tomatoes and peppers. We get a lot of questions about it on the blog - so we thought today we would explain it in detail, along with details at the end of the post on how to make your own.

A few years back, with the garden planted, and about 45 tomato plants growing quicker than we imagined - we knew we needed to give them support and fast! After suffering sticker shock at the prices of tomato cages and stakes in the store, we decided to see what we could come up with ourselves.

We had some left-over welded wire fencing from building the outdoor run for the chicken coop, along with wooden stakes we had used to stake out the area where the coop and barn would go. So - in desperate need to tie up some tomato plants that were falling over - we used wire cutters to quickly cut the fencing into small grid panels. Next, we attached them to the wooden stakes with fencing nails we had on hand - and the Stake-A-Cage was born.

After we put a few up - we started realizing that we had something! Not only did they go together easily - they looked great and had a lot of advantages over the commercial cages or old wooden stakes we had used in the past.

For starters, it combines the best of the two old ways used to tie up tomatoes; the strength of strong wooden stake with the ease of a wire trellis cage.

Although stakes are strong in the soil - it's always been hard to tie the vines to them as the plants grow larger throughout the season. And although cages provide a better support for the tomato plants - they become hard to pick through as the plants grow. Not to mention our cages always seemed grow right out of the ground and topple over as the season progressed.

Hence, the use of the Stake A Cage. The support of a 4' long wooden stake - attached to an open-faced wire mesh grid. Strong and durable and cheap! It combines the durability of staking tomatoes with the ease of a cage. Better yet, by keeping the wire grid flat and not making a true cage - you can tie your tomatoes easily to the grid - and when it comes time to pick - you won't have to reach through the cages to get to the goods. The fruit and vegetables are right in front of you - and easy to harvest.

We have used ours now for three seasons and they are still going strong - and you can make them yourself with little effort for about $2 a piece! That's a far cry from the $5 to $25 you can pay for cages, stakes and trellises found in the stores!

How To Make Them:

Materials Needed:

Wire Cutters, Hammer, A Chop Saw or Jig Saw

2x2 Lumber For Stakes

Fencing Nails (Sometimes referred to as U - Nails)

30" High Welded Wire Galvanized Fence with 2" x 4" Mesh Grid (You can buy a 25' roll which makes enough for about 16 cages for tomatoes, or 25 for peppers)

The Stakes:

There are a couple of options to make or buy your stakes. If you are starting from scratch, the easiest option is to buy inexpensive 2x2x8 framing lumber at your local home improvement / lumber store (usually for around$1.25. each) If you buy them in the standard 8' pieces, you can simply cut in half to make 2 from each board.

After using up the grade stakes we had on hand, we made the remainder of our stakes from scrap 2x4's and 2x6's. Running them through the table saw lengthwise to make 2x2's and then cutting them into 4 foot pieces.

To make a sharp point on the stakes - we then used a chop saw (jig saw works great too) to cut angled points into the end of one side. If you angle all four sides - it makes for a sharper point to drive into the ground.

***One extra note here: Since we use these in the garden and around our plants - we have always used regular, untreated lumber. Yes, it's true that it will not last as long as treated lumber - but if you store them each winter - you should be able to use them for a good 5 years. When they do start to go bad - you can simply remove the metal grid, and put on a new stake for the next 5 years! The wire mesh is galvanized, so it will not rust and can be re-used over and over.

Once you have your stakes ready - the rest is a piece of cake! Roll out the galvanized welded wire roll, and using wire cutters - just snip off 18" wide sections for tomatoes, or 12" sections if you will be using them for peppers.

Center the wire grid on the stake with the bottom of the wire about 16" from the bottom of the stake. (This is to allow the stake to be driven in to that depth) Then nail in 3 fencing nails, securing the wire to the stake. You have your very own Stake-A-Cage!

- Jim and Mary

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Microwave safe bowl ( I used a large glass measuring cup)

Sponge

Paper towels

1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar

1 cup of water

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Lemon or On Guard Essential Oil for this recipe.

You can purchase Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils at doterra.com/mjenningsdesigns

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 bar of shaved soap½ cup of borax½ cup of washing soda3 drops of essential oil (lemon, melaleuca, on guard)

Instructions:

If you are using warm or hot water just add 1 – 2 TBSP of powder to the washer.If using cold water dissolve 1 – 2 TBSP of powder in hot water to be sure it distributes through the clothing properly.

year after year by following a simple and organic three prong approach. We use compost (composting 101) and cover crops (planting cover crops) for building great soil structure and vitality - AND we boost plants during the growing season with a simple homemade natural liquid fertilizer on our plants called compost tea.

Compost tea or "black liquid gold" is the all organic "miracle-growing" solution to fertilizing the garden - minus the chemicals and high salt content that commercial fertilizers add to your soil. It works its magic in two ways - feeding your plants through the roots (soil zones around plants) and the leaves (foliar zones). Unlike synthetic fertilizers, it won't build up chemicals and salt levels that can slowly destroy your soil structure. Instead, adding nutrients that build it!

If you follow along with our blog, you know how important compost is in building healthy soil. We add large amounts of compost to all of our planting beds each year, as well as a good shovel full in every single planting hole. Well, that compost, made from our decomposed vegetable scraps, chicken manure, grass clippings, coffee grounds, and more - is teeming with all-natural, plant-boosting nutrients. By converting those nutrients into a liquid form - we can utilize those nutrients as an organic fertilizer to naturally boost plants growth through the growing season.

How we use it:

Compost Tea can be applied about every two weeks to your garden plants once plants and transplants have become established. By established, we simply mean that they have been in the ground 7 to 10 days and are over the initial shock of transplant.

We apply ours with a watering can or a simple garden sprayer - soaking the area around the root base and the leaves of each plant with the solution. The minerals and nutrients are then absorbed through the leaves (foliar absorption) as well as through the root zone - doubling the effect. As with watering, it is best to apply early in the day before the sun is too hot and the tea can burn the leaves of plants.

We repeat the compost tea applications every two weeks until about mid July. Why stop? Too much of a good thing can also be bad. You want plants to develop strong roots and stems - but too much and the plant will spend all of its energy creating thick foliage and not much fruit. We have found that 4 to 6 total applications seem to be the perfect mix for giving plants the boost they need for good higher yields. The best part - its 100% natural, with no fear of having to use any chemicals in your garden.

How we make it: There are many ways to make compost tea - but we have found this method to be easy, effective, and most importantly, simple!

BASIC COMPOST TEA RECIPE:

You will need a 5 Gallon Bucket, stir stick, water, and a few shovel fulls of finished compost.

Start by filling your bucket about 1/3 full of compost. Use compost from the bottom of your pile, where organic matter has decayed the most and is teeming with life.Next - fill the bucket to the within an inch or two of the top with water. It is best to use well water (we use our rain water) because there will be no chlorine or other chemicals. Chlorine can kill off many of the helpful bacteria and organisms that are alive in compost. If you only have access to city water, no worries - simply fill the bucket a few days in advance and let sit outside. The sun and air will work its magic and within a few days, almost all of the chlorine will be gone.

Stir the compost good with a stick or the end of your garden shovel. Over the course of the next 5 to 7 days, stir the bucket a few times each day. This aeration of the water and the stirring of the compost helps to release more nutrients into the water, much like dunking a tea bag releases more tea into your drink.

At the end of 5 to 7 days, simply strain the mixture through a piece of burlap, mesh screen or a strainer, and you are left with the magical liquid gold fertilizer called compost tea! Store in an air tight container to keep the "liquid gold" at it's best nutrient levels.

Bonus Info:

You can find more pictures on how we make it by going to our blog post. You can get a little more fancy in your compost tea making if you desire. It has been shown that adding a simple aquarium pump to the bucket and letting it run to percolate the mixture will increase the potency of the finished mixture, and can be completed in as little as 2 days. Others also add molasses or sugar to the mixture to increase the absorption of the water and organisms.

However, for us, the simple bucket and stirring method has certainly worked wonders for our garden. Besides, the extra few days we let ours steep in the water is worth not having to go through the trouble of setting up a pump, wires, etc. For us, keeping it simple is the key!So how about trying your own liquid gold this year and get those plants growing big and strong! If you would like to receive our DIY & Gardening Tips every Tuesday – be sure to sign up to follow the blog via email in the right hand column, "like" us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Happy Gardening - Jim and Mary

#ProudestDIY #pallets #spring #Itching4Spring #SpringFever #springdecor

not cable knit, but the poms caught my eye. And it was only $2.99. Score.

To turn it into a lampshade, I pulled the sweater down over the top of the shade in the same fashion as putting a pillow case over an overstuffed pillow. It was tight, but tight is good in this scenario. The sweater was a ladies size small, but it had enough stretch in it to fit snugly around the shade when I pulled it down around it. I pulled the waistline of the sweater right down to the bottom edge of the shade so it was even all around, then trimmed off the excess material at the top, leaving about 1" all around. Then I secured the sweater around the top edge of the shade with a few dots of hot glue. It's so tight around the shade that I didn't even bother gluing around the bottom. If your sweater is larger than your lampshade, you should be able to just cut it up the back and pull it tight, then glue it down the seam.

And that was it, folks!

The end result is SO simple and beautiful in my sunroom. I love the winter white addition to my room. This is my way of #KeepingCozy in 2013!