COVID-19

Time to Celebrate: It’s National Indoor Plant Week

She's got the right attitude for National Indoor Plant Week 2021! Photo: Mikhail Nilov/Pexels
Plant lovers everywhere, get ready to party – the week of  September 20, 2021, is National Indoor Plant Week. We’re giving you advanced notice! It is celebrated the third full week of September every year. I get it, there are a whole lot of these observations. One website claims there are 1,500 of them – that’s a LOT for 365 days and 52 weeks. During the same week, it’s also National Singles Week, National Farm Animals Week, and National Eczema Week. Your indoor plants deserve a celebration. All they want to do is grow and keep you happier and healthier. They don’t judge you and they don’t have to worry about social distancing either (how lucky!).… Read More

Hot Tip: Add Humidity For A Healthier Office Space 

Could raising indoor air humidity by using plants help prevent the spread of COVID-19? Some scientists now think so. Photo: Daria Shevtsova / Pexels
Are you a little anxious about returning to the office? You aren’t alone.  Several polls show people worry about being exposed to the coronavirus when they go back to the workplace. Depending on the poll, 60 to 75 percent of people surveyed say they’re worried about this, and worried about being exposed by their co-workers. It’s enough to make a person want to work from home forever. But this isn’t always possible or even a good idea long term. We understand how much a healthy workspace can make a difference at Good Earth Plant Company. We have been working with clients to improve the health and wellbeing of their employees and visitors in all kinds of indoor spaces for more than four decades!… Read More

Be Like Nature, My Friend

We have so much to learn from the resilience of Nature. Photo: Quinton Delman/Pixabay
Is 2020 over yet? The situation in our country and in our communities leaves me nearly speechless. It has been a rough year. First, the coronavirus hit. Second, the U.S. economy took a dive, causing unemployment so high it didn’t even seem real. Then, just as it seemed like we might get through the worse of the pandemic crisis, the senseless murder of an African-American man in Minneapolis set off a chain reaction across the U.S. of anger and hurt, including in my home town — specifically the city of La Mesa, California. Many people staged peaceful protests. Some senseless opportunists used the protests as cover to pillage innocent business owners and communities.… Read More

Post-Pandemic Office Life Can Be Exactly What You Needed

We might feel like we're living in a bubble, but we have a golden opportunity to improve our indoor environments. Photo: Beate Bachmann/Pixabay
You may know the saying claiming the Chinese characters for the words “crisis” and “opportunity” are the same. Well, not exactly. If you do a little digging and read what modern Chinese speakers say, this isn’t correct. There IS a popular saying in modern Chinese communities 危機就是轉機 which translates as “A crisis is also a turning point.” It’s possible over time these two ideas have merged. People are said to use this phrase to comfort or console someone who is in a very bad situation, whether it’s their fault or not. If ever we needed consoling in a bad situation in modern times it’s now during the coronavirus pandemic.… Read More

20 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day 2020 All Year Long

Fifty years ago, the first Earth Day took place in 1970. It is now an annual event celebrated on April 22, coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network. It reaches more than 192 countries each year including hundreds of communities in the United States. Earth Day fell on Wednesday this week – but with everything going on in the world around us, you might have missed it. Earth Week 2020’s formal activities including San Diego’s free, all-volunteer Earth Fair at Balboa Park had to be postponed. The County of San Diego offers a virtual Earth Day online here. But Mother Earth is enjoying the celebration.… Read More

Good Earth Plant Company Working To #StayPlanted

It’s been both heartbreaking and heartening to watch what’s going on in the world today. For every bit of devastating news about the coronavirus pandemic, acts of human kindness and generosity give me new energy. One of the harder hit industries is our wholesale ornamental plant and flower nurseries in San Diego County. My colleagues at Olive Hill Greenhouses, Leucadia Nursery, and FlorAbunda Nursery, members of the San Diego County Floral and Plant Association who supply me with the plants for our clients at Good Earth Plant Company have seen their business drop, leaving them with greenhouses full of plants with a limited shelf life.… Read More

Take Mom’s Advice: Find Gratitude In Tough Times

Three generations of Mumfords together at La Jolla Shores celebrating Mother's Day in better times, May 2016: (L to R) daughter Allie, Mom, and yours truly.
Jim Mumford: My mom, Sandy Fowler,  is a cross-cultural psychologist. At age 81, she is the current president of the Society for Intercultural Education, Training And Research (SIETAR USA). Its annual conference is still a ‘go’ in Omaha, Nebraska this October. Mom is working diligently to make sure it’s a success. This blog was originally written by Sandy, and I found it worth sharing with our readers with a few updates – making it the first-ever mother-son blog post for Good Earth Plant Company! How about that, Mom? Sandy Fowler: I would observe that when Jim was young, he didn’t do as good a job at taking my advice as he has lately.… Read More