Every year when we plan our steamy-season summer vacation, we make a list of things that must be cared for in our absence. Take the dog to the kennel, contact the post office to stop our mail delivery, set a timer so the living room lights automatically go on and off, and ask the neighbor next door to water our plants. Yet every year when we return, our foxglove doesn’t look so foxy, our potted geraniums hang their red heads sadly, and our sweet basil looks more dried out and crusty than sweet. Drat!
Well, we recently discovered an easy way to insure that our plants are watered while we’re on vacation. No offense to our neighborhood kids, but we think that the Plant Nanny is a more sure-fire way to make sure our gardens are reliably watered in our absence!
Enjoy Peace of Mind with Plant Nanny Singles
All you need in order to use the Plant Nanny is a used plastic soda or water bottle. (So this is a cool way to recycle plastic, too.) The Plant Nanny consists of a special ceramic stake and a drip-free bottle adapter. All you have to do is place the ceramic stake in the soil, and overturn the filled plastic bottle, with the adapter attached, into the ceramic stake. As your soil dries out and becomes filled with air, the bottle releases just the right amount of water. Since the stake is in the soil, this is a super efficient way to water, wherein the water is delivered directly to the roots, allowing your plants to develop healthy, hardy roots.
Plant Nannies come in two different sizes to fit pretty much any need. Plant Nanny Singles are great for if you’re just going on an extended weekend trip, or if your container garden consists of smaller pots. The single size uses a plastic bottle up to one liter in size. For a longer vacation, or if you have a window box or larger pots, you should try the Plant Nanny Add-A-Bottles. These adapters can accommodate up to a 2 liter sized plastic bottle, so even if you’re gone for a week, your windowsill herb garden will still stay healthy and hydrated.
If you love the idea of recycling an old plastic bottle rather than letting it sit in a landfill, then you will love this second product that we just recently added to our gardens as well. We’ve recently begun using Petal Drops in our gardens, and we think they’re just adorable!
Price: $3.99
Buy Plant Nanny Singles Now!
Repurpose Rainwater in Style with Petal Drops
Petal Drops are just as simplistic and easy to use as the Plant Nanny. They are not only a useful
way to recycle plastic water and soda bottles, but also a handy way to re-purpose rain water. All you need to do is attach Petal Drops, which are cute little flower-shaped funnels, to the tops of emptty plastic bottles, then place them outdoors. The Petal Drops utilize the same concept as a rain barrel, but are much more space efficient. You can use Petal Drops even if you just have a small cement porch or iron balcony.
Recently, after a glorious, heavy July thunderstorm, we found that all five of the Petal Drops bottles we had placed throughout our backyard were filled with water. So what did we do? We took the bottles and overturned them into our Plant Nannies. We are thrilled- watering our plants has definitely never been so easy, or so earth friendly!
Price: $6.00
Buy Petal Drops Rainwater Catchers Now!
Appliances such as your coffee maker can continue to draw up to 25% off their electricity usage when they are switched off. To kill this extra energy consumption, make sure to unplug appliances when they are not in use. In the winter, this definitely goes for your space heater, as well as your electric tea kettle.
Try to keep your thermostat under 68 degrees. Each degree set below 68°F (20°C) during colder weather uses 3 to 5 percent less heating energy than each degree set above 68°F. How can you keep your house warm without cranking up the heat? Change out your breezy linen curtains for heavier draperies, and make sure to seal up all the cracks around your doors and windows. It will also help to make sure your attic is well insulated. Hot air rises, and cold air drops, so if the space above you isn’t well insulated, this cold is descending right down on you.
