First Preserves of my Year! RADISH RELISH

Every year I plant radishes. Because they are one of the first things that can go in! They go next to the lettuces and the Swiss Chard... just after the peas. But, every year I think "what the heck do I do with all of these radishes!" Mainly because I like a tiny little bit in salads, and that's about it.

So, this year, I decided I would find some way to preserve them. I'm pretty tickled with the results.

RADISH RELISH

INGREDIENTS
3 cups stemmed radishes
2 large ribs celery
1 large red onion
2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 tbls mustard seed
2 tsp dill seed
1/2 tsp celery seed
1 cup vinegar
2 tbls prepared horseradish

METHOD

Put the radishes, celery and onion through the coarse blade of a grinder, or chop them finely (A food processor was WAY easier than attempting to chop all this produce!) Mix with remaining ingredients and allow to stand three hours. Bring to a boil in a large pan and cook ten
 minutes. Pour into hot jars, leaving half-inch head space. Adjust lids and process 1/2 pints and pints in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.


I used the smallest jars I had, only because I really wasn't sure what this was going to taste like! I figured it would most likely get consumed in small quantities. However, it's not spicy or hot at all, but really flavourful! Will be nice on sandwiches as well as burgers or hot dogs, or even to mix in with creamy salad dressings.

How to Garden Organically in your Home with Success

Using a seed starter tray in the house can be tricky business. You've got to keep the moisture just right, or you'll run into issues that can kill your seedlings. The Tower Garden that I've just made a home for, is pretty simple, but I really wanted to see how simple it was. 

With the Rock Wool starter cubes that come with a Garden Tower, many of the regular problems are eliminated with indoor starting. Also vermiculite is included with a Garden Tower, to help the seedlings stay just moist enough to germinate in the house, and grow successfully. These little guys were planted about 3 days ago, and are already germinating. what you are seeing is a row of Certified Organic Mesclun Mix from The Cottage Gardener popping up.

This mixed package contains Arugula, Russian Red Kale, Osaka Purple mustard green, Tatsoi mustard green, Black-Seeded Simpson lettuce, Red Salad Bowl lettuce and Persian Cress. Lots of FANTASTIC greens to add to our daily diet. And, although I know there will be some cold frames in my future for growing this stuff later and earlier in the season that I normally do - It's going to be excellent to have it earlier.

AND like I said... I want to see and show that this is really a viable option for people who can't garden, but still want to be in control of their food sources.

There's also some Kale getting a little jump up there.

I am feeling extremely confident about this experiment. It helps that I've seen it in action, and tasted the food off of one, in person. I'll be writing more as this experiement continues.

For more information on the Garden Tower, see http://LPetroff.TowerGarden.com

How To Make Kids Eat Almost Stale Cupcakes...

So, I made these mini cupcakes a few days ago, and they went almost stale... you know what I`m talking about. Just this side of edible, because they had a little crunch going on.

So, I broke out the Watkins Chocolate pudding-pie filling mix. I bought some when it was on sale (I tend to stock up when things are on sale, with all things. In the long run, it saves you moolah.

There were about 20 of these mini`s left. So I broke them all up, and half went into a ziplock and into the freezer.


Watkins dessert mix is an old fashioned behaving one - You have to cook it over medium heat till it thickens. Let it cool, then pour in cups or pie filling. I poured mine in a casserole dish (one of my favourites, from my neice and her whole family.) on top of the 10 broken up mini muffins.

I`m going to let it cool and have it with tomorrows lunch - only because it`s hardly fair to load the kids up with chocolate at 6:30 and then scram to Stitch N Bitch and leave my beloved with them all wound up. hehe.


The trick with this little dessert is that the cupcakes MUST be getting snubbing reviews from your kidlets. If they are moist, they probably won`t work. This way, they are still going to be somewhat firm and not gone to mush.

I hate throwing food out. I love making left overs into new food again.

It`s a good skill to have!
Now, I must actually bring something to STITCH to Stitch N Bitch tonight.

Gimme Gimme Dirt! 2011 Disco Remix

I am so ridiculously excited for this years garden. I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe because the Universe decided I was taking a break, and my busy busy mind needs SOMETHING.

So, my seeds all came in and I divied them out to those who wanted a share. Leaving me with lots. I'm good with that, as The Cottage Gardener seeds seem to last forever and ever. (See the seed post here.)

In addition to all of those, I got some extra surprises in a "container gardening" pack I purchased. So, there's also Small Sugar Pea's, Burbank Tomatoes, A Mesclun Mix, and Little Finger Eggplant to get in there. As well as some more Columbines and Morning Glories from a seed swap.

I had to purchase a few other trays. The ones I have are buried in snow (although the pixies were good enough to dig around out there and recover one.)

I purchased only one tray with cells, two trays with only the clear lids, and 2 trays without a lid. I'm going to quickly run out of room on the top of the fridge, but with the plan of attack, hopefully some of those trays will be able to sun out in the driveway.

Because I know the 5 boxes in the back and the plot on the side yard won't be big enough for all that I've got this year, I'm collecting containers. These baskets came courtesy of the Sally Ann.



Not all of them have plastic already in them, so I'll just line them with bags and poke some drainage holes in the bottom.

However, if I can get my hands on some more milk crates, those would be awesome. I'm putting my Little Finger carrots in containers this year, as well as the radishes and a whole slew of other stuff, so I'm gonna need a bunch!

So, today I started a garden journal to keep it all straight in my head. A nice way to pass the latter half of the afternoon. I made a map of the yard, pencilled in what was going to go where, what was moving, and what stays put. There's lots to do, but I've broken it down week by week in terms of planting, moving bushes, mulching, etc.. so it's feeling very very managable.

The journal will also be helpful to keep track of if I'm breaking even. Last year I managed to, even with purchasing the soil, seeds, seedling cells and wood for starting up. (See "Soul and The Last Harvest)

Although last year my step-dad and I shovelled the soil from the transfer station ourselves. This year, I think I might have to have it delivered. However, with so much more being grown, after the weigh in, I'm still hoping to break even.

That's what I'm telling myself now. Until I need to figure out where all the extra soil is coming from for all those pots. And how much will it really end up costing me? The composter is full, and hopefully by spring will all be ready to disperse in the boxes and the garden plot...

I'll be buying some extra dollar store hand tools for the pixies this year, too, though. hehe.

Oh, have I mentioned that I want to get some worms again for vermi composting?

I'm really really excited about hands-in-the-dirt this year.

L.

Old Box, New Box. How to Jewellery Box with Paper and Podge.

Boxes for Yule... funny story, before you see the pics. I had been working on them secretly for a while, hiding them before pixies arrive home from school. Yesterday, during the day, I left them on the table to dry - and played some online game while they were drying. While playing the game, I looked at the time, realized it was time to get pixies, got ready and LEFT.

While at the school, I remembered they were on the table... So, longish story short...The pixies think I'm making them for ETSY. (They're used to seeing me working on etsy stuff all the time.) So, yay to etsy for saving Yule. hehe.


Here are some pics of the old nasty jewellery boxes that I've revamped and made GORGEOUS. I have a new found appreciation for PODGE. (I didn't buy Mod Podge by name - just some generic stuff from Minds Alive, a local store that specializes in toys and crafts and books, etc, for kids.) These jewellery boxes were those nasty orange-brown, probably from the 80's, that I saved from the thrift store. Nothing wrong with them that I couldn't fix, inside or out!



I did them both at the same time - while paint dried on one, I worked on the other. Same with the paper and the podge. (Podge can be finiky. ) to do both of them, I'm guessing I worked about 20 hours total. (sanding, layers and layers of paint, etc.)


This box is actually a tan colour, but with no sun out this morning to help me take my pics, I'm stuck with the light in my kitchen that makes EVERYTHING look yellow.

What you need:

Old jewellery box!
Sandpaper
Paint
Podge (Glossy)
Scrap booking paper (not cardstock, but not cheap thin paper either.)
Patience!

A light sand of whatever finish the nasty jewellery box has on it, will help adhere paint and papers.

I had to do many layers of paint to cover the dark colour of the jewellery box. I also hand painted everything, to make sure I didnt' make a mess. I did not paint the surfaces that I knew I was going to paper. Let the paint dry between coats. (I just used acrylics.)

Podge the painted surfaces! Be sure to put your brush in water immediately. Podge dries quickly, and it'll take forever for you to clean a dried brush.

The paper application was tricky. You can cut out the shape of the paper beforehand, or trim off the excess after, with a craft knife. Either way, you've got to be fast with the podge. Apply the podge evenly, and somewhat thinly. Press your paper on, starting at one end, moving to the other, to cut down on bubbles. (If there's too much podge, it will bubble, too.) On the big flat surfaces, I used my heavy duty marble rolling pin to help press down. IF your paper bubbles or curves at the edges, get your brush in under there with a bit of podge, and use your clean fingers to press it down.

Give the layer underneath half an hour to dry completely. Lightly sand the edges of the papers. Then, put an even layer of podge on top of the paper, being sure to be gentle with edges but cover all of them.

voila!

Be sure to let every layer you do dry completely before moving on to the next step. To see Podge in action, take a look at this video. (I found it helpful.)

Podge Video

Let me know what you think!

Handmade Project How To: Glittery Christmas Ornaments

So, it's that time of year again! Time to vaccuum off the 30 year old tree, dig out the decorations, and get on my soap box about buying handmade and vintage for Christmas.

One of my favourite things during the tree process is THE SPECIAL BOX. There's a special box in among the decorations filled with things the kids have made. Awkward doily angels, muddy painted ceramics, pen and glued construction paper. It warms my heart to go through that box and remember when the teenager was tiny with pudgy fingers, proudly presenting me with the gifts. The Pixies are JUST past their pudgy-phase, at ages 7 and 8...

Part of the festivities will be to decorate some new ones to go with the long-loved.

You don't have to be an artist to create and enjoy handmade. Here's a simple little project:

You need:
*Tubes of glitter glue
*tiny little "rhinestones"
*tweezers
*new or preferably second-hand-rescued Christmas ball ornaments



find something to hang the ball ornament on. I took a pile of mugs off of a mug tree, and hung my ornaments on it to work on.
Dot the glitter glue on in, and place a little rhinestone jewel in the center. Gently press it in the glue. Don't worry if the glue seems to come up and around the jewel - the glue will dry clear.

repeat!

This little project brings some extra sparkle to your tree, and is an easy activity to do with the kidlets. It's also an excellent way to save left-for-thrift-stores Christmas ornaments, and a cool project to resell at craft sales or Christmas bazaars.