Earth Day is on April 22nd and Atomic-Mama.com is hosting a Product Review Blog Carnival that features reviews on products that benefit the Earth! We’re talking gardening, Earth-friendly house keeping, “green” living and even learning about the Earth and how to “green” your lifestyle!
Here’s the lineup!
Kelli from 3 Boys and a Dog wants to know – are you wasting energy? This super simple trick can cut your energy costs! Check it out and maybe save some money!
Connie has done an awesome review on StayVocal Reusable Shirts! These are …

You know that saving money goes hand in hand with conserving and reusing your resources. By making good use of your home resources, your family can also save and conserve natural resources. One example of this is taking your own bag(s) with you when you go shopping.
Since the trip to the store can be hectic, you may find that you get to the store only to find that you’ve forgotten your bags. It helps to have a reminder and that is where this free “Bring Your Own Bag” …

Oh, the joys of gardening! Like many people, you may start thinking about gardening early in the year but by the time spring gets here, you’ve decided that you just don’t have space for a garden. Think again. You can create a small garden with the help of containers and/or square foot gardening. To help you get your garden planned out in your mind as well as on paper, here are some really cool Garden Planner printable pages to help you get started.
Xander and I are going to begin a …

Planting:
Now that you have all of your plants, the real fun (or work, depending on how you see it) begins. Check out Home Depot’s know-how section for great ideas on how to plant your flowers. It even has some great tips on which plants to select while shopping! Here, however, is how I did it (the idiot’s version): gather all the potted plants and bring them into your garden area (You may want to use a wheelbarrow, if you can, so you don’t have to make 100 trips. I …

Plant Shopping
Now that you know what kinds of butterflies you want to attract, and what they like to eat, you can start planning your garden. Look at the plants you have chosen for butterfly attracters: how tall and/or large do they get? When do they bloom? How often? Are they annuals (bloom one season then die) or perennials (continue coming back every year)? What are their sun requirements? Do they have flowers, and if so what kind (Large, small, open, tube-shaped, clustered) and color? When creating any garden, you want …

Research, research, and more research!
Finding the right plants will have a huge impact on the success and ease of care for your butterfly garden. Butterflies need more than just pretty flowers. Specific butterflies eat specific foods, lay eggs on specific plants, and their larva require specific host plants to eat. So the first step in planning your garden is to determine what kinds of butterflies you want to attract and find out what they eat. Go to your local library or agricultural office (Or their website) and find out what …

Getting Ready
Thinking about starting a garden and not sure what you want to plant? Or maybe you want to make your home more eco-friendly and increase its resale value. Or maybe you’re like me: life and work are just too stressful, you need some kind of relaxing activity and a place to go to recharge yourself and feel closer to the earth. Then you should create a butterfly garden.
Butterfly gardens aren’t complicated, or at least not any more so than any other garden. They provide habitats for many different animals, …