My Mother's Day Gift from My Daughters and Husband

I wanted to show you what my daughters and husband gave to me for Mother's Day. I've always felt the brick patio needed a border to mark its boundary against the adjacent planted area. In this photo, you can see the heavy moss in that corner of the patio. But also, perhaps you can see that the brick just ends and dirt and more moss begins.

One afternoon at the end of April, my husband and I made a trip to Home Depot, where we bought some cottage stones. I asked my family if they would place the cottage stones for me and backfill the area with our compost and dirt so I could plant some flowers.

Not quite a month later and the spot is complete. I chose snapdragons for this area as the slugs don't seem to bother them, and they should give us color all summer if I stay on top of deadheading spent blooms.

These past few years have been financially lean for both of my daughters. They wanted to give me a gift for Mother's Day. So I came up with one that required time and not their money. I'm so proud of my daughters for putting in the hard work to get this project completed. 

Wishing you a meaningful Memorial Day (for those in the US). I'll be back on Tuesday, in the late afternoon.

Shopping My Home Supplies and Improvising a Bit

I think most of us, here, try to find supplies for repairs and other projects from the materials we have on hand at home. Let me tell you about my most recent use of supplies I had on hand.

 I had been thinking I needed to go to the store to buy something for a project, then realized I could improvise with what I had on hand.

For my birthday in April, my daughters gave me seeds to some beautiful ruffly, pale pink primroses. A neighbor nearby had some in bloom this spring, and I mentioned to both daughters how pretty I thought they were. Well, my daughters knocked on this couple's door and asked where they bought their primroses. The couple told my daughters that they got a division from another neighbor nearby and didn't know the variety name or where that neighbor bought the original primrose. So my daughters went over to the second neighbor's house and asked there. The lady was very nice and told them what kind they were and what nursery they originally bought the plant from. My daughters got on the phone with several small nurseries in the area and tried ordering a plant for me. When no nursery could obtain one, the last nursery suggested they buy seeds from a particular online seed company. 

That's what my daughters did, and they gave me a packet of these seeds. 

Primrose seeds are tiny and have a long-ish germination time. I had read that they can be fussy to start from seeds unless all conditions are just right. So, I knew I wanted to use seed starting soil and not ordinary potting soil. The seeds have been sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks, now. I kept meaning to pick up some seed starting soil, but it just slipped my mind every time I was out and about.

When the sun came back out this morning, I knew I wanted to spend the day doing outdoor work. That's when I thought again about running to the store and buying special soil. And then my mind-lightbulb flickered on. Since what I was after with the seed starting soil was finer particles (so the seeds would have uniform moisture without soaking the soil during the germination period), why not just sift out the large particles in some of the bagged potting soil I already have. 

I set out to find the right level of sifting. At first I tried a piece of hardware cloth (it's wire and not cloth, and has a large grid). The hardware cloth allowed almost all of the potting soil through. 

After looking around for a bit, I remembered the domed screen to our patio fire ring. I checked the holes in its mesh and it looked like it might work. In fact, it worked really well. I rubbed some potting soil over the mesh until the fine particles fell through, leaving large pieces still on the top of the screen. (I later dumped those large particles onto a nearby bed.) 

before sifting

after sifting

After a few minutes of sifting the potting soil I had just enough fine soil for starting my primrose seeds.

Seed starting soil at my local Fred Meyer comes in small bags and is more than twice the price per unit as potting soil. In addition, the extra trip to the store would use gas for just one item. I saved time and money improvising with something I already had at home.

I love when I can find a good substitute in my pantry, garage, sewing basket, or gardening supplies. And I bet you do, too. Most of the time I save time and money using substitutes. 

What was a recent substitution you made for a project or recipe, using what you already had on hand?