Tag : gardening

106 posts

T Tuesday: two weeks edition

Today for T stands for Tuesday I’m checking in with a recap of the past two weeks.  It’s been quite an interesting ride filled with many emotions.

Starting with a big positive…I did a bit more canning since I discovered I had enough lids. Those lids are like gold this season…who knew?!?

I canned 5 pints of my usual spicy beans and 2 pints using dried ghost peppers from the neighbor. I also made 9 half-pints of jalapeno jam. Truth be told …its more of a sauce since I didn’t have pectin. I used unflavored gelatin to thicken the jam. But honestly that’s ok since we usually use this as more of a sauce anyway. I pour it over brie cheese as an appetizer served with crackers.

My late season garden is doing very well all things considered. The tomatoes have been pulled up. The second planting of beans are thriving. My second planting zucchini was destroyed by a massive midnight hail storm we had about 10 days ago.

The following morning we saw the destruction.

So many leaves stripped from the trees. Thankfully this was more of a nuisance than actual damage.

 

I started back to school last Tuesday. It’s so weird. So different. It feels like a dystopian novel but in real life. That being said there are things I love, as well as things that make me sad, and things that I think we could definitely learn from and adapt into regular school days when we finally return to that some day.

It makes me sad how the kids almost seem shell-shocked…they aren’t talking to each other. They are assigned to seats, have masks and little choice. This was more how I grew up but definitely not how kids these days are accustomed to living.  I don’t think this is an all bad thing. I feel that over time this will actually benefit them…they will have to learn to talk to others…people they otherwise would not have interacted with.

I love that the classes are quiet. Teachers not fighting for control and respect. The hallways are being used as actual passageways between class periods. There are not kids roaming the halls for no reason and purpose. Without lockers being used, the kids have everything with them so no need to go get the forgotten items in the locker which most often was an excuse to leave class. Longer passing times gives kids a chance to use the restroom…again not leaving class.

I feel that the change in the learning environment is a positive one and the kiddos are going to learn a ton without distraction. Hopefully the school system will learn a little something as well from this online/hybrid/in-person flip flop crazy pandemic learning environment.

All that said…it was a good week. A long week. An exhausting week…more mentally than physically. Although I had forgotten how different it is to stand and walk on the more forgiving surfaces around home than the hard school floors. “ugh..my aching back”

I stole this meme from the school secretary in our end of week email. It’s so, so true. I slept so hard but had super bizarre dreams all week. LOL

I am still creating when I can. Art is an outlet…my therapy. I’m enjoying working in my art journals. I still need to get a bit of sewing done. Little by little…I’m ticking things off my to-do and want to-do list.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: Ivanhoe journal pages edition

I was thinking about what I wanted to post about for the T stands for Tuesday, I suddenly realized that I never have posted a couple of journal pages I made early this month. I guess that would be part of the August acceleration I talked about last week.

I know I gave a sneak peek of this page several weeks ago. It was my first page in my Ivanhoe journal.

I can’t get enough of looking at the texture… The gold and bronze are UTEE. The white is your basic embossing powder.

I chose these words after thinking about the Paris image I had used…dancing and wine seemed fitting.

This next page had me again playing with some metallic colors.

I used so many layers! This book will be another chunky one… The words I used reflected my mood. Things it seems will never be the same. Its sad really.

Moving on to more pleasant things.

I am attempting to make apple cider vinegar again. My last attempt did not turn out. I think I used tap water which killed off the fermenting bacteria plus I never feed them any sugar in the beginning. These apples were heading for the compost pile since they were getting soft and shriveled. Blech. Hopefully in 6 weeks I’ll have some lovely ACV to show off.

My second crop of beans is continuing to impress me with how quickly they are growing. There are even some tiny blossoms beginning to form.

The deck box garden is nearing the end stages. Several green tomatoes, beets and summer squash will all hopefully make it to harvest.

My pole bean plant is definitely determined…it is reaching out to whatever it can find to continue to grow. I’m thinking I really need to grow more of these next year. And bonus…no fuzz!! Nice smooth green beans like they should be!!!!

I’m posting Monday evening since I have my first back to school work meeting tomorrow. Thankfully its a remote meeting…unfortunately its FOUR HOURS LONG!!

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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16 Comments

T Tuesday: August acceleration edition

I feel as if time rapidly accelerates when we flip the calendar to August.  I haven’t gotten a thing posted for two weeks…even though I have been doing a little creating.

Here’s a little snippet of something I will post later today hopefully.

I know its awful to tease like that but sometimes I just can’t help myself.

I replanted my garden with a few things and three of the four items are growing nicely.

Green beans, snap peas and zucchini. I also have a volunteer tomato plant in the corner of the garden. I decided to leave it and see if it gets big enough to produce any fruit before the frost hits. I planted some carrot seeds in the deck box garden but they never sprouted. I think it got too hot for them. Oh well.

Speaking of carrots….this was a volunteer that I pulled from a pot of nasturtiums.

The faux watering can has a false bottom about 4 inches down so that’s why the carrot is so stumpy.

Marvin and I were enjoying a bit of sunshine yesterday. It was simply gorgeous. Low humidity, beautiful temperature…just a perfect day. While keeping one eye on Marvin, I noticed seed pods on the nasturtiums. You know me…had to save the seeds.

I’m super excited about this…likely more excited than one should be about seeds. I just have to let them dry. Ideally letting them dry on the plant is best but evidently you can also pick them off at this stage. These just fell off into my hand when I touched the plant. Time will tell if they are viable seeds. I also read that you can lacto-ferment these to make sort of a caper. In other artciles I read that the plant is very edible. The leaves have a pepper, mustard flavor and the flowers can be eaten raw or made into tea. Who knew?!?! I’m not one for eating flowers but I may try some leaves on a sandwich.

Since my last post I also found out what the fall will bring for our family. J goes back to campus for a mix of online and in person classes. Mini-me will be taking her college course online from home and choir through the high school…also online at this point. I will be starting the year in hybrid learning…meaning I will be at school 4 days a week. Monday-Tuesday group “A” kids and Thursday- Friday group “B” kids. Wednesday is all distance learning. I have very mixed feelings about this. I want to be in the classroom but I’m also afraid to be there. I can’t see how I can possibly do my job in person maintaining a 6 foot distance.

Today has me knocking super boring and lame items off my to-do list.  Phone calls, dentist appt, etc. Not one of my favorite days. I wish we could roll back the clock to last year this time…Mini-me and I were in Yellowstone!!

Oh well…time marches on…

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today.

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16 Comments

T Tuesday: typical Tuesday edition

It’s just a typical Tuesday at my house. I had a brisk morning walk…52°F. It was refreshing but I’m not going to lie…I wished I had worn long sleeves.

Next it’s time for a bit of coffee and list writing. Lists help me stay focused. Trust me…I was WAY off task this weekend and Monday. Mr. G took yesterday off so typically I take that “time off” as well. I don’t create lists and sort of go with the flow. Not always the best choice for me.

Good news though…last week I was very productive.

I replanted green beans, snap peas and zucchini.

They have all sprouted! Hopefully I’ll get some good production before our first frost.

My tomatoes are ripening. My squash lost the battle with pests…squash borers got to them…but now I know what to look for.

Marvin was busy watching the birds while I was snapping a few photos.

My tiger lilies are in full bloom and the deer have left them alone!

Perhaps its the new guard bear my neighbor painted and gave to Mini-me. That or the bar of Irish Spring soap I have hanging from the cage around the lilies. I heard that deer don’t like the smell of clean people. :)

I’ve started working in a new journal. I’m not loving this book as I’m afraid that its not well made enough to withstand the abuse that I put my art journals and altered books through.

It was the only one I had laying around at the moment. Since I’m not thrifting at all, it will have to do.

I thought it was funny that it had traveled half way across the country into my hands just for me to destroy alter it.

I’ve completed 4 spreads so far. This is a snippet of a page. I’m having a lot of fun playing with texture.

The T Tuesday post from last week had another one of the spreads. I’ll share more in another post. I’ve already rattled on too long for today.

 

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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15 Comments

T Tuesday: not a food blog edition

This post may make you think twice if you’ve arrived at the right place. It’s centered around food. Growing, eating, drinking, and baking with a little artsy-crafty splash thrown in just so you remember where you are.

This is my new favorite breakfast. Blueberry Oatmeal Bake. I found the recipe on Pinterest…where else?!  I modified things slightly to fit the ingredients that I had plus I don’t like using artificial sweeteners.

Check out this kohlrabi I got in our CSA box! Crazy!! I haven’t cut it open yet…I’m thinking today. I set it next to the loaf of bread we got as well with our farm share this week. I love it when they do community partnerships.

Between the beans from the CSA and my garden I needed to can some more spicy beans. I mixed up a double batch of the brine since I had so many. Not wanting to pour it down the sink, I grabbed some random veggies to try in a jar with some extra spices since I wasn’t including a jalapeno. Time will tell if we enjoy them or not.

Speaking of the garden…the high heat and humidity have done a number on the garden. The beans and squash have quit producing and of course you know about my deer chomped tomatoes. I was watching a youtube video about harvesting potatoes and the gardener mentioned doing a second planting of some of the quick turn around crops that stop production in the heat. Hmm…sounds exactly like what’s happening here. He said to look up the first frost date and count backwards from there to see if there is enough time. Our first frost date is Oct. 2nd so I have time!! I’ll let you know next week what I decided upon.

Since we’re talking about outdoor things…look at these lovely lilies my neighbor so generously lets me pick.  She had some other colors but those must be a little tastier to the deer…they beat me to them. My tiger lilies should be blooming this week…if the deer don’t get them first. Darn deer!!

With the heat and humidity I’ve been drinking tons of water. That gets boring sometimes so need to mix it up. My new favorite is club soda with a squeeze of lime or lemon. So refreshing.

All my walking is doing something that I hadn’t really noticed until I put on a shirt I hadn’t worn since my birthday.

I’ve lost 12 lbs. Both my walking and staying away from things such as those in the birthday basket I received. I want to keep this momentum going. Wish me luck!

On Saturday our state wide mask order went into effect for all indoor public spaces…its about time if you ask me.

I started making more masks. J will need a bunch at college. Mini-me will be doing her classes at home for her college courses. We find out later this week what the fate of K-12 school will be.

Are you still with me…I think we’ve finally arrived at the artsy part.

I’m not in love with this page as a whole. But I do love some of the little details.

The textures….

The colors…

And the message.

Today has me replanting in the garden, sewing and stupid household chores.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: full ADD happening edition

Wowsers! My ADD is in full gear. I want to try everything. So many irons in the fire but not much getting fully finished. Its a self-diagnosed condition and I am not making light of those who struggle with the medically diagnosed form. I’m with ya…I get it!

Where or where to start….

These seem like the perfect way to begin to explain how my ADD is working these days.

I pulled out my sewing box looking for a needle and button thread to reattach a button on J’s shorts. Yes, this would have been the optimal time to teach him this skill but I didn’t think of that until I was done. Perhaps I’ll have to snip a few threads on another one. *insert evil laugh*

Anyway…I noticed a few completed yoyos and several circles ready to sew. Of course, I dive full in and begin sorting through my scraps for pieces big enough to cut circles, then sit down and sew all these. I decided to exhibit a bit of self-control and actually began to tackle my to-do list.

I canned my spicy beans…although 2 jars never properly sealed so those are in the fridge for immediate consumption.

I also made Kimchi for the first time. You can see that I sampled quite a bit from one jar before thinking to document. It is so good! I sort of cobbled together a few recipes since I didn’t have the exact ingredients for any of them. I wasn’t sure if it would taste as good as the local brands I picked up at the co-op but it did! Now I have my fingers crossed that we get another Napa cabbage in our farm share box this week.

Sticking with the food theme…

The summer squash is beginning to ripen, We really enjoy these grilled. I use the grill as much as possible to cook with during the summer. No use heating up the house if at all possible not to.

I came home from my walk yesterday to find this…looks ok since you didn’t see it before. The deer ate a good 1/4 of the plant leaves and stems in addition to EVERY SINGLE tomato on the vine. There had to have been at least 15 maybe closer to 20 tomatoes in various stages of ripening. UGH!!!!!!!

Moving on…no use crying about what is already done.

My walk yesterday morning took me to the lake where I would take the kids swimming when they were little.

The water was so calm. Even the boat launch made for a pretty scene.

The rental craft are always a pretty picture but I was honestly very surprised that they are renting them during the pandemic. HMM…

This week after much deliberation, I decided to reopen my Etsy store. Mini-me said that she’d help me in exchange for a sales commission. I think that is fair and savvy on her part.

I have only gotten a few cards listed so far but its a work in progress.

More works in progress are masks for the family. J will need a bunch for school. They are required to wear them on campus while outside of their rooms. The dining center and any classrooms that require other protective gear are the exceptions. Mini-me will also need more if she will be attending community college as part of the PSEO (post-secondary enrollment option) program. She’s been accepted but her counselor quit two weeks ago. We’re kind of stuck at the moment. She may be starting her senior year at high school then transition to the college classes…who knows?!?!

Too soon? LOL I indulged in a cold beer over the weekend in my Corona glass.

Today I’m attempting to get some of the chores I really don’t like doing so that I can do a few fun crafty things I’ve been wanting to try. I’m dangling the carrot for myself…we’ll see if it works or not.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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13 Comments

T Tuesday: sky’s the limit edition

I have to say I’m loving the new theme When it’s hot on Art Journal Journey. Nice choice Erika!

The base of this loose leaf journal page is an equation sheet for an engineering course J had taken last semester. Actually just one of the crazy long, I don’t really see any numbers just symbols, type of things spanning three sheets. Wowsers. I’ll stick to middle school math, thank you.

I smeared some bright cheerful summery colors then began adding bits of paper not really knowing where I was heading. Since I had completely covered all the math I decided to add back in a table from a vintage math book so I’d remember where this page had begun.

After I felt my layers were complete, I looked for the right words. The birds made me think of flying, adventure, getting away from it all. The bicycle washi is another nod to getting out into nature and enjoying the fresh air.

Gosh, you’d think we were cooped up or quarantined or something. LOL Sometimes you’ve got to laugh or you’ll cry.

I’m so smitten with this theme that I created two pages in one sitting yesterday…either that or I was avoiding housework. Maybe both.

Art Journal Journey

Since I mentioned work…this is work I actually enjoy…gardening. It is a lot of work but I do love getting my hands dirty, having to wipe the sweat from my brow. But the things I love most is harvesting!

I’ll be canning spicy beans this week! And making cucumber salad…or maybe just peeling and eating.

I’m really looking forward to when the tomatoes ripen. I’m so sick of grocery store tomatoes.

These two bok choy plants and the habanero pepper plant I got for FREE when the local parking lot pop-up greenhouse was shutting down for the season. They always have nice plants.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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