Found Baby Cardinals in the Garden

One of the great things about having a garden, is you often see nature and wildlife that you would not get to enjoy otherwise!

I was out, picking weeds, when I noticed a nest had been built in my pea pods.   To my great joy, I found two pretty blue speckled eggs!   I kept a close watch on them every day.

Finally on May 17, I peeked into the nest and saw these two little cuties!

Okay, so I know some folks may not think they are cute, but to me they were!   One of the babies was still in the shape of the egg!

However, to my great dismay, one of the babies rolled right out of the nest!

I picked it up gently with my gloves and put it right back!

Momma bird and Poppa bird were going crazy!

I was so relieved when, the next day, I peered into the nest and I saw this!
They were both alive and doing well!

On May 19, 2012, the babies were on their third day of life out of the shell!
They were starting to get little feathers!  I still was nervous about the baby that fell out.   He seemed quieter than the other baby.

On the 20th, the babies were starting to get more defined in their bodies.

Look how well they are doing on May 21, day five!

They are energetic and hungry all the time. 

Their little eyes have finally opened!

 They now have a very cute soft cheep.   However,  MOMMA on the other hand, and POPPA ~ THEY are loud!  

And seems like momma is getting bolder!

May 22, The one baby, that didn't fall out of the nest, always seems to have more energy than the one that did fall out. The energetic baby always has His mouth open for food. ~Still keeping an eye on the other baby, hoping for the best.

May 23, They are so vulnerable! I ended up putting a covering over the nest and a small fence around the bottom, in case one falls out....that way they won't wander into dog territory!They are sticking their heads out for food more and more now. They are not afraid of me.   Whenever I come to the nest, they are hoping I am bringing food.   I do not interfere with mom and dad though.   I figure they know what they are doing!

May 24, day eight!  
                                                They grow up so fast!

 This day, one of the babies became adventurous and left the nest!!

However, at the end of their long eighth day in the world, they both snuggled down in the nest for a long nap!

                                           stay tuned for day nine!

Growing Low Cost Healthy Strawberry Plants .

I have had some strawberry plants growing in my garden.  
They reproduced and made more plants.

I wasn't, however getting many strawberries!   
The strawberries that were produced ended up
bitten by bugs,
wilty from water,
stolen by squirrels,
or beaten by birds! 

I pretty much gave up on the plants.   They were just taking up space in my garden.

But...it was either let the plants go to waste,
or do
some
thing
with
them.  
And YOU KNOW,
I am not big on waste!





So with alittle bit of effort, I changed my strawberry strategy.   They became hanging planters!

Of course, I did not want to have to spend money to make these guys work.   The idea is to save money, not spend money!

 So, step 1.   I took the planters the strawberries came in, took the plant out, and saved the dirt.

Step 2. Turn the planter upside down.  Make about 6 cuts , each about two inches long radiating from the hole on the bottom of the planter. (Like rays coming from the sun)  This creates an easy opening that enlarges enough to put the plant in.

Step 3.  Carefully poke the strawberry plant into the bottom of the planter.    The cuts you have made should make this easy.   Once the plant is in. . . carefully pull the planter hole
closed around the plant.

Step 4.   Now, with the plant hanging upside down, fill the planter back up with dirt.  Be careful not to break your plant while you do this.

Step 5.   This is what determines how you hang your plant.   You can make your own hangers in so many various ways.   I cheaped and easied out on this step because I was tired!  

All I did is make a hole on the side of the planter!

then...Step 6.   I hung the planters on the fence post!...and watered!!!

The results have been dramatic!

Almost overnight, the bugs quit bugging, the squirrels stopped stealing, and the water stopped wilting!  The drainage was perfect.   I have only lost one

strawberry so far to a bird!   Unbelievable!  I would never try to plant them the old way again!

Happy Hanging! 

                                           
                                            These just picked!  

Super Easy Last Minute Low Cost "Easter Basket"

CUTE....QUICK....... and CHEAP!!!!

Great for the
"no longer a kid but still want some candy and festivity" people
 in your group!!

Go to the store, and you realize you don't want to fork out even a dollar for those Easter baskets?   It does add up!

Well, I was fed up....

This is a great way to do last minutes Easter Baskets....


I went home, looked at some paper plates and started!

                   
                   I made two cuts in the plate....

I bent them up, and stapled them...

.....at this point you can make strips of paper plate and add them for a basket look.   I was in a crunch for time, and this was for older folks, and was more for sorting the candy evenly.....

      So, I added alittle grass, some candy ....I made name tags for each one and taped them on.

It made a great, festive, fast table decoration!!

Make something beautiful of your space with little money! AND grow your own food!!

~The idea here is to make something beautiful without spending alot of money!!!!   USE WHAT YOU HAVE!!!   When you are making your garden it can be expensive, UNLESS, you look around for what you need and try imaginative ways to come up with something that will work!

My garden.... 
Eucalyptus, peas, onions, lettuce, cucumbers, herbs, beans, grapes, blueberries, tomatoes, peppers, hibiscus, strawberries, peach tree, figs......

No stressful weather here!  This nice little relaxation platform comes from Hurricane Shutters that were getting thrown out from a local Charleston Hotel years ago!

Listen to this!!!    Snow Peas growing up a cd rack!
The unwanted cd holder is a great support for snow pea pods! The dangling decoration is actually beading from a chandelier that was getting thrown out!

                                                     

Time to eat!!!  The baby grapevines made alot of grapes last year!  They are also getting ready to make more grapes this year! They are growing on the frame of an old table!

For the larger grapes, I have inverted an exerciser that was getting run to the town landfill!!  It will be awesome soon, as the grapevines are starting to grow quickly!  It will be a great support!

For these tomato plants.... I took the bottom out of an old plastic rubbermaid tub container (you guessed it, that someone was throwing out) to make the planter!

Stumped....?   Use what you have!  Our large silver maple had to come down because of injury.   However, instead of having the stump removed (which saved us money) we  hollowed it out to make a planter for some pepper plants and a hybiscus plant.

OH BABY!!!  Last year, the grapevines were growing so fast that they need some more support. Their new support was the end side of a Jenny Lind Baby crib that I had in the shed! (yes - again it was originally on it's way to the landfill)

This aloe plant and onions are growing in a square planter that is actually a shelving unit for screws and hardware that was fixin' to be thrown out!

This touch of decoration is a few feet left over from our Silver Maple.  On top is an old cast iron tractor sprinkler and old horshoes ~both from yardsales.

These squash plants are thriving in old piping
that was being pumped to the landfill.  Instead it was converted
to raised planter beds!

A hotel was serving up these dishes to the landfill~ instead they now

mark where I have planted a new plant, and keep the weeds from

growing there!

The beautiful garden accent is actually a lamp shade for a hotel lamp! It doubles as a protective cover for new sprouting plants!  It also, was getting

shown out to the garbage! But not any more!   Also, there is an old boat anchor that was getting tossed overboard to the landfill!  We rescued it to
become a garden ornament!

The wood railings come from left over limbs from our silver maple, and

handmade tent poles that were getting thrown out.

Herb and Lettuce Garden right out the back window...so when you get hungry, make that sandwich with ever available lettuce, and seasonings!! The lettuce just keeps growing back! : ) The containers are made from a children's desk drawers that someone was throwing out. The large planters, you guessed it - someone didn't want them anymore...... RECYCLE! : )

This next one is not too difficult to figure out!   It was an old kiddie pool that had holes in it!  Instead of going to the landfill it became a planter.  The post is an old curtain rod earmarked for the garbage.   And the screening for the peas to climb up is a piece of a dog cage that was getting thrown out!

I took the chairs that went with the table (for the grapes) removed the bottoms and put planters (that also were getting thrown out) into them.

This cute little garden addition includes the child's desk that was getting tossed to the landfill!   We have made all the drawers into planters!

SO ~ you get the idea!!   Use alittle imagination, open your eyes, recycle, and make your space beautiful at the same time!