Spring Work Out

It feels so good to be outside in the sunshine and I'm already feeling my muscles growing too!

My easiest compost ever bin last summer

Remember my post about the easiest compost ever?  I swear by this method!  Everything from fern fronds & grass clippings to egg shells & cilantro stems make it into my compost bin and magically with no mixing or moving, I get a tube full of black gold each spring! 

Now that my tube of compost is ready for use, I just pulled off the wire frame to harvest my black gold. Theres always a layer at the top that is only partially decomposed, but that's ok.  This layer along with all the worms inside of it is removed and placed in the bottom of the empty wire bin where it will jumpstart this years compost.  All the enzymes and microbes that aide in decomposition are already in that partially done layer.

I'm thrilled that I wound up with a lot of ready to use compost!  It was about 8 wheel barrows full of 100% free organic soil amendment! And with no backbreaking work or constant turning.  I just stack it in, water it when it's dry and let mother nature do her thing.  You just can't beat that! Composting is the epitome of the old saying "waste not, want not".

Beautiful black and rich.  Last years waste will

feed the plants that will feed us this year!

If you've been following my spring garden frenzy, then you know that I've run out of room in my garden beds for planting anything else.  Soon Ben will be building me some more recycled beds and bringing home a few yards of 4 way organic soil to fill them, but the sun is shining and I just can't wait.  So I took a look around the yard to see what I might repurpose for planting in some odd shaped areas of my garden where buiding beds would be difficult.

First I found the top half of an old plastic compost bin.  The bottom section had split open and was not really good for anything (that's why I'm not using plastic for my bins).  It seemed like a great candidate for a garden container.  I drug it down to the garden and found a spot for it, next to my ugly but useful recycled laundry bin planter.  I filled it with compost, leveled it out and planted another type of carrots inside.  It might not be pretty now, but it will be gorgeous when those carrots come up!

 

You never know what might make a good garden bed. 
This container lived it's first life as a compost bin,
now it will get a second life as a carrot planter!

I still had loads of compost, so I took the wire mesh tubes from last years failed potato tower experiment and carefully cut them in 1/2 to form 6 good sized containers.  These would fit perfect in the sloped corner of my garden.

 

This wire tube tower for potatoes was too tall last year.

 

That's more like it!  Now these shorter tubes I can work with. 

Each tube became 2 - 18" tall planters.  These are perfect for this spot because I can mold the shape a little bit before filling them.  Then I found some old plastic woven bird seed bags I've been saving for a project and cut those down to line the bottom of each of these new planters.  I cut drainage slashes in the lining and got to work filling each plant tube with compost.

8  loads full!  I highly recommend a 2

wheeled barrow like mine for ease of use.

Eight trips to the back yard with my wheelbarrow and I had created a whole new planting area from recycled and repurposed items I already had!  I love recycling in the garden!  

The mesh planters are full and ready
for seeding.  And now a wasted space in my
garden is going to be a productive.  Yay! 

I decided to go ahead and try potatoes in these again now that they are a bit smaller.  I have several different types of spuds that have sprouted in my cupboards that should work. I placed 3 little papita starts in each tube.  I don't know if they'll all grow, but at least some of them should.  I know potatoes grow in compost bins all the time.

Red, white & russet potatoes from the kitchen get

replanted here  along with an onion and some garlic

centers that need planting.

Oh I almost forgot, each day when the sun is out I'm opening up my boat/greenhouse to get some direct sun on the soil and the plants.  I've also placed my jugs of water strategically throughout to absorb the heat of the sun durring the day.  In the evening I'll recover the boat and those recycled containers of water will radiate the warmth back into the greenhouse. 

Those empty jugs from our ceasars and screwdrivers

become passive heaters in the greenhouse

I bumped into my neighbor Leslie as I was out enjoying the sun. She's also been hard at work cutting back her fern fronds and generously offered them to me for my garden mulch. Thank you Leslie! I think I may have enough fronds to fully line the non-growing areas of the garden now! It sure makes the garden area look nice too. A few hours of work in the sunshine and what a payoff!  I love it! 

Recycled Christmas Cards to Gift Tags

I save everything.  Every little bow, ribbon or scrap of rafia that comes my way via gifts and packaging.  I have a bag in the laundry area where these things get accumulated throughout the year.  It's great because when it is time for me to wrap gifts I have a lot of recycled items to choose from to make the perfect presentation! 

I've also been saving Christmas cards that we've received.  Someone posted a great idea about making gift tags from recycled Christmas cards on the Facebook Fan page back when we were running our Green for the Holidays Giveaway.

I decided to combine my stash of bows and ribbons with that idea and create some gift tags for our canned food & goodie baskets we're giving out to our friends this year.

Gather your supplies. 

This is a pretty, easy, and earth friendly project you can do in a short time.  All you need are some scissors, a hole punch, a stack of last years cards, some ribbon and a pen.

Choose an overall pattern to cut out for your tag.

Be sure there's no writing on the backside of the picture.

Each card is different, so you'll just have to take a look and decide on a pleasing pattern for the shape of your gift tag.  This one I simply cut out following the over all shape of the main design on the card.  Once you decide on your pattern, cut it out using the scissors, then find a good spot in the design to punch your hole. 

Here's a few in process.  You can see I just cut them out

following the overall pattern of the picture.

Now add a cute bow made from your recycled ribbons

Add your message to the back

So spread your holiday cheer and feel good because you are recycling and giving a gift to the earth too!

Here's the tags I made!

Quick N Easy Holiday Swag

Holiday visitors are coming, but my front door is still sporting my end of summer flower wreath.  Oh shoot!  What should I do? 

Here's a quick and easy project to spruce up your front door with holiday greenery that you may have growing nearby or even in your own yard.

What you will need:

* Gardening gloves

* Pretty holiday Ribbon (about 2 feet)

* Wire

* Wire Cutters

* Pruners

* Scissors

Gather together your materials and find a flat workspace preferably outdoors to save time on cleanup.  Then don your gay apparel.  In this case that means your garden gloves.  Now grab your pruners and head to your nearest cedar tree with low branches.

If you don't have a Western Red Cedar growing near your home, no problem, just substitute your favorite local evergreen.  Avoid Hemlocks because they drop their needles really quickly once they've been cut.

Prune off some nice boughs about 2 1/2 -3 feet long.  You'll need a good size stack.  Don't worry if they're not all perfectly proportioned for your swag, we'll trim them to shape as we go.

Start with 3 of your larger cedar boughs.  Lay these on top of each other to form the base layer of your sway.  You should stack them so that the leaves of each layer fall in the gaps of the previous layer. 

Once you have them nicely stacked, cut about 2 feet of your wire and wrap around the crook on the branch where the first row of leaves start. Wrap the wire fairly tightly and wrap around the branches 3 times.  You'll have a long tail of wire left for the next layer.

Now using your pruners, cut the top of the swag so that all 3 of your branches are even.

Next you'll want to add some more layers of cedar branches for fullness.  Go through your boughs and choose the branches that look the most beautiful.  Layer them onto your swag,  trimming them to length.  Now wire those in as you did the first layer. Wrap wire tightly, tie off and snip off any excess wire. Reserve any parts that you removed for the next step.

Next we'll make the accent with our trimmings.  The great thing about this cedar is the 2 tone color of the leaves.  The backside of the leaves has a brighter tone than the front, so for the accent piece we'll use the back of the leaves. 

Snip off 3 boughs at about 8 inches.  Layer these together much like you did for the swag above.  Now trim individual leaves from the remaining branch and add these for fullness. 

Cut a 6 inch length of wire and wire this tightly together and then add it to the large swag for accent and to cover any of the wires showing through the first layer.

Next we'll add an accent bow.  Click here for instructions to make your florist bow.  Using your pretty ribbon, create your bow and wire it onto your swag to cover any wires that are showing.

Now you can add any other embellishments you like.  I added a silk poinsetta and a cluster of ball ornaments to match my ribbon.  Other ideas I've done in the past:  Rose hips, pine cones, more bows, and baby's breath.

Viola!  Your holiday visitors will be greeted by some beautiful greenery when they come to your door.  And since this project only takes about 15-20 minutes, you still have time to set out the hors de vors! 

*** I used my left overs to make a mini-swag for my bathroom door too!

Green for the holidays GIVEAWAY (update)

This contest is now CLOSED!  Please follow or fan FatBottomBags to stay up to date on new bags and contests.  Thank you to Everyone who participated!

I'm giving away another FREE FatBottomBag and just in time for the holidays!  Have you entered yet?  

 Details:
      To enter the drawing you will need to:  
 
     *Become a fan of FatBottomBags on Facebook 
     or Follow me on Twitter 
     or Follow me on Blogger
         
     *Post a link to the giveaway page at 
      http://fatbottombags.blogspot.com/2009/11/green-for-holidays-giveaway-update.html
      in your status message  

     Facebook users: Post on the fanpage completing this sentence,
     "I am going Green for the holidays by _______________"
           
     Twitter users: Post an @FatBottomsBag completing this sentence,
     "I am going Green  for the holidays by ______________"
     
     Bloggers: Post a blog about FatBottomBags holiday giveaway 
     and how you are going green for the holidays and comment here with a link

One winner will be selected by me on December 1, 2009 and announced on Facebook, Twitter and on my Blog at http://fatbottombags.blogspot.com/

The winner will then choose their free bag from the available bags at the time of the drawing from FatBottomBags On-line Store  Free bag will be shipped by US Priority Mail *(I'll pay the shipping) Winner should receive the free bag in time for the holidays!

FatBottomBags are made from recycled plastic shopping bags.  I recycle for 20 families and together we've kept over 4500 (and counting) plastic bags from going into the wastestream! Each bag is unique and comes with a signed certificate of authenticity. Here's a slideshow of the current bags available as of today 11/23/09

Don't waste your waste! Become a Worm Wrangler.

Ok gardeners and other green people are you still throwing your food waste in the garbage?  Stop that!  Don't waste your waste!  Become a Worm Wrangler.

Do you know that the average American household produces about 5lbs of garbage everyday?  I wonder how much we could reduce that by simply composting our food waste.  It might even lower your garbage bill!

I started coralling crawlies last fall when I set up my wonderful Worm Factory Worm Bin.  I love this company for making their worm bins from  post consumer recycled materials and they're here in my local area. Also the lifespan of these bins is supposed to be about 70 years and it comes with a 5 year warranty!

Worm Factory Worm bins rock!!!

Here's some fun facts about worms:

• Wrangling Red Wiggler Worms is called Vermiculture
• Worms eat up to 1/2 of their body weight eachday, so if you've got a pound of worms they'll eat a 1/2 pound of your food waste everyday!
• Worms in bins should receive a mix of 1/2 food waste and 1/2 fiber, so worms can eat your junk mail and shredded documents!
• Worms process your compost much faster in a worm bin than in a regular compost bin and takes a lot less work than turning a compost pile.
• Garden plants grow faster and fuller when fertilized with worm tea!
• You can use worm bins indoors or out! So even apartment dwellers can raise red wigglers.
• Mixing finished worm compost into your potting soil makes houseplants healthy and happy
• Worms will reproduce in your worm bin but they'll regulate themselves based on the environment and amount of available food and space!  Watch this short film from Isabella Rosellini to learn more about worm reproduction

Here's a peek at my healthy happy worms.

I love my worm bin so much I even made my own video about it this summer.

Here's Fat Red Worms

There are a few things that worms won't eat and should not be placed in your worm bin.  They're not too picky, but worms will not eat onions, citrus rinds, and jalepenos or other hot peppers.

Kojo designs has a free giveaway for November!

I'm following Kojodesigns blog because she's making a lot of really cute clothes for little girls.   She's done a fantastic tutorial to show us all how we can make our own ruffled dress from a Tshirt!

If you're crafty, this is a pretty, quick and easy conversion project.  If you're a little less than crafty or you are like me and have a back log of projects, you may want to sign up for your chance to win one of these little cuties!

For the month of November she's running a fabulous FREE GIVEAWAY!  One lucky winner will receive one of these cute little dresses!  You can choose your size from newborn to 3 T with 6 color choices!

 I've signed up for my new granddaughter (expeted to join us on December 23rd).  Who will you sign up for?

African violets - propigation and care

I'm crazy for propigating plants.  When the works done in my outdoor garden, I turn to my indoor plants to get me through the gloomy days of winter.  Today I'm going to show you how I turned a handful of african violets into a growing collection!  This is a very easy way to increase your houseplants with little effort or cost.

For this project you will need:
     * a few fully mature african violet plants
     * 3-6 weeks time in sunny window
     * short jars or glasses
     * some small pots with saucers
     * good quality organic potting soil
     * pencil

This organic mix with worm casting and bat guano costs a little extra

but it's worth it when you see the blooms on these violets in winter

Remove a few of the healthy outer leaves from your mature plant.  You'll want to break them off cleanly and close to the main stem.  This is also a  good time to remove and compost any of the old faded flowers or leaves.

Here's one of my mature plants.  I'll remove the bottom leaves at the stem

Place the healthy leaves in a short jar or glass and add water to cover the bottom 1/3 or less of the stems.

A recycled artichoke jar is just the right size for this project!

Place your jar of leaves in a sunny window sill for 3 to 6 weeks.  Keep a close eye on the jar for newly forming roots.  Be sure to add water as needed, but don't overfill or you risk rotting your stems.  When adding water be careful not to get water on the furry leaves.  Remove and compost any of your leaves that begin to turn mushy at the stem.

When you begin to see small leaves or plantlets growing out of the base of your stems, it's time to pot up your new starts!

Fill your small pots with potting mix and pack down gently. Using a pencil, create a depression in the soil. Carefully seperate the leaves with attached roots and place your leaf in the depression.  Gently pack soil around the stem of the leaf. Be very careful that you don't break off the new plantlet from the leaf.

Here I've places several new starts in a single pot.  Once the new

growth reaches at least 1" I will seperate these into their own pots

Water your new start and place in a sunny window.  When the plantlet has grown to about 8 leaves of at least 1 inch high, you may cut back the original starter leaf.

This is a start I planted about 1 month ago. 

General care for your african violets:  

African violets require a medium to full light of a south facing window to bloom well.  They like to be kept humid, but not wet.  To keep up the humidity you can place a few saucers of water amongst your plants.

I can hardly wait for all these little beauties to bloom!

The biggest mistake when growing these plants is over watering.  It's best to water them from the bottom and allow the plant to draw up the moisture from the roots.

Another common mistake is water on the folliage, this will cause rot or brown spots on your plants.  You may however, spray a fine mist on them a few times per week. 

To get big beautiful blooms, you'll want to fertilize these plants about 1 x per month in the winter and 2 x per month in the summer. I was using worm tea from my worm bins, but found it's too smelly to use indoors.  You can purchase a specialized fertilizer for african violets at the nursery.

Mine usually bloom starting around Thanksgiving and continue all the way through early summer, then they rest and begin again in late fall. 

These delicate blooms last for several weeks

The best part about propigating your own houseplants is sharing!  I love to give gifts that are handmade or in this case homegrown.  These make really great hostess gifts and violets are especially appreciated when they are in the full glory of bloom!

Echo the eco-dog and his sort of recycled sweater

Our dog Echo is one of those "tough" breeds.  He's a very friendly pitbull but with his low fat, high muscle build the cold weather has him shivering like crazy. That's not so tough! 

Now I'm not one to dress up my dog for the sake of fashion, but as the days get shorter and the mercury dips, I will put him in a nice warm sweater for safety and comfort.

To create that custom fit around the back end I simply dropped

two stitches in each of the last 3 or 4 rows

I'm calling this a sort of recycled sweater because I used yarn that I'd purchased from a thrift store along with some scraps from my yarn basket.

He's so proud of his new look!  You can see I made a button closure

on the strap on this side and the other side is attached

This is a really simple easy crochet project.  It's made entirely with a single crochet stitch, but it still looks great and will help keep Echo nice and warm all winter long!

The fit is perfect  and it doesn't hinder his activity at all.

Echo goes with us whenever possible.  This sweater will help him to stay

warm and cozy when he's waiting in the car while we run our errands.

Still time to plant your strawberries!

Today I went to check on my secret garden.  My dear friend down the road allows me a few beds in his organic garden to plant as I please.  This year I just took 1 bed for corn.  I planted late, so the corn never fully developed, but according to my motto "nothing to waste", I cut the corn stalks to use for harvest decorations. I cleaned up the corn bed to ready it for my spring planting.  Maybe pumpkins will go in there next year or ???? 

Ben posing with my "miniature" corn

This corn got planted too late to produce

But it sure looks nice as a harvest decoration near my new greenhouse!

After that I turned my attention to my friends strawberry bed.  He has a lot of everbearing berries in there and asked me to thin it out a bit.  The great thing about gardening and friendships is that there's always so much to be shared.  Where there is bounty in 1 garden, there is often need in another, and that was the case with us.

 I thinned out some of his beautiful strawberry plants from his bed, being careful not to over thin or leave any "bald" spots.  Each little berry plant that I pulled out was placed gently in my bucket to be transplanted in my home garden.

What a beautiful and abundant berry patch in the "secret" garden

The grey clouds held on to their rain long enough for me to get home and start my new strawberry bed.  I grabbed my bucket of strawberry starts and got right to work.

It's good to have friends who garden.  These are free starts for my own

strawberry patch.  If  I had purchased these it would have cost a pretty penny.

I chose an empty bed in my garden that receives plenty of sunlight.  Earlier this year this bed had purple cherokee tomatoes.  When planting in my garden from year to year, I try to rotate crops.  This rotation of crops helps to curb transfer of diseases from one season to the next.

This little bed is in direct sunlight most of the summer, a good choice for

everbearing strawberries

Fall is the perfect time to start a new strawberry bed.  When planted at this time of year, the plants have 2 seasons to develop good healthy root systems before the plant puts its energy into fruit. 

One thing to be aware of when you plant your strawberries is the crown.  These plants grow from a base and all new leaves and berries grow out of the crown.  When you transplant your starts be very careful about the depth.  You will want to bury all of the roots, but NOT the crown.  Be sure that the crown of leaves is at or slightly above ground level.  If you do cover the crowns, you will risk the entire plant which can rot below the soil surface.

By next fall I'll be thinning my own strawberry patch and be able

to share some starts with other friends

With a little bit of work and the satisfaction of assisting a friend, I came away with a brand new full bed of strawberries.  These everbearings will set fruit throughout the spring and summer next year.  Even now, some of these little plants still have berries and flowers!