Back to Life

I'm going back to a format we used to use in an online group I belong to. The group recently revived and I'm inspired to create goals for myself and keep a record of what I do. After four surgeries in 12 months, I am moving slower than usual, but getting all the help I need from my husband.

Researched:  How to use my pressure cooker. I’ve had it for three years and haven’t used it yet.

How to plant blackberries and build a proper trellis for them.  When to prune lilacs. I have a “secret garden” of ornamentals and herbs that is privacy fenced. Lilacs grow there. We also grow a lot of fennel, roses, Greek oregano, rosemary, sunflowers, and other herbs. It’s where we sit in the evenings. 

Harvested: Beets (we use the greens for salads), carrots, romaine, mesclun, strawberries. One more harvest then I’m letting the rest of the lettuce go to seed. We’ve also harvested some giant green tomatoes to fry. As always my garden tomatoes have escaped their cages and are running rampant all over their “boxes.” I’ve not found an effective way yet to support them.

Planted:  Dill, cilantro, okra, and two ornamental hot, hot peppers aptly named Explosive Embers and Chilly Chili. I’ll pick and dry them for winter’s cooking.

Food storage: Our backyard blackberries are ripening; what we don’t eat, we freeze. We also pick berries along a country road nearby and have done so for six years now. The berries are small and full of flavor.  We don’t get a lot out of either venture, just a small steady stream. This year we plan to expand the blackberry area in the yard into a BLACKBERRY EMPIRE!  Also checked my jars and lids for annual pickle making with my mom. Bought cukes at Farmer’s Market this week.

Reused, recycled, repurposed:  Worked on stuff for the new composter. It’s huge. I have some compost maker I plan to use. I added some shredded newspaper and dried grass cuttings. It’s located in direct sun so I have to wet the compost down good. My plan is to plant some butterfly bushes around it to shield it from sunlight.

Our kitty enjoying one of the garden benches. Enormous blackberries! And one of our little French intensive garden beds.

Watch for updates! I'll be sharing our method of tranplanting blackberry bushes, keeping the birds out of the strawberries and defeating the dreaded hornworms.

Caroline

More Scrapbooking

Thanks for all the compliments on my scrapbook project. As promised, here are a few more pages to look at. Feel free to copy any layouts or use any ideas you get from my pages.

Halloween 2010

Alan's graduation from Fordham, complete with original tassle.

Tribute page to my mother.

Thanks again for the compliments.

Golden Acre Lives On: Mama's Sweet Pickles

Golden Acre Lives On: Mama's Sweet Pickles

Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is all the rage, and the elements are cute, so I thought I'd give it a try. First I used an old copy of Farewell to Arms and did some creative things to the pages. Then I went on to trying my hand at traditional scrapping. It's relaxing and keeps my mind occupied in a zen-like way. Below are some of my beginner's pictures. Many still require missing elements.

For more information there are plenty of sites about scrapping, complete with free ideas. To get started, read more about this cute hobby at http://scrapbooking.about.com/.

Make Your Own Granola

With food prices increasing every day, it makes sense to cut corners whenever possible. One way to reduce costs is to make your own granola. You can eat it alone with milk or hot water, on top of other cereals, mixed into yogurt. When you make you own, you are able to control what kind of additives and ingredients go into your food.  

Ingredients:

Oatmeal

1 c. Honey

2 TBLS. Margarine

Fruits

2 cups Flax seed

1 cup nuts

2 cups sunflower seed 

Gather all your ingredients together.

Mix honey and margarine in a saucepan. Heat until almost boiling. 

Mix together sunflower seed...

Add nuts and flax seed...then fill bowl with oats. Pour the honey mixture over the ingredients and gently stir and turn the oat mixture until evenly coated. 

 Prep pans by lining with foil if desired, and spraying with PAM spray. Very important to spray the pans to keep the granola from sticking.

Spread  the oat mixture evenly in two pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Add fruits now, when granola is slightly cool. Gently mix together in pans. 

When fully cooled, finished product should be sealed in an airtight container.

Wormy Delight

This is such great info that I lifted it from the Gardens Alive website located at http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8815 to share with you.  I can personally attest to the value of adding earthworms to your garden sites. Read on to find out more from Gardens Alive®!  

“Encapsulated Earthworm Cocoons from Gardens Alive!®  are convenient and easy to add to your garden soil. You plant them in garden soil just as you would plant ordinary seeds. They’re especially useful for people switching from conventional to organic gardening. Better soil quality gives your organic seeds the best start. Each cocoon contains 1-10 eggs, depending on the species, and each egg will produce one earthworm. 

Greatest Living Natural Soil Boosters

Gardeners covet earthworms' presence in their plots because:

• their castings boost nitrogen in the soil
• they move deep-soil nutrients closer to plant roots
• their tunnels loosen soil, improving aeration
• their activities help soil particles bond, balancing moisture retention and drainage

Earthworms perform this same magic in compost, speeding the development of nutrient dense, moisture-dispersing humus.”