It's planting season!

Jackson watering the seedlings

'Tis the season to roll up your sleeves and start digging in the dirt. Spring is finally here, and that means it's gardening time! I've been sowing seeds indoors for a couple weeks now, based upon this seed starting chart found on yougrowgirl.com. Lettuce, pepper, eggplant, and tomato seedlings have already emerged in a combination of Jiffy peat pots and cardboard tubes from rolls of toilet paper. Last spring, I used only organic potting mix because I couldn't find organic seed starting mix. I had a lot left over, so this year I've planted some seeds in regular organic potting mix and some in the organic seed starting mix. I'm curious to see what difference, if any, it makes. I had very good success with the potting mix last year. This year, seeds planted in potting mix seem to be sprouting just as well as those in the seed starting mix. I think next year I will be brave and try making my own seed starting mix and see how that compares. Just as last year, I'm using mostly clementine crates to contain all my seedlings, and they are perfect for the job -- sturdy yet lightweight and easy to move as needed for watering and sunshine.

This week, we'll be starting basil seeds indoors and planting spinach seeds out in the garden. We seem to have everything we need -- compost, organic garden soil, good existing dirt, nice weather, seeds -- except the time to plant. Between everyday work tasks, potty training our son, OB appointments for my current pregnancy (our second baby), home projects, and more, we are keeping awfully busy these days. I'm hoping for a return to our normal, more relaxed schedule soon.

With Jackson turning 3 in a couple of months, he has become very interested in learning and helping and loves to be given small jobs that make him feel included. I try to find ways he can help me cook, clean, sort laundry, or whatever we're doing. Gardening has proved to be another great activity for him to learn, play, and help Mommy, and I'm so happy to be able to include him this year. He has helped me mix soil with water, fill up pots with dirt, plant seeds, and water them as needed. He talks to the "seedling babies" and delights in seeing how they've grown. He helped my husband rake and clean up the garden and discovered lots of wiggly earthworms in the dirt. We talked about how the worms help our garden grow, and we always talk about what types of vegetables will grow from which seedlings. I can't wait to go through the transition of indoor planting to outdoor planting and then harvesting with him. He may not remember these activities down the road, but they are so good for his development and so much fun, too.

Here's what my gardening schedule looks like for spring/summer 2012:
This week: Plant spinach seeds in garden and start basil seeds indoors
3/29-4/05: Transplant lettuce to garden
4/05-26: Start cucumber seeds indoors
4/12-19: Plant carrot seeds in garden, start watermelon seeds indoors
4/12-26: Start zucchini seeds indoors
5/3-10: Transplant cucumbers to garden
5/3: Transplant tomatoes to garden, move basil container outdoors
5/10: Plant green bean seeds in garden, transplant peppers, zucchini, eggplant, and watermelon to garden

These dates are approximate and will vary as needed. Also, I will likely stagger some of these plantings, such as the beans, this year to avoid an all-at-once harvest like we experienced last year.

I'll update on our garden progress as it unfolds. Stay tuned for more gardening adventures (and hopefully more adorable pictures of my toddler in the garden)!

Happy planting!

DIY: No-Sew Roman Shade-style Fabric Blinds

When we bought our house about 2 1/2 years ago, we were thrilled that the previous owners left us custom-made curtains for every room in the house. We were first-time parents to a 2-month-old as well as first-time home buyers, so one less thing to worry about was a big deal. But we didn't exactly share the same style as the previous owners. Over time, as we settled into our home and parenthood -- and the baby began to sleep at night -- we started to care about things like "style" again, and it became apparent that our home didn't feel like it was truly ours yet. It felt more like an extended stay in someone else's house.

As time and money permit, we are slowly taking steps to change that and make our house feel like home. The day the rooster wallpaper border came down from the dining room walls was one of our happiest days in recent memory. The country-style curtains paired with old plastic mini blinds were the next to go.  But what to replace them with?

While poking around some craft sites one day, I found this no-sew fabric blind tutorial, which was perfect for our space. The existing blinds helped with the blinding sunlight while still allowing some natural light into the room. But they didn't do much for ambiance, and many of the slats were broken from hasty yanking on the cords. Using this tutorial, we were able to use the original blinds (with all but 4 slats removed) and retain their functionality while giving the room an all-new look.

Opting for a more sophisticated style, we chose a burgundy/gold damask fabric that we were able to purchase 40% off with a coupon at a certain craft store that distributes coupons every month. Marking and cutting the slats was easy-peasy. Next, we had to glue the fabric in place. The tutorial suggests using Goop adhesive to glue the fabric to the slats, and I second that. I had Goop all-purpose adhesive left over from a prior project, so we used that, and it worked perfectly. It is strong, dries quickly, and does not leave marks on the front of the fabric. A note of caution, though: Goop comes with some pretty strongly worded warnings about inhalation as well as a Prop 65 warning about birth defects. If you do some research on products with Prop 65 warnings, you'll find that so many things have them and they may not be as scary as they seem. But since I'm now pregnant with baby #2 (if anyone didn't know: surprise!), I figured it was worth being cautious and had my husband do all the gluing this time (while wearing a dust mask, just in case).

Overall, this was an easy, straightforward, and inexpensive project. We used blinds and glue we already owned and bought fabric on sale, keeping the costs to a minimum. Even if you have to buy new blinds for this project, the cost shouldn't go up much; the original author said she found plastic mini blinds at Target for about $3 each. You can save even more on fabric by shopping at discount fabric stores.

We are so happy with our new blinds! Check 'em out!

with the sun shining through before dark

in the evening, with no sunlight coming through

Happy crafting!

How-to: Old T-shirts Into Prefold Diapers

Before I start the tutorial, I'd like to announce to the blog readers that I am 27 weeks pregnant! It's a healthy, active little boy and he's due April 17. Yay!! Now on to the diapers I made for him...

Ashley is the one who originally introduced me to the cloth diaper revolution. (I wasn't even aware I had a choice) I've done a lot of research on the subject and decided to try out several different kinds before making an investment. One of the most cost-efficient types are prefolds. These are cloth diapers that can be folded and placed inside a diaper cover or even used as a doubler or insert for pocket diapers. I found a great tutorial from fernandfaerie.com on upcycling old t-shirts into diapers. Since my husband's time with the Marine Corps has come to an end, I found us left with piles upon piles (I'm not exaggerating) of olive drab undershirts.

Supplies you'll need for one diaper:

-2 t-shirts

-scissors

-sewing machine

-"snappi-able" fabric (optional)

I started by cutting off the bottom hem and a straight line across from armpit to armpit to create a square.

Seperate the square into 2 separate squares of fabric and repeat with the second shirt so you have 4 squares. Put your squares into stacks of two and fold each in half.

With folded edges toward each other, overlap the two sides so that it creates 3 equal columns of fabric that are 4x8x4 layers thick.

Sew along each center folded edge. If you want to add the snappi fabric, now is the time to do so. I chose to conserve the fabric I got and placed mine as follows.

The final step is to either serge around the edges or you could trim them all to make sure they are even and carefully zigzag stitch. Here is the final product.

For me, this project was virtually free. We already had the shirts available and I spent 3.50 on a remnant fabric for use with the snappis. There's still a LOT left so the amount I used on one diaper was a minute amount of change.

There are many ways to fold and use these diapers and I've found YouTube to be a great source of instruction.

In February, I am taking a class at my local Joann's on making a waterproof cloth diaper cover which is one option to use in conjunction with the prefolds. Stay tuned for a tutorial after I learn how!