Paper Jewels

A bucket, you say? Now wait, it is MUCH cooler than you’re thinking.

If you’re like me, you always need places to PUT things. You need to get more organized. You don’t want to spend a lot of money but you want whatever it is that’s doing the organizing, to look good. And you’d be thrilled to do it yourself - if you just knew how.

So take a look at this absolutely terrific burlap “bucket” - container - catchall - magazine holder - tote - you name it:

DIY Burlap Bucket or Tote - PDF Instructions from Designsmayamde on Etsy

Think how many ways you could use this. In every room - in colors made to coordinate and look good with what you’ve already got. You can do it yourself. You could use all kind of great recycled fabrics!

And she offers online help if you need it!

I was so tickled to learn that the Obamas (or somebody on their team, I guess) have decided that it’s a good idea to do some organic gardening at their new house This is the kind of thing that’s only a symbol, I suppose, but it’s a pretty terrific symbol.

Together with a bunch of school kids (I know, I know, what a photo op) Mrs. Obama’s going to start an organic garden at the White House. Read more about it here and here.

And somebody’s got a sense of humor about it (photo mock-up courtesy of Eat The View).

I saw a very interesting post today about growing tomatoes from seeds - I’m going to include a link below. The author is Margaret Roach. Among her many interesting comments, she noted:

“Brush the tops of the seedlings daily with your hand to provide the “mechanical conditioning” that creates sturdy, not spindly seedlings. Not just once, but gently for a half-minute or minute. (Yes, go ahead, talk to them while you do it. I probably do without even realizing it.)”

Talk about “hands on” gardening! But she said a lot of things that make sense. Here’s the link to the full article:

In a word - coffee grounds. Most plants love them - I’ll do some checking to find out what *doesn’t* like the acid in coffee. But most do.

Scatter the grounds as mulch. Dig them into your soil to both lighten and enrich it.

add coffee grounds to your garden - as mulch, as food, as compost - it's all good

And definitely add them to your tomatoes. Yum yum. Happy tomatoes.