The Earth Beneath Our Feet.

I break “gardening rules” all the time trying to make things work on my balcony. I look for planters with odd shapes to fit my very confined space. I was considering at one point building a planter 4 feet long and 6 inches wide to grow one row of onions But it didn’t seem worth the yield, since I would only get about 8 onions out of it. And hopefully I’ll be in a house by the time the second growing season would come around.

This website, Urban Allotments has all the tools to help you fit pots into every corner of your tiny garden. There are lots of solutions for growing up: hanging, inverted, wall, and vertical planters. And the best part is that they are all pretty!

knittomania:

Love this infinity knitted scarf. The creative finishing, the oatmeal color. Just lovely!

One of the classiest doctor who fan knits I’ve seen.

knittomania:

Doctor Who knitted scarf. Click pic for free pattern made by Kate Atherley.

I have mentioned before that I share a mere 550 square feet with my husband. Storage, organization, and staying clean can be a challenge. Here are some of my storage solutions for “under” things.

Sofa:
I have searched in vain for a box that will slide under my couch. Most under the bed boxes are too tall to slide under a couch (~6 inches). But really what I needed was a surface I could place things on, not a box to contain things. I have a serving tray that slides under my couch with all of our board games and cards. You can make it even easier on yourself and put some small furniture glides under it. Then it will slide out like a drawer. If games are not your thing this works for craft supplies, small toys, old magazines you can’t part with, etc. Ikea has some great trays for fairly cheap, like this one.

Sitting Chairs:
This is similar to the sofa solution, but really only works with sitting chairs that don’t move too much. Tray solution applies to chairs with the fabric skirt. I have a nice looking tin box underneath my sitting chair that is open underneath. For chairs with more room under the legs you can use baskets or nice storage boxes. Whatever fits your taste. I always recommend you store things where you use them. So fill these boxes with things you use in your living room or whatever space the furniture is in.

Utensil Trays:
This really applies to any home, but I store spare keys, appliance warranties, product reclaim/recycling information, notes about move out (like “take knobs off cabinets”) underneath my utensil and silverware organizers. These are things that I don’t access hardly ever at all but need to hold on to. My mom taught me this trick. Don’t have a utensil organizer? You should. They make your drawers look amazing.

Tables:
I have a table in my bathroom to assist with storage. Two adults in a one sink bathroom with no drawers gets frustrating. I have knocked over countless bottles of shaving cream, sent make up brushes into the toilet (yuck), and lost all ability to stay organized. I found this great table at a garage sale for $15 bucks. In its original state it doesn’t help much with storage. I took some nice looking fabric and sewed some nice looking panels to hang inside on the three sides that are not against the wall. I used tension rods, rather than stapling the fabric or using velcro. This makes it easier to push the fabric to the side and doesn’t damage the table. Underneath I placed racks, drawers, and baskets to keep everything tidy. Now I can buy the big packs of toilet paper!

waltzingmatildablog:

Scrabble cookies! Hmm, a game of edible scrabble would be pretty fantastic…

Succulent Care Guide
I have jumped on the succulent bandwagon. I was first introduce to them by a friend who makes these awesome wearable planters. I think that they have this quiet beauty about them. In terms of care they fall in the same general category as cacti. This makes them great for people who have black thumbs. 

Succulent is a non-scientific term for a “fleshy” plant. They grow in places that regular plants couldn’t because they retain a lot of water. Some succulents imitate rocks, which can make them very unusual. Most of the succulents you will find in your local home improvement store will have originated in Africa.

Container:
There are very few rules about containers for these plants.

1. Drainage. This is the most important. If the soil stays damp for too long the roots can rot or start growing fungus. Not good for the health of your little guy.
2. Depth. The beauty of succulents is they don’t require much soil. Their roots tend to sprawl rather than dig deep. If you do plant them in a deep container be careful with your watering. Even if it drains well the soil will be prone to fungus because the plant will never suck up the water.

Soil:
Again, not too picky. Most important part is that it drains well. If you plant it in sand or a sand mix make sure that it is a horticulture sand. Sandbox sand will still have salts on it that will kill pretty much anything in addition to your succulent.

Water:
Water about once a week. The soil should dry (meaning the top centimeter of soil is dry) out between waterings. If the leaves shrivel like an old balloon it needs watering. Most succulents should be tolerant of this.

Light:
Succulents are very tolerant of a variety of light sources. They suffer more from shock than intensity. If you need to move a plant from a partial sun area to a full sun area it needs to be done slowly. Otherwise, you risk burning the plant. Expose it to full sun for an hour a day in week one, 2-3 hours in week two, 3-4 hours in week three. After week three you should be safe to move the plant permanently.

Great article from Real Simple. It has a list of well over a 100 items and how to recycle or donate them. Items range from electronics to tennis shoes. It’s good to read through the whole list. It makes you think about the type of packaging you buy and what is really recyclable.

I take all of my electronic type stuff to Best Buy. They took my husband’s trimmer that died, a metal computer case with no parts in it, and some of my metal scraps.

Click image or Here to read article.

Already having summer weather here. Weekend project? Yes.

prettyfoods:

mint chip ice cream bon bons (via food plus words)