“Sneaky” Deer Repellent

Are Bambi and friends using your garden as a midnight snack bar? Irritating right? Yet you don’t want to harm the party crashers just to keep your garden off the menu. There’s a simple solution to this dilemma. You CAN have a nibble-free garden without harming any Disney characters in the process. Just place a pair of used sneakers somewhere in the area that’s being used as a snack bar. You can hide them under a bush, it’s not the sight of your grungy sneaks that keeps them away, it’s the human scent that repels them.

Make Life Easier With Egg Cartons

Chances are you’ll eventually run out of things to store in your egg cartons so here are some ideas for using egg cartons that don’t involve storing items in them but should still work to make some aspect of your life a little easier..

 

Seed Starters

Poke a few holes in the bottom of an egg carton for drainage. Fill each section 3/4 full with potting soil and vermiculite. Plant seeds according to package directions and set in a sunny window.

 

Birdfeeder

Remove the lid from the egg carton and save it for another use, such as a drawer organizer.

Pour birdseed over the bottom portion of the carton so that each section is filled with birdseed.

Poke holes in the four corners of the carton and attach a bright string or ribbon to each corner. Don’t use fish line as the birds may not see it and get entangled it in. Gather the strings together at the center, knot, and hang your bird feeder from a branch.

 

Charcoal Fire Starter

Pour melted wax over the bottom section of  a paper carton so that each section is approximately 1/3 filled with wax. For obvious reasons – which I didn’t figure out until I used a plastic egg carton – don’t use a plastic egg carton. Place one charcoal briquette in each section with the wax. Close the carton and store until your next barbecue. To use, tear off and set aside the top of the carton for another use such as a resting place for your barbecue tongs and barbecue sauce brush. Place the bottom half of the carton in the bottom of the grill. Light the carton. Wait a few minutes and then add more charcoal.

 

Fire Starters

You won’t need lighter fluid with this fire starter. Fill each section of a paper egg carton with dryer lint. Pour melted wax (from candle stubs) over the lint. When wax is hardened tear apart the sections and use for fire starters.

 

Chips & Dip Picnic Tray

Fill the lid of a plastic egg carton with chips, cracker and/or veggies. Serve dip in the half with the egg indentations. This works best when using Styrofoam cartons. The cardboard ones will soak up any liquid in the dip.

 

Disposable Cutting Board

Many of the ideas in this section call for saving the top half of the carton for another use. I pack a few egg carton tops with my camping gear and in my picnic basket to use as cutting boards. When the meal is done just toss them in the trash.

 

Disposable Plate

I stack egg carton tops in my cupboard next to my plates and when I want a disposable plate there they are. These are great for when the dishwasher is full of clean dishes and I don’t feel like washing dishes by hand, for a day at the beach and for picnics.

 

Ice-Cube Trays

Use Styrofoam egg cartons to make extra ice for parties or picnics. Wash them well before filling with ice. Keep the lids attached so you can stack them in the freezer. Getting the ice out pretty much trashes the egg carton but at least you got one more use out of it.

 

Money Container

Egg cartons are great garage sale “cash registers” because you can divide your change into separate compartments. Staple an envelope or two pieces of elastic to the inside top of the carton for the bills.

 

Packing Material

Use the carton whole, break it up or pack small items inside the carton.

Now I bet you’ll think twice before throwing away an egg carton.

Trellis Garden Netting For Amateur Gardeners

While this article advocates buying a product instead of re-using a recyclable item we at Irish Attic feel that its well worth it for our readers to explore gardening in small spaces, on walls and fences and even rooftops as a way to live a little greener and enjoy a delicious bounty as well!

Of all the different ways that netting can be used in the garden, a surprisingly small number of people are familiar with garden trellis netting or its uses. For those that are familiar and experienced in its application in the home garden, not actively using the netting for their gardening is simply unimaginable. The versatility and space efficiency are simply too valuable to dismiss.

The primary purpose of trellis garden netting is to implement some form or vertical gardening techniques into your design. Some plants, such as green beans, are naturally inclined to use trellis netting for their growth. They need a way to spread out, grow, and climb. The netting provides that structure for them to grab hold of, and helps facilitate their healthy progress.

What many people fail to recognize is that your typical vine plants are not the only types of vegetables that thrive in a vertical environment. Not only can you grow beans up your trellis, but cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, peas, melons, and a number of other indeterminate plants will also thrive. A basic rule of thumb is that if the plants can spread out on the ground to grow, it can spread out vertically as well.

The first question that people ask is whether or not the plant and/or trellis can really hold the weight of the fruit that is produced. Particularly for plants such as melons, pumpkins, and squash, the fruit can be quite heavy. The only real deterrent to this is whether or not your support structure can handle the weight. As long as the supports for the netting are strongly secured, the netting will hold and the plant will be more than strong enough to handle its own weight. If you grow paranoid, you can simply support the plant with additional homemade systems.

How To Grow a Container Garden

Water Saving Tips Using Recyclables

We all know by now (don’t we?) that recycling of water is an important part of living green. This project is a great water conservation for kids instruction because it encourages them to reuse soda bottles and plastic milk jugs, items that they typically use. This water saving tip is a two-fer on the “green scale”: using a recyclable item in a way that saves water.

Start by cutting off the bottom of a recycled soda bottle or recycled half gallon plastic milk jug to make it into a funnel. As you water your garden place this funnel right at the base of the plant, pushing it down below the surface if possible, so that when you water, all the water goes directly to the roots of the plant. You’ll be saving water and BONUS, you’re not watering the weeds.