Roses do too! You can use banana peels as fertilizer in your garden. Either mash them up and mix them in with the soil around rose bushes, or add them to your compost bin. You can also cut them into strips and freeze them so you can pull them out individually and use them as needed. You’ll find more information on this website.

Don’t forget about using egg shells as fertilizer. All you need are egg shells and a blender. Save your egg shells and allow them to air dry. Place the dried shells in the blender and pulse until they’re finely-ground powder. Sprinkle the powder in your garden in place of lime. Enjoy the benefits of saving money on fertilizer and having happier plants!

Posted by:Beth Urban-Purtell

Every year I take a new series of advanced education classes designed to fine tune my skill set, and to provide relevant, helpful information to my clients. This year I’m working on my EcoGreen Certification.

I’ve found the classes to be particularly interesting and thought provoking. While much of the information presented is a bit too far “off the grid” for practical application for me and for most of my clients, it’s made me more aware of simple things I can do that are environmentally prudent.

I love to garden. There’s just about nothing better than making a salad from your own lettuces, enjoying a batch of Swiss chard, tasting a “real” tomato, or filling a room with the scent of roses. I also love coffee. What does that have to do with gardening?

Take your discarded coffee grounds, and place them around your roses, or in your vegetable garden as a fertilizer. You can also add them to your compost bin. Visit this website for more ideas and information.

Posted By: Beth Urban-Purtell

When people ask me what makes a home “green” I have to pause. It isn’t because the question is difficult; it is because I want to make sure what they are asking. There are many things that can contribute to a home’s green characteristics, but there is no one definition of a “green” home. There are things that you can do to make a home the most environmentally sensitive possible and that is typically what people mean by “green.”

Most experts agree that the most environmentally friendly thing you can do with your living space is to keep it small. In recent years the trend has been bigger is better. People bought bigger and bigger homes or added on whenever they remodeled, believing they needed more space to function properly as a family or to accommodate a home office. With the green movement people are starting to realize that utilizing existing space is the most effective way to be green. That can mean creating a home office from an underutilized corner of a room or opening walls to enlarge living areas.

Reusing existing materials whenever possible is also green. So for example, instead of ripping out the kitchen cabinets and replacing them with sustainable products, it is almost always more environmentally friendly to use the existing cabinets and refinish or paint with eco friendly materials. Other things that make a home green are energy efficient appliances, LED or compact florescent bulbs, gas dryers, clothes lines, drought resistant landscaping, gas or solar powered water heaters, passive solar design with trees, shade and winter sun, dual pane windows, efficient heaters and radiant heat.

What does this mean? One doesn’t need to build a home from scratch to make it green. Taking your existing home and making it smarter ecologically speaking is sometimes the best option both for your pocketbook and for the environment.

For more information on green homes feel free to contact me at jen@jenphillips.com or call 707-291-0975.

Posted By: Jen Phillips