Saving Money Saturday
(It's the patriotic thing to do, doncha know)
Saving in the garden:
My blooming geranium
****I really like geraniums. I'm referring to the plants called zonal geraniums sold by the nurseries in the spring, along with the petunias and other bedding plants.
****Our local Ace Hardware gets them in in 4"pots for only $1.19. I use them in my pots on the front and back deck as well as plant them in my flower beds. It is nothing for me to be able to use 75 or more of these happy little plants. So for your project next fall , let's look at how easy it is to propagate these plants.
****At the end of the summer I dig up a few plants (one year I even rescued one of Father Bill's from the compost pile because it was a color I didn't have that year). I cut the plant waaaaay back until it looks like a pine tree after a forest fire, trim the roots, and stuff it in a pot. There are about three or four plants in each of these pots.
This is how they look now.
You can see they take up very little space.
*****If you want to remember what color it is, put a little marker in the pot. For markers, I use old plastic window blinds available at a thrift store. They usually sell for about $1.00 and you can cut up the slats with a scissor and use an indelible marker. One blind will give you markers for years and year to use outside as well as inside.
*****The cut back plant will grow like the little weeds they really are and should be blooming by Christmas, adding some cheeriness to your house. About 6 to 8 weeks before planting outside, I will cut them back and stick the cuttings in a glass of water. They can be put directly in some soil but I get a kick out watching the roots pop out over the course of a few days (I'm easily amused).
****When they have some roots, I fill a Dollar Store dishpan (only $1.00 - Wow!) with a bit of potting soil and vermiculite (three inches is more than enough), stuff the little cuttings in, and apply a small amount of water. I can get about 30 or 40 in each pan. This year I will start about 100 to 150 plants which saves me from $119.00 to $178.00 (if the price has not gone up).
A cutting before getting it's roots.
My blooming geranium ****I really like geraniums. I'm referring to the plants called zonal geraniums sold by the nurseries in the spring, along with the petunias and other bedding plants.
****Our local Ace Hardware gets them in in 4"pots for only $1.19. I use them in my pots on the front and back deck as well as plant them in my flower beds. It is nothing for me to be able to use 75 or more of these happy little plants. So for your project next fall , let's look at how easy it is to propagate these plants.
****At the end of the summer I dig up a few plants (one year I even rescued one of Father Bill's from the compost pile because it was a color I didn't have that year). I cut the plant waaaaay back until it looks like a pine tree after a forest fire, trim the roots, and stuff it in a pot. There are about three or four plants in each of these pots.
This is how they look now.You can see they take up very little space.
*****If you want to remember what color it is, put a little marker in the pot. For markers, I use old plastic window blinds available at a thrift store. They usually sell for about $1.00 and you can cut up the slats with a scissor and use an indelible marker. One blind will give you markers for years and year to use outside as well as inside.
*****The cut back plant will grow like the little weeds they really are and should be blooming by Christmas, adding some cheeriness to your house. About 6 to 8 weeks before planting outside, I will cut them back and stick the cuttings in a glass of water. They can be put directly in some soil but I get a kick out watching the roots pop out over the course of a few days (I'm easily amused).
****When they have some roots, I fill a Dollar Store dishpan (only $1.00 - Wow!) with a bit of potting soil and vermiculite (three inches is more than enough), stuff the little cuttings in, and apply a small amount of water. I can get about 30 or 40 in each pan. This year I will start about 100 to 150 plants which saves me from $119.00 to $178.00 (if the price has not gone up).
A cutting before getting it's roots. One cautionary note. To avoid any kind of rot, do NOT over water.
****There are as many methods for propagation as there are gardeners. Some people let them go dormant, others dry them and hang them in the basement, but why not enjoy the flowers during the winter? I try to keep things very, very simple. Gardening is not rocket science, and people who try to make it complicated are taking all the fun out of the process.
****There are as many methods for propagation as there are gardeners. Some people let them go dormant, others dry them and hang them in the basement, but why not enjoy the flowers during the winter? I try to keep things very, very simple. Gardening is not rocket science, and people who try to make it complicated are taking all the fun out of the process.
Paper Products
*****Don't worry - I'm not going to tell you to use one square of potty paper per bathroom encounter. Some Hollywood buffoon thought that was a good idea.
*****However -------------unbridled use of paper towels really irritates me. Paper towels are expensive and the sheets are purposely made huge so you just whiz through a roll. There was a time when I allowed no paper towels in the house. But when I heard hubby start mumbling something about "grounds for annulment", I dreamed up this compromise.
****All our paper towel rolls are cut in half. Yep, I know the manufacturers offer half sheet towels, but they still cost quite a bit more than the Kirkland Signature (Costco) paper towels that have been cut in half.
*****We've been doing this for years and the savings per year amounts to hundreds of dollars. I know I could save more by not using paper towels at all, but for some jobs I really do like to use a paper towel. Don't tell hubby, though!
Important Note: DO NOT use a perforated (duh, serrated not perforated - thanks Angela) knife. You will end up with little bits of shredded paper everywhere! Just a plain butcher knife works fine.
****And if you're using paper towels for cleaning windows, stop! Newspaper works much better and doesn't leave lint. Also, old T-shirts recycled into cleaning cloths are great. I use the free "Nickels Worth" since we quit subscribing to a local print newspaper 15 years ago - another huge savings!
Update: Hubby said, "Do you need to tell them about the dowel in case they have a dispenser without one?" I assured him my readers were smart enough to figure that out. We had a cheapo dispenser installed inside our kitchen cupboard and hubby cut a small dowel to slip through the rolls. That set us back at least 75 cents.
*****However -------------unbridled use of paper towels really irritates me. Paper towels are expensive and the sheets are purposely made huge so you just whiz through a roll. There was a time when I allowed no paper towels in the house. But when I heard hubby start mumbling something about "grounds for annulment", I dreamed up this compromise.
****All our paper towel rolls are cut in half. Yep, I know the manufacturers offer half sheet towels, but they still cost quite a bit more than the Kirkland Signature (Costco) paper towels that have been cut in half.
*****We've been doing this for years and the savings per year amounts to hundreds of dollars. I know I could save more by not using paper towels at all, but for some jobs I really do like to use a paper towel. Don't tell hubby, though!
Important Note: DO NOT use a perforated (duh, serrated not perforated - thanks Angela) knife. You will end up with little bits of shredded paper everywhere! Just a plain butcher knife works fine.****And if you're using paper towels for cleaning windows, stop! Newspaper works much better and doesn't leave lint. Also, old T-shirts recycled into cleaning cloths are great. I use the free "Nickels Worth" since we quit subscribing to a local print newspaper 15 years ago - another huge savings!
Update: Hubby said, "Do you need to tell them about the dowel in case they have a dispenser without one?" I assured him my readers were smart enough to figure that out. We had a cheapo dispenser installed inside our kitchen cupboard and hubby cut a small dowel to slip through the rolls. That set us back at least 75 cents.
