Living Homegrown

Designing Gardens on a Teeny-Tiny Scale

Here is a miniature garden I created in a small enamel pan.

I have made several of these and they always turn out charming. This one has a tiny patio I created out of cement powder and little stones.

It looks difficult, but it is amazingly easy. I found a kit from Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center. They have everything you need to make patios, walkways...any kind of hard surface.

Here are some photos from the website:

Aren't they fun?

I love miniature gardens because you really feel as if you can just step right into the garden. That is one of the reasons I created a G-Scale train garden in the middle of my herb garden. Kids and adults get such a kick out of tiny landscapes!

You can find more information about creating miniature gardens at Two Green Thumbs. They even have a newsletter.

My new MEGA Composter: bigger IS better!

About a year ago, my friend Michelle bought a gigantic Duel Drum Rotating Composter...And for the past entire year, I have coveted it! Oh man, how I have wanted one for myself! It is a gardener's dream!

Why you ask? Well, I have composted with square composters that I had to dig and struggle to mix. And I have had a small rotating composter that I love, but that fills up too quickly. Once it is full, I have to wait...and wait...until the compost is finished so that I can start a new batch.  Michelle's composter solved this problem by being extremely large, with two compartments. Even though it is large, it is very easy to turn. It composts quickly and is up off the ground so that you can dump the contents into a wheel barrel placed underneath. Plus, it looks COOL.

So I saved my pennies FOR A YEAR and bought my own Duel Drum Composter (also known as a Compost Tumbler) - Just like Michelle's!

When it arrived, I was beyond excited!

Unfortunately, it had twenty thousand little screws, but I managed to get it together all by myself. Although I do have an engineering degree, it was not complicated and I did not have to do any upper level math to complete the project! However, it took some time to assemble because there were so many darn screws and no one at home to help hold the drum in place while I was assembling.

The finished composter is AWESOME! It has two sections inside so that you can fill one and cook it while starting to fill the other side! One side is already full and the second side is about 90% full. So I am really using it! And that little puny black thing next to it is my old rotating composter. It is still a workhorse, but it just can't even keep up with this MONSTER composter!

Paisley Garden Apron & Gloves

Okay...How cute is this???

I found this apron at Womanswork.com (a great source for woman's gloves and garden accessories) and I fell in love with it. (Gloves sold separately)

You can also buy a matching hat...

 

I actually DO garden with an apron on...vintage aprons mostly...and it looks to me like this apron will last much longer than my my vintage versions. I also like the snap closure front pocket. It only costs ten bucks.

Come on...I think gardening should be fun...and silly. We NEED this, don't we?

Here is the other version....pretty black and white flowers...

New Sources for Garden Tools

I was recently looking for some new garden tools and after looking in my usual haunts:

Lee Valley Garden Tools
Gardener's Supply
Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply

I discovered a few new sources for awesome garden tools. Here are the links...

Corona Clippers
Gardenscape Tools
Garrette Wade
Orchard's Edge
Fiskars
Florian Tools
Rittenhouse Garden Tools

I am sure I will find a few more when I go to the Northwest Flower & Garden Show and the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show...Stay tuned...

Cool Tools - Box Tidy

"Cool Tool" posts feature some of my favorite things...No, I do not get paid to mention these items. They are just cool gadgets that I love...

One cool gadget that I cannot live without is the Box Tidy.

It is a sturdy, expandable box with compartments to hold plants (or groceries) in the trunk of the car. I got tired of driving home from the nursery only to find my plants had rolled all over the back of the car, snapping off delicate stems. With the Box Tidy, everything is held in place. I will not go to the nursery without it. When not in use, it folds neatly away into an 11 x 7 space. It is $15.95 and available at Kinsman Company  or 800-733-4146.

Lemon Eucalyptus Oil as Mosquito Repellent

Okay...So you might remember that I was looking for a plant based mosquito repellent that smelled wonderful and did not contain DEET. I wanted to use it on my children and I wanted it to not feel greasy and smell wonderful all at the same time.  Tough order to fill right?

Well I found something that works!  It is called Repel and it uses pure Lemon Eucalyptus oil to repel mosquitoes. Now, I did a little reading and lemon eucalyptus oil is one of the only things (other than DEET) that the Center for Disease Control recommends against mosquitoes. Plus, there are numerous studies saying how nifty it is.

I actually tried it and put it to the test. We just got back from a week long trip to Colorado and I saw mosquitoes my friends...big ones!...and they they DID NOT touch us when we had this stuff on. I was impressed.I just wanted to let you know...