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Heart Health Month – Grow Red On Purpose

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Heart Health Month should be celebrated all year long. February has been declared the designated month to focus on heart health.

February is American Heart Month. President Lyndon B. Johnson made this a designated month of recognizing hearth health via Proclamation 3566. On the first Friday of this month of love, we celebrate Women’s Heart Health with a GoRed Campaign. Heart disease should be the focus for each of us as we eat, sleep and play…. every day.

What does GORED mean? If you break it down by the letters, this is what it means:

G = GET YOUR NUMBERS. Knowing your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers are important. You can easily ask your doctor. Monitoring your blood pressure daily or as often as possible is easy. Check your drugstore or online resources for affordable approved AHA devices.

O = OWN YOUR LIFESTYLE. Some ways to take control of your healthy lifestyle are to quit smoking. Stress is not our friend. Alleviate stress by moving more. Take a walk, exercise, jog if you can. Moving is one of the most important acts of self-love. Healthy eating habits are key to optimum heart health. Go easy on the salt and sugar. Eat more foods in their natural state or incorporate good things into your daily diet. Ask your doctor or dietician how you can incorporate healthy food choices for optimum heart health.

R = REALIZE YOUR RISK. Did you know that heart disease still kills 1 in 3 women?? Ladies, if we cannot practice healthy living for us, how can we show our families that we love them? Think about how much we do for our families and our communities. Don’t you think we can show just as much attention or more on ourselves?

E = EDUCATE YOUR FAMILY. Consider educating by example. This is the easiest way to practice healthy lifestyles. Creating family outings to encourage movement. Hiking, biking, nature walks, or gardening are popular ideas.

D = DON’T BE SILENT. The best gift you can give this month and every month is to share the truth about heart disease. As the #1 killer, heart disease needs to be taken seriously by everyone. This disease affects all of us and is not gender specific.

EAT RED FOR HEALTH

Did you know that red vegetables have Lycopene and anthocyanin? Lycopene is an antioxidant. Research has shown that this naturally occurring ingredient is effective in reducing heart disease. Lycopene fights infections and aids in keeping our eyes healthy. Anthocyanin is showing promise in reducing blood pressure, inflammation, and eye health.

GROW RED

A few red vegetables to incorporate into your diet are beets, red cabbage, red bell peppers, red chili peppers, and red leaf lettuce. All of these vegetables can be grown in many zones or in a greenhouse. Everyone can’t eat tomatoes. Having other choices are key. Let’s not forget rhubarb, red onions, and red potatoes. If you are a gardener, try something new like radicchio. Red radicchio in a pot with some white pansies. What a colorful edible spring display!

Sow seeds of red for the summer garden as well. Ruby Red Orach, Red Malabar Spinach, or Red Leaf Amaranth, also known as Red Callaloo are great choices for warm-season gardens. These vegetables love heat and humidity found in the summer months. Try sowing them to keep the red growing for the summer garden.

Attention to heart health should be more than a month. It should become an act of self-love. GORED is a lifestyle!

Why not commit to making heart health a priority all year long. Practicing self-care is important. It is the best way to show love to those you care about.

Sowing seeds for a healthier lifestyle,

Teri, Cottage In The Court

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Gardentopia – Blueprint for Beautiful

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Gardentopia captured my heart like any book written by Jan Johnsen tends to do. It was hard to turn the page without a lot of emotion from the beauty on each and every page.

Gardentopia Design Basics for Creating Beautiful Outdoor Spaces by Jan Johnsen is a five chapter blueprint of brilliance in landscape design. Novice or experienced gardeners will see the value of having this book in their collection. Trust me, it will not sit on your shelf.

Our gardens are personal interpretations of who we are. Jan Johnsen gifts the reader with ideas on gaining perspective of their green spaces. Stepping back, visualizing what you want and then implementing the  garden of your dreams is key.

Sharing thoughts on considering the genius of place, Gardentopia has captured the pictures to complement the words for a successful blueprint for beauty. From recycling, using additional vistas, to how to use circles in the landscape are a few of the topics Jan Johnsen shares in Gardentopia.

We are all aware that first impressions are lasting. The front yard can share your personality to the world. From the walkway width to the plant selection to the planters, each has a role to play. The benefits? Property values can be increased by 10 – 15%…nice, huhn?

Chapter 4 delves into Color In The Garden. I love color, adore color. I cannot live without bold colors in my garden. If you are hesitant of  color and what it can do for your garden – this is the chapter for you. Color can uplift the spirit and calm down the setting…oh the magic of color!

Jan provides a blueprint for color and how to use it in the garden. One color, hot colors, restful colors, sometimes it can be hard to decide what color and how to use it. Color can be more than just the plants you choose. Page 187 – I almost have the words memorized. The words on this page truly reached in and touched my soul. Jan shared thoughts on the sound of flowers. I get emotional just thinking about the words again and again.

I highly suggest this book for anyone who communicates with nature via the garden. With several days ahead for gifting like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, graduation or just a I Love Me gift for self, Gardentopia should be at the top of the list. Jan Johnsen speaks my language as she simplifies the perfect blueprint for creating your beautiful outdoor space.

Thank you Jan Johnsen for such a beautiful book that the world can use.

Visualizing Beauty Daily,

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Get What You Want

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“Get what you want” – this phrase seems a tad selfish at times. However, when you have received those holiday dollars, what else is there to do, but put this into practice.

I make every effort to practice this when I can, particularly when it comes to my quality of life in the garden. While my daughters gift me with abundant LOVE and trinkets – I get what I want for me. Here are a few of my favorite self-gifted items that are essential when I garden.

Newly released book from Julie Thomson-Adolf that educates gardeners of all levels on how to start seeds, as well as the importance of seeds for the garden.

I can never resist a good gardening book – especially when I know the author. Earlier this year when the publishing date was revealed, I knew it would become a part of my library. An informative, colorful and beautifully  photographed book, Julie Thomson-Adolf  has reached every level of gardener.

While it is an easy read, the journey between this beautiful cover is inspirational. A great book to read between seed catalogs as we nest over the winter…and buy seeds, of course.

Stocking stuffer’s never made your hands feel so good.

Crabtree and Evelyn has the perfect collection of items for this gardener’s hands. Ever use hand scrub with pumice? The two types of pumice in this scrub really aid in deep cleaning. With a fresh herbal fragrance, the aloe and honey leave your hands feeling silky.  Although they had me at shea butter, the macadamia nut oil makes for the perfect combination. A repeat practice of seed starting over the winter is the perfect excuse to make my hands dirty, just so I can clean and moisturize them again.

A gift set for the gardener that yearns for more of a good thing.

Crabtree & Evelyn also has a terrific gift set called “Dig This”. What a treat to self this is. It includes a hand primer, Overnight Hand Therapy, Ultra Moisturising Hand Therapy and a cute pouch to out all of this goodness in. The hand care products by Crabtree and Evelyn have been at the top of my favorites list for years!!! My Dad gifted me with my first tube of Ultra Moisturising Hand Therapy and I love it!!

Botanical Interests always offers something that definitely speaks to getting what you want…even seeds.

As a garden communicator, I simply adore everything about Botanical Interests. This year I needed a tool to transplant my seedlings. I was instantly drawn to the English tool called a Widger. I know I should have stopped there, however the seed collections were enticing and who doesn;t need a Botanical Interests Desk calendar? My love affair with Botanical Interests continues into the next season of sowing seeds. Afterall, the object is to get what you want, right?

Elegant, sleek and multitasking , the Bella SmartWatch is the perfect self gift for any occasion.

If you know me, you know I love the Bella Beat products. This beautiful, yet functional watch serves as my SmartWatch. Minding my step count daily, my stress levels, and my sleep habits will be a tad easier with this arm candy. It even tells time ,imagine that??

My final perfect combination that helps protect me as I effectively tackle all of my pruning tasks.

Choosing the proper tools for any job is key. After work, I find peace in my garden. Particularly when I have my Corona pruner’s and a pair of Womanswork gloves.

One of the latest items in the Corona tool family, the ese pruner’s are just wonderful.

Corona introduced the Flex Dial with Comfort Gel grips branch and stem pruner’s. Let me tell you. I keep them nearby. You could say my Corona pruner’s are my comfort pruner’s. The comfort grip really makes a difference if you have wrist issues or lack hand strength. I can dial-up 8 different positions to reduce hand fatigue. A long overdue too for my tool bag.

Womanswork gloves with the essential mosquito arm covers are great …and I do not garden without them.

Last but not least, Women’s Work gloves are essential to any walk in the garde. With the attached mosquito guard mesh arm covers, these are in my tool bag, so I can garden even after a rain. Settling just above the elbow, cutting flowers for the home or simple deadheading without being eaten alive is wonderful. Get what you want from your garden at any time and not worry about being Mosquito dessert.

The Rolling Stones lyrics…

“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime you find…You get what you need”

SO NOT TRUE!!!  You can get what you want, you just have to know what you want.

Nesting with my gifts to self…

Teri, Cottage In The Court

I was not paid to endorse any of the above mentioned products. I just seriously believe in them.Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather

Mindful Gardening…

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Mindful gardening requires one to consider not just a physical act, but a mental exercise. To approach mindfulness in any situation, one must consider the intention or purpose of why. The intention of disturbing soil to create an area with what we might consider beautiful is usually done with a specific purpose in mind. This mindful intention can help us create the garden of our dreams.

Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist was just the book I needed to read while in the midst of home improvement and not being able to tend to my garden due to the ‘busyness’ of the year.

Recently I read a book by Shauna Niequist Present Over Perfect – Leaving Behind Frantic For A Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living. Let’s face it, in today’s world mindfulness is not how most people think. Whether it is gardening or simple garden clean up, most consider this a task that just needs to be taken care of. From the leaf blower to the lawn mower most people simply take care of the task at hand. We just want to change the appearance, make it neat and find something fun to do. I found this book a great tool to step beyond this mindset and become an agent of change.

As a garden enthusiast, change is anticipated annually. The fresh green leaves evolve in Spring as nature readies us for the next season. An abundance of diverse beauty evolves in the harmony of each season.  As blooms exert their last gasp of energy at the end of a colorful cycle of bloom, we should not be saddened by this. A friend who has a “perfect ” yard stopped by as the season was changing. There was a casual mention that almost pierced my inner peace, the joy of my natural garden. “I guess when it was summer your garden was beautiful”, she said. At this point, I realized she was not embracing the moment in my garden. The garden was giving it’s best at this imperfectly beautiful time of the year.

I see the garden daily as it evolves from a simple mulch bed with bulbs rearing their heads to the heavens in the Spring. When summer comes, the garden is in full bloom.  I pause to notice spent blooms and seed heads forming. When autumn arrives with finches and colorfully evolving foliage, I still find my garden beautiful. With the gray winter days, the structure of the shrubs, trees and garden art, we should positively embrace our landscape evolving. In my mind, the garden is always beautiful.

Referencing Shauna Niequist’ book, we tend to move through life too quickly. Consider what we are enjoying and what we allow ourselves to enjoy. Do we garden to beautify our surroundings? Are we gardening to feed our souls or to keep up with our neighbors? This book provides tools that encourage us to slow down and appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.

Part 1 of this book references a powerful quote -“Busyness is an illness of Spirit” Eugene Peterson. Shauna shares an experience that many of us are sure to identify with. No matter how accomplished she became, the more frantic she became. Her inner spirit and her body reacted negatively on many levels. Always having something to do or somewhere to be. In our minds, we feel as though we must check things off the list.

How can we change this to enjoy life or even our gardens more? We must learn the life-changing word -“NO”.Not always having something to do in the garden is a freeing experience. There are times the garden begs us to just sit and enjoy. To simply appreciate the present moment and not require perfection. A mindset that can be liberating for many. Realizing this before you begin to look at the garden as a chore is a beautifully empowering feeling.

At one point the author shares her experience of being a Candy Thrower. Quite honestly I can identify with this mindset. No matter how panicky those around me are, I will find something to break the tenseness of the moment. Allowing herself to become jaded decreased her ability to be a Candy Thrower. When best-laid plans dissipate in the garden, instead of whining about what I did wrong, I instead choose to throw a bit of Candy on the situation. There will be another growing season (prayerfully), another place to move that misplaced plant or give it away. It is not the end of the world.

While not a book specific to gardeners, this is a book that touched my creative inner spirit.  As we approach the holidays, perhaps this should be on the list for sharing.

Gardening Mindfully,

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Le Primitif – Featured Art at MANTS

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Le Primitif offers unique art for the garden. My inner garden loves the birds in the tree…

Le Primitif is an unexpected pleasure each year at MANTS – The Mid Atlantic Nursery Trade Show. MANTS is an event which takes place every January in Baltimore, Maryland. For those who work in horticulture, MANTS is  THE networking event that starts the seasonal garden party. Vendors come from near and far to reconnect with old friends, make new friends and share what’s new. It truly is like a grand family reunion.

I have visited MANTS for the past 20 years and each year, I rekindle friendships and make new friends.  There is one old friend that I reconnect with every time year. Amidst the plant plugs, tractors, mechanized watering systems, there is my friend David McCabe, Owner of Le Primitif Galleries. Le Primitive Galleries offers Recycled Oil Drum Sculpture in all shapes, sizes, signed, unsigned, painted or in its natural state.

I first became familiar with David while working in Fredericksburg, VA. One of the best winter activities was heading to Baltimore to attend this wonderful trade show. Tucked away in the front corner was a booth that featured art. The raw form of this hammered steel was quite appealing. I admire Haitian art when I visit galleries in DC and New York. I had to hear this man’s story.

David became familiar with the Haitian community in his travels and fell in love with this art form.  One of the first blacksmiths who made this technique popular was Georges Liataud. Intrigued by the natural beauty of this art, David realized that each piece had a story to tell.

Le Primitif Girl On A Bike…This spoke to the freedom of life to me….and the time to garden.

Steel drums are in abundance in Haiti. Reusing them as art was a creative way to secure income to local artisans. To create this art, steel drums are flattened and stories in the form of art are drawn. Each piece is cut out by hammer and chisel finishing a story in the form of art. Proud of their work, each piece carries the artist’s signature. Le Primitif artists each have a unique story which makes each piece special.

My first pieces of Haitian art that have made Le Primitif an integral part of my garden.

The first few pieces I purchased for my garden. The style and whimsical stance of these ladies spoke to me. Their dance spoke to the spirit of my personality as well as my garden. Each year I visit MANTS, I make sure to visit with David. A simple “Hello” just to say hi and to see what I need for my collection.

Over the year’s, I have acquired more pieces from Le Primitif and not just for my garden.

Le Primitif has many different ways to enjoy the beauty of trees and birds.

Each of the pieces that I have purchased from Le Primitif has held up extremely well in my garden with no care at all. The bronzed patina that comes with weather changes has only made my original pieces more beautiful.

Le Primitif had this one just for me. I will place this beside my door that leads to my garden.

MANTS has continually given me the gift of connecting with Le Primitif every year.

Here is a link to see what else can be found at Le Primitif Galleries

Click MANTS to find out more about the Mid Atlantic Nursery Trade Show.

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