your whole channel has helped me feel that my dream of finding and restoring a Victorian home with lovely gardens is actually realistic and attainable, even if several years out. thank you.
@Eva Weir - You can so do this. It seems daunting but life is long - you're quite young and you have plenty of time. The houses are out there for you to find. In the meantime hone your skills, plant and garden as much as you can. Find a fixer-upper and learn what you can from the Internet. Aside from a modest mortgage for a reasonably priced fixer-upper don't go into debt though, debt is the dream-killer. You may have to work your way up to the right house, you may think you've found the right house only to discover you want something else. That's okay, savor the journey. Victorian houses tend to be big, so maybe consider putting the extra rooms to work for you by renting them out like the old-fashioned boarding houses. Great way to pay off the mortgage faster. But don't rule out small houses, they're easier to maintain, cheaper to operate, and many are very quaint and attractive. But by small I mean small, not tiny. Tiny houses are a gimmick, a fad that won't last. Okay now I'm rambling time to stop. I want to encourage you! You have a beautiful dream.
I love hearing abt ppl that have this dream! My Mother in law was this way and had the loveliest Victorian home you can imagine. It was in terrible shape when she found it, which suited her just fine. "It has good bones!" was her declaration. She got so many years of joy out of restoring & decorating that house and it's grounds. Some of my fondest memories are of sitting on the porch swing sipping iced tea with her, and of wandering her Victorian gardens together. When she passed, & it was time to sell it, it took us quite awhile to find the perfect buyer who would enjoy & appreciate it & continue the dream. It takes a special person. We were grateful to finally find a young couple that shared her dream (& yours). It was a joy to hand them the keys! You can totally do this! Blessings to you. I wish you all the best.
I'm just like you... I always choose the more aesthetically pleasing option for my home and garden bc i get so much more happiness and peace when i am surrounded by beauty.
I actually use China every day. Cups for tea. And all those nice “wedding set” plates and such I buy from a thrift shop and use those daily at home. When they break I replace them a few at a time. It’s nice having something so beautiful in my every day life. Things like that, beautiful, elegant things? They’re not just for “special” occasions. Or for “other people”. Having beauty every day is really invigorating.
I enjoyed the video! That is a classy idea using tea cups. ~ In your video you said you were “crazy”. You are far from that. You are more like me ...clever, creative & whimsical. That is not crazy at all. 🌻
There were so many lovely shots and framing choices in this video; these little details are really such wonderful touches. Thank you for continuing to share your work. I love this idea of repurposing teacups. As these break, you could use them to mosaic other pots or stepping stones too.
I love your videos. I live in Stoke on Trent ( ‘The Potteries’) in England so I was trying to see the stamp on the bottom of your cups to see where they’d been made!
Your whole channel is aesthetically pleasing. I appreciate the work you must put into editing and considering camera angles and focus in every single video. Thank you so much for sharing so many valuable tips for enjoying gardening. I love the teacup idea.
I love this idea for cups, I also want to say that when broken it has a multitude of uses. I save all broken ceramics for many different purposes. I especially like to tumble with glass and tiny rock pebbles to make gravel to use in many different crafts. It is a great looking mosaic for stepping stones once tumbled to remove sharp edges.
Experimentating in order to reduce waste and landfills space is very noble. Tea cups are beautiful, I can wait to see how well your lettuces grow. Today, I get some stuff planted as well. This year I'm going to experiment with sunflowers as companion plants for my garden🌻🌼
My husband and I used to have a small antique business in the 1990s. I used to love to buy a "box lot" cheap and pull out the treasures. I have beautiful gold rimmed teacups on my desk to hold paper clips and elastic bands. I've also used old, chipped bowls as flowerpots but for house plants. I would put a piece of duct tape on the bottom and drill a hole through it for drainage.
+1 just for being a free thinker. I use whatever I find, like paper coffee cups, caned food tins. Metal is another material to look into. I got the potmaker for christmas, its a little wooden device that makes seed starting pots out of paper, will see how that goes!
I think it’s a great idea! I have not tried it before myself, but think it would be fun to give it a go. Our families favorite way to grow seedlings is saving our toilet paper rolls all year long. Have you ever tried this? They make an amazing biodegradable pot that’s tall enough for even sweet pea seedlings. I highly recommend doing this as it’s free, destined for the landfill anyway and fun for our kids to help with. Keep up the good work!
many people use disposable paper dixie cups (like the ones sold for bathrooms for gargling) to avoid the plastic. If you completely punch the bottoms out, instead of just a small hole, the roots will air prune. I actually drilled holes in my teacups many years ago, but it was because I was growing some African violets and just thought it would look pretty to have them in teacups and saucers, rather than a plain pot. The teacups were especially functional if they still have their saucers to protect your surface from the water drainage... just a thought for a use for your cups when not using for seed sowing :)
I totally get the idea of using porcelain over plastic. At least porcelain is made of natural materials, not man-made. But the REAL bonus is the beauty of your little growing pots! Very, very attractive....and certainly in line with the theme of your homestead! Love it, Siloe! :)
Totally appreciate the difference in thoughts. It highlights the uniqueness in each of us. This allows us to accept ourselves more. Really love this video.
What a great idea. I don't think it's silly. I think it's resourceful! Since you mentioned the soil block method - I started using a soil blocker last yr and loved it. I was surprised how well it worked. The seedlings thrived & transplanting was so easy. Some use successively larger soil blocks to transplant into as the seedlings grow if the weather doesn't allow for planting into the garden yet- but I didnt want to buy larger blockers until I knew whether or not this method was worth the investment. One blocker was certainly good enough for most of my crops. In my climate, zone 5, tomatoes and peppers would be an example of crops that would benefit from having larger blocks to transplant into, as we start them indoors well b4 they can go outside safely, & they get quite large by the time we move them into the garden. I'll be adding a larger blocker to my toolshed this yr for sure.
💚🥬🥒🥦🌽💚 With your lovely yard space I’d be in corn on the cob heaven. Would be nice to see a field of corn some day on your videos. Love the tea cup idea. 💚💚💚
I dont think it is ridiculous. Be the change you want to see. Paper or cardboard can work. Also 2nd hand clay. I like the crazy and you get to enjoy the pretty cups. Inspirata! thank You
I love this video, and this unique idea for seed sowing! I have plenty of 'ugly' unused old coffee mugs hanging around. My house & garden is nearly 100 yrs old, and I often find pieces of china & glass in the soil when planting out - I often wonder about their history and the stories of the people who used them! I have saved a lot of pieces and hope to make a mosaic one day 😊
A lovely old farmer once told me that this is how ppl used to dispose of thier broken china etc. Dig a hole and throw it in. We've also found lots of bits like that on our homestead & it's always a fun peek into the generations of former owners.
There is still a use for them when they break. I use broken china and pots in the bottom of my house plants for drainage in place of gravel or stones. I love the charm & whimsy of using the tea cups for starts. I plan to go get myself a diamond drill bit! Thank you, Siloe'!
Love it!!! I’ve actually started seeds in coffee mugs before they were cracked and would not hold any liquid but worked just fine to start seeds in, they did eventually brake, I then repurposed the broken pieces to cover the large drainage hole in a large terra cotta pot, which is still in use today.
I love this idea. I am always finding new/old things to re-use fro,m thrift shops. What I use for my yearly seed germination are toilet rolls, because I have a bunch every year and egg shell. The egg shell i have found produces, bigger healthier seedlings. And like the TP rolls, easy to crack and plant.
Like you I am trying different containers. Have been using empty cans for seedlings. Same principle as you mentioned; the ones with the pop-top don't wortk because they have a lip. But the ones you open with a can opener work fine with a hole or two punched into the bottom. i do wish you had shown a closeup of that drill bit though. I want to learn to drill holes in ceramics.
Hi, I find "ugly corporate" ceramic mugs for $1/piece in dollar stores. Regrowing green onions is so easy in them. But I use ceramic vases & pitchers from thrift stores for "pretty" hydroponics. I'm almost horrified at drilling holes in such pretty tea cups 🙃. (My sister has a beautiful collection.) I might try tiny microgreens in them.
This is great! I actually had the same thought and bought diamond bits to use a while ago, but then got sidetracked. You have inspired me to follow through on that project. I love how you incorporate beauty into your gardening and your potager.
Those are very appealing. Do you have the tiny block maker as well? Some people think the tiny ones are not worth it. Just go with the middle sized block. I was considering buying a set but am still information gathering.
@@wendyeames5758 Jim Kovaleski in Florida uses the soil blocks. To me it looks like he makes the medium sized ones. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NMq80RPl-40.html
@@wendyeames5758 I used a blocker for the first time last yr. Loved it! I too only bought one to start with. The medium one. It did plenty well enough for most plants I grew bc by the time they were outgrowing the soil blocks, it was safe to transplant outside. If you're a tomato & pepper fan, as I am, & your climate makes you wait until May or June to plant them outside- a larger blocker is a good investment if you want a long growing season for them & don't want to buy starts at the garden center. I'll be getting one this yr
This project strikes a deep cord with me, I have been trying to think of a way to recycle the beautiful old tea cups I see at thrift shops! It particularly disturbs me seeing them at Dig and Save where the bins you shop out of closely resemble dumpsters. Other tutorials of this method seemed haphazard and done by content craters in a click bate fashion, as if they are just going to put the whole project in a bin as soon as the camera turns off. This channel is a source on information I actually trust as you often share your experiments in all their different degrees of success. I am hopeful of an update, perhaps you could actually test out some houseplant varieties in the long term, or just a succulent as you suggested in the video. Either way, keep having fun!
I really love your channel and content. I’ve been tracking it closely, hoping that spring will boost the views. It’s such a shame that RU-vid misses your channel entirely. I hope you will continue to not be discouraged, and keep producing content. Perhaps it is a little bit like gardening, like you say, no instant gratification. Not sure why I ramble, just want to say I am sorry season 5 is not picking up, but I am optimistic that it will because the content is just amazing. I moved to a new house too, and going to start my raised beds. I work 12 hours a day during the week, and weekends are all I get. I’m already behind, and feel like your videos and hard work motivate me to keep pushing. Thanks for creating such great content. I only hope you gets tons of viewers. Good luck. Always rooting.
Ps: I also have a theory why the algorithm doesn’t pick this channel, which I hope isn’t the case, but might as well be, given that it’s humans picking and propagating a channel. I can offer some unsolicited advice, but I’ll reserve it, in case it’s unwarranted.
Please share your theory. I won't be mad :-) I don't think It will pick up this season. It seems like post twice is only dividing the available viewership in half. It's almost like there is a quota, and that is it: no more no less. At the same time I see that there is a loyal core who enjoys watching the videos. (That is the only reason why I continue, and the occasional Etsy sale and Patreon) Although it is far from being financially viable, especially if youtube will not expand the audience, so I may have to give up in the future.
suburban homestead Yeah, I had similar thoughts on the quota theory. Okay so here goes. As much as I hate to admit, I think there’s something very shallow about the videos that are propagated by the algorithm. I think it’s more surface level bais, with the kind of screencap that is picked for the video. If i sort your videos by views, I see a pattern. The videos with more art, get more views. More approachable, less intimidating, more universally acceptable. The curious mind doth ponder, is it possible that algorithm can be so shallow as to not promote your content just because it looks a certain way on the surface? Are they rejecting a way of life, in pursuit of something “modern”? I hope they don’t see your garb and decide to categorize your content in a certain “bucket” - this is what I wondered, and was hesistant to share, because it appears shallow and it isn’t indicative of the way I think. In this world of “clout”, genuinety is often lost. I would never suggest anyone to do anything that doesn’t feel natural to them. Though as an experiment, I wonder what would happen if the videos were more “generic” and less specific. Something like “gardening 101” category of videos. Newbies in my circle search for videos like “what to sow in February, how to sow flowers, how to plant bulbs, how to start seeds indoors.. etc” Basics that perhaps may be worth re-visiting. I ramble. But I guess a tldr would be : 1. Experiment with more generic screenshots, perhaps with vegetables that you’d talk about, something aesthetically pleasing to any age and group, one that would invite less bias and more “let me click this”. 2. Instead of 2 videos with regular style content - 1 video as usual, without any compromise to your quality, and 1 video touching more basic 101 category, to draw in and hook people who will learn to appreciate gardening the way the core group does. 3. Look at the time of posting. I’ve noticed a lot of popular youtubers post at a certain time of day. Perhaps they’re on to something? 4. I know you prefer a minimalistic life on social media, but I wonder how much Instagram or other platforms may help? Ignore if it isn’t your style. 5. Videos about gardening in small space, or some generic topic like your most viewed video. Sometimes I notice I need to work smarter instead of harder to get to where I want to be. I hate compromising on quality and integrity. So you do you. Apologies if anything was unwarranted or blunt :( Good luck!🍀
I appreciate your advice. I think there is some useful considerations. I do think that clickbait is important. And general topics are also more searchable and enticing for new gardeners. I just would hate to repeat myself and the thousands of videos already in the subject. I wouldn’t say the algorithm promotes a modern lifestyle. (Example: Lizi Qi). It is more a reflection of how desperate people are to watching a certain content. And it has a feedback loop, whereby channels that are growing gain more priority. It could be that I don’t appeal to a large segment of the population, and I’m fine with that if that’s the case, I just don’t think it that is the full story. Both of the videos I had most views have clickbait titles: “tons of vegetables planted in tiny yard”and “best way to sow carrots, never thin again.”
suburban homestead I don’t think that your channel doesn’t appeal to a mass segment, i was merely trying to find the path of least resistance to break the barrier and get the video in more people’s recommendation feed for spring by suggesting to make it more generic. But I get your point. RU-vid algorithm is a mystery to me. Have you watched Graham Stephan? He went from no subscribers to millions, just talking in front of his camera about investing. He has some pretty useful tips about RU-vid algorithm and how he did it. He also suggests clickbaits videos performing well. “Bought a Tesla for 0dollar”, “house for $0” etc. He often helps youtubers out with analyzing their channel too. For me, I’m just looking forward to seeing your garden turn into the majestic beauty that I know it will eventually be. It’s what gives me hope for mine, it’s ridden with weeds and no matter how many hours I put, I am not yet able to build my raised beds. I finally have all I need, this weekend should be good.
I definitely like this idea. Ceramic cups are cheap and abundant in the thrift Market. I'm also thinking how cute they would look lined up in a windowsill. Love your videos💜 thank you for making them.
A couple bonuses for using glazed ceramic or China- the surfaces are nonporous so they don't absorb and hide bacteria AND that makes them easy to clean and disinfect ;o)
love your talk about the fine china... Sometimes I wish I could save all the old things, so this is a great way to save it and make it useful, rather than falling in the trap of just hoarding it all 🙈😅
What an absolutely wonderful idea! And it’s so whimsical! Have you thought about buying a French Chateau and doing all do this on a larger scale ... holdings classes- events...
Oh, that would be a dream, but you need money for that, and French, or at least European citizenship. But to be honest, I would be happy just to live in the gardeners cottage if I got access to one of those incredible old greenhouses and walled gardens. For now I’m very happy with my diminutive version with half a retaining wall.
Totally get why you do this. I recycle single serve sized apple sauce cups and school milk cartons. I even use bathroom paper rolls. We can do much more to minimize the use of plastics.
Great job. That is a perfect idea. A little extra work, but it's perfect. The lady from this other homestead I watch is doing something similar but for selling the coffee mugs at the farmer's market for extra money-making.
I think the tea cups are lovely and worthwhile and you might as well bring delight into your life whenever the opportunity/idea presents itself. I thought I'd mention the metal soil blocker tool which creates small cubes of compressed soil to germinate and plant seedlings in. The soil is created to one's own recipe for potting mix and are planted directly into the ground - no containers are needed and one tool will last a lifetime. They are around $40 so it is a good investment for the home gardener. I bought mine on Amazon.🦋🌼🐝
I noticed you didn't germinate these seeds.... is there a rule of thumb for when we should germinate and when we don't have to....thank you for educating us and sharing your wisdom!!
Hi siloe, where is your nephew? I remember those old videos where he was fighting with green monsters . Wanna see him helping you again. I’m sorry that it’s not the topic related to your video but I couldn’t help myself. (And this is my first comment ever in RU-vid, my hands are shaking, don’t know why😅)
Wow I love this. A strong contender for my favorite of your videos. I really agree with your sentiments on the human condition (and love your aesthetic). Really inspirational, as usual. I was wondering where you found your watering can? (I just adore it). Also I've been curious if you wanted to paint your porch and just haven't gotten to it or liked the rustic aesthetic of the old paint?
Funnily enough, old China is harder to find than new cups where I currently live. :( And storing them is always a problem in a small flat. I have a reusable mini greenhouse setup for starting veggies for my indoor garden :) but I still love how old Victorian things looks amongst flowers and foliage.
I had a similar idea, but to grow small flowering plants like pansies in repurposed tea cups to sell at the farmers market. The nice thing about tea sets is that each little pot already comes with a purpose built saucer. I haven't had as much luck finding old teacups that are pretty though. I don't want to buy a tea set that would otherwise continue it's useful life as a real tea set, but it seems like a n my area the tea sets that people are disposing of are the ugly modern kind from the 80s.
Great video. I have violets on my kitchen window sill that I have been wanted to put in tea cups but wasn't sure how to get the hole in the cups for drainage. Thanks.
I haven't! But I've used toilet paper rolls and cut up paper towel rolls for years and they work great! You just fold in one side to make a closed bottom to hold the dirt in. The roots love to poke out through the bottom and once I transplant, I can tear up what's left of the roll and throw it into the garden to mulch & decompose.
I like your video’s and learn from each one I watch. I’m wondering if you’ve tried starting seedlings by using egg shells. Here in Oklahoma, I’m starting for the first time seeds in egg shells, we are about three weeks out from last frost. I want a head start on tomatoes. We have both spring and fall growing seasons for tomatoes. I’m anxious to have a fresh tomato. Your thoughts please
I don’t eat eggs, but I suppose you could use them if you can break them to maximize volume and pierce a hole in the bottom. They would be a bit small for raising a tomato plant though. It could be ok for small lettuce starts. A recycled plastic food container would work better
Siloe the egg shell is just used as a starter for the seed. I believe, once the tomato has grown to the size that you plant you can just plant as normal at least two inches below. I’ve also heard of planting an entire raw egg cracked in the same hole. Calcium???
While I absolutely agree that our overuse of plastic is problematic, you should be aware that many ceramics, particularly older ones, often contain lead in their glazes that can leach into soil. Same goes for old bathtubs, etc. that many people use as planters. Not to mention drilling into them can release lead dust. I’m all for creative ways to recycle and reuse things, but this may not be the safest option, especially if used for growing edibles...just something to consider before you adopt this idea
Pardon me, my dear boy, I am having a heart attack over this idea of drilling holes in old china. This is completely unnecessary abuse. Simply take a piece of curved broken pottery of any type and place it on the bottom curved side up.Then put the soil into the cup. You can still maintain your pseudo Victorian facade without ruining Victorian ideals. In the 1960s I had the same thoughts and feelings about turning oil lamps and other sundry items into electrical lamps. My heart is weaker now. Have mercy. As for something aesthetically beautiful accumulating dust in a cabinet, there is a quaint invention called a Shelf. Aesthetically pleasing items will fit very nicely on it, with or without Greenery. Victorians were known for clustering many small items together. The tall cup is a good choice for what you want although not very aesthetically pleasing. At least it was not made before you were born.
I understand your concern. I should clarify that these were being sold as a lot, mismatched and several chipped. If nobody got them, they were going on the trash at the end of the day. They were also not very old, ( lots were probably from the 90's)
