Sink or Swim? Seedlings or Plants?

Well, I was just about to give in (still might) and trade in the floundering seedlings for the robust young vegetable plants in the store.  Mine just never look the same.  I start them too late, they don't get enough light, maybe I need a greenhouse, oh, yeah, and where would I put that?!!  And yesterday, I was at the plant store - Frank's, in Elkridge - and of course, they are bigger, better, livelier!

But then last night I plucked out some round red radishes, romaine and spinach for my mother, and it looked great!  And then a nice round radish (HOT!) for me this afternoon, after trimming the front bushes.

And here's the difference -- what we planted that worked was what could go right out in the ground a month or so ago.  It's those sorry little seedlings, planted in the little pots, that are quick to come up but then leggy and pitiful-looking.  Those are the ones that beg for replacements.  The ones started indoors.  I think I'm right.  I think I DO need a greenhouse; at least a small one to keep them outdoors once they sprout!
I still think it's too late for this spring, and I probably need to turn to the plant store.  But maybe I'd better start investigating small greenhouses as well!
Yum, that radish was good.  Used to be, in the old days, I knew someone who dipped them in a pile of salt...

Supporting My Tomatoes - Through the Snow??

Well, here's a subject near and dear to my worrying heart, questioning, never knowing which might prove the best, researching to see what worked for others, EVERYONE advises something different!!  Last couple years' projects worked but were too cumbersome, don't like the little metal supports - too frail for my boisterous plants.  But last week, I found what I wanted - I knew it the minute I saw it.

These are awesome - SIMPLE, STURDY - just the thing.  I think they'll even work for the next row, for the peppers, just a bit shorter!  And for bonus points --  I have wood I can re-use to make them!!

So yes, I did mention that I found this last week, totally excited about getting the garden ready and then what happened?  Well, it snowed, and snowed, and snowed, and snowed, and snowed.  I won't even SEE my garden now for weeks, under 4+ feet of snow!  Yikes!  Wonder what would have happened if I had gotten my row covers out this year, under that much snow...

How to Make Brown Sugar...

Who Knew??  I found this by accident, while I was googling how to soften brown sugar (again!)  And this is how to make brown sugar:
1 cup granulated sugar + 1 T molasses = 1 cup light brown sugar
and
1 cup granulated sugar + 2 T molasses = 1 cup dark brown sugar

Who Knew??  And what could be easier -- especially in terms of simplifying my shopping list (albeit, one item at a time) - because I almost always have sugar and molasses; it's the light brown and dark brown sugars I don't have when I need them!
Love it!
Best regards, Gretchen

Costco Rocks!

Nitrogen in my tires - Yes, I heard about it when?  Back in September 2009.  Going to do it, going to do it, going to do it, just haven't gotten around to it yet...  Well, it couldn't have been easier, let me tell you !  (And remember, we're all about EASY here, trying to fit change into our already crazy-busy lifestyles/priorities etc)

IF you're a member of Costco (and probably then by extension, BJ's, Sam's Club, who knows where else - just call!) then next time you go in to shop, park by the tire center, go into the tire shop and sign in for nitrogen, show your membership card, leave your key.  When you're done shopping, stop back by the tire desk, retrieve your key, and go get your car.  Yup!  As easy as that!  While you were in shopping anyway (see, not even any lost time here) the Costco people brought your car up to the shop, deflated all four tires, filled them with nitrogen, and then added the cool green caps!  Woo hoo!  Couldn't have been easier.  And FREE!

If anyone at this point is still wondering WHY?  Well, that's a great question!  Without a doubt, there's NO downside.  Go to GetNitrogen.com for details, but in general, tire stay inflated properly longer, so better gas mileage, less tire wear and tear, not to mention - the cool green caps!

(Note:  Cudos to my daughter for making the phone call to Costco to check out the procedures; we actually all went together, so got to spend a half hour chatting well, roaming Costco aisles - added bonus!)

Baking Bread Loaves - $.38 Each

Okay, I know some naysayers could quibble about the price, and I've got the oven on, etc.  (Hey, I have to make sure it still works, since I hardly ever use it otherwise, except for my lovely spinach frittatas, but that's another story.)
But remember the basic premise here:  If it's not super easy to make the change, it might not work for me, and this is definitely working.  So here's the scoop:  The basic bread recipe:  Going all through the internet since last year or so, I think Oprah had it on, definitely it was in Mother Earth News, and now a newer set of recipes, using more whole wheat flour, but again, that's another post.

It's the easiest recipe ever -- I don't even have to look it up to share it with you, which makes me feel very chef-like --  6 cups water, 3 T yeast, 3 T salt, 13 cups all-purpose flour (and let me tell you, you don't even have to measure this --  just use the entire 5 lb package (which Trader Joe's sells for $2.99, hence my pricing.)  Add yeast, then salt to water (approx 100 degrees, etc).  Then add the flour, mixing it altogether, but not actually kneading it even.  Put into containers at room temp for 2-1/2 to 3 hours, loosely with a lid, to allow for expansion.  Then, in my case, make your first loaf or two, before storing the rest in the refrigerator, loose lid, for up to 2 wks or so.

No mess, no fuss, nothing.  So scoop out a grapefruit sized ball of dough, tucking it under itself, place on cornmeal-sprinkled pizza peel and let warm up.  Bake 30 min in 450 degree oven.

We're even remembering/managing to have sandwich-sized slices ready to go for sandwiches in the morning!  (As in, this is working.)  And don't forget - the pricing --  Not only do I know EXACTLY what's in my bread, but $2.99 divided by the 8 loaves it makes is $.38 cents a loaf.  If this price ever existed in my lifetime, it was certainly before I was old enough to be shopping and comparing prices.

A win-win, plus my house smells like fresh-baked bread, and for less time than it takes to run out to the store to buy more bread.  Soon I'll begin incorporating some other flours into the all purpose flour.  (Of course, then I'll have to measure the flour into the recipe again - compromises, compromises!)

Oh, and guess what else I just learned?  You can make pizza dough with it as well --  we'll be trying that out very soon!

"The Compost Tea Stunk Up My Kitchen"

Well, here I was, wondering what to do with the compost tea, because, all green-ness aside, I don't do inside plants.  Nope, no ferns, no orchids, no mother-in-law's tongue even.  No sunny windows to grow tomatoes in all winter which might interest me more.  Okay, I lied...  There's a small viney plant in the water where Gumdrop III or IV (I forget which), our beta fish, swims, up on the kitchen counter.  But I don't have to feed or water it, you see.  Therefore, it lives.
So what will I do with the compost tea my worms are so kindly manufacturing or by-producing for me?  As I was getting ready to feed them compost yesterday, and had cleaned out the kitchen compost bucket, that's exactly what I was wondering...

And then it suddenly occurred to me --  My beautiful and useful bay leaf plant actually resides across the street all winter, in front of my friend's sunny kitchen window.  So I looked forward all afternoon to bringing her the compost tea, both for my bay leaf and hers, and her other varied and sundry indoor plants, and she was then very excited to receive and immediately pour on our plants.

Much to my chagrin, not much later came an email across my computer --  "The Compost Tea Stunk Up My Kitchen" and even worse, apparently so badly that she doesn't want more!!  Fortunately (for me and my bay leaf) I've already decided to feed them surreptitiously, when they're not home, so no one is offended and our plants are happy and growing.  Sneakily green, that's me!

Worms as Sardines

Okay, I fed the worms today, having put it off for a good two weeks again, day by day.  I've got to admit it --  I really AM a little grossed out.  I didn't think it would be a big deal, like earthworms in the garden, but there are SO MANY of them!  And then, as I put it off longer and longer, letting the kitchen compost build up, I begin to wonder if -- even worse than them all being there --  what if they're all dying or dead and I'm not even checking on them?  Ewwww!  Worm-killer!

So on the other hand, I do like giving them all my compost.  I do like tearing up the pizza box and providing it to them as bedding, since I can't recycle pizza boxes.  Can you tell?  I'm still trying to talk myself into this.

It actually reminds me of when I wanted to try eating sardines, and I'd thought and thought about it, and then I'd googled it, and read a great article by someone, putting into words the same questions I'd had --  Would they be slimy?  What about the bones?...  And then I finally got brave, and figured she'd survived and liked them, and then lo and behold, so did I!

So I'm waiting now, waiting for my ephiphany, knowing that if I just wait, it'll probably come.  But in the meantime, I also know I probably need to look at them more often, ponder them, oh lord help me, not talk to them, as I start to come around.  I don't FEEL like I'm saving the world, one bit of compost at a time!