Art from the Heart by Catherine Scanlon Designs

The beauty of nature really embodies this quote, how lovely the silence of growing things. Nature is perfect for every single person: a deaf person can see the beauty, a blind person they can smell the beauty of the flowers and feel the wonders of the earth.

Check out the other amazing artists playing along with this fun project here:

http://thesustainablesoulsproject.blogspot.com/

Every single person has the ability to use all, or part of their senses to inhale the beauty of nature and feel it's beautiful silence.

Sustainable Souls Project from Catherine Scanlon on Vimeo.

Nature, or what we often refer to as our lovely green spaces; are there for us. But are we always there for them? Do you reach for harsh chemicals that will harm the animals, the beneficial bugs or other things that live and grow in your green space to take care of a pest or issue that is threatening your green space?

My house is situated on an aquifer and while I have a lot of gardens, sometimes the gardens require pesticides to remain beautiful but I do not like to use them because I want to protect my water source. Simply, we have a high the water table and I try to find natural remedies to take care of pests that might hurt my gardens.

Here are my helpful hints that you can try first if you have any of these problems in your garden:

Ants or other Exo Skeleton Bugs: sprinkle diatomaceous earth over the spot where the ants are living. Around the earth or the rocks and really sprinkle it in there. This is harmful to the ants because it does something to their exoskeleton and they dehydrate and die. Diatomaceous earth is what is used for a pool filter.

Slugs: while we love coffee, slugs do not! Sprinkle coffee grounds or a coffee solution on the ground and around your plants that may have a slug problem, slugs do not like the acid in the coffee grinds and will turn away when they encounter it.

Tomato Hornworm: sadly, the only natural way I have found to get rid of the hornworm is to pick it off the plant. The part about the hornworm that breaks my heart is it creates a lovely, lovely month. It's such a double edge sword, but since I want tomatoes to grow I will sacrifice these interesting moths.

Weeds: pull them out by hand or spritz a vinager/water mixture on them. If that doesn't work, try bleach and water. The harmful effects of bleach dissipate into the air after a few minutes. Also, mulching with a thick layer of pine mulch helps stop the weeds.

Fertilizing: Always use organic versions, cow manure or your compost pile. Miracle Gro has a lot of bad stuff in it, and is definitely not a good choice for vegetables, but I always spend a little more and get an organic version.

Epsom Salt: also known as magnesium sulfate; "helps speed up plant growth, increase a plants nutrient uptake, deter pests, increase flavor of fruit and veggies, plus increase the output of vegetation."

Lime: if you find that your tomatoes have a weird brown rotten spot on the end that starts as it gets bigger and by the time it is ripe enough to eat, your earth has a calcium deficiancy and you can amend the dirt with a little lime. This is a deficiency in the earth that causes the tomato to get Blossom End Rot. In the fall after I have cleaned up all of my vegetable beds I sprinkle and work in a generous application of lyme into the earth. You can also take your soil to a local gardening center to have them test to see what you need to add to make your soil better.

You can make a difference and protect our precious earth! Before you reach for the harsh chemicals, take a minute to look on Pinterest or Google what your garden problem is and I'm sure that you will find and natural way to solve the problem, if in the end you still have it then reach for the chemicals, but use these chemicals very very sparingly and take the safety precautions seriously. Not only do they kill the bad stuff -- but they also kill the good things like the bees, the butterflies, the birds and all of the other beautiful things that you enjoy in your garden.

Thanks for joining me today for this fun project!

Find my stamps at Art Gone Wild!

Monday, September 25

We had a beautiful sunset on the ride home last night. @ian.scanlon #parentsweekend #oronomaine

Monday, September 11

Friday, August 25

Make sure you check out the video tutorial I created for my fun double stamping/embossing technique on the @cardmaker_magazine blog today! #catherinescanlondesigns #catherinescanlon #artgonewild #stamps #stamping #cards #cardmaking #embossing #MostIncredibleStampTool #bestwishes #sunflowers

Wednesday, August 23

My friend @adogslife13 asked me to play along with her #sustainablesoul project this year and I'm super excited to finally share my blog post with you! #catherinescanlon #catherinescanlondesigns #sustainable #organicgardening

Sustainable Souls Project

Friday, August 18

Feeling really satisfied with my breakfast -- I made everything! Paleo Granola, Paleo Cherry Compote and Paleo Coconut Cream Yogurt with some @goodmixfoods on the bottom for good measure! Totally delicious! I used my Instant Pot for the yogurt, best ever! #Paleo #healthyfood #itswhatsforbreakfast

Thursday, August 17

Gather your Joy. Surround yourself with people that want to be around you, life is short and way to short to worry about people unfollowing you. #cancersucks #ihatecancer #catherinescanlon #catherinescanlondesigns #paperquilt #watercolorquilt #watercolor #imperfect #lifeisshort

Tuesday, August 15

This wonderfulness happened today! Yum! #organic #freshtomato #maine #thewaylifeshouldbe #delicious

Wednesday, August 9

Tuesday, August 1

Head on over to the @my_artc YouTube channel and get some answers to your questions about #art-c #waterbrushes in a short video I created for them! You can find the link to the video in their profile! #watercolor #catherinescanlon #catherinepoolerdesigns #betheflower

Friday, July 28

It there ever was a drink mixing contest with @bulleit whiskey I might just win it with this yummy raspberry concoction. I think I'll call it the #raspberrybulleit

Thursday, July 27

#Paleo #Granola, fresh blueberries and cashew milk! Delicious breakfast! #healthyfood #healthybreakfast #healthyeating #creativecooking #myownrecipe

Wednesday, July 26

Starting with the background first! #catherinescanlon #catherinescanlondesigns #flowers #flowersofinstagram #watercolor #wildflower #watercolorink #strathmoreart

Monday, July 24

Sunday, July 23

Slow sundays are the best, art, cooking, a visit with my Mom and gazing at my garden - the perfect day! #catherinescanlon #catherinescanlondesigns #watercolor #waterbrush #strathmoreart #watercolorink #watercolorink #clematis #flowersofinstagram

#Paleo #Granola for the win! #catherinescanlon #catherinescanlondesigns #creativecooking #healthyfood

Saturday, July 22

I have 5 palettes going right now -- and I'm taking a break because it's kinda hot out! #catherinescanlondesigns #catherinescanlon #flowersofinstagram #watercolorflower #watercolor #watercolorink #watercolorflower #waterbrush