Search Results for: blog starting seeds

Starting a Parent Co-op

Does your child love nature? Maybe you want to get outdoors more often this fall. As part of our fall, we’re organizing a cooperative nature club that will run once a week on a weekday morning. We’ll all gather at the local farm or in the forest and learn about seasonal occurrences in the forest, read a story, and go for a walk. We are going to take turns organizing this with several other families. This means that the group size is small and that each of us will take a turn organizing once a month. That feels reasonable. We’ll … Continue reading →

3 Ways to Do Pumpkin Seeds

It is officially 18 days until Halloween. You’re likely getting your jack ‘o lanterns ready and starting to prepare for the festivities. If you need some tips on carving them, make sure to check out the fun blog. We also have some great ideas on throwing a frugal Halloween party. Also, make sure to check back in the food blog often this week as we’ll be featuring at least one new Halloween recipe per day to help you get ready for the big day. But first things first. The first decoration that goes up at many homes is the jack … Continue reading →

Starting Seeds

This morning we celebrated spring in one of my favorite ways. We started seeds. Nothing fancy, just cilantro, basil, morning glories and moon flowers. The cilantro and basil are for summer cooking, for salsa and pesto. And the flowers are for my gazebo. I have visions of being greeted in the morning by the sweet fragrance of morning glories trailing up the sides – and at night being treated to the soft smells of moon flowers. I hope the flowers sprout and grow. Gardening in Colorado is a challenge. We have a short growing season with an average last frost … Continue reading →

Frugal Gardening: Can You Use Store Bought Produce for Seeds?

There is nothing more frugal than using what you have instead of buying new. That holds true for gardening, too. One of the great ways to save on gardening is to save seeds you already have in your pantry or refrigerator. Using store bought produce seeds can be done, especially if you are armed with some tips. Not all store bought produce will yield variable seeds. Some produce produced and bought in stores today is sterile due to commercial growing techniques. How does a seedless watermelon reproduce anyway? Your best success is probably with produce bought at local farm stands. … Continue reading →

Free Seeds! Expiring Soon

Although we are in the middle of winter here in Pennsylvania, I am thinking about a pretty spring garden. This year I am really looking forward to having lots of flowers and veggies, mostly because we will be moving to a new home with two acres–plenty of room for planting. Currently, we have a backyard the size of a postage stamp. This first year, I’ll probably go very eclectic, trying out different seeds and plantings. Rather than spending a fortune, I started looking around for good gardening deals. Some of my favorite deals so far has been getting free seeds. … Continue reading →

Frugal Gardening: Make Your Own Seed-Starting Pots

Every year, sometime in the middle of winter, my oldest son, who is five, ask me about our garden. “When are we going to pick out veggie seeds?” he says. You have never seen a Kindergartner so excited about vegetables. My only rule is that he has to eat some of whatever vegetables we grow. So far, this little trick has worked. He loves watching the seedlings spout into baby plants, and then later plant them in our garden. For a five-year-old, and his two-year-old sister who will probably want to get in on the act this year, the easiest … Continue reading →

Nutrients for Reducing Stress

Being a single mom is stressful, but did you know that there are certain nutrients that can help reduce stress and anxiety? There are certain vitamins and minerals that can help you manage your stress levels throughout the day. Vitamin B6 helps your body to produce serotonin, a hormone that produces a calming effect on your body. When your stress levels are high, which is often if you are a single mother, Vitamin B6 is completely depleted throughout your body. Instead of feeling calm, you find yourself on edge, easily irritated, and overwhelmed. Green beans, bananas, and avocados are all … Continue reading →

Business Idea – Pet Grooming

If you have a passion for pets and you are interested in starting a home – based business, a pet grooming business may be a good option to think about. Dogs look their best when they are groomed on a regular basis, and sometimes cats need baths too. Not all pet owners have the desire to bathe and groom their own dogs or cats, and they are happy to pay someone else to groom them. There are even two options for a home – based pet grooming business, at your home or on the go with a mobile grooming van. … Continue reading →

The Forest Garden

Some of us have vast, open expanses to play with in our gardens. These expanses are sunny, and the soil is good for vegetables. Others? Well, if you’re like me and you live in the Pacific Northwest, rain is more common than sunshine, and forests dominate the landscape. This is lovely for walking, but it can be much more challenging if you like to grow the traditional sun-loving vegetable crops. What’s a gardener to do? Whether you have one big tree in your garden or you live in the middle of a forest, you can grow food. Forests are naturally … Continue reading →

Teaching Responsibility Through Gardening

I’ve never been a good gardener. I forget to water my plants and within a few days they are usually dead. I figure it must be genetic; my mother suffers from the same problem. But I saw a pretty amazing thing happen this week. It is finally starting to warm up outside so Logan and I decided to spend some time working on the yard together. We spent hours digging up weeds and making things look perfect again. The next day my father took him to the store to pick out some strawberries to put in our little garden. He … Continue reading →