Kris and I are lucky to have some green space (albeit slightly larger than a postage stamp) surrounding our house, and from the time we moved in in December 2001, we have planned many ourdoor projects that utilize this space:  a small deck and a brick patio, several raised beds, a DIY pond project, a container garden, expanded edibles beds… and this year, realizing that there just wasn’t that much space left (well, we have two doggie girls, and we have to leave them some room to do their business!) we decided to go vertical.

It is still in the experimental stages – Kris and I constructed this box back in April and it still needs some tweaks (specifically when it comes to even distribution of water) but we are getting some nice looking greens growing from it, so it seems to be working on a pretty basic level!  Here’s how we did it:

Kris bought some boards and constructed this case – about 5 feet tall and 2.5 wide – and divided it into three sections.  The backing was left open, but with wooden slats placed about 2 inches apart.  The dividers were placed in at an angle to keep the soil from coming out, and a hole was cut in the middle to insert this wire mesh tube through the middle the case.  The hole is also cut in the top of the case.  We lined the sections with coconut husk fiber and then inserted this mesh tube.  The tube was then filled with river rocks.

A top soil and compost mixture filled in to each section.

Another layer of the coconut husk fiber to cover the soil.  With a razor, we cut small holes into the fiber to insert the seedlings / seeds. 

 Landscape fabric was stapled on top of the frame, and wooden slats were screwed into the frame .  We cut holes in the fabric to match the holes beneath in the cocout fiber.

Seedlings inserted!  then we propped up the frame, and secured it to the fence.  No soil spills!

The seedlings were started indoors awhile before, and we just transplanted them into the vertical frame.  We used the same salad green mixture that we put in the adjacent bed.  The hope is that the plants will grow out and then up, filling in the blank spaces with greens.  We are planning some additional planting in this bed so that we can have a staggered harvest (Kris and I love salad!) 

The only thing we have noticed is that the watering tube (filled with river rocks down the center) does not distribute the water as well to the seedlings on the far right and far left.  The water also tends to flow out the back of the frame.  So, some minor tweaks are needed. 

 This concept of the “living wall” is so amazing to me – mixing function and art.  If you are interested, there is LOTS of fodder online:

• Inspiring Vertical Gardens for Small Spaces, Low Impact Living Blog
• Patrick Blanc’s “Vegetal Walls” – true works of art- so beautiful!
• Ping Mag’s Vertical Gardening: The Art of Organic Architecture
• A simpler and more accessible approach to vertical garden using flower boxes

I want to take this idea and RUN with it…

We tend to focus so much on our edible gardening, but over the weekend, we planted some ornamentals – I got these foxgloves and corabelles at the nursery.  They are a nice addition to the front yard where we have some gladiolas and lilies preparing to bloom. 

The subtle changing of the seasons brings on a mad dash of figuring out how to stay on top of the marvelous bounty that our little garden provides… We pack a punch in a small space, for sure!

Our yard and our climate seem particularly suited for tomatoes and peppers, and we have had continued success with these plants over the years.  Squash seems to do well for awhile before being attacked by the beetles, and we also have had a decent crop of okra, cucumbers, eggplants, and lots of herbs.  Fortunately, we escaped the tomato blight that caused so much damage… funny thing is that it affected some of our neighbors down the street, but our tomatoes are healthy and abundant (so far).  We plant a number of varieties of tomatoes with pretty much one thing in mind:  making Kris’s amazing salsa recipe.  This year, we had two varieties of heirloom tomatoes, as well as several crops of romas to rely on for the first batch of the salsa.

We spent last weekend in the kitchen, canning three batches of veggies:  the aforementioned salsa, spicy dill pickles (and regular ones too), and some pickled peppers (Habaneros and jalapenos).  As you can see, we like the spicy foods and use these canned goods throughout the winter for all sorts of our favorite recipes like jambalaya, curries, various soups, black bean burgers, etc.  No wasting the veggies here!

Three Christmases ago, I saw an ad in some magazine at the doctor’s office about “Great Gifts for the Man in Your Life” (Real Simple or Martha Stewart Living, I think…)  The #1 gift intrigued me, and I thought that it would be something interesting and unique for the man in my life who likes to spend (nearly) the same amount of time in the kitchen that I do… so, I bought Kris the Cameron Cookware Stainless Steel Stovetop Smoker.  Little did I know, at the time, that this would be one of the best purchases for our culinary exploits!  I also picked up the indoor smoker cookbook, Smokin’, which has a total of TWO vegetable recipes, but it does have a lot of good ideas… The smoker is traditionally thought of for meats, but we have enjoyed so many smoked vegetables over the years. Who said vegans can’t be smokin’ too?

All that to say, that the smoker is an integral part of the salsa preparation.

All varieties of tomatoes and jalapenos from the garden – loaded into the smoker with hickory wood chips.  It takes about twenty or thirty minutes to get the right flavor.  This step is SO worth it.

For years, we used store-bought chipotles, but once we got the smoker, we made our own!

… Cilantro + Onions + Garlic + mix of spices and vinegar …

I would share a recipe if I had one, but this is all living in Kris’s head.  He has perfected this over the years. We do a whole little taste test each year and discuss whether it needs more or less of certain ingredients.  Perhaps I can get him to write it out one day soon.  This year’s batch seems to be one of the best so far – the tomatoes were not too watery and they had a delicious flavor.

Long winter with summery fresh food!

5 pints of salsa
4 pints pickled peppers
3 qt dill pickles

It was quite a productive and rewarding day.  …and there are already more tomatoes ripening on the vine.  A second batch (maybe even a third) is quite possible.

With fall right around the corner, I am already thinking about more harvesting and more preserves… apple butter?  some more peach jam?  … gosh, I love this season…

After finishing mom’s cardigan last week, my attempts at working on a project (either Mimi’s cardi or Kris’s sweater) have proven short-lived…

This past week, I had to seize on the unique and truly extraordinary mood that struck me – one that comes about as rare as a blue moon – to clean, organize, and arrange my home.  Yes, yes.  I know.  I organize, categorize, and arrange for a living - but at home is a different story all together.

It was precipitated by a long-held hope for a new dining room set.  Before we were married (~2000), Kris and I were very fortunate to find a very nice (and affordable) used dining room set in the classified section.  We didn’t have a house yet (ahem, we were still in college) but we liked this enough to get it, and luckily, we were able to store it in Kris’s parents’ house until we bought our house in December 2001.  The set served us well for many years, and it was quite nice – but the time came when we (okay, I) wanted something smaller and simpler – easier to get around, and more suited to our style.

I believe that if you have the space, you will fill it with things that you don’t need and will never use.  So, I cut down my space – specifically in the china cabinet – and filled a dozen bags and boxes with “said” things and made the long overdue trip to the thrift store.  What catharsis! 

Capturing this moment on film proves that it happened – before the table is piled with books, knits, random paperwork.  Or can I attempt to keep it this way? 

The funny thing is, once you start organizing (at least, once I start) it is hard to stop.  Striking while the iron is hot, and all of that stuff.  So, I rolled with it.  Next on to the pantry! 

I buy lots of items in bulk – it just makes sense with our diet, and in theory, it is supposed to reduce the amount of paper and plastic waste.  That is, if you don’t let all the plastic bags that you used to transport your grains to you home take over your pantry… but now…

I maintained while I contained!  And look how pretty the lentils and wild rice are in these glass jars!  (They were at Target and were reasonably priced. They had three sizes available.)  And the real plus is that I asked the cashier at my market, and I can take these containers in to the market for refills – they will weigh them beforehand and I can fill it, and they will charge me the difference.  Saving plastic bags and the hassle!  Perfect!  Filling these containers with my grains, seeds, legumes, nuts, and dried fruit brought a great sense of contentment.  I gazed lovingly inside my pantry for a good 20 minutes after filling them up.  *sigh*

…and when you are on that train, you don’t get off…

Next up, my crafty bookshelf. Oy.  A mess indeed.  Major cleanup was necessary. 

I have to say that I really do love the way that the knitting community supports these amazingly talented people within our ranks, and that there is such a market for great patterns that can be downloaded immediately after purchase as a PDF.  It is beautifully convenient.  The not-so-convenient part is the hole in the technology though… I don’t like to print off this pattern and  use more energy and paper – but it is also not too convenient (or comfortable) to knit in front of my computer so that I can look at a pattern.  I guess a laptop is the best way to solve this problem… does anyone else deal with this? 

So, what all of this means is that I have a lot of paper patterns that I have printed off the computer over the years – ideally, I would love to hole punch them and stick them in binders – and maybe that is the next step.  In the meantime, I just arranged them with all of my books and magazines.  The bookshelf allowed enough space for my books that are taller than 9-inches, and enough room for my back issues of Interweave Knits (+ Knitscene), and Vogue Knitting (+ Knit.1 and KnitSimple) and the yarn company pamphlet books from Berroco, Patons, Jo Sharp, Dale of Norway, Classic Elite, Rowan, and Lopi. 

This exercise in organizing my knitting and craft books made me realize that I never need to buy another book or magazine or pattern in my life. I have *plenty* of inspiration from these sources to keep me busy for the rest of my time on this earth… but then I saw Bonne Marie’s new Mondo Cable Cardi… hence the (futile?) attempts in my title to this post.  Yeah, fall is the hardest time for me – and I suspect for many of you too.  These designers sure know how to up the ante for the fall collections – they get me every year.

Of course, there is more to be done – much more!  and I am planning to do so soon - but it sure does feel nice to have some parts cleaned up and out. Simplified and minimized, at least for the time being. 

After days and days of rain showers, Kris and I were so happy to get out in the sunshine on Saturday morning and pick strawberries at the local(ish) pick-your-own farm in western Maryland.

We weren’t the only ones yearning for some time outside in the sun – the farm opened at 9am, and there was already a full parking lot when we arrived at 9:15am.  Luckily, there were plenty of fields.

So over a two-hour span, we estimate that we picked about 50 lbs. of strawberries yesterday.  We don’t mess around with our fruit – Kris and I are serious pickers  (and I have the sore back and hamstrings to prove it today!)  We eat our fair share in salads, and I make a breakfast smoothie nearly every morning, so these strawberries have already been slated for use!

Most were set aside in the freezer for smoothies and future salads, one flat was juiced in the juicer for sorbets and popsicles, 1.5 flats are currently being dehydrated (planning to make some trail mix or granola), and the rest are in the refrigerator waiting.  I am for a small batch of preserves, as well as some fresh recipes that I have found online – Eunice’s Raw Strawberry Pie – Strawberry Black Pepper Tart for Two – Strawberry Citrus Salad – oh my my, the list goes on.

…just this morning, we whipped up some vegan pancakes and added the delicious strawberries and bananas to the top before dribbling some maple syrup (from last year’s Canada trip!) Perfect Sunday brunch material!

I wish you could all come over and share in the strawberry bounty – our kitchen smells so sweet!

(Kris and I have been on a real cooking/baking kick, so I hope you are ready for lots of fresh veg recipes and photos… they are coming!)

Kris found out from one of our co-workers that there was a “Pick Your Own” farm in our county (Larriland Farm in Howard County for you locals).  We don’t venture that far north often, but the call of fresh berries and veggies was enough to make us go out in the heat and humidity for a couple of hours.

… and oh!  the rewards …

We met an adorable little girl and her father at the blueberry patch.

He asked, “Are you picking the berries for our basket?”

She answered, “Nope, I am snackin’.”

My sentiments exactly.

Most went into the basket, but some went into the mouth.

After picking a six pound bag of blueberries, we headed to the raspberry patch, further down the road.  The farm has so many pick-your-own fields, and now that we know about its location, we will definitely go back.  There were several fruits and vegetables in season this time, but we only had two hours, so we chose blueberries, raspberries, and beets.  (Sweet cherry season ended today, so they were planning a “Cherry Dash” this morning for the last of the fruit on the trees… too bad we missed it!  I have been eating some great cherries from the farmer’s market!)

The raspberries appeared to be overpicked, but upon closer inspection, the best and juiciest berries were deep inside the bush.  So, you put aside all decorum and reach right into the thorny patch for the best berries.  With scratches on our arms and purple stained hands, Kris and I managed to get six pounds of these as well! 

In all, we got some amazing berries and some fresh beets (I pulled them up myself!) for a very reasonable price.  It was great fun to spend the evening outside, meeting new people, and enjoying the fruits of the season. 

…Now I have to figure out what to do with all of these berries! We split up the berries with half in the freezer, and half in the fridge.   Right now, I have visions of muffins, smoothies, crumble cake, sorbet, and some yummy borscht for the beets.  Do you have a favorite berry recipe to share?