Play at the Park

Today was a perfect fall day. A little windy, but nothing a nice sweatshirt couldn't handle. We added almost 2 hours to my 500 hour pledge bringing us up to 4 1/2 hours. The weekend looks gorgeous so hopefully we can keep it up.

I went for my morning walk/run, 40 minutes outside for me, while my girls get about 30 for recess ( I count the 30). We picked some carrots, composted some stuff and played outdoors a bit. We also went to the park for a while after school. I went to a different park today to meet a friend and am glad I did. My town's park, which is beautiful and new, is almost always empty. While sometimes I enjoy this so I can play and run around with my girls, other times I want to sit and relax and they want playmates. Its so sad to rarely see another kid at this park. I don't understand what does everyone do? My town doesn't have many neighborhoods so either the kids are on playdates, playing in their yards with siblings or alone, or doing after school activities. A neighboring town, which is really that, a nice little town, with houses close and a real neighborhood feel, is the park we went to today. There I saw children. A group of older boys playing football. Girls climbing on the monkey bars, kids swinging, running and having fun. An older girl pushed my youngest on the swings a bit while I chat with other moms. And no I don't feel one bit guilty about it. I love this town, to bad the taxes are outrageous. But it is the rare place I see kids playing, with no structure, no adults controlling the play. Just time to be a kid, like its the 70s. To not watch tv, no phones or ipads. Just actually free play. I love watching my daughter learn to navigate the kids and find her place playing. And how she keenly observes them to see how well they climb or jump. After some watching she tries to do it to. She's always been a watcher. Today she tried the monkey bars. She fell, poor kid has my upper body strength, or lack of. But practicing on those bars will get her there. And after seeing the other kids she was very determined to get right back up and try again. If we were alone at our town's park she wouldn't have tried. Thinking that's something big kids do, or not something she can do. Seeing her friends she knew she could. And she was right. I love watching her grow in her own right. Free to play, learn and grow

DIY Shower Favors

It has been a busy few months for me. My sister is getting married in June, we (me and my little lovebugs) are all in the wedding party. Expenses add up quick for this, dresses, shoes, hair, gifts and then the shower. A very large shower too. Raising a family of 4 on one income, in a very expensive state, meant I had to do some DIYing for the favors. Even cheap favors of a few dollars a person would add up to $200 because of the amount of people coming. Plus I hate super cheapy favors. I personally would rather get nothing than something that will just get tossed when I get home. Its a waste of this planet's resources and being the hippy I am that doesn't fly with me. So, again being the hippy that I am ;) I decided to make little window sill gardens for the guests. Garden maybe be a stretch since its just one plant, but still its so nice to have some basil, cilantro, dill or chives growing in your kitchen. I thought it would be especially appreciated since many of the guests live in city areas so won't have a backyard to garden it. And it went well with our "April Showers bring Spring Flowers" theme. First I bought 60 or so little terra-cotta pots from Home Depot. I also bought a large bag of potting soil, chalk, 60 seed packets and chalkboard spray paint. Then the fun begins. There was a bit of a learning curve to get the spray paint not streaky. But with my trusty stick and spinning it like a wheel, it got the job done. I ended up using 3 cans of spray paint. They dried out in the sun on some broken up cardboard. The final product came out amazing. They were a big hit, people were excited to take them and fought over the basil, note to self, next time just do basil. Everyone loved them. I just love that its a favor everyone can actually use.

Safe Seeds

There is so much controversy surrounding seeds and Monsanto. GMO, organic or not, just a huge monopoly on seeds. Its really crazy how gardening has gotten to political. To garden is a political move. For health, for saving money and being thrifty, against big business, pesticides, mega farms and the hurtful environmental practices of them. Even if you aren't meaning a political statement it is there. One huge thing I believe in is growing from my own seeds. I know what variety I am growing, the soil it was grown in, and what company produced the seeds. Here is a list of safe seed companies to buy from according to the council for responsible genetics. But this list is not perfect and even some of the more popular seed companies on here have been under fire for not being as pure as they claim. One company I used sent me seeds I was excited to use, until I saw the seeds are copyrighted and I cannot legally save the seeds if I want. So buyer beware. There is still shady behaviors from the so-called good guys. To me this is totally against nature, morally how can someone own a seed? Can you own an oak tree? Maybe if that oak is on your property, but you can't claim all oaks are yours. I am hoping to save as many seeds as I can this year to be more independent and self-sufficient in my gardening. No buyer beware when I own the seeds. 13 more days until spring, counting down to a thaw so I can get in some dirt and start prepping

Thinking Spring

I am counting down the days to spring. Not just because I am sick of winter, this is true. But also this long winter has left me with extra time to read about gardening and I am getting excited to start planting. Last season was horrible. It was cold and frost warnings in May and then too much rain and not enough sun gave me a lack luster crop. This year I attended a Rutgers Masters Gardner Lecture. If they offer such lectures I highly suggest them. The lecture was specific to my location, not just New Jersey, but our North Jersey clay soil and what to do to get the most from our garden. I learned a lot and some things I have been doing wrong, well maybe not wrong, but not right either. Its too early to even start seedlings yet. I've started onions, my first time growing them, because they say 10-12 weeks. This week I will be planting eggplant and peppers so they are also slow starters and need a decent head start. My list this year is long and I'm hoping to yield some amazing fruit and veggies. Nothing like getting your hands in the dirt and feeling the sun on your back. Now if this snow will just melt I can get to cleaning up the garden and dreaming off tomato sandwiches, stuffed peppers, cucumber salads, fresh beans and eggplant parm. Oh zucchini bread, carrot and salad. Winter produce is the pits. Summer I can't wait!

Indian Summer

With the horrible, rainy, cool summer we have its such a blessing to have this extended summer going well into Fall. This week it is going to reach in the 80s and I have no complaints. We have been enjoying as much time as possible outside in the warm sun. The leaves have slowly started to fall and some are changing, but it is still mostly green here. The best part about this warm sunny weather is its giving my peppers a chance to grow. I finally have a few green ones ready to harvest. But I'm holding out a bit til they turn red. I also have some yellow ones almost ready to be harvested. They should be ready at the end of the week. This excites me even more since its an old variety an elderly man gave to my dad. He brought the peppers all the way from Hungary. I will do my best to try to save the seeds and pass on Nick's Peppers for more seasons to come.

Local Flavors

My garden is growing well, but some plants have been lacking. I should have eggplants and peppers by now but I don't even have flowers on my plants. This growing season got started late, heat waves, heavy rain and cool weather are not helping my warm loving plants grow to their full potential. So today I ended up buy an eggplant from a local farm. They had mostly stuff I am growing well, but I do get my corn from them. I don't really have to room for corn in my small garden. I love eggplant parmesan. It is one of my favorite meals and now I that I have perfected my recipe it has become my husbands too. There is one trick that makes the perfect eggplant parm. You need to salt the eggplants and let them sit to remove some of the water. This makes the eggplant cook nice and tender and that good Italian restaurant flavor that mine was always missing. I thought I could do with out salting to save on sodium, some recipes call for salting, some don't. But it does not taste right with out salting. I cut the eggplant thin, lay them on a plate,sprinkle the eggplant with salt, top them with a paper towel then top it with another plate to put pressure and help draw out the water. Let it sit for an hour. Next step is the frying. Get 3 shallow bowls, fill the first one with flour, the second one with 2 eggs, lightly beaten, then the third bowl with bread crumbs. Heat oil in a pan, have the oil come up maybe 1/8 or 1/4 inch. While the oil is heating dip the eggplant in the flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs. Fry them for about 2 min on each side, til golden brown. The place in a baking pan that has some marinara sauce on the bottom. Make a bottom layer with eggplant. Top the eggplant with marinara sauce, the fresh mozzarella cheese(local if you can find it). I also sprinkle some real parmesan cheese on too. Repeat the layers til you are out of eggplant. Bake covered in a preheated over at 350F. Bake 15-20, uncover and bake an additional 5-10 min til the cheese is nice a bubbly. Serve with pasta. I'm hoping soon to make this with my own sauce. Eggplant parm, one of my favorite local treats, from local sources.

Starting to Harvest-Zucchini Fritters Recipe

Today I noticed lots of small zucchini growing on my 2 plants. I find 2 plants given enough room to grow, produce more zucchini than we can even eat. Today I picked 3 of them for our first harvest that isn't lettuce.

I made one of the girls favorite side dishes, which Eve decided was her only dish, Zucchini Fritters. I very simple shred the zucchini and mix it with an lightly beaten egg, some bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. If I'm making a larger amount or using larger zucchini I use more eggs. Heat some oil in a pan. Take the mix and make small, 3-5 bites sized, pancake shapes and place them in the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 2-4 minutes. Turn them over and repeat. I like to drain them on a paper towel over a plate. Yummy yummy, veggies even the pickiest eater will eat. Can even be used as main vegetarian dish meal.

Perfect Growing Weather

While lots of the country have been dealing with extremes this season I have been lucky to have the perfect growing weather. Its been warm, but not hot and rainy with periods of nice strong sunshine. This has been a blessing for my garden, especially given the late start I got. We had late frosts this year so my plants were late in the ground and on top of that this was my first time growing from seeds and it took longer than I expected. I've been anxious for flowers on my tomatoes. They take so long to ripen and started so little in the ground I even bought one larger one from a local nursery hoping I might get some early ones. Well with this perfect storm of weather you now can't even tell the difference between the bought plant and the ones I grew. They are all growing so well. Even my little Jersey Devil plant that I have been so worried about. It was so tiny when I put it in the ground. I just hoped being in the ground it would take well and catch up. Its not as big as the other plants, but it is catching up well. Today as I was pinching off the little shooters in their "elbows" I noticed something that got me so excited. Flowers, little flowers starting on my tomatoes. I can't believe how excited I get from such simple things now. I can almost taste those Jersey tomatoes now.

Growing Tomatoes

One of my favorite garden items are tomatoes. Nothing is tastier than a fresh, red (or pink or yellow), ripe tomato. This year since I live in New Jersey I decided to have a Jersey theme. We are known for our summer produce, and tomatoes tops that list. I am growing Rutgers tomatoes, my first time growing them. Rutgers also happens to be my alma mater.

I also tried the Heirloom tomato I got from the Baker's Creek catalog. Its a Jersey Devil tomato, great for sauce since it has few seeds.

dexsc I'm also growing an old stand by, Brandywine. Last summer also everyday I ate a brandywine tomato sandwich.

Growing is off to a slow start this year, it's my first year growing from seeds. Just as I did last year, marigolds surround my tomato plants. Marigolds attract all sorts of good insects to your garden, good ones that eat the bad ones. Last year a few times I notice a tomato hornworm. They are so gross looking. Their ugly horns may be harmless, but they sure aren't. They are voracious eaters and can easily eat away at your whole plant. The marigolds attracted braconid wasps that lay their eggs on tomato hornworms. I was lucky,every time I saw a tomato hornworm it was covered with their eggs and within days he was shriveled up and dead. I hope my marigolds and the companion planting helps keep my garden organic this year.

I still don't even have flowers on my tomatoes, I'm hoping this week's warm weather and rain brings some by this weekend. I'm counting down the days til I can enjoy more of our garden. Right now we are just enjoying lettuce and spinach. Its better than nothing right?

Dirt Digging

Spring is finally here and I've spent the last 2 weeks with my hands in the Earth planting away. I have high ambitious this year, even though my garden will be mostly in containers. A huge tree landed on my garden during a hurricane and ruined most of the fencing and door, the tree is so large that it is still there. I've gotten resourceful and have many plants started in containers. Spinach, lettuce, strawberries and special heirloom carrots that grow fat, not long. I also planted beans and snow peas along the only standing side of fence left from the garden. In my basement I have started many seedlings. Some my little munchkin child requested. Pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelon, tomatoes, peppers, and more. We love watching them grow. Its a little science experiment in our basement. Home learning fun. Home grown yummies coming soon.

Produce produce

I have soooo much extra produce. I went a little over zealous on my planting this year. I forgot how large most plants get so my garden is hard to maneuver. Everyday for the past 3 weeks I've eaten a tomato sandwich for lunch. I'm not complaining one bit, its the best tasting lunch. Today I tried my first from scratch tomato sauce. Very yummy, but it cooks down so much I didn't get as much sauce as I hoped for. There is always tomorrow

. The rain has been very good to my tomato plants so I will be making lots more sauce. The one challenge has been getting Liv to eat from our garden. She is not a huge veggie fan, but I've found a few recipes that she has enjoyed. I love how excited she gets "I like kini, I like the kini" she said after making zucchini fritters. All I did was shred a large zucchini, squeeze out the water. Then add some bread crumbs and a beaten egg. Put some oil in a pan over a middle heat. Make small patties and lightly fry both sides till golden brown. Dry on a paper towel. Great as our "carb" side with little carb and lots of good.

Note to Myself

Gardening note to myself: Tomatoes in the ground grow so much bigger and produce so much more then my old containers. Space more apart and 13 tomato plants is too much Tomato cages rock Yellow cherry tomatoes, so yummy

Zucchini is a weed, so is summer squash and spaghetti squash, give them room to grow. Lettuce, plant earlier and closer, they do not need much space and bolt quickly in a hot Jersey summer Figure out some trellising or something for cucumbers, they grow much taller then my bamboo rods and need more support. Several plants is the perfect amount, cucumbers and pickle cucumbers grow fast and plenty. Mulch more, weed more. Watch out for slugs, they do damage quick.

Growing and Growing

This is my first garden as a SAHM, an adult and homemaker. Because of this I have made some mistakes, mostly in my spacing. Man does zucchini grow like a weed. And who knew my tomato plants would grow so big. I am already getting an abundance of cucumbers and zucchini, and am already getting a little sick of it. I'm can't wait till my tomatoes ripen to make some yummy salads, with cucumbers and zucchini, but not as the star. I have 1 staple recipe for zucchini that is so easy and simply delicious. I just saute it with butter, a little salt and pepper. So far I have also added shredded zucchini to a lasagna, in some omlettes and made some yummy baby food for Ev. I also have been munching on an old family recipe for cucumber salad Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of celery salt over about 3 cucumber cut very thin. Let sit a minimum of 1 hour, preferable 2 or more. Drain the water out.

Mix 1 cup white vinegar and 1/2c sugar or to taste. Add the cucumbers with 1/2 cut up onion and green pepper. You can add dill if desired. Let sit in the fridge, store in mason jars. This recipe tastes better the next day and lasts up to a month stored in the fridge. Enjoy!

Around the Garden

Since become a SAHM and/or "radical" homemaker I have added some hobbies or other homemaking skills to my repertoire, knitting, crocheting, baking, canning and my most recent obsession, gardening. I used to garden with my parents as a child, my father owns a nursery and my mother always had a fondness for Jersey fresh produce. But this is my first garden on my own. My 2 almost 3 year old daughter helps a lot, which is why carrots are sprouting up every where. She helps me water and loves to help me harvest. She is not so big on tasting them, but I hope she will eventually cave. We so far have been enjoying cucumbers, zucchini and a few cherry tomatoes. We also have blueberry bushes that we eat as they ripen. We just can't seem to wait for a bunch, they are just too fresh and good. What I love most about this hobby is how it brings people together, people talking and bonding over food and gardening. When I knit, cook, bake or can I am limited to who I can talk with this about. Only 1 of my friends crochets, none knit, no one cans and a few bake, but not like I do. They like the back of the box or fancy food dye sugar filled cakes while I enjoy fresh breads, muffins and the occasional cake from scratch.

But with my garden I feel there is something for everyone. I greatly enjoy talking with my father about the types of plants, which grow best, which taste the best and what plants are best for which part of the season. He enjoys some of the odd plants I found, my cooking them and my organic methods which he isn't too familiar with. I also enjoy asking my mom for old favorite recipes that she would use with all the fresh produce. I think she also enjoys my new skill of canning and I know she loves trying them. My children also love trying, especially the baby. Liv is a little more picky but I get her to eat those veggies in many ways she doesn't even know. My husband also has fond memories of his mother's garden and actually enjoys helping me take care of mine. It is the only hobby that we really enjoy together other then hiking and just being out in nature. The season is just starting up by me and I am enjoying read every cook book and preserve book I can find. I went way overboard and need to preserve as much as a can to not waste it. I also love talking gardening with people, people of all ages enjoy gardening so I find young friends, old neighbors and more are more then willing to talk you up and give some great advice. Most of all I just enjoy sharing my produce or cooked and baked good with my friends and family. I feel this garden has brought me a little closer to natures, closer to creating my own homestead, close to my past and homemakers of the past and closer to being a healthier, greener and self-sufficient family.

Green Thumb

Spring is well on its way and I have been playing in the thawed and warmed dirt. This past weekend I spent a lot of time planting flowers and working on my garden. This is the first garden I have grown by myself. My first "grow-up" garden. My dad always had a garden and I would help him, but this one is all my own. My husband built the structure for me, to keep the deer out, but the rest is all me. I used the compost I've been working on for fertilizer. My goal is to have an organic garden. I also used to organic mulch to help with weed control. I planted several variety of tomatoes, peppers, onions, peas, cucumbers, carrots, eggplant, watermelon, 2 blueberry bushes and some herbs.

Liv helped me plant the carrots, so I am starting to see them sprouting up all sorts of spots in my garden. But that's okay, my garden is not meant for beauty or order but to help feed my family and to help teach Liv about where food comes from. I'm also hoping that it will help her eat some vegetables. Tonight we had pierogies, she looked at the green peppers I sauteed with them and she said "yuck, I don't like this" She refused to even try it. I'm hoping once she sees then growing in our garden and gets to pick them right from the plant she might be more likely to try them. I find I am becoming obsessed with my garden. I have such pride in my garden and keep thinking how many wonderful meals I can make from my garden. I even checked out Balls Canning book from the library to preserve some of my harvest. I have very quickly understood why people enjoy gardening. The dirt in my fingers, digging in the earth, the physical labor, being out in the spring sun. I also love learning a new skill. Since being a SAHM I miss the intellectual stimulation from work or school.Gardening, at least for now, has seemed to fill that gap in my life. Even thought my dad gardened and even owns a garden supply store, there is so much I need to learn. First is learning how to garden organic, which is something my dad never did. But all learning how to do it myself. I usually just helped him plant, would water and then pick the harvest. But there is so much more. Crop rotations, how to fight infestation, staking and cages, planting, spacing, even learning what types of varieties there are. I really did not know that tomatoes come in a whole rainbow of colors, not just red. I'm also excited to learn more ways to cook and to save and preserve my harvest. And to taste fresh picked fruit and veggies, straight from the ground or vines. I feel very much like a homesteader or a housewife from the early 1900s, which I love. People with out gardens have no idea what they are missing.

Hummingbirds and Dangers of the Dye in Feeders

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Liv and I love to watch birds. She calls them "cheep cheeps" because she loves listening to them sing.
I am very grateful to live where I do. My state bird is the Eastern Goldfinch, a bird I did not see till I was an adult and visited my husbands parents in New Hampshire. Now living in a more rural part I see them, along with other wildlife I thought only existed in other states, daily.
One thing I do not see in my yard is hummingbirds. I have been working to bring back the gardens and other greenery that the previous homeowners neglected so there are not too many plants that attract them.
While I was leaving the library I spotted this book and went right back to check it out.
Its a great resource on how to attract hummingbirds to your yard. I wanted to get us a hummingbird feeder and am so glad I read this book before I did.
I always thought that the nectar needed to be red to attract them. Which is not true. Most feeders have enough red parts to attract hummingbirds. I never thought that most of these nectars are made with Red 40, which numerous studies show that this dye is harmful in large and possible small quantities. Imagine how harmful it could be to a small hummingbird who is drinking a lot of it?
Instead you can just make your own nectar with 1 part sugar to 4 parts boiling water and let cool. Its cheaper then buying the store kind, and kinder to the birds.
It always makes me think how many things we do that can be so harmful to nature with out even realizing it.
"Leave only footprints" when it comes to nature.

A Child's Perspective of a Lawn

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This is the first time Olivia has been able to walk in spring. She loves going around a picking the dandelions in our yard. She get so excited and brings them to me and we smell them together. She loves the "weeds" the cover our lawn.
I can remember as a child making wishes on the seeds. My parents never cared that I was spreading these "weeds" around more. I never saw them as weeds till I was much older and told that they are weeds. I still don't feel this to be true. I love the little splash of color they give my lawn, but I do remove them from my flower gardens.

Last summer I was at a BBQ at a friend's home whose husband is obsessed with keeping their lawn perfect. They own the perfect McMansion in the perfect neighborhood so he is obsessed with keeping their lawn neat and green. They get their lawn sprayed often to keep the "weeds" away.
I was outside by the swings, which are near their neighbors yard playing with the kids. One young child said to himself "Wow" looking at the neighbors yard "look how pretty their grass is." It was covered with dandelions. He looked around the yard we we're in with a sad kind of look. "I wish this lawn was as pretty."

I just love the way children see the world. I wish adults would take the time to see what they see.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."

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Spring in Bloom

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Since my dad owns a florist I already have blooming, and now dying tulips, hyacinths and daffodils.
Usually the time to plant bulbs is in the fall, but most of the bulbs sprouting up in my lawn have all been planted in the spring. After my indoor potted plants died I planted the bulbs in my spoil. I have not had a problem with them surviving. Its a great way to re-use the bulbs so they don't go to waste.
Every year I see my lawn and garden getting more and more beautiful when early spring comes since I keep adding to my bulbed plants.
Its a simple way to be a little green :)

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Composting the Easy and Cheap Way

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This spring I plan to start a garden. With the cost of fresh fruit and vegetables on the rise I am hoping this will help keep our growing grocery budget down. It will also be a fun project for me to do with Liv. It amazes me how many children know nothing of where there food comes from and what is in season.
I have been reading a ton on gardening. Right now I checked out Martha Stewart's Gardening Month by Month. Since my home is in the same zone that Martha lives in I am finding this book to be very helpful.

My first step to preparing my garden is to start composting. It can take 4-6 weeks for compost to be usable so today we decided to make a simple garbage can compose bin.

It was so easy to do. I have seen on t.v. shows people use garbage can composters. I decided to do this method since I do not have the money to buy a nice expensive one and have read many places that they are not necessary.

I searched garbage can compost bin and came across a great video that showed my what to do.
I also found another video on youtube.

Using these 2 video my compost bin in now outside my home and being put to use. Can't wait to see the wonder compost that will be natural and safe for our home garden.

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