REduce, REuse, UPCYCLE!

This spring, we are really concentrating on using what we already have, or re-using old items. UPCYCLING! We went to an auction the other day, and although Tim and I wimped out early, our good friends (Lisa and; Gary) stuck it out for the entire day and, with my shopping list in hand, scored us a few awesome finds!  



Old Sandbox Converted to a Salad Garden

Check out this $5 chair the my kiddos painted ALL by themselves. What a neat upgrade! 



NEXT, my 10 year old diva decided that she needed a salad garden all her own that no one else could touch and that I couldn't plant any nasty garlic or onions and that her brother couldn't put his cabbage in (can you hear the 10 year old girl in there???).  So, I racked my brain and remembered that I'd been trying to get rid of an old sandbox my 6 year old outgrew this summer. BINGO!

 

Little Man's Cabage Box far right

I drilled holes in the bottom for drainage and Ms. Diva Green Thumb has already set out several kinds of lettuce (and she snuck some onions in too... hmmm....).

Not to be outdone, my son claimed an old wooden box and demanded that it contain ONLY cabbage. The boy loves cabbage! 

Raised Beds with ReUsed Material



I LOVE using things we already have handy to accomplish tasks! 

Speaking of gardens, let's take a look at mine. Mulched, check. Top layer of soil scratched and aerated by chickens, check. We created these raised beds last year from old tractor tires and they work really well!

Two raised beds contain a variety of lettuce, cabbage, and cauliflower and broccoli have been planted in the ground. This is going to be a great garden year! I can feel it in my bones:)

Next week we can seed radished and turnips outdoors! What are you growing? Are you following the advised schedule or did you get a jump on the growing season with the early spring?


How are the birds? Wonderful, thank you for asking! Spunky and Aflac have been spending their days outside swimming in the creek.

This weekend, we plan on moving them to the chicken coup. I'll let you know how that goes! They have very much outgrown their plastic duck habitat (read plastic box).

Today the little rottens discovered a waterfall in the branch. This quickly turned into a slip n slide! They wore themselves out and took a nap in the sun.

The kids and I made a makeshift "chick tractor" out of some things laying around. The girls (I'm stressing GIRLS even though my daughter asserts she spies a rooster!) enjoyed their first trip outdoors.

And we must have done a really really good job on the tractor, as it garnered a lot of attention.

So what are you doing this spring? Send me a picture of a project you've accomplished using recycled or reused material and I"ll post it. We'll pick a random picture and that person will win some organic carrot seeds!