Fairy Garden / Hens and Chicks

I had this pot of Hens and chicks sedum that was ugly and over grown.  There's something magical about these perfect little plants that just makes you want to display them but somehow they'd ended up neglected and forgotten. 

This is with most of the plants removed and I forgot to take a picture before I started, but you can still tell how horrible this planter looked.

 They were in definite need of a new home, and my granddaughter B kept saying I need to make a fairy garden.  Over the last few months she kept telling me this would be good for the fairies or that would be good for the fairies, so we made this little house and dining set for them a few weeks back. The birch bark was salvaged from the ground. Please don't pull it directly from a healthy tree.     :(   
The walkway didn't stay, I thought it looked too modern for the setting.

I added some of the plants and a few pine cones because B would have been sad if I didn't give them a place of honour. She was sure fairies would love them. Notice there is a tiny amber marble gazing ball here as well.

The new path to the front door is made from glass pieces from the craft store.  Much more in keeping with a magical setting. To the left of the path are the rest of the hens and chicks and a greeter frog. OH.. and another gazing ball, this time blue.

A few seashells and a quiet little retreat for fairies is born.

Like everything I do there is always one tiny thing that needs to be added before it feels completely finished.  Of course... what kind of a greeter frog would he be if he didn't say "welcome"?

Here is the finished planter on the deck right beside the front door.  I sure hope some fairies come to visit,  this little garden girl has been alone here for a very long time and would truly love some company.




Did I say finished.  I really hope not.  I'm sure all the little girls who come by will think of lots of changes that need to be made.


Bye for now and have a great day everyone.

Getting things done.

I have been so busy lately that I haven't even thought of  writing this blog.   The thing about having so many ideas is that eventually you have to take some time and get some of them done.

My lovely hubby brought home a few straw bales about 10 days ago so I got them into the yard and started conditioning them.  Luckily we have had quite a bit of rain, because you have to keep the bales really moist and they dry out quickly in the wind.

So now I'm ready to plant the tiny little tomatoes and cucumbers that were started really late.  For anyone wondering how its going I will take some pics and post all the details of what I have done so far. It's really an experiment for me because the soil here isn't good and I don't have time to build raised beds if I want to grow any vegetables this year at all. 

I've also been collecting wild flowers and herbs and  drying some of them, and making some infused oils in prep for some home made salve. I've made a bit of natural insect repellent because the blackflies and mosquitoes are really vicious this year. If it works I will share that as well.   

I'll try to take time in the next few weeks to write  about all these wonderful things that are getting me closer to my goal of being  as self sufficient as possible and completely chemical free in my home by the end of the year... One step at a time. 

Future projects include home made laundry soap and  chemical free diy cleaners.  Some new   healthier recipes I want to try and an all natural home made medicine chest.

If you have any ideas you think I might like please share. I'd love to hear from you.

 

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.

Compost Tea Anyone?

I was given this piece from my wonderful sister Lynn Simpson  to add after she read "magic compost".  She wrote a piece for the  "Oshawa This Week" newspaper on composte tea a few years back, so this is her info:


The holes in the bottom also let the little worms crawl in. You know you have good compost when the worms take up residence. I did discover though that eggshells do not compost worth a darn. Every time I took dirt out of the compost bucket to put in the garden -- or to make my compost tea -- I had to take out large clumps of un-dissolved eggshell. When you put the eggshell in make sure you crush it very small to start with, but put them in because crushed eggshell helps to keep the smell down.
Once you have your compost you can make Compost Tea to use on your houseplants.
The simplest method is to combine 1 part of mature compost [almost black and crumbles when rubbed between your fingers. Shouldn't smell bad] to 5 parts of rainwater (or water that has been sitting to allow the chlorine to evaporate if you are in the city), stir together and then let it “steep” for about 3 days. Strain the tea and add the used compost to your garden or back in the compost pile. The liquid (tea) is what you use. You can spray it on the leaves of plants or add it directly to the soil. You can apply compost tea every two weeks. Remember, the same rule applies here as applies to compost – if it smells bad don’t use it. Return it to the compost pile. Mature compost should smell earthy and fresh, not bad.
You can add it to your blog or not. Up to you.

...... Thank you Lynn.  Wonderful information

Magic Compost

Is anybody getting a head start on some of those spring projects?

My goal here at the new place is to live a simpler ,greener more prepared lifestyle. This is my way of getting started on that. I did a little research on the net and I think this is the easiest way (for me anyway) to get composting. I started saving a few of the compostable items from my kitchen this winter. I just got a big bucket with a lid. I used one of the big square buckets that kitty litter comes in. I put all my used coffee grounds and eggshells into it. I wasn't trecking out to some far corner of the yard to dump them every day so the bucket was fine. I didn't realize we drank so much coffee. Its a good thing its decalf or we would be bouncing all over the house here. I also saved newspapers, and cardboard boxes. There were quite a few of them from the unpacking.

A couple of weeks ago we had a fabulous sunny weekend. It felt like spring was in the air. Birds were singing. My spirits were high and I got the gardening urge. It was just a false start, but it sure felt good. I explained to my wonderful husband how I had found the trash can composters on pinterest,   and gave him the instructions. We had two large black Rubbermaid bins we were no longer using. They were perfect and all it took was a bin, a half hour and a drill. I love it when he gets on board with one of my projects.  I guess this one didn't sound as silly as some.  He drilled holes into the bottom first, this is important because it allows for drainage.  The holes were drilled all around the sides right to the top.  Add a few holes in the lid and there should be plenty of ventilation.  Lots of air  helps the compost process.  For a little extra circulation and to help with the "turning" of the compost I decided we should put a piece of fencing rolled into a tube down the center on the inside. 




This is my inspiration found here  

I had some fun in the afternoon tearing up cardboard and newspaper with my four year old granddaughter  Bethie.  I explained to her how we were going to put the paper and the kitchen scraps into the bin, and tiny little bugs that were too small to see would eat it all up and turn it into dirt. Her response was "is it magic dirt?"  Now my compost bin will forever be known as the magic dirt maker. I love it.











 We layered the paper, (brown material) and the coffee grains and eggshells (green material) in the can the way the instructions said. If I had been thinking ahead last fall, I would have saved some bags of the dried leaves hubby raked up in the yard. They are the very best brown material you can use, but unfortunately they are all in a pile under a few feet of snow. I guess they aren't going anywhere.
I am now keeping all my compostable kitchen scraps, the coffee grinds and eggshells along with all those vegie and fruit scraps from prep.


 Here  is a  great list of what and what not to put in your compost bin.
I can't believe some of the things I no loger have to toss.

I love the simplicity of composting like this is. I don't have to go out every couple of weeks and shovel the pile from one bin to another. All I have to do is put a good bungie cord over the lid to make sure its secure, then lay the can on its side and roll it back and forth a few times to mix the material. Keep it slightly moist and nature does all the rest. The trash bin has wheels so in the winter I can move it closer to the house and no trecks through deep snow to the farthest reaches of my "kingdom"....  Making your own compost really is magic.

I plan on using the other trash bin as well once this one is full and ready to go.    I'll keep you posted on how  it turns out.
Here is my bin, just waiting for the snow to melt


Have a great day everyone