We did it, we started homeschooling the boys. It was a hard decision and we looked at homeschooling advantages and disadvantages before we made the leap. We talked with the principal and a couple of teachers I trusted before we made our decision (and, of course, I did a crazy amount of research). I am three weeks into the new year and I am confident that we made the right choice. Here is what we came up with:

Homeschooling Advantages and Disadvantages

Homeschooling Advantages and Disadvantages

First of all, there will be different homeschooling advantages and disadvantages for every child. We originally planned on only homeschooling our 7 year old. He is currently way above grade level and I am not a huge fan of grade skipping. He skipped a grade in math, but it still wasn't hard enough and he was missing other things that he liked (Art, for example) because of the lack of a unified schedule. I don't expect a grade school to have a unified schedule, but it can make things hard for an asynchronous kid. We ran into the same problem with our 9 year old (he was skipped in math, but missed 1-2 days every week because of things he had to be in the other classroom for). That means he is only getting 60-80% of the class.

So, as far as homeschooling advantages and disadvantages goes, that was number one for me…

• Tailor the curriculum to a child. Teach the child, not the curriculum. If your kiddo is above grade level in one subject and below grade level in another use the best program for them, not the best program for a school.

Another one that was really attractive to me was the ability to spend a lot of time with my child. There are lots of curriculum you can choose and some are more labor-intensive than others, but choosing a curriculum where you sit down (snuggle) with your child and teach him or her material was a great benefit to me. So my second bullet point for homeschooling advantages and disadvantages is…

• Spend lots of time with your child. Choose curriculum that is not as parent-active if you do not have the time, there are lots of options.

Homeschooling Advantages and Disadvantages from Education Corner

This next couple of homeschooling advantages and disadvantages bullet points are borrowed from a great article from Education Corner on the Benefits and Disadvantages to Homeschooling. Head on over to see a few more of their own ideas.

• Shelter children from violence, drugs, and bullying at school. I borrowed this one because I have seen it as a huge homeschooling advantage listed on homeschool forums, but we never dealt with anything like that. If your child is being exposed to violence, drugs, or bullying then schooling at home is for you.
• You will have to be around children all day. I borrowed this one because it is almost the polar opposite to what I considered a homeschooling advantage. Disadvantages and advantages are all dependent on your own perspective. Be honest with yourself, if you need more social interaction that what you will get with a child in tow all day then give yourself a break!

Homeschooling Advantages and Disadvantages for Us

And on to a surprise one (for me). I am three weeks into homeschooling and I had an unexpected homeschooling advantage. My children are more relaxed and their afternoon play is more creative. This is due to school stress and just the “wind-down” time that is required when you work (or learn) outside of the home. When the kids came home from school they first needed a snack, we went through their school day and homework, then they wanted to watch a show or play on their tablet for an hour or so. When they snapped out of it it was generally very close to dinnertime. Then they would start to play (or do after school activities) and be upset when time ran out.

In the past three weeks they go straight to play after school time. They do not whine, ask to watch television, or ask to play their tablets. They seem less stressed! That brings me to my fourth homeschooling advantage and disadvantages bullet point:

• Less school stress! This is true for us even though the level of work they are doing is quite a bit higher than the school. There is no wind-down time, no extra bus time, no homework.  but….
• More school stress for mom (or dad). However, being in charge of your child's entire education and having to come up with the curriculum and lessons may lead to more stress for you. Depending on how much stress you are under with your child's current school set-up, this may be a homeschooling disadvantage.

Homeschooling Advantages and Disadvantages from Sonlight

The next couple of great homeschooling advantages and disadvantages are from Sonlight's post on the Benefits (and Disadvantages) of Homeschooling. Sonlight provides great curriculum for homeschoolers, especially if you have a child working at the same grade level in all subjects. Here are my two favorite homeschooling advantages and disadvantages from the article:

• Create a weekly schedule that fits your needs without the constraint of a traditional classroom schedule. This would be a bigger advantage for me if I didn't have a child in kindergarten at the local school. Since she is going to school I do keep a traditional school schedule for the boys. I did not want her days off and school times to be drastically different from theirs. However, within the school day they choose the subjects to start with, end with, and everything in between!
• Spend more money on school than you might be accustomed to. This is another surprising homeschooling disadvantage for me. Curriculum is expensive. You can do it for less, but it still adds up. Even little things like field trips can add a lot of extra cost to homeschooling. This will be compounded with the fact that one parent will have to (usually) stay home to do the schooling. The lack of a second income will change the mind of many possible home school families. Of course, earning money with swagbucks will help!

Homeschooling Advantages and Disadvantages from School Money

And the final two homeschooling advantages and disadvantages bullet points are from School Money. They had some ideas that I definitely did not think of (although some of their ideas I do not understand or agree with such as the one about dangerous school trips… My local school never went on any of those and the one about lack of social interaction. There is a lot of research now showing that social interaction at school does not affect social interactions as an adult.) The two I picked out did not apply for my kiddos, but they might for yours so they are good to include here! Their article is on Homeschooling: Advantages and Disadvantages if you would like to check out their other eleven thoughts.

• Control over diet. If your child has a lot of food allergies then not having to deal with a school cafeteria is a big homeschooling advantage for you.
• Time. Time, time, and more time! Homeschooling will take time from your day. Lots of it. If you are not ready for that then this would be a definite homeschooling disadvantage.

So there you have it. Ten Homeschooling advantages and disadvantages (six advantages and four disadvantages to be exact!) I hope this helps your decision to (or not to) homeschool!

Happy schooling.

The post Homeschooling Advantages and Disadvantages – Top Ten appeared first on Pint Size Farm.

Start using these Bathroom Recycling Tips today!

Plus, the bathroom is a great place to go green. Here are some bathroom recycling tips so you can throw out those harsh cleaners and live a healthier lifestyle today!

Bathroom Recycling Tips: Reduce

The first of the famous recycling R's is Reduce. So if we are going to talk about bathroom recycling tips let's start with reducing that garbage. Reducing in the bathroom can be done if you can (and want to) switch to cloth. Here are some cloth alternatives:

• Face Wipes – I love my knitted face wipes. They exfoliate, and hold a cleaner well. If you want you can even easily turn them into “to go” face wipes. Just put them in a small container and add water, a drop of castile soap, and some essential oils (Tea Tree oil is great for oily or acne prone skin). Grab one, wipe to clean, put it in the wash. If you knit then they are simple to make. I like two inch square cloths, big enough for the job but small enough to store easily.  If you do not knit then you can usually find some great options on Etsy!

• “Mama” Cloth or Diva Cups – I don't know how it got it's name, but mama cloth is cloth menstrual products and a Diva cup is a green alternative to a tampon. Using them generally reduces cramps and shortens cycles. Plus, there is a lot less trash in your bathroom.

• Using Cloth Diapers – I am definitely a cloth diaper fan! Besides the financial benefit to using them, there is the benefit of less chemicals next to your babies sensitive spots, and you don't run out. Oh, and did I mention CUTE!! Here are some resources if you want to get into cloth diapers.
  • Prefold Cloth Diapers – The cost and use of prefolds. This is generally the cheapest method and it works great, but it has the highest learning curve and most people think this method is old fashioned.
  • Flat Cloth Diapers – I never got used to this kind of cloth diaper, but many people love them.
  • Contour Cloth Diapers – These are a little easier than prefolds, but are still in the fitted category (needs a cover)
  • There are also pockets (super popular) and AIO diapers (work like disposables only they are cloth).
  • Cloth Diaper Wipes and Solution – Don't forget your chemical-free baby wipes!

• Family Cloth – Not for the faint of heart, although I must admit to occasionally thinking about trying it when I had a potty learning toddler (cloth wipes provide so much better protection for your hands – something I learned while using them for diapers).

• Convert to Dual Flush – Reduce water usage by converting your toilet to a dual flush for around $25! We did this on both of our toilets It was simple and it saves a lot of water (and therefore it also saves money!)

Follow Heidi Ramsey's board Crunchy Living on Pinterest.

Bathroom Recycling Tips: Reuse

So the next section of bathroom recycling tips is how to reuse some of those pesky products.

• If you use liquid soap then you can add a little bit of water at the end and swish it around (it will get you a few more pumps).

• Toilet paper rolls have lots of uses (this is a great recycling tip for kids if you have small children). Make a bird feeder out of them by putting a little peanut butter on the outside and rolling them in seed. If you have backyard chickens, you can tape up the sides and put seed in the center, punch a small hole in the tube so small amounts of seed fall out when it is kicked around and it is a fun enrichment toy for them. Or, just use them for a craft project!

• If you go no-poo (that is a horrible way of saying you switch to natural, non store-bought shampoo), then you can reuse that shampoo or conditioner bottle for your own hair wash. Then say goodbye to buying those plastic bottles forever!

• Reuse those toothbrushes as cleaners. Just make sure you put them someplace else so you know they are no longer supposed to be used in your mouth!

This video shows how you can make a bathroom rug using old T-shirts. It is definitely one of the more fun bathroom recycling tips and I think it is another great recycling tip for kids if you have a tween or teen.

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/JCdpBk9Xdgw” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

Do you have any other bathroom recycling tips in the reuse category? I found it hard to come up with ways to reuse bathroom products.

Bathroom Recycling Tips: Recycle

And now we are on the recycling tips! Many people forget their bathroom when recycling, but the truth is, there are many products that are recyclable in there. Things like toilet paper rolls and the shampoo and conditioner bottles. Don't forget your soap containers (if you buy soap that is in a package)! You cannot recycle dental floss containers though (I didn't realize that until today!) Head over to I Want to be Recycled to get more information on bathroom recycling tips and some for other areas in your home too! They are also sponsoring a giveaway for $100 to Amazon. You could get dual flush kits for your toilets with that money or maybe switch to some cloth products! Scroll to the bottom of the post to see the giveaway details. If you have a hard time remembering then you can always put a bathroom recycling bin in your bathroom so you can do it immediately. You could put it under the sink so it doesn't clutter up your bathroom. If it is too cluttered under your sink, well… try these bathroom decluttering tips to help regain your sanity! Texas Type A Mom suggests using a second wastepaper basket and that works too! Anything to help you remember to separate those recyclables from the trash.

Use a Bathroom Recycling bin!

Bathroom Recycling Tips: Other Ways to Go Green

If you want to take the next step in going green in the bathroom the I suggest you start with cleaning and essential oils. Learn how to clean a bathroom the natural way and get those awful, harsh, chemicals out of your home completely! While not one of the bathroom recycling tips, it does help you live a healthier lifestyle.

Bathroom Recycling Tips: $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

Many thanks to the I Want to be Recycled campaign for sponsoring this giveaway! What will you do with your $100 Amazon gift card? You could switch your toilets to dual-flush, or change some of your products to cloth, or maybe you could get a bathroom recycling bin! So many options.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Bathroom Recycling Tips – Living Green appeared first on Pint Size Farm.

Earn online cash – EXACTLY how much I made last month (and how) at PintSizeFarm.com

This year I challenged you to earn an extra $600-$1800 extra by spending 10-60 minutes a day to earn online cash. I did great in March (although I will have a smaller April since I have been too busy to do any more than 10 minutes a day and there have even been a few days I missed that). I never count my money until it is in my hand. This month I had a little bit of cash and a little bit of Amazon gift cards.

Remember to think of your long-term goals. Earning a few dollars a day might seem like nothing, but it all adds up. What will you do with an extra $1500 at the end of the year? Most of the sites have options between checks, paypal, and gift cards. I like checks, but I love gift cards. If you go with Amazon gift cards then you can save them in your account until you want to spend them. Nothing beats watching that balance grow until you get something expensive you really wanted. Remember, long-term goals!

I can't wait to see how you did in March on the homestead on a dime challenge. Here is how I did:

Earn Online Cash with Swagbucks

The first homestead on a dime site is swagbucks. If you are new or would like a re-cap on how to make money online with Swagbucks, go here to see how to make money online with swagbucks. Swagbucks is my highest earning site with a goal of $30-$80 each month.

I earned $75 at Swagbucks in March and I redeemed all of it for Amazon gift cards.

Earn Online Cash with Cashcrate

Cashcrate is one of the smaller sites, but I spend less than a minute on it each month so it the time spent is worth the extra money. Long-term goals means every little bit counts! Go to the post on how to make money online with Cashcrate if you are new or would like a re-cap. My goal each month for Cashcrate is $5-$20.

I earned $22.33 with Cashcrate this month. I always post a picture of my check via social media so if you would like to see that then head over to my facebook page.

Earn Online Cash with Fusion Cash

Fusion Cash has lots of potential so it is my second biggest make money online site (behind Swagbucks) Head to the post on how tomake money online with Fusion Cash if you are new or would like a re-cap. My goal with Fusion Cash is $10-$40/month.

I made $41.24 with Fusion Cash this month. I posted a screenshot of the paypal deposit on facebook (and on the Fusion Cash forum because they give you a $1 bonus when you do that) and also on my twitter feed.

Earn Online Cash with IRazoo

IRazoo is my smallest site, but when trying to earn online cash, every little bit counts. It is a fast site so the little that I make is worth the minute or two I spend each day. Head to the post on how to make money online with IRazoo if you are new or would like a re-cap. In my earn online cash posts I show you exactly how to earn extra money, step by step. My goal with IRazoo is $2-$5/month.

I did not make anything with IRazoo last month.

Earn Online cash with Bing Rewards Program

Bing Rewards Program is the easiest site to make money with. There are a list of daily tasks and no other options. I finish it each day and redeem when I can. Head to the post on how to make money online with Bing Rewards if you are new or would like a re-cap. My goal for Bing Rewards is 5-$10/month.

I earned $10 in Amazon gift cards from Bing Rewards in March.

Follow Heidi Ramsey's board Frugal Living on Pinterest.

Earn Online Cash Summary

This month my earn online cash total was $80 in Amazon gift cards and $63.57 in cash for a total of $140.57.

I have been super busy in April so I am expecting a lower month. I have not reached most my swagbucks daily goals (which means I will start the month with much smaller earn online cash bonuses). I am doing pretty good for the year though so I should be fine with a slightly lower month.

• The Goal for the Year: $620-$1860
• So Far in 2015: $325.57

Learning to earn online cash is different than a normal job. You do not have to commute (or even leave your house). You can do it in your pajamas or in front of the TV. Ten minutes a day is the minimum time you should spend. I spend 10 minutes in the morning and I try to spend another 30 minutes in the afternoon. The best way to earn money is to do it daily, but it doesn't have to be long. The daily bonuses add up (faster than trying to get a lot of money one day then forgetting about it for a week). Start with ten minutes a day and add time as you see fit.

The post Earn Online Cash: March REAL Cash Update appeared first on Pint Size Farm.

Featured Post: Love Hate Relationship with Spring by Save Green, Going Green. www.PintSizeFarm.com

The giveaway for a Laura Ingalls Wilder prize package is still going so make sure you enter if you have not already (ends April 24th). This week on Pint Size Farm I talked about…

• Just the hop! Baseball, pregnancy symptoms, and school functions have kept me super busy this week. Have you guys ever had a week where you feel like you are actually going backwards!?

Time for the featured submission! Each week I feature one of the posts from the previous hop. Each hop host chooses their own post to feature so you have seven chances of being featured! All features are shared on pinterest, facebook, and twitter. This week I decided to feature:

• Love Hate Relationship with Spring by Save Green, Going Green

This was also the most clicked on post! I love spring, but we don't have quite as much “clean up” as most of the country.

Homesteading Blogs submit your best posts from last week below!

The linky for this weeks submissions is below. If you need a refresher on the rules for the hop then head on over to my Homesteading HomeAcre Blog Hop page. The one that seems to be missed most often is to make sure to feature the button from the hop on your page (or link back to it in the post you submit)! The button can be found on my Homesteading HomeAcre Blog Hop Page. Without a button or link (on your page or post), we cannot feature you.

The post HomeAcre Homestead Blog Hop 4/23/15 appeared first on Pint Size Farm.

Feature HomeAcre Blog Post: off-grid Homestead for Sale

The giveaway for a Laura Ingalls Wilder prize package is still going so make sure you enter if you have not already (ends April 24th). I also posted a giveaway for a great garden planner and book set (three winners) that ends April 22nd. This week on Pint Size Farm I talked about…

• How to Optimize Tailwind (a Pinterest Scheduler)… this was actually a post for a blogging group, but if you are interested in starting a blog or already have one then you might learn some new things in this post!

Time for the featured submission! Each week I feature one of the posts from the previous hop. Each hop host chooses their own post to feature so you have seven chances of being featured! All features are shared on pinterest, facebook, and twitter. This week I decided to feature:

• Off-Grid Homestead for Sale by Live Ready Now

This was also the most clicked on post! It is exciting to see an off-grid home for sale and to read about where they plan on going (spoiler… it's South America). The post is full of great pictures so head on over there today.

Homesteading Blogs submit your best posts from last week below!

The linky for this weeks submissions is below. If you need a refresher on the rules for the hop then head on over to my Homesteading HomeAcre Blog Hop page. The one that seems to be missed most often is to make sure to feature the button from the hop on your page (or link back to it in the post you submit)! The button can be found on my Homesteading HomeAcre Blog Hop Page. Without a button or link (on your page or post), we cannot feature you.

The post Top Homestead Posts | HomeAcre 4/16 appeared first on Pint Size Farm.

Optimize tailwind (a pinterest scheduler) and double your pinterest followers! PintSizeFarm.com

At the end of last year I decided to start focusing on Pinterest. Pinterest was my largest social traffic referrer at that point and I figured trying to optimize the account (and after looking for a pinterest scheduler I found tailwind, and the goal became to optimize tailwind) would only help. I poured myself into Pinterest research and optimization and I feel I have had some great (growth) success with it. I'm a numbers girl, so here are my numbers:

My Pinterest Followers

You can find my Pinterest account here.

• 314 followers July 2014
• 460 followers September 2014 (I joined a pinterest group and started researching pinterest optimization)
• 968 followers February 2015 (I joined tailwind)
• 1893 followers March 2015
• 3155 followers April 2015

So, while I do not have a large following, my growth has exceeded my expectations (far exceeded, in fact, my annual goal set in January was to have 1500 followers by the end of the year) and I was asked to share what I've done to reach that growth rate. Here is what I have done to optimize tailwind, and I hope that you can replicate it. As with everything, do what works for you! A pinterest scheduler was very important in growing my pinterest account.

Optimize Tailwind – Your Account

I am convinced that learning how to optimize Tailwind was the key. My following took off after joining tailwind (and once I learned how to optimize tailwind it more than doubled my followers). Tailwind is a pinterest scheduler (and more). There are a few other pinterest scheduling options, including Boardbooster and ViralTag that I will compare Tailwind later in this post. Tailwind was the third scheduler I tried and, especially after I learned how to optimize tailwind, it turned out to be perfect for me.

Optimize Tailwind – Scheduler

The first step to optimize tailwind is to decide on the number of pins you want. Tailwind will help you with the times (you do not need to optimize tailwind to get the right times, it will do it on it's own). The timing gets better as you use it (the best times are based on when your followers interact the most). At first I checked it every few days to reschedule the times since it was just learning. Now I only check every few weeks to see if they are recommending any different time slots and I move times around accordingly. I have 30-35 pin time slots depending on the day. You may have more or less.

• PIN HINT: In my research I found that successful pinners pin 15-40 times a day and it seemed that the more boards they had the more pins they recommended. Ultimately your goal is to make sure you are pinning to each board at least every other day or so. If you have 60 boards than 15 pins a day is not enough and if you have 5 boards than 40 pins a day is too many.

There are many ways you can add pins to be scheduled to pinterest on your tailwind account:

• Once you connect your pinterest account, tailwind scheduling will become an option when you repin on pinterest. Instead of clicking “Repin” you click the “tailwind” option and schedule it.

• There is also a firefox and chrome browser extension so I you can schedule it straight from a webpage.

• You can schedule from the pinterest mobile app by emailing the repin to your account (they will give you your address after you sign up).

• You can upload, design, or import an image straight into your account.

• You can pin from instagram

Once scheduled, the pin automatically goes into the next available time slot (the times are optimized for your followers). My repin rate increased more than tenfold after using this. You can also have the pin post to your twitter and/or facebook account when you pin it (which is another great tip to help optimize tailwind – use your other social media accounts).

Optimize Tailwind: Scheduling to Group Boards

If I am repinning or pinning my own pins to group boards I spread them out over a few days. In order to optimize tailwind repins, I always make sure other pins are going up in between them.

On the schedule page you can see all the pins you have scheduled and drag/drop them to a new place if needed.

• PIN HINT: I schedule my pins to a blog board and then repin them from there. You can choose all of the boards at the same time and then move them to different times in the scheduler.

Optimize Tailwind: Finding Pins to Schedule

If you don't know where you will find 15-40 pins a day then these tips are for you!

• Pin from your feed. I try to choose 10 or so pins a day from my feed.

• Pin from the “popular” board. These pins are tried and true (or promoted). Since they are popular they may already be on your followers boards, but it isn't a bad idea to pin a few of these.

• Pin your followers and pinners pins. You can't keep up with everybody, but if your feed shows somebody who pinned something of yours head over to their page and pin something of theirs (or follow them). It is a social platform so creating a relationship ultimately helps your profile.

• Pin from facebook groups and share threads. All of them. It helps your pinterest account, strengthens relationships with others in your niche, and makes it more likely that other people will participate in the share group in the future.

• Repin old pins. If you have one that was from long ago then you can always repin it. Delete the duplicate after a week or so (the one with fewer repins). This works well if you have pins that most of your followers have never seen. I had one pin that didn't get a single repin originally, but when I repinned it over a year later it ended up with over 3000 repins.

PIN HINT: Keep an eye on the pins after they are posted. If it doesn't get repins then learn from it (and maybe even delete it). Try to learn what your followers want in a pin. It will help your boards and it will help you craft a better pin on your website. The optimize tailwind pin inspector section talks about how you can find popular pins. You can also use it to find pins with no repins on them. Repin those or make them more pin worthy.

Optimize Tailwind “Monitor your Domain” Section

You can see trending pins from your website here. To be honest, I do not use it much, but the word cloud section under “Latest Pins” can give you an idea if your pins descriptions are good. I saw that I add the word “found” on many of my pins. So many that tailwind was picking that out as an important keyword. I will be changing that. Real keywords should be showing up on that word cloud.

Optimize Tailwind Track your Brand Page

The Profile Performance section can give you an idea if you are trending up or down, but I do not use it much.

The Board Insights section is great! It shows you the Pins, Followers, Repins/Likes/Comments, Virality, and Engagement of every board you have on your profile (including the group boards you belong to). This can be very useful in deciding if a group board is worth staying in or not. It is also useful to see if your own boards are working. Your boards at the bottom might need to be cut. If you have a board at the top that has a lot of pins then take a look at it and consider splitting it into two (more targeted) boards.

• PIN HINT: You should have at least 25 pins on a board. If you have boards that are smaller then combine them. If a board is getting too large then consider splitting it into a couple boards.

Visit Heidi Ramsey's profile on Pinterest.

Optimize Tailwind Pin Inspector

Pin Inspector is also a great tool and it can be found in the “optimize tailwind content” section.

• Find your top pins (they show up at the top of the page)

• Search for your pins to find the one that has the most repins to promote. If your pin is on 3 different boards then you want to promote the one that has the most repins. Search for one of the keywords that is in the pin and all of them should come up.

• Search for your site name and filter by a group board to see how your pins do on a specific group board. If they are not doing well then it might not be worth keeping that group board on your profile.

PIN HINT: You should keep group boards for two reasons. The first is to promote your own pins to a different audience. The second is to help you get content that your followers may expect or like, but you may not have time to pin to often (like a holiday board or a board that belongs in your niche but you do not have content for).

Tailwind vs Boardbooster

COST:

Boardbooster is another pinterest scheduler. It costs $5/month for up to 500 pins, $10 for up to 1000 pins, $20 for up to 2000 pins. I schedule just over 1000 pins a month so it would cost me more to use Boardbooster than Tailwind.

SCHEDULER:

You set your own schedule with Boardbooster. You create secret boards and pin to those then set up a repin schedule where pins that go to each specific secret board are repinned to your public boards on a schedule you set.

OTHER OPTIONS:

Boardbooster has a board doctor that will check your pins for errors, but it costs extra ($0.01 per pin on your account). They have a pin mover, which also costs $0.01 per pin moved (you can now move pins on pinterest). It has a group board manager that helps you track your board collaborators. You can also “loop” (repin your pins after a certain amount of time) and repin pins on a schedule.

MY TAKE:

If you like the board doctor or mover it will cost you the same whether you have an account with them or not (you can still use that at the same cost if you are a Tailwind user).

I pin just over 1000 pins a month with Tailwind so Boardbooster would cost me more than Tailwind ($10/month with an annual discount vs $20/month with Boardbooster) and it does not have near the features that Tailwind has. I also found the pinning to a secret board first strategy harder to manage than just pinning and moving pins around on a drag and drop page. Not all of my pins go to all of my group boards, even in the same niche. For example, I have a few garden group boards, but one is only for Vegetable garden so if I set up a secret board that pinned to all my garden boards I would end up pinning things to the vegetable one that didn't belong.

Finally, I like that Tailwind tells me times optimized for my followers. You can read tons of stuff on what the best times are, but when you optimize tailwind, the times are specifically for your account, which works even better.

Everybody is different though so you might want to try boardbooster and see how it works for you. I tried both before I decided. Boardbooster also offers a free trial.

Tailwind vs Viraltag:

The free version of Viraltag does not have a pinterest option. You can have up to 10 profiles (including pinterest) for $29/month. This is not just a pinterest scheduler, it also schedules for other profiles, much like hootsuite. Since I already have hootsuite (and the free version of hootsuite does everything I need right now) I couldn't justify the cost increase for ViralTag. If you do not use a scheduler for your other profiles then ViralTag might be worth a look. It also offers a free trial.

Other Pinterest Hints:

• Follow the contributors to the group boards you are on. You know those people are in your niche. Pinterest does not have a “follow back” culture like twitter does, but getting good niche specific pins in your feed will help your boards.

• Comment on a few pins each day. Make them meaningful 1-2 sentence comments and don't do too many (Pinterest will think you are spamming).

• Optimize your profile – keep it short, sweet, and loaded with keywords.

• Utilize your other social media profiles – occasionally send your pins to your twitter account and leave an option for your facebook followers to pin your posts for later.

None of this would have been possible if it wasn't for my Pinterest Party Facebook group! They are excellent and if you have the time to really optimize tailwind or just your pinterest account then consider joining us!

The post Optimize Tailwind Pinterest Scheduler appeared first on Pint Size Farm.

Win the best vegetable garden planner!

We've all been there, right?

• You plant your garden… and you forget where you put the peppers.
• You decide to add fertilizer, but you have to look up your organic fertilizer recipe each time.
• You are pretty sure you need to start those seeds… but then again, what were those dates again?

I found the solution, seriously! This is the best vegetable garden planner out there and there is even room for you to customize it to your own tastes. So, how do you get (or win)  this planner?

The Search is on: the Best Vegetable Garden Planner

I  have searched high and low for a good, no great, vegetable garden planner. I think part of my problem is I was always looking for free printables or a free vegetable garden planner. I found some decent ones, but they were always lacking something. Then I realized that, like almost everything in life, you get what you pay for (and sometimes make up for it in time). Most of these planners needed a little tweaking here and there to really work for me.

And they were always missing parts…

Then I started looking at vegetable garden planners at amazon. Okay, looks good, but they only last a year. Then came the lightbulb. You need to mix the two! Get a printable vegetable garden planner and a three ring binder. If you want you can even have it spiral bound at Kinko's or by using your own book binding tools. This way you can keep what you need each year and print out new pages for the stuff that changes.

Bingo.

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Finding the Perfect Vegetable Garden Planner

So on with the search. Now I knew I was looking for a printable planner that covered everything that was in my crazy gardening head (and then some). I found it in The Gardening Notebook. The Gardening Notebook has everything.

• If you are a beginning gardener starting a raised bed vegetable garden then this planner will help. You can even plot your raised bed vegetable garden layout on the grid paper that is included.
• Frugal gardeners looking to remember their cheap gardening tips will find the note space great.
• Seasoned gardeners that just want help remembering sowing dates, pest issues, layout, etc, will find it perfect.

So, if you are trying to learn how planting vegetables for beginners can help your homestead, looking for how to design your vegetable garden, or even just a small vegetable garden design, this planner can help you. I know it sounds too good to be true and really, it is. Here is what the best vegetable garden planner, The Gardening Notebook, contains:

• How to begin gardening
• Enriching the garden (soil, compost, etc.)
• Garden Calendar
• How to find your frost dates
• Planting by frost dates calendar
• Local resource contact page
• Garden expense worksheet
• Seed and plant purchase record
• Worksheets with tips for growing vegetables, fruits, herbs and ornamentals -with plenty of room for you to write your own notes from your own research
• Seed sowing record
• Garden layout pages
• Pests, problems and solutions worksheet
• Book list record
• Monthly journal
• Resource list
• Lots of space for you to make notes of what is important to you
• Blank plant profile page to help keep track of specific plants and varieties
• Blank plant worksheets to fill out for the vegetables, fruits, herbs and ornamentals not already included

 See what I mean!?

The Best Vegetable Garden Planner Has…..

Everything listed above, plus more. There are over 120 pages. It is, honestly, a book and planner rolled into one. All the information at your fingertips with space for you to add more. You also get seed packet printables for free when you purchase the planner.

The Gardening Notebook Cost

The gardening notebook does cost, but it was less than I expected. For $9.95 you get the very best vegetable garden planner, the seed packet printables, and the right to use it for as many years as your heart desires. Or, you could win one below!

Best Vegetable Garden Planner!

The Gardening Notebook Vegetable Garden Planner Giveaway (3 winners)

Welcome to the Honor the Earth Giveaway Hop, hosted by Happy Mothering and Brittleby's Corner through the Green Moms Network! This April we want to help you Honor the Earth in celebration of Earth Day by giving you the opportunity to win some amazing eco-friendly prizes. After entering my giveaway, be sure to hop around and enter all of the other giveaways listed on the linky at the bottom of this post for your chance to win great eco-friendly gear! This giveaway is for the vegetable garden planner, The Gardening Notebook, by Schneider Peeps. Enter below then “hop” along the linky list to go to all the Earth friendly giveaways. Good luck!

Disclosure: This contest will run through April 22, 2015 at 8:59 pm PST (11:59 pm EST). The winner will be chosen the following day and announced on Blog Name. No purchase necessary. US entries only. Must be 18 years or older to win. The sponsors provided me with free samples of these products to review, and I was under no obligation to review them if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to this blog and not to Facebook. Please note that Happy Mothering, Brittleby's Corner, the Green Moms Network and the Honor the Earth event bloggers are not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. We have represented each sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prize and in a timely manner. We will contact the sponsor regarding your prize(s). The sponsors, in most cases, are shipping their items to you directly. I will make every effort to assist you obtaining your prize. If there is an issue with a sponsor, please notify the blog you won a prize from within 4-6 weeks for assistance, after that we may be unable to assist you.

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How to Make Thousand Island Dressing

The giveaway for a Laura Ingalls Wilder prize package is still going so make sure you enter if you have not already (ends April 24th). I also just added a giveaway for seeds and a book from Powerful Plants (ends April 14th). This week on Pint Size Farm I talked about…

• GMO vs Heirloom Seeds and why it matters. Which one do you use in your garden?
• The easiest way to clean a mealworm colony. Mealworms are a great addition to a homestead. They provide a cheap protein for your backyard chickens and the frass can be used as a fertilizer in your garden.
• Yard sale tips for sellers. It's that time of year! Garage sale season has begun so now is the time to turn your clutter into cash.

Time for the featured submission! Each week I feature one of the posts from the previous hop. Each hop host chooses their own post to feature so you have seven chances of being featured! All features are shared on pinterest, facebook, and twitter. This week I decided to feature How to Make Thousand Island Dressing in Minutes found at Taylor Made Ranch. I can't wait to try this recipe.

Homesteading Blogs submit your best posts from last week below!

The linky for this weeks submissions is below. If you need a refresher on the rules for the hop then head on over to my Homesteading HomeAcre Blog Hop page. The one that seems to be missed most often is to make sure to feature the button from the hop on your page (or link back to it in the post you submit)! The button can be found on my Homesteading HomeAcre Blog Hop Page. Without a button or link (on your page or post), we cannot feature you.

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Powerful Plants review and a giveaway!

These seeds can be used by anybody (of course), but they are geared towards making gardening fun and educational for kids. Read on for the Powerful Plants review and giveaway!

Powerful Plants Review: The Seeds

I received Daucus (the Red Cored Chantenay Carrot), Tom Thumb (the Shell Pea), Amish Paste (the Paste Tomato), and White Icicle (the White Icicle Radish). The packaging is super cute and definitely geared towards children. The varieties themselves are not necessarily ones I would pick for kids (bush beans, paste tomatoes, and kale for example), but they have 36 different seeds to choose from so I don't think they were going for kid varieties as much as making all seeds fun for kids.

Each seed is also a character that can be brought to life by using an app (smartphone or tablet).

For obvious reasons, I can't give you a Powerful Plants review of the seeds themselves since I do not have time to grow them, but they are all organic and the packaging is great.

Powerful Plants Review: The Book(s)

Right now there is only one book for this Powerful Plants review, Volume 1, The Carrot Napping. The books are meant to “edutain”. Children can read the page, answer 3 questions, and if they get correct answers they are rewarded with the plant character coming to life on the screen.

Powerful Plants Review: The Positives

• I love the characters and that they can be brought to life
• I love the kid-friendly drawings and seed packets
• I really love the kid-friendly facts they include with each page of the book (the first carrots were probably purple)

I would let my kids use the seeds and read the book (I would take out the page I talk about in the negative section). I would probably not use the app for the reasons outlined below and because it seems to be huge! I tried downloading it to my iPad, but 2.5 hours later it was still around 35% downloaded and then it stopped. I was able to see some of the videos on their website and I apologize for not being able to see more for the Powerful Plants review, but I just couldn't get it downloaded. Powerful Plants Review: the Negative Not all reviews are completely positive and this is one of them for me. I do love the idea and 95% of the book/seeds. I would happily still use them for my kids, but I would skip the section of the book that I am about to talk about. In volume one that is one page of the 47 page book. The downside to the book is that it presents a very black and white picture of some complicated topics. The way they present it seems scary for a young child, but dumbed down for an older child. Here is their own description of what the books are about:

The selfish seven (all humans, all the seed characters are good), headed by Grendal Greed, with sidekicks like Mean Gene, Frackin' Frank, Lazy Larry, and Wasteful Wally, are hell bent on harming our planet. By teaming together, kids and Powerful Plant characters can stop them.

I am not a fan of GMO plants (head over to my post on GMO vs heirloom seeds if you want more information), but I really dislike the way they present the information in this book. This first book introduces Mean Gene and Grendal Greed. I am guessing we would meet the other 5 characters that are “hell bent on harming our planet” in later volumes. The carrot is kidnapped and taken to a “secret underground laboratory” by a scientist who is going to do genetic research on him. The book tells the kids that soon “they” (the scientists?) will do that to “even farm animals”. It tells the kids that “some studies show it can make animals and humans sick” (no reference) and they were able to “somehow convince the people in our government who are in charge of keeping the food supply safe to allow these seeds to be sold”. And, “one of the selfish seven, Lazy Larry is always telling farmers how great it is and how much easier it will make their lives”. The reference to the “Selfish Seven” was the most confusing part. I scoured the book and seeds trying to find out who they were. It is not there, those are characters that will be introduced in later books or on the individual page apps. I won't sugar coat it. I'm a scientist (or was before we decided I would stay home with the kiddos) and I have never known anybody who sneaks off in the night to kidnap a lovable character to torture him (the picture definitely looks like torture). I wouldn't show this page to my 2 year old (too scary), 5 year old (he would have so many questions that this book just doesn't answer), or 7 year old (he is old enough to see references not just scare tactic claims). Many of the “extra” material on the app also goes into some scare tactic type arguments, but you don't know what you are going to see until you actually get to the app. I would recommend watching everything before your kiddo just in case there is something you don't want them to see. Full disclosure, I try very hard to stay away from GMO, haven't stepped foot into a Walmart in ten years (Wasteful Wally?), am definitely against fracking so you would think I would be a target audience for them. But, I would have issues with my kids seeing information presented in this way. If you are okay with any of those things then you might have even more of an issue. The app also happens to be huge. I tried downloading it and 2.5 hours later I still only had 30% downloaded.

Powerful Plants Review: Contests

This series also gives children a chance to enter some fun contests. They can earn points towards a grand prize contest (4 day farm trip to their 50 acre organic farm in Northeastern Pennsylvana) by taking photos with characters, recording a music video, growing carrots, and designing a character.

Powerful Plants Review: Childrens' Book & Seed Giveaway!

Enter for a chance to win one of these great prizes…

The Carrot Napping Book plus 36 packets of seeds – valued at $114.95 + shipping!

The Carrot Napping Book plus 12 packets of seeds – valued at $55.35 + shipping!

These prizes generously donated by Powerful Plants!

“We live in a time when children often grow up isolated from nature. Powerful Plants stories and characters re-connect kids with plants and the world outdoors. The idea is to “edutain” – creating a bridge between useful information, technology, and the outdoors, in a fun, kid-friendly way.”

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GMO vs Heirloom Seeds, does it matter to you?

So for our look at GMO vs heirloom seeds, let's start out with the difference between open pollinated, heirloom and GMO (genetically modified organism). With all the garden terms out there right now (heirloom, hybrid, GMO, open pollinated, etc), it can sometimes seem like it is hard to keep up!

GMO vs Heirloom Seeds: Open Pollinated.

Open-pollinated means that the plant reproduces using whatever pollination mechanism they prefer (wind, bees, etc). They can be self or cross-pollinated plants. When specifically talking about GMO vs heirloom seeds, GMO will not self-pollinate. They will sometimes cross pollinate with plants of the same species and leave their GMO traits behind (which causes a patent problem)

• Self-pollinated plants can fertilize themselves

• Cross-pollinated plants need other plants of the same species to fertilize themselves.

GMO vs Heirloom Seeds: Heirloom.

Sometimes open-pollinated plants are also heirloom. Heirloom means it has been passed down generation to generation (usually a minimum of 3 generations). Heirloom plants are especially useful when you can find the heirloom seeds locally. Local heirloom plants are specialized for your area because of natural selection. Plants that are not good for your area die. The plants that are good for your area go to seed (heirloom seeds).

So, can heirloom seeds be GMO? No. If you cross GMO plants you will not get an offspring that looks like the parent (just like hybrid plants). Plus, it is illegal to even save GMO seed because of patent laws. Therefore, you will never get GMO plants that can be passed down generation to generation.

Are heirloom seeds genetically modified? Probably not in the way you would think genetically modified means. They are evolved (traits that are good for the area are saved by allowing the plants with those traits to breed).

If this continues for many generations you may even end up with a type of heirloom plant that is specific for your area. When specifically talking about GMO vs heirloom seeds that, GMO seeds are made the same for all locations around the world, whereas heirloom plants can be great for one local area, but not work well in another.

GMO vs Heirloom Seeds: GMO.

GMO refers to a “genetically modified organism”. GMO seeds have been modified (evolved) in a lab to be resistant to certain pesticides, produce it's own pesticide, or other enhancements.

Some people argue that creating an heirloom plant is also genetically modifying, and in many ways they would be correct. When you select plants to reproduce and save seed from you take the ones that have characteristics you like (or ones that work well in your area) you are trying to save certain genetic traits. Over the course of a few generations the trait you selected for will (hopefully) be showing up more often in the offspring.

The difference between GMO vs Heirloom seeds is that:

• Plants from an Heirloom F2 generation will look like their parents while an F2 generation GMO plant will not (more about this in the next paragraph).

• The traits that are added to GMO seeds are not ones that would be found in the plant naturally.

GMO vs Heirloom Seeds: The Genetics.

Here is where I'm going to geek out on the specifics of GMO vs heirloom seeds so if you are not a science person feel free to skip to the next section! Those of you who are interested, it's time for a crash course in genetics for GMO vs heirloom seeds!

• The F1 generation is the first generation from a cross.

• The F2 generation is the offspring from the F1 individuals.

When creating a new breed (of animals) or type of plant you usually strive to create something that can be replicated. Most people are familiar with dog breeds so I will use that.

• A beagle, poodle, pug, lab, etc is the same as an heirloom plant. Generations of selective breeding has produced traits that some people are looking for. If you cross a beagle with another beagle you will continue to see those traits. Heirloom seeds will always get you a heirloom plant that looks like the parent.

So, are heirloom tomatoes genetically modified? They are evolved, but not modified.

• A puggle is the same as a hybrid plant. The breeder took two distinct varieties and crossed them to create a new type. The puggle is the F1 generation of a beagle and a pug. If you crossed two puggles you would get an F2 generation that looks and acts nothing like the puggle. If you want the puggle again you will need to keep a beagle and pug. In the case of plants, this means saving the seed from a hybrid plant is useless. The seed would either be sterile or grow something unlike the parents, but some hybrids are still great plants and you can replicate them by using the same two distinct varieties that were originally used in the cross.

The difference between hybrid and heirloom tomatoes is that if you save the seeds from a hybrid plant you will not get the same plants the next season. Hybrid plants can be great starts for your garden, but there is no reason to save seed from them. This master gardener page goes through some of the intricacies of saving plant seeds.

• Now, there isn't an example of a GMO animal (yet) so I'll keep with the puggle example. Let's say a lab took the venom gene from a rattlesnake and inserted it into the puggle's DNA. You now have a venomous puggle. If you breed those venomous puggles you will not get another venomous puggle. The only way to get another venomous puggle is to create a beagle/pug mix in a lab and insert the rattlesnake dna.

GMO vs Heirloom Seeds: The Controversy.

The controversy with GMO vs heirloom seeds has many different facets.

• The creation of dependency on the company that created the seed. Since you cannot create it on your own you are left purchasing new seed every time you plant. Many genetically modified seeds also include genes that make them dependent on pesticide (the plant with the gene will be pesticide resistant, which means the farmer uses lots of the pesticide to kill everything but the plant).

• The question of GMO vs heirloom seed patents. The plants can, and will, still cross with other plants that are within range (you can't control wind, bees, etc). This means some previously heirloom plants will start showing random traits of the GMO. Since that seed is patented that gives the patent owners the right to a lawsuit against the person who now has the plant with the GMO characteristics. So, a previously heirloom or hybrid plant is now contaminated by the wind/bees and the farmer is also going to be sued by the company who owns the GMO.

• They are not “natural”. Pro-natural group will point out that the seeds are not natural and often want more research on the health and safety of adding in specific genes. In the venomous puggle example, some people would feel that is an abomination of nature and others would find it pretty cool.

• They decrease genetic variation within a species. You can find great heirloom seeds that will work good in your own area from a local company. It used to be that those seeds worked best. The more people that switch to GMO seeds, the less need there is for these local heirloom varieties and most simply stop being used. While this may seem like it isn't a big deal, genetic variation plays a big part in keeping species alive. This is because if something happens to wipe out a plant (or animal) variety then there is another to take it's place. If all our plants are the same (be that the same Heirloom or genetically modified seed) and something (a bug, weather problem, etc) wipes them out then ALL of that plant/food will be gone.

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GMO vs Heirloom Seeds: Heirloom seed companies.

There is a lot of controversy with GMO (genetically modified) seeds, but no matter how you feel about farmers using GMO seed, I think most of us can agree that if you are trying to become self-sustainable then the GMO vs heirloom seeds question becomes easier. Using heirloom plants that you can save seed from is the only way you can be truly self-sustainable because if you use GMO seed you will have to purchase seed every year. There are some great, locally-owned companies out there that can help you find some heirloom plants and most will even offer classes to help you learn how to save your own seed. Here are a few you can start with:

• Sow True Seed, based in Asheville, NC

• Native Seeds, based in Tucson, AZ

• Seed Savers Exchange, based in Decorah, IA

• Check with your library! Some locations are now offering seed libraries. You borrow the seed for your garden and donate seed back when the season is over. There are seed libraries in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Washington. You can see the list of libraries here.

What is your favorite heirloom seed company?

GMO vs Heirloom Seeds: Starting an Organic Garden.

• If you are trying to go completely organic then be sure to click over to my organic seed starting supplies post to get some tips on how to start your organic plants out strong.

• You can get free seeds by mail from Groundswell international sends free open-pollinated non-GMO seeds to families each year. The seeds come from Sow True Seed, a seed company based in Asheville, NC.

• You can also check my post on 10 frugal garden tips to see more ways to start your (organic) garden on the cheap.

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