Cleaning up after a snack one day my grandson asked where my recycle bins were. He was a little disappointed to find out that his grandma wasn't recycling. I have always made an attempt to be frugal, reuse a lot of things as I could, but have never made a serious attempt to recycle my daily stuff, so here I go. At only seven years old he has been really good help, giving me tips for setting up my recycling center and explaining what and how to sort things to recycle. His mom, uncle, and Nina has started a weblsite to encourage others to take care of our earth from our own homes and he has learned a lot from their daily actions.
My son has also planted a huge garden to be resourceful and eat more organic. So guess what I have on my back lot? Yep, an area rototilled for my garden. It is really nice, lined with landscape timbers, filled with rich, specially blended soil and ready for some plants. I have been digging, digging out my garden books that is. I read, study, look at pictures, go to the stores and look at the plants imagining how I can best 'design' my new garden. I have this insaitable desire to do everything 'by design', it is a curse if you ask my husband ! It's a garden, on the back lot where no one will see it, but I have a vision of an organic entry of a grapevine arbor, beautiful lush plantings, touches of bright colors with the addition of flowers, well maintained walkways and of course art, in the form of garden sculpture made with recycled objects.
Focusing on healthy eating, my son's family also likes to try different organic foods. While at Wichita last week he stopped at a health food store they like to go to and was telling his dad about the products he purchased there. One of those products was organic ground emu meat, his dad looked at him and without missing a beat said " Big Bird ? You're going to eat Big Bird ? " Giving his dad a stunned look he replied, " Big Bird?" ....silence..... "Thanks dad ! " Nothing like putting a face and a name to your food, especially when you had a big cuddly yellow stuffed Big Bird when you were a little tyke !
What does your garden look like? How do you 'design it' ? Leave me a comment sharing your garden knowledge, tips, and design ideas.
Chek out www.planetheal.com to learn and share your recycling tips.
Have a wonderul Earth Day, 'by design'. Elaine
My son has also planted a huge garden to be resourceful and eat more organic. So guess what I have on my back lot? Yep, an area rototilled for my garden. It is really nice, lined with landscape timbers, filled with rich, specially blended soil and ready for some plants. I have been digging, digging out my garden books that is. I read, study, look at pictures, go to the stores and look at the plants imagining how I can best 'design' my new garden. I have this insaitable desire to do everything 'by design', it is a curse if you ask my husband ! It's a garden, on the back lot where no one will see it, but I have a vision of an organic entry of a grapevine arbor, beautiful lush plantings, touches of bright colors with the addition of flowers, well maintained walkways and of course art, in the form of garden sculpture made with recycled objects.
Focusing on healthy eating, my son's family also likes to try different organic foods. While at Wichita last week he stopped at a health food store they like to go to and was telling his dad about the products he purchased there. One of those products was organic ground emu meat, his dad looked at him and without missing a beat said " Big Bird ? You're going to eat Big Bird ? " Giving his dad a stunned look he replied, " Big Bird?" ....silence..... "Thanks dad ! " Nothing like putting a face and a name to your food, especially when you had a big cuddly yellow stuffed Big Bird when you were a little tyke !
What does your garden look like? How do you 'design it' ? Leave me a comment sharing your garden knowledge, tips, and design ideas.
Chek out www.planetheal.com to learn and share your recycling tips.
Have a wonderul Earth Day, 'by design'. Elaine
We still have the cuddly, yellow stuffed Big Bird.
He must be at least 30 years old and has been loved for many years,
by many loving arms.
I asked my son tonight, and "no" he hasn't cooked the emu yet:)
Keith and I spent one morning mixing organic material to work into the soil for our new garden, which was previously a dog pen and then a temporary home for a miniature horse. I wish I would have spent more time with my grandparents in their garden. Each trip to their home in the summer we all ended up in the garden strolling through the paths leading from one area to another. It was a very neat and orderly garden and we always got to pick something from it and take home. I could have learned so much from
them, grandpa in his his overaalls and grandma in her apron....'if only'.
them, grandpa in his his overaalls and grandma in her apron....'if only'.
My idea of gardening 'by design', ideas, ideas, and more ideas. I love researching ideas from my stash of magazines, books, and drawing out my vision on paper. I am a dreamer but I do enjoy getting my hands dirty and it seems like the dirtier I get, the happier I am. To my husband's dismay I hate wearing gloves when working in the yard, so he has spent countless times pulling stickers from hands that only could be seen with the aide of a magnifying glass. Now 'if only' I could get my garden to look like my vision.
Getting a thumbs up from my grandson. He approved of my
new outdoor recycle area and
new containers for all my daily useless items. We are going to make tags for each container to easily identify the contents. Next item on the list is building a compost bin, which I will recycle old wood pallets to make them. Now 'if only' I could get Keith to help me build container holders 'by design' to keep everything in order
Don't forget to leave me a comment about your garden.
new outdoor recycle area and
new containers for all my daily useless items. We are going to make tags for each container to easily identify the contents. Next item on the list is building a compost bin, which I will recycle old wood pallets to make them. Now 'if only' I could get Keith to help me build container holders 'by design' to keep everything in order
Don't forget to leave me a comment about your garden.