>> "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is brought to you by the following... >> That flower feeling.

♪ At home.

♪ At work.

♪ Or anytime.

♪ CalFlowers is a proud sponsor of "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom," where flowers and wellness go hand in hand.

>> We have fresh in all our stores, from soups and steaks and all things flour to all things flowering.

Custom fresh arrangements designed by our in-store florists at Albertsons Companies.

>> With additional support from the following... Dollar Tree.

♪ >> Today on "Life in Bloom," we're taking inspiration from the earth, including a visit to a local farm, building a berm of dirt for planting and managing rainfall, and we'll make a couple of arrangements with flowers harvested from the garden.

♪ ♪ I'm J Schwanke.

Welcome to "Life in Bloom."

"Collaboration has no hierarchy.

The Sun collaborates with soil to bring flowers on the earth."

♪ Flowers spring forth from the earth, so the theme of today's "Life in Bloom" is "from the earth."

♪ Many people know that the physical act of working with our hands in soil or earth is helpful in many ways for our mental health.

What scientists have been studying in recent years is what happens when certain bacteria in the soil get under our fingernails -- that they actually are physically beneficial to our microbiome and, therefore, our bodies, including acting as an antidepressant.

♪ So, let's explore ways to interact with the earth and feel better in the process.

♪ For years, we had problems with erosion here at the house with this path.

All of the water that was in the front yard would come down this path as its lowest area when we'd have a heavy downpour.

It would erode away at the chips and dust and sometimes even move these steps out of the way.

There was many a day when Kelly and I were out here early in the morning, filling in and trying to put the steps back in place.

So we asked our friend Mr. Bill to help us fix that and install a berm that would divert that water in an ecological way around the path.

♪ >> Mr. Bill, I always like it when I have a project and you're willing to help me with it.

[ Laughs ] And so you started off by doing our irrigation system in the yard.

>> Yep.

>> Which is amazing, and I love.

So, we have a little project here -- a cutting garden you did for me.

>> Kind of tell me the background of what we did over here.

>> Basically, what we did was had a water issue that started because it's heavy clay.

>> Right.

>> We cut out sod... >> Mm-hmm.

>> ...removed that, made a little berm -- a little 6- to 8-inch berm.

>> When you told me "berm" at first, I thought it was gonna be like this tall.

>> Yeah.

Just enough to divert the water.

>> [ Laughs ] Okay.

>> So we cut that out, add garden mix so we can plant more later on.

>> Right.

>> Filled it up to divert the water to another place.

>> You worked yesterday to get these guys -- get everything in.

You cut the sod, you planted the plants, you put in the mulch, and then it poured last night.

>> It sure did.

And so not a thing.

>> Not a thing.

>> And I tell you that if we would have had that rain last night without this in place, we would have lost that pathway again.

We would have had to go fill it in again.

So I think we've cured the problem.

>> Right.

With water and erosion problems, we find that you can either divert it or contain it.

And this method, we tried to divert it to a different area, which we did, and proved we had success with it.

>> We also called Miss Dig first, and I think that that's something that everybody needs to do so that we make sure we know where all the lines are -- where the gas line is, where the cable line and the electrical line is -- and they came and marked those for us.

And then you came in, sod cutter was first, then the plants went on top of it, and then the mulch went on top of that.

>> Correct.

>> Now, today we're adding trees.

>> Yep.

>> So, we have an American linden that you're gonna put in here.

And so we picked that because of Jason, a friend from Aberdeen Apiary, told me that if I put in an American linden, it would be the same benefit as putting in lavender or anything like -- any wildflower.

It's more supportive of that pollinator.

>> Correct.

>> And so we're putting in an American linden.

That's a front yard -- >> Front yard, yep.

>> Front yard.

Okay, so, how big will that tree get.

>> The tree, I believe, will get about 40, 50 feet in total.

It's a big tree.

Later on, it will provide bees and pollination, but also provide shade for the front yard.

♪ ♪ >> Thanks for working on this project, thanks for getting all these things in, and thanks for solving our erosion problem... >> Yeah, it was our pleasure.

>> ...and giving me some more flowers to cut.

That's good.

I appreciate it.

Thanks, man.

♪ The earth provides so many wonderful things.

My favorite is flowers.

I love getting up early in the morning and heading out into the garden.

With my bucket of cold water with flower food and my cutters, I snip and choose my favorite flowers.

Those flowers are all hydrated from the night before, and we'll arrange them now into this beautiful bubble bowl.

A bubble bowl isn't that challenging.

I simply crisscross the stems of flowers and foliage, and it makes a beautiful bouquet.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Tell us a little bit about Creswick Farms.

>> Actually, we're not really first-generation.

The Creswick Farms actually started a long time ago.

>> Oh, wow.

>> And my family -- The name Creswick derived from growers of watercress from The Wick, back in England.

Over the years, with a few people diverging off in piracy -- you know, stuff like that -- we've come back around to farming.

So I like to jokingly say we've been around for hundreds of years.

>> This is not a -- This is not like a regular farm.

So, I'm from Nebraska originally.

In Nebraska, we have these big feedlots and things like that, and that's not what Creswick is all about.

>> No.

We're not a feedlot.

The cows are out on pasture.

And if we had them all at one point, it would be nothing but a dust bowl.

>> Got it.

>> So, to keep the pastures fresh and growing all the time, they mow off the top section, move on to the next pasture while the previous one recovers and grows again.

So the cows -- animals in general -- are in constant motion, different locations throughout the farm that way.

>> So, honey, chickens... >> Lamb... >> ...lamb... >> ...pork... >> ...pork, cows.

>> And eggs.

>> And eggs.

>> Yep.

>> Eggs, yeah.

So, your son and your wife are also here on the farm with you?

>> Yes, they are.

♪ >> You're the right hand, left hand for Farmer Nathan, too, so that's pretty amazing.

So, I heard about this cow.

Are you gonna take me and show me to the cow?

>> We will introduce you to Blossom.

>> To Blossom.

Okay, I can't wait.

Let's go do that.

♪ So, is it just regular milk, or is it, like, a -- >> Oh, no, it's a special formula made for calves.

This doesn't happen very often.

I think the last time we actually had to bottle-feed a calf was maybe 10 years ago, maybe 12 years ago.

>> Okay.

>> So it doesn't happen often.

And obviously, there's no way to know why the mother cow decided not to feed her anymore.

>> Right.

>> It could be that she sensed something was wrong with the calf.

This particular mother has a calf from last year that she loves dearly, so we're kind of questioning whether or not she -- >> Or just didn't make the muster.

>> Yeah, she's kind of attached to the other one.

>> She's sweet.

>> She's very sweet.

Christopher's gonna put on these special gloves.

They're actually horse-grooming gloves.

>> Oh!

Okay.

>> But what it is, is that he rubs her with it and that stimulates her skin and her body.

That's what a mother cow would do when they're always licking their calves.

>> She would lick them.

>> Licking them, cleaning them.

>> Okay.

>> And she kind of really likes it, so... >> So, you have to do that with your cows.

You got to watch them, you got to monitor them, you got to know when they're -- when they're pregnant, you have to go out and check and see if anybody had a calf today.

>> Exactly.

Our cows know us, but they're not pets.

They are "wild" as they can be.

>> Right.

>> We give them the most natural life.

So, we'll walk around them to see what's happening, you know, or to see, oh, has someone had a calf, who's fighting with whom -- you know, that kind of thing.

But it's not like we go up and pet them -- not like this one.

>> Got it.

>> Um, so, and the same with their calves.

When a cow has a calf, they take care of the calf.

We don't birth it.

We don't feed it.

They do all of it.

And they also wean their calves off themselves, because we don't want that stress involved in their life.

>> That interaction.

>> Right.

>> Got it, got it, got it.

>> Our farm is based on lack of stress for the animals.

I mean, we want them to have the most honest, natural life as they can have while they're on the earth.

>> That's awesome.

>> So... >> Well, thank you so much for sharing Blossom with us.

We really appreciate it.

>> She's a sweetie.

>> So, now, tell me about salad-bar beef.

>> Okay.

Actually, it's not my original -- I didn't come up with that myself.

I actually borrowed it from a gentleman named Joel Salatin, out in Virginia.

>> Okay.

>> But the idea of it is, is the animals -- cows in general -- or in particular -- don't eat just grass.

>> Okay.

>> If you ever watch them out in the pasture, they're gonna grab some leaves off the trees.

>> Okay.

>> They're gonna eat some other things that I would -- most people consider weeds, but aren't grass.

>> Right.

>> And that's kind of why we call it the salad bar that way, because the cows, like us, we don't want to eat just romaine lettuce at the salad bar.

And they're the same way.

>> No antibiotics, no hormones.

Tell us about the chicken.

>> Well, in addition to what you just mentioned, fresh air and sunshine.

>> Got it.

>> Big thing.

I mean, they get the beautiful weather like this.

They're not in a barn, smelling what the other animal did nearby them.

>> Okay.

>> They get sunlight, which is one of the best antiseptics out there, shall I say... >> Okay.

>> ...fresh air... >> Okay.

>> ...and they get the rain and the wind, too.

>> [ Laughs ] That's awesome.

>> But just good, clean living for them.

>> Well, Nathan, thank you.

Thank you for making time for us.

I appreciate it.

Thank you for being an amazing farmer and having wonderful food that keeps us healthy.

>> Awesome.

♪ So, obviously, a visit to Creswick Farms includes chickens.

And chickens, there's eggs.

So I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to make an arrangement in this vintage egg basket.

And we'll use some Creswick eggs inside.

♪ ♪ So, we'll start with our eggs.

We'll place our eggs inside the basket, around the edge so that I can slip the cylinder container down inside.

Once I go to put the cylinder container inside, I can use a stick or a stem to adjust the eggs to get it into place.

♪ We'll fill it with our flower-food water.

And then we can arrange our flowers.

I start by creating a structure with foliage.

We use some lemon balm and some mint, some peony foliage, geranium, coleus, and hosta leaves.

That gives us beautiful texture and variation, and then we can add our flowers.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ This is an assortment of mixed garden flowers -- things I picked right out of the garden -- astilbe and chamomile, there's lilies and roses and peonies, spirea, sunflowers, tritoma, zinnias, and larkspur.

All of these, just mixed together to give it a beautiful gardenlike appearance, it's perfect for this vintage egg basket.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> For today's "Recipe in Bloom," we'll be making chicken fajitas, using chicken from our friends at Creswick Farms.

And we need to create a marinade, so I wanted to show you how to do that first.

And then we'll cook our chicken and make our fajitas.

So, this is a pretty simple recipe, and I use it all the time.

We'll start with garlic.

I press two cloves and put them into the bowl.

Then, we'll add the juice of a whole orange.

Orange is key to this marinade.

It works really well, and it makes it really different and unusual.

♪ Then, we'll add the juice of two limes... ♪ ...and two lemons.

Then, we'll add 3 tablespoons of ground cumin and 2 tablespoons of chili powder.

Then, 1/4 cup of olive oil.

♪ Our next step is to take our chicken, and I used the boneless, skinless breast from Farmer Nathan.

Place them in my marinade with onions and peppers.

I like using these little tiny peppers, 'cause when you cut them, they start to look like little flowers.

You got little pepper rings that look like little flowers with petals.

I marinate the chicken and the onions and the peppers together, between 24 to 48 hours.

Then, I'm ready to cook.

♪ We'll start with our skillet on medium high.

We'll add our chicken.

And I add a little bit of the marinade.

We'll let the chicken cook through, and then we'll turn it over.

Then, we'll move our chicken off to the side.

And in the hot part of our skillet, we'll place in our peppers and our onions.

And again, a little bit of the marinade.

We'll cook our peppers and onions till the onions start to turn clear.

Some people like their peppers and onions more done; others like them more al dente.

So, we haven't talked about cilantro.

I love cilantro.

And you certainly can put the cilantro in the marinade.

I like to also have fresh cilantro on my fajita, as well.

♪ So, now we can make our fajita.

Can add our chicken.

♪ Add some peppers and onions.

♪ Then, can add our cheese.

♪ I like a little bit of sour cream, as well.

♪ And some fresh cilantro.

And now you're ready to wrap it up and enjoy.

♪ ♪ Scabiosa pods are a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family, sometimes known by the specific variety scabiosa stellata pods.

Pods range in length from 18 to 25 inches and are typically 2 inches in diameter.

The scabiosa flower from which the pods are formed is also known as the pincushion flower.

Scabiosa pods are formed when the flower finishes blooming.

♪ After the flowers have dropped, the calyxes, together with the bracts, form a spiky ball.

That may be the reason for the pincushion common name.

The florets have four stamens each, set high in the tube and sticking out.

Each fruit has just one seed.

♪ The globe-shaped pod is an interesting addition to bouquets.

♪ I thought it would be fun for us to create a sculpture of an animal that lives in the garden and is from the earth.

And the thing that came to mind was the escargot begonias that I have in my container pots.

And I just love this begonia because it's just so inspiring that that can happen in nature.

And I was looking at it, and I thought, "Let's try and make a snail."

And the way that we do that is by creating a flower-foam form that looks like the snail, and then we fill it in with flowers.

So, we're using a sphere of soaked foam, and this one actually has a piece of plastic on the bottom so it will set flat.

That's gonna help us.

And then we have another block of foam that we'll use to carve the other pieces out of.

Both of the foam pieces have been soaked.

And then we'll also use some fun items to create the pieces and parts of the snail that we're gonna see.

♪ We're using our sphere to create the round form that the shell would create.

I'm cutting off both sides, and that still leaves me with a nice arc in the middle.

♪ We'll save those two half-spheres for other pieces in the arrangement.

♪ We'll attach one to the backside for the tail, and one on the front where we'll form the head.

♪ I'll save another piece to place around the plants to add fresh flowers.

We'll attach the piece on the front for the head with three bamboo skewers.

♪ Now we'll be using green button pompoms.

These work great because they're small, they cover a lot of area, they can be cut different lengths to different parts of the character we're building.

We use longer ones at the top to form the head.

♪ ♪ Then, we'll bring others down the back and on to the tail.

I'll save those smaller buds for the tail.

That way, the flowers get smaller as they go to the end of the snail.

♪ ♪ I told you I was inspired by the escargot begonia.

And we'll use those to create the shell.

We'll place one on either side, and they actually look like the spiral shell of a snail.

♪ For the arrangement side, I've taken a small palm plant and a succulent and bumped them out of their pots.

This is a wonderful waterproof container.

We'll place the plants inside the container, next to the snail, and then we'll add a piece of foam.

I can add fresh flowers, and it'll also provide some moisture for these plants for a little while.

This certainly isn't a permanent arrangement.

And once our flowers have expired, we can pot the plants into something else.

I'll use moss and rocks to cover the base around the snail.

♪ ♪ We'll add hellebores, snowball viburnum, Bupleurum, and also foxtail fern.

It looks like a piece of the garden.

♪ For the detail on the face, I use pipe cleaners to create the eyes, and we'll use fern fronds.

These are baby ferns.

We'll use those as the antennae.

Now, I know, on a true snail, the antennae are the eyes.

So I took a little creative license to make him look like a storybook snail.

Now we have a wonderful character from the earth -- a cute little snail.

It'll certainly be something that has everyone talking.

♪ I hope you've enjoyed our episode "From the Earth" and will take some time to commune with the earth, whether it's with the soil in your porch pots or a visit to a local farm.

Take a moment or two, now and then, and enjoy the benefits the earth provides.

For "Life in Bloom," I'm J Schwanke.

Your, um, uh, uh -- Well, your hamburger... >> Okay.

>> Your ham-- [ Chuckles ] Your ham-- Your hamburger is amazing.

I mean, that's crazy.

And the -- the -- is it flatiron?

Is that the -- Is that the one I get?

>> No, the -- >> The hanger.

>> Hanger.

>> The hanger.

>> Yeah.

>> The hanger are just -- So, Kelly and I have this -- we talk about it being monkey fists, 'cause sometimes it's just -- it's a piece of meat that looks like this, right?

>> Mm-hmm.

>> You know?

So delicious.

>> It's kind of -- >> Amazing!

>> It's one of these secrets that not many people know about.

>> I shouldn't be talking about it right now, is probably the biggest problem.

So don't -- Shh -- Never mind.

I didn't say anything about any monkey fists -- nothing.

>> My wife, Andrea, is the expert at cooking that.

I'll have to tell you that.

>> Oh, okay.

>> She's the expert on that.

>> "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is filmed in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

>> Visit J's website, ubloom.com, for flower projects and crafts, complete recipes, behind-the-scenes videos, J's blog, flower cocktails, and more.

♪ "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is brought to you by the following... >> That flower feeling.

♪ At home.

♪ At work.

♪ Or anytime.

♪ CalFlowers is a proud sponsor of "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom," where flowers and wellness go hand in hand.

>> We have fresh in all our stores, from soups and steaks and all things flour to all things flowering.

Custom fresh arrangements designed by our in-store florists at Albertsons Companies.

>> With additional support from the following... Dollar Tree.

♪ Closed-caption funding provided by Holland America Flowers.

♪ ♪