It’s been a long time coming, but I think this year, maybe just maybe I finally have it. I created a bed just for the strawberries and plopped the strawberry tower of power in the center. I planted strawberries all around it in the hopes that the runners would propagate
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Ah, delicious. Kind of. Horseradish is powerful stuff. It burns through your nose in a flash and then it’s gone. It’s unlike any other “hot”. Last spring I planted a few cuttings of it in a secluded bed that’s hopefully sectioned off enough to keep it from spreading everywhere. I
Read MoreI’ve been joking around all year with friends about my potato tower of power. Using minimal space, you get a huge harvest of potatoes, and they are relatively easy to retrieve. I finally got to harvest the fruits of my labor!
Read MoreI’m facing down 6 tomato plants FULL of green tomatoes this week. And other than fried green tomatoes, I couldn’t honestly think of anything to do with them. I put the task to google and found 6 recipes I’m hoping to try out sometime this week and depending
Read MoreI like it best when round ups are arranged around a theme, so I’ve decided that’s what I’m going to do from now on. And today, Plant Markers Tutorials is it! I’ve been in need of plant markers for not just the herb garden, but all my veggies too. I’m
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My chickens have started flying the coop, literally. They’ve figured out how to hop over the fence, well, hop fly. And unknown to me, the decrease in egg production was actually them just preferring a more natural nesting environment.
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In the beginning, Thrift Kitchen started out as its own separate blog. I realized pretty quickly that a lot of the people who were reading Thrift Kitchen we also reading Craft Leftovers. And I also realized that posting about home-y stuff once a week was really all I wanted to
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I have a huge WIP to share with you this week: a 24′ long mural! A little shy of a month ago I was hired to design and paint a mural for an elementary school. It was in honor of their successful community garden and the idea was to kick
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This year I decided move a few things around in my yard. The coop is in the corner and the chickens get their own space (so Bob doesn’t terrorize them) and instead of having the garden in a square, I’m moving it along the fence. The hope is that this
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Ah, now is the best time to be thinking about planning your garden. I just got three seed catalogs in the last 2 weeks. Start making a plan for the garden. I took notes last year, but I also launched myself into a nice brainstorming session. One of the things
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This year I’m making a preemptive strike on the winter blues. The seedlings will all be green and wonderful by the time we are a foot under snow. Ha. Take that Iowa winter. We planted these sweet little seeds on Tuesday, and today, sprouts! Just two. And you can barely see them.
Read MoreLast week I thoroughly enjoyed cooking, eating, and canning my tomatoes and peppers except when I ate too many over ripened jalapenos and just about scorched my face off. I was literally under the faucet it burned so much. I’ve never ate something so hot that it made me cough
Read MoreIt’s been awhile since I’ve updated you on the status of the “farm”, so I thought I would take this week where I’m focusing all my creativity on getting the next zine finished and out the door, to show you around a bit and give you the updates.
Backyard Chickens
I actually planted my peas according to my planting schedule for the first time ever and they have done great. So great that they are in some need of support before they turn into a tangle and smother each other right out of production.
Read MoreA little known fact is that I’ve had miserable luck as a gardener. And the thing is, that up until this year, I left a lot of it up to luck. I’d plant things whenever, wherever. Even though I knew such casual practice would lead to casual results. Well this
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It’s finally here! The third issue of Craft Leftovers Monthly is in the shop along with the third edition of Leftover Christmas!
Get this month’s issue in the shop
This month’s issue is all about spring turning to summer–gardening, cleaning up, and allergies! I don’t know about you, but my nose is going nuts with all the pollen around here.
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I loved my room at the Porches. It was a little oasis where people picked up after me for a change, coffee was delivered in the morning along with croissants and cream.
But, by the end of the week I was so ready to be home. I missed home cooked meals and being able cuddle with the cats. I missed the daily walks with Jak and working out with Jason–and just hanging out with him in general.
Read MoreNot that many years ago I was naturally dyeing yarn on a small scale to sell in my etsy shop Green Prairie Fibers. I love natural dyeing in all of its aspects–collecting, fermenting, straining, the smells, the surprise of colors from unexpected sources, and the beautiful fusing of chemistry, cooking,
Read MoreJason and I are having a load of fun lately with starting up our own indoor garden and playing around with home brewing. Me, well, I just needed some green in my life. And, like I talk about at the end of today’s post, learning new things and spending time
Read MoreMaybe you really just want nothing to do with wormy friends like I posted about last week. Or maybe they aren’t eating enough to take care of all your kitchen scraps. That’s okay. That doesn’t mean you have to forgo composting all winter long. My issue with winter composting is
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