BUSY BIRDS, BEAUTY FROM THE PAST - AND A NEW VIDEO!

As you can see by my cover photo, Spring is truly here in Western Manitoba.

This morning my garden was full of all kinds of birds busy gathering nesting materials.  I am more than happy to share any bits and pieces they need to make their new nests for the season!  Of course, my camera only saw Robins this morning - any day I can get a Robin on camera is a great day for sure!

It's been a very busy week spent working in the yard getting beds ready for spring planting!  I have spent over 6 hours every day, digging, weeding, hauling new soil, moving plants and shrubs and even a tree, and I think when you see the little video below, you will agree that I have made some progress since the video last week.

Yesterday we had a windy rainy day, so I was able to finally wash my floors, and get some chores done inside the house.  

I worked a bit on my sweater, which I have to admit has sort of fallen to the bottom of the project basket for the moment.  To be replaced by a crochet floppy hat that I am making to wear while I work outside in the sun.  On my journey to the floppy hat, I have discovered a new designer, (Kristin Omdahl), whom I have really taken to.  I love her designs and her easy to follow patterns - so much so that I have purchased her e-book   "Layers" - Crochet Projects to Style, Drape and Flatter .

This e-book will be in print shortly, but I couldn't wait, to try some of the patterns.  All the patterns in the book are cover-up type patterns for spring and summer, or evening wear.  If you are looking for such a pattern to make for yourself or for a gift, you must check out her website:

http://www.kristinomdahl.com 

You won't be disappointed.

So here is a little video I took this morning of this week's progress in the gardens on the food garden side of our property.  There still is a whole other side yard that I haven't even covered yet - but that is for the rest of the summer to develop and turn into something eye-catching and beautiful!  First food - then beauty!

In this morning's video I talk about a wide-flower garden that was growing a couple of years ago - here is a couple of pictures of that garden, so you will know what I am yammering on about.

So here is this week's video.

https://youtu.be/gfIabkhpC18

Have a Wonderful weekend, everyone!

THE COST OF EATING, AND TWO NEW VIDEO'S.

I heard on the news tonight, that the price of fruit and vegetables is expected to rise this year by over 17%.

The powers that be are placing the blame on climate change, and the cost of production and transportation of the food we eat.

If this is true, I believe we will see a lot of families and especially children, eating less nutritious meals, and we might even see a return and indeed a spike in some health conditions that are a close relation to unhealthy diets.

There is no better time than now, for people to consider growing at least part of their own food source.  Things like lettuce, and salad-type crops are expected to be the most expensive to buy in the near future.

Seriously - things like lettuce and salad type things are one of the easiest things to grow.  You don't even need a yard to do it - so why aren't more people growing their own?

They should.  I would bet that if they did it for one season, they would do it forever, because the taste alone would would have them longing for their own FRESH grown produce.

Not everyone has space to garden, but even when I lived on a very tiny property in the heart of a big city, I still grew tomatoes, beans, lettuce and raspberries in my flowerbeds.  If I could have squeezed in more - I would have. 

Of course I no longer have that problem,  I have lots of space to grow food now, and this year I hope to grow even more than I have in the past three years since we have been living here in the country.

So think about it - maybe even give it a try  - you might be surprised how very much you enjoy it!


On that note - I have started a new garden series on my YouTube channel.  I will be updating it once a week as spring planting gets underway.  I have uploaded the first two videos taken this week, so I hope you get a chance to have a look at some of the progress of the rejigging of my garden.  For now, I am just concentrating on the back gardens, but I will get to the front ones soon as well.

So here are links to the first two videos - if you are interested in watching the progress click subscribe and the little bell below it - and you will get notifications when I upload new video's.

I plan to be working outside in the yard most of the weekend, so perhaps next week I will have some photo's to share with you.

Happy Easter to you all - enjoy the long weekend and the beautiful spring days!

See you next week!

2019 Garden Series:

Episode 1
https://youtu.be/fIOBR66G9Bk


Episode 2
https://youtu.be/oZV7B_ls6CA

A SWEET SUCCESS STORY QUITE BY ACCIDENT!

If you watched my video last week when I took you along on my morning walk, you would have heard me nattering away about the rose clipping that I stuck in water, pretty much forgot about until the water became murky, then planted and is now growing happily in a pot.

Here it is... proof of my madness.

I am so happy about this little accident, as every thing I have read and seen up to this moment, has told me that in order to root a rose from a cutting you must first treat the root end with rooting hormone.    Now, this may yet die - who knows, but I don't think it will.  This growth looks pretty robust to me, and there is a daily change in this growth, so I think this rose might just make it.  I only wish I knew the variety of this rose - I do know that this one was taken from a bush that has deep pink flowers.  I took more cuttings from other plants on the weekend, and they are now soaking in water, so perhaps I will be able to duplicate this with a different variety again.    Fingers crossed.

Here are some of the other plants I have growing up in my studio under lights.  

I lost 2 geraniums, but I still have 26 healthy plants, colours: red, pink and orange.  I will be giving a lot of these away, so if you need geraniums - come and see me.

I just potted these tomatoes up on the weekend.  There are a few more plants still down in my green house in the dining room.

Pansies - these are such slow growers... but they are getting there.  Think they will be much happier when they can be out in the garden.

Yes - a pine tree.  I picked up a few pine cones, shook out the seeds and planted them.  I planted 10 seeds and have 7 trees this size ( so far).

Sweet Peas - I have a bunch of these started, and I will also direct sew.  Yes - they are planted in toilet paper rolls - they like to form deep long roots, and they don't like their roots to be disturbed, so I will plant them in the rolls right into the garden just as soon as I can.  I let them get 3 leaves and then I pinch off the tops, to encourage them to form more branches on the stem... and it works.

The table is filling up.  I still have peppers to pot up and move to this table, as well as ground cherries, and herbs.  I might have to squeeze things closer to get it all on the table.

I don't think I showed you my little greenhouse - purchased for 29.99 a few weeks ago.  My original idea was to get it to use when I transfer things outside to harden up before planting.  I thought I could just leave things outside under the plastic, even if it got cool overnight - instead of my usual hauling everything back and forth every night.

But then I decided to see if it worked as a propagator - and wow - does it ever.  I have it set up in my south facing window and seeds are germinating in record time now that I am using the little greenhouse.  So it was a fantastic buy for 29.99.

Here it is...  It has four shelves and a zipper door which can be rolled up, during the day, as it is now, and then lowered and closed during the night to keep the heat and humidity in.  A believe me it is very warm and humid inside that little space.

I just seeded three types of Zinnia's, Cosmos, and Teddy Bear Sunflowers.

There are still a few plants that I want to start but those will be done towards the end of April, as they are fast growing - things like Cucumbers, Melons, Squash.  

It might seem excessive to some who don't plant a large vegetable garden, but starting my own seeds gives me the opportunity to get a jump-start on having earlier crops, and earlier blossoms in the case of flowers, but more importantly it allows me to grow varieties that may not be available in the store greenhouses, and most importantly - it saves me a lot of money by not having to pay for plants in a greenhouse.

And getting my fingers in soil when the weather is still cold and wintery - really doesn't hurt at all either!

CREATIVE GARDENING FOR THE ADVENTUROUS COOK!

I hope you found the time to go along with me on my walk yesterday.  I mentioned at the end of the video, that I was hoping to get outside and get some work done - but that didn't happen.

Instead I decided to be kind to my sore knee and back and just putter around in the studio.  I had some tidying up to do there - things that needed putting away from the last few projects that I worked on.

I also finished the back of the sweater I am working on, and cast on the stitches for the front.  The amount of knitting I am getting done is a direct reflection on the state of my knee I'm afraid - but at least I am making good use of my down time.

So now on to today's topic...

I found a really great book down at our local recycle place quite some time ago, and I am just now getting around to reading it.

It's wonderful - so much more than I anticipated it would be.  It has obviously been around for quite some time, perhaps sitting on someone else's kitchen shelf, because it was published in 1992.  However the content is more than applicable to today's trend of growing one's own food for sustainable living.

This book describes growing and maintaining a kitchen garden for the purpose of supplying a restaurant, but the principals apply to a home kitchen garden as well.

The book covers growing vegetables, herbs, and  edible flowers, and addresses each individual plant and produce type in wonderful detail.  Things like: when to plant, where to plant - pests associated with, how to treat problems, when to harvest, how to harvest.

It also has a section on garden design and gardening techniques.  For instance - companion planting, vertical growing, container growing.

And yes - there are Recipes...

Many many really great recipes for things grown from your garden vegetables, herbs and edible flowers.  Main courses, deserts, teas, and cool drinks, to name but a few.

I am only through half of the book and already I have learned so much, and tagged so many things that I want to try in my garden and indeed in my kitchen.

What a wonderful find this book has been.

It is going to sit on a predominant shelf in my kitchen for many years to come!

I look forward to sharing some really good recipes with you all, real soon!

Just one more reason to keep your eyes open in second hand and recycle shops - you just never know what truly useful thing someone else has tired of, and moved forward for the next person to use.

Support this activity - it's beneficial to us all!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone - stay safe, and if you can, get outdoors and enjoy some Spring!

LETS GO FOR A WALK!

The sun was out early this morning so I decided to video my morning walk so I could take you along with me.

This is one of the routes I walk, my favourite route actually, but I will video the others over time as well.

So come on - lets go for a walk!



https://youtu.be/d24DZ_onAVE

HOMEMADE BREAD AND BUNS!

I had a request to share the recipe for the oh - so - yummy buns I showed you yesterday.

I actually used a white bread recipe that I have used to make loaves of bread for years.  The recipe will make four loaves of bread, or 3-4 dozen buns, depending on how large or small you want to make your buns.

I really love the process of making bread.  I find it a very pleasant relaxing process, that slows you down somewhat from the hustle and bustle of our active daily lives.  You have to stay home the day you make bread, and you have to pay attention to the process without the aid of timers and reminders that so govern our lives today.

It's a wonderful rainy day activity, one where the rewards of taste and smells that linger long after the activity is over, will elevate your mood like nothing else can.

HOMEMADE BREAD

2 tbsp ( heaping) yeast, dissolved in 1/2 cup water

  (I use 3 packages of the traditional yeast - not fast rising)

3 cups lukewarm water

1/2 cup  milk

1/4  cup white sugar

1/2 cup lard or shortening

4 tsp salt

10-11 cups flour

Measure flour  and salt into a large bowl (the largest mixing bowl you have).

Start yeast by dissolving in 1/2 cup water.

In another bowl, measure and add lukewarm water, milk, white sugar, melted shortening or lard.

Add dissolved yeast mixture to this mixture.

Make a well in the flour and add the liquid mixture a little at a time, mixing it into the flour as you go.  I use my hands ( clean) for this as I don't have a dough mixer.  Continue mixing until all the liquid has been absorbed by the flour.  If the mixture is a bit wet, add a bit more flour until the dough is easy to remove from your fingers.

Form in a large ball, cover and let rise until more than double in size.  I place mine inside my oven. (not a heated oven... a cool one)

When dough has risen - punch down really well, cover and let it rise again.

Prepare your pans for baking.  All pans should be well greased with lard or shortening.

When the dough has risen a second time, punch it down again, work it for a minute or two by punching the air out of it.  Form into four loaves.  

Cover loaves and let rise until double in size

then Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Brush tops of loaves with shortening or butter ( optional)

FOR BUNS:

Do all the same steps up until you form the loaves.  Instead, form your buns into whatever size you want.  Use Muffin tins if your want dinner-roll size, otherwise just form balls with your hands and place on baking sheet.... make sure sheets and pans are well greased.

Cover and let rise until twice the size.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Brush tops of buns with shortening or butter ( optional)

Do yourself a favour and have a slice or a bun while still warm.  My favourite - butter and honey on fresh bread -

Oh - that brings back such wonderful memories of eating Mom's fresh bread for an after school treat.

ENJOY!

FOOD AND ACTIVITIES WHILE YOU WAIT FOR SPRING!

Is it really spring?  I sure wish someone would tell the weather it is so!

It's true, our snow has melted and is gone - however, the temperatures continue to be much below seasonal normal, the winds are strong and straight out of the north, and the weather is still reporting wind chill values.

I no longer have my snow boots on, but I still wear a heavy wool coat with a hoodie beneath it, and gloves every morning when I go for my walk.

It's difficult to stay excited about things like gardening and seedlings, when it really feels like one should be filling up the freezer with comfort food, and starting some new knitting projects.

I have done both of those activities in the past week.  I have hauled my crock pot out of the bottom of the cupboard and have been making things like hearty soups and stews, and I have even stooped as low as to baking up a batch of home made rolls to go with my crock pot meals... talk about comfort food!

Check these darlings out!

I can't begin to tell you how absolutely wonderful these taste, and how incredible my house smelled while these were baking!

I still have a large bag of these in the freezer - we are trying to be sensible and not eat more than one a day!

I also began a new knitting project  - this time for myself.

I decided I need a nice warm sweater to wear on my early morning walks.  I have a lot of patterns, so I spent the better part of several days, going through patterns and I managed to narrow my choice down to three patterns.

 I chose to knit this one first , and I am doing it with a mocha coloured yarn than I had in my stash.

I will do the other two as well - once I have this one finished, but I will have to buy yarn for the other two patterns.

All three patterns are from a book I have had for many years.  It is full of really nice knit and crochet patterns, and the pattern sizes all start at large and go right up to 4 X, which is something you seldom find in any knit pattern.

So,  even though the weather is not co-operating I am counting my days towards true spring, in my own way.

I posted a new video on my YouTube channel ( taken yesterday) as well.  Don't forget to click the subscribe button when you are there... 

https://youtu.be/EDBUnj0ieoQ

More tomorrow!

Till then...