Survival Seeds

Well, the bug hit me....or fever, or whatever trigger causes the need to play in the dirt long before it's safe. I ordered from the Gurney seed catalog this week. My hubby has been concerned that I didn't plant enough garlic last fall (mainly because I waited too late to order the bulbs from the dealer I like.) So I just reconcile myself to make do with planting what I put aside for seed stock. Turns out, with an unlimited supply on hand we used way more garlic this fall/winter than ever before and my hubby has developed an addiction so severe he depleted our years supply of culinary garlic by January - with no fresh garlic until June/July we were very susceptible to vampires! I resorted to using the garlic in the decorator braids hung in my kitchen window. Not to fear, this was home grown garlic I braided. Thinking I had such a plentiful supply when I harvested the garlic last summer, I made a yarrow and garlic valance - the garlic is totally edible and organic, but I'd have liked to preserve my window treatments a few more months!

As we were preserving our salsa last fall, Ashley - AKA The Princess, recommended a salsa garden . We put up 12 jars of salsa and it was gone within six weeks. The child absolutely loves anything with vinegar in it and downed a pint of salsa in one setting. This left the extended family members highly disappointed because she ran through the entire stock of "Christmas salsa" in said six weeks. The salsa was intended as gifts to those who loved it the year before.

Back to the catalog order... I was looking for things I couldn't find locally. With The Princess's idea in mind and thinking this sounds like a great project for a mother-daughter duo I ordered some interesting tomatoes - my friends will not be surprised to note that I picked a variety called Flamingo's....they are an undersized plum tomato with raspberry pink interiors....It just sounded like to much fun to resist! They come as seeds which I don't generally have good luck growing tomatoes from seed, but for $2.45 it's worth the gamble.

Can't have salsa without onions - so I found an interesting variety of those also. Candy Apple Red's - supposedly eatable raw although I don't know why people do this - the plant makes you cry when you cut it - what makes you think you should eat it raw? Go figure....anyway, it looks pretty and if it is mild with a good flavor, will do nicely in the salsa. I generally saute my onions and garlic for the salsa and have had good results with the flavor.

To round out the salsa garden order I found some softneck garlic still in stock. So I ordered Pioneer Whites and Silver Reds....I hope they come soon so I can get them in the ground while it's still cool. With the softnecks I already planted and these, I should have enough to last through next winter and give some garlic braids as gifts. Maybe I can even replace my window treatment! If not, I'll double the order in the summer and hope I have help planting it all!

With those items added to the cart I decided I'd like some tomato plants - to get a jump on the season. I went out on a limb and ordered Black Krim heirloom cherry tomatoes. I've never had heirloom's before - I guess I felt they were to delicate for me to grow - I've got a limited budget - both financially and time - and I generally don't like to take a chance on something that's not going to produce. I thought I'd give through caution to the wind...

Before I log off, I wanted to share with you another site on seeds - Hometown Seeds they have a grouping of seeds called Survival Seeds. Hormone free and packaged to last for an extended period of time. Once you plant the seeds the resulting fruit produces seeds suitable to save for next years planting. Sounds very interesting to me - especially the hormone free aspect.

Although it is not very warm today - I have a need to prepare homes for the soon to arrive seeds and plants. This means raised bed preparation - I'm off to the rock pile to start hauling them up the hill for a bed near the house.....

ThistleDew Crochet Lessons

Hurray - the dream of starting a craft haven at Thistle Dew Farm is becoming a reality.

My good friend Wendy has requested the inaugural crochet session. I am so excited to share my craft! I'll post more when we have a date and materials list.

Here's some samples of my work over the last few years to give an idea of what we can aspire to.

Ending the year with Food!

This morning I thought - today is the day I'm going to tackle a recipe from Julia Childs.

I was inspired, as many were, by watching Julie Julia a few weeks ago. Not to mention that I volunteered to make beef stew for our New Years Eve dinner for the farm.

So why not give Beef Bourguignon a try? I must have been crazy. Have you actually ever looked at that recipe? Craziness I tell you! Sheer craziness. To spend that much time in prep work for something that doesn't involve chocolate or sugar - simply mind boggling!

So I decided to go Russian instead of French and try a recipe for Beef Stroganoff instead. I'll let you know how that works out.... Just in case I have already put on a crock pot of beef stew - hey you never know what might happen around Thistle Dew Farm.

But Julia kept niggling in the back of my mind. So I googled her and came upon this blog...http://www.bookstorepeople.com/2009/08/julie-julia-the-way-to-cook/ and after a little research I believe The Way to Cook is a better choice for me if I want to investigate Julia Childs methodology. My ultimate goal is to become a better cook....with Mastering the Art of French Cooking I fear I will waste a lot of money, time and get really frustrated.

Besides, I don't feel I've missed out on any of life's pleasures because I don't know how to de-bone a duck.

I also found this blog about the book Julie Powell wrote which in part inspired Julie Julia along with her blog - Corrodentia Weekly- she answers the question I had about Julie Powell in the movie - "why is this girl so whiny?" I guess she read the book (which I haven't) and got the answer - the screen writers must have really played down her whineyness from the book because she just marginally got on my nerves in the movie. My sister-in-law, the marvelous Terri says they toned down her language from the Julie Powell blog also.....which is a good thing. I haven't read that and not sure I want to - I don't like fowl language!!!!! Hee Hee, little cooking joke there....

Well wish me luck on this last project for 2009 - making a delicious Beef Stroganoff.....near enough to Beef Bourguignon for Thistle Dew.

May 2010 be full of crafting, gardening, and friendship for you and Thistle Dew.

SantaClaustraphobia - again! Already!

It is that time of year again. Time to get serious about my fitness level. I know most people think about this in the spring, but I am not like most people.

My work is doing SantaClaustraphobia again - the fear of looking like Santa Claus. Our motto is 2 and no more. If you gain less than two pounds over the holidays, you get a free t-shirt. As some of you know, I'll do almost anything for a free t-shirt!

Last year I lost about 8 pounds over the holidays - from two weeks before Thanksgiving to the middle of January. I am sorry to say that I gained it all back over the Spring and Summer. So the only place I have to go is down.....our office is having a competition with other offices for bragging rights to the team that looses the most. Hope I can contribute to their success!

Traveling Masterpiece

I have been participating in a project for over a year now. It is called the Traveling Masterpiece. A canvas has been circulating through a list of those interested in contributing to the canvas. We get the canvas in the mail add something to it and send it on. I was appalled that it has taken over a year to reach me....until I had it of course. Now I see why it has taken so long. First I had to admire the work I received. Then I had to wait for inspiration to strike on how to improve the canvas. Then I had to get brave to actually apply my idea. Then I had to admire it for awhile. Now, I am ready to part with it and send it on it's way.

The masterpiece is nothing like I imagined. It is different, better, grows on you....it tells a story! Very cool - I hope to be involved in a project like this again.

I have asked Super Hubby to take a picture of it, so hopefully I will add a picture very soon so you can see the traveling masterpiece.

Happy Birthday US Marine Corps

Sorry for the quick post - but needed to wish a Happy Birthday to everyone connected with, in love with, or associated with the Marine Corps. It's the Corps' birthday today born in 1775~

Semper Fi.

Weekend Here I Come

This should be an exciting weekend. Ashley, aka The Princess, has her first horse show where she's totally in control. Previously she's been on lead line with an adult leading her and she is perched atop the horse - sort of a proto-type Auto Pilot. This year she has progressed to walk trot where she is in charge of the horse. She is very good at hanging on - but working on the finer points of riding and showing. We are all very excited - hopefully I'm not putting to much pressure on her! We'll know tomorrow morning if the pressure cooker gage blows! I am taking the camera (the one I haven't broken yet) with me, so you should actually see some pic's on Monday'ish.

As a side note....I am participating in National Blog Month, so I've been exposed to some blogs I don't normally see. It's been really fun. This morning I read Fleur De Aleta.
Aleta had a great post yesterday about credit card company shenanigans....The requirements to be part of this organization is to blog every day during the month of Oct....I'm not doing so well, but it's interesting to wander around and see other blogs.

Prepare not Change

Today's post is in honor of National Blog Action Day. The subject is Climate Change. I am ashamed to say that I am not as informed scientifically on this subject as I should be....why should a crafty girl feel guilty about this you ask????

(Thanks for asking) Because I work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory where cutting edge really cool science is being done on Climate Change. So if you want to know some really technical stuff about the subject, click on the link to read a cutting edge article and then follow your nose around their site.




As for me and my naive understanding, I am wondering why the world is so concerned with slowing down climate change as opposed to preparing for it's eventual happening? Perhaps we are, but we're just not hearing about it? I base my opinion about the inevitable climate change on the many offerings the History and Science television channels produce depicting what happened during the previous catastrophic climate upheavals - you know ice ages, mass warming trends which assisted the separation of continents and so on?

Believe it or not, even without the intervention of man, the climate changes! Shocking I know! Who would have thought such a thing.....surely these scientists who suggest such a thing are crazy! Or is that passionate - I always get those confused. So, if the climate is going to change anyway or some meteorite is going to crash into earth causing devastating climatic variances, I would prefer the scientists work on survivability. Might I suggest we start with the cockroach, now there is a creature that has survivability! Next they need to develop a space suit we will look good in. That's it, that's the extent of my scientific suggestions, everything else I leave to the professionals.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about clean water, pollution reduction, green spaces... but for the sake of enhanced living experiences not to avoid climate change....that one was set in motion long before we humans could do anything about it....lets learn how to live with it!

Oh and I almost forgot....I would like affordable solar panels so I can become independent from the energy companies....now I'm finished!

Planning my Christmas Dinner

Well folks, I know this is crazy, but I'm actually planning my Christmas menu!

ThistleDew is hosting the Family Christmas on my side of the family. My fab sister Ellie from Windy Meadows started the tradition about five years ago. My siblings, and their families, and our mother get together a few weeks before Christmas to do fun things including a stocking exchange. We collect funky and cheap items throughout the year and stuff each others stockings. Sometimes it's caste off items, sometimes it's fun toiletries, sometimes its hilarious stuff we find at a garage sale....you just never know. It also includes retro candy! A personal favorite of mine.

Well since ThistleDew House is newly built and this is our first Christmas - we're hosting! So I must compete with my Fab Sister.....which is going to be difficult. I have decided to do a traditional English Roast Beef Dinner with Prime Rib, Yorkshire pudding and mashed potatoes. This could cause some concern on my husband's side of the family because I made this dinner for them 10 years ago and they have been requesting a repeat ever since....a few things have held me back....#1 the cost of prime rib, #2 you can never make it as good as you did the first time. This is ok for my family, because they didn't have it the first time (which did turn out awesome). I did practice for a month on the Yorkshire puddings, until my husband cried uncle already!

So I have put on my calendar to order the Choice Cut or Prime Cut Standing Rib roast the second week of November to ensure I have an awesome piece of meat come the second week of December. More on the recipes I've chosen and a pictorial session of the meal assembly to follow over the next two months.

For now, it's back to crocheting....with pictures of that to follow after I fix the camera.

Blog Action Month

I have joined the blog action month - see the icon to the left. I guess I'm a little behind as it's the 8th and I'm posting my first blog....sorry about that.

I am very into crocheting now - it's getting colder and I'm getting motivated.....more tomorrow!

Best Laid Plans

Today is scarf making day - I'll let you know the out come.

These are pictures of scarves past....Shannon and Tayler are the models. Pictures are taken by Danita Rogers - she's fab!

Garlic Prep and Moons

Well I fully intended to prepare my garlic bed last weekend and that's about how far I got. Folklore says you should plant crops at the full moon. In my area, garlic should be planted in October or November. This year the October full moon will be the Harvest Moon because it falls the closest to the fall equinox (this won't happen again until 2017), usually the Harvest moon is in September and October is the Hunters Moon.

Anyway, I think October 4th is to early to plant the garlic so I'm going to wait for the Hunters Moon on Nov 2nd. I fully intend to have my beds prepared by then. I am thinking of putting an informal one on the hill outside my kitchen window just at the edge of the woods. This ground should be so fertile and with a little sand amended I think it might be perfect. I am going to use the bed next to this years garlic bed that belonged to the wererabbit (who did not bother the garden at all....giving him a few veggies of his own protected our spring bed.) Then I'm going to build a Salsa and Pickle garden in the front field. My daughter loved the salsa this year and it rekindled our idea to grow our own fixin's next year. The Princess also loves pickles and she'd like to put up her own pickles next year - so why not....anyway so that's two new beds, an informal bed for garlic and strawberries (ehhh that doesn't sound good together....) and that should be it for the fall tasks.....besides harvesting more sunflower seeds before the birds get them all. I am afraid to pick them to early because they aren't mature enough but the birds are sure getting after them....has anyone checked out the caterpillar coats, is there going to be a rough winter this year? Is that why the birds are so hungry or are they just pigs?

Hello

I have not fallen off the earth - just bogged down within it!

The gardening season at ThistleDew is at an end. I've been cleaning beds and preparing for next season (and my hamstrings are killing me). I've also been planning a new location for the garlic bed. They did ok in La Tres Belle but it was so wet (good thing they were in raised beds), I think I can do better higher on the hill. That means building a new bed, which means work! I am pleased with my first crop of garlic and look forward to improvements for next year. The favorite was the hardneck. The cloves are so large but limited to only about 5 to 7 per bulb. The taste was really nice - less sharp than the softneck varieties. I harvested about 100 hardneck and about 60 softnecks. I made 5 garlic braids with the softnecks. I've saved the largest bulbs for seed stock and will be planting them Oct/Nov time frame for a June harvest next spring.

Other than that I've been providing horse riding instruction for my daughter - she hits the show circuit this fall if all goes well. I've also been trying to get motivated in my crocheting....lots of projects and ideas just short on motivation. Still lots of projects around the house and making salsa for Christmas presents. Next year I am definitely planting tomatoes - they are really expensive to buy for the salsa - I could have given gold necklaces cheaper!!!!

Hope you are adjusting to the changing season and getting along just fine!

Take of Tour of Thistle Dew What'cha Workin' on Wednesday

Here's what we look like from the front now....imagine rock wall where the dirt is....I can! I took the camera for a stroll yesterday afternoon - wanna see what I saw?

Here's my front porch basket - I am ashamed to admit I purchased all these plants - my one big garden splurge this year. Closest to us is a large Cuban Oregano - which is very prolific - if you'd like a start - just let me know!

That's the sign at the entrance to the craft studio, I have cork floors so you have to show off your pedicure when you visit me! Wanna see what I'm working on? Come on inside....

Back out onto the other side porch, here's another planted pot - this one is all rescued plants from my sisters house - her landscaper got tired and left these beauties! They love me for rescuing them and they look nice in this pot set in this old chair.

Let's walk out front and look back at the house - we've done a little landscaping since you saw it last, the lovely live statue is quite a showpiece! I don't think you've seen the stone on the front either.

Here's some plants I have growing...pussy willow from Mom's, rooting nicely in the bucket by the garage....

Here's all the monkey grass I planted on the back slope....

Here's the bed I recently rototilled which resulted in a bout of poison ivy....I planted cast off plants in this bed, a few holly starts, some canna's, a crepe myrtle and a lot of seeds harvested last fall. The marigolds and sunflowers are growing prolifically (guess I planted a bit thick!) but the Echinacea and wildflowers do not appear to have made it - sadly enough.

Let's walk down the hill and see the other beds....Hey is that a butterfly?


The painted ladies are very active at our farm.

This patch is in the middle of the "yard". Super Hubby left it intentionally for the deer to have a hiding spot. It is mostly clover and there are two or three does that visit it daily....

This clump of flowers made me think of Daisy....

Here we are at La Tres Belle, that's what we call this space. It gets a lot of water and tends to flood in the spring - raised beds have worked perfectly.











The horseradish made it through the winter....this is it's first full year - I bought it as a start from Richters Herb Farm



It's starting to get dark so this picture isn't very bright - is it just me or do you think this yarrow is miss named - looks pink to me not red!




Here's the bed from a different angle - the left half is mostly gravel and holds my original rosemary and a lavender started last year. The right half has a columbine from Mothers, the horse radish and two yarrows. The aforementioned red hiding beside the yellow (from my Mothers herb bed)

Volunteer For-Get-Me-Nots...

Hey isn't this a pretty black eyed Susan?

Don't they look pretty together?

Check out my garlic bed!

Don't you love the two guardian sunflowers? They are volunteers! The bed was the wererabbit garden - a successful crop of peas and onions - a few carrots remain as a sacrifice to the wererabbit - he was very merciful to us and did not bother the garden at all....neither did his little deer friends, luckily.

Let's walk over to Winonna's Bed - here's the bayberry in it's second year - another Richter Herb Farm purchase last year.

I can't wait for berries - I have been reading about making home made bayberry candles and fragrance - I hope it works - do you know how old the bush must be before it starts to make berries - or do I need a girlfriend for HuckleBerry Bay?

Let's move on further to Bob's bed and check on the lavender there - it's been so wet it should be in shock!

Looks happy - so is the bumble bee drinking up the pollen - to bad it isn't a honey bee. Haven't seen any around us....maybe I should get a hive.....hmmmm

The Russian sage behind Bird Rock is doing nicely as usual. This plant is about five years old and lived in a pot for the first three years so I could bring it indoors at our rental. Last year I planted it in the ground and it did fine. It is neither Russian nor a sage - go figure! It has lovely lavender blooms and is a favorite for a butterfly garden.

Come back up to the house and look at another project I'm working on....

Hopefully this sign will greet you as you drive up to the property after the y-split....

That was a great walk, and bringing back a fresh flower bouquet placed in a home made vase is what life is all about. I am blessed!

Come on back for a visit anytime!