SHL Ep.8: Using Broken Concrete in the Garden + Summer Preserving
Did you know that broken concrete is a great building material for garden stepping stones, raised beds, retaining walls, and patios? Gardeners who want to encourage concrete recycling have given it the name “urbanite.” In this episode of Simple Homemade Life, we’re discussing all the ways we’ve used broken concrete in our gardens, the pros and cons of using urbanite, and how to get it for free. Plus, we head to the kitchen to talk about the canning and preserving I’ve been doing so far – and the free preserving record notebook you can download!
Simple Homemade Life Video
SHL Audio (Podcast)
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In The Garden
Ways to use broken concrete in the garden, shown above:
- stepping stones
- walkways with mortar mix
- raised beds – single layer or multilayer
And of course a patio like our new one in the garden above. The full tutorial for this is here so you can make your own for less than $20!
Here is a photo I mentioned seeing of retaining walls made from urbanite:
I think it’s pretty cool. I found it on this site were you can see more, including how they used the concrete for steps, too, and planted the gaps with sedum.
In The Kitchen
Here are links to the recipes and preserving methods I mentioned:
- Boiling Water Canning Step-By-Step Tutorial
- Garlic Spiced Canned Pickled Beans
- Easy Garlic Dill Pickles (No Canning Needed)
- Freeze Green Beans Without Blanching Video
- Easy No-Cook Freezer Jam
- 3 Ingredient Maple Blackberry Jam Recipe (Can or Freeze)
And if you haven’t downloaded your free Preserving Record Notebook, sign up for the newsletter and grab yours (plus LOTS more useful printables like a holiday planner, monthly calendar, pantry checklist, recipe ebooks, and more!)
What’s Next
We’re going to be sharing our low maintenance raised bed vegetable garden in the summer, the different materials we’ve used and the pros and cons of raised beds and raised bed materials.
Look for new episodes every other Friday on YouTube or here on the blog!
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