Winter Sowing 2016

I apologize for the lack of content for the past two weeks. I've been super busy with work and other things. And besides, it's hard to come up with a lot of content when you're trying to dig yourself out from a blizzard.

I started this year's first batch of winter sowing today. I decided to try those compostable, peat pots versus styrofoam or plastic cups and this year I am using a soil-less, seed starting mix. Besides being able to plant them directly in the ground, I'm also hoping the peat pots will help with maintaining moisture when the weather heats up.

If you'd like a little more information about what Winter Sowing is, check out the WinterSown website.

If you can remember, last year's attempt at using a potting mix and planting directly into my winter sowing tubs was a flop.

I'm not going too bonkers with perennials, as we are putting the house up for sale in about 6 weeks (eeek!), but mostly I am doing this for science to see what combination of growing medium and container works best.

Here, I have mostly columbines, poppies, and nasturtium. These perennials need the longest stratification time in the cold weather.

I started one other tub along with this one which had some borage and Giant from Italy Parsley. I remember last year I didn't winter sow the parsley and I was sorry for it because the seeds didn't sprout when I planted them later. I sure did miss that parsley last year! I'm going to winter sow some more of it in March, as my previous notes weren't clear on whether I started it in January or in March.

Oh well, we're almost into February, so it's not that far off anyway!

Gratuitous Kitteh Monday

So, um, yeah...we had a bit of snow this past weekend. You may have heard of it?

Back to shoveling...

Gratuitous Kitteh Monday

Boyle's Law of Cat Thermodynamics:

"Heat flows from a warmer to a cooler body, except in the case of a cat, in which case all heat flows to the cat."

Brrrr...we have frostbite warnings for today and the temps will barely get out of the teens.

I don't know how he does it, but Leo LOVES to lay right in front of the fire. Occasionally, me or my husband will sit on the stone hearth to warm up after a chill, but we can only take a few minutes of it as it gets HOT.

Neither Chaz or Miss Thang does this, but Leo seems to relish in roasting himself for as long as he can take it. I half expect to smell burning fur at any time.

Ugly Furniture Series: Blue Chair After

This past weekend, hubby and I drove up to pick up my reupholstered ugly blue chair. But before the reveal, a reminder of what we were working with:

That fabric, those flappy pieces of whatever on the front arms, that squattable height. UGH! This chair was certainly an ugly duckling. I originally purchased it off Craigslist last year and it has sat in my basement since then. That's were all my old, ugly furniture goes...my dirty, little secret. 

But, I saw potential in those big, beefy arms and that masculine frame and this is what it looks like today:

I decided on a dark blue microfiber, as it was very durable and reasonable in price. I was initially looking at velvet or mohair, but I wasn't feeling it and I think that it would make the already beefy chair look more bulky. I hindsight, I might have gone with a more masculine, weave-type fabric like tweed to make the chair look more unique, but for a no-name, mid-century ugly duckling, this is a HUGE improvement. 

Besides updating the fabric, springs, cushions and padding, I changed out the old legs to these beautiful, walnut ones I purchased from a craftsman in Vermont. It sounds fancy, but the price was extremely affordable. 

The old legs were pretty beat up and were missing some of the ferrules. Plus, the old legs were only 5 1/2" long and made it hard to even sit in and get out of the chair, so I had the new legs made at 7".

I am still on the fence if these legs are TOO long. I dunno...I reached out to some of my peeps on Houzz for feedback and it's been mixed. 

What do you think? Are the legs too long?

As it is, the chair kinda reminds me of one of those bodybuilders who forgets leg day at the gym.

The seat height is 19" at the top of the cushion and it is comfortable to get in and out of. I've thought of either shortening the current legs by 3/4" or ordering newer, bulkier legs to match the chair's style. For now, it is growing on me and I do love it. 

But overall, I am thrilled with how it came out. It was a little more expensive to have done than my last chair, but I definitely paid less than what I would have for a real, reupholstered mid-century chair from a showroom or designer.  

Gratuitous Kitteh Monday

Well, Leo is just a tad over 7 months old and is drop-dead gorgeous, dontcha' think?

First off, can I just say how weird it is that it was warm enough over the weekend to let the kittehs out on the back patio porch IN JANUARY???!!

Anyway, back to the cute kittehs...

This one has definitely been the most destructive kitteh I've ever owned, by far. I feel guilty to admit that it's been touch-and-go on many, many occasions on whether we should give him back up for adoption with our veterinarian.

He's broken a few (expensive) things and ruined a few (expensive) things, most recently he's had an elimination accident that we are accounting to recovery from surgery (standard surgery). We had to throw away a $200 memory foam mattress topper and have some professional spot cleaning done on the carpet. Knock on wood that it was that only time and he hasn't had any issues since.

There were actually two other times where he did not make it to the litter box: When we first brought him home, he was playing with Chaz in our master bedroom with the door closed and he peed on the bed. Second, when we moved his litter box from his "kitten room" down to the basement, he got confused and peed on his plastic kitty tunnel toy. This last time, he had surgery and was quarantined in his "kitten room" (our spare bedroom) and must have not liked the temporary litter that he had to use, so he peed on the bed and in a corner. 

I have never had a cat that had an accident outside of their litter box...ever...so this makes me very, very nervous. I've heard horror stories of people who own cats that are notorious "pee-ers" and I'm ashamed to admit that I won't keep a destructive cat in my house. 

On top of this, I've noticed that he has a very different temperament than Chaz and Miss Thang. He's more skittish and not as sociable, plus Chaz and Miss Thang still really don't care to hang out with him. All of this combined makes me really nervous about the cat he will become and the voice in the back of my head tells me that he'd be easier to re-adopt out now while he is a kitten, than as an adult with issues.  

For now, I am taking it one day at a time and I'm praying these 3 incidents are isolated and explainable. About once a week, I take my CSI black light and go through the house to check, which has also led to some very "interesting" conversations with my husband about his...umm...aim in the bathroom. 

What is seen cannot be unseen. LOL!

Painted Kitchen Cabinets: 6 Months Later

I have a love/hate relationship with white kitchen cabinets.

I love how clean, open, and modern they make a kitchen look, but I hate that they show every smudge, drip, and finger print. I had white kitchen cabinets in my house in Florida and I was always on the lookout and wiping them down. I swore that I would never have white kitchen cabinets again...ahem. Well, people change, right?

It's been a tad bit over 6 months since I finished painting the kitchen cabinets and they have cured and held up WONDERFULLY!

I have only had 1 chip in the paint on an upper cabinet, and that is from me hitting the cabinet pretty hard with a glass measuring cup when I was pulling it out for use. Somehow, I had underestimated where the cabinet door was or I was distracted/in a hurry and hit the door pretty hard. This is the result:

No biggie. A little sanding, a drop of primer or two, and a touch of paint will make that good as new. That IS one of the benefits of painting your cabinets though, when you have a scratch, it's easy to fix. If I had taken a chunk out of a pre-fabbed cabinet, I wouldn't be able to match the paint.

Otherwise, the rest of the cabinets get a scuff or drip here and there. Mostly, I just wipe off with a damp washcloth, but for scuffs from silverware or stainless steel bowls, I VERY LIGHTLY buff them out with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

I've not seen any wearing-down/scuffing of the paint when I do this, even if I have to use a little elbow grease on tougher scuffs. That's a benefit of having white cabinets too. I know others who have painted their cabinets darker colors and have wiped-off scuff marks which later show. I attribute this also to the type of paint you use.

Overall, my husband and I are VERY happy with how the Benjamin Moore's INSL-X Cabinet Coat paint has held up and we've had many compliments. You can now get it at Home Depot too.

Would I do it again if I needed to? Absolutely, and may HAVE to depending on what type of house we buy next and where we want to spend money. However, next time I would invest in a sprayer to get that perfect, manufactured finish and to save time.

How to Use a Pressure Cooker: Risotto in 10 Minutes!

You know, every time I discover an easier technique for doing something, I ask myself, "Why have I been doing it the hard way for all this time?"

Such is the case for pressure cooker risotto. I was convinced, I SWORE the only way you could have creamy, tender risotto that's full of flavor, was to cook it over the stove-top and ladle-stir, ladle-stir, ladle-stir until your feet were tired from standing and your stomach was growling. So, risotto had become one of those "special dishes" that I made very rarely, and that is sad because I love it so, so much.

I tried a technique a long time ago that required me to bake the risotto in the oven and at the end, it made me want to cry. So, I've spied this technique from Lorna Sass' Pressure Perfect for years and never got around to it. I was convinced that it was going to be a flop; risotto is an art form! But I was wrong. SO. WRONG.

Friends, lovers, Maytag repairmen, I give you perfect, creamy, delicious risotto IN 10 MINUTES!

You're welcome!

Pressure Cooker Risotto in 10 Minutes
Recipe modified from: Lorna Sass, Pressure Perfect 

Mushroom Parmesan Risotto 

3 cups clean, chopped fresh mushrooms (I used shiitake)
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup minced shallot
1 minced clove garlic
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry, white wine
3 1/2 - 4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Minced, fresh parsley

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and saute the mushrooms until they start to release their liquid, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in your pressure cooker over med-high heat and saute the shallot till soft, about 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add arborio rice to shallot mixture and cook over high heat for 1-3 minutes, stirring continually, making sure all the rice is coated in butter and none is sticking to the sides or bottom.

Add wine to rice mixture (it will sputtter when added) and stir continually until all the wine is absorbed. Add 3 1/2 cups of the chicken broth and the cooked mushrooms to the rice mixture. Attach the lid to your pressure cooker, seal, and bring to pressure over high heat. Once pressurized, turn heat to low and cook for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, remove pressure cooker from the heating element and perform a fast pressure release. After depressurized, remove pressure cooker lid (opening away from you) and return the pressure cooker pot to the heating element. The risotto will look soupy at this point. Cook over high heat, stirring continually, until all the liquid is absorbed, about 3 minutes. If the risotto needs more time to cook to your liking, add the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken broth and continue to cook/stir until done. I like mine a little creamier than al dente.

When done, remove pot from heating element, add Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste, and stir till mixed well. Garnish with parsley and additional grated Parmesan if desired.

Pour yourself a glass of wine and dig in!

7 Design Trends We Need to Leave Behind in 2015

Happy New Year everyone! If you've followed along for the past couple of months, you'll know that my husband and I are selling our home next year and moving back to the "burbs".

I'm looking forward to starting a fresh pallet, design-wise, but it got me thinking of some popular design trends I would love to see left behind in 2015:

1. Keep Calm

Stop telling me what to do!

from ebay.com

2. Animal Heads Everywhere

I'm looking at you, Target.

It's time to retire the faux antlers.

from Target.com

3. Industrial Decor

Unless you live in an abandoned factory or in a Restoration Hardware catalog, large, rusty pieces of machinery parts don't belong in your home. 

from architechtureartdesigns.com

4. Pallet Furniture

Just. Stop.

from spaceshanty.hubpages.com

5. Tiny Houses

Aren't these essentially trailers or mobile homes? Why is this a thing?

from curbed.com

6. Shabby Rustic Farmhouse Chic

We are not elderly women who live in vintage farmhouses.

(cough...Joanna Gaines)

from decoracion.facilisimo.com

7. Crazy Gallery Walls

Keep Calm and Dial It Down.

from rachelschultz.wordpress.com

Are there any design trends you would like to see left behind in 2015?  

I hope that you, your families, and friends have a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2016; Happy New Year everyone!

2015 Garden in Review

This past gardening season wasn’t as cohesive as I wanted it to be, but it was definitely a learning experience!

The kitchen upgrade earlier this year took a lot of the starch, time, and energy out of my sails, so I didn’t devote as much of myself to the garden later in the year.  I know hindsight is 20/20 and wished I knew we were getting ready to list the house this coming year, as I would have enjoyed the garden more.

Of the 2 or 3 things I am going to miss most about where we live now, the garden is one of them. It always is. Still, I am going to plan for a garden next year, as you never know how long your house will sit on the market, especially in a rural area.

Winter/Spring

This year’s winter sowing was a disappointment. I used a different approach and a different growing medium and both were a flop. Next year, it’s back to a soilless growing mix and I will try a combo of growing in cups and tubs.

Still, I had a ton of tomatoes come up and that’s what matters most, right? :-)

Spring

This year I tried a few new things and fava beans were one of them. What I DIDN’T know is that you really need to plant them very close together (at least with the Broad Windsor Fava Beans I grew), as what came up were lanky, vine-y things. I only got a handful of beans out of what I planted, as they were too far spaced out and not enough of them were planted.

I learned my greens DO NOT like the sunnier, front beds.  I grew 2 beds of greens and only got harvest really from one: the shadier back bed.

Late Spring/Early Summer

Lot’s of new things happened this spring! I grew and harvested a new favorite: Fingerling Potatoes! I am definitely growing those again next year.

The Bristow Black Raspberry gave me a nice harvest…about a pint or two. Still, none of them made it inside, as all berries were eaten on the spot!

The Mammoth Melting Sugar Peas were a good, solid stand-by.

My hollyhocks from the previous year finally bloomed! Heaven. Supposedly, they come back for a third year in milder areas. Here's hoping!

Summer

Last year, I grew a cover crop of hairy vetch to see how my tomatoes would do in the bed afterwards. It turns out pretty darn good! I planted my heirloom, winter sowed tomato plants in them and they did much better than my hybrids. The beds had less erosion afterwards as well.

I stuck to my word and only grew tomatoes I would eat. I didn’t have the 250 lb. haul from the previous year….maybe half of that, but it was still enough for me and my husband to enjoy and can/preserve.

Zucchini were new to me this year as well. I know…how have I gone this long and never grown zucchini? I liked them a lot, but was plagued by squash bugs and squash vine borers. Next year, I will use crop covers to keep the critters out!

I tried White Wonder cucumbers this year. They were a gift seed pack from one of the seed companies I ordered from. Check out these alien looking things!

I liked them though and think I will grow them again next year from some fun looking pickles. They didn’t do that great where they were planted this year. Too much shade.

My garlic did MUCH better than the previous year where it did not get as much sun. I have another batch growing in the front beds as we speak. I ordered some new cloves to plant and made a point to label them this time.

Late Summer/Early Fall

Heat and lack of rain were a big problem this year. We had a wet spring, but June-September was brutal. I learned how to pump water from my rain barrels with an electric pump, and my tomatoes were taken over early by blight.

It was strange this year. The crows that plagued me last year were scarce. They gave a weak attempt at stealing some green tomatoes early in the season, but after that they kept away. I think they figured out that a "mean garden witch" lives at this house and will run out and chase them away if they hang out in the yard or near the garden. I know that crows are very smart and can remember and even identify people, so I'm hoping this memory will carry over to next year and they will stay away!

My “mysterious monster vine” that volunteered and took over my cukes turned out to be boring, decorative gourds. Still, they were fun for Halloween and fall.

My bush beans did great as usual and had enough from 2 beds to can about 10-12 quarts.

That’s it for this year! I didn’t plant beets and carrots like I wanted, but I still had a great season. I took some time to take notes of what I would and wouldn’t do for next year:

• Remove as much of the yellow coneflower from the back bed – it’s a beast!
• Put down row covers over zucchini – keep out squash vine borers and squash bugs
• Put down Merit on irises in spring – keep out iris borers
• Plant tomatoes in a single row instead of double row – I think my toms would do better this way with having more sunlight and airflow
• Don’t use rabbit poop! – I did this this year and felt like my plants didn’t like it…they didn’t thrive like previous years, despite all the other things I do
• Plant greens in back beds where they get more shade – they don’t like sun!
• Protect zinnia sprouts from slugs – Every year I grow zinnias and every year the slugs eat most of them before they are big enough to fend them off
• Watch for ants eating phlox sprouts – We do actually have fire ants up here and they LOVE newly tender phlox sprouts. They almost killed the one plant I have.
• Plant fava beans close together – they don’t need much space at all
• Don’t use Japanese Beetle trap – I tried this this year and felt like the damn thing BROUGHT more beetles to the yard than anything else
• Add as much organic matter to back beds when planting – I don’t think this will matter much, as I won’t be planting new plants due to potential house selling
• Add wood ashes to garden beds & compost – I didn’t do that this year and could see a difference
• Start parsley seeds as early winter sowing, they don’t like direct seeding – And won’t sprout if planted later
• Spray hollyhocks with fungicide early for rust – Get them early BEFORE you see rust