Written by Britney Manuel from BtanJerine and A Simply Raw Life

When it comes to gardening I have the proverbial “black thumb of death”, a gardening mass murderer if you will. I think that plants come to my house specifically to live out their last days! That being said, I knew that I bit off more than I could chew when I decided to start a full fledged garden with my daughter.  But this is a success story, and if I can do it, you surely can!

I thought that this project of growing our own fruits and veggies would be a great way to get my little one  more interested in eating all the good things. I thought it would be a great experience for her to care for something, and see how something she planted could grow into something she would eventually eat. So I chose to make this an all edible garden.

3 Things You Need to Start Gardening with kids

We planted things with only 3 requirements: it needs to be hard to kill, edible, and grows fast. Included in our garden are sunflowers, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuces, peppers, and a host of herbs. Most of which I was able to pick up at our local farmers market. Another great resource for organic seeds is Seeds of Change. I involved Z in picking out the plants, she helped to plant them, and it is one of her responsibilities to water the plants.

I used my Pinterest board for some design inspiration, and came up with these wonderful wine cork garden markers found here.  It was simple and just required  skewers + wine corks + and a sharpie.  I suggest an adult writing on the corks and putting the skewers  in the cork.  The kids can have the honor of placing the markers in the garden.

For some of the plants that we raised from seeds, we transplanted them into the peel of an orange (I know brilliant idea huh?), another wonderful idea I found on Pinterest here.

We just juiced the orange and used the peel for a new home for the seedling. Poked a whole in the bottom of the peel, and voila, a perfect home for the seedling that can then just be put into the ground (I would suggest planting seeds in a green house type container and then transfer the sprout to the orange peel since the peel will break down far before you are able to get a sprout if you do it from a seed).

The seedling gets the nutrients from the peel, and then disintegrates into the ground.  A circle of life moment, and such a great way to recycle, and teach that when we use the earths resources, it usually can have more than one purpose.

So it has been about two months since we have started our garden and guess what?  We have only had 1 casualty (and I don’t even think it was my fault to tell you the truth, it was the basil and I think the weather dipped too low a couple of days and that did it in).  This project has been a total score!  Z tells me how much she loves gardening, and she is excited to eat the fruits of our labor.   I can’t wait to add to our garden, cucumbers from a recent seedling swap, beans, and blackberries are on our list to plant in the coming weeks.  Yea I’m getting braver, I likened gardening to children.  I try to be attentive to their needs,  give them water and sun, and apparently that’s all they need!

Join the conversation!

If you start a garden, let me know how it’s going, and if you have any gardening tips I would love to hear them!

Written by contributor Melissa Allen of Green Owl Art

A little over a year ago when I was living in Los Angles I considered myself to be one of the more eco-friendly, earth loving, attachment parenting kind of momma’s. Then I moved to Portland, OR. These moms here are in an entire league of their own when it comes to “green” sustainable living. They are amazing and I am a sponge soaking up all the glory they have to offer. From chickens in the city to yogurt in your crock-pot, I am ready to take it all on.

A fellow mom from Emma’s school, Christina (AKA Earthy DIY Goddess), gave me this great recipe to make your own dishwasher detergent pods! Brilliant! Right? I knew I had to try this.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Baking or Washing Soda
• 2 cups Borax
• 3/4 cup Vinegar
• 1/2 cup Kosher or Sea Salt
• 6 drops Lavender Oil

Instructions

2. Squeeze some of the mixture in your hand. You want it to easily clump together. If it is too dry add a little more vinegar.

3. Spoon some out onto an ice cube tray or any kind of small molds you have. We used this heart silicone one. The hearts were the perfect size to fit in our dishwasher soap spot. If you use a standard ice cube tray be sure not to fill them all the way or they may not fit.

4. Next, Emma got to work pressing the soap into the heart forms. You need to pack them in very tight. Once they are filled this will dry for 24 hours. The next day you can pop them out and store them in a jar or any other container you have. They work just like store bought pods, just pop them in and hit start!

Result: My dishes came out spotless and my dishwasher smelled like a lavender bouquet! I love this. Oh and best of all, my kids helped and learned just another way to be resourceful and earth friendly all while having fun together as a family. Hey, it’s not your typical family evening, but it was pretty great to us. Oh and did I mention, I calculated and this cost around $1 to make about 50 pods!

For more creative inspiration from Melissa, head on over to Green Owl Art.

80 plus books later, we had our own cozy Christmas corner and didn’t spend a dime.

If you are interested in touring our home, you can do that here. Almost everything in our home is second-hand— including furniture, toys and home decor. 

TIP: We used LED lights that I bought last year at Ace Hardware. They do not get hot, which makes them a great solution for stringing christmas bulbs around all this paper. I would definitely recommend turning the lights off when you are not home— you can never be too safe, right?

ENTER OUR 10 DAYS OF AWESOME GIVEWAYS!

#1 Elf on the Shelf: Enter here Dec. 3 – 10
#2 Cuppow Mason Jar Lids: Enter here Dec. 4 – 11
#3 sugarSNAP Car Organizer: Enter here Dec. 5 – 12
#4 Yes To Carrots ($100 value): Enter here Dec. 6 – 13
#5 Kiwi Crate 6-Month Subscription: Enter here Dec. 7 – 14
#6 Honest Company Essentials Bundle: Enter here Dec. 10 – 17
#7 $50 at Land of Nod: Enter here Dec. 11 – 18
#8 Soap Nuts: Enter here Dec. 12 – 19
#9 31 Bits: Enter here Dec. 13 – 20
#10 $100 at Soap.com: Enter here Dec. 14 – 21

I always get a thrill out of Trash to Treasure projects— and this one is definitely one of my all-time favorites. Kaley from Dualey flipped an old particle board desk into an adorable play kitchen for her son. The details that they included in it are incredible— a nightlight in the oven, a pullout cutting board and the Pyrex dish as the sink. I can’t decide who has more fun with this— her son playing in it, or Kaley and her husband building it together. — Jen

Have a DIY project that you’d like to share? Shoot me an email with your images right here. (Low res, under 600k per image, please.)

Kaley used her mom’s Pyrex dish for the sink. The faucet it from Home Depot and makes it look totally legit.

Use old CD’s as stove burners— genius!  I also love how they have an actual coffee pot on the stove.

Turn a shelf into a cookbook nook. I love her choices for books: Eating the Alphabet, You are my Cupcake, I like Fruit, I like Vegetables and We Belong Together.

A few Ikea utensils mixed in with second hand ones. All I can say is I would have LOVED this kitchen when I was a little girl.

Kaley’s son can prep his meals on his very own pull out prep area— I love this. Kaley used velcro on the IKEA food to keep it secure. Why didn’t I think of that?!

For a step-by-step tutorial on how they made this play kitchen, visit Dualey.

Kaley gave old food containers a second life in the play kitchen by painting them and gluing adorable custom  labels on them. You can see more of her trash-to-play food project here.

When my son was born, he got a classic porcelain piggy bank as a gift. It’s adorable and sentimental, but really not very practical for a baby, toddler or even preschooler. It’s on the verge of breaking (after multiple drops in its head), and is taking FOREVER to fill up! My son Jackson is now four years old and has been faithfully saving his money in that piggy since birth, with our help, of course. It’s beginning to feel like a bottomless pit and some days he wonders “why even bother” to add more of his chore money to it.

I finally had enough with the porcelain piggy and decided I needed to find something else for him to save his money in. Something that doesn’t take 5 years of his life to fill up. Something that speaks preschool language.

That’s when the Morton Salt container and the baking powder container made their appearance. I always try to find things around the house to reuse before I buy something new, and these kitchen essentials were perfect for my 2 and 4-year olds to use as piggy banks! I cut a book jacket down to use as their new outer shell, and they are quite cute! Now it will only take a few months for my kids to earn enough to “break the bank.” This still teaches the value of saving, just in preschool time-frame. And I don’t have to worry about them breaking!

What you need to make your own piggy bank

• Morton Salt container or baking powder container (enlarge or cut holes in the top)
• Some cute paper (scrapbook paper, old book jacket, etc)
• Glue (all I had was wood glue and it worked fine!)
• Twine (just to dress it up a little more)

Join the discussion

How are your kids doing saving money? Have any piggy bank alternatives to share? Would love to hear your ideas!

When life gets crazy and you find yourself overwhelmed, I have a great way to help ease your mind. Stop cleaning. Stop worrying about the bills. Stop surfing Pinterest. Stop fighting. Stop watching TV. It’s time to make a sail boat.

And not just any sail boat— the cutest one in the world. Seriously.

Jen over at Northeast of Eden came up with this adorable idea and I am in love. So in love, we are getting ready to have our own boat parade here at Family Sponge. Excited? You should be. This craft could be done with your kids, or without. Honestly, I am kinda looking forward to building my boat when the kids go to bed. When the house is still and I can breath easily and think clearly. So get ready to enter the boat parade!

Join the Family Sponge boat parade!

Supplies:

• hot glue
• a popsicle stick
• a toothpick
• scrap paper

Directions:
First, break a popsicle stick into thirds. Use the two rounded end pieces for the base of the boat. Next, bend the toothpick into a 90 degree angle. Hot glue it to your base and then top it off with the middle popsicle stick remnant. Cut out a square of pretty paper and thread it onto the toothpick for a sail. Ta-da! That’s it! And yes, it actually floats.

So please, do this for yourself. Do this for your kids. Do this for your spouse. Step away from the stress that creates a fog for all of us and make a cute little boat. You can add some flair to it or keep it simple. Use your imagination— do what feels right to you. I promise you— the simple things in life really can lift the fog and help you see clearly. Happy sailing!

Join the boat parade!

Take a picture of your fabulous boat and email me at jen (at) familysponge.com. Make sure to include your name and website (if you have one). I will compile all the images and feature them on Family Sponge on May 25. This gives you two weeks to slow down, stop stressing and have some fun.

For detailed instructions on making this sweet sail boat, head over to Northeast of Eden.

Written by contributor Marieke Beeler of M for Mommy.

It’s spring! And just like every year in spring, I uttered the same words this year: “It’d be nice to have my own herb garden.”

When I was browsing around on Pinterest, I came across this picture of the perfect hanging herb garden. It was my “Ahah! moment.”  I thought to myself “I could have come up with that!” However the fact is, that I didn’t. I did end up putting it together because these things do not magically appear. And the rocking’ husband helped out.

We had a barren space of cinder block wall, right outside our my kitchen in desperate need of some “decoration.” So a raingutter herb garden was the plan.

*top image from Proper Prim

The How-To on Building Your Own Hanging Herb Garden:

We started with a shopping list:

• 1 10ft white aluminum gutter
• 4 end caps
• attatchment thingies
• spray paint
• seeds: basil, mint, ilatlian parsley, chives, green onions, thyme
• potting soil

Note: if you want to cut the 10 ft. gutter in half, to make 2 planters of each 5 ft. long, make sure to get 2 right and 2 left end caps!!

In addition to my list, I brought my 4-year old helper to the hardware store – to help me out.  Even if it was just for moral support.  I think the promise of a Krispy Kreme doughnut afterwards was what convinced him.  Some would call that “bribing”, I prefer to call it “a special treat for a Mommy-Kai shopping adventure”.

We returned home with all our materials.  Or, so I thought.  Though I did have the foresight to bring home 2 right and 2 left end caps, the screws on the right were not the correct ones.  Hence, the big cross through them.  The correct attachment-thingies will become obvious later.

The images on the packages with seeds made my mouth water.  Now, let’s hope I can actually grow these.  (I have a hard time keeping plants and flowers alive – I admit.)

We took the 10 ft. rain gutter and cut it in half.  “Measure twice, cut once.”  That’s some valuable advice worth remembering.  David used metal cutters for it and made it look so simple.

Cutting the gutters in half, leaves you with incredibly sharp edges.  The ones that you do not want to have an argument with.  So, I recommend to use some pliers and bend the sharp corners inwards, just to avoid any painful confrontations.

Next, you want to cap the ends of the 2 planters.  You might have to wiggle the end a bit, but the caps go on pretty easily.  Wear protective gloves.  Did I mention those edges are sharp?

Now, if you like the creative white that the gutters come in, you can skip this next step.  Our patio’s tones are chocolate brown and blue, so I figured that the herbs would look pretty stylish in a similar colored planter box.  Spread out a plastic sheet on the street, get shakin’ with your spray paint and spray away.  You will turn your plain gutter into a fancy little planter box in no-time.

For drainage, drill little holes in the bottom of the planters.  You don’t want your herbs to swim in standing water.  Drill from the outside -> in.  That way, any sharp edges are on the inside.  With a metal file you can file them off a bit.  That way, when planting, or cleaning the boxes, you avoid the risk of scratching yourself on them.

Now, on to the “hanging” part of this project: these are the attachment-thingies that I was talking about earlier.  Pretty snazzy.  They’re called “Hanger Brackets” (yes, some real creativity went into that name).  For a 5 ft. planter you will need 3 of these to hold your garden in place.  With a level and measuring tape (and preferably a second pair of hands) you measure out where you want to drill the holes for these hanger brackets.  Mark the spots with a marker.  Drill the holes and insert a “Roll Plug” in each hole.  These plugs will warp around the screw and keep them in place.

Next, you snap the Hanger Brackets on to the planters. And while one pair of hands holds the planters in place, the second pair uses the drill to drill the screws into the wall.

Et voilà!  They hang.  Now, you mix up potting soil (the kind for herbs and veggies) with compost (oh yeah, we compost around here.  Need some?  Let me know!) and plant the seeds according to the instructions on their packages.  Make sure to water them thoroughly to start the growing process.

Next, you pray to the Weather Gods for some spring weather and then the waiting is on.  You wait and you wait some more.  And one day (approximately 2-3 weeks after planting them), you will walk by and see this:

Yay, you birthed a(nother) baby!  Watch them grow and enjoy the spice that they will bring to your life.

For delicious recipes that include some of these herbs, visit Marieke at M for Mommy.

Do you ever wonder, “What is the difference between whole sale organic and health food store organic?” The first thing that comes to my mind is price and convenience. Some people love a good stroll at their local farmer’s market while others prefer to get their grocery needs filled in a one stop shopping location. But did you ever think that your organic produce at the grocery store could be something to question too?

Fourth grader Elise did a science experiment with sweet potatoes to see if they would sprout in water. Her results were not what she expected. And she asked her local grocery store clerk an interesting question about her sweet potato sprouts (or lack thereof).

I know organic and local is best, but I never realized the dramatic difference between local produce and store bought produce until I watched the video above.

A little tip I heard is if you cannot include all your produce purchases to be organic, make your root veggies organic because they soak up the most chemicals.

In Elise’s Potato Project, she mentions that the organic sweet potatoes at her local grocery store are sprayed with bud nip. The Pesticide Information Project says that Chlorpropham, also known as bud nip, is used to inhibit potato sprouting, and it may cause irritation of the eyes or skin.

Now I’m not saying go on a food strike from buying organic produce from you local market, but just be aware of practices and get informed on making the best choice for you and your family. And scrub those veggies!

Speak your mind?

What are your thoughts on the video and “organic” practices? What is your experience with shopping for your fruits and veggies? I would love to hear them. Maybe your experience will inspire and enlighten another reader.

Get more tips, inspiration and rockin’ ideas on living a balanced and healthy family life by connecting with us on Facebook Here >>

Make something extra sweet for Valentine’s without the sugar. KK’s Busy Famblog got inspired to create the “Wood You Be Mine” Valentine Craft we featured from Mustard Seeds in our Eco-Friendly Valentine’s round-up. We are so happy to see more families skipping the candy for Valentine’s this year.

If you decide to make this craft, why not make some DIY wood coasters while you’re at it!?

Speak your mind…

What Valentine’s are your children giving out to their friends this year? Post your final Valentine’s on our Facebook page to inspire other families.