And the Winner of the Gardener Giveaway is...

...Aimee!

Thanks again to everyone who entered and for sharing your wonderful gardening tips and tricks. :)

Giveaway Now Closed

The Spring Gardening Giveaway is now closed. I will be drawing within the next couple of days.

Thanks to all who participated, there were many great gardening tips shared. :)

Sláinte!

Laurel

Spring Gardening Giveaway!

It's time for a Spring gardening giveaway! In this giveaway there is a mix of items that would be handy for someone who is just starting out in gardening or for someone who is already an established gardener who could use a few extra pretties in their kit.

UP FOR GRABS:

Gardener's Organizer

About The Gardener's Organizer by David Squire from Google Books: 

"In a practical ringbinder format, The Gardener's Organizer, is packed with useful gardening hints and tips. Information is provided on all aspects of gardening, from taking cuttings and propagating new plants, to caring for the fruit and vegetable garden and pruning roses. The binder can be added to at any time, and is divided into six sections, with useful pockets for storing seed packets, newspaper cuttings, and other gardening paraphernalia."

Definitely a nifty way to keep your notes, plans and inspirations organized!

Gardener's Journal

About The Gardener's Five Year Journal by John Ashton:

"This handsome garden journal guides beginners and experts alike through five years of planning and organizing a garden. Informative tips, quotations, personal anecdotes, and a special section for children make this easy-to-use workbook an essential companion for any gardener. The extensive records section is the perfect way to track all your planning, planting, and plant care so that past efforts in the garden will never be in vain. Using and reviewing this functional journal will ensure that you will soon be enjoying the full fruits of your labor. Sections include Planning the Garden, Planting, Plant Care, Plant Inventory, and a "Potpourri" of other items."

This is really a lovely book!

Seeds

I am including 23 packets of different seeds, all which are from my garden. There is an assortment of veggies, herbs, flowers and other beneficial plants:

• Veggies: Red Bell Pepper, Black Krim Tomato, Red Pear Cherry Tomato, Purple Peacock Pole Bean, Blue Jay Bush Bean, Orca Bush Bean, Small Sugar Pumpkin, Butternut Winter Squash.
• Annual Flowers & Herbs: Sunflower Mix, Opium Poppy, Giant California Zinnia, Dark Opal Basil.
• Biennials: Great Mullein, Teasel.
• Perennials: Hollyhock Mix, Siberian Iris, False Indigo, White Cone Flower, Purple Cone Flower, Columbine Mix, Butterfly Flower, Blue Speedwell, Japanese Primrose. 

Beeswax Bunny Mug Candle

A hand poured beeswax candle in a cute vintage mug made in Japan featuring a naughty bunny in the garden. The beeswax was locally sourced, it has a cotton wick and has a sprinkling of lavender flowers, rose petals and chamomile flowers from my garden. 

Incense

Two corked jars of incense, on of my Herbwife blend and one of my Fertile Fields blend.

Garden Tools & Gloves

A hand fork and trowel decorated with pretty purple and yellow flowers and a pair of green waterproof gripping gloves.

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

For those who are interested in entering, all you need to do is share one piece of gardening advice, tool or trick that you can't garden without. All entries must be submitted to the comment section of this post; you can either just type it out there or link to a video or blog entry that is posted elsewhere. Previously some folks were having issues posting in my comment section, so I will accept entries that are emailed to me {unfetteredwood at yahoo dot ca} and I will post them in the comment section, along with listing who the name of the person it is for. The winner will be drawn at random right after the closing date. Below you will see the vitals:

1. Only one entry per person.
2. Entrants must be 18 years or older.
3. The giveaway is open for Canada, US & Europe only {due to the nature of the contents, I don't want to risk the kit being destroyed by customs. Sorry to everyone else!}
4. Should the winner reside in an area where any of the seeds are illegal, I will replace those seeds with others that are legal for them in their area.
5. To enter you are not obligated to purchase anything from me or to subscribe to any of my social media haunts.
6. All entries must be submitted by Wednesday April 1st, 2015 at 3pm EST.
7. he winner will need to provide a mailing address to receive their pretties. The information provided will not be used for any other purpose than to receive their winnings. The information will not be given to anyone else, or sold to a third party.

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Good luck to all of you who enter! 

Sláinte!

Laurel

Spring Nature Crafts & Projects

photo by Charlie Kellogg

Here are some nature-inspired project and craft ideas to help you get into the spirit of Spring! :)

A Recipe for Spring Cleaning

Bee Watering Stations

Beeswax Egg Candles

Build a Critter Hotel

Build a Rustic Trellis

Consecrating Seed

Container Pond for the Garden

Creating an Ancestor Garden

Crepe Paper Birds

Daffodils & Birch Floral Arrangement

Dye Eggs Naturally {here and here}

Fertility Charm for the Garden

Gifts for Birds

Hanging Bird Bath

Herbal Vinegar Hair Rinse

How to Make a Real Egg Garland

Indoor Spring Bulb Flower Pots

Make a Grass Nest

Make a Rustic Birdhouse

Make a Willow Arbour

Miniature "Fairy" Gardens

Moss Graffiti

Mossy Spring Wreath

Muscari & Moss Log Vase Floral Arrangement

"Nature Friendly" Offering Stones

Planning a Moon Garden {here and here}

Perfume Recipes

Pussy Willow Nest

Seed Bombs

Seed Starting Resources

Spring Floral Arrangement for a Front Door

Spring Terrarium

Tree Stump Planter

Turn a Log into a Garden Planter

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Sláinte!

Laurel

To The Cowslip

"Of all spring joys, the dearest is

To drink thy breath again,

Freshest of flowers; 

The bluebell lights the copse,

The primrose paves the glen,

But thy frank beauty overtops

In open fields

The new-born grass, to meet the kiss

Of sun and wind and showers,

And yields

Spring's essence from five red drops

That dyed the breast of Imogen.

Sun-freckled art thou, as the child

Who kneeleth down to snap

Thy sturdy stem,

And fill thy pure gold

Her snowy-aproned lap,

White treasury of wealth untold;

Deftly she makes, 

In bountiful profusion piled,

A regal ball of them,

And takes

For sceptre one that high doth hold

His head in pride of April sap.

My earliest love of flowers, how good

To lay my sunburnt face

In grass so lush

It shames the name of green,

And fold in one embrace

The clustered heads of all I glean,

And kiss the pure

Warm lips of that fair sisterhood, 

Or'mid their golden flush

Immure

The splendour of some clowslip queen

Who reigned apart a loftier grace.

Then home to sleep by Avon stream,

Cheered by the honest wine,

Of cowslip flowers;

So pure a draught alone

Gives slumber so divine;

All night I breathe the sweet air blown

O'er fields thick starred

With cowslip constellations, dream

Of golden-embrasured towers

That guard

Some fay for whom bees make moan,

While cowslips by my cheek recline."

~ To the Cowslip by Alfred Hayes {from The Vale of Arden and Other Poems}

Gardening Giveaway Coming Soon!

Right now I am in the process of getting everything together for a gardening giveaway, which I hope will be ready to go in the next week or so. Stay tuned!

Recipe for Herbal Vinegar Hair Rinse

Lady Lilith  by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

This is a herbal vinegar hair rinse that I like to use a few times a week after shampooing my hair. After shampooing I apply the rinse on my scalp and throughout my hair and let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing and applying conditioner to the bottom half of my hair. I find it makes it soft and shiny.

Herbal Vinegar Hair Rinse

To start, make a herbal tea with a handful of the following:

Peppermint

Garden Sage

Lavender buds

Chamomile flowers

Birch bark

Lemon Balm

Comfrey root

Raspberry leaf

Steep in boiled water for about an hour. Once cooled, strain herbal debris and add 9 drops {or to person preference} of each:

Patchouli essential oil

Bergamot essential oil

Lavender essential oil

The combine 4 parts tea to 1 part white or cider vinegar. Store in a clean glass bottle or jar {I use a mason jar with a plastic lid} and store in the fridge for up to 3 months. 

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Sláinte!

Laurel