Posts tagged: garden
How To: Growing Sprouts.
By Chrisjob
All you need is a mason jar.
Growing sprouts is super easy, super inexpensive, super nutritious, and makes a super great project for those who aren't home often and have a hard time taking care of other plants.
Simply pick your seeds, such as "alfalfa, broccoli, buckwheat, cabbage, chickpea, garlic, lentil, oats, yellow mustard, peas, onion, radish, sunflower, fennel, arugula, pink kale, fenugreek, wheat, or wheatgrass." Soak them overnight, and » READ MORE
How To Use Up Your Tomato Tonnage.
By ChrisjobEarlier this summer, it seemed as if we'd never get any red tomatoes...the high amounts of precipitation kept the leaves limited and the fruit green.
But now...here they come, faster than any household can consume. Here's three ideas, quick "sun-dried" tomatoes, DIY ketchup, and an easy freezing technique, that uses your bounty to the fullest.
How To: Make Your Own Fruit and Vegetable Wash.
By Chrisjob
Whether your produce is treated or straight from your own organic-method backyard, it's always wise to wash it before consuming. If commercial, washing will remove any chemicals, waxes, or supplements, and if natural, it can help rid your goodies of dirt or insects. A quick spray 'wash' helps save water, plus "most chemicals used on produce won't be washed off with a simple application of water—if they were, they wouldn't be very effective in th » READ MORE
Roll-Out Vegetable Mat Makes Gardening a Snap.
By ChrisjobNo kidding...it even includes a set of garden markers.
"Chris Chapman’s Roll-Out Veg Mat could be just the solution you’re searching for. The corrugated cardboard mat is sowed with four types of vegetable seeds and organic fertilizer all ready to be rolled out - all you need to do is add water and soil... Complete with fun graphics and instructions, Chapman’s design makes gardening much more approachable to budding green thumbs." A different ma » READ MORE
How to Store Your Seeds for Next Season.
By ChrisjobKnow what's better than growing your own produce and herbs from your own seedlings? Growing them from seeds from your own harvest. It's even more ecologically responsible, eliminates more middle-people, and...well, passes the savings onto you.
The real trick is figuring out the optimum environment to let them lie dormant so they're prepped to germinate next season. TipNut has all the tricks laid out here.
How To: Use Air Conditioner Condensation to Water Plants.
By ChrisjobCondensation...it's everyone's first science experiment. Place a cold thing in a warm environment, and water vapor gets cooled to its dew point.
So, what's a big cold thing in an even bigger warm environment? Well, your air conditioner, for one, and it condensates with the best of them. Translation: free water, perfect for giving your garden a drink.
From DIYNetwork: "No matter what kind of air conditioner you have, whole house or window box, it » READ MORE
Drive-Thru CSA Opens This Week.
By Chrisjob
Community Supported Agriculture - CSA - "consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes the community's farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production." (From Wikipedia)
They're kinda like instant grocery shopping...so, the Ramirez Farm in Riverside California has combined the system with another instant service, the dr » READ MORE
A Giant Bonsai? Nope, just a Tree Pot.
By Chrisjob
Made of two identical sides, the Tree Pot gives an established arbol the look of a potted tree. With no cutting, digging, or root reassesment necessary, the Tree Pot by PID plays with scale and arrangement, and provides a perfect place to sit.
I likes.
How to turn a hanging pocket shoe organizer into a vertical garden.
By DIY Maven
Want a garden like pippa5 but don't have the space? Then you might want to give her hanging shoe organizer garden a shot. What I particularly like about this project, is it would great for condo or apartment dwellers, provided the light on the patio/balcony is right for the plantings. To make one, you'll need....
Two DIY Fountains
By DIY Maven
It's that time of year when I start thinking garden fountains, and these two ideas are easy enough for any diy-er to tackle.
First up is a bubbling fountain, pictured above, from Sunset. To make one, you'll need to assemble the following:
- 'One 5-gal. plastic bucket, slightly wider than large pot's base diameter
- Tin snips
- Electric drill with a masonry bit
- Submersible fountain pump that lifts water at least 3 ft.
- One 2-ft. square of very sturdy » READ MORE
How To: Make a No-Sew Fold and Glue Garden Bench Cushion
By ModHomeEcTeacher
If you're planning to entertain this hot summer weekend and the thought of guests sitting on your bare garden bench makes you feel very un-Martha-like, don't panic. Honestly, you can whip up this NO SEW fold and glue garden cushion in about 45 minutes to adorn your charming garden. » READ MORE
How To: Rainbow Garden Furniture.
By Chrisjob
Check out any 'design on a budget' book. When pursuing the question "what's the biggest 'bang for your buck' in home decor?" the authors will almost always answer, "a $20.00 can of paint." And is turns out, they're right.
Case in point: Maddylane's rainbow-coated garden furniture redo, with a lovely chocolate trim. Just look at the photo below for the contrast in color and texture. The worn, water-soaked wood from before looks dingy and dangerou » READ MORE
How to Make Hypertufa Garden Pots
By DIY Maven
Okay, first let's define Hypertufa. According to The Artistic Garden, Hypertufa (hyper-toofa) is an artificial stone that was 'first created in the mid 19th century by mixing sand, peat, various volcanic aggregates and cement.' It's lighter than stone or concrete and if cured properly it's freeze-proof. Now to the fun part: Using hypertufa to make pots. Here's a video showing us how.
How to Make a Garden Tote
By DIY Maven
Backyard Living gives us the low down on how to whip up a garden carry-all. Outfitted with pockets on one side to tote your tools, seeds while the center part can hold the big stuff, like your knees-y. It could be a great gift for the gardening dad for Father's Day! To make one, you'll need:
☼ Grow A Gnome Home
By DestinybyDefinition
I wanted to share my gnome home since it's spring and if you're anything like me, you love unique ideas for potting and planting. I love miniatures so this came as a super~exciting idea to me. I had these cute little gnome dudes in my flower pots inside the house.
My husband recently got into woodwork, and I had him build me the flower box and the little 'house' (a bird house would likely work just as well). I gorilla-glued the rocks and got t » READ MORE
Rain Gutter Gardens.
By Chrisjob
Suzanne Forsling, raised in Iowa but now living in Juneau, had a need to grow her own produce, has only a bit of sunny space in her yard, and it was tiny. Her solution? Don't grow the goodies next to the house...grow 'em ON the house.
"Why not put rain gutters in rows along the wood siding on the sunny side of the house[?] It might look weird, but that was where all the heat, sun and protection from damage is best.We went to Home Depot and select » READ MORE
The Littlest Veggie Gardens
By lilybee
What's better than chomping on food you grew yourself? Not a lot really. Except maybe chomping on food you grew yourself in a tiny space, without a garden, as if by MAGIC (like 8th-floor-balcony, middle-of-the-city Sweet Peppers). TheKitchn has a roundup of the loveliest, tiniest veggie patches for us urbanites looking for inspiration to play in the dirt. There are links to the best crops for pots ("crops" squee!) and a how-to on building » READ MORE
How to Make a Concrete Garden Leaf
By DIY Maven
According to the Havekosts, making decorative concrete leaves for your garden is inexpensive and quite easy. And the outcome....fantastic! What you'll need to make one of your own includes:
7 Brick Designs for Paths and Patios
By ModHomeEcTeacher
Brick patios and paths don't have to be sidenotes to your outdoor living. With careful design and preparation, these brick surfaces can provide quite a bit of architectural design with their pattern and placement. They can even be downright works of art. » READ MORE
Ten Ways to Use Herbs to Freshen Your Home.
By Chrisjob
In most areas of the country, it's almost time to go ahead and plant your produce-producing annuals. But unlike your fresh fruits and veggies, you can actually use your herb seedlings as soon as you get them in the ground. Here's ten ways from TipNut to use fresh herbs in your spring cleaning and home maitenance.
- Homemade Herbal Carpet Freshener Recipe
- Herbal Mattress Freshener
- Homemade Herbal Lavender Dryer Bags
- Bugs-Be-Gone Bags
- Homemade Her » READ MORE
