Repurposing & gardening

Happy belated Mother's Day to all! Missouri had a cool but sunny and glorious weekend. I spent most of Saturday in downtown St. Louis at my son's graduation ceremony. He is now a is a precision machinist with a degree and a job as well, so big huzzahs for him! We did serious Thai food eating and celebratory ice cream cake was had by all. The rest of the weekend was spent puttering around the yard.

I'm a bit late getting milk weed seeds (for the Monarch butterflies) started but I did spend a good part of the winter saving toilet paper rolls for transplant pots. Once sans paper those little rolls are pretty useful and don't all belong in a landfill. I can get two seed starter pots from one roll by cutting it in half. Then make four half inch cuts on one end, fold them up so they overlap and you've got a nifty starter pot to fill with potting soil and a seed. I usually set them on a tray so watering isn't a mess and then they are easy to carry outside to plant in total.

Another use for an empty roll  is as an electric cord organizer, just wind up the cord and slip it inside the roll. As a handy bonus you can write the cord length or specific cord use on the cardboard roll before storing. I'm sure there are many other terrific uses for this "free" resource, so let me know...

I have been transplanting & dividing perennials around my yard to extend the mailbox garden. Things still have a bit of wilt and I am concerned about the rose, but overall I think everything will survive. I have even sneakily planted a mini yellow pear tomato plant and some green onions into the flower mix. I am a dedicated lasagna gardener, meaning basically I don't disturb the resident topsoil just pour mulch and dirt on top of the grass. A terrific book, Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza, gives excellent instructions. Read many book reviews here http://www.amazon.com/Lasagna-Gardening-Layering-Bountiful-Gardens/dp/0875969623 You can certainly buy the book on Amazon, or ideally preview it at your local library but for my fellow, book addicted penny-pinchers this website is my go to favorite for reasonably priced used books, see http://www.abebooks.com/

While finishing up with gardening yesterday evening, I spotted my first hummingbird of the season, a female looking for a feeder where I had one last year. I got busy making some homemade nectar: Boil 1/4c. white sugar in 1c. purified water for 5 min. Cool completely. Fill feeder and hang in a shady spot. All four of my feeders are out today, but only half full because it's early yet. I'm hoping for another hummingbird visit soon.