Nature and Wellbeing

Eight Ways to Celebrate Mother Earth This Mother’s Day

| May 11, 2017 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Time for our annual public service announcement, if you haven’t already heard: Sunday, May 14 is Mother’s Day. You’re welcome. As we all get older, we appreciate our Moms more than ever. This is especially true if you’re a parent. Most of us have to be asking ourselves, “How did she ever put up with me?” So we try our best to say thank you with flowers, gifts, and Sunday brunch. Mom always says she’s thrilled no matter what you do. But there is another Mother we should remember on Mother’s Day: Mother Earth. Why not honor both? They both play vital roles in your life.… Read More

World Naked Gardening Day, There’s a Serious Point

| May 3, 2017 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Nature and Wellbeing
Be careful with your gardening tools on World Naked Gardening Day - it's on May 5, 2018!
When I found out this Saturday, May 6 is officially the 13th annual “World Naked Gardening Day,” of course I laughed. Come on, who wouldn’t? Then I thought, ‘Boy, that’s going to take a LOT of sunscreen. More for some than others!’ World Naked Gardening Day is a real event, and while we all might giggle about it, there’s an important point to it. People across the globe are encouraged, on the first Saturday of May, to get outside and weed, dig, plant, fertilize, and otherwise tend to their garden space as Mother Nature made you: without any clothes on. Founder Mark Storey, a Seattle resident, says gloves, hats, and boots are perfectly OK by him.… Read More

Six Mistakes You’re Making With Your Indoor Plants

| April 13, 2017 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Mistakes, we’ve all made a few (with apologies to Frank Sinatra). If I was writing about my OWN mistakes, this blog post would be a novel. Some very big mistakes have made the news recently. I haven’t made any quite that big and I’m sure you haven’t either. But I bet you ARE making some mistakes caring for your indoor plants. The most important thing about making a mistake is recognizing it, and learning from it. And not repeating it. These are everyday principles to our horticultural service technicians at Good Earth Plant Company but we all had to learn these things too.… Read More

Can Plants Save The World? Isn’t It Worth Trying?

| February 17, 2017 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living, Water and Water Conservation
I started my career in the plant industry with a flower bucket stand in downtown San Diego. Now I’m heading toward my 40th anniversary in business at warp speed. It’s crazy! It took a lot of hard work, but it also took a little luck and lots of help along the way. I’m grateful for where it’s taken me. When you have the gratitude attitude, two things happen. First, you feel great. Second, you want to pass it on, and that feels great, too. In 2016, a presentation by Alpha Project Chief Operating Officer Amy Gonyeau opened my eyes to the growing scope of homelessness in San Diego.… Read More

Good Earth Plant Company Wishes You Happy 4715

| January 26, 2017 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Gardening, Nature and Wellbeing
Gung Hay Fat Choi 4715 (Happy Lunar New Year) from Good Earth Plant Company!
We never turn down the opportunity to celebrate a holiday at Good Earth Plant Company. So we are happy to wish you a Happy New Year, because Saturday, January 28, is the start of the Chinese or Lunar New Year 4715. It is celebrated by one-sixth of the world’s population. The Lunar New Year is the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese lunar calendar measures months the way most cultures did from the beginning of humanity, by following the cycles of the moon. The lunar calendar begins each month when the night sky is darkest, on the new moon.… Read More

Kermit The Frog Was Wrong: It IS Easy Being Green

| December 15, 2016 | Categories: Environment, Gardening, Living Walls, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
The moss wall installed by Good Earth Plant Company at San Diego's newest LEED Certified building, owned by Kilroy Realty in Del Mar Heights.
I don’t remember exactly when the announcement of the Pantone Company’s “Color of the Year” became such a big deal. For the last few years at least, this American company best known for creating a universal color matching system called the “Pantone Matching System” names one color every December it thinks will be the hottest color trend in the coming year. Pantone has a committee of people who watch trends throughout the year in fashion, entertainment including films and TV, auto manufacturing, the fine art world, beauty products, and interior design. The committee members notice how the color is being used, what else it’s being used with, and whether it seems new or fresh.… Read More

Halloween: Good Earth Plant Company’s Favorite Biophilic Holiday

| October 27, 2016 | Categories: Biophilia, Nature and Wellbeing
No one loves Halloween more than California’s farmers, because we live in one of the top five pumpkin producing states. And everyone knows you can’t have Halloween without pumpkins! The others are Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Eighty percent of our U.S. pumpkin crop is available in the month of October. Displaying a pumpkin or carving one into a traditional Jack-O-Lantern is a popular Halloween tradition. Learning how this came about is a lesson in how deeply our modern world remains tied through our traditions to the earth and our relationship with the seasons and nature. You can thank America’s Irish immigrants for Halloween in this country.… Read More

Before You Go Back to School, Go Back to Nature

| August 11, 2016 | Categories: Environment, Gardening, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
A Harvard study found teens living in areas with high quality green spaces are at less risk of depression.
Those precious days of summer vacation are already starting to wind down. Back to school ads are everywhere. By this point of the summer back when I was a kid (yes, I realize this is a LONG time ago to some of you), I didn’t stay at the breakfast or dinner table a second longer than I had to. I was too busy outside with all kinds of activities. Do kids even build forts anymore? If you are still trying to pry your kids away from the screens of their phones, tablets or laptops to enjoy outdoor activities during the summer and haven’t been too successful, don’t give up.… Read More

Breathe Easier With These Top Air Purifying Plants

| July 14, 2016 | Categories: Environment, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Our most popular blog post of all time describes the many benefits of indoor plants in the workplace. It makes me happy when I see people interested in this topic and educating themselves on the myriad of benefits that indoor plants provide to their human companions beyond just looking pretty. Many of these proven benefits can be traced back to one of the original studies done by NASA in conjunction with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America in 1989, which wanted to learn the most effective “house-plants” which might help purify the air their astronauts must breathe during extended missions at the International Space Station, and eventually on trips to Mars and beyond.… Read More

Nature Photography Is A Family Affair In New Book

| June 30, 2016 | Categories: Environment, Good Earth Plant Company, Nature and Wellbeing
I’m fascinated on both a personal and professional level with the principles of biophilia, the instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. Edward O. Wilson introduced this concept in his book, Biophilia (1984). He defines biophilia as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life.” The implications for our personal physical and mental well-being are profound. We can use the principles of biophilia and improve our well-being by proactively seeking this connection with nature through things like introducing plants into our work and home environments, taking walks through parks, or encouraging the integration of nature into our everyday urban spaces with elements such as living walls.… Read More