Read the article as it appeared in www.BaskingRidge.Patch.com.

A Gracious Mom-and-Tot Garden Party at New Vernon’s Hidden Pond Farm, written by Susan Brierly.

On a gloriously golden day under a brilliant blue sky, interior designer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Janet Simon of New Vernon hosted a whimsical garden party at her family’s Hidden Pond Farm residence.

Kids’ potting party
Digging in the Dirt is Good, Clean Fun Consummate entertainer Janet Simon of New Vernon believes that every space on her property deserves to be enjoyed. And that includes the tiny garden house that occupies a 13-by-15-foot parcel of land in the middle of the family’s hay field. “It’s so much more than a potting shed,” Simon says. “I enjoy using it for meditating, journaling, summer dining with my husband, and our annual hot chocolate holiday party. You won’t find any garden tools stored there.”

While Simon and a few friends enjoyed tea on the terrace on a sunny afternoon, she invited inquisitive preschoolers for playtime in the garden house.

“I wanted to offer the kids a fun project, so I gave each one a clay pot, a small burlap bag of potting soil, and an assortment of seeds—parsley, basil, thyme, and cherry tomatoes,” Simon says. She also provided mini garden tools to keep little hands busy. “The kids thought it was great, and they really got into the spirit—and into the dirt.”

The garden house has no electricity, phone, or running water, and that’s the way the family likes it. “It’s just a peaceful little spot in the middle of our field, and it’s perfect all year around,” Simon says.

Get Your Kids Into the Act
To find out if your town has a garden club, contact The Garden Club of New Jersey, Inc. Is there a budding young gardener in your family? Then meet Michael Bedrick (aka Marigold Mike) of Morristown. His business, Let’s Bloom Together (973-270-0102; letsbloomtogether.com) specializes in gardening fun for kids. “We introduce children ages 3 to 10 to the natural environment in a fun, nurturing way,” Bedrick says. “We incorporate earth science, history, and astronomy, as we stress responsibility, sustainability, and community.”

In your own backyard, dedicate a tiny patch of soil to your child’s garden, and surround it with a border of rocks or shells. Equip your tyke with her own gardening gloves, shovel, pail, and brightly colored rubber boots—and see what sprouts.

Read the article as it appeared in www.parkplacemag.com.

"Oh, sure, I'll throw that in the trash," said Marigold Mike, pointing to a piece of cardboard he held up in front of a room full of Chatham Day School students. He then proceeded to pick up magazines from Toys R Us, LL Bean and other companies. "I'll just throw those in the trash, by the way," he said.

Marigold Mike, whose real name is Michael Bedrick, was at the school on Wednesday to teach the children about recycling, and was playing the part of someone who doesn't know how to recycle. It's bad, he told them, to throw such things out, since they can be recycled so easily. But that's what lots of people do—throw them out.

He asked the young students in the room to imagine if each and every one of them decided to fill up their trash cans with recyclable materials, instead of choosing to put them in the recycling bin.
"Imagine if there were 70 of these trash cans—they would be filled up over my head," he said. "If I didn't get rid of my trash, I'd be living in a trash can."

He asked the students if they knew why it was important to recycle. "When you recycle something, you turn it into something new," one student said.

Marigold Mike said that was true, and said that when trash dominates, lots of materials go to a landfill, and landfills use up lots of land. He then continued on to teach students about which objects are recyclable, and which are not—anything plastic with shoulders can be recycled, but bottle caps cannot be.

The event was one of a variety of Earth Day events taking place across the Chathams throughout the week. There was a Passaic River cleanup and a Wuhala Woods and Kelley's Pond restoration over the weekend, and there will be an Earth Day celebration at Chatham High School this weekend.

Read the article as it appeared in www.chatham.Patch.com.

On February 15th Let’s Bloom Together’s dynamic Marigold Mike will present two fun recycling workshops to kick off Winter Vacation week at the Community Children’s Museum located at 77 East Blackwell St., Dover, NJ 07801. The two sessions held from 10:30am to 11:30am and from 2:30-3:30pm will use games and stickers to introduce recycling to children of all ages. These workshops and a related take home craft will be free with the price of museum admission. The Museum will be open February 15th thru the 20th from 10am to 5pm providing hands on fun for families in Northern New Jersey during their school vacation.

Let’s Bloom Together® is an enrichment program that provides fun gardening classes to children ages 3–10 at the New Jersey 4-H Youth Development Program, a part of Rutgers Extension, the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and many school and organizations in the Morris County area.

The Community Children’s Museum is a non profit organization where children can explore and learn through hands on fun in art, science and world cultures. The Museum’s regular hours are Thursday thru Saturday 10am to 5pm and admission is $5 per person 6 months and older and $4 for seniors. Funding for the museum has been made possible in part by the Arts Council of the Morris Area through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information call (973) 366-9060 or visit www.communitychildrensmuseum.org.

At Work with Let's Bloom Together
Libby Barsky
THE JEWISH STATE
January 29, 2010

Name: Let's Bloom Together
Type of business: A gardening program for youngsters ages 3-10 in group instruction or as a birthday party
Address: P.O. Box 1234, Morristown
Telephone: (973) 270-0102
Web site: www.letsbloomtogether.com
Number of employees: 1
Founded: February 2008
Top officer: Michael Bedrick

How would you describe your business? "Let's Bloom Together is a gardening program designed to make learning about plants and flowers fun and interesting for children. It's a gardening and enrichment program that is a lot deeper than just gardening. The themes of responsibility, sustainability, and community are woven throughout all the lessons. Sessions also include all the core subject matter that schools are required to teach like science, math, history, astronomy are in the program."

What makes your business special? "It's a unique approach to gardening and I do everything -- it's me. I believe that gardening is fun and children learn best when they are having fun. "I have over 30 lessons. Every class provides a hands-on activity, when we are learning about gardening -- whether it's the tools we use or whether it's about different flowers, herbs, or vegetables. They take something home with them and mostly they take home something they worked on. Besides offering sessions for summer camp, I also bring gardening classes into schools as part of their science program. I also bring my materials to a birthday party of for children 3-8 -- go over the history of the wheelbarrow, give the children wheelbarrow rides and then have them involved in our hands-on project. Every child will leave with their own flower. The party will go from 45 minutes to an hour-and-a-half depending upon the number of children. I've had parties with 40 children attending. I just love the kids."

What goals do you have for your business? "The goal to my program is to introduce people to gardening because it's always been a source of joy and relaxation for me. The proof is in -- there are studies that show gardening helps children's behavioral issues and helps them learn at a higher level. It helps them take the classroom material and put it to real world use in a positive way that will help society."

How has your business changed? "The only way it's changed is that some of the content has changed. I've added more classes and events for the children to participate in, but otherwise it's stayed the same fun activity."

What was your most important deal? "Leaving the world of corporate sales and starting my own business was the most important thing I did. After years of my previous job, I wondered what I'd do with my life. I've thought about this for a long time. To do this I've gotten a lot of support from my family, and many people who I respect told me to go for it. And finally one day, when I really didn't want to go to work to continue what I was doing, I made the decision to start my business."

What changes do you expect in your business in the next 10 years? "I do expect changes but I don't know what they will be. Things are being worked on now, but I can't talk about them."

What is the most important thing you've learned in your business? "That I love what I do and I will be doing this the rest of my life. I look forward to it. Working with the children is so rewarding. No matter how much I did for customers or how well I did in corporate sales no one gave me the sincere thank you that I get from parents that I get now, for working with these children. Parents come up to me thanking me for getting their children involved in the earth and learning about recycling and the needs of plants and growing them."

What advice would you give to someone considering your line of work? "If they want to start their own business, make sure they love to do it. If you love it, it'll work out in any way."

Is there anything else you would rather be doing? "No. Work-wise, I love it."

View the article as it appeared in The Jewsih State

CORPORATE COG FINDS SUCCESS AS FLOWER GURU
by Danny Teigman/The Star-Ledger

Michael Bedrick of Morris Township, owner of Let's Bloom Together, does a
gardening presentation for children at Stonybrook Day Camp in Randolph.

Money doesn't grow on trees, but at least one Morris Township resident hopes profits sprout from his plants.

Last year, before the recession began uprooting lives, Michael Bedrick took a big risk.

He jettisoned his 13-year career in corporate sales and founded his one-man company, Let's Bloom Together. Instead of grueling commutes to Queens, N.Y., Bedrick visits classrooms and day camps throughout North Jersey, teaching young children about plants and how to care for the environment.

Now known as "Marigold Mike," -- his favorite flower -- Bedrick, 42, hopes his blend of education, humor and salesmanship will help his business grow to become a major part of his family's income.

"Let me explain something very clearly. I am not a teacher, but the goal of teaching is to get a message across and make it stick in a fun, loving, nurturing way," he said in a recent interview at his home, which has marigolds, impatiens, geraniums, rhododendrons and Japanese holly planted throughout the property. "I know how to relate to children. I'm always the oldest child in the room."

For now, his big risk is paying off in money-making adult ways.

As schools and camps look for creative ways to cut program costs while preserving quality, Bedrick's presentation is a good fit. Rather than sending students and campers to off-campus events -- excursions that require buses, drivers, insurance and bagged lunches -- it's more cost-effective, they say, to bring events to them.

That's one of the reasons why Roger Black, 35, the director and owner of Stonybrook Day Camp in Randolph, hired Bedrick. He said several events this summer were held on campus or organized by camp staff and not farmed out to other companies, saving Stonybrook about $1,800.

In better years, Black may have considered taking his campers to the Frelinghuysen Arboretum, in nearby Morristown. This year, Bedrick's presentation made financial sense.

"The truth of the matter is the economy affects things," Black said. "But I'm not going to cut back on the quality of the program."

Bedrick's program also makes economic sense for the Goddard School For Early Childhood Development, also in Randolph. Instead of sending the school's oldest children on field trips, all 130 students can benefit from an in-school experience.

"If you go on a field trip, you can just look," said Anne Riczko, the school's owner. "(Bedrick) allows children to plant their own garden. It just doesn't happen in a forty-five minute field trip."

A typical field trip -- including the cost for a bus, admission to an event and the expense of hiring temporary staff to maintain appropriate student-teacher ratios for 40 four-year-olds -- can run $1,000, she said.

It's balance sheet basics like this that keep Bedrick's business growing. And while many small businesses find that still-sluggish credit markets can be a damper on growth, Bedrick plans on keeping his business a one-man show and expenses low.

What began last year as a small operation run from his basement has grown into a six days a week job. Last school year, he visited some 30 schools and was the main attraction at about 60 birthdays for children ages 3 to 10. This year, he hopes to quadruple his business.

And if present growth rates continue, the salesman-turned-teacher expects to be grossing a six-digit salary by the end of 2010, close to the income he had before venturing out on his own.

"There would have to be an act of God to go back to corporate America," he said.

View the article as it appeared in The Star Ledger - Your Business

Let's Bloom Together is sponsoring its first annual "Beautification Project" in Morris County in collaboration with The Kiddie Academy of Chester and KC's Coffee Place.

Pre-k and kindergarten students from the Kiddie Academy of Chester, under the guidance of Mike Bedrick, planted annuals at KC's Coffee Place.

Let's Bloom Together is a gardening enrichment program designed to make learning about plants and flowers fun and interesting for children. Students not only learn about plants through hands-on experiences, they learn the importanace of taking care of the environment.

Read the complete article from print media News

Let's Bloom Together works to introduce gardening to children ages 3 to 8. Founded by Michael Bedrick, who is known as "Marigold Mike," the youngsters are involved in beautification projects across Morris County.

"We go over the basics of gardening while introducing the very basics of other subject matters like science, math, astronomy, geology, community and much, much more," Bedrick said.

"The main idea is to get these children into being part of the community while having fun. Children learn best while they are having fun."

Read the complete article from The Star Ledger - Around The Towns

Classes start April 18, 2009 and are every
Saturday at 9:30am for 8 weeks.
Children ages 3 - 10 are welcome.  Come experience these topics and more:

• Learn how plants and flowers grow
• Learn the names of plants and flowers and what they look like
• Learn the proper use of gardening tools
• Learn the importance of ongoing care for plants and flowers
• Develop an appreciation for nature and the environment
• Learn responsibility for themselves and for the planet
• Recycling and Composting (Keep It Green)
• Develop hand/eye coordination as well as fine and gross motor skills
• Develop observational, social, emotional and creative skills
• Get a basic introduction to an array of academic subjects

To Register for this event download the attached PDF form and return via mail to:
Let's Bloom Together
PO Box 1234
Morristown, NJ 07962

BY JANET ERWOOD
SPECIAL TO MORRISTOWN THIS WEEK

Michael Bedrick wants kids to know that gardening is fun.

"I can remember as far back as 3 years old when I was planting in the garden with my father," Bedrick said. "Those are some of the happiest memories of being with my dad and being side by side with him teaching me all about gardening and planting. It was so cool to be out there with him. He taught me how to plant flowers, vegetables and so many other things about the earth and the soil."

For 16 years, Bedrick held corporate jobs. But about a year ago, he had an epiphany and made a decision to follow his dream and lifelong passion: gardening.

Read the complete article from MorristownThisWeek.com

myBusiness Section of MORRISTOWN THIS WEEK

Read the complete article from MorristownThisWeek.com