Women in the Outdoors, 2012

Yesterday I went to my first Women in the Outdoors event with Christina. I was really excited to try some new things. My first class was Dutch Oven Cooking, which I thought would come in handy with camping someday. The basic principals of Dutch Oven Cooking are simple enough. You get an oven with legs, put coals underneath it, which allows the air to circulate, and also heats the bottom. You put twice as many coals on the lid, and it allows things to cook from both sides. Our instructor was really nice. We made Caldillo, which, for those of you not from the Southwest, is a stew made with green chile, potato, beef, and anything else you feel like adding. We also made Cheeseburger Pie, and a chocolate cherry cake.

The next class I took was Archery. I would really love to get involved with this eventually, if I ever have extra time. I had a lot of fun, even though I bruised up my arm pretty badly when I hit it with the bowstring.

Christina and I took Lotions and Potions together. The instructor wasn't extremely organized, but we were able to make some lip gloss and sugar scrub. I went home and used the handouts she gave us to make some lotion, more body scrub, and some hair oil.

Off the Needles: A bookmark for Christina

I knitted a bookmark for a dear friend of mine who is turning mumblemumble.  Birthdays are special, and I wanted something to go along with the Cran-raspberry Jalapeno jelly I had decided to give her.

The pattern is Diamonds r 4 ever, and it's knit in Hempathy by Elspeth Lavold, in a fingering weight. It's actually a really pretty turquoise aqua color, but the fluorescent lighting wasn't very easy to work with.

Composting!

I've been reading books. Dangerous books. Books that teach you dangerous things and make you dissatisfied with your current way of life. Books that make you dream of strange things like milking cows and churning butter. Books about self-sustained living. The problem is, most of these books are written for people who already have a large garden or property, and a lot of time to work on it. I don't. When I chose to landscape my backyard, I tried to be as friendly to the desert as I could, while still making areas that allowed me to plant what I enjoy gardening. This means I don't have grass, and I have 2 main planters where I grow flowers and herbs. I have some trees to provide shade. The rest of the yard is landscaped with small pebbled river rocks. They are smooth enough to walk barefoot on.

I like my garden. But I dream about a small country cottage garden, filled with overgrowing herbs and carefully tended vegetables, and fruit trees blowing in the breeze. But I have to make the most of what I have, and what I have time for. I figured one small way I can make a difference is by starting a compost pile. I looked online at Lowe's and Home Depot, and my stomach dropped at the price. I really wanted one, and I couldn't see spending that amount of money... the return on my investment would just take too long.

And then I remembered that I had just received our new trash bins from the city. Which means that the ones I had purchased were just being used for extra storage of pots and buckets and garden tools. I did some research, and yes, you CAN use a garbage bin. I got out the drill, drilled some small holes all around it to let air circulate, but not so large that bugs and pests can get in, and voila! I had a compost bin. I took the wheels off and placed the bin in a plastic storage container. This is because all the water and liquid that drains out of your compost bin becomes liquid fertilizer and is really really good for your plants. You can also pour it back into the bin to keep the moisture levels high enough to promote decomposition.

Here's the first bit of compost material. It's mostly greens, but I hope to get some newspaper shredded this week to add into the bin as well. I added some garden soil, because the microorganisms are supposed to be good for breaking down organic material. Most of this is trimmings from the herb garden. Hopefully I can get enough material in here over the winter so that I have a nice bin of compost in the spring. :)

In the garden: Caterpillar Convention

 We've been experiencing some cool weather here lately, with daytime temperatures in the 70s, and at night it gets down in the 50s. I've been able to keep the sliding glass door open pretty much all day. Today I decided to do some work in the herb garden. I've been reading The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour, where I learned that Parsley is bi-annual. No wonder I've been disappointed with it this year! I was getting ready to pull it up. It looks like someone else is happy with it at the moment. There are at least 8 caterpillars hanging out, eating the sections that I've let go to seed. I looked them up, and they'll turn into Black Swallowtail Butterflies, although I think it's a bit late in the season, and they might just end up as bird food.

 I cut down the Chive, and brought some in for drying. I love the food dehydrator! I've made a lot of really awesome goodies with it, such as dried fruit and beef jerky, and it's great for drying herbs. A bottle of Chives can run upwards of $4.00 an ounce, so two trays of garden chives are a really great way to save money. It's a relatively low maintenance plant. My eyes watered quite a bit during chopping, and it was much worse than onions.

 I'm still getting a lot of peppers from the garden. I think there's another canning session in the making. The Jalapeno bush looks like it's grown 2 feet since the last big harvest, and the Bell Pepper plant is still producing.

 Comma likes the way the peppers smell, but he wasn't feeling particularly photogenic.

Ravelry Worldwide Shawl Exchange Part 1

I participate in a group on Ravelry called Ravelry Worldwide Shawl Exchange . You receive 2 partner assignments. You knit a shawl for one partner, and receive a shawl from another. This week, I received the most lovely shawl from Finland. The pattern is the Aeolian Shawl, and it's in the softest Malabrigos. It even has beads. My partner, Anu, who knitted it, is a true knitting master in my book. She knits nupps, and beads.

Not only was the shawl beautiful, but she included a lot of fantastic goodies from Finland. A book on her town, a pattern for another gorgeous shawl, a shawl pin, some sweets (one package didn't make it to the photo shoot because it was eaten), a cute keychain with a lamb on it, some postcards, and some napkins.

I was so thrilled with everything in the package! I'm knitting my (secret) shawl for my partner in Germany, and I'm looking forward to putting together a wonderful package that will be filled with great local goodies. :)

Canning and Preserving 101

I woke up yesterday morning and wanted to do something traditional. I wasn't sure what exactly, but I knew there had to be something. I had my morning coffee, was reading through my list of blogs I follow, as I do on a weekly basis, and more than one person was talking about canning. Of course, they all live on farms, so they have massive amounts of produce to preserve. All I have is a substantially-sized much neglected herb garden with one green pepper plant and one jalapeno plant. I needed to do some trimming anyway, so I walked out with my scissors, when I came to a screeching halt by the back door. I turned to look at the table in the breakfast nook, and there was Comma, sleeping by two large bags filled with produce from my garden. 

I have quite a mess to clean up outside, but here are some photos of what Comma sees from outside the window.

There in the middle. That's three basil plants, gone to flower, attracting bees, spiders, and all other sorts of creepy crawlies. Here are more pics of the rest of the garden.

The Bougainvillea is coming along nicely, isn't it?

Alright. so I did some research, and this website had 5 different ways to preserve Basil. Yay! When I told my mom what I wanted to do, she got out a few recipes and suggested that she teach me how to can. It was something she used to do with my grandmother. I've been wanting to learn for a while now, but never really thought I had enough produce to make it worthwhile. We looked at recipes, and settled on a few. I popped out to the store to buy some vinegar, sugar, pectin, and a stock pot (which I got on sale for only $5!).

When I got home, I started on the Basil preserving. I made Basil ice cubes, which are nice because they can be taken out of the freezer and go directly into a soup. I made Basil pesto ice cubes. I made basil butter.

And I infused some Basil into white wine vinegar, to use with salad dressing or over pasta.

Then, we started with the canning. It was intensive, only because we were trying so many different recipes. I wanted to have a sampling so that I can determine which are the best, and possibly make a massive amount of it to sell at the Christmas Fair at work. I still haven't quite determined if it's worth the effort. It also might be nice for Christmas gifts.

Here's a sampling of the finished product.

Back row from left to right: Bell Pepper Relish, Sweet Pickled Peppers, Jalapeno Salsa, Jalapeno Jelly, Strawberry Peach Jam, Hot Pickled Peppers.
Front row: Cran-Raspberry Jalapeno Jelly, Apricot Jalapeno Jelly.

And this is the whole family together.

I really feel like I learned a lot. :) I must confess that the whole time I was working, I was daydreaming that I was living on a farm, with goats and sheep and a huge orchard, with an extensive and well-balanced garden outside my kitchen door. Maybe someday, and at least I'll know how to preserve it all.