Indoor Food Gardens using Repurposed and Compostable Items

This photo is of my first successful indoor food experiment and contains healthy young green beans hanging from the plant.

 Dryer lint is an untapped recyclable material available in plenty in many households. Add one layer of lint
to the bottom of your planter/seed nursery before you add soil on top.
Cardboard egg cartons are a great tool for starting seedlings. Cardboard can easily
assimilate into the garden soil if/when you choose to replant your plants outdoors. Cardboard is easily cut with scissors and soaks up the water well while helping to keep the seedlings hydrated.

 The re-purposed soil has been added on top of the dryer lint and seeds planted
into each pocket of soil. Water added after planting seeds.

Collect lint
every time you use your clothes dryer and save it in a coffee can or zipper bag

It has become an interest of mine to see what kind of food plants will grow successfully indoors. And so, I tried to grow some green beans indoors this winter and have had some success. I also made of point of using compostable and re-purposed items to set up these plant nurseries. Growing things needn't be costly other than the time and tlc required to nurture them to health and full bloom.

The items I have used in creating these planters is lint (yes the stuff from your clothes dryer) as the
first layer which will help retain moisture and provide a cushy bottom for the seedlings to grow in.
Secondly I used cardboard egg cartons as planters and place them into my own glass and plastic shallow containers so that they would not leak water.
On top of the lint I placed soil that I repurposed from wilted Pointsettia plants given to us at Christmas time.
Whenever you receive a flowering potted plant as a gift, if you find that the flowers have wilted and you are tempted to throw the whole pot, plant and soil into your garbage....think first. The soil is recyclable and you can either add it to your planters and indoor or outdoor gardens. ( be careful not to reuse soils that you suspect has contained a sick or diseased plant, as you don't want to spread the plant disease through the soil)

Enjoy this thrify "Green" experiment. Children also love to see things grow and will watch enthusiastically as
their indoor garden matures.

Peace.


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What Products Do Frugal People have in Common?

Yes, I've been scouring the web again, hunting up some morsels of information that may assist.
Frugal people often fall into lifestyle and consumer habits that are held in common amongst large swaths of people across continents and maybe even across the globe. So therefore I'd like to share a list of some of the items that I have discovered to be favorites among those who enjoy frugality. Note that many of these frugal folks are actually quite wealthy and live debt free lifestyles. Therefore remove from your thoughts, the idea that frugality is a necessity for "poor" people. In fact, if you have read Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko's book entitled "The Millionaire Next Door", you will have discovered that many families and individuals with large net worths, actually have some VERY frugal habits. In fact, I would suggest that frugality may be one of the stepping stones towards acquiring and retaining REAL assets.

Partial list of Commonly held household items by Frugal Folks:

Vinegar
Bleach
Liquid Dish Soap
Olive Oil
Rubbing Alcohol
Garlic for medicinal use
Cotton cloths-- ( often cut from old clothing/towels)
Hydrogen Peroxide
Baking Soda
Microfiber cloths- used for cleaning and washed and re-used repeatedly

Partial List of Common Activities/Habit of Frugal Folks:

1. Composting --- using vegetable peelings and egg shells in your home composting system to create your  own   nutrient rich soil for use in outdoor gardens.
2. Re-using elastics from  newspapers delivered to your home
3. Washing, drying and re-using clear plastic milk bags for freezing foods
4. Washing and re-using marjarine/yogurt containers for storing small household items
5. Using water that collects indoors in dehumidifiers/ other appliances for watering indoor/outdoor plants
6. Collecting and using rain water run-off from eavestroughs and rain barrels for watering outdoor gardens.
7. Washing clothing in cold water
8. Hanging Clothes inside or outside on racks or clothes lines instead of using electric clothes dryers
9. A love for chopping, stacking and using free firewood and  using woodstoves/fireplaces/chimineas and/or other appliances that consume wood and turn out "free" heat
10. Using cold leftover tea in the tea pot to water plants.

 I invite you to add your own favorites to this list by sending in your comments through the comment section.
Peace and Prosperity.
C.
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