DIY Blog

This organic pesticide won’t kill all the bugs in your garden, but may annoy them enough so that they move over to your neighbour’s.  I personally think that if you don’t want to use any chemicals in your garden, you need to arrange your plants carefully, to exploit the fact that certain plants naturally repel various insects.  This can help too, but from experience, you do need to spray often as this product isn’t deadly, but just mildly annoying.

Make an All-Purpose Organic Pesticide from Vegetables [link]

What’s the perfect remedy to winter? Tomato/cucumber salad, with basil and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. It’s even better when you grow your own herbs. With this homemade greenhouse, you can have your own mini-garden year-round.

Homemade mini-greenhouse [link]

Yet another project that turns the ubiquitous Altoids Tin box into something useful. In this case, a solar powered cell phone charger. Great idea, and it’s made from old, recycled parts: the solar cell comes from those solar-powered landscaping LED lights that illuminate tree shrubs in front of suburban bungalows at night. Here’s a thought: steal one to make this project. You’ll contribute to reducing light pollution and restoring night to what it should be: darkness.

Maybe you shouldn’t steal a LED landscaping light, but then again, you are ultimately responsible of your actions.
Altoids Tin Solar Cell Phone Charger [link]

Incredibly simple instructions on how to create tree grafts. Over time, the grafted branch will become part of the host plant. I’m pretty sure that nature imposes some limits, but you can still achieve some interesting results, way beyond simple “repairs”.

For the sake of not killing trees, start out with simple mods :)

Grafting Made Simple [link]

Living Tree Sculptures [link]

Build Your Own Adirondack Chairs

Picture yourself on a sunny Saturday afternoon in may, relaxing next to your loved one in your backyard, sitting on a comfortable Adirondack Chair, enjoying a chilled bottle of rosé. Sounds nice doesn’t it?

I found a great Instructable (very detailed) which teaches you how to build this classic chair.

As for me, I will probably make a pair next summer, once the snow has melted away, and unless more urgent projects grab my focus.

Build Your Own Adirondack Chairs [link]