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davidoespailla · 6 years ago

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Millennials Are Hiring Consultants to Raise Their ‘Plant Babies’

Annie Wermiel/NY Post

Nick Cutsumpas calls himself a “plant daddy.”

The 26-year-old Kips Bay resident, who works for Arianna Huffington’s startup Thrive Global, has turned a passion for agriculture—he claims to have grown tomatoes in his apartment with moderate success—into a lucrative side hustle.

His skills are in high demand. Many millennials, members of the generation born between 1980 and roughly 2000 who have a reputation for being commitment-averse, are opting to raise houseplants. Critics have gone as far as to say they’re forgoing traditional milestones like marriage and children to curate photogenic green spaces in their homes.

But it’s not easy to make a garden grow. So while money may not grow on trees, local millennials’ demand for low-maintenance, Instagram-ready plants means there’s ample opportunity for New York’s green thumbs to earn some greenbacks.

After all, this cohort is viewed as being wary of long-term responsibility. “We are the Tamagotchi generation,” says Eliza Blank, the 33-year-old founder of Manhattan-based plant store The Sill, referring to the egg-shaped digital pet toy popular in the late ’90s. “It’s something cute to take care of that’s kind of low-risk.”

The scaffolding around supporting plant ownership, then, continues to blossom. Blank’s online-turned-brick-and-mortar startup, founded in 2012, draws inspiration from women-owned companies like Drybar and Birchbox as opposed to more traditional emporiums like Home Depot.

Potted plants range from $23 to $66. The Sill markets a collection “easy for beginners” (which can be sent to your home for $35 a month) and offers online classes for newbies like “Watering 101” and “How to Pick a Planter” online for $10.

“People are buying plants now because it fills a void in their lives,” says Blank, who has raised $7.5 million in funding for The Sill since 2017 and is soon adding a storefront in Los Angeles to her two in New York. “We aren’t here just to transact with our customers. We’re here to teach them, to educate them, to create a relationship with them—to give them the tools they need to have a relationship with their plants to fill whatever that void might be.”

Plant-owning novices still need guidance. “Some people want me to go buy the plants for them. For others, it’s like picking out a wedding dress,” says Cutsumpas, who makes an average of $300 per project. “You get your friends to come, you want everyone to be there. It becomes an event.”

After Cutsumpas met Tribeca resident Lauren, 37, at a book launch, she turned to him for mentorship.

“I’ve always wanted to have a lot of plants,” says the health and wellness coach, who declined to use her last name due to privacy concerns. “It just always felt so cumbersome to go out and do it. I would go to the Flower District and feel so overwhelmed.”

She paid Cutsumpas just under $500 to buy and install a fiddle-leaf fig tree, two snake plants, a few potted pothos plants and a microgreen and herb station in the three-bedroom apartment she shares with her husband and 4-year-old child.

“I can kill anything, so I wanted low-maintenance. We have a ton of light, and I wanted air-purifying plants,” says Lauren.

She texts pictures of her ailing plants, like the brown spots on her fiddle-leaf fig, to Cutsumpas when she needs advice, which he dispenses at no extra charge. (It was a case of sunburn.)

Cutsumpas—whose plant-filled Instagram feed @FarmerNickNYC boasts almost 10,000 followers—sees plants as a “transitional step” toward bigger commitments: “You’re showing yourself, your friends and your family, ‘Hey, I’m taking this slow. I’m not ready to settle down and start having a kid at age 26.’ ”

Other New Yorkers gravitate toward plants as a design element, instead of posters or art.

A financial consultant who works from his Bushwick home, Sean Valentine, wanted his flat to have “some life in it.”

Valentine, 28, contacted his friend Maryah Greene, 23, a third-grade teacher who moonlights as a plant consultant. Like Cutsumpas, she finds most of her clients via Instagram (though she and Valentine are childhood friends).

“I became known as the crazy lady who’s always fixing someone’s plant,” says Greene, who posts advice on Instagram about choosing low-commitment flora and treating yellowing leaves. Her account @Greene.Piece, she says, has earned her about 20 clients in the last year. Greene takes home between $50 and $160 depending on a project’s budget and scale. (Her day rate is $250.)

Valentine and his roommates “gave me a $400 budget to ball out,” says Greene. “It was a lesson for me. I was like, ‘I can totally get you this really dope ficus, but the air quality in here sucks.’ ”

Now vines, hanging plants and shoots in pots on shelves line the walls of Valentine’s apartment.

“You can put paintings on the wall, but there’s nothing like having greenery,” says Valentine, who admits he’d never had a houseplant before. “It’s very alive.”

Greene attributes the millennial plant boom, in part, to social media—“the way that we advertise our spaces and our day-to-day” activities. But she tells clients it’s not all aesthetics but practicality, too.

“Everyone likes the look of having a plant by the window. But most of those really pretty Swiss cheese [monstera] plants aren’t meant to be on a windowsill, where it’s absolutely freezing,” says Greene. “Don’t get a massive tree if you don’t have the energy to water it and to fertilize it. You can just get a tiny bonsai.”

It’s not just homes that get spiffed up in this green wave. Restaurants, retailers and runways are putting a premium on plants as design, like Rihanna’s buzzy September 2018 Savage x Fenty lingerie show, staged like a leafy eden.

Brands like Nike, Umbro and Foot Locker have tapped Olivia Rose, the Manhattan native behind plant design studio Bodega Rose, to greenify store installations and workshops. Her signature basketball planter, which starts at $90 ($125 with a pothos plant) is a must-have accessory. Last year, ultra-cool label Gypsy Sport, helmed by Balenciaga alum Rio Uribe, sent models down the runway with Rose’s basketball planters during Fashion Week, making Rose the green-thumbed darling of the hypebeast set, able to marry high fashion and street style. She draped MoMA PS1’s courtyard in the planters for the museum’s first-ever plant installation.

In Greenpoint, hip Michelin-starred eatery Oxomoco features an elaborately designed ceiling plantscape by Rose. And Nike CEO Mark Parker commissioned a work for his office after seeing her Air Force One-inspired resin planters.

Rose thinks of herself “as a plant rock star. I’m going on tour with plants,” and prioritizes the “entertainment element” of her work, adding she knows she’s catering to a social-media savvy crowd: “People want to take pictures.”

“If plants are characters in my life, then how would they live? They would be big, they would wear the coolest clothes, they would dress in the best pots, they would go play basketball,” the 23-year-old, who formally trained as a landscape architect at Cornell, tells The Post.

Millennial mainstays like cacti, monsteras, philodendrons and twisted trunks of tropical trees in Rose’s own Kips Bay apartment provide ample inspiration—and a background for selfies shared with her 19,500 Instagram followers.

The idea for The Sill’s Plant Parenthood Club ($39/year) came from demand from Blank’s customers for advice on care. They even call their leafy dependents “plant babies.”

“It’s in lieu of actual babies,” she says. “It’s like, ‘Oh my god, I could never have an actual baby, but I can have a plant, and that could be my baby.’”

For his part, Valentine is currently experiencing the seasonal roller coaster of plant ownership. “Watching them transition to the fall and the winter, I’ve been a little nervous, because things happen, leaves fall off, and you’re like, ‘Am I doing this wrong?’”

Luckily, when Valentine or his roommates are out of town, Greene is on call to plant-sit.

The post Millennials Are Hiring Consultants to Raise Their ‘Plant Babies’ appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

Millennials Are Hiring Consultants to Raise Their ‘Plant Babies’

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bethestaryouareradio · 4 years ago

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Some like it Hot!

https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1412/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Some-like-it-hot.html

By Cynthia Brian

“Summer afternoon -- summer afternoon; the two most beautiful words in the English language.” Henry James

The blackberry bushes flanked the horse stables on my grandparents’ ranch. My grandmother was a genuine horse whisperer. She lovingly cared for a herd of adopted steeds and rode in parades in her fancy Western wear. She even trained the horse for the television show, My Friend Flicka. Together, after an early morning gallop through the fields and vineyards, she would give my cousin and me an empty pail and challenge us to a blackberry picking contest. Our reward was a big bowl of berries with fresh cream dusted with cereal. I adored my horse-loving grandmother and those luscious summer blackberries.

Although I’ve always treasured horses, I stopped liking blackberries when I started growing my own. The thorns are menacing, and the bushes sprout everywhere with their underground runners. In the heat of summer, my days are filled with pulling out blackberry vines from flower beds instead of picking fruit. But this year I have a bumper crop of big juicy berries in an area where I’ve allowed them to flourish. I decided to risk the scratches to re-live the free-flowing glory days spent with my grandmother riding horses and gobbling blackberries in rich purple cream. It’s a short season for blackberries and they like it hot.

Meteorologists have predicted that 2020 has a 75% chance of being the hottest ever recorded. The good news is that we grow many specimens in our gardens that thrive in the heat. The bad news is that the Artic is rapidly warming and climate change is sinister. We must strive to reduce our carbon footprint while we indulge in the summer flavors of favorite fruits and vegetables and the beauty of heat-tolerant blossoms.

Unless you can water deeply and daily, August is not an optimal month to plant anything. But it is a month to enjoy the high-temperature lovers. Tomatoes, tomatillos, beans, peppers, eggplant, beets, zucchini, basil, and corn are a few of the vegetables that demand six to eight hours of sunshine to flourish. Summer fruits that require heat to ripen include peaches, pears, plums, nectarines, cantaloupe, watermelon, apples, blueberries, figs, and, of course, blackberries. Limes are the only citrus that require a blistering summer to be at their best. By growing your choices in containers, specifically tomatoes, peppers, and herbs, substantial sunlight can be guaranteed by moving the pots to different areas and watering when necessary.

I have a pistache planted in a large ceramic cask that has already turned a vibrant red while other in-ground pistache trees are still a brilliant green. Crape myrtle trees, hollyhocks, and agapanthus pop into magnificent blooms when the thermometer rises. Lavender, salvia, sage, and roses grow vigorously in summer. Ubiquitous oleander and the common geranium beat the heat with a profuse of petals lasting until the cold weather begins.

As a child, the Four O’clocks lining our country road opened daily exactly at the prescribed hour. The ones that perennially sprout in my Lamorinda garden germinated from those ranch heirloom seeds do not live up to their namesake. My errant sun-worshippers open at 8 a.m. and close by 4 p.m. Blissfully, right on cue, just as my hillside is looking drab, dry, and dismal, my Naked Ladies poke their long necks out from their mounds. Every year I delight in their ability to shimmer when most everything else is withering.

The big question in the cauldron of August is when and how-to water. Just because a plant is drought resistant or heat-tolerant doesn’t mean it doesn’t get thirsty. To keep our garden healthy, we can’t under-water or over-water. What’s the secret? The optimum time to water is very early morning to prepare your garden for the day. The roots will retain the moisture and the plant will stay hydrated. Watering in the afternoon wastes water as it evaporates before it can saturate the soil. The evening is also a good time to water as long as the leaves have enough time to dry out. Watering at night encourages fungus, insects, and rot. Deep-root watering is always better than sprinkling. Adding three inches of mulch around all plants and trees will aid in keeping the moisture level correct while keeping the roots cooler.

If you have a swimming pool, pond, or fountain, you may discover that honeybees appear to be suicide bombers this month. Rescue them. When it is scorching, bees search for water then return to the hive to let other bees know the location of the source. A group of fifteen or more may tap the pool surface bringing back the droplets to receiver bees. According to entomologists, the water is then deposited along the edge of the wax comb while bees inside the comb fan their wings to circulate the air conditioning. Bees prefer hive temperatures of 95 degrees Fahrenheit, so they like it hot, too!

August will be a sizzling month. Make sure you and your garden stay hydrated. Enjoy the fruits, vegetables, and flowers that relish the swelter. Pick a basket of blackberries, with or without horse-back riding.

Stay cool and enjoy a summer afternoon of hot, hot, hot!

Cynthia Brian’s Garden Product Tips It’s important to frequent and support your local nurseries, garden centers, and stores, however, during the pandemic, many people are safely sheltering-in-place as much as possible. If you prefer armchair shopping with delivery to your home, these are affiliate suppliers that offer quality and satisfaction for almost everything outdoor and garden related. Some have current sales and others offer free shipping with minimum orders.

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For photos and descriptions list https://www.cynthiabrian.com/home-garden-products

Happy gardening. Happy growing.

Photos and more: https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1412/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Some-like-it-hot.html

Cynthia Brian, The Goddess Gardener, is available for hire to help you prepare for your spring garden. Raised in the vineyards of Napa County, Cynthia is a New York Times best-selling author, actor, radio personality, speaker, media and writing coach, as well as the Founder and Executive Director of Be the Star You Are!® 501 c3. Tune into Cynthia’s StarStyle® Radio Broadcast at www.StarStyleRadio.com. Buy copies of her best-selling books, including, Chicken Soup for the Gardener’s Soul, Growing with the Goddess Gardener, and Be the Star You Are! Millennials to Boomers at www.cynthiabrian.com/online-store.

Cynthia is available for virtual writing projects, garden consults, and inspirational lectures. [email protected]

www.GoddessGardener.com

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goddessgardener · 4 years ago

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Quality Outdoor and Garden Products

Cynthia Brian’s Garden Sales Tips It’s important to frequent and support your local nurseries, garden centers, and stores, however, during the pandemic, many people are safely sheltering-in-place as much as possible. If you prefer armchair shopping with delivery to your home, these are affiliate suppliers that offer quality and satisfaction for almost everything outdoor and garden related. Some have current sales and others offer free shipping with minimum orders.

 High-quality gardening products including umbrellas canopies, gazebos, hammocks, furniture, and more with a 15% off sale through August 10th , Use Code SELECT15: https://bit.ly/30L5yUA

 An extensive selection of live plants, seeds, & gardening accessory products, plus trees, shrubs, fruit trees, perennials, & bulbs. https://bit.ly/2P6FAFL

 Automatic gates: Go direct to https://bit.ly/2ZUxJB4

 Fountains, firepits, hammocks, carts, umbrellas, bird feeders, relaxation products, and more. https://bit.ly/3eXqNHU

 Get a Free Flower Coloring book download at https://bit.ly/39CnSDv

 For beautiful botanical art and a variety of seeds, go to https://bit.ly/39spMXe.

 And if the pandemic will be ushering in a new baby in the family soon, congratulations, check out the gear, furniture, and décor at https://bit.ly/2WQv7lJ

Happy gardening. Happy growing.

Buy copies of her best-selling books, including, Chicken Soup for the Gardener’s Soul, Growing with the Goddess Gardener, and Be the Star You Are! Millennials to Boomers at www.cynthiabrian.com/online-store.

Cynthia is available for virtual writing projects, garden consults, and inspirational lectures. [email protected] www.GoddessGardener.com

Keywords:#garden,#outdoors,#plants,#patio,#furniture

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kelly-naproducr · 6 years ago

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Millennials are hiring consultants to raise their ‘plant babies’ "Nick Cutsumpas calls himself a “plant daddy.” The 26-year-old Kips Bay resident, who works for Arianna Huffington’s startup Thrive Global, has turned a passion for agriculture — he claims to have grown tomatoes in his apartment with moderate success — into a lucrative side hustle.

#NoAgenda

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newyorktown · 6 years ago

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Millennials are hiring consultants to raise their ‘plant babies’ https://ift.tt/2X9wzhT

#IFTTT #New York

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barakzairealestategroup · 6 years ago

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Millennials Are Hiring Consultants to Raise Their ‘Plant Babies’

http://dlvr.it/R1j9P9

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pittsburghpropertydiva · 6 years ago

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Millennials Are Hiring Consultants to Raise Their ‘Plant Babies' http://www.qoo.ly/vmqgs

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socalhomesandhouses · 6 years ago

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Millennials Are Hiring Consultants to Raise Their ‘Plant Babies’

Money may not grow on trees, but millennials’ demand for low-maintenance, Instagram-ready plants means there’s opportunity for New York’s green thumbs.

The post Millennials Are Hiring Consultants to Raise Their ‘Plant Babies’ appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

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cavallon · 6 years ago

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#Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®News – Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®

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mrlongkgraves · 6 years ago

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ANA’s 36th president represents a first for men in nursing

On Jan. 1, Ernest Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN, will become the first male president of the American Nurses Association, an organization that has historically been largely female with few men in nursing members.

Although Grant has received nothing but encouragement so far, his two-year presidency will be closely followed by many of the nation’s 4 million nurses.

Grant, who was one of seven candidates running for the position, said this marked the first year in the organization’s history when two men were on the slate for president. Grant believes his victory not only demonstrates the ANA’s desire to reflect the diversity of the patient population nurses serve, but also a gender trend emerging in the workforce.

“We are seeing more and more men go into the field,” said Grant. “Men are realizing that they can provide for their families financially in nursing and that they enjoy the work.”

The percentage of male registered nurses more than doubled from 1990 to 2015, and now more than 14% of RNs are men, according to a recent National Nursing Workforce Study.

As an African-American male, Grant hopes to influence more men and minorities to enter the nursing profession, and he said planting the seeds earlier in life is particularly critical.

Grant witnessed the reality of gender stereotypes several years ago when he visited a school with a female firefighter. He asked fifth graders to identify the firefighter and the nurse, and all the students assumed he was the firefighter.

Grant’s own interest in nursing started when he overheard conversations at church among women who were working at the nearby regional hospital or local clinic for patients with tuberculosis. “At a young age, I wanted to help people who were vulnerable,” Grant said.

He was interested in becoming a physician, but the cost of medical school seemed out of reach for Grant, the youngest of seven children raised by his widowed mother. His high school guidance counselor suggested nursing as an alternative, and he enrolled in a licensed vocational nursing program.

Grant fell in love with clinicals early in his training because it afforded him the opportunity to leverage his new skills and knowledge to help patients.

“Six months into the program, it became clear that this was the profession for me,” he said.

To expand his skills and scope of practice, Grant enrolled in a bachelor’s degree in nursing program at North Carolina Central University, working full time as an LVN while he took classes. Instructors encouraged him to participate in the student nurses’ association and, after graduation, a colleague at work exhorted him to volunteer in a nursing association if he wanted to consider himself a professional nurse. He listened.

Although Grant was both a gender and ethnic minority in his job and leadership roles, he didn’t view himself that way. “I may be blazing the trail for others, but I was just doing what I enjoyed,” he said.

He joined the North Carolina Nurses Association and served on several committees and later as vice president and president of the organization. He also was elected to serve on the board of the ANA from 2000 to 2004 and returned to the board starting in 2015.

How he became politically savvy

In the clinical setting, he lived out his mission to help people by treating patients at the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Health in Chapel Hill, and he identified a trend over time: many burn injuries were preventable.

Now he directs the center’s Burn Prevention Program and serves in leadership positions with the National Fire Protection Association and the American Burn Association, forums that have given him an opportunity to advocate for policy changes related to safer water heater temperatures, fire-safe cigarettes and stricter regulations for selling pyrotechnics.

“Through these experiences I learned different ways to approach politicians,” Grant said. “I needed to team up with legislators in order to get bills passed.”

When Grant decided to run for president of the ANA, he knew it would be another opportunity to practice persuading people.

Though he was already vice president of ANA in 2018, the president also was an elected position, so he hired a campaign chairman and visited ANA caucuses to build support for his election.

“I would study what was going on for nurses in different regions of the country to prepare for my meetings with representatives,” Grant said. “The issues going on could vary by region and state, and I needed to be ready to address their concerns.”

In June, two nurse representatives from each state gathered at the ANA’s Membership Assembly in Washington, D.C., and cast their votes. He won the majority of votes.

As president of the ANA, which has 200,000 members, one of Grant’s goals is to inspire more nurses to get involved in the political arenas that affect their profession.

“The decisions that are being made at the state and federal levels will influence our ability to care for patients,” Grant said. “As nurses, we naturally advocate for patients, and we can leverage this skill in political settings.”

Nurses, for example, can volunteer to serve on legislators’ campaigns or go to town hall meetings to speak up about how decisions are affecting nurses and the patients they care for, he said.

His plans to address prominent issues

Grant also plans to promote more diversity in nursing advertising campaigns and in programs where nurses visit schools to share the work they do with the students.

He’s also aware that the gender pay gap is an unfortunate reality in nursing and other industries. Data from the 2018 Nurse.com Nursing Salary Research Report showed that female nurses earned about $6,600 less per year than men in nursing.

“Employers need to start looking at the wage gap and begin to address the inequities through equal pay,” he said.

Making Congress more aware of the impending nursing shortage also is a top priority for Grant as the combination of an aging population and aging workforce increases the demand for new nurses to enter the profession. He hopes to lobby for increased funding for nursing education.

“Nurses also need to be aware of the resources that are available to help them fund their education,” he said.

Grant also plans to encourage more millennials to become ANA members. “They don’t tend to be joiners of organizations,” he said. “They’re not necessarily attracted to the same marketing techniques that may have been used to recruit people of my generation or baby boomers.”

Millennials want to know their membership has a broader meaning or benefit beyond belonging to an organization, he said.

Grant plans to arrive a day early at state meetings and host an event for younger nurses to give them an opportunity to share their ideas with him.

“We need to listen to millennials and also encourage them to get involved in the organization to advocate for the profession,” he said.

For Grant, the decision to join a professional organization as a young nurse was critical because it helped him discover his aptitude for leadership.

“Sometimes people see leadership skills that you don’t see in yourself,” he said. “When I started serving in state and national organizations, I realized I had a way of building consensus in spite of disagreements. I could get opposing groups to each give a little and eventually develop a plan and move forward.”

And now, the nurse from Swannanoa, N.C., population 4,500, will have an opportunity to do just that as president of the nation’s largest nursing organization.

Take these courses related to leadership skills:

Learning to Lead (5 contact hrs) All nurses are leaders. They not only support patients in doing what they are unable to do for themselves, but they also manage their care and lead them toward a vision and personal goal of better health. Most nurses find themselves in a position to lead a group of colleagues in a team or on a patient care unit. The concepts in this course focus on the skills to manage the patient, as well as a staff caring for an entire group of patients. Implementing leadership and management strategies — such as conflict resolution, interprofessional communication, coaching, delegation and assessment — is outlined and demonstrated in case examples.

Increasing Your Nursing Influence Through Leadership: Boards! (1 contact hr) Nurses are influential and trusted. As a profession, nursing has been rated as one of the most honest and ethical for well over a decade. With the trust that nurses have merited from the public, what is a significant way for nurses to impact public and community health? Active involvement on boards! One of the goals of the significant The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health report was that nurses practice to the best of their capacity including pursuing leadership positions to improve healthcare in America. Nurses are key leaders that should be at the forefront of decision-making to improve the health of communities. Learn key info about why and how joining a board, commission, or coalition can help you influence public health with the skills you already hold! The Nurses on Boards Coalition has a goal: 10,000 nurses as members of various boards by 2020.

Networking for Career Advancement (1 contact hr) Networking is one of the most important career-building tools available to any professional, including nurses. So whether a nurse is hunting for a job, seeking a promotion, running for office, starting a business, seeking consultative work, pursuing higher education, entering public service or writing for publication, networking is an effective sales and marketing strategy for building a positive power base to attain long- and short-term career goals. This educational activity will provide guidance on networking for career advancement.

The post ANA’s 36th president represents a first for men in nursing appeared first on Nursing News, Stories & Articles.

from Nursing News, Stories & Articles https://ift.tt/2QFKKM8

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bethestaryouareradio · 4 years ago

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Quality Outdoor and Garden Products

 High-quality gardening products including umbrellas canopies, gazebos, hammocks, furniture, and more with a 15% off sale through August 10th , Use Code SELECT15: https://bit.ly/30L5yUA

 An extensive selection of live plants, seeds, & gardening accessory products, plus trees, shrubs, fruit trees, perennials, & bulbs. https://bit.ly/2P6FAFL

 Automatic gates: Go direct to https://bit.ly/2ZUxJB4

 Fountains, firepits, hammocks, carts, umbrellas, bird feeders, relaxation products, and more. https://bit.ly/3eXqNHU

 Get a Free Flower Coloring book download at https://bit.ly/39CnSDv

 For beautiful botanical art and a variety of seeds, go to https://bit.ly/39spMXe.

 And if the pandemic will be ushering in a new baby in the family soon, congratulations, check out the gear, furniture, and décor at https://bit.ly/2WQv7lJ

Happy gardening. Happy growing.

Cynthia is available for virtual writing projects, garden consults, and inspirational lectures. [email protected] www.GoddessGardener.com

Keywords:#garden,#outdoors,#plants,#patio,#furniture

#gardenoutdoorsplantspatiofurniture

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bethestaryouareradio · 4 years ago

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Guardians of the Garden Galaxy

“Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.” William Shakespeare

The gray turtle dove darted from the mulberry tree to the wooden nest box and back again. Thinking there must be eggs, I grabbed my camera and discovered a baby dove nestled in a hollowed nest with the mother bird proudly standing guard. The sounds of gentle cooing surrounded this bucolic scene. I felt blessed that these birds chose my garden to settle.

If you want a healthy, glorious summer garden, beneficial insects, arachnids, birds, amphibians, and reptiles must call your landscape “home”.

Many people scream at the sight of a snake or a lizard and start swatting when they witness a spider. However, these are beneficial biologicals devouring the insects and predators that capture prey that destroy your garden. Everyone loves lady beetles, known as ladybugs, and people understand the value of bees, but did you know that frogs, hoverflies, ground beetles, praying mantids, and lacewings are invaluable friends to the garden?

The guardians of my garden galaxy are plentiful and ubiquitous. Every day as I walk through my oasis, I am greeted by numerous lizards darting from rock to plant, frogs hopping to hide under a leaf, spiders weaving webs, bumblebees, hoverflies, and honeybees sucking the nectar from a variety of species, and birds making nests and dining on insects. My favorite garden guardians are the kingsnakes that eat gophers, moles, voles and keep the rattlesnakes away.

Our garden colleagues keep nature in balance without the use of pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides. Using integrated pest management, natural sources of nutrients including compost and mulch, will fertilize and keep your garden healthy.

Here are some of the benefits of inviting our flying, hopping, slithering, and scooting comrades into your garden.

Birds: As they fly from tree to tree, birds are pollinators adding more blooms and fruit which attract more birds. Birds eat a variety of pests including mosquitoes, aphids, grubs, slugs, and spiders. Large birds such as owls and hawks eat rodents including voles, moles, squirrels, rats, and other unwelcome critters. They help control weeds by eating weed seeds. Watching birds and listening to their song reduces stress.

Invite birds to your landscape by offering:  A water source including a gurgling fountain or birdbath.  Birdhouses for shelter and nesting.  Feeders for seed. Even putting a pie tin in the bushes with seeds or picked clover and dandelions will attract our feathered friends,  Plant a selection of flowering plants, shrubs, berries for them to enjoy.

Frogs and Toads: Natural pest control. They eat caterpillars, cutworms, bugs, beetles, grubs, slugs, grasshoppers, and numerous other detrimental insects.

Invite frogs and toads to your landscape by offering:  A place to hide. Frogs and toads are shy. They prefer a cool, shaded area with lots of moisture and plants. Turn over a flowerpot and they will make a house.  A pond allows them to lay eggs. Have fun watching tadpoles.

Lizards: Reptiles are excellent eaters of garden pests including slugs and harmful insects. A plethora of lizards living in your landscape is an indicator of a healthy ecosystem. The food you grow will be free of heavy metals and pesticides since lizards cannot thrive in a hazardous environment.

Invite lizards to your landscape by offering:  Only natural methods of pest control.  Avoidance of all weed killers.  Mulch to regulate moisture in the soil.  Rocks, bricks, or stones for sunbathing.  A saucer or small container with water for drinking.

Snakes: Garter snakes and kingsnakes are especially beneficial in our area because they eat insects and rodents. One snake can devour an entire rat family in two weeks. Kingsnakes also kill rattlesnakes and keep them away. Make sure to learn the good snakes from the poisonous ones.

Invite snakes to your landscape by offering:  A hiding place in bushes, tree stumps, driftwood, or even metal panels.  A water source on the ground, a small birdbath, fountain, or the “butterfly bowl”.

Ladybugs:  Also known as Lady beetles or Ladybird beetles, their larvae look like alligators. Both the adults and larvae are voracious general pest predators of aphids, beetles, caterpillars, lace bugs, mealybugs, mites, scale, whiteflies, and insect eggs. The larvae consume over 40 aphids per hour and an adult ladybug will consume over 5000 aphids in a lifetime. If you have a small garden or a minimal pest population in a large garden, they will fly away. Rejoice because your garden is organically balanced.

Invite ladybugs to your landscape by offering:  A wide range of flowering plants to attract and keep them on site.

Hoverflies: Also known as syrphid flies or flower flies, hoverflies earned their name by hovering over flowers to sip the nectar, much like hummingbirds. They look similar to bees but they do not sting and are not harmful to humans. The adults are primarily pollinators and the larvae are pest predators, crawling along plant surfaces searching for prey. They seize the insect, suck out its contents, and discard the skin. They mimic bees and wasps to protect themselves from predators but have two wings instead of four.

Invite hoverflies to your landscape by offering:  A variety of nectar and pollen-producing plants such as aster, calendula, cornflower, cosmos, dill, fennel, lavender marigolds, mint, statice, zinnia, wild mustard, and sunflowers.  Food throughout every season by timing plantings for continuous blooms.

Spiders: Spiders help maintain a healthy balance in your garden by eating harmful pests from spring through winter. By controlling the bad insects, they reduce plant pathogens that damage plant tissues. Most spiders are peaceful. The most common web builder is the yellow and black spider, and the black wolf spiders are active hunters.

Invite spiders to your landscape by offering:  Grass clippings, mulch, lush bushes, and perennials for habitat.  Cover crops such as clover and vetch and hedges like boxwoods are havens for spiders.  Sunflowers, vining beans, and corn as well as other tall flowers are excellent for webs.

Grow a diversity of plants, eliminate pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides to attract beneficial insects, birds, spiders, reptiles, and numerous other guardians of our garden galaxy. By providing the basic needs of food, habitat, water, and shelter, you and your family will enjoy increased outdoor amusement while learning an appreciation of nature. Your garden will be their dinner table and their bedroom. Know your friends and protect them.

Photos and more: https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1410/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Guardians-of-the-Garden-Galaxy.html

Happy Gardening. Happy Growing.

. Buy copies of her best-selling books, including, Chicken Soup for the Gardener’s Soul, Growing with the Goddess Gardener, and Be the Star You Are! Millennials to Boomers at www.cynthiabrian.com/online-store

. Cynthia is available for virtual writing projects, garden consults, and inspirational lectures. [email protected]

www.GoddessGardener.com

__________________________

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goddessgardener · 4 years ago

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Guardians of the Garden Galaxy

“Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.” William Shakespeare

If you want a healthy, glorious summer garden, beneficial insects, arachnids, birds, amphibians, and reptiles must call your landscape “home”.

Here are some of the benefits of inviting our flying, hopping, slithering, and scooting comrades into your garden.

Frogs and Toads: Natural pest control. They eat caterpillars, cutworms, bugs, beetles, grubs, slugs, grasshoppers, and numerous other detrimental insects.

Invite ladybugs to your landscape by offering:  A wide range of flowering plants to attract and keep them on site.

Photos and more: https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1410/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Guardians-of-the-Garden-Galaxy.html

Happy Gardening. Happy Growing.

. Cynthia is available for virtual writing projects, garden consults, and inspirational lectures. [email protected]

www.GoddessGardener.com

__________________________

Keywords:#guardianssofthegardengalaxy,#insects,#birds,#frogs,#snakes,#lizards,#birds,,#gardening, #cynthiabrian, #starstyle, #goddessGardener, #growingwiththegoddessgardener, #lamorindaweekly

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bethestaryouareradio · 5 years ago

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Grounded!

By Cynthia Brian

“I rejoice when I see anyone, and especially children, inquiring about flowers, and wanting gardens of their own, and carefully working in them. For the love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies, but always grows and grows to an enduring and ever-increasing source of happiness.” Gertrude Jekyll

It’s not only the airlines and cruise ships that are grounded! Young people everywhere are also enduring the sheltering-in-place mandate. As we embark on our eleventh week of staying-at-home and on-line learning, adults and children are naturally a bit antsy.

When I was a kid and school was closed for whatever reason, my very first instinct was to get outside and explore. I wanted to be on the tractor plowing the fields with my Dad, tending the vegetable garden with my Mom, or leading the rest of the ranch kids on an adventure through the creeks and hills to identify flowers, plants, amphibians, and insects.

I’m certain that my love of the natural world began as a child. As an adult, I have always felt it was important to share this passion with youth. Gardens offer a crucial way for people to access and experience the natural environment. Nature is a public health resource that is available to everyone. Since its springtime and we are all grounded, why not employ some fun activities that the entire family can enjoy together while practicing social distancing?

Here are a few ideas that I’ve implemented with my family and students over the years.

1. Begin a nature journal. Use a spiral binder, a notebook, or design a beautiful unique diary. Go outside and observe. Use crayons, markers, or paints to illustrate and chronicle what you see. 2. Record nature sounds. You’ll hear different sounds at various times of the day. Crickets chirping, frogs croaking, birds singing, water tricking, wind whistling, squirrels chattering, bees buzzing. Make a personal meditation recording on your smartphone. 3. Underground exploration. The earth is crawling with activity. Underneath the surface of the soil, countless critters are busy at work. Go to a corner of your garden and gently dig up a trowel full of soil. What do you see? Earthworms? Millipedes? Sowbugs? Slugs? Are there spiders or other insects crawling? Note your findings in your nature journal. 4. Make a “stained glass” window. One of my favorite projects as a kid was picking pretty flowers to press. Instead of making a book, we made “stained glass” windows by pressing an arrangement of petals between two sheets of wax paper and ironing the wax paper. Make sure to place a thin dishcloth on top of the wax paper before ironing. The wax paper seals the flowers together creating a colorful window. Choose brightly colored flowers and dark green foliage that will lay flat. California poppy, bougainvillea, pansy, violets, rose petals, and nasturtium work especially well. Hang them with ribbon by a window to reflect the rainbow of hues. 5. Decorate your mailbox. Plant a climbing rose or trumpet vine at your mailbox to brighten your street. You’ll need to keep it shaped and pruned. 6. Grow a vegetable garden. Besides the ease and rapid sprouting of beets, radishes, and carrots, one of the most rewarding combinations to do with kids is to plant a Three Sisters Garden. If possible, give your child her own little plot so she will feel proud of being a farmer. The Iroquois Native Americans planted corn, beans, and squash for a balanced diet. Corn is a source of carbohydrates, beans offer proteins, and squash is filled with vitamins. The corn is the pole for the beans to climb while the squash grows low to the ground providing shade and keeping the soil moist. There is nothing tastier or more nutritious than home-grown food. Make sure to plant tomatoes and peppers now. 7. Plant herbs and flowers in containers. In several containers, sow seeds of your favorite herbs for seasonings. Dill, cilantro, parsley, basil, thyme, or mint. Sprinkle a few flower seeds for color. Cover with wire to keep the critters and birds out, using Christmas clips to secure the wire. Decorate with rocks, shells, or other trinkets that your kids have found. 8. Go on a tasting adventure. For this experience, an adult must know with 100% accuracy that a plant is edible because there are many toxic flowers and leaves in nature that can make us very sick or worse. This is an educational encounter that kids truly savor. Some unexpected plants that can be sampled include rose, nasturtium, fennel, calendula, dandelion, wild mustard, miner’s lettuce, and the berries of Oregon Grape. Leaves and flowers of all herbs can be sampled. Make sure there are no pesticides or insecticides on any of these specimens. Record the flavors in the journal. Do you find something sweet, sour, bitter, or something else? Emphasize the importance of knowing what is edible and what is poisonous before tasting anything. 9. Scavenger Hunt. Animals are always building, hunting, gathering, and scavenging. Take a walk around your backyard or a hike in the neighborhood to collect a few of nature’s discarded treasures. What did you find? An empty bird’s nest, twigs, acorns, feathers, bark, pinecones, or nuts? Design a natural art piece together. 10. Introduce animals. Children are naturally drawn to animals. Since grounding, I’ve noticed a huge uptick in people who have decided to buy newborn chickens, rabbits, birds, potbelly pigs, goats, dogs, and cats to familiarize their children or grandchildren with animal husbandry. As someone who was born and raised on a farm and has always been surrounded by animals, I’m a huge proponent…with this caveat. Remember that these adorable babies grow up to be adult animals who aren’t always so cuddly. They require food, water, grooming, shelter, and constant care throughout their lives. Raising any animal teaches discipline, responsibility, patience, kindness, gentleness, interdependence, and love. These are all magnificent virtues. Are you ready and prepared for the long haul?

Gardening has many benefits for the physical and mental health of everyone in the family. According to the Centers for Disease Control, we burn approximately 330 calories per hour of gardening. Gardening lowers our blood pressure, it reduces depression, anxiety, and stress while increasing our wonder, happiness, and satisfaction.

For the foreseeable future, we are all grounded, but we don’t have to endure a perpetual Groundhog Day. Expand the quality of daily living by proposing the joys of gardening and being one with nature to your children, teens, and community. Go outside and meander.

Stay healthy. Stay safe. Stay sane. Stay home.

Happy Gardening. Happy Growing. Photos and more at https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1407/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Grounded.html

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goddessgardener · 5 years ago

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Grounded!

By Cynthia Brian

Here are a few ideas that I’ve implemented with my family and students over the years.

Stay healthy. Stay safe. Stay sane. Stay home.

Happy Gardening. Happy Growing. Photos and more at https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1407/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Grounded.html

#coronavirus activitiesforkidsmnatureedibleplantstresaurehuntsrosshikesstayhone springchicenscovid-19 gardening cynthiabrian starstyle goddes

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bethestaryouareradio · 5 years ago

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Let the Sun Shine In

"The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world's joy" Henry Ward Beecher

It’s been at least seven years since we’ve enjoyed a warm, sun-filled February. Being accustomed to cold, dreary, gray days in the months of Aquarius and Pisces, this year buoyed my spirits immensely even though I know that we need rain. I admit I thoroughly lapped up those 70 plus degree days spending hours in the garden weeding, pruning, and planting with a break to Bodega Bay to ride a bike on the beach, inhale the salt air, and watch the glorious sunset. If winter is going to be mild and bright, why not enjoy it?

The tulip magnolias, peach, plum, and pear trees are in full bloom. The bees are busy buzzing their business in the blossoms. Sweet scents of narcissi, stock, and freesia fill the air. Oxalis, also known as shamrock, carpets vineyards, trails, and roadsides. Wisteria and lilac are budded, ready to burst any day. Early spring erupted in mid-February, a full month ahead of schedule. In many Northern California areas, temperatures have been in the mid-80s. If it wasn’t for water shortages and the rising trajectory of global warming, we could all be rejoicing. Instead, we may need to chant and dance for rainfall to ward off another summer drought.

Compost will be your most important gardening ingredient this season. By turning organic waste into humus, you will be feeding your plants in the same manner that Mother Nature has been nurturing the planet since the beginning of time. Compost will help your plants retain moisture, curtail erosion, maintain a constant temperature, and it will enrich your soil. It’s so simple to make that everyone can easily do it.

Recipe for Compost In an open pile or composting bin, add both green and dry plant matter plus eggshells, coffee grinds, tea leaves, and fish bones. Green matter includes grass clippings, vegetables, weeds without seeds, peelings, and green leaves. Dry matter includes paper, straw, twigs, fall leaves, and dried stalks. Don’t add any animal feces, diseased plants, or meat products. Moisten everything without soaking it and turn with a pitchfork at least weekly. Worms may be added for speedier results. The compost will cook and steam. Add water as necessary if the pile is too dry. Your compost is ready to return to your garden when it smells earthy, sweet, and looks like a crumbly chocolate cake. I recommend creating two or three different piles as they will finish at different times and you can always have a batch cooking. Making your own compost is an excellent way to recycle with almost zero waste. As an added bonus it is FREE plant food!

Cynthia Brian’s Gardening Guide for March

CREATE simple arrangements with branches cut from blooming peach, pear, or plums. Add a few daffodils or freesias. BLOW the “angel” seeds of dandelions if you want dandelions growing in your garden. (This was a favorite past time as a child, although we weren’t allowed to blow “angels” into the lawn.) Dandelions are nutritious and delicious in salads and sautés and they attract quail. PICK lettuce, parsley, arugula, Swiss chard, and baby mustard to add to meals. MAKE an artful wall-hanging using a variety of succulents. ADMIRE the tulip magnolias as they emerge or cut a stem to enjoy indoors. WATCH for aphids, moths, slugs, and snails on artichoke plants as they mature. Blast the leaves with water if you see any infestation. TALK to your doctor if you are experiencing pollen-related allergies. Pollen fertilizes plants but causes misery for sufferers. Acacia trees are beautiful in bloom but may trigger hay fever or asthma. AERATE and de-thatch lawns if necessary. Be prepared to scatter seeds and fertilizer before a rain. SHOOT lots of photos of spring unfolding. BEFORE recycling empty milk cartons, fill with water to use on houseplants. The residual calcium is good for the plants and it also rinses clean the cartons for the bins. BUY your favorite seed packets in anticipation of sowing. SPREAD alfalfa pellets mixed with diatomaceous earth around your rose bushes to promote large blooms and healthy plants.

The vernal equinox is still three weeks away. The sun is shining on our gardens and for all of us. It’s playtime.

Happy Gardening. Happy Growing!

Photos and more: https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1401/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Let-the-sunshine-in.html

Hire Cynthia for writing projects, garden consults, and inspirational lectures. [email protected] www.GoddessGardener.com

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