For the Niece

As I mentioned before, my brother got married. He and his wife are expecting a baby girl this May! I decided this was the opportunity to get out the crochet hook and try out that old hobby. I used this pattern from Aesthetic Nest for the baby afghan.

It took two and a half skeins each of Encore Chunky pale blue and Encore Chunky pale pink. I also used two skeins of Encore Worsted fuschia. The pattern is super chunky and warm. I crocheted one blanket over a couple nights, and then I unraveled it, and crocheted it again in one day! (I felt the first attempt wasn't quite put together as well.)

 I had plenty of extra yarn, so I made a hat using the Best Baby Cloche pattern. It was a challenge to start the ring, but I unraveled it several times and kept at it until I got it right.

The back:

Then, I still had more yarn, so using this pattern, I made baby booties!

Aren't they sweet? I think they are kind of my favorite. Crocheting has been a great way to relax and decompress. A single baby bootie took me less than an hour to create, so it certainly helps to give me a sense of accomplishment also! These patterns were all great as beginner projects, so it was a fantastic way to get back into the swing of this craft.

I think the whole package is darling, and that my new little niece will be quite comfortable. Don't you?

Seeds in Brick-and-Mortar

No one should ever come to me if they need help restraining themselves on seed purchases. I want to become a more conscientious gardener, but there are so many varieties to try! Also, I can't resist the seed aisles. I look. And then I buy. But only the organic, non-GMO kinds.

Red Brandywine - In 2012, I grew the pink brandywine tomato. It was delicious, and hardy. It produced tomatoes even as others suffered from blight. The red brandywine is supposed to be less sweet, and still full of flavor. I look forward to trying it.

Delicata Squash - I have never grown this type of squash before. As we all know, I love to experiment. I also love winter squash for their myriad of shapes, patterns, and colors. Delicata is known as a winter squash, but it belongs to the family of summer squashes. It doesn't store well, but it does grow easily and can bring on the season of winter squash cooking early on, and you can save your butternut squashes for winter eating (I've even heard some people say this prefer this to butternut!).

Bushmaster Garden Bean - I try to grow as many veggies as I can that Lover will eat. He's not so good at eating his vegetables. Beans and peas are something he loves, so I plant several varieties of each every year. These are delicious sauteed, stir-fried, lightly steamed, or fresh.

All this garden dreaming has got me feeling warm and toasty on the inside. How about you?

Seed Order! Part 5!

This was the last of my online seed orders (in the latest rash of orders). I am trying a new supplier, Totally Tomatoes. I am, like, totally excited. :-p

 Mexico Midget - I love this teeny-tiny cherry tomato. It packs a lot of flavor! Last year, I tried Sweet Pea Currant tomatoes as my tiny tomato crop, and I vastly prefer this little guy. One plant is all I need, as they are very prolific. Popping one of these in your mouth is like having a tangy, fruity tomato explosion on your tongue. I cannot recommend this variety enough!

Yellow Stuffer Tomato - I was excited about trying a stuffing tomato, then I realized I had received seeds for two types already at the Gayla Trail workshop! As you can see, the cavity of this stuffer is fairly hollow, so you don't have to spend a lot of time scooping out innards. From Gayla, I got zapotec pink and green zebra. With these yellows, it'll look awesome! And, I can test them all out, and move forward with a favorite stuffing tomato for the years to come.

Sungold Hybrid - This is one of the few hybrid vegetables I will grow. I don't grow a lot of hybrids because I can't collect seeds for the following year. But these babies are a delicious type of cherry tomato. Imagine if summer had a flavor - I feel like these sun-kissed beauties would be it. Between these and the Mexico Midgets, I feel like my cherry tomato needs are met. (Yet, I do order new varieties each year just to try things - can't help myself!)

That was it for my order from Totally Tomatoes. What are your favorite kind of tomatoes?

Snowpocalypse and Chickens

Snow is my favorite part of winter. And did we get hit with it!


This is our backyard. The coop is almost covered. Our bench is that thing sticking out of the snow to the left, almost fully engulfed. I had to shovel a path out to the coop. As I got close, I called out, "I'm coming for you, chickens!" I was greeted with clucking and squawking.



We had 35 inches of snowfall. The door to the coop is right there. The girls heard me shoveling and started clucking again.


The bird netting tore beneath the weight of the snow. That'll be a new project next weekend to keep the hawks out.


There they are! The girls are not happy with this weather.

Snow got into the cage portion of the coop. I scooped out a bunch of it, but the wind blew quite a bit right back in.


Billina didn't seem too bother by all the hubbub.


Minerva on the other hand kept giving me looks of incredulity.


Camilla likes eating snow.


There's Lover shoveling his way to the shed!

All in all, a fantastic blizzard. I kept leaving the house to beat snow off of a favorite bush in the front yard so it wouldn't snap beneath the weight. I am looking forward to some snowshoeing travels tomorrow. The chickens have access to a heated waterer, and have plenty of food. I even made them a mid-morning meal of eggshell omelet! (Eggshells are a great source of calcium for the hens, and eggs provide protein.) So they had something warm to fill their bellies. Lover and I have plenty of food ourselves, and hot cocoa. Our power stayed on. I have had plenty of time to finish crocheting one baby blanket, and am about a third done with another. Seedlings are sprouting beneath the grow light in the basement - cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, thyme, brandywine tomatoes, and indigo rose tomatoes. I look foward to starting more seeds this week, even as the winter carries on in her fashion.

Happy Snow Days to those who can enjoy them!

Seed Order! Part 4

I ordered from an entirely new company for me - Kitazawa Seed Co. I am a big fan of Asian cuisine, so getting to order from this company was a pleasure.

 Kosaitai - This is a flowering brassica. You can eat the leaves, the purple stems, and the yellow flowers. It is best planted as a late summer to fall crop. It is very similar to bok choy in taste.

Siam Queen Thai Basil - This is a gorgeous basil with an intense licorice flavor and aroma. I am growing it mostly out of curiosity, to be honest.

Langkuri - This is another type of basil with a sweeter, milder flavor than Siam Queen. It flowers later in the season, bringing on a longer harvest.

Hojiso Perilla - A red and green shiso. Shiso is used for coloring, pickling, garnishing, and seasoning in Japanese cuisine. It's also useful for wraps and even sushi.

Okame Spinach - This spinach is slow to bolt, as it tolerates hot and dry conditions. Perfect for summer! Can't wait to eat this stuff!

Upland Cress - This cress has a mild, peppery taste. Lover and I love peppery leaves. This is a spring and fall crop.

Large Leaf Sorrel - I love the lemony taste of sorrel. I ran out of sorrel seeds, and ordered more. This year, I want to try sorrel soup. I think it's great to add to salads and stir-fires.

That's it for Kitazawa Seed Co!

Seed Order! Part 3

Yay! More talk about seeds! There is probably a disorder listed somewhere for gardeners. I admit to having a passionate (ahem...addictive) personality, and gardening is high on my list of passions (er....addictions)!

This order is from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. This place has a fantastic supply of amazing heirloom veggies. And I LOVE heirlooms!

Tabasco Pepper - I've decided to try my hand at making my own tabasco sauce. Because apparently I am a glutton for punishment. (Have you ever made a hot sauce? I usually end up with swollen eyes and a deep, unrelenting cough reflex that makes my throat and lungs feel like they are on fire. But I prevail!) Also, another cool ornamental pepper for the front yard!

Costata Romanesco Zucchini - I usually grow Black Beauty. I decided to use my CSA zucchini for baked goods (zucchini bread and zucchini cookies are among my favorite summer treats). I wanted something more interesting for stir-fried, roasted, and grilled zukes. This striated squash holds naturally scalloped edges when you slice it, and it's recommended that you cook it while it's small, and still has the flower attached. Can't wait to try it!

Romanesco Italia Broccoli - I love the obvious fractal nature of this vegetable. Sometimes called broccoli, sometimes listed as cauliflower, it's delicious, nutritious, and looks neat. I've been wanting to grow it for years, but had yet to actually buy the seeds. So, problem fixed.

Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli - Isn't this beautiful? It does take up a lot of space. I want to see if it is worth it. I might grow it out in the front yard among the flowers. We'll see!

Thai Sweet Basil - It's funny. I don't like licorice, yet I love the anise flavor of Thai basil. This variety is said to grow up to 3 feet tall. It's going out front among the flower beds.

Utah Tall Celery - I grew celery last year, and it was AMAZING. Much more flavorful than store-bought celery. I think it did better than a lot of the stuff I grew. I would definitely recommend growing celery!

That was it for my order from Baker Creek. Let me know if you have tried any of these, or if you have any favorites you would like to share!

Seed Order! Part 2

Continuing the craziness that is seed starting and ordering time, here's a few more packets I ordered. Seed Savers Exchange is one of my favorite seed suppliers. They are more than a supplier, they are a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds. Not only is vegetable diversity fun for farming, gardening, and cooking, but having different variants of the same vegetable helps to protect our food sources. Blight might affect all tomatoes, but some tomatoes are more blight resistant than others, and can continue to produce for the season.

This year's order:

Hyssop - I love bees and butterflies. I love purple, as I may have mentioned in this blog before. I love herbs! Hyssop has it all! I can't wait to put this out in the front yard. This year, I envision a front yard with some cottage garden favorites like hollyhocks and echinacea, but also plenty of fragrant herbs. And, the occasional ornamental pepper plant. Maybe some okra. Edible flowers. You know, all the pretty stuff. Anyway, as I learn more about this herb's botanical uses, it may come even more in handy.

Lime Basil - Two things Lover and I find scrumptious are basil and limes. So this was a no brainer. As my tiny lime tree is still growing and has yet to produce limes, I will see how this does in some salads, summer drinks, and stir-fries. 

Red Malabar Spinach - I can't wait to try this stuff. Technically, it isn't spinach. But the leaves are large and spinach-like, and IT DOESN'T BOLT IN THE SUMMER. It's beautiful, and I think, if we get our fence project done this spring, I can grow it over the arbor of the gate. Super thrilled.

Black Krim Tomato - Delicious beefsteak variety. It's my third favorite after Cherokee Purple and Brandywine. Why do I need so many beefsteak tomatoes? I don't. But I love variety...and canning!

That was it for Seed Savers this year. But I have received many other seeds from them in past years that have done really well. Be sure to check them out if you haven't already!

Seedling Starts

February is glorious. Snowstorm ahead, and I can sit inside prepping seeds for transplant.


In one tray, I have planted several varieties of pepper - Mustard Habanero, Jalapeno, Joe Long's Cayenne, Fish, Sweet Buran, California Wonder, Corno di Toro, Quadrato D'Asti, and Orange Bell. This tray went on a heated seed mat, so I also included rosemary seeds, which love warm soil. I also had a weird packet simply called "Capsicuum anuum" (general latin name for pepper), and I planted those to see what happens. This year, I labeled markers and placed them. Last year, it was a chaotic mess of no labels. I just planted stuff and ate what I could. But, it's not the best way if you have limited room and want to plant favorites and a couple noobs... Label your plants!!


This is the set-up in the basement. I planted the seeds according to the packet directions, placed markers, and covered them with plastic. The light is off until the seeds germinate. The germination process only needs warmth and moisture. Once things start sprouting, I will remove the plastic and turn on the grow light.



The above tray is cole crops and herbs. I planted Waltham and DeCicco Broccoli, Late Flat Dutch Cabbge, Aichi (Chinese Cabbage), Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts, Violet of Sicily and Snowball Y Cauliflower, and Georgia Southern Collard Greens. The herbs I planted were lemon mint and lamb's ear. The plastic in the above picture is pulled back slightly to reveal the first sprouts of the year:


Baby Aichi! This Chinese Cabbage was the first to sprout last year, as well. They are in two different seed starting mediums - a sort of informal test. So far, all things seem equal.

I also planted Dorata di Parma onion seeds in a 4" pot. I want more onions and peppers this year, as the CSA I take part in gives me a ton of zucchini, eggplant, and summer squash during the summer months, and not nearly enough onions and peppers! I was drowning in a sea of squash and eggplant.

And I am not a big fan of eggplant.

We'll see how it goes this year. Lover is dreading the CSA, as he hates how it directs our dinner decisions. Personally, I love the challenge of not letting food go to waste, and I love that it makes me eat so many more vegetables than I would normally, even with my vegetable gardening!

Have you ever tried a CSA? What was your experience?

Seed Orders! Woot!

Ordering from seed catalogs is so strangely gratifying. I know I don't have enough room to grow everything, but this year I am determined to make it work. I have decided some things will even make it to the front yard to grow among the flower beds. I do it all organic, anyway!


Though I order from several places, I am simply going to list them, one supplier per blog post.

Tomato Growers

This is my first time ordering from this company. I got them out of Margaret Roach's resource links on her blog, A Way to Garden. The prices were fair, and there was a gift packet thrown in.

Sweet Pickle Peppers - I read about this pepper on somebody's blog, and I wish I could remember who. I couldn't get the pepper out of my head. A little sweet pepper that is a gorgeous ornamental, said to be tasty to the tongue, and great for pickling. How could I go wrong? A few of these will be planted out among the flower beds.

Stupice Tomatoes - Again, I read about these on that same blog. I didn't really think anything of them, but then I was looking at early season tomatoes. These were on the list, so I said, "Hey, why not?" They are supposed to mature early, be more tolerant of the cold than other tomatoes, and they are said to be delicious and sweet. They are also said to be prolific throughout the season.

Tumbling Tom Hybrid - Same blog. I really need to find out who it was and link here. I wanted a tomato plant that would do well in a topsy turvy. They say most cherry tomato plants are perfect for the topsy turvys, but I planted a sun gold cherry tomato plant in it, and I decided an indeterminate was not the way to go. I wanted something bred for the planter, that would produce a high yield. We're going to try out this guy.

Cisinero Tomatillo - This is a large and meaty tomatillo. I like using them for tomatillo pico de gallo and stir-fries. Last year, my friend Liz Lemon* made a delicious hot tomatillo salsa that I would definitely like to try canning myself. These tomatillos are supposed to be perfect because of their nice size and flavor.

 Purple Tomatillo - It's the color. I just like purple. I like the idea of making tomatillo dishes with different colored tomatillos. I LIKE PURPLE! I have grown this variety before, and while they were small, they were very prolific.

Thai Hot Pepper - A lot of my favorite recipes say "chop up two Thai chili peppers," and the problem was that in all my years of gardening, I had never grown Thai chilis! Obviously, this needed to be addressed. Another fun one for the front flower beds.

Cherokee Chocolate Tomato - My favorite beefsteak tomato is Cherokee Purple. The Tomato Grower's website was having a "Buy 15$ worth of stuff from us and we'll throw in a packet of Cherokee Chocolate tomatoes." So, why not? I've read there's no difference between the taste and texture of the two tomato varieties. Apparently, the Purple has a clear skin, and the Chocolate is a mutation where the skin is "yellow." So, the Chocolate variety looks similar except for a brownish hue, whereas the Purple is more of a red-maroon-purple mix.

In all seriousness, I didn't need more tomatoes. But, I think I am going to give away a bunch of my old tomato seeds, and start growing the varieties that truly interest me. I have all these other tomato seeds from other gardening ventures, gifts from people, and tomato varieties I have tested out. From now on, I want to grow my favorites, and try a couple new ones each year. Any that didn't pass muster one year will be passed on to someone else who might appreciate them more.

Now, off to finish crocheting a baby hat!

*This is not the real Liz Lemon, nor is it my friend's real name.