Right now I am finishing up the main chores I have left until our summer is in full swing. Our days are already in the 80's and 90's but we are still cooling off at night (and when it rains) so it's not officially summer weather for us. I have to hurry to get everything … Continue reading Pre-summer Checklist
Cardboard and paper trash is a gardener's treasure! This is a Hugelkulter/Keyhole cross, garden bed. I have grown in beds of this design for close to 10 years and I love them! I can grow an endless amount of things in these beds. This is a banana in the background and okra up front. Overwintered … Continue reading Building The Perfect Raised Beds
Both of my grandmother's had cast iron collections. These were things they either purchased in Kansas or are my family's heirlooms. My family on a road trip to Washington DC. My granny on my mom's side married a jerk, (to say it mildly) after my grandpa died. He made her get rid of her antiques, … Continue reading How I Restored My Antique Iron: Two Methods
This Easter we went to our family's low country shrimp boil in San Antonio. I love the food every year! This year though, was a bit different. I discovered last year that I can't eat wheat. I've developed an allergy to it, and it's pretty serious. I'm not gluten intolerant, either. I can eat other … Continue reading Best Damn Rainbow Fruit Skewers And Dip Out There!
Black pearl oyster mushrooms from field and forest. I was perusing some of my favorite nursery catalogs this winter and saw mushroom spawn. I have wanted to try growing my own mushrooms for years but never got around to doing it. This year I decided was different. I looked around online for a company that … Continue reading Growing Your Own Mushrooms.
It's spring in south Texas! It has been unusually cold. The last two nights froze and we've had many nights like that since our first freeze of the season. This is really unusual. In zone 8b we usually have nice weather peppered with freezes. Not this year, though. Spring has sprung down here! Usually I … Continue reading Garden Planning
I have a confession: I am a messy gardener. I have been gardening for decades and I have been collecting seeds all along my journey. I have attempted to organize before. But invariably, half way through the season my carefully cataloged seed packets are a big honking mess. I have tried different ways to organize … Continue reading Conquering Seed Packet Clutter
My totals from 2021 back to when I started. I have been writing my blog crazygreenthumbs.com for 9 years now. I have had some great experiences with it, and at this point, in January 2022, I'm at a total of approximately 268,000 views. I have been published in a monthly magazine, I have an e-book … Continue reading How to Write A Successful Blog
I have been growing bananas for several years now. Mainly, I grow Gros Michel which is a full sized, fruiting, antique banana. The first few winters: I brought them into my front entry that could accommodate the 12+ foot bananas and kept them in pots with grow lights on them. They didn't like it. They … Continue reading Putting Bananas To Bed For Zone 8b Winter
Elderberry syrup (also called sambucus) is a fantastic home remedy for colds! The syrup is really tasty (if it's done right) but it's very expensive. The brand we have at the moment. We have a middle schooler and an elementary school student in our home. They both had their tonsils out last year because we … Continue reading Are You Interested In Growing Elderberries?
A bag of cranberries and an orange. This recipe is from my mother in law. All of my husband's family loves it and everyone I've introduced it to loves it as well (including my mother, who abandoned her version of cranberry salad for this recipe. It's that good!) Quarter a whole orange (include the rind … Continue reading The Very Best Cranberry Salad
I love getting down to Paleolithic level ingredients. The more whole foods, and the fewer the ingredients: the better. So when I heard about a very basic, flour-free: egg, nut and seed based bread: I wanted to try it! Sliced after baking It just looks delicious, and it didn't disappoint! I wondered what the texture … Continue reading Stone Age Bread
I made my original dead body bag about 4 or 5 years ago and I've learned some things about how to make these after having to repair it a few times. Like most of my projects: this is simple but impressive. I've seen some bodies in our neighborhood and online instructions (using plastic containers) and … Continue reading How To Make A Bagged Dead Body For Halloween
I'm always working on our Halloween display. This year I decided I needed jellyfish! I love spooky stuff but the creepy, gory, sicko type stuff just doesn't light my fire. However, glowing awesome jellyfish sounded way too cool to pass up! I got this idea several months ago and ordered what I needed in September. … Continue reading Glowing Jellyfish: Outdoor Halloween
I had two main projects I wanted to accomplish this Halloween. One project was my Silver Faceless Aliens and the second was some posts with masks, or: Haunted Heads! I decided to do these after I saw a pin. But unfortunately, no matter which pin I opened I couldn't find the instructions to make these. … Continue reading Haunted Heads
It's Halloween time again! I'm trying something new this year! Silver Faceless Aliens! They are human height and shape and creep everyone out! I instantly had the idea after looking at this mask. So much fun! Like all of my projects: it's super cheap and has a big impact. I'm making four. Here are the … Continue reading Silver Faceless Aliens
I love making Halloween decorations, but I think they should be nearly free. Most of the things in our yard are homemade (with the exception of a couple of blow up displays and some skeletons.) I need my display to make a big impact (because we are trying to get people to walk down a … Continue reading Witch Circle/Ghost ring
I saw this and I had to make one! All of my Halloween decorations are cheap, but some require a little planning. If you want to make this you will need to find the pieces and order them so that this is done before Halloween! First order of business is acquiring the parts. I've included … Continue reading Cousin It… Oh Yeah!
Here we go! It's Halloween time on my blog again! I hope you enjoy the tutorials over the next few weeks! I love making Halloween decorations! I also love to make CHEAP decorations. I don't think I can find a good reason to buy a lot of what I see in the stores. I am … Continue reading Milk Jug Spider
The things I grow in summer are things that I don't have to baby. Today our "feel like" temperature was 103 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not interested in doing manual labor in that sort of heat (Although, I did. I was out in that heat for about an hour and a half yesterday weeding and pulling … Continue reading Low Maintenance, Highly Productive, Annual, Summer Vegetables.
Crazy Green Thumbs 