Spring has finally Sprung

What an odd year.  Spring has arrived almost a whole month later than usual.  Right now the crab trees are blooming.  The lilac is finally blooming.  The scent  between the clove currant bush and lilac is almost intoxicating!

The two paver-lined bed are used for vegetable growing.  This year I hope to plant melons.

Clove currants are native. The fragrance is amazing! Later it produces purple edible currants.


Early spring is the time to re-do garden beds.  Here I am removing all traces of May Night Salvia from the front garden.  My goal is to have low growing flowering ground covers that do not require mid-summer deadheading.  This is a hot full sun area.

How’s this for lawn alternatives! And, it is just starting!

As soon as Ted and I could get out this spring we worked on the addition of this fence.  This is Ted’s 32nd Wedding Anniversary present to me...  Note the plastic plant coasters floating in the garden.  They act as water cover until the waterlily covers the surface of the water.  This reduces the growth of green algae.

This was a big job!  I dug out the rest of the right-side garden.  This vegetable bed will have tomatoes.  I removed the rocks and replaced them with pavers.  Rocks have crevices where plant-eating pill bugs and slugs can hide.  The pavers lay tighter together.  Tuck soil tightly next to rocks to eliminate hiding places.

I love the little details.  This sedum is planted in a broken pot. Sedums need drainage.


More groundcovers

Bleeding hearts…trees in pots

The flower of this variegated iris smells like purple grape soda.


The first Verbascum to bloom.  I love this flower!

Spring is starting!

Economical Way to Start Seeds Inside With Lights

This has been one of the snowiest Aprils.  This is the view from my kitchen window. Because it is April and the sun is higher in the sky and the days are longer the snow melts much quicker than the winter snow.   March did have some dryer days so Ted and I were able to get out even though it was cool and get some things done out in the garden.  Ted is building me a painted board fence that will start from the spot you see on the left hand side and continues behind my beloved juniper trees.  As soon as things dry out we will put up the 89 painted boards…  Indoor seed starting saves money and can give you a variety of plants.  Some plants need a couple of months of growing indoors, the majority need  6 weeks, 4 weeks and then 2 weeks.  With so many planted seeds, growing  plants can become overwhelming.  There is only so much space and windows available to most of us and  who wants a bunch of plant trays clogging the decor   Years ago Ted made me a clever wooden bookcase just wide enough to hold 4-foot shop lights.  I’ll show you in a bit.  Three months ago I started my first plants: Pansies, Petunia.  I took cuttings of a red begonia and also separated a purple passion plant into 6 plants.  All for outdoors.

Wouldn't several of these begonias look great in the garden?  That’s what I thought so a  full 3 months ago I took cuttings and started them in the same way you start an African Violet.  First make sure the mother plant is well hydrated.  With a sharp clean knife cut a leaf with a bit of stem.  Gently dip into rooting hormone.  Fill a small container with perlite or some other non-soil starting medium.  Water  the little container . Use a wooden pencil to make a hole. Poke the little leaf stem into the hole. Make sure the stem has good contact. Water and place the little container into a tray, cover the top with plastic wrap to keep in  moisture.  Keep the moisture level damp.  After a couple of weeks remove the plastic covering but still keep damp.  The little leaves will come up from the side. 

See the little leaf on the side.  Underneath there are roots!  We have about 5 weeks until outdoors planting time.  I think I should of started these begonias in November instead of January.

The picture doesn't show it, but these little starts are held in a clear plastic container, the kind you get from the grocers with washed lettuce.

In January I planted 15 pelleted Tidal Wave Petunia seeds. 11 sprouted and they are big enough to be planted, but I still have a good month before I can put them out.  So today was the day to find them bigger homes.  In the background you can see the blooming begonia! And, through the windows you can see snow!  I mixed up some store bought potting soil with my seed starting mix.  This project is messy and requires a good kitchen cleanup after I am done.

Check out this petunia! Such healthy roots! It looks like soon it will be ready to bloom!  I also transplanted 6 tomatillos and 2 Glacier Tomatoes and 2 other early tomatoes. So where to put all these plants?  My basement – Under lights.  If you have shopped for grow light systems you will have noticed they are very, very expensive.  But this system is very reasonable and doable.  Not fancy but it works!

Ted built me this bookcase.  It is in front of a small south facing window in the basement.  Each shelf can hold a four foot fluorescent light. You can grow and keep seedlings with ordinary fluorescent lights  but I think they do better when they have a bit more range of light. I went to Lowe's and bought a combination of inexpensive lights. I look for light bulbs with the most lumens.  I think I have a bulb called sunlight and another called daylight.  In the past I have had tomatoes set fruit indoors and harvested tomatoes indoors.  The little blocks of wood are used to keep the plants about 2” below the light.  The other must-do trick is to connect the lights to a timer and set the lights to run for 14 hours. The hardest thing is to remember to keep the seedlings watered and to replant them into bigger pots if they grow too fast. 
Today I also started basil, Serrano peppers, candytuff and some fancy zinnias.  Happy Spring!  Oh, take a look at what I did with a plain jean type suede skirt.  It is inspired by a jean skirt I found and pinned on Pinterest . 

“If You Can Crochet A Square” Shrug

I show you the shrug and the very easy how-to at the bottom of this post.  But first why the crocheting came about:

In almost 32 years of marriage to my Ted, this is the first winter we didn’t go away to somewhere warm…We thought it would be a good idea to have a “stacation” winter, get things done indoors, take local trips to the hills and get some walking done in our beautiful town.  But this winter is dragging on.  February with it’s slightly longer days has been colder than average!  And snow or ice has covered our yard for most of the winter.  Yesterday the temperature reached 30 with wind…but I needed out!  So we bundled up and drove downtown to walk close to the downtown stone buildings.  It was cold, but by the time we reached the 144 steps we were warm enough to walk them up then down.



Our town has several building made of beautiful stone. – This building is now a museum, but it was the grade school my Ted attended.

 

We have the most amazing path along the warm (hot springs) Fall River.  When it is cold the river steams.  The river run through our downtown.



These are the 144 steps that go from downtown along the river up to the beautiful VA Hospital.  There are other steps – The 128 steps and the 158 steps.  They all go from downtown up to higher areas.  We live on one of the hills.

OK – I am so missing my garden…I like to be busy and like learning something new.  So I decided to make a shrug to wear this summer over sleeveless dresses.  I used three 1.75 ounce skeins of sport weight yarn.   I usually like to be on the other side of the camera…but it was either Ted or me wearing the shrug:



This is the shrug. I made it in a light weight yarn, something like a baby yarn.  (Winter scarves and hats in the green basket)



side view



Back.  Done in double crochet. How to:   Crochet a rectangle that is 29 1/2” wide by 22” long.



Here it is folded in half. (11")  Seam up  4 1/2” on each side from the sides leaving the rest  (7”) as arm holes.



Unfold and turn the top up and the rest is the bottom.  After folding and seaming for the armholes crochet a double crochet and some single crochets all around the edges.  How fun is this! You can make this any size you want.  Just a big rectangle or square if you want a shorter shrug.

Gardeners are Creative–Crochet

It’s been years since I've crocheted something.  My mother taught me how to make a few stiches when I was a little girl…then later I taught myself how to read a pattern enough so that I could make one cotton thread doily.  Years ago I made 2 baby blankets.  They were made single crochet in 12” blocks.  I made a pattern for each square and counted stitches to make the pictures.  I finished the blanket as we drove to Nebraska, where I was presenting the blankie to the new mom.  I had Ted stop along the road and walked into the harvested corn field and had Ted snap a picture.  There’s a tree, cow, heart and house.

Before that I had made another blanket for another baby.

This picture I took on our dining room table.  Again, it is single crochet and worked up by my homemade sketch.  It was a matter of changing the color of yarn to create the picture.  Now, again I have this urge to crochet.  So I picked up at our local library the book Crocheting for Dummies and taught myself to read a pattern.  It is not hard.  Here is what I have done in just a few relaxing minutes.  Flowers….I want to make a neck wrap by attaching flowers.  I was inspired by a pin I pinned on my Style Pinterest board.  I've just discovered Pinterest and am not quite sure how it all works….but I think it is about gathering and sharing a few of our favorite things.  I found Pinterest quite my accident when one day I found several of my blog pictures pinned onto other peoples boards.  I’m glad you like them….Go for it!  I don’t know how to transfer those pins, so if you would like, you can re-pin on my new board.

The idea is to make different flowers.  I think I will also use some gathered-into-a-flower bits of vintage doilies for a neck wrap.   The theme is all about flowers.

Sourdough Whole Wheat Tortillas

I just cannot bring myself to buy tortillas from the store.  Homemade tortillas only take 3 ingredients in addition to water:  whole wheat flour, light tasting olive oil and a bit of salt.   I make them with my rye sourdough starter, so that makes 4 ingredients.  A natural sourdough starter makes bread healthier and more digestible and is an added source of probiotics, and I think they are easier to roll out.  They do take time to roll out and cook on a cast iron griddle or “comal”.  I listen to music or watch a movie…making tortillas is a job that keeps you right there by the kitchen counter and stove.  I start with my rye sourdough starter.  If you can refresh and start the dough a couple of days earlier, even better.  After refreshing the starter with rye flour. I return some starter to the refrigerator and  I take about 1/2 cup starter add water to about the 2 cup line and add whole wheat flour to make a batter that is a bit thicker than pancake batter.  Two cups of batter will make about 18 or so medium/small tortillas.  If you want to make more tortillas, later in the day add more water and whole wheat flour.  I mark my the outside of my measuring bowl at the 2 cup and 3 cup line.  It makes it easier to read.  Later a few hours before cooking the tortillas add salt, oil and more flour.  Use dough hook or Cuisinart to knead until stretchy.  Let dough rest for a couple of hours or more.  This is my recipe formula:  For each cup of starter I use a scant 1/2 teaspoon of good salt and 1 tablespoon oil.  So for say, 3 cups of starter, I would use a scant 1 1/2 teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons of oil and as much flour as needed. 


Ready to start

Divide dough into sections, keeping the rest of the dough in a covered bowl while you work out each section.  Flatten out walnut size portions into rounds. To help keep the round shape, pinch and flatten the balls into small rounds.  Roll out as many as you have space for on your counter.  Sometimes I have to turn off the griddle and catch up with the rolling out of the tortillas.
 
Cook one side when it starts to bubble turn over.  Use a press cloth to create bubble-space. This is how it looks after cooking on one side.

This tortilla will be tender and light.  Remove tortillas onto a cloth.  After they are all cooked and cool,  I keep them wrapped with the cloth and place them in a large plastic bag. You don’t want them to dry out.  After they cool I keep them in the refrigerator or freeze them.  These are so good!  Reheat on a griddle or in the microwave.  If you make them you will see why you will never want to buy them again.




,

Gluten-Free Corn Meal-Sunflower Seed Flour Cookie with Orange-Vanilla Icing

My goal was to combine gluten-free flours and get a cookie that melts in your mouth and taste really good!  It took three tries.  The first two combinations made more of a soft muffin top texture cookie that needed to be eaten with a fork, but delicious.  But, this third try is a success! Ground sunflower seeds and fine ground cornmeal along with a delicious orange-vanilla icing is a hit and this is easy!!!

Gluten-Free Corn Meal-Sunflower Seed-Flour Cookie with Orange-Vanilla Frosting.

1 Teaspoon Orange Juice Concentrate
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Organic Palm Shortening  
                    (I chose this shortening because, I need to rotate ingredients that are not as common. You can use butter or coconut oil)
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Raw Unsalted Sunflower Seeds
1 Cup fine ground Cornmeal
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Cinnamon

1.  In a large bowl cream together orange concentrate, egg, shortening and sugar.
2.  Using a coffee or seed grinder, grind 1 cup sunflower seeds until finely ground, but still powdery.
3.  Wisk together: ground sunflower seeds, corn meal, salt, baking soda, cinnamon.  Combine in large bowl with creamed mixture.
4.  Lightly oil fingers (use the bit left in the 1/2 cup measuring cup).  Roll into small balls.  Place on silicone line or parchment lined cookie
sheet.  Press flat.  Bake 350 for about 18 minutes

They go in the oven like this and come out like this.

Spoon icing into a small baggie (make sure to seal top) Cut a tiny corner and decorate.
Orange-Vanilla Icing – (so good)
Combine together 1 tablespoon orange concentrate, 1 teaspoon water, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and about 1 1/2 cups confection sugar.

The Cuisinart Challenge: 

I thought it would be neat to post 30 days of recipes with my new Cuisinart.  I do love the big 14 cup efficient thing…but on day 4 we went out of town and I didn’t cook.  And then there were the days I used the Cuisinart for just chopping ingredients and then there was the carrot cake experiment that was so bad, I scraped off the cream cheese frosting and put the cake out for the birds and squirrels.

Even though our December weather is warmer than normal, it is still cold


Yes the pond is frozen

I had to reduce the height of the spray – the water was splashing and freezing some out of the pond.  Fortunately we had a 50 degree day.  Not warm enough to thaw the pond.  But warm enough to add water to the pond.  It is ok now

A December Winter Day in the Garden - Day 3 In the Life of My Cuisinart–Gluten-Free Allergy-Free Chocolate Coconut Honey Cookies

The weather today is unseasonably warm. It reached 60 degrees!  My Ted needed to attend a class out of town, so early this morning before I got up he left.  While planning this day with one eye on the weather forecast, I totally looked forward to a day staying home, not cooking (just enough leftovers for one).  But, as the day dawned, I realized how much I miss my Ted…I’ve become accustomed to his face.  Married for over 31 years, I’ve always worked at home or worked hand and hand with him.  So, with gratitude for what I have, I eventually did get myself together and got some things done. 

Next week I will be making a meal for probably 18.  I will be cooking for friends, some who eat gluten-free and sugar-free.  I took advantage of today to super-clean my house…The weather while warmer, was quite windy…but for a moment the sun shined brightly and the wind calmed.  So I got out and pulled the pond pump and gave the filter a rinse.  I keep the pump running in the pond all winter.  The fish stay in the pond and do fine. The pond is deep enough that even though ice forms on top of the pond, the pump will continue to aerate the pond. Fish do not eat when the water is in the 40’s…they live on the fat on their little bodies.  In the spring they are raring to go and hungry.  They happily, I imagine  come to my hand, to be fed.



I sat on the bench at the opposite end of the pond and looked down…here is what I saw



This is a trumpet vine seed pod…bad pod. The wind must of blown it in.  I quickly picked this up and put it in the trash. Red trumpet vines are beautiful, but once they sprout they are hard to eliminate.

So I walked over to check out the trumpet vine…loaded with these seed pods. 



I pulled on the pod but oops! proceeded to free the seeds. They fell on the garden and onto my hair.





Many, many packed little winged seeds.  I think I will be weeding trumpet vines in the spring.



Day 3 in the Life of My Cuisinart – Gluten-Free, Allergy-Free Chocolate-Coconut Honey Cookies with Chocolate Honey Frosting  by Gloria Bonde





I came up with this cookie when I decided to find some gluten-free recipes.  I started by going on-line and buying different flours to see what I could come up with.  There are lots of great recipes out there…The trick is finding ideas to work with what ingredients you have on hand and what works ok in your diet.  It is a work in progress -

These cookies are not too sweet and very chocolate.  I am amazed at how fast the Cuisinart mixes up the dough.

Chocolate-Coconut Honey Cookies with Chocolate Honey Frosting Recipe

1.  First mix together in a small bowl 1 packed-tablespoon of ground flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons of warm water (this is an egg substitute)  (I ground them in a coffee grinder – I need a new one!!  Any ideas?)

2.  Combine:

1 cup coconut flour

1 cup hazelnut flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt.

3.  Melt together and mix well

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup coconut oil

flaxseed and water mixture.

Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Process dry and wet ingredients together.

Roll into small nuggets – Place on parchment or silicone lined cookie sheet – Press cookies flat with the bottom of a glass – Bake 350 for 15 minutes.  24 cookies

Frosting -  I combined coconut oil, unsweetened chocolate and honey by melting it together in a saucepan over a pot of hot water.  I thought when it cooled  since the coconut oil and chocolate are solid at room temperature that it would become thick enough to use as a glaze or frosting.  But it stayed too liquid, so I added cocoa powder. And it really set up.  It lost some of its pretty shiny glaze.  I think if I had used stevia instead of honey it probably would have set up fine.  I am still a novice when it comes to stevia…Maybe next time.  But, I like these cookies and I am going to have a couple with my morning coffee and freeze some to bring out in 4 or 5 days.

Frosting Recipe

Melt together 2 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate with 1/4 coconut oil and 1/4 cup honey. Let cool. 
To thicken add cocoa 1 teaspoon at a time.  2 teaspoon should be enough.  

If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Day 2 in the Life of My Cuisinart - Rye Sourdough Bread

Wouldn’t be fun if I could post “30 days in the Life of My New Cuisinart”…On the second day of owning this fun new tool, I made 3 loaves of 100% Whole Grain Sourdough Bread. 

3 days before making I took out my starter and started to feed it.  What a happy active batch of starter. For complete recipe

About 4  cups of starter.  I added this to the large 14 cup bowl with dough blade.

To 4 cups of starter I added  1 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 light tasting olive oil and 1/2 cup sugar (not honey – honey has some antimicrobial action, and we don’t want to restrict the natural yeast).  I added  whole wheat flour….This is about 6 cups of  dough…a bit heavy…but the machine did knead it quickly!  I needed to stop and stir the “load”.  Next time I might split the dough and knead separately.  I want my machine to work for many years.  If you do overload the machine, it has a safety that turns the motor off to protect it. 

One loaf for us, two for friends.  Ted and I delivered.