Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Friday, February 15, 2008
Another Venue
This is the last post for Rosa Gallica environmental blog for awhile. I will be working on a book that has been in my mind for a long time. I will leave the information that has been posted as I believe it is helpful and valuable for those wishing to lead a more environmently thoughtful lifestyle. There is much more to say, but I now wish to work towards my first book which will be a handbook and guide for that which we can accomplish on a daily basis with regard to the environment and a healthier lifestyle for ourselves, those we love, and the generations yet to come.
Thank you for your kind responses.
gloria
Thank you for your kind responses.
gloria
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
A Bit of Spring in January
The snow is still present, as it has been since November. Every so many days we receive a bit more. Mid January can many times find us with that Winter "blues" feeling. To counter that, (especially here where Spring is a very long way off), I usually head out the gardens and cut branches of forsythia, curly willow and other flowering trees and shrubs. I pound the stems with a hammer to allow more intake of water, then place them in favourite vases and wait for the magic to happen.
I recently obtained my Nursery License for Rosa Gallica and now am featuring house plants and potted bulbs for sale. So far there are hyacinths, daffodils, crocus, cyclamen, and various green plants. Nothing like blossoming flowers in the middle of Winter for an immediate pick-me-up. They are all doing well as I added sprinkles of worm castings to the pots as soon as they arrived. What a perfect food, soil conditioner, pest preventer that stuff is!
Of course, houseplants are Nature's vacuum cleaners for the air we breathe. A few houseplants in a room can absorb and remove toxic fumes, provide oxygen, and give us the gift of viewing something green and growing. Studies have found that people are more productive at work places when they share space with live plants. In caring for houseplants, feed them worm castings by sprinkling some on top of the soil and watering in. When re-potting, use a good organic potting soil such as Black Gold (which contains worm castings.) NO Miracle Grow. Do not choose too much larger a pot, just a comfortable size up from the old one. Mist your plants once a day (you will benefit from the moisture in the air also.) Place several together. Know the light requirements for each plant and place accordingly. Do not use nitrogen fertilizers as petroleum is required for their production and nitrogen adds to acid rain and serious run off problems. Worm castings are all that is needed for complete nutrition and pest control. You will be amazed at how your plants will green up when this is applied.
Good places to read on the web for environmentally green suggestions:
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/ subscribe to Howard's monthly newsletter. It is about so much more than gardening.
http://www.thegreenguide.com/ This site is a plethora of all types of information about food, toxic and non, the environment at large, clothing, pet products, food, cosmetics, plastics, green housing suggestions, etc.
I recently obtained my Nursery License for Rosa Gallica and now am featuring house plants and potted bulbs for sale. So far there are hyacinths, daffodils, crocus, cyclamen, and various green plants. Nothing like blossoming flowers in the middle of Winter for an immediate pick-me-up. They are all doing well as I added sprinkles of worm castings to the pots as soon as they arrived. What a perfect food, soil conditioner, pest preventer that stuff is!
Of course, houseplants are Nature's vacuum cleaners for the air we breathe. A few houseplants in a room can absorb and remove toxic fumes, provide oxygen, and give us the gift of viewing something green and growing. Studies have found that people are more productive at work places when they share space with live plants. In caring for houseplants, feed them worm castings by sprinkling some on top of the soil and watering in. When re-potting, use a good organic potting soil such as Black Gold (which contains worm castings.) NO Miracle Grow. Do not choose too much larger a pot, just a comfortable size up from the old one. Mist your plants once a day (you will benefit from the moisture in the air also.) Place several together. Know the light requirements for each plant and place accordingly. Do not use nitrogen fertilizers as petroleum is required for their production and nitrogen adds to acid rain and serious run off problems. Worm castings are all that is needed for complete nutrition and pest control. You will be amazed at how your plants will green up when this is applied.
Good places to read on the web for environmentally green suggestions:
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/ subscribe to Howard's monthly newsletter. It is about so much more than gardening.
http://www.thegreenguide.com/ This site is a plethora of all types of information about food, toxic and non, the environment at large, clothing, pet products, food, cosmetics, plastics, green housing suggestions, etc.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Welcome to a New Chapter
Happy New Year everyone!
I always love beginnings.... a new year, a new day, the close of one birthday year which heralds the start of a brand new one. Times when I can "wipe the slate clean", so to speak, embrace and honor what has come before, look at my present person, then bravely, with excitement and anticipation, walk towards the new, the unknown.
I love the idea of another chance. Another chance to shake my head in wonder and sometimes, puzzlement, at this life I have been given; another chance to examine where I have been, where that has lead me so far, and to hopefully hold in sacredness the place I am at this very moment, for no other will ever be like it again.
Each day we are afforded another chance to make good a commitment to the environment by the choices we make. If everyone does something small towards taking care of our earth each day, it will make a difference. Whether we choose to recycle, to stop using plastic bags, throw kitchen waste on the compost pile, walk instead of drive, check into some form of alternate power for our homes or offices, change out to fluorescent light bulbs, learn something we did not know about saving energy, begin a campaign at our children's schools, day care centers to stop the use of pesticides and herbicides, etc. Small steps lead to big steps. It is a beginning.
I always love beginnings.... a new year, a new day, the close of one birthday year which heralds the start of a brand new one. Times when I can "wipe the slate clean", so to speak, embrace and honor what has come before, look at my present person, then bravely, with excitement and anticipation, walk towards the new, the unknown.
I love the idea of another chance. Another chance to shake my head in wonder and sometimes, puzzlement, at this life I have been given; another chance to examine where I have been, where that has lead me so far, and to hopefully hold in sacredness the place I am at this very moment, for no other will ever be like it again.
Each day we are afforded another chance to make good a commitment to the environment by the choices we make. If everyone does something small towards taking care of our earth each day, it will make a difference. Whether we choose to recycle, to stop using plastic bags, throw kitchen waste on the compost pile, walk instead of drive, check into some form of alternate power for our homes or offices, change out to fluorescent light bulbs, learn something we did not know about saving energy, begin a campaign at our children's schools, day care centers to stop the use of pesticides and herbicides, etc. Small steps lead to big steps. It is a beginning.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Christmas is Here!
Many, many thanks to all those who so generously supported Rosa Gallica this holiday season. All previous sales records were broken!!! Stay tuned for new inventory and the annual Winter White Sale coming in January.
Let us give thanks to the powers that be for opportunities in the coming New Year to grow into even more awareness of our planet Earth. May we close our eyes and picture holding the Earth close to our hearts each day. May we think before we act. May we ask the question, "What can I as an individual do each day to ease the burden of the Earth?" May we consider thoughtfully each environmental choice presented to us. May we choose organic, local grown, safety, and non toxic for the Earth's sake, for our children's health sake, for our loved pets' sake, for all creatures, for the environment of the Earth. May we work WITH Nature, not against her. She is our best friend and her plans work well with time.
Blessings to all of you in the coming year.
gloria
Let us give thanks to the powers that be for opportunities in the coming New Year to grow into even more awareness of our planet Earth. May we close our eyes and picture holding the Earth close to our hearts each day. May we think before we act. May we ask the question, "What can I as an individual do each day to ease the burden of the Earth?" May we consider thoughtfully each environmental choice presented to us. May we choose organic, local grown, safety, and non toxic for the Earth's sake, for our children's health sake, for our loved pets' sake, for all creatures, for the environment of the Earth. May we work WITH Nature, not against her. She is our best friend and her plans work well with time.
Blessings to all of you in the coming year.
gloria
Thursday, October 25, 2007
The Buzz
The newest issue of "Organic" magazine came this week. On the front cover it proclaims: Special Report, Bee Crisis. I immediately felt bad. Please, I selfishly thought, not another depressing article about the failing honey bee colonies.
Well, if you have not purchased the Nov-Jan issue 2007-08, you must. The article certainly proclaims the truth about the honey bee situation, but also presents a hopeful accounting of all the work of bumblebees, native bees, and other species. It seems that native bees are still around in numbers and working very hard to pollinate everything in our gardens. It is a provocative reminder that even the most seeming benign pesticides (organic, etc) are harmful to all pollinators. "Working with nature" is again the byword phrase everyone needs to adopt. As I have stated before, stop using anything except a blast of the water hose (for soft bodied insects), add as much worm castings as you can pile into your soil (which cure everything you can think of), and provide habitat, water, minerals, etc for these hard working tiny creatures and other beneficials.
Earlier this morning, I had been sitting quietly, gazing out my apartment window admiring the beauty of a fabulously colored Fall, the lush organic gardens, and thinking about where I was going to plant the bulbs I had ordered. I have seen copious numbers of all sorts of bees this year. It seemed many more than last year even, in spite of my neighbors' continued efforts at nuclear applications of horrible toxic chemicals all summer long. I watch for the trucks and if there is even a puff of wind, I go out and ask them (politely) to return another day when the air is still and calm. So far, so good. I also have frequent conversations with the insects and birds about which yards to avoid. Two years ago I celebrated a huge win when I convinced our Cathedral to stop using chemicals. There are children and animals who play on those lawns everyday!
When in our lives, did we pick up such aversion to insects? Why do/did we not see the avarice of companies who care only about money and seemingly not about their employees who are exposed daily to the possibility of life robbing disease from exposure to things no one should be around? And what about consumers and their families, all creatures, and the environment? Who said an imperfectly perfect chemical green lawn was de rigour? Please, please, please stop this madness. Right now. This instant. It is not supposed to be that way. Or maybe, it is not supposed to bee that way.
Plant clovers in your lawns, lots of simple flowers everywhere, even if you only have a patio or porch or tiny outdoor area. The pollinators desperately need every bit of assistance we can give. If you have a problem with anything in your gardens, lawns, trees, etc, look to the soil. Again..... dump tons of worm castings everywhere. The problems will disappear quickly.
Thanks for listening, again.
Well, if you have not purchased the Nov-Jan issue 2007-08, you must. The article certainly proclaims the truth about the honey bee situation, but also presents a hopeful accounting of all the work of bumblebees, native bees, and other species. It seems that native bees are still around in numbers and working very hard to pollinate everything in our gardens. It is a provocative reminder that even the most seeming benign pesticides (organic, etc) are harmful to all pollinators. "Working with nature" is again the byword phrase everyone needs to adopt. As I have stated before, stop using anything except a blast of the water hose (for soft bodied insects), add as much worm castings as you can pile into your soil (which cure everything you can think of), and provide habitat, water, minerals, etc for these hard working tiny creatures and other beneficials.
Earlier this morning, I had been sitting quietly, gazing out my apartment window admiring the beauty of a fabulously colored Fall, the lush organic gardens, and thinking about where I was going to plant the bulbs I had ordered. I have seen copious numbers of all sorts of bees this year. It seemed many more than last year even, in spite of my neighbors' continued efforts at nuclear applications of horrible toxic chemicals all summer long. I watch for the trucks and if there is even a puff of wind, I go out and ask them (politely) to return another day when the air is still and calm. So far, so good. I also have frequent conversations with the insects and birds about which yards to avoid. Two years ago I celebrated a huge win when I convinced our Cathedral to stop using chemicals. There are children and animals who play on those lawns everyday!
When in our lives, did we pick up such aversion to insects? Why do/did we not see the avarice of companies who care only about money and seemingly not about their employees who are exposed daily to the possibility of life robbing disease from exposure to things no one should be around? And what about consumers and their families, all creatures, and the environment? Who said an imperfectly perfect chemical green lawn was de rigour? Please, please, please stop this madness. Right now. This instant. It is not supposed to be that way. Or maybe, it is not supposed to bee that way.
Plant clovers in your lawns, lots of simple flowers everywhere, even if you only have a patio or porch or tiny outdoor area. The pollinators desperately need every bit of assistance we can give. If you have a problem with anything in your gardens, lawns, trees, etc, look to the soil. Again..... dump tons of worm castings everywhere. The problems will disappear quickly.
Thanks for listening, again.
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