Gardening can reduce stress at a time when many people’s mental health could use a boost. It’s a soothing, almost meditative activity that even very young children can enjoy. It gives them confidence and knowledge to know that they can plant a seed, nurture, and care for it, and see it grow into something that can be colorful, fragrant, and even edible.

Don’t think you need a big back yard to cultivate a garden. Whether you have a window-sill or a private backyard, here’s a guide for fun indoor and outdoor projects to get kids enthusiastic about gardening.

Gardening Supplies

Plants and Seeds 

You can purchase seeds or small plants. Many outdoor garden centers are open. Please keep in mind however, this is not the time to leisurely stroll about a garden center admiring pretty flowers and sniffing fragrant plants.

First, visit your local garden center online. Many are set up with websites featuring stunning plants and flowers that are in-season and make online ordering or call ahead ordering a priority – along with curbside pickup. With all that is going on, make safety a priority. If your garden center does not offer online or call-ahead ordering, please be socially-responsible and wear a mask at all times and physically-distance at the store.

With the help of your kids, decide what everyone wants to grow; vegetables, flowers, herbs, or a combination of each. Consider printing out the pictures from the store’s website or other online gardening sites and have the kids sort them by flowers, herbs, or vegetables and glue them into a little notebook.

Choose an assortment of small flowering plants, starter vegetable packs, and seeds. Seeds that grow super easy indoors are parsley, beans, radishes, peas, sweet alyssum, and nasturtiums. Plants such as basil, cilantro, dill, oregano, rosemary, sage, and parsley grow well in small containers or outdoors.

Think about the food that your family enjoys and which herbs you would likely use when cooking or what items are used to make a salad.  Your child will likely be more excited about creating a garden if they are able to cook and taste what they grew. Growing salad fixings such as tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumbers can take your child all the way through the planting process to preparing their own salad.

Another fun gardening activity is planting grass in the shape of your child’s handprint. Have your kids press their hand flat into a large flower pot (if indoors) or outside in a dedicated area of your home garden. Make sure the outline of their hand is visible. Just sprinkle a good amount of grass seed to fill the inside of the outline, and with some diligent watering, a lush green handprint appears. Kids can maintain the handprint all season long with consistent trimming and weeding.

Gardening Containers

This is where everyone can get creative. You don’t have to buy expensive flower pots. Think empty juice boxes, different size jars, (kids will get to see the roots twisting and turning in the dirt), water bottles, plastic yogurt cups, egg cartons, and plastic soda bottle bottoms are all possibilities.

Be sure to punch drainage holes in the bottoms and have the kids paint and decorate the containers.

Growing Medium

Packaged potting soil mix is the best to use indoors. Some even contain slow-release fertilizer and most are sterilized so that they do not contain weed seeds, insects, or diseases that could flourish inside your home.

Additional Gardening Supplies

 Kids will have fun decorating and writing the name of each plant on garden markers (popsicle sticks and plastic silverware work great).

Watering cans (try plastic water bottles or milk jugs) and fertilizer (liquid or slow-release) are also necessary supplies.

Foster a “Budding” Scientist

Older kids can create a chart to keep track of each plant from the day they planted, to when they first noticed a sprout, and take measurements each week to determine which plant grew the fastest and which grew the tallest. Remember the notebook I mentioned above? They can expand on that notebook (which is filled with flower, vegetable and herb photos), to include this type of data for each of the plants.

I started gardening when I was a child, and it’s a hobby and passion of mine that has continued well into my adulthood ever since I planted my first seed. Gardening creates a sense of self-reliance in kids. It gives them a sense of accomplishment and an appreciation for nature. It’s something, they too, can take with them well into adulthood and one day, pass on to their children.

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As I sit here and write I’m reflecting on how fortunate I am to experience a location that’s a commercial-free destination – there are no high-rise hotels, horses roam the countryside, and sustainability is at its core.

Vieques, an island municipality of Puerto Rico and oftentimes called the Spanish Virgin Island, is an easy journey from any location, only taking four hours from NYC, and a 22-minute flight from San Juan.

Here there’s no shortage of beaches, there are over forty – and they are the definition of stunning – striking clear blue waters and picture-perfect sand. I’ve spent several days exploring secluded stretches of sand, (imagine having your own private beach), while others were perfect for kayaking, horseback riding, and snorkeling. What I love is that the island’s activities have a low impact on the environment, staying true to the eco-friendly philosophy of the island. The pristine beaches in Vieques offer miles of untouched beauty and unsurpassed eco-friendly adventure.

At Sea Glass Beach, the town of Isabel Segunda, I stumbled upon tiny colored pieces of frosted glass – perhaps from shipwrecks of long ago — tumbling in the ocean for years until their edges became smooth and rounded. The aqua, turquoise, and occasional rose-colored sea glass found here are made into stunning pieces of jewelry.

In the quaint town of Esperanza, I snorkeled under an old sugar pier where blue tangs, angelfish, lovely coral, and colorful sea fans made me feel as if I were floating in my own private aquarium. Lunch at a beachfront bar and shopping in a lovely boutique along the malecon (promenade along the waterfront) rounded out the remainder of the day.

At the Hix the indoors became the outdoors. Lifting the immense roll-up door on one end of the room, and the shuttered window on the other, transformed the space into an open-air oasis. Warm breezes fluttered from one end to the other, and the eternal view to St. Croix, above the canopy of trees, was framed like a stunning work of art.

Solar energy provides electricity and hot water at Hix. Cisterns collect the rainwater and greywater is used to hydrate the landscape. The buildings are designed to catch cooling trade winds, all while capturing spectacular views of the surrounding landscape. This approach has earned Hix Island House the first Sustainable Tourism Facility Certification from Puerto Rico Tourism.

Later this evening I’m kayaking to Mosquito Bay where the water glows a rare blue. No, this is not a magic trick. Bioluminescent organisms, named dinoflagellates, glow when movement disturbs the water in which they live. Vieques is only one of five places in the world to experience this phenomenon. You really must see it!

Vieques offer miles of untouched beauty and unsurpassed eco-friendly adventure. It’s the kind of place where you can just pack a bathing suit and go!

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What We Do

We become your strategic marketing and communications partner, an extension of your organization or company, providing personalized attention & services targeted specifically to your needs and goals. We will create a direct mail fundraising or marketing strategy, write copy, craft an email appeal series, or manage your social media content.

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Boulevards and Byways Receives Liebster Award

Boulevards and Byways is honored and proud to announce it’s nomination for the Liebster Award.

The Liebster Award – About

The Liebster Award is an award for bloggers, given by bloggers. It provides the recipient with recognition, promotional opportunities, and engagement and is a great way to connect and support the blogging community. A big thanks to Molly from the blog, Molly’s Pitcher for nominating Boulevards and Byways.

What does Liebster mean?

The word “liebster” is from a German origin and has several definitions, some of which are: dearest, sweetest, kindest, nicest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, and endearing.

How does the Liebster Award work?

Bloggers nominate other bloggers for the purpose of acknowledging and promoting their blog sites. If you are nominated you have the choice of accepting it, doing the work, and paying it forward. Or, you can refuse to accept it. Once accepted, you must complete the work, as you have the responsibility to the blogger that nominated you to recognize and promote their blog.

Rules of the Liebster Award

The basic rules of accepting the Liebster Award are as follows:

• Create a blog post about the Liebster Award. Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog on your blog. Try to include a little promotion for the person who nominated you.
• List these rules in your post or include this link: Official 2018 Rules
• Display the image of the award on your blog — Images can be found in the above link.
• Answer the 11 questions given to you by the blogger who nominated you.
• For the 2018 Liebster Award, write a small post about what makes you passionate about blogging.
• Provide 10 random facts about yourself. (This is optional.)
• Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel would enjoy blogging about this award.
• Create a new set of your own 11 questions for your nominees to answer.
• Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster Award and provide them a link to your post.

Boulevards and Byways thanks Molly, from Mollyspitcher.com for the nomination.

What I love about the blog is that her posts maintain a positive mental attitude. Finding balance in life is something most of strive to do, and mollyspitcher.com is a resource for women to share ideas about how to live a balanced life.

Her blog posts focus on childcare, delicious recipes, budgeting tips, and meal planning. Life doesn’t always go as planned, but Molly offers tips and advice to put a situation in perspective and make it go more smoothly. Her inspiring blog posts empower you to do everything you can within your control and then let your life unfold. Thank you again Molly, for the nomination!

As a part of the nomination from Molly from mollyspitcher.com I get the opportunity to share more about myself by answering her questions:

WHAT IS THE GOAL OF YOUR BLOG, Boulevards and Byways?

I love sharing my travel stories with others hoping to inspire people to “take the road less traveled” or “go off the beaten path.” After exhausting my family and friends with my travel tips, tricks, and advice, I decided to create a travel blog, and share my enthusiasm with a larger audience.

My blog promotes and shares inspiring things to do and see in the Caribbean, especially Puerto Rico, with the main goal of motivating others to do something or go someplace they’ve never been before. So many people are afraid to go out of their comfort zone when they travel.They only eat familiar foods, only visit the tourist sites, and never interact with the local people. To me that’s just crazy. Traveling is experiencing new food, the culture and the local people. You’ll never really get the full experience if you don’t step out of your comfort zone.

WHAT ARE TWO BLOGS YOU ENJOY READING?

The two blogs I enjoy reading are Rick Steve’s Blog  and Nomadic Matt. The content in both these blogs is always informative and engaging.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF Boulevards and Byways?

I’m proud that I’ve been able to maintain quality content and provide engaging photos. I’ve also been able to attract several tour operators and hotels asking me to write for them.

WHAT DO YOU STRUGGLE WITH  Boulevards and Byways?

It’s not so much as the blog that I struggle with, but everything else that comes along with blogging. All the social media promoting is extremely time consuming.

DO YOU TAKE YOUR OWN PICTURES OR DOWNLOAD FROM A WEBSITE?

I always take my own photos, however 1% of the time I may need an image of something I can’t convey with one of my own photos, so I will go to a site which offers free images.

HOW DO YOU BALANCE BLOGGING WITH YOUR LIFE ?

I own a direct response agency, Write Choice Marketing, that specializes in copywriting, strategic planning, and production management for non-profit organizations. Some of my clients are Guiding Eyes for the Blind and American Ballet Theatre and at times I’m extremely busy. After writing all day for my clients, it’s difficult to power up my energy to write a blog post. I do however, try to stick with a weekly writing schedule for my blog.

IF YOU COULD HAVE AN EXTRA HOUR EVERY DAY, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH IT?

I’d write something, anything, for my blog.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK AND WHY?

My favorite book has to be something by Ernest Hemingway. His writing is simple and straightforward, yet he has an amazing way of conjuring up amazing images and feelings. If I had to pick one to be my favorites, I would say A Moveable Feast.

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ?

The last book I read was A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park.

WHERE WOULD YOU TRAVEL IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE?

There are so many places I haven’t yet been, but if I had to pick one I would choose India. I like places that engage me culturally.  From the food, to the architecture, to the markets, it would certainly bring me out of my Brewster, New York bubble.

HOW DO YOU RELAX AT THE END OF THE DAY?

At the end of the day I usually read or watch something on Netflix.

10 Facts About Sandy Ruyack, Boulevards and Byways Blogger

1. I love to travel
2. I have a 19 ½ year old cat named Titan.
3. I live in Brewster, NY suburb 30 miles north of Manhattan and I also live 12 weeks out of every year in Luquillo, Puerto Rico.
4. I was in Puerto Rico during and 16 days post hurricane Maria.
5. I try to live my life by saying to myself often, “Don’t be afraid.”
6. I’m a beach bum, but also an adventure traveler.
7. I dislike winter and cold weather.
8. My most embarrassing travel moment was visiting Paris and dressing as if I were on a beach holiday; capris and Sperrys.  What was I thinking?
9. My near future travel goals are to visit India, Italy, and Greece.
10. I have a big vegetable garden that I tend to in the spring and summer.

Why I’m Passionate About Blogging:

I haven’t always been passionate about blogging but I have always been passionate about traveling. Every summer my parents would take me on a road trip to visit my great aunt and cousins in Marcellus, a farming town in update New York. My father would take back roads and when my face wasn’t pressed against the car window, I was following our route on one of those giant fold out maps (the ones that could never again be folded in its original configuration).  I’m still like that today; although now it’s with my face pressed to an airplane window and the map is on my phone.

It was a great contrast from the apartment living and cement sidewalks that I was used to. My aunt had a working farm and I thoroughly enjoyed milking cows, chasing chickens, and picking vegetables from her enormous garden. I loved going everywhere and anywhere. Since then I’ve traveled to France, Ireland, Spain, many Caribbean islands, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Belize, all over Mexico. There are still many places I need to go. The writing aspect unfolded when I decided, not too long ago, to take an adult education creative writing class. Every story I wrote in class was about one of my travel adventures, and a few years later I made the decision to create a website and the blog, boulevardsandbyways.com, to share my adventures and love of travel with others.

As I finish up this blog post, the last thing a nominee for the Liebster Award must do is nominate other bloggers.  I would like to nominate the following:

• Mona at monacorona.com
• Heidi at flyawayu.com
• Karen at sometimeswithKaren.com
• keepcalmandtravel.com
• thetravelbite.com

I also need to present the nominees with 11 questions.

Dear nominees, please answer the following questions:

• You’re a crayon. What color are you and why?
• Which two blogs, outside of your own, do you read consistently, and why?
• Describe the color blue to somebody who is blind.
• What two news sources do you consistently read and why? How do they inspire your blog writing?
• A giraffe walks through the door wearing a bow tie. What does he say to you and why is he here?
• What has been your best vacation destination and why?
• If you woke up and had 1000 unread emails and could only answer 200 of them, how would you choose which ones to answer?
• How did you learn to write professionally? For instance, did you major in journalism or creative writing in college, take writing courses outside of university, etc.?
• Name one item you must have when travelling.
• If you won the million-dollar lottery today, would you stop blogging?
• What are your favorite plugins and social media tools that you use and why?

It’s been a lot of fun answering the questions. Thank you again, Molly, for nominating Boulevards and Byways!

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