Crafting with Jo: Pig in a Poke Planters

Or, is it Poke weed in a pig? I'm still on my trash into treasure kick. I found this YouTube channel to converts purchased water jugs into planters. It's actually a couple of them by Home and Garden. While I don't have the 5 liter containers shown in the video, I do have a slew of 1 gallon plastic jugs. My milk jugs are repurposed for rabbit poo tea. I mean bleach and vinegar bottles that we clean with each month add up.

Why couldn't I make smaller planters out of them? Sure, I could. Of course, I could put herbs in them for sale. Not at the farmers market this year. It's closed for the year because of the virus, but wouldn't they be cute? I'd change the design a bit. I don't necessarily like the eyes or the way they made the polka dots. The legs would have to be made smaller. I learned my lesson the hard way, that hot glue doesn't hold up to Georgia temperatures so I'd have the put it together with hot glue and E-6000. I'd make the eyes a little bit whimsy with eye lashes because I can and that's the way I roll.

Here lately, we've had a difficulty finding our canned soda. I tried substituting kombucha for the sodas, but for us, it isn't the same. It and tea are our caffeine source. We got to have our fix. As such, we've had to resort to buying 2 liter and 3 liter bottles. Now we have a goodly supply of these for the garden already. These extra bottles are waste and I had to do some research to repurpose these. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with these yet. I possibilities are endless including a vertical garden.

Can you imagine if everyone did this? There would be only a minor panic at food banks, grocery stores, and such. In the small garden pictured, there are no less than 17- 2 liter bottles. Green beans, peas, salad greens, tomatoes, celery, green onions, and herbs right at your finger tips. All in a 2x3 space.  Now this makes sense. It's good economically, and physical sense. To find out how I did it go here for step by step instructions.

Then there are other ideas to repurpose 2 liter bottles on YouTube, Some are decorative and others functional. Take a look at your trash for inspiration.

A quick related story and I'll end this post.
I remember there was a recycling art show held in Brunswick, GA. It was open to all to enter and we had some renowned artists living there. Her high school art teacher challenged her students to enter and think outside the box. While other students bought new items like plastic spoons, forks, and toothpicks to create their art pieces, Jennifer took a different approach.

Our youngest daughter took the recycling aspect quite literally. She started digging through our trash. She found cardboard tubes from gift wraps and paper towel, a plastic container that yeast rolls came in, a couple of unraveled cassette tape, cans, bottles,broken plastic boxes, broken clock radio, an old stained tie, scratched CDs, etc.  It was all the other stuff I couldn't compost. She filled two garbage bags full, and then set to work. She took all these bits and pieces, glued, screwed, and taped them all together to form a fully fleshed out 5' man sculpture made entirely out of trash. He was appropriately named, "Junkman Bob." The way he was constructed you could readily see and identify each piece of trash used.

When she took him to school, he was proudly displayed as an entry to the art show in the front office for all to see until it was time to move him to the show.  Someone in the office asked where his dog was because every junk man needed a junkyard dog. Our daughter came home from school and raided the neighbor's trash (with their permission). She constructed a dog so her entry became "Junkman Bob and his dog."

Everyone who saw her work of art was amazed. She won an Honorable Mention at the show for Most Creative.  Her prize? She won a signed drawing of the UGA mascot from the artist himself. The original junkyard dogs (Go Dawgs, Go!) from the commissioned artist who also lives in the county. It's a shame that she took all the pictures so
I can't show him to y'all. Someone bought her art project for $50. Junkman Bob and his dog now stands in his organic restaurant to greet his clientele with a "no" sign hung around his neck.  It goes to show you, someone's trash truly is someone else's treasure.

I couldn't possibly be shown up by a then 16-year old girl, so I began looking for alternative uses for items before throwing them away. I've continued this stream of thought until today some 18 years later as does she.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Crafting with Jo: Project Garbage to Treasures For Sale

I'm taking a break from "Cooking with Chef Jo" today to bring you a crafting segment. We do pretty well about upcycling our garbage for our own personal use and for sale like our plarn made from plastic bags and coverings. In reality, we generate about 6 trashcans of garbage (2-3 tall kitchen bags per can) that goes to the landfill every 3 or 4 months. If you are looking at your own garbage picked up weekly, and saying "Wow!"Here everything else is recycled or composted.

Well for 2020, we are facing financial set backs like car payments and growing Mel's poultry farm. So to combat this, we're looking at our garbage. One man's trash is another man's treasures. With a few tweaks towards reinvention and beautification, we'll make items to sell.

Now that our feed storage room is built into the barn workshop, we have a small stack of empty feed sacks just lying around. We used them as weather barrier in the walls, ceiling, and floor. It held in all the Styrofoam, peanuts, bubble wrap, and air pillows for insulation between 2 layers of feed sacks. The building was basically a free build for an 8x12 building. Now, it houses bulk 50 lb sack of chicken grains and seeds, rabbit food, cat and dog dry food. After a year, there are no signs of rats or any other critters in that room. On the top of this room, 50 lb bales of orchard grass bales are kept. We go in and mix up trashcan loads of chicken feed and carry it out to the chicken area.

But since that project was completed, we haven't used any feed sacks so they've just been gathering dust. We've used some to store sifted compost, or rabbit manure, or wood ash for dust bathing for the birds, making lye, or for the garden. But even so, we generate 4-5 bags a month.

I got to thinking of those tote bags. Some of them are stinking cute and go for a medium price ($12 each) on etsy and farmer's markets. I can do that! A few cuts and straight seams and you've got a tote bag for sale. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Money in the bank from garbage! Add my knitted plarn market totes...cha-ching! The plarn was made from grocery bags and packaging.

I started looking at other things most people put in the trash. Empty, single serve, plastic water or drink bottles, bleach, milk jugs, vinegar bottles, etc. How about converting them into planters. We were already thinking about selling plant starts at the farmer's market. How cute are these? Although, I was mainly thinking herbs. Imagine Catmint or catnip in a kitty cat one or watercress in a frog. YouTube, Pinterest, and the internet in general are full of ideas. Of course, these herbs will sell for a premium of $6 extra for the pot (16 oz bottle size) and plant. Money from garbage and it keeps it out of the landfills where it'll take 700 years to decompose. A double win for us.

We actually don't use too many plastic products. I may have to hit my neighbors up for theirs. <GRIN>

Made from empty jar

Empty jars and cans can get a whole new life too. The little geisha is made from an empty coffee jar with paint, a napkin, a plastic cup, a used tennis ball, and a bead. It's still a usable container. Can you imagine it refilled with rice cracker snacks, or tea. Just on it's own empty, it's a work of art. All from a jar you'd throw in the trash.  I'm definitely making a couple of these for me. This little gal would sell for $10 easily!

You can recycle these items into sewing kits, canisters, jewelry boxes, etc all from trash. Don't even get me started on cardboard recycling besides in my garden!

So I've got my work cut out for me. Let's see if I can't make those six garbage cans hit the landfill every six months while it pads our wallets. Speaking of which, the trash haul costs us only $6 a trip. How much does your trash service charge you? Meanwhile, Mel is creating farm decor signs and organizers out of pallets, and creating her version of bullet journals.

🎵A crafting we will go, a crafting we will go. High Ho the glue sticks go. A crafting we will go to make our pockets grow.🎵

Y'all have  a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Crafting with Jo: Soil Block Maker Tutorial

I know Wednesdays you are used to seeing recipes, but I planned on using the additional blog page for other homesteading activities like cooking, crafting, and other creative stuff. So no secret recipe today. Instead we are crafting! And better yet, we are repurposing and recycling items which would take a couple thousand years to compost.

I was looking at my soil block maker while we were sowing our indoor seed starting operation a couple of weeks ago, and thought it would be a nifty idea to make a small set of soil block makers for the smaller seeds like herbs and carrots. So I decided to bring you along while I make them.

The middle bottle

Since my pharmacy now fills some of my prescriptions for 90 days including one of my muscle relaxers (Dantrolene). I get 6 of these bottles every 3 months. While we have a slew of uses for these bottles, I have a medium size stockpile of this size bottles.

How to Make It

Tools
Exacto Knife
Scissors
Marker
Saw, if combining them
Drill

Odds and Ends Bits
1 pill bottle or other round or square container with screw on lid
1 Eye bolt, how long depends on the length of the bottle plus 3"
4 fender washers
4 nuts, sized for the bolt

Duct Tape, if combining them
Six-inch long piece of 1x4, if combining

Now take your marker and mark the bottle following the diagram.
1) You want to mark for your drill hole in the center of the top. This is where the eye bolt will go.

2) Mark around the bottom of the pill bottle above the curved bottom.
Cut along the bottom with an Exacto knife.

3) Save the bottom that you just cut off. You'll use it as part of the plunger attachment. cut around the bottom piece until it fits smoothly inside the pill bottle.

3) Drill a hole in the center of this cut cut down bottom.

 
4) Drill a hole in the top where you marked the center spot. The size will depend on the size of you eye bolt. Make sure the eye bolt can move freely through the hole.

Assembly

1. Take the cap off the bottle.
2. On your eye bolt, screw on a nut within 2" of the eye.
3. Thread on a fender washer onto the bolt.
4. Slide on the cap. 
5. Add fender washer and nut. Make this finger tight to the cap. Too much torque and the plastic cap will crack.
6. Measure your bottle from the neck to the cut edge.
7. Now measure you bolt and sbtract a 1/2". Mark your bolt.
8. Screw a nut onto your bolt so the bottom edge of your nut is just above that mark.
9. Screw the top onto the bottle.
10. On the eye bolt, add a fender washer.
11. Slide on the cut down bottom piece.
12. Slide on a fender washer.
13. Screw on the nut.
14. You should have about 1/4" to 1/2" inch clearance off the bolt showing.

This isn't mine. I googled this one for a finished product image.

Your soil block maker is ready to use. Pull the plunger all the way up. Fill with moist seed starting mix. Invert onto seed starting tray. I use a repurposed baking sheets. It had rusty spots. Or even a repurposed vinyl tablecloth lined box will do. Place seed in the depression made in the top by the bolt. Scratch the surface to cover the seed. I use a bamboo skewer or popsicle stick. Water from bottom up or gentle spray from the top.

How to Tell If Your Mix is Moist Enough 
It's not runny but clumps together nicely when squeezed in your hand.

BONUS
Now making a hundred pots one at a time is a bit tedious. I make 4 to 8 bottles at a time. I'll mount regular bolts instead of eye bolts onto a 1x4 piece of lumber. This way I fill and unmold 4-8 soil blocks at a time. I'll use duct tape to stabilize the bottles together.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Jo