A Beginning

Honest confession time … my garden is a hot mess. I really enjoy growing things and, in this time, we seem to all be having a bit of a homesteader mentality where we want to add to our self-sufficiency. Once upon a time, we had a wonderful garden with peppers, onions, greens like spinach and kale, broccoli, herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and even more. Unfortunately, our drip system has been damaged and the garden was neglected last year with our busy lives. A few weekends ago, I pulled out some weeds and looked to see what volunteer plants our garden was hiding. Our rosemary has evidentially tapped into a water line because it is extremely healthy, the bees are buzzing through our flowering thyme so I expect that to come back, and I found that our green onions had reseeded themselves. I scratched out a spot to plant some basil seeds and I prepped a pot to plant some cilantro and parsley. I’m looking forward to stepping out my back door to pick some fresh herbs while cooking.

We Live in a Desert

Buuuuttt…. our watering system is broken. It is definitely in our plans to have that fixed, but I want to plant NOW. (Impatient, much?) so that means watering cans. I find it therapeutic to walk out among my plants, but laziness rears its head and if water is not readily available, I think I’ll come back and do it later … spoiler, I don’t. I could leave watering cans full of water waiting for me but I do not want to create a breeding ground for mosquitos. Thus the milk jug watering can was born.

Milk Jug Watering Can

Time to clean out one of the many milk jugs we finish each week. (Do my kids not realize they are allowed to drink water? We don’t go through this much milk when they are at school all day.) Poke some holes for the water to come out. Poke some holes to let air come in. Decorate with Sharpies. Fill and enjoy. It is really that simple. (Video tutorial below.)

Video Tutorial

We found some volunteer strawberry plants popping up in some pretty rough grass. Slowly, we’re cleaning out the bed so that the strawberries can flourish, but they need water. Watch and share our video tutorial on this simple family craft that can empower everyone in the family to take care of their own plot of land.