Frugal Homemaking for March

Spring has officially arrived! Wait… it’s here somewhere, right?

March in the Pacific NW is such a crazy mix of sun, snow, hail, rain, wind, ice, cats, dogs. You name it. It’s hard to know if we should be dusting off our garden tools or building boats.

I can’t help it, though. I always get excited when the first green plants push up through the soil. Daffodils! Spring! Never mind that those same daffodils were bent over double under the weight of snow one week later. Hey, I’ll take any spring I can get.

:: Germinating and Planting Seeds

If mucking around in your mud pit garden doesn’t sound appealing right now, consider starting some seeds indoors. You can purchase cardboard seed trays at any home & garden store. You can also repurpose toilet paper rolls or egg cartons. I even have a friend who is collecting plastic milk cartons to use as mini greenhouses for starting her seeds.

Or… check out this cool little tool called a Pot Maker. By wrapping, tucking, and pressing newspaper strips on the form, it creates sturdy little individual seed pots that can be planted directly into the ground when ready.

Here are a few spring gardening posts to help you get started:

• The Spring Garden: Easy, indoor kids activity
• The Spring Garden: Journal & germinate
• The Spring Garden: Planting lists

Check out these additional resources:

• Sunset.com Garden — A great resource for planting guides, climate zones, and gardent ideas, including What to Do in Your Garden in April
• Portland Nursery Classes — Attend a free class on a wide variety of topics. These are well done and taught by local experts. I’d highly recommend them if you live in the Portland metro area!
• Drake’s 7 Dees Classes & Clinics — Another list of local classes. I’ve never attended these, but free is a very good price.
• Chiot’s Run — This blog chronicles an organic garden grown in a different climate/zone, but it’s well written and  packed with great information and beautiful photographs. Their Blogroll also has tons of helpful links.
• An Oregon Cottage — Local blog with organic gardening, homemaking, and frugal living ideas.

:: Shopping Thrift Stores

I used to love scouring secondhand stores for good deals. After a few years of it, though, I realized that most of my purchases eventually found their way back in the garage sale pile or Goodwill bag.

I read this quote by William Morris a few months ago, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” That’s it. This perfectly describes my goal for my home. With this in mind, my husband and I have been getting back into thrifting lately, especially on rainy Saturday mornings. Cheap fun for the whole family!

Now, as I’m poking around secondhand stores, I never put an item in my cart unless I can answer the useful or beautiful question. Regardless of what great shape they are in, I don’t need another Bundt pan or bookshelf. A sweet pair of purple Keens for $3.49? Now that’s a different story. (And yes, at 3-years old my daughter is already rocking that trademark NW socks-and-sandals look.)

And finally, three of my favorite blogs on this topic:

• The Non-Consumer Advocate
• Life as a Thrifter
• Centsational Girl

 Leave a comment! What’s going on in your home this month? Any good thrifting finds or gardening tips to share with the rest of us?

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