Garden Photos - July 31, 2013

After the last post, I got to thinking "Gee, I really should post some pictures." I also thought "I REALLY should put the Lemon Verbena in a bigger pot and plant the Marigolds before I lose a second set."

So, that's what I did. Monday, I re-potted the Lemon Verbena. I can't tell if it helped or not, but so far, it is still alive! I only lost one of the six Marigolds but so far, they look lovely as well. Tuesday, I took a few quick photos. Today, I posted the photos! Enjoy.

Lemon Verbena. Yes, I know, how is it still alive?

The Marigolds all happily potted.

And the lettuce. I have no idea what I'm growing now. I just hope I get a head of lettuce.

Gardening - 2013 - July 29

My life has been hecktic. Suffice to say, my one 16 year old cat was diagnosed with cancer back in February and we lost him this month. I'm also trying to sort through stuff both literally and figuratively, which has been good. I also got myself a new computer (Hello, Steam. I missed you). Oh and Summer Reading Madness.

So the garden. Here's where I stand:

• Two mint plants from The Farm: Chocolate and Apple
• A catnip plant.
• Marigolds to attract bees, but a bit late it seems.
• Two lettuce. One should be iceberg but the other sprout seems to look NOTHING like the other. Maybe Little Caesar?
• Lemon Verbena plant barely holding on (needs potted in a bigger pot).
• Same tomatoes as before but I think I'm only getting two tomatoes in total this year. :-\ That's all that's growing. Might be getting more flowers soon. Not sure.
• A strawberry plant
• And a compost that was doing well then got screwed up (too wet) and I will turn around again because I've done so before. Although, the tub is pretty full.

Gardening is a lukewarm success this year. I'm happy to report that I got things from seed to survive, but all I can think is that in Year 3, I'll pull off what I want from my garden. Until then, it is nice to have the garden even if it isn't doing much. I'm hoping this winter I can move stuff to the greenhouse I wound up with (it's a little dinky thing) just to winter it over (i.e. the strawberry plant) as I like the herbs and am happy to have them.

The Etsy shop will be back I hope by the end of August. I just needed a break as I wasn't checking it and it needs more focus than I could dedicate. I also was just trying to see what stuff I took away I missed and surprisingly, the shop fell into that. Finding the time to craft for it though is hard.

Lessons Learned

• Need more flowering plants or bees, but I doubt I can keep bees here (township says I could but considering I'm in an apartment...)
• Need to reconsider where the tomato plants went because I can't put them all along the outer edge.

Gardening 2013 - May 5th

Here I am finally sitting down to start tracking my garden again. I hope you were wondering "Is she trying again? Any luck? Or did she give up completely and start consuming like everyone else?"

Well, no. I'm back to gardening. This year I was smart. This year I learned a few things from last year. This year I've introduced new things. This year I glanced at books. Last weekend I started saying "I should start the gardening journal back up again." I've always been intrigued at the idea of a gardening journal. There was a book I listened to that talked about a journal from the colonial times that talked about what was cooked and what was planted. It sounded amazing. Here we go.

January to March 2013:

• Started 8 things of seeds up again. These included: Broccoli, Iceberg Lettuce, Little Caesar Lettuce, Brandywine Tomatoes, Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Zucchini, and Peas of some variety. Please note, most of these seeds have dates of 200? to 2010. They've been in the fridge forever and some still grow!
• What actually grew: Broccoli, Iceberg Lettuce, Brandywine Tomatoes, Mortgage Lifters, Zucchini, Cucumbers.
• What actually survived to March and was potted: Brandywine Tomatoes, Mortgage Lifters, Zucchini.
• What I tried a second time in window box, outside: Iceberg Lettuce, Little Caesar.
• What I've bought: butter-something lettuce; cucumbers

Currently in the garden:

• Currently alive and very well (I think) is:
• 4-5 Brandywine Tomato plants (one is very weak but I don't have the heart to end it yet)
• 2 Mortgage Lifter Tomato plants
• 2 Cucumbers of a bush variety sharing a pot.
• 1 Zucchini plant
• 2 Iceberg Lettuce sprouts (last week I drowned one. ;_; )\
• 5 Butter-something (butter crunch I think) Lettuce from The Farm. One was nothing when I got it and I brought it back. Yay me!

Today I finally re-potted some of the tomato plants. I have some 8 inch diameter pots and I kept looking at the 12 inch tall tomato plants and (I think) they were sprouting roots above the dirt. So those in the tiny pots (2-3inches wide) from last month, got re-potted. 

I'm going to keep an eye on what I dubbed "the twins." The twins are two Brandywine Tomato plants that grew together in the pot. They split apart very easily at their roots (unlike the cucumbers I bought that live together in a pot) and now have their own pots. I'm oddly worried they will miss sharing a pot, but I'm hopeful all will have enough room to grow even more until they get planted in their final, 12 inch diameter pots (pretty red things that I treated myself too). Right now they are chilling outside as I'm attempting to harden them off, which I admit, will more likely look like "Hey! Nice weather. Out you permanently go!"

The only downside to the tomato plants so far is that Mortgage Lifters and Brandywines are probably not appropriate to container gardening so I may not have much of a crop but I'm totally winging it. Tomorrow, I'm hoping I can pick up a cherry tomato or Roma tomato plant (both my favorites in general) and one of them I'm certain is container friendly.

I also moved the Zucchini pot. I'm not sure if it is where it should be at this point in the season size-wise, but I realized it needed more sun, so it should be in a better spot now.

Lastly, my compost bin is awesome. I have some great compost but it still has a way to go. I'm hoping for more dirt in a few weeks so I can add that to the pots when I transplant the tomatoes.

Lessons Learned

• I still have lettuce and I have no idea what I'm doing (more of a need to learn).
• Sow seeds early, be attentive to plants, and so far so good.
• I have no patience for veggie plants (why won't they grow bigger and faster! Oh wait...because I'm not a fertilizer type person. I should but I do not like the idea of fertilizer.).

Foodie Friday - Broccoli Casserole

Welcome to the first post of Foodie Friday* where I post about something I made, where the recipe came from, and if it was a winner or a dud. This may or may not be weekly. Depends on what I cook, when, and if I remember to photograph it.

The first recipe I'm highlighting is Broccoli Casserole from The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy by the late trailblazer Bette Hagman (page. 284).

A Little Background
I have Celiac's Disease, which means that I can't have anything with Gluten in it, so when I was first diagnosed, the Gluten Free Gourmet series was the only thing available to newly diagnosed Celiac's back in the early 2000s (I was officially diagnosed in 2004). We actually now own all of the books in the series, thanks to wedding gifts (thank you if you are reading this!) and frankly, I still find them the most trustworthy cook books (to the point that when someone asked me what flour mix I used, I realized that all of mine are from this series of books. I have yet to buy a GF flour mix). Yes, the recipes can be a lot more complicated than you might like, but I think the results end up being fantastic (mostly).

Broccoli Casserole
I like easy recipes. I was also in the mood for something with broccoli at the beginning of November, so what I did was searched through the books for something. Somehow I stumbled upon the Broccoli Casserole and tried it.

We loved it. I've made it 4-5 times now. With prep time and cook time, the dish can be done in roughly an hour, which is great for me! It could possibly be less if there were a few things you didn't do yourself (like chop the broccoli), but I don't mind those things.

I'm actually posting more about my modifications. For example, if you try this recipe, 3 tablespoons of sugar is just way too much sugar. I also cut the salt to what looks more like 3/4 teaspoon and eyeball the bread crust and broccoli (usually 3 bread slices will work, processed in a small food processor to "crumble" them, and a large broccoli crown).

Before going into the oven.

The first time I made it, it was way too sweet. In the last few versions, I've cut back on the sugar which makes the dish more like a quiche. That makes it perfect for dinner. This also happens to be one of those dishes once it is made, it doesn't last more than 2 days in this home. Hagman mentions in the recipe description that this is great reheated and that is absolutely true, so this is a perfect make for the week dish as the flavor improves and lasts.

Overall, this is a winner and is going into our regular rotation of recipes. Just look at it!

Fresh from the oven! YUM. 9 servings? Um...more like 4.

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*(Any similarity to another blog series of the same name is unintentional. I did not research this name before starting the series).

PS: I'm looking into affiliate programs for books so you can visit a site to check out the book. Any favorites? Any not so favorites? Leave me a comment.

Achievement Unlocked: Quilting - Kitchen Rug!

Happy New Year! I've started the New Year off right: by finishing a craft project that was on the table for TOO LONG.

First, the inspiration from Pinterest: 

Source: sewwequilt.com via LibraryElfDesigns on Pinterest

A lovely quilted kitchen floor mat from SewWeQuilt (links above). Now, the issue at hand was what fabric would I use? How big would mine be? We definitely needed a floor mat by the sink.

I had also gained a bag of upholstery fabric scraps that someone else had in mind for a quilt of some sort ages ago (I think last January). So, I started poking through the pieces and found quite a few that would work wonderfully for my general kitchen theme. I cut them into 5 inch or so squares (might be 5.25 inches) and spent a lot of time trying to decide just how I'd lay them out. After that, I used The Workhorse (my 1950s Singer machine) and put the blocks together, put on a backing (light blue terry cloth fabric I had) and quilted it. Here's before the binding:

Look at how nice that all works, although, I think it is technically upside down in this pic. Notice the egg!
Copyright LibraryElfDesigns

Full disclosure: I have NEVER put a quilt together from start to finish. You may remember the Patriotic Quilt I am/was working on. That's a quilt top so far. Tops I have made...mostly. Not sure I've done any blocking/borders/what-have-you yet. I find the idea of hand quilting not something I want to do. Machine quilting, yes. Hand quilting, not so much. I know the Patriotic Quilt could use something (I'm waiting on something from my stash that'll work).

Anyway, since this was my first time quilting from start to finish, I needed help. This Pinterest Pin, titled "Beginning Quilting Series" in my Pin, proved very, very helpful:

Source: diaryofaquilter.com via LibraryElfDesigns on Pinterest

With the help of the "Binding 101" section, I put the binding onto the rug and ta-da! Finished rug! I only needed a little bit of hand sewing because the one corner was too much for the machine.

TA DA! It is frugal and pretty!
Copyright LibraryElfDesigns

There are a few things I learned from this that I need to make note of for next time. So here are...

Lessons I Learned

• The upholstery fabric was great, but the seams are a bit bumpy so standing on it isn't comfortable (ok. I've only done this for about 5 whole minutes so I could be wrong). Next time, I really should do more than the two layers I chose to do out of laziness.
• Next time, don't start the binding in the corner...
• ...but the binding method from the above pin was the EASIEST binding ever. I thought it would be a very difficult task, but not with that machine binding technique.  
• It needs something on the back to stop it from sliding. I have some ideas, just wanted to get that project off my table to free up room for the craft table.
• I can now say I've done a quilt! Even if it is slightly a cheater quilt. I love feeling frugal and thrifty and having something that looks great.
• I would definitely make another rug like this.

Reconstructing Clothes for Dummies - LibraryElfReads

Title: Reconstructing Clothes for Dummies
By: Miranda Caroligne Burnes
Publisher: Wiley Publishing, Inc.
Date: 2007
ISBN: 978-0-470-12767-4
Source: Library


Reconstructing Clothing For Dummies is one of those books you can pick it up, read part of it, and get the gist. It is set up in parts and, honestly, I only read the first part, and the last part, skipping the projects. I needed the confidence to start looking at cutting up my clothing and turning it into something else. This book gives you that confidence. In simple terms, the author breaks down the different stitches, why you should cut up your clothing, and how to go about doing so. There's also some basic clothing care in this book, what fabrics you should work with, and how to set up your sewing space. A combination beginners sewing book (only slightly) mixed in with how to really change clothing. It is a winning combination.

The projects in this book look pretty. I haven't actually tried any out at this point and am doubtful I will. The outfits are really, really arty and I'm not a real arty person. There are some basics: denim skirt, cropped shirt, and such, but they also have an "arty" stamp to them.

Basically, in terms of resources and places to get started, Reconstructing Clothes for Dummies will do that. It is also, surprisingly, an inspiration to getting your own reconstructing ideas.

New Items in the Shop (Dec. 1)!

The last few days I've added a bunch of new stuff to the shop. Check it out! New items include:

• Book Page Gift Bags (photos will take you to the listing)

  

• Gift hang Tags

     

   

•  Denim Bags

     

If I'm lucky and this weekend proves productive, there will be new stuff added to the shop next week! I'm a bit busy with work things, health things (yeah, that again), and trying to keep the home clean. Not to mention a wedding present, our XBox 360 Star Wars Limited Edition came in last weekend. I've been a bit distracted at beating Portal 2. Overall, I love Portal 2. It will probably be one of the five or so games I actually finish. Not to mention, I want to get some baking out of the way! It is the Holiday season after all! I should be keeping home warm with lots and lots of cookies being baked. This weekend, I'm aiming to try out a sugar cookie recipe so I can test out some cookie cutters we got as wedding presents.

Did I mention I got married about a month ago? Details on what was made for our wedding will be coming up...eventually. Look for those posts.

Edit: All pictures are copyright LibraryElfDesigns and the owner. These pictures may not be edited, but may be Pinned as long as the link reverts back to this blog post.