Time to Move!

I've neglected you little blog and for that I am sorry. I took time to focus on the book blog and that totally didn't work out. Or at least, I didn't think so.

Experiments, experiments.

My relationship with Blogger is over. Wordpress, the one I disliked for so long, seems more stable than Blogger after whatever it was a year or two years ago (or was it three? Man, time gets weird as the years pass). Plus, Wordpress has a lot more to it than Blogger. Wordpress grows. Blogger sits.

I'll get the old posts moved eventually, but update your links because here is the new link!

See you at the new blog!

PS: The shop is on vacation until further notice. That's also something I've been thinking over.

Achievement Unlocked: Knitting Dish Cloths

A while back, like a year or so ago, I decided it was high time I learned to knit. I grabbed the needles I inherited and dove in, head first, as usual. I looked up videos on YouTube and struggled and struggled....and struggled.

Last summer, I had a great opportunity to visit my mentor and help her out. In return, she showed me how she knits and it literally opened the door for knitting. Seriously. Without her, I probably would have given up. I had a great start, but I did not like it.

Before, knitting felt clunky and I thought it should feel smooth like crochet, no matter the skill level.

After, I was whipping up my first dish cloth.

Continental Knitting made sense. I scoured YouTube. I watched the video my mentor sent me. I got it. I totally got it. It was similar to crochet and I made a dish cloth. Pictured here is dish cloth number 2. Dish cloths are easy to do and a chance to explore stitches. I do the same with crochet...if I'm not crocheting in the round (which I love!).

Lessons Learned:

• More like Achievement Unlocked! I can knit! I like knitting! It's easy and makes sense.
• Mentors are cool people. Even if I'm not in touch as much as I want to be/should be.
• My craft skills include: sewing, crocheting, knitting.
• After I get the first step, I can teach myself stuff!
• Knit dish cloths are actually a lot nicer than the crochet ones I've done...which is a bummer and awesome...

Project: Tank Top Totes

Somehow I've become known as the "person who will take your clothing" among family and friends. Part of this is that I can wear some of the clothing. Part of this is that they know that I turn jeans into bags. Another part is simply that I sew. Sometimes this is a good thing. Sometimes it's not.

I recently came into possession of a bag of clothing from a family member. As I sorted some of the nicer stuff, the stuff I wanted to refashion, and stuff I could wear, I came across two tank tops that I liked. I don't generally wear tanks because my frame is strange. Also, one was a little too large for me and the other, while I loved the fabric, I would never wear it.

I kept thinking about the one tank top. I loved the fabric. I wanted to make a bag with it, but how?

To Pinterest! I have a board dedicated to bag ideas. I remembered I had a DIY Tank Top Tote Pinned, but it wasn't what I was looking for. I looked around a little more and found this tutorial from SaltTree. Now that I liked. I took the two tanks and whipped them up. Yesterday, I got to test them out and the cashier was very impressed with my bag!

Here's how I made my first one. This was a gray tank top. I pinned the bottom and tucked in the side seams:

I used pins which is amazing for me.

I'd probably skip doing this on the inside next time.

 After that, I sewed the bottom, turned it inside out and ta da! Instant (new favorite) bag:

The second bag, I just simply pinned and stitched across the bottom. The fabric is really stretchy and this is the one that got the compliment. I can't wait to use this one at the thrift store and any other store (not the grocery store. That's what the denim ones are for).

Enjoy! I know I'll be looking at old tanks I get rid of differently now.

Gardening - 2014 - March 24 (Or, something happened to a seed starting pod so I got organic seeds.)

Last time I wrote about the garden, I had:

• three pods starting seeds: lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli.
• The pods were in a different window from last year because of Orange Cat 2.
• I had no sprouts and we were getting to the 10 day mark.

 What I did since then:

• I opened the pods and added more water because they looked dry.
• I moved them into the better window.
• The cat is not at fault for the loss of the lettuce pod.

Saturday. We had wonderful, open-the-windows kind of weather. The kind where you wish the whole world was off and you could enjoy the weather. The kind where you go home, grab Husband, and take a 1.74 mile walk around the large awesome park nearby.

The kind where Husband clumsily knocked the lettuce pod out of the window while I'm at work because he didn't check that the pod was sitting in the window track. I really don't know who is at fault here: me for putting it there or him for not checking. Either way, the lettuce pod was a mess of dirt inside of it (thankfully, it did not pop open and send dirt everywhere. OC2 would have loved that).

I was kind of bummed. Actually, when I saw it, I thought OC2 did it. It was right up his alley to just go "WHOOPS. (Not really). Feed me."

Nope. It was Husband and he probably could have blamed OC2. Husband's first thought was "You can just fix it."

"No. There is dirt everywhere. I have no idea where the seeds will sprout, if they do and if something else sprouts, I'll have no idea what's what. I have to start over."

So, he felt kind of bad about it. I said "I want these organic seeds I know we can get [here]. You can pay for the seeds when I figure out the brand name."

"Okay."

Sunday, it is colder and we have errands that will take us by the place with the seeds. We go there and at this point, I'm feeling less annoyed with him. I'm also wondering how the destruction of the lettuce pod means I get 7-8 packs of seeds. I forgive him (I forgave him pretty quickly because I decided the seeds weren't really working anyway. They are 5-10 years old. Same group as last year.). I decide to just pay for them myself and he decides he's going to treat me to pizza later that night.

At the store, I pick up seven packs of High Mowing Seeds. This includes: Brandywine tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Arugula, Basil, Romain Lettuce, Sweet Pepper, and Spinach. I was so excited. I love the idea of new seeds and possibly non-GMO ones? Yes, please!

What I did today (or status as of today):

• I set up more seed pods bringing the seed pods to the following:



Pods: Small, plastic take out containers, 4 egg slots of a paper egg carton, water, dirt (I'm using compost), seeds. Works very well with good lighting!

• Original: Brandywine Tomatoes (Burpee seeds, older), Broccoli.
• High Mowing: Brandywine Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Basil, Lettuce (not shown. In another window due to lighting and temperature), Sweet Pepper (this plant is for our Guinea Pig and is a total experiment)
• Broccoli has sprouted! Two of the four have come up so those seeds aren't "bad." That's from an older, refrigerated seed pack. Look at those sprouts!

Here's hoping the third year is a charm!

Lessons Learned:

• Read seed packages or research how to grow things. Most will do well where they are, but the lettuce will probably do fine at room temperature during the day and tucked into the pod at night. I learned so much by reading the packaging this year. Let's see if it translates into our own food.

Project: Cat Harness

I have this crazy notion that I want to walk my cat. Lately, the main reason has been Orange Cat 2 has SO MUCH energy, I think he'd enjoy it. I also want to take a walk with a pet and we aren't getting a dog any time soon (Mom's dog and I loved walks when I'd finally get to it). The issue was, we had this old harness and he hated it. Absolutely hated it.

I poked around. I found cat harnesses on Jackson Galaxy's store that said "Cats love it." Awesome.

But not at that price. I love my cat, but we've all ready spent so much trying to find what type of cat scratcher he'd like (cardboard=no, twine/rope=no, carpet like our floor=good, except he only likes the basic pole variety), what types of toys he likes (a particular type of ball, that rattles...anything with noise), to cover the toys he's apparently lost (5-10 balls so far and I've looked), and trying to figure out what food works with his stomach (one is great for Gray Cat, not so much for him). Oh, and vet trips are coming up.

I really didn't want to spend more money only to find out he'd snub it or it didn't fit.

Enter the Internet and a search for "DIY Cat Harness" or some variation. I found this post from SoSewLovely about a cat harness she made for her cats. She includes a pattern and instructions. It looks like the harness above (which I did love and want), but I can customize it.

I printed it out, went to the fabric stash and spent time looking for the right fabric to match Orange Cat 2.

I made the pattern up a month or so ago, but didn't have D-rings so it was just a harness, minus the ability to put a leash on it. This week, I picked some up and finished it. This was a fairly easy pattern to follow. When I do it again, I will print it smaller for Gray Cat (who seems "ok" with his when I tested it out on her, but she obviously needs a smaller harness and a color that matches her), and try to work the ribbon differently. I wanted to sew it on so it didn't fray. Overall though, I think it turned out great and Orange Cat 2 definitely doesn't mind it (most of the time)! Going out to explore though is a totally different experience for him.

Photo by LibraryElfDesigns. All rights reserved. You may not use this photo without permission.

Here and now...

I have reasons for not posting! (I always do.) Mostly, I'm easily distracted and my moods change. The shop hasn't been really changing. It has been going strong and 2013 was a GREAT year, so thank you! I enjoyed repeat customers, international customers, and the ability to unload some of the patterns I've accumulated. I personally think having 130 patterns is way too much.

Thank you.

In a nutshell:

• We're adjusting to a new cat (still). We lost one and adopted another this summer. Orange Cat 2 is more like a toddler than a cat. Yes, we're spending lots of time studying Jackson Galaxy. His tricks work but some are harder (i.e. ignore him). He might be part Ocicat too...he's kinda spotted and his temperament fits.
• I've been doing a lot, and I mean a lot, of soul searching. I am almost always soul searching, but it just seems 2014 is the year I get a handle on things. There have been ups and downs, but the opportunities that have come from this are fantastic. Plus, I've been able to see things clearly and am adapting as needed.
• Oh yeah, and there was Summer Reading July into August, not to mention the come down from that and then Fall is just always crazy.

So where am I now?

• I'm trying to garden again. I've got the take-out containers set with seeds: Brandywine Tomatoes (which can be container gardened), broccoli, and lettuce. I've got herbs from last year I'm hoping didn't freeze to death in this weather (pretty sure the chocolate mint will come back. That one lasted way into December without being watered. It was in a little green house we have). So far, I'm worried they aren't getting warm enough. I am trying a different window because of the cat. If nothing sprouts by March 20, then I will find a way to keep them in the other window (the tomatoes & lettuce seeds worked last year so I know they aren't bad).
• I've got at least one denim bag cut for the shop. If all goes well, I'll have another cut tonight. Sewing happens when I have time.
• I have more book page bags for the shop. Just have some final details to work on.
• I'm getting involved in outside stuff more. First, I'm involved in PaLA and second, I'm on the PR committee for another group. Look for a post on the professional side about being involved in your community. I feel this is very important and after my meeting this week, I'm in love with the community I serve and am honored to be part of it (they started a library, fought for their school, stated an orchestra, created a great town to do stuff in, and are working toward a food co-op, what isn't there to like?).
• I've been working toward a cleaning schedule. I'm please with the results and this week is the first time we've planned two weeks worth of meals! 

Lessons learned:

• That saying about "If you put your mind to it..." Yeah. That.

THIFTING SCORE: Cake Thingy

I've been baking off and on the last few weeks. My favorite thing to bake right now is this chocolate-y g-free cake that has a main base of potato starch. It's from the book You Won't Believe It's Gluten Free. A fantastic book by the way for those on the g-free diet. Most recipes are made 4 different ways so, if you have a corn issue, you can try with potato or rice based instead or if you have too much rice in your diet, you can try another base.

Anyway. I've been eying this lovely thing for a few days now from Fresh Hot Vintage. Then I did what any person would do: searched Etsy for a variety of covered cake plates and favorited them. (Yes, I have a thing about roosters.) Now why do I want one?

I want to try a two layered cake soon, but need a way to store it. So, I put it out there over the weekend that I wanted to find one at the thrift store and I'd follow through by going today. I also put out there that I also really want a vintage cake decorating set. I didn't find that because I put the request out there this morning (probably need 24 hours for that to follow through but it is a long shot since the last one I saw at the thrift store was in the silent auction section. Cookie presses you can find dozens of, but cake decorators? HA. I've been lazily looking.).

I did find this though:

Just the top, first. How frustrating.

First, I found the top, then I spent another 10-15 minutes wandering to see if I could find a suitable bottom. Sure. I could just put my cake on a dinner plate and cover, but what if I want to travel with this thing?

Eventually, I found this guy:

TA DA.

 And together, it works pretty well. The cover part doesn't fit perfectly, but enough to stay on.

Yes, I have a K'Nex Light Box...

And the grand total of this purchase: $5.25.
Oh wait. I have a coupon for 25% off.
About $3.80 when all said and done. I also took my own bag.

SCORE.

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.).

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.

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.

Dreaming of Plastic Free. Wait....that's plastic?

Note: Apparently CTRL + P automatically posts your entry without you clicking "post." This made for this hilarious post:

I'm reading
--------------------

First, an update on stress. I know what it feels to be stress free. Sadly, I've lost that feeling within 2 days before my vacation ended. I've had "moments" in the last few days, but I'm suddenly fried on a bunch of stuff going on.

Apparently, I know a limit, but I don't completely. I'll get there I think. I know what relieves stress at this point and I'm trying to find ways to sneak it into my life. I'm more hopeful about this than I have been in AGES.

What I'm reading now though. I'm reading [CTRL+U, that's what I meant] Plastic Free - How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too by Beth Terry. I've been following her blog since it was "Fake Plastic Fish." I'm not sure how I wound up on it, but I've been following her for a while now. For the last few months, I've been interested in the "Show Your Plastic Challenge." I've been trying to see how My Guy feels about it. He's convinced it'd be hard/impossible/basically hasn't been very supportive of it as a couple thing. So I've been trying to read the book this week and decided, heck, starting yesterday, I'm going to do it! (Gotta register in a big).

I've had an epiphany.

Back story: I decided I deserved chocolate today. I stood in the grocery store with him on the way to work and was trying to decide between Hershey Kisses or 3 Musketeers Brand. I wanted 3 Musketeers so, after discussion of price, I picked it. I think it was more expensive but less dangerous in terms of consuming 1 lb of chocolate in 2-5 days versus 11 oz in that time.

I'm in my office, breaking into the chocolate in the first 20 minutes I'm there and I realized something as I ripped the first one open. Crap. There are a bunch of these minis, wrapped in plastic that came in a plastic bag (that part I knew) and I am going to have to actually save each and every one.

I have been in denial that I have a chocolate problem, but now, I will have to save each of those wrappers and look at the damage when I tally.

I don't know what I thought, but I never thought those candy wrappers were plastic. I thought they were foil like or some other compound. I don't know, but plastic? Oh. Man.

Now that I'm looking for it, I have a feeling I'm going to find it in various places I didn't expect. This should be an interesting journey.

Lesson Learned:

• CRTL+P is a nifty shortcut to posting entries.
• Most candy is wrapped in plastic. My mind is blown.

Gardening - June 18

All right, here's the garden update: everything that I planted two weeks ago sprouted except about half of the carrots. Also, last Monday, we wound up at The Farm and I just HAD to buy tomato plants. I got Cherry Tomatoes (two to the pot) and "The Farm's Tomato" (whatever that means). They turned out to be $1 each or so which was fantastic. I feel like we bought something else besides the weekly flower and a bunch of veggies that were good. Strawberry season was such a disappointment and way too fast again. I could have bought a strawberry plant, but didn't see the point

Here's a photo from last week:

 The tomato plants are in the left hand corner in the bottom there, but that was last week.

Here are a few shots from today:

Mortgage Lifter Tomato, Sugar Snap Pea (transplanted today), Mortgage Lifter Tomato

Top Row: Eggplant, Sugar Snap Pea x3, Cucumber x2, Zucchini, Eggplant

.

 

 Row 2: Cherry tomato, carrots, "Farm" Tomato

 In the corner of the above photo you can see Mortgage Lifters x3.

Zucchini flower the first successful one! I think...I hope! It was lovely this morning.

Mortgage Lifter being protected by an old sauce jar.

Cherry Tomato flowers.

There's about 4 carrot sprouts, I think.

Sometime during the week I broke the Mortgage Lifter Sprouts free and planted them. Being the person I am, I completely didn't think about the terrarium factor for them, so within hours, I had a few wilting. I was able to cover about 4 of the 5 that had made it. The one not covered is fighting bravely. There is one I think won't make it that is covered  and the others look pretty strong. The Brandywine Tomatoes never sprouted and it being the end of June, I don't think I'm going to try again. Now it is time to focus on making these guys survive to give me some actual food! Although, I'm running out of pots and sick of buying dirt which is another reason. The Snap Peas need to be split more (3 to a pot is probably not good) and the cucumbers need split too.

Our (I'm getting The Philosopher Musician involved) next project is to successfully pull off making compost, but that's for another post.

Lessons Learned:

• Plants need watered
• Tomato babies need protection until they get some larger leaves.

The Patriotic Quilt - June 4, 2012

Last night, I'm pretty sure I didn't sleep well. I do know however that at 3 AM, the Zucchini plant was facing the window. When I got up officially at 8:30 AM, the Zucchini plant was turn away from the window and a leaf was ripped.

I know who did it.

And he's fine, but I want to know why he decided last night of all nights to try to eat the Zucchini plant. We know he's been watching it and he likes plants, but I'm surprised he didn't just jump up onto the window sill before. Why did he wait until last night?

He, by the way, is Orange Cat (his online nickname, not his real name).

Since this happened, I decided today must be a good day to put Zucchini outdoors. He's big enough now to survive I think and it gives me a chance to check the seedlings (nothing on that front yet). Of course, it was cold and we had bizarre rain. The tomatoes, in regards to seedlings, are starting to sprout. The Mortgage Lifters are sprouting and most are out (going "YAY! LIFE!"). The Brandywine's are taking their good old time popping out of the dirt ("REALLY? NOW?") but they are there. So that's that in regards to gardening.

What I want to introduce you to today, is the Patriotic Quilt. A scrap quilt that I hope will fit our full size bed and be useful a little before I decide it must move on. It is a cacophony of color: reds whites, blues, and a few other hints of stuff, but mainly, Patriotic with fire works, dog prints, firemen, stars, stripes, and...Cleveland Indians print. Full disclosure here: this house is a Phillies house....HEY! The fabric was from family in Ohio, so that makes sense. It doesn't reflect on us at all. I was using scraps. I'm not going to throw out decent fabric. I justify this with baseball is Patriotic in general.

Hrm...if I could swing it, maybe I should get a yard of Phillies fabric for it?

Anyway, the quilt is about a year old at this point (in terms of working on it). I think. It started because I realized I had a bunch of patriotic scraps of sorts and I wanted to try to make a (scrap) quilt (top) and not a sampler size. One I could use. So, here's where it is at right now:

Patriotic Quilt - Laid out. Not sewn yet.

So, I'm sewing the center part right now and figuring out how I will frame it, then how to sew the other patches around the edge. Yep. Totally winging it again, but this is turning out pretty well.

Lesson Learned (more like the theme of the day)

• I can't do everything I want to do, but I can do something. Just focus on one thing at a time I guess.

In Which I Lied and Now, May I Introduce My Garden

Well, I thought that was a break only for the shop and not the blog. I decided to focus on my review blog and that is all fine and dandy, but I forgot, sorta about this one.

Well, I'm back. I guess and hope.

I was talking to The Philosopher Musician and I said "I guess I should be journaling all this stuff I'm doing" regarding my poor attempts at gardening (and self-sufficient living in a place it seems nearly impossible to do). I had thought, I'll grab one of my journals and turn it into that, but lately I've been craving some sort of online outlet for my thoughts. I'm even considering attempting something for work, but it doesn't seem prudent. Someone gave me a journal and I just need to start using it more.

Now, regarding the gardening attempt which I think I'll focus on today. Out of 8 seedling attempts (8 types at 4 per container at [1st mistake] 5 seeds a thing), only 3 plants have managed to survive somehow by luck. I had a fourth, but that was a random coincidence and it ultimately died. I'm on seedlings round number 2, just two tomato plant types, and so far all good. I all ready have sprouts and it has been three days. I'm trying hard not to dream about what I'm going to do with the tomatoes (Brandywine and Mortgage Lifter), but I'm just excited that my makeshift seed starter really works. I honestly just used cheap dirt, egg cartons (cardboard), and old takeout containers that snapped shut. I'll post pictures eventually. Oh, and also, the seeds are kinda old, like 2 years and older, so that's also pretty impressive.

Lesson Recap Here:

• Seed starting kits can be made with plastic takeout containers, cheap dirt, and paper/card egg cartons. Don't forget to water them before you snap it shut. Seeds will still grow and survive.
• Seedlings are actually pretty weak and not all seedlings can be treated the same.
• On this round, I need to deal with the seedlings when I start seeing mold, which I think is a product of the egg cartons.
• Refrigerate seeds and feel free to try growing them even if the package says "best by 2008." Chances are they might still grow and be fine! I should check the age of the zucchini packet (the thriving survivor of that seedling attempt) and eggplants (I got 2 of those to make it!). Although, I suspect that might also be the mold problem...and really I can't say that I've been successful until I've got a food but I'm hopeful.
• Don't start dreaming about a bountiful harvest.

In terms of apartment gardening where all you have access to is your balcony (which I also call the patio), zucchini and tomatoes, according to The New Kitchen Garden by Anna Pavord, are good starts. Reading about the eggplant though...they like tropical conditions so...this could prove interesting. I'm now determined. From The New Kitchen Garden by Anna Pavord (DK publishing, which I LOVE, 1996), I learned:

• Zucchini love water. And sunlight. That might explain why I think Zucchini 1 has been taking forever to grow and has yet to bloom. OOOOOH.
• Eggplant like heat and humidity, which might explain why they seem to be taking forever to grow, but the glass jar terrarium idea is still good.. Guess I need to add more water and move them to the patio where there is almost full sun (which might be a problem for other things later).

Actually, that's it. I didn't learn much about scallions, which we're going to be experimenting with. The Internet (multiple sites including LifeHacker) told us we could chop the green bits we need off, stick the white bit in water and it'll grow. It does, but now I want to know if we could make a cycle out of it: cut scallion, some green on it, move from water to dirt, pull from dirt, start cycle over. Only thing to do is try. We certainly have enough to experiment with.

Next steps:

• Figure out how to grow carrots. I have big pots I scavenged and wonder if they'll be deep enough to get at least a 6 inch carrot from.
• Test Scallion Theory.
• Locate a drill to make a compost bin for the patio. I have an 18 gal tub that I don't plan to use for storage, so I think that'll work nicely for compost at the moment (unless I locate a smallish trash can to drill holes into). I am determined to start a compost bin. The amount of compostable food waste we pitch is starting to bug me.
• Figure out or (hopefully) scavenge a window box to plant lettuce into so that we can have a "revolving" salad garden. We'd enjoy that very much I think.
• Remember to write about how the garden is doing and more about attempts at reducing stuff in general.