Tag Archives: womens overalls

I found this book recently, and was drawn to it because the title matches our Rosie’s moto. The book was written by a victim of the 9/11 attacks and completed by her sisters after her death. It embodies a gusto for life and a go-getter attitude that’s pretty incredible.

The theme of giving yourself a “merit badge” for trying new and brave things keeps rattling around in my mind this week.

During a talk with a good friend, who is a new mother, she admitted that she gives herself an imaginary badge every time she is able to complete a difficult “mom mission”. She has given herself a badge for things like nursing in public for the first time, nursing while balancing on a stool, changing an explosive diaper, and getting an infant through New York City streets with too much bulky equipment. I love that she turned situations that could that cause most women to complain, into a mental badge of honor for getting through it.

A wise woman once encouraged a group of us ladies to start a “victory journal” to record all the minor and large successes that we accomplish in our lives. I only tried writing in my journal for a year, but I was surprised by how many “victories” I actually have in my everyday life once I took the time to examine them and write them down. I usually just continue to focus on my to-do list, and forget to reflect on how amazing it was to get through what I just did. I know many women will agree with me that they share this characteristic.

One thing all of us at Rosies Workwear for Women love most about our job is that we get to interact with so many inspiring and hard working women across the continent and the world! We hear from women who are doing tasks that we might never have dreamed of! Such as leading a team of dogs across Alaska, and leaving the city to start a successful organic farm. So, it makes me wonder, what amazing things we all doing that we might forget to sit back and give ourselves a merit badge for? What kinds of dreams do we still have that we would like to continue to try and reach for to earn another badge?

So, this week, please write to us about some of your victories and merit badges that you have earned recently. Take time to inspire us, and give us all ideas of things to try!

My mom used to grow the most gorgeous fragrant roses. I could bring anyone one of her cut roses as a gift and they would gush about it for weeks. I wish I could produce those kinds of roses, but my current bushes are a scraggly, moldy, spider mite infested mess! So, I headed off to a fantastic rose pruning workshop by the number one rose retailer in my region. http://www.gazebogardens1922.com/News.html

The most important thing that I learned: is that when you attempt to prune your roses for the winter, you really can’t do much harm. Whew, it took the fear out of the task to for me to hear that from an expert! In fact there was an experiment run by the English Rose Society to see which method would work the best, traditional hand pruning, large hedge clippers, or a chainsaw. Guess which plants produced the most roses in the spring? The ones that were hacked with a chainsaw (even though the quality of the roses & the bush was reduced)! So, as you begin pruning your bushes remember not to obsess over perfection, roses are hard to hurt!

First a little rose “vocabulary”: Typical Hybrid roses are grafted at the base to a rose called Dr. Huey, because of its strong root structure. The graft point is usually a little bulbous like this. Canes are the stems that come out of the plant. The bud is the bloom point that will grow the new leaves, the bloom point near the top of the stem is the one that will grow.

Step 1: Even it up! Trim your rose bush all around, to an even length, cutting off any remaining leaves or blooms. It has been a very mild winter here, so my roses are still blooming, but I learned it is still very important to prune them now because they need time to rest and hibernate before the spring.

Step 2:Cut out the obvious! Take a good look at your plant. Cut off any dead wood, or canes that have a black spot on them. Canes will only grow out of new wood. If you have a lot of dead wood at the graft point, and it looks overgrown, you can even clean some of it up with a saw blade.

Step 3: Design your plant! This step is all about choosing which shape you would like your plant to grow in. Cut out the canes that are growing in or towards the middle of the plant, to allow more sunshine to penetrate the bush once all the leaves grow in. Plan on having canes branch out in 4 different directions so that the bush will have a nice fullness once it grows in. Cut canes about a ¼ above the bud point.

Equipment- it is important to have a nice pair of hand shears, gloves, and long sleeves before starting pruning roses. We recommend the “The Digger” gloves from Woman’s Work , and Rosies full length Coveralls, to help get the job done! Both are on sale right now- so it is perfect timing!!

https://rosiesworkwear.com/shop/product-info.php?pid9.html

https://rosiesworkwear.com/shop/product-info.php?pid75.html

Fertilizer- If you have trouble with spider mites or mildew (that may cause white fuzz or yellow/black spots all over your leaves) right after you prune is the time to recondition the soil with an insecticide and/or mildew & rust treatment. Use regular fertilizer on your plants right before they start to bloom in the spring, when the weather is around a steady 55 degrees. If you want to move the rose bush to another location, right after you prune it is the best time (because the rose bush is dormant). I plan on doing this for two of mine. Apparently it is an easy process I will let you know how the transplant goes! This is a great resource if you would like any more photos to help you with your project http://www.rainforest2548.org/sjvrsjan.html

Have fun and please send any photos of your successful rose pruning attempts! We would love to see it!

photo taken by Michelle Randall

Now that the kids have gone back to school, it’s time to clean up that garden.  The kids are out of the house and you finally have time to get busy on those projects that have been waiting for you all summer long.  Winter is coming so now is the perfect time to clean up your garden and get ready for the coming season.

Here are some ideas for “fall cleaning” from care2.com by Judi Gerber:

1. Clean up perennial beds and borders.
2. Cut down dead flowers.
3. Dig up and remove diseased plants.
4. Clean up any leaves and stems.
5. If you have a vegetable garden, clean up any fruit and vegetables that have fallen.

Note: Any debris left in the garden over winter can cause diseases to enter the soil and appear in the spring.

Have any more tips? Please share, we would love to hear!

Remember to stay cool as you tackle your garden in this heat… lots of sunscreen, water, and remember to wear a hat!  Check out our Rosies’ caps and overalls (which can be converted into shorts) to keep yourself cool.

Let’s face it, composting is an art form.  For some of us Rosies, we have already mastered it; for others, it has been something

*photo credit Clay Miller

we always wanted to do, but never got around to it.  Any gardener will tell you that using this rich, dark soil can breathe new life into your garden.  Compost can provide the vital nutrients your plants need when they can’t get it from the soil.  It can mean the difference between a plant that never flowers and a plant that is vibrant and lush.  For this reason, gardeners call it “black gold.”

Here are some composting tips I have come across that may help you get started on creating your own compost.

• It’s all about layering, watering and moving.
  1. Start with a layer of dry matter, such as dried leaves or grass, then layer your organic materials on top.  You can finish it off with another layer of dry matter to keep the smell down and critters out.
  2. Keep the compost moist to promote decomposition.  Too little water can kill the bacteria, while too much will drown your compost and prevent it from breaking down.  It will also stink!
  3. Aerate often.  The bacteria need oxygen to break down the matter, so the more you aerate, the better.
• Be sure to have a good combination of green and brown matter.  This includes grass shavings, leaves, twigs (the green stuff), as well as veggie pieces, coffee grounds, egg shells, banana peels, and other leftover scraps (the brown stuff).
• Do not add any meat, poultry, fat, or grease.  These will attract unwanted critters and cause your compost to stink.  Also, leave out hard and dense items, such fruit pits.  These items cannot be broken down as easily.
• It is best to cut up your food scraps before adding them to the compost.  The smaller the pieces, the easier they will break down.
• Heat is good.  When the bacteria starts to break down your materials, it produces heat.  A healthy compost will be 140-170 degrees Fahrenheit.

Composting can be fun and can turn your garden into the talk of the town.  By composting, you are helping save the environment by reducing your waste output, plus it is a great way to get your Rosies dirty!  Got any more tips, let us know.  We would love to hear about your experiences with composting.

If you want to learn more, check out these sites.

http://www.composting101.com/

http://compostguide.com/

http://lifemorenatural.com/?p=580

On a sunny day in October, 2o or so Roises dressed in pink and raspberry overalls came together to help Habitat for Humanity build a house in San Luis Obispo, CA. Below is one Rosies’, Molly Kiely, reflections of the day.

Our guest blogger, Rosie Molly Kiely, sporting a pink hard hat. Love it!

I felt really lucky to participate in the Rosies Women’s Day Build with Habitat for Humanity.  It was a beautiful sight to see all those women in the early morning, pulling on their pink Rosies and gearing up for a day of construction.  There was only a handful of ladies that actually knew what they were doing and could speak the language of the trade, the rest of us were helpful hands for pounding nails and carrying two by fours.

I must admit I was intimidated at first by this business of building a house and all the power tools, measurements and  manual labor that goes with it.  However, all the women were so great and a pleasure to work with.  The team leaders took a lot of time to explain what we were doing and how to use the tools (as I secretly feared I would chop off my fingers with the table saw).  I also loved seeing Sharon (Rosies founder), power tool in hand, surrounded by all her Rosies.

The best part of the day for me was when we erected a wall on one of the houses.  It was a true team effort that required strength, coordination and all hands on deck.  As we held up the wall, I looked down the line at these women from all walks of life and all ages.  They were laughing, cracking jokes and enjoying each other’s company.  Together, we had done something pretty cool and I was full of gratitude.  Now that’s girl power.