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We like it wild: bottle gardens

We like it wild: bottle gardens
As much as we love to garden, sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all. If there’s a way we can shorten our to-do list, we’ll take it. This week’s project, a no-fuss recycled windowsill herb garden, has knocked watering the plants off our list. Although this project may take a little more effort than your average windowsill garden initially, the pay off is worth it for us: we get to usefully recycle bottles, we get fresh herbs we don’t have to dote on, and we get a sparkling window display. CLICK HERE for the full (photo illustrated) project steps after the jump! You’ll just want to make sure the neck piece is shorter than the bottom piece so it will rest inside without touching the bottom. Pass the string through and tie a tall knot large enough to keep it from slipping through the screen. Run the string down the neck of the bottle top with the screen resting at the top. Transplant your herbs (or add dirt and plant seeds) to the bottle top.

Build Your Own - Windowfarms New Windowfarm™ Windowfarms™ are available in One, Two, and Four-Column configurations. The new Windowfarms™ are sustainably manufactured in the US, made of recyclable components, and are easy to setup — so you can start growing right out of the box. To buy a Windowfarm™, please visit The Windowfarms™ Store. DIY Version 3: Hanging 2-ColumnOrganic-Ready Windowfarm The version 3.0 Windowfarm design gives you more plants for your buck.

Five Best Earbuds I tried a bunch of different high end buds recently trying to decide which was my favorite. I gave all of these a shot: Shure SE535: Great fit, but the rolled off highs were annoying...the treble isn't as clear as you'd like it to be, and the bass is lacking. I'm not a bass-nut, but I like to at least "feel" the punch of the bass some. They sound very good, but they are in no way worth their absurd $500 price IMO (I found used in the mid $200s, but ended up not buying them). Klipsch Image x10: They had the biggest bass out of any buds I've ever heard, but the bass totally overpowers the mids and highs, making the sound very muddy. Ultimate Ears 700: Crystal clear highs and mids, but the bass is lacking. ...and the winner, the Ultimate Ears Triplefi 10's: "Holy shit!" I got the Fischer Audio DBA-02 MKII, a month ago and I've been absolutely loving them. most headphones can be repaired. what's wrong with them? I've owned everything from Staxx to Grados to a range of ear buds.

Grow 100 lbs. Of Potatoes In 4 Square Feet: {How To Quite the clever gardening tip here folks! Today’s feature includes tips from three different sources for growing potatoes vertically (in layers) instead of spread out in rows across your garden. If you have limited garden space or want to try some nifty gardening magic, this could be a great option for you. First, there’s this article from The Seattle Times: It’s Not Idaho, But You Still Can Grow Potatoes: The potatoes are planted inside the box, the first row of boards is installed and the dirt or mulch can now be added to cover the seed potatoes. You plant in one bottom layer, boarding up the sides of each layer and adding dirt as you go higher (you wait until the plants have grown a bit before adding a new layer). I traced the information provided in the article to Irish Eyes Garden Seeds, they also advise you can skip the box and try growing them in a barrel or wire cage instead. Bonus! Reader Update: Here’s some info sent in by Christine who made a bin using wood pallets:

How To Make a DIY Worm Tower A Worm Tower is basically a length of pipe buried halfway in the ground with holes drilled in the buried part for worms to get in and out. Food scraps are added directly to the tower instead of into your composting bin, and are eaten by worms already living in the target part of your yard. You can add Worm Towers to your full blown vermiculture / vermicomposting regime or just use them by themselves, particularly in raised beds. Several steps and lots of time can be eliminated for some of your composting bysimply delivering food waste directly to the worms, directly on to the garden. What you need: Length of PVC about 3 1/2 inches (89mm) or larger wide or if you can get it a length of bamboo – much more ecological Something to cap the tube with. A saw that can cut through PVC Drill with large drill bit. Shovel I had a 9 foot (2.74 metres) length of PVC already, but I did go buy three caps to seal off the top from flies and critters. How To Cut the pipe into roughly 3 foot (.91m) sections.

Monoprice 108320 Enhanced Bass Hi-Fi Noise Isolating Earphones, Silver: Electronics Putting Food By - Beef, Onions and Vanilla A freezer door left open accidentally left me frantically trying to figure out what to do with the contents. I was especially concerned about the organic, free ranged, grass fed beef and chicken steadily thawing. I have this marvelous All American 921 pressure canner, which I had only used to cook meals in. For whatever reason, the idea of actually using it to CAN scared the self sufficient right out of me. So I posted on the Facebook page, "Take Back Urban-Homestead(s)" for help and support - and the members there came through in a hurry. When I realized I couldn't find the rack that came with my pressure canner, it was recommended that I use quart size canning rings in the bottom to keep my glass jars off the metal. I managed to get all the beef put up yesterday. I managed to put up 5 quarts of beef. And did you see that little bit of green hanging out in the picture above? You can see in the next picture how the roots grow and tangle in the cup of water. ***update - 2/5/12.

G-Towers The G-Towers are an open source vertical growing system designed by Larry Athey, and built at the OSE Aquaponic Greenhouse workshops of 2015 and 2016. They are similar to the V-Towers growing system. See playlist from Larry Athey - [1] edit Here are some videos and pictures from the Aquaponic Greenhouse Workshop of 2016: See From Larry - The G-Tower is just as food safe as any other plastic flower pot on the market. Hibco Plastics - - Reticulated Urethane foam, artificial soil medium, open pore filter type material, 20-25 Pores Per Inch (PPI), very course. Keith Pavlansky, kpavlansky@hibco.com Larry Athey suggests 2"x3-1/2"x3' pieces, cost of $1/board-foot, or $1.75 per piece, minimum order quantity (MOQ) of $300. Example small-scale G-Tower based home aquaponics system that only requires a 4x4 foot corner in any room.

Marilyn’s Library | ES Updates Marilyn Monroe’s Personal Library Photo by John Florea (Sources: The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe, Christie’s, 1999; The Unabridged Marilyn; others cited) 1) Let’s Make Love by Matthew Andrews (novelisation of the movie) 2) How To Travel Incognito by Ludwig Bemelmans 3) To The One I Love Best by Ludwig Bemelmans 4) Thurber Country by James Thurber 5) The Fall by Albert Camus 6) Marilyn Monroe by George Carpozi 7) Camille by Alexander Dumas 8 ) Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison 9) The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Fannie Merritt-Farmer 10) The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald 11) From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming 12) The Art Of Loving by Erich Fromm 13) The Prophet by Kahlil Gilbran 14) Ulysses by James Joyce 15) Stoned Like A Statue: A Complete Survey Of Drinking Cliches, Primitive, Classical & Modern by Howard Kandel & Don Safran, with an intro by Dean Martin (a man who knew how to drink!) Art Books 84) Max Weber (art book – inscribed to MM by ‘Sam’ – Shaw?) Biography Freud

Nifty Food & Plants To Grow Indoors {May Surprise You If you don’t have any garden space or you live in a climate with a short growing season, you can still exercise your green thumb with these indoor plant ideas…a few will even produce fresh produce too! You’ll find tips for growing assorted herbs, a couple vegetables and a few neat-o plants to try your hand at. You can grow them inside year round but many will thrive outdoors during the summer months (if you have the space) but move them indoors once it gets a little chilly and before the first frost (imagine having garden fresh tomatoes over the winter!). Never Pay For Onions Again Enjoy Garden Fresh Onions Year Round With This Tip Here’s a great tip from MyByrdHouse: Onion Recycling Tutorial: I learned this tip a couple of years ago and have tried it and found that it works and is quite marvelous. The trick is to take the cut end (root side) and plant it in a pot, water well, give it some time and voila! Please visit the site for complete details, great tip! Bean Sprouts In A Jar

setting goals + making things happen ( + another free resource ) - CREATE LIKE CRAZY | CREATE LIKE CRAZY This morning, in my email to the CLC insiders on the new email list ( get on the list right here or in the sidebar under “become a clc insider” ), I talked a bit about goals. Goals are important for so many reasons. They’ve become important to me recently in allowing me to get through my long list of ideas and actually make them happen. Like I said in the email, I decided to make a change because I realized I was always busy but not always getting the important things done. To make this change happen, I first made a master list of everything I wanted ( and needed ) to get done. That’s when I decided to take it a step further and create a goals worksheet for myself ( and for you! This worksheet can be used for small ideas and large scale projects alike. You know what to do with the “TO DO” part, but let’s talk about the “TO DO after” part! If you are a creative entrepreneur, the ”TO DO after” list may be just as important as the actual project itself.

17 Things To Do Today To Make Yourself Proud In A Year It’s been said that if you can change one bad habit, you’re likely to change another. This list will show you how being responsible pays (literally). In just one year, watch how making these small investments or spending habit adjustments will implement lasting benefits in your lifestyle. You can absolutely have a better life! 17 Things to do Today That Will Make You Proud of Yourself in a Year… 1. My best college friends and I have made a tradition out of spending St. 2. Peonies are just about the most stunning perennials, or annual blooms, that Mother Nature has to offer. 3. You’ll be happy next year when you have high quality knits, coats, and ski wear come the first snow of next year, especially since you got it for 60% off. 4. You know what threads from last spring and summer you’re willing to part with. 5. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a preferred way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer over the past 25 years. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

28 Powerful Questions for a Happy Life “Keep your head clear. It doesn’t matter how bright the path is if your head is always cloudy.” ~Unknown Have you ever noticed that your biggest “aha” moment comes from someone asking a powerful question? Suddenly everything seems to make a little more sense, and you know what you need to do from that point forward, right? That’s exactly how it is for me. I remember a friend of mine asking me over coffee one rainy afternoon a few years ago, “What are you avoiding, Blake?” “What? “Yeah, and…” She quips back. I came to her because her willingness to face challenges head-on amazes me, and I needed her to face my challenge and give me that sage advice I knew she could. I wanted to throw caution to the wind and follow what I most passionately believed in. I wanted to be my own success story. I also wanted someone else to tell me it was going to work. Calculating, weighing, analyzing—these things can only take you so far. We bounced back and forth for what seemed like eternity. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

15 Side Gigs To Make More Money - And Then We Saved Marching out of debt requires a lot of energy, there’s no doubt about it. As we discuss here on And Then We Saved, working towards a debt-free lifestyle is not just about reducing your spending. It’s about creating additional income for yourself by getting resourceful… or let’s just go there – downright scrappy. 15 Side Gigs to Make More Money… 1. Try dog walking, pet sitting, or even pet boarding, meaning you host pets at home. 2. No one can be two places at once. 3. If you enjoy children, I can’t stress this gig enough. 4. We’re not all cut out for landscaping, this is true. 5. Do you live in a destination city? Read about Design Love Fest blogger Bri Emery’s AirBnB experience in Barcelona to see what you can offer guests. 6. Once a smarty pants, always a smart pants. 7. Nurture your creativity by instructing painting classes or by giving guitar lessons. 8. Companies like Lyft help make our carbon footprint look a little bit better. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

13 Ways to Make a Freelance Living by Colin The Internet has provided freelance writers with a whole new set of prospects for selling their skills. But while traditional markets will always be the main source of freelance writers’ income, it is possible to increase earnings in other markets using a little imagination and ingenuity. Here you will find fourteen markets that are always on the hunt for freelance writers able to produce quality, original writing, on a reliable basis. Scan the job boards often enough, and these are the types of jobs that consistently pop up, many of them with excellent compensation packages. 1. Magazines are the bread and butter of the freelancing writing industry. Wherever your expertise may lie, write about it, and target these markets first. 2. Newspapers are stuffed with columns, reviews, commentary, and articles on subjects that affect every aspect of contemporary society. Getting published as a freelance writer in a newspaper is hard going, though, so start locally. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

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