Michigan Mulching ... no more raking and bagging!

I recently posted some pictures of the changing of the colors we are seeing in Michigan this fall. In those picture, you'll notice the very large trees in our yard. Those beautiful trees equate to many, many leaves in our yard every fall. A friend suggested we start mowing over the leaves in our yard to mulch and fertilize. We did and were amazed at how many leaves the rider mower mulched up.

I came across an article this week explaining the benefits of mowing over leaves instead of raking, substantiating our friend's suggestion. Not only does it save time and back pain from racking and bagging or burning, it also benefits your lawn. Not to mention, if you don't burn, there are costs for bagging and getting rid of the bags of leaves.

The article explained that all yards that were mulched with leaves seen a decrease in weeds, especially dandelions and crabgrass. It can also help with patches. These are all issues we are dealing with in our yard.

I didn't have a chance to get any pictures of our yard yet, but the here is a link to the article. The pictures are accurate, however, in our yard, the mulched leaves are much less visible.

Smart Gardening Article from Michigan State University:
http://www.plantmichigangreen.com/aws/MNLA/asset_manager/get_file/113897

I highly suggest you give it a try ... happy mulching!

More to come from the mind of ...

Made in Michigan ... just in time for holiday shopping!

Yesterday I received an email with deals and one was an offer for a very interesting site called Mitten Crate. The Mitten Crate is a site that offers subscriptions for delivery of a monthly box containing new artisan products and specialty goods made in Michigan. The email said to use code "blueship" for free shipping and "bluefive" for $5 off first month subscription at check out. The site also has a Pinterest-like blog with more information about products and tasty recipes.

http://www.mittencrate.com/blog/

I've found a couple of other good sites to visit for links to Michigan Made Products, or that sell them directly. Here are the links:

Heart of Michigan
http://www.heartofmich.com/Home.html

Michigan Made
http://michigan-made.com/

Americans Working (Michigan Page)
http://www.americansworking.com/mich.html

Buy Michigan Products
http://www.buymichiganproducts.com/retailers/

An Etsy type of shop:
Handmade In Michigan
http://www.handmademi.com/

And of course the Pure Michigan Site:
http://www.puremichiganstore.org/welcome.asp

Enjoy ... happy shopping ... just in time for the holidays!

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Loving this warm Michigan November

Clearly October was a busy month for me. I've had plenty to blog about, but unfortunately, not enough time to blog. I think November could be just as packed, but I'm going to put that extra effort in to get some blogging done.

I'm not sure how the weather is outside of Michigan this month, but we are really enjoying this warm weather with record setting high temperatures! I didn't get to make it out and about in Michigan this summer as normal, so it's great to have fall weather that's pleasant enough to travel and shop without tracking through snow. Not to mention all the beautiful fall colors on the trees and in the sky.

I'm looking forward to sharing my recent visit to Lake Odessa as well as my upcoming visits to St. Joseph, Hastings, and Holly Michigan. I've also got some great new recipes and organic products to share!

More to come from the mind of ...