With Halloween behind us, you might think about throwing out your pumpkins and squash, but there's still a lot of decorating you can do with them. A fun and simple use of the minis is to make tiny little arrangements. To get started, choose your pumpkin:
Then cut out the top, remove it, and scoop out all the seeds:
Then, fill it with a little water and the greenery or flowers of your choice:
Leaves make pretty filler too:
Tip: If you have a hard time getting the filler to stay in place, use a little rubber band to secure the bundle together before you place it in the pumpkin and it will stay nicely:
The costs of decorating your home for any holiday season can really add up and finding pieces that can work for more than one holiday is always helpful. Cloth napkins are a great place to start because they are a small item with a big impact.
Consider plaid. There are so many cool combinations that you can make them work from October through December. For example, the red in these napkins is more of a rusty red, with the yellows, browns, and greens of autumn which you can find in squash, florals, and foliage widely available in October and November and then of course, they're easily integrated into your December table. Today, I'm focusing on showing how you can use them in October and November.
To further cut costs, visit the fabric store or a thrift shop, look for a plaid that you love and make the napkins yourself!
After Halloween, make sure to keep all your little pumpkins and squash for decorative purposes through November. They add such color and cheer to your home. And stay tuned for my next post that will show you how to make cute simple arrangements with your mini pumpkins!
If you've been following along with me for a while, you know I love to forage for pretty greens, fruits, and flowers that can be used in floral arrangements. September is such a sweet month where nature is sort of holding its breath in anticipation of the leaves turning and falling. In the lead up to the leaf change, the greenery of September is so beautiful and worth a trip outdoors to gather it up.
I really like having different bits of texture in my arrangements and in thinking about all of the elements I would gather, my first thought was walnuts. The walnut fruit is about the size of a plum and a great green color. The shell and nutmeat lie beneath the green exterior:
Next, since we're in full pumpkin harvest, I thought some tiny white pumpkins on the vine would be a fun addition so I clipped a few and added them to my bucket:
Some tiny green crabapples with foliage that is beginning to turn:
And some chives and sage from my herb garden:
To get started, I cut some floral foam down to fit my vessel, soaked it, and placed it inside (Click here to see a tutorial on a project using floral foam):
Then I just added in foliage bit by bit, adjusting as I went along, clipping back some of the branches if they were too big, and simply adjusting until I liked how it looked. There's no perfect way, just what's appealing to you:
We celebrated my mother and father-in-law's 50th wedding anniversary this week. Colin is one of six siblings and there are sixteen grandchildren. I think mostly because we're such a big family and to keep it as intimate as possible, my parents-in-law decided to keep the celebration to just the 32 of us. The six siblings all took part in putting the party together and asked me to be responsible for the centerpieces for the table. Because it was such a momentous occasion, I wanted to do more than just a few centerpieces on the long table. I wanted it to be enormous - to really make a statement, reflecting this big day.
To give the runner an extra special touch and to save money on the cost, I foraged for Rosehips, Snowberries, and Wild Grass from the roadside, and Sage and Hydrangea from my yard. I limited purchased add-ins to a variety of Eucalyptus from the store along with sixty white roses. (The Hydrangea blossoms are not seen in the picture below, because they were protected in a large kitchen garbage bag full of cold water. The flower petals on hydrangeas absorb water so it's a nice way to keep the Hydrangea extra hydrated before placing).
The forecast for the day was 90 degrees Fahrenheit. I knew there was no way anything other than the Eucalyptus would withstand the heat and the greenery and flowers would definitely wither without a water source. After some trial runs, I settled on using floral foam as the base.
Because the floral foam is wet, I put down a base of Saran Wrap to keep the tablecloth from absorbing all of the water from the foam. I stretched it out to the length I needed and then pushed the sides in until it was just wide enough to hold the foam.
Floral foam is super simple to use and is great for keeping flowers hydrated AND for creating a heavy stabile base for your creation. Another way I kept the cost down was to cut each of the blocks in half horizontally, getting twice the coverage for the same cost. There are several varieties of floral foam on the market, with most of the options at the store for artificial flowers. You DON'T want any of those varieties. You want the WET FOAM variety for use with fresh flowers. To use, you'll need a bucket of water or a deep sink or basin to drop your foam blocks into. There needs to be enough room for the block to be able to be completely covered once it has absorbed all the water it is going to absorb. (So, if you're using a block that is 9 inches tall, you'll want there to be at least 10 inches of water). Keep in mind, if you're using a lot of blocks like I did for the runner, you'll need A LOT of water because each block absorbs quite a bit. I used a 10 gallon bucket filled nearly to the top and had to refill it once. Simply place the foam block on top of the water. It will quickly absorb the water, and sink just below the surface. Remove the block, allow a tiny bit of excess water to drain, and then place on the table as is or cut in half with a large kitchen knife as I did, and place.
As you can see in the picture above, I pushed in the Saran Wrap to just wide enough to protect the foam and make it so it couldn't be seen. You'll notice I left one of the blocks its original size to mark the true center of the runner. That way I could create a center focal point and also have a clear visual as I'm building it out beginning with the center point foliage angling straight up, everything to the left of center leaning left, and everything right of center leaning right. Although the arrangement is a bit wild or earthy in nature, to keep the overall look well thought out, there needs to be order. The center, left, right system does that.
The greens should go on in layers, starting with what you have the most of. You'll want to have enough of your main greenery to be able to create a good solid first layer. Remember, you're angling the greens to the right if you're working to the right of center and angling to the left if you're working to the left of center. I started my first layer with unripened rosehips. They were the perfect base because the neutral unripened color was perfect for my vision of simple, elegant tones and because the berries add so much visual interest. You'll also want to pay close attention to be conservative with how far out the greenery extends, making sure there is plenty of room for a dinner plate and glassware.
After that, it was simply a process of layering in each subsequent type of greenery: the Snowberries, followed by the Sage, then Hydrangea, Eucalyptus, the Roses, and finally the Wild Grass, which was my way of adding in a bit of gold representing the 50th "Golden Anniversary".
Notes & Tips:
Think about using several different types of greenery involving different textures such as berries, leaves, flowers, etc.
Sage is a big favorite of mine because of its velvety leaves and clusters that are so great for filling in spaces. It also smells super great!
Hydrangea is great for coverage but can be fragile. Read my comments at the top of this post about how I treat the hydrangea before placing. The extra Hydrangea leaves are great to save for use later when you've run out of greenery and need something more to fill in any last minute gaps. Simply use the little stem at the tip of each leaf to poke into the foam.
When you start each layer, begin at the center and move to the right of center to place a sprig, then move to the left of center and place a sprig until you reach the end of both sides. THEN walk around to the other side of the table, to the center, and begin again. Do this with every layer so you will have consistently placed coverage and consistency in the look of the arrangement.
In total, I spent $38 dollars on the Roses and 3 Clusters of eucalyptus from Trader Joes. The foam was $25 dollars, with the overall cost totaling $63 dollars. (You can find it here). Not bad for such a massive arrangement
I spent five hours building the runner and several hours foraging before that, so there is definitely a time commitment.
After we built our house and some initial landscaping was put in, basically a lawn and plant beds surrounding the house, I started thinking about the types of plants I wanted filling the beds. Initially, we paid a landscape architect to come in and draw up a plan but it would have been so expensive to bring the plan to life and I didn't love that the plan seemed to have such a modern day style. I wanted our farmhouse to feel like a farmhouse and have plants that seemed to fit more of what an old farmhouse would have had. Bringing that vision to life has actually been a trickle-like process for me as I wait for ideas or inspiration to come to me and try to do a little each year.
See what I mean? Don't the two just go together? Lavender + farmhouse = love love love
One of the first things I did was to put in lavender plants all along the front edge of one of the beds. I'd never grown lavender before and I know this will probably sound shocking... I've never been the biggest lavender fan. But for some reason, when I saw the plants at my local nursery, they seemed very farmhousey and I liked that, so I decided to give the plants a try. The starts came in tiny pots and I planted them with about 12 inches in between each other, hoping that they'd grow and fill in, creating a hedge of some sort.
I like how the color of the lavender changes with the light from this more muted tone during the day to really vibrant in the evening.
Caring for them has been very easy. We have built-in sprinklers and they get watered every day. They get a lot of sunlight and the soil drains well. I can't quite remember, but I think it took about two years for those initial plants to grow and fill in. The first couple of years I didn't clip anything off the plants but as they grew bigger, I began trimming them back by hand in the fall. Three years ago I decided that I really liked the lavender and how it was looking on the first bed and decided to plant them all along the front of another of the beds, which is the largest one of all, wrapping around the front of the house and to the back patio. Last year we purchased a heavy duty hedge trimmer to trim them up into a square hedge in the fall. The stalks of the plants can get very big and tough, like tree branches, so the heavy duty trimmer is the only thing I found that was able to cut through the growth and create a hedge that actually looks really neat, tidy, and square, which is what I want for the winter months. To me, I think spring and summer lavender looks great being wild and free, but in the winter, it's nice for it to be clean and tidy and I think the plant likes renewing itself each spring too.
My plants are all English Lavender, a combination of Hidcote and Munstead varieties, which is nice because there are subtle differences, including shades of color that look so pretty next to each other all in a row. This wasn't planned out but ended up working out nicely. They produce a TON of seeds and I do have a TON of seedlings that pop up each spring from all the seeds that drop. There's really no getting around that. To deal with all the seedlings, I simply take a Hula Hoe (aka stirrup hoe or scuffle hoe) and work the soil until they're gone. I repeat this a few times more in the coming weeks until they're all gone.
This bed was the second to be planted and has filled in nicely. It runs from the front of the house around to the back patio.
In the end, I love the lavender. It smells so beautiful in the evening, especially when a little breeze comes through and sends little wafts of lavender aroma all around, or when the lawn is mowed and bits of it get chewed up by the blades and smells like heaven. I was so happily surprised that the smell is so soft and sweet, not the pungent smell of lavender that I had smelled in lavender scented things. And it feeds so many bees!
Tips:
I recommend buying your plants from a locally-owned nursery that only sells plants that will truly grow in your area. It's a mistake to think that just because plants are being sold at a store near you that the plants will grow there too. Read the labels on the plants before you buy them! I have seen countless plants being sold at box stores that aren't rated for our local growing zone or anything close to it!
If you want to grow a hedge, consider a test planting first before making a huge investment. What if the plants don't do well with your soil, amount of sunlight, winter temperatures, etc.
It's been a fun week sharing about strawberries. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as me! I thought I'd wrap up the week talking about strawberry plants in general and some facts you might not know about growing your own.
When talking with friends about their gardens, I often hear that they don't have much luck growing strawberry plants that produce many berries. Strawberries are actually plants that require quite a bit of attention.
First, there are many different varieties of strawberries to choose from, and it's important to base your choices off of your gardening zone, and when you want the plants to produce their berries. Make sure to research the best fit for your needs! Once you've planted your berries, don't expect to get a big crop the first year because the plants are just getting established. When the very first blossoms appear, pinch them off to give your plants the much needed energy they need. More blossoms will appear that first year and you'll get some berries, just not a lot. Another thing to watch for that first year is for runner plants. Make sure to pull those off so they don't pull energy from the original plants.
The second year of your plants should be the best production year. If you get runner plants, it's okay to allow one per parent plant, but no more. Feel free to remove any additional runner plants that begin to grow and replant them in a different patch. Here's why this is a good idea: strawberry plants really only have a life span of three years. You want to keep your plants as strong as you can for those three years. You can keep your plants around longer, hanging on for another year or two, but you will have very little production and the berries will be small. But if you keep on top of your runners, removing and replanting them, and removing the original plants after three years, you can ensure a steady stream of plants and berries for years to come.
In the fall of years one and two, clip your plants back and cover them with straw (avoid hay because it encourages weeds!). The straw keeps bug infestations away and protects your plants through the winter. In the spring, pull the straw off the plants and place it all around them to help keep weeds away. After year three has come to an end, remove and compost the three-year-old plants.
I hope that helps! Wishing you many years of sweet strawberries to come. Thanks for following along for strawberry week. It's really nice getting back into the swing of things again here on the blog after taking so many years off to focus on my family. When I dreamed of becoming a mom I never realized the challenges that could present themselves along the way. I had never been around babies myself, before becoming a mom so all of parenting was really learning as I went. And because of my non-traditional upbringing, I didn't have a lot to pull from based on examples set for me. I've learned and grown and have been humbled by the experience. It's a bittersweet time in our lives right now (Colin and mine) as we have just the youngest of our four boys left at home and he is going into his senior year of high school. There's a lot I want to share about what I've learned about Autism and Aspergers and will do it when the time is right. For now, I'm enjoying the little bits of extra time I find to be creative and soak in the last of this in-home time with our youngest son and the beauty of the bluff throughout the seasons.
Something I learned as a little girl is that any natural elements are fair game when it comes to making floral arrangements. You don't have to limit yourself to flowers!
Up the hill from the log cabin my dad built was a spring that ran year-round. The spring was surrounded by massive cedars, making it very shady with bits of dappled light. The high end of the spring was full of natural clay and I imagined the Native American Indians who had once lived on our land had spent time there, utilizing the clay and making arrowheads. The hillside surrounding the spring was covered in wild strawberry plants and I'd found several arrowheads, along with big chunks of obsidian there while picking the wild strawberries over the years.
Wild strawberries are painfully small, about the size of a small blueberry, so picking them was more about the fun of finding them than it was about eating them. And at some point I discovered that handfuls of the greens and tiny red berries were daintily beautiful! This is true with most plants - they can be beautiful in mixed arrangements, or simply on their own. You don't need to limit yourself to flowers.
To make the grown-up version of my childhood bouquets, all you need are a few different clippings to make your arrangement interesting. Three different types of clippings is ideal. For this arrangement, I used wild white yarrow that grows along the edge of our field,
wild roses,
and of course, strawberry plant clippings. I love the variety of the green, white, pink, and red strawberries.
This week I'm posting all about strawberries. Stay tuned tomorrow for an unexpected use of these sweet little berries.
When I married into the Thompson family, I quickly learned that spring hasn’t really sprung until we enjoy at least one of my mother-in-law Mary Jane’s Rhubarb Crunches.
My first memories of rhubarb go back to my childhood, where most rural homes seemed to have at least one plant each. And as I’ve traveled the backroads of small-town America as an adult and visited countless farmsteads, many of them long since shuttered, the same rings true. You’ll find at least one rhubarb and one peony. And much like the farmers who have worked the land, this plant is resilient and loyal, and asks nothing in return. No need to water, or trim. The old farmhouse may be crumbling into the earth, but there stands the rhubarb with its long, pink ombre stalks, as strong and productive as ever.
I’ve always thought of rhubarb as a very American plant, but its roots are ancient and Chinese. The earliest records indicate the plant was cultivated for medicinal purposes. Conflicting historical data has it eventually appearing in Europe as early as the 13th Century. By the late 1700’s it began appearing as a filling in tarts. Between 1790-1800 the seeds began appearing in Maine and Massachusetts and by 1822 it was being sold in produce markets.
There are many varieties of rhubarb, some being used for medicinal purposes, and others as food. The varieties that are commonly found in the U.S. are of the food variety and quite tart. And when it’s not being enrobed in sugar and butter as you’ll find in our family’s Rhubarb Crunch recipe, it is said to have health benefits as it helps to speed metabolism and contains high levels of calcium.
I’ve long been a fan of rhubarb and grew up making different versions of Rhubarb Crisp, which is best described as fruit topped with a crumbly flour/oat/sugar/butter mixture and baked to sweet bubbly perfection. Crunch takes it to another level with all those things and adding a crispy, sugary crust and thick sugar syrup drizzle, creating a chewy goodness to top it all off.
Rhubarb Tips:
- Rhubarb plants can be split and shared. In the fall, dig down to get a shovel-ful of the root. Dig a hole in a nice sunny spot and plant. Give it a little water to get it started. When the plant comes up the next spring, resist the urge to cut its stalks. It needs this first year to get established. If you do this, it will produce for you forever.
- Only the stalks of the rhubarb are edible, as the leaves are poisonous.
- When picking stalks, look for the ones with the most color. When a stalk is ready, you can tug on it and it will pull clean away from the plant. No cutting required.
- To get the most production out of your rhubarb plant, cut the stalks with flowers. They pull a tremendous amount of energy from the plant.
- Rhubarb can continue producing through the fall. Verne Fallstrom at Strawberry Hill Nutrition Farm in GreenBluff periodically mows his plants down throughout the season to get high production. If you don’t have your own plants, his farm is a great place to u-pick.
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Thank you for visiting my blog. Between posts you can find me on Instagram and Facebook where I share a look into my life behind the scenes as I produce my annual vintage market, The Farm Chicks Vintage and Handmade Fair. 2017 marks my fifteenth year producing this special annual event! I invite you to take a minute and read all about it - after all, I consider it to be the happiest vintage event on earth. xo, Serena
A favorite memory of childhood is taking drives with my parents to the Salmon River where my mom would go hunting for rocks for our property. We'd all pack into the Crummy for a Sunday foraging adventure and sometimes we'd even get to stop at the river store for an It's It. My love of Sunday drives has stayed strong through the years. When the boys were little, we'd head up the mountain for huckleberries or around the bluff to see the orchards. But now that the boys are grown and aren't interested in joining in, Colin and I have made it a special time for just the two of us. Before setting out, I'll grab a utility bucket and fill it with a little water. We bungee it into the back of the truck so it doesn't tip over. And then we set out with Colin driving and me looking for roadside blooms to make a Sunday bouquet.
The remnants of our country's early pioneer days are evident as you drive the roads near our home. It's common to see wild apple trees and right now, they're in full bloom. It's such a beautiful time of the year. (When collecting roadside blossoms, my rule is to only take clippings from trees and plants that are on the roadside. Never over a fence, and never onto someone's property, no matter how beautiful the blooms).
After gathering the wild apple blossoms today, I snipped a bit of these green roadside shrubs as well, for filler. I love the little white clusters.
I snipped the greens and apple blossoms and arranged them in my teapot for the perfect Sunday Drive Bouquet to enjoy through the week ahead.
Thank you for visiting my blog. Between posts you can find me on Instagram and Facebook where I share a look into my life behind the scenes as I produce my annual vintage market, The Farm Chicks Vintage and Handmade Fair. 2017 marks my fifteenth year producing this special annual event! I invite you to take a minute and read all about it - after all, I consider it to be the happiest vintage event on earth. xo, Serena
There's really no more generous season than autumn and all the beauty and bounty it provides. A walk around our property yields red, orange, and yellow oak and maple leaves, crab apples, rosehips, and of course, pumpkins that I gather to decorate our home.
This year I thought it'd be fun to make a garland out of the leaves I'd gathered. To create it, I simply cut a length of twine the size that I wanted the garland and tied clumps of leaves along the twine, overlapping each bunch just a little each time. I had originally planned on bunching individual leaves but that proved to be way too time consuming so I used clippings of branches with clusters of leaves instead. That went much faster! The nice thing about twine is that it really blends in with the autumn foliage.
I draped the garland over a little table at our front door and secured it with some small pumpkins.
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.
My love of nature always manifests itself in the way I decorate our home for the holidays. This year, I've made the most of out a beautiful cedar garland I purchased from Costco. First up, was the table. I started the table festooning with a simple piece of fabric I had torn into the size I needed. I like the simple, frayed edge of handtorn fabric AND it's an easy no-sew way to go.
Next, I added an old table runner I had on hand, but a simple piece of fabric would work just as well. I say, use what you have.
Next, came the star of the show - the beautiful, multiple-use, inexpensive garland. Garlands have a tendenceny to curve a bit. Don't fight it, the curves are nice and make for nice little coves to add other natural elements.
For a fuller table covering, I added in some pepperberries and more greenery. The great thing about all of these elements are that they will stay vibrant in color through the holidays.
And to top it all off, pinecones.
In my next post, I'll show you where else I used the garland. xo
Another great use of dandelions is to brew them into as a simple tea. It’s really easy to make. Simply steep a handful of fresh leaves and blossoms in hot water for 5-10 minutes.
The tea is quite mild and reminds me of spring, which seems appropriate for the plant that truly is one of the earliest signs of the season.
Notes:
More about Dandelion Tea:
Cool after brewing and serve as an iced tea, sweetened with honey.
Dry the blossoms and leaves and store in an airtight container for a dried tea mixture that can be used throughout the year.
Add blossoms to iced tea before serving for a pretty presentation. Not in the mood for dandelion iced tea? Simply add dandelion blossoms to icy lemonade for a sweet touch. You should NEVER harvest dandelions for consumption from any area that has been fertilized or treated with chemicals, such as most suburban lawns or parks. They should be gathered from wild areas, free of pesticides and chemicals.
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.
A sweet and simple way to capture dandelions for all time is to create your very own watercolor painting, but with the actual flowers used in the making.
What you'll need is a few dandelions, some watercolor paints, a paintbrush, 5"x7" watercolor paper, parchment paper, and a rolling pin. To begin, place your watercolor paper on one side of your parchment paper:
Arrange dandelions where you'd like them to appear on your painting:
Bend the necks of the flowers so they're facing straight down on the watercolor paper:
Carefully keeping flowers in place, fold parchment paper over the top of the flowers and watercolor paper:
Roll the rolling pin very firmly up and down over the top of the flowers:
Pull back parchment paper:
Peel dandelions off the watercolor paper. (Your artwork doesn't look very pretty at this point, but don't worry, it will soon):
To paint the stem and flower petals, either use a watercolor paint color you like, or mix your own. I wanted brown and didn't have any on hand, so I mixed red and green together, along with some water:
Next, study a dandelion to see its unique petals so you can recreate your own artistic version. I see graduated layers of petals, so that's what I'll focus on:
Start at the center of the flower and lightly brush out, little sweeps of color to create the petals, graduating them in size as you go, to emulate the flower. Do the same with the stem, starting at the bottom and sweeping the brush upward until it connects with the flower. Repeat with each flower until you're done:
Lastly, paint any word you like on the painting. I love old specimens, so I kept it simple and painted the word dandelion as if it were a dandelion specimen for cataloging:
And now the dandelions are preserved for all time as a sweet little reminder of spring.
Notes:
I purchased all of my art supplies at Dick Blick. Watercolor paper here, watercolors here.
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.
Yesterday I talked about the nutritional value of the dandelion - such a gem of a plant, and a great ingredient for starting your day in a healthy way. Luckily, it doesn't have to be complicated. Although the flower is a great source of nutrition, it's a little too bitter for me to eat raw, so I like to look for ways to incorporate the flowers with other ingredients that balance the bitterness. Smoothies are a nice way to accomplish this. Here's all you'll need for a Dandelion Smoothie:
Almond milk
1 frozen banana
Handful of dandelion flowers (with stems)
A splash of maple syrup
Dandelion flowers really compliment the flavor of the banana creating a tasty combination. Blend and serve. It's as simple as that.
And how about some dandelion greens? They're a favorite of mine, for sure. In our house, the boys are partial to egg whites, so some eggs with dandelion greens and chives are sure to please. Here's what you'll need:
3 eggs per serving (we separate out the whites and use them only)
1 handful of dandelion greens per serving, chopped
Chives to taste, finely chopped
Olive oil for frying
White pepper and salt to taste
Drizzle a skillet with olive oil and heat over a medium-hot flame. Add eggs to skillet. Sprinkle with a little white pepper and salt. Once they're just about cooked all the way, sprinkle with the greens and chives and quickly turn a couple of times to wilt. Breakfast is served!
Notes: White pepper is a nice seasoning for eggs as it's not too overpowering. For an afternoon snack, cook eggs the same way (with or without the yolk) and place on lightly toasted wheat bread with a little mayonnaise for a delicious egg sandwich.
Notes:
If you're into juicing, dandelion greens would make a great addition to your mix. If you're feeling ambitious, dig up some dandelion roots to throw in as well. (See note below regarding where to harvest dandelions).
For best nutritional value with dandelions and any other plant, eat as soon after harvesting as possible.
You should NEVER harvest dandelions for consumption from any area that has been fertilized or treated with chemicals, such as most suburban lawns or parks. They should be gathered from wild areas, free of pesticides and chemicals. Just as the greens you grow in your garden, the first picking of dandelion leaves is the most tasty. If you pick regrowth from the same plant, the leaves will be increasingly bitter. My favorite in-print book for foraging is Wild Edibles by Sergei Boutenko.
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.
Winnie lived down the river from our place at Croy Gulch. She was as wise as she was welcoming and my connection to her was strong as I was named after her daughter, Serena. She was the first teacher I ever knew, a mentor of sorts to my mom, and my first example of a woman sharing everything she knew to help another. There were blackberries to be picked and icknish to gather and I learned from her the joys of foraging - a way of life for her as a Klamath River Indian. Most importantly, what I gained from Winnie was a connection to the earth and an appreciation for what it provides. Sadly, it seems as though many of the earth's gifts are overlooked these days. Take the dandelion, for example. At some point along the way, the dandelion became the villain of the suburban American landscape and a blight in the quest for the absolutely perfect lawn. Oh dear. Truth is, the dandelion is one of the most nutritious plants that exists and the entire plant, from the flower to the root is edible. The leaves are richer in beta-carotene than carrots and contain more vitamins than most greens, the flower contains anti-oxidants, and the root works as a blood purifier, clearing the toxins from the body and is a significant aid in liver and colon health. I really could go on all day about the health benefits of the dandelion, but really, if you're interested, I encourage you to visit your local library to find books with brilliant information on this amazing plant, of which there are more than 300 varieties and can be found in most parts of the world.
For me, the greens are the most palatable and are somewhat similar to arugula. They're tasty fresh or cooked. The flower and root on the other hand are pretty bitter in my opinion and require some preparation in order to be enjoyed. But I'll talk about that more in the next few days.
Dandelion leaves vary, depending on the variety. They range in size from tiny, as seen here, to very large. But what they share in common are the jagged edges and smooth, non-hairy backed leaves. If you find a dandelion with hairy leaves, it's actually not a dandelion, but a look-alike.
And of course, let's not overlook the obvious. Dandelions are such a sweet and happy little flower, and if nothing else, you can enjoy them for just that. The flowers are an incredibly important food source for honey bees in the spring, before most other flowers are blooming. This week, I'm celebrating the common dandelion. Underrated, unappreciated, and most often unloved. But why? I do hope you'll give them a chance...
I'll be talking all about dandelions and great ways to utilize this plant - some healthy and useful and some just for fun. Here are some basic things to know about dandelions:
Dandelions are not toxic, nor are their look-a-like, the "Cat's Ear".
You should NEVER harvest dandelions for consumption from any area that has been fertilized or treated with chemicals, such as most suburban lawns or parks. They should be gathered from wild areas, free of pesticides and chemicals.
Just as the greens you grow in your garden, the first picking of dandelion leaves is the most tasty. If you pick regrowth from the same plant, the leaves will be increasingly bitter.
Notes:
The icknish plant I mentioned is found in the wilds of Northern California and is vaguely similar to celery.
My favorite in-print book for foraging is Wild Edibles by Sergei Boutenko.
I just finished reading the book, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan. A story of the life and photographs of Edward Curtis. Although it has nothing at all to do with dandelions, it's an interesting story of the life of a Seattle photographer who dedicated his life to capturing the story of the American Indian, through film, primitive recordings, and language, and tradition documentation. Although it was sort of a slow read for me at times, it was another interesting perspective on the life of early Native Americans which has always been really fascinating to me.
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.
In the winter, I really miss my garden and all of the fresh veggies. Growing sprouts is like having a little winter garden.
So many beans, seeds, and grains can be sprouted and are really healthy too. Here, I've sprouted quinoa (left) and a mixture of garbanzos (chickpeas) dried peas, and lentils (right).
To make the sprouts, I add about 1/2 cup beans, seeds, or grains to a large wide-mouth canning jar and fill it with cool water. I have a special sprouting lid that I like (seen above and below), which screws right on the wide-mouth canning jars, but cheesecloth, attached with a rubber band would work well too. I let the mixture soak overnight and then drain and rinse the next day. I repeat this for 2-4 days, depending on what I'm sprouting, making sure to rinse twice a day, with cool water, and keeping out of direct sunlight, as I don't want the mixture to cook.
It takes me about two days to get good sprouted quinoa and about four days to get sprouted beans and peas. Once sprouted, I drain and rinse one last time and use the sprouts right away or refrigerate and use within two days.
Uses:
I enjoy adding sprouts into salads and wraps, or atop stir-fries or peanut-buttery Asian noodles, just before serving. They add a great texture and are incredibly nutritious.
Tips:
Many grocery stores no longer sell sprouts as they are highly susceptible to e-coli when not grown or stored properly. Sprouts should never have a foul odor, rather, they should smell fresh and seed-like. If I ever have any question as to whether the sprouts are okay or not, I toss them.
I love this time of year when the air turns cool and the leaves are bright and cheerful. I feel lucky to have four seasons. Here are some scenes from my autumn. Happy day to you.
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there, Username: thefarmchicks
Hello there. How was your weekend? Ours was as beautiful as ever. Here's what life looked like at the Thompson's.
A Fall Song
Golden and red trees Nod to the soft breeze, As it whispers, “Winter is near;” And the brown nuts fall At the wind’s loud call, For this is the Fall of the year.
Goodbye, sweet flowers! Through bright Summer hours You have filled our hearts with cheer We shall miss you so, And yet you must go, For this is the Fall of the year.
Now the days grow cold, As the year grows old, And the meadows are brown and sere; Brave robin redbreast Has gone from his nest, For this is the Fall of the year.
I do softly pray At the close of day, That the little children, so dear, May as purely grow As the fleecy snow That follows the Fall of the year.
~Ellen Robena Field
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there, Username: thefarmchicks
I've always enjoyed making the most out of what I have in my surroundings for decorating around our home. This is especially true when the seasons change and I'm looking to make the front porch warm and welcoming. This year my sunflower patch brought me so much joy that I wanted to make sure to use lots of the dried up flowers.
I've also really loved the decorative corn that Byron planted and decided to gather up a bunch of the beautiful cobs. I cut off a bunch of the plant tops too.
When I'm decorating for the season, I like to treat the elements just as I do for a photo shoot where I'd have a prop table or two, full of props. In this instance, I just lined up the elements. It's a really nice way to go about it because then I can clearly see exactly what I have to work with and keeps things nice and organized. This year, I really wanted to keep it simple, and not use many elements. Just sunflowers, corn, and a few pumpkins or squash.
I took some simple twine and tied a bunch of the sunflowers together, then pulled them into a circle and tied it off, making a wreath, which I hung on the front door. I love how cheery it is and the fact that it was free!
I placed the bit of corn tops and the largest sunflower heads in a bushel basket and placed them on a little farm table next to the front door, along with a squash.
Next, I filled an old galvanized tub with the corn. Isn't that corn the most beautiful thing ever?
And that's it. Later in the month, the boys will carve pumpkins and place them on the porch wherever they'd like.
The weekend starts early for us this week, as there's no school tomorrow for the boys, so today is our Friday, which is my FAVORITE day of the week! I'll see you again here on Monday. xoxo
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there, Username: thefarmchicks
Arrive early. The fields get really busy, but if you arrive right at opening, you'll avoid the lines and much of the crowds.
Bring a warm coat with a hood! The fields can be really breezy and rain is likely.
Wear rubber boots and pack a garbage bag and extra shoes. When you're ready to leave, you can put your muddy boots into the garbage bag and change into your clean shoes.
Set time aside to drive the backroads in the area. The farms and farmhouses are dreamy.
Snow Goose Produce is such a lovely happy sweet little stop. Make sure you do! (Thank you to everyone on Facebook who recommended it to me!)
I love having flowers around the house, especially in the spring. All those winter months of white ground and gray skies leave me wanting color. I like potted flowers best because they last so long and can be transplanted outdoors once the days turn warm. To create your own living arrangement, you'll need a vessel like and old farmhouse mixing bowl, some pebbles, potting soil, and flowers.
Next, add in a nice layer of pebbles to the bottom of your bowl.
Top the pebbles with a layer of potting soil.
Finish up by adding in your flowers and filling in any gaps between the plants with more potting soil.
The clouds were rolling through as I looked out onto the garden. Black and gray, and puffy white, as if on a migration. Winter is coming! Winter is coming! They seemed to shout.
In the garden, my carrot patch was calling to me. So I threw on a jacket and my trusty rubber boots for a little harvest.
Have you ever had a winter carrot? The ones that sit and grow sweeter by the day. That have a snappy crisp like no other. Oh, I wish you could.
This year, we planted a variety and each shovelful was a surprise. Purple, yellow, orange. You never know what you'll get.
And here's what I've learned with the carrot patch. Don't thin the plants in the patch I'm planning on for a winter harvest. They'll grow too big if they're thinned.
See what I mean? Thinned (left) vs. not (right):
I trust your Garden was willing to die ... I do not think that mine was—it perished with beautiful reluctance, like an evening star. ~Emily Dickinson
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.
Pumpkin harvest is chugging along here. I love to watch the steady flow of farmhands buzzing about on our property and beyond.
Pumpkins have the pleasure of bringing a smile to everyone they meet. Who doesn't love a pumpkin?
As the autumn weather sets in and the air begins to frost, so does the foliage on the plants. It's actually quite nice when that occurs because it makes harvesting that much easier. No searching around through the leaves for each pumpkin. The farmhands come through with big clippers and clip the stem away from the plant. The stems can be quite prickly and tough.
The pumpkins are gathered up and placed in big bins to be transported by tractor to Byron's farm across the way where they will be sold.
Happy harvest, pumpkins. Happy harvest, you. And may every pumpkin bring a smile.
I'm blowing a kiss to Donna Bradley in Texas for the lovely letter. Bless your son for his service to our country.
I was recently on WBCL radio. You can listen by clicking here if you'd like. (My segment starts just after the 6 minute mark).
A friend of a friend is facing some challenges. The Spokane community is rallying and you can help too. Click here to learn more about the upcoming tag sale that is being held to raise money for her and her mom's care. If you're in the Spokane, WA area, you can donate any goods for the tag sale or make plans to shop at the sale coming up in November. Click here for more details.
I went walking around our property to gather bits of fall to bring inside. My first stop was the wild little apple tree by the road.
Golden autumn leaves were next. Gather gather gather.
Then some oak leaves from one of the scraggly little oaks along the fence. The leaves are fire-like.
I trudged through the thick dusty field to the backside of our property where pumpkin harvest is in full swing. A little basket of minis was all I needed.
I stopped by the garden for a few cornstalks too, then back inside to plug it all in.
I started with this beautiful antique runner from my friends Dustin and Christian of Uber Chic Home.
Cornstalks were added in to create a base.
Then some leaves
and little pumpkins.
I like to incorporate just a few elements. I think a display is more impactful that way.
All the remaining gathered goods were added onto the shelf in my kitchen.
My tomatoes are going like gang-busters right now, and I'm obsessed with keeping up with the pickings. I can't stand the thought of any going to waste.
This weekend I did lots of harvesting and am slowly putting each garden bed to rest for the winter as each one is picked out. Good night, snap peas. Good night, edamame. Good night, corn.
While I was harvesting, Colin was doing manly things, like protecting our new trees from the deer. Did you know deer love to mash their antlers against tree bark in the fall? If you don't protect new trees, they'll surely die. Colin likes to use chicken wire to wrap the bark because it's not really noticeable, which just looks a bit nicer in the yard.
I think that canning tomatoes is kind of unnecessary, because freezing is just so much handier (and keeps the nutritional value much higher because it's not all cooked out during the canning process). To process, I simply chop up the tomatoes (not necessary to chop the cherry tomatoes) and blend them up in my cuisinart. Then I place the mixture in a freezer bag (about 2-3 cups in each) and freeze for use in fresh tomato sauce (or soups, etc.) throughout the winter.
For a very simple, yet fresh and summery tasting sauce, heat fresh garlic and olive oil in a saucepan just until the garlic is aromatic. Add in the frozen tomatoes (frozen or thawed is fine) and cook just until heated. Season with basil and salt and serve with pasta.
Tip: Skinning the tomatoes before processing is completely unnecessary here, as the skins are blended up and are not noticeable when eaten.
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.
It's a beautiful morning. Let's go for a little walk through my garden.
We recycled the fencing from another area on the property where we no longer needed it. It's six feet high to dissuade deer from jumping in. The deer here would be able to jump over the fencing if they chose to, but would have a difficult time getting out. The lower area of the fencing is much tighter mesh, in hopes of keeping other small critters out.
The beds are all raised, and I've been experimenting with how tightly I can plant each one. I've read that plants can be grown more closely in raised beds, so I'm learning what works and what doesn't.
I had originally planned on using hazelnut shells from my neighbor for the walkway mulch, but ended up scrapping that plan due to worry that my nieces and nephews who are highly allergic to nuts would be affected be the shells. Instead, I used a surplus of cedar bark fines from the flower beds around the house. It has worked out really nicely, as the bark is really thick and has held the weeds at bay.
There's a lot of room between each bed, which allows for lots of children in the garden, which I love. And it looks really pretty. Since we have plenty of space, it was a no-brainer for me.
I'm growing Thai Basil, Basil, Cilantro, Italian Flat-Leaf Parsley and Dill. Today I'll be cutting all of them down, chopping them up in my food processor, adding a little olive oil, and freezing each batch into chunks for use through the winter. The frozen herbs are so much more delicious than dried.
The Spaghetti Squash has been growing like gangbusters. I baked one up last night, tossed it with butter and a little salt, and it was delicious. I grew up eating it this way and it always reminds me of gardening as a little girl. My first garden was a mass of succulents in a miniature wheelbarrow. Anyway, when I served the boys their Spaghetti Squash, they looked at me with those eyes that say, "are you really going to make me eat this?" And of course, one of them almost threw it up. Our rule is that the boys always need to try everything that's served to them. They don't have to eat it all. We've found that by opening their palates to new tastes, they slowly learn to enjoy it.
Corn hair is so beautiful and it reminds me of Jenny Holiday. Jenny, I think I'm going to name my corn after you. :)
Each of the beds are watered by a drip system. I can adjust each bed to water more or less, depending on the needs of the plants. I've had gardens that I've watered by hand, watered by overhead sprinklers, and by drip. I've found that plants really don't like being watered overhead and respond far better with the drip system. The result is a much more bountiful garden harvest.
I can easily detach the lines at the end of the season, when I go to clean out each bed.
The cabbage is coming along nicely. I really need to thin it out.
No garden is complete without a compost bin. I just kept one of my beds open for that purpose. And I can say that I am not a super serious scientific composter. We simple dump our compost and garden clippings in the bin, turn it once in a while, occasionally add a bit of water, and eventually, it produces beautiful soil. We're in no hurry.
Do you see the wire mesh in the box on the bottom left-hand corner? We lined each and every bed with that mesh, in hopes of keeping out any ground squirrels or moles. The ground squirrels were so invasive in my last garden that I was unable to grown any lettuce, cabbage, or broccoli, which they love. So far, we've had no issues.
Well, that's all for now. I'm off to do a few new plantings and to thin the cabbage.
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.
Fresh flowers are one of the things that really make a home feel special. I love them so much. But I also enjoy using other greenery and foliage to pretty things up. Take rhubarb for example:
With its dreamy pink stalks and soft ruffly green leaves, it's a vision to behold.
So much loveliness is beginning to appear because it's spring. Look around and see. What can you find to make your home a happy place to be?
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.
I told Colin that I'm a peony whisperer. Mmmm-kay he said. But really, I am. And really, anyone can be too. You see, peonies are the best because they don't require water (although they like it when you give it to them) and the deer don't eat them.
But here's the thing: after they're done flowering and you've clipped all the flowers, don't cut down the plant! Leave the foliage all intact until after the first frost. After the first frost, clip the plant back, all the way to the ground. And year after year, your peony will thrive and grow bigger and better than the year before. I promise.
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.
I'm a big fan of old gardening books. And one of the biggest reasons why is that they give me good inspiration for an older style of landscape design.
These books are invaluable to me as I dream and begin to design the landscape around our new home because I don't want what's trendy. I want classic.
I've never paid more than a couple of dollars for a book, and have had great luck finding them at my local thrift shops and estate sales. And the bonus? They smell like old books (because they are), one of the best smells on earth.
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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.
I'm dreaming of oodles of flowers. Spring. Summer. Every type of flower. And I love that there are no rules when displaying them. Any vessel you love will do.
We've been working on some new projects for Country Living. A new section they're doing each month is Make Dos. Lots of little recycling, earth-friendly projects. Our first project is in the December issue:
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