winter pansies



less than three more months til spring, but who's counting? despite the cold winter temperatures, our fall pansies still have blooms. the books are out and i'm drawing up plans for the 2015 garden. planting in the spring is less overwhelming when you plan a little each week or so, and it helps me beat the winter blues, to envision a lush warm green garden bursting with every color of the rainbow. the pansies help too.

 

we've been balancing our unhealthy holiday eating with supplements, juices and smoothies. the delicious smoothie above had banana, mango, celery, frozen cranberries and raspberries, spirulina and chlorella. it really did taste good - you can't go wrong with bananas and raspberries in your smoothie.

 

our goal is to cut way back on processed foods (especially sugar) in 2015. it's going to be tough, but we've done it before. i'm learning the tricks - it's just putting the energy in each day. keep the kitchen stocked with fresh produce, and use it!

 

wishing you health and much happiness in the new year and beyond!!! xoxoxo

garlic, huge zucchini + a monarch butterfly

one morning last week it was a race against the rain as i rushed to get our garlic in the ground. we didn't harvest as much as last year, so for planting i had to supplement with organic cloves from the health food store. this time i planted almost seventy cloves to be sure we have enough to eat, share and replant next year. (fingers crossed the animals don't dig them up!)

 

things are still growing at the community garden. there were some gigantic zucchini in our plot waiting to be picked. that's the last of them, since i had to pull the plants to make room for the garlic. my plans are to grate and cube them, pack them with the foodsaver and freeze them for future raw and cooked breads. also, i picked a rutabaga that already went into a red lentil soup, a beet, a little red pepper, some cherry tomatoes and arugula that popped up on its own this year.

 

a beautiful butterfly kept me company while i was planting the garlic cloves. you'd think butterflies would be scarce now, but i've been seeing a lot of monarchs, and it was october when my niece and i saw all sorts of butterflies in my mom's garden. halloween used to put me in the mood for dead, spooky décor, but now i'll take my colorful plants and butterflies as long as i can!:)

 

today

this morning john and i went to the collingswood farmer's market and found some local and organic goodies, including a five-pound bag of yukon gold potatoes. when we got home i threw about half the bag in the crockpot to make oh she glows' crispy smashed potatoes (with a slight variation in the sauce using carmella's cashew cream recipe). while the potatoes were cooking i gathered some greens for a salad, then spotted kati laying on our bench from the kitchen window. all in all it was a very nice day :) i hope you're enjoying your weekend as well!

xoxoxo

in the fall garden

sunset is a magical time in the october garden, as the sun casts the last of its warm golden rays. what started as just taking pictures of a dead fig tree branch turned into a little fall photoshoot. 

(we're checking with a friend to see where we should cut the tree and to get his expert opinion on what looks like a little disease on some neighboring branches. i'll spare you those ugly pictures, and though these pictures are a bit on the blurry side, i still hope you enjoy!:)

 

xoxoxo

junie bloom

pressing flowers

kati and i did some flower pressing today and i took photos to show you how easy it is. all you need are some flowers, paper and heavy books. (a cute cat is optional :)

i picked these wildflowers on my walk to the community garden this morning. the violets were growing on the side of the road. they are new jersey's state flower (nerd alert!), and violets are edible! i get very excited when i see them. the periwinkle was planted by one of the community garden members and it's spreading all over. i love it.

so all i do is lay the flowers out nicely on a plain sheet of paper, bloom side down, making sure none are overlapping. also make sure your flowers are dry before you press them, and check that there are no ants or other little critters living inside. these heavy hardcover books that i inherited from my grandpop jake are perfect for pressing. so are phone books and textbooks. the newer flowers go to the bottom of the pile (inside the books or in between them - i do both). after the first few hours you can check to see if they need repositioning, but after that they should be left undisturbed for about a month (though i know in the beginning it's so hard not to peek!)

in the past i've used tissue paper for pressing, but i found it left creases in some of the flower petals. now i use computer paper, and sometimes i just press right inside the book. the flowers above are bachelor buttons that i pressed the summer my grandmother passed away. she loved bachelor buttons, so i'm going to use them to make a gift for my mom in remembrance of our gg ♥

storing the flowers was a bit of an issue until i just started to tape them into a composition book. oh, and labeling the flowers is a good idea, but i tend to forget.

most of the flowers grew in the garden - some i planted, and many are weeds! some of my favorite pressings are weeds wildflowers, like these lil sweeties. i've named them baby butterfly puffs. =)

do you press flowers? i can't believe how simple it is. i used to think i needed a flower press to do it (would still love one though!). you could really press flowers in any old book, and i think i may start carrying one around to press on-the-go.

"flowers are like friends; they bring color to your world."

♥

spring has sprung

finally! ♥

butterfly garden inspiration

the new year gets me excited for gardening. the first seed catalog has arrived in the mail and i'll be starting my broccoli and cabbage indoors at the end of the month. these are some photos i saved last year when planning the butterfly garden. i'm sorry i didn't save the links to the original sources.

when there's snow on the ground and the temperatures are well below freezing, it's nice to sit and dream of warmer days in the garden. this year i'm going with the idea 'less is more'. this way i can focus on growing healthier plants rather than just trying to grow whatever i can get my hands on. our plants get lost in the weeds that way, but we'll see if i can limit myself when the time comes.

happy 2014!
may it be a wonderful year for you and your family
(furbabies included of course.=)

xoxoxo

lemon queens

the weather was so beautiful tuesday and the skies so blue. i'm glad i spent some time in our garden, savoring the last of our blooms. it's almost time to put the garden to bed until spring.

i planted three varieties of sunflower this year : mammoth, autumn beauty and lemon queens. instead of planting them all one day like i usually do, i spaced out the plantings from april til july. the goal was to have sunflowers blooming all summer long, and it worked!

these lemon queens are the last of them. john and i guess that there were over 20 sunflower plants in our garden this year. pretty to look at, but not so fun to dispose of! that's the glamorous part of gardening the books always leave out. but i'll be sure to include it in my book. chapter 12 : what to do with your 10 foot sunflower carcasses.=)

after the squirrels were fed, i collected some seeds for next year's garden. just lopped off some dead sunflower heads and dried them in the basement. with luck those seeds will grow and i'll save myself a few dollars on seed packets.

pink cosmos

the bees were out today collecting the last of the nectar. we have a couple more weeks until our average first frost and the cosmos are still in full bloom, though most have toppled over from wind and neglect. next year i'd like to remember to stake my plants before they get all huge and heavy.

still growing

the 2013 garden wasn't as well-planned as in previous years. the carrots were pulled late and there was a big old space to fill mid-june. the edamame didn't come up and time was a-ticking. (not one edamame plant came up out of dozens of seeds. maybe a sign for me to avoid soybeans too?)

i knew it was late to plant watermelon but saw no harm in trying. john was so excited we were growing watermelon and checked on only those plants all summer. i had no hope for them when there wasn't a sign of fruit until august. but they kept growing, and the weather stayed pretty warm. we picked two delicious mature melons the first week of fall and have three more still on the vine!

last fall i propagated an echinacea plant all over the garden. i've been happy to notice more and more looking strong and healthy, some even pushing out late blooms. me and the bees love it!

so here is my happy place. squatting in the garden, rubbing the kakers. it's extra special when john comes out to watch and makes cat noises while i rub. she loves the attention, but only in the garden. try to pet her like that in the house and she'll bite. don't be fooled by the sweet demeanor!

enjoy your day!
xoxoxo