Flora and Fauna

The Green Thumb Festival was simply breathtaking. Beautiful blooms and greenery for as far as the eyes could see. I snapped a couple of pictures to share of some of my favorites. The blossoms on this orchid were enormous, I have never seen them this size and color. There were various orchids, bromeliads, herbs, butterfly attractors, trees, tropicals and cactus varieties as well. The day was perfect as far as weather was concerned, and the Festival was well attended. It was by far the busiest I have ever seen it. It is growing and growing every year (no pun intended).

One of the vendors that came out was My Mother's Garden, with their numerous organic herbs. I could have stayed in their booth all day, inhaling the sweet, intoxicating scents of the wondrous organic herbs. They even offered information and suggestions on how to use the herbs in recipes. I am looking forward to using the chocolate mint in my coffee tomorrow morning due to their tips.

There were some fantastic blooms on the tropicals, like the lobster claw heliconia. The bromeliads had their magnificent blooms as well. Another interesting vendor were the "Go Green- Worm Magic" with their organic fertilizer and composting worms. These worms reduce composting time from months to weeks and they eat your garbage, leaves and grass clippings. (hmmm, maybe the city should commission these worms for the dump) Also, if you release the worms into the yard, they loosen the soil and fertilize everything from the garden to the lawn. These are amazing little creatures. You can email them at wormmagic@earthlink.net for more information on the wormy guys.

There were also tons of creative vendors displaying their wares and artistic talents. I picked up a metal salamander painted in a splattered purple and signed by the artist, to hang by my front door and a beautiful hand-painted plaque with a quote by Rumi: "Be with those who help your being". It spoke to me and I had to have it, I love Rumi, his teachings apply to today as much as they did hundreds of years ago. My favorite glass blowers were out as well, Zen Glass. These guys are so talented and creative with their art. They did a wonderful job with their display and the garden theme in their booth. Josh is always a pleasure to converse with at the festivals and I look forward to ordering an original piece from them soon.

All in all it was a wonderful day for Naturally Living and I will leave you with more beautiful pictures from Green Thumb Festival in St. Petersburg, FL.

Here's to a beautiful last week of April!

ClearSkies

Green Thumb or Brown Thumb?

Whether you have a green thumb or a brown thumb, you will enjoy the Green Thumb Festival in St. Petersburg this weekend. You can learn about plant care, bid for a plant, see new garden gadgets, discover fresh ways to landscape, conserve water and improve your natural environment. All this and yummy food and live music and entertainment, as well as, kids crafts and activities and awesome exhibitors.

We are heading out right now to take advantage of the free butterfly plants and pine seedlings that they give away in the morning.

If you can't make it out today, they will be out again tomorrow from 9 AM till 4 PM.

Have a fabulous weekend!

ClearSkies

It's easy being Green!

Despite what Kermit the Frog said, it is easy being Green. Yesterday was Earth Day and I would like to think that we have something we can do to help the earth stay intact for a few more millenniums or at least for our grand-children.

One way to make a difference is to use cloth diapers instead of plastic, chemical laden diapers. Come on, how difficult is it to throw an extra load of laundry in every two days. We have it so easy with the technology of the washing machine and dryer, not like our grandmothers, who didn't have plastic diapers and actually boiled theirs on the stove and washed them by hand and hung them out to dry. Now, that took time. Stop whining about the extra laundry, it is not big deal.

Disposable diapers are the third largest consumer item in landfills, says the Real Diaper Association, just check out all the interesting diaper facts for yourself. Find out what that funny gel is in the plastic disposable diapers. And let's face it, would you want to wear plastic pants all day? We have all sat on that plastic covered furniture at grandma's house, how comfortable is that? How quickly do your buttocks sweat? Imagine poor little junior's bum...

It's easy to go green with cloth diapers, there are so many choices out there, and no more pins! I use the Nikky system and I purchased mine from Baby Bunz, but there are local stores everywhere. Here is Pinellas county, we have Cottontail Baby, which offers a couple of different lines of cloth diapering systems (yes, they are called systems). I like the Nikky system, as they are 100% cotton with Velcro (grandma didn't have Velcro either). Just pair those covers up with some Organic cotton diapers and you have one happy baby and mama.

Oh, by the way, all those people that say: "What about the environmental impact of the laundry soap and water usage of washing diapers?" I say: "Let's use some common sense". How can a few extra loads of laundry per week have the same environmental impact as 40 diapers per week (2080 per year) full of cancer causing chemicals and toxins sitting in a landfill for who knows how many years?!

It's easy being green, just do it! Cloth is the only way to go!

ClearSkies

Strawberry Fields Forever

I just had a fabulous Sunday! I went Strawberry picking at an organic farm called Jordan Farms out in Dover, which is in Florida, of course. I took my three beautiful children along with a friend's daughter and we met my dear friend, her husband and three children. The berries are delicious and organic and only $1.50 per quart, yes, that is right, only $1.50 per quart for certified organic strawberries. The berries are so beautiful, the weather was perfect with a cool breeze and the children had a blast. I love days like this...good friends, luscious berries, happy children, sunny and comfortable.

Jordan Farms also has organic zucchini, yellow squash, red leaf and green leaf lettuces, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans and basil. There are two friendly horses that just love it when the customers feed them strawberries, imagine that! The two dogs running around are friendly and like the occasional pet. The owners are sociable and down to earth. Their prices are extremely affordable, it is well worth the drive.

After strawberry picking, we hopped back onto I-4 and went to Eureka Springs Park in Hillsborough county. It is a small botanical gardens that was donated to the county by a Russian immigrant. They are beautiful grounds with lovely flora and fauna. There a couple of rose gardens, a green house with orchids, meandering pathways with a waterfall and ponds, bromeliads and ferns. There are facilities and picnic tables all around the grounds. We had a peaceful and enjoyable lunch and the children did not want to leave and there wasn't even a play structure, just nature and a cool breeze. Truly breathtaking!

What a wonderful start to a harmonious week!

ClearSkies

Ms. Clean

I have been making my own household cleaners for a few years now. I love the natural, clean smell of the essential oils and I like that my cleaners are safe for the environment. So, I am sharing my favorite homemade all purpose spray cleaner. Here it is:

1 cup of white vinegar
1 cup of water
20 drops of essential lavender oil

If needed, also add in:
15 drops of tea tree oil

Put it all in a spray bottle, shake and spray away.

This is what I always have on hand to wipe down tables, countertops and the bathroom. It's clean and it's green :) The lavender oil is a natural anti-bacterial. I add in the tea tree oil if someone has been sick and I want to do a thorough wipe down throughout the house.

One of my favorite books is Annie Berthold-Bond's book "Better Basics for the Home". It is a great reference book for everything you could possibly think of making yourself to avoid excess toxins. The book covers personal care products, cleaners, laundry products, baby care, hair care, fragrances, lotions, lawn and garden care, insect repellants, paints, dyes and art supplies.

Here is her website: www.betterbasics.com

Enjoy the freshness of green cleaning this spring!

ClearSkies

What did you eat for Breakfast?

Ok, so being a stay at home mother has its privileges for sure. One of them being the refrigerator is a open buffet to be perused at your leisure. We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I like to make sure I get all the important food groups into my breakfast. Here's what I had this morning: a few sips of an Organic Juice slam juicebox that the baby didn't finish, a scoop of potato salad for the cookout later today, 3 jelly beans from the Easter Baskets, a couple of sesame sticks and five bites of Coffee Chicory ice cream that the neighbor brought over for me to taste test (he's the ice cream chef for Old Meeting House Ice Cream company). I think I have covered most of the food groups for the day...Juice is a fruit, potato is a veggie, jelly beans is sweets, sesame sticks is bread, and ice cream is dairy (isn't that a protein, too???)

I wonder what I should eat for lunch? Perhaps a Starbucks decaf soy mocha no whip....mmmmm!!

Have a great weekend, full of yummyness!