Verdura! - Living a Garden Life: 30 Projects to Nurture Your Passion for Plants and Find Your Bliss

by Perla Sofia Curbelo-Santiago

Overview

¡Verdura! – Living a Garden Life celebrates the power of adding more green to your life with 30 simple and budget-friendly gardening projects that promote well-being through plants. 

From Puerto Rican author and gardening celebrity, Perla Sofía Curbelo Santiago of Agrochic.com, a Spanish-language gardening lifestyle platform, comes this guide to forming a lifelong love of nature, plants, and gardening. Verdura means “greenery” in Spanish, but also refers to any edible plant from the garden. Throughout this book, verdura is used as both a description and an aspiration—it’s all about adding more verdura to your daily life! 

Perfect for beginners and expert gardeners alike, turning the practice of tending plants into a healthy lifestyle has never been easier. It takes many repetitions to form a habit, and the goal is to use the 30 projects found here to transform the initial spark of joy plants create into a healthy habit that enhances your life in many ways. Indoor and outdoor projects are included, many of which are perfect for small spaces and urban environments. 

In addition to offering plant-related wellness tips, personal stories of her own garden evolution, and advice on how tending plants can improve both physical and mental health, Perla offers clear step-by-step guidance on project creation. 

Some of the projects you’ll find inside include: 
 

• Creating a container planting that appeals to a 13-year-old version of yourself
• Making a meditation garden or a private healing nook
• Planting a barefoot garden 
• Performing a quick and easy garden makeover 
• Compiling a garden-tainment kit
• Upcycling common discards to create a propagation station, a swinging planter, and a birdbath 
• Organizing your garden legacy using a basic guide

Also included are alternative plant charts if you’re the kind of gardener who likes lots of plant choices, and section openers that offer a small glimpse of gardening life on the island of Puerto Rico.

Green-up your life to reduce stress and add joy with help from ¡Verdura!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780760381267
Publisher:	Cool Springs Press
Publication date:	01/02/2024
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	220,659
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Perla Sofía Curbelo-Santiago was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where she currently lives. She is a gardener and a passionate advocate for using gardening to enhance physical and mental health. A professional communicator and founder of Agrochic.com, a gardening lifestyle platform in Spanish, Perla Sofía has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Puerto Rico (UPRM), a master’s degree in public relations from Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, and a Horticultural Therapy Certificate from the Chicago Botanic Garden.

In 2021, she was recognized by the American Horticultural Society (AHS) with the B.Y. Morrison Communication Award. As a media contributor, her work has appeared in several publications from Puerto Rico and the United States, including El Nuevo Día, HipLatina, and The American Gardener. She is also a gardening television contributor. Perla is affiliated with several organizations: Garden Communicators International, the American Horticultural Therapy Association (ATHA), the American Horticultural Society (AHS), BIPOC Hort Group, and Asociación Española de Horticultura y Jardinería Social y Terapéutica (AEHJST). In 2022, she joined the Board of Directors of KidsGardening.org.

Besides Spanish and English, Perla speaks fluent Italian and wants to keep learning other languages. As a kid, she dreamed of working for the United Nations as a translator. Connect with Perla Sofía at Agrochic.com and on social media: Facebook (@Agrochic), Twitter (@perlasofia), and Instagram (@agrochic).

Perla Sofía Curbelo-Santiago nació y creció en Puerto Rico, donde vive actualmente. Es huertera y una apasionada defensora del uso de la jardinería para mejorar la salud física y mental. Perla Sofia es comunicadora profesional y fundadora de Agrochic.com, una plataforma en español sobre estilo de vida basado en la jardinería. Tiene un bachillerato en Psicología de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (UPRM), una maestría en Relaciones Públicas de la Universidad del Sagrado Corazón y una Certificación Profesional en Terapia Hortícola del Chicago Botanic Garden.

En el 2021, fue reconocida por la American Horticultural Society (AHS) con el premio de comunicación B.Y. Morrison. Como colaboradora de medios, su trabajo ha aparecido en varias publicaciones de Puerto Rico y Estados Unidos, incluyendo El Nuevo Día, HipLatina y The American Gardener. También es colaboradora de televisión en temas de jardinería. Perla está afiliada a varias organizaciones: Garden Communicators International, American Horticultural Therapy Association (ATHA), American Horticultural Society (AHS), BIPOC Hort Group y la Asociación Española de Horticultura y Jardinería Social y Terapéutica (AEHJST). En el 2022, se unió a la Junta Directiva de KidsGardening.org.

Además de español e inglés, Perla habla italiano con fluidez y quiere seguir aprendiendo otros idiomas. Cuando era niña, soñaba con trabajar para las Naciones Unidas como traductora. Conéctate con Perla Sofía en Agrochic.com y en las redes sociales: Facebook (@Agrochic), Twitter (@perlasofia) e Instagram (@agrochic).
 

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Gardening Projects
EXPLORE NATURE
Gardening with Your Thirteen-Year-Old Self
Wonder Bowl Garden
Coastal Garden
Night Sky Garden
Miniature Garden
BE SOCIAL
Hanging Planter Duo
A Garden Gathering at Home
Little Library Garden
Bring Your Herb Cocktail and Mocktail Garden Bar Anywhere
Say It with Verdura!
ENCOURAGE WELLNESS
Room with a View
Fragrant Garden Hedge
Barefoot Garden
Sofrito Garden
Meditation Garden
SERVE THE COMMUNITY
Life Happens
Garden Lift
Healing Nook
Garden Break Room
Garden-tainment Box
UPCYCLE
Candelabra Plant Holder
Backyard Birdbath
Indoor Garden Shed
Propagation Wall Station
Swinging Planter
GROW INTO YOUR OWN
Create a Living Background for Virtual Meetings
Organizing Your Garden Legacy
Garden Art Installation in a Bonsai Dish
Display Your Favorite Plants
Growing Gifts
Appendix 1: Breaking Down the Gardening Process for Maximum Enjoyment
Appendix 2: Gardening Project Plants and Plant Alternatives
References
Note of Appreciation
Meet Perla Sofía
Index
 

Editorial Reviews

12/04/2023

Curbelo-Santiago debuts with a fun compendium of plant-centric projects. The “night sky garden” involves planting a succulent in a pot covered in blue and green fluorescent paint, and the “living background for virtual meetings” is made by winding a silver satin pothos plant around a wire circle. Several activities emphasize customization, such as when Curbelo-Santiago encourages readers to create a potted plant tableau inspired by their 13-year-old self and shows how she combined caladium, wax begonia, and P. glaucophylla (a “fluffy” nettle that she finds reminiscent of the baggy pants and padded shoulders she wore as a teen) in a hot pink container. Curbelo-Santiago provides practical tips for taking care of the plants featured (she notes that Soleirolia soleiroii, used in the “wonder bowl garden” as a leafy bed for displaying “small natural things found while playing outside,” thrives in “humid shade” between 34 and 65 ºF). Unfortunately, a few of the projects feel like filler; for instance, the “garden-tainment box,” which consists of seed packets, chalk, paper bags, and other miscellany thrown into a plastic bin to create a crafting supply center, is more storage solution than actual project. Still, crafters with a green thumb will enjoy the more substantial activities. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"Curbelo-Santiago debuts with a fun compendium of plant-centric projects."—Publishers Weekly

"With the book’s accessible, easy-to-read format and friendly approach, the author did a fantastic job making a book perfect for those wanting to add more plants to their daily lives for inner happiness."—Budget Earth

From the Publisher