Happy Mother's Day to Mother Earth!

Spring is my favorite season!  Considering the fact that I love to garden so much it's pretty obvious why I love this time of year.  Although the beauty of the season is stunning, the reason I enjoy it so much is because of the fresh newness that it brings and promises of an abundant bounty that is yet to come.  This time of year allows me to dream, hope, and smile in anticipation of the growing season that lays ahead.

Each year as Earth Day rolls around I think about how beautiful nature is and how we as inhabitants of this planet have a responsibility to co-exist in harmony with all that is around us.  Unfortunately, as technology advances and as our lives become more complicated that becomes harder and harder to do.  Since we've all been preached to via the media and the Green Movement as to what we should and shouldn't do environmentally, I think we've all got a pretty clear idea as to what it means to be Green.  The challenge, however, is incorporating that way of living into our busy lifestyle - easier said than done. 

So, instead of writing a preachy blog about recycling and organic gardening, I just want to take this moment to remind myself and to my readers that on this day - such a special day for gardeners - stop for moment, relish in the glory of spring, breathe in the intoxicating smell of the soil on a rainy April day, and pay homage to our Mother Earth.  Treat her like she is indeed your mother and wish her a very Happy Mother's Day! 

Happy Earth Day!

On Earth Day, 1971, a PSA featuring Native American actor Chief Iron Eyes Cody and the tagline line, "People Start Pollution. People can stop it." aired for the first time. If you are over 40 you might remember this Ad. As a young child (VERY young I might add!) this image etched itself in me. Without much understanding yet of the world around me I knew immediately that keeping the inside of your car clean by throwing your garbage out of the car window was just plain wrong.

Just today I was reminded of that again as I saw someone toss a cigarette butt out their car window. This is a pet peeve of mine. I won’t go preaching about smoking—as adults we can make a decision as to whether we want to smoke or not. But, the minute someone throws a cigarette out the car window it becomes a problem for all of us. As a child during Earth Day celebrations at my school, I can still remember a teacher telling us that a cigarette takes over 10 years to decompose and even then it leaves toxic chemicals in the earth. So, when I see someone at a stoplight toss their cigarette out the window I’ve got to seriously fight the urge to get out of the car, walk over, and toss it back in. Going Green starts with each one of us by making small changes --Even as seemingly small as using your car ashtray.

I’m definitely a work in progress when it comes to going green so I really have no business preaching about the cigarette tossers, but as I said its pet peeve of mine. For example, I’m still using paper towels (definitely not as many, but I still use them way too much). Some of my cleaning products are way too toxic (my tendency towards OCD makes me a bit of a germa-phobic). And, I have a hard time remembering to bring my own bags to the grocery store (shame on me… I know and I hate that!). But, on the bright side, we’ve made many strides in our household. We recycle just about everything there is to recycle. We probably go to the dump about once a month and only have a few bags. We have a nice compost pile. Both my vegetable and perennial garden are 100% organic – the lawn isn’t yet, but we are working on that and thankfully we don’t have much lawn (that’s no excuse I know… we’ve got to go green with the lawn too!). Celebrate Earth Day 2009 by joining me in finding simple ways you can go green too.

On a future blog I’ll be posting information about some of the organic gardening products that I’ve come to rely on, so please check back.