I just got my own Juice Plus+ Personal Tower Garden…and planted it with a variety of tiny starter plants, lettuce, kale, tomatoes, etc.
May 5th is not a normal planting day in Northern Michigan… but, the Tower Garden is not your normal garden. It’s space-age gardening! Grow Green… Grow vertical. It will someday be how millions of us get fresh, ripe produce…on demand… at our doorstep. A veritable farm market on our patio. Continue reading The Tower Garden gets personal.
“Discover the MAGIC of Rainbows” was written to help kids identify with eating a rainbow of fresh fruits and vegetables. When I got the idea for the book, I called a good friend, Dr. Jane Oelke, ND, PhD and asked her, “What’s in it for kids to eat a rainbow diet?” Jane has a Masters Degree in Nutrition and has written several books on Natural Healing. Her information was invaluable in the story line and the concept of the book.
Here’s what I learned… Continue reading THE RAINBOW DIET FOR KIDS. What’s in it for kids to eat a Rainbow?
Can you BELIEVE IT? I wrote and illustrated a Children’s Book! In all humility, IT’S THE BEST… I’ve written so far. I have taught cartoon classes for over 35 years and always thought it would be really cool to write a book for kids. I finally did it!
A friend, Nancy Kroupa,(www.teamkroupa.com), wanted me to do another coloring book about kids eating a rainbow diet of fruits and vegetables. My first coloring book, “UP NORTH WITH TC BEAR”, featured a Northern Michigan fun-loving tourist, TC BEAR. Nancy is a National Marketing Director for a unique product called JUICE PLUS+ (www.annieoxidantjuiceplus.com). She told me The Juice Plus+ Children’s Health Study (www.Childrenshealthstudy.com) was looking for kid’s educational materials promoting a rainbow diet.
Coloring books have a very limited audience. The more I thought about it, the idea for a book evolved. I called a good friend of mine, Dr. Jane Oelke, ND, PhD, (www.janeoelke.com) and asked for advice. She has a Masters Degree in Nutrition so I asked her, “Why, from a kid’s perspective, should they eat a rainbow of fruit and vegetables? Or, in a nutshell… What’s in it for them to eat each of the colors?” Jane explained in simple, easy to understand terms, the value of each of the color groups in fruits and vegetables. That and the concept of whole food became the focus of the book.
Thinking like a cartoonist, I came up with names for the characters that fit the message: “ANNIE OXIDANT, a little girl that likes rainbows. “PHYTO” (get it?), her dog. “BROCK O’LEE”, the friendly farmer. (Brock is important to the story because we all know FARMERS are FOOD EXPERTS… they’re OUT STANDING IN THEIR FIELDS, so to speak.) The skeptic of the group, RUDY BAGA, is Annie’s neighbor .
In the story, Annie and Phyto follow a rainbow looking for treasure. They’re disappointed when it ends at a Produce Stand. Brock O’Lee explains IT IS THE TREASURE because “You can eat a Rainbow!” Rudy Baga questions that and the rest of the story is about Brock taking them to the garden and orchard to pick a rainbow of their own as he explains the benefits of each color in both fruit and vegetables.
Needless to say , I’M EXCITED about the book. It has been well received since its October, 2010 release. To order it and have it personalized, go to my website: www.bearclausepublications.com . It sells for $14.00 US.