Gardening has always been a bit of a foreign concept to me. When the idea of a garden came into my mind, it looked like a small farm with rows upon rows of vegetables. It was something that people with a lot of land did, and I thought I wouldn’t have that kind of land until much later in life. On top of that, I thought you probably had to have some machinery or expensive tools to make it all happen.

That all changed when I read Apartment Gardening by Amy Pennington (you may remember it from one of our giveaways a while back). After I read this book, I had a total “ah ha moment”… I can have a garden too! Not only did this book completely shatter all of my preconceived notions about gardening, but it also gave hope to a “brown thumb” such as myself.

Armed with my new knowledge that gardening isn’t just for a select few, I set out to find some items that might help me along my way. As with everything, choosing the right tools for the job is essential (or just a little more enjoyable). It’s obviously important that you find enjoyment in what you’re doing, so I selected several items that are both functional, fun, and, well, pretty! I hope this can serve as some inspiration to anyone else hoping to begin their adventure in cultivation!

1. Seed Bombs - These. are. so. cool. Purchase the Seed Bombs for your US region, toss these babies in your garden (apparently, you don’t even have to dig a hole!), and just add water (and a little patience). You can’t get easier than that! If that isn’t cool enough, they even have Dog & Cat Friendly Seed Bombs that include catnip, wheat, oats, and rye. I cannot wait to try these out!

2. Hable Sweet Pea Gloves – I’m a fan of these garden gloves because they are stylish and functional. A lot of times you’ll find stylish gloves but they are just that and nothing more. The Hable Sweet Pea Gloves’ thumbs, and pointer fingers are lined with tiny rubber polka dots – which helps you to easily handle plants and whatnot. And who doesn’t love polka dots?

3. Sunken Pool Gardening Hose - Yes, there is such a thing as a stylish garden hose! Who knew? Pool is one of my all-time favorite colors so this easily made it to the list.

4. Apple Bird Feeder – I’m pretty sure the squirrels (which we have a lot of!) in our yard would give the birds a run… er… fly for their money if we hung this in our backyard. We may just have to get one of these for the entertainment factor!

5. Crocband Flats – These cute slip-ons would be perfect garden shoes. You can easily slip them on and off, and hose them down when they get dirty. Not to mention, they are super comfortable! I have a pair of these which have been dubbed the “Bentley needs a bathroom break” shoes but I imagine these will be perfect “garden shoes” too!

6. Celia Birtwell Garden Tools – Yet another stylish yet functional gardening tool. The set comes with two one-piece aluminum tools and are lightweight, strong and have an ergonomic grip.

7. Gardeners Scrub Cleanser – This deep cleansing hand wash from Crabtree & Evelyn is a blend of plant-based cleansers and all natural exfoliants that cleanses while polishing away roughness and impurities. Crabtree & Evelyn has a ton of products for gardeners that are worth checking out (which would be a perfect gift for a gardner in your life!).

8. Apartment Gardening by Amy Pennington – Last but not least, once again, the book that changed my mind about gardening. It’s a must read for anyone who has the slightest interest in gardening. Pinky promise!

Do you have any garden must haves or favorite gadgets? Share them with us in the comment section…

We’re back with the rundown of our pressure washing adventure! Last weekend, we finally found time in our busy schedules to power wash the exterior of the house. We’ve been itching to do this since we bought the house but we had to wait until the weather was agreeable. The fact that the weather and our schedule lined up perfectly was sheer happiness. The brick really needed to be cleaned. Judging by the difference, we’re not sure if anyone had done any kind of cleaning in the past decade. Here are a few before-and-after shots…

Come to find out, our front sidewalk doesn’t have black flecks in it. We had no idea!

I did the side of the house before I really got a handle on how close I needed to be to the surface, so it’s not as clean as it probably could be. Still, I’d say the results are pretty good!

As for our equipment, we used a small 1300 PSI electric pressure washer. We tend to call it our “little guy”. Weighing in at just a few pounds, it definitely isn’t a professional grade, but it was adequate for the task at hand.

Pressure washers range from $90 all the way up to $4,000+. The price difference all comes down to the PSI. Basically, the higher the PSI, the further from the surface you can be, and the more work you can do in a shorter amount of time. That’s not to say lower PSI washers aren’t effective–you just have to be pretty close to the surface you’re working on. Because I was using our “little guy”, I had to use a stream about an inch and a half wide and about 3 inches from the brick to blast the 10+ year-old dirt. Just be careful about getting too close, even with lower-powered washers! With the nozzle set to its finest setting, you can permanently etch concrete. We found this out the hard way when we pressure washed the patio in our apartment!

As mentioned, our pressure washer runs on electricity. From a quick bit of research, it seems that 1500 PSI (plus or minus 200) is the most common rating for electric pressure washers. Anything above that puts you into the realm of gas-powered machinery. The great part about electric pressure washers is the price. You can get a decent 1300-1500 PSI pressure washer for around $100 at your local big-box hardware store. At that price, it’s a great investment.

Of course, pressure washing wouldn’t be called “washing” without soap, right? Well, that’s not always the case here. While most pressure washers have some way to add cleaners or solvents to the mix, we chose to forgo the cleaner and opt for a more natural option – basically, we just wanted to see if it worked. In some of the problem spots, like the front steps, I sprayed a little of the left over vinegar from our natural weed killer experiment, let it set for just a few minutes, and then used the pressure washer. As you can see from this photo, this method proved to work really well…

If you are new to pressure washing and want to clean your exterior, here are a few tips to remember along the way:

1. Test your washer settings in a non-conspicuous place. Pressure washers can be very powerful! Therefore, don’t start 3 inches from the surface with the finest nozzle setting. Start at the widest nozzle setting a reasonable distance away from the surface, then dial in as you see fit.

2. Take your time. Pressure washing can be a tedious and time-consuming task. I love systematic tasks where you can see real progress, so I actually enjoyed pressure washing the house. However, it was easy to get excited about the progress I was making and start leaving streaks where I hadn’t been close enough with the nozzle to get all the dirt.

3. Be smart about mixing water and electricity. The only place these two should meet are inside your electric pressure washer. If you’re washing walls with outlets on them, turn off the breaker first, then allow the outlets plenty of time to dry before you turn the breaker back on.

4. Cleaner or no cleaner? If you want to use a cleaner, be sure the cleaner you’re using is designed for the surface you’re using it on. Don’t, for example, use something designed for asphalt on brick. That could end up permanently damaging your brick. Also, carefully ready the warnings and instructions on the bottle. Some cleaners are designed specifically for non-porous surfaces (think vinyl, glass, etc.) while others are designed to work on porous surfaces (like brick and concrete). Also, it’s a good idea to test your cleaner at the same time as you are testing your nozzle settings and distances.

We hope this guide helps you if you are planning to do this project at your house. Remember, we aren’t experts. We’re just sharing what worked for us in hopes it will help someone else!

Have you noticed our new Archives page? You can now search for posts by room by using the handy dandy floor plan map. More changes/additions coming soon!

Featured gas & electric pressure washers found at Lowe’s here and here.

It’s HOT outside! Meaning today is the perfect day to pressure wash (or as I tend to call it, “power wash”) the outside of the house! We’ve been super anxious to get to this for months – actually, since we bought the house. Luckily, the weather is treating us well and we’ve got some time on our hands on this fine Memorial Day. With a small 1300 PSI pressure washer, a tad of vinegar (left over from our natural weed killer experiment), and elbow grease, we are (finally) on our way to a clean brick house.

We thought we would check in and share a little preview. Greg started on the front steps, stepped back to look at his handy work and we could not believe the difference! Check this out…

Isn’t that crazy?! My first words were “Hold on, I’ve got to get the camera!”. We knew the bricks were dirty and were in dire need of a good pressure wash, but it wasn’t until we did this little section that we realized how much of a difference it would make! We’ll come back later and give the rundown on what we used and how we used it (for those of you who are wanting to wash your exterior as well). Until then, I’m off to make a Sonic run for my hardworking husband that deserves a Route 44 Diet Dr. Pepper with Cherries : )