Gardening tips for the environmentally conscious

Here's some good ideas for gardening while recycling. I personally like to use raised garden beds for my herbs and some veggies. There's two reasons for this, the first being that I'm ADD and tend to be absent minded, so when I use the raised beds I can remember what plants are in which bed. 2) it helps with keeping critters out (to some small degree) and with weeding. It also helps when I go to cut the grass I don't have to worry about accidently running over the plants.

 The best way to build a raise bed is to use either old wooden pallets or recycled lumber either from a fence that's being replaced or an old dresser that someone is throwing out. A couple years ago I didn't have enough lumber for the size boxes I was building so in addition to the lumber I had, I used a couple of large logs that were left over from when we cleared some property that I had lived on previously. Old tree logs work well too and help give your garden that old rustic look and they tend not to rot as fast depending on the size log. When the log does eventually rot it helps make the soil a little more fertile. 

Depending on how big you want your boxes to be will depend on how much wood you'll need, obviously. You can make these boxes taller to keep the rabbits out if the bunnies tend to be a problem or for asstetics and better drainage depending on what you're planting. 

Another good material to use in the garden is plastic. Everyone has plastic groceries bags or if you're a person who feeds the birds plastic seed bags. You can cut the bags down one side, from top to bottom so they open up and lay flat. Once that's done you can place them in any garden bed, I use these for my flower beds, then make a hole in each one so that your plant can be easily planted in the ground with the plastic around the base of the plant . Then all you need to do is add your dirt and mulch on top and it helps keep the weeds out of your beds. The thicker the plastic bag the better success you'll have with this technique. The other thing the plastic will do is hold moisture so that even in the middle of summer you won't have to water as much and won't have to worry about being in the garden weeding for hours. It also repurposes the plastic bags so they're not sitting in a landfill somewhere for years to come. 

Use recycled materials you have at home whenever possible in your garden, whether it's paper, plastic, or wood. This way you're not only helping yourself with cost and time you're also helping out the environment :) 

Happy gardening y'all 

Squirrels, Squirrels, and MORE Squirrels

I personally love to watch the squirrels play around as much as I love watching the birds, but for Birders, Gardeners, and homeowners in general they can cause more trouble than most people can handle. People ask me all the time for some kind of solution to keeping the squirrels out of their bird feeders. Keeping squirrels out of the feeders is easy. If your feeders are on a pole or 4x4 post get a can baffle and attach it to the pole with the bottom of the baffle 41/2 -5 feet off the ground making sure that there is no overhanging trees, fences, bushes, shrubs, porches and roofs within 8-10 feet from the pole simply because the squirrels will just catapult themselves to the top of the pole. The other solution is buy an actual Squirrel proof feeder that really works, yes they actually have some on the market that actually work. The best line of Squirrel proof feeders are the Squirrel busters (which come in Plus, classic, mini, and standard,) and the Droll Yankee Family of Squirrel proof feeders( such as the whipper, the tipper, and the ever popular Flipper.All of these products really work and also come with a lifetime guarantee against Squirrel damage. Greasing your feeder poles doesn't work, it just gives your squirrels a nice shiny under coat, and a fun carnival ride.

I've heard a ton of people say they shoot the squirrels ( which is terrible) or trap and relocate the Squirrels, and those people are fighting a never ending battle, here's why: Squirrels are very territorial. Well what exactly does that mean? It's simple, If you have  2 Squirrels and you trap and relocate one of those Squirrels two more will show up to try and claim the territory left open from the squirrel you just relocated and so on and so forth.  So my best solution to the Squirrel battle in everyone's backyard is, if you can't beat them Join them:) Lord knows we got enough squirrely people in this world so why not? They're a part of nature and in their own little ways they actually serve as fury gardeners. They may not plant the things you want in your garden, like an oak tree in the middle of your prized roses, or a pecan tree in the middle of your herb garden, but they're gardeners non the less even if they dig up and eat your tulip bulbs. Hey they're not perfect.
Also the bird seed you're putting out to feed the birds, the squirrels don't know it's not their own personal buffet, but now that I've given you some good solutions to keeping the squirrels off your feeders you and the birds and squirrels should be able to live better with each other.