I made my big order for seeds for 2009 from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds today. I also bought used copies of Seed to Seed and Four Season Gardening. I am going to try to start saving many of my own seeds to be more economical and we are going to be moving into gardening year round by utilizing cold frames. Bob and I are planning a couple new beds to add to the four we put in last year and I am thinking of applying to get a 20x20 plot at our town's community garden as well. I need the space for bigger plants like corn, squash and melons. I just can't manage the vines in our smaller beds and I'm sure our HOA wouldn't be pleased if we dug up the entire back yard and made it into a garden a la Food Not Lawns.

I will blog my seed order soon. There is nothing more exciting in dreary, bitterly cold January than getting the year's seed order in the mail. After they arrive I will get busy making a gardening chart figuring out where it is all going to go, how much extra room I need for all the additional plants we are adding to our garden and at which times the seeds need to be started to be ready for transplant in late spring. Another late winter project is stepping up our composting system. We have a regular old rubbermaid bin with holes poked in the top in our basement full of red worms busy composting most of our whole food kitchen waste. They are doing a great job but we just need more worms and a bigger system. I've been doing some reading and I'm not quite ready to commit to any specific composting product yet but by March I hope to have something here and up and running. Another possible addition will be a rain barrel. We are pushing our HOA as it is so we'll see what we can get away with in our little back yard.

I just have to add that parsley is surprisingly hardy. I had no idea until this winter. We've had some bitter cold days, below zero days with a good bit of snow and ice and it is still perky and green down there in the bed. Now it isn't producing like it does when it is warmer but it isn't dead. I picked some just last week to be used in a recipe. Imagine that!

I love the internet and the information gathering and social connection capabilities that it provides. Two sites that have been particularly helpful to me over the past few months as I try to improve my sewing and crocheting skills:

Ravelry, is a site dedicated to yarn crafts of all kind. There a many free patterns, forums, technique articles, etc. to be found here. Really a wealth of information for anyone who loves to create things with yarn.

Pattern Review is chock full of pattern, sewing machine, and fabric reviews. The forums are incredibly helpful as well. Even better there are many online video tutorials that are available to download for those who cannot make it to face to face sewing classes.

I've really let this blog languish. I just checked and my last post was in June! My goodness, since then our garden grew, produced and has now been prepared for winter. I will try and post a few photos of it when it was in full glory.

Our tomato crop was a little late to show up but once it did in mid-September we were in tomatoes for about 6 weeks, until the end of October. The forecast of the first hard frost had me outside picking the rest of the green tomatoes off the vine and they have finished ripening inside - I am still eating tomatoes from my garden and it is November 5th!

Here is the last bowlful with one Brandywine and a bunch of Green Zebras:



We learned some good lessons from the garden this year. First, I will start my tomatoes at least three weeks sooner in the early spring inside to try and get a longer season of produce. The weather here in Kansas seems to stay warm through October and the vines were still flowering when I pulled them out last weekend. We also have decided that Brandywine, Green Zebras and Dad's Sunsets will be staples in our garden in the future. We tried 7 varieties of heirlooms this year and those were the hands down winners for production and flavor. The Green Zebra is a prolific producer and the tomatoes are small and very tangy.

I also know to plant our beans outside earlier than I did this year. We had a good crop but I need more vines next year if I want to get enough to freeze for use in the cooler months. I will not plant bush beans next year, only vining varieties. Our beds are too small and having plants climb up actually is a better use of our space. Ella and the neighborhood kids loved walking right over to the plants and eating produce right off the vines, especially the beans and the cherry tomatoes. I had great luck with all my herbs this year: lavender, rosemary, basil (thai, lime and genovese), flat leaf parsley, feverfew, oregano, and peppermint. I will not bother with feverfew next year - it almost seems like a weed because it grows so quickly, easily and just takes over everything. I do not have any real use for it, I planted it for curiosities sake. The same goes for amaranth. I just wanted to see what it would do and look like and now I know. I can't mill it or use it in any way so next year those spots will be used for more practical plants. I will probably still plant something unusual and new to me again for fun next year, we'll see. The only other changes I will make are moving the sunflowers and zinnias out of the beds and into our front landscaping. They grew really easily and took up a lot of space. The zinnias especially produced beautiful flowers that my neighbor and I both enjoyed for a few months. What a great flower and so easy to grow!

Here are a few pics:

An unpleasant find!


Sunflowers


Zinnias


Herbs


Herbs


Beans


Tomatoes and beans

My best friend Liz was just here for a visit and knowing that she is an avid crocheter, I wasn't surprised that she had brought along her current project. She is crocheting a reusable bag for produce and groceries out of plarn, which are strips of plastic grocery bags slip knotted together. I didn't get any shots of the project she is working on but here are a few links to show you the results: here and here.

I've never been a fan of teriyaki ... until I tried this recipe. Not only is it one of the tastiest meals I've eaten lately, it is beautiful to look at. Best of all it is easy to make! It takes thirty minutes or less and doesn't have an overwhelming number of ingredients:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/8 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
3 strip steaks (8-10 oz each), about 1" thick [Note: I recommend Laura's Beef or other beef raised without steroids, etc.]
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 scallions, sliced thin

1. Whisk soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, vinegar and cornstarch in bowl.

2. Pat steaks dry with paper towels. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add steaks and cook until well browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plate and tent with foil.

3. Wipe out skillet and add soy sauce mixture. Simmer over medium heat until sauce is thickened, about 2 minutes. Slice steak thinly against the grain and transfer to platter. Pour sauce over steak and sprinkle with scallions. Serve.

4. Lick your lips!

Ella's third birthday is coming up in a few weeks and we are going to have a simple party here at our house for her. My neighbor's two children, Josie and Zack - ages 7 and 9 - have been delighted to help me plan the day. They've been to lots of parties so I figure they are the experts. What has struck me about their suggestions is that none of them involve expensive equipment or an outside venue. Zack insisted we bob for apples and Josie pleaded for musical chairs. They both think a pinata is a fabulous idea. They also suggested getting out the wading pool and having the sprinklers on in one part of the yard, with Ella's roller coaster/ride on toy in the midst of the sprinkler showers. This all sounds easy enough to do and fun as well. I am also hoping to have a craft for the kids, I am still looking around for something simple that will be appealing to a wide range of ages.

It was brought to my attention that party favors for the guests are a nice touch. I don't remember this from my childhood, is this a new thing? Anyway, I think I am going to try and make a couple of the favors myself. My sister has handmade the birthday invites, so the least I can do is try and make a few party favors. I have found directions for star ball streamers (in Earthways) that look fun and usable. I may have the children paint tiny terracotta pots or give them pots to fill with soil and plant a seed in. What do you think?

We are going to be using Ella's birthday ring for the first time and I am excited to start this new family tradition. (The birthday ring is conveniently used as our Advent spiral during the winter holidays as well!). I will be sure to post pics after the fact. I sure do wish Lissie and Rach could be here to celebrate with us.