How to Save Big Money Each Spring

It was a frigid 12 degrees when I woke this morning and I'm so glad I put my little pansies and strawberries indoors! They would not have been happy in that serious cold - brrrrrrrrr!!!

Gardeners' Gold and Weird Women

Well, I did it! I finally decided on a composter! I'm so excited! 

Ok, so I might be a little weird - sorry! That's just me! 

But let's face it - compost is a huge part of organic gardening - us gardeners call it "Gardeners' Gold" for a reason!

It's very simple - feed the soil, not the plant. If you feed the soil, the soil will nourish the plants. 

Via

The magic lies in compost. When we compost our garden waste and kitchen scraps into rich, dark 'gold' for the garden we put back into the soil what the plants take out of it. 

Synthetic fertilizers do not feed the soil. If anything, they leach the nutrients out of the soil leaving the soil worse off than before you added it. You give the plant itself a quick blast of food but you are killing off the biology of the soil. All the added chemicals and salts in synthetic fertilizers are poisoning our bodies via our waterways and our land. 

I started gardening organically many years ago. I honestly can't remember the last time I bought a container of Miracle Gro - it must be 20 years ago. 

I do buy liquid fertilizers to nourish my container gardens and give my plants an extra boost but they are all natural and organic. 

Big Bloom at Amazon

It's great to have a liquid organic food on hand to give the plants a little extra nourishment every now and again. 

I also have turned to the Vermont Compost Company for help with re-balancing the nutrients in the soil in my containers. 

Vermont Compost Plus at Gardeners Supply

This stuff is great - I add a bit to any containers that don't get dumped at the end of the season and it perks the soil right up! It's been a huge help these past few years when I was renting and didn't have a composter. 

But here's where the magic is going to happen from now on:

www.Envirocycle.Com

Meet my new friend. Isn't he gorgeous?

I told you about all the composters I was considering in this post.  Funny enough, this was not one of the ones on my radar at all! That was, until Pamela from Brooklyn Farm Girl left a comment telling me about this composter that she has had for years. 

I looked it up and I was intrigued! The only problem was, it didn't have two chambers. 

I nearly bought another one, one of the ones on my list, but I kept reading reviews and there were a number of things folks mentioned that were really bothering me. 

Yimby Tumbling Composter

1. Difficulty to put it together - ummm, no thank you. 

2. Flimsy materials, would probably not last more than a few years. 

3. Wasps and other flying insects getting into the vent holes. Again, no thank you!

4. Stinky stuff leaking out. 

5. The size of the openings for dumping in waste were too small. 

6. Difficult to turn when loaded up

7. Would not be able to move it easily once it's in place

I kept going back to the Envirocycle. The reviews were amazing, pretty much 5 star across the board. And folks raved about the company's customer service. 

This unit was more expensive than the other one I was looking at but if it's going to last many, many years and the company will stand behind it that makes it more than worth the extra money. 

I decided to purchase one now...and another one in the future. This way I can have two chambers, just like I really wanted. That means one side can be full and 'cooking' while the other side is being used and added to regularly. 

Well.....it arrived within days and sat in my garage for a bit while I waited for a halfway decent day to set it up. 

I set it up last night after work...and I'm delighted with it!

Setup took less than 5 minutes. The unit is most definitely light enough for me to handle on my own. 

Here it is on the corner of my patio next to the veggie garden. Exactly where I thought it should go. 

It's close enough to the kitchen door to make dumping my little kitchen compost bin easy peasy. We like easy peasy!

If I can smell it at all in the summer months it will be simple enough to move it to a different location away from the house, and then move it back for winter. 

I fed it the first bucket of kitchen scraps plus a bucket of dried leaves....heaven knows there are plenty around that need to be picked up!

I love that the opening is nice and large for dumping in waste. And the latch is easy enough to open even with frozen fingers like I had last night!

The unit is in two pieces - the top round part and then the base. 

www.Envirocycle.com

Another plus? The base not only has rollers so turning the top part to mix and aerate the contents is so simple....but it also collects the compost 'tea' in the base! There's a spout with a twist on cap that you unscrew to pour out the 'tea' when it gets full. That will take the place of me having to order liquid plant food online - that means this unit will pay for itself in a couple of seasons!

Pure genius, I tell you. 

See how weird I am? What other woman gets this excited about compost?

Spring Dreams

What I'm dreaming of:

Via

What I have:

What I'm drooling over:

Via

What I've got to work with:

What I'd like to do:

Via

What I'll need:

Grow Light

Seed Starting Mix

Seedling Trays

Heat Mat

What do you think? Am I missing anything? Can I do it? Can I convert my little garden cottage into a pseudo-greenhouse without spending a fortune?

Any of you garden gurus out there that can offer any suggestions, please do!

I could use all the help I can get!

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No Spend Month - Week Three Recap

I can't believe it's been three weeks since I began my first no-spend month! I doubt that there has been another time in my adult life when I went three whole weeks without spending any money (other than on bills, of course!) and it feels amazing that I have made it this far!

The challenges have been few, as apparently I did quite a good job of prepping for my no-spend month. We certainly haven't struggled with food, that's for sure! I've been using up the perishables first, of course, and then going to the freezer to supplement. 

My daughter also picked up a few bits of fresh produce when she was at Trader Joe's so that helped. 

As you can see, my produce tower still looks pretty well stocked. Take note of the bananas and avocados in the second tier - my daughter bought those and they are still there because I happen to be allergic to both bananas and avocados! Otherwise they would have been all gone by now. 

I'm on my last bag of sweet onions. My potatoes are starting to grow eyes so I'm using them up these days. The sweet potatoes will need to be used in the next couple of days as well. I generally just wrap them in foil and pop them in the crock pot on low - they are cooked perfectly when I get home. Just remember to line the crock pot with foil as well - sweet potatoes leave an awful mess when they 'leak' out of the foil wrappers!

I'm starting to work my way through the fall produce now - I left it until later in the challenge as it lasts so much longer than things like fresh green beans, spinach, etc. 

See that monster green squash? I grew that baby in my little veggie garden - I had no idea what it was until my dear friend Maureen identified it for me! 

Apparently it's a Hubbard Squash - it seems the squash plant I purchased at the nursery was mislabeled as Acorn Squash. I still don't know what I'm going to do with it but at least now I know what it is. 

I still have that beautiful pumpkin also that I bought ages ago at the farmers' market - I had no idea what I would do with it but after that absolutely incredible Pumpkin Lasagna I made over the weekend I am definitely going to do the same with this pumpkin!

I'm completely out of fresh fruit and have been resorting to frozen fruit on my Greek yogurt in the mornings. I was also out of Greek yogurt but my sweetie picked up some when he was at the market - thanks, Sweetie! I just pop the frozen berries in the microwave for about 30 seconds before dumping them on my yogurt and it works like a charm. 

My grocery list is growing and growing....

....I have no doubt that next Monday when my challenge has ended I will need to hit the market on the way home from work!

My gas tank is a little over 1/4 full. I'm not sure I'll make it through to the end but we'll see. 

My wine supply is dwindling.....I'll have to re-stock after the challenge. Of course, I am still waiting for my daughters to replace all the wine they drank....ahem. 

I'm still puttering around the house, doing this and that, but not spending any money on the updates. 

My recent post on the lack of a proper entry in my house prompted me to finally hang some hooks by the kitchen door. 

I bought a few of these hooks back when I was moving into this house - there's one on the back of the other door that leads to the deck, also. And one in my daughter's room, by her door. I think I have one more, possibly two, in my utility room, just waiting for the right spot. You can't have enough hooks in my opinion!

Over the weekend I moved my Fiddleleaf Fig into the dining room so it can get some more sun. It seems to be kind of naked on one side, probably because I had it over next to the fireplace. Hopefully it will start to fill out now. 

And then I read Sarah's post about her Fiddleleaf Figs and how she makes the leaves shine - guess what I did last night while dinner was cooking?  It works like a charm - thanks, Sarah!

After dinner, when I went out to let the pups out, the moon was incredible and the sky so beautiful I had to run back in for the camera. 

And yes, I am still putting on my holiday lights every evening. I haven't unplugged the lights around the eaves yet....that will happen soon. The lights on the deck railing will stay - I use them all season when I sit out on the deck in the evenings. 

Seriously, just look at that sky! Gorgeous!

I'm thinking the full moon last night must have had something to do with the beautiful sky this morning as well. 

I feel so blessed. 

Change is Good!

It's the very first Monday after the new year and when I woke this morning the sun was streaming through the windows in the most gorgeous way. 

The sunshine in this house drew me in the very first time I toured and I believe I fell in love immediately. 

The sun was shining on all the areas I "de-Christmasized" over the weekend. In between bouts of nausea. 

I was a busy girl despite the nasty bug that tried to get me down!

The dining room table is no longer stretched. As a matter of fact, I removed both leaves for now....just for a change. I love a little round table, it's my favorite kind. It feels very cozy having a meal at a small round table. 

And yes, those most certainly are my fall pumpkins and squash that were on my center island in Autumn. I will cook them this winter at some point. 

During Christmas they hid under the guest bed. The dust bunnies kept them company. 

The top of the bookcase once again holds plants and candles in lieu of Santas. 

The tree stays up, as is tradition in our family, until at least January 6th. Which not only is Little Christmas and the Feast of the Epiphany but is also my dad's birthday. 

A holiday in and of itself. 

The mantel has been stripped of the twinkly stars and stockings and has been left with winter greens and my red wooden wreath and cones. They, of course, also look like Christmas trees.....when it's Christmas. 

When it's not Christmas they revert to cones. 

Because I said so. 

No more Christmas linens....but I did keep the red going for now. I will lighten up at a later date for a change of scenery but for now the red just feels warm and welcoming. 

Because, baby it's cold outside!

The bottles at the bar no longer sport scarves, hats, and sweaters. 

Except for one. Mr. Maker's Mark still has his sweater and earmuffs on. 

He's special. He's sweetie's favorite. 

The snowmen are gone and the colorful bottles have returned to the kitchen windowsill. They just make me smile. 

The little birdbath I hung outside the kitchen window is frozen solid now. Poor birdies. The creek at the end of the driveway is still running, though, so the critters are ok for water. At least for now. 

A few more days like this may change that. 

My farm animals have returned to the stove area, dangling their little legs over the edge. 

Anyone for a cup of tea?

I hung up this absolutely adorable winter dishtowel from World Market - they seriously have the cutest dishtowels ever! 

Did I mention I might have a slight obsession?

And this little guy, who was a gift from my younger daughter, keeps my glasses handy next to the stove...and brings a smile to my face every time I see him. 

Change is good. 

Today is a good day.