Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Learning as I go along

(10:49 AM) Whew, lots going on in my head today so far. Lets see, I went to bed a little after 2 am. I woke up around 7:45 and got up around 9:45. Sometime after nine I had a small BM that got me out of bed again. It was small, long and narrow. I was surprised that it was so small. But just a few minutes later, I got out of bed for another BM and this one was of regular width, very solid, and very large in amount. I was excited about that! Its been at least a few days since I had such a large BM. I love getting rid of stuff thats been building up. I'm am puzzled, though.

(11:43 PM) Around noon I had two oranges and then 8 oz or so of chocolate milk. I felt weird after that. I also had about 8 candied walnuts. My head felt weird and headachy. I didn't feel energized, thats for sure. Then I got low low energy around 3:00 or 3:30, but I had to help out with gardening at the school. When I got home around 5, I was too hungry, so I had a beautiful large salad w/ 1/2 avocado, some hemp oil, 1/8 c soaked pumpkin seeds, and honey mustard dressing. Then I had 5 thick triple seed crackers with Nur's leeks. Then another 1/8 c pumpkin seeds w/ 1 T almond butter, 1 t honey, and some cacao nibs followed by an 8 oz glass of chocolate milk. This made me very full. I still had a few sips of sweet tea and 1/4 cup of halvah w/ honey on top after this. So by 7:00/7:30 I was uncomfortably full and needed to lie down. I got up around 11, still full. I gotta really work on eating throughout the day. Perhaps I will try to have my salads earlier. On days I work at the school garden, I will try to skip my fruit breakfast and eat a small salad just before noon. I am trying to drink a lot of water right now to help with the digestion. Well, I'm certainly learning as I go along here...Note: had a small BM around 11.

Nur's leeks (I'm crazy about 'em)


(1:08 AM) Another late night, it looks like. I woke up around 5:30/6. I had a basket of cumquats and one small orange for breakfast before one. I had a large salad w/ 3/4 avocado, 1/8 cup pumpkin seeks, honey/mustard dressing around 4. I also had 7 triple seed crackers with Nur's leeks (see photo) and a 6-8 oz chocolate milk. I had a BM around 5:30 or so. Pretty solid, average amount. Before six, I also had a 16 oz glass of very sweet tea. I got drowsy from it around 8 or 8:30 and I felt a slight headache. Around midnight I had a 12 oz chocolate milk to help get me through the kitchen work I still had left to do. I guess that was emotional eating since I wasn't exactly hungry. Oh well, it could have been much worse. The chocolate milk gave me some minor discomfort in my tummy. I had another BM around 11:30. Medium size, long and narrow, fairly solid. Despite the fact that I only got 4 or 5 hours of sleep, it was fairly easy to wake up this morning. There is one more observation I would like to note: I didn't get to eat my salad until 4 and I had been hungry since before noon. This made me want to keep eating even after I had eaten a lot of food. I am going to try harder to eat meals throughout the day instead of focusing on one huge salad. I would have prefered to have eaten the same food I ate today, but not all at once. In intervals. I was full for quite a while. I dont' think it helped that I was mixing all those foods: greens, crackers, leeks, chocolate milk, tea.

I went to a lecture on edible and useful wild local plants this evening. I'm excited about the new book I have on this subject.

Monday, February 26, 2007

In between time

(11:23 AM) I went to bed around 11:3o and woke up around 7. I didn't get out of bed until just before 8, but I felt pretty awake the whole time I was lying there. I like lying in bed after I wake up. I'm used to getting up right when I wake up. So much goes through my mind during this in between time, including dreams and new ideas. Its also makes me feel really well rested. Plus, it feels so physically pleasing to cuddle up with myself during that time of half-awake, half-asleep. I can feel and touch my body using my hands and fingers, stretch a little, and snuggle up to my pillow, the sheets and my own body and it feels so nice. Actually, I got out of bed a little after seven for a BM!!! That's another thing that has been happening to me lately. I've never done that before, but its happened several times now. It was a medium amount, long and narrow, but pretty solid. And yet another observation, usually my BMs are stout and wide, but lately they have gotten long and narrow. Go figure. I ate two oranges around 11 and just now I had another solid BM of kind of a small amount. I'm puzzled by the timing and amount of this one.

(12:48AM) I totally have a market tomorrow and should not be up this late, but here I am wide awake. I didn't have any more BMs today. I had a 16 oz. glass of sweet tea and then around 3 I ate a large salad w/ 3/4 avocado, hemp oil, 1/8 c pumpkin seeds and honey/mustard dressing. Then I had 5 triple seed crackers w/ the rest of Paul's Pesto and some of my own cilantro dip. Around 6 I had another 16 oz glass of sweet tea and at 8 I had 5/6 more crackers with Nur's leeks and 20 garlic almonds. I also had a cacao brownie w/ 1 t almond butter, 1 t honey and some cacao nibs sprinkled on top. Then feeling a little mucussy, so lots of water. Maybe I just had too much caffeine today in the form of tea and cacao?

Paw-paw and I went to the park today. We had a nice time. There were so many animals out: chickens, ducks, birds, turtles, alligators (just kidding....)

Yesterday and today my legs have been sore. From dancing, I guess. My intestines are feeling better today:)

Sunday, February 25, 2007

FREE-STYLE

(10:50 AM) Yesterday after my nap, I was up around 11 or midnight and stayed up until three. Most of the time I was just daydreaming (or nightdreaming) and alas, dancing again!!!! I went outside to get something out of the car and it was so beautiful that I put on my tennis shoes, got my walkman and spent a couple of hours out in the backyard dancing. I'm so totally addicted now. It feels so freakin good! I got the idea to make a video of some of my freestyle dancing and post it online just to make people laugh. I even got to dance in the rain a little. I took some good pictures of it all. I woke up around 9:45.

I have decided to include limited details about my bowel movements on this blog. So yesterday I had two BMs. The first one was in the morning shortly upon arising. Very nice and solid. The second one was after my nap in the late evening, it was not too solid, but not too unsolid either. My tummy is back to being a little queasy this morning. Again, upon arising, I had a very nice BM. I don't think it was my big meal from yesterday, though. That interests me. I guess it is primarily the three oranges I ate throughout the day??? So I am expecting another BM later on today...

Lately, I've felt really free. Like I don't care what anyone thinks. I love it. It's helped me to do some things I don't normally do and break out of my comfort zone a little and its been loads of fun so far.

(11:02PM) (me and Erin goofing off) Tonight was the vegan potluck and I didn't eat anything. I wasn't too tempted to, either. That was nice. I had two oranges sometime after noon. Then around two, I had 10 almond/flax crackers with Nur's leeks and a 10 oz glass of chocolate milk right afterwards. I really didn't feel like having my salad yet, since my bowels felt like they still had a lot of liquidy roughage. They were rumbling a bit this morning. I was craving something heavier and drier, something with not so much liquid to it as a salad. The crackers didn't feel like rocks digesting like the last few times, but I did get a little bloated for most of the afternoon and evening. That wasn't so great. I thought I would have a lot of gas, but it didn't seem like that much. My stomach just got poofy, I had a bit of gas, and then around 9 or 10, my tummy seemed back to normal. I wasn't even hungry during the potluck because of this bloated/indigestion feeling. I did enjoy about 32 oz of very sweet tea between 2 and 9. Around 9 or 10 I had 60 garlic almonds since I still wasn't craving salad. I didn't feel heavy and full afterwards, I actually felt a lot better. One thing I did notice was that my mouth wasn't salivating with hunger when I ate them. They tasted pleasant, but it wasn't the same as some other times when I've eaten almonds and they tasted out of sight because I was so deeply hungry. I was still wanting something, perhaps just mentally, so I helped myself to a T of cacao nibs mixed with a T of almond butter and 1 t of honey. I became aware of a lot of mucus build up in my throat as I was eating that. So I've just been drinking lots of water since then to clear that feeling. I did have a second BM around maybe 8:30. It wasn't a whole lot of stool, but it was to my surprise, fairly solid. It still seems like it should have been more, though, considering I mainly had that one large meal yesterday. Ah, the mysteries of our bodies...

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Receiving...

(past midnight) Today has been a strange, but wonderful day. I felt like I got so many great gifts today. I had a good market day and it seemed like lots of special things happened. One of them was that I got all these gifts at the market, things I don't normally get, too like flowers, mushrooms, bread, organic local salad mix (WHOOPEE!!! -real excited about that one-)...then when I got home, there was the biggest, most beautiful box of oranges I've ever seen. They are my favorite special oranges, of course, which makes it twice as nice:) With them, I also got a love letter. That was really, really nice. I also got to spend time with a special new friend after the market today. I was moved several times during our conversation. By the afternoontime when I got home, I was having pretty strong feelings of gratefulness. I realized how amazingly lucky I am for the incredible people that are in my life. I am blessed to be in contact with and connect so deeply with such special beings.

FOOD & SLEEP: I ate 3 oranges, around 5 I finally had a large green salad w/ 1/8 cup of soaked pumpkin seeds 2/3 avocado, honey/mustard dressing, then I had 3 triple seed crackers with Paul's pesto and an 8 oz glass of chocolate coffee milk. I was pretty hungry since I ate so late so I was eating pretty quickly. Perhaps I shouldn't have had the chocolate milk so soon after the salad, I don't know. I layed down around 6:30 or seven and ended up napping until 11 or so. It is 12:20 AM now and my tummy still feels a little nauseous and full. I didn't even eat as much food today as I did yesterday. Oh, I ate another additional 30 or so garlic almonds around 10 last night. I felt full in a way, but still light and completely super duper energized all last night. It was great.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Back to work!

(9:41 AM) Went to bed last night around 12:40. Don't know exactly what time I woke up, but I just got up. I had a bad-breath metallic taste in my mouth when I did. I'm not that excited about getting up today. The butterflies have subsided for now. I'm actually feeling a little sad. I wonder if I should do some running or something. It looks like today will be another beautiful one.

(9:24 PM) I had one orange around 12:30 or 1. I was not hungry until then, and even then, the hunger didn't feel real deep. Around 2 or so I had about 12 oz of chocolate coffee milk to help move my bowels. It worked. I ate a large salad w/ 2/3 avocado, 1/8 cup soaked pumpkin seeds, garlic/honey/mustard vinegarette, 10 soaked garlic almonds, then a mixture of 1 T almond butter, 1 T cacao nibs, and 1 t honey (it hit the spot) and then 4 oz. of choc. milk a little while later. Then around 9:20 I had 30 more garlic almonds.

Had a nice bike ride back and forth on the levee. I've also been dancing around here and there to music all day. I spent some time lying out in the sun in my bathing suit this morning and I felt much better afterwards. Back to the market tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Butterflies

(9:14AM) I went to bed around 1:00PM and woke up around 8am. I got up around 8:45. I felt full the entire day after I ate those crackers. I only had some sweet tea and chocolate milk after that. I think I will try to limit cracker consumption to 5 crackers per meal. And I definitely don't feel as attracted to them now based on my recent experiences. I am considering consuming nuts and seeds in liquid form only: flax oil, hemp oil, almond milk, etc.

There is something else I want to mention. For at least the last two weeks I have been having this feeling in my stomach that feels like butterflies - like a fluttery nervousness or excitement in my tummy that even feels a little like nausea at times. Sometimes it is stronger than others, and I get it a lot in the mornings sometimes.

(11 PM) I had two oranges and then around 2:30 a large salad w/ 1/2 an avocado and 2-3 Tbsp soaked pumpkin seeds. Then I had 2 sesame/flax crackers w/ Paul's pesto. I also had a 12 oz. chocolate milk. Around 4 I ate 3 cacao brownies w/ chocolate sauce. Then at 8:45, I had about two more and 30 garlic almonds. I felt like I did some emotional eating this evening. I really wanted almond milk instead of more brownies, but I had run out, so I had brownies and almonds instead. I feel all the cacao in my digestive system. To me, its a specific feeling to have a lot of cacao in your digestive system. I'm not going to worry about all this too much. I will just be more conscious of my almond milk supply.

Whew. Tonight was a little tough, but thats ok. I feel like going outside and listening to music and looking at the stars. Feeling kinda lonely.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Ash Wednesday

I went to bed a little after midnight and woke up a little after 7, but stayed in bed until a little after 9. I had 2-3 oranges and then a giant salad w/ 1/2 avocado, a few sunflower & pumpkin seeds and a garlic/mustard/honey vinegarette. I also had 7 triple seed crackers with Paul's heavenly pesto. Probably that was one or two crackers too many. I'm feeling full right now.

(7:48 PM) Still full from those crackers. So perhaps crackers are something I really don't need too much of anymore. I haven't wanted almonds in a while either. Too much to digest, it seems like. I drank 16 oz of black tea sweetened with honey and agave. I think I may have a chocolate milk later, too, if my crackers ever finish digesting. (sigh)

I rode my bike and danced kinda crazy behind the river as the sun was setting. It was nice. After having a few days rest from all my kitchen duties, I think I'm ready to pop in some tunes and tackle some work tonight.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Today is Mardi Gras


(11:11 PM) I went to bed around midnight and woke up around 7. I got out of bed at 8. Last night I ate two cacao brownies and 1/4 cup of almond butter/cacao/honey. My tummy was not happy with me yesterday, from the time I ate all the almond/flax crackers with Nur's leeks, onward. I also forgot to mention that I drank at least a quart of black tea with honey. I think it may have helped a little to get all that liquid in me. Today was Mardi Gras. The only thing I had before 6:30 this evening was a little less than two oranges since I shared some. The best part was, I wasn't in terrible hunger pain. But at one or two points in the afternoon, I did feel a little irritated that I hadn't eaten yet. When I got home I had a large green salad with 2/3 avocado and garlic/honey/mustard dressing. Then I had 10 oz or so of chocolate milk and two cacao brownies with a little chocolate sauce. It was a fun day. I have some ideas about putting together a costume for next year's carnival.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Sighs






(10:00)

I woke up at seven today and then stayed in a half-awake dream state in bed until 10. So I got about four hours of cold solid sleep and three hours of half-awake sleep. Thats been the pattern lately. I've been having some really bizarre thoughts during these half-awake times, but I've been having some really creative ideas, too. I keep thinking about the new things I want to do during this sleep phase, like marching with the pussyfooters (a female dancing troupe in the Krewe of Muses), taking female carpentry courses, and singing/dancing with a band. These ideas have all been coming very strong to me during this part of my sleep. I've been thinking about my fears, lately, and how maybe I should try to confront some of them. For instance, maybe I need to go out and swim in some really super funky natural bodies of water. Maybe I need to be naked in public somehow. Those are the two that seem to be the scariest. I can imagine the swimming more easily than I can imagine getting naked in public. Thats funny. The latter seems a lot less dangerous. I am hoping to spend some much needed time out in nature today over at Jean Lafitte. I need to find some inner peace today.

(11:47 AM)

I had an orange and 17 almond/flax crackers w/ a little cilantro dip, but mainly with Nur's leeks

(8:37 PM)

The crackers and leeks from noontime have felt like rocks in my stomach. Maybe its because the leeks are cooked. Maybe its because 17 is too many crackers. I don't know. I felt somewhat unpleasantly full at least all the way up to 6 o clock! I still felt weird and full at 7, but I tried some food and it tasted good, so I had:

about 7 triple seed crackers with cilantro dip
12 oz. chocolate milk

And honestly, I feel a bit queasy right now. I also have been feeling a little aimless today. I went to Jean Lafitte and spent the afternoon there. It was nice, but not spectacular as I had hoped. I didn't feel real "high". But then around 5 or so, after the gates to the parking lot were locked, but I was still in the park, I did some wild dancing with my discman by the Bayou des Familles. That was the best part. The sun was in her last stages of setting and I felt totally free and spontaneous and open to the sky. I would like to do more of that. Now I am back home feeling a bit aimless again. Like I am waiting for something to happen. (sigh) Today is Lundi Gras. I am at home doing nothing special. Just making too big of a deal of whether I should check my myspace or not. Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzz, Louuuuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiise! Wish I was as high as Angela Stokes sounds--Oh, she answered my questions on her blog!!!!!!!!! That was AWESOME!!!!

I still can't get my camera pictures into the computer:(((( Crud! (more sighs) Maybe I should go out tonight and look for some excitement. I can't make up my mind, so I will just surrender to my own state of indecision for now.

Short n sweet

(1:19AM) - Today I ate:

3 oranges
1 large salad w/ 1/3 avocado and honey mustard dressing
10-15 triple seed crackers with cilantro dip
8 oz chocolate milk

I went to bed at 10:00 last night. Woke up at seven.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Dancing dreams come true ~

(1:40 pm) Today is the 17th. I wanted to mention that late on the evening of the 15th, I had two cacao brownies with agave chocolate sauce. Then I went to be early shortly after 10. (!) Yesterday I got up around 9. I ate:

three oranges - it was late, maybe around 2 o clock
4 almond/flax crackers w/ Paul's heavenly pesto around 3:30
a large salad w/ some avocado and soaked seeds, Italian dressing - around 6:30
12 oz. chocolate coffee drink around 7

I went out and danced my fanny off last night!!! It was exactly what I had been wanting to do! A friend of mine grabbed me and got me to waltz! And it was so much fun. The bands were totally fantastic. It was perfect. I got home around 1:35 and was hungry again, so I had 7-8 triple seed crackers with some cilantro dip. Then I had a 12 oz. glass of chocolate milk:) It tasted incredible.

TODAY:

I got up around 11. I ate a couple of oranges and just finished off a really tasty large salad of mixed greens w/ 2/3 avocado and a honey/mustard/garlic vinegarette that I made. I've been really hungry lately, but its nice to have so much hunger. It makes eating so extremely pleasurable.

I've been singing and dancing up a storm over here at the house the last few days. I've been feeling deeply spiritual lately, also. Its been so wonderful. I want to always feel this. I want to always live this way: trusting myself, taking good care of myself through food, being outdoors as much as possible, and listening to my heart.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Getting wild

I had a beautiful afternoon behind the levee. I took a lot of pictures and had a nice time by the river. I actually came home a bit, and then went back out for another hour and a half to catch the sunset and do a little dreaming. I came home and ate:

-medium salad with 1/2 avocado and Italian vinegarette
-maybe 6 or 7 triple seed crackers with cilantro dip
- about 1/2 cup of halvah (this was perhaps a mistake, I would have liked to have had some tea with honey for dessert, but had no time for tea so I had dessert instead. I still feel full from the halvah and it is about three hours later)

I had no time for tea because (dah dah-dah dah dah dah) : I went to a parade!!!!! I forgot how much I liked them. It was Krewe of Muses (www.kreweofmuses.org) . Being there made me really feel like I wanted to be a part of the action. I felt like my wild side was just itching to come out and it was torture. Maybe I will try to march in the parade next year. I've also had the urge lately to do some serious dancing. I was really attracted to the swing dancing when I saw people doing it in the park the other day. Tonight I got the idea to try out 80s night again. I really do like 80s night, I just get too darn shy sometimes. I'm getting tired of being shy. I really feel like being a little wild. Maybe I will go to this Mardi Gras ball tomorrow night after all. And maybe I will go to the St. Anne's parade next Tuesday. I even have the urge to go listen to some music.

Valentines

On the 12th, I can't remember too well, but I think I had oranges in the morning and then marinated greens late on (that made my throat feel sore). Later on, I had a case of butterflies in my stomach, so I don't think I had anything after that.

I think on Feb. 13th I had:

- 2 oranges
- a large salad w/ avocado and Italian dressing
- a peice of chocolate cherry tart from La Spiga (!) (note: this was cooked food)
- The chocolate tasted sooooooo good that I went and had about 5 squares from a Hershey's Symphony bar!!!! YIKES!!!!! I did lay down for a while after that. All that stuff really knocked me out.

Maybe because it was the first day of my menstrual cycle, maybe it was because I ate all that chocolate, or maybe it was because I was feeling very strong emotions at the time, but I wasn't hungry for the rest of the day, so I didn't eat anything. Actually, I had a good cry instead. So many emotions. I welcome them all, they make me feel very alive.

Yesterday I woke up at maybe 9:30. This is what I ate yesterday:

-4 oranges in the morning, before noon (more than usual!!! I was so hungry I would have even eaten a fifth, but I was away from home and couldn't find any more oranges in my car:)))
-40 garlic almonds to help sustain me since I didn't expect to be home until later
-around 3:30 I had a medium sized bowl of marinated greens, but they made my throat burn (this is the second time now!), and the whole time I was eating them, I didn't find them very appetizing, but I have such a big bowl of them in the fridge and I so don't want them to go to waste:(
-Then I had a medium bowl of salad with 1/3 an avocado and Italian dressing since I couldn't finish the greens. Then I got ready for my Valentine's Day date. Above are a couple of pictures I took before the date (note: these are the very first pictures taken with my new camera). I wore red in honor of the occasion, (of course!!!!!!!!!!).
- I got home from the date around midnight and was hungry, so I ate (woops, forgot to count!) quite a few almond/flax crackers with an entire container of Paul's cilantro pesto. Then, I had an 8 oz. glass of chocolate almond milk. I got on the computer for a while and then was still hungry, so I fixed another glass of chocolate milk a few minutes later. I went to bed a little before 2:00 AM!!!!!!

It's been feeling sooooooooooooo incredible to stretch lately. Yesterday was awesome. I got my new camera in the mail(waHOOOOOOOooooooooo). I also got an awesome birthday package in the mail from a friend: RAW by Juliano:), AND it was my first day volunteering for ESY - the Edible Schoolyard www.esynola.org. I met some really neat people that I look forward to working with. One of the other volunteers told me about this place in Connecticut where he apprenticed to learn how to start his own organic farm, business plan and all. It sounded amazing and it got my brain and inspiration gears going. I have a feeling it will be really incredible to be a part of this project. And to complete this wonderful day, I had a great date!!!!

Today is the 15th. I got up around 10. Before noon I ate:

- 2 oranges
- I was still really hungry after that so I had quite a few almond/flax crackers w/ a container of Nur's leeks
- I still had room for a chocolate coffee drink after that around 12:30:) (Love that stuff)

I spent my morning out in my backyard. It is cold and cloudy today. I wrote some thoughts down to help process some of the feelings I have. The birds are out and the nicest thing happened. While I was writing, a bird came and landed, just for a quick second, on my foot!!!!!! It made me smile so big! I've always wanted the birds to land on me. I wonder if I lived out in a forest, the birds would come to me and play with me. I really love them. I think I will go for a nice bike ride today.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Filling up on trust

(6:21 pm)Today I stayed home. I woke up late. 9:30ish. I did some things in the kitchen. Then I prepared a garden bed in the afternoon. I went for a bike ride on the West bank levee and watched the sun set. It felt right. Everything was full of beauty. The water was slow and knowledgeable and gigantic, giving me back all the colors in the sky and more. The trees were elegant and I let the sun take away some of my suffering and replace it with peace. I feel grateful and I can feel how much I trust myself right now. It feels right.

So far today I have had 2 1/2 oranges (maybe 3 1/2?), a giant bowl of marinated greens with some soaked pumpkin and sunflower seeds, 10 garlic almonds, 1/2 chocolate brownie w/ sauce, 12 oz chocolate coffee drink. I felt very good food wise/physically today. These greens continue to feel good in my body. No indigestion from the almond milk, so I guess my theory that it gives me indigestion was wrong.

Monday, February 5, 2007

Beginning

I am 26 years old and am in a state of transition. I am cleaning up my mind and my diet and I am using raw foods as a tool. I have recently been inspired by several folks with blogs to create my own blog in which I will try to accurately log my eating and sleeping patterns. I am also looking forward to sharing my own feelings and thoughts on this blog. So here we go:

(12:50pm) Today is turning out to be quite lovely. So far today I have eaten:

- two wonderful oranges
- a good sized green salad with a flax seed oil vinegarette, 1/2 avocado, and 1/4 cup my garlic & herb pumpkin/sunflower seed mix
- 8oz. chocolate coffee drink

I ate everything outside in the backyard because it is so nice out today. I sent off my very first mail order today - 4 lbs of stuff, off to Massachusetts! While I was outside, I had a garden vision. I want to plant lots of things in the backyard.

(5:55) I had some very exciting brainstorming activity in my brain this afternoon over lots of new ideas I've been having. For a snack this afternoon I ate about 5 small squares of raw fudge with raw chocolate sauce. Later on I had a container of Nur's leeks with about 7-10 crackers and then another 8 oz chocolate coffee (this one decaf). The carport is looking good. I did some gardening this afternoon (yipeee!). Hopefully the rosemary starters I put in the ground from Laughing Buddha Nursery will love what I have done with them.