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Everything for the birds and the bees...worms, too!
Dear Readers,
My dad attended the University of California, Berkeley from 1962โ1969, as both an undergraduate and a law student. He was very involved in the Free Speech Movement as well as the anti-war movement, and spent a fair amount of time at protests and demonstrations. His own father had a theory as to why the campus was such a hotbed of student activism. โBerkley has nearly perfect picketing weather year-round,โ my grandfather posited. โAt UCLA it gets too hot. Harvard, too cold.โ I recently learned something new about all these student protests: It turned out that they inspired the first Earth Day.
(Meryl Streep in Itโs Complicated. Courtesy Cinematic / Alamy Stock Photo)
The man who is now often called โthe father of Earth Day,โ former Wisconsin junior senator Gaylord Nelson, โwanted to infuse the energy of student anti-war protests with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution,โ per EarthDay.org. The concept originated as a bipartisan effort to engage young Americans in climate activism. The first Earth Day took place on April 22, 1970, and 20 million Americans joined protests and marches โ 10% of the population!
The Commodification of Earth Day
Earth Day became a yearly event and expanded beyond the United States. At some point, the day became an entire month. While I normally object to holiday bloat (no, we do not need Easter Candy on February 15th! Or do we?), in the case of Earth Month, I donโt really mind. At least, I wouldnโt mind nearly so much if it hadnโt become yet another opportunity to hawk more stuff.
I have received a lot of emails recently encouraging me to โcelebrate Mother Earth with eco-friendly dealsโ and share products with you. On the one hand, I get it. I literally write a newsletter about sustainable shopping. On the other, itโs what I do all year long. And clickbait is not our goal here at Bluedot Living. The idea of encouraging you to โstock up on sustainable stealsโ just feels icky to me. Buying stuff you donโt need is never going to be good for the Earth.
So, Iโve decided to devote this newsletter to a topic I can get behind, regardless of the holiday: gardening. The first month of spring is a beautiful time to plan and create your summer and fall garden. Living in California, I was able to do some kind of gardening all year-round. Living in Connecticut, I learned the hard truth of the old adage not to start planting before Motherโs Day.
Wherever you are, youโll find items here that will help your garden thrive. After all, itโs Earth Month, and the perfect time to appreciate the world around us. If you're looking for more Earthy inspiration after reading about my favorite items for your garden, check out these two great articles, too: an inspiring recent Dispatch from Melbourne, Australia about A Path for Pollinators, and instructions on how to make seedballs, an excellent Earth Day project for all ages and stages.
Happy gardening and happy shopping!
โ Elizabeth Weinstein, Marketplace Editor
Items to Help Your Garden Grow
Best Place to Start
Created 25 years ago by a former off-grid homesteader, Eartheasy offers great products for the home and garden, including raised beds, planter boxes, indoor and outdoor composting and vermiculture supplies, and so much more. Much of it is made in America. Read our review.
Best Water-Saving Convenience
These beautiful clay pots, or ollas (โoy-yuhsโ), are passive watering systems that keep your plants hydrated and save you water and time. These attractive ollas are made using solar power by a family-run ceramics studio in Wisconsin called One Wintry Night. Please note that they are currently oversold, so orders will take at least 7โ10 days to ship. Read our review.
Best Way to Get Your Garden Going
Now is the time to set up bee hotels (or cabanas, chalets, or villas, if you will), small structures that provide homes for solitary bees. These bees, which do more pollinating and less stinging than honeybees, will really give your plants a boost. Read our review.
Best for Sprouting and Seed-Starting
As many cold-weather gardeners know, you can get a big headstart on the season if you start indoors. True Leaf Market offers all kinds of supplies to help, including seeds, seed-starting kits, grow lights, growing trays, hydroponic supplies, and more. Read our review.
Best Hummingbird Feeders
Hummingbirds play a key role in pollination, and their populations are on the decline. Help them (along with bees and butterflies) by planting milkweed, salvia, agastache, and other pollinator-friendly native plants. A feeder will help supplement the birdsโ diet. Just be sure to keep it clean. Youโll find a beautiful assortment on Etsy. Read our review.
Best Lawn Care
If you love the look of a classic lawn and your area has sufficient rainfall to sustain it, try Sunday Lawn Care. Using a sample of your soil and climate data, the company provides grass seed, non-toxic fertilizer, and pet, pest, and drought-control solutions that will help your lawn thrive. (Of course, rewilding your lawn will always be โgreenerโ than even the greenest lawn.) Read our review.
Best Power Tools
According to the EPA, leaf blowers, lawn mowers, and gardening equipment account for nearly 5% of Americaโs air pollution: a frightening thought. When youโre due for an upgrade or a replacement, go electric. Ego makes quality outdoor power tools that get the job done without spewing fumes. Read our review.
Best Hand Tools
Felco has been making exceptional gardening tools for over 75 years. I received my Felco 2 pruning shears as a birthday gift five years ago and I use them for gardening and when making bouquets with tough, woody stalks. They feel great in the hand and will last a lifetime. Read our review.
