mmaves's Profile

Oops - editing above:

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/
doe/supp_info/chicago_green_
homeremodelingseries.html

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/
doe/supp_info/chicago_green_
homesprogramoverview.html

Learn from obstacles. I brought home potted basil and cilantro from the farmers market last summer, and transplanted them into clay pots for my sunny window. Turns out transplanting was not suitable for the cilantrao, or at least with my skills, as I managed to drown it within a week. I re-started my cilantro from seed while my basil flourished, and within 5 weeks, had a great cilantro crop, and came home one day to find it crawling with white flies, which infested my basil. I ended up tossing both plants in frustration. Just starting over from seed now in larger pots with more root space, and marigolds to help repel the white flies should they try to come back. I'm no expert yet, but I figure a few more cycles of mistakes are yet to come :-)

I'm a 90% cloth/10% paper towel girl. The hardest part for me was the growing stack of "dirty" rags & towels and concerns over pest control - my laundry hamper is in my bedroom, and I didn't want to bring food particles into the living spaces in worry of enticing critters. I mounted a reusable canvas grocery bag onto the back door - it allows me me to pre-dry the towels and rags in the sink, and get them out of the way quickly so I'm not overusing the towels and spreading germs & bacteria. Also - if they go into the bag slightly damp - I know they'll eventually air dry, as opposed to going moldy (had past issues with that when my dirty rag basket was under the sink.)