gardening

Summer Gardening Projects Let Kids Get Dirty and Keep Parents Happy

| June 9, 2016 | Categories: Biophilia, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing
Share your spare veggies and other produces with co-workers this summer.
Kids are counting down the days until school is out for the summer. Don’t we all remember that feeling? If you’re a parent, you have a different perspective. Something like, “oh no, how am I going to keep the kids busy and out of trouble all summer!” Why not encourage your kids to do something that comes naturally? Encourage them to get their hands dirty in fun gardening activities. Take advantage of San Diego’s summer weather to work on projects outdoors when it’s cool enough, and indoors when the sun is a little too strong. There are many age appropriate opportunities for gardening and art projects that will instill a love of nature that will last a lifetime.… Read More

Dr. Nature Prescribes Gardening for Good Health

| June 1, 2016 | Categories: Biophilia, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing
Monday, June 6 is National Gardening Exercise Day. Get a little dirty and celebrate.
Have you seen all the fitness wristbands on the market? It seems like they can measure nearly anything! Of course you have to be doing something to measure in the first place. We are told that sitting is the new smoking, and if we work behind a desk at all we’ve got to get up and move frequently. The goal is to walk 10,000 steps in a day or get the equivalent amount of exercise. Sure, it sounds easy but it means you need to get in a minimum of five miles of walking per day. If you walk at a brisk pace this can be an hour and 15 minutes or more.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Holiday Myth Busting

| December 4, 2015 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living
Many myths circulate at Christmastime, and several of them deal with our favorite holiday theme plants. The Good Earth Plants Eco-Warrior is here with his Myth Busters hat on to help you out by spreading the true dirt. Myth 1: Poinsettias are poisonous. NO, poinsettias are NOT poisonous! It has been a real battle to bust this myth. Some sources attribute the rumor to a 1919 poisoning case in Hawaii that led to the death of a two year-old child. At the time, the cause of the poisoning was incorrectly determined to be a poinsettia leaf. Poison control centers nationwide say a child or pet weighing 50 pounds would have to eat 500 poinsettia leaves to even start being affected, and that might be due to plant overload versus outright poisoning.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Presents Pumpkin Power Halloween Trivia

| October 29, 2015 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company
The tradition of carving pumpkins came from Irish immigrants to the U.S.
Halloween is on Saturday. For most Americans, you can’t have Halloween without pumpkins. Displaying a pumpkin or carving one into a traditional Jack-O-Lantern is a popular Halloween tradition. We are out of our gourd about pumpkins at Good Earth Plant Company. In honor of this festive fruit (yes, it’s a fruit and not a vegetable), we present our Pumpkin Power Trivia. Orange you glad? The tradition of carving pumpkins started in Ireland. The Irish originally used turnips and sometimes potatoes. They carved ugly faces into them to ward off evil spirits. When Irish immigrants came to America, they switched to pumpkins, which were larger and easier to carve.… Read More

Water Your Trees Like Mother Nature Would

| August 6, 2015 | Categories: Environment, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Water and Water Conservation
Using a bucket as a drip irrigation system works well with trees. Be sure to cover the bucket to prevent accidents with children. Photo: Courtesy Goleta Water District
Two weeks ago, I wrote in this blog about our drought and the importance of preserving our trees. Go ahead and let your lawn turn brown. If you can only afford to water one thing in your yard, water your trees. One of my Good Earth Plants blog readers (thank you!) asked, “What is the best way to water my trees so they get the most water? Is there a trick to it?” We love smart questions and we will answer it here. Since we can’t always count on Mother Nature watering our trees in a Mediterranean climate during a drought, we need to help.… Read More

Resolve to Get Connected in 2015

| January 22, 2015 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company, Indoor Plants, Living Walls, Sustainable Living
My first plant selfie of the year at the TPIE show in Florida.
Happy New Year! Can you believe we are 15 years into a new century? I’m getting inspired at the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition (TPIE) in Florida, one of our hottest trade shows and conferences, literally. This group knows its audience well. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance in most of the U.S. to attend a trade show located in sunny south Florida in January? Back home they would be shoveling snow and only dreaming of the warm weather ahead. I’m motivated by the opportunity to meet and learn from other like-minded people, including a meeting with members of the nonprofit group Green Plants for Green Buildings.… Read More

Give Thanks For Good Earth Plant Company’s Trivia Contest

| November 13, 2014 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Environment, Good Earth Plant Company
Which of these popular Thanksgiving vegetables is native to North America, and which ones are not?
Part of our mission at Good Earth Plant Company is to share what we have learned and educate our clients and friends. But we also like to have fun, so why not combine the two? Welcome to our first Good Earth Plant Company Trivia Contest, first in what we hope will be a long running series. We will give you ten questions on a specific theme. The rules are simple. Email your ten answers to Katelyn@goodearthplants.com The person who gets the most questions right by 12 midnight on Saturday, November 15 gets a swell prize: your choice of a beautiful potted orchid, or a $20 Starbucks gift card.… Read More

Sept. 2014 Good Earth Leaflet Newsletter: Latest Projects, Fall Plant Sale

| September 15, 2014 | Categories: Newsletters, Plantscaping
Good Earth Plant Company Leaflet Newsletter
Click here to read the September 2014 edition of the Good Earth Plant Company Leaflet newsletter. Highlights of this issue: See photos of our latest projects Read Jim Mumford’s story about working with the late Joan Rivers Get details about our upcoming Fall Open House and Plant Sale See photos of our staff on and off the job (safe for work!) Get our newsletter delivered right to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter email list. Visit the home page of our website and scroll to the end of the page to provide us your email address.

Flowers and World Peace: Why Not?

| August 15, 2014 | Categories: Environment, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Indoor Plants
“Sweet flowers alone can say what passion fears revealing.” – Thomas Hood Watch any news and you’ll see constant discussion on war in the Middle East. Perhaps things would be different if plants were involved. At Good Earth Plants, we think it couldn’t hurt. The olive branch is the symbol of peace. Wouldn’t it be a better world if olive branches were exchanged instead of bullets? Throughout history, people have used the gift of plants and flowers to communicate human emotions. Many of us know the red rose stands for love, and the daisy for happiness. Good Earth Plant Company wants to widen your plant vocabulary so the next time you give flowers or a plant as gift, it will hold a deeper meaning.… Read More

Planting Seeds at ASLA San Diego Living Architecture Mixer

| July 24, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
Plenty of seeds were planted at the ASLA San Diego Living Architecture Mixer at Good Earth Plants.
It’s hard to say who enjoyed our recent Good Earth Plants and GreenScaped Buildings Living Architecture Mixer for ASLA San Diego: the hosts, or the attendees. It’s fair to say everyone had a great time. We welcomed 80 attendees including Landscape Architects, Architects, and Interior Designers. Food was eaten, drinks were had, and knowledge was shared. Many professionals viewed, touched, and experienced our dozens of Living Wall and Green Roof demos in our Good Earth Plant Company Living Lab. Even our bar had a green roof. Our rooftop irrigation system turned while our attendees were viewing our original green roof on the GEP HQ building.… Read More