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Invite Pollinators into Your Garden with a Bee Habitat share

Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a serious threat to our food future. Bees pollinate around 1/3 of the food that we see on store shelves. If we are going to continue to feed ourselves, we need to protect bees and other pollinators. This bee habitat is a great way for you to help native bees in your area!

There are a lot of factors that contribute to CCD. Habitat loss is one of them. The more land we develop, the fewer places bees have to build their homes. This bee habitat, which I first posted over at Crafting a Green World, is one way that you can make your garden a friendly place for pollinators.

Make Your Garden a Home for Pollinators

You only need a few simple supplies to make your own bee habitat:

scrap wood
a drill
drill bits ranging from 3/32" to 3/8"

That's really it! How you drill your holes depends on the size of your wood. My piece was long and skinny, so I went with a 3/16" bit and tried to space my 3-4" deep holes about 1" apart. Check out this document from the Xerces Society (pdf) for how to decide how deep your holes need to be and how far apart you should space them.

Want more ideas for creating a bee-friendly garden? I've got some tips over at Crafting a Green World!

This is just one way to invite pollinators into your garden, of course! So spill it, gardenistas! How are you making your garden bee-friendly this spring?

Posted: | Categories: bee habitat, Bees, Craft Recycled, DIY, help save bees, Living, native bees, pollinators, Xerces Society, Yard+Garden

Dec

Winter Gardening: A Cover Crop that Prevents Weeds share

Are you trying your hand at winter gardening? I just ran across a very cool cover crop that supposedly helps keep pests at bay naturally!

My family recently visited Atlanta Botanical Gardens, so that my son could get a picture with Santa there. They have a pretty amazing Santa! He sits in front of a tree of poinsettias, and his beard is real. He also sang "Wheels on the Bus" to my 8-month-old, which won his little heart.

Winter gardening wasn't really on my mind on this visit, but I did want to check out their edible garden when we saw it on the map. I love that they are promoting the idea of growing food, and I wanted to see what they were growing, since I imagine the same food plants will thrive in my yard. Their selection of winter food plants was pretty much what you'd expect:

collard greens
mustard greens
beets
cabbage
Swiss chard

Growing alongside all of their food plants was this beautiful ground cover. It reminded me of some varieties of moss that I've seen, and apparently it's good for winter gardening and for deterring pests! The plant is called hairy vetch, and as you can see on the sign that I photographed, it is:

...a cover crop that prevents weeds and attracts beneficial insects

Those sound like good qualities in a cover crop! I did a little research, and it turns out that hairy vetch - or vicia villosa - is a common cover crop in organic gardening. It's pretty beneficial in general, but once you plant it, it can be hard to get rid of, so make sure you choose its location with care.

Hairy Vetch: Beyond Winter Gardening

It also turns out that hairy vetch isn't just a cover crop for winter gardening. It's beneficial year-round. The plant improves the soil quality where it grows, which makes it a great companion crop, especially for acidic plants like tomatoes.

Hairy vetch might also make a good replacement for grass in your lawn! Folks use it as ground cover on pasture land. If it can stand up to trampling from big, four-legged mammals, I bet that it can withstand you and your kids playing in the yard!

It's moderately winter-hardy, and you can grow hairy vetch from seed in the fall. That means that if you hurry, you can plant it before the first freeze! Vetch plants don't handle extreme cold well, unless they're covered in snow. Hairy vetch is the variety of vetch that's most suited for winter gardening, but it may not survive the winter if you experience extreme cold for extended periods without snow.

You can get the down and dirty about hairy vetch in this article from Purdue University's Department of Agronomy. It's a little bit dry, but it goes into a lot of detail about vetch and about hairy vetch specifically.

Posted: | Categories: Gardening, ground cover, hairy vetch, lawn alternative, Living, natural pest control, natural weed control, organic gardening, vetch, winter gardening, Yard+Garden

Oct

Fall Garden: 6 Container Gardening Ideas share

Are you planning your fall garden? We've got some container garden ideas whether you have a little space or a lot!

Container gardens are a great way to maximize space or grow food when you have no lawn. They can also help keep crops out of contaminated urban soils, even if you do have a yard. The best part? Container gardens can also be beautiful. Instead of planting rows, farm-style, you can artfully arrange or build your containers to give your garden variety, whether it's a big back yard or a tiny balcony.

If you're not sure what to plant in your fall garden, check out this article we shared earlier this week, which includes a helpful video on fall garden planning. It may be too late where you are to start your fall garden from seed, but you can purchase seedlings and still grow some of your own food this fall!

Ready to get planting! Here are 6 container ideas for your fall garden!

1. Herb Spiral

Got bricks? Add a couple of bales of hay, and stack them to create a beautiful spiral herb garden for fall. You can plant herbs or small seasonal veggies in your spiral.

2. Wine Box Container Garden

Got a wine box handy? Don't toss it! Old wine boxes make beautiful planters for smaller fall garden additions like herbs and green onions.

3. Self Watering Container from a Plastic Bottle

This is probably the least pretty of our container garden ideas, but it's super handy. If you tend to kill your plants, a self-watering container can help save your plants!

4. Chalkboard Pot

Give an old pot a fresh face with a little chalkboard paint. You can use chalk to label the pots for your fall garden, then wipe the chalk away to write new labels as the seasons (and the plants you're growing) change.
5. Reclaimed Drawers Vertical Garden

Old dresser drawers and a reclaimed ladder make a beautiful, functional vertical planter for your fall garden needs. Planting vertically like this allows you to have more plants in a smaller space, and runoff from the higher up plants will nourish the ones below them.

6. Raised Bed Garden

Got a back yard but bad soil or a big weed problem? A raised bed gets your plants out of the ground. A basic raised bed is easy to build to exactly the size that you need, so you can configure yours to accomodate whatever space you have.

Are you planning a fall garden this year? Tell us about what you're planting and what containers you're excited to use!

Posted: | Categories: container gardening, container gardening ideas, fall garden, Gardening, Living, Yard+Garden

Oct

Victory Garden: Fall Garden Planning Made Easy share

Have you been wanting to plant a victory garden but weren't sure what to grow when? Fall is a great time to get started. Here's how!

It's a little bit late to start your fall victory garden from seed, but you can still find young food plants at your local nursery, so don't let the timing stop you! When you're shopping for seedlings or young plants, you want to make sure that they are organically grown. You don't want to start your organic garden with plants that have been sprayed with toxic, bee-killing pesticides! Bigger nurseries, like the ones at Lowe's and Home Depot sell plants sprayed with these chemicals, and you don't want to introduce them into your organic garden, because they may harm the pollinators who live there and are crucial to your garden and to our food supply.

Instead of shopping at these bigger stores, look for smaller organic nurseries in your area. It's worth the drive to ensure that your victory garden is as healthy for wildlife as it is for your body.

Fall Victory Garden Video and Planning Tool

Need some help choosing which fall vegetables to plant? This informative YouTube video from GrowVeg talks about what to plant and how to grow a productive fall victory garden:

Like they mention in the video, GrowVeg offers a garden planning tool that you can use to map out your garden. They are not a site sponsor at this time, and they didn't approach us to talk about them - we just stumbled upon this video and think that they offer a cool tool to help you grow your own food!

Do you have any plans for a victory garden this fall? Have you already started yours from seed? Let's talk food-growing in the comments!

Image Credit: photo by Becky Striepe

Posted: | Categories: fall garden, fall vegetables, Living, planning a fall garden, victory garden, Yard+Garden

Sep

5 Wood Pallet Crafts: Weekend Project Ideas! share

Need a fun weekend project? How about some good ol' wood pallet crafts to keep you busy and revamp your decor or your garden!

Wood pallets are becoming popular as craft materials, and that's because we use (and discard) so darn many of them. The trick to wood pallet crafts is making sure that the pallets you choose are safe for crafting, and then disassembling them while preserving the wood planks.

Tracking down wood pallets for crafting doesn't have to be difficult, but you do want to make sure that the pallet you're using has outlived its usefulness in the shipping industry. Don't just grab a pallet that you see outside a shop - businesses reuse them! Instead, ask the store manager if they have any pallets that are past their prime. Big box stores are a good place to start, especially home improvement stores that get a lot of big shipments. Don't be shy about asking - if you take an old pallet or two off their hands, they don't have to bother with disposal. Most big businesses like that have to pay for trash disposal, so you're doing them a favor.

Wood Pallet Crafts

1. Upcycled Ottoman

This plush, upcycled ottoman might not look like it's made from wood pallets, but that's part of the charm of this project.

2. Pallet Planter

Transform an old wooden pallet into a vertical planter for ornamentals or succulents. You can also use this method to create an herb planter, but you want to be 100% sure that the pallet you're using is made from untreated wood. Click here for details on how to tell if your pallet is made from treated wood.

3. Wood Pallet Bookcase Makeover

Transform that an ugly, pressboard bookcase into an heirloom piece with some sweat equity and an old wood pallet.

4. DIY Succulent Table Planter

Pallet wood planks make a beautiful outdoor table with a planter embedded right in the center. Wouldn't this make a magical spot for entertaining?

5. Pallet Desk

Want to get in on the wood pallet crafts craze but aren't super good at wood working? This pallet desk is easy peasy and very fresh. No wood working skills required!

Have you done anything fun with old wood pallets? Tell us about your favorite wood pallet crafts in the comments!

Posted: | Categories: DIY, Furniture, Home+Decor, Living, wood pallet crafts, wood pallet DIY ideas, wood pallet furniture, wood pallets, Yard+Garden

Aug

Spotted: How to Make a Tire Swing share

There's something iconic about a tire swing, isn't there? What's even better is that there is no single, end-all "how to make a tire swing." You can most likely use tools and supplies that you have on hand. The only thing you need for certain is a used tire.

The best part? If you snag an old tire, you're doing your part to divert it from the waste stream, or even worse keep it from becoming litter. Tires might seem to big to be considered litter, but illegal tire dumping is terrible for the environment and for public health. Dumped tires become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, because standing water collects inside of them. Tires are also a lot larger than your typical litter, so when they do end up dumped by the side of the road, they're a terrible eyesore.

How to Make a Tire Swing

Over at Crafting a Green World, Julie Finn shares an incredibly helpful roundup of tire swing tutorials along with some tips that she has picked up from building her own tire swing. This is a quick, one-day project, so you can build and enjoy your tire swing in the very same weekend.

The supplies you need can vary, depending on how you decide to attack your tire swing, but here are the basics:

reclaimed tire
length of chain or strong rope
eye bolts
S-hooks or locking carabiners

Ready to get the details? Click here for the tutorials!

Posted: | Categories: Craft Recycled, DIY, how to make a swing, how to make a tire swing, how to reuse tires, Living, tire crafts, tire swing, Yard+Garden

Mar

Craft Recycled: Your Spring Garden share

Spring is so close that I can smell it! It's just about time to start planting those spring crops, and now is also the perfect time to add a few upcycled touches to your spring garden. Here are a few ideas to get you going!

1. Boot Planters

Going vertical is a great way to grow more in less space. Hit the thrift store and find some old rain boots to create these sweet, upcycled hanging planters.

2. Reclaimed Raised Bed

Raised beds are great for keeping weeds and pests at bay and in areas where the soil quality might be on the poor side. Instead of using new lumber, check out this upcycled garden bed using reclaimed wood instead.

3. Wine Box Containers

For smaller plants, like herbs, you can use old wine boxes to create beautiful, upcycled planters.

4. Bike Wheel Trellis

Gather up some old bike wheels and create a beautiful, upcycled trellis for your climbing plants, like beans!

5. Wine Cork Plant Markers

You think you will remember what you planted where, but there's always those one or two plants that slip through the cracks when you don't write things down. Grab some wine corks from your stash to make sweet, upcycled plant markers and never guess at your garden's layout again!

Are you adding any upcycled touches to your garden? I'd love to hear what you're planting and how you're designing your space in the comments!

Posted: | Categories: Craft Recycled, DIY, Gardening, Living, reuse, spring garden, upcycled garden, upcycling, Yard+Garden

Mar

Spotted: Bicycle Wheel Trellis share

We love offbeat gardening ideas around here, and this bicycle wheel trellis is just a stunning example of creative reuse!

Bike wheels are pretty durable, but a big accident can mean that your old wheel goes kaput. Maybe it gets cracked or bent too far out of shape to be trued again. Whatever the reason, once a bike wheel is dunzo, it's...dunzo. It's not easy to recycle, but just because it's not useful for pedaling anymore doesn't mean it's not useful at all!

Over at the Kirksville Permaculture Education Center, they shared a gallery of photos of this beautiful trellis. What a lovely way to reuse kicked bike wheels!

Of course, most of us don't have a a bunch of bike wheels sitting around our house, but I bet your local bike shop has lots of spent wheels laying around! Next time you're in the neighborhood, pop in! Chances are they'll be happy for you to take those off of their hands. In many places, businesses have to pay to dispose of trash and recycling, so there's a good chance you're helping them out as much as they are helping you.

The Kirksville Permaculture Education Center site didn't have instructions on how to build this trellis, but it looks super simple. Here's how I think it went down:

Materials

Wooden H-frame - you can buy one or build your own from reclaimed wood
8 used bike wheels
zip ties or popped bike inner tubes

Directions

1. Stake the frame in the ground wherever you want your trellis. Make sure it's nice and secure, because those tires and the plants that grow up them are going to add a lot of weight.

2. Use your zip ties or the inner tubes to link the tires together and link the tire grids to your frame.

3. Plant something that climbs - like grapes, luffa, or beans - at the base of your structure, and watch it go!

Want to see lots more photos of the bike trellis? Click here!

Posted: | Categories: bicycle crafts, bike crafts, bike wheel crafts, Concept+Design, DIY, DIY garden, Gardening, Innovation, Living, upcycled garden, Yard+Garden

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