Old Tires, Concrete blocks, Pallets...Reuse, Reinvent for the Garden

With a little imagination and the wonderful ideas found on Pinterest, one can discover all kinds of ways to garden with limited funds and available space. Being able to reuse something for a purpose other than what it originally intended is very gratifying. No one feels great about adding to landfills so every little bit that can be reused for something else is a good thing.

Old pallets can have a new life in the garden as a tidy place to grow lettuces, greens and even strawberries.



Carefully add soil between the slats and let it settle down as it may. In this photo one pallet has leaf lettuces and the other is a blend of various greens. Just sprinkle the seeds lightly and lightly pat down. Such small seeds don't need to actually be buried in the soil, they need light to germinate. Once the lettuce fills in, take a scissors to thin it out. Snip to create about four inches between the plants. Don't pull them out or you may disturb the roots of the lettuces you want to keep. Use the cuttings for your salads. Pallets keep the plants nicely off the ground, therefore the need to rinse off dirt is greatly reduced.




Concrete blocks can be used to grow strawberries The plants are kept off the ground so dealing with weeds is just about eliminated. Since each plant has limited soil around it, you will have to water frequently. This is the first time I'm trying this idea so I'l find out soon enough how well the strawberries produce. Come autumn, lay straw up and around the blocks to proved insulation from cold temperatures. Remove in the spring. Strawberry plants should be replaced every three to five years.



The way you arrange your blocks is up to you. You can surround an existing bedding box or as here, the blocks were set around a pallet.

The terms concrete blocks, cement blocks, and cinder blocks are often used to mean the same thing. Cinder blocks are the term used in the manufacture of blocks using smelters. Back in the 1930's there were makers of cinder blocks in the eastern U.S. who used fly ash, from coal burning, also called clinker, to produce blocks. Agregate was sometimes slag or other industrial waste. These blocks are softer and not like today's concrete blocks. Dust from those blocks burns the eyes and lungs so is very toxic. Here in PA the terms cinder blocks and cement blocks are used for the same idea but they're not the same thing. Blocks used for construction as we know today are concrete and not at all toxic.

Unless you use a garage to take care of tire removal for your car when you replace your tires, you may have to pay to get rid of them. Here is a creative way to put those eyesores in your garage to use.

Optional is to first spray paint the tires different colors to get away from the ordinary black. To save space and add further eye appeal these are stacked, but they can be arranged however you want. The tires that are off the ground needed a piece of tarp or plastic to line their bottoms so the soil doesn't just fall through. Poke holes in the tarp for drainage. Add enough soil to fill the holes and plant what you wish. Here we used herbs but last season I had planted impatiens. These herbs were just planted in the month of May so how they do as they grow has yet to be seen. The picture below was taken in August so the plants had nicely filled in by then.
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Something Lost, Something Gained! Reinvent, Repurpose, Reuse

Nothing lasts forever and this past spring we had to say good-bye to our above ground swimming pool. After fifteen years the pool served its purpose entertaining our kids during the hot summer months but we were getting tired of the cost of its upkeep. With everything being made of either tin or plastic it was inevitable that the effects of the elements would be a constant battle between cracked hoses and the formation of rust. The water intake area formed a rust spot on the side of the pool a few years ago and it slowly spread downward. One nasty winter storm too many and that weak spot burst, causing the collapse of the pool frame.



Wanting to keep as much as possible out of the landfill we found a use for everything but the plastic support columns. The liner we cut up and stored to use later for something, perhaps as walkways in the garden. The plastic rim that went around the top we used to line around my herb garden which was planted using an old winter pool cover to initially cover the ground and kill the grass so the size was the same. The tin sides were cut up and picked up by a local scrap dealer. What a job all that was!

The remaining sand pit remained and we decided to turn the area into a great spot for garden bedding boxes. Already leveled flat and with great southern sun exposure it was the perfect spot for plants needing at least eight hours of direct sun a day. Being the boxes were on sand we wanted a deeper depth so used 12" wide lumber. These boxes are 8' long by 4' wide which is perfect for my needs. You don't want your boxes too wide or it becomes difficult to reach towards the center. We needed almost four yards of garden soil to fill them so to save money we ordered it to be delivered as a truck load rather than individual bags. It was a mixture of top soil and mushroom soil. What a delight to work with great quality soil right from the start!

With limited space, try to make the most of going up. Pole beans rather than bush beans, cucumbers and my birdhouse gourds all climb so the use of vertical supports really increases your possibilities. I even made use of an old wooden ladder for the gourds.

Think succession planting. If you plant onions in the early spring and pull them as scallions, that area can be later used for something else. By August when the summer squash and green beans may be dwindling you can plant turnips, spinach, lettuce, beets, kale, radishes, chard and winter onions. By October you will have room for planting some garlic bulbs and enjoy fresh garlic next July. When the garlic gets dug up there will be space for something else, perhaps a second planting of green beans.

Bedding boxes don't have to be used for vegetable gardens. You can have a beautiful herb garden. Get creative and have a themed garden. Perhaps one box can be for your cooking herbs, another box can be used for medicinal herbs, another can be for herbs used in crafts such as the Artemisias which are great for making wreaths. You can create a garden aimed to attract beneficial pollinators or for butterflies and hummingbirds. One box can be your night bloomers to attract moths. So even with limited space you can create your own, unique, individualized spot to call your own.

June

July
Sprawling all over the ground is just one pumpkin plant!

Shop Till You Drop and still Be Kind to our Earth

 

Everything man does seems to effect the earth, yet nature has an amazing knack for healing and adapting to the challenge of survival.  

 

Earth Day brings renewed awareness of how we can make change and a difference. There will the be usual planting of trees and community activities but how about we look closely at our own lives and see where we can make a difference every day of the year.

 

 We live in a society of consumerism where if you have the means to purchase something you are free to do just that. We love to shop. It's a day out, it's fun, and we all like the thrill of a bargain and bringing home something new. But that is the word we're going to focus on with this post. What is the meaning of "new"? Does it have to be newly made from raw materials? Or can it just be new to you?

 

Thank goodness the times have changed with the attitude towards second hand or thrift shopping. My grandparents' generation pulled themselves out of the depression era with a proud determination in capitalism. If a man or woman worked hard and was blessed to be financially comfortable than to buy new was a perk without having to settle for used. There used to be a sense of embarrassment if seen by someone you know while shopping in a thrift shop. To do so meant you were struggling financially or were considered low class.

Factory production and a market that demanded the items meant jobs, therefore to buy new was supporting the continued need for employment.  That philosophy was wonderful until companies sought out the cheapest ways to meet the demand. Companies may seek to move overseas in order to employ cheaper labor and acquire cheaper materials. What has resulted is modern day slavery and a major strain on our environment.

 

The fashion industry rolls out the latest trends at an unbelievable rate to keep up with seasonal sales. They can do that by finding the cheapest labor markets to put out in bulk and keep prices low. Neither concern for the worker nor the source of the materials is often a main priority for those at the top of the corporate ladder. 

 

Poor, unsafe working conditions, low wages, and few benefits keep these working people in unhealthy, high risk situations with little hope to better the future for their families.

 

We usually don't question just how fabric ends up with the brightest array of colors and the whitest whites. These are the result of bleaches, acid washes and chemical dyes which contain heavy metals known to be carcinogenic. Because being environmentally responsible isn't always required and being it costs money, textile industries may skirt around proper clean-up and disposal. Waste may be just dumped into local waterways or buried under the ground. Water becomes polluted from not only the waterways but chemical seepage over time should these buried barrels leak into the ground water.

 

Since clothing is often cheaply made, it's life span is not nearly as long as the clothes we remember as hand-me-downs. The clothing industry doesn't want you to save your clothes for the future, they want families to buy new. Combine that with the mentality that people get bored with what they have, and we have a major concern with the amount of added trash to the landfills. People too often have the attitude that if they are going to pay for trash pick-up then they are going to get their money's worth and fill those cans. Please take the time to support services and businesses dependent on donations.

 

Most of our clothing is made from cotton. Since the 1960's the world has doubled its production of cotton. Synthetics are huge too, but cotton is still the main demand. To fill that demand we now have Monsanto providing farmers all over the world with genetically modified seeds. We know GMO crops affect the soil, the water, the air, yet feel powerless to stop it. The amount of pesticides needed to keep these crops free of pests is a real danger to not only the environment but to every living organism. People working the fields without protection are put at real risk for illness.

 

Buying organic cotton clothes may seem like the answer. It is a better choice, but though organic cotton reduces pesticide use, the processing and dyeing require more water and energy than conventional cotton. We're hearing a lot about bamboo since it is easily renewable. But again, after harvest the process to create a soft fiber requires it be spun with harsh chemicals.

 

So we may not be able to change things overnight but we can decide how we as individuals do our shopping. At least when you buy used, already purchased clothes (and anything else for your household), you aren't contributing to the initial source of the problem.

Thank goodness our children are now in a society supporting sustainability and the three R's: reuse, recycle, renew! To shop second hand is a way of boycotting the fashion industry with its wasteful packaging, sweat shop labor, and ridiculous price tags. Yard sales, on-line barter sites, flea markets, community swap days and thrift shops can be a gold mine for those seeking to save money, find great deals, discover unique treasures and antiques. Great for those who love to shop because they get bored with what they already have. They can rotate their clothes by donating them back into circulation for someone else, come home with new finds, and not feel guilty since they never spent full price on the originals.

 

Now to how we care for all these great finds. Be conscious with how much you use your washing machine. They say the average household washes 400 loads of laundry a year. That is a lot of water. Before wearing an item only once and tossing it into the hamper, consider if it is "dirty" enough to need a washing yet. Depending on what our daily activities are we may not have to wash so often. Be sure the loads are full before using the energy it takes to complete a cycle. Try to reserve hot water only for whites and either make your own laundry soap or buy phosphate-free detergent.

Clothes made from synthetic materials such as polyester contribute to the pollution of our oceans. Every time a piece of polyester clothing is washed it releases microfibers. Considering the vast amount of laundry in the world, that is a lot of plastic pollution entering our waterways. Cutting down on the frequency in which we wash our clothes can help.

Finally, if you are allowed and have the space, hang your clothes outside to air dry. This is another area where I am so glad times are changing. There are those with the attitude that to see someone's delicates flapping in the wind labels them as low classed. Though some housing units have rules against clothes lines, if it is permitted, give it a try and enjoy the wonderful fresh scent of clothes dried in the sun.  

Think reuse, recycle, upcycle, renew, whatever it takes to sort out the treasures from the trash! 

 

 The source for this post

 

An alternative to buying used is to buy new but shop at your local retailers. You'll not only be supporting small business owners but you can find out from where the items originate. 

The beauty of shopping online is the availability of finding sources for clothing made from natural fibers. 

 

 

 

 

Autumn fun with children

It may be difficult to say good-bye to those lazy summer days, but the arrival of September brings with it the stir of excitement as school buses roll again and holiday displays begin to appear in department stores. As much fun as it is for children to prepare for Halloween dress-up, parades and trick-or-treating, autumn can be so much more.

Get them outside, open their world to the glory of the fall season. Introduce children to the beauty of autumn's color palette and notice things like the smell of dry leaves, the thrill of jumping on hay bales, and the taste of an apple cider slushie. Give them opportunities for hands-on experience at fall festivals with their corn mazes, hay bales, pumpkin patches and leaf piles.

With a little imagination there is also a lot of fun you can create right at home.  These pictures were taken years ago when my kids were small, but we just loved creating stuff like this:

                                                   
Homemade scarecrows are easily made by stuffing hay or straw into an old shirt and a pair of bluejeans. Here we used a big sunflower head and plucked out the seeds to form a face. In its hands it is holding a bouquet of seed pods from the Chinese Lantern plants. Add a bundle of cornstalks, a few pumpkins and potted mums, and you and your kids can be proud of your front door display.

                                                
This one is our pumpkin man. I don't remember how I held them together, probably a stick is stuck from pumpkin to pumpkin. The hair looks like I used a little bunch of Cockscomb flower, the arms are Cockscomb as well. The mouth looks like a green bean, the eyes are an everlasting type of flower called Strawflowers, and the buttons are Globe Amaranth. Most likely, the flowers were held on with toothpicks. Use whatever you have on hand to decorate. The important thing is to encourage your child to be hands-on and use his or her imagination.

 A fun fall activity to do with children is to make these cute bird seed hangers. Not only is it a fun craft to do together, but children learn the importance of helping our wild birds survive the upcoming cold weather.

This book, Green Fun, by Maryanne Gjersvik is from the 1970's but is the cutest little book of ideas to have fun with natural plant material such as flowers, weeds, seeds and leaves.

Enjoy and create memories!

Trash or Treasure? Junk or Jewels?

Losing our parents is heartbreaking enough but when faced with a deadline to clean out a house to settle the estate, it can be overwhelmingly exhausting, emotionally and physically.

Our parents were raised with the belief that to throw anything out was wasteful, that everything will have a use one day. Children of the Depression era, they knew how to make due with what they had and taught that way of living to their children. We are proud of that part of their character but now that we are suddenly faced with such an array of  treasures accumulated over a period of fifty years, it can feel like drowning, and there is the very real temptation to just heave rather than take the time to sort through everything.

 I am certainly not wasteful but in managing my own home I cannot tolerate clutter and want to live as though if we had to move quick it wouldn't be overwhelming. I rarely actually throw things out, I donate to our local thrift shop. Most of my things are secondhand anyway so rarely feel guilty when I get tired of something and subsequently come out of the thrift shop with as much as I took in. 

We already had the walk through of the home with a realtor to give us a real estate appraisal. She had so many pointers for us it made my head spin. To say we have a lot of work to do is putting it mildly. But one very important thing she made clear was to not be in too much of a hurry to throw stuff out. There will be an upcoming auction and we were told many of those things we may consider trash are a prize find to someone. People get very creative in their homes and gardens with gathering "stuff" to use as planters or in craft projects. Cooking pots, tea kettles, tea cups, flower pots, mens' work boots, baskets, even if cracked or chipped

are reused for such things as planting containers or bird baths and feeders.

 

If it was just the main rooms to sort through it wouldn't be so bad, but once you throw in the attic, basement and garage it is enough to send one over the edge. However, once we sorted through all the stuff that really was worn out trash we began to visualize the potential treasure cove. So many finds are either great for collectors, valuable as antiques or sought out by those who take vintage jewelry and clothes and repurpose them into amazing ideas of creativity. 

Pictured above are ways I took other peoples' trash and turned them into my own treasures. The wrought iron arch was brought to me by my sister who found it set out for the trash truck. The cement mushroom is really a flower pot and a bird bath stand my creative father had put together for my mother at one time years ago. The metal frog was found at a flea market and fit right in with my husbands passion for music. And the flower collection pictured below is my way of utilizing a bunch of old galvanized pots and buckets I retrieved while sorting through my parents' possessions.

The things that we've saved from the homes of our parents are not always those pieces of financial value. My mother-in-law's cross stitches are precious to me. Knowing the work that goes into needlecraft, it breaks my heart to see those pieces end up at thrift shops. Not a fly fisherman himself, my husband now treasures the beloved fly rods and hand-tied flies of his father. My own Dad had quite an assortment of tools and gadgets amassed over the years. Pocket knives, watches, favorite books, so many things that suddenly hold sentimental value. He was very creative at taking pieces from either the farm equipment or scrap yard and coming up with something very unique for the yard or garden.

So as we children approach that period in our adult lives where we are the older generation, we have attained a new level of maturity. As long as we had our parents, a part of us always felt a tad childlike in their presence. Not that they did anything to warrant that in us, but I suppose that is normal. If anything, the roles were reversed as our parents' health declined and they needed us to make decisions for their welfare.

Now aware more than ever of how our behavior appears to our own children, many deep seated issues can be put into perspective. Our parents did the best they could with what they had at the time. Whatever tensions were between parent and child should be put to rest. Everyone walks their own unique path in life and deals with things at that time. We may never understand why a person was the way they were. Not many people are an open book to be able to read the details behind their story. We are all faced with the good times and challenged with the bad. We make decisions and later deal with either the rewards or the regrets.

What I do know about our parents, and probably most people, is that their biggest fear with death is that their lives hadn't enough meaning or that their memory will be forgotten. How reassuring for them to be told that to have the blessing of being someone's son or daughter, sister or brother,  husband or wife, Mom or Dad, and finally Mom Mom or Pop Pop, there is little chance they will ever be forgotten. Their spirit lives on through every one of those lives they have touched.

 

Reuse and Reinvent Those Old Pool Covers

If you have an above ground pool then most likely you'll be taking off that pool cover around Memorial Day. Since nothing lasts forever you may have had to replace that cover and felt the pangs of guilt adding these tarps to the landfill.
We've found a few ways to reuse them.

When we put in our little pond in the front yard we wanted to make the area around it into a mulched perennial garden utilizing the trees already there.

What we did to cover such a large area was cut the pool cover as needed to lay in the shape we desired. We put it right over the grass eliminating the need to pull up the sod.

Then using a box cutter we cut large X's in the spots we intended to add the chosen perennials. Fold under the cut plastic so you have a square about 12 - 18 inches across. Once the plants were in the ground we covered the pool tarp with mulch. Be sure to cut slits here and there across the tarp to allow for drainage before covering with the mulch.

You can save a lot of money if you can get word to the tree trimmers when they pass through your area that you would appreciate a load of mulch dumped onto your property. They are glad to have convenient locations to unload a full truck.
Just be aware that this type of mulch isn't going to be your fine, broken down mulch you buy from a nursery. There will be twigs and larger pieces and it will be fresh and not aged. For our purposes this didn't matter. We did put the nicer, finer mulch around the benches where there will be the most foot traffic (especially if people are barefoot). Keep it from being too close to your plantings since the mulch isn't aged yet.

These picturesque scenes let you see how seasonal change brings continuous beauty to this setting.






























Many of us have backyard septic systems in the middle of the yard and their location can be made into a more attractive area. We used another pool tarp to create a large circular herb garden. We left this one as is in a round shape and laid it right over the grass. We held down the edges with garden staples (those things you use to hold down floating row covers or you can use tent stakes), cut out X's for the herb plants and septic PVC pipes, and again covered the whole thing with mulch. The mulch does break down so has to be replenished at least every other year depending how thick you lay it.

Below are spring and summer pictures of this herb garden in its third year of growth. Perennials need 2 - 3 years for their root systems to get established before their above ground display really takes off.




























Finally, for the vegetable garden these tarps can be cut to lay as your walking foot paths. You will need to weigh them down with garden staples or small rocks to hold the paths in place.

No matter what size area you have to work with, these old tarps can be cut to size and utilized in a number of different ways.

Willows and Vines Make Great Finds!

March may be too cold and wet to start digging around outside, but there are fun and rewarding projects to accomplish.

Using grapevines lets you use your imagination, they're free, and the trees you pull them off of will breathe a sigh of relief. Just be aware of what you are pulling on, grapevines or poison ivy vines. Both will wrap tightly around tree branches but poison ivy is hairy whereas grapevines have a more peeling look to the vines. Do these projects now before the shrubs or trees bud out and its hard to see what you're doing.

Directions on how to make wreaths usually tell you to gather your materials, soak in warm water till pliable, then wrap around a bucket. If you've ever tried doing battle with these clingy things to get them into a tub of water, you may never do it again. A much easier method is to gather your vines and let them lay outside somewhere until it rains. Let the rain soften them for you. Get outside before the weather clears up and keep the mess outside. A five gallon plastic bucket is an ideal size for a wreath hole diameter of twelve inches. Wrap the vines around and around the bucket until the wreath is the size you desire.
Tuck in the ends as you go. When it is as large as you want, pull the wreath off of the bucket. Take additional pliable vines and wrap through and around all the way around the circle. Your wreath is now complete and can be hung to dry.
The pictured wreath above is two years old and as you can see the circle shape eventually pulls down into an oval. Eventually the vines will become brittle and it'll be time to make a new wreath.

Older, larger vines, cannot be manipulated very easily into a form, but a neat way to utilize them is to accent existing fences. Pictured here is my garden fence to which I just draped the heavy vines along the top, then held them there either by tucking the ends into the fence openings or using cable ties to hold them in place.

Also adding interest to my formally boring fence are the remains of a huge Corkscrew Willow branch that ripped off its tree during one of our winter storms. This type of willow has such fascinating twists and turns to its branches that I hated to just add them to the brush pile.

I cut them into manageable pieces and plugged them into the fence openings to hold them in place. I want to plant my peas and runner beans along the fence and observe how they climb along these art forms.

Returning birds are scoping out the areas for ideal nesting sites.
If you planted birdhouse gourds last year and have them drying somewhere, now is the time to clean them up and get them hung. Need to know how to grow birdhouse gourds? Wrens, in particular, like a swaying birdhouse and most likely will check out several of these gourds before choosing one.

This time of year, your gourds have been drying for about 5 - 6 months and if they made it through without rotting they should look like the picture on the left. They will be very light in weight, the seeds inside will rattle, and the outside appearance will look like dried, flaky mold spots. Just take a wire brush or sandpaper and brush this off till it is nice and smooth. With a serrated knife cut out a hole about midway from the bottom with a diameter hole size of about 3/4 - 1 inch. Poke additional little holes or small slits into the bottom of the gourd for drainage. Using an ice pick poke holes through the top near the stem so that you have two holes, one on each side. Now take a crochet hook and poke through both of these holes. Loop a length of about 12 inches of weatherproof cord rope around the hook and pull back through these holes. Now your cord rope is through the birdhouse and it is ready to hang. Be sure to hang these bird house gourds at least five feet off of the ground to be out of the reach of nosy predators, such as cats.
It is difficult to clean these types of birdhouses after the season is over, so I don't even bother. Usually by winter's end, they either have fallen, have woodpecker holes in them, or they become a home to a mouse or a bees nest. I never cared since I try to have a fresh batch of gourds each spring.

Enjoy such little projects these early springs days before the overwhelming work of lawn mowing and garden planting begins!