. When we have problems, we buy things. And these things are becoming more and more expensive, bigger, shinier … more wasteful.”
What I love most about Leo’s post, is his list of things that we can actually do to enjoy life more. For example, the first thing he suggests, and in my opinion one of the most healthy things one can do to enjoy life, is to “get outside and feel nature, appreciate the beauty of the world around you. Get active, do some gardening or yardwork, play a sport, go for a walk, take a hike, go for a swim, ride a bike. Feel the life coursing through you. Breathe it in.”
I have written before that just playing in the dirt can be so good for you; good for your serotonin levels and therefore good for your mood. But the fact of the matter is, being outside is good for you too. Fresh air and sunshine provide so much more than just hayfever and a sunburn, so take some time to really smell the flowers…..the wild flowers, and enjoy the beauty of a sunrise and a sunset. After all, love is not just a Zen Habit, it is the foundation of life itself!
I found a terrific blog called Twilight Earth and they have posted an array of photos that feature a fantastic fireworks show in Washington DC. You simply have to take a look. Here’s a preview of what you’ll see…….
Where I live it gets very hot and humid in the summer and sometimes it is unbearable outdoors. Succulents are a fantastic plant for the hottest of summers because not only do they store water in their stems and leaves but God designed them to store water from the atmosphere and soil making less work for me in drought conditions.
Melinda Myers, from Birds and Blooms, uses succulents in containers………
“subtle in appearance, I prefere to use containers of equally understated beauty, so that the planter doesn’t overshadow the plant”.
My favorite of the succulents are the flowery Portulaca and Puslane. Their rubbery leaves remind me of the native ice plant I grew up with on the West Coast and have a variety of bright colored flowers that open in the day and close up at night like a real desert flower.
Sedum is also another favorite. It returns every year bigger and better than before and lasts from Spring until Fall, changing color along the way.
Posted in succulents
Tagged cactus, desert flowers, ice plant, Portulaca, Purslane, succulents
I’ve got some gorgeous Jalapeno peppers that looked too good to not pick so I did! Being new to gardening and growing vegetables, I did a bit of research to determine when Jalapeno peppers are ready to be picked. Turns out you can pick them just about any time but the longer they stay on the plant the hotter and tastier they become.
The good news is, when you pick peppers, more grow so when the tomatoes are finally ready, I will have some zesty salsa. I can’t wait!
June has been a very strange month here in Missouri. We are having record heat and the storms have been amazing. So far, I have had no real damage to my garden but my neighbor’s house was hit by lightning. Wind and flooding rains have been the norm for most of the month. My garden loves it…..all the rain and then the hot days, it is growing like a weed (pun intended), but others aren’t quite so fortunate, like Anthony, from The Compost Bin……..
“Well here it is, the middle of June and I don’t have a vegetable garden anymore. The day before the hail storm in New Jersey, I had tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini, rhubarb, corn and more but now I have nothing but shredded wheat.”
I was sick to read about Anthony’s garden. We battle the same weather here in the midwest and I can tell you I have been worried more than a few times about severe thunderstorms and hail.
There really is not a whole lot anyone can do to prevent a garden from the weather. Sure there are things you can buy but who in their right mind is going to run out in the middle of a thunderstorm to cover some plants to prevent them from hail damage?
If your garden is damaged by hail, do what you can to clean it up and nurse any remaing plants back to life. If you lose a lot then just pull up your boot straps and start over, or, do what Anthony intends to do…..focus on some cool season crops when the weather is most likely less intrusive.
Let’s be real, I’m a mom first and foremost. I buy my kids Happy Meals for dinner on occasion and sometimes cereal is all I can manage for a meal. Now, don’t get me wrong, I can cook up a storm when I want to but doing and wanting are two totally different concepts for a mother of four with a husband who travels for work most of the time.
So, tonight, after a busy day of running errands and getting caught up on chores, I just wanted to make something easy for dinner. Two kids wanted nachos and two others wanted pizza. Typical. Why my kids think I am a short order cook I will never know but I decided that if my 14 year old wanted nachos then he could fry up the hamburger himself while I worked on the pizza. The frozen sausage pizza that is…..the one that has been in the freezer since my last TJ’s pizza fundraiser.
While frying the hamburger meat, my son suggested sprinkling Oregano on the top before I cook it. Evidently one of his friends does that and they used to own a pizza parlor so I thought “great idea”. But even better would be using the “fresh” Oregano growing on my patio. Now to most veggie gardeners, this may be a “no brainer” but for the girl from California, who dined primarily on liquor store sandwiches for dinner, I thought I was being very domestic.
So I cut up some leaves, washed and dried them.
Put them into the mini food processor.
And voila….fresh Oregano for my pizza.
It was delish! And even though the pizza was originally store bought it still had fresh herbs and I feel like I did my family good without much hassle.
Birds & Blooms has become one of my favorite gardening magazines. I never would have know about it if my neighbor’s magazine had not gotten accidentally delivered to our house and now it has become a staple for great ideas and gardening tips at our house.
My most recent find was in Birds & Blooms’ “Green Gardening For Less” issue regarding compost……..
“Hide your kitchen scraps in this stainless steel compost crock. With it’s old world look, it’s stylish enough to place on your kitchen counter”
What a fantastic idea! I am constantly putting my compost into a plastic bag and leaving it on the counter until I am ready to head out to the compost bin in my garden.
As I pondered ordering something like this, even though it really did not go with my decor, I remembered an ice bucket that I had purchased a couple of years ago from Pottery Barn that looked almost exactly the same and was collecting dust in one of my cupboards.
So now, this little beauty sits right on my counter and when it gets full, I just take the whole thing out to the compost bin and dump it. Convenience is key for the home gardener and best of all…..by recycling, I made sure my gardening stays as green as it can be!
It has been a while since I’ve written. Mostly because I have been all consumed with my Microbiology class and the huge test I had today. The good news is….I passed with flying colors, the even better news is….I have fresh veggies for dinner!
My new potatoes are looking good. They are small and tender and were oh so fun to dig around in the dirt for. We will not be eating these until Friday, since that is the day my husband comes home from a business trip. I want him to experience a big meal of home grown veggies.
Next is a huge onion. I have a whole bed full of onions. Some are yellow and some are red. Who knew some were green?? This will go into my tuna salad tomorrow for lunch.
Next is fresh Romain lettuce. We did have a bit of this with our dinner tonight and it was so delish. It is hard to explain the difference between fresh lettuce and store bought but boy was it good.
I also have some incredible butter crunch lettuce that will go into the salad for Friday night’s dinner as well as fresh green beans that are coming in nicely. I can hardly wait, my mouth is watering and I will have more pictures as the week goes by.
I love it when my kids make me stuff at school. For mother’s day I got a lamp, I’ve gotten a clock, and one year, my daughter made me a tote bag. The list goes on. However, I don’t know what I would have done if my kids had brought home a project like this……
“It was fun! They planted cactus seeds in the finished planters and watched them grow nicely. But unfortunately the children were not allowed to bring them home. The cactus plants were removed and they were then filled with ivy. And then the children were allowed to take them home to their parents.”
