This is Day 66 of the Green in 365 series! Writing about starting a compost pile is likely to bring up a lot of questions, so I thought I'd answer some of the main questions I get about composting all together in one place. Please remember that I am not a master composter, this is just our family's experience with our little backyard compost. I always recommend that you do your own research, and try things out for yourself to see how they will work for you and your … [Read more...]
The Lazy Guide to Setting Up Your Compost Bin {Green in 365: Spring }
This is Day 65 of the Green in 365 series! It really is amazing to me that we can take something that we'd usually throw in the trash, pile it up together and give it air, water, sunshine, and time, and it will turn into something full of nutrients to use to fertilize our gardens. I think a lot of times people are afraid to start a backyard compost because they're afraid they will mess it up. They think it's complicated, or scientific, or that you need a special bin and … [Read more...]
5 Steps to Get Ready to Garden! {Green in 365: Spring}
This is Day 60 of the Green in 365 series! I have to say that I am very happy that March is here! February is the shortest month of the year, but for some reason it just seems to drag on and on. My kids are stir-crazy and tell me every day they can't wait until it's summer and the weather is nice! And I couldn't agree more. I'm tired of the cold weather, snow and cloudy days. I can't wait to be able to send them outside to play! And I can't wait to get started on my garden … [Read more...]
Recipe: Zucchini and Ground Beef Skillet Casserole
One afternoon last week it was around four o'clock and I thought to myself, Hmmmm, what are we going to have for dinner? (I've been slacking in the meal planning department lately!) I knew I had a pound of grass-fed ground beef in the freezer, and a million-kagillion zucchinis on my counter. (Okay, maybe not quite that many, but close!) I opened up my computer thinking I would browse Pinterest for some inspiration, when I noticed that a newsletter from Food.com was in my email Inbox and the … [Read more...]
August Garden Update
Our family had a great vacation last week at our cottage in Northern Michigan. It's one of my favorite places in the world, it's so peaceful and relaxing. Now we're trying to get back into the swing of things as my daughter starts school tomorrow and fall is just around the corner! So, our garden this year has taken on a life of it's own! Our original planting on Mother's Day only yielded us one zucchini plant. A few peas came up, but I didn't keep them watered consistently, so they just … [Read more...]
Recipe: Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen that I have ummm... a few zucchini hanging around my house. Yeah, just a few... I'll share an quick update on my garden soon, but basically, the zucchini plant has taken over. Yes, plant. Singular. All these are from one plant. It's seriously the biggest zucchini plant I have ever seen! At first it was huge and had some flowers, but wasn't really producing any zucchini. Then it started raining over the past few weeks (we had been in a … [Read more...]
Ultimate Blog Swap: Environmental Benefits of Composting
Today I’m participating in the Ultimate Blog Swap. You’ll find me posting over at More Than Mundane about Our Handmade Home, and I’m excited to welcome Roechelle from Hug a Tree With Me to Live Renewed: The decomposition of once living plants, fruits, vegetables, weeds and other like materials is called compost. Composting takes place naturally, as vegetation falls from trees and decays, the decaying plants or fruits provide much needed nutrients to soil, plants and … [Read more...]
First Garden Update of 2012! Cleaning Out, Planting and Strawberries!
I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday — thanks to my awesome husband and kids. They spoiled me and made me feel special. I hope that all of you mamas had great days too. And if you're feeling a little overwhelmed, or maybe less than the best as a mother, my hubs wrote this post for me yesterday over on Babble, I hope it will be an encouragement to you! One of my requests for Mother's Day was that we get started working on our garden, since that had been neglected as we dealt with family … [Read more...]
August Garden Update!
Wow! My garden is growing like crazy! I thought I was just going to have a little raised bed garden this year, but it has truly taken on a life of it's own. It's been especially fun to share gardening with my kids this year and start to teach them about growing their own food, and where food comes from! (See pictures from the garden last month.) We are up to our ears in zucchini and tomatoes. We actually pulled out one of our two zucchini plants in an effort to save some of our carrots which … [Read more...]
My Compost Pile!
I've been bugging my hubs to build me a compost bin or compost pile since we moved into our house two summers ago, and last month he finally made my wish come true! We decided to make a compost pile instead of bin because it was a simpler, easier project and we could use materials that we already had on hand. We (well really just Jer) made a two stall open pile, using reclaimed wood - some pallets and a piece of leftover fence from our neighbor - so this great compost cost us nothing to … [Read more...]
