Category Archives: Native plants

Have a Bee-Friendly Yard

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Eva

National Honey Bee Day is this Saturday! One way to “bee” friendly is to create a pollinator-friendly garden by avoiding pesticides and planting flowers that bloom at different times. All these flowers are indigenous to the Eastern United States. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecology, Gardening, Lawns, Local, Native plants | Tagged garden, indigenous species, local flowers, national honey bee day | 2 Comments

The Choice for Me: Chem Free!

Posted on June 30, 2014 by ryana

Despite a recent and evolving Lyme diagnosis, I maintain my position of avoiding pesticide use. As the ER team knows, I love to tell the kale “tree” story in which my kale crop flourished even in the depths of winter and … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecology, Gardening, Lawns, Native plants, Vegetables | Tagged lawn chemicals, pesticides, save the dandelions | 1 Comment

Lawn Lunch

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Eva

You may have a salad growing in your yard. There are lots of reasons not to treat your lawn with chemicals and pesticides, and one of them is that your yard may be edible! You may find your relationship … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecology, Gardening, Lawns, Native plants, Vegetables | Tagged backyard, foraging, greens, lawn, weeds, yards | 2 Comments

Changing Up The Lawn

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Heather

Even though the week started out snow-covered, I am still thinking about fixing my lawn this coming spring. Along with my natural lawn maintenance plan, I am searching for ways to create low maintenance lawn alternatives. I want to add … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Lawns, Native plants | Tagged bees, butterfly, clover, garden | Leave a comment

Eat Your Weed

Posted on March 17, 2014 by alyssabdh

MOMs is in full-obsession mode this week over dandelions – and we have every reason to be. We, Americans in particular, are choking our ground water with fertilizers and drying out our clean water resources to try to give grass … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Lawns, Native plants, Vegetables | Tagged bee balm, chicory, Christopher Hobbs, clover, common plantain, cow slip, dandelions, edible weeds, elder, fertilizer, ground ivy, lambs quarter, lawn care, lawn chemicals, major plantain, medicine cabinet, nutrition, plantago major, psyllium fiber, redbud, safe disposal, soil amendment, soil improvement, weed weasel | 2 Comments

The Road to a Chemical Free Lawn – Step One

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Heather

As I sat inside last week with over a foot of snow outside my window, I could only think of one thing: spring. (An upshot of the snow was making snow creatures in it.) With spring comes my plan for … Continue reading →

Posted in Composting, Gardening, Lawns, Native plants | Tagged Beyond Pesticides, chemical-free, clover, compost, compost tea, grass, grub, lawn, native plants, seed, spring, yard | 3 Comments

Alaffia Pledge – Gender Equality and Community Empowerment

Posted on October 14, 2013 by alyssabdh

Often when a passionate and enthusiastic person, concerned about human rights and environment, decides to focus their energy on making a difference they look to support charitable organizations that may offer funds, education and outreach to communities that either need … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Ecology, Family, Native plants | Tagged Alaffia Skincare, artisan, basket weaving, Bicycle program, coconut, cooperatives, employment, empowerment, Everyday Coconut, Everyday Shea, fair trade, female excision, gender equality, lemongrass, lotion, maternal health, neem, Olowo-n'djo Tchala, Olympia WA, poverty, reforestation, Rose Hyde, shampoo, shea butter, Togo, traditional, West Africa | 4 Comments

Secrets From the Green Farmacy Garden

Posted on June 27, 2013 by alyssabdh

A group of lucky Wellness staff and managers were treated to a day with two distinguished talents in herbal medicine. Christopher Hobbs, prolific author, wise clinical herbalist, world traveler, and collector of over 5000 medicine and plant books, took us … Continue reading →

Posted in Native plants, Natural Health, Nutrition | Tagged andrographis, angelica, ashwaganda, Baltimore, black walnut, blackberry lily, chicory, coleus forskohlii, dong quai, Dr Christopher Hobbs, Dr James Duke, elecampane, fo ti, gazebo, giant butterbur, goldenseal, greater plantain, Green Farmacy Garden, ground ivy, Grow it Heal It, herbalist, lily pond, medicinal herbs, milkweed, olive, Peggy Duke, plantago major, poppy bloom, rain forest, raspberry, red root, shamans, The Green Pharmacy, tribal guides, turmeric, wormwood | 1 Comment

Shade Grown Coffee is For The Birds

Posted on January 28, 2013 by claudiasquips

No really, it is. There’s even a certification for it from the Smithsonian. The first sustainable coffee congress was in 1996 and the shade issue emerged out of that meeting as a sustainable alternative to ‘sun-grown’ coffee with two certifications … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecology, Fruits, Native plants, Organic Food | Tagged atmosphere, Baltimore Orioles, broca, canopy, certification program, coffee, coffee market, cofffee borer bug, Conservation, crops, ecology, ecosystem, erosion, Fair for Life, flora fauna, foliage, fun facts, gluten free, indigenous species, kosher, Latin America, medicinal herbs, migratory birds, monoculture, native trees, Non-GMO Project, nutrients, organic certification, orioles, parrots, preservation, shade grown. bird friendly, Smithsonian, South America, specialty coffee, sun coffee, tanagers, thrushes, toucans, USDA certification, warblers, whole grain | 1 Comment

Rain Garden: Just Say “No” to Watering

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Roland

I like to conserve resources, like… effort. Take the rain garden I recently finished building. Sure, I shoveled and wheelbarrowed a dump truck’s worth of soil, and hand-built a thirty foot long retaining wall. But, once I get the flowers … Continue reading →