Seed Packets... a tutorial.

I'm sitting here folding the most adorable little seed packets!   I will use these to trade seeds or give gifts of seeds.  Aren't they pretty?

These were made out of a notepad I got at the dollar store--I learned how to do them out of post-its, but these are so cute I might just keep making them this way.  I get a lot of those notepads as little gifts and always seem to have some around.  I know I'd like to get seeds in one of these!

I'll try to show you... (this seems way more complicated in writing than it is, so I suggest you get a paper and follow along--it's really simple)  These are the kind of notepads I used.  Sorry about the change in background.  

1.  With the paper wrong side up, fold the bottom of the paper up, leaving the part you want for the flap above the bottom part.  (If you are using a post-it notepad, make sure the sticky part is on the flap at the top.)

2.  Fold both sides in about 1/4 inch.  This step might not be necessary, but I found that it makes the envelopes a little more sturdy and makes a little wiggle room for the seeds, so I do it.  

3.  Open the flaps you just folded, and cut where I have indicated below.  You don't really need to mark this, just cut it away.  (The paper on the left has it cut away, the one on the right shows where to cut.

4.  Now open up the paper so it's flat, wrong side up.  Fold the flaps toward the wrong side.  

5.  Fold the bottom up keeping the flaps inside.

6.  Tape along the sides.

7.  Fold flap down.  If you used a post it notepad, this would be resealable.  

Super cute!  If you have any problems or something isn't clear, please leave a comment--I will get back to you!

  

Frugal Gardening...

As I've mentioned many times, I'm very frugal.  I don't have unlimited funds to finance my dream garden, so I need to work at it slowly and find cheaper ways to do things.  Having said that, I am willing to spend where necessary to get the best outcome.  I thought I'd share a few ideas I have about how to keep gardening costs down.  (I love a good list!)

• Don't try to do everything at once.  Think about what you want to do ultimately.  Make a list of what you have to do to get there.  Prioritize.  Do what you can now.  Work toward what you can't do right now.
• Example--I knew I wanted a large garden with several (unspecified number) garden beds.  I didn't want to get overwhelmed so the first year I made two beds.  I handled those easily, so the next year, I added two more (larger) beds, and some pots.  Over time, I felt confident enough to dig into the yard to make a small flower bed and a small herb bed so I did those things.  If I had done them all at once it would have been a disaster.
• I like free materials.  When someone offers me scrap wood, I take it.  At least half of my raised beds are made from free wood (untreated).  
• Reuse!  Can't stress this enough.  When I buy a large plant (like a tree) and replant it, I save the pot it came in.  Chances are good I'll be looking for a pot to plant lettuce or a tomato in soon, so I wash it out really well and set it aside.  I don't keep too many though, it would be easy to get overrun by seedling planters.  
• ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS check the marked down area at the garden center.  I have found incredible bargains there.  Sometimes it's a single plant, sometimes trees, sometimes a flat of something.  
• Also, check if your garden center recycles pots.  I have found large black pots (as big as 3 gallons) suitable for planting herbs or whatever that I can take for free (make sure to ask).  They look just like the pots the garden center sells for around $10.  
• I save kitchen scraps to make my own compost.  Best thing you can do for your garden.
• I also make my own fertilizer tea.  I keep a large jar on my counter by the sink, and crush up egg shells, cover them with water, add coffee grounds and tea bags, and after a few days, use it on my plants.  I add a lot of water to use it on my houseplants, but outside, I just dump it on whatever is looking puny.
• Buy good tools the first time.  I used regular scissors for a long time to prune plants and cut herbs because the Fiskar's Garden Pruners seemed super expensive, but my son finally bought me a gardening set with those, hedge trimmers, loppers, and a machete, and they are WONDERFUL!  I wish I had just spent the money earlier.  
• Lasagna beds!  Start them in the fall where you want a bed in the spring.  Dig out the sod--use it somewhere else in your yard, maybe low spots.  Layer cardboard boxes and newspaper (many layers) at the bottom, then add leaves, yard waste (which I'm willing to pick up from my neighbor's curb), and compost and keep adding until it's very thick (6 inches or more).  Cover with mulch and let it sit.  When spring comes, you shouldn't be able to identify much in there and you are ready to go.  Rake the mulch away to plant, then re-mulch.  Keep it mulched for weed control.
• Mulch with DRIED lawn clippings.  Free!
• Get compost at the landfill.  Free! (Check to see if your community has such a thing)
• Save and trade seeds.  I might never use a whole envelope of seeds, so I trade.  You can trade with friends, find a garden club or check with your extension office.
• Reuse stuff you have around.  You can poke holes into the bottom of a gallon milk jug, set it behind a plant, fill it with water and it can take care of slow watering your plant for you.  It looks funny when the plant is small, but when the plants grow, you can hide them.  (Half gallons work too)
• I keep my regular tools outside near the garden, and my pruners go in a basket with my gloves and some plant ties and some twine which I bring in and out of the house each time I work outside.  If your good tools get rusted, you will have to buy more--NOT A BARGAIN!
• I keep a bunch of five gallon buckets around.  I got mine from Firehouse Subs for $2 each, and they have lids to them.  They're bright red, which I love.  I mix potting mix in them, store vermiculite, peat moss and planting mix in them, and mix compost tea in them.  I drilled some holes in one to fill with water and drip slowly also, but I don't think that was really necessary.  I also collect rainwater in them to use to water the garden.  
• Starbucks is very environmentally friendly, and whenever I go to one, I ask for coffee grounds.  They save them in a huge plastic bag and give them to me or whoever asks first.  I throw them in the compost, mix them in my planting mix, and sprinkle them around my plants.  They seem to repel pests, and add nitrogen to the plants.
• If someone has a plant that I admire, I always ask them if I can take a cutting.  Generally, I just clip a small piece of new growth, pull off all the lower leaves (leave three or so) and either root it in water or just push it into the dirt.  I baby it a little to get it going, then plant it where I want it.   I also propagate my already-established plants this way.   I've been very successful with this.  If something grows well in your yard, it's baby will too.

That's what I can think of so far.  I'm sure I'll add more as they come to me.