Strawbale Garden

This post has been a while in the making.  I've thought and thought about whether I am going to try this or not and I think it is going to happen. 
Has anyone tried the straw bale garden method to grow their veggies?  I have been looking online for a few months now reading as many articles as I can about this and I think I am going  to give it a try.
The only thing I haven't decided on yet is the method of preparation for the bales before planting.. There are a few to choose from.







I would love to have a garden that looked like this.



A  great face book page. So much info here  My favorite place for answers.

The first one I read about says you have to prep the bales by adding some very high Nitrogen fertilizer to the bales every few days and keep the bales moist.  This makes the bales start to decompose (compost) and once they are cool on the inside to the touch and no longer hot you can plant directly into the bale.  This however is if you do not want to go organic.  I'm not sure yet about that.

The organic  method suggests using bone meal or blood meal as the Nitrogen source.  Either of these would of course be a chemical free option.  The draw back to this method -  I read that blood meal will attract animals,  especially dogs, who will go to great lengths to dig in your bales because once watered the bales will smell like blood.  That does not sound good since we have a few dogs and cats wandering the neighbourhood on occasion and I would hate to have my plants destroyed.  You can't really blame an animal for following it's nature.  Besides dogs, we have wolves and foxes in this area.  I don't want to attract any of those. 

While I was researching my compost I read that coffee grains are very high in Nitrogen and I thought maybe I could sprinkle some over my bales to get them going .  I know they are supposed to keep cats away (a bonus) and there's a Timmie's close by so I could get some there.  And they are natural so Organic?

The last method I found was to just put the bales out in the weather and let them decay naturally just keeping them moist.  This method takes a very long time and I really want to try a couple of bales this year so not this year at least.  I could get a few more bales in the fall and put them out for next year if this works here like I'm hoping.

Here's a link to an easy read article. I think this was one of the first I read.

Reasons I want to try it?    

 

no  tilling  - no hoeing  -  no digging  - easy access

 takes less space - works anywhere 

you don't have to have great soil

 and you can grow almost anything

 

 

Plus the cost of straw bales is far less that building raised beds and filling them with a good growing medium.  But you could frame in the bales and have instant raised beds to use every year. Click on the pic at the top and see how wonderful having a garden like this would be.

 

I've already started a few tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers so I have to plant them somewhere.  I'll let you know how this turns out.

 

You might also like to read this article.  It covers Straw bale Conditioning step by step which is how I think I will do mine.  You can also read part 1 and part 3 and there is  a ton of info on the whole straw bale garden thing. I loved it.   

 

Have a great day everyone and happy gardening.

Spring Walk

 I took my kidlets for a walk around my backyard in the woods on Friday. 

I remember walking in the woods with my dad when I was really really young.  Those walks are some of my earliest memories. Because it is so important to me I wanted to share the wonder of the forest in the spring with the kidlets.  I don't think you can be too young for this activity, you just need to be able to walk, and believe me there is no shortage of new things to discover.

The forest in this case is actually the perimeter of my yard.  In my very first post found here I mentioned that our place is nestled in the trees at the very back of a trailer park and fairly private.  This makes it a wonderful place to discover nature. Come along and enjoy the walk with us.

Click on any picture to see all pics.





At the very edge of the trees where the sun shines a tiny bit we found a nice patch of violets.

 

 

 

This old tree was a dinner plate for a woodpecker.   

 

 

And this log was home to some fungi as well as some beetles that the kidlets quickly scared away.

 

 

 

 

 



The hillside was covered with these beautiful Trilliums.

 

 

 

I'm not sure what these pretty  little bell shaped yellow ones are called. If you know please leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you.

 

 

 

 

 

Bird watching was the best here, and the bird music was amazing. 

 

 

 

 

 

This poor tree was a victim of a past wind storm.  

 

The kidlets were fascinated with this little bug out for a stroll.

 

There is a knoll in the middle of our yard that is mostly shaded. It's covered with this pretty evergreen Periwinkle. 

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And coming back out into the sun on the other side of the yard we found these tiny little strawberry blossoms.  I didn't tell them we would come back later and find tiny strawberries if the birds don't get them first.

I hope you enjoyed our walk...  Just a suggestion, but be prepared to do a lot of lifting over those branches and fallen logs when walking with your little ones.  They have tiny legs and are not really equipped yet for any major climbing. With that said please do take them and often.  It might just  be one of their first memories and when they are grown it could be one of your fondest memories.

Have a wonderful everyday life .

Cloud Dough

I've been reading about sensory bins for play and development and wanted to try something with my kidlets to see how they would like it.  I love the water bins and some of the other outdoor bins I've seen, but I wanted to try an easier one first.

Yesterday the kidlets and I mixed up a batch of cloud dough before we went outside to play. The recipe is just 8 cups of all purpose flour mixed with 1 cup of baby oil.  I first saw it here.
I used a lavender scented baby oil so it smelled awesome as well.

It felt so cool mixing this stuff up. It's soft and silky.  Its not sticky on your hands, but brushes right off.   It sticks together when you squeeze a handful, but falls apart again very similar to the way beach sand works. 

This bin is just the right size and the sides are low enough for easy access.

I knew it was supposed to rain this morning so last night I put the Cloud Dough into a shallow bin, a good size for my kidlets to play in and added some beach toys.  Then all I had to do was spread a sheet over the carpet in the playroom and put the bin on a low table.

This was the consistency the kids mixed it to yesterday. It got smoother as they played.

When I put the bin down on the table and took the lid off this morning, they all came and looked to see what I was doing with it.   I'm not sure what they thought we were making yesterday and I don't think they cared because they just like helping, but when they found out they were going to actually play in it there were some pretty big smiles.

Here you can see the sheet on the floor. It makes clean up a breeze.

They started out with just the beach toys  but we soon added spoons, cookie cutters, and some jello molds as well to make sand castles.

This was as much fun as bringing the beach home.  I've seen where its sometimes called cloud sand, and that's exactly what it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This activity kept the kidlets busy about 40 minutes.  That is definitely a record here for sure.

 

This was simple to do,  didn't cost a lot, and I can just dump it into a jar and I think it will keep for a while so we can use it again. At least a few times.  If I make this again I think I will use canola oil instead of baby oil.  Its cheaper for one and I think it would work the same way.  As well if it were made from canola oil it would actually be edible...ewww....but  those little ones put their hands in their mouths a lot.

 

 

Have you ever used cloud dough.  I'd love to hear about it or any other cool ideas you have for sensory play.

DIY Febreeze

There have been a ton of posts about making your own cleaning products lately and its got me thinking.  I spend a lot of cash on this stuff and if I can make my own for cheap and if it  actually works then why not.  Some of the ideas are even Green  versions and while I am all about saving my budget I also love it when something with help save the earth and make it a place my grandchildren can grow up in and be healthy.

Well this morning one of my little kidlets was sitting proudly in the big armchair and of course making a stinky diaper.  Between this, and the cat using it for a bed, some of my furniture can get quite smelly.  Febreze is one of my alltime favs for keeping everything in the house smelling fresh.  I reached for the ever present bottle and there was just a dribble left. I cringe when I see the price every time I buy a new bottle, and I was out so now was a really good time to see what I could make.  I found a make your own alternative on this blog .  Her instructions are so easy that I just had to try it out... It was 1/8 of a cup of fabric softener.  I used Fleecy but you could use whatever you have, mixed with 2 tablespoons of baking soda  and warm water.  She used a 27 ounce bottle but mine was a little larger so I added 32 ounces. Give it a shake and its ready...Really, how easy is that. 

This took me five minutes to make and that included the time it took to remove the label from my empty Febreze spray bottle and clean it out so I could re-use it.  I had everything in the cupboard so I saved myself a trip to the store and I don't even think this cost me 15cents.  I saved some gas and 1 bottle from the land fill.  AND  it smells great.  I never have to spend money on Febreze again.   Huge smiles happening here. I should be able to keep my house smelling spring time fresh for less that a dollar a year. 

At this point I think I should add a disclaimer:  I have often noted that if you spill fabric softener directly onto your laundry that it can leave a bleached spot on your fabric.  Even though this is really diluted I would suggest you test it in an area that is not noticeable first to make sure it doesn't harm any expensive furniture. 

Discovering Nature

I have been neglecting this blog for a while and I appologize, but I have been a bit under the weather and needed to take some me time. 

I'd like to share a day the kidlets and I had outdoors a  week or more ago.   Keep in mind these little girls  and guy were hardly big enough last summer to do much out doors except crawl around and enjoy the grass. 

This was the first truely warm spring day.  The shorts and sunscreen kind of day where you just need to be outside.  So that is exactly what we did.

First lets cook up a feast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And what's a feast without dessert.

 

 

 

 

 

Lets get the chairs ready.

 

 

 

 

 

After snack it's off to a new adventure.

Discovering the leaves left from last fall.



There are some pretty cool things to be found here.

As I write this it is cold ouside, there is a winter wind blowing and oh yes...... It's snowing..... again.   But that's OK because we had a taste of the good stuff and I know this is going to be a pretty cool summer having fun with all my little kidlets.

 



Kids Eat with their Fingers.

Getting kids to eat their meals is a chore for some parents.  Fortunately  I haven't often had a problem with this.   Even starving kids will be picky but I like them to eat healthy because in the long  run healthy is happy and my days are nicer. We try to play hard in the mornings, and only stop for a small fruit snack and a drink,  so by lunch everyone is hungry. 

This is what we had today.  Notice the carefully held fork in the other hand.

They will eat anything I put in front of them as long as I cut it up and serve it in small bites. 

I buy cheese in large bricks when it is on sale and then freeze it.  It doesn't slice well like this but the crumbled pieces are great for little fingers.  Toast is cut into cubes and ham or chicken into small pieces.  And yes they even eat brown beans. Yummy.

Another favorite here is tomato soup. I make it with milk, add a full can of mixed vegetables and serve it poured over whole wheat crackers.. Most of it is eaten with fingers and they might need a little help spooning up the soup at the end, but I have never had anyone turn it down. 

Once a week we have an awesome spinach omelete. There is never any left as long as they can get their tiny fingers on those  managable pieces. 

Toast is always a hit. Whether it's whole wheat or even rye,  it's all about the size and making it easy for them to "do it myself".  They are learning  new skills  every day and every new accomplishment is a milestone. Why not make it a bit easier for them to achieve their goals.

The kidlets all sat up to the table today excited to have their lunch and inhaled ate with much enthusiasm.  Almost as the last mouthful went in L was falling asleep in his seat.  The girls were right behind him.  I love sunny warm play days and good healthy lunches. And of course.. very happy, tired kidlets. 

A few shots of our play yard. 



 

 

 

 

I would like to ditch the store bought toys out here and add a mud pie station and more nature based play items.  But that needs to be left for another day.  For now the weather forecast is promising and we are enjoying our space. 

Weather Chart for kidlets

The last few weeks have seen every kind of weather out there.  We have gone from snow to rain to the ice storm and now we are experiencing  the most beautiful spring we could have.

The kidlets and I have been trying to learn about all these changes, so of course I had to make a weather chart for us to follow.

There are a ton of ideas out there for us to use. I checked Google and Pinterest of course and there were almost too many to choose from.



I liked this one

 

This is very simple and cute 

Here is the one I made.  This is where I found it.

This is the one I made

 

I think it turned out kinda cute.  I just downloaded and printed the pictures and using a cut and paste method (with actual scissors and glue) I pieced them together using a large piece of cardboard for the backing. When it was all together I gave it an extra coat of white glue to make it a bit more durable and trimmed off the excess cardboard.  A matching ribbon lets me hang it easily. I just glued the "today's weather is" tabs to a couple of clothespins.  Too easy.