Unwanted Dinner Guests

Friends, I have some unfortunate news to share: I think I may have to abandon my compost bin.

This breaks my heart because I'm betting I produce more than your average amount of fruit and vegetable scraps than your standard single American. For the past three years I've been composting, I would keep a little bucket of vegetable scraps on my counter and take all of the delicious remnants to the bin on my patio when it was full. Now, one would imagine that this would be a smelly, bug-attracting routine, but that hadn't been my experience at all. That is until this weekend.

Not once, but twice this weekend I have come home to a kitchen ridden with hundreds of ants (and I'm known for keeping a very tidy space and kitchen). For the life of me, I couldn't find where they were entering my tiny home. But they were there, oh, were they there. I started with vinegar and tried to wipe everything down with the pungent deterrent to no avail. I tried leaving drops of honey to attract the unwanted guests and then drown them in it's sugary goodness, but letmetellya, these are the dumbest ants I've ever seen. They would walk in circles and circles going nowhere and were not in the slightest bit attracted to my sweet traps. Not even one.

Then, I read online about how ants leave scent trails for each other and when you kill one another scent trail is left, continuing to attract more and more ants. The online article's solution? Window cleaner. I swear I went through half a bottle of Windex this weekend alone, but it did the trick. Along with more vinegar, furious cleaning and vacuuming every single nook and cranny, I haven't spotted the same crowd since.

Anyway, back to the compost bin. I want to compost, it's such a great way to reduce the amount of trash I'm putting in the landfill, get rid of receipts and other printed financial statements to halt identity thieves, and of course, provide rich and intense nutrition for my container garden. I've found composting results in the most rich, wonderful-smelling earth that you can imagine. But this year, with the extremely mild winter it also means bugs and spiders. Lots and lots and lots of bugs and spiders. I don't mind sharing the bounty as long as it's an outdoor dinner party. But these bugs just don't know their manners and have been inviting themselves into my home. So, what's a girl to do? Keep composting? Take the summer off?

BTW, I spared you from a picture of my unwanted guests because I didn't want you to have the same creepy, crawly dreams I have the past two nights.

Wheatgrass Delights

I asked for wheatgrass seeds for my birthday and because I have an amazing friend, my wish was granted! I really had two reasons for wanting the seeds:
1. I like the way wheatgrass looks, so modern and clean.
2. I like to watch things grow. (Weird?)

But oh boy kids, little did I know I was in for a rather scrumptious surprise!

I prepped the seeds: Soak for eight hours. Rinse. Soak for eight hours. Rinse. Soak for eight hours. Rinse.
And after 7 days of planting, this is the beautiful mess I have:

I wanted to put a camera on the sprouts for a little time-lapse photography but, as you can see, they grew like crazy. (Megan gave me two packages, perhaps I'll try the time-lapse thing next time...) Seriously, I think they grew about 1" per day!

And today I had the pleasure of harvesting my wheat grass! So I looked up juicing instructions with a blender and made myself the best mid-day snack. Here's images of the process (I can't get over that beautiful color):

I blended the final strained wheat grass juice with a little plumcot (hybrid plum + apricot) for a special treat, but didn't have a chance to snap any photos before it was gone!

Wheat grass is a very tasty snack without being juiced! Every once in a while I reach over for a delicious and nutritious nibble straight from the planter. And even though I think I just surpassed my crazy quota, I'm going to throw it out there that I just might take this planted perfection to work so I can graze during the work day.

Domesticity: Canning

I'm a huge fan of this Domestic Revival or Rural revival, whatever you want to call it, the sudden interest in the art of domesticity. Cooking, baking, sewing, crafting, etc. It's suddenly "cool" to be a little bit more domestic. Lately I've been going through domestic-inspired stages, where I am obsessed with one thing for a short period of time. About a month ago it was vacuuming. The past couple of weeks it's been bread baking. Now? Canning.

I come from very industrious families with farm backgrounds, so it's no surprise that both of my grandmother's canned their own produce. I loved to go deep into their basements where they stored their home-grown treasurers in jars of all colors. Tomatoes, beets, strawberries, cherries, peaches, pickles, corn, apples, it was all there. And it was decadent. I can only recall my mom canning produce a couple of times when I was growing up, when we'd had a very successful tomato crop or being roped into by her sisters. I would be delighted at Christmas when we would get a jar or two of my aunt's dill pickles or jam, knowing it was sure to be a treat. So, in the past three weeks I've come down with canning fever (these things just can't be ignored, you know?). Recently, I opened my Google Reader to find a posts on the posh jams, as well as logging into facebook and seeing a friend proudly displaying her home-grown produce and canning party, and opening one of my favorite magazines and saw an entire article on canning and making jams.


This past weekend, I was able to squeeze in some time to can some stewed tomatoes with my mom. And the weekend before we made an excellent Jalapeno Jam. Sounds blissful, doesn't it? Like a couple of perfect summer weekends.

Happy (belated) 4th of July!

I hope everyone's weekend was as pleasant and relaxing as mine. I enjoyed bike rides, working on some freelance projects, crafts, and delicious summer foods!

Happy Summer!

Today, I celebrated the first day of summer with homemade potato salad, coleslaw, and a roast beef sandwich... all made from farm-fresh foods from the CSA I joined. I think tonight I'll celebrate with a heirloom tomato and basil salad!

Also: Congratulations, Daddy! Right about now you should be getting a well-deserved award for "Professional of the Year." We couldn't be more proud. Love you!

Yummy Fresh CSA

For the past two years I've watched my friend, Megan, my roommate, and other fellow co-workers come home with delicious foods from a CSA that delivers to our office weekly. Originally, I was nervous about being able to keep up with a balcony garden and fresh produce from a CSA, but this year I decided to give it a try and split the shares with my roommate.

Two weeks in and it's been splendid. Gorgeous brown-flecked fresh eggs each week, local milk, local ground beef and roast beef, leaf lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, new potatoes, strawberries, etc. I'm looking forward to more unique vegetables in the weeks to come for a culinary challenge! Kohlrabi would be delightful!

My Green Thumb, Part 3

Check this out… last year for my birthday I was given this gorgeous orchid. I had received one from my mom before for Valentines Day, but I was stupid and took it out in the cold and was never able to get it to bloom again. But this one is amazing! It has successfully bloomed three times in my possession. Once when I received it, then a couple of months later it dropped it's blooms and then spontaneous there was a couple more and now, starting in probably February it has been gaining a new blossom every couple of weeks… I'm up to five blooms with more on the way! My secret? Neglect. I think I may water it once every 3 or 4 weeks. Crazy. In fact, I’ve been neglecting all my plants and they’ve been thriving. I like this relationship!

My Green Thumb, part 2

When I interned at Hallmark, I lived with my aunt and uncle. It was a delightful summer full of delicious and nutritious meals (as my aunt is a dietitian). My aunt loves onions and garlic, like a fat kid loves cake. She uses very generous amounts of both in her cooking, which has rubbed off on me. Lately I’ve really been into green onions, they’re a splendid garnish and have a delicious mild flavor, perfect for salads. Yesterday, I picked some green onions and spinach from my garden and made one of my current fav salads:

Stephanie’s Spinach Salad
4 cups spinach leaves, fresh from the garden
2 green onions, fresh from the garden
6 strawberries (this was on my wish-I-had-room-to-plant list, that and I couldn’t find any seeds)
Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, or dried cranberries
Goat cheese
1/2 cup pecans

1/4 cup sugar, options

Combine pecans and sugar in a small skillet and heat until sugar melts. Continue stirring pecans until sugar has covered evenly. Meanwhile, tear spinach leaves to bite-sized pieces. Chop the green onions and strawberries. Spread pecans on waxed paper until cool. Add all ingredients together, top with vinaigrette. Enjoy!

Citrus Vinaigrette:
2/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Whisk together all ingredients; store in refrigerator.

My Green Thumb

I started my seeds for my container garden in late January/early February (ridiculously early) because wanted my plants to be super big and hardy by the time I transplanted them outside. That, with the fact that I was just too eager to wait any longer, like a little kid who can’t wait to open their Christmas gifts, I couldn't wait to plant my seeds.
I transplanted them outside several weeks ago and even with the chilly and windy days, they’ve been doing great! It’s finally time to start harvesting some goods, the herbs and green onions are ready for the pickin’!

Tomato! Look at how big it is!

Spinach and Cilantro

Green Onions & Parsley

All from seed! And fertilized from my homegrown compost!

Easter Basket Fun

Yesterday one of my friends set up an Easter Basket swap at work. I was looking forward to it all week. Here's the basket I made for a co-worker, filled with things for her garden and all her favorite candies.

Below is the basket I received, perfect additions for my garden! Complete with a parsley plant, a spearmint plant, a basil-in-a-bag starter kit, triple-blade herb shears (amazing!), a tea towel, chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, and a retro vase. Everything was so perfect for me, so practical... herbs, tea towels, and I didn't want a lot of candy... absolutely delightful.

The swap was so much and it was great to see what everyone else got, there was a lot of thought and love put into each basket. Thanks Em for organizing!

Happy Easter!

ATC Sneak Peek: Gardening

At 11:00 today is our next ATC trade at work, the theme is gardening. So I made these little seed packets with handmade potato stamps. It was kind of tricky carving images out of potatoes, at one point I got frustrated and ate the rest of my supplies (in the form of delicious steak fries). But I'm quite pleased with how they turned out and can't wait to see what others did with gardening!

Green Tomatoes

With the cool weather the past couple of weeks my plants have taken it pretty hard. So tonight I brought in all of my unripe tomatoes and discovered the deliciousness of fried green tomatoes! So sad I haven't had them before!

From the garden

In an appropriate follow-up to my last post... here's a couple of pictures of what I recently picked from my container garden.

I can't wait to dig in! Also, after continuous aphid attacks, my peppers are about to be harvested!

Espaliered?

I always have a green apple on my desk (with the best of intentions of making it my afternoon snack, but chocolate always wins) and the other day a co-worker walked by and showed me her green apple from her espaliered apple tree. Of course I had to Google the definition:

Espalier, the art of cultivating a tree on a flat surface, is an ideal way of growing fruit trees in small spaces. You can espalier on walls, fences or even on freestanding structures. A freestanding espalier can be placed to divide the garden or can form a backdrop to the vegetable garden. Apples and pears are ideal for espalier but you can also espalier figs, cherries, apricots, plums, almonds and citrus.

They're so fun and beautiful! So, now I'm adding an espaliered apple tree to my list of plants to have in my dream garden. Just in case you want to know, here's the rest of the list (I make lists. I know, I'm lame, but how else will I remember? Or look back and laugh?):
Orange Poppies, Green or White Hydrangea, Bright Green & Purple Sweet Potato Vine, Naked Ladies, Irises (preferably dark purple, yellow or white), Lilies, Peonies, Mums, Tomatoes, Peppers, Asparagus, Spinach, Lettuce, Red Potatoes, Onions, Cucumbers, Strawberries, Basil, Parsley, Dill Weed, Oregano, Rosemary

Composting 101

In mid-May I decided it was high time I started to compost. I've wanted to for awhile now, but thought it would be hard/impossible in an apartment. Until one day I decided to research apartment composting and found out it was possible. After a month, our compost pile is ready to use! It looks and smells amazing (if you're into that kind of thing). Originally my roommate and I would go through at least 2 bags of trash per week, after starting to recycle and turning the majority of our food waste into compost, I'd say we're down to 1 bag of trash every 2 weeks! What a difference! I'm sure all my plants will reap the benefits of composting as well.

Here's how I started:

I bought a 34 gallon trash can (made from 70% post consumer waste) from Lowe's for under 20 beans. I used a hammer & nails to poke about 16 holes in the trash can (this is why I want a drill!). Then I started layering brown & green materials (see chart for reference). Being in an apartment, most of the brown materials that I add are from paper materials that would end up in the recycling bin, dryer lint, and egg cartons. (I think this is a great way to get rid of old financial documents! Take that identity thieves!) I have to admit, I did cheat and brought a bucket of leaves & grass clippings from my parent's compost pile. I continue to add materials to it, water it when necessary, and turn it about 3 times a week. I also rotate leaving the lid on and taking it off to get a balance of letting oxygen in and keeping it warm and moist. A couple weeks ago I noticed a lot of fruit flies attracted to my little project, but they aren't around as much any more... I don't know what to think about that.

I made a little chart to help remind my roommate and I of the composting process, hopefully you'll get some use out of it as well. There are plenty of compost guides online or you can always check out your local Extension office (shamless plug for my papa).

They just grow up so fast...

As I wrote about before, I started tomato and pepper plants from seed this year. It was just two short weeks ago that I was telling my mom and aunts how disappointed I was in my tomatoes and how the just weren't doing well after I planted them outside. Little did I know they were just going through the awkward adolesent years. Well now, I'm a beaming proud mama of two! It seems they get bigger and bigger each day. I find myself sneaking out to our balcony each morning just to check the progress of my little guys. I remember when they were tiny little babies, now they've blossomed into the full-on young adult stage, they're getting so grown-up and mature. I secretly take photos of them about every other day. It won't be long before they start producing big, bright red, juicy, delicious tomatoes!

Now if I could just my pepper plants to the same stage...

Where the wild things grow

A couple weeks ago I started seeds for my annual container garden and in no time the tomato and pepper sprouts were here! I usually buy starter plants for the tomatoes and peppers, but last year I started a pepper plant from seed. I started it too late and ended up buying a starter plant anyway. It did produce fruit, but very late in the season, so I wanted to get a head-start this year, we'll see how it goes. I waited a little longer and started my herbs two weeks ago; basil (my fav), parsley, chives, and cilantro. Each day the little guys get bigger and bigger and are outgrowing their baby hot box! Yay!

I couldn't wait for fresh basil, so I bought this great fresh plant at the grocery store. This isn't the kind you plant in soil, but just leave it on your counter in a cup of water! It was a little more expensive then the pre-cut variety, but I think it will yield more fresh basil and is a happy, beautiful and fragrant addition to my kitchen for this weekend when I had guests.

While I was at the grocery store, I scored these pretty little daffodils for $2! Ever girl needs a little flower love and dose of spring once and a while, especially with the crazy snow fall that we got this weekend.