Name Dropping...

Sometimes a short FB post turns into a long blog post...

We were super busy yesterday. First we had our weekly early morning networking meeting with our Acquired Business Connections group. We invited a friend, John from Crossett.Plumbing LLC, to come with. John is a young man that we've known for a while who has just gotten his plumbing license. If you need a plumber, give him a call.

ABC is a great group of small business owners that are trying to make a difference in the world. It's nice to rub shoulders with these men and women.  They are always looking to expand the group. If you are a small business owner in the OKC area, click on the ABC link to learn more about this group.

Next we stopped at Jones Hardware & Lumber to pick up some onion sets for our Garden
Anywhere Box(es). I'd never seen such nice onion sets. The ones that I usually get are dirty and bundled together...not that there's anything wrong with that...but it was nice to get nice clean packaged onion sets.

While we were out and about, we stopped by the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitative Services. I read about an event on April 2 at the OK State Capitol called, People with Disabilities Awareness Day 2014.

 I wanted to be a part of that somehow because our boxes are perfect for people with disabilities.  Last year we participated in a fair at the Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation Center (and have been asked back this year). They do Horticulture therapy there to help people rehabilitate by "playing in the dirt." Admittedly, we use potting mix, but you can still get your hands dirty if you want.

Anyway, we met the nicest lady named Jody. She took the time to let us tell her about our boxes. She suggested that we go to the Capitol and meet with different groups that would be represented there. When we mentioned that our boxes also conserve water, she said that we should come with her to her Sierra Club meeting which just happened to be last night. We were super excited about that. We really like the fact that gardening with Garden Anywhere Box uses less water than a traditional garden. No water is wasted. The roots get just what they need and evaporation happens through the plant...not on your lawn watering the weeds.

After our fortuitous meeting with Jody, we drove to the fairgrounds to check out our booth
space for the Home and Outdoor Living Show this weekend at the fairgrounds. We picked up our badges and free tickets to the show. That's how we could have a fun give-away. They gave us more tickets this year than last...so WOOT!

We drove home, fixed lunch, answered emails, got things ready to print our updated flyers (what is a QR code?) to hand out at the fair and at Tinker next week, tried to take a nap, but that didn't really happen...too much to do. Then it was time to hook up the trailer and get to the fairgrounds to set up our booth. We took our son, daughter-in-law and daughter with us to help. We got our booth set up in no time with this extra help.  Then it was off to the Sierra Club meeting for us and out to eat for the kids.

We had a really good time at the Sierra Club. The people were so nice and welcoming. We'd never thought of ourselves as Sierra Club members, but we decided to join last night. We believe that it's important to conserve our natural resources. We believe that Garden Anywhere Box (check out our new website) helps with the issue of water conservation. It is also a great way for people to be successful gardeners, grow their own food and know what they grow.

Post from a Humble Gardener...He's not just the president, he's also a customer.

A few thoughts about gardening in a Garden Anywhere Box... When I’m talking with people about gardening in a box, I think, even now,

“do these really work" or "what if they don’t work for somebody.”

I remember back when I started gardening this way. I was always trying to save money while doing this. One time I got a large load of wood chips from a tree trimming company and truck load of potting soil. I wanted to make my own potting mix. Big mistake. I’m sure if I’d taken the time to do it properly, I could have had success. I didn’t take the time to do it right and the results were not good. I then decided, no short-cuts. Since we can use the potting mix for several years (7 so far), I think it is better to buy high quality potting mix. I still add dolomite and fettilizer each growing season. I got rid of the wood chip/potting soil mixture. Potting mix is definitely the way to go with Garden Anywhere Box.

When I was working in Chicago and developing the watering system, I sold a single box to a friend from work. Apparently I didn’t explain very well how to prepare the box for planting. There was potting mix under the platform, on top of the platform and about 4” to 6” of above the plastic to the top edge of the box. Guess what? It still worked! Not as well as the ones planted correctly, but it worked. The next year she grew great tomatoes. That is all she wanted to grow.

I heard from a gentleman the other day that had some trouble last year. We didn’t have time to discuss it, but he thinks he did something wrong. I always want to take the blame if it doesn’t work, because I know that they do work. I’ve grown in Midland, Texas when it was over 115 degrees. I’ve grown in Oklahoma when we set the record for the hottest state in the country one year. Our boxes are slowly getting to people around the country. We look forward to feedback... good or bad...so that we might continue to learn and improve.

We are still using most of our original boxes, (7th year now) and they are doing great. The boxes we are using now are made from better quality material. All I can say is don’t give-up. If for some reason, you do not have gardening success, please try again. Let me know and together we will fix the problem. The boxes DO work. I know they do! I’m always available for questions. I want you to be successful.

Here is a video that our son (media department) made to explain how to get your GAB ready for planting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wzeE3OOS6w

To all of our customers, please give us feedback. We made a slight design change because of customer feedback. Some of you bought boxes before we had the watering system. I’ve been contacted by some who want to add the watering system. We are thrilled to help. Some have wanted to add a rain barrel and I’m glad to help explain how to do that as well. Again, we want you to be successful. Let us know if you have any questions about gardening in a Garden Anywhere Box.

 

 

The Essentials About Essential Oils

My Garden Anywhere Box page is foremost about gardening...especially in a GAB, but I also like to post things that I feel passionately about. This includes being prepared for what may come...hence being able to grow your own food... and sharing my knowledge about essential oils.

This is a story about lavender.

 A few days ago, my son went to pay his rent on his apartment. His landlady was in distress with a case of hives. She was itchy and her arms were covered in a rash. She had tried several things to relieve her pain, but nothing was working.

My son called me to see what I would suggest to help his landlady. I knew that he had just the basic oils at his apartment (lavender, peppermint, lemon, and a few oil blends). I knew that lavender was probably the best bet for her situation. I told him to take the lavender oil down and let her try it.
We hung up and my son took her his little bottle of lavender. About 5 minutes later he called back, excited! He told me that the oil worked almost immediately. She rubbed a few drops on her arms and the itching STOPPED! She was excited! He was excited! I was excited! I've used lavender for burns, allergies, calming during stress, headaches, sunburns and a few other things. I know it works. It's a good oil to have in your First Aid kit.

I have so many stories to share about essential oils. Oils work!  They are cell to cell communication with the body.  You can rub peppermint on your feet and it will travel through the body in a matter of seconds. You can taste it in your mouth. You can rub oils down your spine. Viruses live in the spine. A good anti-viral oil will help kill a virus.

I would encourage you to learn about essential oils. There are many brands to choose from. The important thing is that they should be for healing purposes. You don't want an  oil that just "smells good."  These oils are often synthetic and used for candles and such. You want the pure oil (blood) of the plants.

Here  and here are articles that give a more indepth study about essential oils.

Thoughts about Life...and Death...and Gardening

I have a few "celebrity friends" on FB. You know...me and thousands of others...lol.  One of those "friends" is Corbin Bernsen. I don't watch soap operas and I don't watch "Psyche", but I've seen the show and know who his mother  (Jeanne Cooper-The Young and the Restless) was to the soap opera world. I started following him as a friend on FB when his mother died. Mr. Berensen is a very gifted and passionate writer. I enjoy reading what he has to say.

It's been about a year since his mother died. He still writes about her and his journey on the road to dealing with her death. Apparently someone mentioned to him that it was time to "get over it and move on." Yikes! I wonder if that person has ever lost a loved one? You don't just get over it. You deal with the loss daily. You come to accept it. It's been 10 years this year since my parents died. Not a DAY goes by that I don't think of them. The sadness is (mostly) gone, but the missing will never be gone.

Recently, Mr. Bernsen posted his thoughts about life and death and differences. I thought he was spot-on with his comments. We all have different opinions about life and death and God and race and politics and gender. That's okay! It's okay to embrace different beliefs. The problem comes when we try to force our beliefs on others. We ALL should have our free agency to choose.

He said, "Look, here's the thing... we will always have two - if not more - distinct camps - as to "how it all began." But there is no need for them to be combative, argumentative. The fact is, at least for me, the world is here and personally, I'm less concerned on how it got here than what I do with it while I'm here, while we are all here. I'm not sure what "being right" gains. The only TRUTH of the matter is that it does exist, we are here, and we are the CUSTODIANS of it. We have a God given, natural, responsibility to protect it, heal it, and most importantly, pass it on in good order to future generations. That has NOTHING to do with "how it got here." It has all to do with what we do today with it. We are the CUSTODIANS... not only to our planet, our very existence, but also our children which are, by my definition, the future, the hope, the beauty, the truth. That is the only true thing I NEED to know."

I totally agree with him. I wish that we could all just get along on this planet. I know that can not be right now, but I hope for peace in the future. I believe in GOD. Since my parents died, I don't know how I would be able to go on without my belief in a higher power and the idea of life after death. But, I accept that not everyone believes as I do. I'm fine with that...as long as their beliefs/non-beliefs do not infringe on my choice to believe.

I feel the same way about gardening. Not everyone has to garden in a Garden Anywhere Box...but why wouldn't they want to...lol. I respect the traditional gardeners, the one's that love the process of gardening, digging and weeding and harvesting. I respect people who use raised beds, hydroponics, aquaponics and other ways of gardening. I respect all roads leading to the harvest.
I have learned so much from the gardening process. It is like the quest for knowledge about life and death. Some things can be known. Some things are still a mystery...like how do squash bugs KNOW where to find the squash plants...even up on my deck? There are mysteries that we will never know until we die and that's okay with me. I don't have to know everything. The important question is what will I do while I am here to help others and leave the world a better place.

Making Bread and Lessons Learned

*When I started writing this blog post, I thought I was going to share an article about lessons learned making bread. I did do that, but I also took a trip down Memory Lane. My dad worked at a bakery. I worked at the same bakery for 10 years and met and married my husband at that same bakery before I "retired" to raise my children. It has been fun to take that walk back to where it all began. *

If you garden, do you also make your own bread? I did not eat Wonder bread growing up. My dad worked for the "other" bread company in town...Rainbo Baking company...and so did I after high school, while attending college. I also met my husband there. He worked at Rainbo until we got married and then, due to company policy about married people working together, he went across the street and got a job at Borden selling milk. I really did marry "the milkman".

 

I remember daddy bringing home balls of uncooked dough for me to play with. I thought that was neat! I used to tour the factory and watch in amazement as big vats of dough were kneaded, divided and placed in pans before being conveyed into a huge, hot oven to bake. I still remember the smell of freshly baked bread and walking around with my daddy.

I never saw or tasted a slice of home-made whole wheat bread until I was an adult. This is not to cast aspersions on my mom. She was an amazing cook, but with a husband whose "bread and butter" was bread, I doubt she thought of making her own.

I read an article today that made me think about the process of making your own bread. I CAN make my own bread, but I have to be in the mood. I grind my own wheat...well, my electric grinder does. I use a Kitchen Aid mixer to do most of the kneading. I usually use a 50/50 mix of unbleached white flour and white whole wheat. I also use coconut oil instead of other oils.

I still prefer the convenience of buying bread at the store. It is not the "white stuff" anymore. I buy whole wheat...but who am I kidding...it still has a long list of ingredients that I should not be eating. This article reminds me that I need to get back to kneading...

I liked this article about making your own bread. It can also be compared to growing your own food in a garden. You learn life lessons along the way as you try (and fail) to do it yourself. And while the writer of the article says that "nobody ever learned from a plastic bag of ...bread", I have to say that I learned valuable life lessons from what that bag represented.

"And I learned something about me. Or rather I continued to learn a lifelong lesson—that I can "fail" and not be embarrassed or disgraced. I was reminded once again (and it's a reminder I sorely need) that failure can be a superb foundation for creativity and success. Nobody ever learned that from a plastic bag of Wonder Bread.
Being involved with food creation is being involved in all of life. It's owning not only your own food choices, but taking back a big, important part of life from the institutional forces that dominate modern food production."
Home-made Bread...A Metaphor of Life