Hi guys! It's been a while since I posted last. Today I thought I would post a little about self-sufficiency and crafting and making things you can use.
We planted a garden back in the spring. It's been a rough go of it, but I have learned so much about growing food.
First, our pepper plants never grew up. So I bought some transplants and now I am swimming in peppers! These make great additives to cook with though as they are rich in vitamin C and complement almost any dish! Lately, we have been making skewers with chicken. I'll be posting two of those recipes soon!
Then, our zucchini plants and squash plants got vine borers! We had to slice open the stems and dig these little bugs out. It was rather gross. If you decide to plant squash in your garden definitely wrap some nylons around the stems to keep out these pesky pests! Here in the South we get two rounds of them a year from what I understand. They lay their eggs on your plant and then the larvae go into the stem and stay there until they become bugs.
We planted our bean plants too late and didn't really plant enough of them, so they are dying a slow and painful death right now. If you decide to grow beans, you definitely need a lot of space to grow a lot of plants. You can plant several plants in one square foot if you are using the square foot method, but I planted 10 plants and only got enough beans for a meal or two.
A few weeks ago, I decided to buy some cucumber transplants. We have TONS of cucumbers because the bees finally made it to my garden to do their job! No more hand pollinating for this gardener! :)
Growing a garden helps you get more fresh food in your diet and helps the environment by cutting down on our own waste from gas for trips to the market to even the shopping bags we use. It's also a great way to get more veggies in and to use new recipes with your own fresh ingredients.
Another way to cut down on waste is to use reusable products for cleaning and bathing. I discovered the art of knitting dish cloths a few months ago. I made them with red hart yarn, and the total cost to me was 50 cents per dishcloth! They are completely machine washable and dryable and with each launder they actually get better! I quit using paper towels about 2 years ago, and these knitted dishcloths are part of that process. I actually bought a few dishcloths when I quit using paper towels, but I discovered that the knitted ones are better and cheaper!
Here is a link to the pattern I used to make them!
http://knitting.about.com/od/christmaspatterns/p/bias_washcloth.htm
About two weeks ago, I discovered that making face scrubbies was also a great way to cut out makeup remover towels and even cotton balls! I made them from cotton yarn, and the total cost to make 10 of them is $1.50! They are also completely washer and dryer safe. They exfoliate well and make a great gift for little occasions. The size and cotton fiber also make for great baby washcloths for babies sensitive skin!
The pattern is really basic. Using a crochet hook, you just chain four stitches and then do 12 double crochet stitches in your first stitch joining the last double crochet with the first by slip stitch. Pull the yarn to tighten the hole in the center. You then chain three stitches(first dc) and double crochet(dc) into the same stitch that the 3 chains came from. Then you do two double crochets in each stitch all the way around for a total of 24 double crochets counting your 3 chain stitch. Then, you can do one of two options. You can repeat the last round (chain 3 and dc in stitch then 2 dc in each stitch) which makes a round face scrubbie. Or you can make a flower shape by doing the 3rd round with 3 chains and 2 dc in same stitch, one single crochet in the next stitch, three dc in the following stitch all the way around. This makes a flower type of scrubbie.
These few tips will get you started to living a bit more green. We obviously can't cut out EVERYTHING that isn't green, but most of us can make a step in that direction! Good luck!
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