End of Season Savings

I like to shop seasonal sales, and as many of you know it's a great time to save lots of money on items. As a new season approaches, companies need to get rid of excess inventory to make way for new items. Wind and Weather's Spring Sale is now in process. You can save up to 60% on items for the home and garden, as well as some neat weather gadgets. Here are a few items I found interesting (Atomic Alarm Clock, Solar Finial Light, Salt Rock Lamp, Crane & Turtle Sculpture), but there is 63 more items to choose from - all at great prices.





While you're looking around, check out their stained glass panels. They're not on sale, but they are beautiful to look at.

Visit Garden Bargains Online for some of the latest "bargains" from some of the most highly rated nurseries on Garden Watchdog.

More Free Shipping Offers!

Blooming Bulb has added "FREE SHIPPING" for a limited time on orders for shrubs and trees - 50 plus varieties to choose from.

Garden Store-N-More offers "FREE SHIPPING" for a limited time with an order of $10 or more.

Onalee's Seeds offers "FREE SHIPPING & HANDLING" on anything shipped within the USA.

Visit Garden Bargains Online to view all coupons, discounts & special offers.

A Gem of a Gazing Ball

Nancy S. from Pennsylvania sent me this photo of a gazing ball she made for her garden. She purchased inexpensive flat-sided glass gems from Wal-Mart and used liquid nails to glue them to an old bowling ball she had stored in her attic. She's got two more old bowling balls that she plans to continue experimenting with. This could be a really cheap & fun project if you've got both the bowling ball and a bag of old marbles stored away.

Thanks, Nancy for this terrific idea. If you've created "garden art" from recycled items you have at home, please leave a comment and share it with the rest of us. If you have a blog, you can post a photo and then leave a comment so we can see it. If you don't have a blog, send me a photo and I'll post it here. Thanks.

Clever Ways to Start Seeds

Row planters are a real clever way to start seedlings for peas, lettuce, spinach and others and transplant them into the garden without causing damage to tender roots. What a great idea for getting a jump on spring planting. A set of 2 reusable row planters are now on sale at Gardener’s Supply Co. for $12.98 (almost $7 off the original price).

Another clever seed-starting product is eco-friendly Cowpots (a set of 12 4-inch pots are $11.95). These biodegradable pots are made from composted manure which is mixed with natural fibers and pressed into pots. You simply bury the seedling and pot right into the ground, and as the pot breakdown it provides a little natural fertilizer to the plant. Hats off to Matt and Ben Freund for coming up with an innovative use for cow manure. They win the “reduce, reuse and recycle” honor for the month of February.

You can save even more with Gardener's Supply Co.'s "free shipping" on orders of $55 from now until 3/31/08.

I personally like pots that you can plant directly into the ground, especially for cucumbers. Leave a comment, and share (with all of us) your favorite seed-starting products.

My Patience Paid Off!

After completing our new home last April, I waited for the winter close-out sales hoping to find a fireplace screen at a bargain price. I searched locally but could not find anything I really liked, so I checked out a couple of online sites and found a bargain at Plow & Hearth’s Outlet Sale. The screen is really beautiful (see photo) and very well made. And the best part was that I saved $50 dollars off the regular price. I later ordered a wall fountain from Plow & Hearth and was very satisfied with both items, as well as their customer service. I love to find a bargain, and I always seem to enjoy these “money saving” items in my home the most!

Leave us a comment, and share (with all of us) your latest home décor bargain.

Good Advice Doesn't Have to be Expensive

I’ve come across a couple of blogs that dispense some interesting advice for free! The Urban Vegan is for all gardener’s who grow their own vegetables and fruits. This Philadelphia vegan shares great recipes and money-saving kitchen tips (see January 22nd post). The Ideal Bite is another blog that dispenses “bite-sized” ideas for light green living. For all of you who want to make small changes that help the environment, you can sign up to receive helpful ideas via e-mail.

Speaking of “green,” I just received the set of organic cotton sheets I ordered from Gaiam‘s Outlet Sale, and am very pleased with them. They are very soft and have a beautiful sateen sheen to them. The most impressive thing was that when I finished unpacking them the only thing I had to throw away (recycled) were two pieces of thin cardboard. The sheets were packed in an adorable little cotton fabric case. It looks just like a miniature pillow case. My daughter promptly put one of them on her head, and said “look at me, I’m a chef.” I’m going to put a pillow form in the other one and use it for a travel pillow in the car, and I used the one from the pillowcase to store silver items in. It was so nice not to have to toss out a bunch of plastic.