DIY Recycling: Beer Bottle Landscaping

So this last few months has been rather busy and hectic, but also extremely productive!  I have shifted from no job, to four jobs, back down to three great opportunities that provided valuable experience related to my degree.  I am still pursuing Computer classes, this time as a full time student back at my college.  Go big or go home, right?

And in the midst of it all, I have managed to not entirely neglect my house.  We have been meaning to fix up the backyard for a while.  However, being the backyard, we can't find it in us to splurge on money for landscaping.  Those rock wall borders, or even the logs can be quite pricey when we talk about enough to frame out an area.  I have been following a lot of facebook groups on Off the Grid living, or Sustainable living and brainstormed some excellent ideas.  We finally decided on using our beer bottles to build a border, which we can then fill in with mulch.  Between us, our friends, and our room-mates (all being about in our 20s), I found we go through a surprising amount of beer.  Well, I suppose I am TheCraftBrewMrs after all.  So we decided, instead of self-shaming over our indulgences at the end of the week, we will turn it into something very useful. We put out a proclamation to reserve all dark colored beer bottles.  Shortly after, I saw a shelf in the garage fill up with bottle after bottle and several weeks (and one house party) later, we had our materials!

So rather than a random tree in the middle of sandy dirt and patches of grass, we have a nicely edged focal point. I even added some lovely "chicken gizzards" as I've been told they are called from my friends' nursery, and a handful of white snapdragon flowers.  I am hoping to go back over them and put a dab of glue between the bottles to keep them all upright. They are pretty sturdy on average but once in a while the dogs try to jump into the flower bed and kick one.  As for the future, we have continued collecting and hope to tackle the papaya tree next!  

Pentas, Parsley, and Peppermint

Gardening both inside and outside the home can really help one create a much needed connection with nature. It also helps remind us how many things in our lives are influenced by the world around us, an environment we often take for granted while confined to offices, kitchens, and studies.  Not to mention, it is so rewarding to be able to utilize something in the home that you helped create, nurture, and raise.

I don't generally have the best luck with gardening of any sort.  I am better than my mom with plants (in whose care plants seem to die instantaneously and consistently). BUT, occasionally I find a plant I get along with.  That combined with my determined attitude to finding said plants or figuring out what it is I am doing wrong with the ones that don't like me will sporadically result in success.

As some earlier posts mention, I started landscaping our home last year. I've had some things work and some fail miserably.  Thus, I did not choose to include my dead gardenia plants in this picture.  However, I did have tremendous success with this little, cheap plant I bought at Home Depot (shocking in itself). I bought it simply to add a pop of color to my driveway. After what seemed to be a process of dying, they actually bounced right back (I assume it was shock and adjustment to being planted) and they look fantastic. They have been in bloom all year around ever since. This miracle plant for the gardener without a green thumb is the pentas.  I have 4 purple dwarf pentas and 8 pink/red regular ones now and they all look great. 

This is a great flower not only for convenience and price, but the added bit of magick just puts a smile on my face.  The pentas are thusly named for the 5 -pointed star of a flower.  I feel that having so many flowers representing pentagrams in front of my house has to offer some level of protection to deflect negative energy.  I can't help but imagine it forming a barrier of sorts that blocks guests from bringing any nasty vibes with them. So far so good - my house has always felt open, inviting and calming after any stressful day. 

I don't mean to go on too long here but I also wanted to add a little bit about my recent attempt at herbs.  Again, a pass/fail sort of situation. I tend to grab herb plants as I pass them at Walmart or such. I am choosing to attribute my failure with them based on that.  Gardeners typically advise against Home Depot or Walmart plants rather than a nature center or somewhere that specializes in happy, healthy greenery. But I have maintained a slim level of life in my basil, lavender, and rosemary plant for some months. No progress, but they aren't dead either... hm.  I did acquire just last week a peppermint and parsley plant from Whole Foods.  Still a grocery, but I figure the focus on organic and healthy food may transfer to their plant care as well.  So far so good...the plants are alive and well.  I actually trimmed them to make sure they have room to grow in their curent pots until I find new homes.  I am curious to see how drying them out goes. I tied some of the trimmings up and hung them in my kitchen for looks, smell, and convenience during cooking and possibly for candle making.  If it works, the thought of natural scents from the plants would be so nice. (lavender-mint anyone?) Wish me luck! If anyone has tips on healthy herb growing in the house, please pass it along!

Dig, dig, dig, the whole day through

My yard has finally come a long way, from this dreary looking patchy mess to something I actually look forward to seeing.  The house was foreclosed for almost a year when we purchased it. That means: non-existant grass, sandy dirt, overgrown ficus (picture tree sized) in the backyard, and some random mix of overgrown, branchy bushes in the front.  By this picture, we put some sod down, planted the juniper trees (tiny pine looking thing by the driveway) and these 4 sage bushes (also tiny, and appearing to die soon after planting).  Thought it was hopeless.

And alas! With time (as the grass settled) and continued work in the form of a few landscaping stones to border the sage bushes, landscaping river rocks to line the driveway with some scattered dwarf pentas, two fountain-grass plants, and a potted knock-out rose bush between the sages....we have a visually pleasing space! Last thing for the yard: some sort of border to control these river rocks... And according to my mother, a fresh coat of paint for the house is nothing short of necessary.