May Full Moon, Moon Phase Gardening, the Recycled Garden and Monday Feelgoods

May Full Moon


The Moon will be Full tonight:


Sydney, Australia - 1.11pm AEDT May 20
Los Angeles, USA - 7.11pm PDT May 19
London, England - 3.11am May 20

(from Yasmin Boland)


There are lots of names for the May Full Moon:


Milk Moon (Colonial American)
Planting Moon (Chinese)
Panther Moon (Choctaw)
Bright Moon (Celtic)
Hare Moon (English Medieval)
Grass Moon (Neo Pagan)


Moon When Leaves Are Green, Moon To Plant (Dakotah Sioux)


Many of these are names that reflect the new growth of Nature. It would seem another great time to plant new seeds, literally and figuratively.


Planting Seeds


I'm busy planting seeds of all kinds at the moment. I am developing a new Channel on Helium, for Single Parents and designing the Student Mum website, both of which need nuturing and both of which I look forward to watching blossom. (Any suggestions for both would be gladly welcomed.)


There is also a new Mentoring Channel on Helium, another small seed filled with infinite possibilities. If you have mentoring experience of any kind, your insight would be much appreciated and valued.


A Recycled Garden


I have also spent lots of time in the garden over the past couple of weeks.

I am on a mission to create a garden without spending any money. This has included recycling the hedge cuttings. Youngest daughter and I have made little fences for borders in the flowerbeds, wigwams for peas and sweet peas, a bird house and a woven heart. We even made a usable bench from an old bunk bed, a large brick (hammer) and string ... no kidding! I've put the photos and comments on flickr because it's easier than putting them on here!


I'm a bit concerned for the safety of a pair of blackbirds who appear to be on a suicide mission. They're building a nest in the beech hedge on the other side of the path just outside our front garden. Not content with building a home in such a daft place, they've taken to thoroughly harrassing Tizzy!

For some strange reason, they spend most of the day dancing, right in front of her nose as she tries to chill out in the garden, hurling a barrage of abuse at her. So far she has pretty much ignored them, but I'm worried she's just biding her time until they have a nest full of babies to raid. Mind you, if they carry on spending so much time entertaining Mrs. Tizzywinkle, they'll never finish their nest.


I wonder if they're telling her they know she's there and they're not scared of her. But such a strategy is very risky ... all they've done is advertise their new home and thoroughly annoy the ur-cat at the same time!

Moon Phase Gardening

The phases of the moon have long been associated with agriculture and horticulture and are the foundation of Biodynamic Gardening.

The New Moon is considered a time to plant seeds. The waxing phase following the new moon, when the moonlight gradually increases, is said to be good for encouraging foliage growth. The waning moon following a full moon is said to be a time when root growth is encouraged.

So, on both counts I have made mistakes this week. I have scattered seeds left over from last year all over the garden and transplanted a hydrangea (I think) from an overgrown corner into the middle of the front garden. Not the best timing as far as lunar gardening goes, but the only timing I had available ... the results will be interesting.



The Benefits of Gardening

It's so lovely to get back into the garden, the therapeutic benefits are diverse.

Benefits to mental, physical and spiritual health are all available in the garden. Gardening is even used to treat illness or addiction, or to reintegrate people into the community after recovery. A garden is a useful place for teaching and learning. From basic literary and numeracy skills to social skills, horticulture is a useful educational resource.

This is something I know Dave Riddell will agree with. His Outdoor Classrooms projects embody the philosophy of natural learning alongside supporting the environment.

Fresh Air Feelgoods

Feelgoods to start your week, all about spending time reconnecting with nature or simply enjoying the fresh air:

* Buy a bag of rose petals from a florist and scatter them around your house.

* Go hunting for shells on a beach.

* Rent a canoe or kayak and contemplate life.

* Go to an outdoor concert.

* Go to an observation point or scenic overlook and get some perspective.

Have a wonderful week!


:o)

More from Yasmin Boland:

How long since you read this?

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we subconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

- Marianne Williamson (not as often believed, Nelson Mandela - Mandela read it out at one of his most famous speeches, but the text is from Willamson's book Return To Love)

See http://www.marianne.com

:o)

Feeling Good: New Words, New Worlds and Outdoor Gardens

A quick Women and the Moon link for you, a little late (story of my life at the moment!):

A Woman in the Moon song by the lovely Chely Wright

Another lonesome night
Staring at the sky
But I don't help to ease an aching heart
The man up in the moon
Keeps on talking himself blue
And once again I'm left here in the dark

Let me talk to the woman in the moon
I think I need another point of view
That ol' man up there
Doesn't seem to care
Let me talk to the woman in the moon

Heaven's up above
I just want a little love
Cause I'm so tired of living all alone
Please lend a friendly ear
Cause I need some help down here
Somebody with the heart to be my own

Let me talk to the woman in the moon
I think I need another point of view
That ol' man up there
Doesn't seem to care
Let me talk to the woman in the moon

I can't help but look up there and wonder
Will I ever hold him in my arms
Please help me with this spell I've fallen under
Cause I can't seem to find my lucky stars

Let me talk to the woman in the moon
I think I need another point of view
That ol' man up there
Doesn't seem to care
Let me talk to the woman in the moon

Let me talk to the woman in the moon

Ha! I love the idea of talking to the woman in the moon!

Tuesday Feelgoods!

And a few feelgood links for you (well, it doesn't have to be Friday, I'm feeling full of feelgoods and always like to spread them around!):

I have recently learned a new word and new meaning within an old one.

The Hawaiian word Aloha is so much more than the hello/goodbye I had thought. It encompasses the Hawaiian value of love and inner spirit and it means, among other things, "I recognise the same breath of life within you." For more about the values within Hawaiian culture, from the inspirational Rosa Say, have a look at her lovely Managing With Aloha Coaching. Her site embodies a concept being widely discussed online recently:

I'm not sure what to call it, I'm not sure if it has a specific name (though many Hawaiian words express it) but I find it exciting and uplifting. It goes beyond ethical, includes creating (celebrating) the personal within the professional, the moral within the commercial, it speaks of respect and integrity in business life ... it is a holistic kind of approach to business, I guess.

To life, in fact.

And there is a word that sums it up:

Niebu!

Niebu is a newly-created, magical word that holds a whole new world within in it.

A word inadvertently created by James Chartrand of the excellent MenwithPens, by mistyping an early morning greeting to Dave Navarro on Twitter. Dave responded in kind and a new word was born. (More links to Niebu on Life is a Learning Curve.)

A humble typo has since developed into an awesome word/concept/philosophy. A wor(l)d full of positive possibilities, it means hello, goodbye, I hope you have a wonderful day, sending good thoughts ...

So, a very warm Niebu to you all! :o)

And a final feelgood (for today) is the concept of Outdoor Classrooms.

As Dave Riddell explains in his great post, not only do schools (and the environment) benefit from outdoor classrooms; there is a positive effect on the wider community too:

"Beyond the school, the construction of an outdoor classroom also benefits community members by providing opportunities to increase their environmental awareness and knowledge, while offering additional means of participation in both their child’s education and local environmental stewardship."

There has even been a positive effect on the level of vandalism:

"To date, no vandalism or disturbance of either the nursery beds or the native wildflower landscaping has occurred. This is significant, given that the schoolgrounds receive considerable traffic after hours and have experienced defacement and destruction of property in the past."

Tree nurseries, native wildflower beds and proposed constructed wetlands are all fantastic places to encourage the interest of children and their families in nurturing the environment. Such wonderful learning spaces benefit everyone and this idea really excites me, I hope it spreads far and wide like beautiful seeds on a helpful breeze!

:o)