New Raised Beds & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  I hope the week has been a good one for you, in whatever ways are important to you.  The sunny days have been delightful.  We even got in a couple of "pond-sits" during the week, which is what we call relaxing by the pond after work is finished.  I made a new recipe, a roasted sweet potato and chickpea dish we both liked, which came from 600 Acres.  From fall to spring, we have sweet potatoes, chickpeas are always in the pantry, as well as homemade yogurt, so I can see this recipe getting lots of use in the future.

In the garden, we worked on raised beds.  J found Trex boards for less than half price on Craigslist, a significant savings.  Though it did take a trip to VA, we enjoyed the day, stopping for lunch in Mt. Airy.   We're trying Trex boards this time, for their resistance to rot and insects.  We pulled out the original raised beds some years back after they began housing asian needle ants, fire ants and termites, but there are some pluses to using them as we age.  We have two beds done, filled with soil, and planted with potatoes.  J put together 4 more beds, and filled one more on Sunday.  After making metal brackets for the raised beds in his shop, he asked if I might want to try listing some in our shop.  The Berkey stands have gone far beyond what I ever thought they'd do, so I agreed to try it.  I took some pics, and listed them.  You never know what people might find useful.

I made pasta sauce with homegrown tomatoes, eggplant, summer squash, basil and rosemary, and cooked a mix of store bought and our rutabagas.  I made yogurt and bird suet.  A couple of days, I worked on another dozen of my friends' antiques/vintage items for ebay.  A cousin of mine passed away last week.  My friends at Whynot Pottery will be providing an urn.  I purchased a beautiful urn from them for my Mom's ashes.  Though they create a multitude of useful objects I love to use on a  regular basis, I appreciate the love and craft they put into their urns.

A few days ago, we noticed the first asparagus up.  On Sunday, J harvested the first two spears.  Hooray for asparagus season!  The bachelor buttons I planted are up.  Though I'm quite late in getting started, I "winter sowed" seeds from a friend, rose campion and columbine.  We are still having some cold nights, with tonight and Tuesday night below freezing, so I hope the seeds get enough cold and will germinate.  I started three types of lettuce, and red chard earlier in the week.  I noticed the first chard up on Sunday.  There was a women's gathering I attended in the neighborhood on Sunday.  Before I left to go, I got the first six of the ebay items listed, and the remaining six when I returned.  For dinner, I made Brandy's Taco soup, which is so quick, easy and yummy.  A salad with some of my newest batch of sprouts went along.  I harvested a big basket of kale, wanting to use it before it bolts.  So many things need to be done, I'll just have to trust that if I keep working on my to do list, anything that is important will get done.  Happy April, friends!

Blooms & Mud and Suds

pulmonaria

I haven't meant to be away so long, friends.  My plate seems to be very full these days.

green & gold

Many things have begun blooming this past week.  Lilacs, dogwood, lily of the valley, and our little wild irises.  I hope to have time to take some photos to share here, and make a bouquet.  The wild wisteria along the highways has begun blooming.  Our little wisteria is not blooming, but it made it through the winter, which is saying something, after the cold we had.  I'm still not sure about our large eucalyptus tree.

My Mom has a collection of orchids in front of a large picture window.  Isn't this one lovely?  This Saturday, I'll be taking part in Mud & Suds at Whynot Pottery.  There will be pottery, soaps, vintage glass garden flowers... and cookies!  Come out and see us if you're in this neck of the woods!

Laughter and Conversation

Whynot Pottery's 30 Year Celebration and New Earth Fabrication's Open House were both great fun this past weekend.  We had beautiful weather for the show at Whynot.  Many folks came out to be the first to try Four Saints St. Nicholas Christmas Ale, and do some shopping too.  There weren't a huge amount of people at the Open House, but those that were there were quality folks!  Chuck Brodsky never fails to delight me with his wonderful music, stage presence, and all around niceness.  A group of young farm interns were great fun, some of the funniest folks I've met in quite a while.  We let the pups out while they were still here, and it was a delight to watch them all together around the bonfire.  I can't remember the last time I laughed so much. 

I've been pondering this space here, wondering if I should continue this blog.  It seems the blogs with dedicated, commenting followers have fairly consistent content, whether that's gardening, recipes, artful endeavors, beautiful photography, homemaking, etc.  I realize this blog is eclectic, rather much like my life.  One post may be about the garden, another on my latest craft project, yet another on New Earth's latest biofuel project, the pond, or the pups. Or maybe all of those rolled into one. 

I read something that struck a chord on Maya's lovely blog, and it is that she intends for her blog to be a conversation, rather than a journal.  That's it exactly.  I know how busy we all are these days.  And I think you know I believe it's all good.  I've just learned to pay attention to where the energy flows in my life, and it feels as though this space is lacking in energy at this point.  I'm sure there will be things I want to share here, but I'm going to let go of any idea of how often that needs to be.  There are plenty of things in my life that could use an influx of good energy, and so for now, that feels right.  If you have thoughts about what you'd especially like to see here, or things you wouldn't care if you never saw again, feel free to comment.

Saturday Scenes

It's been a full week for both J & I. Last night we took a break, and headed to Out and About on Sunset. The shops and galleries stay open late, and there's often music and refreshments. We wandered around and saw some friends, including a little girl who was celebrating her first birthday.

Today I'll be helping out at Whynot Pottery. Come on by and see us!

A Tale of Lye Gone Wrong or the Two Pot Event

This started out as a relaxing Sunday. Birds at the feeder, the patter of rain on the roof, our bellies full of baked pancakes and Larry's Bean Martin roast. Then the rain picked up, and the furious dripping began. Apparently, in cleaning out the stovepipe early this morning, J dislodged part of the roof along with the creosote. My understanding is that as the creosote dripped off the rain cap, it ate away the paint and eventually a piece of the metal roof. Though he's an affable guy, you might understand I wouldn't want to ask a lot of questions at this point :o) J has done a temporary repair, and says he'll put some metal down and get a piece of rubber roofing to span from under the rain cap all the way to the eave. I've known, from my studies of soapmaking, that one can make your own lye from wood ash. I've not had any real desire to try that, but I guess I've just gotten a taste of how corrosive wood ash can actually be.

I wanted to share these stems of ornamental plum with you. When I pruned earlier this week, I brought the stems in and put them in a couple of vases. I've not had luck with this before, in "forcing" blooms. I must have gotten the timing right this year, and was rewarded by lots of blossoms. Thankfully, this is the only sign of spring in the house at the moment! The two lovely jars are creations of local potters. The white one is Anne's, and the green is Mark and Meredith's. Check out their shops for some pottery goodness.

Mud and Suds in the Yard

In several weeks, I'll be taking part in Mud and Suds in the Yard. It's part of the Spring Kiln Opening, an annual event in Seagrove. This year, there are 49 potters taking part. I'll be setting up my soaps and other products at Whynot Pottery. There will be refreshments, door prizes and some wonderful local, handmade goods. If you're in the area, come on out.

I grew a nice patch of calendula last year. I always thought they were an annual here, but several hardy plants made it through the winter. A couple have already flowered. I'm thinking this is unusual, but it may just as easily be lack of knowledge. Can anyone enlighten me?

Milestone

After a pretty tough week of work, some serious number crunching, and finishing up my business plan, I had some fun today. First, I visited with the folks at Whynot Pottery. We talked a bit about their upcoming Spring Kiln Opening, which I'm going to take part in this year. A friend came by and brought me some sourdough starter, which is now happily bubbling away on the counter. It's been quite a few years since I've done sourdough, and I'm excited to have some again. We headed to STARworks, and visited with several of the people there. They're doing some really neat things at STARworks, and have some interesting plans in the works. We left there, and headed to Seagrove Orchids. It was like being in a tropical paradise. The diversity of plants, blooms in a multitude of colors and sweet scents of a number of them was heavenly. To top it all off, I noticed this is my 100th posting. A good day, indeed! Sorry for one more amaryllis post. This is my newest, a Minerva.

Holiday Spirit

The Piedmont Biofuels crowd really knows how to throw a party. Their holiday potluck/party was last night, complete with some pretty outrageous karaoke. Good food, good cheer, great dancing. An excellent way to get in the holiday spirit. We've been sent some excellent cards this year, including the one on the right from Mark & Meredith of Whynot Pottery. I've been in cookie making mode. Yesterday's was Sparkly Cinnamon Coins, a recipe I got from Food & Wine several years back.

Sparkly Cinnamon Coins

2 sticks(1/2 lb) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
crystallized sugar for rolling (I've used both demerara & Sugar in the Raw with good results)

1. In large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar & beat until combined. Beat in cinnamon, salt & vanilla, then beat in flour. Divide the dough into thirds, wrap each piece in plastic wrap and shape into a 10" log, about 1 1/4 inches thick. Refrigerate until firm, about an hour.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap one piece of dough. Sprinkle crystallized sugar into a 3-by-10 inch rectangle on a sheet of wax paper. Roll log in the sugar, pressing lightly. Cut log into 3/8 inch slices. Arrange coins about 1 inch apart on 1 of the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with remaining 2 logs of cookie dough. Bake the cookies for about 17 minutes, or until golden. Let cool on baking sheets.

I've had the best luck in getting the crystallized sugar to stay when I roll them prior to chilling, rather than after. This recipe always seems a bit on the dry side, and makes a pretty, crispy cookie. I'm thinking today's cookie is Crispy Gingerbread Stars. Happy Sunday!

Friends, Family & Bats

Joseph & I have had a grand Labor Day weekend. We got to spend time at Badin Lake with family & good friends. Joseph gifted me with 2 bird houses & a bat house, something I'd asked for. Yeah, I'm strange like that. My Dad's wife Lois said it qualified for the strange birthday gifts list. Last night, we went to Mark & Meredith's of Whynot Pottery for a wonderful potluck dinner, & got to meet some lovely folks in our community, something we've recently made a priority. Today, Joseph's son came & helped cut & haul firewood, while I caught up on laundry & garden chores. I hope yours was just as nice.

Metamorphosis

Thanks to Meredith's recent post, I've been paying more attention in looking for caterpillars. Yesterday I was rewarded, finding 2 monarch caterpillars on the milkweed. I found another today. I hope I'll be able to see the whole metamorphosis. It seems in years past, I'd lose the caterpillars, & figured birds got them. But maybe I just didn't look hard enough for the chrysalis. They do seem to kind of blend in. Nature's camouflage, I suppose.

Homestead Fun, Peace & Bluegrass

Yesterday morning, I headed to Whynot Pottery to support the Potters for Peace Event. I got 2 glasses, & have loved using mine today. There was a lot of interest in this event, & they sold out before noon. In the past few weeks, I've seen so many signs that we truly are creating a better world. My Mom & her partner Frank came for a visit yesterday. After dinner, we all headed to Ramseur Lake to hear some bluegrass by Nu-Blu. Today has been a good homesteading day. I canned another 11 quarts of tomatoes. While the 2nd batch of tomatoes was processing, I juiced all the green apples from our orchard that have fallen. It's my first attempt in making apple cider vinegar. I've read that you should & you shouldn't make vinegar from green apples, but my frugal sensibilities won out. All the pulp went into the compost, same as if I hadn't juiced them. I figured it was worth a try. I had some "mother" to put in the vinegar, to jumpstart the process, from some Bragg's vinegar I had. Then I made a quart each of lacto-fermented pickles & green beans. I've made passable dill pickles, but they weren't crisp, so I thought I'd try this recipe, which you make at room temperature & then keep in the fridge. Joseph has been creating today. I know he created a surprise for me, & is now doing the finishing touches on a mosquito, made from metal & other repurposed items. It looks great so far. I'll post a picture after it's finished.