It’s an easy recipe with liquor cabinet staples that can be made quickly for a large group. Perfect for those last minute Oh Shit It’s March Already St. Patrick’s Parties.

This recipe was originally posted on my secondary site, Tipsy Chickens

Please tell me I’m not the only one that can’t remember what month it is? I swear it’s not even alcohol-related, I’m telling you, I hit 35 and it hit back hard.

The Booze

These Shamrock Shots get their green color and minty flavor from green creme de menthe, an extra boozy punch from a healthy dose of vodka and that creamy appearance from a hearty splash of heavy cream (I prefer half and half but I put it all in my coffee).

You can use plain or vanilla vodka if you don’t have whipped cream vodka on hand. I have a huge bottle left from my Hot Chocolate Shots and I thought that slightly artificial flavor would add something authentic to our tiny boozy Shamrock Shake.

If you’re really in a party mood you can top them with whipped cream and a dash of shamrock sprinkles.

The Build

You’ll want to break out the cocktail shaker for this. It’s a safe bet anytime you’re mixing in something high-fat like half and half or heavy cream.

Also, it’s a Shamrock Shake Shot so obviously, it needs to be cold right?

The math is pretty easy on this one if you want to scale it up. I’m gonna warn you that it’s oddly strong for something that tastes like a minty milkshake.

Shake the ingredients over ice and strain into a shot glass, top with whipped and salt bae your sprinkles. Put on something green, crank up the Flogging Molly, and do some shots.

Yield: 1 Shot

Shamrock Shots

Print

Don't be sad when Shamrock shakes disappear again, you can make you own tiny, boozy version with this three-ingredient shot. Top it with whipped cream and sprinkles if you're extra

Prep Time 1 minute

Total Time 1 minute

Ingredients

• 1 oz Green Creme de Menthe
• 1/2 oz Whipped Cream Vodka
• Splash of Heavy Cream or Half and Half
• Optional: Whipped Cream & Shamrock Sprinkles

Instructions

1. Combine Creme de Menthe, Vodka and Heavy Cream over ice in a cocktail shaker
2. Shake until chilled (the shaker with be frosty)
3. Strain into a shot glass
4. Top with whipped cream and shamrock sprinkles

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  OXO SteeL Double Jigger
• 
  Cocktail Shaker

Check out my Recipes page for more ideas or start here:

The post Shamrock Shots appeared first on Chicken Scratch NY.

The thick leaves and stems have a subtle nutty flavor that adds a delicious crunch to sandwiches and are tasty enough to eat on their own.

How to Grow Sunflower Shoots

When it comes to indoor gardening sunflower shoots are one of the best options when it comes to volume.

The large seeds produce shoots (or microgreens) with thick stems and seed leaves while the seed leaves are softly rounded and have a nice, juicy crunch.

Sunflower shoots have a pretty quick turnaround which is great for the less patient among us. In fact, if you wait too long to harvest your plants will start to send out their first set of true leaves and won’t be edible anymore.

Sunflower Microgreen Supplies

Like most large-seeded microgreens, sunflower shoots do best when planted in potting soil, seed starting mix or a soil-less medium like coconut coir.

I tend to use what I have laying around and I haven’t noticed them being particularly picky.

Purely from a practical angle, I think compressed coconut coir blocks like Minute Soil from True Leaf Market are the easiest to keep on hand. They don’t take up much space and they absorb water quickly so you can get planting in no time.

Your seed will germinate fastest if you soak them for 3-6 hours before planting, if you accidentally forget and leave them overnight… It’s fine, it’s fine just plant them.

Drain and scatter the seeds over about 1.5 inches of damp soil. You don’t have to cover them with soil, in my experience, it keeps the microgreens cleaner if you don’t.

Take another tray, or anything solid and opaque, place it over the seeds and gently press down to push the seeds into the soil. The tray provides some resistance for the seeds to push against and keeps them in the dark until they germinate.

Check the trays daily to make sure they aren’t drying out and in a day or so you’ll notice little white root tips poking out from the seeds.

The seeds will germinate faster in warmer temperatures or on a seedling heat mat but it’s absolutely not necessary. My house is at best 65 degrees in the winter and they grow perfectly.

After 3-4 days you’ll have a lot more growth and the top tray will be lifting up. Sunflower roots are very thick and they’ll often have a halo of fuzzy-looking root hairs, it’s a good thing so don’t confuse it with mold!

At this point, you can remove the cover and set the tray in a bright, south-facing window or under a growlight.

Keep the soil moist but not soggy by watering from the bottom and your sprouts will be ready to harvest in 7-10 days.

Harvesting Sunflower Shoots

You can pinch the shoots off near the root with your fingers but I like to give them a quick snip with small scissors.

It’s pretty easy to pull the entire root up and when that happens you’ll get soil in your delicious sunflower shoots!

Most of the seed hulls will fall off as the plants grow but any remaining are easy to remove with the brush of a hand or some careful picking.

Storing Sunflower Shoots

Sunflower microgreens can be stored for a short time in the fridge. After cutting them above the soil line and picking off any remaining seed coats wrap them in a damp paper towel and store them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Your microgreen should be good for 5-7 days, make sure to toss them if they get slimy or grow mold.

Sunflower Shoot Recipes

Sunflower shoots or microgreens have a texture similar to large bean sprouts. They have a sweet and nutty flavor with a thick crunchy texture.

I’ll admit I tend to eat my shoots as a snack on their own but sometimes I get a little creative in the kitchen and here are a few ways to do so:

• Sunflower Shoot & Tomato Salad from Salt Pepper Skillet
• Yellow Beet Carpaccio with Sunflower Shoots from Food52
• Sunflower Sprout Smoothie from Alia Dalal
• Pea Shoot, Sunflower Shoot & Roasted Squash Salad from Big Sis Little Dish

Check out my Vegetable Garden page for more ideas or start here:

The post Grow Sunflower microgreens appeared first on Chicken Scratch NY.

If you live somewhere with seasons it can seem impossible to grow your own fresh food year-round. At least without a greenhouse and an elaborate heating (or cooling) system.

I grew way too many at once for blog post research but once things have calmed down a bit I’ll be happy with a 1010 tray with two sections for sunflowers or peas, and two trays of succession planted brassica mixes.

Perfect for Small Spaces

If you live in an apartment and you’re desperate to eat something fresh that didn’t cost 3 arms and a leg you really should think about growing some microgreens (or sprouts)!

You can grow a full crop of microgreens in a 5×5-inch container and a set of four is perfect for getting a variety and doing a little succession planting.

I’ve dabbled with random takeout containers but these days, I use 5×5 trays with holes in the bottom to grow my microgreens.

When I’m not growing a ridiculous amount for research purchases I’m happy with 4 small trays that fit in a 10×10 tray on the counter.

That way I can get some variety and keep everything in or near the kitchen so I don’t forget it exists…

I’m a big fan of small batches because microgreens have a fairly small window when they’re at their best and you’re better off having a few plantings a couple of days apart instead of one big one.

Low Start-up Costs

As far as gardening goes, sprouts are the easiest, requiring the least amount of space and equipment but they’re followed closely by microgreens.

Read more about Growing Sprouts for Fresh Food Anytime

Unlike starting a full garden where you need tools, soil amendments, and potentially a $100+ bed all you need to grow your own microgreens is a tray, water, seeds, and either soil or a hydroponic growing medium.

I’m a big fan of the hydroponic methods, the mats aren’t that expensive when you break it down to a per-tray basis (around 24-34 cents per 5×5 tray), and they’re much cleaner and a lot easier to store than soil or a soilless mix.

Some types of microgreens grow best in soil (peas & sunflowers are two of my favorites) and if you want to grow those I recommend keeping a few pucks of compressed coconut coir on sale like Minute Soil. It’s a lot easier to store than a big bag of potting soil or seed starting mix!

As far as containers go, I’ve successfully grown microgreens in old takeout containers in the windowsill but you’ll have more consistent results with a grow light and perforated trays that drain excess water.

The most important thing is your seeds, you really want to make sure you’re planting seeds meant for eating as microgreens (or sprouts).

The seeds will likely cost a bit more but they’ll be cleaner and you won’t have to worry about them being coated in anything nasty like fungicides or pesticides.

Seeds from microgreens tend to be sold in larger quantities than typical garden seeds, which makes sense if you think about the fact that you’ll be growing 100+ in the space you’d typically need for a single mature plant.

The four-ounce packages above will plant between about 37 5×5 trays if you use a scant teaspoon for each planting.

I like to buy premade mixes but you can also get a wide variety of individual seeds and grow them on their own or create your own mixes.

My current favorite mix is the Superfood Microgreen Seed Mix from True Leaf Market which includes Broccoli, Kohlrabi, Collards, Turnip, and Purple Radish. It’s tasty, pretty and grows really well without any babysitting

Quick Growing

For most crops, gardening is a marathon, not a sprint. The biggest exceptions are sprouts, microgreens, and radishes.

Radish sprouts and radish microgreens combine both for the garden version of a fast food drive-through! Radish microgreens are ready 6-10 days from planting, making them a faster option than some of the longer-growing sprouts like onions.

Learn more about Growing Radishes and 5 Reasons you Need them in your Garden

The turnaround time for a batch of microgreens is anywhere from 6 days to a month depending on the variety.

I like to stick to quick-growing varieties, less grow time means fewer opportunities you have to mess up!

Fast-growing microgreen options include all of the brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, kale etc), arugula and obviously radishes. They’ll go from seed to harvest in 10-15 days.

Year Round Harvest

Getting my hands dirty in the garden is the best way I’ve found to reset my mental health but when the weather isn’t cooperating I’m happy to get my garden-fix from growing food indoors.

I live in central New York where we technically have winter (not so much this year, we just have mud at the moment) and from October-May I’m pretty much out of luck.

While I try my best to embrace the break from the constant hustle and bustle of fighting weeds, rabbits, and my own chickens by February I’m always itching to get something growing.

In the past, I’ve been satisfied with sprouts and the occasion batch of pea shoots but this year the warm weather teases are too much and I need a more substantial harvest.

Read more about How to Grow Pea Shoots

The obvious choice was growing microgreens, most of the supplies are things I already have for seed starting and since it’s the time to start my onion seeds anyway I might as well grow something tasty at the same time!

Even if you don’t have frigid winters you can still keep your indoor garden growing all year round either in a bright windowsill or under a cheap growlight.

Different Flavors

Despite the fairly limited color palette (green, more green and a tiny bit of red & purple) there is quite a variety in the flavors and even textures you can get from homegrown microgreens.

Flavors range from mild (cabbage, kale & broccoli) to peppery (cress) to spicy (most mustards, radish & arugula). Sunflower shoots have a nutty flavor and pea shoots taste like the freshest peas you could ever imagine!

Unless you’re shopping at a bougie grocery store you probably won’t even have the opportunity to taste a quarter of the options you can grow at home on your kitchen counter (and you never have to leave the house which is a huge win in my book!).

Check out my Vegetable Garden page for more ideas or start here:

The post 5 Reasons to Grow Microgreens appeared first on Chicken Scratch NY.

A few things you should know about me, I’ve never met a rabbit hole I won’t throw myself down and I desperately want to grow food in the dead of winter when the ground is (or at least should be) frozen and covered in feet of snow.

I’ve been growing sprouts for years, and they scratch the itch (and taste great) but I want more! After perusing True Leaf Market for way too many onion seeds I was sucked into the hydroponics section and decided to make some poor financial choices.

My goal here is to try a bunch of things and tell you what worked so you can jump straight to successfully growing your own microgreens.

I’ve been gardening for long enough to be comfortable with absolute failure and it won’t discourage me the way it might ruin things for someone just getting started!

How to Grow Hydroponic Microgreens at Home

Hydroponic setups can get really fancy and really expensive but they don’t have to be, especially if you’re growing microgreens and not full-sized plants.

Microgreens are a step between growing sprouts and growing baby greens. They take a bit longer and grow bigger than sprouts but not as big as baby greens and they don’t need any extra nutrients which helps keep things simple.

Read more about Growing Sprouts for Fresh Food Anytime

In my opinion, they aren’t a great choice for a full salad (unless you’re me and growing 12 trays at once) but they make a great addition to a sandwich, smoothie or anything that needs a punch of fresh, green flavor!

I love stirring a small handful into ramen, especially the stronger flavored options like mustard greens and radishes.

They also help scratch the planting itch I start to get in January when I’m months away from starting my seeds, let alone planting them out in the garden!

You can grow microgreens in just about anything that will allow the seeds to be moist but not swampy.

I’ve used plastic takeout containers for small batches but I’m always looking for ways to make my life easier and I figured it was worth buying some smaller trays intended for growing microgreens.

As much as I love pea shoots, I overdid it with a full 1020 tray and haven’t grown a batch since!

Read more about How to Grow Pea Shoots

If you’re looking for an easy countertop set up I recommend:

• 1010 tray (no holes)
• 5×5 trays (with holes)
• 4×4 Micromats (or whatever hydroponic medium you prefer)

Microgreens are at their best in a small window of time and you’re better off with multiple batches started a few days apart instead of one huge batch.

The first step to planting is preparing your growing media, which can be as simple as adding some water or it might require a longer soak.

Once it’s ready to go you add your seeds, I used a teaspoon per 5×5 tray, cover them up with another tray, and wait.

The darkness and pressure will help get the seeds growing, when your seeds have germinated you can remove the cover and set them under a grow light or in a bright south-facing window.

Keep the growing media moist but not soupy and in about 2 weeks you’ll have a fresh source of homegrown hydroponic microgreens!

Harvest your microgreens with sharp kitchen scissors and toss the mass of roots and used media in your compost or garden bed and you’re ready for round two!

Hydroponic Growing Mediums

When it comes to picking a hydroponic growing medium you have a lot of choices, I was able to eliminate a few right off the bat because I wanted something sustainable and compostable.

That immediately gets rid of anything plastic-based and non-renewable like peat, vermiculite or perlite and left me with four options.

Micromats – Wood Fiber

Micromats come in different sizes including 4×4 (fits 5×5 tray), 10×10 and 10×20. The thin mats are really easy to store and take up less room than any of the other options.

This is the only hydroponic growing medium specifically made to fit 5×5 trays. The other options needed to be cut down from 10×10.

Their compact nature makes Micromats really easy to store, especially if you take advantage of the bulk pricing and order a 480 or 960 pack.

I ordered a 48-pack for $13.37 which works out to be about 28 cents per tray, so it’s basically tied with bamboo for the cheapest option.

The mats puff up quite a bit when they get wet and have the texture of wet pads of toilet paper. They get about as thick as the bamboo and jute but nowhere near as thick as the coconut coir.

They are also very fragile after they get wet so you want to make sure they’re in your trays before you start soaking them. They puff up almost immediately so you don’t have to plan your whole day around soaking a hydroponic mat before you can plant seeds.

I really like how easily the seeds stayed in place when dropped and how easy it was to see the dark seeds on the light-colored surface.

According to the manufacturer, Micromats are both biodegradable & compostable and made from sustainably harvested wood. They contain no plastic or synthetic fibers and are approved for use in organic gardens.

Going in, I wanted these to work the best and I was very happy with them. The only ‘issue’ is it’s tricky to lift the pad out of the tray to harvest the microgreens because it wants to fall apart.

The roots from a well-established tray of microgreens will do a fairly good job holding everything together long enough to get it out of the tray so you can do your harvesting as long as you move carefully.

If I could only pick one option this is what I would go with. A whole package of 48 is only about an inch tall and could not be easier to keep on hand! The microgreens grew really well and I just threw the roots and ‘leftovers’ in the garden when I was done.

The micromats produced the best radish microgreens and were a close second to coconut coir for the two microgreen mixes. Overall I think the ease of use and low price point more than make up for a slightly slower growth.

Coconut Coir

If you’re at all interested in sustainable gardening you’re probably aware of coconut coir. It’s the most popular, stand-in for nonrenewable peat moss.

I’m used to seeing it in those compressed blocks that expand like magic when you add water but in this case, the long fibers are matter together to create thick pads of coconut coir fiber with a small amount of natural rubber to help it hold it’s shape.

There is 0 information on the package itself but according to the website, the mats are compostable but will take a while to break down due to the thickness of the material and should be soaked for several hours before planting.

When it comes to planting your seeds, this is the hardest medium to control. The seeds wiggle their way down into the mat and quickly become nearly invisible unless you’re planting larger seeds like radishes that just sit on top or roll over to the sides.

The Coco Coir Hydroponic Grow Mats are available in 10×10 mats that can be cut down to smaller sizes with scissors (it’s not fun through). A set of 10 costs $13.60 which works out to be 34 cents per 5×5 tray.

In my tests the smaller seed mixes grew the best in these mats, much better than the bamboo and slightly better than the Micromats and jute.

I’ll use up the rest without cutting them but since I prefer smaller batches it’s just one more step I don’t want to take.

At this point, I don’t think I’ll be reordering the coconut coil mats. Mostly because of the size of the thick and bulky mats along with the higher price.

If you plan to stick mostly to small seeds and you aren’t a fan of growing in wood pulp this would be my recommendation.

Bamboo

Another sustainable option, quick-growing bamboo has been turned into Bamboo Microgreens Grow Mats.

The white mats are very soft, and composable and are supposed to have a high water-holding capacity meaning you get to do less babysitting.

Another benefit is the color itself, it’s really easy to see how well your seeds are spread out on the white background unlike the darker jute and coconut options.

The bamboo grow mats are really easy to cut to size. I used my quilting ruler and rotary cutter to make quick work of the large mats.

They are available in 10×20 mats or as a 10-inch by 100-foot roll. A ten-pack of 10×20 mats costs $21.93 which works out to be 27 centers per 5×5 tray and is the cheapest option by one penny.

The bamboo mat is supposed to have a high carrying capacity so you can water less but I accidentally fried one of the tests by leaving it on a heat mat overnight. The entire 1010 tray was on the same mat but the bamboo was the only one that dried out.

I watered it really well, turned off the heat mat and you can see how it made a bit of a comeback but it’s not perfect.

Even giving it the benefit of the doubt, overall I had the worst growth on the bamboo mats and for that reason, I won’t be buying more bamboo grow mats and I can’t recommend you try them.

Jute Fiber

I use a lot of jute twine in my garden (I’m really bad at taking down my trellises and I like that it breaks down over the winter) so when I was researching different hydroponic growing mediums Jute Fiber hydroponic Grow pads caught my interest.

The thin brown mats are fully compostable and made from 100% all-natural jute fibers. The water-wicking material keeps your seeds moist and is easy to cut down to fit in your containers.

They do require a long soak before you can plant, the jute will turn from a lighter brown to a dark color when it’s sully saturated.

This is the most expensive option, a ten-pack of 10×10 grow mats costs $19.58 which breaks down to 49 cents per 5×5 tray.

I’ll be skipping the jute from here on out, based mostly on the much higher price, but also the need to soak before planting and needing to cut them down to size to fit the small mats.

I’d be willing to overlook those issues if the plants grew a lot better, but they didn’t, they were involved in the 3 way tie for last place for my radish microgreens and were pretty on par with the micromats and coconut coir for the smaller seeded microgreen mixes.

Growing Comparison

Now that we’ve gone over the different types of hydroponic microgreen growing mediums, let’s take a look at how I set up my mad scientist-adjacent test.

In an effort to keep things equal, I decided to grow one 1010 tray for each seed type with 4 – 5×5 trays each set up with a different growing medium.

I started 3 sets of microgreens, two were kept in my dining room with a cheap grow light (the big boy is in the basement and I’m not emotionally ready to fire him up yet), and the other was in front of a south-facing window.

All plants have different growing needs and preferences and I wanted to be sure I was giving the different planting mediums a fair shot at success.

I set up all the trays, watered them according to their specific instructions, sprinkled a scant teaspoon of seeds in each section, and covered them with an extra set of trays for the first few days to help with germination.

Microgreen Seeds

Microgreen seeds are easy to find, especially if you shop online. They’re available in large quantities, from 1oz to multiple pounds.

Retrainst has never been my strength so I picked up 4 oz packages of 3 types of seeds and I’ll be set for a while! Or I would be if I wasn’t addicted to growing all the things and I’ve already got my eyes on a few more options.

Before I started I set my scale up and did some weighing and it worked out to be about 3 grams per teaspoon of both the seed mixes so that’s what I used for each 5×5 section.

I have the same amount of seeds poured out in front of the seed packets.

Spicy Salad Mix

The Spicy Salad Mix includes Arugula (22%), Waltham 29 Broccoli (22%), White Russian Kale (22%), Purple Vienna Kohlrabi (12%), Golden Acre Cabbage (11%)* and Green Mustard (11%).

*When I was writing this up I noticed they list Red Cabbage on the website, I’m not sure if that’s new since I placed my order in January or if the website is wrong. There is no hint of red in my spicy salad mix.

All of these plants are in the broccoli family and have nearly identical seeds and similar fast growth rates. They’re also known for having a strong, pungent flavor with a bit of a kick from the peppery arugula and spicy mustard.

This is the poster child for a little goes a long way and they will take your sandwiches up a level or two!

Superfood Microgreen Seed Mix

The Superfood Microgreen Seed Mix is made up of Purple Sprouting Raddish (25%), Purple Kohlrabi (25%), Purple Top Turnip (20%), Georgia Southern Collards (20%) and Waltham 29 Broccoli (10%).

There is a bit of overlap with the spicy mix, specifically the broccoli and kohlrabi, but I thought I had a better chance of getting my kids to eat the less spicy greens. This mix also contains radishes which have much larger seeds.

If you’re looking for a mild mix with some crunch and flavor this is a great option. I was able to absolutely stuff my sandwiches with the microgreens without a tiny hint of the regret I had from overdoing the Daikon microgreens!

I set the tray with the Spicy mix under a grow light and the tray with the Superfood mix next to my south-facing sliding glass door.

Windows aren’t a great source of light for indoor gardening in New York, our days are too short but I wanted to give it a shot.

The trays grew at more or less the same pace but I had to turn the trays in the window a few times a day or they started to lean really hard to the window. This wasn’t an issue with the tray under the grow light.

Daikon Radish

For the last test, I wanted to stick to a single seed type and I picked Daikon Radish. I’ve been a big fan of growing radishes for a long time even though I don’t particularly care for the flavor.

Learn more about Growing Radishes and 5 Reasons you Need them in your Garden

There was a note in the description about daikon radish sprouts having a less aggressive flavor so I figured I’d give them a shot (after eating quite a few I can’t say that I notice them being less assertive than other radishes).

The other reason was I wanted to test growing the same seeds as sprouts and microgreens. I love a good multi-tasker!

To kick off the experiment I started a tablespoon in a quart-sized mason jar with a seed-spouting lid and a 6-hour soak. After draining the seeds I do a rinse 2 or three times a day when I remember.

I prefer to use wide-mouth quart-sides canning jars for my sprouts, the square sides of the jar mean I can sit it on its side without worrying about it rolling off the counter and going on a journey.

My favorite sprouting lids are a stainless steel mesh screen that you hold on with a canning ring but you can also find one-piece plastic options.

Back to the microgreens, I added a scant teaspoon (slightly less than a level teaspoon) to each 5×5 tray with the different hydroponic growing mediums.

Radish seeds are a lot bigger than the small brassicas and usually large seeds do better with a bit of soak but I was done soaking things so they went right from the seed package into trays.

I covered the trays with a set of empty 5×5 trays and stuck them in the corner, misting daily for 3 days until they had started growing and then I removed the covers and moved them under the grow light.

By the 5th day, the sprouts were ready to go and one of the radish trays was looking pretty tasty!

The plants were filling out nicely and had some strong stems and leaves going. I gave them one more day and then I took these photos.

Which one would you rather have growing on your counter? I know I’m on team Micromat!

It was also at this point that I realized I compared a teaspoon (microgreens) to a tablespoon (sprouts) and that I’m too tired to be a good scientist.

The leaves of the microgreens are much greener, more open, and have more of a leafy texture than the straight wet crunch of the sprouts.

I ate about a 1/4 of a tray on a wrap with chicken and ranch dressing and it was delightful! The radish on its own is.. aggressive but with everything else it was delicious.

The sprouts seemed even more aggressive than the microgreens and I ended up feeding them to my chickens. I probably would have eaten them myself if I didn’t have so many other options at the time.

Have I inspired you to grow some microgreens? Let me know what kind you’d like to try in the comments!

Check out my Vegetable Garden page for more ideas or start here:

The post How to Grow Hydroponic Microgreens at Home appeared first on Chicken Scratch NY.

As far as embroidery goes, punch needle is one of the easiest styles to learn. There is one stitch to master which is basically stabbing and that’s about it.

While that makes it great for beginners and easy to pick up, it can also make it a little bit boring. One really fun way to bring a little bit of pizzaz to your punch needle is with specialty threads.

All of the threads I’m going to talk about today can be purchased at Michael’s or Joann’s (sometimes both!) and the majority are from the brand DMC.

One great thing about DMC is their coloring system. They carry the numbers across different lines, for example, black is always 310 so in 6-strand, pearl cotton, etc. you know they’ll match.

6 Strand Embroidery Floss

Close your eyes, think back to your childhood, and imagine a round blue tin in your grandma’s house. It’s not cookies, it’s sewing supplies and chances are good she had at least a skein or two of 6-strand embroidery floss!

6-strand embroidery floss is cheap (about 70 cents a skein when you get them one at a time), easy to find, and comes in a bajillion colors.

You can separate the threads but I use all 6 at the same time in the medium-sized needle tip with my Ultra Punch.

You go through thread really quickly with punch needle and I barely have the patience to rewind my skeins onto bobbins, splitting a skein in half would put me in a coma faster than a small Victorian child slurping down a blue raspberry slushy.

I don’t have anything bad to say about this style of floss, I just prefer the look of pearl cotton so that’s what I use for most of my pieces (and if we’re being 100% real here I get overwhelmed by all the color options).

If you’re looking to do some punching and you want a great deal you can pick up a multi-pack from Michael’s in their store brand Loops & Threads. I’ve played around with both and I didn’t find any differences in how they worked up.

Light Effects – Glow in The Dark

If you’re at all familiar with glow-in-the-dark craft supplies I can feel your suspicion from here. Most of them suck (I’m looking at you every single glow-in-the-dark paint on planet Earth) but this thread does not.

Is it going to illuminate your whole house? No, of course not.

But it does glow! And I found it very easy to work with despite the somewhat odd texture. It has multiple stands but they aren’t twisted the same way the regular 6 stand floss is so it does look a bit different.

I punched the bat and moon on the same loop height in the same needle and the black stands up just a tiny bit higher, the glow in the glow-in-the-dark stitches seemed to flatten out just a bit more than the regular floss.

Get the Free Glowing Moons Punch Needle Embroidery Pattern

It’s also not exactly white, it does have a bit of a tint. If you were to use it as white in a design I’d think you’d be fine but if you used it along with a true white you would see the difference.

The DMC Glow-in-the-Dark floss is going to cost quite a bit more, so I don’t recommend replacing all your white thread with it! At Michaels, an 8.7 yard skein will run you about $3 with no sales or coupons.

Light Effects – Pearlescent

Moving into the first thread I’ve ever considered ‘not beginner friendly’ the Pearlescent threads. The six-strand threads are very stiff and come in 8 pastel-adjacent colors.

The stiffness comes into play when you’re threading your needle because you have to fold the thread in half to pull it through the needle.

I managed to break a threader trying to thread my medium needle and then after I switched to a large needle I broke that too.

It was the first time I’ve ever used the large needle so it might have been faulty to begin with and I did have another on hand so I was able to do some stitching with this thread.

In the end, it’s super pretty, very stiff, and feels like a glamorous brillo pad. The individual threads aren’t twisted around each other so the loops kind of open up instead of staying together like with regular floss.

At $3 for 8.7 yards it’s the most expensive thread per yard and that combined with the issues working with it makes me less likely to reach for it.

Mouliné Étoile

Moving into one of the most unique threads you’ll find we have fluffy Mouliné Étoile Floss which comes in 25 colors. The thread is made of 6 stands, each stand is a loosely twisted cotton thread with a thin strip of shiny metallic and costs $1.95 for a 8.7-yard skein.

The shimmery effect is a lot more subtle than with the pearlescent or metallic threads but it’s definitely there!

The fluffy stitches work really well for animals or anywhere you want to add some soft texture. I think it would also make some really pretty snow with its fluffy sparkle!

The stitches are very loose and open but the loop height is pretty much the same as with a size strand floss.

I did notice they are less likely to push plain thread away, meaning your areas might look a bit smaller than if you had punched them with regular thread. It’s not a deal breaker for me, just something to keep in mind.

You can easily solve this ‘problem’ by punching another row or two to bulk out your stitches a bit.

Pearl Cotton

Now we’re getting to my favorite thread for punch needle, pearl cotton. Specifically size 5 pearl cotton which is nice and thick.

The thread is made up of two strands that are twisted together and unlike 6-strand floss, you don’t separate them.

Michael’s and Joann Fabrics both carry them but they seem to have slightly different inventories. When it comes to color selection you’re going to be a lot more limited than with 6-strand floss but as a person who struggles with decision paralysis, it works in my favor.

Loops made from pearl cotton are looser and floppier (the dark red hat is pearl cotton, the bright red hat was made with 3 strand floss).

Get the Free Santa Hat Punch Needle Pattern

This thread costs $2 for 27 yards, making it more money upfront when you’re building your stash but I think it evens out in the end.

Metallic Pearl

After my issues with the Pearlescent thread, I was not optimistic about trying out the metallic pearl.

This thread is made up of two stands of metallic thread twisted together and it ends up being thinner and more manageable than the pearlescent threads.

It punches like a dream, it’s so smooth, and it’s really easy to get uniform stitches. The unique structure of the thread makes it look almost like it’s beaded.

The stitches do stick up very straight and as a result, they stand up higher than regular pearl cotton stitches when punched on the same setting.

It has a very rough texture, with punch needle you don’t handle the thread very much so it’s not really an issue but with a different kind of embroidery I can see how it would be very rough on your hands!

That’s also something to keep in mind if you plan to use it on clothing or somewhere it will be coming in contact with your skin like a pillow.

My biggest issue with this thread is the limited color palette, Michael’s carries gold, silver, rose gold, copper, gold black, and grey (which is what I used for the bat). I picked up some of the copper to make some pretty autumn leaves but I really wish they had more options!

At $5 a skein, there is a bit of sticker shock but like the pearl cotton each skein has 27 yards so it’s only 18 cents a yard. In comparison, the Pearlescent thread works out to be 34 cents a yard.

What is your favorite thread to work with?

Check out my Punch Needle Embroidery page for more ideas or start here:

The post Punch Needle Thread appeared first on Chicken Scratch NY.

Wax melts took off in popularity several years ago and they don’t seem to be slowing down. I like to burn candles on my desk or when I’m in the bathtub but I prefer wax melters in my living room where we’re less likely to be paying strict attention to them.

You have almost limitless options for melters. Everything from generic options that blend into their surroundings to fancy and elaborate melters that demand attention.

I recommend getting an electric wax melter, if you go with the tea light warmers you might as well just light a candle and call it a day.

Moving on to the real reason you’re here, making wax melts!

Wax Melt Supplies

The supplies for making wax melts are fairly simple and most of them can be purchased for pretty cheap. There are two ways to go with supplies, you can repurpose kitchen supplies or buy tools intended for working with wax.

If you’re going the kitchen supply route check thrift stores or garage sales. Once you use something for wax and fragrance oils you shouldn’t use it in the kitchen again.

The consumable supplies you’ll need to make wax melts are wax, fragrance and a mold. You can also add coloring, candle dye comes in both liquid and block form.

Wax

I use Golden Brands 464 soy wax for all of my wax melts and candles. It’s 100% soy wax with a few additives for appearance.

Technically it’s intended for container candles and it is on the softer side. This can make it harder to remove from the wax melter when it’s solid, it tends to flake away instead of popping out.

You can avoid this by putting the removable dish of the wax melter in the fridge to harden up the wax so it pops out in one piece. Just make sure you let the bowl return to room temp before you reheat it.

You could also pour the wax out when it’s still liquid but that can make a huge mess. Not that I’ve ever spilled wax all over my couch doing this.

Fragrance

Fragrance oils are available from many suppliers. I prefer to go online for my fragrance oils, I think you get better quality for a lower price and you have an almost infinite number of options.

I’ve bought oils from a lot of suppliers over the years and two of my favorites are Candle Science and Nature’s Garden. Candle Science oils tend to be stronger but they have a smaller variety of fragrances.

Find out the Best Christmas Candle Fragrance for DIY Holiday Candles

Color

Soy wax is a lovely creamy white color all on its own. You can leave it alone or switch things up with candle dye. I like to add color, one reason is to visually differentiate between different scents. It’s also just more fun.

Soy wax is white when it’s solid and it’s very hard to overcome that to get deep, saturated colors. I consider it part of working with soy, just remember the color of the melted wax is going to be much darker than the final product!

Remember the wax looks much, much darker when it’s still liquid!

Candle dye comes in two styles. You can get solid blocks of color or glass bottles of liquid dye.

I have used both but I prefer the liquid dye. It’s a little more expensive to get started but one bottle lasts forever. I also find it’s easier to use in small batches of wax and you can mix colors more consistently.

One downside of adding a lot of dye is you have a higher chance of ‘frosting’ which is a whitish/light-colored haze on the wax. It doesn’t affect anything other than the appearance but it’s something to keep in mind.

Adding a buttload of color can also cause issues with burning candles but since these are wax melts we’ve dodged that particular bullet!

Molds

This supply is listed somewhere between consumables and permanent tools. If you already buy wax melts you’re probably familiar with the plastic clamshells that hold 6 cubes.

They’re great for making wax melts because they double as both the mold and as storage. You can buy them in bulk or reuse packages from wax melts you’ve purchased.

You can also use silicone molds to make your wax melts. There are lots of fancy silicone molds out there, I love picking up holiday molds after the season on clearance.

Once you use a mold with wax and fragrance oil it should never be used for food. I have a box of molds that I only use for making wax melts and soap.

Keep in mind that wax melts poured in smaller, more detailed molds are more likely to break when you pull it out. The wax melts will still be functional but not quite as pretty.

Wax Melter

The safest way to melt wax is in a double boiler or in a wax melter. When I started out making wax melts I used a metal pour pot in an old cooking pot with a trivet of canning rings on the bottom to hold the wax pot off the bottom of the pot.

If you’re looking toward the future, most of the supplies for making candles and wax melts are the same so once you’re comfortable making wax melts it’s not hard to take the next step into making candles.

Now I use a Presto Pot, which is actually intended to be a deep fryer. If you’re really looking to spend some money you can buy Presto Pots that have been modified with a pour spout on the bottom.

If you plan on making a lot of wax melts or getting into candle making as a hobby a $30 Presto Pot is a good investment.

Scale

The most accurate way to measure your wax and fragrance is by weight. I use a basic kitchen scale for my wax and soap projects. I put a piece of aluminum foil over the top where you weigh your items to make any drips easy to clean up.

Familiarize yourself with your scale and find the ‘Tare’ or ‘Zero” button. Turn on your scale, place your pour pot on it, and press zero/tare.

The scale will drop back to zero and allow you to measure the wax or oil without taking into account the weight of the container.

Thermometer

A simple but critical tool in your wax melt-making arsenal is a thermometer. There are several temps you want to hit during the process for the best results

I recommend using a probe thermometer with a long wire, that way you can drop the probe in the wax and set the thermometer on the counter where you can keep an eye on it without getting it covered in wax.

Protective Gear

Even though safety comes first I’m listing the protective gear last. You should always wear gloves and protect your eyes when you work with fragrance oils.

I do my candle and wax melt-making in my kitchen and I usually just scrape the stone counters down when I’m done. But a smarter plan is to protect your workspace with newspapers or cardboard, especially if you’re sloppy with the liquid candle dye!

You’ll also want to keep paper towels on hand to clean up spills and to clean out containers when the wax is still liquid.

Making Wax Melts

I’m going to get pretty detailed here but I will add a condensed version in a printable card at the bottom.

The first step to making your own wax melts is weighing out the wax and fragrance. We’re not combining them yet but I think it’s less stressful to have everything ready when it’s go time.

Different waxes have different maximum fragrance loads, if you add too much oil it won’t blend into the wax. This should be listed on the wax package or on the site you order from.

Wax melts are much easier to perfect than candles because the fragrance oil can affect how the candle burns and that can lead to complications. You aren’t burning anything with wax melts you just melt the wax and it releases the fragrance.

After measuring everything you’ll need to set up a double boiler and melt the wax. Heat wax to 185 degrees and then remove from heat to add the coloring and the fragrance oil.

For accurate readings take the temperature in the center of the pot, not against the bottom or side. I usually stir with the probe and wait for the temps to stop fluctuating before I read it.

Stir well to make sure the wax and fragrance are completely combined. To be on the safe side, set a timer and stir for a full minute.

Wax shrinks as it cools so if you want your wax melts to look pretty it’s best to let the wax cool a bit before you start pouring. It’s a bigger issue with candles but no one wants their melts to look under poured either.

When the wax reaches about 135 degrees it’s time to pour it into your molds. Slow and steady is your best option to avoid overflows.

In my defense, the pumpkin molds were perfect until I bumped the box lid when I was trying to take pictures. The leaves were always a mess.

The wax will shrink when it’s cooled so try to fill the mold or clamshell all the way to the top where you’re relying on surface tension to keep it from spilling over.

Let the wax melts sit until fully hardened, I usually let mine sit overnight, if you’re using clamshell molds you can close them up and add a label or scribble on the fragrance name with a sharpie.

If you used silicone molds you can pop your melts out, if they’re bending or sticking pop the whole thing in the fridge for an hour to get them super solid. Store them in a jar or tin to keep them from getting dusty (and to keep your home from smelling confusing).

Soy wax requires a curing time in order to get the best scent throw.

I like to give my wax melts and candles about 2 weeks to sit before I start using them but if you’re impatient you can melt them as soon as they’re fully solid.

Yield: 3 Wax Melt Clamshells

How to Make Wax Melts

Print

Make your own custom wax melts with this easy tutorial!

Active Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Estimated Cost $15-$25

Materials

• 13 oz Soy Wax
• 1 ounce Fragrance Oil
• Candle Dye (optional)

Tools

• Metal Pour Pot
• Water Bath
• Probe Thermometer
• Wisk
• 3 Clamshell Molds

Instructions

1. Weigh out wax and fragrance (do not combine yet)
2. Melt wax in a hot water bath, taking care to make sure no water gets into the wax
3. When the wax is melted remove it from the water bath, (you can pull it off the heat when a few chunks of wax remain, they will melt if you keep stirring)
4. When the wax temperature reaches 185 degrees stir in the fragrance oil and the colorant
5. Stir for 2 minutes to make sure the fragrance is completely dispersed and bonded to the wax
6. Allow the wax to cool to 135 degrees before pouring
7. Fill molds and allow to set completely
8. Close clamshells or pop wax melts out of the silicone molds. If the wax is too soft to remove from the molds place the entire mold in the refrigerator for a few minutes to harden up the wax

Notes

For best results allow the wax melts to cure for at least a week before using

Make festive wax melts in silicone baking molds, the amount of wax you need will vary with the individual mold

The post How to Make Wax Melts appeared first on Chicken Scratch NY.

Close your eyes and imagine broccoli, now open them so you can keep reading. It probably looks something like that lovely green monster above right?

Well, that’s just the beginning! One of my favorite things about growing vegetables is getting to explore all the strange and unique options you’ll never find in your local grocery store!

How to Grow Broccoli

Broccoli is a cool-season vegetable crop that can be grown in the spring or fall. IF you live in a climate with mild summers you can grow it all season long.

Some types do best when given a head start indoors under grow lights but others will bolt from the stress and your best bet is to plant them directly in the garden.

If you want to get into the science of it, almost everything I’m talking about today is a variation of one species, Brassica oleracea. Along with the different broccoli cultivars, this also includes cabbages, kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and collard greens.

The exception is broccoli rabe which is a variety of Brassica rapa making it more closely related to turnips than the rest of the broccoli family.

Based on the obvious similarities in the appearance and flavors of all these plants, seeds, and sprouts it’s not hard to believe that they’re essentially the same thing.

It really is amazing what you can do with selective breeding! And it’s a lot more fun with plants than with dogs where the overemphasis of certain traits is delicious and not crippling.

Starting Broccoli Indoors

Before you get growing check the back of your seed packet for the variety-specific growing info. Broccoli plants grown specifically for the florets or heads are usually safe to start indoors 4-8 weeks before your last frost date.

Other kinds of broccoli that are grown primarily for shoots and leaves, like Chinese Broccoli and Broccoli Rabe should be planted directly in the garden. Starting indoors and trying to transplant them out will usually lead to bolting and leave you disappointed.

Read more about Ordering Seeds

They can be transplanted right around your last frost date after being hardened off (acclimated to the cold, cruel world). Broccoli seeds germinate best around 65-85 degrees but they grow best at cooler temps in the low 60’s.

The best way to pull those temperatures off is to start your seeds on a heat mat and then move them to a cooler location under lights until they can be moved outdoors.

Broccoli seeds on a heat mat germinate almost instantly, I swear you blink and they’re up!

For best results, you want to keep the light as close to the broccoli seedlings as possible, if you don’t have strong enough light the baby plants will stretch out and get ‘leggy’.

Leggy seedlings are weak seedlings and weak seedlings aren’t going to set you up for success.

Assuming your weather cooperates you can move your broccoli seedlings out to the garden when they have their first set of true leaves and are about 3″ tall.

You can plant them out in the garden about an inch deeper than they were in the seed starting trays.

Planting Broccoli in the Vegetable Garden

Spacing is another thing you’ll need to check your packets for, some varieties are compact while others produce large sprawling plants. For heading broccoli aim for 18″ apart in all directions.

Broccoli is a thirsty and hungry plant, if you want it to grow well you need rich soil with a consistent moisture level.

Working aged compost and leaf mold into the soil before you plant will start you with a solid foundation and adding a thick layer of mulch will help keep the soil from drying out (it also does a great job keeping the weeds from taking over).

Learn How to Make Leaf Mold & Why You Need to Use it in Your Garden

If you notice your plants are stunted, the leaves are yellowing and the stems are purple give them a healthy dose of fish emulsion or compost tea for a nutrient boost.

Types of Broccoli

The different types of broccoli are largely made up, remember they’re all the same thing! The big differences are in plant appearance, how you harvest, and how they grow best.

Head Broccoli

I don’t know if this is the technical term but this is your standard, run-of-the-mill broccoli. Big green plants that put most of their effort into one large head potentially with smaller side shoots following the main harvest.

If you want to grow broccoli but you don’t want to start your own from seed this is the kind of plant you’re going to find for sale at a greenhouse or a big box store.

Waltham 29 is one of my favorite heirloom varieties, the plants and florets are a dusty blue-green color, and thanks to the additional side shoots it keeps your plate full for a while.

It’s going to take you about 75 days to go from seed to harvest with this variety, the small 24″ plants are compact for broccoli and do well in containers.

Non-heading or Sprouting Broccoli

In general, I prefer garden plants that keep going, it’s one reason I’m such a huge fan of growing summer squash. Sprouting broccoli is the summer squash of the broccoli lineup.

When I’m picking out my broccoli seeds I like to pick varieties that are known for side shoot production. Instead of putting all its effort into one glorious head, it produces oodles of smaller side shoots.

You won’t get the huge, grocery store-style heads from these varieties but they will offer up more harvest volume in the long run.

Chinese Broccoli (Kailaan or Gai Lan)

If you’re looking for something unique to grow this year why not give Chinese broccoli a chance? Grown more for its shoots and leaves than its florets it’s a great pick for areas with crazy temperature swings that might cause traditional broccoli to bolt.

Chinese broccoli should be planted directly in the garden 1/2 inch deep with about 10 inches between plants and 18″-24″ between rows. The tall plants (around 2-2.5 feet tall) only get about 18 inches wide and the stalks resemble asparagus in their upright growth.

If you plant your seeds a bit too close you’re in luck because you can cook up and eat the thinned plants! For full-sized plants you’re looking at 60-70 days from planting to harvest.

It can be used interchangeably with standard broccoli in the kitchen but it is known for having a stronger, more broccoli-y flavor you can also use it in Chinese recipes like Blanched Gai Lan with Oyster Sauce or Stir-fried Chinese Broccoli with Ginger and Garlic

Broccolini

It might seem like we’re making up words now, and that’s good because that’s exactly what we’re doing! Broccolini isn’t baby broccoli, it’s a hybrid between regular old broccoli and Chinese broccoli.

Don’t let the word hybrid scare you, there are no glow-in-the-dark jellyfish genes inserted in a lab here!

If you’re a fan of broccoli stems (I can’t be the only one out there!) this is the broccoli for you. You still get the flower part but the main focus is on the tender stems.

Seeds for this one a a bit harder to track down due to it being a hybrid and you’ll have the best luck searching for “Aspabroc” which is honestly a terrible name that sounds like something the Power Rangers fought on Saturday morning.

It was developed in the early 1990s so it’s younger than a lot of people reading this (and the person writing this) and is supposed to have a similar texture to asparagus, hence the name.

Again, because it’s a hybrid, the seeds will be pricier and you won’t be able to save your own if you want it to breed true to the parent plants.

Like it’s relatives, Broccolini performs best when planted in the cooler spring or fall months. If you keep the shoots harvested before the buds swell they can produce all season long.

The upright plants get about 2 feet tall and can be spaced 8-10 inches apart making them a great choice for small spaces and containers.

This recipe for Roasted Broccolini from Well Plated makes the most of the long, tender stems and leaves lots of room for personalization.

Broccoli Rabe or Rapini

We’re almost to the end so stick with me! Next up we have another broccoli relative grown mainly for it’s stems and leaves with a little bit of floret thrown in, Broccoli Raab or Rapini or Broccoletti.

Broccoletti is the Italian name and it’s a common vegetable in Italian cooking. One of its stand-out characteristics is its bitter flavor.

There are ways to mitigate the bitterness or you can really lean into it. In my opinion, if you don’t want the bitterness, just eat a different kind of broccoli.

This recipe for Italian-Style Garlicky Broccoli Rabe is a great introduction to cooking with broccoli raab and she has lots of other options for getting the most out of this vegetable crop in the kitchen.

Back to the garden, along with a prolific crop, I really love a fast crop! If you can go from seed to plate in less time than it takes for me to forget you exist? That’s golden in my book!

Rapini is a fast grower, it’s ready to harvest after about 45 days. That’s about a month sooner than anything else on this list!

For best results start your plants in the garden 4-6 weeks before your last frost date with 6-12″ between plants and 18-24″ between your rows. The small plants are only about a foot tall and only 8-10 inches wide.

Romanesco

If you love growing odd things Romanesco broccoli is the pick for you. The pointy heads feature a Fibonacci spiral pattern and they look like they shouldn’t be real!

Romanesco broccoli isn’t a true broccoli, it’s a cross between broccoli and cauliflower but I’m including it because it’s just too wild looking to leave out, and honestly all these lines are pretty blurry anyway.

The plants are much bigger than the regular broccoli and require both more space and more time. They get to be about 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide and you’re looking at 70-100 days until you can harvest them.

In my opinion, this is the kind of plant you grow for a special meal or as a decorative addition to a flower garden, not to stave off famine.

For best results start them indoors 4-6 weeks before your last frost date or 12 weeks before your first fall frost.

Broccoli Sprouts

This might be cheating, they aren’t going into your garden but broccoli sprouts are a delicious treat that every broccoli lover should try at least once!

Broccoli sprouts have a quick turnaround, from start to finish the entire process only takes about 7 days! That makes radishes seem slow.

Just make sure you start out with broccoli seeds intended for sprouting and you’re golden.

Read more about Growing Sprouts for Fresh Food Anytime

Check out my Vegetable Gardening page for more information or start here:

The post How to Grow Broccoli appeared first on Chicken Scratch NY.

If you’ve never tried to grow onions, you might not realize exactly how confusing they can be! There is a lot more to it than just picking a color and going to town (or the garden).

Fortunately for all of us, growing green onions bypasses a lot of the complications of growing bulb onions and as an extra bonus, it’s much faster!

I love green onions, they’re the perfect way to bring a little fresh, bright, and oniony flavor to everything from soups to salads and sandwiches.

If you’re not a fan of the harsh bite of a raw onion you might be pleasantly surprised by the milder flavor of green onions!

Green onions go by many names including scallions, bunching onions, Welch onions, and Japanese bunching onions. Scientifically they go by the name Allium fistulosum.

The allium family includes shallots & bulbing onions (A. cepa), leeks (A. ampeloprasum), chives (A. schoenoprasum) & garlic (A. sativum). They all share similar physical characteristics and are popular in the kitchen.

Out of all of them, I think garlic is the easiest to grow but you are limited to planting in the late fall-early winter so if you’re looking for an easy onion family plant to grow pretty much whenever green onions are your new best friend.

Learn How to Grow Garlic

Just to keep things confusing, plants from the fistulosum species are called true scallions because they’ll never produce a bulb. But, you can grow A. cepa onions (or shallots) as scallions by harvesting them young or by growing them at the wrong time of year or in the wrong place.

Earlier I alluded to onions being overly complicated. Unlike most of the vegetables you’ll grow, onions have very specific timing cues based on day length.

When you plant them the initial growth phase is all about the roots and leaves, then when the day reaches a specific length it triggers a change in the onion to start making a bulb.

That’s why when you go to buy onion seeds or plants they’re divided into short-day, intermediate, and long-day varieties. The best onions for your garden will be based on where you live.

We grow long-day onion varieties in New York because we have long days in the summer, if I were to plant short-day onions they would grow but the bulbing phase would be triggered before the onion was big enough to support a large bulb and they’d be stunted.

If you did the opposite by growing a long-day onion in the south you’d end up with a bulbless onion or with a non-true scallion (false scallion?).

The good news is none of that chaos is related to growing green onions, I just enjoy tangents.

Scallion Seeds

The first rule of growing onions club is always use fresh seeds.

Most types of seeds can be saved and stored for a few years but the main exceptions are onions and parsnips (see, another tangent!).

Learn more about Seed Storage & Longevity

The seeds don’t turn into gremlins or anything dangerous but the germination rate really takes a dive. For any onion relatives, I tend to be really liberal with my seeding, planting a whole packet in one go if I have the space.

I don’t see the point in being precious with seeds that probably won’t be good next season anyway.

If you do find yourself with some elder seeds do a quick germination test before you devote any garden space to them.

All you need to do is wrap a few seeds in a damp paper towel, stick it in a plastic bag or container somewhere warm, and check in a few days for any signs of growth.

Green Onion Varieties

The most common variety of green onion seeds is Evergreen Hardy White (also known as Nebuka), everyone carries it and you’ll even find it in those giant racks at hardware stores.

Evergreen Hardy White is known for its cold tolerance and can even be overwintered in a lot of areas. It takes approximately 65 days for the open-pollinated Japanese heirloom to reach maturity.

Two more popular varieties of white scallions are Tokyo Long White a Japanese variety with disease resistance to pink root & smut (the fungus, not the literary category) and White Lisbon, an heirloom dating back to the 1700s.

My favorite thing about growing food is getting to try unique and different variations of something I’m familiar with. That might mean purple potatoes, white tomatoes, or even red scallions.

Crimson Forest and Red Beard are two scallion varieties with an extra punch of reddish-purple pigment that I’ll be growing this year.

Another option for growing red bunching onions is Italian Red of Florence, which is not a true scallion. The torpedo-shaped onions are often harvested before they form a bulb and used as a green onion.

Onions grown as scallions (harvested pre-bulbing) do have a stronger, more oniony flavor than green onions.

Planting Green Onions

There are two ways to go about planting, either by direct seeding or by transplanting. There are benefits to both methods so I recommend experimenting to see what works for you.

Something to remember is baby allium sprouts are very thin and threadlike and you’ll see the best results planting in soil that won’t crust over.

I have a lot of clay in my soil and it took me longer than it should to realize my germination in the garden was absolute garbage because of it.

These days when I directly plant into the garden I cover the seeds with the finest layer of soil, just enough to cover the seeds and keep it damp so the soil can’t get a hard crust on top.

It’s not a big deal when I’m out in the garden every day, which in the spring I’m usually desperate for sun so I spend a lot of time out there but it’s harder to keep up with when fall sports kick in and I spend 23 hours a day at a soccer field.

Onions also transplant really well and my favorite way to go about it with green onions is by starting little clumps in a soil block.

It only takes a few days for the seeds to germinate on a heat mat and then you can pop the cube into the garden and let it grow. This works really well if you’re interplanting them around larger plants like cabbages or tomatoes.

Once they’re up onions are a pretty sturdy beast as long as you keep the weeds at bay. Their thin foliage needs to get at least 6 hours of full sun to grow well.

My go-to for all garden issues is mulch and it’s going to help you grow your best green onions. Mulch acts as a physical barrier that suppresses weeds and slows evaporation so you can water less.

Learn How to Make Leaf Mold & Why You Need to Use it in Your Garden

Green onions will grow best with constant moisture and don’t require extra fertilizer as long as your soil is decent. If your plants seem stunted give them a dose of diluted fish emulsion fertilizer for a little boost.

As far as spacing, it doesn’t really matter. Scallions are edible at any point (you can even grow onion family plants as sprouts and mocro greens!) so you can continually harvest your thinnings for soup.

My favorite gardening book (literally The Vegetable Gardeners Bible) recommends planting 1/4 – 1/2 inch apart in rows 1 inch apart or in 3″ bands.

Read more about my Favorite Gardening Books

At this point in my life I have better things to do with my time than measure my scallion spacing so I toss them in the ground and wish them luck.

They do fine.

Common Issues

In general, the onion family is pretty safe from pests. All those chemical compounds that make them taste delicious to us, make them less appetizing for pests.

You may see a bit of insect damage but it’s not likely to cause any issues beyond appearance. Most onion pests are after the bulbs and that’s not going to be a problem here.

A few pests to watch for:

• Onion Thrips – small winged insects that feed on the leaves; most active in hot, dry periods
• Cutworms – literally the devil, they chop off plants at the surface and murder the pepper plants you’ve babied for weeks

As far as diseases go, there are a few to look out for but the most popular varieties have been bred to have natural resistance.

• Downy Mildew – a fungal infection found during cool, damp periods identified by wet-looking sunken spots on foliage later filled with a purplish mold; the fungus overwinters in the soil, to prevent reinfection by removing and destroying affected plants
• Rust – a fungal infection that can also affect asparagus plants, identified by small orange blisters on leaves
• Pink Root – a fungal infection identified by pink roots most common in heavy soil; remove & destroy infected plants
• Smut – a fungal infection that affects young plants in cool soil, identified by black streaks on foliage

The best way to handle fungal diseases in the garden is by growing disease resistant cultivars like Tokyo Long White.

Make sure your plants have ample air flow and avoid handing the plants when they’re wet to prevent the spread of diseases.

Companion Planting

When it comes to companion planting it’s hard to beat an onion for versatility.

Their tall, narrow shape makes them perfect for tucking into small areas where you have some space and the oniony fragrance is a great deterrent for pests.

Cabbage family plants (broccoli, cabbage, kale etc) and carrots all grow better with some stinky companions growing nearby. Most likely because the scent of the onion confuses or even repels insect pests.

I tend to plant green onions all over the place, between rows of lettuce, lining my tomato bed, or even by zucchini plants where they’re ready to pull by the time the zucchini takes over.

On the other side of companion planting, we have adversaries or things that shouldn’t be planted together. I have read in multiple places that onions and legumes (aka beans and peas) shouldn’t be planted together.

Aside from vague mentions of beans being allelopathic, I have not yet found any specific reason why they can’t be planted together.

If you’re going to tell me I shouldn’t do something, I need to know why.

Do the onion plants anger the rhizobium bacteria in the legume root nodules? By the way, I promise that sentence is a real thing and not something I made up, gotta use that bachelor’s degree somewhere!

I’ll eventually give in to my contrarian nature and plant peas and beans with green onions just for funsies but until then it will remain a mystery.

Growing Green Onions in Containers

Small, shallow-rooted plants are a great option for container gardens and scallions check both boxes!

Green onions need at least 6 hours of direct sun so if you’ve got a south-facing window you can even plant them indoors.

The soil in containers dries out faster than soil in the ground so look for a water-retaining mix or anything formulated specifically for growing food in containers.

It’s not that deep, all I’m saying is you don’t want to be digging up dirt from your yard and trying to grow scallions in your kitchen.

Speaking of growing indoors, all members of the onion family are highly toxic to dogs and cats. Take extra care to keep your feline and canine friends away from your green onions for their own safety.

Regrowing Green Onions in Water

If you’ve been on social media at any point in the last decade you’ve seen someone cut the ends off a bunch of scallions, stick them in water, and magically regrow a never-ending supply of green onions!

Well, it doesn’t really work that way. Plants don’t perpetually grow with only a jar of water to nourish them.

Can you regrow scallions? Yeah. Is it worth the time and effort? Probably not.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great experiment and can be a fun project but you aren’t hacking reality with regenerating food.

If you want your regrown scallions to get big enough to harvest you’ll need to move them to soil anyway so you might as well just start out with seeds and save yourself a few steps.

Once you’ve got your plants going you can harvest them by cutting off the tops and leaving ~2″ of the base in the ground to regrow. If you keep them watered and fertilized you can get 2-5 harvests from each plant.

Check out my Vegetable Garden page for more ideas or start here:

The post Growing Green Onions from Seed appeared first on Chicken Scratch NY.

The Vintage Sunburst block has a lot of pieces with odd angles and for me, would be an absolute nightmare with traditional piecing.

Thanks to the foundation paper it’s not a problem anymore! And it comes in two sizes for even more interest.

If you’re interested in sewing along make sure to check out the Jolly Jabber article about The Vintage Sunburst Sew Along and follow #vintagesunburstqal on Instagram.

Get the Free Pattern Sheet

Supplies

Sewing officially starts in January, with everyone sewing 4 blocks a month, but you can do quite a bit to prepare ahead of time.

The easy part is picking up the foundation paper kit, it includes 2 of the 12″ Vintage Sunburst block pads and 2 of the 8″ block pads along with a printout of the pattern/fabric requirements.

You’ll need to make 18 of the 12″ blocks and 17 of the 8″ blocks. The kit will give you enough papers to make 20 of each so you do have some wiggle room for mistakes (which is great because it’s nearly impossible to pull out the tiny stitches you use for foundation paper pricing!).

You can find all the dates and relevant info for the sew along on The Jolly Jabber Vintage Sunburst announcement.

Fat Quarter Shop has also put together a starter kit for foundation paper piecing that includes a pack of needles, an Add-a-Quarter Ruler, a seam roller, and glue pen.

If I had to pick one of those tools to be the MVP it would be the ruler hands down. I bought one at a garage sale on a whim and I absolutely love it.

Before I threw myself into foundation paper piecing I was using it to trim snowballed corners and flying geese so it’s nice to finally let it shine in the roll it was meant to play.

Fabric

Picking the right fabric can be a bit of a nightmare, at least it is for me when all I see is potential. I want to make all of the quilts in all of the fabrics.

Instead of leaning into that absolute insanity, I find it helpful to give myself some criteria to whittle down the options.

Going into this project I knew I wanted to lean into the vintage vibes without going historical. That’s not exactly a statement that should mean anything to anyone but me, but I know what I mean.

All of the fabric is going to be cut into fairly small pieces so I was looking to avoid any collections with a majority of large or medium-scale prints, that alone knocked out a lot of options.

I also knew I wanted a lot of color and a dark background to make the patchwork pop. But working with solid black makes me cry so I knew I was looking for a collection with a low-volume black print.

Finally, the pattern calls for 42 fat quarters which is a HUGE bundle. Most are in the 20-30 range.

Your options for readymade bundles with that many fat quarters are going to be few and far between but I did come up with a few ways to get around it.

With those things in mind, I pulled up the Fat Quarter Bundle page and started scrolling.

The easiest way to find large bundles is by sorting by price (more fabric costs more money). As of December 2023 there are only a handful of options for fat quarter bundles with 42+ pieces.

Almost all are from Laurie Holt including Bee Vintage, Bee Patriotic, Flea Market, Calico, Bee Plaids, and Stitch. The only non-Lori bundle I found was a Kimberbell bright rainbow bundle that would make a very cheerful quilt.

My crazy brain came up with two ways to work around this without abandoning coordinated bundles.

You can absolutely pick your own fabrics for this, I always encourage people to make quilts that they like. I just know that I can’t.

I need a specific level of coordinated chaos in my sewing or I know I’ll abandon the project. My life has gotten much easier after I started fighting myself and this is an easy way to give in.

Half Yard Bundles

Most fabric collections have 20-30 fabrics which isn’t enough fabric if you’re using fat quarters, but it is if you’re using half yards!

Cutting the number of fabrics back will make your quilt less scrappy overall, which might be your vibe anyway. It also gives you a lot more options for fabric lines.

I almost went this route, I was really tempted to use The Old Garden half-yard bundle. I loved the rich colors and the deep blue is almost the color of my bedroom walls.

Honestly, I have (some) of the fabric I am using and I’m still second-guessing myself so maybe I’ll make a quilt with that fabric in the future.

Imaginary Flowers – Flower Press – Fruit Loop – Dandi Duo

Even though they aren’t exact I was able to mock up a few different blocks using Electric Quilt. Let me know what your favorites are in the comments!

Mixing Collections

I’m very picky about color so I rarely mix collections but I know a lot of designers create their fabrics to coordinate and it can give you gorgeous results.

When it comes to mixing collections my mind immediately goes to Kim Diehl. She has a very distinctive style that carries through all of her fabric lines with her use of bright, saturated colors and grandma couch prints (I mean that in the nicest way possible).

After some soul searching (I realize it’s not that deep but also it is) I decided that my dream Vintage Sunburst quilt would be a chaotic mix of colors on a dark background.

If I’m going to be putting this much effort into a billion tiny pieces I want each and every one of them to show!

Right now I’m waiting for Quiet Grace to be released but in the meantime, I’ll be working with the Kim Diehl Scrappy Bundle and a black background print.

I’ll be using a few different black prints for the background, I plan to stick to one background for each block but that could change as we go!

Preparation

Once you’ve settled on your fabric and you’ve got your paper pads in hand you can get into the real meat and potatoes.

The first thing you’ll need to do is cut apart the sections of the block. Each sheet of paper makes 1/4 of a block and you need to cut the 3 sections apart on the dotted lines.

Organization is my nemesis and I know the sheets are safest in their little pads so I’ll be doing this step immediately before I start sewing.

I’ll be making 4 blocks a month from January through September and that’s a long time for me to not lose anything.

There is a cheat sheet on the back of the cover that gives you all the measurements for cutting your fabric for each section.

It wasn’t until I read this that I realized that you’re supposed to use the background prints for the small center sections. I’ve made exactly one 1/4 of a block and I’m committed to my chaotic vision (and those small sections are perfect for using up scraps!).

The only way I can keep up with projects like this is with a project box (or bag) where I can keep everything together. I’m usually sewing 3-300 projects at the same time and it gets chaotic quickly!

Right now I’ve got my fabric, pattern, and papers chilling in a clear tote with a lid to keep my cat from taking up residence.

Will you be sewing along?

Check out my Quilting page for more info or start here:

The post Vintage Sunburst Quilt Along appeared first on Chicken Scratch NY.

I recently signed myself up for a year-long foundation paper piecing quilt along with Fat Quarter Shop using their Vintage Fan paper blocks.

Of course, it was only after I did that that I realized how little experience I have with FFP and I started to panic.

I live my entire life with a low level of background panic so it’s not an unnatural state for me to be in but I knew exactly how to get past it!

My favorite way to master a quilting skill is by using it to make a quilt. It took me 3 Rail Fence-adjacent quilts to master my free-motion loopy meander and a single Cozy Corners quilt to become a pro at giant half-square triangles.

Check out my Free Cozy Corners Layer Cake Pattern for a quick and beginner-friendly half-square triangle quilt pattern!

So I knew what I needed was a full Foundation Paper Piecing project, or two.

As a bonus, I’m (always) in the middle of gutting my craft room and this is a great way to deal with all my scraps!

For the throw, I’ll be using my green and white/tan/cream scraps for the trees and the backgrounds.

If you’ve ever scrolled through my Instagram account you’ll notice how much I actively avoid using white and light colored fabrics so I know I don’t have enough background fabrics right now.

The throw is going to be a long-term project for me, I’ll be making 234 trees for a 55×66 quilt. I always have something going on the side (usually 3-8 somethings) and this will get added to that list.

One of the best things about foundation paper piecing is being able to consistently make the same block over a long period of time (weeks, months or years).

I notice a slight difference in my sewing depending on whether I’m wearing glasses or contacts so it’s extra helpful for me.

I’ll be making my blocks and storing them together in a box and sewing everything together when I’m completely done.

When I share patterns I usually try to have a finished project to show you, but since this will likely take me years I didn’t want to wait.

I’ll also be using the tiny tree block to make an 11×37 Table Runner using leftovers from another project using a single background fabric for a little less chaos.

Blue and white is a great combo for winter and I think the little trees look just as good in white.

The Block

I’ve wanted to make a little tree project for a long time but the odd angles kept me from jumping in. In the end, I decided to go with foundation paper piecing.

The little tree block finishes at 2 inches wide x 3 inches inches tall. The trunk is separate from the top of the tree so you can make it a different color if you would like.

Get the free Tiny Trees Foundation Paper Piecing Block

Each sheet of paper gives you 6 trees, so you’ll need to print 4 copies for the runner and 39 copies if you’re making the throw.

Check out my Quilting page for more info or start here:

The post Tiny Trees Foundation Paper Piecing Scrap Quilt appeared first on Chicken Scratch NY.