Links and Mending

• Cutting flat vs cutting on the fold (via Grainline) 

• I really like Budget Bytes. Not complicated but very appealing recipes made with real food. Many meals in my Plan To Eat meal planner are from this blog these days. (I loooove plan to

  

  Mending the wool jammie pants with colorful wool thread

  eat as well)

• Tonight's dinner from Budget Bytes.

• This mending is so inspiring. Now that I have jettisoned all the rtw that isn't quality what's left is getting mended. 

• I seriously love this. (Free Tea Party)

• Dry shampoo, where have you been all my life? This one is working well and doesn't have artificial fragrances or weird chemicals in it. 

• Someone needs to make me Feta Tapenade Tart Soleil

Links

• An oldie but a goodie: Natural does not equal safe on Sorta Crunchy

• I've always thought that this "meat is the worst thing for global warming" idea is bunk. The Radical Homemaker breaks it down really well.  

•  Yarn video games. YARN VIDEO GAMES!!

• Food In Jars shared a strawberry chutney which sounds great.

• Caramelized Sesame Chocolate Bar from Chocolate and Zucchini

• I want to buy ALL of Art Gallery's knit fabrics and make a thousand Auroras.

• I started reading a few historical sewing blogs and even though it's not something I'm going to sew, I love their enthusiasm! And it is interesting. American Duchess is one of them.

• Lining, underlining, interfacing, facing... so much to learn!

• You know those gorgeous blown glass beverage dispensers? I've always wanted one (not that I have room to store it or a reason to use it, but maybe one day) but they always have these cheap plastic spigots which turns me off. However stainless steel spigots are available to replace them!

• All the details of making mustard from Hunter Angler Gardener Cook

 

Links

 Things I've been reading...

• Trees grown in and around special plastic forms, the grafted to form solid, single piece furniture. Hopefully the plastic forms last more than one season!

• Loved this discussion about reading and interpreting ancient sagas in the modern age, with kids.

• I know it sounds ridiculous but steak is my new favorite thing. I just did not eat steak before we got an eighth of a cow as a present. Holy moly! Might try this Miso Glazed Flank Steak from Chocolate and Zucchini.

• So dorky and fascinating. Old & Interesting - History of Domestic Paraphernalia. 

• These critiques of the accuracy of the period clothing on Outlander are cracking me up! By historical clothing enthusiast Very Paige.

•  "All the time we spend inventing reasons is probably better spent responding to what occurs." The Tyranny of Random Numbers on Seth Godin's blog.

• This Pineapple, Lime, Coconut and Mint Mocktail does not seem like a consolation prize to me!

  

Broccoli is so pretty when it goes to seed.

More Sewing Things and the Weather

I went to Joann's yesterday hoping to find some inexpensive cotton voile (or any voile actually) to make muslins out of and I thought maybe I'd pick up some voile, lawn, and chambray to use in my final garments. I've been swatching gorgeous, fine cloth from various online sources but a few less expensive basics would not come amiss. 

Yall, the amount of polyester in that store is out of control. 

If you are a lover of polyester clothing then I envy you. If I felt comfortable in polyester my wardrobe would be easier and cheaper. Alas that is not the case. Anyhow, I really couldn't find any fabrics, synthetic or otherwise, that I thought would mock up with the drape similar to the fabrics I'm planning to order for my final garments (I am in love with this one, this one, and this one for starters and this one is going to be used for a small yardage project because extra pricy!). So I ended up buying the finest muslin I could find and calling it a plan. I also found these:

A light smooth tealish green gingham in the sale section with just shy of 2 yards on it. I don't know what I'll do with this yet. 

Also this linen/rayon blend (45/55 or was it 55/45?) which I'm going to make into a skirt. Hopefully it works out. My experience with rayon is that it shrinks a ton (I'll pre wash it of course) and stretches like crazy. And of course linen has a growing nature as well so we'll see. I decided to risk it because I love the print! Let's just deal with those colors for a moment. I could wear any color shirt with a skirt made from this. 

The moss shot cloth for the Ashland tunic

I also had a 50% off all regularly priced notions coupon which was very helpful. Not only did I find the perfect match for the green shot cloth in those expensive tiny Gutterman spools but I then got them half off. Also stocked up on needles because now that I'm doing this sewing thing for real I plan to approach it professionally which means changing the needles after each project. There were lots of other notions in the basket including a tube turner (because after trying the safety pin method on the narrow loops for the Gathering
Apron I was annoyed) and more glass headed pins, but not the extra fine ones I already had. Those were way too thin for the wool I just worked with and they were kind of a pain! Since there is more wool in the sewing stack, I needed a more substantial pin.

In other sewing news, I've been reading everything The Curvy Sewing Collective has written in addition to some of the contributor's personal blogs. The Collective rocks. Their pattern reviews are incredibly helpful since they give their measurements, describe their shape, and then talk about how a pattern worked for them fit wise and what they had to change. I narrowed down my pattern options a lot after reading all that. They also have great tutorials like how to do a full bust adjustment in general and how to do them in special circumstances, fitting sleeves when you have big upper arms, and more advanced techniques (or at least advanced for me!) like making a pocket stay. Also, while I love all the contributors, Mary is my favorite. I think her writing is hysterical!

In gardening news, the grass (and "weeds" which we love) are growing, the air smells sweet, the high today is 82 degrees... and the low tomorrow is 32 degrees. Texas be crazy. 

If all the flowers don't freeze off (and there are a lot of flowers in bloom) I'm going to take a bunch of pictures and show you what early March is like here. I've been trying to teach Small the names of the spring "weeds". So far we've done vetch, chickweed and henbit. He knows all the vegetable plants we grow so the weeds should be no problem. Pop quiz when he gets home today after MDO!

January Projects

The greenhouse in the garage

It is January so I recently started most of our seedlings for spring. The little greenhouse I made last winter in my closet got moved into the garage during our recent major clearing out. Last year I just used the enclosed space of the closet plus the closet curtain to keep it warm since the house was relatively warm anyway but now that it's in the unheated garage I needed to enclose it. A quick search for a roll of plastic that I swear I saw last week lead me instead to the box of drop cloths (old sheets). They seem to be working well. Growing in those flats are all the Solanaceae (except for some pepper seeds I got in the mail late) and the early spring planted greens (more of what was planted in the fall). In a week or so I'll start flowers, herbs, warm(er) weather greens, and a few other things.

tomato seedlings under lights

We've spent some time this winter taking down trees. There are a lot of trees on our acre and we aren't people who usually chop everything down but, after a while, trees die. We prefer to leave them standing because it's fantastic habitat for all sorts of creatures (and insects that creatures eat), particularly birds, but when a dead (or dying) tree is near the house or my son's play area we have to take it down for safety. Fortunately, most of the trees we have had to fell are the exotic invasive tallows. There is one pecan tree with significant rot extremely close to the house that is coming down once we get the bees moved out of the base. All these trees mean lots logs and branches. Our branch pile for the birds is already enormous so we're going to grind everything from this round of urban forestry into mulch. Wood from the pecan is great for cooking with not to mention woodworking so we'll save those but the tallows are not good for much of anything. They break down very very quickly and giant logs, within a few years, get so punky you can step on them and crush them to dust. That's a handy trait when you want to get rid of a bunch of logs! So, in a weird hugelkultur variation, we have created some new beds with the usual cardboard on the bottom, then filled with logs, and then densely packed with mulch in all the crevices. I'll gradually add amendments to this and in a few years it's going to be an amazing place for vegetables. 

Greens from this winter's garden in the sink for cleaning.

Last summer we got some tree guys in the neighborhood to drop us off a double load of wood chips. Gradually the pile has diminished but now it's crunch time... we finally had a few frosts and warming weather is 4 weeks away so I need to heavily mulch (and amend) the entire vegetable garden before spring planting. The mulch pile will soon be gone (sad face!) but hopefully the spring leaf fall (yes, we have a spring leaf fall when all the evergreen oaks replace their leaves) will be a good one and there will be plenty of leaf sacks on the side of the road to replenish our mulch pile for the summer. 

We are hoping to put in a few new fruit trees this year. Over the years we have planted 3 figs, 2 mandarin oranges, 1 loquat, and 1 kumquat. I hoping to get 2 persimmons, a plum or two, a limequat if I can find it, a lime, and a red grapefruit. We'll see what we can get a hold of. 

Links to Share

Things I'm reading, thinking about, and working on this week...

- Oh boy, did I learn these lessons in a big way when I did landscape design. "Do You Really Need That Tough Customer?" by Tara Gentile

- What a lovely way to educate our young children about mega-fauna, environmental catastrophe through the ages, and the truth in myth. "The End Of A Chapter" by Brian Kallen at Restoring Mayberry  

- The Power of Concentration.

- Coming soon to an Etsy shop near you.

- How to make a notepad from junk mail.

- "...we’re not all competing for the same slice of pie." The Shocking Truth: I'm Not Your Competition by Carrie Dils

- Weirdly inspiring post from Cracked. 6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You A Better Person by David Wong




What are you working on this week?

Links and Articles to Share

Some things that caught my attention this week...

• We recently switched our dish soap and laundry detergent based on the Environmental Working Groups "Guide to Healthy Cleaning" report. Here they explain how they graded all those products.

• Mark Bittman in the NY Times... yes, pesticides are very very bad for us... especially children. 

•  Which got me thinking about how I need to upgrade the filters in our Big Berkey to the black ones which do a better job of removing pesticides than the originals.     

•  I just bought some organic instant coffee to make these Pfeffernuesse (although obviously not with Crisco... time to render some more lard). 

• Before next summer I want to figure out a way to (easily) save grey water for the garden. Maybe the shower bucket is a good start. (although I'd want to run a sump-pump and hose through the window so I don't have to haul the bucket outside constantly. I know my limits.)

•  I used to make truffles every year, usually with Chambord ganache. These salted caramel truffles look amazing. Now if I could only successfully temper chocolate... (and find time - seed starting and cleaning the chicken house definitely take priority).

Act Fast!

Real quick, guys. Cudzoo Farm, (remember, I talked about her before?) maker of the best goat's milk soap ever, has free shipping on all soap through Monday (that's tomorrow!). Thought you'd like to know :-)

Green Salsa Obsession

I have become obsessed with green salsa. 

There is almost always some in the fridge these days (as long as we have cilantro of course). 

I was inspired by Homesick Texan's tomatillo salsa recipe but since my tomatillos aren't ready in the garden didn't produce at all (!) and half of us don't do spicy, I made some alterations. Here's what I do:

1 large can tomatillos

1 can green chiles (we use mild)

1 bunch cilantro

onion (1/4? 1/2? depends on the day)

a few garlic cloves
whole cumin and pepper
olive oil

Blend all that up then simmer a pinch of whole cumin in a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Careful not to burn it. After a few minutes, when the cumin is slightly softened and the oil is nicely infused, pour your salsa into the pan right on top of the oil. You can call it quits at this point or cook the salsa a little. Your choice. I do it a different way each time I make it.

Stir this into soup, eggs, scoop it with chips, use it as an enchilada sauce, a topping for rice, potatoes, or mix it with yogurt for a creamy green salsa.

I can't wait until I have fresh tomatillos again!

P.S. Since I first drafted this post I've stopped cooking the salsa. I think I liked it better that way but I am very short on time because someone, lets call them "Poppyseed", gets impatient. Anyhow, I just pour the cumin/olive oil into the blender with the salsa and give it one last swirl. Pretty darn good. 



What is your condiment obsession?

Cudzoo Farm's Soap Giveaway

If you haven't already you should check out Cudzoo Farm's blog. It chronicles the antics of the goats, rabbits, cats, and dog on a Tennessee micro-farm. The farmer, Sarah, posts new photos and captions each day.

Now she's started "Freebie Fridays". Each Friday she has a soap give-away. Her soap is amazing. Made from her goats' milk, it's lightly scented, smooth, and creamy. I've been using it for years. (If you don't win a Friday Freebie, the soaps are available for purchase)

Here are some of the soaps from my last order.

Yes, that is a flying pig (ginger and bran).

Sleeping Nubian rosemary-mint soap.

I'd show you the spotted doe calendula soap I won last Friday (which was signed and numbered) but it's already in the shower :-)

Ruth Stout is Awesome

Lettuce growing in deep mulch in my garden.

11 years ago I read Ruth Stout's "No-Work Garden Book" and it changed my life (which is only a small exaggeration since gardening was 75% of my life). After reading that book I never tilled again (with two exceptions). I've been wanting to review her book for a while but I think this video might give you the idea. Basically she puts down a huge quantity of mulch which improves the soil, keeps weeds at bay, and prevents evaporation so she never weeds and never waters. I will say that growing in NY as she does is very different from growing in subtropical South Texas. Our weed pressure is tremendous for one thing. However, with some modifications, her method pretty much works for me: I pile up the mulch and sit back to watch things grow.

It never even occurred to me that a video of Ruth Stout existed and I'm so glad Sharon Astyk found one and posted it on one of her fantastic blogs.



Watch the video and check out one of Ruth Stout's books too. While you're at it take a look at Sharon Astyk's blogs Casaubon's Book and The Chatelaine's Keys (which in her words are all about "food, agriculture, energy issues and climate change") or one of her books. I've read and can recommend "Independence Days: A Guide to Sustainable Food Storage & Preservation".

This Week's Favorite Articles, Blogs, etc.

Some things I've been reading, looking at, and thinking about this week:

Seeds Straight From Your Fridge by Michael Tortorello in the NY Times - growing food plants from all the seeds, rhizomes, and roots we have in our kitchens.

Being Practical Isn't All That Great on The Organic Sister - A reminder to make impractical decisions every so often. 

Mine! on Cudzoo Farm - Another great goat picture by one of my small farming role models. Seriously, I've seen her farm in person and it is brilliant. I use it all the time as an example when I'm talking to people about what a well designed micro farm looks like. Sarah is my hero.

How To Render Lard The Right Way (Snow White, Odorless) by A Little Bit of Spain In Iowa - A very good explanation of how to render lard. And now I understand why my last batch was porkier than the first.

Mark Bittman on McDonald's Oatmeal

Along the lines we discussed the other day - that none of us really need or will benefit from "healthy" convenience foods - Mark Bittman in the NY Times calls McDonalds out on their newest "healthy" choice: oatmeal.

'A more accurate description than “100% natural whole-grain oats,” “plump raisins,” “sweet cranberries” and “crisp fresh apples” would be “oats, sugar, sweetened dried fruit, cream and 11 weird ingredients you would never keep in your kitchen.”'

"How To Make Oatmeal... Wrong" by Mark Bittman, New York Times Opinionator Blog, February 22, 2011, 8:30 PM

I'm A (sub) Urban Homesteader

Today, Monday, has been declared action day by the newly formed Facebook group "Take Back Urban Home-steading(s)".

For an quick intro into what's going on I recommend Crunchy Chicken's post from last week, which was the first place I read about this controversy.

My first reaction was to look a little deeper and make sure all this was real (although I do trust Crunchy Chicken) because haven't we all read something online which, when we looked into it, turned out to be kind of different from reality. After all, the internet often operates as one giant game of telephone, with reality being massaged and misinterpreted with every iteration. So I read all the Dervaes' blog posts on this subject because, as they said in their Feb 17th blog post Who Owns These Trademarks?: "Know the facts before you react!"... And I agree with that statement. 

Recipes From The Blogasphere

(First of all... how do you spell "blogasphere"? One g? Two gs? Is it blogersphere? Or blogosphere?)

Ah-hem. Anyway... Here are some recipes, from the vast collection of food related blogs in the segment of the internet we might decide to label if we could figure out how to spell it, that I want to cook soon:

Saag Aloo. Have I mentioned how much I love Indian food? Check out Mallika Basu's blog. It is scrumptious.

Roasted Broccoli, Potato, and Vintage Cheddar Cheese Soup. This is brilliant as are most of Edible Aria's recipes.

Butternut Vanilla Jam. I just discovered Putting Up With The Turnbulls and I can't wait to read through it all. And I have 4 butternut squashes staring at me from the counter.

Preserved Lemons. Citrus season is upon us. Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook also teaches me neat-o things like how to cure meat or cook wild hog.

Chiles En Nogado. We've talked about how much Homesick Texan rocks. And... she's coming out with a book!!! (I am not one to use multiple exclamation points willie-nillie but I think this warrants it.)


What food blogs do you love? What new recipes are you going to try soon?

The Organic Sister has another giveaway going on

Just a quick note for those who might be interested... The Organic Sister has another crunchy giveaway going on from Hip Mountain Mama. Check it out!

"Sustainable Baby Steps" Giveaway on The Organic Sister

The Organic Sister has a huge giveaway going on for all kinds of fun and crunchy stuff to promote her new project "Sustainable Baby Steps". I'm hoping to win the Eco Lunchbag Kit... it is super cute.

One of the items you can win is a starter kit from Glad Rags. These rock. I can't believe I ever used plastic pads, especially during the summer. Cloth is much much more comfortable. Check them out.