Why We Will Never Use the Term “Wandering Jew” for Tradescantia—and Why It Matters - At 40 Day Living, we believe plant names should celebrate beauty, life and community; not perpetuate harmful ideas. You may know Tradescantia zebrina by a name historically used in the nursery trade: “Wandering Jew.” We want to be clear: we have never used that name and will never use it. Here’s why. The Harmful History Behind the Name The term…
Morning Nourishment for Me and the Garden - Some mornings, when I’ve got the time and the energy, I blend up something special; not just for me, but for my garden too. A quick smoothie packed with healing ingredients to nourish my body… and then I take the scraps, blend them again and pour that goodness right back into the soil. It’s not an everyday routine (yet), but…
Harvesting Lavender Seeds: A Quiet Task That Grounds Me - The lavender in my garden was done blooming and had dried out completely, which meant one thing, it was time to collect seeds. This isn’t something I do every week, but when the timing is right and the stems are good and dry, I grab my scissors, a clean, dry plastic bowl from the kitchen and set aside some time…
Garden Basics 101: Get to Know Your Garden - Creating and maintaining a beautiful garden with healthy, thriving plants requires imagination and lots of careful planning. Whether you're moving to a new house and thinking about gardening for the first time, or just want a little more knowledge and organization in the garden you've already started, you should thoroughly evaluate its landscape on a regular basis. Plants grow (and… 
Inexpensive Way to Start New Plants - Do you throw away your plastic containers after using them? Well after reading this post, you're going to think twice before you throw out another one! Here I have four muffin containers that I've been saving from Costco. A couple holes poked here and there, and they'd make perfect little greenhouses...Let's do it! First, I give each one a good… 
Planting Sweet Potatoes in Raised Beds - Growing in raised beds can be helpful if you're trying to keep your harvests from critters and foragers (aka invaders) that roam through your garden when you're not around. This morning I spent some time drilling holes in the bottom of two plastic whiskey barrels and two galvanized metal bins to get them ready for growing sweet potatoes. These containers… 
Cooperative Extension Office Locator - Most people aren't aware that there are trained faculty and staff that offer problem-solving horticultural assistance, free of charge, in or near most of the nation's approximately 3,000 counties. When I first became interested in sustainable gardening, I took to the internet and dived into as many gardening how-to videos and articles as I could find. Eager and excited to… 
How to Propagate Spider Plants - I was so happy when I got a chance to take home a Spider Plant pup from one of these larger Spider Plants that you see here on the right. I'm not the best at indoor gardening, but I've been taking a stab at it over the past couple years and it's starting to "grow" on me and becoming less… 
How I Rescued Two Baby Hostas - It was quite a score to bring home a batch of decorative hostas to add to my gardens. I had to do the work and dig them up, with help from my Hubby of course, but I didn’t mind because I love transplanting flowers. Transplanting is one of the easiest ways to add floral variety to your garden, without breaking…