DIY Life

Want to get healthy? Be green? Increasingly, this means shopping locally grown. Don't know about you, but I'm definitely trying to buy more locally grown food these days!

Whether local products are certified organic -- bearing the USDA's green and white seal of approval -- or not, small-scale growers are often dedicated to healthier growing practices. Healthier for the earth, their animals, and our bodies, that is. And when you shop local, you support local farmers, too.

If you need help deciding where to shop, here are a couple websites that make it easy as pie: Local Harvest and Eat Well Guide. Both are online directories of sustainable food suppliers, searchable by location. Just pop in your zip code and pull up a list of who's growing sustainably and/or organic in your area.

No tilling? No digging? No weeding? No kidding! It's Lasagna Gardening: an easy, non-backbreaking way to create garden beds. Organic materials piled up in deep layers (just like a lasagna) create a super-fertile spot for growing just about anything -- without the hard work!

Patricia Lanza, author of the gardening classic Lasagna Gardening, was kind enough to chat with DIY Life about her celebrated no-dig method and her own beautiful garden. Read on!

1. How big is your current garden and what are you growing right now?

My current garden(s) encompass our lake property where we live and a sunny plot at my Aunt Violet's house. The house property has a lot of shade and part-shade. I grow low-growing and ground-hugging plants in a curved bed that borders the front walk, with bulbs, perennials, annuals and flowering woody shrubs in the remaining border gardens.

Michelle Obama hosted a "harvest party" in the White House's organic kitchen garden, June 17. With a troupe of local school children helping out, Mrs. Obama began picking summer crops produced by the world's most famous backyard veggie patch.

The kids attending the event were the very same ones who helped break ground for the garden back in March. After gathering lettuce and sugar snap peas, they accompanied the First Lady back to the White House kitchen. There, they prepared a healthful lunch incorporating some of their homegrown greens and berries.

Photos and a video clip of the harvest are posted online at the official White House Briefing Room blog. You'll notice that Michelle was her usual casually chic self, donning colorful slacks and a coordinating fitted cardigan. Hardly genuine harvesting attire.

When he first learned that leaving mowed grass right on a newly cut lawn is healthier for your grass, my husband was thrilled. We have a large yard and he was so tired of raking.

The leftover cuttings act like mulch for your lawn, helping it retain moisture and giving it valuable nutrients. It's just one of eight things you can do to have a healthy, eco-friendly lawn.

Other tips include:

• setting your mower to cut the grass no shorter than 3 inches
• using a reel lawnmower
• watering early in the day, only when needed
• putting up a bird feeder to reduce pests
• growing the right type of grass for your region
• aerating the soil regularly

At our house, we are nothing if not cheap and lazy (though I prefer the terms frugal and laid-back), which is why I also like this very detailed tutorial from richsoil.com on how to have a nice organic lawn the cheap and lazy way. Finally, if weeds are the only thing that stand between you and a chemical-free lawn, try a few of our own tricks for handling weeds without chemical herbicides.

So let's see... we've got the green movement, the organic initiative, and hemp-wearing vegan naturalists. What could be next? I guess it had to happen; we now have guerrilla gardeners out there, doing their thing in the dead of the night under the cover of darkness.

Exactly what is a guerrilla gardener?

They're also called "pirate farmers" and they plant produce and flowers on land they don't own. Since this is technically trespassing, they have planting parties at night when they're less likely to get caught. These operations are called "troop digs", unless of course it's a solo renegade farmer. Then it's "seed bombing." Sounds like fun doesn't it?

Are you ready to start digging?

Groups are already acknowledged and active in Berlin, London, San Fransisco, and Miami. Who knows how many are still undercover? Why not start your own midnight garden club? If you do, I hope you're in my area; I'd love to wake up in the morning with a lawn full of free organic produce!

Dandelions can be eaten in many ways, from leafy greens to fried flowers to drinking wine; I almost imagine them as lettuce gone wild. Making coffee from dandelions isn't new, but trying this unusual drink is an interesting way to spend a few hours -- and, if you haven't sprayed them with herbicide in the past, an organic way to get rid of those dandelions in the yard.

Tools and supplies include: a weed popper, knife, cookie sheet, oven, coffee grinder, and of course a coffee machine. Follow along in the gallery to get a better idea. Instructions are after the break!

It's perfectly fitting that the Slow Food movement began in Italy... land of wine, cheese, and meals made from fresh, simply prepared, wholesome ingredients. Though slow food is actually about practices that were in place long before now, the movement itself is fairly new.

Carlo Petrini founded the slow food movement in the mid-1980s after staging a protest against the building of a new McDonald's near the Piazza di Spagna in Rome. Aptly named, slow food is in direct opposition to fast food culture. Though I doubt you'll ever find Petrini scarfing down a Big Mac, the fast food that slow food advocates against isn't only found in restaurants. Instead, they encourage a culture where:

• food is grown locally and eaten in season
• heirloom varieties of plant foods are grown and preserved
• meals are based on local culinary traditions
• there is education about the pitfalls of agribusiness and factory farming
• family farms are preserved
• food is grown organically
• animals are ethically raised and processed.

The group has about 83,000 members in 120 countries right now, but the principles behind the slow food movement are gaining ground every day. If this kind of lifestyle interests you, I'll tell you how to get started after the break.

Thought you had to spend a pretty penny to eat healthy? Sometimes it seems that way, with organic packaged food being all the rage these days. You know you are a creative do-it-yourself-er, or you wouldn't be reading this post, so I have faith that you can eat healthy without losing your shirt.

What we all may forget is that most healthy foods aren't found in the packaged foods section of the market. Instead, WebMD suggests that there are ten healthy foods you can purchase, each for under a dollar or close to it.

Some produce makes the list, like bananas and apples, while some canned and dry foods, like beans, tomatoes, and lentils round out the list. And let's not forget the yogurt!

What does this mean to you as a healthy DIYer?

• You can save money and eat healthy foods.
• It is easy to keep your pantry stocked with healthy foods.
• Teaching your kids about healthy foods and being frugal is a snap.
• Making dinners such as Greek Pasta with Tomatoes and White Beans can be second nature.
• Compiling your own additions to the list of cheap, healthy foods is on your "to do" list. Here are some of mine: frozen organic spinach, fresh broccoli, kiwis, eggs ...
  

Don't have anything lined up for Mother's Day yet? Feel bad 'cause your tight budget won't stretch to that mega-bunch of roses? Well, here's a suggestion: if your mom's into gardening, run out this weekend and pick up a yard-related gift. Wrap it up nice and pretty and give her that, alone, or pair it with a nice little box of chocolates or a few fresh flowers. She'll love it...and it won't break the bank!

Here are my top ten budget Mother's Day gift ideas for gardening moms. All of my suggestions are $20 or less--making them perfect for kids, grandkids, or big kids on a budget! Although it may be too late to have these items shipped, your local stores carry variations of nearly all of these items. Oh, and if you're open to slightly pricier ideas, check out last week's gift ideas post!

1. LL Bean Go-Anywhere Flexible Tote, $16.50
This soft, yet very sturdy, LLBean tote comes in a range of fabulous colors, including perfect-for-Mother's-Day bright pink. Also available in more practical hues, like dark green. Use it for anything outdoors-related: mix soil in it, haul tools or clippings in it, etc. This 11-gallon tote is built to last: it is UV-resistant and has reinforced handles.

My daughter loves strawberries. She opens up the refrigerator when I am busy and proceeds to eat them straight out of the container. I shudder to think what pesticides are going into her precious tummy because she chomped away before I could wash the berries.

Produce wash can be very expensive, especially if your family eats a lot of fruit and veggies. You can take the pain out of buying commercial produce wash by making your own organic fruit and veggie wash. All you need is a spray bottle, one tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 tablespoons vinegar, and 1 cup water. Put the ingredients in the spray bottle and shake well. Spritz on your produce, and rinse well.

The dollar store has inexpensive spray bottles, perfect for your new organic produce wash. If you happen to have an eager toddler like mine, who just happens to have an independent streak a mile wide, you can spray your produce as soon as you get it home, and no longer worry about what nasty pesticides might be ingested into their tender tummies.

[via:Curbly]

The sky was kind enough to open up and dump about 8 inches of snow on my pretty brown lawn Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Just when I thought Spring had truly arrived and it was time to start thinking about planting flowers, Old Man Winter had to get in a final laugh. My only consolation with the snowfall is that the nasty flies went dormant again.

When the flies come out with sunshine and warm weather, I'll be ready for them, thanks to an awesome article on Ecobites. The article teaches us how to take a plastic bottle and cut it so that the top 1/3 of the bottle can be inverted into the bottom 1/3 of the plastic bottle.

Place some raw meat and a little water into the bottom of the bottle, invert the top half of the bottle, and tape the two halves together. Whatever bait you use to trap the flies, make sure that you put the bait in first, otherwise you aren't likely to catch many flies if you try to shove the bait through the small hole after you tape the bottle parts together.

I am rubbing my hands together in anticipation, considering I have quite a few plastic bottles hanging around. Why am I so eager to make bottle fly traps? Well, I cannot describe to you how much I hate flies, and am very eager to see them eliminated from my home and yard.

The other day I saw my neighbor using an herbicide to kill the grass that was growing up through the cracks in the driveway concrete. I asked him why he was using that expensive stuff (I think it was Round-Up or something similar).

I advised him to just use vinegar instead. Sorry, I don't recall where I first learned of this tip. I was doing some research on organic lawn care several years ago and ran across it. I believe it said that it was the acidity and Ph that did the killing.

This article on using vinegar as a herbicide says it's the acetic acid that's the active ingredient. But then it goes on to explain that common household vinegar is only 5% acetic acid, and as such, poo-poo's the idea that it's very effective. But shhhhhh, don't tell my driveway; it's been working for me and saving a ton of money!

I love to bake and I gasp every time I have to buy a new bottle of vanilla extract. I go right past the organic vanilla because, even though I know it is best for me, it is just too expensive. Some of you may not think vanilla extract, whether it be real or imitation, is very expensive, but as much as I use it, there has to be a real good alternative to buying from the store.

Ian sent me a personal email on an instructable he wrote, how to make diy vanilla extract. He put months of work into his vanilla making project. He tells us that it is better to make our own vanilla extract so that we can be free of the artificial colors and corn sweeteners that are found in commercial vanilla extracts. Ian tells us what real vanilla is and where it grows, how to choose our vanilla beans, what supplies we will need, including vodka, and the steps and directions needed to make the extract.

Make sure you have plenty of time to read Ian's instructable, because he not only gives us the background of the vanilla bean, he shares with us what he knows about the different flavors of beans from various regions around the world. In my opinion, Ian's vanilla bean reviews are priceless, and I for one appreciate all the time he has taken in finding just the perfect beans to make the best tasting vanilla extract on the planet.

I am so itching to get my hands in the dirt again. I love being outside, and right now I have to sit back and count the days until I can do that. Sure, I could go outside for 20 minutes, 20 times a day now, but I seriously can't stand the cold too much, and by the time I get my two year old out of her snow suit, she wants to go back outside again. Spring, where are you?

I have a houseplant that is in seriously need of potting soil, but I just don't want to spend the money for premixed soil. I think It is just too expensive. Tipnut has some awesome recipes for making your own organic potting soil. While you still have to purchase peat moss, top soil, vermiculite, lime, and perlite, in the long run, you will be eating healthier by growing plants in your own potting mixes.

For more simple ideas and recipes, be sure to check out Diane Rixon's post; easy homemade potting soil. With the various recipes and tips, you'll be sure to find the recipe that works for you and your gardening needs.

One third of all household waste is organic. That means that a significant portion of the garbage in most homes could have been composted. If you have the space and a garden that would benefit from rich top soil, consider building a compost bin in your yard.

This compost bin is a simple DIY project constructed from old shipping pallets. You can find recycled wooden pallets at a furniture, office, or hardware store. Most places that ship large items use these pallets and they are happy to give them away.