There's Something About Rosemary

I love how easy it is to grow rosemary here, in the central valley. We have four bushes, the three in full sun are about 5 feet tall and 5 to 8 feet wide now. I love that it is evergreen and makes the yard look like perhaps I know what I'm doing.
We use rosemary to season meat and potatos. And I can usually get freecycle takers when I offer up clippings from the branches that grow in the wrong direction (over my patio).
I love the idea of being self-sufficient and growing herbs to use. So, I was thrilled to find another use for this wonderful herb... hair rinse. I've been trying to go 'poo free for a few years now. I made the leap for a few months, then felt guilty about the unfinished bottles of 'poo & conditioner, so switched back. Well, the Aubrey Organics products are all used up, and I ordered shampoo bars (from Chagrin Valley) - love them. And now I get to make my own hair rinse to help rinse out the hard water. I use Chagrin Valley's Vinegar Hair Rinse Recipe #2...
I have my shampoo bar and two sports water bottles in the shower:

• rosemary vinegar with filtered water
• filtered water to rinse out the rinse

When the house is cold I keep the bottles at my feet during the shower, to warm up the water a little before pouring it on my head. Some people use vinegar rinse rarely, like once a week or less, I use it after every hair wash.

In Progress

Oh my goodness, patchwork takes a long time. Especially when working around a fulltime job and a 1.5 year old. But I'm loving the process. I've gotten 3 panels of 4 done.
I'm using 10 corduroys from chopped up pants and skirts.

Lavender, Sage, Calendula, and Figs?...

flickr.com/photos/7326810@N08/, CC BY 2.0

We caught an ad for a Peace and Harvest Festival at a relatively local organic and natives nursery... So guess where we were on Sunday.
I have a weakness for herbs, so we came home with a six pack of calendula, 3 varieties of sage and two forms of lavender. Also found a fig that would fit in the car and a cute strawberry tree that has the most gorgeous little flowers.
So not only do we need to get the raised bed filled with dirt, I have to find places to plant all my lovely herbs and baby trees.

Raised Veggie Bed Part II

One raised bed is made. It look a few extra trips to Home Depot for silly things like extra screws and clamps. But it looks very nice... and huge. That thing is going to require a lot of soil.
We ended up with redwood, cedar was only available as fencing.
We'll put this one in the ground and make raised bed number two when we feel confident about number one.
Also decided to mostly use purchased soil with this one... so I can plant earlier and we can wait to buy straw after Halloween, when bales will probably be free/cheap. I still plan to use cardboard and grass clippings that we got from a freecycler, on the bottom. And I'll sneak in compostable kitchen items.
I'm crossing my fingers very tightly that the dog doesn't decide to dig in my new bed. She has a fondness for burying her rawhides in flowerpots. The raised bed will probably look like a lovely giant sized flowerpot.