Category: Whimsy

Off to a Garden Party

We are off to the races – well ok, it’s a Garden Party really!  About 6 weeks ago I met The Fabulous Beekman Boys… and now I am off to a festival (as a vendor) that they “host.” Life has a funny way of twisting and turning… this could have been a very tough weekend for me, and instead I am excited and off to explore a new place, meet new people, and hopefully open some big doors. I believe it may the largest festival I have taken part of to date.  I think this whole weekend is a bit of a gift – starting with the fact that I met these guys in Vermont (Dave’s beloved home state.)  Now we will have to wait and see what the rest of the weekend brings, but I am hopeful and feel very clear that I am suppose to be there – Why? Don’t know yet… but at the very least I am  giving it my all, created more Mini Arts (aka greeting cards,) created 8 new Lacquered Boxes, and finally got to make some Trays that have come out amazingly fun! … To top it all off I created a NEW Botanical Beauty! He will debut this weekend on the above mentioned products! He is extra close to my heart for a couple of reasons. Read all about him below the pix of “the Boys” and me – a photo from the VT Garden Symposium weekend.

Beekman Boys and me

His name is Heirloom Charlie and you can read his whole story below. Part of why I am especially proud of him is I have been wanting to figure out a way to “give back” a little for all The Botanical Beauties & Beasties have done for me these past 12 months. Donating a percentage from Heirloom Charlie (a sustainable Farmer,)  to help out others feel good. With GMOs and food labels very much a hot topic these days, the timing feels perfect.  I am very pleased to have chosen Long Life Farm as the recipient of 15% of Heirloom Charlie Sales. They are local MA., CSA, organic farm who reaches in to the community in many ways to help out those “in need.”

I am also pleased by Heirloom Charlie for he is very fun to look at, my first vegetable Beauty and so a new branch of the BBB3 tree, he gets to part of marriage equality in our land of  Botaniumaus  (and be a wedding gift to celebrate a ‘real” gay marriage in the land of USA,) and I like all he symbolizes in his story/causes. So it with great pleasure I unveil  Heirloom Charlie (aka Radiator Charlie) to you in full…. on Saturday!

Heirloom Charlie's Story

Nothing is on the online store yet, but there are trays, cards, boxes and prints to celebrate Heirloom Charlie (aka Radiator Charlie) which will become available soon.

Colors Matter!

Variety is the spice of life,  Differences make the world go ’round.. and Color is the Technicolor wonder of our beautiful and very colorful world/Earth.

col·or is a noun

1. the quality of an object or substance with respect to light reflected by the object, usually determined visually by measurement of hue, saturation, and brightness of the reflected light; saturation or chroma; hue. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/color

I have spent a good part of the afternoon playing with paint and color…. for my wonderful, ever so fun to make, lacquered boxes! Part of the puzzle is playing with color combos, colors that pop, colors that seem happy,colors that are fun, colors that please me, and colors that compliment the Botanical Beauty that will grace the boxes top. BTW – you can see some of these luscious boxes tomorrow ( Sat May 18 at Crafts in the Park, N.Reading MA —Put this address in your GPS – 5 Central St. N. Reading MA 01864… 10-3pm)Color Boxes

Color plays a vitally important role in the world in which we live. Color can sway thinking, change actions, and cause reactions. It can irritate or soothe your eyes, raise your blood pressure or suppress your appetite. When used in the right ways, color can even save on energy consumption.

As a powerful form of communication, color is irreplaceable. Red means “stop” and green means “go.” Traffic lights send this universal message. Likewise, the colors used for a product, web site, business card, or logo cause powerful reactions. Color Matters! –http://colormatters.com

A cool website- all about color, the symbolism of colors, the meanings of colors….and a whole lot more!

Color can change the whole feel and emotion of an object. Color can take the mundane and make it exciting.

Whats your favorite color? I realized I really couldn’t answer that question. I have so many favorite colors! If I was tied down and being tickled and I had to say something…well maybe these days I would have to say all shades of reds, from the pinks to the purples to the hot reds! One you say – hmmm maybe today its Pink! Leave a comment and lets see your fav color(s) ! ! ! !

What soothes your soul?

Always a good question to think about… What makes you stop, breath deep, and creates some inner peace for you?

For me it’s (in no particular order) friends, family, flowers, yoga, my dogs, and “creating” – like a new drawing or an art/craft “object,” sunshine, fresh air, and then maybe some more flowers…… or at least those things are some of list toppers!

Since Mable (or if you prefer you can call her Mabel – she likes to mix it up a bit)  is CEO of Emos, and Emos manufacture Smiles, it seemed fitting that she get to hold the giant flower and stand in one of my favorite flowers – a Poppy. You will have to use your imaginations to see all the other “soul soothing pieces”  here with Mabel, but I can assure you they are like water drops and are sitting on top of those flowers too!  Even better…. use your imagination and think about what ever your pieces are and insert them into your mind and reality. If you are really lucky, maybe Mabel can hold some of your too!

Mabel with Flowers

Shows, fairs, and general excitement!!!

OMG – can’t believe “show season” is here -we are off and running!

This weekend we are headed to what I expect to be grand at The Garden Symposium in the even grander location of The Equinox Resort in Manchester VT.Their will be wonderful nationally known speakers and a related vendor marketplace. Naturally, we fit in the second. We will leave all the words off about how great it will be and what an exciting season we are working on (check and watch the schedule grow on our calender page) In the mean time, we will just say WE ARE EXCITED TO BE “On the road again” –off to meet new friends and spread our motto of “Live Kind, Live Green, Live Creatively“

Our hope is that on Sunday we can connect up somehow and have a little magic with The Beekman Brothers. They run a company called Beekman 1802-from their own website words “Two NYC guys who bought a farm and are sharing their experiment in living better lives, season by season, neighbor by neighbor.” The Botanical Beauties & Beasties  love that statement/mission. We want to chat with them!

Right now they are promoting  THE SAUCE THAT COULD CHANGE THINGS  (click on name)  Below is the page for this cool idea and product. Please help if you can. It helps all the small local American Farmers stay alive and that’s truly a wonderful thing. The Power of Tomatoes, people and good ideas!

heirloom tomato pasta sauce“We’ve got some really big news.

We are really excited about our new pasta sauce. ‘Cuz it’s gonna change the world.

No. Seriously. Not hyperbole.

Remember when we won that little show called The Amazing Race?  Let us refresh your memory:

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Wasn’t that awesome?

It was.

Here’s why. It allowed us to pay off the mortgage on our farm so that we could both devote ourselves full-time to growing Beekman 1802 and our community.

So what does The Amazing Race have to do with pasta sauce? A lot, it turns out. And it has even more to do with raising money for other American farmers.

It’s a little round-about-story, but first you need to know a little Race trivia:

Even though you didn’t see the finish till December, the race actually ended in June. Which meant we already knew we would be able to pay off our mortgage with the prize money early last summer. (We’re good secret-keepers, right? Keep that in mind next time you have juicy gossip.)

However, we also had a field full of tomatoes growing on the farm in June. Some of these tomatoes were a variety called “Mortgage Lifter” heirloom tomatoes. They’re giant, delicious tomatoes.

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Why are they called “Mortgage Lifter?”

Well,  in 1929 a man named Marshall Cletis Byles owned an auto repair garage in Logan, West Virginia. When his business began suffering during the Great Depression, Marshall (who went by the nickname “Radiator Charlie,”) decided to earn extra money by selling the best tasting tomato variety he could breed.

It took a few years, but Charlie finally bred his perfect tomato. He advertised that one single plant, with its 1-2lb fruits, could feed a family of six. And he wound up selling enough seedlings in four years to pay off his mortgage. In full.

Hence “Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter Tomato” was born.

Those of you who’ve followed our story know that before we won The Amazing Race, one of our primary goals was to pay off the Beekman Farm mortgage. So when we planted our garden in early 2012, we planted a ton of Mortgage Lifter tomatoes, in hopes of developing a pasta sauce that would help us do just that.

And then we won The Amazing Race. Let’s revisit again. ‘Cuz it was awesome:

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(Did we really make that face on national television? There are “ugly cry” faces and “ugly win” faces, apparently. This was both at once.)

Anyway, last year was a really good year for tomatoes. Here’s one afternoon’s haul:

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So, since we’d paid off our mortgage…what were we going to do with all these tomatoes?!??!

Then it hit us.

We’ll use these tomatoes pay off another small farm’s mortgage! Pay it forward.

So we went ahead and kept developing the pasta sauce. We used the best tomatoes from our farm and other farms, fresh garlic and spices, and other summer vegetables. And we went ahead and stuck with the name: “Mortgage Lifter Heirloom Tomato Pasta Sauce.”

Looks amazeballs, right?

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The only difference is that now we’ll use 25% of the profits from this sauce to help aid another farmer.We’re teaming up with an agricultural 501c3 so make that happen.

The other 75% of the profits will go right back into the business to hopefully develop a whole range of “Mortgage Lifter” food products that will not only help support American small farms with profits, but also by growing a sustainable food brand for small farms to supply.

But, like Radiator Charlie…we’re starting with the basics. The most perfect pasta sauce we could make.

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We hope you love it. Please give it a try. The more you buy, the more you’re directly helping American farmers. If you purchase enough, it will also help catch the eye of a few larger grocery chains. (Any grocery moguls out there? Wanna chat? Email us! )

Stay tuned for a recipe contest and progress of sales….

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE BEEKMAN 1802 MORTGAGE LIFTER HEIRLOOM PASTA SAUCE.  SAVE SIGNIFICANTLY ON PRICE & SHIPPING WITH ORDERS OF MULTIPLE JARS.”