Mindfulness Garden Games
by Joann Calabrese
author of Growing Mindful

Cultivating Awareness in the Summer Garden

It’s the New Moon –  July 28, 2022 Five Senses and Cultivating Awareness I’ve been thinking about the simple mindfulness practice of using our five senses to call ourselves back to the present moment. It’s come up recently in conversations with my grand-daughter and also in the online training that I do. There are lots of … Read more

Eggplants, Mystery, & Mindfulness

Happy Full Moon – July 13, 2022 Eggplants, Mystery, & Mindfulness One of my goals this summer is to harvest more eggplant than I can possibly eat – and then give the rest away. I love eggplant and it is hard to get enough. Apparently, they grow wild in India. Can you imagine foraging for … Read more

Alien World of Fungi

Happy New Moon – June 28, 2022 The Alien World of Fungi The word alien is often used to describe beings from elsewhere – whether it’s another country or outer space. However the word alien can mean strange, foreign, odd, or simply something we know little about. And honestly, fungi absolutely meet that criteria. Although … Read more

Milkweed & What is Essential

Butterfly Weed

Happy Full Moon – June 16, 2022 Milkweed You may be familiar with the milkweed family as it produces unique and beautiful flowers followed by a showy display of seeds in the fall. Large seed pods open to release thousands of seeds attached to soft cottony threads. The threads are buoyant so they can take … Read more

The Antidote for Overwhelm

Lunar Blog Post Series – New Moon – May 30 2022 It’s the new moon – that part of the lunar cycle where the moon vanishes from the night sky. The funny thing is that it’s because the earth is in the way – it’s blocking the light of the sun. I keep thinking about … Read more

Rhubarb, Duality, Complexity

Flowering Rhubarb

Happy Full Moon – May 16, 2022 This rhubarb post is part of my lunar blog series.  Click here for more information on the full moon and new moon posts. A Little about Rhubarb Rhubarb is one of the earliest spring crops. It’s an easy to grow perennial and extremely hardy and cold tolerant, probably … Read more

Permaculture as Mindful Practice

Rhubarb in spring

  Blessings at the new moon – April 30 2022 This permaculture new-moon post is part of my lunar blog post series. To learn more about this series and read past articles click here. My Permaculture Experience I completed a permaculture design course many moons ago with Dancing Green Permaculture in Pennsylvania. Looking back, I … Read more

Earth Day Contemplation

Happy Earth Day – April 22 2022 The meditation below is adapted from one in my book, Growing Mindful.  It seems like a good offering on this Earth Day 2022. Our Human-Centric Culture Western culture’s human-centric view of the world emphasizes separateness from the web of life. That view has created many of our modern … Read more

Lavender & the Intention of Kindness

Lavender World View

Full Moon Greetings – April 16 2022 This blog post on lavender and kindness is part of my lunar blog series featuring one plant and its correspondence for mindful focus. (Read more details on the lunar mindfulness series. ) The Energy of Kindness Lavender has a strong historical connection to both love and tranquility. The … Read more

Ruth Stout – Queen of Mulch

New Moon Blessings- April 1, 2022 This post on Ruth Stout is part of my lunar blog post series. Since the new moon is a time of darkness, my goal with each new moon post is to highlight something that has been hidden or not well know.  (Click here for details and past posts.) Queen … Read more