Olive Barn has some amazing 2010 plantable calendars that you’ll want to check out. These would make the perfect calendar gift for a fellow gardener, or snap one up for yourself.

2010 Wildflowers Plantable Calendar – Coil bound 2010 plantable eco calendar made with 100% post consumer waste and embedded with wildflower seeds. Comes with an eco-friendly stand made from 100% recycled cardstock. Once a month passes by you can plant the handmade paper page and wait for wildflowers like Bird’s Eye, Clarkia, Coreopsis, Poppy, Catchfly and Snap Dragon to grow.

There is also a cool tin encased version of this calendar …read more

Invasive plants are species that can thrive and spread to an excess outside of it’s natural eco-system. For example, if you bring a non-native plant to you area it could thrive and as it spreads it can be an ecological problem i.e., crowding out native plants, increasing erosion, compromising water quality, changing stream flows and more.

To help stop invasive plants in your area do the following:

Contact your local extension or a local plant nursery for a booklet or list of common invasive plants in your area.You really need a list because some may surprise you – for example, here in …read more

I think my vegetable garden is almost done for the season, tonight we have a frost alert so I gathered up most of the vegetables that are tender to the cold. I picked most of the peppers, the last of the tomatoes, a couple eggplant, and some watermelon that are just getting full size.

My tomatoes were a bit of a disappointment this year. I had 18 different varieties, some did well, but most did not. I think it’s because our summer was cool, and it never did get very warm.
The peppers on the other hand were in overdrive!  I’ve given …read more

Gardening is often promoted as an inexpensive activity, but in truth it’s not always easy to garden on the cheap. That said there are some areas where you can cut gardening costs big time.

Save your old seeds (check to see if they still work).
Compost for homemade soil – even if your yard is small you can compost. In fact, you can compost indoors if you want.
Don’t buy new – garden tools, gardening books, pots, and so on. Most gardening supplies can be easily found at thrift stores. You can also borrow from or share garden tools with friends. It’s also …read more

Truman made a wormery. That’s his name for a worm pile. It’s basically a container with dirt and leaves and all the worms he could pry out from under the steppingstones out back. Worms don’t particularly bother me though I’d prefer not to touch them. I am learning that they serve great purpose in the garden and so I am encouraging Truman not to keep his new pets in captivity for too long.
If you want to make a wormery with your kids, I’ll share my expert knowledge and save you time from scouring the Internet yourself. Worms like dirt. The …read more

Today, I picked up a dill plant and soil for my GroGood project. I wanted to fill the planter boxes that they sent me and plant some seeds that I got last week – basil, radish, and peas. The plan was to add to the squash and tomatoes that I planted a couple of weeks ago. 
I got all my materials ready, made sure my camera was close by, then I noticed that the boxes they sent me were clearly marked with, “Not For Food, Ornamental Use Only.”  Uh oh. Dang.
Oh well, I decided to figure something else out.  I moved …read more

My son is what you’d call “all boy.” He likes cars and trucks and dirt and bugs and pretty much anything that boys are supposed to like. I’m a girlie-girl, but even as a kid I climbed trees and got messy. I also didn’t fear snakes and bugs – my phobias are far more irrational. So I barely revolted the other day when we were playing outside and my son proudly announced, “Mommy! Look! I caught my first lizard!”
He held it up by its tail, as proud as if he’d caught is first fish. I gave the creature a good …read more

Remember the Alaska Beauty I recently posted? Maybe not since not one person commented on it! I however am obsessed with this house. Just the other day I found another photo of it purely by chance. At least I think it’s the same house — it looks like it from the green roof. It must be fate. I am fated to own this house. Or else it’s just a wildly popular Alaska haunt.
This shot of my fate house is lovely. Here you can see that I would have a lot of gardening to do. I’d probably need to quit writing …read more

Onward with the great Home & Dining channel posts!
Deborah over at Simply Thrifty covers how to save money. But so do lots of blog. What makes Deb’s blog the best is how she’s always incorporating green-friendly tactics; which of course Offbeat is a fan of (and me). She’s got a great post right now about the new Nalgene water bottle — you have to see its fresh design.
Other memorable post as of late include ways to recycle soap bits (which we all have) and 66 ways uses for vinegar. Quick tip about me; I hate vinegar it’s insanely fascinating to …read more

Some folks say that a man’s house is his castle. Then there are people like Tony here who think their garden shed is a roman temple.
There’s actually an interesting community of folks on line who’s hobby is to ‘do up‘ their garden and backyard sheds. They call themselves sheddies.
Tony is from Berkshire, UK, and as you can see, has a bit of a thing for the good old days – the really old days. His roman temple garden shed has got it all – columns, marble panels, a statue of the emperor and of course the obligatory …read more