upcycled bathroom garden

When we  scrapped the fifth wheel trailer out , the bathroom sink, toilet and tub were still in good shape but not really good enough  to put anywhere and actually use. They are all made of lightweight plastic and being near 20 years old, there was no way  they could be used in a bathroom  again. With gardening forever on my little brain, I decided that they were all going to be made into  containers  for a bathroom themed garden of some sort.

This morning while out working  at setting up a couple tire beds in the garden spot in front of the greenhouse, I decided that the space still looked empty and  that it needed something more. The dim light in my head surged and I remembered that I had set them aside and after  some plotting n scheming I came up with a plan.

This is what I ended up with after spending several hours digging the spot out, setting the tires, moving things  around to where they pleased me, filling the containers  and then finally planting them.  To save on soil  I used some tin cans in the bottoms  of all the containers, put a thick layer of  grass clippings in, tossed a few inches of soil on top and then  put a layer of compost on the top. All of them  are planted in different types of greens; from mustard and spinach to mizuna and bok choy. Total cost of the project was my time and $.40 for the two Aleve I had to take  when I was done.

around the homestead-one big pile of...

Grass! This picture actually does not do this heaping pile of grass clippings justice. It stands at chest height and the piece of plastic underneath it is at least 10x12. It  also looks better than most of the hay that we have ever  purchased. Georgia hay is NOT yankeeland hay even if it is labeled as horse quality.

No, this grass is not all from  here. In fact, none of it is. Manthing was paid to cut it all (work is slow, imagine that) and he brought it all home. 2 truckloads have been brought in, in as many days.  I would love to  dry it all out  and bag it up for the winter months to feed to the critters,unfortunately, the weather is not going to cooperate tomorrow, and I have no good place to keep it out of the weather.

No worries, it is not going to go to waste. The goats,chickens, and bunnies  are enjoying it  while it is still mostly fresh, and what I can't  feed out to them will be used in the chicken coop for ground cover and eventually compost. The goats shed will be bedded  and all the compost bins, pits, barrels and  the worm bins will  be filled to begin cooking for the  fall and winter months.  If I still have leftovers, they will be spread about in  the goat pasture  in hopes that some of the seed heads will germinate to fill in any empty patches.  None of it will go to waste. Manthing's  employer  now has a nice manicured lawn at the warehouse and I have a   ginormous pile  of vegetation  to move around in my spare time.

creepy critter

While putzing around out in the gardens today, I found one of the creepiest looking critters I have ever seen.  While he is beautiful in  his own right, I  am extremely glad that he is only an inch or so long because  he looks down right dangerous and is!!

Apparently, my photo shoot subject of the day is a saddleback caterpillar also known as a "packsaddle."  They are a native North American species found in late summer and fall  and are quite the dangerous little fellers. The yellow things that appear to be eyes, are in actuality, its rear end.  It has a set of horns on both ends  and is  also venomous. The stings can be quite painful, cause nausea and  a nasty rash   that can last for several days.  I am very glad he was on a piece of downed corn  that I could just scoop up. He probably would have sent my allergic behind to the hospital.