MaryJane's Farm

Here's a little more garden inspiration as we head into the weekend. Follow this link to watch several videos about MaryJane's Farm, an organic farm in Moscow, Idaho. The videos are sure to get you fired up to start planning your garden! Happy seed sowing!




Photo by MaryJane Butters.

Carrots and tomatoes: A vegetable love story. Part 2

I've never grown carrots. I don't really know why, but it's probably because I've been too lazy to put in the time needed to prep the soil. And probably because it just never really occurred to me to try to grow them.

But what kind of a cruel, heartless gardener would I be if I denied my tomatoes the love of their carrots? So, my seed order includes two varieties of carrots. I like my carrots really sweet, so I chose two varieties that sounded like they'd be up to the task.

Sugarsnax 54 carrots are described as super tasty, sweet, and tender. (Excellent.) They have an extra high beta-carotene content--which explains their rich, dark orange color--and they grow about 9 inches long.

The Yaya carrot (how could I refuse a carrot with that name?) is a very sweet, crisp carrot that grows about 6 inches long. It holds well in the ground, so it's a good choice for a fall crop, and the cooler weather of fall adds extra sweetness.

We already know the story of how tomatoes and carrots met and fell in love, according to the book "Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening" by Louise Riotte. But carrots have other friends, too. Onions, leeks, and herbs such as rosemary and sage help repel the carrot fly. Carrots do well planted with lettuce and radishes, which sure makes it easy to collect all the fixins' for a salad! And carrots grow and taste better when near chives. In general, beans thrive when carrots are planted between them. Peas also benefit from carrots.

Carrots aren't particularly fond of dill. If they are planted near each other and the dill matures, it will reduce the carrot crop.

Other good tidbits about carrots: Store them away from apples or the carrots will become bitter. Sufficient lime, humus and potash is needed for a sweet-tasting carrot, and too much nitrogen will make them bitter.

Carrots and tomatoes: A vegetable love story. Part 1.

Aw, shucks. I'm a sucker for a good love story. Even if it's just about vegetables.

In my efforts to prepare for spring, I've been reading a lot about companion gardening. If this concept is new to you, it's basically just the planting of particular plants together (or away from each other) based on their ability to assist each other to grow (or not) or to repel insects. It's fascinating stuff, especially for geeky science types like meself.

Over the weekend I saw my friend, Ann. She's an avid gardener and can get anything to grow anywhere. You know the type: your tomatoes are 3 feet tall, and her tomatoes are 10 feet tall and eat small children for breakfast. Anyway, she lent me the book, "Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening" by Louise Riotte, and I read the whole thing cover to cover during our 8-hour drive home from NM yesterday. I read the good and juicy parts aloud to my husband as he drove. Sometimes I read to myself and said, "huh" and "wow" a lot.

And of course now I am totally obsessed with planning my garden. It's the first year I'll have a real garden at this house, and I'm pretty much starting with a blank slate. Today I ventured out to the nursery to buy my first packets of seeds, and I have an online order for more seeds and plants that I'm ready to submit tonight (pending approval of the outrageous final cost by my husband...).

My first vegetable love fest will need to involve tomatoes. I love growing tomatoes. Today I bought seeds for Brandywine and Roma VFN tomatoes. My online order will be for Sweet Million (a cherry tomato) and three more tomatoes for making sauces/paste/salsa: Oroma, Viva Italia, and Saucey Tomato.


Brandywine is an heirloom tomato that dates back to 1885. The fruits have a very large beefsteak shape, grow on unusually upright plants, and develop an incredible fine, sweet flavor. Fruits average 1 pound each.




Roma VFN produces heavy yields of 3" long plum-shaped tomatoes that have very few seeds. It's one of the most popular varieties for paste, sauce, ketchup, and canning. The Oroma peels easily to make thick tomato sauce and paste. The 1 1/4 inch wide by 5 inch long fruit average about 4 ounces and have a thick, meaty wall. Viva Italia is another sauce tomato that has great fresh flavor and abundant mid-season yields. The Saucey Tomato is early producing and out-yields other varieties in its class. It has great tomato sauce flavor and will hold well on the plant, allowing for one large harvest for intense sauce or salsa making.


Sweet Million Tomatoes are "two-bite" size cherry tomatoes that grow in grape-like clusters and have a great sweet flavor.

So, what do tomatoes love? Well, carrots, for one. But they'll share the love with asparagus, and when planted nearby will protect it from the asparagus beetle. Tomatoes also play well with chives, onion, parsley, marigold, and nasturtium. Planting garlic bulbs between tomato plants helps repel red spider mites.

Interestingly, tomatoes protect roses against black spot, and if you can't plant the two in close proximity, you can make a solution of tomato leaves in a vegetable juicer, add 4 or 5 pints of water and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Mix, strain, and spray on roses. Any unused spray can be refrigerated.

But tomatoes don't love everyone. They dislike potatoes, fennel, and members of the cabbage family, so they shouldn't be planted near each other. And the tomato fruitworm is identical to the corn earworm, so don't plant your tomatoes near your corn.

Spring flowers

I went to visit my parents in New Mexico this past weekend. There are several possible routes to take to get there, but the most direct one takes you through the San Juan Mountains outside of Durango, CO. Coming out of the mountains, my first stop is always at the market at James Ranch for some of their artisan cheese and pork. If you ever find yourself in the Durango area, be sure to check them out. In the summer they also have wonderful produce and gorgeous cut flowers.

As we were getting ready to leave, a woman showed up with the most beautiful arrangements of potted flowers--tulips, daffodils, freesia, and miniature sunflowers. They were all potted in fun little pots, topped with moss, and arranged with interesting dried twigs and branches. I bought a tulip and daffodil arrangement for my mom and a miniature sunflower for a friend who loves sunflowers. I was a little sad that the heat of the car (over the remaining 4 hours of our drive) caused the tulips to open up so much, but my mom still liked them.

The tulips are such a pretty pink, and the daffodils will probably open in a few days and will give my mom several more days of spring happiness.

I've never heard of miniature sunflowers, and now that I know they exist I'll have to plant some! Once the flower opens I think it will be such a bright patch of happiness! And I love the pot it came in.

It's a dog's life

I was visiting my parents this weekend, so Sadie got to spend some quality time with her sister, Lucy. When they get together they spend all day outside chasing sticks or chasing rabbits (which always outsmart them) or watching birds. Some days they also have their own fake version of WWE Smackdown. My dog, the Thug Bug, usually wins. (But I think Lucy lets her.)

In the evenings, they come inside and fight over tiny remnants of old squeaky toys. A tiny scrap of an old toy keeps them entertained for hours. At night they have a slumber party in the living room, surrounded by fluff (usually from a recently destroyed squeaky toy or, in this case, from Lucy’s bed, which she likes to eat in her spare time). It’s not long before you can hear Sadie snoring. It’s really sort of embarrassing how loud she is.


Millie, my dad’s ever vigilant Border Collie (and a case study in neurotic herding behavior), keeps a close eye on them.

Trapper (name picked by my dad, unfortunately) is the newest addition to the family. He’s the resident case study in neurotic stick-chasing behavior. My dad found him on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere just a few days away from death.

Now that he’s been nursed back to health, he’s too cool to be caught at a slumber party. So, he gets “The Chair.” It’s the only piece of furniture the dogs are allowed to get on. When Sadie isn’t around to keep her preoccupied, Lucy sits around dreaming up ways to get Trapper out of the chair. My mom said Lucy’s been known to bark at nothing in particular, and as soon as Trapper comes to see what the fuss is about, she darts into the room and gets in the chair. I think those people who say that dogs can’t reason have never actually been around dogs.

Trapper went to bed early last night, and guess where Lucy went? Ah, a dog's life...

Blueberry snail

LOVE this photo!

by Sriluka via Creature Comforts.

Teak bath

I sincerely thank Katie Chambers over at Ink and Post for pointing out this amazing teak tub from Water Monopoly. I am ga-ga over it!! I'm the biggest fan of teak, and I love everything else in the photo, too--the concrete floors, the huge wall of windows, the lush greenery. Sigh...

Make a little birdhouse in your soul

My thumb is starting to turn green just thinking about spring.

I'm starting to plan the layout of the garden and all our landscaping projects, but it's such a challenge to have a giant blank slate to deal with. I want to make the best use of every square inch of the area!

I need to have it figured out soon because I'm hoping to start some seeds in the next few weeks.

I can hear my mom's heart starting to beat faster. She's probably locking her door right now. Two years ago I was at her house over New Year's. We were snowed in, so I thought "What better time to start some seeds?" (In her neck of the woods, a better time would have been March or April, but I digress...). I went nuts. I planted tomatoes, zucchini, cantaloupe, a variety of herbs, and a few other things that I've blocked from memory. I set up trays with those little compressed peat moss disks in them. They were in every window sill in every room in her house. They started to grow. And then some of them just really took off. Pretty soon she was transplanting the tomato plants into pots. Then she moved them to bigger pots. Then she brought folding tables into her bedroom to hold all the pots. When they were so big that they could attack her in her sleep, I knew I had messed up.

By early May, she couldn't stand it anymore. Against her better judgment, she finally planted them outside. I think they lasted for about two days before most of them were killed by a late frost. I learned my lesson.

To prevent any premature seed sprouting, I'm distracting myself by looking for fun "yard art" for the garden. My father-in-law's property is covered in bird houses (by a previous owner with a great sense of humor), and it is so much fun to walk around and discover them. The other day when I was rummaging around on the Origin Crafts site, I found these fun little abodes for my feathered friends.


I love the covered porch on the one in the middle, below.




These little tin houses are so cheery. I love the curly monkey tails.





This house is for the no-nonsense bird.






This house is probably the weekend retreat for the city birds.



I'll probably need a few feeders like these to encourage the birds to stick around.


Origin Crafts has a lot of other great birdhouses in all price ranges on their website.

Moss centerpieces

There is a long list of things I obsess over (such as glass jars, baskets and cubbies for storing things, pretty soaps and candles, carpets and textiles, lovely wrapping paper and ribbons, and succulents, to name a few...). But now I have a new addition to the list: moss. Weird, huh? But seeing it used in arrangements like these makes me want to run out and buy a truckload of it.






Images from Viva Terra, Country Living, Pottery Barn, and French Pedestals and Dreams.

Glass wine bottles

Many, many moons ago, my dad was in Italy and brought some fantastic, gigantic glass wine bottles for my mom. They are quite similar to the ones in this photo below, from Remodelista. I've always loved them, but I haven't yet figured out a way to smuggle them out of the house without my mom noticing...

In the past few days I've seen several similar bottles--as well as some smaller, more manageable versions--online. I'm always on the lookout for lovely glass bottles, cannisters, and vases, but the fact that I've seen so many of these bottles recently is probably a sign that I should try to snatch my mom's bottles when I see her this weekend. :)



Yep, my parents' bottles look almost identical to these 19th century 10-liter French wine bottles/carboys, above. Only $285 each at Ruby Lane (via Remodelista)



Here's a smaller (i.e., less expensive) version from Origin Crafts (via Remodelista)



Rummaging around the Origin Crafts website, I also found this wonderful hanging vase, above, which is available in several other colors.

Coraline the movie

A while back I mentioned the upcoming movie, "Coraline." Well, it's in theatres now and my husband and I saw it this weekend. In case you haven't heard about the movie, it is a stop motion animated 3D movie, and the entire set--the puppets, their clothing, the trees and grass--is made by hand. I was blown away by the movie; the sets are fantastic. Even my husband said "Terrific!"

You can see more about how the movie was made and watch the trailer here.

Lip smackin' good chili

My husband is a picky eater. Don't get me wrong--he'll eat anything I put in front of him, and will usually even have a second helping. But when he actually comments that something is "good," it makes my day. And when he raves about it, I know I have a major winner on my hands.

Such is the case with this chili recipe I found on epicurious.com a while back. I am trying to clean out my fridge and pantry and recipes like this are good for that sort of thing, so I decided to cook it for dinner last night. Without further ado, I present the Pork, Beef, and Black Bean Chili of Parker Ranch Grill, Kamuela, Hawaii (from the November 2002 issue of Bon Appetit), via epicurious.com.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1 pound chuck steak, fat trimmed, cut into 1-inch cubes (I didn't have any handy, so I left this out)
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups water
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 6-ounce cans tomato paste
2 teaspoons sugar
3 cups diced fresh tomatoes
3 cups diced onions (I used one white onion and half of a red onion)
3 cups diced red bell peppers (I used one whole red and one whole orange pepper)
3 cups canned black beans, drained, rinsed (from three 15-ounce cans)
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 3/4 cups (about) beef broth
Grated cheddar cheese

Important note before you start:
The instructions say to use a large pot and they mean it! I use a 5.5-quart round Le Creuset French Oven when I make this, and it is full to the tippy-top once I add everything. Also, the recipe says this makes 8 to 10 servings, but I think it's probably closer to 10-12 unless you're feeding professional football players!

Instructions:
Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add ground pork and ground beef and saute until brown, about 3 minutes. (At this point I usually drain the fat off even though the recipe doesn't say to.) Add cubed beef and garlic and saute 5 minutes. Add 2 cups water; bring to boil. Add cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt, and cayenne pepper. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and sugar and simmer 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, onions, and peppers and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Add black beans and cilantro. Add beef broth 3/4 cup at a time until thinned to desired consistency. Bring chili to simmer. Ladle hot chili into bowls; top with grated cheese and serve. (My husband eats it this way. I prefer to add a dollop [or two!] of sour cream to the chili and then have on the side a tortilla covered with melted cheddar cheese. Mmmmmm...)



Bon Appetit!

Paper heart

My husband and I agreed not to exchange gifts for Valentine's day this year. Part of the reason is that we're both on diets (no chocolate!), but we've also noticed that one of our favorite restaurants in our small town has been struggling a bit lately. Even though our area's local economy is still strong, I think people are hesitant to spend too many nights out just in case a job loss is around the corner. We've also really cut back on eating out (that diet thing, again), but we decided that we'd skip the Valentine's gifts and instead do our part to support the restaurant by having dinner there a few times this month.

I still wanted to have something to give him on the most romantic of all days, but it needed to be free if I am to follow the rules. So, I used up some old paper (the most masculine I could find that still included some pink) and made a cute little paper heart pouch using instructions I found over at Maya Made. I still haven't decided what I'll put in it. I thought about putting in a few hershey kisses, but that would break several rules. Then I thought about writing a short love poem or quote, but I haven't found any that I really like. Any suggestions?

Anyway, here's what my paper heart looks like. You can find the directions and other samples over at Maya's blog. Be sure to check out all her other great heart-themed projects, too!

Warm wood

Oh, my gosh. I am in love with this home in the village of Ross on Wye in Herfordshire that was just featured on Remodelista! I love all the wood (especially the floors!) and the use of the large framed mirror on the washstand.

Pocket board

I'm still mulling around ideas for a bulletin board of some sort. I just saw this DIY pocket board over at Country Living that uses a pretty picture frame and some mat board, and I think it just moved up into the top five ideas I've seen.

To make this, cut a mat board to fit the frame. Cut additional strips of mat board to the same width as the frame. To create a decorative look, glue seamstress's tape to the top edge of each strip. Working from top to bottom, create "pockets" by gluing the bottom edge of the strips to the board with hot glue. Overlap strips as you go. Fit the mat into the frame and secure it to the back of the frame with hot glue or a few brads.

Poppies

I love poppies! Here's a lovely photo of a red poppy over at Flickr. Happy Friday, and have a great weekend!

Stone patio

I just love this patio at a small inn and spa in Mallorca, Spain! I found the photo, along with several others from this property, over at Remodelista. The refurbished building used to be a decaying rustic farmhouse and olive oil mill dating back to the 18th century. I would give my two front teeth to have a property like this and the means to refurbish it. Just looking at the photo makes me feel relaxed, and I can't wait to get to work on my own patio this spring.

Ready for spring

I'm starting to notice the subtle signs that spring is coming--the change in light in the mornings, the new buds showing up on some of the trees, and the crews hard at work pruning the peach trees in the orchards around me. I'm feeling more antsy now, ready to replace the dull gray of winter with the colors of spring and summer, like this amazing photo from flickr.

Fabulous cabin

I saw this fabulous cabin over at Mountain Living, and I just love it. On the architect's website they describe it as a 1,000 square-foot weekend cabin that is basically a steel box on stilts. It has 10’ x 18’ steel shutters that can be closed when the owner is away. The 20’ x 20’ square footprint rises three stories and is topped by the living room/kitchen. Wow.

Photos by Tim Bies and Benjamin Benschneider. Architect Tom Kundig of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects in Seattle, WA.


Have a happy Monday!