Sunday, November 6, 2011
Alas gardening is gone for a little bit
Hello bloggers! It has been quite some time since I posted a new blog. About 2 weeks ago I was put on bed rest, since I am already dilating! So the hopes of a fall garden have all vanished :( alas, I am hoping that come February, I will have enough energy to start another spring garden :) with all the extra time I have from the couch, I have gotten quite crafty.I enjoy making jewelry in my spare time, and have given Michael's more money than I would like to admit. As such, I want to start a new blog about my DIY projects. It will be more of a watch me stumble through some cool projects rather than a this is how you do it format. I hope you all will join me! It's called Confessions of a Fledgling Crafty Mom, please check it out!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Iced Pumpkin cookies
Though it may not feel like it now (especially to those of us in Florida) autumn will be here before we know it. It officially starts Friday September 23, or in 6 short weeks. One thing that I am finding I am lacking the energy to do is start my fall crops. I know I need to pull out my seed packets and see which ones need to be started indoors. I also need to pull out the few willful weeds lingering in my two garden beds. That involves crouching down in 90*+ weather, which is hard for me to do now.
Oh well, one thing I am finding the energy and motivation to do for the fall is try out my fall recipes! I LOVE LOVE LOVE fall and winter cooking- so rich and hearty and filling! I have been trying to find unique and fun desserts and drinks to make (my areas of specialty) from scratch that I can make along with my son. I stumbled upon one for iced pumpkin cookies, and I was ready to try it. I had my son help me with the dry ingredients, and the mixing. It made about 32 large cookies. I ran out of the glaze, so I may make more of that. Here it is in case you want to try it:
Oh well, one thing I am finding the energy and motivation to do for the fall is try out my fall recipes! I LOVE LOVE LOVE fall and winter cooking- so rich and hearty and filling! I have been trying to find unique and fun desserts and drinks to make (my areas of specialty) from scratch that I can make along with my son. I stumbled upon one for iced pumpkin cookies, and I was ready to try it. I had my son help me with the dry ingredients, and the mixing. It made about 32 large cookies. I ran out of the glaze, so I may make more of that. Here it is in case you want to try it:
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 cups white sugar | 1 cup canned pumpkin puree 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups confectioners' sugar 3 tablespoons milk 1 tablespoon melted butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract |
Directions:
| 1. | Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside. |
| 2. | In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly. |
| 3. | Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork. |
| 4. | To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency. |
| The next time I make them I will take a picture! Next fall recipe I am trying tomorrow: Hot spiced apple cider :) |
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Rain barrels, and the lack of rain here
As mentioned in my previous blog, I went to two classes last week at my local extension office. The first was a composting class. The second, and topic of this blog, was a class about water barrels. I have always wanted to save money on watering my garden, so this was right up my alley. We paid the $30 for a water barrel and signed up.
This class taught me a lot more about collecting rain water than I had anticipated. Using a rain barrel has many benefits besides saving money. Catching rain in a rain barrel reduces the amount of rain water that gets pointlessly rushed into storm drains and sewers, where it benefits nothing. Also, it reduces the chances that rainwater contaminated with fertilizers or pesticides end up in our water supply. Another benefit of rain barrels is eliminating erosion. When rain comes down hard and fast it doesn't have time to absorb into the ground and used by native plants. Instead it displaces dirt and causes storm run off. And lastly, you save money if you use nature's faucet instead of your own :)
We ended up getting a standard sized blue rain barrel. It was formerly used as a bin to store grapes in. Normally, you need a gutter with a down spout to hook a rain barrel to. However, one of the many ways my house still puzzles me is that we have NO rain gutters. The rain falls off the roof and right onto the ground. I have very bad erosion all around my house, making it very difficult to garden with any kind of tender plant along the borders. In my backyard, once upon a time we had a downspout but it fell off, so rain empties out particularly hard there. We decided to put the barrel on two bricks and station it there. The water falls right in with little splashing. We don't have a net to cover the hole from mosquitoes yet, so we set a piece of plastic over it for now. It has not rained much where I live. This time of year, it could pour five minutes up the road every night but be dry here, and that is how it has been. I hope it rains soon, my plants are starting to look sad!
My good friend and incredible artist Rachel agreed to paint our barrel for us. I envision a light and dark green background, with lots of bright beautiful zinnias, sunflowers, daisies and roses. Once you put a plastic primer and bottom coat on, the rest can be acrylic paints, topped with a polyurethane clear coat to weather proof it. I have no doubt it will look beautiful, she is a wonderful artist. Wonderful creations just seem to come out of her and onto paper/ceramic/easels. I am very excited to have some of her art be a permanent part of our house! She has a pottery shop on etsy, Rivermist Clay, if you are interested in buying some unique, eye catchy pieces ;)
I will post pictures of the painted product here soon!
This class taught me a lot more about collecting rain water than I had anticipated. Using a rain barrel has many benefits besides saving money. Catching rain in a rain barrel reduces the amount of rain water that gets pointlessly rushed into storm drains and sewers, where it benefits nothing. Also, it reduces the chances that rainwater contaminated with fertilizers or pesticides end up in our water supply. Another benefit of rain barrels is eliminating erosion. When rain comes down hard and fast it doesn't have time to absorb into the ground and used by native plants. Instead it displaces dirt and causes storm run off. And lastly, you save money if you use nature's faucet instead of your own :)
We ended up getting a standard sized blue rain barrel. It was formerly used as a bin to store grapes in. Normally, you need a gutter with a down spout to hook a rain barrel to. However, one of the many ways my house still puzzles me is that we have NO rain gutters. The rain falls off the roof and right onto the ground. I have very bad erosion all around my house, making it very difficult to garden with any kind of tender plant along the borders. In my backyard, once upon a time we had a downspout but it fell off, so rain empties out particularly hard there. We decided to put the barrel on two bricks and station it there. The water falls right in with little splashing. We don't have a net to cover the hole from mosquitoes yet, so we set a piece of plastic over it for now. It has not rained much where I live. This time of year, it could pour five minutes up the road every night but be dry here, and that is how it has been. I hope it rains soon, my plants are starting to look sad!
My good friend and incredible artist Rachel agreed to paint our barrel for us. I envision a light and dark green background, with lots of bright beautiful zinnias, sunflowers, daisies and roses. Once you put a plastic primer and bottom coat on, the rest can be acrylic paints, topped with a polyurethane clear coat to weather proof it. I have no doubt it will look beautiful, she is a wonderful artist. Wonderful creations just seem to come out of her and onto paper/ceramic/easels. I am very excited to have some of her art be a permanent part of our house! She has a pottery shop on etsy, Rivermist Clay, if you are interested in buying some unique, eye catchy pieces ;)
I will post pictures of the painted product here soon!
Composting
Last Saturday, the hubby and I dropped our dear son off at nana's house, and made our way to our county's extension service. Let me back up and explain a little. One day I was bored and a little on the "going green" crazy side, so I googled a bunch of ways to go green and cut back on my carbon footprint and my energy bill. One of the things my power company's website suggested was a link to county extensions. I clicked on the link and explored all the things it offered. They have many classes that cover everything from bird watching to rain barrels. I signed up for the rain barrel class and the composting class.
So, fast forward to the class last Saturday. It was taught by a master gardener (what do you have to do to get that title??) from the University of Florida's gardening unit. He went over the basic principals of composting, what it is, what the benefits are, and how to make it happen in your back yard.
I must say, I am still a little intimidated by it. We got a free compost bin at the end of the class, and it is still sitting in Chris' car. It seems like such a delicate mixture of browns and greens (nitrogens and carbons) and heat vs. cold (at least 120*, no more than 140*), and I don't want to end up with a stinky bin in my backyard that does nothing but attract animals. I would love to do something productive with all my kitchen rubbish, and the grass clippings (that we seem to get weekly now that the grass is growing again). And I would love to have a fantastic soil amendment to plant my fall crops in.
I will get off my butt and start it next week I think. Until then, wish me luck!
So, fast forward to the class last Saturday. It was taught by a master gardener (what do you have to do to get that title??) from the University of Florida's gardening unit. He went over the basic principals of composting, what it is, what the benefits are, and how to make it happen in your back yard.
I must say, I am still a little intimidated by it. We got a free compost bin at the end of the class, and it is still sitting in Chris' car. It seems like such a delicate mixture of browns and greens (nitrogens and carbons) and heat vs. cold (at least 120*, no more than 140*), and I don't want to end up with a stinky bin in my backyard that does nothing but attract animals. I would love to do something productive with all my kitchen rubbish, and the grass clippings (that we seem to get weekly now that the grass is growing again). And I would love to have a fantastic soil amendment to plant my fall crops in.
I will get off my butt and start it next week I think. Until then, wish me luck!
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Sorry for disappearing for a little bit! I have been trying to enjoy the fleeting days of my summer vacation. We found out we are having a girl :D! I couldn't be more excited!
But allow me to return to my regularly scheduled blog. Today I ordered my fall seeds from Baker Creek Seeds. I know there are many seed companies out there. Burpees is one of the largest and oldest, and there are tons of others. My friend Brittany introduced my to Bakers Creek. They are the largest supplier of heirloom seeds in the country. They pride themselves with selling only non-GMO, non genetically altered, heirloom seeds. Many of the seeds can be traced back to pilgrims first settling the United States. I like knowing that the seeds I am planting are tested by time, and in their purest form.
Baker Creek's website is very user friendly. They give background on themselves, a link to different magazines you may be interested in, and a way to search their over 1400 seeds for a specific kind of seed. Each seed gives a history on that particular seed, where it grows best, and how it will look. One of my only complaints is not very many of the links have pictures. And since they are based in Missouri, many of the plants they say will grow well in the summer would melt in my zone 9 climate, so I just have to keep up in my zoning.
Buying the seeds is a breeze, and the seeds come surprisingly fast. My packing slip always has a personal hand written thank you from the owners, which means a lot to me in a world of ebay and amazon impersonal-ness. The seed packages themselves are works of art. Many have pictures of the Baker Creek farms on them, or old timey illustrations. And, they always throw in a free seed packet! I have gotten a purple carrot and a beautiful wildflower in the past. If you don't like the internet, they have a toll free number you can call and speak to someone in person. Also, on their site, they have to link to request one of the beautiful seed catalogs for free. It is an attractive glossy tome filled with fantastic descriptions and color pictures of many of their seeds. I could spend a whole day planning out future gardens with that magazine in my lap and a cup of lemonade in the other. Best of all, it's free!
Well, that is my review of Baker Creek's heirloom seeds! I hope you decide to check them out :)
But allow me to return to my regularly scheduled blog. Today I ordered my fall seeds from Baker Creek Seeds. I know there are many seed companies out there. Burpees is one of the largest and oldest, and there are tons of others. My friend Brittany introduced my to Bakers Creek. They are the largest supplier of heirloom seeds in the country. They pride themselves with selling only non-GMO, non genetically altered, heirloom seeds. Many of the seeds can be traced back to pilgrims first settling the United States. I like knowing that the seeds I am planting are tested by time, and in their purest form.
Baker Creek's website is very user friendly. They give background on themselves, a link to different magazines you may be interested in, and a way to search their over 1400 seeds for a specific kind of seed. Each seed gives a history on that particular seed, where it grows best, and how it will look. One of my only complaints is not very many of the links have pictures. And since they are based in Missouri, many of the plants they say will grow well in the summer would melt in my zone 9 climate, so I just have to keep up in my zoning.
Buying the seeds is a breeze, and the seeds come surprisingly fast. My packing slip always has a personal hand written thank you from the owners, which means a lot to me in a world of ebay and amazon impersonal-ness. The seed packages themselves are works of art. Many have pictures of the Baker Creek farms on them, or old timey illustrations. And, they always throw in a free seed packet! I have gotten a purple carrot and a beautiful wildflower in the past. If you don't like the internet, they have a toll free number you can call and speak to someone in person. Also, on their site, they have to link to request one of the beautiful seed catalogs for free. It is an attractive glossy tome filled with fantastic descriptions and color pictures of many of their seeds. I could spend a whole day planning out future gardens with that magazine in my lap and a cup of lemonade in the other. Best of all, it's free!
Well, that is my review of Baker Creek's heirloom seeds! I hope you decide to check them out :)
Friday, July 1, 2011
Planning the fall garden
During the summer time, many of the crops and spring plantings start to die off in Central Florida. Whereas much of the rest of the country is just planting and harvesting ripe tomatoes, lettuce and broccoli, we Floridians are confined to going outside before 8am or after 8pm, and growing only okra or peas. But alas, I sit back today, comfortable in my 80* house, clutching a cool glass of water, and harvesting big dreams of a fall crop. My good friend at Gradening Adventures introduced me to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. They are the largest supplier of heirloom seeds in the country. I will write a review of them and other seed companies next.
So I sit here with my catalog, planning my fall crops. In Florida, our summers are like winters everywhere else. We simply cannot grow much. However, come September or October, the cool weather crops can grow, and many last through the whole winter season.
So, here is my list of crops to be planted late September/early October, and anything I know about growing each, in case you want to give them a shot:
Cauliflower- cauliflower can be planted anytime between September-January. It can take low temperatures, but needs shielding from frost. I am going to get the self-blanching "Snowball" type. It turns white all on it's own, and is virtually bug free. I hear they need lots of space for ventilation, so I think I will do two wide rows.
Broccoli- broccoli is another great winter crop for Florida. Since it doesn't like any heat, I may start seeds inside and transplant them in mid-October to my garden. I am excited that you can cut off some of the heads and it will continue to produce. Talk about the plant that keeps on giving!
Lettuce- I have always wanted to grow lettuce. I have seen some beautiful lettuce leaves that rival that of any ornamental bush or flower. I want to try staggered planting, and a few different kinds. For a typical leaf lettuce, I will plant the "tango" variety. It's a deep green and the leaves are crinkly. For a splash of color, I want to try the romaine "cimmaron" variety. It's an old variety (18th century) and a strikingly bright red color. They both are pretty hardy to frosts (not that we get a lot of frost down here, but where I am, we have been known to go below 32* about 8 times a season).
Peas- There are quite a few varieties of peas that can be grown in Florida. I am leaning towards "wando" and "oregon sugar pod II". Both are high yeilding, compact and heat resistant. I may plant them early September to maximize the growth time.
Garlic- This is the one that I do not have access to. I do not want to plant a bulb from the store, since I have no idea what kind of chemicals or other processes have been done to it. But I do not know who sells heirloom garlic bulbs. They need as much time in a cool ground as possible, so I was going to plant them in late October. They get mature when the ground warms up, so I would have garlic heads next May. Does anyone know where I can find heirloom garlic bulbs?
So, I will place my order with Baker Creek soon enough, and wait for the heat to wane as I prepare to put all the knowledge I have gained in my first year of gardening to good use :)
So I sit here with my catalog, planning my fall crops. In Florida, our summers are like winters everywhere else. We simply cannot grow much. However, come September or October, the cool weather crops can grow, and many last through the whole winter season.
So, here is my list of crops to be planted late September/early October, and anything I know about growing each, in case you want to give them a shot:
Cauliflower- cauliflower can be planted anytime between September-January. It can take low temperatures, but needs shielding from frost. I am going to get the self-blanching "Snowball" type. It turns white all on it's own, and is virtually bug free. I hear they need lots of space for ventilation, so I think I will do two wide rows.
Broccoli- broccoli is another great winter crop for Florida. Since it doesn't like any heat, I may start seeds inside and transplant them in mid-October to my garden. I am excited that you can cut off some of the heads and it will continue to produce. Talk about the plant that keeps on giving!
Lettuce- I have always wanted to grow lettuce. I have seen some beautiful lettuce leaves that rival that of any ornamental bush or flower. I want to try staggered planting, and a few different kinds. For a typical leaf lettuce, I will plant the "tango" variety. It's a deep green and the leaves are crinkly. For a splash of color, I want to try the romaine "cimmaron" variety. It's an old variety (18th century) and a strikingly bright red color. They both are pretty hardy to frosts (not that we get a lot of frost down here, but where I am, we have been known to go below 32* about 8 times a season).
Peas- There are quite a few varieties of peas that can be grown in Florida. I am leaning towards "wando" and "oregon sugar pod II". Both are high yeilding, compact and heat resistant. I may plant them early September to maximize the growth time.
Garlic- This is the one that I do not have access to. I do not want to plant a bulb from the store, since I have no idea what kind of chemicals or other processes have been done to it. But I do not know who sells heirloom garlic bulbs. They need as much time in a cool ground as possible, so I was going to plant them in late October. They get mature when the ground warms up, so I would have garlic heads next May. Does anyone know where I can find heirloom garlic bulbs?
So, I will place my order with Baker Creek soon enough, and wait for the heat to wane as I prepare to put all the knowledge I have gained in my first year of gardening to good use :)
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Green stuff for next to nothing
Since I will not be gardening much the next few months, I may be posting more things related to outdoors in general, or how to be greener in life. I was doing a search about trees and stumbled upon www.arborday.org. They have wonderful resources to get your children involved outdoors, a huge database where you can search for trees, and a pretty reasonable membership.
The membership is what interested me, so I clicked the link. You can join for 6 months ($10) or one year ($15). When you join, your are subscribed to a bimonthly newsletter called Arbor Day. Also, you recieve a book called The Tree Book, and get up to 60% off any order through them. The best part is, you get to choose to plant 10 trees in a forest in your name, or they will send you 10 trees for free! I choose the 10 free trees. You enter in your zip code and it gives you a few options of trees that grow well in your area. I could pick 10 bald cypresses, 10 live oaks, or 5 myrtles. I picked 5 myrtles. I can't wait- my myrtle I planted last year is well over 7 feet tall, and gave me beautiful baby pink flowers last year. I want to plant them along the border of my yard. They should arrive soon, along with my newsletter and tree book!
The membership is what interested me, so I clicked the link. You can join for 6 months ($10) or one year ($15). When you join, your are subscribed to a bimonthly newsletter called Arbor Day. Also, you recieve a book called The Tree Book, and get up to 60% off any order through them. The best part is, you get to choose to plant 10 trees in a forest in your name, or they will send you 10 trees for free! I choose the 10 free trees. You enter in your zip code and it gives you a few options of trees that grow well in your area. I could pick 10 bald cypresses, 10 live oaks, or 5 myrtles. I picked 5 myrtles. I can't wait- my myrtle I planted last year is well over 7 feet tall, and gave me beautiful baby pink flowers last year. I want to plant them along the border of my yard. They should arrive soon, along with my newsletter and tree book!
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