Seed Starting Supplies - Recycle

A cookie tub for starting squash seeds.

I was reading an article this morning on things you can buy at the dollar store to start seeds. The You Grow Girl Guide to Shopping for Seed Starting Gear at the Dollar Store


It was a good article, but I found myself instantly critiquing it and making changes in my head. I agree with her concept. We all know that as soon as you label something as a specialty item, ie: gardening or pet supply, the price goes up. If it's something that's really popular or new, you pay through the nose. Now I understand that capitalism makes our country great, but for people without a lot of money you have to find alternatives. Plus some things, although cute, are ridiculous. I've seen some really cute containers, but they are impractical and a waste of money. If they don't have drainage holes or they're so small they dry out in less than a day - they're useless. It really pisses me off when people who are trying to save money by growing their own garden get taken in on these scams.

I recycle a lot of things to start seeds. I bought my dish tubs at Wal-mart last year for $1.50 each. I use them to gather produce too. Sharpies are a must have - they write on everything. I use any plastic containers I can cut the top off such as water bottles. To put holes in the bottom, just heat up a nail over your stove and melt the holes in otherwise you may crack your container. I save the tops to tape back on as a mini-greenhouse. I try to recycle spray bottles as long as they didn't contain some toxic cleaner. You can use any flat plastic surface such as the side of a milk carton and cut it up for markers. I would add masking tape, duct tape, cable ties, toilet paper rolls and shallow boxes to the list. The boxes will usually hold up for one season of seed starting before the glue gives way and they fall apart. I've also used plastic wrap and coat hangers to tent the boxes with seeds planted in them. Some other items to keep a lookout for at thrift stores or yard sales are buckets and baskets. Our grocery store's deli department sells buckets for $.25 each and I have found some really sturdy baskets for harvesting produce at local yard sales. Here are pictures as examples of things you can use. Happy seed starting everyone!

Here I used a shallow box to start garlic. The glue gives out eventually, but you could reinforce the box with some duct tape.

This was a produce container.

The lid helped keep the humidity levels up and already had holes for ventilation.

The container also had drainage holes too.

Here are some additional containers I've used.

The little cup on the left is from laundry detergent. Just remember to add drainage holes. A hot nail works great, but don't burn yourself.

Starbuck's cups - good for more than just coffee - these cups are pretty sturdy.

I used a pen to mark the masking tape, but it faded in the sun and the masking tape fell off. A sharpie directly on the cup would have worked better.

And of course juice and soda bottles are great for big plants such as tomatoes.

DIY Failures

After writing yesterday's blog about why people do things for themselves, I started thinking about some of my DIY failures. Sometimes it's good to laugh at yourself and it's great to learn from your mistakes. So I'm going to share a few failures that I've experienced.

Liquid Laundry Soap
The recipe I was using said to melt some grated soap (I used Ivory) in some water on top of the stove in a large pot. Then I was supposed to add baking soda. Well when I did, it foamed up as if I had added the baking soda to vinegar. It was everywhere! Once I cleaned it up, I had a really CLEAN stove top. So next time I made it on the burner of my propane BBQ grill. (No, I didn't learn the first time.) I used a bigger pot, but for some reason it foamed up again. Only this time it killed my propane burner. David had to pull it all apart. Let's just say he wasn't very happy. Now I make dry laundry soap, but I still make my own.

Toothpaste
A while back I started getting canker sores in my mouth. I never had them before in my life so I started searching the Internet for a way to heal those sores "naturally" and found that some toothpastes contain ingredients that can actually make your mouth susceptible to canker sores. I also read that coconut oil which is usually solid at room temperature is great for brushing your teeth. As an added benefit, coconut oil is antibacterial. I poured some coconut oil into an old spice bottle and proceeded to use it on my teeth. As I continued to read various blogs I decided to add to my "toothpaste". I had used about half my toothpaste bottle up so I set it in some warm water to melt the coconut oil. Then I added some baking soda and a little salt for it's scrubbing ability and some hydrogen peroxide for whitening and to kill germs. It filled the bottle to the top. The next morning I found a huge mess on my bathroom counter top. I guess the hydrogen peroxide was bubbling and the coconut oil expanded as it cooled. Although I had a mess on my hands, the "toothpaste" works really well. I'll just be sure to mix it in a larger bowl and let it solidify before I put it in the bottle next time.

Deodorant
Some times my mind doesn't work so well and I forget things. We've all heard the horror stories about the aluminum in deodorant contributing to Alzheimers so I was trying to find a replacement. I came across a recipe on a blog calling for several ingredients to make my own under arm deodorant. Here they are: 

• 1/4 cup baking soda
• 1/8 cup aloe vera gel (99% pure)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable glycerin
• 1/2 tsp coconut oil (you can use another type of oil, like apricot, if you wish)
• 1/8 tsp tea tree oil (use lavender oil if you are pregnant or allergic to tea tree oil)

I had to buy the aloe vera gel and the vegetable glycerin and I was all set to go. Of course like an idiot I decided to double the batch. I was all set to try it out. Only problem, turns out my underarms don't like tea tree oil - I broke out in a rash and it burned like crazy. So right now I'm using baby powder and aloe vera gel. And I shower daily. When the weather starts to warm up, I'll try again with lavender oil which I prefer anyway. Tea tree oil smells like Pine Sol and I don't really like that smell that much.

Potatoes
I wrote a blog about growing potatoes in boxes. I researched it on the web and everything. The method I chose to use was to plant the potatoes in the soil at the bottom of the box then add straw around the plants as they grew. The premiss is that more potatoes would form along the stems of the plants in the straw. The problem was that the straw didn't hug the plants closely enough. So I grew a lot of plant with hardly any potatoes at all. Last year I tried again with dirt, but it still didn't seem to work. I think our summers are just too warm. But I won't give up. I'll keep trying to grow my own potatoes because I know they taste better than store bought.

There are several other projects that I've tried and haven't turned out so well. Sometimes it's a recipe or a crochet project. I'm always experimenting and it doesn't always work. But you get the idea. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Half the fun is in the trying.

Why DIY?

First of all I have to say I really don't like how things are grouped together and labeled. Things like "homesteading" or "survival". These days anyone who tries to be self-sufficient by growing their own garden or raising a few "farm" animals is considered a homesteader or survivalist. Homesteading originally meant you settled on a piece of land you didn't purchase but rather improved and lived on for a set period of time. Then it became yours. Nothing about gardening or raising animals. It was all about getting "free" property. Survival meant just that - barely getting by on a little. I would rather thrive than just survive.

DIY? Another acronym meaning "Do It Yourself". But really people, we're all DIYers. Do you dress yourself? Feed yourself? Get yourself to work or shopping? Then YOU are a DIYer. Now if you have a maid, cook and chauffeur you can honestly say you don't DIY.

Someone came along and decided to create a new definition for DIY which just means that you create something or do something from "scratch". It covers a huge diversity of activities. So you might be a DIYer if you mix your own laundry soap, grow your own garden, build some furniture, or do some sewing. But there's more to it than that.

There are many reasons why people do things for themselves.

1. Saving money. When you realize you can mix up laundry soap so much cheaper than what you purchase you might consider taking on this simple task. If you do something to save money than be sure it actually is cheaper than purchasing the item. Then when you purchase the ingredients or materials you need, be sure to use it. I read a neat tutorial one time on making a body lotion. I purchased all the ingredients, but never made the lotion. So I really didn't save any money.
2. Health concerns. Some folks don't want to come into constant contact with toxic chemicals so they opt to clean with vinegar or baking soda rather than store-bought cleaners. (Saves money too.) Make sure whatever you do is feasible for you. I found a tutorial on making your own makeup, but the ingredient list had at least 20 items and seemed to complicated to bother. I'll just stick to not wearing makeup too often. Another way to address health concerns is to grow your own vegetables and herbs organically. It may seem overwhelming if you've never even had a houseplant so start small and work your way up. It's not that hard and even a simple Aloe Vera plant can help treat burns and scrapes. If an activity brings calm or peace to you, it will also make you healthier.
3. Satisfaction. Some people gain great satisfaction and pride from creating something with their own hands and our loved ones seem to appreciate home made gifts. What is your creative talent? Baking, working with photos or art, etc. What gives you a sense of accomplishment?
4. Knowledge. I personally like knowing "how" to make and do things for myself. I may only try some things one time, but at least I know "how" it's done. You never know when that information might come in handy. You might need that knowledge to survive someday;)

My definition of a DIYer is someone who gains great satisfaction from being self-sufficient in some fashion. You may not classify yourself in this category, but you probably fit in somewhere. Just think about it. You WILL find something you do for yourself.

So how do you DIY? What is your reason to do it yourself?

Keeping Pete Warm

As all of you know who read my blog, we're heading to Moab, Utah for a few days. This is not exactly a pleasure trip but rather a necessity. We've been keeping an eye on the weather and all it says is COLD! It's 20 to 30 degrees colder there and we think it's cold here at home. On top of all that, they're expecting snow/rain showers on Saturday when we're holding Josh's outdoor memorial in the old town park. All I can say is I hope they can build a big, big bonfire.

We've been talking about the clothes we need to take. I've been encouraging David to take long underwear, but he refuses to wear it. He says he'll be fine. I'm taking extra. I just don't want this situation to be any harder just because I'm cold.

Then it dawned on me - what about Pete? He needs to stay warm too. He's so used to being in the house that he will really suffer, but I don't want to leave him home either. This morning I decided to get creative and try to make something - fast!

I found this old sweatshirt that I hadn't worn for awhile.

Then I cut the sleeve off at the seam.

I measured about how long I wanted the neckline to be and cut a slit through both thicknesses of material.

I cut a slit big enough to fit Pete's leg through

I rounded the bottom corners which will be under his tummy.

I repeated with the second sleeve so now I have two. I made the neck a little longer on the second one by moving the leg holes further back. I stitched around the raw edges with my sewing machine, but you wouldn't have to do this if you didn't want to. I saved myself some money this way too. The price of these runs about $10 at Walmart. A person could do this with an old sweater too, but you would definitely want to stitch the edges.

Now I still had the sweatshirt left, so I cut the 

sleeves at a slant to the neckline and stitched it closed.

I just used a simple zigzag stitch.

I cut the neck down to match the "sweater" I had just finished.

Here the neck is sewn smaller.

Now I have a "cape" that I can put over his head and still keep the rest of him warm.

And this is how it turned out. Looks good don't it?

Trying New Things

First of all, my daughter asked me why I haven't done any blogging in quite awhile. I told her that there are so many blogs already out there that address some of the same things I do that I didn't see any reason to write about it. Well she said she enjoys reading MY blog so I promised to try harder.

So then I was thinking, what can I write about? One thing I have to say about myself - I do what I feel inspired to do. I'm not really doing a lot of gardening right now. It's cold outside and I haven't really been in the mood. When the weather starts to warm up, I get the undeniable urge to work outside in the garden. When it's cold outside, I would rather find something to do in the house. Also, when Christmas is looming, I get busy making Christmas gifts. For 2011 I worked on crocheting shawls for my daughters and my mother.

Mom with her shawl.

Candy's Tulips

They were very time consuming. This past year I was so busy canning and had many requests for home canned products that I decided to give everyone my pepper/garlic paste. I really had no desire to crochet but I created quilted appliqued wall hangings for my daughters and even kept one for myself.

So each year I do something different. Early in 2012, I crocheted a wool poncho for my son.

Little did I know that it would be the last thing I ever created for him. To start out 2013, I made a baby quilt for our friends' newborn.
 I am currently working on a quilt for my daughter that I started several years ago. So now that I've rambled on about my various projects, I decided what I need to write about.

Several people have commented on my many interests. They express admiration because I do so many different things. I am basically a curious person. I want to know how to do home crafting that was part of everyday life for people before modern conveniences made those abilities obsolete. I always say that I want to know HOW to do certain things even if I never do it more than once. One year I got onto a wine making kick. I made all kinds of fruit wines - apple, elderberry, peach, pomegranate, etc. I don't know if I'll ever make wine again, but I know how.

Maybe you would like to try something new or different but it seems really daunting or complicated. Maybe you think it would be too expensive. There can be so many excuses, hmmm, reasons why we don't try something new.

• The biggest reason so many of us don't try something new is fear; fear of failing. Well guess what, it's okay to fail. That's one way we learn. For all the successes I enjoy, I have nearly as many failures. 
• Another reason is we want things to turn out perfect. I have some perfectionist in me that I have to overcome all the time. Now granted if I focused all my energy on one thing, it may be perfect. My hat comes off to anyone who is a true artist who has found that one thing that satisfies their need to create; I'm just not one of those people. I recognize that my "home made" items will probably never be perfect, but that's okay. 
• The reason many people use is that they don't know how to do something or they don't know where to start. Well that really is an excuse. Thanks to the Internet, you can find instructions on how to do just about anything you could possibly want to try. There also lots of books available. I learned how to crochet with books; but if you can't figure it out from a book, there's likely someone willing to teach you a skill. Just ask around and find that person. If you want you could pay for lessons, but many people are more than willing to teach you what they know for free. 
• Sometimes it's taking that first step that holds us back. It's just a step. Take the first step and then the next and before you know it you'll have accomplished something new and exciting.

 So what would you like to try? Don't let anything hold you back. Go for it!

Gardening Is Busy Work

I've been so busy in the garden that I really haven't taken the time to write other than trying to keep a garden journal. I'm trying to keep track of what I've planted this year and to keep notes on how the various plants do in my garden. I am transitioning to raised beds this year. I've added compost and manure to my beds and have determined to stick with organic methods. I've incorporated companion planting to help deter pests and encourage "good bugs". Today I saw a honey-colored woodcutter bee. It was so cool. My husband has been teasing me that I have more plants than garden, which is true. But he has allowed me to use part of his half of the back yard to plant some apple trees, beans, artichokes and elderberry plants. He's also adding flowers which is a first for him. We planted several ground cover plants on the mound around our pond too. Anyway, back to the garden as I have squash to plant.

I Feel Good!

The days are getting a little warmer and longer. The sun is shining more and more. I'm planning this years garden. My chickens are starting to lay eggs again and my rabbits are having bunnies. Even though it's only February and winter is not over; I realized today, I feel good.