"I have never had so many good ideas day after day as when I worked in the garden."
John Erskine

Well, we decided to share with all of you some of the neat tricks we have learned through the years.  Some of our ideas help with recyling, some with being frugal, and some just because we used what we had around the house instead of running out to the store!  There are ideas here from gardeners all around the country and a portion of the suggestions will be from the Backyard Living magazine. 

From egg cartons and cardboard toilet paper rolls to pop bottles and old shoes.  The bigger "BUZZ" words we are hearing are RECYCLE, BUDGET, RECESSION and if you know these tricks, they will help you keep in step with where the Jones' are headed.

For organic weed control, use regular black and white newspaper, 5 sheets or so thick, and lay it over the garden and then dampen with a hose.  The paper will break down and add organic material to our clay soils that will make it easier to dig in as well as a happier place for the plants to grow.  You can start a garden with this same theory by just weed eating the grass down to almost nothing and laying the paper over top of the freshly "wacked" area, wetting and then cutting a hole in the paper to plant! 

 For heating up tomatoes, use gallon plastic milk jugs.  Fill each jug with water and punch about 10 - 15 pin holes in the bottom.  The water will warm up during the day and stay warm into the evening, thus prolonging the growth time of the plants.  See, the key to great tomatoes is enough long warm nights and the warm jugs of water create that in cooler temperatures!  Additionally, the pin holes will allow the water to leach out and deeply water your demanding plants.  *Be sure to use a pin or needle to make the holes so it doesn't leach out too fast!

Have an extra egg carton or two lying around?!  How about using those egg cartons for starting some of your seeds this year?  Perfect size for little baby plants and you can push up on the bottom of the carton to release each individual little plant when it's time for transplanting. 

Other ideas for starting seeds? Try using clear strawberry containers, cardboard rolls from toilet paper, used plastic cups...you can even make a form out of newpaper ( like paper mache)!

Recycling has a lot of different aspects but it all has to do with "leaving less of a footprint" here on the earth.  So if each of us makes an effort to eliminate some of the waste we create, what a HUGE difference that will make globally! 

Composting is one of those ways and no matter where you live, there is a compost bin to suit your needs.  You can compost your leftover veggies and fruits inside of an apartment in an odor proof composter and then use the end product to feed container plants.  The amount of trash you send to the regular trash pick up will be dramatically reduced by simple recycling efforts which, in the long run, will save you MONEY!!!  This is what we gardeners happily refer to as "Black Gold!!"