Thrifty tip: Saving Marigold Seeds

Who doesn't love Marigolds?  Those little ruffled yellow & orange flowers just add a pop of color to any spot & they keep bugs away.  Did you know you can that you can gather the seeds and regrow them next year?  I didn't.  This seriously easy.

 

 

Pull or cut the spent flower off.  Let it dry. Or if you are lazy like me, wait until it is dry on the plant then pull it.

 

 

Pull the dried petals out.  Sorry for the dark photos, but I'm not a photographer.

 

 

Pull the seeds out of the bottom & store them for next year.  The seeds are thin with black on the bottom.  Each one can grow another plant.  Each flower could hold around 50 seeds.  If you planted & cultivated each seed you'd have 50 plants for free.  Which could save you a lot of money.  Even if they were $1 each that's $50 you saved!

 

I seriously should've grown up in Ireland.

My mother calls me a dark Irish.  Dark brown hair & neon white skin.  Opalescent to be exact.  Except when we moved to the PNW, now a stay at home mom, my arms are tan, well tanner than "normal" compared to my legs.  My husband says that my freckles just morph into one big freckle during the summer.  Thanks babe, love ya too.   For a few brief months I look good.  I can shed my Irish genealogy & be seen in a tank top. 

In honor of my Irish ancestry I decided to grow potatoes in my garden this year.  Never grown them before, seriously the easiest thing to grow.  No wonder my ancestors have a knack for drinking, you don't have to do too much to potatoes, except water them & give them a nice mound of dirt to grow.

I planted, (like how I said I) two different kinds of potatoes: red & russets.  Went to the good ole feed store & bought potato seed.  Potato seeds are basically potatoes, but they don't have a growth retardant sprayed on them like the ones you find in the stores.  Cut them into pieces so each piece had two "eyes" & plopped them into the ground.  When the leaves are about 6 inches high mound dirt around them.  That's it folks.  Water them once a day & wait until the leaves die back before you dig them up.  Let the potatoes dry in the sun for a couples of days to get the skins hard.

Red

White

Pretty good for just one plant.  The big ones are on the smaller side.  Maybe 1/2 of the size you'd find in a Costco potato bag.  I still have about 24 more of each variety to go!  I know that I'll be putting up a bunch of potatoes this year.

Thrifty Tip: Regrowing celery

I don't know where I saw this thrifty tip, but I decided to try it out. You can grow new celery from an old stalk.  I cut the stalks about 2-3 inches from the bottom & re cut the bottom so water would be able to travel through the stalks.

Day 1

 Day 2

Day 3

 Day 4

 Day 5

Day 6

Look at how much it grew in just 6 days!  AMAZING!  Now I don't know if it will taste the same, but it is worth a try.  Nothing was added except water.  I may transplant it into my garden, now that it is warm here.  It's a great way to double your food by cutting your costs in half.  Try it out & tell me how it works for you.

I found the most amazing thing while digging in my mulch

I just have to laugh.  Look at what I found in my mulch!  A geranium!  Right next to it, an onion.  We tossed the geranium out a few months ago, they just don't make it through the winter in the PNW.  I was kinda sad, it was something that my husband's grandmother, who died recently, gave us.  Guess my mulch is just what it needed!

If you don't have a mulch pit yet, you gotta start!  It is wwwwaaaayyyy cheaper than buying mulch for your garden.  Just remember green/brown/green/brown.  A layer of green (veggies, green leaves etc)/a layer of brown (somthing that is already dead, dry leaves or dirt) then alternate.

Thrifty Tip: Starting your garden from seeds.

I know this is late, but I wanted to make sure that this trick worked.  Try it next year or when it is time to start your winter garden.

START YOUR SEEDS IN AN EGG SHELL!

I tried this will all my herbs.  I had heard it from a farmer's wife at MoPS, so if she found success with it, it must be good trick.  This first picture is my basil grown in the egg shell.  Look at how big the leaves are!  We have trimmed these guys at least 4-5 times & it's only June! 

All you need to do is save your egg shells after you use them.  Just make sure that you crack them close to the top or the upper middle, so you have enough room to fill it with dirt.  I washed them out with water and let them dry.  Then when I am ready to start my garden I added the mulch, my seeds & cover them with a little bit of dirt.  I put the shells back in the egg carton & watered them.  Then I put them in a clear tote in a sunny place and waited for them to grow.  I did put the lid on to help keep the temperature inside warm, it never seems to get warm enough here in the PNW during the early Spring.

When you are ready to plant them, just crack the bottom of the shell so you expose some dirt.  Be careful not to disrupt the roots.  I did crack the sides so it would be easier for the roots to break through.  I think I did at least 2 dozen like this with a variety of herbs.  The ones in the egg shells seem to be healthier & more robust. 

This picture is the basil I didn't grow in the egg shells.  They are still good, but not nearly as plentiful as the ones I grew in the shells.  I am guessing it has something to do with the calcium.  But don't hold me to it.  Try it & tell me what you think!  This is the first year we started most of our garden from seed.  Next year I think I will do this with all of our seeds. 

And remember these herbs are completely 100% organic.  I used nothing synthetic.  So if they don't look exactly like the ones in the grocery stores that's because they use all sort of stuff to make them looks more appealing.  Enjoy!