Gardening

Gardening To Lose Weight!

Hello again, savvy savers! Today I am starting another new blog series, Battle Of The Bulge, Budget-Style! I will be focusing on ways to live a healthier, more active lifestyle while be able to afford clean, organic, obtainable foods! I believe this series can be worthwhile for many, who like myself, wish to get more in shape, not through crash-dieting but by small attainable lifestyle changes! All of the changes I propose will be free or affordable, and most meals and plans will contain couponed savings or deals! Fads are fancy, but coupons are a commitment! With that said, here is where I am currently: I have a family history of high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer. I am looking to lose 60lbs., find affordable non-gym membership options for working out, and change the way I consume food; this includes meals, snacks, and splurges!

Today I am 31 years young, I am 5’6”, and weigh 198 lbs; I am down one pound since last week. I walk my dogs but beyond this am not terribly active. My lifestyle causes sedentary behaviors; I work-from-home, blog, run two internet businesses, and perform advocacy work online as well. I am an internet-based excuser! Today this changes! Spring has sprung, and so shall I! I have taken up yoga, and have started working out with a pedometer on as well!

For my 8th post, I wanted to discuss a new measure I have implemented to help in my healthier lifestyle choice, gardening! Did you know that according to the American Heart Association, gardening 1 hour daily will burn up to 400 calories, and considering that the average weekend project tales 4-6 hours, and that maintaining your yard weekly, in warmer weather, will take nearly 1 hour a day, you would, on average burn upwards of 2,400 calories a week! An entire days worth of calories! This is a staggering number! For me, I make sure to water the plants, lawn, and mow as often as I can, as its no longer a chore for me, but an exercise! I love that performing tasks for hobby can lead to better health!

How awesome is that? For a small, simpler routine, here is my suggested, and used, gardening workout routine:

Pull weeds in 1 flower bed for 10 minutes
Rake mulch back into place in all beds, as needed, for 10 minutes
Fertilize roses, bushes, and low-lying shrubs for 10 minutes
Manually edge 30 feet of driveway, sidewalk, or straight-edged areas, 20 minutes
Water front flowers beds, 10 minutes

So, by my routine, all of which I can accomplish before 8 am, or after 6 pm, and will burn 400 calories! No gym membership or lawn service needed! This is an awesome way to put on a few podcasts, listen to a cd, or just have some time to yourself, and your yard, for nothing more than time! I also keep my Shih-Tzu, Sassy with me while gardening to lose weight; I have metal screw-into-the-yard hooks in various places in my yard, which I leash and harness Sassy to, and move her from area to area; so I can bond with my fuzzy-love, lose weight, and clean my yard at the same time! This is one of my favorite ways to burn extra calories, while creating a more serene home for my family and myself!

Also, if you are looking for other ways to save money, lose weight, and maintain your yard, beds, and landscaping, be sure to check out my frugal garden tips, here!

Here’s to the Journey!

How To Organize & Store Seed Packets!

Hello again, savvy savers! With Spring slowly winding up around us, many stores are drastically dropping the prices of seed packets (the Dollar Tree currently has seed packets for $0.05 per packet in my area),to cash in on pre-Spring sales, and this is the time to procure the majority of your garden seeds for the 2015 Spring Summer, and Later Summer/Fall Planting Seasons. So I thought this would be a great time to discuss one of my primary means to organize my seed packets at home! I use the binder method, similar to what I would use to combine coupons. I find that binding my seed packets makes for easier planting, storage, and accessibility.

Here’s how I do it:

Materials Needed:

A Spacious Binder; 3″ at a minimum.
Playing card sleeves; you can purchase there in packs of 10 at the Dollar Tree.
Currency Sleeves; you can purchase them cheaper than office supply store through Amazon for under $6.00.
Tab dividers and Page sleeves; optional.
Seed packets.
Freezer.

Instructions:

Taking a seed packet, fold the back 1.25 inches into itself, so that the fold of the packet falls just above the front banner of the packet; see photo above.
Place seed packets, with the name and homogeneous name of each seed facing up.
Divide seeds from flowers.
For a more organized binder, use tabs to divide seeds according to the months they should be planted; I follow my local Farmer’s Almanac which can be purchased at your local Dollar Tree.
For larger seed packets, a small piece of scotch tape can seal each slot.
Store your binder away from pets, on shelves, out of direct sunlight, moisture, or air fresheners.
For long-term storage, freeze your binder in a deep freeze; this maximizes seed life by as much as four years per packet.
Enjoy!

Here’s to being organized!

How To Water-Start Spring Bulbs!

Hello again, savvy savers! For this weekends Gardening On A Budget Post, I wanted to share a new project I’ve just started around my home, water starting paper white bulbs!

As any gardener can tell you, one of the most cheerful, uplifting sights in all of gardening is the arrival of Spring Bulbs! And while these hardy beauties only last a short spell, they are amazing in all of their simplicity!

While traditionally, bulbs are prepped and planted in Autumn for Spring arrivals, bulbs can be coaxed into blooming indoors. The required supplies are minimal, the process is simple, and assuming you have bulbs on hand, your cost may in fact be free! The process can also serve as a learning opportunity for the kiddos to both learn about the bulb planting process, as well as to bring a taste of Spring indoors in the winter!

Here’s how to get started:

Materials Needed:

3 Spring Bulbs (on hand)
Water (on hand)
River Rocks (on hand)
Glass Vessel With a Large Opening (on hand)

Cost for project: Free!

Here’s the skinny on this project:

Select three bulbs; while I chose paper white purchased after he holidays for under $1.00, you can pick up bublbs from most retailers, inlcuding the Dollar Tree.
All bulbs should be stored in cool, dark spaces in your home; temperatures generally between 38 to 48 degrees Fahrenheit. The vegetable bin in your refrigerator is a good place to store bulbs, in brown paper bags,
To water start bulbs, start by cleaning and drying a glass vessel, or container.
Take two handfuls of river rocks, pebbles, etc. in the bottom of the container; there must be at least four inches of stones.
Place your bulb on top of the stones; the pointed ends of the bulbs should point straight up.
Leave an inch of space between them to allow for growth.
Add water to the bowl so that the level is beneath the bulb but does not touch it. The pebbles will wick the water upward and feed the bulb, allowing roots to grow into the water, without rotting the base of the bulb.
Place the bowl in a cool, dark area for an additional four weeks; under the sink is a great area.
This encourages the roots to develop first, which allows each tulip plant to develop stronger leaves and stems.
Check your water level weekly, and adjust water levels, or replace water levels, as needed.
Once you have one inch of bulb growth, move your bulbs to a sunny, warm spot after roots have developed.
Maintain the water level bi-weekly at this stage, so that it covers the roots but not the bulb.
Colorful blooms will appear within a few a week at this stage.
Once bulbs have stopped blooming, they can be planted in ground, traditionally for the next Spring!

As you can see from my paper whites, shown above, this project is simply beautiful in its simplicity!

Do you like growing Spring bulbs? What are your favorites? Please leave me a comment below!

Here’s to gardening,

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Organic Summer Gardening Prep!

Hello, savvy savers! With Spring but a few short months away, I wanted to start blogging about my upcoming garden! I know that many people are on the lookout for cheap, economical ways to eat organic, fresh produce on a dime, and I am as well. This year, I will be gardening myself, canning, and living off of what I can grow; I hope to accomplish this using simple, time-tested natural gardening methods! In addition to this, I will be keeping a running tally of all my gardening costs and expenses, so that you at home can see what growing yourself might cost, compared to buying in-store produce! So, I thank you all for starting this journey with me!

So, my first post will be about the basics, and my basics, I mean just that, the basics.

Plan what you will grow. Sit down and plan what you would like to eat; while doing this consider how much space, time, availability of materials you will have at your disposal, will you have help in gardening, and what you will do with the produce once you have it.
Purchase a Farmer’s Almanac, and look at your growing zone and see when you will need to plant.
Purchasing Seeds. This past week, I spend several hours researching seeds, seed cost, seed quality, and seed availability in my area. I spoke to friends and family who all suggested that heirloom seeds, although expensive, were the way to go. After researching this idea, I decided on another method. I stopped by my local dollar Tree and purchased both my vegetable seeds, as well as my flower seeds; I purchased both the both shade and flower bed mixes as well as packets for my veggies and flowers!
Set A Gardening Budget: I have allotted $200.00 for green materials, seeds, etc. this year. Thus far, for $15.00, I was able to buy 48 packets of flowers and veggies, all at $0.25 a packet, and then three boxes of seed mixes for flower beds and around trees. As seeds range in price from $1-6.00 a packet at Walmart, this is a steal in my opinion! Add to this, of the 48 packets purchased, I was able to buy ten different herbs including Sage, Oregano, Lavender, Parsley, and Thyme! I am supper excited about this purchase. As well, I would encourage those wanting to plant to buy seeds at the Dollar Tree early as my local manager said that many stores were sold out by March last year! Keep in mind, I was not able to buy certain starters such as berries, vines, potatoes, garlic, and onion sprouts yet, I am working on a cheap fix for this as well, and will be blogging on this topic in the weeks to come! In the meanwhile, I am fifteen dollars into my garden, and feeling very satisfied!

So, this is what I have been working on this week, in terms of Gardening On A Budget. If anyone else is starting the process of gardening in their neck of the woods, I’d love to hear about it, too!

Until later, I’ll be tilling around gardening ideas in my head!

Gardening On A Budget: Tips For Taking Care Of Indoor Citrus Trees Over Winter!

Hello again, savvy savers! I hope the New Year, and end to the first week of the New Year, finds you joyful, peaceful, and teeming with resolutions in the making!

For this weeks Gardening On A Budget Post, I wanted to share what I have been up to this week, gardening-wise, and that is the care of my indoor dwarf Meyer Lemon, Mandarin, and Key Lime trees! For the first few years of my childhood, I lived on Signal Hill in Long Beach, California, and our home was surrounded by thick, flourishing citrus trees. When my Mother needed to relocate to the Jersey Shore for work, her love of citrus followed us, and since she always maintained citrus trees, and for the past few years I have done the same here is good Ole Mississippi!

Today I have a terrible secret: Previous to this past year, all of my indoor citrus trees keep dying. No matter how I carefully planted, nurtured, and tended to each beauty, they just did not seem to be flourishing as they should. Though trial, tribulation, and a lot of study this past year, I have found ways to help my plants start to flourish, and hopefully these tips may be able to help you, too!

1) Humidity: Did you know that most indoor environments have around 10 percent humidity, whereas most citrus producing tress thriving outdoors need closer to 50 percent or more humidity to thrive? So, many of you might be thinking of using a humidifier at this point, and while you can in short stints, this is not a great long-term solution, as over time humidifiers can cause mold, mildew, and paint peeling. An affordable solution? A humidity tray. Get a saucer or tray two inches in diameter larger that your citrus plant. Fill the tray with a single sheet of stones, and then fill the reservoir 3/4 full of water; refill the tray every fourth day. This method will give the trees enough natural, filtered humidity to mimic their natural outdoor elements. The Dollar Tree has an excellent variety of trays, and river rocks for that matter, which will work great for this budget-savvy project, too! Also, be sure to move trees outdoors for twelve hours stints, when weather permits, making sure to leave them in full, filtered sun, and return to the indoors two to three hours before nightfall; wheeled trays make this task easy!

2) Wind: Buildings, particularly homes newer than a decade old, tend to be airtight in nature, which can cause stagnant air. Citrus trees need air circulation, so whenever possible move plants outdoors in nice weather, and in winter when moving plants outdoors is not optional, use ceiling or tower fans, for eight hours daily to mimic ideal wind patterns in your home. Also, as Spring approaches, consider opening windows and doors for small stints of time as well, but be aware that winterizing citrus trees indoors can cause thinner leaves to form, and so to prevent sun damage to your citrus, never leave plants outdoors more than a few hours at a time starting in March of each year.

3) Moisture: I knew my trees were veering away from the primrose path when I started to notice curling, yellowed leaves. Why does this happen? Well, obviously this condition is due to a lack of watering and moisture, but moreover its because plants that get too dry, allow salts to crystallize in root structures. Salts, when soil are wet, are soluble and will not harm plants and act as a great source of plant nourishing nitrogen, but when soil dries out, salts will accumulate in the soil drying plants out. To prevent yellowing leaves, keep plants moist by watering plants every fourth day, and spraying lightly with a spray bottle every other day; make sure to not water-log plants to prevent rotting, too! A good tip for proper moisture balance, if the sides of the pot is cool to the touch, but the top is slightly dry, wait one more day, and then water as needed.

4) Fertilize: Another point to note that yellow leaves can able to be due to chlorosis, a lack of chlorophyll. Simply put, your tree is malnourished, and becomes stresses as a result. Citrus trees need a monthly dose of 18-18-18 fertilizer, and in the spring, when taken outdoors for Summer, remove two inches of soil around your citrus and replace with compost.

5) Sunshine: Spoiler alert…citrus trees require a minimum of twelve hours a day of sunlight to thrive, and the filtered light in most homes, like my own, is probably inadequate; unless you have rooms with constant, consistent sources of the perfect light trip, western, northern, and southern exposures, like a terrace or Florida room. So, be sure to leave blinds pulled up, windows opened, and allow your plant as much light expose as possible, during the day. I also hang light strips over my plants to increase light, especially during bought of drizzle, rain, or gloomy days!

So, folks those are my tips for growing citrus on a budget, indoors this winter! While this may seem like a ton of work, giving your citrus the upper hand, by way of affordable, budget strategies, and you will not only be able to immolate the perfect outdoor growing conditions, but begin to grow it needs to grow beautiful, thriving indoor citrus trees.

Just remember: When in doubt, add more sunshine, moisture, and nutrients!

Here’s to gardening on a budget,

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December Gardening Tips

Winter. It’s right around the corner. With so many of us living in the midst of cold, blustery weather, the need for keeping our favorite, festive holiday plants in top shape is soon to be a pressing need for many of us in the northern hemisphere. With this in mind, here are a few of my favorite December Gardening Tips!

Tips for caring for the living, cut, or bulged Christmas tree varieties:

Be sure to select trees with firm needles; individual needles should bend rather than snap. Also, inspect the stump; the cut end of a fresher tree should remain moist and have sticky sap.
When you get the tree home, cut 2 inches off the base of the trunk.
Always be sure to submerge a freshly cut tree stump into a bucket of water; trees can absorb 1 gallon of water in the first 24 hours.
Check the water level in your tree stand twice a day for the first week. Add water as needed. Each day, trees can drink roughly 1 quart of water for every inch of trunk diameter.
If your tree dries out, the wound likely healed over and stopped absorbing water. Make a fresh cut on the stump and it can absorb water again.
When decorating fresh cut trees indoors, avoid placing fresh evergreens on wood surfaces; sap from branches can damage the finish.
When Christmas is over, recycle your tree yourself; cut off branches, and use as insulation over perennials.
For those with enclosed, bulged trees, such are one of our four-holiday trees, as seen above, be sure to keep in an enclosed bucket, which can be encased in a decorative tin or basket, and watered 1 gallon weekly. I chose a shorter, Aspen Pine, which will be planted after the holidays outdoors!

Additional Gardening Tips for December:

Amaryllis bulbs. Place amaryllis bulbs in pots for blooms for two weeks prior to blooming. Leave the bulb shoulders protruding above the soil; planting too deeply can rot the bulb. Water when the soil is dry weekly, and stake with a bamboo skewer when blooms become weighted.
Poinsettias. If you are anything like myself, then each year on Black Friday when I purchase these potted beauties, my main objective is to keep them alive! To ensure your plants stay vibrant, always display poinsettias away from heat sources or cold drafts; keep the soil consistently moist, but not soggy. When poinsettias end their bloom, cut back all leaves, and allow to remain dormant, watering weekly, and these plants will bloom again come the following fall!
Ice: When ice forms on tree and shrub branches, don’t try to break it off and instead let the ice melt naturally.
Vegetable Gardens: Be sure to cover all bare soil in vegetable beds before the new year; affordable, green ways to do so use pine needles or leaf mulch.
Fruit Trees: Be sure to gather any remaining fruits or nuts on trees or the ground beneath them, composting this debris; this cleaning will help to reduce pests and diseases next year.

Friends, I hope these tips would be of aid to all of my fellow gardeners this month. And if you have tips for keeping winter favorites thriving, I’d love to hear all about them below!

Gardening on A Budget: How To Winterize Flower Boxes With Pine Cones!

Hello again, savvy savers! For this weeks Gardening Update Post, I wanted to share one of the projects I have been up to this weekend, and that is winterizing my front window boxes!

As most gardeners know, mulching is one the most important ways to maintain healthy landscaped plants, lawns, and bed displays. In fact, one of the many reasons why homeowner’s associations insist on mulch or pine straw for that matter. Mulching has many benefits to your landscaping efforts, such as:

When applied correctly mulch has the following effects on plants and soils.
Mulches prevent loss of water from the soil by evaporation
Mulches reduce the growth of weds when the soil material itself is weed free, and applied directly enough to prevent weed germination or to smother existing weeds.
Mulches also help your lawn and landscaping not only in the spring and fall, but also during the summer time by keeping the soil cooler during the summer period.

This leads me to the topic of winterizing your beds, and particularly your window boxes this coming season. Why should homeowners winterize their boxes and beds? In the winter, mulches serve to insulate the soil, keeping beds and boxes it warmer, which helps in the preventing of winter frost damage; this process is necessary as during summer, winterizing maintenance helps to keep Spring mulches in tact longer, helps preserve the nutrients in soil, and will untimely keep you with healthier, longer living plants into fall.

For my front window boxes, I have found that a fun, inexpensive way to winterize, and mulch these areas, is with pine cones.

To winterize your boxes, simply:

Start with window boxes, planters, and pots which have been cleared of all annual plants.
Have bulbs (if being planted) already sown into soil.
Next, remove the first layer of soil, about two inches removed and replaced with fresh potting mix, and well mixed into existing bedding materials.
At this point simple place pine cones three layers deep for winter; my 36″ wide boxes used 12 cones across and 3 cones high to create neat, inter-locking winterized mounds.
Pine cones should remain in the boxes for one two weeks past the last day of weather dipping below 40 degrees.
Pine cones can be removed, used for fire pits, chimineas, as fireplace starters, composted, or mulched into your lawn come the Spring as well!

This is an inexpensive, festive, and functional way to protect your window boxes, beds, and pots over winter, and I always receive complements from my neighbors whenever I do so!

I highly recommend this project!

Here’s to gardening,

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