Paper-Back Planters: Recycling Books to Pot Indoor Plants | Designs &Ideas on Dornob Have books finally met their match with the Apple iPad, or is it just another fad like the Amazon Kindle? Readers may find some poetry in these volumes regardless of whether they are willing to give up their favorite paperback companions: potted plants put into scooped-out sections of beautiful old hardback books. Gardenkultur (via Inhabitat) makes a simple recycling project out of even the most complex novels, but carving into the heart of a book, sealing off the resulting space and putting seeds of little trees or other plant life into the curved void. But if a picture is said to be worth one thousand, at how many words do we value a wee plant? Hopefully these books were beyond repair and those ripe only for reuse.
Drift Seeds and Drift Fruits Imagine yourself floating helplessly on the open sea, thousands of miles from land, your destination at the mercy of the wind and currents. Perhaps eventually you may drift ashore on the coral sand beaches of a remote tropical island or distant continent. This is precisely what happens to countless thousands of tropical drift seeds and fruits, a remarkable flotilla of flowering plants that travel the oceans of the world. Seeds provide the vital genetic link and primary dispersal agent between successive generations of plants. The tropical islands of Indonesia, Polynesia and the Caribbean probably have the greatest variety of drift seeds. Charles Darwin & Ocean Dispersal Of Seeds Plant dispersal by ocean currents has fascinated many famous explorers, including Charles Darwin and Thor Heyerdahl. During his famous voyage around the world on the H.M.S. After he returned to England, Darwin conducted flotation experiments with cultivated plants. The Hawaiian Silver Sword Nickernuts The Coconut
Western Montana Mycological Association Make Canning Jars Look Vintage Blue I bought these probably five years ago at an antique/consignment store. I think I paid about 12 dollars for a set of four. Now you can expect to pay at least that for just one. Last night I was cruising around the internet and happened upon a link to a tutorial using mod podge and food coloring to make your own. This afternoon I decided to play around with some mod-podge and food coloring myself. Just pour some mod podge into one of your jars. Add a few drops of water to thin down just a bit. You want to get as much of the mod podge mixture out of the jar as possible so you don't have a big glob of dried gunk in the bottom of your lovely jar. This is how it will look wet. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere about heat setting paint on glassware by baking it at a low temp, so I set my oven on the lowest setting it would allow, 150 degrees and popped them in. I took this after they had cooked for about 20 minutes. And for the finished product, drum roll please..... Not too shabby, eh?
Online Books : "Golden Guide Hallucinogenic Plants" - pg 1-10 HALLUCINOGENIC PLANTSby RICHARD EVANS SHULTES Illustrated by ELMER W. SMITH. GOLDEN PRESS - NEW YORK 1976 Western Publishing Company, Inc. .Scanning and html by loplop, Aug '99 Maintained by Erowid.org FOREWORD Hallucinogenic plants have been used by man for thousands of years, probably since he began gathering plants for food. CONTENTS.Contents...1-10...11-20...21-30...31-40...41-50...51-60...61-70...71-80...81-9091-100...101-110...111-120...121-130...131-140...141-150...151-156...Index What Are Hallucinogenic Plants? Hallucinogenic plants have been featured on many postage stamps: (1, 6) Amanita muscaria, (2) fruit of Peganum harmala, (3) Atropa belladonna, (4) Pancratium trianthum, (5) Rivea corymbosa, (7) Datura stramonium, (8) Datura candida, (9) Hyoscyamus niger. WHAT ARE HALLUCINOGENIC PLANTS? Paramount among the hallucinogens of religious significance is the peyote cactus. HALLUCINOGENS IN PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES Contents Next
Sonoma County Mycological Association | Mushroom Dyes and Paper SOMA's own Miriam C. Rice originally discovered in the 1970s that fungi could be used both for natural dyes and as substrate for making paper. These fungal art forms have now spread worldwide from their origins in nearby Mendocino County, and led to the creation of the International Mushroom Dye Institute. SOMA members Dorothy Beebee and Catherine Wesley now teach classes in dyes and papermaking at fungus fairs, SOMA Camp, and mushroom workshops. Yarn dyed from Phaeolus schweinitzii. Photo © Marlene Nordstrom. Phaeolus schweinitzii. Mushroom dyes In the 1970s, Miriam discovered mushrooms contained pigments that could be used for natural dyes. The dye color obtained depends on both the species and the mordants used for fixing the dye. dyer's puffball (Pisolithus tinctorius) Paxillus atrotomentosus Phaeolus schweinitzii Mordants are metallic salts commonly used by natural dyers to aid in the setting of a dye on fiber to make it lightfast and colorfast. Samples of paper made from mushrooms.
Felting Project: A Rug! This is the most beautiful felt project we’ve seen. Strips of felt are wrapped around each other with hot glue to create this amazing swirled effect. What a great project for a snowed-in weekend and a movie marathon with the family. Keep reading to see more pictures and find out where to find more details about this beautiful felt project! You can see all the instructions and details here on The Crafts Dept blog A few other fun pictures of the process: Images: Martha’s Crafts Department Blog Other post of mine you might like: The Best Thing to Happen to Your Baby’s Feet This Winter! Zara Kids Winter Collection Snow Bricks!
Leaf Skeletons I wanted to share with you a project from one of my readers who shares with us how to make leaf skeletons. I LOVE this! I have several leafs in various forms displayed in my home and knew I needed to make some of her leaf skeletons to add to my decor. I have spent hours and tried various ways of making these. You need washing soda, not baking soda! Gather your leaves. Washing soda is a strong base so you may want to wear gloves when handling the leaves. You will add 3/4 cup of washing soda and 4 cups of water to your pot of leaves. Keep going, you will need to add more water so your pan doesn’t dry out. When 1.75 hours are up fill a glass baking dish with cool water. I carefully removed them and rinsed with water and added clean water to the pan. If you’re still with me, this is what I ended up with… I have a maple leaf which turned out not so well. 37.1Kstumbleupon
Survival Gardening: Part 2 Survival Cache The answer to everyone’s question is “No”, we are not too late to get started on our Survival Garden for this year, not for most of the population living in the United States and Canada. It keeps snowing on me here in Utah, so I’m still waiting. This is the 2nd post in a series on Survival Gardening Read Part 1: Survival Gardening I just moved into a new place and so I haven’t been able to do my fall preparation like I normally would, but that’s just the way it is sometimes, so don’t sweat the small stuff. Many times people are frustrated because they hear the radio shows, read the books, view the Emergency Foodvideos, and find their situation doesn’t match up to what they are hearing from the experts. So with that aside, you can start your garden with me, and we’ll do the best we can, and we WILL have a nice garden. OK, so now you have a few choices of crops now let’s look at the space that is available to you. Read the rest of the article May 2, 2011
Survival Garden: Part 1 Growing A Survival Garden May Soon Become A Necessity! Have you considered that... survival gardening may soon be a true matter of survival and not just a choice? With the rapid decline of our financial system and food supply, grocery store produce and other products, may soon be at a crisis level shortage like we have never seen. At that point, gardening would no longer be a "choice" for a more self sufficient lifestyle, it would be a matter of survival for everyone! With the costs of living rising all the time, you can see the practical benefits of growing your own garden... you can save money, increase your family's health, and become more self sufficient all at the same time by growing vegetables in your backyard. Take advantage of whatever garden space you have, even if your garden may not provide all the food that you need, it will have a dramatic effect in reducing your food bill. Consider some of the benefits of growing your own garden... 1. Small Garden Space Larger Garden Space
Finger Lime - Happy Earth Microcitrus australasicaMYRTACEAE Growth Habit: The finger lime is a thorny deciduous shrub/small tree native to rainforests of south east Queensland and northern New South Wales. It grows slowly to a maximum height of around five to six metres. Foliage/Flowers: Green oval leaves of 1-3cm long grow on spindly looking, thorny branches. Small fragrant, white flowers typical of the citrus family appear in autumn. Fruit: The small fruits are cylindrical and finger like, growing up to 12cm long. Adaptation : Finger limes are hardy plants that grow naturally in heavy shade in areas of high rainfall and at the forest edges where there is more sunlight. Soils : Grows best in fertile, well-composted soil. Irrigation : Fruit will be best if the shrub is given frequent irrigation when the weather is warm, and kept on the dry side when it's cold. Pruning : Pruning is not necessary, though some of the lower branches may need to be removed to prevent fruit making contact with the ground.
Micro Forest Garden – installation Following on from designing a microforest garden recently, it was time to realise the design! Harris led the charge, helped by forest garden interns Minoru and Kelly, as well as all the students of the forest garden design course. This micro forest garden was to be established on a very compacted piece of ground that had formerly been a road. Yikes. As with many plantings on this crazy patch of land of ours (read: everywhere except the creekflat), it was time to get out the crowbar to dig the holes… but it all turned out splendidly! Conceptual group design for the microforest garden, done during the course by students The final design. The site, shortly after it ceased being a road in Spring 2011… A year later, during the microforest garden install… Paths and beds in, it’s time for the plantathon The particular parameters of this site include that, in a heavy rain event, there is a large amount of surface runoff due to the compaction uphill. But who knows what the future will bring.
Micro Aquaponics Plans Aquaponics is becoming more and more popular and many people want to build their own system. Aquaponics integrates fish, plants and microbes into a sustainable and ecologically balanced food production system. This project will show you how to build your very own system using commonly available components from IKEA and your local hardware store. Anyone can set up their own system in an afternoon and start experiencing the pleasure of building their own little ecosystem! This is a basic set-up so please do make sure that you follow up with learning how to manage your new system and to look after the fish, the plants and the bacteria. Japan Aquaponics offers a growing amount of informational guides for anyone who is interested in aquaponics. Japan Aquaponics is a social enterprise set up to develop aquaponics, and particularly to promote its use in Tohoku - one of the areas worst affected by the earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan in March of 2011. Step 1 Notes: Continued on Page 2