I was the girl sitting in the back of the old shiny black pick up staring up into the trees as we drove through Veracruz up into the coffee sanctuary… AMAZED. And constantly taking pictures of the spiky clusters covering ancient trees from trunks to tips… and upon closer inspection they are air plants! Bromeliads! Tillandsia! So this post is a special one for my mom… who somehow manages to keep my TINY air plants alive and flowering while i’m out of town, and somehow has hers flourishing and growing new bits all the time in her courtyard! And the species covering these trees are just like the ones that you will find hanging in little glass orbs, sold in lots of succulent centerpieces, and every where from trendy gift shops to nurserys… and here they are covering huge trees!

So all through the little hike in the coffee sanctuary, i was enamored by the sheer number of plants and how well they thrived, it was amazing the larger trees even stayed alive seeing how covered they were at times! And close up the tiny baby ones were SO cute. I kept imagining how they climbed their way up there… picturing those super slow time lapsed plant nature documentaries… seriously, it is mind blowing how many spiky clusters there were. And it was like EVERY tree. I guess the locals are used to it. In the little town of Coatapec where we were staying (bummed i forgot to take a pic! it was dangerous while in the middle of the street though!) i kept seeing growing tiny clusters of air plants around the middle of TELEPHONE LINES! Right in the center! Like where you’d see sneakers hanging… Anyhow! Check out some pics of them on the next page and see why i was so mesmerized ~ also take a peek at the adorable retro truck we rode around in!

p.s. if you want some, or just to estimate the amount of airplant value on one of those trees ~ Airplants4U.

TO PAGE 2 of "Airplant Overload in Veracruz"! ----->

Tags: mexico - nature - plants - travel - trees

Yes, lemon seeds sometimes sprout INSIDE the humongous lemons on my lemon tree back in LA. Just got these pics from Linhchi over there of the THIRD lemon we’ve found this happen in. (Remember the first one?) This time it is even sprouting some serious roots… so i had to share the pics as i stare in amazement. We’re debating whether to plant it in the ground, or try to stick it back in the lemon to see how much further it will go… see more pics on the next page!

Update - it’s incredible! She found 3 more in the next 5 she cut ~ and they have multiple sprouts going! She is the sproutmaster.

TO PAGE 2 of "Lemons Sprouting in Lemons"! ----->

Tags: food - nature - trees

Packaging based impulse buy at Whole Foods when i got home… “Clean Air Tree” ~ a biodegradable potato waste pod containing spruce tree seeds in a soiless growing pellet in a biodegradable growing pot… complete with an FSC paper booklet printed with veg based ink… sealed in a compostable corn starch sleeve… super green packaging? And apparently when you plant/buy one, they do too… but unfortunately their website seems a bit broken, so i couldn’t register my pod yet… See the next page for the unboxing… start at planting… and lets hop there are sprouts soon! And someday perhaps a tree…

TO PAGE 2 of "Clean Air Tree"! ----->

Tags: gifts - green - shopping - trees

Pangea Organics always had the fun eco packaging that is plantable and turns into Basil... but for the holiday gift packs, they grow into a Spruce Tree!!!

Also, they have reached out to us to offer you 50% off!!! It's for friends & family, which apparently we all are! Instructions on how that works, and check out the gift sets on the next page... I'm still giddy over the idea of growing a spruce tree in my yard from the packaging... and the coconut soap dish!

TO PAGE 2 of "Pangea Organics = Spruce Tree + 50% off!"! ----->

Tags: gifts - green - recycled - shopping - trees