The New Year is the perfect time to take stock and set goals for the year ahead. And like personal New Year resolutions, they can also significantly impact a business's success. Here are a few of our favourite new year's resolutions for 2019

1. Share and Commit

An organisation is just a bunch of people together to create a product or service in pursuit of a common goal.
Like a personal resolution, a business New Year's resolution is more likely to succeed if you share with others. And goals can be reached more quickly if the commitment is structured with regular meetings.

2. Quality not Quantity

You can knock out dozens of Facebook posts every day and tweet all night long, but you could better connect with your current and potential clients by doing less. Instead, focus on posting interesting, timely information that encourages your audience to interact with you or better still share your content.

Easy ways to do this:

• Respond to comments on your posts.
• Leave comments and like content on other pages.
• Include personal notes on pictures or posts that you share.
• Take the time to make a few real connections every day and you'll see your relationships strengthen.

3. Reach out to others

We all started somewhere and you probably can remember how excited and hopeful you were and at the same time apprehensive when you began your career. 
Extend a hand to someone in your industry just starting out who could use mentoring or a sounding board for advice. Your time will be appreciated and your generosity rewarded you may even be seen as an expert in your field and as a person people want to work with.

4. 2019 and Beyond

As you think about your new year's resolutions for 2019 think about your organisation in 5 years' time. A fun way to do this is to draw pictures of how business will be done and how you and your organisation will look 2024 and beyond

Once you have pictured the future create both personal and professional objectives you'd like to achieve and think about what steps you can take to make those goals a reality. Use this plan as a motivator to stay on track throughout 2019.

5. Keep it balanced

The workday doesn't always end at 5pm on a Friday and pick up at 8am on Monday. With technology affording us instant and endless communication in modern work life is becoming more stressful. Burnout affects both your mental and physical health, so it's important to make sure you take time to recharge.
Great ways to work in balance:

• Exercise as often as you can.
• Spend time with people you care about.
• Get a good night's sleep
• Make time for 'you'.

With your mind refreshed and your body energised you and your work life will benefit.

6. Work smarter

Small businesses and organisations are usually multi-skilled and use to doing a bit of everything, but should they? Shifting work to someone else can be difficult, especially for those who are used to wearing a lot of different hats. Delegation can leave you with more time to work on what you love and what you do best.
Ask yourself these questions:

1. What do you dread doing?
2. What overwhelms you?
3. Can someone else do in minutes what takes you hours?

You may find working smarter will lead to working happier too!

Wishing You a Happy & Successful 2019!

Gifts that keep on giving

Growing gifts are a great alternative to traditional perishable, plastic or battery operated gifts, and they're better for the environment and waistline too! 

Grass Hair Kits - These cute little critters make the perfect gift for kids and adults alike. At under $5 they make perfect stocking stuffers, school friend gifts, or office gifts for colleagues. There is a huge selection of different designs to choose from (including Easter, Halloween and Christmas ranges). Growing their grass hair makes them interactive and educational, and decorating their hair once it is grown is so much fun. 

Bee & Butterfly Houses - With the world becoming more conscious about protecting our bees and pollinators, these cute wooden insect houses make the perfect gift for the person with everything! These houses have been specifically made to attract native bees (many of which are stingless), beneficial insects and butterflies. They even come with a sachet of insect attracting flower seeds. By welcoming these little creatures into your garden you're doing your little bit to ensure our crops continue to be pollinated for years to come. Ask about these and our formated bee & butterfly-attracting flower and herb mixes.

Herb Grow Pouches - Herbs are hardy and can grow in even the smallest of places, including on a windowsill. Our Herb Grow Pouches are a complete kit, they come with soil pellets, seeds and the packaging turns into a waterproof pot. At just $5 they make a great corporate gift for staff, or as a thoughtful gift for anyone who likes cooking. They are lightweight and slimline, so are perfect for posting too. 

Bio Pot Kits - These kits make beautiful little gifts for the environmentally conscious. The coloured biodegradable bamboo pots come complete with seeds and soil to get growing straight away. Approximate retail value: $10.00 each

HydroGarden - If you're looking for a super unique gift, then you can't go past the HydroGarden hydroponic kit. The HydroGarden allows you to grow fresh herbs, veggies and flowers indoors anywhere. The HydroGarden provides the right amount of light, water and nutrients to your plants, making growing super easy. The kit comes complete with everything to get started including a growing medium (vermiculite), growing light, herb seeds and nutrient sachets. Just add water! This unit is compact enough to sit on a desk and takes minimal space on a kitchen benchtop. 

Little Gardeners Mini Greenhouse - Get the kids into gardening with their own mini greenhouse kit. This cute kit comes with everything you need to build your own greenhouse, it includes the greenhouse, soil pellets, plant tags and 3 seed varieties (Cherry Tomato, Basil and Giant Sunflower). Just build, sow and grow your very own vegetables, herbs and flowers at home! This greenhouse is constructed from heavy-duty plastic so will last for seasons, it dismantles for easy storage between seasons too. Retail value $17.00, it's a winner for your pocket too! 

Mason Jar Grow Kits - Mason jars continue to feature in design trends, and these beautiful Mason Jar Grow Kits are no exception. Each kit contains a mason jar, seed packet, soil pellet and a burlap bag for that rustic touch. There are five varieties to choose from. Perfect as teacher gifts, or for loved ones. 

Grow Kit Tins - Each kit contains a colourful tin pot, seeds and soil pellet. Available in small round, or large oval sizes in a variety of herb, vegetable and flower varieties. Ranging from $8.00 to $15.00 they are great value. 

Sprouter and Microgreens Growing Kits - If you know a foodie or health fanatic, then our range of sprout and microgreen kits are a perfect gift!  Our simple growing kits allow you to grow your own fresh sprouts/microgreens hydroponically at home. We have a range of seeds to grow in these too! 

Square Ceramic Pot Kits - These high quality ceramic pots look elegant in any home or office. They come complete with seeds, soil pellet and a metal plant tag to decorate the pot. Retail value just $10.00 they are perfect for the office secret Santa, or as an alternative to the boring box of chocolates.

Succulent Pod - This is the ultimate office gift. Grow small succulents or indoor plants in this attractive desktop unit. It provides plants with the right amount of light and ventilation to grow where natural light may be lacking. Simply plug the USB cord into your computer to power the unit. 

Seeds - Seeds make a lovely gift for any gardener from the reliable tried and true lines to the latest new seed releases. A couple of dollars per packet will provide rows and rows of vegetables or pretty colour for your flower beds.

We haven't just lost one little gardener but a whole generation. If you are aged between 25 and 40 you are less likely to have or tend a garden.

There are several theories why this has happened

Outdoor areas were transformed
Parents of this lost generation of little gardeners started the trend of turning outdoor areas into extensions of their living room. Suddenly vegetable patches were paved or substituted for a deck and plants replaced with outdoor furniture. The low maintenance outdoor area became the norm.

Mums went out to work
This is the generation when mums went out to work and consequently, families no longer had time to teach children about plants and gardens.
Homes without gardens and families without time gardening skills were lost.

Little gardener found
The good news is that gardening is now a part of our many of our school education programs. And by teaching children about nature and the environment a new generation of little gardeners has been created. From early learning centres to school and community gardens children and their families are getting more involved in educational gardening activity.
Gardening is not only about learning new skills it also develops self-confidence, responsibility and patience and essentially is about having fun with the family and the satisfaction of growing your own food. 
Growing plants and learning about the environment is a positive lifestyle change that is welcomed and we look forward to many more generations of little gardeners.