25 Easy Ways to Conserve Water (and Save Money)

My husband and I spent the last few days away celebrating our wedding anniversary (ten years!). It was lovely. However, one not-so-lovely thing that greeted us upon our return was this:

Apparently, our city is running out of water, saying that if water usage stays at its current level, we'll have water outages. Yikes! I'm still wondering why they're only letting us know this now. I have to say, too, that we're all pretty bummed at our house about how this latest water emergency has basically put the kibosh on our new slip-n-slide. At least we got to use it once this summer...

At any rate, water conservation is something we should all be doing, whether you live in a desert (like me) or where rainfall is plentiful. It's always wise to conserve natural resources, especially when it's a limited one like water. A nice byproduct of water conservation? Saving money! Even though water is fairly cheap (the average price for tap water in the U.S. is $2 per 1,000 gallons), the little ways you save add up over time (I seem to say that about a lot of things, don't I? I'm feeling like that's sort of my motto for this blog.).

Here are 25 easy ways to save water, both indoors and outdoors. And none of them include that adage of "when it's yellow, let it mellow...". That one always sort of grosses me out.



Indoors

Laundry
1.  Try to wash only full loads in the washing machine. If you do a smaller load, try to match the water level to the load size. This simple step can save up to 1,000 gallons of water a month.
2. Wash clothes only when truly dirty. My family routinely re-wears clothing (especially when it comes to church clothes and school uniforms; also especially applicable in the colder months when my kids aren't playing outside all day). If it's not stinky, dirty, or stained, it doesn't need to be washed just yet.
3. Wash your towels and linens less. You don't need a new towel every day (my mom color-coded ours. Each kid in my family got two towels per week in our color; mine were purple. If we left ours on the floor and forgot to hang them up to dry, we were out of luck.). You can also wash sheets less and just switch out pillowcases more often; pillowcases are the dirtiest and most germy part of your bedding, after all.

Bathroom
4. Bathing isn't necessary every single day. I don't shower every day (unless I've worked out or gotten particularly dirty in the yard). My boys don't get a bath every night (again, unless they really need it. Some weeks, they seriously need a bath every night).  Just switching to every other day can make a difference.
5. If possible, bathe your kids together. Not only is it fun for the kids, but it saves a lot of water. The average bath uses about 30-50 gallons of water; if each kid gets an individual bathtub of water, that can translate to lots of water (and money) going down the drain. (This tip also can apply to couples...wink, wink.)
6. When running the water for the bath, plug the tub from the get-go. No need to wait for the water to get hot to start filling it; even if the water's ice cold, the hot water that comes later will balance it out.
7. Use a low-flow shower head. I know, I know...low-flow shower-heads have a (deservedly) bad reputation. The key is finding the right one; ours is awesome. Read here about our low-flow shower head. A four-minute shower uses about 20-40 gallons of water; installing a low-flow shower head can reduce that by 40%.
8.  Shorten your shower by just a minute or two. Shaving 1-2 minutes off your shower can save up to 150 gallons of water (per person) a month. Even I, the girl who loves ridiculously hot and long showers (I do my best thinking in there!), can handle shortening my showers by a minute.
9. I just learned this tip: keep a bucket in your shower. While you're waiting for the water to get hot, let the cold water fill the bucket; use the water in the bucket for other uses, like watering houseplants. I'm honestly thinking of keeping my green watering jug in the shower so I can water the pots on my porch.
10. This is the obvious one: turn off the tap while brushing, washing hands, and shaving. 
11.  The biggest water user in your home: the toilet (as much as 27% of the water in your home is used here). Watch out for leaky toilets. A leaky toilet that runs all day into the bowl can waste hundreds of gallons. To check if you have a leaky toilet, add some food coloring to the tank (as pictured below). If you see that color in the bowl within 15 minutes of not flushing, you have a leak. Such leaks can be pretty easily fixed and most often don't require a plumber's help.

(the food coloring test in action)

12. Stick a filled jar or water bottle in your toilet tank. The jar/bottle displaces some of the water and the tank doesn't refill with as much. As you can see in the picture above, I just reused a pickle jar full of water; it always stays full, even when the tank empties.
13. Don't use your toilet as a garbage can. Put used tissues, smashed bugs, and other things into the regular trash can.
14. Take care of leaky faucets. It usually only requires a new washer (which hardly cost anything -- maybe a quarter) to stop a leaky faucet. If a faucet leaks one drop per second, that's 3000 gallons of water per year that's completely wasted.

Kitchen
14. Store drinking water in the fridge. No need to let the water run at the tap and go to waste until it gets cold.
15.  Reuse drinking cups. My mom got tired of washing tons of cups every day so used to color-code these, too. We each got two cups in our designated color for us to use every day; if we just threw it in the sink after a drink of water or didn't rinse it out after drinking milk, we were out of cups for the day. Totally worked.
16. Instead of running the water and using the disposal for kitchen scraps, trying composting them instead. This doesn't work for everything that goes into the disposal, but it can definitely make a difference. I just keep this compost bin on my counter, next to the sink, to hold scraps for my compost pile outside and my worm composter in the garage. It holds any smells in very well.

17. Wash your produce in large bowl or pan instead of rinsing produce under running water. I did this today after my shopping trip (as you can see pictured above) with all my produce. After I was done, I emptied the water into my flowerpots on the porch.
18.  Reuse cooking water. I've done this a little in the past, but I got some great ideas from this article I found. For example, if you've cooked vegetables, save the water for stock. If you boiled or steamed  some vegetables for a rice or pasta dish, use that water to cook the rice or pasta. Water that has cooked pasta can be used to thin out sauces. Before you save water from boiling vegetables, taste it; only save it if it has some flavor. If the water is tasteless, use it to water plants somewhere.  One other cooking water reuse I employ around Easter: water that's been used to hard-boil eggs is excellent for watering houseplants because of the beneficial calcium.
19. If you use an automatic dishwasher, only turn it on when it's full. If you don't have/use an automatic dishwasher, fill one side of your sink with the rinse water; rinse that way instead of under running water.

Outdoors

20.  During the summer months, let your lawn grow longer (around three inches). Longer blades of grass shade the roots, making it need less water.
21. If you're going to wash your car at home, wash it on your lawn. Also, use a bucket and sponge instead of letting the hose run the whole time. Just five minutes of the hose running uses around 60 gallons. If you do opt to get your car washed professionally, look for a place that recycles its water; the carwash by my house does.

22. Mulch. Mulching has been my gardening revelation this year; I don't know why I haven't mulched in years past. A 2-4" layer of mulch helps your garden not dry out nearly as quickly. I've noticed a big difference in my garden and its need for water since I started mulching.
23. Instead of cleaning your porch and driveway with the hose, use a broom. 
24. Collect rainwater. My dad just starting doing this a month or so ago -- it only took a couple rainy days to completely fill the water barrel by his greenhouse. I'm sure if you live in a wetter climate than ours, your water barrel would fill even faster. I read that during an inch of rainfall, 900 gallons of water flows off a 30 x 50 foot roof! You can find more information from the articles I've pinned, here and here. But it's awesome -- my dad just has a pump hooked up to the water barrel by his greenhouse (he just built it -- I'm soooo jealous) and he waters the plants in there with collected rainwater. Awesome!

25.  Finally, one great way to save water is to spread the word! Share these tips and others you've come across or that you use already. Sure, this step doesn't really save you money but everyone benefits. A little conservation on all our parts can go a long way!

How do you save water in your home? 

Note: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

{This post is linked up to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, From the Farm Blog Hop, and Little House Friday}

Lovely Links: 'Hooray for June!' Edition

I love June.  The return of watermelon, running through sprinklers, lemonade, Otter Pops, days spent in swimming suits, sunny days, and lots of gardening. *sigh*

Also, the return of my favorite summertime drink. I only have it the summertime so I don't go totally nuts and get burned out on it (kinda like how I only let myself drink eggnog during the Christmas season).  It's really simple, takes hardly any time to make, and it's gooood. It's not too sweet and it's really refreshing on a hot summer afternoon.

I can take no credit for this delicious drink - it's basically a copycat version of Starbucks Iced Passion Lemonade, only my version isn't nearly as sugary.

Nothing against the Starbucks version. I first tried it years ago, in my pre-kids days, when I worked as a Community Relations Manager at Barnes & Noble. Mormon girl that I am, my drink choices at the Starbucks mini-cafe were pretty limited (since we Mormons don't drink coffee or tea). I pretty much only drank the cream-based frappuccinos (mmmmm....double chocolate chip frappuccino...). Then one day, I saw a co-worker drinking a bright pink drink and I had to ask what it was. To my delight, they had an iced tea that was totally herbal (while Mormons aren't supposed to drink tea that contains tea leaves, herbal tea is totally cool). So, I had one of those pretty much every day from then on. Yum.

Anyway, I make my own iced passion tea at home throughout the summer. You can buy the Tazo Passion tea at pretty much any grocery store. I simply heat up a cup of water (usually in the microwave -- no sense heating up the kitchen in the summer heat by using the stove), put a couple bags of the Passion tea into the water, let them steep for about three minutes, and then pour it over ice. Like the Starbucks version, I sweeten the iced Passion tea with lemonade. I really like raspberry Simply Lemonade. I don't use much lemonade -- maybe ¼ cup at the most. I've used other sweeteners in the past (like agave nectar -- which I found isn't really that healthy after all), but I like the raspberry lemonade the best.  Try it -- I think you'll like it. (FYI -- I've heard that hibiscus tea -- which is what the Passion tea is partly made up of -- isn't a good choice to drink while pregnant. I was pretty bummed when I learned that in the summer of 2010, let me tell you.)

On to the Lovely Links...

Here are a few links that have caught my eye or that are relevant to life in June or that I've rediscovered whilst looking through my many, many pins on Pinterest.

A toast to the beginner, or, what to do with garlic scapes :: Eating from the Ground Up
Garlic Scape Pesto :: The Garden of Eating
If you hadn't guessed by the photo or the links already, I'm so excited about the latest thing to come from our garden: garlic scapes! Our garlic is almost ready to harvest (more on that when the time comes) and recently the bulbs sent out the flowers (called scapes).  You're supposed to cut these off before they bloom so that the energy stays in the bulb so you have stronger-flavored garlic. We've never had scapes before and I'm so excited to cook with them! I'm not sure my boys want to eat them quite yet -- they've been having too much fun curling them around their arms and walking around with their arms outstretched, a la The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

DIY Project: Kate's Grocery Planner :: Design*Sponge
In my ongoing effort to be an organized person (sigh), I've been trying out different menu planning/grocery list templates. Of the ones I've seen or tried, I'm liking this one best (I use the menu grocery list).  I also really like how she made a cute clipboard for it -- I'm going to work on mine this weekend.

Clean Your Air Conditioner Unit :: The Family Handyman
This is on my to-do list (okay..let's be honest...it's really going to end up on my husband's to do list.) because I've heard that cleaning your A/C unit can save you a bunch of money on your cooling bills. Also, having had our A/C go out last summer (not fun) because we hadn't been so great at maintenance, I've decided to be a little more proactive.

Campfire Eclairs :: Making Memories with Your Kids
Oh my. These look dangerously good. My only change would be to use homemade chocolate frosting (the store-bought stuff is gross and has nothing on this recipe).  We're going camping at the end of the month and I'm thinking these might be a must.

How we stopped living (less than) paycheck to paycheck :: Simple Mom
This is how you do it, people. Little things add up. I love, love, love this post.

Hoping this June weekend is wonderful for you!  

Note: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have disclosed.

Homemade Dulce de Leche ( + End-of-the-Year Teacher Gratitude)

These last few weeks of school are taking a toll on me. I thought I was an emotional, sentimental mess in the weeks leading up to my son's first day of kindergarten, but I think I'm worse now that the school year is coming to a close. Between adorable kindergarten graduation programs and field days and the bringing home of all the folders/writing journals/papers/desk name tags, I'm really struggling. It was all I could do to not start bawling during the post-graduation slideshow of photos taken of my son's class throughout the school year.

It's not that I don't love summer or the idea of having Max home all day (hooray!), but I'm just sad that he isn't going to be a kindergartener anymore. There's just something so sweet and innocent about kindergarten -- it's this lovely combination between school and play. And the thought of Max being a first grader seems...well...so big. I'm hoping that this is just the typical emotions of a mother dealing with her firstborn in school; by the time my other boy goes to school, I'll be a pro and not take things so hard.

One other reason I'm sad to see the school year end: Max had an amazing teacher this year. I remember meeting Mrs. A and thinking, "She is how you'd imagine a perfect kindergarten teacher to be." She's young, smiles easily, is nice but firm, calls the students "friends", and sings songs to the kids to get them to clean up or sit down or stop what they're doing. Her room is bright and happy, with paper flowers hanging from the ceiling, shelves of full of fun little toys and activities, a reading corner with a full book rack and comfy cushions, framed photos from when she taught school in Africa, a mailbox for the kids to "mail" letters to classmates, darling artwork all over the walls, and a hundred other sweet little touches. Every time I went to volunteer in that class, I loved how simply walking into the room just made me happy; I can only imagine the effect it has on a class of five and six-year-olds. Mrs. A has set the bar pretty darn high.

Anyway, to express my family's appreciation to this wonderful teacher, we got her a card with an Amazon gift card. To personalize things just a bit, I decided to make her a jar of homemade dulce de leche. Sweets for the sweet, right?

I got this idea from one of my favorite blogs, Dinner: A Love Story, from a post about teacher gifts. (click this link for the post - it has some really great ideas. I wanted to get the alphabet tote but, sadly, didn't have enough time for shipping.)  I thought I would expound on what was written in the post -- give you some more pictures, a sort of play-by-play of how my homemade dulce de leche endeavor went.

There are various ways to make homemade dulce de leche; here's what worked for me. It takes around 1-2 hours to make, but there's hardly any effort.

To make dulce de leche, all you need is a can of sweetened condensed milk and a double boiler.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Once it's boiling, reduce the heat to low so that the water is simmering. Place the double boiler over the pan. Pour the entire can of sweetened condensed milk into the double boiler.

Cover the double boiler. I used a plate. I didn't do this to begin with and I was wondering why the milk wasn't turning the color I wanted. Covering it made it things move along more quickly.

Once you've covered the double boiler, you only need to check on the milk occasionally to give it a stir. Also, check periodically to make sure your water level in the pan below hasn't gotten too low.

The milk will be begin to get thicker and darker in color as it cooks over the simmering water. You're going for a light brown caramel color. This does take a while, anywhere from 1-2 hours.

Try your best to not lick the spatula between stirs because you'll want to eat it all up. It's hard not to, believe me. My two-year-old kept sampling the milk that dripped from the spatula, eating it and saying, "Mmm. Nummy, nummy!"

While the milk is thickening and getting more delicious by the minute, you can make a cute chalkboard label for the jar. I also got this idea from that Dinner: A Love Story post.  I just think it's such a fun thing to do for a teacher gift.

I bought these chalkboard labels off Amazon (I only needed one for this gift, but I figured I could easily use these around the house -- they're cute and they're reusable since the chalk washes off). A lot of the reviews I read for these labels suggested using a liquid chalk marker, so I ordered one of those, too.

I wrote on the labels with both the marker and regular chalk to see if I'd wasted my money on the marker. I liked the look of the regular chalk on the label (the one on the right) better than the marker. It just looked more classic, you know?   What were all those reviewers complaining about? Chalk works just fine! I was a little annoyed that I wasted five dollars on the pen until I picked up the jar with the regular chalk label on it. You barely have to touch the label and the chalk comes off. It took hardly any handling before the the regular chalk had been totally smudged and practically erased. Moral of the story: use the liquid chalk marker. It stays on perfectly (and it washes right off if you mess up or want to change the label).

Also, while your dulce is cooking, you can make an instruction label between stirs.

I'm not crafty at all when it comes to paper and scrapbooking and the like. I do have a stash of scrapbooking paper (I tried scrapbooking...really I did. Kinda.), so I cut out a little square with some kiddie serrated scissors. I wrote some serving suggestions on there, along with how to store it and for how long. Then I punched a hole in the corner, found some extra ribbon with my sewing supplies, and tied it around the jar. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. (Yes, I wrote that in honor of Mrs. A. It's one of her class catchphrases.)

Your dulce de leche is done once it's a nice light brown color. Let me just tell you: this stuff is gooood. It's not quite like regular caramel -- it's creamier and milkier and tastier. I've now become kind of addicted to the stuff. I want to dip apples in it. Today's all dark and cold and rainy -- maybe it'd be good in hot chocolate. Oooh, and brownies...it'd be so good on a brownie!

Who wouldn't love to get a jar of this stuff?

Many thanks to Mrs. A and all the wonderful teachers out there. The work you do is certainly among the most important and life-changing.

Note: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

{This post is linked up to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, From the Farm Blog Hop, and Little House Friday.}

Homemade Weed Killer: The Experiment and the Results

I've read in numerous places about using vinegar as a weed killer. Oh, vinegar. Is there anything you can't do?  {sigh}

Okay, so there are a lot of things vinegar can't do, including killing weeds -- at least, by itself.  I've tried before. I was going to post the results on here. I poured a bunch of vinegar onto the weeds in my driveway. Nothing. So I gave up on at least that use of vinegar.

But I have this weed problem along the strip of cement that is adjacent to our driveway and alongside the side of our house, along the fence we share with our neighbors on the east. Our previous neighbor (she has since moved away) let the weeds go kind of wild on that part of her yard so they crept under the fence and went wild on our side, too.

In years past, I've either pulled all the weeds by hand or I've hit it with some Round-Up. This year, I decided to skip the chemicals. I won't go into all the reasons, but some of the main reasons are that I'm not a fan of having poisons around the kids (especially with the latest findings about health issues with Round-Up), don't want to support Monsanto, and I'm too cheap to buy the stuff.

So I tried a different approach to killing my weeds with vinegar -- I added a couple more ingredients to the mix.

To make this homemade weed killer, mix:

• 1 quart vinegar (I used white vinegar but I've heard that apple cider vinegar works -- it has a slightly higher acidity level, so it probably will work even better)
• 1/4 cup salt
• 2 tsp. dish soap (I used the Dawn soap I use for my homemade laundry detergent, but any kind will work)

The vinegar's acetic acid is what kills the plant. The salt assists by pulling the moisture out of the weeds.  The dish soap helps the weed killer stay on the plant once you spray it. Word to the wise: this weed killer will kill any plant it comes into contact with; it's not selective at all. 

Once you've mixed up your weed killer, pour it in a spray bottle. It's best to wait for a day that is going to be dry, hot and sunny.

I sprayed all of those weeds along the fence on a Saturday morning, enjoying myself maybe a little more than I should have ("Ha ha! How do you like that?" Kind of how I was when I was trapping snails with beer).

Here's one of the before pictures again:

The next day, after letting the chickens out and feeding them, I decided to check on the weeds.

As you can see, they're not entirely dead and completely withered, but they're on their way. One or two more applications and those weeds will be history. {insert maniacal laugh}

Note: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have disclosed.

{This post is linked up to Simple Lives Thursday, Little House Friday, Farmgirl Friday, From the Farm Blog Hop, Creative HomeAcre Hop, and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.}  

In the Backyard: My May 2013 Garden Report; or, Why I Haven't Posted Anything in a Couple Weeks

The weather is warm, the trees have leaves on them again, and gardening season is in full swing!  As a result, it's a lot harder to sit at the computer and work on a blog post. Don't get me wrong: I love blogging, but it just feels so good to get my fingernails dirty again. And even if I didn't want to go and work in the yard and I did want to sit here and type, my boys wouldn't let me. If they had their way, they'd both want to be outside all day.  Ahhh...it's nice to have the warm weather back.

Anyway, I thought I'd show you what's been going on and what I've been doing in my backyard.

I came. I saw. I mulched.

Confession: I've never mulched my garden before. I had a lot of straw left over from the winter (it's what I used in the chicken tractor this past winter. I bought way more than I needed to last fall.), so I thought I'd give mulching a try this year. Now that I have, I want to kick myself for not doing it in seasons past. Mulch makes gardening easier, period. I don't have have to water the garden nearly as much as I usually do. There are less weeds, too. It's awesome. If you're a newbie to mulching like myself, check out this helpful introduction to the why's and how's of mulching here and here.

Like last year, my milk jug mini-greenhouses are sort of stressing me out. I know for a fact that this method of seed starting works, but the seeds took longer to get sprouting this spring, due to some unseasonably cold temperatures this spring (it snowed here on May 1st!). Almost all of the milk jugs have growth in them (except the cherry tomatoes -- again), but they're still not as big as I would've liked them to be by now. I've got a variety of tomatoes (slicing and paste), broccoli, and herbs (parsley, oregano, and thyme) starting in the milk jugs this year. Keeping my fingers crossed that they'll start growing faster as the days get warmer and warmer.

On Wednesday, I opened our last jar of homemade jam. Since I've become a jam snob and can't bring myself to buy the jam at the store, I've been pretty excited to see the raspberry and blackberry bushes start coming to life. My raspberries even have the beginnings of little flowers on them. They can't come soon enough!

My first planting of greens didn't result in..well...anything. I don't quite know what happened there. But I planted again (lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, kale, mesclun) and it's coming up this time around. Gardening can be kind of weird like that.

Speaking of greens, I'm trying to grow all my kale in a pallet. This one isn't leaning up against my shed like my other one; this one is flat on the ground. I just laid some newspaper down, filled it with grow-box mix, and planted. So far, so good.

I'm also experimenting in that pallet with growing stuff from the ends of vegetables. I've seen ideas for re-growing with the ends of vegetables on Pinterest and figured I'd give it a go with some romaine lettuce. It's not growing super-fast, but it's not dead, either (as you can see in the picture above, there is new growth). I also want to try this with other vegetables, like celery and cabbage. I'll let you know how it works out.

This season I've planted a few vegetables I've never tried growing before. Take beets, as pictured above, for example. I didn't even know I liked beets until last Halloween, when my mom put raw beets on a vegetable tray for our Halloween party. They were surprisingly delicious. I've since juiced them with some carrots and oranges and found that they're awesome! When I make green juice with my boys (they love green juice), I've been adding beet greens to it. How awesome is a vegetable when you can eat the entire thing, leaves and roots? Anyway, I'm hoping that my beet crop pans out.

Another new plant to my garden is cabbage. I bought some seeds to start but forgot to plant them in a milk jug (duh), so I picked up these cute little starts at a nearby nursery for 50 cents each. I have dreams of making coleslaw and sauerkraut (haven't tried that one yet but really really want to) with homegrown cabbage. I'm also giving cauliflower and broccoli a try in my garden for the first time, too.

One thing in my garden I'm feeling particularly excited about is my garlic. It's going nuts! A few years ago, I tried growing garlic but I didn't go about it the right way. I just planted some garlic cloves I had in the pantry and hoped they'd work. They did sprout leaves but when I dug them up, the bulbs were about the size of a walnut; the cloves of garlic were teeny-tiny. This past fall, I ordered bulbs from my favorite seed company, planted in late October and covered them with straw. In late February, I saw little leaves poking out from the straw. Since then, they just keep getting taller and taller. I've heard that homegrown garlic is stronger and more flavorful than the garlic at the store. I keep wanting to dig around them a little and peek to see how big the bulbs are, but I am trying to resist; I'm doing my best to wait another month or two before I do.

No backyard report would be complete without some mention of the ladies.  The three girls are doing fine and laying regularly. Even though I've been collecting eggs from them for almost a year, I'm still not over the happy novelty of getting eggs from the nesting box -- especially when there are three eggs at once in there. The girls seem glad to be able to peck in the green grass again, eat all the dandelion leaves my two-year-old can give them, and enjoy all the snails (grrr) I find in my flowerbeds. I just love having chickens in the backyard, even when they look like they're gossiping about me (as they seem to be doing in this picture).

My garden is looking pretty good and I feel really excited about it. It's a lot of fun.

That said, it's not perfect. And being all about honesty here, I thought I'd post pictures of some other projects and/or frustrations in the backyard.

This flower bed is making me crazy. I took this picture a couple weeks ago and it doesn't look much better since then. What do you do with grass in the flower bed? I'd spray it with weed killer (of the homemade and storebought varieties) but I don't want to kill all my perennials. I've tried digging, hoeing, even pulling the grass out by hand. What would you do?

Another flowerbed frustration: mint. I like mint, but there's no way I could use as much as I get in my yard. The people who lived here before planted mint in the flowerbed. As nice as the people seemed when we bought the house eight years ago, I can't help but curse them every spring when the mint starts coming back. It takes everything over -- the flowerbed, the plants, my grass, anything remotely near it. I can't tell you how often I'll be hunched over it in my yard, pulling at it, and wanting to shake my fist and yell toward the sky, "MIIIIIINT!!!!" (a la William Shatner in The Wrath of Khan). Please, reader, take this as a public service announcement and never plant mint anywhere except in a pot.

I've mentioned on here before that my lawn is a frequent source of frustration for me. Right now, an entire area is covered in dandelions. See how the grass in the top-left is clear? Yeah, that's kind of shows how my lawn looks, dandelion-free then -- BAM! -- dandelions. It's like a dandelion island. It's crazy. You know, every time I go to the store, I see in the produce section bunches of long, fat dandelion leaves and I can't help but think, "Who was the brilliant person who decided to go into dandelion farming?"  Judging from my dandelion patch, I think I'd be a fantastic dandelion farmer.

At least the ladies in the backyard love them. I wonder if they'd like mint...

Even with the weeds, the rampant mint, the dandelions galore, and the slow-starting seeds, May is one of my favorite months. I mean, how can you not be happy when there are lilacs blooming? {The lilacs always remind me of my parents and grandparents' yards and of this song.}

Even our kitty can't help but smile a little now that it's May.

Happy gardening, everyone! What's growing where you live?  

Note: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have disclosed.

The Humble Ice Cube Tray -- Your Money-Saving Secret Weapon

I haven't used an ice cube tray for ice in years. My fridge makes all the ice we need so I don't bother. That said, if you took a peek into my freezer (watch out for falling frozen chicken -- sometimes my freezer is sort of like a booby trap), you'd most likely see at least one ice cube tray in there.

Ice cube trays are a great money-saving tool. I use them all the time for saving leftovers. Here are a few ways I use an ice cube tray to save money:

- Homemade baby food. When my second baby was new to solid foods, I made his baby food (nothing fancy, just steam and puree. Seriously. It's that easy.) and froze it in ice cube trays. I would just store the cubes of baby food in a plastic freezer bag.When he was ready to eat, I would just warm up the frozen cubes of baby food -- I did this by either by a quick zap in the microwave, by mixing it into hot oatmeal (that cooled it to the perfect temperature) or I would thaw it in a glass bowl over a boiling water. (If you'd like to try making baby food but feel a little wary about doing it yourself, this book helped me feel a lot more confident about the process.)

- Tomato paste. I hardly ever use the whole can (even if it is one of those tiny ones) of tomato paste, so I put the leftovers in an ice cube tray. Each square in the ice cube tray equals about 1-2 tablespoons. (Word to the wise: tomato paste in a tube is awesome, then you don't even need to bother with the ice cube trays.)

- Herbs. Herbs can be preserved in a number of different ways, but when you're dealing with moisture-dense herbs like mint, chives, tarragon, or basil, freezing is the best method. One way I've preserved basil with an ice cube tray is to pulse about a half-cup of basil leaves with a 1/4 cup of olive oil in a food processor; once it forms a paste, I pour it into the ice cube trays, freeze it, and then store the cubes in a plastic freezer bag. When you're ready to use them, simply pop the cubes into whatever soup, sauce, or dish you're making.  I've also seen this method of freezing cut-up herbs in olive oil, but I haven't tried it yet.

- Applesauce. I canned a bunch of applesauce this past fall. We don't really eat applesauce by the dish at our house, but I often use it in recipes as a sweetener (like in this waffle recipe - yum!). As a result, most of the time I'm only using a few tablespoons here and there. If I'm not careful, a jar of applesauce can sit in the fridge too long and get moldy. Totally depressing -- especially with all the work that went into picking the apples, cutting them up, cooking them, mashing them, and processing it in jars (whew!).  To remedy this, I put a tablespoon of applesauce into each square of the ice cube tray and freeze it. Once they're frozen, I pop them out and put them in a plastic freezer bag. Whenever I need applesauce for a recipe, I just get the amount of tablespoon-sized cubes I need, thaw them in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds, and they're good to go.

-Pumpkin puree. I've been experimenting with paleo pancake recipes and some of them call for just a couple tablespoons of pumpkin puree. I just freeze the rest in the ice cube tray and store it in a plastic freezer bag (see a pattern yet?).

- Chicken stock. I freeze my homemade stock in glass jars (totally safe -- just leave room for the liquid to expand when it freezes). When I've made a batch of stock and poured it all into jars, there's often a little bit left in the bottom of the pot. Instead of only partially filling a jar (and having it take up more space in my freezer), I pour the rest into an ice cube tray. This is great for quick batches of soup or for de-glazing pans.

- Chicken treats. Sometime during October, after we'd gutted a bunch of pumpkins, I made chicken treats. I put the mixture (pumpkin guts and seeds, oatmeal, some molasses) into a couple trays and froze them. I fed these treats to the ladies all winter and they got so excited whenever I tossed them into the coop.   I also love this idea of making mint ice cubes for keeping chickens cool in the summer.

- Leftover smoothies.  Sometimes I can go kind of nuts when making a smoothie (especially since I got a Vitamix blender recently). I'll just get carried away while acting like a gourmet chef, throwing all kinds of fruit in there, pouring in various milks and/or juices, adding pinches of spices, nuts, coconut, or flaxmeal to the mix. I'm not really that good at making smoothies yet (recipes are welcome) and I'm definitely not good at eyeing portions. So if I've made a huge smoothie and I've drank all I can possibly can, I just freeze the rest in an ice cube tray. Next time I make a smoothie, I just pop a few of those cubes into the mix.

- Disposal freshener. From time to time, when my sink is getting smelly, I'll freeze some vinegar in an ice cube tray. Once it's frozen, I toss a few cubes into the disposal and turn it on. Works like a charm.

There are so many other ways to use the ice cube tray to curb food waste. Out of curiosity, I did a quick search for ice cube tray uses and was surprised by the uses I hadn't tried (like freezing egg whites in an ice cube tray -- who knew? This link has a lot of great ideas).

I'm sure there are some of you out there who are thinking, "Why go to all that trouble to just save a few tablespoons here and there. Does it really make a difference?"  It makes me think of my other favorite money-saving kitchen tool: the rubber spatula. Sure, scraping the last bits of food from the jar with a rubber spatula or pouring the last bit of stock into a ice cube tray doesn't seem like a big deal, but it does make a difference. Doing these seemingly small actions cultivates a certain mindset, an attitude about how you use approach food and your resources. Frugality is about stretching things just a little further -- and the little things eventually add up.

Note: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

{This post is linked up to Simple Lives Thursday, Little House Friday, and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.}

'I Got Worms' : My Vermicomposting Venture

Add having a worm composting bin to the list of things I never imagined I would ever do. It's right up there with cloth diapering, raising chickens, and beekeeping. I can't even tell you how many times it makes me think of that part in Dumb and Dumber when Lloyd pitches his idea for a worm farm business. I remember how disgusting that sounded back when I watched it in high school. Who would have thought that someday I'd have a small sort of worm farm? Weird.

Anyway...

I'm not entirely sure where I first learned about vermicomposting (aka, worm composting; vermis is the latin word for worms). I've had a regular compost bin the entire time I've lived in my house (eight years this month!) and I'm always glad when I see worms in it. I've never, though, had a whole compost bin devoted to worms.

I started seeing pins on Pinterest about worm composting and I was intrigued. I read about people keeping bins in their small apartments or under the sink in their kitchens. I saw plans for tall worm compost bins that looked kind of like beehives. It seemed like a great idea to have worms eat food scraps and junk mail to help your garden, but it seemed a bit overwhelming, too.

That was until I saw this pin about making a vermicomposting bin out of storage containers. It seemed so easy and doable! I highly recommend checking out her post (especially the really cute video with author's four-year-old son explaining how it works) -- you can find the step-by-step instructions and a lot of good info.  In this post, I'm going to share the process of how I made mine and some insights to how it's working for us. Keep in mind, I'm new to this whole process and am by no means a worm expert (yes, they do exist). That said, it's been pretty simple thus far.

Making the Worm Composting Bin

While we were waiting for the worms to come in the mail (I say "we" because my six-year-old was super excited about the project), I went to the store and picked up a couple storage containers.

I struggled bit trying to find the right storage containers. The instructions I followed called for two 8-10 gallon storage containers. I found plenty of those at good ol' Walmart but all of them were clear. Same thing at Target. The worm bin has to be opaque since worms are sensitive to light, so none of the ones they had worked. I finally was able to find some black 12-gallon containers (so a little bigger than necessary) at IKEA for about $5 each, along with one lid for $2.

So all together the worm bin cost $12 (plus tax). Much cheaper than the pre-made bins that go for around $100 (and that price doesn't include the worms) .

To make the bin, you need to drill some holes in one of the containers. Seeing as I'm pretty inept when it comes to power tools, I just took the container up to my parents' house (we were going there anyway and my worms had just arrived in the mail). My dad took the containers to his garage and took care of things. I wasn't helpful at all; I mostly just stood there and told him all the reasons why I wanted the bin in the first place so he wouldn't think I was nuts (you can find some great reasons for vermicomposting here).

First, he made some small holes on the bottom for drainage; Dad used a 1/8-inch drill bit.

Then he drilled some holes into the sides (higher up above the compost line, for ventilation) with one of his biggest drill bits. The plastic container was a bit flimsy so a few holes were a little cracked but no big deal.

The second bin doesn't need any holes at all. The purpose of the bottom bin is to catch any drainage from the first bin. In the last month that I've been keeping a worm bin, I've found the second bin to not be that necessary. Just keep the worms damp and not soaking wet and catching drainage isn't much of an issue. Not knowing this in advance, I still use the second bin since I have it.

 

So that the ventilation holes in the first bin don't get covered up, you need to have a something to elevate the main compost bin inside the second. (Does that make sense? Look at the picture below and you'll see what I mean).  To do this, my dad simply cut some blocks of wood from his stash in the garage (did I mention my dad is a talented woodworker? I love that guy.) The blocks are just a few inches tall but they keep the ventilation holes right above the lip of the bottom bin.

That's it -- a homemade worm bin made in about 15-20 minutes, tops. Nothing fancy. That's fine. It's meant to hold worms and their castings (aka, worm poo); I'm keeping it in the garage. I'm fine with it being totally plain.

Filling the Worm Composter

First things first -- you need worms.

Worm composting requires a certain type of worm: red wiggler worms. You can't just go dig around in your yard or go to the fishing bait section and pick up a bunch of earthworms. From what I've read, these specific worms thrive on eating bacteria-laden and rotten food. Getting a pound or two of red wiggler worms is easy. There are lots of places online where you can order them -- even Amazon has listings for worms. I ordered mine from Wiser Worm Farm -- I got a pound of worms for $27, shipping included.

Once your bin has the holes drilled in it, it's ready to be filled.

First, add some shredded up newspaper. I've been using grocery ads that come in the mail, along with my son's book order forms he gets from school (that is, after I'm done spending too much money ordering from them...ahem).

Next, add some dirt. The worms need the grit to help them digest.  As you can see, Max's cousins got in on all the wormy action and they took turns adding the dirt to the bin. (A worm bin is a great educational tool, I think.)

Next, we added some food scraps I'd been collecting for the last couple days (more on what and what not to feed worms later).

Now you can introduce your worms to their new home. Once I dumped them in, the kids started naming them. In our worm bin, there's a little red wiggler named Charles and another named Sammy. It didn't take long for the kids to.realize that it's hard to come up with 500 names.

We poured a little water over the newspaper-scraps-dirt mixture and worms. To top it all off, we added a wet piece of cardboard (to keep the light out from the ventilation holes). Put the lid on and the worms are ready to get to work!

Maintaining Your Worm Bin

It's been about a month since we added our worms to the bin. So far, it's been incredibly easy. It's also so cool to see how it's working. They really do eat your garbage!

There are a few guidelines on feeding worms -- there are foods they can and can't eat. The way I keep it straight is to think of them as a bunch of wiggly little vegans because worms can't eat dairy or meat. Unlike vegans, though, they also don't eat oils or citrus.

What do worms eat? They like fruits and vegetables, breads and grains, eggshells (we've got plenty of those), tea bags, coffee grounds (including the filter. We don't drink coffee at our house, but I've heard that worms love coffee grounds), and shredded newspaper.

I've read that it's best to feed the worms food that's already starting to rot a little. This is where my compost pail comes in. Until just recently, I used this pail to hold kitchen scraps before taking them to the compost pile in the yard; now I use it exclusively for worm food. The amazing thing about this pail is that it can hold the stinkiest, most rotten stuff in it and you can't smell anything when the lid is closed. It's awesome. So, I let the food for the worms sit in there for a day or two and then dump it into the worm bin.

Other things to keep in mind when taking care of worms:

• Keep the bin's contents damp, but not soaking wet. I keep a spray bottle filled with water next to the bin and give it a few sprays when things are looking dry in the bin.
• I also have an old hand rake next to the bin to stir things around when I add new food for them. This also helps with ventilation so things don't get too compacted.
• Don't keep your worm bin somewhere that's too hot or cold. You don't want it to be somewhere where it gets colder than 35 degrees or hotter than around 80. Like I mentioned before, I keep mine in the garage (hence all the random stuff piled around the bin in the picture above).
• Like with a regular compost pile, the worm composter doesn't stink if you're doing it right. If it stinks, that's when some troubleshooting is needed (maybe it's too wet, there's too much food, etc.). When I open my worm bin, it has a sort of pleasant, earthy smell. I say this not to brag but instead to point out how not-hard keeping a worm bin is.

Just as I'm fascinated by my compost pile outside, I find myself looking at the worm bin the same way. It's incredible to see a little sort of eco-system at work. I have yet to get the castings out and add them to my garden. Once I've done it and made a batch of worm poop tea for my garden, I'll let you know. (Yep. Add "making worm poop tea" to that list of things I never thought I'd do, too.)

Note: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

{This post is linked up to Homestead Barn Hop, Your Green Resource, Simple Lives Thursday, and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.}