DIY: Make Your Own Eco Friendly Seed Pots

Hello all you AWESOMENESSES! (It is a word in the Koko dictionary!)

I want to share with you how I plant many of my seeds. The video below says it all, or you can scroll down through the pictures…

I’m pretty sure you can guess what this “special” container is…

This lovely container is…yes, you guessed it, the end of a toilet paper roll. It makes for an amazing plant container. Let me show you what I do!

What I like about using this as a container for seeds is, it’s re-usable, compostable, and practically free!

Start by crimping one end of the tube. You want to create a “bottom”. Keep on crimping until the tube is closed…

Like this! Once you get your container bottoms all made, you will need to put them in something to hold them all upright. I’ve used a plastic salad container, egg cartons, shoe boxes…Use your imagination! Most anything that will keep them upright will do.

To fill the container, I use a make-shift funnel made out of thick paper. The T.P. rolls are in a paper (cardboard) “gomacrobar” box. If you haven’t tried a gomacrobar…do it! So delicious! Oh and see that adorable cup? It’s designed by Molly Hatch. Aren’t the polka dots just the cutest?

 

Fill em up!

Don’t forget to label. Again why I like using the cardboard containers, you can simply scribble right on the tubes!

If you are planting in ceramic or other types of containers, you can make labels like the ones you see here. I just wrote on paper and taped them to a toothpick.

These labels are made from plastic knives and I used a sharpie.

   I couldn’t resist showing off one of my favorite bowls. My sister in-law made it! Isn’t it a beauty?

Like the cups says, “something good”…whether it’d be for yourself, (a nap, hot bath, a yummy drink) or for someone else, (catching up with an old friend, taking your mom out to lunch, donating towels and blankets to your local animal shelter)…whatever it is, make it something good!

Love and Peace, Koko

Tip: The theweeklyday asked a question and I wanted to share with you my answer. He was wondering how long they last indoors before the t.p. rolls fall apart. It really depends on the rolls and how you water them. They all are not created equal. However, if I have a “sad” roll (falling apart), I will take another roll and slice along the side and just “wrap” the “sad” roll. This method works really well to hold them together! Save the ends of paper towel rolls. Those are great for doing this with as you can cut them to size. But, you can do that with t.p. rolls too! Great question “theweeklyday”.

DIY Green Onions!

Hello Everyone! In case your computer can’t play the video or you just don’t feel like watching the minute or so video, here it is in mere words!

This is for all of you out there that don’t think you have a green thumb!

This tip will restore your faith in your growing skills, because believe me, if I can do this, YOU can too!

The video basically shows how you can re-grow green onions.

1. Get ahold of a bunch of green onions.
2. Cut the green onion where the white part of the onion meets up with the green part. (Use a sharp knife or sharp scissors.)
3. Place the white part with roots attached in a glass.
4. Fill with good, clean water just above the roots; about 1/4″ to 1/2″ above the roots.
5. Place in a sunny location.
6. Change out the water every day or so.
7. Wait for it…wait for it…to re-grow!
8. When plant gets to desired height, repeat steps 1-7!

Green onions can be grown year round! So those of you who can’t wait for spring to grow something…well here’s a way to grow something “green” even with staring outside at three feet of snow!

I hope this post finds you happy and healthy. Eating well, doing good things for yourself and others is all part of happy-and-healthy. I love having something always growing in my window sill. I usually have two to three green onion bunches growing at a time. It makes me happy and that in turn keeps me healthy! I hope you share this tip with your friends and family and they too can feel the satisfaction of having a green thumb!

Peace, Koko❀

Crepe Myrtle Tree – a must have in anyone’s landscape.

Crepe myrtle; did you know there are around fifty species of this tree? And they were named after the Swedish merchant Magnus von Lagerström. It’s scientific name being; Lagerstroemia. Glad we can call it crepe myrtle!  You can also spell it crape myrtle.  However you prefer to spell it, this tree is really one to have in gracing your space.  I especially like how the bark of the tree sheds all year-long. It really lends to something interesting going on in the yard. Every summer they pop with beautifully clustered flowers. It looks as if the tree exploded with dozens and dozens of bridal bouquets. I look forward to this every year.

Prune this awesome tree in the winter or early spring. And whatever you do, don’t hack at the tree leaving the thin trunks standing alone! Doing this will only produce spindly branches that shoot straight out instead of producing a nice fluffy top; sorta like the cute trees we drew as kids! I like to remove the cluster of flowers when most of the blossoms are brown or have fallen off. If you get lucky there will be a second bloom of flowers! Remove any thin/tiny branches throughout the umbrella of the tree; the ones that don’t seem to have any or much growth on them. Also cut away the suckers that love to pop up around the base of the tree.

Mine seems to tolerate the heat, humidity, and winter weather with some snow and plenty of single digit temps. They don’t seem to care if I water them or not. I’d say all in all, crepe myrtles are very hardy trees. I do have a mildew problem with two of my trees and I haven’t figured out the reason. They get this white powdery film. The first time I saw it, I carefully cut all the branches that had this mildew. The next year the new growth had it but less.  This year, I’ve been spraying it with baking soda and water mixture. (2 tsp of baking soda in a quart of water…I mix it into a gallon pump sprayer) I do believe this is working though, I’d suggest if you do have this problem, to start spraying right when tree’s leaves start to appear. (This is what I will do next year) I think sooner is better to combat this mildew.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and please, if you have any suggestions on the care of crepe myrtles, let me know, or just drop a comment on what kind of crepe myrtle you have and color.