Guess Who's Been Eating My Flowers?

My flower cart hasn't been doing too well lately and for the life of me, I couldn't figure it out.  This past weekend, I found who the culprits were who have been eating my flowers....nope, it wasn't the deer, it wasn't the bunnies, nor was it the bear!  The most beautiful, furry and long haired caterpillers I've ever seen are having a feast fest of my flower cart plantings.  Creamsicle orange and vanilla striped caterpillers with long, long hairs have invaded the cart.  As I watered the plants and saw them all under the leaves and flowers, I thought how beautiful they were and how magnificent they will be as butterflies.

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  An old woman once told me 'everyone has to have something to eat'.  I have never forgotten her words.  And so, as I planted enough vegetables for myself and my animal friends this year, I never thought of the butterflies and caterpillers.   So, for the sake of their beauty they will share with me next year, and because everyone has to have something to eat - I wished them well and let them have their beasty feast.

Summer Serenity

Flower Cart 1, 2012

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Prepare today to do something for your mental health this weekend.  Plan on fishing for an afternoon, quiet gardening, sketching for a few hours, or simply read a nice book in the shade.  Quiet time alone is just as important as diet, exercise and social time.  Take a break and enjoy your own company.

It's Planting Season...Are You In Shape For It?

These 60 plants are my new friends that have just arrived from White Flower Farms in Litchfield, CT.  I'm heading outta Dodge early today to embark on a 3 day digging and planting project to beautify the front lawn of a friend's business.  I've been doing situps, pushups and all types of exercises this winter and I'm in fine form to take on this manual labor...and enjoy it!

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  I'm looking forward to outdoor projects, sports and all types of activities this spring and summer.  I'm fit and feeling fabulous - how about you?  If you're not there yet, call or email my office and enroll  yourself into my wellness program.  You, too, can enjoy the warm weather fun and festivities if you start now!

Good Health is Like a Garden

This is a photo of my little herb garden.  When I dug out the space, I found rocks, sand, debris...you name it, it was there in the soil.  Not very hearty and healthy soil for planting, but I was convinced this little space had plenty of potential.  Partial sunlight, protection from trees and other wildly growning shrubs that also create a nice breeze when working in the space surrounded and protected the garden from too much sun.  The right type of plant food, a few fat juciy worms, some weeding, and loving care all have made a pretty crummy space on the planet into a nice herbal garden that has been yielding a bounty of wonderfully scented organic additions to each and every meal made this summer.

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Your body is like a garden.  It needs good nutrition, exercise, an occassional weeding out of mental garbage, love and affection.  If you take all these factors seriously into your lifestyle, you too, will be beautiful (inside and outside), have vibrant enery and stand out in the crowd of poorly maintained bodies.  Get with the Wellness Program today and be healthy and beautiful!

Receiving the Smile Back

A few days ago, I wrote about the flowerbed that I started and how so many individuals became involved in my project.  The smiles that this little patch of hostas has given so many is truly remarkable.  Today, a patient of mine surprised me with a lovely ornamental basil plant to add to the flowerbed.  It 'will go to seed and before you know it, you'll have a whole lot of them for next year' is what my patient told me.  I was thrilled to receive this wonderful healthy and beautiful plant that will work in perfectly with all those hostas.

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  When you put good intentions out there and help to make people smile and laugh, sometimes it comes back around the bend to you.  I got such a smile from this plant today....the circle is complete.  Remember, what goes around, comes around.  Try to throw some good vibes out there today!  There will be no blog tomorrow...I'm goin' fishin'!

A Single Act Creates Many Smiles

I started a little landscaping project a few weeks ago...my mission was to regain a portion of the parking lot at a friend's business.  I began shovelling phase 1:  20ft x 6ft x 3 ft of dirt and sand.  I was throwing the shovelfuls of debris into a dumpster one shovelful at a time.  An employee stopped and surveyed the scene and told me where I could purchase a wheelbarrow.  Off I went and got the wheelbarrow.  The task became much simpler.  A customer stopped by on his way into the service shop and asked me what I was doing.  Before long, he came back with another shovel and started to help me shovel through the mess.  I got to know who he was, where he lived, what his life was like.  After a while, his motorcycle was serviced and he apologized for not being able to stay longer and help.  I was very grateful...we're now friends.  After two days, 6 parking slots had been regained, brush and vines cut down and things were really looking up in the front of the place.  Clients stopped by and were so happy that they could now park their bikes in the shade.  The next weekend, the real task began....Phase 2 - another 20ft x 8ft x 5ft area that had been held hostage for about 20 years by weeds that had grown into 14ft trees, shrubs and weeds.  So, I bought a pair of overalls, a rake, and ate a good breakfast.  Wheelbarrows of debris were carted off to the woods across the road, where the birds, bunnies and other furry things and characters with wings claimed the debris as ingredients for their summer homes.  Funny....these animals never eat anything out of my herbal garden...they're happy to have building materials given to them with no effort or risk of harm (we have a deal!).  At one point, there was a root system that I just couldn't break thru with the shovel.  A customer who was waiting for service came over and suggested that he help.  He brought over an axe that he had in his RV.  Together, with two other clients, we managed to get that sucker free and out of the ground.  Now, full steam ahead!  The next weekend was the toughest....a 30 year old lilac bush that was breaking up the asphalt needed to be taken out...but there was no axe that would get this puppy out of the ground.  Before I knew it, employees and clients alike, all of whom had been observing my progress thus far came to the rescue.  Before I knew it, there were 6 of us working on the project with a forklift.  The roots were surgically cut so that the next door neighbor's foliage would not be damaged.  When we got the bush free, everyone helped to cut it up and get it into the wheelbarrow and into the woods.  Now...everybody wanted to know what was going to happen with all this empty space full of lousy soil and sand.  I am an optimist.  I said 'we are going to have a flowerbed here'.  The next morning, I had more recruits to help me at Lowe's to pick up hostas, plastic borders and some other supplies.  By the day's end, clients had come over to help me weed, dig, plant and water the new flowerbed.  This week, I've had volunteers to go over to the lot and water the new plants.  This weekend, another volunteer is offering his pickup truck and connections to get a bucket of mulch so that we can protect our new garden from the hot sun and make it look a bit prettier.  I just heard that the little old woman next door and her relatives came over to the shop yesterday to comment how wonderful our new flowerbed looks and how they are just so happy to be neighbors.  Another couple asked if I would administer their 10th anniversary vows (now that I've become an ordained minister) and since the parking lot now has a canopy, flowerbed and garden - could they do it there with all their other biker friends?  I don't think that should be a problem.  I'll wear my rhinestone-studded helmet to perform the ceremony.  You just can't make this stuff up, folks...

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Remember that one single act you initiate can create a waterfall of actions.  Whatever you do in life, do it with good intentions and those good intentions will spread.  Every day that I look at that flowerbed, I will remember all the smiling faces who shared in the experience.  My next project?  A 30 year old Sabrett cart that is dirty, disgusting and rusted.  It's going to become a flowercart soon...Harley Davisdon orange and black....of course!

Plant Something Positive and Just Wait and See What Happens

I've been missing the 'zen of gardening' for many years.  Every weekend, I help a friend at his Harley Davidson dealership in the Catskills...basically, I'm the social liason.  This past weekend, I decided to do something social for the dealership - I planted an herb garden in back of an old shed they own just across the road.  The area is rocky and surrounded by overgrown bushes and brush, but, in my eyes (as a seasoned gardener from way back in the day), this spot has lots of sun, lots of drainage and is unmolested by human traffic.  This was the perfect spot for the official dealership community herb garden!
My cousin donated several plants from her own garden up in Columbia County for this project.   Chocolate mint, peppermint, spearmint, pergamon and another lovely ______cherry plant (oops, I forgot!) were in the lineup.  Next stop was Home Depot for a pair of cotton gardening gloves, a short handled shovel (size matters when you're a small person digging) and a great spade.  It took about 2 hours to dig out a rectangular space, pull indigenous roots, weed and discard a boatload of rocks, but viola!  The herbs were planted and one of the owners of the dealership donated metal brackets to create a border.  The next day, it was off to the local farmers' market where the Cornell Agricultural School liason took an interest in what I was doing and pointed me in the direction to where I could purchase basil, thyme, rosemary and parsley.  At the end of the day, O'Toole's Harley Davidson of Wurtsboro, NY had its very own herbal garden.  Everyone at the store was curious and excited to see me going back and forth with a shovel and spade (aside from the 'burying the dead body jokes') and buckets of water and even more excited to know that this garden is for everyone to share.  In a few weeks, we will all be able to cut our own mint, parsley and other herbs for various uses. 

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Plant something positive today.  Whether it's a pot of herbs for your office to share, or a positive idea that can impact others or just a positive attitude for the day....like a garden, the good vibes will spread and like a little community garden, you'll put a smile on other people's faces.  At the end of the day, you'll feel really good!  I got to dig in the soil, create a garden and got some great exercise.  I've got big plans for an expanded garden for next year, but for the meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy some fresh mint tea today!