FERTILE GROUND

Meet Monday. Our "How To" day. We're the first to admit that we have a lot to learn about being green. In fact, we'd probably score a dim, light green on a shade spectrum. So we start with gardening: (everybody else's) favorite summer past-time . Suz displays and uses a basil plant in her kitchen window and Sarah has... a nice yard.

We're good students, though, so we researched and found our favorite gardening trick, which requires little effort and doesn’t cost any extra green. Turns out two of our most used and enjoyed kitchen castoffs — eggshells and coffee grinds — are stacked with soil-enriching nutrients.

Eggshells are brimming with calcium that stimulates plant growth. As plants mature, they drink calcium from the soil, and they need replenishment to stay healthy and happy.

Meanwhile, coffee grinds contain nitrogen and other minerals with similar plant-boosting effects, especially for varieties like roses, azaleas, and tomatoes.

To get your eggshells garden-ready, give them a rinse, crush by hand, and mix them into your soil or scatter them around the base of your plants. You can also use eggshells in lieu of stones at the bottom of a flowerpot to help with aeration and drainage.

We've heard mixed things about the coffee grinds: one resource suggests drying them out in the oven to avoid growing mold, though we also read that you can sprinkle the used grinds in your flower beds before watering to give them a slow-release nitrogen fix.

Gardening is only for dark green thumb goddesses? Quite contrary. Seems like we'll be able to turn over a new back yard in no time. Apparently all we need is a good breakfast.

Go on. Feed your garden!
xx S + S

Sources: mamashealth.com and sustainableenterprises.com

Comment below if you have any gardening tips to share with us! We can use all the help we can get.