February 19, 2012 - Sunday's Seedlings

The new seedling rack has taken over my bedroom!

Four of the shelves now have full sized 4' lights. I bought two of them this week, which means I might not have to "borrow" the shed lights this year. Unless I get really carried away with planting, which is always a possibility. Three shelves are already filled, so the lettuce will probably be moved to the laundry room and put under the 2' light soon. Actually, it could probably go out on the front porch most days now.

I have decided to keep all four of the Mini Gold tomato plants that grew. I had only planned on trying to keep one growing inside to maturity, which will be the big one on the left (they were all planted at the same time). Now I think I might try to keep the other three growing until they can be planted out on May 1, and I'll put them in my three front planters....the ones that have always held flowers in the past. I'll plant them as Ed suggests....the tomato as a "thriller", some Dark Opal basil as a "filler" and sweet allysum as a "spiller".

The Southport White Globe onions aren't doing so great. They don't seem to have many roots, and fall over quite easily. This container was planted with 80 seeds, and I'll be lucky if half that many survive to be planted outside. The identical container, with identical seeds, never did sprout any seedlings. I finally scraped off the top layer of seeding mix so I could reuse the rest of it, and noticed two tiny sprouts. I ended up scraping that layer into a pot outside. Maybe something will eventually take off.

I should be eating fresh baby Red Sails lettuce in a week or so!

The Tall Utah #527OR, Improved celery has been thinned to one per Dixie cup. It's growing well.

Parsley, Parris Island Romaine lettuce and Chioggia beets.

More beets. This is my first try at starting them indoors. Most have been repotted into individual Dixie cups, but I'm not so sure it's not a waste of expensive seed starting mix to plant them individually like this. I probably should have done them in six pack cells and just snipped off the extra seedlings.

More beets.

And another planting of lettuce, Wild Garden Mix from Ed, just beginning to show.

Not shown:

Several Dixie cups of Johnny Jump Ups from Debbie Clegg. I was surprised at how quickly they germinated! I thought they'd be really slow, like the parsley, but they were up in six days.

24 soil blocks of Harris Model parsnips, not yet germinated.

12 soil blocks of Tyee spinach, the first one germinated today.

2 Dixie cups each of parsley and New Zealand spinach. I didn't think the first planting of parsley was going to grow, so I planted more. Now, like last year, I'll have way more than I can use.

February 16, 2012 - Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard

I told Robin I wasn't going to join in on yet another special posting day, as I really prefer my blogs to be impromptu and about whatever subject happens to be on my mind at the time. I even hesitate to join in on Monday Harvest, as I'd prefer to blog about each harvest on the day it takes place.

But.....I *heart* Robin and Daphne, so I will do what I have to do. I think I will change my format a bit this year by blogging daily about the harvests, then doing a condensed version of the entire week on Mondays, and Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard isn't much different than my usual "Garden Dinners" posts, so I'll try to be a good Granny and contribute on occasion. Just don't expect me to be too good!

I usually cook meals that contain something that I've grown and/or preserved. I haven't been very good about photographing my meals through the winter, I just don't have the enthusiasm for it that I do when the garden is in full production. I did, however, remember to photograph one dinner this week....

The too thick pork chops I buy from Costco have to either be butterflied or cooked in the crock pot. This time I chose to crock pot, and used home canned tomatoes and home grown red sweet peppers from the freezer. The broccoli was the last of what was grown and frozen last year, and the parsley buttered noodles were prepared with home grown and dried parsley. Not shown are the frozen (thawed, of course) sweetened strawberries that we had for desert. They taste so much more like real strawberries than those I can buy, and probably have about half the sugar.

Please join Robin's Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard and let everyone know what you are using from your pantry!

February 11, 2012 - Woe is Me

I got the jury summons just over a week ago, and my term was for two weeks. The first week passed, and I was not called to serve. I thought I was home free, but it was not to be. I called in last night to find I must report at 8:30 Monday morning, when they will select jurors for an upcoming murder trial. That means, if selected, my "two weeks" of service could extend for weeks! Please do not chose me, please do not chose me, please do not chose me......

Woe is me, but woe-er is my daughter. Amy was redoing her kitchen at the same time I was redoing mine. In fact, it was she who talked me into putting the laminate flooring in the kitchen. She just finished hers last week, and it turned out just beautiful. Her floors were much prettier than what I'd installed. Then it happened. Her garbage disposal plugged up, and she kept running water into it to flush it out. It seemed to be working, but what she didn't realize was that she was just pumping all that water into the dishwasher, as it had nowhere else to go. When she opened the dishwasher, the water poured out all over her newly (less than a week) installed flooring. It went behind the dishwasher, behind the cupboards, and everywhere. She threw towels down to try to sop up the mess, which may have even worsened the problem by keeping the flooring wet. Well, it soon began lifting and buckling. At first it ruined about a fourth of the flooring, then expanded to half. They keep pulling it up, and they are still finding dampness. Needless to say, she is just sick about it. She's the one who caught her kitchen on fire last year, now this! We have nicknamed her Fire & Water.

February 10, 2012 - Granny's Rustic Buns

No, no! Not those buns!

These buns! Pretty ugly, huh? Wilderness posts such good sounding meals and recipes, I decided to give her Potato Bread recipe a try. I tossed everything in the bread machine, just as she had them listed (I used 1/2 cup of warm mashed potato), until I came to the flour. Oh, dear.....it didn't look like I had three cups in that canister! Sure enough, I was at least 1/4 cup short, and not a bit more flour in the house. Oh, I had some whole wheat flour, but Mr. Granny won't eat anything but white bread. Well, of course I decided to go ahead with the recipe with what flour I had on hand. It was really soft and runny when it finished the dough cycle, so I oiled my hands and dug in. Honestly, this was as smooth as I could get them.

They were still quite lumpy looking after rising. Oh.....I had a pot of ham and bean soup simmering in the crock pot, so I removed the lid and put a cookie sheet and a cutting board over the top and put the covered rolls on them to rise. It worked great! The cutting board kept them from getting too warm.

Not the loveliest buns I ever made, but they'll do.

Oh, my...will they ever! The texture was a bit course, due to the too soft dough, but the flavor was divine. The recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks, Wilderness!

Mr. Granny was in his Man Cave, engrossed in a movie, so I dined alone at the kitchen counter. Ham and bean soup, Waldorf salad, iced green tea and "rustic" buns with real butter. It doesn't get much better than this.

February 10, 2012 - Thank You!

I am rather late publicly thanking 1st. Man for The Versatile Blogger Award that he presented to me on February 1. Now I have received it once more from Mrs. Pickles Garden.

I had previously received this award from a dear blogging friend, David P. Offut, back in September of last year. For that reason, I'll not bore you with more facts about myself, which you can read here, in my original response.

That being said, I want you to know that no matter if I receive an award once or a hundred times, it's just as special to me each and every time. Some bloggers hate these awards. I have been publicly chastized for passing them on to some blogs that I especially enjoyed. I no longer follow those blogs, because I am shallow that way, LOL! I love getting the awards. I enjoy knowing there is someone out there who appreciates my blog enough to take the time to send me an award. So, thank you to Mrs. Pickles, and a belated thank you to 1st. Man. I love your blogs, too!

February 8, 2012 - Potting Up

The roots of the lettuce seedlings I started for my "windowsill garden" were beginning to grow out of their soil blocks, so I decided it was time to pot them up. I looked at Walmart and Shopko for some lightweight plastic pots that were short enough to fit under the lights and wide enough to hold at least four lettuce plants. I found nothing, just tall round pots. I found exactly what I wanted in a long narrow pot at Fred Meyer, but it was $7, not including the drain tray. My cheap frugal self opted out of that one. Off to the dollar store, and once again I found exactly what I was looking for. A dollar apiece, I bought four of them.

They had no drainage holes, so once again I got out my trusty hot glue gun. I've ruined many pots using a drill to put in the holes, but this glue gun is foolproof on lightweight plastics.

My bathroom has become my potting shed. You know you have a problem when you have to wash the potting soil from your toothbrush before brushing your teeth! Hey, a girl has got to do what a girl has got to do when it's freezing outside!

A plastic fork, with the outer tines broken off, was a perfect tool for removing the small seedlings for transplanting.

Eight Red Sails lettuce plants are comfy under their temporary 2' light. The 4' shop light fixtures were on sale at Fred Meyer this week, for only $8.99 each. Of course, they were sold out. I got a rain check.

I have to buy some cupcakes. I don't want the cupcakes, but the bakery container that held my birthday cupcakes is absolutely perfect for securely holding these small Dixie cups. I can just pour a bit of water in them to bottom water the plants. Daughter Amy said she'll bring a dozen cupcakes for our Valentine's Day dinner......she's such a good girl. Anyway, I transplanted 8 celery seedlings into the cups, and four Mini Gold tomatoes. I wanted one tomato plant for the windowsill, so what did I do? I planted four seeds to make sure I'd get one plant. Yes, every seed germinated. What will I do with four Mini Gold plants?

The green things that are growing in my bedroom.

OK, tell me why. Close to 100% germination on these onions. They are 1-2" tall already. The very same day I took another identical container, filled it with the identical planting mix, seeded it with the second packet of the identical variety of seeds that were from the same company (Mike the Gardener's Seeds of the Month Club) that had arrived in the mail on that very same day, covered it with identical plastic wrap and set them side by side on the same shelf. In other words, there was no difference at all in the two plantings. The second container has failed to germinate a single plant! Beats me!

February 6, 2012 - A New Beginning

Don't you just love it when you happen upon a new blogger, with a brand new house and a garden in her dreams? The other day I had a comment from Christy, at My Garden - Our Life, so on a whim I checked out her profile, which led me to her new blog. I'm all excited about following her and her husband on their venture of making their new house a home. Check it out, maybe you would enjoy the journey.

Speaking of new beginnings, I must admit I'm a hoarder. I think it was about a week ago that I commented on another blog, saying I am NOT a hoarder, but I really am. It's just that my hoard is well maintained and hidden behind closet doors. I have a hoard of genealogy papers. I have a filing cabinet stuffed full of census, land, marriage and court records. I have an 8' (it might even be 10') shelf packed with books and binders, all stuffed full of 20 years of genealogy research. Well, I had to paint that closet yesterday, and I decided it was time to get rid of the hoard. Everything, well just about everything, has been entered on the computer, and nobody in the family is really interested in taking over the collection....and I burned out on it a couple of years ago. I decided it was time to bite the bullet and drag out the trash can. I'm printing out complete books for the two grandchildren who do show a bit of interest in it, and I will retain all photos and copies of important documents, but I'm going to donate the hard back research books and everything else will be shredded and disposed of. It hurts....20 years of work looks like a lot on paper, not so much on a computer program.

I can do this. Yes, I can.

February 4, 2012 - The Man Room

I painted Mr. Granny's man room yesterday. It's kind of fun to look back at the changes, although this room really hasn't changed much since my last child flew the nest and gave over her bedroom to her Dad. It's been his room since the 90s.

In the 90s it was a bit girlie, but Mr. Granny didn't seem to mind.

Around 2006 I "manned it up" a bit with the green walls and the removal of the flowered curtains.

Yesterday the walls turned to a medium beige. So far the valance is staying, as it has beige and green stripes that match the chairs and walls. I'm contemplating its removal, and possible replacement with a brown window blind.

For years he's been complaining about the glare of the light through the window as he's trying to watch TV. I don't know why I didn't just rearrange the furniture to get the TV away from in front of that window. That was where the TV cable happened to come in, but it took me about 30 minutes to reroute it to this wall. Much better for TV viewing! Mr. Granny did, however, call me in from the kitchen to tell me the light from the window was reflecting on the TV and making a glare. Sheesh, I had to drop everything to close the blind for him! You'd think he could have done that himself :-(

The next project will be new carpet for this room. I think son John and I can manage to install it ourselves.