Starbucks Coffee Grounds

I got this complimentary 5-pound bag of used coffee grounds from Starbucks.  My store keeps them near the bagged coffees.  Here’s an article about all the benefits of using coffee grounds in the garden.  You can add grounds to compost or use them as mulch.   They benefit plants because they’re high in Nitrogen, and they help bring down soil pH.  Supposedly they deter slugs & snails.  And if they’re fresh, the smell is nice as well.

Here are instructions for building a wooden raised garden bed, plus tips on how to set it up in the garden space.  I think it’s much easier if two people work on the project together.

Supplies (for building the wood square):

tools for building bed

-4 pieces of wood per square.  Mine is 6″ tall 2″ deep, and cut to 4′ long, so my box is 4′ x 4′ square.  You can change the size, but keep in mind that you need to be able to reach all plants from the outside perimeter.  Ideally, I wanted 5′ square, but the wood only came in 8′ pieces, so 4′ square didn’t waste wood.  By the way, the nice people at the hardware store only charged $.25 a board to cut my wood.  That saved so much work!  Also, I used untreated wood.  I don’t want those chemicals near my plants.

-8 wood screws per square.   Mine are 2 1/2″ long.

-drill, extension cord to reach your drilling area, a drill bit that’s a little skinnier than your screws (for predrilling holes), and a screwdriver bit for the drill (unless you want to hand screw them with a screwdriver instead).

tools for setting bed into the ground

-optional: tape measure (for marking where to drill holes, although we just eye-balled them.)

Supplies (for putting the wood square in the garden):

-shovels (a large one and a small hand-sized one), rake

-tape measure, level

-optional: additional dirt, compost

Instructions:

1.  Measure & cut your wood, or have the lumber store cut it for you.

2.  Lay your wood in a box shape, making the edges overlap like the diagram below.

how to arrange the four wood pieces

3.  Predrill two holes at each of the four places where the wood comes together.  The holes are vertical (one on top of the other), a few inches apart.   Next, use the screw attachment on the drill and screw into the holes.  You’ll make a total of 8 holes & use 8 screws.

locations for predrilling & screws

3.  Your wood square is now assembled.  Next you will learn how to place it into your garden.

assembled wood square

4.  Now for placing the wood square in the garden.  First figure out where the square should go.  Measure how you want it centered or lined up.  I also surrounded mine with stones, so I had to measure how I wanted these spaced.  Mark the spots with spray paint or stakes or whatever else you have on hand.  Also, jot the measurements down on paper just in case you need them.

5.  Next decide whether you’re rototilling or not.  My garden space was kindly rototilled by my dad, but if you don’t want to rototill & can wait to plant till spring, try sheet mulching.  I read about it in Organic Gardening Magazine (”Goodbye Grass, Hello Garden”, Aug/Sept 2010).  With sheet mulching, you don’t till the ground at all.  You just layer compost, cardboard, more compost, mixed organic material (uncomposted things like grass clippings, leaves, and veggie & fruit scraps) and place mulch on top and keep it moist.  By spring you’ll have plantable soil.  Another option is to put black plastic over the grass.  This kills the grass & weeds.  Then remove the plastic & add soil to fill the bed.

Either way, you need to prep the soil:  if you’re rototilling, do this before laying the raised bed in the garden.  If you’re sheet mulching or using the black plastic method, you could do these before or after placing the bed.

rototilled soil

6.  Decide whether you want to sink the wood square down a couple inches or leave it entirely above ground.  I sunk mine down about two inches.  If you’re not sinking the square, just fill it with soil & compost, and you’re ready to plant.

If you’re sinking it, lay the wood square in the location you marked.  Trace the perimeter with a garden tool so you can see where you need to dig.  Move the square out of the way.  Dig a trench in the entire perimeter area.  Dig just as deep as you want to sink it.

dig a trench a couple inches deep

7.  Lay the wood square in the trench.  Use a level on all four sides to make sure it’s sitting properly.  Use the small shovel to push dirt into low areas or to raise small areas.

level the wood square

8.  After all sides are level, use the large shovel to backfill the trench.

backfill the trench

9.  If you need additional soil, compost, or other soil ammendments, add them.  Then use the rake to level the soil in the bed.

level the soil

10.  Put plants in their new home, and fancy it up.  We’re also working on the stone walkway around the beds.  My neighbors will be thrilled!

*If you haven’t heard of companion planting, look into it.  It’s about which plants help or hurt each other when in close quarters.    Did you know tomatoes grow well with carrots, basil, and parsley?  But you shouldn’t grow tomatoes & potatoes neat each other because they’re both prone to the same blight.  Very interesting!*

I’m not talking about my “I found this in the car & won’t get sunburnt hat” in the left picture.  And I didn’t buy a hat either.  I did buy a headband though.  Isn’t it pretty?  I met Paula Singleton of What A Great Hat! at the Akron Arts Expo this weekend (she’s wearing pink in the left picture).  Her vintage style hats are each originals with the most delicate & perfectly classy embellishments.  Plus she’s getting ready to begin teaching classes.  I suggested a hat embellishments class where you bring a thrift store hat and learn how to add flowers, beads, feathers, etc.  But she also does the blocking herself for the straw hats, so I’m guessing she’ll teach that as well.  I wish I got a close-up of the brown hat above my right hand.  The base is hand blocked straw of the most wonderful pattern.  I’d take a class to make one of those!

*Update*

Paula send a photo of that hat for us!

hat by Paula Singleton

]]> http://www.clevernesting.com/2010/07/what-a-great-hat/feed/ 3 http://www.clevernesting.com/2010/07/what-a-great-hat/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/clevernesting/vTsY/~3/x4mwG_yTQhI/ http://www.clevernesting.com/2010/07/tie-dyed-hands/#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:40:08 +0000 Devona http://www.clevernesting.com/?p=5077 I have always thought it would be fun to have a Photo Gallery of post-craft hand pictures. Like the time I was using a knife to carve into wax and cut into my thumb but there was a bunch of wax in the cut so it didn’t bleed (OK maybe not that one). Or after making my magazine coasters how I had a ton of dried glue all over me. It’s sort of like the hand picture could be a project in itself.

Well, these hands are dyed with fabric dye. Really really badly. This summer’s craft at Vacation Bible School (which I did not pick but was left in charge of executing) was to tie dye 50 kids’ shirts in five 20 minute long groups. Let’s just say that after changing my gloves 15 times only to find a new hole in all of the available pairs I gave up on the gloves and went for the bare-hand approach.  The only way to recover from hands this blackened is to go swimming in a chlorinated pool, by the way.

So, if you have some crazy hands after a project consider taking a picture. And if you do, let us know you did it by posting the pictures in our Flickr pool.

You can probably guess that my little sign to the left is for dishes.  My husband begged for clarity on the state of the dishes.  He suggested buying a magnet.  I thought, no I can make a magnet.  So I made a magnet but soon realized my dishwasher isn’t magnetized.  Then I was going to drill a hook into my tile, but thought that was too permanent and risky if I didn’t like it.  Finally, I used a sticky hook and made this sign from two laminate countertop samples (from Zero Landfill).  The holes were already punched in them.

It’s useful & it works…dishes clarity!  And it doesn’t look too bad.  Plus, I could remove the sign for special occasions, and the little hook isn’t too conspicuous.  Do you have any interesting kitchen hacks?

This dish, filled with water, became the paddling pool for some fairies on our dining room table this week. I let the girls cut the flowers from my hostas before I trimmed them down to use in decorating the pond. They also clipped some lamb’s ears, some pink flowers (I don’t know what they are!) and some of the petals from my day lilies. The day lily petals made great boats.

The bonus feature for this “craft” is that it makes a wonderful variation on a center piece. The flowers remained vibrant for about 5 days before I needed to remove them from the table giving us plenty of time to enjoy the arrangement, and plenty of time for the girls to retell Thumbelina around the dining room table.

Music in the Meadow Photo Credited to CVNPA.org

If you come at 5:30 there are kid-appropriate activities including giant bubbles and frisbee golf. There are also music related crafts, which encourage kids to play along with the concert. We’ve taken home a easter-egg maraca and a wooden framed drum the past two times we came.

So far we’ve seen HeartBEAT Afrika, and another band which I can’t find the name of for the life of me even though I’ve been searching for 30 minutes! Next up is Copus Hill, a Bluegrass band on July 28th. If you’re looking for something free to do this summer, this is it.

Devona & I are hooked on swapping.  I don’t think we can imagine life without them.  They’re perfect motivation to pair down your belongings and give things away.  Plus there’s the hope of bringing home more useful items & meeting some great people in the process.

So, next up is a book swap at Craft Akron.  Any books are welcome… fiction, kids, crafts, magazines, and even old ripped books for altered art.  $5 admission covers snacks & room rental.  Unwanted books after the event will be donated to local charities.

]]> http://www.clevernesting.com/2010/07/book-swap/feed/ 0 http://www.clevernesting.com/2010/07/book-swap/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/clevernesting/vTsY/~3/YKVNkMu-gS4/ http://www.clevernesting.com/2010/07/book-review-sweater-surgery-how-to-make-new-things-with-old-sweaters/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:43:51 +0000 Colleen http://www.clevernesting.com/?p=4980

my box of books to review (minus the sewing one Devona wanted!)

Back in December I did a book review of Mixed Metals.  I decided to ask publishers to send books so I could review them.  A woman from Quarry Books asked what books I’d be interested in and sent me a box full.  So here’s the first review from that wonderful box of books.  My hope is to give you some information so you’ll know if it’s worth purchasing for yourself.

Sweater Surgery: How to Make New Things with Old Sweaters by Stefanie Girard.

Book Summary: Sweater Surgery shows you how to upcycle your sweaters into new wardrobe & home items.  You’ll learn how to wash, block, choose, cut, restitch, felt, and embellish sweaters.  There are 35 step-by-step projects with patterns, plus additional gallery designs.

Review Notes: I like the variety of projects.  There are lots of purses, hats & gloves & scarves, necklaces, headbands, stuffed animals (like the bird I made last week), pillows, and many redesigned tops, skirts, & dresses.  Plus there are some more unusual items like a magazine file cozy, place mats, pot holders, a laptop cozy, pet bed, knitting needle case, and a tissue box cover.

I’m pretty novice at sewing, so I found the “getting started” section very detailed & useful.  I like the suggestions to use existing design elements & edges in new projects and to unravel yarn from extra pieces & incorporate it in the designs (it’s free matching yarn!).  I found the hand & machine sewing basics clear & necessary for my skill level.  It tells when each stitch is used, how to do it by hand or by machine, it shows a diagram, and then shows a project where the stitch is used.  This section made me feel like I could actually sew sweater material without it unraveling & falling apart.  This has been the main reason I’ve been hesitant with knit sweaters in the past.

I’ve only made the “Hippie Chicks” project so far, but I found the instructions & pattern easy to use & clear to follow.  Here are some favorites I’d like to try:  ”Scarf of Many Colors”, which is a patchwork scarf made from remnant pieces.  I think it’d look good as an infinity-style scarf.  I also love “Snow White Scarf”.  The scarf is hemmed & fringed, and incorporates some beautiful sweater texture.  It looks like it cost a fortune.  ”Toot the Owl” is the sweetest stuffed animal.  And the “Lace-It-Up Cable Sweater” is the best wearable reuse.  The trim & ribbon look so fashionable.  I also like the “Kick-A$$ Socks”.  I never would have guessed you could get the toe & heel situated properly.

bird I made from a pattern in the book

My least favorite project is the “Pet Rock Sweater”.  Maybe I just don’t get it?  Is this something kids are into these days?   I’d probably never wear the “Peppermint Patti Swirl Necklace”, which is made of strips of sweater swirled into circles.  It’s just not my style for a necklace, but I’d use the idea for festive garland.  Or perhaps a bunch sewn together could make a headband?

Overall I really enjoyed the book.  There are a handful of projects I surely want to try & others I’d consider if I keep practicing my sewing skills (mainly the shirts).  This book is a great source of inspiration after a visit to the thrift store.

The pattern, for those of you who are advanced enough to not need a class, is free on Made-by-Rae.com. Rae, very kindly allowed me to use her pattern as a class. I must say, that her patterns are quite easy to follow, and adorable to boot. She has a few others on her site worth giving a go, especially the kid backpack pattern.