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How to Make your Own Compost

Prairie Eco-Thrifter

Composting is something my hubby and I do and love. Compost is possibly the most efficient and useful way of disposing of household waste; nearly 40% of this waste is compostable. Compost is then be used on the garden as an organic and valuable fertilizer and soil improver. Why make compost?

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My Backyard Compost

Family Balance Sheet

My composting adventures all started about 9 years ago when our local Penn State Cooperative Extension office offered a free composting bin (the round one in the picture) when you attended their free composting seminar. I have a system going, but I am a laid back composter. So what did I learn at the seminar?

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Don’t Dig a Money Pit in Your Garden

Prairie Eco-Thrifter

Instead, you broke your budget buying every gadget from the big box gardening store – not to mention the pricier mature plants and the chemicals to make them grow faster and produce more. Our grocery budget dropped by over $40 per week in the third year of my gardening efforts and it gets better every year.

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Guerrilla Gardening And Seed Bombing

Prairie Eco-Thrifter

Coined in 1973 by Liz Christy and her Green Guerrilla group in New York City, guerrilla gardening uses “seed grenades” as a way of introducing vegetation to empty lots in NYC in order to make the city look better. Sure, people do actually plant some of them, but I think throwing them is much more fun. You know you do!

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Thrifty gardening Tips

Prairie Eco-Thrifter

As I was doing some yard work a couple of days ago, I noticed my neighbor tilling up a vegetable garden spot in his back yard – a sure sign of spring! Here are 4 thrifty gardening tips for you if you are planning a garden this year. Tip # 1 – Go thrifty on seeds and plants. Trade for plants and seeds.

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What to Know About Growing a Balcony Container Garden

Prairie Eco-Thrifter

One of the things I enjoyed about living in a home was the gardening. I’m starting to grow an indoor herb garden, but I also want to be able to grow certain vegetables, even though I’m in an apartment. This is where the balcony container garden comes in handy. Containers and Soil.

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Square Foot Gardening: Starting Over With New Soil

Family Balance Sheet

Last year, I chronicled my box garden conversion from random planting to the more calculated method, known as Square Foot Gardening. I had great success, but at the end of the season, I vowed that in 2011, I was going to replace all of the dirt in my box with new soil following the Square Foot Gardening recipe for a soil mix.

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