A Bath for the Birdies

For the last few weeks I've been searching high and low for items to make a bird bath with, for my bay-Friendly Garden. The coalition members are coming this Sunday and I want it to be set up and functional before they get here!

We went to Urban Ore to try to find materials to make a bird bath and ended up having a miserable experience. I looked at new bird baths online, not finding one I liked for under $250.

I decided to go to TJ Maxx, to see if I couldn't find a really awesome bowl to use for the bath. Ladies and Gentlemen, I found exactly what I was looking for, at the low price of $7.99. It's a thick glass bowl with metal paint on the bottom:


I ordered a bird bath stand online for $19 buckaroos:

And collected some cool stones from around the neighborhood (so the birdies don't slip):

And we have ourselves a bird bath!

The metal paint on the bottom reflects sun rays and keeps the water at a nice temperature for the birdies, somewhere around room temperature.

The best part? I did this all for under $30. Much better than $250, and I got exactly what I wanted.

We're Growing!!

I'm pretty enamoured with my garden. I love seeing hard work pay off. In the raised bed we have a lot going on! Below, we have cilantro, spinach, arugula, butter lettuce, Italian parsley, zucchini, basil, and jalapeno.


My Bay Friendly garden is coming along as well. I am so proud of it. I have only drought-resistant plants and California natives. Below, we have Lupin, Nemesia, Monkey Flower, Heuchera, Australian tea tree and Beard Tongue. I also sprinkled California Golden Poppy seed around, we'll see if it grows. I can't wait for the plants to get bigger. Next, I'm going to dig a small trench and put in a brick border. I am so excited for my garden!

How Does Your Garden Grow??

One of my favorite hobbies is gardening. I love to garden. When I moved in with Jory, I left behind a 300 sq. foot garden that took many, many hours of labor to perfect. When we moved into our new home I was very pregnant and couldn't wait until I would be able to garden again.

And now, I'm gardening again!

I knew I wanted to build another raised plant bed again, but I didn't want to buy redwood. Redwood is rot resistant, making it perfect for plant beds, but you never know if it's old growth or not when you buy it from somewhere like Home Depot. Thankfully, I was able to find this redwood from an old deck. It was going to be thrown away and I was able to recycle it. It made me feel good to use reclaimed wood, especially if it is precious redwood.


I made a design and started building.

My cheerleaders:

Lots and lots o' dirt:

Once the bed was complete, it needed to be placed. The corner posts protrude 6 inches from the bottom and go into the ground to stabilize the bed. Once it was placed, I filled it with dirt.

Oh, precious dirt:

My plant bed was complete. It is to be filled with organic veggies and herbs. But where would my flowers go? I would have to tear up some grass and make a flower area.

I tore up the grass and filled it in with mulch, which holds moisture and in turn saves water. The first plants in the flower bed are gardenia and Australian tea tree. Eventually I will fill it in with native California plants and other perennials.

In the raised bed I am germinating arugula, broccoli, spinach and California golden poppies (which will go in the flower bed). I also have a sweet basil and jalapeno plant, which will be planted tomorrow:

To help keep my organic garden pest free, I lined the raised bed with copper tape, which repels snails and slugs.

And that concludes the first chapter of my gardening saga. I am hoping to complete my checklist of Bay Friendly gardening criteria and get my Bay Friendly Garden plaque from the Bay Friendly coalition. Next, I'll be looking for a bird bath. Anyone have one they're tossing???