Biophilia
Have you noticed how hard it is to find certain products or services lately? It’s not your imagination. Because of the way many of our spending and purchasing habits have changed combined with unusual limitations due to supplies and employment, there’s a lot more demand.
At the top of the list, the home improvement industry has gone wild. While we were all stuck at home, we looked around and realized we needed to refresh our surroundings. This means we all called contractors, plumbers, painters, and electricians, and plantscapers. The good ones are busy, so get in line soon.
It’s a shock to see the jump in building material prices, especially lumber and plywood.… Read More
National Gardening Exercise Day: June 6
Our sedentary lives really hit home for many people over the last year. Did you gain the COVID-19, or was it 20 pounds?
We now understand sitting in front of a screen for much of the day can be as harmful to our health as smoking cigarettes. Walking more is great, and if you have a treadmill desk, it’s not so tough to finish 10,000 steps in a day. But if you need to go for a walk the old-fashioned way – yes, outside! – it means you need to get in a minimum of five miles of walking per day.… Read More
World Naked Gardening Day 2021 is Here!
Thank you, Mother Nature. Summer temperatures are ahead for Southern California this weekend, just in time for one of our favorite days all year.
Yes, Saturday is the 17th annual World Naked Gardening Day!
More good timing: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its guidance this week on COVID-19 mask guidelines. Fully vaccinated people don’t need to wear a mask outdoors. At home, you don’t need a mask outside, of course. Great news for the 30% of us who are fully vaccinated.
When we first found out about WNGD several years ago at Good Earth Plant Company, we got a big laugh out of it.… Read More
Celebrate Earth Day 2021: Fight Global Warming With Gardening
Today is Earth Day 2021: the 51st year for Earth Day. It was founded on April 22, 1970, by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. He was inspired by student protests against the Vietnam War and hoped to inspire a similar outcry against our war on the environment.
It might not be an official national holiday, but it’s an important day to all the Eco-Warriors at Good Earth Plant Company and important for us to call it to every reader’s attention.
It’s easy to get discouraged about climate change and global warming and easy to feel powerless about stopping it. But it’s possible if we all add a little effort, which will add up to a lot if we don’t give up.… Read More
Plants Matter: Our Ten Reasons Why
Food
Are you reading this over a meal or snack? Without plants, forget having anything to eat. Every single one of the calories in proteins, fats, and carbohydrates we consume comes from plants. Yes, this includes meat, because animals we consume as food eat plants. Plants use the energy created from photosynthesis to convert carbon-dioxide to complex molecules animals including people eat for food. It hardly gets more basic than this! But we have nine more reasons to go.
Oxygen
Hold your breath. You probably can’t do it for more than a few minutes. Life on Earth depends on oxygen, and that oxygen comes mostly from plants, which generate oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis.… Read More
Our Favorite Holiday Is Here! Celebrate Biophilia on St. Patrick’s Day with Good Earth Plant Company
Most people say their favorite holiday is Christmas. Thanksgiving comes next, but Halloween has nearly caught up.
Our favorite holiday didn’t even make the list! We’re here to celebrate OUR favorite holiday at Good Earth Plant Company. You don’t have to be Irish (or part Irish like me) to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17.
Think St. Patrick’s Day is all about cheers, beers, and parties? Think again! St. Patrick’s Day celebrates Nature. It’s the original Biophilic Holiday. We’ll explain.
St. Patrick’s Day History
You may have Irish heritage like me, as many Americans do. Ireland has a long history of emigration.… Read More
Six Nature Videos to Savor From Good Earth Plant Company
We love nature videos. We post them from time to time on our Good Earth Plant Company Facebook page (and we hope you’re following us).
I’m guessing you might have a little extra time this week? So we decided to step aside from our usual blog format and share some of our favorites with you.
Amazing Amazonia
In 2018, my son Ted and I took a trip through the Pantanal region south of the Amazon forest in Brazil. Talk about being immersed in nature! So I was thrilled when one of my favorite YouTube channels, Conservation International, produced a video a few weeks ago on the Amazon.… Read More
Lighten Up: Good News In A Dark World
Are you feeling a little disheartened? This week’s contentious presidential election is hard on everyone whether you voted red OR blue. Coming on top of an especially rough year, it’s not a surprise if your mental health isn’t what it used to be.
But don’t go blaming 2020 for your problems just yet. It might not be the only reason you aren’t your usual cheerful self.
The weekend before Election Day, we went through our annual change back from Daylight Time to Standard Time in the United States. The 60 minutes we adjusted our clocks suddenly makes us aware we are slowly losing daylight.… Read More
Party With Plants! – National Indoor Plant Week
It’s officially National Indoor Plant Week. Yes, it’s a real thing! It’s right up there with Naked Outdoor Gardening Day in May. It is celebrated the third week of September every year.
This is one holiday COVID-19 can’t ruin for us. Your indoor plants deserve a celebration. They’ve kept you happier and healthier during the pandemic. You don’t have to worry about social distancing with your indoor plants. You can gather and party all you want, no masks required!
To Good Earth Plant Company, 2020 has been National Indoor Plant YEAR. People have purchased plants in record numbers. Nurseries and garden centers remained open as essential businesses.… Read More
Your Summer Solstice Resolution: Get Outside
Longer hours of daylight and warmer weather naturally draw us outside more to enjoy it. We’ve been telling you for years this is a GOOD thing (with hats and sunscreen handy).
So I had to laugh just a little when I read the Wall Street Journal this week. In an article on its Career and Leadership page, it featured a “new trend” for the coronavirus age: finding ways to hold work meetings in person by – meeting outside. News flash!
The article reports workplaces setting up meetings in all kinds of outdoor spaces like parks, beaches, or even in private yards where social distancing and masks allow people to meet safely and get away from their screens and Zoom.… Read More