House Plants

Welcome to my home. 

This is one of my three clusters of house plants. In doing research for this post I found some studies that surprised me. The presence of plants has a measurable effect on the happiness and well-being of people. Whether the study involved interacting with plants or being in a room with plants, the effects were measurable even weeks after the initial experience took place. Plants make us feel better. I know that every time I look toward my wall of plants I feel joy, but I never thought science would back me up on this.

Even Meecho gravitates towards the plants

What I expected to find from my research was that plants purify the air. Again, surprise! The science on plants as air purifiers is inconclusive. They do have an effect in laboratory settings, but our homes circulate air so rapidly that their effect in purification might be minimal. Plants do emit humidity, which is good during a Canadian winter. With the house closed off and the heating on, this place can get very dry. I keep adding more plants to protect my cats from getting static electricity shocks to their noses. 

You'll find a million lists of the "9 Most Unkillable Plants" or the "5 Best Air Purifying Plants", so what I wanted to say was what you won't find anyone else saying: You don't have to spend money to get a wall of plants like mine! Plants want to live! They want to grow in all of the spaces. Sure, there will be plant deaths because you over watered one or put a shade loving plant in full sunlight, but with trial and error you can fill your space with plants for minimal investment. Here is how:

1. Get plants. Plants are easy to obtain for free. If you see a plant with branches or vines, just snap a bit off the end of a branch (three inches is enough to work with). When you get home cut the wound open again (as it will have dried out), remove the bottom leaves, and place in a glass of water. Refresh the water after a week and after a couple weeks the plant part will likely be growing roots in that water. 

 All but three of my house plants were propagated from plants of friends, family, fellow gardening club members, a cheeky snip of a plant in a restaurant, or grown from seeds from grocery store-bought fruit.

2. Put them in pots. You can now plant in a pot with soil, or a soilless mix. All of my plant pots were picked up from the side of the road on garbage day, or a friend or co-worker offered them to me when they were cleaning out their garage.The houseplant potting soil is the one of two purchases I have ever made for my house plants (the other being a water-solluble fertiliser but a lot of people don't bother with this). A huge bag of soil mix cost me $9 and I'm not even halfway through using it. 

3. Water. The most common cause of houseplant death is over-watering. A good way to prevent over-watering is to let the plants exhibit signs of wilting. This can trigger flowering in plants that flower. With practice you'll get comfortable with ignoring your plants until they show you stress signs. If a plant looks unhealthy but the soil is wet don't even think about giving it more water! If it looks unhealthy and the soil is dry, go ahead and water.

If you're not sure whether you can spot a healthy plant from an unhealthy plant, don't worry. Get a plant and through trial and error you will learn what it wants.

4. Light. This is pretty tricky. Plants want to be somewhere bright, but not be cooked in direct sunlight. Some like shade, or partial shade, or partial light, or full light. Frankly, they can be pretty picky. My solution to this is to choose a place for the plant and leave it there for 3 weeks. If it looks unhappy and the reason isn't over- or under-watering then I move the plant to a new location that receives either more or less light. Some kinds of plants are very picky and will die quickly. Others just stay stagnant and don't grow until they find the right spot. I have a lipstick plant that stayed the same size for a full year and just grew darker and darker in colour until a couple months ago I finally moved it to a place it likes. Now it is growing lovely bright green leaves and branches. We needed to have patience with each other but finally we can both be happy.

5. Propagate. Now that your plant is happy and growing, take cuttings from the ends of the branches and vines. Or if you have plants like Aloe Vera which make babies that grow from the roots, harvest these babies and put them in their own pot. Grow your army of plants and gift them to friends and family. 

Cover the world in plants!

Holiday Gift Giving Guide!

It's mid-November, so naturally everyone is losing their minds about Christmas. I thought I would write a quick no-nonsense guide to gift giving.

1. Ask someone if they want a gift.

This sounds very unromantic, but frankly a lot of people I know would prefer their relatives and friends stop giving them gifts. 

Those of us who have a healthy income can purchase what we need/want when we need/want it. Receiving a throw pillow shaped like an owl might be your idea of an excellent gift, but the person receiving might not actually want another pillow, or a pillow that doesn't fit with their style or colour scheme.

On the flip side, when you have a limited income gifts can be also be a burden. You likely are not able to afford to live in a large space to fill with stuff. My experience with uncertain employment involved me moving apartments every 6 months, extra stuff would have been no gift at all. 

2. If the answer to number 1 is yes, ask what they would like.

Again, this eliminates the element of surprise, fine, but even as a kid going out to choose my own Christmas presents was hugely exciting. The anticipation of knowing added to the joy of unwrapping them several weeks later.

Think about it, when someone gives you a gift out of the blue there is stress involved in receiving it. When you open it, no matter what it is, you have to look delighted in order to make the giver feel appreciated.  Opening a gift when you've told someone what you want is much easier. It's good to give people a few options so that they choose what is appropriate to their budget. Knowing what someone wants doesn't take away from your ability to be thoughtful. It's thoughtful to take the time to ask.

If you have children, this is also a good opportunity to introduce the idea that maybe if they have enough stuff that they would like an experience as a gift. Like a rock-climbing lesson, or taking their two best friends out to see a movie.

3. Whatever the person's answer to 1. or 2., respect it.

The expectation that someone needs to love a gift that you give them is unhealthy. If a man buys a woman a drink in a bar, does she owe it to him to thank him so much for his generosity? No. She doesn't even have to drink it. Why would you expect any different from your loved ones?

Consent is something we undermine constantly in our culture. If someone doesn't want a gift and you want to get them one anyway, at least give them an out. They don't want to hurt your feelings, but by virtue of ignoring their wishes, you are hurting theirs. At the very least mention "I really loved this, and I know you didn't want a gift so no pressure at all. If you don't like it, just give it to me and I will happily have this in my house." Certainly do not make them feel guilty 6 months from now when you don't see that sculpture of a dog sitting proudly in the middle of their living room.

4. Zero Waste gift ideas

A lot of items we buy as gifts come with a lot of packaging- I like to say 'no thank you' to having my food  or soap wrapped in garbage! Here is my favourite stocking stuffer gift idea: jars of treats. Glass jars come in various sizes and can be taken to a bulk food store and filled with smarties, chocolates, dried mango slices, cranberries, gummi worms, nuts, whatever! My godmother last year gifted me two decorated mason jars with cake and brownie mixes inside!

Glass, metal, and paper/cardboard are very easy to recycle and compared to plastic much less wasteful and toxic to the environment. Gifts in these kinds of packages are preferable. 

Glass bottles? Think wine, spirits, maple syrup, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

Experiences of all shapes, sizes, and budgets are out there, be creative!

5. Wrapping Without Waste

My family has been re-using gift bags for so long, I don't remember ever buying a gift bag.  If you haven't already got a collection of gift bags in your closet or holiday trunk, then I usually wrap a gift in cloth. If it is material that I particularly want back then I mention that to the recipient. Usually people offer it back anyway. Other alternatives exist, like using the pile-up of re-usable bags that you have as gift bags, but I leave that to your own creative minds.

6. Relax. 

Enjoy the holiday with people who you love and stop making something that is about life, love, and family, into something about consumerism. Happiness comes from within.

E