Homesprout

Garden Haul

2012-09-01T08:26:30-07:00

So, it seems that I planted bunches of orange and yellow tomatoes this year. I don't know how it happened, but probably 2/3rds of my tomatoes are orange or yellow. They're delicious, it's just a funny growing pattern. I've been pulling baskets like this every day. Bunches of sauce will be made with the tomatoes my last free day before school. (Really, the sauce will simmer while I grade summer asssignments, but I'll try to make it work).

I also dug up my potatoes this week. I probably should have dug them sooner, as a few were mushy. I have a bit of a storage issue. Nothing around here is cold quite yet. In fact, the weather is still really, really warm. I'm going to put them in my basement, but even there it's at least 65 degrees. I guess will be eating bunches of tomatoes for the next few weeks!

From your gardens this week...

I love this photo from jaz on tour. The combination of the marigolds with her tomatoes and eggplants is so pretty.

The colors of Meighan's harvest are so beautiful!

Natalie returned home from vacation, and she had bunches of goodies in her garden. _______________________________________________________________________________

Remember, if you'd like to to join in the fun, add your picture to my flickr pool. I'll be posting everyone's haul every week here on the blog. Please add a description to the picture that includes what's in the picture. If you're growing any neat heirloom varieties, please include that information also. Finally, if you have a blog, make sure to share your address. I look forward to sharing your photos, and learning about what you're growing! (please see my original post on this topic if you'd like more details.)

Friday Favorites - August 31st, 2012

2012-08-31T21:02:12-07:00

Make sure to click on the above photo to view the sources.

Warriston

2012-08-30T08:01:42-07:00

So, the chickens decided to join us for our photo shoot today. We've been letting them roam in the yard, and they follow us around whenever we're out there. I attribute this to the fact that we'll feed them tomatoes and melons if they've gone too soft for us. Several of them wanted to be picked up today.

This sweater was so incredibly nice to knit. It's an easy pattern, even though it looks complicated. I loved the way the sleeves were attached (no sewing). Also, it has pockets! I'll probably be wearing this most of winter. I'm in love with the yarn also. I used it with my cafe tunic, and I used it again for this pattern because it called for Aran yarn.

You can find my ravelry notes here.

A Couple of Etsy Purchases

2012-08-29T19:49:50-07:00

I thought I'd share a couple of purchases we made recently from Etsy. My husband, Tim, is a very good etsy shopper, and I usually love his picks. This time he decided on two new items that perked up the back area of our yard we recently cleaned out. (It had been rather sad and neglected for the last three years.)

The first is a really cute ceramic bird feeder from Bear Hollow Pottery. I wish I had a picture of a bird on it, but none were around when I took this photo. They were on it within days, even though it's in a entirely different location. Its design is very bird friendly.

The second purchase was this extremely comfortable hammock from Veronica Colindreas. Sadly, we haven't had much time to lounge in it since it arrived in the mail, and we probably won't any time soon. In the minutes that we "tested" it, it was like some weird Ace Ventura experience. The chickens dropped by in curiosity, and Charlie sat next to us and meowed.

Well, she always does that, but this time were were swinging from a hammock.

A New/Old Garden Swing

2012-08-27T13:03:37-07:00

We had a party this past Saturday, and the anticipation of that party led us to actually finish some projects we've been stalling on for the past few months. One of those projects included repainting a swing from our yard. The swing had been neglected for years. It was taken down in early April with the intention of painting it within the week. Instead, it sat around for months in our yard, a random relic of our busyness.

It looks so much better now. Eventually it will be adorned by some flowers; we ripped out many of the flowers/weeds surrounding the bench because they were too cumbersome to keep up. I'm thinking hydrangeas?

Garden Haul

2012-08-25T04:00:00-07:00

So it's been a busy garden haul season around here. I actually forgot to take some pictures of my garden hauls. There was a giant basket of tomatoes that was left out. I've been chopping, canning and freezing all week. I have my first cantaloupe melons, and my first peperoncini peppers. I've never had peppers so happy, they've really loved the heat this year.

From your gardens this week:

Jaz on Tour is producing gorgeous tomatoes!

I love this photo from Natalie! Her blackberries look beautiful! Nice haul!

Liesl is in the same situation as me - tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes. She also blogged about her situation here.

I love this basket from Joyful Lova. It's such a pretty collection of color from her garden. It looks like it could be turned into a piece of embroidery. _______________________________________________________________________________

Friday Favorites - August 24th, 2012

2012-08-24T05:25:33-07:00

Make sure to click on the above photo to view the sources.

My favorites from this past week:

Local Kitchen's recipe for antipasto tops my canning list for this year. I can't wait to make this stuff!
A realistic approach to eating from scratch in a busy household..

Have a great weekend! It will be another canning day for me. This time, sauce and my last batch of bread and butter pickles are on the list.

Wiksten Tank - Version 2

2012-08-21T07:39:49-07:00

I finally finished the second version of my Wiksten Tank. I modified the pattern significantly. I took about 2 inches out of the top of the back, I changed the neckline, and I cut an extra small with a small length. I absolutely love, love, love this version. I know I have a tendency to belt everything, but this shirt also looks really good just open with a pair of jeans.

I had started to think that my handmade fall wardrobe wouldn't happen, but I'm actually making headway. My third version of the tank is cut and almost finished. My big knitting project is just waiting for the last skein of yarn (I had to order more). I have under two weeks left before school starts, and I just cleared the counter of garden produce yesterday (tomato soup, candied jalapenos, and frozen swiss chard). Might it actually be possible?

August Food Swap

2012-08-19T22:32:00-07:00

Wow, I took a little break there huh? Lets consider that my "European August vacation," even though I didn't actually go to Europe. Actually, the garden produce coincided with cooler weather, which combined with wedding editing to make for a very busy week.

Yesterday, I actually got the chance to attend a food swap on Troy, NY, that is put on by the From Scratch Club. I attended a couple last year, but I found it difficult to attend during the school year due to the demands of school. This food swap was particularly awesome because I got to meet Marisa from Food in Jars, and have her sign my copy of her book!

For this food swap, I decided to bring a variety of items.

I brought two products that I produced from recipes in Marisa's book, - the pickled cherries, and the rhubarb/strawberry jam. I also baked up some blue cheese biscuits, and packaged up three dozen eggs.

When I got there, I noticed that it was a much, much larger swap than I had attended in past. There were tons of products to swap, and bunches of samples. (I was really glad I didn't bother to eat dinner.)

The above photo only shows about half of the room. People look around and sample for a little while, and then write their name on a swap card if they wish to swap an item. Then once time is called, everyone gets to swap their products. You have to be pretty quick to get what you want, it's a bit of a mad house once everyone is able to swap.

Much to my suprise, the eggs proved to be the most popular! When I got there, everyone one advised me to cut the cartons in half, and offer up the half dozens for trade. It turns out that people loved the eggs! I guess they're more popular in a city location, where most people can't have chickens. I almost think that I might attend future swaps with eggs only.

As I noted, I also got to meet Marisa, and talk to her a little bit about canning. She's on the left in the picture above, along with Christina, the head writer for the From Scratch Club, and Christine, who writes a lovely little blog called Unspeakable Visions.

So, what did I come home with? Lots!

It was hard to fit it all in the picture, but I swapped for the following items:

a mini-lime cheesecake
grape jelly
balsamic tomato relish
two kinds of gazpacho
eggplant parmesan
chocolate covered coffee beans
peach salsa
sour cherry jam
honey cardamon syrup
kimchi dumplings
a plum ginger shrub (for mixing with seltzer)

I also got to keep one set of biscuits, which I was fine with, because they were delicious, and no one wanted my pickled cherries. That was also fine, because I didn't really want to trade them! All in all, I think I did pretty well. We have dinner ready for the next few days, and they will prove helpful as I deal with all the produce that's coming my way.

Sunday Photos - August 12th, 2012

2012-08-12T06:46:40-07:00

Watching Dr. Who while making peach salsa. Both are delicious.

~wildflowers by the shed~

The biggest turnip I've ever grown! I should have put in my foot for reference. You can see the brick next to it; it's at least 6 inches wide.

I'm so in love with my peppers this year. These are poblanos. There are many, many peppers in the garden, they just need to turn color.

Hydrangeas for the front of the house - a border.