Birds and Blooms

Guest post by Amy Urquhart I disovered a cool magazine when I was visiting my grandmother a couple of weekends ago. It’s called Birds and Blooms (Beauty in Your Own Backyard). It’s an American publication dedicated to showcasing…well, you guessed it: birds and plants (and butterflies too). My interest in gardening extends back a few

How to be greener

Guest post by Christina Radisauskas I work at a university that has finally decided to develop a “sustainability initiative.” Because I am a librarian, I was asked to create a bibliography of resources to enhance our faculty’s understanding of the concept and how they might incorporate it into their departments’ curricula. While I worked on

Pop Bottle Pots

So they’re not very stylin’, but these self-watering planters made from junked pop bottles are pretty handy for the well-intentioned but forgetful gardener. The bottom watering system keeps cuttings and seedlings on the right side of moist without the discipline (and hassle) of routine dampness patrol. There’s more talk and experimentation with this concept in

Don’t have room for a garden? Knit Your Own!

Guest post by Kelly Gilliam So besides being an avid gardening, I’ve an avid knitter. That means I’m always looking for cool new things to knit up. Today I got the idea in my head “hey, what about knitting plants??” So after a little searching I found these awesome knit plants that you can make.

Chicago Apartment Therapy

– From Chicago Apartment Therapy (April 2006.) “Speaking of Spring, You Grow Girl is an amazing website that will inspire both the novice and experienced gardener (and no, you don’t have to be a girl). Our friend Roni turned us on to You Grow Girl a couple of weeks ago, and we have been daydreaming

Getting My Seeds Started, Right

This year will go down in history as the year I not only started seeds on time, organized all seeds by category (direct sow, indoor starts, and never-going-to-grow-it-so-trade-it-already), AND managed to draw up some kind of “plan” beyond casual (and quickly forgetten) mental lists. I rule. For now. We’ll see what happens when transplant buying

Keeping Kitty Off the Goods

My 12 year old cat Voltron is a determined plant nibbler – in fact most cats have a natural curiosity about their surroundings and tend to enjoy a little taste of fresh greenery now and again. Unfortunately many common houseplants are toxic so it is worth familiarizing yourself with both your plants and your cat’s