Terrarium city

My terrarium- complete with Dinosaur

Yesterday, I took a class in making Terrariums at ReTreasure in Burien. It was a fun class, where we learned to make our own "Plant-Scapes" in vessels, or rather in containers. One of these days I will do an interview with Yon, the owner at ReTreasure. But back to the terrariums... Me and the ladies had great fun playing in the dirt, sand vermiculite and rocks to create our own little mini gardens.

Another view

My Friend, Danielle's terrarium



Top view

 

Jennifer's Terrarium

 

Soggy Doggy

Well You know who got clipped. And this time, I did it.
I met the owners of this neat little store, the Soggy Doggy, at the Strawberry Festival, so decided to give it a shot after they told me they would walk me through the grooming. So what did I learn? Grooming your dog yourself isn't the hardest thing in the world, just takes a little patience, and Romeo isn't as bad as I had been lead to believe by one of his former groomers.
Rachel, who works at the Des Moines store is really great, taking the time to answer all questions and teach everyone how to do it right. And the cost? More than 50% Cheaper then his last groomer. You gotta love that! The end result? Romeo got a great haircut, I saved $$$, and learned a new "skill."- hat trick! If I wento out and bought the clippers, blades and shears I used at Soggy Doggy it would cost over $175. This way I get use of professional equipment, and I get to know how Romeo is treated. A fear of mine becasue, on time I walked into the groomers when Max, my yorkie, was there and he was being abused by the groomer.

Romeo showing off his new do!

Kiddie Pool Garden- Garden experiment 2010

Photo: The Oregonian

I have done a few experiments in the garden over the past years. Last year I made a hanging wall garden out of a shoe organizer, and found it worked best if I put the plants in a coffee cup. (two fer- I get to reuse disposable coffee cups I find in the trash and I have a plant) The year before I tried making Topsey Turvey planters- with mixed success (I found it depends on the variety of tomato plant to work) and also made self watering planters with success. This year I am going to make a salad bed out of a Kiddie Pool I found at mom’s dumpster.

First I picked a nice spot for the kiddie pool-

Then drill some drainage holes.Then I plan fill it with compost and soil and plant some seeds (OR rather SeedBallz)

I know it is not much in the science department, nor is it an automated grow box Light that cheap veggie gardener would make. But what I am going for here is an easy way to make a complete garden bed with little work and great results. A neat idea if you have little gardeners around is make their first garden in that old Kiddie Pool. It help teaches them to grow their on food! And it keeps one of those big old plastic kiddie pools out of the waste stream (at least for a season or two)

Here are simple instructions (Instructions? Yes, I didn’t invent this-so see I didn’t make it up) To making your own Kiddie Pool Garden.
I also found a lot of good how to info at Wondering Chopsticks blog- she also found her kiddie pools when a neighbor was throwing them out!
And over at I dig my Garden, they have a whole forum dedicated to using kiddie pools for gardens!
Over at ehow.com, they have instructions on using kiddie pools to grow pumpkins.
And finally, in Portland, Or., a restaurant uses their rooftop to grow arugula, using kiddie pools. Hopefully this will work. And another easy way to garden!