Easy Cake/Cookie Flower Decoration & Cousin Rube's Pallet Gardening Tips

Mother's Day is next Weekend and I wanted to remind everyone of this super simple method for decorating a cake or large cookie with icing. These Swirled Icing Flowers are easy enough that the kids can do it themselves. I used a stiff decorator's icing here, but think a nice smooth buttercream would be even better. I've also included a recipe for a 10" peanut butter skillet cookie. Have fun with it:@)

And I'm not the only one with gardening on the mind... Barbie's Cousin Rube is a huge crusader for recycling, sustainable living, and keeping as much out of the landfills as possible. So he's a big fan of pallet gardening. Recently he held a class about it at Peace and Pancakes Farm. For a nominal fee, folks were shown how to turn a pallet into a garden bed, given a bag of soil and compost, got to pick out a strawberry plant or vegetable seeds, and took home a pallet from the stack behind the barn. And of course, all were treated to a pancake breakfast before class. Yep, Rube knows how to show folks a good time:@) 

Free pattern for big man doll overalls here.

He used an HT stamped pallet, and stapled fabric onto each open end to create a container. Then filled it with soil.

Pallet gardening is good for shorter plants: Peas, lettuce, spinach, beans, strawberries, cucumbers, peppers, herbs, and flowers like petunias.

Pallet Gardening Tutorial/Tips/Ideas:

1. Pallet gardening is basically treating a recycled pallet as a raised bed or planter. It's important to only use pallets with an HT (heat treated) stamp. These pallets are food safe.
2. We recommend wearing gardening gloves, there can always be a chance for splinters when working with wood.
3. Find a spot to grow your garden. Fruiting plants (strawberries, peppers, string beans) need 6-8 hours of sun a day. Leafing plants (lettuce, spinach, herbs) only need a few hours of sun.
4. Staple gardening fabric (or recycled old legs from jeans, etc) to the open sides of the pallet. You can run fabric from the top opening of one side, across the bottom and up to the top of the other side. This contains the soil inside the pallet. But if the pallet is on dirt you can skip the bottom and only cover the sides. Or even place the pallet on cardboard or newspaper for the bottom.
5. Fill with raised bed soil/compost/peat/etc, any combination you research and like.
6. Make spaces for plants or seeds between the slots and add them. Cover with soil, water well, add more soil if needed as it settles.
7. Water on warm and hot days when it doesn't rain.
8. There is plenty of information online about pallet gardening.
9. But most importantly, have fun with it😎

Personal Note: 

I encourage everyone to have a few plants.

Mother Nature is amazing, 

and kids love eating what they grow!

You'd be surprised how much you can grow in just one pot.

My Raised Bed Garden Progress Pinterest Board here.

Hippie Cousin Rube says,

there's nothing better than home grown veggies...

🌼Have a great weekend🌞