Author: The Greenman

The expression of creator which I am experiencing has grown to find continued healing in guiding others on the path to growing nourishment in their own spaces.
While the first thought one might be inclined to foster upon reading the word nourishment might be one of tasty or healing interactions with the plants in our space whether it be a garden, a farm or just a plethora of pots on your balcony, I realize that beauty is nourishment too.
I have been privy to a life filled with beautiful gardens from my very first memory to many of my fondest memories.
The act of taking a seed, placing it in contact with earth, giving it a good press, talking a few positive words of dreamy aspirations to it, giving it a drink from a rusty watering can and then waiting for the moment of magic as it sprouts has always been deeply fulfilling to me.
One of my first favorite garden snacks was the English pea. These tasty morsels spawned my very first word~ SNAP! Which according to my mother was more of “h’naph” as my “s’s” didn’t find their way into my first request for the stringy ends to be removed from a raw tender English pea pod!
Fast forward a half century and I still love to quietly slip to the garden in early spring while the dew is still on the roses and snack on young tender English peas. Its like magic when a seed planted in the dead of winter grows patiently into a delicious vine with springy tendrils holding sweet offerings, temptingly in reach of the hands who tended to its every need. Mmm! I could keep on writing my way through this garden but let’s get to the point of my story.
I haven’t met a person who didn’t need to eat, nor have I met many who didn’t love the beautiful flowers and foliage of healthy flora.
As my time in the gardens of my life have given me a deep gratitude for the gift of growing, I have gained a love for seeing the earth’s bounty when lovingly tended plants express their very best life and in turn provide a true feeling of ecstasy to their gardener. The next phase of my journey here is to grow together.
While I am very fond of growing good food with the best available organic nutrients and minerals and then tasting the very best nature has to offer I cannot deny the powerfully evident nourishment of observing a bountiful healthy blooming, thriving landscape as well.
The process of taking a space, combining it with the pieces of ones dreams for how it could look, building the soil, adding the mechanisms for aesthetic appeal as well as pathways for the opportunity it provides has molded my evolutionary growth in this chapter of life.
The art of communication with the earth and the flora and fauna is fostered by time listening to its rhythms. The last 20 years of my life especially, have given me a unique opportunity to have logged 47,000 plus hours digging in to the intricacies of finding healing for my self and my pieces of earth through following the primal process and progression of creation. Not only the creation of bountiful gardens from depleted soil but also the regeneration and healing of my own body after a total and complete traumatic halt to my abilities.

“Real ~ ising” the connection between the primal process of using plants, minerals and micro organisms indigenous to nature to energize and rejuvenate tired soil, is kin to living the patient process of healing in my own physical being. The more we grow, the more we can grow. The more nourishment I give to the garden or my body, the more opportunity for resilience I create.

The best part of this journey is the paths we create to keep us grounded along the way.
Your desired path may be shaded and cozy with wooden decks and ferns, it may be wrapped in trellises of bold blooming honeysuckle with rock paths or it might be a grove of citrus leading to your vegetable garden.
Whatever your growing dream is, we can grow this dream to reality together.

We thrive on patience, as do your garden dreams.
“Patience” is more kindly stated in the garden as “The Pace At Which One Views Their World.”
Im looking forward to growing with You. Contact me for an initial consultation and let’s get your dreams growing.
Mikael L’Andre 850-218-6998

I am writing to you from the soaking wet GreenMans Garden in our Florida monsoon season. I am not sure how much it rained last night but I know that it was enough to overflow my boots! I came in from post harvest washing at 10 PM last night and was going to go back out after making dinner but that got interrupted by a nap( since I was up late the night before) and I awakened at 6:30 to the sound of rushing mighty waters as a cloud placed it self right on top of our garden and proceeded to empty its contents into her already waterlogged soil and my boots. I have to admit it was a little disheartening but not enough to keep me in today – I just put on some flip-flops and decided since I was going to be soaking wet all day anyway to just dress minimally– And that’s how I worked in the rain today. Luckily I keep the gate locked and no one can see me because trust me the fashion police would be ranting over this one! With all of the rain we have been blessed to have plenty of absolutely beautiful heirloom sunflowers and we would like for you to share some of these flowers with someone you love. I have had to really stay on top of my game to keep some of these from the deer. Did you know that deer really love sunflower leaves? Yes! These rascals have really done a number on our sunflowers and even totally wiped out our zipper cream pea crop which was interplanted with the sunflowers. I thought since they really like sunflowers I could plant sunflowers and peas together and they would eat the sunflowers and leave me at least some peas – well, it did not work. Bambi and his hoofed friends have methodically removed every single Peavine as well as keeping a pretty good race up for the sunflowers. So needless to say – I will have some gorgeous sunflowers but no peas! I say the sunflowers are my rainbow after the storm.
Chanterelles are a different story, the deer do not eat many of these but they grow sparsely scattered through the woods surrounding our farming spots and it takes a lot of crawling on my knees through some pretty hairy places to lovingly gather these morsels of natures Manna.

Moccasins, rattlesnakes and alligators are about my only large dangerous companions while foraging and I can see them, so we get along fine, Albeit sometimes it gets the hair on the back of my neck standing at attention with an adrenaline rush to boot when I crawl up next to one of them to grab a chanterelle without noticing until the last moment. It is kind of a game of patient quick draw – I don’t move too fast but I never lose Eye contact – we both win and I go about my foraging and the reptiles get a laugh I am sure.

The most trying of all are the tiny pests~ the chiggers~ who are microscopic and burrow into my skin. The mosquitoes~who bite without initial pain but leave a nasty whelp when they leave. Last but not least there are the red fire ants who sometimes make orchestrated attacks only after they have proceeded to climb into every thinkable crevice of my body and all at once they sting! These attacks are almost enough to make me walk out of my clothes BUT then the mosquitoes! Nevermind that option!!!! Other than that its pretty much a walk in the park foraging for edible golden fungi!
If you would like support my Love for The Earth and our amazing piece of paradise then come see me Saturday Morning at The Beautiful Seaside Farmers Market located in South Walton County, Humbly hosting good vibes and The Worlds Most Beautiful Beaches.

If you are not in Florida and you are interested in supporting our Garden them please go to our online store and find something from our garden to treat yourself with and fill your cart with heartfelt Love from The GreenMans Garden.
Just another day in paradise
GreenMan 06-29-2017

Today is a gift ~ Open carefully

Before the sun had  even risen over the Live Oak trees, I placed myself upon the ground, to thank on bended knee, and clear to me was given thereThe sight of chanterelles between the trees. I crawled along the dew moistened ground to search the forest floor for these chanterelles emerging to be found. Lo and behold these golden beauties well hidden on the ground, small in size yet firmly glued to the Earth . I breathed on them a blessing tonight ~a full moon to grow on.

GreenMan Diary

www.theGreenMansGarden. Com

Mikael L’Andre

Turme~On! Yes, Turmeric has an innate ability to make me feel invigorated, happy, strong, pain free, lively, and healthy!

Now all of these are just feelings, but they are my feelings! The truth about something I eat is that no matter how much research supports the facts about a plant or food, it really matters how I see it and how positive my intentions are while ingesting it.

My mind is a powerful trendsetter and my words are the vocalization of the power of the mind. I have been very blessed to have experienced a vast number of miraculous healed experiences while simultaneously ingesting a lot of my Turmeric. The best way I can describe it is that it makes me feel good. Not just a shallow ~on the surface~ feeling, but a very deep connection with something that prevails in me with a positive vibration of constant healing. I use Turmeric every other day consistently and sometimes it finds its way into foods I ingest every day. I am not a fanatic about a certain time or regimen but I have found that with the combination of my spinal fusion(T10 thru L-4) and the many coinciding physical ailments from my accident that I can continue to be ambulatory as long as I have this loving relationship with Turmeric!

I am sipping as I write on a cup of dandelion tea with turmeric, cardamom, ashwaganda and hazelnut milk. I find new ways every day to implement turmeric into recipes and elixirs so that the tendency to shy away from monotony does not creep in and steal from  my diet this powerful,  healing, golden root!

My positive outlook on life is a mental state of consciousness and being so gloriously captivated by this physical body I intend to give this body all it needs to facilitate the most wonderful experience here on earth for as long as I can!

If it’s not fun, It’s not worth doing! Have a wonderful day and make yours the very best it can be~ Find the best version of you!

GreenMan

Good Spring day to you from Your Greenman,

This week has been filled with birds, bees, butterflies,baby chicks,cool breezes, magical foggy mornings, beautiful sunrises and awesome sunsets~ Spring Truly is a time of sensory overload when life is spent in the Great Outdoors! I have the luxury of spending the majority of my waking hours out under the sunshine or under the moon and stars~ I really have the perfect life for a nature lover. The tasks I choose to make my life allow me to be a true naturalist by every explanation of the word. I am normally out in the garden long before the suns rays gently filter through the trees to awaken the day dwellers. There is a magical time every morning when the very first bird blasts its morning stretch in a vocal display of ultimate appreciation for life and another day, yea a romantic melody to blanket the earth with invigorating vibes~ Good Morning! In a matter of seconds the rest of the orchestra chimes in with chirps, peeps, whistles, love songs in every possible note! This incredible display of appreciation for another day is contagious, it really is, there is an indescribable transformation which takes place in these subtle moments. Life, Love and Happiness are infused into every cell of creation. Everyones ears are filled to the brim with JOY! It is difficult to put it into words, however no cup of Java could ever compare to this magical burst of energy in the birth of a new day~ and there is one every morning!!!!!!! In this monumental explosion of positive energy is a burst of passion which fuels me even before I have consumed physical nourishment to carefully and lovingly tend to my plant~lets as they prepare for solar collection, nutrient absorption and photosynthesis once again. Tenderly weeding, removing pests, checking soil moisture, tasting of their leaves and fruit, being there~ in the present with them~ is it my gift or is it theirs~ who is taking notes anyway, Hey! It is for all of us to share together and the outcome is always that I eventually harvest these conglomerations of pure positive experiences and vibrations with my own hands and bring them to you! Now You can be the judge but If I were buying my veggies I would want this to be their path to my table. I am Your farmer~ this is my Full Time Job~ Loving your food is my way of life. My hands are soiled with the juices of my carefully tended veggies, my nostrils scent every flower in total admiration for the full cycle of life, my seedlings get to visit some of the most incredible people in the world at their final destination~ YOU!!!! Thank You for making my way of life possible ! For as much as I love to garden it would be impossible to sustain my family in this modern society without YOUR SUPPORT.
My sincere appreciation goes to YOU!

This week you can find Heirloom Arugula, Escarole, Romaine, Collards, Bok Choi, Spring Salad Mix, Turmeric root, Turmeric Juice ,Turmeric powder and Honey at our Stand in Beautiful Seaside Florida. We will be set up for market at 8 am and we will be there until noon.

Bike, run, walk, paddle, or fly to get your positive vibes form our garden in Seaside Saturday!

The Seaside Farmers Market~our primary outlet for sharing our harvest with you our clients will be relocating to Watercolor Florida this Saturday only~ Due to the Seaside School Half Marathon and 5k run.

At 9 am Saturday morning You will find me at the base of the Watercolor clock tower with Heirloom Arugula, Collards, Herb tea medley, Kale, fresh turmeric and more fresh from my garden.

Please come out and support our garden, our community and a good cause. Watercolor has a very nice park and lots of really cool spots to chill on Saturday morning. The weather will be beautiful and it will be an incredible day on the Worlds Most Beautiful Beaches!