Saturday, September 3, 2011

Project: Sprouts for Sprouts

Planted sixteen "baby" jades tonight for Phoenix Children's Hospital.  
They're so cute. I'm thinking about naming each one.        
But, I don't want to get too attached to these guys, because I'll be sending them home 
with the kind folks who happen to fill up my collection jar with their generous donations.
You see, a long time ago, my aunt and my father in law gave me clippings of jade stems from their plants.  Using what little gardening experience I had, I've managed to keep them alive.  Maybe it's because I may have inherited some of my dad's and mom's green thumbs...but, I think it's due to how strong and hardy these little guys are.  

Even when I've forgotten to water them and they're all shriveled and dehydrated.  They still spring back to life after a good watering. Now those little stems have grown into several large pot fulls in my back yard.  
Now, I want to share them with those kind enough to share something for the children and their families at Phoenix Children's Hospital. 
I've enjoyed designing the poster and the thank you labels, (which I still have to adhere to the rest of the jars!)  But, What will be even more rewarding, is seeing these little pots of dirt & plant, going to a new home.  They are easy to care for and can be snipped and multiplied into even more plants.  I can imagine how they'll brighten up a desk space, kitchen window or even the bedside of someone you love.  

If you prefer to make an online donation, please visit my fundraising home page @


It's late and I still am insanely thinking I can crawl out of bed for the group run at 6am.  I know what song I'll be singing in my head during the run tomorrow...This one's for my fellow dirt girls + boys.  This is my shout out to my mom + dad.  Thank you for growing me right.  Here's a song for you.  


Well I've done a lot of digging
And I'm still nowhere near pooped
So here's a song I like to sing
And you can sing it tooped

Make a little hole,
Put a seed in it
Cover it up with dirt
It only takes a minute
And before you know it
You can help to grow it

Help the garden grow
Helping the garden grow
Help the garden grow
Helping the garden grow

Take a water can
Put some water in it
Sprinkle it on the ground
It only takes a minute
And before you know it
You can help to grow it

Help the garden grow
Helping the garden grow
Help the garden grow
Helping the garden grow

Make a little hole
Put a seed in it
Cover it up with dirt
It only takes a minute
And before you know it
You can help to grow it

Help the garden grow
Helping the garden grow
Help the garden grow
Helping the garden grow
Help the garden grow
Helping the garden grow
Help the garden grow
Helping the garden grow

4 comments:

Librarian Tells All said...

Adorable! I haven't had any luck getting jade cuttings to take. Can you offer any advice?

- jen @ Stuff Jen Did

Unknown said...

aw thanks jen for your sweet compliment =)

i've been pretty lucky I suppose with the jade cuttings. I just trim off leaves at the bottom of the stem, to make it easy to stick in the the dirt. I give it a nice watering initially, then I keep an eye on it, water it when the leaves are looking wrinkly. I do have one jade plant potted and underneath my topsy turvey tomato plant...so it gets the downward drippings from the tomato plant daily. Also, I'm in AZ, so the soil drys out very quickly. I have some pots in full sun and some on my patio, so they get indirect sunlight. I've read here http://tinyurl.com/carejade that it's good to let the soil dry in between waterings. other than that, I really don't do much to it. Hope this helps ya somehow!

Unknown said...

oh cool! thanks maria!

Unknown said...

update: Cactus potting soil is what you need for these jade plants. Regular potting soil holds too much water, which has caused all my little plants to have root rot. So sad! But, I'm repotting them now with the proper kind of soil...that is fast-draining, made of composted forest product, sphagnum peat moss, sand and perlite. I went with the $3.90-something bag of Miracle Gro, only because it's the only one available at Home Depot...and I don't have time to shop around.