As Seen on Pinterest - Re-grow Your Kitchen Scraps

One day while browsing Pinterest, I cam across pictures from someone who had re-grown a bunch of veggies from kitchen scraps.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't obsessed with this idea. There are lots and lots of examples of this working out there in blog land.

http://www.savvystudentshopper.com/blog/2012/05/22/regrowing-your-produce-free-easy/

I thought this was just the coolest thing and HAD to try it!

After making a salad last week, I very carefully saved the little bit of lettuce on the inside of the romaine.  I chopped the stump to make it fresh.  I dug a spot for it in the planter that currently holds my dead basil.   I SWEAR, that the middle bit of it has grown since I planted it on the weekend.  It is definitely a darker green.   

I am also celebrating the official survival of my rosemary through the winter.  My chives have grown a fabulous amount in the last month or so.  They are all green and spikey now!

This is what they looked like about a month ago!  How is that for gardening progress for someone with a black thumb!

Have you successfully re-grown veggies from kitchen scraps?  If you have, I would love to see them or hear your story!  I have some sad looking celery in the fridge that might just get this treatment in the next day or so because celery is apprently a good candidate for this method.

I really want to expand not only my veggie growing this year by hopefully growing lettuce, tomatoes and carrots but also expand my herb selections.  

Spring Inspiration and a DIY Found Rock Inuksuk

The other day, in the depths of this horrid, endless winter we're having, I noticed a little bit of purple lurking under a pile of oak leaves.  I decided to go out and investigate today (and clean up a little) and found this!  Proof positive that spring indeed IS coming!  

Yippie!  

I never planted crocuses in my garden.  This one just appeared a few years ago.  I figure a squirrel drug it up and dropped it and I am the lucky recipient!  I love crocuses.  I really should plant some more.  They are such a nice happy sign of spring!

Hubby and I went out for a date night last night.  We walked past a cute little garden shop.  The had these little piggy planters.  How cute are these?  A few of these would make the cutest herb garden!  I would LOVE one but at the moment I have no clue where I would put it.  I just love garden art!

There is a spot on our beach where people balance rocks.  They are not qiute Inuksuk but speak to that general idea.  An inuksuk is Inuit stone sculpture of a "human" that tells you you are on the right path.  I have always been fascinated by these.

Rock Balancing

I gathered a few stones off of the beach and brought them home.  

I took a few and stacked them up and made myself a mini Inuksuk.

Two feet.

a base...

a body which is part of a red brick worn smooth by the water

arms

and a round head

The trick to getting it to stand is picking flattish rocks.  He stands about 15" high.  I think he is a pretty cute piece of free DIY garden art.  He is quite stable and only falls over about once a year.

If only I could figure out how to get the squirrels from burring acorns in my garden. 

 My hyacinth was completely burred under leaves and is a bit pale looking.

Last years hydrangea bloom.

Spring Garden Space Saving Ideas

It was a lovely spring day here today.  FINALLY.  My older son and I went for a nice walk on the beach this afternoon. It was SO pretty today.  The water almost looked worthy of a swim.  

I am super excited.  My rosemary is still alive.  I've nurse this plant through three winters.  

I've had these chives since 1992!  They hold the record for the plant I've had the longest!

Our back yard is teeny tiny. Its approximately 18' by 18' Over the last year, I've slowly been thinking about what to do with it.  I often grow some for of veggie in containers.  Last year my youngest son grew carrots.  I think he wants to do that again this year too which has led me to thinking about what I can do to my small little garden.

I am thinking about making some raised beds.  I have really fallen in love with this idea.  I love the industrial feel of these.

Because our yard is really small, I would like something that is smallish and can be moved.  I have grown tomatoes and lettuce in the past and love fresh from the garden produce.

A stacking system would work really well in my yard. Something like this....

or this....