Green Urban Living

Now is the time to plant an organic garden. You don't need a lot of space to have a garden that can provide you with fresh vegetables for the summer. At Sunset Magazine they show you how to have a garden in containers or small raised garden beds. In 2'x2' or 4'x4' raised beds you can grow tomatoes, basil, chives, cucumbers and more.
But if you just don't have the space or the time, then consider going to local farmers markets. Or join a local co-op. With co-ops you save because everything is bought in large quantities and then distributed among the members. Buyers receive a weekly or monthly assortment of a variety of farm products. To find the co-ops and farms that offer produce subscriptions in your area go to Local Harvest. Just enter your zip code or use their interactive maps to locate farmers markets, family farms, food coops, CSAs, farm stands, and pick-your-own produce in your neighborhood.

I remember summers spent with my grandma making crafts. I would spend hours at her kitchen table turning bleach bottles into piggy banks, soap bottles into vases and berry baskets into bird houses. Among her supplies of saved containers were sequins, tiny bits of felt and ribbons, beads, popsicle sticks, artificial flowers, tiny feathered birds, magazines, construction paper and some white glue.

I think this was the beginning of my life long love of making things and collecting junk. I love to rescue tossed out items, always seeing another way to use them. A stack of magazines might become a collage on a table top. Bits and pieces of tiles, broken dishes, and broken mirrors can be used to mosaic a planter or to make a wall hanging. Different colors of plastic lids can be nailed or glued to a board to create some wonderful recycled art.

So take a different look at the junk that you are getting ready to toss. Ask yourself, how can I recycle and repurpose this?

For example:

1. Check with your local print shop to see if you can have their cutoffs from print jobs.
2. Check tile stores for samples or cracked tiles.
3. Check with restaurants for plastic containers