Finally!

June 28, 2015

 I seems like forever since I have been able to get out to my garden, Las Vegan Ranch, and really work. Between my job at the craft store, medical appointments, and abundant rain, I have been very busy. Fortunately, I was able to find 4 hours to work in the garden and get a lot done!

Facing East Wide View

 It was very overgrown and weedy, with all that precipitation, so I pruned, mowed, mulched and weeded. I did not weed as thoroughly as I wanted, due to time constrains, but I might be able to finish up in the morning. Next year, I hope I can afford a weed eater and some landscaping plastic, so I won't have to deal with this many weeds.

Potatoes With Fresh Compost

I hilled my potato plants with fresh compost, as well as added compost around my watermelons and tomatoes. For potato plants, if you do not mulch them with compost or straw, the newly formed potatoes can get exposed to sunlight and turn green. You should add straw or compost around the plants 2-3 times a season, to protect any tubers that are growing close to the surface.

Green Tomato

 I saw plenty of green tomatoes, along with a few squash. We will be able to harvest green beans this week, and I got a large haul of fresh catnip herb with buds on the top. I am going to air dry these and sew them inside sachets for cats to play with.

Catnip Drying in the Sun

Broccoli and Kale, Hooray!

Broccoli, Kale, Scallions

 Today, I had the day off, but it was busy! First, I had to go to the UPS store and buy an envelope, because I sold a very odd size item on my craft website, and I needed special packaging. Then, I stopped by the garden plot, Las Vegan Ranch, and harvested the vegetables above for lunch. I had fresh broccoli, kale, and scallions that I steamed in my rice cooker, along with rice and a poultry seasoning spice, for an herb-vegetable rice pilaf dish. This was delicious!

Handmade Headband

 My sewing maching that I ordered arrived; the model is a Brother LX 2500, one of the machines with the best recommendations for beginners. Also, I  made this headband, It took me many hours and I had to watch an instructional video, but finally I got it! It even fits well, ha!
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Costume Wand

Here is a magical, mystical wand I made from fabric scraps and other odds and ends. I sold one on my website as a costume accessory to a girl who is going to be a woodland fairy in a play. Now that I know there is a market for costume wands out there, I am working on some more prototypes for cosplay and Halloween costumes. This wand above is my druid theme wand with the green colors, leather, and feathers.

A Stormy Night

June 23rd, 2015

 We had a night of storm and high winds that left some of our corn and other tall crops blown over and damaged, I ended up chopping off the tall, bent stalks on our mustard greens and Pac Choy (Oriental greens), and adding compost around the bent stalks of corn to prop them up. I then carted about 15 buckets of dirt to the front berm and shored that up with some more dirt, plus weeded and trimmed that area.

We discovered a baby zucchini on our fastest growing plant, lovingly named "Big Papa". Then, we harvested a handful of snow peas and large bundle of catnip herb (not pictured). Below, you can see the large broccoli we plan to harvest next week and our corn after being straightened and supported with more soil. This week, I plan to weed more and mulch with the additional straw we have, plus hill the potato plants with more compost.

Corn Propped Up After Winds

A Baby Zucchini! 

Large Broccoli Floret

A Handful of Snow Peas

A Treat For Me!

This weekend, I decided to cash my paycheck and splurge on some beads just for me. I work at a craft store, and I had been eyeing these iridescent, double-holed beads for some time. After my purchase, I went home and worked on a set of jewelry for me to keep and wear. I made the bracelet and the matching earrings and wore the bracelet to work today. The bracelet is strung on Tigertail beading wire.

Just For Me!

 These matching earrings are made with a really great product- Blue Moon Beads 1.5 Inch Beading Hoops. Simply pull apart the hoop finding at the top, slide on the beads, and snap back together. Finish it by securing with a dab of strong and clear E 6000 adhesive. When dry, attach the ear wire findings.

Handmade Earrings With Matching Beads

Special Delivery

June 20, 2015

I had to work the last 4 days and couldn't get out to the garden, so when I arrived today, I was thrilled to discover the Ingham County Land Bank Had delivered my compost! The pile of compost below is 1 square yard. They charged me 13 dollars to have this compost delivered. I used the compost to mulch around a square of vegetables I have planted, and also plant some petunias in the middle. I bulked up the bales of straw I have planted with a layer of compost on the top. Currently, I have 2/3 of the pile left and I plan to hill my potatoes and build up the berm in front of my garden with the rest.

Straw and Compost

 I had a nice pot of lettuce that I harvested. Along with the lettuce, I picked some peas and turnips. As I am writing, I am cooking a curry with diced turnips, turnip greens, snow peas, and scallions from the garden. It also contains tomatoes, carrots, fresh garlic, red pepper strips, coconut milk and hot Madras curry powder. There is rice in the rice cooker to serve it with, and it smells delicious!

Lettuce Ready to Harvest

Peas Ready to Harvest

Straw Bales With Fresh Compost Added

3 Turnips I Picked Today

Petunias Planted in Vegetable Square

The recipe for the curry is:

- 1 can lite coconut milk

- 1 16 oz can diced tomatoes

- 2 tbs curry powder

-1 clove minced garlic

- 1/2 bunch scallions

-15 snow pea pods

-3 small turnips and greens

-1 red pepper cut in strips

- 1 bag matchstick carrots (small bag)

- salt to taste

Dice the turnips and save the greens. Saute all vegetables in a small amount of butter or oil on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes, coconut milk, and spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer with cover on for 20 minutes. Serve over rice.

Diced Turnips, Turnip Greens, Scallions, and Snow Peas in a Vegetarian Curry I am Making

War Against the Weeds

June 15th 2015

I have to work the next 4 days, so I had a lot to do in the garden today, and I probably won't be able to make a blog post until this weekend. After 2 days of steady rains here in Lansing, MI, the weeds in my garden have exploded! I was out there with my sister today and she helped me mow and weed, then I returned again in the afternoon by myself to finish some mulching. I purchased 3 more bales of straw to mulch around the plants, but before I could lay it down, I had to weed and cut around each plant by hand to remove the crabgrass and other weeds. I decided to leave the weeds growing up around my plants in the bales of straw, because they are decomposing, and I feel the weeds on the sides will give the bales stability, so they stay intact. These are pictures of the garden today after being mowed and weeded- I am sure it won't look this nice by the time I can work on it again this Saturday!

Dwarf Sunflowers Planted on the Berm

My Straw Bales With The Weeds Trimmed

I Plan To Plant Flowers on the Straw in the Center of the Square

Tomatoes, Melon, Zucchini, Beans, Potatoes

Great Greens

My Dinner Sun June 14th of Turnip Greens With Balsamic Vinaigrette

 I am so excited! Last night, between rainstorms, I was able to sneak over to my garden and harvest some greens for dinner. I pulled out a huge pail full of turnip greens, with baby turnips attached to the ends. Some of the baby turnips were about the size of a radish. I washed the greens and picked out the best quality baby turnips to eat. Additionally, I harvested a large bunch of scallions. Above, are my sauteed turnip greens, garnished with slices of raw, baby turnip, and dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing, and fresh garlic. I served this with a hamburger steak, drizzled with the oh-so-pedestrian A1 steak sauce. I know that most foodies are of the opinion that A1 ruins meat, but I love it!

I was a vegetarian for 15 years and while I don't eat much meat, I do enjoy it as an occasional treat. I like that I can enjoy a lower-carb meal and keep my blood sugar stable. I have type 1 diabetes and I am wearing an insulin pump now, so I have somewhat strict targets for carb intake. Unfortunately, my very favorite foods are mostly vegetarian carb based foods that I try to eat in a limited quantity. I adore calzones, rice dishes, and all manner of pasta. I feel more virtuous and healthy when I work in green vegetables into my diet. These greens were delicious, but needed the addition of some salt for seasoning.

This is how to make them if you are interested.
-heat a skillet with a light coating of oil (olive, canola, butter- whatever your choice is)
-fill the skillet until it is heaping full of raw, washed greens
-cook on medium heat until the greens are reduced in size about 10 times and appear withered and tender
-garnish with salt, garlic, pepper and either lemon juice or a vinaigrette dressing

Uncooked Baby Turnips From My Garden

My First Sewing Project

Supplies and Finished Bag

Last night I took my first sewing class at Joann Fabric and Crafts at Frandor Plaza in Lansing, MI (full disclosure: I got a part-time job there, so this class was a very fun part of my training). The class lasted 3 hours and included supplies. The instructor was very knowledgeable and went over the parts of a sewing machine, how to read patterns, and talked a little about types of fabrics and interfacing. We filled a bobbin, threaded the machine, pinned, and sewed straight seams in forward and reverse. It was intimidating, but exhilarating to try a new craft and very educational. We used a basic, computer operated, mechanical Singer sewing machine in the classroom. The cost for the basic sewing class is 35 dollars and it includes all supplies. You can see the list of classes offered at Joann in the front of the store, in a black kiosk, near the cashiers. The fee for the class covers 3 hours of instructions plus supplies. Some other June classes they are offering are jewelry basics, mason jar crafts, home decor sewing, and "lazy" pants sewing. I want to take the "lazy" pants one next!

My Bag

Adding To The Family

June 9, 2010

My sister and I enjoyed a fantastic trip to the Garden Resource Center in Foster Park today for some free plants and gardening supplies. We were able to get 24 plants, a large bag of potting soil, and 3 steel frames (shown in picture 3) for free! Most of the plants I used to replace ones that had been ravaged by critters, and I added one steel frame with cherry tomatoes to the front of the garden in the center- directly in front of the bales. The 2 other frames are on the left side behind the tomatoes in cages, with purple peppers and grape tomatoes strung up.

Vegetable Plants

 Here is the assortment of plants we got today. Some of the vegetables are sweet corn, chard, tomatoes, peppers, and butternut squash. All of these summer vegetable seem to be ones that Chopper (our neighborhood woodchuck) does not find appetizing. He prefers tender spring crops like kale, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower.

Tomatoes and Peppers on Steel Frames

 I got 3 of these steel frames in the donated gardening goods section of the resource center. If you live in Lansing, MI and have garden equipment, plants, soil, or tools that you no longer need, contact the Greater Lansing Food Bank Garden Project to see if you can donate it. The free section also had lots of seeds and garden stakes today. Below, you can see some of the new plants that have been added to the rows with the old ones.

New Sweet Corn

A Healthy Harvest

My Salad From Garden Fresh Green Leaf Lettuce

Today, I get to enjoy the best part of vegetable gardening, eating! As I am typing, I am enjoying a delicious salad from fresh green leaf lettuce, grown at our community garden plot, Las Vegan Ranch. Unfortunately, only our lettuce grown in a flow pot survived, and the remainder that was planted in rows, lies in the belly of our nemesis, Chopper, a rotund woodchuck with a voracious appetite for tender garden greens.  

Lettuce In Pot Prior to Cutting

 This is the second harvest of green leaf lettuce from this pot, and I hope that it grows back for a third cutting. I also have scallions planted in the pot with it.

Lettuce After Cutting

An Uninvited Guest

Broccoli With The Florets Eaten

 Sadly, today's garden inspection revealed much devastation to our crops, along with a report from a neighborhood lady that spied a suspicious character in our plot at twilight. The alleged raid occurred in our early season crops row, and was carried out by a large, brown, furry mammal with a short, bushy tail. Apparently, he really likes red cabbage!

"The Salad Bar"

 You can see here how he ate the hearts from the red cabbage, but left the other veggies that are not as succulent. He seemed to gravitate towards red cabbage, peas, cauliflower, broccoli, and kale, while leaving oriental cabbage, onions, turnips, squash, chard, and mustard greens intact. The potatoes, corn, melons, tomatoes, and peppers were also untouched, as well as any plants we had in containers.

This Critter Knows How to Destroy a Buffet!

According to the woman who lives across the street, the varmint is probably a large woodchuck. We found several holes that could be burrows, and there are plenty of logs on the property for a woodchuck to gnaw on. At this time, we have no strategy in place to deal with the critters, except to plants new seeds that he might not like as much. Fencing is too expensive and unsightly at this time, and he seems to have a clear preference for tender, mild greens.

A Picture Of  A Woodchuck

All Trimmed and Mowed

June 4, 2015

We've been busy at Las Vegan Ranch the past few days! Even though I had to work, we found time to mow, weed, thin, and plant. Above is a picture after we mowed and weeded in the rows. You can also see photographs below of some miscellaneous projects we have been doing around the garden.

These Need to be Thinned

 These squash plants are too close together to thrive, so I thinned them out and moved every other plant to a different place in the garden. I have read that squash does not like to be transplanted, so I am pessimistic about the viability of the transplants; however, I am sure the remaining plants will like the extra room. Squash plants can grow to be very large.

After Thinning

Here, you can see a triangular area for peas. The picture does not show it well, but there is a tomato cage in the center on the triangle. I planted 6 pea plants inside the cage and 4 around each stake. My hope is that they grow and climb on the twine and cage. I saw the tomato cages being used for peas on a You Tube video, and the narrator stressed to always plant the peas inside the cage, not outside of it, otherwise the will not be supported well as they grow.

A Triangular Area For Peas To Climb

 Finally, here is a picture of my tomatoes and peppers. They are very happy in this sunny location.

Tomatoes and Peppers

A Touch of Color With Annual Flowers

June 1, 2015

Today was a cool, spring day, perfect for working outside, so my sister and I visited Lansing Gardens on Jolly road to purchase a few annual flowers to add some color to our community garden. Flowers were priced at $1.39 per quad. We bought marigolds, petunias, and some other annuals that were not labeled. They currently have a huge selection, with 4 large greenhouses full of flowers for sale.

Annuals from Lansing Gardens

 These are the flowers we purchased, and below, are some of them planted in a straw bale.

Flowers in a Straw Bale

 We used some for a hint of color in the mixed corner section.

Flowers and Vegetables

 Finally, here are some rows of vegetables. The far right row is russet potatoes. You can also see cabbage, onions, kale, broccoli, bush beans, and soybeans.

Vegetables in Rows