Guest Post: Planting Seeds in Egg Shells

"Well, hello everyone, I'm Sue and you can find me hanging out over at House Pretty.   I am super excited to be here!  I was thrilled when Mary invited me to guest post on her very informative blog. 

First, I'll tell you a bit about myself, what I am up to, and my blog.  I named my blog House Pretty, because my husband and I, along with our daughter, purchased a 50 year old house, three years ago.  I thought the house was ugly, and I wanted to make it pretty! I know, I know, I'm not that original, lol! 

We are updating our house, including replacing trim, doors, and flooring.  I am pretty much painting every square inch of our home, both inside and out.  The outside happened last summer, and what a job that was!  Now, I'm working on the inside, room by room.  It's a really good thing I like to paint, or I would be one very unhappy girl!  Truth is, I can normally be found holding a paint brush, or roller, when I'm not knitting. But the warmer temperatures are really what I thrive in, and since I live in New Brunswick, Canada, we don't see nearly enough of them! And, along with the normal enjoyable summer activities, we get to the good stuff! I don't just like pretty inside, I like it outside as well. I have been creating pretty outdoor spaces since my husband and I moved into our first home.

Now, in our fourth, and possibly final home (we had to move several times because of my husband's work), I'm really expanding my garden. One idea I'm incorporating, is mixing flowers with veggies! Now, I ask myself, why did I never do this before? I just always had it in my head that the two should never mix. Wrong! Beauty comes in many forms. And what, I ask, is more colorful than a plump red tomato?! Or pole beans for greenery? I think you can get the idea where I'm going with this.

Here's a little sampling of what is still asleep and buried under some snow, in our garden.

 

 

 
And here are the beginnings of some veggies and herbs to come!
  

I ordered some Heirloom seeds from none other than my friend, and yours, Mary! And would you believe, every single seed I planted came up!  That has never happened to me before, with any seeds I have planted!  The missing one you see there was in no way a reflection of the quality of her seeds. Rather, it is a reflection of my clutzy nature!  As in, right after my daughter put a seed in each egg shell, I knocked one over, and out came soil, and I think seed as well.  As I said, I'm kind of clutzy, lol!

It's my first year of planting my seeds in empty egg shells. I thought I would give it a try this year, and see how I make out. Normally when you would plant these in the ground, you just need to squeeze gently on the shell, to crush it up some, to allow the plants roots to be able to poke out through and burrow their way into the ground. And, the egg shell is excellent compost! Win! Win! Unless you live in New Brunswick, Canada, and your planting season starts, safely, towards the end of June, Ugh! Then, you prepare your shells to be placed in the ground, only you don't put them in the ground. Instead, you transfer them to cups. Then you transfer them, egg shell home and all, into the ground! I was just too anxious to dig in some dirt, and play with my seeds when they came, and I didn't want to have to wait, lol!"

The fun doesn't end with making my house pretty (get it?  house pretty?  House Pretty?)  Oh no, I'm also in the midst of going through a major decluttering of our home.  I'm talking cupboards, extra furniture, toys, you name it!  Between donating, and selling on Kijiji (Craigslist for those of you in the U.S.), more is going every day. 

I love my auctions, since I am very frugal, but I don't purchase to add to my possessions, I purchase to replace with good quality, that which wears out.  I have my limit set, and when that limit is reached, my paddle goes down, lol!

And, since I love pretty,  and I love to knit, I've also very recently, (as in I'm adding to it weekly) opened an Etsy shop, wait for it...House Pretty's. I know, by now, you must all be thinking, come on, is this girl seriously that unoriginal?  Hey, my motto is "if it isn't broken, don't fix it".  My shop consists of all knit items, for the home, and for the person.  New types of items are currently being worked on to add to my shop. 

So, that gives you a brief overview of what I'm up to over at House Pretty!  

And, now that I've completely talked your ears off, I'll hand you back over to Mary.

Thanks so much, Mary, for inviting me!

Sue Curwin

http://housepretty.blogspot.com/ 

Linking up HERE and Wildcrafting Wednesday