| "If seeds in the black earth can turn
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| | troubles of my everyday world
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| into such beautiful roses, what might not
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| | and become immersed into creating
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| the heart of man become in its long
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| | something of beauty. Gardening
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| journey toward the stars?" G.K.
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| | allows me, as I mindlessly pull weeds,
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| ChestertonI woke up today with achy
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| | arrange potting soil into
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| muscles and hamstrings that felt
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| | containers, and pat dirt gently around
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| stretched to the max. Too much time at
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| | freshly planted flowers,
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| the gym? Too many miles
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| | to sift my thoughts through a filter
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| on my bike?Nope. Just lots and lots of
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| | energized by sunshine and
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| gardening.This week I joined hundreds of
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| | fresh air. It gives me the freedom to
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| others who, pulled by Spring
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| | enjoy the wild songs of the birds, the
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| Fever, sunshine, and fresh air, flocked
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| | bubbling of the brook....and the humming
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| to nurseries and garden
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| | of the
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| centers in search of the perfect
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| | lawnmower of a neighbor I hadn't
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| annuals, shrubs, planters, and
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| | previously recognized.Gardening forces me
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| garden ornaments. And boy oh boy, did we
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| | out of my comfort zone behind the
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| find them. We came in
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| | computer
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| droves, fellow gardeners and I, driving
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| | screen at which I stare seven days a
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| way too many miles in
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| | week, and into the world of
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| this gasoline-crisis-environment of
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| | perennials and annuals, the names,
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| ours, looking for the best
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| | sunlight requirements, and
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| prices, the best selection, and the best
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| | bloom cycles which continue to escape my
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| accessories.And you know what I mean by
| |
| | memory. It forces me to
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| garden accessories, right? It's a
| |
| | get my hands and fingernails dirty (I
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| business reaction as befitting this
| |
| | hate wearing gloves) and
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| gardening frenzy as hot dog
| |
| | celebrate the tactile pleasure of
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| buns are to hot dogs. And we're not just
| |
| | running damp soil through my
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| talking planters,
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| | palms and pressing it into the earth.
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| birdhouses, and birdbaths anymore,
| |
| | Gardening stretches me. It
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| either. We're talking benches, arches,
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| | helps to illuminate my innermost
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| baker's racks, shutters, statues,
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| | thoughts. It forces me out of
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| sundials...with bunnies and roosters in
| |
| | the cerebral nature of the work that I
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| all shapes and sizes to boot. Do you want
| |
| | do, and pushes me into the physical
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| those in bronze, black or antique white?
| |
| | nature of work in which I feel so
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| Distressed? Shiny? Whatever your fancy,
| |
| | incompetent.As we celebrate Spring....and
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| they're yours for the buying.And buying
| |
| | fight the Fever together...engage
|
| them we are. What with cocooning becoming
| |
| | in work of your hands by working the
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| the "in"
| |
| | earth beneath your feet.
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| lifestyle of the 90's, it's no wonder
| |
| | Allow yourself to become intoxicated by
|
| that we've attacked our
| |
| | the beauty and aroma of
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| yards with passion. And our wallets.
| |
| | flowers. For as it was so aptly said in
|
| Americans spend just under
| |
| | the TV show A Gardener's
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| $40 billion-yes, that's a "b"-on lawn
| |
| | Dairy: "What grows in the garden, so
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| care annually, according to the National
| |
| | lovely and rare? Roses and
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| Gardening Association. And the annual
| |
| | Dahlias and people grow there." Yes.
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| rate of growth in the industry has been
| |
| | People grow in gardens.
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| at 8% for the last five years. In fact,
| |
| | Robert Ingersolll wrote: "Every flower
|
| eight out of ten households in the U.S.
| |
| | about a house certifies to the
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| actively participate in indoor and
| |
| | refinement of somebody. Every vine
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| outdoor lawn and garden activities of the
| |
| | climbing and blossoming tells of love and
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| do-it-yourself nature in one way or
| |
| | joy."And growing in love and joy is,
|
| another, a degree equal to the highest
| |
| | after all, what growing in one's
|
| level of participation in the last five
| |
| | garden is all about.*Note: Mike Steven,
|
| years. Sales of bulbs to consumers have
| |
| | Lecturer in Landscape Studies, University
|
| nearly doubled within the past five
| |
| | of
|
| years, too. And retail sales of floral
| |
| | Westen Sydney, AustraliaCarolina
|
| products come in around $13 billion.We
| |
| | Fernandez earned an M.B.A. and worked at
|
| can hardly help ourselves. Researcher
| |
| | IBM and as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch
|
| Mike Steven established
| |
| | before coming home to work as a wife and
|
| in a research project in Australia
| |
| | mother of four. She totally re-invented
|
| entitled "The Congruent
| |
| | herself along the way. Strong convictions
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| Garden: An Investigation into the Role
| |
| | were born about the role of the arts in
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| of the Domestic Garden in
| |
| | child development; ten years of
|
| Satisfying Fundamental Human Needs,"
| |
| | homeschooling and raising four kids
|
| that gardens have the
| |
| | provide fertile soil for devising
|
| potential to satisfy nine basic human
| |
| | creative parenting strategies. These are
|
| needs, including, in
| |
| | played out in ROCKET MOM! 7 Strategies To
|
| addition to subsistence, affection and
| |
| | Blast You Into Brilliance. It is widely
|
| creation, which resonate
| |
| | available online, in bookstores or
|
| most closely with my own experience
| |
| | through 888-476-2493.
|
| there.*Gardening allows me to forget the
| |
| |
|
