homegrown goodness

See that lettuce? I grew that. Well, since you can see the pot with leafy greens growing in it that may have been obvious.

This was the first salad I ate with my homegrown lettuce. So fun. So tasty. And a totally easy green living thing to do.

Get a pot or two or three and buy a packet of mixed leaf lettuce seeds then plant in your pots filled with some good dirt. Water (but not too much before the plants start growing!). Wait til they’re big enough to cut some leaves to add to your salad (don’t pull up the plants—they’ll keep producing more lettuce leaves). And, don’t forget the $$$ you’ll be saving during the summer season if you grow lettuce (and other veggies too). If you have a nice sunny window (south/west facing) you may even be able to grow salad year-round.

The more you plant the more you’ll have—and be able to share with others or have more than a single-serving salad at a time.

My first salad was eaten back in June and now that we’ve made it to the end of summer I can say that I didn’t make a trip to the grocery store to buy lettuce one time during the past few months. Oh, and I guess this first salad I made was kind of an upside down salad. Veggies, cheese, dressing and other fixings layered up with the leafy greens up top. There weren’t a whole lot of large leaves on my lettuce plants yet, but I figured I’d still eat some and make it more of a garnish than the main part of the salad.

good for some things

So…Craigslist can be pretty great. For a variety of things. Like selling items that don’t sell at a garage sale. It’s especially convenient for large items, like furniture, that need to be picked up by a local buyer rather than incurring the extra expense for shipping.

By the way, my garage sale went pretty well. A lot of stuff sold. And many of the sold items were things that I didn’t think would sell. But, there were still a few piles sitting around at the end of the day, including some things I thought would sell.

But, that’s where Craigslist can come in handy. Whether you’re selling or looking to purchase. For me, there were a few items that I figured I’d post on craigslist and wait a while to see if anyone would take the bait and buy. If not, there’s always the option of donating to a thrift store or charity shop.

The two biggest items I had left from the garage sale sold rather quickly from my Craigslist posts. For full price. And I was so glad to see them go to people who were looking for exactly what I had. It’s so much more rewarding than dropping something off at a store or throwing it out on the curb.

Craigslist is also good for apartment hunting, but that subject requires its own post. Stay tuned for an upcoming post with tips and warnings.

Garage Sale Day

Sometimes a neighborhood or community will have a designated garage sale day (or yard sale or alley sale). They might have a program set up where you can register and they do some advertising, provide signs, and make a list/map with all the (registered) sales in the area. It might even be an annual thing, so if you find out too late about one in your area check again the next year.

Today is one of those days. In the Macalaster-Groveland neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Go here for a little more detail and the downloadable map/list.

If you’re in need of any furniture or other random household goods, go on a garage sale hunt. You may come across some great deals on just the perfect thing. Or, at least something that’s affordable that will work til you’ve saved your pennies for a new and improved version.

lake effect

well . . . it’s not really lake effect, but I did drive thru quite a few lakes on the way home from work today. Crazy downpour started just before I was heading out the door, so I decided that, rather than end up taking a shower in the 30 feet I’d walk between the building and my car, I’d wait a few minutes in hopes of a break in the heavy rain. Luckily, it wasn’t too long of a wait.

And here I thought I was gonna need to water my plants tonight.

Hooray for free plant watering with absolutely no effort!

And now that it’s pretty much a total thunder/lightning fest in my neighborhood, I’m gonna click ‘publish’ and go eat some dinner. And maybe avoid electric outlets and such things.

dirty fingers

So . . . an apartment in the city, or anywhere for that matter, doesn’t typically allow for much gardening or personal “green” space. Sadly.

The first apartment I rented had a balcony where I optimistically planted some veggies in pots. I kept them out on the balcony which faced west and slightly north so it wasn’t too favorable for growing anything. It’s been a number of years since then, but I vaguely recall having tomatoes, (miniature) carrots, and some flowers.

Where I live now is leaps and bounds beyond that not-so-sunny balcony. But, it’s still just a little, and by little I mean a few square feet, of garden space that I commandeered for my own planting around the deck when I moved in. Nobody else seemed to be doing anything with it, aside from the second floor deck’s birdfeeder overflow that sprouted some sunflowers.

Over the Memorial Day weekend I finally had some time to get out and do some work in my little garden. The past two summers involved planting seeds to grow basil, cilantro, and chives down at ground level. Since a rather large male dog now lives upstairs I didn’t want to have edible plants growing in a place he might use for a bathroom. Last year’s chives did come back after the long MN winter, so I left them there and plan to wash them really well before eating.

With the freed up garden space, I thought adding some flowering plants would be nice. As cheaply as possible, of course. I don’t intend to invest a lot of money in a place that I don’t own.

Iris, Columbine, Foxglove, Primrose, Tulip & White Alyssum garden

first step: checking around the corner, the rest of the garden space, to look for plants to be moved. This year a ton of columbine plants sprouted (I realized this before weeding!) and one of the larger plants picked a spot right in the middle of the iris (the columbine and iris were here before I moved in). After a quick phone call to mom for plant advice, I knew I could safely dig up some of the iris to transplant thereby giving the columbine some breathing room.

second step: a quick trip to the local Menards hardware store (I detest their television/radio advertisements, but they do have some good deals and they’re close). I found some great deals on 6-pack annuals and came home with 1 pack of  lavender Alyssum and 1 pack of dark purple Salvia. Twelve plants for less than $3!

third step: digging in the ground and getting my fingers nice and dirty in the planting process. I started with the iris, digging up a rather large chunk and transplanting the individual plants into a single row in front of the deck. Then I alternated four of the alyssum and three of the salvia plants in front of the iris. I also had some sweet pea seeds so I planted a lot of those in a row behind the iris—hopefully they will grow and climb up the deck. Two of the remaining salvia got planted in the garden area that the iris came from and the rest of the plants went in a hanging basket on the deck. The weather has been a tad bit cool and rainy since then, so nothing has really taken off in growing. But, it’s been getting warmer, so I’m anticipating growth and full leafy green flowering goodness.

garden refreshed on the cheap