Simply DIY 2

This summer will be our third summer in the new house.  Each year, I start a beautiful garden in the back with hopes of a fruitful harvest and each year (well, just the past two since we've lived here) I get  squash  squat.  Actually I do get a zucchini or two, but my tomato plants rot from the bottom and only a handful of beans will grow.  It is a pretty pathetic site.  This year, I am set on not letting it happen again.  I've decided to take a different approach this year.  Beans in the back up against a trellis, tomatoes in the front, and lots of potted veggies, like lettuce and bell peppers.  Also in pots will be my herbs - but I always grow some hearty herbs in a pot...I suppose you can't really mess up herbs (Hopefully I didn't just jinx that). I have already started my garden in the little newspaper pots  like I did last year, in hopes of planting them into the garden in a few weeks.   By the way, Punxsutaw...

"Show me your garden... and I will tell you what you are like." ~Alfred Austin I found this quote posted in the U.S. Botanic Garden in D.C. while visiting with my sister a couple years ago.  As beautiful as a quote this is, I hope Alfred Austin doesn't judge me based on my garden. I told you that I would share the good and the bad.  Well this is going to be about the bad.  The very bad.  This summer has been very busy.  While this is no excuse, my garden has succumbed to our busy schedule.  In addition to our travels, the weather in Virginia has been scorching this summer, thus causing my plants to roast and wilt. Here is what the garden looked like on July 5, 2012: The garden looked good, but a bit over crowded.  The beans in the front and the zucchini overtook most of the garden. The eggplant in the back had blossoms, but no fruit yet.  Same with zucchini and beans.  The tomatoes were coming, but still green.  It ...

Ok...so life's been a bit hectic lately.  I can't believe I haven't posted in over a month !   This topic seems the easiest to post right now since I haven't had much time to do much around the house. Since my post about  starting pots with newspaper , I've had a couple mishaps with the starter pots - but no fault of the pots themselves !  First, Stout thought it would be fun to pick out and munch on about half of the labeled popsicle sticks (maybe I shouldn't have left them on the ground...oops).  Even though they were not labeled, most pots survived the canine attack.  But then a drought and heavy heat came upon the surviving sprouts.  While I was away and left the hubs in charge of watering my little sprouts, they got a little too much  A LOT of sun and not enough water.  Out of all 22 started plants, one bean, one zucchini, one cucumber, and three basil plants survived the disasters. Look how sad the plants look ! So I...

I like the fact that the previous owners "bricked" the whole back patio. It's nice and easy to care for.  However, there is no color - no grass, no flowers, no nothing.  That's what I'm working on this summer.  Color. My first addition was to our gates.  The gates are BORING. While at JoAnn Fabrics I picked up two plant hooks for about $10.20 for both of them.  They were 40% off and I used my teacher discount.  Then, while at Wal-Mart a few days later, I picked up two hanging planter baskets for about $4 for both.  They were very cheap.  Then, a few more days later I picked up some flowers at Lowe's. Kerry helped to put up the hooks on the gate ends.  The plant hooks came with screws, so we used those.  One screw head broke just as Kerry finished putting it in, but it didn't effect the sturdiness, so we let it go. The gates already look fancier with the hooks! I had some garden soil left over from filling u...

I will admit - I can be a dumpster diver. Not the real dumpster diver, but the kind of person that, on a walk, might see someone put their unused stuff out and finds a hidden gem.  I hate seeing good stuff go to waste.  In the 11 months that we have lived here, we have given a new home to an IKEA Billy bookcase, three practically brand-new Sterilite storage tubs, three unopened boxes of Christmas lights, and a bamboo serving tray.  I can't help it.  Maybe there's a dumpster diver anonymous somewhere out there for people like me.   Anyway, this brings me to the bamboo serving tray that was sneak-peaked in my wicker set redo.   Last summer I had been looking for a cheap tray that I could fix up when the renters across the street peaced out and left a TON of stuff on the curb for the trash man.  Inconspicuously as I could, I tiptoed walked over to the curb to see what goodies I could find and noticed the tray. Score !  I nabbed it and brought it i...

I finally finished tearing up the patio enough to make a raised garden bed.  Last year we bought one that links together and just put it on top of the patio - it just didn't work out too well.  I think it needed to be deeper.  So I pulled up one layer of bricks, stacked the bricks to make a wall, and now I have a garden bed. So I know that I'm a bit late on starting my seeds, but better late than never.  Two years ago my friend had mentioned that she made newspaper pots that can easily be put straight into the ground.  So I searched the web and found a video on making them.   I didn't want can size pots. I felt that was a bit too big.  I thought and then  vaguely remembered my friend saying that she used toilet paper tubes to make the pots.  I didn't think that it would be much different than the video instructions, so I went with the tube.  Tools: Scissors Measuring tape or ruler Materials: News paper Toilet paper tub...

Gotta love free stuff !  Just a couple of weeks after we moved in, we had piles of stuff to donate or sell. First, I thought that I might as well try to get some cash for the stuff before donating it.  So, I put out my piles of stuff... and... waited.  $13 dollars later, I called it quits.  However, my wonderful new neighbor asked if I wanted an old bistro set.  Sure!  Free patio furniture  anything is always nice.  So she came over with two chairs and a table, both of which needed some work. I figured I'd start with the easiest of the set - the two chairs.  I went to JoAnn fabrics, used a coupon (always!), and left with about 1 1/2 yards of outdoor canvas fabric and a about a yard of foam for the seat pads.  Instead of just sanding and painting the wooden seats, I wanted them to be more comfortable...and look better too!  S tep 1 : Remove the chairs seat from the frame with a screwdriver.  The...