Some Curb Appeal

When we bought our house back in November, we had no idea if there were any perennial flowers or anything that would bloom up come spring.  Now that it is spring, we haven’t had any flowers pop up, so we decided to spruce it all up!

Our house has these yue bushes in the front that are a very typical bush for the neighborhood.  We were considering taking them all out, but decided against that for time and effort reasons.  We decided that for this year, we would go very simple and plant some flowers, add some mulch and lights!

It is so funny how something as simple as mulch could improve the appearance of our house!  For the flowers, we went with a simple red geranium, and then some solar powered lights, all of which were from the Home Depot. 

I really enjoy the way it looks! I think down the road we will pull out the bushes and add something a little bit more modern, and then add some more colored flowers for some interest. 

We are definitely making some progress, and it’s starting to feel a lot more like home!

Compost Bin

I’ve always thought that starting a compost bin would be a nice way to reduce the amount of garbage we throw away, and benefit the earth a little bit! Looking at our yard in it’s current condition was enough to make me decide composting was something I needed to do!  There is a lot of yard work to be done in the next few months, so it was the perfect time to start the healthy fertilization process!

The first step that I took was to buy a compost bin.  I chose to buy a Rubbermaid tote bin in a neutral color that would blend into our surroundings. 

I then drilled a few holes on the bottom and top of the bin to promote aeration.

I did some research and found that its best to put leaves or newspapers in the bottom of the bin, and since I didn’t have any leaves, newspaper it is!

I then filled the bin about halfway with dirt and then added some food scraps (orange peels, coffee grounds, melon, strawberry tops, etc.)

I then mixed the dirt around a bit so the scraps were covered, and sprayed it with some water (moist, not soaked).

I also read that it’s best to keep the compost bin in a shady area so that there is no smell.  All of the articles that I read stated that the compost bin should never smell if you properly aerate it, and keep the soil moist but not soaked, and most importantly-out of the sun! I placed the bin under our back stairs next to our recycling bin so that it is easy to throw stuff in and keep it going well!

This was such an easy project to throw together, and it was so affordable! I was able to set the whole thing up for under $10! I hope that this compost bin works out and that I am able to use it when planting and fertilizing our yard!