'Tis the Season to Plant a Garden

One of my only experiences with gardening was a few years ago when I planted a variety of organic, heirloom vegetables, from swiss chard to cauliflower.  I nursed and cherished my garden like a baby and just when the little sprouts started to look like real veggies, a mysterious collection of  beetles descended upon them--covering every inch of green; they remained until there was barely anything left.  You'd think this would make me avoid planting a garden like I avoid doing my taxes, but I feel compelled to try again because I know how soul-enriching it will be to have an intimate connection to some of my food.  Also, my mom just bought me several varieties of collard green plants, so I must start planting!  I'm hoping if I plant enough, there will be plenty for both me and the bugs!  Sure, I could spray my garden with chemicals and keep the bugs at bay, but this goes against everything I stand for.  I don't believe in killing other beings, no matter how annoying they might be and  I certainly don't want to be ingesting toxic chemicals.  There are already enough in our air and water, so we all get plenty involuntarily!

In addition to my variety of collards in my platning bed, I'm going to try some container gardening.  A friend of mine grows herbs and lettuce in cute little pots and it's the easiest thing to maintain and gives her a surprisingly large harvest for the season.  The one successful stint at gardening I had was a few potted pepper plants that gave us an abundance of hot peppers all summer long and into the fall last year.  Gardening on this scale is manageable for everyone and it can be done almost anywhere.  Container gardening is also easy on your back!

OK, so I planted my collards a few weeks ago when they were only 2 inches tall and like magic they have trippled in size.  The only chore, which I don't even consider a chore, is to water them and to pull a weed or two that is growing near them  I also have a secret weapon this time around, Mycorrhizal fungi!  The following is an excerpt from the amazingly magical website:  Fungi Perfecti. If you want incredible vegetables and plants then read on!  "Mycorrhizal fungi are fungi that have developed a symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationship with the root systems of living plants, from garden vegetables all the way up to Old Growth trees. Networks of mycorrhizal filaments envelop the seedling's root structure, greatly extending and enhancing (by a factor of several hundred to several thousand times) the growing plant's water- and nutrient-gathering abilities and protecting the plant from disease.  Sadly, modern techniques for clearing and developing land for human use destroy mycorrhizal fungi, reducing the ability of plants to thrive in man-made environments and forcing us to resort to fertilizers and other artificial means of promoting plant growth."  So buy some MycoGrow from Fungi Perfecti and watch your plants truly thrive.  I guarantee my collards are shooting up twice as fast because of this wonderful little helper.

"When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden.”

 --Minnie Aumonie

We Are All Connected

With great relief I finished the Penguin Lives' book, Julia Child last night. Relief because I knew Julia had a pension for eating animals(she was the French Chef!), but I was amazed by her conscious disregard for them her entire life.  Towards the end of the book the author shares that Julia relished hacking up a whole chicken, timing herself while doing it, and with pragmatic glee would nail an eel to a board, so she could skin it more easily.  At this point I was reading with only one eye open and praying, hoping, assuming that the eel was not alive while this was taking place.   After reading the last page, I put the book down and marveled at Julia's unbelievable disconnect with other sentient beings.  Unintentionally, this book makes her seem like a barbarian and unlike other biographies that I have read and that have endeared me to the person more, this one makes me want to say "shame on you" to Julia when I stroll into heaven.

I picked the book up one day because Julia seemed like an interesting person and like Julia, I too have a passion for food even if we split at the fork in the road that divides carnivores and vegetarians (I must confess, I'm not 100% vegetarian.  Occasionally I go bonkers and need a little fish, but this may even change soon after I read the article my mother just gave me about Red Snappers and how clever they are).

Now, I'm not going to jam anything down anyone's throat—I did this enough in my early twenties as a vegan animal activist, alienating family during the holidays, and sporting, very often, my "I don't have any spare ribs" piggy peta t-shirt—but I just have to say that I'm totally astounded when people continue to liberally eat meat today knowing what we all know (or should know) about the horrific cruelty and greed of factory farming.  It is so wrong on so many levels and with the movies, Fast Food Nation and Food Inc. readily available, there is little room for excuse for not cutting back or cutting meat out of our diet all together.

Now, my husband loves meat and he's not alone, just watch the food channel for 20 minutes—meat, meat, meat—I love meat too, as a matter of fact, but its just that I prefer it intact on a live animal more than I want it on my plate.  My husband rescues sickly squirrels and other wildlife with me and we chase down stray dogs,  but he draws the line when it comes to his burgers and I am OK with it as long as we get the meat at our local, humanely raised, organic butcher (personally I think the "humane" part stops at the slaughter bit, but apparently there are more humane ways to do this part of the dirty work).

I actually prepare his meat for him and my vegan friends are astonished, but I've mellowed a bit as I have gotten older and I don't think this is a bad thing because I've noticed this mellowing has inspired more change in the ones around me than the angry vegan activist in me ever did.

What am I trying to say with all this?  It's as simple as the title says—we are all connected and this should be tucked closely to our hearts when we make decisions in our lives, from ordering the chicken salad to buying the bargain price shoes that perhaps a little girl assembled in Tawain.  Conscious choices make the world a better place and I'm going to strive to make more of them and I hope you do, too!

Forget the Grout and Sing with the Birds!

My sanity is being challenged these days...well, not really, but I like to be dramatic. I don't know about you, but I have a "to do list" that I need to start calling the "neverending-will-not-all-get-done-in-one-lifetime list." I have mountains of laundry, kitchen grout that needs to be scrubbed, letters that need to be written, yoga poses that need to be drawn and oh, yeah performed, and old relatives to visit before they die.

But as Spring starts to peek around the corner and I see buds appearing on the trees, I'm reminded of the beauty in this world and slowing down to enjoy it is key. But how, with my never-ending-to-do-list? Easy I say, just stop giving a hoot! I admit, I don't always achieve this state, but when I do a weight lifts off my shoulders and there's a spring in my step—who cares if the grout is grey? Who cares if I wear dirty socks?

I've also discovered invaluable timesavers. "Like with Like" and "Blender Soups." How many times do you look for something and cannot find it? I have saved myself hours by following one simple rule—keep everything together that is in the same category. Cameras go with albums and frames and camera straps and bags and photo corners. Mailing stuff from stamps to envelopes to pens to confetti to tape all go together. This might seem obvious to many of you (bravo for you!), but for me it was a lifesaver.

I also like to eat healthy, most of the time, but don't always like to cook, so I make blender soups. I bung everything from onions to kale to frozen lima beans to carrots into a pot of simmering water and bouillon cubes (Rapunzell are my favorite) and when the flavors have mingled and the veggies softened just a bit,  I whip it in the blender. To make the soup seem less naked, I lay a thinly sliced piece of toasted peasant bread on top. It is quite satisfying. And what makes it heaven for me is how quick it is to make—I can sloppily cut up all of my ingredients because at the end of cooking, the oddly shaped, tangled mess gets thrown into a blender and transforms into a fine puréed soup.

Happy Spring to everyone and please do ignore the dirty grout and get out in nature and sing with the birds!

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

—John Muir

Do Yoga—Be Happy! Be Happy—Do Yoga!

Where does the time go? Why doesn't it sit quietly and patiently next to us until we have finished what we set out to do? ONLY 17 DAYS LEFT for my Rescuegirl giveaway (see post below). Also, please do consider donating a wee bit o' gold to http://causecommandos.com and you'll get a FREE yoga deck for a $50 donation! (Image from new iPhone app, YogaBeauty ©2010Amy Luwis)

Yoga on the Go iPhone Apps!

26 days left for my fabulously awesome giveaway--Yoga to the Rescue yoga decks to over-sized organic Rescuegirl totes to my new YogaBeauty app (see photo) that will make you more beautiful, inside and out. Just become a facebook fan. Already a fan? Send me a message--easy peasy details in last post!

The Greatest Contest in the Galaxy...and the Easiest!

What do women love almost as much as chocolate? FREEBIES!
RescueGirl is celebrating the new decade with a fabulous giveaway...

Here's the nifty loot that will be given away!!!

3 copies of RescueGirl's bestselling yoga deck, Yoga to the Rescue ($19.95srp)
3 RescueGirl organic boat totes ($36srp)
3 RescueGirl NEW YogaBeauty iPhone Apps ($3.99srp)
3 RescueMe! Flashcard Sets ($9.95srp)

Contest Details:
1. Become a Rescuegirl Fan on Facebook, it's simple, costs nothing, and has no calories: http://www.facebook.com/OriginalRescuegirl and click "Become a Fan." If you are already a fan, just send me a message and you'll be included in the contest!
2. Contest expires: February 28, 2010.
3. Random Drawing and Winners announced March 1, 2010.
4. Prizes will ship as soon as the winners spill the beans or send us their address.

Namaste and Good Luck!

Simple, Fun Tarot

I just bought the niftiest tarot card set by Kat Black (can that really be her real name?). I've wanted to buy a set for years after a friend did a reading for me; I finally got around to it yesterday (I always need a little extra "kick" to do something and the "kick" this time was an article about Tarot in my local Pathways magazine (Metaphysical Tarot and the Law of Gratitude by Geraldine Amaral). This is what caught my eye: "NO KNOWLEDGE OF TAROT REQUIRED." OK, I'm in!

Geraldine shares a simple and fun game called "Gifts & Gratitude." You can play this with 2 people, but 3 or more is ideal. Using 1 Tarot deck, shuffle the deck and then give each person 5 cards, including the dealer (face down). Look at all 5 cards. One person starts and the rest follow, one at a time for each card:

Card 1: Pull 1 card and let the imagery guide you, ask yourself, "what am I currently grateful for in my life?" Explain what you are grateful for to the group (group can add their thoughts too). Place card in front of you. Player 2, 3, and so on...take their turn.

Card 2 (wild card): Focus your energy inward and shuffle your remaining 4 cards. Pick one card with eyes closed and show it to the group (you don't look at it). The group then tells you what they see in regards to your life.

Card 3: Give one of your remaining cards to anyone (even someone you don't know) in the group (using your intuition) tell them how this card reflects their gifts and talents and why you appreciate and admire them.

Card 4: Pick one of your two remaining cards and give this to someone in the group and explain why you are giving it to them—something you wish for them? a gift you intuit for them? something you think they need in their life at this moment?

Card 5: Choose any of your 5 cards. Let it guide you to answer this question, "how can I best use my gifts to contribute something positive to the world?". Other players can add their comments.

Last bit: Once everyone has had a turn with their five cards, lay all your cards in front of you (the first card you kept at the beginning and the cards that were given to you); see which one draws you in and speaks to you the most. This one card should suggest an affirmation that will keep you focused on gratitude in your life. Consider this your tarot reading for the day!

Just have to share....
Eckhart Tolle said, "If the only prayer you ever utter is 'thank you,' that will be enough."

"As a person thinks, so she is. Negative thoughts will draw in negative experiences. All that you accomplish or fail to accomplish with your life is the direct result of your thoughts." —James Allen
Illustration, Queen of Wands by rockin' Kat Black from her Golden Tarot Deck which took 1500 hours to complete!