My March 2009 Do It Green! E-Newsletter featured a compost bin and rain barrel sale. You can place your order for either or both then pick them up at the Living Green Expo May 2-3, 2009 at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds in St. Paul.                  Compost Bin Reg. Price: $79.99 Sale Price: $ 47.00Rain…

Here's a win-win all around…  Click on the image below to enlarge it to get the details.   I sent mine off yesterday with a UPC barcode from Nature's Path Organic Flax Plus Multibran Cereal and Organic Valley Cottage Cheese. There's no form needed, just a 3×5 card. To get you started, I received a link…

Yesterday's post highlighted my recent purchase of four desk calendars with wildflower seeds embedded in each of the 12 monthly pages to plant in soil at the conclusion of each month. A few days ago, when I placed my Olive Barn online order for four of them, it said that there was only one remaining…

I ordered this 2009 desk calendar "made tree-free from recycled and renewable materials. Each month's page is embedded with one of 12 different wildflower seeds."   At the conclusion of the month, you place the page under a thin layer of soil, water thoroughly, and keep moist throughout the germination process. The tin that houses the…

Today I offficially began my annual process of ordering seeds. This year, I am especially interested in growing "microgreens" to add intense flavor to my bed and breakfast guests' breakfast entrées but especially to add a pretty splash of color and a petite artform on each plate. Here are two kinds of seeds that I ordered from…

My weekly, highly anticipated, excursion to the farmers market turns up different surprises each time I go. This morning I bought four heirloom sweet peppers because of their fun colors. I arranged them in an old wooden candle mold, then added a wood carved farmer that was a gift from my friend Deb, and a pot of…

I strolled through my gardens today to snip a bouquet of summer flowers before the autumn hues slowly… effortlessly… subtly transform our world into a different, but just as magnificent, landscape. Dick made the wire and button flowers for me fashioned after a vase I had seen when we were traveling in Pennsylvania several years ago. He…

I love mailboxes and the old-fashioned handwritten letters that they hold. There are no letters delivered to this mailbox, however its stately presence marks the beginning of a stone walkway leading to my side porch. Irene, a guest from North Dakota who stayed recently with her husband Bruce for a five-day stretch, secretly painted this amazing replica of…

I picked my first zucchini of the season today from my garden. I would be happy growing zucchini just for the huge beautiful green leaves. The fruit of the vine is a bonus. In the past, I have made the mistake of planting cuke and zucchini seeds too early… before the soil has warmed enough.…

   My hens have made friends with the birds and chipmunks that come to dine at… and underneath…our feeders. Judd Brink, owner of Minnesota Backyard Birds, captured this photo of one of my leghorns named Greta when she flew onto the rim of the birdbath to quench her thirst. An old metal pail, with a tiny hole to allow a…