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11/07/2010 09:04:00 PM

Wow

I have not posted since June, not without good reason, but still, I should not neglect what I have going on here. With the loss of my old job and then the subsequent gain of a new one which always promises 50 hours or more a week including weekends... and school.. and I squeeze family in there sometimes, too. House and home have pretty much been placed on a back burner. I do have some small projects going on right now, but it is truly nothing to blog about.

Aside from bringing in my frost sensitive dwarf trees for the winter, I have nothing major to report. I have gone about my normal business of herb gathering and drying and watching as my pumpkins sprawl across the raised bed blooming but producing nothing this year. They are still blooming, even after the light frost, but they have not produced a single pumpkin this year, which is strange for all seven plants. I haven't had time to really stop and consider why this has occurred, but it is something I will be filing away in the back of my mind to look up in a spare moment.

I certainly hope everyone got out of their garden what they expected this past season and I also hope that any of you doing any winter gardening also get what you expect.

This is not an official closing of the blog, but I am going to be scarce. I'm writing more research papers than are in actual existence and with the holiday season so close, I'm watching my hours at work go up steadily. You can imagine where this scenario is going.  My new job is nothing like my old one so I can't work on these things from work anymore. It's a home only kind of thing and I'm like never home. Except on weekends. Weekends are reserved for catching up on school work I neglected during the week because sleep seemed like a better idea or I just really wanted to hang with the kids. Bloging is on hold for the most part. In those moments that I have more time and I have something to really blog about, I'll be here.

Enough whining, how about that thing I really wanted to talk about?

I found this page while I was digging around looking for some info on zone 9 for a friend. It is a rather handy dandy Landscape Plant Selector that gives a surprising amount of options for trying to find the perfect plant for whatever project you're doing.  I played with it for a few minutes and found that it was really helpful. The pictures could be larger or could stand to have an enlarge option, but other than that, I'm liking what I'm seeing.

6/02/2010 07:20:00 PM

Blooms Abound

My yard has been alight with blooms. Chrysanthemums are nice and purple and blue after the yellow daffodils finally gave in to the end of their flowering season. The azaleas were gorgeous and the honeysuckle has been very nice, although, I'm missing the sweet smell that has clouded the area now that the blooms have finally given up. The tiger lilies up the street are profusely blooming and I'm going to miss them, too, when they are gone.

My cucmbers are also blooming. While my father, who is much further south than I, has been harvesting squash and cabbage like mad over the past week (all planted on Good Friday, you know), I have been patiently waiting for my garden to really take off. The broccoli is nice and large and I'm going to see something happen with that very soon, I think. And all this rain has really set my garden into motion. I have onions peeking out from their little corner and getting larger all the time. I expect to be harvesting them in a month of so and I'm excited for it. 

I feel so behind with all of these folks that are harvesting out of their gardens right now when I could scarcely get started until mid-April. Our last average frost date is April 15th and while I started my seeds well before that, the cool evenings we experienced around mid to late April and lasting into the first couple of weeks of May, stunted my efforts after I transplanted. I don't dare get anything planted before the 15th. The last few major snow storms this area has seen have been late April storms that blanketed us with feet an feet of snow and ice.

While I had an excellent mortality rate with my plants this year, only losing two and those to the cat, I'm pleased that our modest garden is thriving. But I'm still jealous of those that are getting much more out of theirs right now than I am.  I didn't want the entire bed covered with plants at the beginning. It seemed too overwhelming for the kids to have anything going on that would be that busy. They are perfectly happy with our several plants and are looking forward to when I get pumpkins in the mix later this month.

I did finally get my shamrock bulbs planted. I know I'm late but now that I have some time on my hands, I'm experimenting. I've never grown shamrocks before and I'm very much looking forward to seeing them.

Like everything in the world, life is so uncertain these days. I was hard pressed to spend the money to put a bed in with the lay off hanging over our heads. Disheartening. But I planted anyway in hopes that I could at least get the kids that experience.They have enjoyed helping to take care of the pots of herbs. We snipped some garlic chives and I made a garlic chive butter sauce for smashed new potatoes.  One of their first direct experiences with taking out of the garden, cleaning, and then making immediately into dinner.  Both of them were glowing with pleasure when they told their father that they had, just that day, gone out and harvested some of the chives in the meal.

It has been an exciting time. We have broken through and really started and finished some of the long list of chores around the house. The amount of useless stuff is shrinking. We are in a better position now than we have ever been and neither of us are working. Instead of having a room of boxes of memories that just take up space, we have part of a closet. Instead of an overwhelming amount of junk the kids wanted to keep from school, we have convinced them that it is ok to let some of it go instead of having it piled everywhere and taking up valuable space in chest of drawers.

I have finally sat down and started going through the piles and piles of crafting magazines a girlfriend of mine gave me and have been scanning off what I want out of them and the rest are going to the used book store to see if we can sell them for credit for other books we want. I've been avoiding this for some time because it meant that I would actually have to organize the craft armoire that has been in such disarray since we moved in last October. But I finally decided that I needed that space for things that I couldn't let go of, like the pictures of the kids and the ribbons they have won and their baby books from what seems like yesterday. 

It has been an interesting month. And I am almost happy with the results. We don't *need* to be pack rats. My husband has been carrying around an old server that hasn't worked in years in the hopes that it would magically start working again one day. He realized when going through the box that he had no idea where the power cable to the things was hiding so out it went. We are in a large enough house that it can accommodate all of the things we need with precious room to spare and that is a nice thing. I hated being so cluttered into the last house we lived in. No room to put a desk because the rooms were too small and every inch of space was covered with furniture. And if it wasn't there was a box dutifully standing by never being unpacked because there was no place for it. So sad.

But now we're moving right along and the massive amounts of craps has dwindled to almost no crap at all.

5/31/2010 09:11:00 PM

Homemade Alcohol

I got a wild hair to start making my own wine not too long ago and so I researched and read and went down to the not so local home brew store and bought my basic equipment.  I decided to start with apple and then went on to white grape cherry and white grape pomegrante. All turned out very well, I am proud to say.

Then my husband found out about a meadery that was a little out of town but an easy drive so we headed down there.  The man was happy to give us a taste of all types of mead. Dry, semi-sweet and sweet, melomel and metheglin and a few others.  He gave us some tips on making mead and so we bought some honey and some wonderful honey pecan jelly and headed home to start out batch.

We got our single gallon of mead started and it is fermenting nicely.  We've nearly finished the mead we purchased that day and mores the pity because we, and all of our friends that have had it, have thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm very much looking forward to this new batch!

5/22/2010 03:38:00 PM

Whew!

Did I mention being unemployed can really give you a lot of time to work on those projects you didn't have time for before? I have been working on my garden, disheartening as it may be that I don't have a job at the moment, but I've been working on it. We put up the gazebo, built a raised bed, I've done a lot of container gardening, too. I've done a lot of herbs and they are doing so well. My main problem has been pest management because, again, it rains for three days and then we have three days of nice skies, then it rains for three days again. I've been really on top of getting the DE on the plants and keeping it on them. But I'm still seeing the signs of my leaves being eaten. Worse, slugs and snails have moved in. I've been battling that.

But we're counter balancing. I put the bird feeders near the garden and I'm seeing a sharp decrease in insects. The ground squirrels are entertaining as they forage through the little existing bed the bird feeder sits in. The bed is very old but the soil in it is actually pretty good.  I've got some things planted but I don't think they are going to do anything. There is a huge tree shading that spot so I'm going to be getting some shade loving flowers instead.

I've been doing a lot of research into aquaculture the past three weeks and this guy:



is amazing.  He has built a system in a greenhouse, wrote software to monitor it and has it almost completely automated.  Wow.

I'd love to build one.  But for now, I'm going to keep on with my cucumbers and onions with broccoli and herbs.  My cat is evil as she destroyed the okra, cauliflower, and tomato.  Ahh well, there is always next year and indoor gardening.

4/22/2010 09:36:00 PM

Into the Raised Bed

Velvet, the vicious attack cat, had decided that since she refuses to use a litter box inside the house and wants to go outside the house to do her business that she wants to use my raised bed.  Grr.  It's been an up hill battle to keep her out and I have near anxiety attacks when I go out in the morning to check my bed.  She managed to dig up my cauliflower.  The one thing my husband was very enthusiastic about.  And she nearly killed the okra.  So, garden fence went up around the bed because she is killing our veggie garden.  The little rat.  I'm not entirely sure that I'll be able to get another cauliflower out there before it's too late.  But I'm still going to give it a shot.  The worst thing that can happen is it will fail and we'll have to do it again this fall.

I'm discovering that absolute joys of homemade bread in the bread machine.  The garlic herb bread and the wheat bread I made were great and made really awesome sandwiches.  While I make homemade bread by hand, the bread machine has afforded me more time to do other things and I'm guilty becoming spoiled by it.  Fresh hot loaves of bread for dinner and then for toast for breakfast make all the difference.

I suppose the bread machine opens up time to fight with my youngest over his new contact lenses.  He has a lazy left eye and the doctor wants him to use the contacts to wake his eye up and get his brain to acknowledge the fact that it can function.  Getting them out was hard, to the point where we had to go through several sessions of me pushing and prodding his eye and him wincing when my finger hit eye instead of lens.  And putting them in.. oh my.. what a battle.

I have no need to contacts so this is new territory for me and he is being as brave as he can and is accepting all the poking and prodding to his eyes with as much grace as a hyper six year old can muster.  I'm proud of him for this fact.  He doesn't want the contacts and already had the frames picked out for his glasses before his eye exam even started.  He wants the glasses and not the contacts but I'm just not sure glasses will be as helpful as the contacts.  After we got the contacts in, he was able to actually read two lines further down from the SECOND line where he stopped before we put them in.  He could see the big letter in the line of three and that was it.  Poor kid.  The school caught this and I'm glad they did, too much longer and his brain might not want to register that the left eye is functional.  So now it's a routine of cover the right eye and work the left.  He is taking that pretty good, too.

I will get pictures up.  I will get pictures up.  I will get pictures up.

2/23/2010 03:18:00 PM

Vinegar in Various Areas

Use vinegar in the steam cleaner to reduce soap bubbles.




Mix vinegar with lind seed oil and use it to clean your wood.



Clean eyeglasses by wiping each lens with a drop of vinegar.



Soak new wicks for several hours in white vinegar and let them dry before inserting. Propane lanterns will burn longer and brighter on the same amount of fuel.



Deodorize the air. Vinegar is a natural air freshener when sprayed in a room.



Turn a chicken bone into rubber by soaking it in a glass of vinegar for three days. It will bend like rubber.



Deodorize a room filled with cigarette smoke or paint fumes. Place a small bowl of vinegar in

the room.



Remove decals or bumper stickers by soaking a cloth in Vinegar and cover the decal or bumper sticker for several minutes until the vinegar soaks in. The decals and bumper stickers should peel off easily.



Cleaning windows by using undiluted Vinegar in a spray bottle. Dry off with newspaper.



Prevent patching plaster from drying by adding one tablespoon vinegar to the water when mixing to slow the drying time.



Plastic can be cleaned and made anti-static by wiping down with a solution of 1 tablespoon of

distilled vinegar to 1 gallon of water. This will cut down on the plastics' tendency to attract dust.



The colors in carpets and rugs will often look like they have taken a new lease on life if they

are brushed with a mixture of 1 cup of vinegar in a gallon of water.



A mixture of one teaspoon of liquid detergent and 1 teaspoon of distilled vinegar in a pint of

lukewarm water will remove non-oily stains from carpets. Apply it to the stain with a soft brush or towel and rub gently. Rinse with a towel moistened with clean water and blot dry. Repeat this procedure until the stain is gone. Then dry quickly, using a fan or hair dryer. This should be done as soon as the stain is discovered.



Spots caused by cola-based soft drinks can be removed from 100 percent cotton, cotton polyester and permanent press fabrics if done so with in 24 hours. To do it, sponge distilled vinegar directly onto the stain and rub away the spots. Then clean according to the directions on the manufacturer's care tag.



Sponging away grease and dirt with a sponge dipped in distilled vinegar will keep exhaust fan grills, air-conditioner blades and grills dust free.



Leather articles can be cleaned with a mixture of distilled vinegar and linseed oil. Rub the mixture into the leather and then polish with a soft cloth.



To loosen old glue around rungs and joints of tables and chairs under repair, apply distilled

vinegar with a small oil can.



Soak a paint brush in hot vinegar, then wash out with warm, sudsy water to soften it up.



Patent leather will shine better if wiped with a soft cloth which has been moisten with distilled

vinegar.



To add a pleasant scent to a room while at the same time removing an unpleasant odor, add

cardamom or other fragrant spice to a bowl of distilled vinegar and place in the warmest corner of the room.



Varnished wood often takes on a cloudy appearance. If the cloudiness hasn't gone through to the wood, the cloudiness can be removed by rubbing the wood with a soft lintless cloth wrung out from a solution of 1 tablespoon of distilled vinegar in a quart of luke-warm water. Complete the job by wiping the surface with a soft dry cloth.



Dirt and grime can be easily removed from woodwork with a solution of 1 cup of ammonia, 1/2 cup of distilled vinegar, and 1/4 cup of baking soda in a cup of warm water. This solution will not dull the finish or leave streaks.



Stubborn rings resulting from wet glasses being placed on wood furniture may be removed by rubbing with a mixture of equal parts of distilled vinegar and olive oil. Rub with the grain and polish for the best results.



Wood paneling may be cleaned with a mixture of 1 ounce of olive oil and 2 ounces of distilled

vinegar in 1 quart of warm water. Moisten a soft cloth with the solution and wipe the paneling.

The yellowing is then removed by wiping with a soft, dry cloth.

2/20/2010 02:47:00 AM

Vinegar for Health and Beauty

Dampen your appetite. Sprinkle a little vinegar on prepared food to take the edge off your appetite.

Soothe a bee or jellyfish sting. Dot or douse the irritated area with vinegar and relieve itching.

Remedy for acne skin conditions when diluted 50:50 with water and used as a toner. Careful around the eyes.

If you can take it, put a cotton bud or cotton square with appe cider vinegar and dab all over your face. It’s safer and so much cheaper than any store-bought ‘alpha hydroxy’ products to sloth off flaky skin.

Relieve itching by using a cotton ball to dab mosquito and other bug bites with Vinegar straight
from the bottle.

Relieve sunburn by lightly rubbing it with vinegar. You may have to reapply.

Take 1 cup of vinegar and warm water into a large glass and use to rinse your hair after
you shampoo. Vinegar adds highlights to brunette hair, restores the acid mantel, and removes
soap film and sebum oil.

When you eat something too spicy hot (habenero, jalepeno, wasabi) you can quickly get rid of the burn by dabbing your tounge with vinegar.

You take 1 tablespoon full and swallow when you have the hiccups. It stops them instantly.

Relieve dry and itchy skin. Add 2 tablespoons to bath water.

Fight dandruff, by rinsing with vinegar and 2 cups of warm water, after shampooing.

Soothe a sore throat. Put a teaspoon of vinegar in a glass of water. Gargle, then swallow.

Cure for colds. Mix one-quarter cup Apple Cider Vinegar with one-quarter cup honey.
Take one tablespoon six to eight times daily.

Treat sinus infections and chest colds. Add 1/4 cup or more vinegar to the vaporizer.

Feel good recipe. A teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water, with a bit of honey added for flavor, will take the edge off your appetite and give you an overall healthy feeling.

Remove fruit stains from hands. Rub with vinegar.

Remove warts by applying a lotion of half cider vinegar and half glycerin. Apply daily to warts until they dissolve.

Relieve arthritis. Before each meal, drink a glass of water containing two teaspoons
Apple Cider Vinegar. Give it at least three weeks to start working.

Remove corns by making a poultice of one crumbled piece of bread soaked in one-quarter cup Vinegar. Let poultice sit for one-half hour, then apply to the corn and tape in place overnight. If corn does not peel off by morning, reapply the poultice for several consecutive nights.

Cure an upset stomach by drinking two teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar in one cup water.

Prevent yeast infections. Douche with one tablespoon vinegar to one quart warm water, to adjust the pH balance in the vagina.

Clean dentures by soaking them overnight in vinegar, then brush away tartar with a toothbrush.

Relieve cough by mixing one-half cup Apple Cider Vinegar, one-half cup water, one teaspoon cayenne pepper, and four teaspoons honey. Take one tablespoon when cough acts up. Take another tablespoon at bedtime.

Dissolves whatever glue lice use to lay eggs on the hair shaft. Comb your hair and rinse it with equal parts water and vinegar.

Dip a cotton bud into pure vinegar and dab onto affected areas for ear infections.

Treat athlete's foot by dabbing full strength vinegar to effected areas.

2/18/2010 11:35:00 AM

Vinegar for the Car and Around the Outside of the House

Polish car chrome. Apply full strength.

Clean rust from tools, bolts, and spigots. Soak
the rusted tool, bolt, or spigot in undiluted
vinegar overnight.

Keep car windows frost free. Coat the windows
the night before with a solution of three parts
vinegar to one part water.

2/17/2010 07:18:00 PM

White Goat

One of the most interesting going green innovations to come out will be coming out this year. When I saw this video I stared at it wide eyed and slack jawed and it isn't just because of the head cold I have right now either.



A solid 10 on the greener meter.

2/15/2010 06:08:00 PM

Economic Downturn

After going on and getting $7800 out of debt last year in prep for the inevitable, I learned my site is being closed on April 5th. I'm glad that I worked through the debt I had last year and only have about 3k left plus a car loan. My severance is enough to get us through for several months and there are already job prospects on the horizon.

What is hard is not losing the job. It's the people. The job is good and I enjoy doing it, but it is the people that I will miss more than the work. The company I work for (GMAC) has taken a turn that has led them to this path and 7 years under my belt means that I'll be handsomely compensated but that doesn't give me the time with the people that I work with, which is what I mourn more than anything.

While a good chunk of us will end up at the same place, it won't be the same atmosphere, nor will it be under the same circumstances. Being in management, it is difficult for me to accept a position where I take a hefty pay cut because we have a certain standard of living that we've achieved. There are management positions for which I'm qualified, however, the time and energy I've put into this company will mean nothing there other than "You're hired".

We're lucky to work for a company that cares enough to give us a two day workshop on how to write a resume and how to sell yourself in an interview. Not to mention the mini job fairs that are going on at the site to help us find other jobs with other companies. First Tennessee Bank, Vanderbilt Mortgage and others will be coming to our GMAC site to help us fill in positions at their facilities so that we're still comfortable and have an income. I can't say that for many places, considering I've driven to work before and found out I didn't have a job when I got there because the doors were chained. We're lucky to have two months notice. It gives us an opportunity to say the things that need to be said and time to find the right job instead of accepting the first to offer because we're not sure what the future will hold.

It is distressing. It is hard. It will be hard. I will miss the people. I'll miss the things that happen every day. I'll miss my boss, my co-workers and my direct reports! I will be in a new place and it will be difficult because I won't have the knowledge of this company that I have for my current one or the seniority that will help to carry me into new positions and new teams. It is astounding to me that this chapter in my life is coming to a close.

The first thing I thought when the news came was that I didn't know how to look for a job I've been with the company so long. I don't want to interview and fill out applications and submit resume after resume. But in the end, there is no choice and I will have to do what needs to be done.

We'll keep on trucking.

2/14/2010 07:53:00 PM

Vinegar in Various Places

Use vinegar in the steam cleaner to reduce soap bubbles.

Mix vinegar with lind seed oil and use it to clean your wood.

Clean eyeglasses by wiping each lens with a drop of vinegar.

Soak new wicks for several hours in white vinegar and let them dry before inserting. Propane lanterns will burn longer and brighter on the same amount of fuel.

Deodorize the air. Vinegar is a natural air freshener when sprayed in a room.

Turn a chicken bone into rubber by soaking it in a glass of vinegar for three days. It will bend like rubber.

Deodorize a room filled with cigarette smoke or paint fumes. Place a small bowl of vinegar in
the room.

Remove decals or bumper stickers by soaking a cloth in Vinegar and cover the decal or bumper sticker for several minutes until the vinegar soaks in. The decals and bumper stickers should peel off easily.

Cleaning windows by using undiluted Vinegar in a spray bottle. Dry off with newspaper.

Prevent patching plaster from drying by adding one tablespoon vinegar to the water when mixing to slow the drying time.

Plastic can be cleaned and made anti-static by wiping down with a solution of 1 tablespoon of
distilled vinegar to 1 gallon of water. This will cut down on the plastics' tendency to attract dust.

The colors in carpets and rugs will often look like they have taken a new lease on life if they
are brushed with a mixture of 1 cup of vinegar in a gallon of water.

A mixture of one teaspoon of liquid detergent and 1 teaspoon of distilled vinegar in a pint of
lukewarm water will remove non-oily stains from carpets. Apply it to the stain with a soft brush or towel and rub gently. Rinse with a towel moistened with clean water and blot dry. Repeat this procedure until the stain is gone. Then dry quickly, using a fan or hair dryer. This should be done as soon as the stain is discovered.

Spots caused by cola-based soft drinks can be removed from 100 percent cotton, cotton polyester and permanent press fabrics if done so with in 24 hours. To do it, sponge distilled vinegar directly onto the stain and rub away the spots. Then clean according to the directions on the manufacturer's care tag.

Sponging away grease and dirt with a sponge dipped in distilled vinegar will keep exhaust fan grills, air-conditioner blades and grills dust free.

Leather articles can be cleaned with a mixture of distilled vinegar and linseed oil. Rub the mixture into the leather and then polish with a soft cloth.

To loosen old glue around rungs and joints of tables and chairs under repair, apply distilled
vinegar with a small oil can.

Soak a paint brush in hot vinegar, then wash out with warm, sudsy water to soften it up.

Patent leather will shine better if wiped with a soft cloth which has been moisten with distilled
vinegar.

To add a pleasant scent to a room while at the same time removing an unpleasant odor, add
cardamom or other fragrant spice to a bowl of distilled vinegar and place in the warmest corner of the room.

Varnished wood often takes on a cloudy appearance. If the cloudiness hasn't gone through to the wood, the cloudiness can be removed by rubbing the wood with a soft lintless cloth wrung out from a solution of 1 tablespoon of distilled vinegar in a quart of luke-warm water. Complete the job by wiping the surface with a soft dry cloth.

Dirt and grime can be easily removed from woodwork with a solution of 1 cup of ammonia, 1/2 cup of distilled vinegar, and 1/4 cup of baking soda in a cup of warm water. This solution will not dull the finish or leave streaks.

Stubborn rings resulting from wet glasses being placed on wood furniture may be removed by rubbing with a mixture of equal parts of distilled vinegar and olive oil. Rub with the grain and polish for the best results.

Wood paneling may be cleaned with a mixture of 1 ounce of olive oil and 2 ounces of distilled
vinegar in 1 quart of warm water. Moisten a soft cloth with the solution and wipe the paneling.
The yellowing is then removed by wiping with a soft, dry cloth.

1/22/2010 07:00:00 PM

Powdery Mildew Spray

Got this from Gardner's Net.


1 gallon water
3 tablespoons baking soda
1 tablespoon bleach
1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid

  1. Snip and remove leaves that are worst affected.

  2. Mix ingredients with water.

  3. Spray remaining leaves top and undersides.

  4. Apply a heavier dose on leaves that have signs of infection and only lightly on unaffected leaves as bleach can actually harm and discolor the leaves.

Extremely important: Do not use too much bleach! Use no more than 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. We hesitate to recommend using bleach as it can harm your plants if too much is applied. Use it at your own risk and try to avoid spraying it on healthy leaves.

1/19/2010 08:20:00 PM

Hot Pepper Spray

This can be used to repel, deer, rabbits and other pests from your flowers and some vegetables. Note, use caution with vegetables as a peppery taste may remain on the fruit.

6 peppers, the hotter the better
2 cups water
1 quart water

  1. Put hot peppers and two cups of water into a blender.

  2. Mix at high speed for 1-2 minutes.

  3. Pour into a container and set aside for up to one day.

  4. Strain liquid through a cheese cloth.

  5. Add liquid into a one quart container. Fill container to top with water.

  6. Apply liberally to plants. Re-apply every week to two weeks or after a rain.

1/18/2010 02:01:00 PM

Insecticide Garlic Spray

I found this recipe and some others over at Gardeners Net.

The nice thing about it is you can use it inside, outside, in soil, out of soil. You don't have to worry about it poisoning you, your family, pets, or your plants but it certainly repel insects!

Insecticide Garlic Spray

1 garlic bulb
2 cups water
1 gallon water

  1. Take an entire garlic bulb and two cups of water and blend in blender.

  2. Mix at high speed for 1-2 minutes.

  3. Pour into a container and set aside for up to one day.

  4. Strain liquid through a cheese cloth.

  5. Mix liquid with one gallon of water.

  6. Apply liberally on top and bottom of leaves.

1/13/2010 11:44:00 PM

Oh Yea!

So I started a little earlier than I expected. Now that the world has calmed itself after the holidays and our move and a slew of other things, I'm wandering around the house aimlessly, picking at my newly sprouted herbs and fussing over the established orchard sitting in my dining room taking up entirely too much room for comfort. My little two liter method is actually viable and doing well, I'm just not producing enough light and any plans to build an indoor greenhouse against a huge bank of south facing windows in my living room has my husband twitching and putting up his dukes. So I wander, mumbling to myself under my breath and dodging pillows as they are launched by tha man because he knows I'm not so quietly cursing him under my breath for not allowing me to build a jungle in the house. *sigh*

So I'm shopping online instead. I placed my order for the delightful Pink Lemonade Blueberry plus a gaggle of multi-hued raspberries. A cheap order to be sure but my penny pinching is paying off (all tallied, I paid off 7K+ of our debt last year and have just a little more to go to get down to a car payment and mortgage only) and I'm starting to build my respectable orchard even as I have dreams of a yard full of vegetables and gorgeous flowers.

I have to remind myself that I still need to pick up speed slowly. Get a few things established this year, fight the problems with one or two different plants instead of fifteen. Easier to handle a crisis of raspberries than the entire lot of berries that I ultimately plan to have sprouting in all directions around the fence line of the house (yea, think twice about jumping my fence, there buddy).

While I'm not a newbie at gardening, I am not of a mind to tackle multiple problems my first year of major expansion from the previous couple of years of gardening. And the past couple of years have seen horrendous failure. I seem to manage to plant everything that is going to fail for everyone in my area that year. It's actually amazing that I have a knack for it. I paid especial attention to tomatoes last year and that was just a really shitty year for tomatoes and not just in my area from reading other blogs.

But I know better than to give up. I'll be worried about the little failures when the grocery stores stop carrying fresh produce and canned goods. For now, however, I have my place in line reserved for the new pink blueberry. The birds are going to love me. I wonder if I can get a fly swatter big enough for the birds I'm going to be fighting off my blueberry bush.

So the restless wandering is now aimed at how I'm going to handle this particular treat when (if!) I get it. I know the website had it up for grabs, but that doesn't mean I'll get it. Actually, it does mean that I'll be the first one on the "We're out of that for now, we'll ship it and bill you as soon as we have them in" song and dance like it was for my carmine jewel cherry last year even though I ordered it in plenty of time for them to give me a spring shipment as per the website (nameless company!) but yet I didn't get it until September.

Anyway, I think I have the perfect place to put the tophat that I already have in a container and it's pink counter part plus still have enough full sun for the raspberries on that side of the fence. We'll have to see. Now it's all about soil. I have a good bag of it, but I want to put together Mel's Mix so that I can be a little more worry free with it.

I'm very enthusiastic about the whole thing. I've been dying to get out there and do it and so now, I will.

1/13/2010 07:00:00 PM

Pink Lemonade Blueberry


The catalogs have been pouring in and I've been getting the budget ready for the plants that we're going to go with this year and this one seems to be close to the top of my list. It's

Vaccinium 'Pink Lemonade'




From what I've read on it, even the flowers have a pinkish color to them. It appears to be like a regular blueberry in all other respects liking acidic, well drained soil with lots of organic material.

I adore blueberries. They are one of my favorite fruits because they are just delicious! I am very much looking forward to these guys in a nice mix of fruits for a snack or in a compote with a good helping of home made ice cream.

1/02/2010 04:47:00 PM

Kitchen Garden

Happy New Year! As the new year has come, so has my little kitchen garden. I started cutting two liter bottles in half and making self watering containers. So far it has worked very well. I have sweet basil, lemon basil, thyme, marjoram, dill, garlic chives, parsley and summer savory all planted. The dill has yet to sprout, but everything else has popped up beautifully. I don't expect the dill to actually make an appearance for another few days. I'm using a compact fluorescent bulb in a regular floor lamp with no cover to give my plants light and it is working wonderfully.

My little orchard is also stacked behind my emerging garden. I nearly lost my bananas because I didn't get them in before the first frost which came on time this year around the 15th of October, much to my dismay. I forgot all about them so I had more than a couple of battered dying leaves but, the bananas have made a very serious come back. My blueberry bloomed shortly after coming in and has continued to do so. I did finally figure out why my poor lemon wasn't doing so well. It's an iron deficiency that was getting out of hand. I found a rusty nail to insert into the pot around the roots and about a week later I finally got the new growth I should have seen back in August but never got. I'm going to find a couple more rusty nails to insert into my orange and lime as well as their lower leaves started to yellow a couple of weeks ago so I'm thinking it is the same problem for them.

The mother of a good friend of mine is a professional horticulturist and I asked her about it and she agreed that it was either an iron deficiency or spider mites. I went home and checked it out to see if I had the mites and there were none, thankfully, it was just a simple iron deficiency and that is easier fixed than the bugs.

So all of the plants are healthy and doing well with my modesty lighting system. I was looking into a small LED lighting system and found them to be affordable at around $60 for a system that will cover about 3 square feet. I'm looking forward to getting something more set up so that I can start with some tomatoes and maybe some cucumbers which will require more light than my little compact can produce alone.

I've been saving up my two liters (and so have my friends) and I'm going to start experimenting with lettuces next to see what all I can grown in my little pots. I don't really need much, and baby greens are very quick to grow and then be devoured. I'm really quite excited about this and so are the kids, the enjoy planting and watching the plants grow.

It's a nice start and I'm certainly looking forward to have a good fresh salad whenever I want!

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