Carnival #180 - Pickled Pepper Rings

Welcome to the carnival! The Make it from Scratch carnival is your chance to share your projects. I hope you join us by linking up at the bottom of this post.

The hot banana peppers are looking good in the garden this year. They are big, and they are hot. Just the way we like them. The easiest way to preserve hot peppers is by pickling them.

I love having pickled hot peppers on hand to add to Mexican dishes, put on a pizza, or give a sandwich some zip.

Preparing the Peppers
It is a good idea to wear rubber gloves when working with hot peppers. Wash peppers. Discard stems. Cut in 1/2 inch thick rings. You can remove the seeds if you wish, but I leave them.


Pickling juice (enough for about a dozen large banana peppers to yield about 5 pints of pickled peppers)
6 C white vinegar
2 C water
4 cloves of garlic, crushed

Combine ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and gently boil about five minutes. Strain to remove the garlic. Keep liquid hot.

Pack pepper rings into hot jars leaving at least 1/2 inch headspace. Cover with hot juice. Wipe rim and screw lid on to finger tip tight. Boiling water process (be sure water is covering the jars) for 10 minutes (don't start timing until water is back to a boil.) Wait five minutes. Remove jars to cool. Refrigerate any unsealed jars.

TIPS
If you only have a few peppers to pickle, you can skip the boiling water bath, and just store your pickled peppers in the refrigerator.

You can use many varieties of peppers with this recipe, or even mix your peppers.

LINK UP YOUR PROJECTS!

Carnival Guidelines:

Link up your recipes, crafts, garden projects, yarn creations, home improvement, or other d-i-y posts. Posts about making something, or helpful resources and tips for making things are what we are all about.


Please link directly to the post, not to home page of your blog. Kindly link back to the carnival with twitter, stumble and/or from your blog.

Carnival #178 - Summer Garden Chicken

Welcome to the carnival! The Make it from Scratch carnival is your chance to share your projects. I hope you join us by linking up at the bottom of this post.

 
 My garden is at a point right now where everything is producing, but nothing is producing quite enough to can or freeze. This leaves me with a refrigerator full of a variety of fresh vegetables, and calls for a little creativity to be sure that none of that fresh from the garden goodness goes to waste. Stir fry is a good way to use up a variety of vegetables. So are soups and casseroles, but those really aren't all that appealing to me in the humid 90+ degree heat we've been having.

Inspired by the Campfire Chicken at Cracker Barrel, I decided to try what I'm calling Summer Garden Chicken. Truly, it is only a chicken, a bunch of vegetables, and a little spice. It is my favorite kind of "recipe" (if you can call what I'm about to give you a recipe,) one that is very flexible to suit your tastes, and uses up what you have on hand.

Summer Garden Chicken
A whole chicken
Vegetables, cleaned and cut into pieces
Salt, pepper, red pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse chicken and  place in the middle of a 9x13 pan. Put vegetables in around the chicken. sprinkle everything with salt and peppers. Cover tightly and bake for one hour or until the chicken is done. 

To save heating up the house, this dish could easily be done in the crockpot. It would also work well on the grill. My grill has temperature control issues right now, so I've only tried this in the oven. I used garlic, onion, green pepper, tomato, potato, carrot, eggplant, corn, and green beans in the meal pictured above.

What are some of your favorite ways to use up odds and ends vegetables?


Stephanie is a mom, homeschooler, homesteader in the hills of West Virginia. Find more of her adventures at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood.  



LINK UP YOUR PROJECTS!


Carnival Guidelines:

Link up your recipes, crafts, garden projects, yarn creations, home improvement, or other d-i-y posts. Posts about making something, or helpful resources and tips for making things are what we are all about.


Please link directly to the post, not to home page of your blog. Kindly link back to the carnival with twitter, stumble and/or from your blog.

MIFS #168- Strawberry Freezer Jam

Welcome to the carnival! The Make it from Scratch carnival is your chance to share your projects. I hope you join us by linking up at the bottom of this post.

Last year we planted our strawberry patch. Dutifully, we picked off the blossoms so the plants would be strong and produce a better crop in the years to come. Our work has paid off, and we are enjoying the fresh ripe berries straight from our garden.

One of my favorite ways to preserve that fresh berry taste is with freezer jam. Freezer jam is quicker to make than traditional cooked jam. It sets softer, but I think, retains a much fresher flavor.

The recipe is from the Sure-Jell package: You'll need about a quart of strawberries, 1 box of Sure-Jell, 3/4 C water, and 4 cups of sugar. 

1. Wash your containers. You can use freezer boxes, jars, or recycled food containers. I often use sour cream and yogurt container to freeze in. Just be sure to label the container clearly. Freezer bags can be used too, but they tend to be pretty messy for freezer jam.

2. Rinse fruit and hull. Crush the berries, one cup at a time. A potato masher works best. You want to end up with 2 cups of crushed berries. Put them in a large bowl.

3. Measure out the sugar and stir it into the crushed berries. Let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Stir the box of pectin and 3/4 C water in a small pan. Bring to a boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Allow to boil 1 minute while stirring.

5. Stir pectin mixture into berries. Stir constantly for about 3 minutes, until the sugar crystals are dissolved.

6. Pour into containers. Leave about 1/2 of inch of head space.

7. Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours. Refrigerate for up to three weeks or freeze for up to a year.

LINK UP YOUR PROJECTS!
Carnival Guidelines:

Link up your recipes, crafts, garden projects, yarn creations, home improvement, or other d-i-y posts. Posts about making something, or helpful resources and tips for making things are what we are all about.

Please link directly to the post, not to home page of your blog.  Kindly link back to the carnival with twitter, stumble and/or from your blog.

Carnival #166 - My Raised Beds and Pea Trellis

Welcome to the carnival! The Make it from Scratch carnival is your chance to share your projects. I hope you join us by linking up at the bottom of this post.

Around here the majority of the project I have going involve the garden. It is prime planting time.

Today I am sharing my made with what you have on hand raised beds and pea trellis. Our neighbor gave us several old window frames this spring. My intention was to use them to create cold frames and get an early start on our garden projects. We laid down a perimeter of block for under the frames, and filled the area about half way with dirt. The project got started too late to be useful as a cold frame. So, instead we are using them as raised beds.

Peas are growing in one of the beds. The trellis is also created from things we have on hand around the house. I used two metal pieces to create the arches. Honestly, I am not entirely sure what the original intent of these pieces were, but they function very nicely as a trellis frame for my peas. Then I tied twine between to create a fence for the peas to grow up. It is working out very nicely.

What are you growing, cooking, and creating? Can't wait to see!

LINK UP YOUR PROJECTS!
Carnival Guidelines:

Link up your recipes, crafts, garden projects, yarn creations, home improvement, or other d-i-y posts. Posts about making something, or helpful resources and tips for making things is what we are all about.

Please link directly to the post, not to home page of your blog.  Kindly link back to the carnival with twitter, stumble and/or from your blog.

A Little Wild Salad

We enjoyed our first fresh picked salad of the season. It is amazing to me how much better a salad tastes when I've just picked the greens. Even the freshest store lettuce can not compare.

Last night's salad began with some leaf lettuce and spinach harvested from a small raised bed. The harvest was not quite enough to feed this family of six. I decided to supplement my garden harvest with a bit of wild greens.

A short walk around the yard added dandelion, carrot greens, and broad leaf plantain.  Other wild greens that are good for a salad (and are pictured above) include, chicory, wild lettuce, curly dock, winter cress flower buds, and young wild garlic greens.

Foraging is a hobby I wish I had more time for. There are so many interesting a delicious things to find. And the best part, you don't have to plant or tend any of the bounty that grows wildly. You only need gather it. These types of edible weeds (and more) thrive in what "Wildman" Steve Brill calls, disturbed areas, in his book Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants. Disturbed areas are simply places where the dirt has been moved and things have been changed, such a a driveway.

You see many of these plants as you drive down the highway. Many of them are right in your yard, or grow in the cracks of your driveway. You probably recognize chicory in bloom with it's distinctive blue flowers. Wild carrot you may know by another name: Queen Anne's Lace.

The spring mix added a lot of fresh flavor to the salad. Combined with our fresh garden lettuce and a few store bought vegetables it made for a delicious salad. Add a baked potato bar, and call it dinner.

Bring on the fresh garden and wild veggies. They are delicious and healthy, not to mention very affordable.


Stephanie is a wife and mother of four attempting to live a simple and frugal life. She also blogs at Stop the Ride and Adventures in the 100 Acre Woods.

Grow Plants in ANY Container

I admit, my green thumb needs some serious adjustment since we moved to Minnesota in 2008 but BEFORE I could grow the heck out plants. It's quite possible I'm overwatering my plants since Tennessee is significantly hotter than Northwestern Minnesota. The other possibility is the difference in the soil. I plant to consult with my local Agriculture Extension office later today to see what if they can help with soil testing.

The one thing I have learned over the years is how to use all sort of containers to start seeds and cultivate plants in.

You need three things when constructing your own planter:

1. 
   
   Drainage - Proper drainage is key to preventing root rot and good plant health.
• 
  
  The most obvious method to create proper drainage is to drill a few holes in the bottom of your container. If you can't drill a hole then use either packing peanuts or wadded up newspaper to create a space in the bottom of the container for excess water to drain. You can use rocks but they add to the weight of the container. I've used all three methods successfully but prefer using the newspaper and packing peanuts for a lighter planter.
2. 
   
   Soil - Make sure you have soil full of nutrients.
• 
  
  I've used Miracle Gro in the past with satisfactory results. This year, I'm trying a new soil additive, KoKo Pro. It's an organic peat comprised of coconut shells. It claims to be super absorbant so I hope this will help with my compulsion to overwater the plants. It was a lot cheaper than Miracle Gro ringing in under $12 for 10 pounds. We'll see how well it performs.
• 
  
  I also prefer to use newspaper formed pots or egg shells to grow my seeds in it naturally decomposes in the ground. It makes planting easier and adds to the soil when it's fully decomp'd. To make newspaper pots, simply grab a cup the size you need for the plant, place several layers of newspaper inside the cup with the excess rubber banded to the outside of the cup. Add your soil, your plant, and water well. You know when to rewater the plant when the newspaper is dry.  Once the plant is ready to be transplanted, wait for the paper to be dry (it will make things easier), remove the rubber bands from the cup, use the excess newspaper like handles to lift from the cup and replant where you like.
• 
  
  I also like to toss our used coffee and tea grounds, filter and all, in the plants. Crushed eggs shells and bits of banana peelings are often placed in my potting mix to help enrich the soil.
3. 
   
   Sun - Your plants will need adequate sunlight. Either grow them in a sunny window or under a flourescent grow light. This will improve your plant's health and speed up growing.

If you want your homemade container to look pretty, then you have several options. You can paint the container, Modge Podge some fabric or pretty paper to it, or simply use double sided sticky tape to wrap the fabric or paper around the container to make it easier to decorate. Obviously you do this before you plant anything in them but you can also leave them au naturale', letting the container's personality shine! I've got big plans for my old rubber boots and my new strawberry plants - just as soon as this overcast rainy weather passes!!!!

Here's some of the planters I've made from everyday household items. 

Egg Shell Planters (Don't know where the mushrooms came from!)

Oatmeal Containers, Juice Containers, Plastic Cups, Newspaper Cups

Sometimes you just need some water in a cup - like with these onions!

You can use a number of items from around the house.

 

baskets cups laundry baskets light fixture globes

shoes bowls hampers suitcases

hats pots old desk drawers handbags

Basically if it can hold dirt, you can make it hold a plan. In the case of baskets, or something with holes in the sides of the container, you can use a garbage bag to line the container with then poke a few holes in the bottom or add packing peanuts for drainage.

What the most unusual planting container you've ever used or seen?

 

Jenn also blogs about family, food, & crafts, on a budget with product reviews and giveaways on her blog Frugal Front Porch. Be sure to enter the Wonder Hanger Giveaway and link up to Strut Your Stuff blog meme.

Starting Seeds Indoors

I've dabbled in gardening pretty much my entire life, but it wasn't until about four years ago that I got serious about gardening. That change came about when we decided we wanted to live a more self sufficient lifestyle.

The garden can provide a bounty of food for your family in the summer, and through the winter if you freeze or can your summer abundance. Gardening can be done for very little money. The cost comes in your own labor. For me it is a labor of love.

Our garden season is almost here, and I couldn't be more thrilled. We have been making plans and preparing for the planting season. One preparation is to start seeds indoors. This is a relatively new gardening activity for me. Buying plants adds greatly to the cost of the garden. Seeds are cheap. So, last year we turned an old bath tub in to a seed nursery.

But you don't need that much space to start seeds indoors. All seeds need to grow is a dirt, light, and water. A sunny window will often do the trick.


If you have composted dirt, this is perfect for starting your seeds. Potting soil will work just fine too. There are a lot of different containers that you can use. Last year I saved containers from plants I bought. I am using those and some repurposed yogurt tubs with a couple holes punched in the bottom. I used toilet paper tubes last year, but was not real thrilled with them. About any small container will work. Just be sure that there are drainage holes in the container.

After the container is filled with dirt, it is time for the seeds. Most seeds do not need to be planted very deeply. Check the package for the type of seed you have.

I usually make a small hole in the dirt with the sharpened tip of  a pencil. Place two seeds in each hole. And cover with dirt again.

The best way to water your newly planted seeds and seedlings is to give them a good soaking from the roots up. I like to fill the tub with an inch or two of water, and  place the containers right into the water. Let them sit there until the dirt is good and saturated.

Place the containers in a well lit and warm place. A sunny window will often do the trick. A simple fluorescent light placed a few inches above the containers will also work.

After a week or so, depending on the type of seeds you have planted, tiny little seedlings will begin to pop through the dirt. A little while later they will get their first true leaves.

When they start to get their true leaves, it is time to thin them out. We plant two seeds in each space, just in case one seed does not germinate, but if they both did germinate one of them has to go. Simply snip the weaker seedling at the dirt level, or you can pull it out.


Continue to keep the plants warm, water when the soil feels dry, and give them light for 12-14 hours a day. If you are using artificial light, a garden timer is a convenient way to control the light. When it is time to plant out side, you need to harden the plants off first. That simply means to put them outside a little more each day to get them used to the outside conditions before you plant them there.

The plants that I have started indoors have not looked as big or lush as the ones I see in the store. Last year we planted home grown plants and store purchased ones. Based on last year, the home grown ones soon caught up and performed as well or better than the ones that came from the store. The plants started from seed only cost a fraction of the plants purchased in the store.

Starting seeds indoors is not difficult, and does not take much time either. Gardening from seed is also a step toward self sufficiency. Saving our own seeds from one season to start most of our plants the next season is my goal.  It can save you a lot of money, but I have to admit my favorite part is that it relieves a little of my cabin fever. It does me good to play in the dirt a little and watch things grow.

Pretty, Simple, and Economical

If you're looking for something pretty, simple, and economical to serve to you friends the next time they visit, or to take to the next potluck, the answer may be found in your flower bed. Stuffed daylily flowers are beautiful alternatives to sandwiches.

Almost all parts of daylilies (but not tiger lilies) are edible, but I like the flowers the best for the color and beauty that they add to a dish. They also add a nice crunch and flavor. They can be added to salads or stuffed as shown in this picture.

To Make Stuffed Daylily

Pick as many flowers as you'd like to serve. They are best picked in the morning. If you pick stems, the unopened buds will open if the stem is kept in water. Gently wash the flowers and remove the center parts of the flower. They usually come out easily with a gentle twist and pull.

Make your favorite sandwich salad. Pictured is a very simple salmon and tuna salad. Making your sandwich mix a little on the dry side will help your stuffed flowers to stay looking pretty.

Use a melon baller to scoop your sandwich mix into the center of the flower. Serve or chill covered.

More on eating daylily.

When the bee stings

Though the calendar says it is still spring, it feels like summer where I live. Last week I shared with you one of my favorite simple summer pleasures, Peppermint Sun Tea. Unfortunately, summer isn't all about simple pleasures. It does come with a few annoying things too like bee stings. 

Bees and other stinging insects are out in the summer doing their thing.  That is all well and good, until them doing their thing collides with us trying to do ours. The results can be painful. The best way to avoid getting stung is a little prevention. Below are some tips to help avoid colliding paths with a stinging insect. 

1. Don't smell like a flower.

Bees are attracted to strong sweet scents. Avoid using heavy perfumes or perfumed products when you will be in the great outdoors. 

2. Don't look like a flower.

Bees like bright colors. Avoid these and floral prints when you'll be among the stinging insects. 

3. Gentle is the rule. 

Bees will not sting unless they feel threatened. Rapid movement and flailing of arms is threatening to the little insects. Don't swat at them. Hold still until they move on. If one lands on you, blow on it gently to encourage it to go elsewhere. 

4. Don't feed the bees. 

When you are eating outside be sure to keep food covered, especially sweet things like fruit and pop. Yellow jackets are also attracted to meats. 

5. Wear shoes. 

Shoes will protect your feet from stings when a bee is accidentally stepped on. 

6. Plan your gardens carefully.

Bees are good. We want to attract them to our gardens, but plant flowers that attract bees away from areas the kids play and the areas where you relax outside. Not sure which plants bees like? Check this list, Plant List for Attracting Bees. 

Even if you are careful to avoid stings, you may, as my five year old has already discovered this year, get stung. Don't worry. Unless you are allergic to bees, relief is in your kitchen cupboard. 

First remove the stinger if it is still in the skin.  Then all you need is a little baking soda and water to relieve the pain. Mix them together to form a paste, and apply to the area that was stung. The baking soda will relieve the stinging and help reduce the swelling. 

Enjoy the summer fun outside. Use a little prevention to avoid being stung. If you do get stung,  simply mix up a little baking soda paste for some relief. 

Bee photo credit: yyelsel_ann

Create a Garden Journal - Guest Post

Today's guest post comes from Karen at Chicken Sense. Karen blogs about gardening, cooking, sewing, and living in the country. Below she shares some resources to get you started on creating a garden journal. 

A great rainy day project is to begin a garden journal. A garden journal isn’t just a diary, it’s important information to help you get the most from your efforts. You won’t find a better source of growing and gardening tips for next year than the ones you write yourself this year.

Your garden journal can be as simple as a notebook, blank paper, and pencil; or free printable garden journal pages found online; or you can purchase software garden journals; or buy spiral bound garden journal books. Suite 101.com has a nice article about journals: Keeping a Garden Journal. Here is another one from Learn2Grow: How to Keep a Garden Journal.

Free Garden Journal Pages to Print

• Nice Garden Journal Pages, www.northerngardening.com
• Plain Garden Journal Pages, www.homesteadgarden.com
• Lovely Garden Journal Pages, www.Lowes.com
• Practical 24 Page Garden Journal, www.arbico-organics.com
• Kid’s Garden Journal, University of Illinois
• Very Nice Garden Journal Pages, www.hobbyfarms.com
• Simple Garden Journal Pages, www.greenzonelife.com
• Garden Journal Pages, www.roomzaar.com
• Gorgeous Garden Journal Pages, www.blueboardwalk.com
• Cute Garden Journal Pages, www.gardentracker.com(click on worksheets in the left menu)

Garden Journal Software and Books to Purchase

• Garden Tracker Software: $29.95
• 3 Year Garden Journal Book from Amazon.com: $23
• Garden Journal App for Your iPhone: $0.99
• Garden Journal from www.crane.com: $35

Would like to see your post featured here? Please email makeitfromscratch at yahoo.com to submit a guest post.

Planter Boxes - Guest Post

Today Chad Chandler shares with us the planter boxes that he built as a finishing touch to his porch remodel. I think the boxes, and the whole porch in fact, turned out beautifully. Chad blogs about the various remodeling projects he has tackled and throws in some cooking posts for good measure. Thanks Chad for this great post. 

We’re finally close to finishing the front porch. After we built a side table and footrest to go with our rocking chair, all we had left to do was build some planter boxes to flank the steps and give us a little privacy. I took care of that this past weekend. This was the original plan:

It’s designed to look like the terracotta pot is suspended by the upper lip, but it’ll really be sitting on cross bars inside the box.

Here is the inner bracing for the two boxes:

Once the pot is filled with soil, it’ll be very heavy. Since the lower braces are going to have to support all of that weight, I added corner supports and a cross bar. When the box is finished, I’ll add perpendicular cross bars for extra support.



Next I added 3/8″ plywood sides to form the boxes and got ready to cut the pieces for the top.

This is a neat little tool. It’s the two points of a compass that can be attached to almost any yardstick for making large arcs and small circles:



I had to guess a little bit on the circumference. I don’t have calipers large enough to measure the pot’s width. I guess I could have measured it with my wife’s measuring tape and worked backwards to get the radius, but I was told there would be no math. Anyway, it worked out fine.

Here are the planter boxes after I’ve caulked the inner joints, filled in the screw holes, and added an accent piece to hide the joints on the top:



I routed a mild curve around the outside edge of the top pieces and added the other cross bars on the inside:



I painted it with several coats of flat, exterior, white paint, and carried the planters and the pots to the front porch. I just set the plants in the pots to see how it all looks. My wife and I will actually plant them sometime this week.



The decorative cut-outs in my original design were supposed to mimic the ornamentation on the porch swing (and the shutters). But after some thought, I decided it was too much. You know, less is more and all that. I wanted the terracotta pots to noticeably juxtapose the white paint, and I think I got the effect I was looking for. The problem is that the steps aren’t centered, and having these boxes on either side puts an exclamation point on that flaw. As someone who’s a stickler for symmetry, this drives me crazy.

Still, the planters are serving their purpose. They act as a natural barrier to give us a little more privacy while keeping the space open:



I know it all looks jammed together in the picture, but the porch is bigger in reality. It’s fun to look at now. Aside from the Adirondack rocker, I made everything on the porch. Even the railing.

Make it from Scratch will be featuring guest post every Friday while Kellie takes a hiatus. Would you like to be featured here? Please email makeitfromscratch at yahoo.com

Building a Sunflower House

The other day a friend was telling me about an idea for a sunflower house she read in a magazine recently. The article suggested planting sunflowers in a good sized circle leaving a wide gap at one point. After they plants grow fairly tall you pull them together at the top, tepee style, to create a place for the kids to play. 

This reminded me of a project we tried a few years ago. We planted a sunflower house. Our sunflower house worked a bit differently.  We planted sunflowers that had been started indoors in a large square. In between each sunflower we planted pole beans.  Morning glories would also work. 

The way it was supposed to work was that the pole beans would grow up and between the sunflower stalks to create walls. The reality of our project was the deer ate all the plants well before they were forming walls. 

After talking to my friend, I realized that I have extra pole bean and sunflower seeds. I do not have a level spot available where the deer won't be an issue, but I do have a sloping space. It is sounding like a fun project to try with the kids again. 

Have any of you tried growing a sunflower house? How did it turn out? For more information about growing one of these check out the following pages:

How to make a sunflower house

Sunflower Digs

Sunflower House

Image credit: Homemade Art

Rainwater Collection

Kellie is extending her break from MIFS while her newly expanded family settles in. Today I am replaying another post from Stop the Ride, but would like to open up Friday's to you our wonderful readers. Do you have a post that you'd like to share?  Please email me at makeitfromscratch at yahoo.com if you would like to guest post for MIFS.

When you pay for your water, you garden, you are in a drought, and the water company is requesting a large rate increase, a rainwater collection system is suddenly very appealing. 

Our collection system involves collecting the rain water that falls on the roof of our house. It uses the existing gutter and down spouting system. You really can't tell that we are doing anything different by just looking at the house.

The down spouting then runs into PVC pipe and then to the tank. Our pipe is buried, but I have seen systems that simply attached the pipe around the foundation of the house. In my opinion, having PVC wrapped around your house is not all that attractive, but it does save you from digging up your yard. The PVC runs to the tank and fills from the top. The other PVC is the overflow pipe for when the tank is full. We've talked about creating a small duck pond at the end of this pipe.

Our tank is about 2000 gallons. Probably more than we need, but this is a tank that we already had. It is what we used before we had water lines to our house. No, it is not exactly attractive either, but it is out of the main view of the house, tucked in some trees by the rabbit hutches. We don't have neighbors, so who is going to complain? A small building is also planned for the area in front of the hutches. That will help hide the tank even more.

Does it work? I tried to find how much rain we've gotten in the past few days. According to one source, it has been less than 1/4 an inch. It seems to me that we have gotten more than that, but I don't have a rain gauge up. Let's be generous and say we've gotten double that; an 1/2 inch. From those rains we have collected over four hundred gallons of water.


Our system is not yet complete. A small pump still needs to be added. That will enable us to easily get the water up to the garden. Currently the water would have to be hauled by bucket to the garden. We may use the water for more than just the garden too. I'm thinking of it for the animals, the kid's sprinkler, and I'm wondering if I could finagle the hose up to the washer for laundry.

*Update*

We've been using this system for almost two years now. At the end of the overflow pipe we put an old barrel cut in half long ways. It serves as a watering trough for the animals in the pasture. We also attached the pump and are able to water the garden and most of the livestock with this collected water. We do need to add a small amount of bleach to the tank every so often to keep the algae from growing. This system has worked out wonderfully! 

More Planters from Repuposed Items

Another oldie but goodie from Stop the Ride. 

The vegetable gardens are full, and now my mind is turning to flowers. I don't plant a lot of flowers, but I do like to have a few planters around. I do have a few store bought containers to plant in, but my favorite planters are ones made from repurposed items. Those of you who've been around awhile may remember the planters I made last year from rotten logs. My mom uses an old fashioned cream separator for a planter. This year I planted herbs in an old wash basin.

You can make planters out of about any item that will hold the dirt. Here are a few tips for making a planter out of repurposed items.

1. Choose a container.
You'll want one proportionate to the plants you want to use. Just be sure to pick something that doesn't have any chemical residues that might kill the plants.

2. Do you need fill?
If the container is large you do not have to fill it all with dirt. Put plastic bottles in the bottom. I used shopping bags in the log planter. It takes up space and creates drainage, not to mention keeps your planter lighter.

3. You do need drainage.
Extra water can't be allowed to puddle in the container. You need a hole or two in the bottom. Put drier lint over the holes to allow water to flow out while keeping the dirt in. A layer of gravel in the bottom of the planter can help with drainage also.

4. Fill with dirt.
Use potting soil or your compost.

5. Put in the flowers.
Be sure to choose plants that will grow well in similar conditions and in the location you intend for the planter.

6. Enjoy.
Don't forget to water.

Planters can be made out of so many things. What catches your eye? Planters out of old wagons, bathtubs, or chipped pottery pieces are interesting.  Just remember there can be a fine line between creative and just junky. Never could figure out why people planted in old toilets!

What are some different items you've seen used for a planter?

Create a Flower Pot from a Log

Kellie will not be with us for the next two Fridays. She is just a little busy with a trip to Ethiopia and the adoption of two children. Read about their adventures at  The Brown's Journey to Africa. While she is gone I thought I'd share some older favorites from Stop the Ride. 

It is funny when ideas strike you. I get some of my best ideas while doing simple repetitive tasks, like washing dishes or hanging clothes on the line. This particular idea came when I was stacking a wood pile. Not only was it a mindless task that gave me the time to think about other things, I was inspired by the one of the objects of the task.

When we moved here trees had to be cleared for the houses and for the electric lines. Now, we have a lot of cut wood around. Much of it is nice fire wood, but some of the logs are rotten and look like this.



As I was stacking the nice wood, and debating throwing the bad wood on the camp fire pile, I had my idea. Wouldn't these rotten pieces of wood make lovely planters for the porch? Today I found out.

I chose three rotten logs that would sit well, and that were interesting. One of them was rotted through all the way, one almost all the way, and the other about half way. For the first two, I wadded up some plastic grocery bags as a filler. The idea is to make the pot lighter, create drainage and use less soil. I've read about people using water bottles as filler. I didn't have any. Since I haven't learned to do all the neat things Cindy does with plastic bags, I figured this was a pretty good use for them.

Then I added a few scoops of dirt. (My scoop was an old sour cream container.) Then added the plants. I splurged on $3 of annuals at the store the other day. In the pot I put two New Guinea Inpatients, an alyssum, and a wave petunia. Then I added a couple more scoops of dirt around the plants, and watered.



I must say I was very happy with the result, and even happier that each of these only cost me a dollar (for the flowers) and some change (for the potting soil.)



How's that for a frugal flower pot? Now, if I'd just started the flowers from seed, and had compost ready for soil, these lovelies would have practically been free! Maybe next year! :)

painted pots

Over the years we have collected many plant pots, buckets (all 87 of them), old mop buckets etc, always putting them to good use. With finally sorting out our garden and getting in more plants, herbs and fruit trees, we decided to paint the old pots and give them a new life. Another thing we are trying to do this year, is buying second hand plastic pots and buying terracotta ones as well.

So of we went to the start of the car boots last Sunday, oh how I love car boots, you just never know what you will find. One disappointment was, there were no plants for sale. Bit early I suppose. But what we did find is these two planters, know in the shops they are about £6 pound each, but we got these for a pound each. SUCH A BARGAIN. I just love getting things cheap and if they are seconds that can be reused, all the better. With these two as with our others they did need some tender love in care. Holes put into the bottom and a dust off. Then come my favourite part, painting.

(don't forget the chair, relaxation, so important)



(I also use B&Q range and what other ones I find cheap)

I have really enjoyed doing this, have been going a bit mad all over the garden. Well you can't say my garden isn't colourful LOL.

This paint I used here works really well and comes in the most amazing colours, their ranges are great. They have chocolate browns, deep purple to a light one, pinks and metallic, the most yummy deep red and even to gold and silver, and all water based so no harsh cleaning products. Just a quick wash under the tap and your brushes are clean. Hmm think I am going on a bit here, I do get excited when I find something new!

The end result is two new pots that look amazing and as if you just brought them. They are unique and in style with what you want and don't cost you a fortune to buy.

(this one is done in lilac B&Q)



and last but not least, a good cuppa tea, well he did supervise.

This was posted by Fiona over from
'a pot, a thought and a smidgen of dirt'

The Greenhouse

Hello and welcome to Fiona's weekly 'Make it from Scratch' posting. I come from up the road at 'a pot, a thought and a smidgen of dirt', where I got an amazing email from the lovely lady of here asking me to do a weekly post. I almost fell off my chair, I can tell you. I adore my garden with a passion, I just started pottery and well, anything new from jewellery to writing I have a go. So, when I got the email, it was a thrill!!!!! did I mention I am a nutty kiwi (New Zealander) now living in the UK?

So a little about me and mine. I live with Mom aka Margaret, two cats, Sootie and Pebbles, and saving the best till last, Garak, our soon to be ten year old springer/lab. Nothing in this house is ever done with out those three getting their noses in and their approval. So they will be popping up here and there. I am a student at Open University studying creative writing this year, as well as trying to get our garden sorted so we can totally live upon it, sorting this house out for decorating and trying to make a living out the things I love to do. So that is a little about me and now for my first 'Make it from Scratch' post!!!!

ps. one thing about me, if there is a cheaper way to do something, I will find it!!!

The Greenhouse

As you can see from the picture above, that is my dream glass house, the fact that it is bigger than my house and well into the thousands, I thought I would go for a cheaper version. With one of our favourite (cheap) garden shops, Wilkinsons, we brought this kit set one for £39.99. WHAT A BARGAIN!

As you can see it is all kit set, but it is so easy to set up, if I can do it anyone can. Inside you get a piece of paper with all the info on it, everything is labelled with letters, ie, A,B,C,D etc. This is a must, MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THAT EVERYTHING IS THERE BEFORE YOU START. I can't stress how important this is, I know it is so exciting and you want to get started straight up, but the amount of times I haven't done this and you can guarantee that something is missing. Some places now if something is missing will just send the piece, but some still insist that you take back the whole thing. Strong words have come when having to undo it all.

So now it is all there and with coffee/tea at the ready (lots of tea), its time to get started. Basically, all you need is a patch of ground, some weed cover and 20mm gravel. Unlike myself (rolls eyes at self), make sure you get enough, we used eight standard bags of gravel to cover 120 by 190cm. Silly me, thought only four bags would do it.

(take one dog, to chase cat away who being a pain)

The reason we used 20mm gravel instead of of 10mm,

First, the 20mm doesn't sink into the ground, I was told that with the 10mm it tends to sink.

Second, for comfort, wanted it where we could walk around in bare feet and not end up with sore feet. Also good for the animals, they can have a sniff around, lay down and basically make a nuisance of themselves.

After Pebbles (our little girl cat) has done her inspection, all the pebbles are laid out level ready for the greenhouse to be assembled. Putting the frame up for the glasshouse is really easy, just follow the instructions. They are very basic, A goes into B, C connects with D, start from the bottom up and take your time, remember this is fun, so have a ball with it. I personally loved it, Mom made the drinks while we chatted and the animals had a ball inspecting everything while running around the garden.

It took me about an hour to put everything together, this is with the animals been involved as well and taking my time. Once this is done (and after another cuppa) all you have to do is put the cover on. Open the cover right up and slip it over the top, gentle pull it down over the bends extra, please, be careful here (unlike me who on last year's smaller one, pulled really hard and ripped it!), they are made to fit a tight fit, so take this part slowly.

After this, I think Pebbles was feeling she wasn't getting enough attention, so in her style she decided to climb up onto our roof!!! so the next half hour was spent on how to get the cat of the roof without breaking her leg. In the end she came down on her own, looking rather pleased with herself. Never minding my heart beating to the drums of Africa.

Now the moment comes, you are almost done! Woohoooo. With this one I got, it came with four metal pin pegs that go through the bottom metal poles, then four plastic ones that go into the ground with ropes attached to the greenhouse. Later on when I have time, I will buy the proper ones to hold it in place.

This is a really basic greenhouse, is cheap but of good quality and I love walking out there every morning to open up the door. Once I start doing my seeds it will look amazing. During the summer we are going to be growing exotic vegetables and fruits from Turkey, Mexico etc inside, will let you know how that turns out.

This was posted by Fiona over from
'a pot, a thought and a smidgen of dirt'