This is a beautiful video of a cactus garden at Stanford University in California. No stretches of gravel or decomposed granite here. This is a real GARDEN, with a lushness that many people don't think you can have in a cactus garden. I could hang out here for hours. Nice music too.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
I'm green!
I wish my tank looked like this. Not just the composition (fantastic! dramatic, calming, with a real sense of depth and height), but the health of the plants.
or like this, so deceptively simple!
Instead, it looks like this.
And my plants look like this.
or like this, so deceptively simple!
Instead, it looks like this.
And my plants look like this.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Gardening
I've been yearning for a garden for months now. I waste so much time online looking up plants, learning about low desert gardening, finding neat little ways to do things. I love DIY solutions. I really don't see the point in buying something I can make. I save money, learn a new skill, and it's so much more satisfying! I also hate to throw something away that could have another use. So today I came across some very neat things right up my alley. Anyone's alley really. They are simple ways to make your own pots for the garden. No special tools or skills required!
The first are newspaper pots. You can purchase a wooden form to make these...
or use items you already have, a glass, soda can, or soda bottle with the top cut off and black & white newspaper. If you want a bigger pot, just use a bigger vessel to wrap your paper around. Here is a video from eHow with directions. She creates a pot in 3 minutes! This is so easy you can do it in front of the TV. She suggests taking the newspaper off when you plant the pot since the newspaper may not decompose fast enough, most people leave it on tho. I think it depends on your gardening conditions, and how many layers of newspaper you have in your pot. If you do leave the newspaper on, make sure it is completely buried so that it doesn't wick moisture away from the seedling.
There are lots of different ways to make your pots, some are more complicated than others.
The other idea I came across is using 2 liter soda bottles as mini green houses. Again very easy, and all you need is the bottle, scissors or knife, soil and seeds.
You can find instructions for this at MrBrownThumb's garden blog. Here is an idea for turning the bottle on it's side.
The first are newspaper pots. You can purchase a wooden form to make these...
or use items you already have, a glass, soda can, or soda bottle with the top cut off and black & white newspaper. If you want a bigger pot, just use a bigger vessel to wrap your paper around. Here is a video from eHow with directions. She creates a pot in 3 minutes! This is so easy you can do it in front of the TV. She suggests taking the newspaper off when you plant the pot since the newspaper may not decompose fast enough, most people leave it on tho. I think it depends on your gardening conditions, and how many layers of newspaper you have in your pot. If you do leave the newspaper on, make sure it is completely buried so that it doesn't wick moisture away from the seedling.
How to Create Seed-Starting Pots From Newspapers -- powered by eHow.com
There are lots of different ways to make your pots, some are more complicated than others.
The other idea I came across is using 2 liter soda bottles as mini green houses. Again very easy, and all you need is the bottle, scissors or knife, soil and seeds.
You can find instructions for this at MrBrownThumb's garden blog. Here is an idea for turning the bottle on it's side.
Update on cat
I'm late on this, but just in case someone is actually reading this, I should let you know what happened. A few days after that post, our beautiful Ebe disappeared. She likes to go outside (supervised of course), but doesn't wander off. That day was beautiful and my daughter and I were on the back porch. Ebe came out with us. I saw her cross in front of the back door while I was inside for a minute. When I went back out, she was gone. I looked all over for her with no luck. Even if she escaped the back yard, she would probably have just laid in the sun on the driveway. Like I said, she isn't a wanderer. My hubby and I think she wandered off to die. We will miss her terribly. She was a great cat, full of personality, loving, and until this illness, never sick a day in her life.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
My Cat
My hubby and I have a 14 yr old domestic cat named Ebe. She's a great cat. Full of personality and attitude and love and mischief. She's always been really healthy. Until just after Christmas. She's losing weight, sleeping more than normal, not eating as much, sitting and laying funny, and is very, very snuggly. We had a bunch of blood work done, but it only told us what wasn't wrong. She doesn't seem to be suffering from any infections or viruses, her kidneys and liver are fine, and her thyroid is normal. That leaves us with some sort of digestional disorder. To determine what kind, we need to get an ultrasound done at around $500, which we don't have. I've tried to get insurance for her, but she's too old for all the but the ones that take the most advantage. I don't know what we are going to do. My vet in Colorado would let us run a balance, but our new vet here in AZ won't. It's a shame, cuz in a few weeks we would have the money. I'm sure if we don't do something fast, we'll lose our sweet kitty. The whole thing is keeping me up at night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
