Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Oh, See Here, See Here~~~~ I should add the pallet beds I made out of 3 pallets! Good Fun



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Chocolate Mint, Hyacinth, Strawberries, Lettuce, and Miss Rhody

Chocolate Mint 3.24.14



I posted photos of my new micro garden's new fence the other day, Saturday, me thinks. The photo on the left is chocolate mint that I put in the shelter of the front corner post and I also put a big piece of wood on top of the bin in case the rain got wild. I'm not in ktown at the moment and won't be til tomorrow, aka protections up.

The right photo is the lovely hyacinth bulbs I wintered over and planted a couple of weeks ago in twelve(thought 12/16/12) in a row!!! and a starter box of 8 strawberries in the middle. On the left starter carton without bulbs is lettuce the little bamboo sticks shows us where the zuchx seeds went they will most likely grow up here.( I will started carton some too and force them with my little mini forcing area that I set up in the breezeway...

 where ever the bulbs end up, they will adolesce here. This is a temporary shelter/garden system that I simply am playing with. Pallet's are like legos for adults,. soo much fun!

Chocolate Mint will be moved elsewhere in whole or in parts into areas of the grounds that don't grow well. They/she will be my test plant to see if it will grow under and around the rhodey. As will other things until I and miss r are satisfied The strawberries will end up in the nextdoor attached bin, and/or elsewhere in my 60'x3' garden.... It's so fun to have babies! :D

And if we took advice from the rhody, we'd be wise to work up from the bottom and take all due course, she does agree save where the 'varie gat us' shows up(aka where the sun and her natural complextion commune and you know it's all okay for now; and who among us would hide their spots without consequence anyway, right?. hahaha

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Monday, March 24, 2014

Just Ducky! (?????) Goosey? I think SOOOOOO~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Resident Geese! There are three, but one was shy the one on the right here is washing! :D
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Wild LITTLE Things....

My Mystery Seeds. These were left in a jar and boxed, cold stored, left and forgotten; had gotten wet and clumped in an ugly pug.  I let them sit out in the jar through winter then tipped the jar over on it's top, and lookie here, a spring mystery. If I thought about it, I'd remember, but it's and B4 thing. :D It will be fun to watch the development. Could be Evening Primrose, Mallow, or.....

Herb Robert that I found at the big brook. It was only a few centimeters when planted and looks like it's properly established!


my little bulbs are popping up nicely. I'm planning to either place them in the new earth, or sell them around May Day. Maybe a May Day herb sale? IDK..... I'll have to get planting/transplanting... buy more peet seed pots... hmmmmm
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Banana This; Recycle Old Peels~ fertilizer or silver polish

There are things you can do with that old peel.

1. Do you have a green thumb? House hold plants and outside gardens require fertilization. A great way to give your plants nutrients is with a banana peel. The banana peel is very rich in potassium and phosphorus, which give that added boost to your plants soil, especially so with roses. Here is how to use a banana peel to fertilizer your soil for your plants. Remove the peel from the banana. Place the banana peel on a cookie sheet to let it air dry. Grab a paper bag or envelope. Crumble the dried banana peel and place it in the bag. Let the banana sit at room temperature for about two days. When your caring for your plant, give it a potassium treat of crumbled banana peel. Mix well in the soil to ensure the roots are fed evenly.
2. Have you been thinking about pulling out that old silver? Well there is no time like the present. Bananas peel can also be used to polish silver. Yes, polish silver. Take the old peels and place them in a blender. You want the peels to become smooth and creamy. Once they have, grab a cloth and small amounts of the creamed banana peel and begin polishing your silver. The shine will be breath taking.

SOURDOUGH STARTER with WILD YEAST

SOURDOUGH STARTER with WILD YEAST
Wild yeasts exist in the air around you and to some extent on the wheat berries. There are wild yeasts on grapes (unsulphured) and apples and other fruits. It is those wild yeasts which are 'captured' to make a sourdough starter. The process takes from 3 to 5 days. I wish I had specific amounts for you, but you could start with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour and mix in enough warm (not hot) water to make a thin paste. DO NOT make it too soupy. That, in fact, is the trick to a good starter, according to the French bread makers, and I think they should know. And after you've fooled around with the flour and water thing, you might wish to branch out into adding those unsulphured grapes, apples, sour milk, etc as a catalyst in order to capture other strains of yeast. Each of these strains has a slightly different taste. In fact if you move to another area, you might end up with a starter that produces an entirely different flavor. For instance, San Francisco sourdough bread is well known and has a distinct taste due to the wild strains in the air there. On day one you mix the flour and water (and add any catalysts to encourage fermentation) and place in a warm spot. After 3 days, the dough should be moist, inflated, and slightly sour. More flour and water is added (mixed in) and left to sit in a warm spot. After 2 days the process is repeated. Then the next day it is done again. Note the order: 3 days, 2 days, 1 day. At this point you should be able to make a loaf of bread using part of the starter and adding back what you took out in the form of more flour and water. Rule of thumb: Use about 10% starter to size of loaf. In the case of a 2 lb loaf this is a bit over 3 oz of starter (3.2 to be exact). For a 1 lb loaf 1.5 oz would be used. A book that describes this process in great detail is The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz, copyright 1993, published by Ten Speed Press, Berkley CA. If it's not still in print, try the used books stores, that's where I got mine. Or try your local library. If they don't have it, they might be able to get it for you. ©2008 by Ernestina Parziale

Thank You For Visiting!

Thank You For Visiting!
Have a Great Day!