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NOTE: The birds & squirrel pictured at the top of this page and in the slideshow below are just a few that I have helped rehabilitate.
WARNING: Please do not touch a wild animal, especially the young ones. If you remove a baby from it's home, sometimes the mother is just off getting it's baby food and will be back.

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Monday, June 1, 2009

Doing more in the existing garden space

Doing more with less in a school setting can lead to burnout. In the garden, I'm focusing on doing more with what I already have available instead of doing more with less. My goal: feel productive, not overwhelmed.

Compost, of course. I'm adding paper this year, that which can not be recycled due to food residues. Husband puts in the grass clippings, I add some of the soiled bunny litter box contents, and of course any suitable kitchen scraps. The grass clippings keep the temperature hot and help decompose the rest.

The rain barrel is already a success. I use it to rinse the litter boxes, rinse the emptied compost bucket, water the rhubarb, and more. We've only used the outside tap when we need the high water pressure for washing the lawnmower.

Tomatoes have new supports, supports that I already owned. The bean trellis is the same one I've used for years. I'm using a few old tomato cages for pepper plants and snap peas, and I think I'll sell the rest at our June rummage sale. I really have too many. Hmmm...if La Petite would wash and paint them, maybe they'd be worth a little more. Maybe?

All this productivity with minimal investment helps my morale. I feel frugal for reusing and repurposing. I feel accomplished for getting the garden in and tending it. I feel thorough for doing my research and nurturing the tomatoes to do so well. But lock your doors; if my zucchini is too prolific, I'll have to get creative in giving it away.

3 comments:

The Inn and Spa at Cedar Falls said...

Amen. I have been trying to recycle anything and everything in my garden. I even created a new planter out of a cracked flower pot. I laid it on its side and have some lovely flowers spilling out the sides! It looks amazing and did not have to go to the land fill.

Daisy said...

Great idea! I like my stepping "stones" - actually boards from an old fence. Being in the city doesn't mean no resources.

Khrys said...

That is a fantastic idea! Next time one of mine gets cracked, I may try it.