Motivational Guest - Clint Cora

An Unlikely Gardener

I have to admit that for most of my life, I never had any interest in gardening or even plants in general. I don’t even own any indoor plants at home because I think plants attract bugs and I hate bugs. I’m a motivational speaker, snow skier, sports car enthusiast and Karate World Champion – a most unlikely gardener.

So for some reason, maybe because of the recent surge in popularity, I decided to try out vegetable gardening for the first time ever. I was a bit apprehensive because of my sparse knowledge of plants but after some preliminary online research including watching a few gardening videos on YouTube, I was on my way to the gardening center to buy some seeds and planters.

This was back in late May. After about a week, I started to see some seedlings appearing. Then a bad thunderstorm practically wiped them out as some of my planters got flooded. A few weeks of really hot weather followed and some of the surviving plants dried up and died.

I thought that this veggie garden project was going to be a complete failure. But I applied some of my motivation principles, which includes learning from mistakes. In this case, I learned about proper drainage and putting plants in the shade when necessary.

After some adjustments and adding some new soil and seeds, the plants started to grow. However, the fastest growing ones didn’t seem like anything in the seed package photos. I later learned that they were weeds and soon after I pulled them out, most of my plants started to grow quite well, much to my surprise.

By the end of July, I had my first harvest of beans and lettuce. The first salad I made from this harvest was absolutely heavenly. I didn’t know that a salad could taste this fresh!

Here is a video of my first ever vegetable garden at the time when I took my first harvest.



My example certainly shows that if I could do this, then pretty well anybody can grow a simply vegetable garden at home and get the freshest salads ever.

Feel free to leave your comments below on your thoughts.

Clint Cora is a motivational speaker, author and Karate World Champion. See his FREE 3-part Personal Development Video Series to learn how to expand your comfort zones to conquer even your most daunting goals in life.

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Overloaded and Overwhelmed, but hey, the tomatoes are doing great!

Overloaded, overwhelmed, and undermotivated pretty much sums up how I've been feeling lately.

I have felt overloaded with work, both at home and the office. I feel like I have been in triage mode, just keeping things stable, until I have more time. When that time will ever happen, is really anybody's guess.

The boys are on summer break, and I am amazed and appalled at how much they eat, and how much mess and dishes they create! Thank goodness I have disabused them of the notion that I am their short order cook. They have learned to feed themselves, but still have a ways to go on the clean up.

On that note, I have learned to become very specific with chore assignments, and use the "carrot and stick approach", (major props to Tamy for reminding me of this quite awhile ago). Their future spouses will thank me for teaching them how to clean the kitchen, declutter, and do laundry, oh, yes indeed. (School starts in about 5 weeks, but whose counting??)

The house has also been demanding attention and money. Two out of three toilets decided to give up the ghost a week ago, and it was no fun to only have one functional bathroom for the four of us for a few days. No fun at all. We are also saving up for bathroom and roof renovations which need to be taken care of soon. I see why people call it being a "Home Moaner".

It hasn't been all work and no play, even though a lot of our "play" has been focused on the community swim team on which our youngest son participates. I volunteer as a cook in the canteen during swim meets and the 4th of July celebration. (Breakfast burrito anyone?)

For the last several years on the holiday at the pool, I have had to respond to first aid emergencies, and this year was no exception. There is a horseshoe tournament as part of the holiday gathering, and one of our neighbors and his brother participated, while consuming many cans of beer without the benefit of any other hydration or food. This tournament lasts several hours, and it was 100 F and humid monsoon conditions. I was chatting with some friends when I saw this man collapse on the deck stairs. His brother, (a sheriffs deputy supposedly trained in first aid), and a few lifeguards went over to attend to him. Several minutes went by with him on the stairs sweating in the heat, so I also went to check on him, and he was pale with a thready pulse and slurred speech. He denied any medical conditions like heart disease and denied drinking!! I insisted that the guards and brother bring him into the air conditioned clubhouse which we did. I got ice packs and water and had him start hydrating as he was suffering from heat exhaustion. His brother finally revealed that YES, they had been drinking quite heavily. (Really? Gosh, that's just lame to lie to people trying to help you, next time I will just assume someone has been drinking, it's more efficient that way. I have lost my Emergency Room nurse mojo I suppose.) He perked right up after some fluids and cooling time. Never a dull moment on the pool deck...

Gardening provides a respite from this craziness. I realized that I like gardening because the plants don't talk back, and do what they are supposed to, when provided with the right light, food, and water.



I used red plastic strips, (cut from a plastic tablecloth), to stake the tomatoes as agricultural research has shown that exposing tomato plants to the color RED, promotes more plentiful and faster ripening fruit.



Here are the lovely results from my Sweet 100 cherry and rainbow heirloom tomato plants. I have harvested 48 cherry tomatoes so far from my Sweet 100 plant, I want to see if the plant lives up to its name of yielding 100 tomatoes. I plan to make a tomato tart today.

I hope you are doing well this summer and thank you so much for allowing me to vent and share in summer overload!

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Sources of Inspiration and Joy

Little things don't mean a lot, little things mean everything.

Today, I wanted to share some sources of my inspiration and joy including-

My garden and plants like this "Night Blooming Cereus" which only blooms one night a year.

My pets including Abigail who soothes just by petting her silky coat.

A wonderful dinner of "Painted desert salmon" from a John Sedlar recipe cooked by my hubby for Mother's Day.

Our oldest son with his good friend prior to attending his first high school prom.

Our youngest son at a school track meet, getting ready to do his best.

What things are a source of inspiration and joy for you? Thank you so much.

"These are the good old days". Carole King

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Everything is Earth Day

Spring is a wonderful time of year, full of possibility and promise. I've been clearing my head by getting my hands dirty in the garden. This always entails a trip to my favorite garden store which had this fun display of watering cans.

I got tired of looking at this bare and dry patch of dirt, and decided to plant some water thrifty succulents and cacti that should thrive in the sandy soil. I plan to add more rocks and more plants including cuttings from my jade bush.

Last weekend, I went to an Arbor Day festival at a local park, where an art garden made from reclaimed materials was on display. There were also great freebies - reusable shopping bags, water bottles, a bounce house for the kids, and a selection of free trees for folks to take home.

This kestral falcon from the Placerita Nature Center was also at the festival.

Any Earth Day happenings in your part of the globe?
Thank you so much and hope you have a Beautiful Day!

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Playing in the Garden after Vacation

Last week, our family spent time in Santa Cruz and Monterey on the Central Coast of California.

It is a beautiful place, untamed, humbling, inspiring.

I enjoy traveling, but it's always so nice to come home to our own little patch of nature. 

The roses and lantana are doing nicely, and the freesia and larkspur will soon be in bloom. I also planted poppies and dianthus, alyssum too, which are all perennials and self sow. Gotta love those self sufficient plants!

Here's the start of my herb garden which includes a couple heirloom tomatoes, (Giant Rainbow and Sweet 100), oregano, licorice basil, (has a touch of anise), pineapple sage which does indeed smell like pineapple, and a few other herbs- lavender, rosemary, and cilantro which all grow like the proverbial weeds here in our Mediterranean climate. I am excited to have a "kitchen" garden this summer.

What part of nature has excited or inspired you lately? 

Thank you so much and wishing you a Wonderful Wednesday, week too!

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