Frugal seed starters

 If you are going to start seeds indoors this winter and don't already have containers, try something like a cupcake container you would get from WalMart (after you eat the cupcakes of course!). Just rinse it out, put soil in each section and plant your seeds. The lid makes a great little greenhouse. 

Egg Heads!

When my son was in Pre-K he came home one day and exclaimed that we had to make grass heads. I started searching on Pinterest and found some cute ideas with panty-hose, but since I didn't have any at the time, we looked for other options. One of those was egg heads.And so we made our own egg heads, or grass heads!

These were so fun to make and watch as the grass grew into crazy hair! All you need are: empty egg shells, egg carton, marker, dirt, grass seed.

Keep Dogs out of Gardens

We have a dog…a dog that we love very much, but he can be a rascal at times. I wanted to start a new little garden bed in the corner of our yard but wanted to make sure this dog stayed out of it and left my plants alone. Well, I found a solution and it has worked wonderfully; he hasn’t gone in that garden since! PINECONES! I collected pinecones from under a tree in a nearby field and spread them throughout the garden bed. He no longer climbs in there or really even sniffs there and my little pea plants have appreciated their own space :).

I’ll be linking up to Works for Me Wednesday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, We Made That Wednesday, Whatever Goes Wednesday.

Seed Starters

If you are thinking of planting a garden this year and are itching to get started, try using cardboard egg cartons as seed starters.
I cut the lid off the cartons and put it inside a plastic bag. I then put the lid upside down under the base of the carton so any moisture would be kept from dripping everywhere.Add a bit of soil and some seeds to each egg section, water daily and wait for your little seeds to sprout!

When it’s time to transfer the plants outside, you can just break off each section and put it directly in the ground since the cardboard cartons are biodegradable. If you use Styrofoam egg cartons, just pull the soil gently out and plant it directly. I chose to tear a little hole in the bottom before doing so, but last year, my seeds did quite well and I will definitely be doing this again this year! The Styrofoam carton worked just fine…I just had to remove the soil/seedlings from the carton before planting.

Milk Jug Watering Can

If you’re looking for a fun way for your kids to get more involved in gardening, make them a simple watering can out of a milk jug…

Just punch some holes above the line on the milk jug that starts to slant towards the lid (make sense?!). Fill it up, adjusting the amount for the size of the child and their strength and send them off to water the plants without worries of the poor plants getting dumped on.

Thanks Total Mom Haircut!

I’ll be linking up to Works for Me Wednesday, Homemaker Monday, Don’t Waste Your Homemaking,

Onion Experiment

After seeing a cute idea for growing tulip bulbs inside glasses on Pinterest, I decided to try something similar with an onion so I could show my boys how plants grow. My husband made spaghetti for Mother’s Day and left the middle of the onion completely intact for me.

I filled a tall glass cup about 1/3 with rocks and marbles. I then added water (just to the top of the rocks) and placed the onion on top. The picture you see is only 3 days after putting the onion in the glass and it’s growing like crazy. It’s so cool to see the roots spreading…reaching down to the water and I’m excited to watch this onion grow with my boys.

I’m also excited to try the tulip bulb experiment in a little while too! :)

I’m linking up to Kids Get Crafty, What Are Little Boys Made of? Preschool Corner Friday.

Garden Tip

I don’t know where I found this tip, but we planted our garden recently and the best thing I found to use to mark where everything is planted is popsicle sticks…

Just write the name of the plant on the stick and stick it in the ground. These worked so well for me in the beginning, though in full disclosure popsicle sticks do not hold up the best to little children stepping on them ;). The nice part is that if they break, it’s super easy to replace!

I’m linking up to Works for Me Wednesday.

Do You Know What this is?

This, my friends is proof that a garden can be grown (though small it may be), even in little pots on the back patio…even in ice cream buckets or milk jugs with the tops cut off. I can hardly wait to harvest my first squash.

Ice Cream Bucket Planter

Even roomier than a milk jug, ice cream buckets are great for starting seeds or growing plants if you don’t have any land to call your own. Just cut a few drainage holes out of the bottom, fill with dirt, plant a seed and watch it grow.

Doesn’t our squash plant look perfectly content?

I’m linking up to Works for Me Wednesday.

Carrot Top

What did Gilbert call Anne? Carrots? Anyhow…if onions aren’t your thing but you are bound and determined to grow something this year, grow a carrot top (though I can’t guarantee you’ll get a carrot out of it!).

Seriously! My husband told me how he and his grandma would put the top of a carrot (the part you cut off) in an upside down lid, add water, and it would grow.

 

Green Onions

If you are like me and struggle maintaining that green thumb of yours, having had many plants die young, plant green onions! These things are super hardy and this will be much cheaper than buying them from the grocery store every time a recipe calls for them.

Seed Starter

If it’s still too cool outside but you want to get some seeds started for your garden, don’t go out and buy pots that you’ll only use for a month or two. Recycle and use milk jugs. Simply cut off the top portion, fill with dirt and plant your seeds. This should be plenty of room for your seeds to start growing until the weather warms up and you can plant them outside. Recycle and get plants out of it!

Ideally, a milk jug will also be enough room for one plant to grow and produce some yummy veggies for us apartment dwellers who have no land to call our own :). I plan to move some of the seeds when they get bigger and though it’s not the prettiest, I feel that my children will benefit more from learning about plants and where food comes from, than how much my pride will be hurt…

Our Garden

I love that it is finally warm enough to stay outside and play with my boys! Yesterday we worked on this:Our beautiful garden :). It's not much, but being the apartment dwellers that we are, we're not allowed to use the actual ground. K was so excited to help put the seeds in and pour water on them (let's just hope the poor seeds didn't drown!).

Planting a garden, however small or large is perfect for little children. They get to see how a plant forms, and they get to learn how to care for a plant. We got to talk about the seed pods that are still lying around from one of the trees, and K thought it was so cool that those seeds could become a big tree one day.

On the far right is our pot of green onions. If you want a simple, easy to care for plant, go to your grocery store, buy a bunch of green onions. Cut off the green, use it in recipes, and plant the white onion. These things will grow basically on their own and you will have green onion stems on hand for whenever you need them in a recipe! I love going out back and chopping off a few stems to throw into dinner whenever I feel like it.