Welcome to a new series of plant profiles that will appear on my blog on an ongoing basis. These plant profiles are part of a project I’m working on for Thomas Dunn Learning Center, where I am volunteering work on the garden and grounds. I’m making informational tags for a number of plants on the grounds that already exist or that I’m introducing. Each tag will include a QR code that people can scan with their phones to get more information about the plants.
Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea
Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea
Missouri native
Hardy perennial
Hardiness Zones: 3-9
Propagation: By seed, self sows, can also start indoors or out in spring. If starting from seed, make sure to cold stratify (Marcin 48).
Light: Full sun to part shade
Water requirements: Moist well-drained soil. Tolerates some drought once established.
Soil requirements: Average to poor – does not need fertilizer, except for possibly compost and rock phosphate in the spring (Kowalchik et al 177).
Care notes: May need staking. Divide every 3 or 4 years. You might get more flowers if you deadhead it, but some sources say deadheading is not required for rebloom (Genera Binder). In our case we want birds to be able to eat the seeds so we are leaving the seed heads in place.
Echinacea purpurea is an incredibly useful plant for wildlife and historically for human beings as well. The flowers make a nice sturdy platform for pollinating insects to get nectar and pollen. Small birds feed on the seeds. In Missouri it’s particularly common to see American Goldfinches (Carduelis tristis) enjoying the seeds.
Native Americans traditionally have used Purple Coneflower as medicine for a number of conditions, including sore throat, toothache, stomach ailments, and infections. It’s been eaten as a vegetable, used as a skin anesthetic and inhaled in smoke form for respiratory illnesses, headaches and depression (Kavasch and Barr 240-241). American settlers adopted its use for colds and flu (Oster 68). In the 1920s it was the most popular plant based drug in the US and was packaged and sold by drug companies, until more effective anti-infective medications were brought to the market (Kowalchik et al 176).
It’s still popular in the United States as well as in Europe (Kavasch and Barr 240).
Disclaimer: I want to explain the historic uses of herbs in order to generate interest in learning about plants and their properties, and the impact of plants on human culture. That doesn’t mean I endorse the use of herbs for medical conditions or am qualified to teach how to do it safely. This plant profile is not medical advice.
The name Echinacea is said to come from the Greek word “echinos” meaning “hedgehog”, a spiny animal (Genera Binder). Another source says the name derives from “Sea Urchin” (Art, A Garden of… 120). If you’ve ever worked around these plants you know how it feels to be poked by the dried flower centers and you know why it’s named after something spiny!
Garden uses: Bird seed, Pollinator, Herbs
Here is the image that will be used on the plant tags.
… is a presentation I’m giving tonight at Thomas Dunn Learning Center.
Following is the text on the handout I’m giving out. It consists of links to get more information, my contact information, Works Cited and resources for learning more.
Schnarr’s Hardware Blog Planting Calendar https://schnarrsblog.com/calendar/ – I made this when I worked for Schnarr’s Hardware using data for the St. Louis are from the When to Plant App published by Mother Earth News. I don’t edit it any more but I set the planting times to reoccur every year for as long as the site lasts, I hope.
Bulletin, Missouri Botannical Garden. — “Garden With A Purpose.” Bulletin, Summer 2018, pp. 10-13. — “Nature for All. Nature Forever.” Bulletin, Spring 2025, pp. 6-12. — “Protecting Native Plant Species in Missouri.” Bulletin, Summer 2018, p. 6. — “Restoring Nature.” Bulletin, Winter 2017-2018, pp. 14-15.
Burton, Robert and Stephen W. Kress. The Audubon Backyard Birdwatcher. Thunder Bay Press, 1999.
Conservation Federation. — Eagan, Elizabeth. “Royal Voyagers of the Sky.” Conservation Federation, May 2021, pp. 34-35. — Jenkins, Jason. “All Efforts Great and Small.” Conservation Federation, July 2017, p. 40. — Missouri State Parks. “State Parks Encourage Pollinator Populations.” Conservation Federation, July 2017, pp. 50-51. — Nemecek, Mary. “Missouri Native Bees: Important Pollinators.” Conservation Federation, July 2017, pp. 42-43.
Feltwell, John. The Naturalists Garden. Templar Publishing, 1987.
Houdret, Jessica. Practical Herb Garden: A comprehensive A-Z directory and gardener’s guide to growing herbs successfully. Hermes House, 1999, 2003.
Marlos, Daniel (Bugman). WhatsThatBug.com, 2024, whatsthatbug.com. Accessed 22 April, 2025.
Missouri Conservationist. — Archer, Larry. “Prairie on the Patio.” Missouri Conservationist, February 2024, pp. 16-21. — “Ask MDC.” Missouri Conservationist, March 2025, p. 7. — “Ask MDC.” Missouri Conservationist, January 2021, p. 6. — “Ask MDC.” Missouri Conservationist, July 2018, p. 6. — “Ask MDC.” Missouri Conservationist, July 2020, p. 6. — “Ask MDC.” Missouri Conservationist, September 2017, p. 7. — Briggler, Malissa. “Violets of Missouri.” Missouri Conservationist, March 2025, pp. 16-21. — Brunette, Lisa. “Garden of Eatin’.” Missouri Conservationist, April 2025, pp. 16-21. — Buback, Steve and Alex Morphew. “Chasing the Buzz.” Missouri Conservationist, February 2024, pp. 10-15. — Chasteen, Bonnie. “Insects in Need.” Missouri Conservationist, May 2021, pp. 22-27. — Chasteen, Bonnie. “Mead’s Milkweed Recovery”. Missouri Conservationist, July 2021, p. 4. — Dentner, Holly. “1 Bought Native Plants… Now What?” Missouri Conservationist, September 2022, pp. 10-16. — “Get Outside in April.” Missouri Conservationist, April 2025, pp. 22-27. — “Get Outside in January.” Missouri Conservationist, January 2025, p. 4. — “Get Outside in June.” Missouri Conservationist, June 2024, pp. 28-29. — “Missouri’s Least Wanted.” Missouri Conservationist, April 2020, p. 8. — Paothong, Noppadol, “Black Swallowtail Butterflies.” Missouri Conservationist, June 2018, pp. 10-17. — Paothong, Noppadol, “From Big-Eyed to Beautiful.” Missouri Conservationist, July 2020, pp. 10-21. — Paothong, Noppadol. “Giant Swallowtail Approaches Prairie Blazing Star.” Missouri Conservationist, June 2024, p. 25. — Paothong, Noppadol. “Hummingbird.” Missouri Conservationist, February 2020, p. 11. — Paothong, Noppadol. “Spring Beauty.” Missouri Conservationist, March 2025, p. 26. — Paothong, Noppadol and Chris Barnhart. “Regal Fritallary: Tending to the Queen of the Prairie.” Missouri Conservationist, March 2025, pp. 17-27. — Seek, Matt. “The Butterfly Effect.” Missouri Conservationist, September 2017, pp. 10-16. — “The Birds and the Bees.” Missouri Conservationist, February 2020, pp. 10-27. — “The Mints: Fresh Breath for Pollinators.” Missouri Conservationist, March 2024, pp. 28-29. — Van Dien, Dianne. “Marvelous Mosses.” Missouri Conservationist, April 2025, pp. 22-27. — Van Dien, Dianne. “Nature’s Monetary Ripples.” Missouri Conservationist, January 2025, p. 4. — “Wild Guide.” Missouri Conservationist, April 2025, p. 32. — Zarlenga, Dan. “Spreading Life in the Darkness.” Missouri Conservationist, May 2020, pp. 10-15.
The Gateway Gardener. — “Bird/Plant Matchmaker.” Gateway Gardener, October 2017, p. 17. — Woodbury, Scott. “A Spoonful of Sugar May Help the Honeysuckle Go Down.” Gateway Gardener, October 2017, p. 18. — Woodbury, Scott. “Gardens with Environmental Benefits.” Gateway Gardener, Summer 2020, pp. 10-11. — Woodbury, Scott. “Wild Vines I Have Loved.” Gateway Gardener, Winter 23-24, pp. 12-13
Do you have a summer event coming up that could incorporate a garden theme? If so, here is an idea for combining my last two published projects, Make a Seed Packet Bouquet and Make Gift Tags Into Recycled Greeting Cards. Presented in a terra cotta plant pot, these “bouquets” could be a garden themed gift, party favor or table decoration. I made these samples because I needed Mother’s Day gifts in a hurry, but variations could be made for garden parties, weddings, tea parties, picnics and more.
In my project Make a Seed Packet Bouquet, I experimented with different embellishments for the corners of the seed packet holders. For this group I punched out a whole bunch of circles with a circle craft punch. Then I stamped a flower stamp on many pieces of colorful scrap paper. I cut the flowers out then glued each to a circle.
Flower stamp credt: 7Gypsies.
I then used the circles on the corners of the seed packet holders by punching a hole in the middle and attaching them with metal brads.
Stamp credits: Flower inside circle, realistic butterflies, bird egg, “Crazy Love” by7Gypsies. “Seeds”, brackets, “love” by CarolynHDesign. “Celebrate” by Making Memories. Scribble flowers and butterfly by Fiskars.
I selected two tags for each seed packet assembly, one smaller and decorative and the other larger and functional with “To” and “From” on the back.
I went to Schnarr’s Hardware to buy terra cotta plant pots and packets of lettuce seeds, then to JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts to buy a bag of natural moss. You can buy florists foam to stick the skewers into, but I had some chunks of scrap styrfoam on hand so I cut them apart with a hand miter saw and stuck a piece in each plant pot.
I wrapped each pot with tissue paper gift wrap that I had on hand, then placed some of the moss on top. I pushed each skewer in through the moss and tissue into the foam, then tied the tags around each “stem” with twine.
How did I decide which seeds to include? I chose a lettuce mix because it can be grown in a small container and harvested as micro greens. I bought two packets and divided the seeds up among the five smaller packets that I made. In order that the recipients would know what the seeds are and how to grow them, I scanned information from the back of the packet into the computer and used graphics software to make this graphic, which I then printed out.
These graphics came from the back of the Botanical Interests brand seed packets that I purchased.
After printing the above graphic I cut out the informational graphics out and glued one to the back of each homemade seed packet.
This project is adaptable to many varieties of seeds and many different themes. I hope you enjoy the ideas!
Here is a new and improved and combined version of a couple of tutorials I wrote in 2016. Enjoy!
Tools and Materials
Seeds, either purchased or home harvested Template for a 2.5 x 3.5 inch envelope, and Seed packet holder template for 2.5 x 3.5″ packet Decorative paper Cardstock Squeegee tool or bone folder Glue stick Scrap cardstock, chipboard, or file folders for backing templates for tracing Clean scrap paper for gluing surface Rubber stamps Stamping ink Punches, stencils or templates for flower, center hole of flower, and leaf. Scissors Cutting mat X-acto or craft knife Metal ruler Pencil Double-sided tape Small hole punch Wood skewers (available in grocery stores) Tape Decorative paper flowers Needle tool or awl – if using brads to attach embellishments Brads Adhesive dots Glue for attaching embellishments Small floral theme embellishments
Instructions
First make the seed packets.
Template for Seed Packet Envelope Small
Download and print out the Seed Packet Template Small. Cut out the template and glue it to scrap chipboard or cardstock for durability with a glue stick. Trim around it with scissors.
Stamping on plain paper. Stamp credits from left to right: handwrting background stamp by Inkadinkado, newsprint by Posh Impressions, Da Vinci frontispiece might be Stampington, Pennsylvania Dutch Border Rubber Stamp by me, and arts and crafts botanical tile pattern at the far right by me.
Take some plain paper or decorative paper with a subtle pattern on it and stamp some background stamps on it in complementary ink colors to make it more interesting. If your paper is interesting enough without this step you can skip it.
I own a lot of rubber stamping ink pads, but I don’t have one for every re-inker in my studio. If you want to save money and/or space, you can just buy a re-inker instead of a pad and apply the ink to a palette with a brayer. Then you can roll the ink onto the stamp, or for small stamps just press it on the inked palette. This works best when you want to do a lot of stamping with the same color – when you only want to do a little bit of stamping a pad is much more convenient. When you’re done stamping, if there is any ink left on the palette you can sprinkle a little water on it, lay down a piece of plain paper and burnish it. It’s a fun way to make interesting backgrounds. You can even draw or stamp or make marks into the ink to do a form of monoprinting. When I first took printmaking class, I got into what I could do with the palette at least as much as the printing blocks that I carved.The picture shows a piece of plexiglass as a palette, I’ve also used at various time palette paper, waxed paper, and the shiny side of freezer paper.
Place decorative paper back side up on your work surface. Place the Seed Packet Template Small that you printed out on the paper and trace around with pencil. Cut out envelope and fold in tabs. A thin ruler or straight edge is a good helper for making folds. Go over the folds with a squeegee tool or bone folder.
Envelpoes cut out before they are folded
With a glue stick, glue all the tabs on the envelope except the top tab. Leave that one open so you can add seeds later.
Fronts and back of assembled envelopes.
Once the envelope is assembled, if the front looks a little plain add some texture stamping along an edge or two. That’s really effective for adding interest.
I added stamping to the edges with some favorite texture stamps.The notebook page border stamp is by 7Gypsies, and the texture at the upper right is by Judikins.
Cut out a narrow strip of paper with a decorative scissors and stamp on it the word “Seeds” surrounded by small brackets. If you don’t have similar stamps in your collection you can use whatever stamps you have that fit the theme. Accent the strip with rubber stamping in lighter colors along the edges.
The Seeds stamp and the brackets are both from my own collection.
Glue the strip across the top of the envelope about a quarter of the way down or whatever looks right to your eye. Trim the ends after gluing if needed.
I glued on the strip that says “Seeds”, trimmed the strips to the edges of the envelopes, and got flower and leaf pieces in place to glue on.
Punch out a flower shaped piece of decorative paper and punch out a paper circle for the middle. Glue circle on flower and glue flower to the front of the envelope. An alternate idea is to cut out a leaf shape and a stem piece to make a leaf design for the front. I used a commercial punch for the flower and a pattern from a paper stack for the leaf. You can use whatever patterns and punches you have that you like if you don’t have these exact designs.
Stamp large brackets around the flower. I used unmounted bracket stamps, so the clear block you see is an acrylic block for temporarily mounting stamps with double sided tape or adhesive bits.
Pictured upper left: bracket stamps on an acrylic block. Upper right: stamping on a seed packet. Even though the clear acrylic block is a bit smudged from use you can still see through it to see where to stamp. The brackets stamps are temporarily attached with adhesive squares. Bottom: Finished seed packets.
Fill the packet with seeds, and write the name of the seeds and if you like growing information on the back of the envelope. You can obtain seeds by buying them in a garden center. This is also a charming way to package seeds you’ve harvested yourself to make a special and personal handmade gift for someone.
Next are holders for the packets
Next make holders so you can suspend the finished seed packets on skewer sticks to display them in a container of some kind. Perhaps a vase as in my example, or maybe a table centerpiece, a gift basket, a plant pot with garden tools or some other special container.
Download the template Seed Packet Holder Template for 2.5″ packet x 3.5″. You might only need to look at it for reference, but if it’s helpful as a cutting guide, cut out and mount the parts on scrap chipboard for durability.
Cut out a piece of card stock of a color that is harmonious with your seed packet, 3.5 x 9 inches. Fold it in half.
Lay the holder piece flat and unfolded on your cutting mat. Cut four diagonal slits through the front of the seed packet holder toward the corners using a craft knife and a metal ruler as a guide.
Punch small holes where indicated on the back of the seed packet.
Push a wooden skewer through the back of the holder so that the blunt end of the skewer ends up inside the holder butted up against the fold. Tape in place.
Slip your seed packet into the front of the holder.
Take four small flower embellishments in colors that go well with your seed packet and attach them to the corners. Depending on what kind of embellishement it is, you could use glue, adhesive dots or brads to attach.
Put double sided tape or adhesive dots along the sides and bottom inside your holder. Fold the front down and press halves together.
Arrange your packets in a vase or other container. You’re done!
Yesterday my Dad and I went to Hawn State Park in southern Missouri to watch the eclipse. I took my drawing and doodling supplies with me to help pass the time while waiting for the main event. We left fairly early because we knew there would be a lot of traffic and we got there about two hours before the sun started to get covered up. The state park had a nice parking area for us in a mowed field. We had a little picnic and I sat on a blanket doing an eclispe inspired piece of doodle art with colored ink pens and markers.
I am very grateful that I was able to do this. I’ve been in physical therapy for the last several weeks for an arm and wrist injury. I’ve been severely limited in my usual activities for the last couple of months but I’m getting better. I’m slowly adding in my normal activities one by one as I do exercises to get stronger. I’ve added back in crafting, gardening, and now drawing. A week ago my wrist hurt so badly that I could barely address an envelope. This is my first drawing since the injury. I did it without pain and my injury doesn’t feel worse this morning. I’m on the mend and I’m very thankful. I think sewing is the last normal activity to re-try.
When I started this doodle, I knew I wanted to do something inspired by the color wheel. I decided to make each color inspired by a stage of the eclipse. I just doodled whatever came into my mind. As we got closer to totality, I started setting the stopwatch on my phone to go off every 10 minutes – then I’d look at the sun through the eclipse glasses and draw something inspired by that phase.
I kind of had a vague image in my mind of a weird foldout from the Voynich Manuscript as I doodled.
Without looking at a copy of any of the manuscript pages as I drew, I was just trying to get the feel of it, trying to imagine how someone trying to penetrate deep mysteries without the answers that we take for granted now might have reacted.
EDIT 5/15/24: I’m going to have to come back and revise this section. Now that my water garden has grown in a bit more this spring I can see that the cattails sprouted where the Water Willow was last yearand what I identified as Water Willow in this article is Cattails instead.
I was also inspired by some plants in our outdoor water garden. I have a small stream as part of our outdoor pond. It acts as part of our filtration system because I run water through lava rock and plants that are in it. One of the plants I grow is a Missouri native called American Water Willow. The stems have really interesting cross sections. I was also thinking about these stems as I was drawing.
Cross sections of American Water Willow stems in my water garden. I don’t know why it’s called water willow. The flowers seem orchid-like, and the leaves seem iris-like. Oh well, its beautiful and native so what’s not to like?
Sitting in the warm sun on a perfect day in a beautiful park with my Dad was a treat. And I proved I can draw again so I can resume my plein air drawing group activities and watercolor painting classes that I was taking before I got injured. That’s a big weight off my mind! I also have a class coming up that I’m teaching – my first since the COVID pandemic – and I’m relieved to know I’ll be able to do a good job.
I haven’t wanted to talk about the injury unless I absolutely have to because it’s scary and I was embarassed. For example I wasn’t able to brush my hair and it got so tangled I asked my husband to cut part of it off. I have about four hairs in each follicle for every one that most people have, so my hair dresser has told me. It doesn’t take much for it to turn into an inpenetrable mat. So I was looking like a Harpy Eagle or like I was trying to audition to be in Night Ranger until I got it fixed. I’m slowly getting my life back together and resuming normal activities. That is a relief because I’ve been very stressed out by not being able to do what I normally do. It’s easy to feel isolated if you have an injury. If you ask for help you don’t know if you are going to get helped or attacked because people think you should be getting well faster. It’s humbling and it really makes me have additional empathy for other people who are strugging with something similar, whether permanent or temporary. I’m more grateful than I can say that the therapy is working.
On Martin Luther King Jr. day Tom and I attended a meeting for the Victory Garden at St. Catherine Laboure church where we volunteer. The garden serves multiple purposes. One of the primary missions is to raise produce for food pantries. We are going to be growing vegetables and herbs. One topic that came up in the meeting that has been making me think strategically is that different clientele at different food pantries have preferences for certain foods. If the clientele does not know how to prepare the vegetable or herb and is not familiar with it, they might leave it behind. The people at the Victory Garden have been learning what foods are in demand at what food pantry locations and have been adjusting the distribution and growing patterns to suit the local clientele.
In addition to adjusting supply, it was suggested to also adjust demand by distributing recipes. There are lots of reasons why everyone isn’t familiar with every vegetable or knows how to cook it. Some people are from parts of the world where the cuisine is different. Others might have a lack of grocery stores in their area so have less access to a variety of fresh foods. I also have known several people with plenty of access to food who have never learned to cook because they rely mostly on pizza and fast food. I have seen terrible health issues in some of my friends at relatively early ages due to this kind of deficient diet. It doesn’t have to be this way!
I have been blessed to have been taught to cook by my Mom who was not only a home gardener and a multiple culinary contest winner, but also had a very adventurous palette. She passed on knowledge of cooking and diverse food preferences to me and my late brother. When we were younger my brother and I used to get a silver dollar or a silver half-dollar from a great uncle if we finished all the food on our plates when we had dinner at his house. I guess we kind of neglected to admit that we almost always ate all our food, including the vegetables! We liked almost everything and had pretty hearty appetites. That was decent money when our weekly allowances were about that amount or not much more than that!
I am not a professional chef or food writer but I do like to publish recipes from time to time. I know so many people who are intimidated by food preparation. If I publish a simple recipe that I just made I hope that will inspire someone out there to try it. Since I cook a lot with herbs that I grow I also hope I can suggest ways of using them. A lot of people who don’t cook frequently are very intimidated by dried prepared herbs and spices, much less fresh ones. If you’ve been exposed to a wide range of herbs, spices and flavors your whole life you just know what goes together without having to follow a recipe. I don’t know how you teach this without long-term exposure but at least with a recipe I can show examples of combinations that work.
I am in terrible shape from recent inactivity so I’ll be using recipes from Weight Watchers and healthy recipe books a lot for inspiration as I try to increase my fitness. I inherited a lot of these books from my late uncle, brother, and grandmother. I often start from there and make modifications. If the results are good, I like to tell people about it!
Before I get to a simple new salad recipe, I’ll post links to my Fun With Food page (old but recipes still good!) and recipes of mine that are on blogs.
For inspiration I used a recipe called “Dilled Beet and White Bean Salad” (Gagliardi 70) from a Weight Watchers cook book, but I made a lot of changes and substitutions. For one thing, we had no dill! It still turned out great. It really woke up my taste buds.
Ingredients
3 TBSP apple cider vinegar 2 tsp brown mustard 2 tsp olive oil 1/2 tsp garlic salt 2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans white beans, rinsed and drained 1/2 bag of mini sweet peppers, chopped 1/2 onion, chopped 3 Roma tomatoes, chopped 1 tsp dried Parsley 1 tsp dried Basil 1 tsp dried celery pieces 1 jar sliced beets 1 can sardines 1 bag fresh mixed salad greens, such as spring mix, spinach/arugula mix, or something similar Nutritional yeast
Directions
Get out a large mixing bowl. Open the can of sardines and empty the juice into the bowl. Set drained sardines aside.
Add to the bowl the vinegar, mustard, olive oil, garlic salt, Parsley, Basil and celery pieces. Mix well with a whisk.
Add the drained beans, chopped peppers, onion and tomatoes. Toss well.
Place greens on plates and spoon about 1/4 of the vegetables over the greens per serving. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast. Arrange about 5 beet slices and 4 sardines on top of each salad. Enjoy!
In 2013 I wrote an article for the first issue of a personal e-newsletter I used to publish. The newsletter was called Carolyn’s Creative Connections. Other than a typo or two that I fixed, I didn’t change anything since I originally wrote it.
“Creativity, Eco-Chic and the New Frugality
As a retailer and business person, it’s not really in my best interests to discuss hard economic times. One would think I’d be more likely to try to persuade you that employment is going to go up and taxes are going to go down and prosperity is just around the corner so you’ll spend money on what I’m selling. I wish I really believed that, it would make the future seem a lot brighter and the daily tasks I need to perform in order to try to grow my business and that of my employer would weigh on me a lot more lightly. The human capacity for creativity has a way of working around obstacles put in our way. I don’t know if there has ever been a more important time to nurture creativity in our society and apply it to issues that we have to deal with.
DIY culture has always been popular in certain segments of society – hippies in the 1960s, punkers in the late 70s and early 80s, zinesters in the grunge era. DIY culture might have to become more mainstream for survival reasons. I hope I’m wrong but all indications point to survival rising by necessity to the top of more and more peoples’ priority lists.
So I find myself as a purveyor of goods and services in 2013 in the paradoxical position of urging people to be more careful with their resources and to consume less! In my opinion the key is not to stop consuming entirely because you can’t do that and remain alive, but to consume more intelligently – and to consume in ways that make you stronger and better able to face the challenges we will have in the future. My personal experience has taught me doing something proactive to alleviate whatever events or conditions that you fear makes you feel stronger and more capable. There are some things in life we can’t control but in some cases I believe people have been brainwashed into believing they are more helpless than they are.
According to Thomas Jefferson, “Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bonds.”
If you find yourself unhappily in the position of having no choice but to be frugal, creativity can make your situation a lot more palatable. Loss of income is associated with a loss of status in our culture, but frugal practices are often beneficial for the environment so you can disguise your frugality by being eco-chic, an attitude made fashionable by entertainment elites. In a culture where the appearance of something is as good as the real thing, the celebrities only have to appear to be eco-chic but in your own life being more environmentally aware has real benefits for you. Take control and use eco-friendly practices to gain more autonomy in your life.
Here are a few examples and suggestions:
Organic gardening
Frugal and Survival benefits:
High quality nutritious food and herbs filled with vitamins and free of poisons is added to your diet and improves your health.
Improving and caring for your soil helps make up for the choice farmland we’re losing to urban sprawl developments.
Knowledge of how to grow food is preserved to pass on to future generations.
If you open pollinate and seed save, the genetic diversity of seeds may save our lives if something affects monoculture crops.
Good soil and reduced use of chemicals contributes to a healthy life-sustaining water supply.
Physical activity – a stronger body is less prone to injuries in riots, natural disasters, etc.
At least there is a chance of some kind of food supply being available if roads are impassable, there are fuel shortages or there is civil unrest.
Plants reduce erosion and preserve soil.
Plants reduce urban heat sink effect and reduce air conditioning bills.
Contact with nature beneficial for mental health.
Less chance of food contamination and tampering.
Healthful foods more available in areas where there are no grocery stores such as depressed urban areas.
More diverse stock of plants adapted to your specific climate or microclimate conditions will be developed.
Plant stock and seeds can be used as barter if there is currency trouble and food shortages.
Eco-chic benefits:
Helps sustain wildlife (if you garden organically you will be sharing at least a little of your harvest!).
Not going to the store as much reduces packaging materials and transport fuel consumption.
Less dependent on food produced from genetically modified seeds.
Children who observe you gardening learn about where food comes from and the importance of healthy soil, air and water.
Plants absorb CO2 in photosynthesis if global warming is something you worry about.
Composting reduces waste going to landfills.
Raising a serious amount of food, especially organically, is not an easy task. I myself am in no position to have a self-sustaining garden for all my food needs – I’m not even allowed to grow vegetables in the ground where I live (I can grow them in containers on the deck but don’t have enough sun). But I’ve always believed it’s better to do somthing than nothing, so I have an herb and wildflower garden. I save a lot of money on herbal tea and fresh herbs for cooking, I’m as certain as I can be that my herbs are not contaminated with anything and I’m providing a home for lots of beneficial insects which have reduced the amount of pests in my immediate vicinity – that makes life better for humans and wildlife around me due to the reduced need for chemicals. If you have a yard or even space for a few containers on a porch or windowsill, you can make a difference. Aquaponics and hydroponics are also possible indoors if you can manage the lighting requirements.
Making crafts from repurposed items
Frugal and Survival benefits:
Creative outlet improves mental health.
Gives resources that would otherwise be wasted an economic value.
Better lifestyle for less money.
Cottage industries help provide income for people who have lost their jobs.
Improves hand skills.
Eco-chic benefits:
Keeps resources out of landfills.
Reduces the need for new goods which these days are often poorly made in countries with environmental laws a lot less stringent than ours (if they have any).
Shows off your committment to recycling and being “green”.
Fewer trips to the store mean less fuel consumed for transport.
Natural products very fashionable.
Refill your own containers and reduce the need for packaging.
Fewer harmful substances go down the drain and end up in water supply.
Making Gifts
I used to work at a large retail store and was appalled at what constitutes a celebration of the birth of Jesus in today’s society – waiting in long lines to buy cheap junk made in other countries employing slave labor. Borrowing money to pay for things beyone one’s means – believe it or not after all we’ve learned about the consequences of too much debt you can still hear ads on the radio at Christmastime encouraging people to mortgage their home to buy Christmas gifts. Trampling people to buy cheap junk (yes someone was trampled at the store where I worked but not injured fortunately). Extra security guards on duty – what does that say about the Christmas spirit?
Frugal and Survival benefits:
Creative outlet improves mental health.
Avoid debt.
Avoid stress of crowded roads and crowded stores.
Avoid disease from being in crowds (yes there will be more diseases rampant as our society deteriorates, for example the current TB outbreak in California).
Improves hand skills.
Eco-chic benefits:
Fewer trips to the store mean less resources used on packing and less fuel consumed for transport.
Teaches the value of homemade things.
Emphasizes the Eco-chic values that Jesus taught – keeping in mind the welfare of others, not placing too much value on material things, the value of humble and honest labor, the meaning of a gift being the love and caring that went into it and not the monetary value, etc. Whatever your spiritual beliefs are, I’m sure you can think of eco-chic ways to enhance your religious and cultural activities.
Cooking meals at home (Some of my favorite recipes)
Frugal and Survival benefits:
Creative outlet improves mental health
Can choose more healthy ingredients
Catch fewer diseases from food preparers, salad bars, buffets, etc.
Families that eat together have healthier relationships
Eco-chic benefits:
Fewer disposable containers consumed
Can make your own sustainable choices of ingredients
Those headlines sound alarming. No one can predict the future, but if you are concerned and as a result are inspired to grow more food or in some other way become more self-sufficient, here is good news. There is no down side to growing food even if the predicted food shortages don’t happen. You’ll be better off either way, and healthier as a result of the activity. So if you have any interest in growing food or gardening at all, when has there ever been a better time?
If you would like to read all the issues of my old e-newsletter Carolyn’s Creative Connections and it’s predecessor the Carolyn Hasenfratz Design Newsletter, here is a link:
I’m also adding to that page the newsletters of my former employer Webinar Resources that I designed and wrote some of the articles for. Some of the graphics will be missing at first until I can do some fixing. I’m mostly doing this for my own reference since I’m currently dusting off some of my old social media marketing skills and seeing what is still relevant and what has changed. It helps me study marketing techniques.
It’s been awhile since I updated the Schnarr’s blog calendar with gardening events. For the last couple of years most events have been cancelled or online. But a few in person events are starting to happen again, along with a lot of webinars and online sessions.
I’ve put some St. Louis based events, be they in person or virtual, on the Schnarr’s Blog calendar here: http://schnarrsblog.com/calendar/
I’ve also added some pins to a couple of sections of the Schnarr’s Pinterest site to help people find gardening related webinars and on-demand content from all over the country.
In the St. Louis area where I am, it’s a bit rainy and cold right at the moment and it’s possible that tasks you were looking forward to doing in the garden might be postponed for a few days. If you’re forced to be more indoors than you’d like, maybe some online gardening content will help you maintain a healthy state of mind. Enjoy!
Dad is on the left, Rosie Willis on the right. 03-26-2022
This past Saturday my Dad and I blew some of the winter dust out of our bodies and minds by volunteering at Fresh Starts Community Garden. It was Dad’s first time here while I’ve been to this garden a couple of times before. It was uplifting as always to spend a little time with the inspiring and kind leader Rosie Willis and the other volunteers. I get praised a lot when I volunteer, but it’s likely I get more out of it than I give – gardening makes me happy wherever I do it! And it’s always uplifting to be in the company of people who are working hard to help their neighbors.
This week those of us who are St. Louis Master Gardeners got some nice validation by getting the Master Gardener 2021 Impact Statement PDF document in our email. If you would like to see what we did in 2020 and 2021, check out these links:
I’ve been reading in the last year or two about biophilia – in so many words it is the human tendency to feel a sense of well being while exposed to nature. As I’ve learned from reading horticultural therapy books, in addition to spending time in or around actual nature, pictures, video and sounds from gardens can make people feel better mentally and physically. I hope the resources I’ve linked to can help give you some good feelings immediately whether you have to be inside or outside.
Here is a link to my photo album on Facebook of some of the past master gardener activities I’ve enjoyed since completing my training in 2016.
Tom and I have been volunteering at a new community garden, named St. Catherine Victory Garden, at our parish, St. Catherine Laboure in Sappington. Organizer Deanna Violette compared the challenges of recent history to World War II, when people grew extra produce to support the nation through a trying time.
At the end of this blog post are scans of the printed article.
Several organizations within the St. Catherine Laboure parish are collaborating on the garden, with support and knowledge from the following outside regional organizations:
When we as a society are tested with hardship, the kinds of leaders I want to follow are those who bring Americans together rather than separating them into opposing factions for the divide-and-conquer type of political power. I will be continuing to help at both gardens with whatever work is needed at the time I volunteer and also special projects that I’m taking on. I’ll be writing about these activities on my blog as they happen. I’m looking forward to a summer full of sharing, teaching, learning and growing!
St. Louis Review clipping from June 7-13 2021 edition, page 6.Clipping from St. Louis Review, June 7-13 2021 edition, page 7.
I work part-time at a hardware store. We have a lawn and garden department, and within it we sell vegetable, herb and flower seeds. Last spring and summer, the demand for seeds was higher than normal while at the same time supply chains for many retail products were disrupted. As a result we ran out of many seeds. As a St. Louis Master Gardener, it’s part of my personal mandate to help people garden. Sometimes I try to help with information, sometimes with my labor, sometimes I distribute my extra seeds and plants for people to try out.
Last summer’s growing season was an unfortunate time to experience a shortage of seeds, because the COVID-19 pandemic has put extra pressure on some sources of food. There is not only the economic effect of many people losing their normal sources of income, but the disruption in the labor pool and supply chain, as thankfully brief as much of it was, forced us to think about the security of our food supply more than many of us normally have to. At a time when there was less ability to buy food, the opportunity for volunteer efforts to help people get the food they need was also diminished. Some food pantries had to temporarily close or reduce their hours of operation. In-person St. Louis Master Gardener efforts were halted, so I could not go to help at a Community Garden site. Besides donating a modest amount of money to a food pantry, my husband and I tried to distribute extra seeds and plants to anyone we could get them to.
It’s beneficial for the security of the food supply, for everyone who has the means and the time, to learn how to grow plants and food. Although anyone can jump in and start at any time, growing serious amounts of food is not easy and takes a lot of time and effort to learn to do well. Growing serious amounts of food requires learning how to maintain healthy soil. Growing serious amounts of food requires learning how to maintain a sustainable amount of beneficial organisms such as invertebrates and fungi in the ecosystem. All of these activities are fascinating hobbies that can be pressed into service any time there is a food crisis. And the health benefits of gardening, both mental and physical, create a more resilient population for any challenge we might face in life. For those reasons and more, I think home or community gardening is one of the best pursuits anyone can undertake, regardless of current financial status. You never know when you’ll be extra thankful for the opportunity to go to your own backyard to get some fresh food, or when you’ll have the opportunity to pass on plants, seeds or knowledge on to someone in need.
Tom and I were grateful to have the opportunity to start volunteering in person again. Recently we volunteered at the Fresh Starts Community Garden in St. Louis at a volunteer session sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council. It was satisfying to share our labor and knowledge while learning about the needs of community gardeners as well.
Fresh Starts Community Garden in St. Louis – volunteer day
In our most recent church bulletin, there was an article about food security with a helpful graph that I’ll share here. Food security is defined in the article as “…the lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. Food-insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time. Food insecurity may reflect a household’s need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as housing or medicine, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods”.
The graph helps show how much potential there is for gardens of all kinds to have positive impacts on human life and health. Even when people have the money to buy food, and healthy food available to buy, there are a lot of people who could use some encouragement and training in the life skills of choosing and preparing the food. The satisfaction of growing and harvesting for the table naturally leads to exploring ways to cook and store the delicious, life giving produce. If you are seeking health, a sense of community, solace, purpose, independence and agency in your life, I think growing plants is one of the very best things you can do for yourself and for humankind.
According to Thomas Jefferson, “Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bonds.”
In our most recent