Spring Blooms

Indoors and Outdoors, plants bring feelings of happiness; have scents that bring back memories; plants provide oxygen; plants add color & beauty to our lives; plants feed all that eat - wild and human. And for many, (growing and being around) plants helps us with relaxation. 

Spring Is Here.

The warmer weather has a lot of us chomping at the bit to plant our gardens. Sadly, many of us have at least 2 months before that with happen (we are one; living at almost 10,000 ft has its drawbacks).

My solution:
Start seeding per seed instructions, but rather than planting seeds in the ground, we start our plants indoors.
We have windows that are perfect for growing, but if you don't, it's easy peesey to put up a window shelf, or a flat top piece of furniture. In front of our kitchen window we have a shelving piece; it has 3 shelves. We use it to grow plants year round. I have grown tomatoes, peppers, and herbs indoors - year round.

This is an example of
Floor Shelves being used
in front of window.

(We use the top shelf of this unit, and part of the middle shelf, for plants. The shelves also act as storage for our kitchen as we only have kitchen cupboards - no pantry, closet, or similar. On the middles shelf we have a bin with place mats and napkins, and on the far right by our desk, binders. Our dogs food bowls, bag of soil, and paper recycling are on the bottom shelf. We also have an office storage container on the far right of top shelf. The shelving unit really "kills 4 birds with 1 stone".)

Another option for growing plants, indoors or outdoors: Aeroponics systems like the Tower Garden. They are perfect for small spaces, and you don't need sun to grow as you can get lighting systems for your Tower Garden.

If you want to stick with soil, there are kits for indoor soil "gardens", or you can build your own. Plus of kits, and more so DIY: you can, potentially, have a garden that is part of your Interior Design. Example: Hanging Planters, Wall Plant (Floating) Shelves, and Plants on Furniture.

✪ Plus side of aeroponics: less water used, no soil (mess), minimal to no bug issues, and you can grow multiple vegetables (and/or fruits) in one Tower (Garden), taking up minimal space

Do you have a Green Thumb? 

I have not always been blessed with one, and am still working on mine, but with the help of Super Green Thumb Man (aka my boyfriend) my gardening skills are blossoming. (See what I did there?)

If you need help as I do, check out these Blog Posts for GREAT Tips to having a Greener Thumb: 

💚👍💚

● Natural GardeningTips for a Greener Thumb 

● Gardening Advice & Tips 

● One Man's Trash Is Your Gardens Treasure

● Don't have an outside space to grow? No problem! 

● Expert Advice from FIX.com 

● Aeroponic Gardening

• The Centers for Disease Control says, “Gardening is an excellent way to get physical activity. Active people are less likely than inactive people to be obese or have high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, depression, colon cancer, and premature death.”

•  Journal of Health Psychology article titled, “Gardening Promotes Neuroendocrine and Affective Restoration from Stress" found that gardening leads to decreased cortisol levels and positive moods which can “promote relief from acute stress.”

•  Michigan State University and the Michigan-based non-profit Gardening Matters have both produced documents that say that gardening is associated with mental clarity and feelings of reward.

• "Caring for a plant can teach a young child responsibility (as well as a bit about science, nature, and nutrition, if the plant is also a food)." Huffington Post 

• Researchers at Kansas State University: "Through gardening, older adults can gain hand strength, boost their self esteem, and aid in stroke rehabilitation and recovery."

** These statements all come from a Huffington Post Article. **

If you already garden, you are already benefiting. If you are not, I hope this post inspires you to join us plant lovers.

What are you planting this year? 

Share you Gardening Tips with us in the comments!

Until next time,

Live. Laugh. Love. (and Garden!)