Anti-consumerist weekend

As regular readers of the blog (and friends who have heard my unprovoked rants) may have guessed, I am opposed to consumerism for the sake of consumerism.

My house does not look like the houses that pop up when you search "minimalism", though. I painted my walls bright colours which repulse people with dark souls, and every wall is covered with a generous amount of rescued or self-made art. All my frames are rescued from bins or relative's basements and it turns out, you can put anything in a frame and it looks like art. 

Being anti-consumerist doesn't mean you can't own stuff. Fighting consumerism is a conscious choice; everything in your house has been reflected upon. Every picture, plant pot, bowl, cat, and computer has been invited into my home after much deliberation. I don't go shopping and buy something unless I have a need for it and have already researched alternatives to that thing, or that thing second hand. This probably sounds like a lot of work to people who love going shopping and coming home with an empty bank account but lots of pretty new things to store in the closet and never look at again.

It is easier to buy without thinking than it is to walk through rows of cheap goods and only buy the one thing you need. It's harder to go to the hardware store and find the part to fix whatever is broken than it is just to buy a new thing. Just remember, every time you spend $80 on stuff you didn't need, that's another day you have to keep working that job you hate (if you don't hate your job, awesome!). 

I live happy in the knowledge that my actions are in line with my world view. We make too much stuff, throw out too much stuff, and if we could all take one day off work per week we would be less stressed and make more conscientious choices. If life isn't so hectic, you can take time to pause and ask yourself "do I really want this?"  (This applies not only to stuff, but relationships and lifestyles!)

If you really want to unwind next weekend after your stressful week at work, instead of shopping, try to turn something you already have but kind of hate into something that is brilliant. Pinterest is full of awesome ideas to turn junk that's sitting in your basement into something artistic and fun. And if you still hate it, no problem! You were going to get rid of it anyway. If you love it, you can feel good that you got a cool new thing without spending any money and without consuming more precious resources and destroying the planet for future generations. Bonus points if you learned a new skill and increased your confidence in your own abilities!

Well done you!

Eden Indoors- Winter is Coming

I chose to name my business Eden's Rise, not so much as a name but as an objective. The literal Rise or Return of the Garden of Eden. As the weather cools and as vegetable ripening slows to a crawl, the season for market gardening draws to a close. I've been wondering about ways of continuing my mission ("Sell diverse products which remind customers of the importance of biodiversity and increase their environmental awareness.") throughout the winter.

During the season I was surprised at the popularity of plants. In the spring I sold quite a few perennials for the garden, then increasingly through the summer and early fall I've found Cacti, Aloe Vera and other miscellaneous houseplants that I've brought have sold reasonably well.



Which brings me to how Eden's Rise will continue to spread it's message this winter; I have signed up to attend two winter markets! Since making this decision, I've been visiting garden centers trying to find parent stock from which to propagate my plants. After all, one  mother Aloe Vera plant generated at least $70 in sales during the 3 months I have been bringing her offspring to market. I just needed more parents!

In addition to selling succulents and vines, I am waiting to receive seeds for several popular kitchen herbs, such as basil, cilantro, rosemary, and thyme, to grow for sale at the winter markets. Just because it is winter doesn't mean we shouldn't have fresh green stuff in our food!

I aim for zero waste in my life (imperfectly, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't try), and as Eden's Rise is clearly an extension of me, I also aim for zero waste in my business. All the pots used in production are enjoying a second life. They have all been donated to me from people in my village who kindly answered the call when I put a sign in the post office and by my front door asking for plant pots. With the second winter market being in mid-December, I worry it could be very cold so I have emailed the members of my garden club to save their empty bread bags for me and several have responded promising to do so. Reusing, reducing, this is how I want to do business.

Now please enjoy these photos of my plants. I hope they calm you in the rainy, windy days to come. If you see anything you like, send me a message and we can arrange a visit. Small pots are $5 each, large pots are $10, medium pots are $8.

Mini Cactus $5/each

Small succulents $5/each

Large Palm $10

Purple Heart $10 (without pot)

Wandering Jew/ Inch Plant $10

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!