favorite recent online garden purchases (and savings)

by | Jul 10, 2020 | a slice of life, All Things Home, Favorite Things, Gardening, spring, summer | 17 comments

This post may contain affiliate links.

Disclosure:  This post is sponsored by Wikibuy.  All opinions expressed in this post are honest and my own.

I shared about Wikibuy a few weeks ago and have continued to use it while shopping online (which I’m doing a lot more these days!)  I say “use it”, but I really don’t have to do anything.  I simply shop and, when I’m checking out, the friendly Wikibuy box will pop into the top right corner automatically and let me know if there are coupon codes to try or if Wikibuy Credits are available with the purchase.

wikibuy review miss mustard seed garden favorites

 

I am generally an online shopper, anyway.  It was a habit that was started when we moved to a two-stoplight town in PA that was 30-40 minutes from most stores.  But I’ve learned that it’s a quicker way to find exactly when I’m looking for.   And these days, we’re ordering almost everything online, even things we would generally buy locally, just to reduce the amount of time we need to spend in stores.  We have made a few limited outings, but we’re trying to purchase everything we can online or buy it locally and have it delivered.

It’s been a little trickier as we’ve been working on our yard!  We’ve made a few outings to get plants and such, but I’ve been able to purchase most of the materials and tools we’ve used online.  Here are some of my favorites…

Power Washer

Our power washer broke last year, so we knew we would need to buy a new one this spring.  There were several things that needed a good cleaning including the patio under the deck and the lattice under my studio.  We ended up getting the Karcher Power Washer…

walmart power washer garden favorites miss mustard seed

Jeff put it all together and got it up and running for me and then I decided to “try it out just to get a feel for it” one morning.  Well, it was so satisfying that I ended up completing a job that I was going to put on Marshall’s chore list!  Here is how the lattice looked before…

garden before miss mustard seed

And how it looks after pressure washing…

garden after power washing miss mustard seed

What a difference!  I thought the lattice might need to be replaced, but it was just really dirty and needed a good cleaning.

Ames Edger

I have always wanted an edger and will probably get an electric or gas one, but I started with this manual edger after watching a similar one demonstrated in a YouTube video.

ames edger garden favorites miss mustard seed

I didn’t think a manual edger would be so easy to use or so effective, but it’s both!  Even though the shape is similar, it works so much better than a shovel.  I used it on the front garden bed that had grass creeping in…

garden before miss mustard seed

It makes a nice, neat edge and a little trough that prevents mulch from washing into the grass.

garden edging in progress miss mustard seed

I put some weed-blocking fabric down along the grass line and mulched and it looks so much better!  It didn’t take very much time, either, so we ended up extending and edging a few more beds around the house.

garden edging after miss mustard seed favorites

I also used the edger around the patio before I painted it.

Kitchen Garden Revival

I’ve seen Nicole’s book, Kitchen Garden Revival, promoted on Instagram and was intrigued.  If you have followed me for a while, you know I love learning through books.  Since we want to start a kitchen garden next year, I thought it would be a good read to get me started as I plan it out.

garden favorites miss mustard seed

The book has been such a great inspiration and source of information so far.

Parsley Seeds

Since I can’t have the full-blown kitchen garden right now, I wanted to start an herb garden in a washtub on our deck.  I love cooking with herbs, especially flat-leaf parsley.  It adds a freshness to just about any dish.  I almost always have a jar of flat-leaf parsley on the counter, ready to rip off, chop, and use.  The issue lately has been that the majority of the people who have shopped for us don’t know the difference between cilantro and flat-leaf parsley.  It’s understandable because it looks very similar and they are usually side-by-side on the shelf.  I would go through our grocery delivery bags and Jeff would hear me let out an “ARGH” like a character from Charlie Brown.  “Cilantro, again!!”  I know a lot of people love cilantro, but I am part of the population of people who thinks cilantro tastes like soap, which is not appetizing.

It’s a very small thing, but I’ve been missing my parsley.  So, I decided to grow my own.

I wasn’t able to find any when we bought our other herbs, so I ordered Parsley Seeds to start my own.  I planted them in eggshells and kept them in studio where they get lots of light until they were large enough to move into a pot and then outside.

garden favorites miss mustard seed egg shell planters

It’s been fun and satisfying watching them grow from seeds!  And now I can go out to the deck and clip what I need.

garden favorites miss mustard seed

Pruning Shears

Speaking of clipping, I also got some wood-handled Pruning Shears.  I bought a vintage pair of pruning shears off Etsy a few years ago and they look cool, but aren’t the most practical or effective!  I still use them for lighter pruning, but I bought this pair to use regularly.  They look nice and work well, but weren’t expensive.

garden favorites miss mustard seed pruning shears

garden favorites miss mustard seed pruning shears

I’ve been walking around the yard most evenings with an empty 5-gallon bucket and these pruning shears to tidy up the gardens.  Even if I just did the exercise the night before, I still manage to fill a bucket with pulled weeds and trimmed branches and leaves.

I bought most of these items from Walmart and received Wikibuy Credits for each purchase.  I’ve earned over $15 to redeem for gift cards.

 

wikibuy credits review miss mustard seed

All of the savings and credits really start to add up over time, especially if you’re buying a lot more online than usual.

Wikibuy is free and can be easily installed on most browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, & Safari.)  If you’d like to save a little extra cash while you shop, you can join other Wikibuy users who saved a collective $70 million last year by clicking HERE.

You can see the full patio makeover reveal HERE.

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    17 Comments

    1. Karen

      I ordered a similar edger from another company in April and I’m still waiting for it to show up!!

    2. Gail clarke

      I have that tool
      I’m left handed so it’s not easy to use .
      Husbands keeps it sharpened .
      I like plain scissors,.
      Your new area, turned out nicely
      Your a talented woman,
      Gail

    3. Tina

      When I was in horticulture classes back in the early 90s our teacher recommended Corona Bypass pruners with the spring in the handle. A little expensive at the time but still have it and purchased several more since then. Always nice to have extras when I am helping others learn to properly prune in their gardens. They can he used by either hand and spring helps reduce hand fatigue. Can be easily sharpened and cleaned with bleach if needed after pruning diseased plants. The teacher said they can last for decades if cared for properly, 30 years now for me and counting!

    4. DBLori

      We have that same power washer. Love it.

    5. Judy

      How has the paint on the patio floor worked out? I hope to do the same on mine but am concerned about the paint chipping and being scratched with furniture pulling and pushing around. Love your new look there and thanks for the chance to view it again from this post.

      • Marian Parsons

        It’s doing great so far, but time will tell!

    6. Marylisa

      I keep sheers near both sides of my house. There is always something to prune or deadhead. Your lattice looks amazing.

      • Marian Parsons

        It really cleaned up so well! We will get so much use out of that powerwasher!

    7. Rosemary

      During COVID many businesses are struggling. I hope we can support them and our communities by shopping locally. We only miss them when they’re gone

      • Marian Parsons

        Oh, of course! I’ve been ordering locally for curbside pick-up, but with a high-risk child, we’re ordering online as much as we can to minimize the amount of time spent in a store, etc. We’re trying to be strategic about our outings.

    8. monique

      Yes, I agree with Rosemary, a do my little best to shop as locally as possible, and I am not at all in a buying mood. So I am a bit upset that your blog so often seems to promote more and more commercial items to buy, while many thousands, millions of people rather have no means to support their family, so I feel that it is not the time. This is my honest opinion.

      • Mary

        There is nothing wrong with shopping online. If your “local shop” doesn’t offer online services that is their loss. They need to get with the times. “Shopping” keeps the economy running and employs many people. Wasteful shopping for items that will soon end up in a landfall is another matter!

      • Margo

        It never fails to amaze me that people write in complaining about what’s in a blog. There is no law that you have to read it. Plenty of us enjoy the information. I think you’re stretching it a bit when you say millions of people can’t support their families when so much is being done between stimulus money and unemployment which in many cases is more than earnings. One of the main points in the article was how to save money when buying on line. Instead of tearing everything down why don’t you offer some suggestions or tell us what you’ve been doing during this time that we’ve been cooped up in the house.

        • Marian Parsons

          Thanks, Margo. I understand where Monique is coming from and recognize that we all need to show each other a lot of grace. It’s a stressful time. I hope that my blog inspires and encourages, but I know that not every post isn’t going to hit that note for everyone. Thank you for seeing my intentions with this post. 🙂

      • Marian Parsons

        I completely understand. We have been working on home projects that we planned and saved for. Spending money with local businesses as well as supporting businesses that ship helps the economy and employment.

        I never want my blog posts about what I purchase to make anyone feel like they need to purchase something as well. It’s just a review of my experience with products that might be helpful for those looking for similar products.

        Thanks for sharing your opinion, Monique, and I hope there are other posts that inspire you!

    9. sandi m

      Gee Marian, hope you didn’t pay that Walmart price for the Ames. Home Depot sells the identical model for $15 less! Off to get one tomorrow for my sad edging!

    10. Carolyn Pierce-Dyer

      Gee whiz, you sure can’t please all of the people all of the time.
      Thanks for all the judgemental lecturing, fellow readers.

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    Marian Parsons - Miss Mustard Seed

    I’m Marian, aka Miss Mustard Seed, a wife, mother, paint enthusiast, lover of all things home and an entrepreneur, author, artist, designer, freelance writer & photographer.  READ MORE to learn more about me, my blog and my business…

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