Sasha's Blog posts
I decided to get a blog going. Why? Here are some reasons:
- I like the possible personal benefits of a bit of reflection which I might achieve by writing a regular blog.
- Some people who have an interest in the miniature environments of terrariums might enjoy reading and commenting on it.
- It might enable me to establish a community of Sasha’s terrarium and jarrarium owners.
- It might help develop the Sasha business by finding out more about what my customers want and their preferences when considering investing in one of Sasha’s terrariums and jarrariums.
- It might be mindful, meditative and most of all fun.
- I think I will do it. So here I go into the blogosphere. Please let me know what you think. Sasha
Where did Sasha's Terrariums and Jarrariums come from?
Hi. I'm Sasha, at least that's my name and who I am when I think about and create worlds inside glassware. It can be difficult to write about Sasha in the first person as we have not yet fully blended into one entity. So if I seem to be wandering from one entity to another, please try to run with it as it is and understand my difficulty. I kinda like it as it's nice to have somebody to talk things over with when exploring new ideas.
Four times Sasha tried to retire, leaving his 'proper job' behind , but each time was drawn back into the world of work. He chose jobs that were completely unlike anything he had done before and they were fine for a while; then he lost momentum, patience and interest and retired back to his outdoor garden, which at that point had taken five years to develop into something half presentable and productive.
That could have been enough but it wasn't. Then he saw a chap on TV put a fern into soil in a small jar which was then sealed, put on a shelf indoors, and it thrived. That sparked Sasha's interest in creating small living worlds where plants could thrive and truly bring nature indoors; hence he often says let's 'Go a Little Wild Inside'. Now, Sasha knew about terrariums but not in any detail and certainly had limited understanding of the process and chemistry of self-contained photosynthesis, the process by which green plants, algae, and some bacteria convert sunlight into energy. He hadn't heard of jarrariums - the smaller ones and for a while thought he had invented new word. Not so it turned out as a google search will quickly show. But Sasha soon found that there are lots of jars, vases and drinks dispensers of all shapes and sizes available for reuse and repurposing.
So he got a book or two from the library, somewhat unusual perhaps in the digital age, and learned the basics. Then he learned by doing, and by failure and mistakes and then soon a hobby, because that's what it was at the start, got out of hand and became a business selling Sasha's terrariums and jarrariums. After all, money was required to buy new plants and raw materials in order to feed Sasha's obsession. He is showing no sign of retiring yet.
Is what Sasha does a craft and a hobby?
If you Google the meaning of 'crafter' the AI bot will show you something like this: A crafter is a person who creates decorative or functional objects by hand, typically as a hobby or as part of a small business. The term encompasses anyone skilled in manual arts, such as knitting, woodworking, pottery, or jewellery making. I think Sasha just about makes the cut here and could argue he is a crafter and creative indoor gardener. The terrariums and jarrariums he makes are decorative and perhaps unusual as a craft output in that they are living things.
As for the hobby label, then it was and still is a hobby for Sasha. If the process of crafting these lovely things becomes just a job and then a chore the end will come quite quickly. Hobbies can and do get out of hand.
As Sasha is a former business owner and manager over many decades, it would be dishonest to deny that Sasha's tried and tested sales and business development instincts don't feature and add value to the running of Sasha's Terrariums and Jarrariums, but they are under control. Sasha delights in telling people all about the features and benefits of his creations. Telling is not really selling, asking questions and providing solutions to problems, meeting needs and so on, is selling. Fortunately this blog is not part of a business skills guide so, who cares?
The ginger cat shown to the right is called Toby and has no interest in terrariums or jarrariums. She just got in the way of the camera so I negotiated image rights with her, involving the provision of extra treats such as freshly roasted chicken. Despite the male sounding name she's a girl, but that's a story for another blog post.
Beyond the ordinary
Sasha aims to be innovative and try new things. An example is his open top terrariums and jarrariums, which is a counter intuitive concept as they can't create their own supportive environment like the sealed units. However, the terrarium label is often applied to them as a mini indoor garden in an unsealed glass vessel. Sasha is not convinced of the appropriateness of this label and prefers to call them open topped desert gardens, making them perfect for desert-dwelling plants that dislike lot's of moisture. For these creations he uses cacti, succulent and the hugely interesting air plants. Air plants don't have roots and just hang from or sit on what's available. You need to care for them in a different way.
Care of open topped terrariums
Check the soil moisture every two weeks and if it's a little dry then add just a little rain water. In addition, if air plants are included, despite the fact that you might think an 'air plant' needs no more than air, this is not so and they need water too. The air plants Sasha uses need to be placed green side down in rain water every 2 weeks for just 10 minutes.