Fragrant Calla Lily, Oriental Lily, Larkspur, Daisy, Ecuador Rose, Scabiosa, Snapdragon, Hypericum, Eryngium, and Hebbe Morado. These are all flowers that I wish were blooming in my home garden or greenhouse. Thankfully, they’re all available – perfectly curated and arranged for delivery – from FieldBouquet. I’m a city dweller. I have lived in the heart of Washington, D.C., since law school, and I’ve practiced law since 2008! Daydreams of country living never go unnoticed, however. I often ponder how wonderful it would be to live where rolling hills and fresh air abound instead of sirens, traffic, and constant construction. There are pros and cons to both living in the country and city, and sometimes I remind myself that the grass is always greener (excuse the pun!) on the other side. Would I really trade the convenient amenities, such as supermarkets, dry cleaners, and restaurants within walking distance for a greenhouse? Not to mention my office is about 6 miles from where I live. I could run there in a perfect world!
I dream about having a greenhouse that includes a fireplace and a table for cozy dinners, freshly prepared from my own kitchen garden, so I can work, entertain, and eat under the sunlight or moonlight. How amazing would that be every day! I’m currently growing green and red peppers and tomatoes on the windowsill of my 9th floor office where I work – this is one way I try to add a bit of country to my city life. This blog post is all about how I bring country living into the city. Here are three simple ways to inspire country living in your life!
Fresh Air
We all know that you don’t need to be in the country to enjoy fresh air. However, I must admit, it is a conscious effort on my part to enjoy clean air and just breathe deeply, especially in a city where there is so much traffic, pollution, density, and a sense of urgency to everything. A breath of fresh air is so important for overall health and is a powerful tool to ease muscle tension, feel less stressed or anxious, regulate body temperature, and sleep better. Some breathing techniques can simply be taking bigger and focused breaths in/out or engaging your muscles by breathing in as you tense a muscle group and then breathing out as you release it. I practice yoga/Uijayi breaths and progressive muscle relaxation, which are simple ways to inhale and exhale, preferably with fresh air whether it’s by opening a window, being on a roof or balcony, or visiting a city park or garden in the city. I often visit the Bishop’s Garden at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and simply breath in clean air as if I were in the countryside enjoying beautiful flowers. It’s so refreshing, relaxing, and good for overall health and wellbeing to simply take in fresh air and enjoy natural beauty. Which brings me to the next way of bringing country living into the city.
Fresh Bouquets
If being in the city limits me from having my own garden or greenhouse, I can certainly still enjoy fresh flowers from a farm. We all know there are hundreds of florists and tons of flowers sold practically everywhere in a city, but I have often found these flowers incredibly commercial and too “perfect” for my taste. I prefer more natural and rustic bouquets that resemble freshly picked wildflowers and plants as if I had just run through a field filled with flowers, picked the ones that I loved, and then brought them home. So how do I find freshly picked flowers in a city without driving to the countryside and stealing them from someone else’s garden? Last year, I discovered FieldBouquet.com, which are flowers fresh from the farm, cut and ready, and express delivered to my front door. More importantly, the bouquets include so many varieties of different species and many uncommon to me like Scabiosa and Eryngium and plants like Hypericum that add the perfect touch of rustic to a very elegant and natural arrangement. My favorite bouquets from FieldBouquet are Un Parc à Paris (A Park in Paris), Le Jardin de Fleurs (The Flower Garden) and La Boutique Rouge (The Red Shop – currently featured in this post). Even the bouquet names evoke the feeling of being in the countryside with small local shops and “escaping” the city by simply being in a city garden.
FieldBouquet flowers and plants are flawlessly arranged and conveniently ready to fit into a glass vase that accompanies the flowers in a very well-packaged delivery box. And the vase is humungous! The vase is so big (think almost Ming vase big), but it’s the perfect size because the flowers are so long-stemmed, full, and natural that they require such a large vase. The bouquets are utterly rustic, natural, and so beautiful. And with each delivery, there is a thoughtful note with instructions and flower food, and the instructions are literally: “Fill the vase 1/3 with cold water” and “Add the flower food.” Et voilà – perfectly picked flowers from the farm to your table in one simple delivery.
FieldBouquet offers single orders or weekly subscriptions so you’re never without fresh flowers from the farm. All bouquets come in three sizes (small, medium, large) for delivery on any specific date you set. It’s so flexible. And the subscriptions can be cancelled or modified at any time without any cost. I especially love that all FieldBouquet flowers are grown in farms that are Rainforest Alliance Certified, which means standards are in place to protect the environment, pay farmers above-average wages, and provide access to education and healthcare for employees working in good conditions. So, I can enjoy fresh flowers while supporting a good company.
The bouquets are not only decorative but incredibly fragrant, so much so, that I can smell the countryside in my city condo. Fresh flowers that are natural, wild, and rustic in your home or as a gift are a lovely and simple way to bring the beauty and scent of the countryside into the city, and FieldBouquet is totally my go-to.
Fresh Fruits and Veggies
If only I could raise a chicken! Not quite, but I can certainly grow fresh fruits and veggies in my city condo while FieldBouquet provides the decor and scent of the countryside. Thanks to my physical therapist at C.O.R.E. Physical Therapy in DC, I’ve been incredibly inspired and interested in having my own Aeroponic tower garden to grow fresh veggies (leafy greens such as lettuce, spinach, and kale), herbs (basil, oregano, mint, parsley, or thyme), and fruits (tomatoes and strawberries) all while FieldBouquet flowers are blooming abundantly around and fresh air enters through my balcony. Aeroponics are like Hydroponics in that they are both soil-less growth methods. However, unlike Hydroponics that use a nutrient-rich solution, Aeroponics use a nutrient-laden mist to nourish the plants. Because mist is used for Aeroponics, the plant roots are left loose so that the nutrients can enter the plant through the root nozzles, which exposes the plants to more oxygen than Hydroponic systems. As a result, Aeroponics have a faster growth rate and conserve more water because there is less water usage with a mist system. And the best part is that aeroponics come in a vertical design as a tower garden that takes up very little surface area, so it’s perfect for small spaces. My own kitchen garden in the city.
Country Living
in The City!
With these simple ways of breathing fresh air, the beauty and scent of FieldBouquet flowers, together with an aeroponic tower garden, I can still enjoy the countryside while living in a city I love.
Paid for post by FieldBouquet.
