Happy First Day of Spring! If you’re thinking of planting a vegetable garden this spring, you’re not alone. Michelle Obama is planting one at the White House this year. It is the first vegetable garden at the White House since World War II.

While the organic garden will provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, its most important role, Mrs. Obama said, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become a national concern.

Michelle Obama is growing 55 varieties of vegetables, including “red romaine, green oak leaf, butterhead, red leaf and galactic. There will be spinach, chard, collards and black kale. For desserts, there will be a patch of berries. And herbs will include some more unusual varieties, like anise hyssop and Thai basil.”

Oh and there will also be two beehives for honey.

Sounds fancy! But the total cost for the seeds, mulch, and soil of the White House garden? Only $200.

I’m digging these Rosette Headbands that are going for $30 on Etsy. Looks like they are circular pieces of felt that have been gathered slightly, appliquéd together, and then attached to an elastic band. I don’t think this would work with my hair, but it would look great with a short cut.

Here’s a free bag pattern from Made By Rae, just in time for spring. I like the shape of this purse a lot.

It uses a fat quarter of fabric, a little less for the lining, a magnetic snap, two buttons, and thread, of course. I bet you could make this bag for almost nothing, thanks to Rae’s free pattern. And remember, Mother’s Day is coming around the corner. (Via)

I want to start composting this year for my garden. Compost is supposed to be some of the best stuff you can put in your soil, and you make it out of organic waste that you would otherwise throw out–things like grass clippings and egg shells.

For awhile now I’ve wanted a tumbling compost bin so that I wouldn’t have to look at or smell the compost as it decomposed. Turning the bin aerates the organic matter so that you don’t get bacteria building up in the composter. Problem is, they are pretty expensive. I saw one the other day at Coscto for $100, which is the cheapest I’ve seen one go for. I almost bought the composter but it seemed rather small.

There are several plans online to make a tumbling composter. It looks pretty cheap and easy to make–certainly less than $100.

I liked these instructions, except it uses a bar of soap to to lubricate barrel, which seems strange to me.

Instructables has a good set of instructions too, but it looks a little small. I suppose you could adjust the project to fit a bigger barrel.

I’m going to have to think about this a little more…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In honor of this drinking holiday, I have picked out three green cocktails for you to sample if you’re not in the mood for beer:

The Grasshopper

This classic cocktail is minty and creamy and very green.

Ingredients:

1 oz Crème de menthe (green)
1 oz Crème de cacao (white)
1 oz Fresh cream

Directions:

In a shaker filled with ice cubes, combine the Crème de menthe, creme de cacao, and fresh cream. Shake well for about 6-8 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Emerald City Cocktail

I haven’t tried this one, but it looks good, if a little complicated.

Ingredients:

2/3 c sugar
1 oz fresh Thai basil leaves
2 oz gin
Juice of half a lime, plus 1 slice for garnish

Directions:

1. Make the Thai basil simple syrup: In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the sugar and two-thirds cup water to a boil. Remove from the heat. Add one cup of ice to the syrup and set aside to cool.

2. Place the Thai basil leaves in a small bowl. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, then remove from the heat and add the basil leaves. Strain the leaves from the water and add them to the simple syrup. In a blender, thoroughly purée the strained leaves with the simple syrup. The syrup will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days. Makes 1 cup.

3. Make the cocktail: In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the gin, Thai basil syrup and lime juice. Shake well. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a slice of fresh lime floating on top of the drink.

Herb Cocktail

That picture is a Cinantro Cooler, but it occurs to me that you can use one of several different herbs in this drink, like basil or mint or lemon verbena.

Ingredients:

Juice from 1/2 freshly squeezed lime
8 leaves of the herb of your choice
2 sugar cubes
1 1/2 ounces Martin Miller’s gin

Directions:

Muddle the lime juice, herb leaves and sugar cubes in a tall glass. Add ice. Pour in gin. Garnish with a sprig of the herb and a lime wedge.

I would add that you can pour a little club soda into this drink to make it even more refreshing…although a little less green.

A friend pointed me to these delicious-looking Chocolate, Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Guinness cakes with a chocolate ganache filling and Baileys frosting. Inspired after the Irish carbomb, my waistline is expanding just looking at them.

It’s mid-March. Next month, I will plant my vegetable garden. That means that right now I’m starting some seedlings inside the house, thinking about what I want to plant, and preparing my soil.

Here’s how I prepare soil for a brand-new vegetable plot. Keep in mind that I am not a gardening expert. In fact, every year there some new gardening problem that completely flummoxes me. However, I do yield a big harvest every year, so I must be doing something right.

Okay, so here’s how I prepare soil for a vegetable garden:

1. Pick a spot for the garden. One word: sunlight. The vast majority of food-producing plants like sunlight almost all day long, so it’s essential that your garden spot gets full sun. It should also be within reach of a water hose, since water is another essential part of a garden.

2. Observe the spot. Notice how the sun travels over the spot so that you can plan out where to put big plants. Take a shovel and dig a hole. Look at the soil. Is it compact and clay-like? Is it loose and rocky? Are there worms in it? How dark is the soil?

3. Determine the type of soil you have. Ideal soil is loamy, a combination of sand, silt, and clay. It holds together enough to make sure water gets to the roots, but it also drains water away so you don’t get water log. When you squeeze loamy dirt in your hand, it forms a soft crumbly ball. It should be dark, which indicates nutrients for the plants.

(Loamy soil)

If you don’t have perfect soil, don’t worry. Unless you are working in straight rocks or clay, you can fix it. It just means you have to add some components to the soil, to wit:

4. Get a soil testing kit. They sell these kits in all gardening stores. I started doing this recently and got great results. Soil testing kits let you know two things: the acidity of the soil and the nutrients in the soil. Knowing this information helps you prepare the ideal environment for your plants.

5. Test the acidity. This is not as complicated as it sounds. Most plants want a PH range between 6.3-6.8. If your soil is in that range, you’re golden. If it is not, you may have to add something to the soil to raise or lower the PH. Your local nursery can help you out with that.

6. Test for nutrients. Soil is broken down into three major nutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). They are always in that order, N-P-K. Last year, my soil had abundant amounts of phosphorus and potassium but low levels of nitrogen, so I added an organic fertilizer with a high amount of nitrogen into the soil. I also added a general fertilizer–cow manure to be exact. It is the cheapest fertilizer and works great, as far as I can tell. Most organic farmers I have talked to swear by chicken manure. Either way, stick to organic when you’re dealing with fertilizer since chemical fertilizers don’t work as well and are usually more expensive. Your nursery can help you with this.

7. Dig the soil. Ready for a work out? Because you’re going to get one. To dig, take your shovel and get it as deep in the ground as you can. I try to get about a foot down. Bring up the shovel of dirt and turn it over so that what was on the bottom was on the top. Repeat until you have done the entire garden plot. Doing this loosens and aerates the soil and is essential for healthy plants.

I usually dig the soil twice: once around now to loosen the soil and remove weeds and a second time about a week before I plant to add in fertilizer. That means I will dig once during this month and once next month. You can also use a rototiller to do the job for you, if you can get your hands on one.

Some people would think March is way too early to be doing some of this, and it is–if you live some place where the ground is still frozen. But I live in California and see no reason I can’t start gardening as soon as it’s not pouring rain. Besides, digging in March gives the weeds time to decompose in the soil and gives the soil to rest before its big job next month: making me some food.

Being the word nerd I am, I love this SAT vocabulary shower curtain. It’s one of several SAT curtains–there’s also an English grammar curtain and a math curtain–but the vocabulary one is the best, if you ask me. The SATs are years behind me (thank God), but I like the idea of a page from the dictionary decorating my shower.

Interestingly, they sell this curtain at Target for $20 and Urban Outfitters for $26. How does Urban Outfitters justify the extra $6, I wonder? I guess they are just cool and can do whatever they want.

I’m happy to report that the wild nectarine we transplanted is in bloom. I’m starting to see little pink flowers all over it. If this keeps up, we can expect to have some nectarines around here this year.

The other day I saw this wreath made out of wine corks in a wine shop. While I don’t like how this is executed, take away the fake grapes and flower and add a different decoration–maybe some miniature ornaments or an artfully woven ribbon–and this is not a bad way to use up wine corks, especially for the holidays.

I always want to save wine corks. They are very cool, for one thing. Also, they are usually associated with romantic situations. I always want to keep the ones from bottles we brought back from Europe or opened for anniversaries. I usually don’t, though, because I’m worried that if I make something with them, it will turn into a hideous monstrosity. I do not need a wine cork car or a wine cork wall, for example.

But there are some nice projects you can do with wine corks. Here are a few I liked:

1.

Wine Cork Trivet. Most sites have you making a wooden frame and then gluing the corks onto it. I prefer another method using old paper clips to connect the corks, but couldn’t find it online. Maybe I will make one and put it on here to demonstrate. In the meantime, here’s the frame method.

2.

Wine Lamp. This image was originally in Wine Enthusiast but seems to be gone now. This is a great idea for a lamp with a clear base. All you would have to do is open it and put the corks inside.

3.

Corkboard. Well, duh, who would have thought? Cork makes a great corkboard. Personally, I don’t use corkboards, but I think this is a good way to display corks and put them to practical use at the same time.

4.

Card Holders. It doesn’t get much simpler than this: Slice a groove in the cork and some off the bottom to flatten it and you have a cool business card holder or name placeholder for a party.

5.

As decorative mulch in potted plants. This is a great idea, especially out on a patio. All you do is throw the (hopefully cleaned) corks onto the plant and you have added a new design element to your garden.

Corks!