Construction Themed Baby Blanket

This is a construction themed baby blanket. This is the first square one I have done. 

Puppy themed baby quilt

This it the baby quilt for my new granddaughter. It is a puppy theme. 

Owls and Flowers Baby Quilt

 This little baby quilt was for my nephew's baby. She was named after my mom. My mom loved flowers and the little owls with so many beautiful flowers fit the bill. The flying geese pattern around the owls was in honor of my maternal grandma who loved geese especially when they were migrating flying in the sky. 

Tree Skirts

2 more quilted tree skirts completed. They are all so unique! In case you wondered, because the cut is a wedge, it always creates 2 skirts.

Camping theme baby quilt

This is the latest addition to my baby quilt creations for a special little guy. 

Roasted Broccoli Thai Soup

Roasted Broccoli Thai Soup

2 medium stalks of broccoli chopped                    1/2 of a large red onion, chopped

2 large red sweet bell peppers, chopped                   1 Tbsp. minced ginger root

1 tsp. minced garlic                                                

Peanut  oil

8 cups vegetable broth                                              1 can coconut milk

2 Tbsp. soy sauce                                                      2 Tbsp. red curry paste

1/2 package rice noodles.                                        2 tsp. Siracha  sauce or 1/2 tsp hot pepper

Juice from 1 lime                                                        1 cup chopped cilantro (basically 1 bunch)

* Preheat oven to 425°F.

* Wash and chop broccoli. I like to peel and use part of the stems too. Put broccoli and one Tbsp. oil into mixing bowl and toss to coat. Place on small shallow baking pan to roast. As the broccoli starts roasting chop both  the onion and bell pepper separately with 1 teaspoon of oil each putting each on one half of another shallow roasting pan. Roast veggies approx 10 minutes, take them out and stir then put them back into the oven for approx. 10 min. You just want to roast the veggies on at least one side. When finished roasting just set aside for a few minutes.

* Next, heat large soup pot over medium high heat. Place approx. 2 teaspoons of oil into the pot and sauté garlic and ginger root for about 3 minutes.  Add the curry paste for about 30 seconds more, then stir in the vegetable broth.

* Reduce heat to medium, add coconut milk, vegetables, soy sauce, Siracha sauce, and lime juice. Add noodles (uncooked) Add chopped cilantro.  Heat around 10 min until noodles are done. Serve hot. 

Squash Pasole Soup

This soup is a favorite any season. It just happens to be vegan but wasn't my intention when I made this recipe. I use what ever I can from the garden. Today I used a giant bag of just picked kale and a butternut squash I still had from last growing season. I also like to use fresh tomatoes if I have them. It is basically a vegetable chili which I love!!

Squash Pasolé Soup

1 T. olive oil                                                                 1 yellow  or red med. onion - chopped

2 stalks celery - diced                                                 4 cloves minced garlic (approx. 4 tsp.) 

1 tsp. dried oregano                                                    1 1/2 T. chili powder

1 can black beans or chickpeas (drained & rinsed)                                                                          4 cups chopped kale or chard

1 tsp. ground cumin                                                   8 cups vegetable broth

1  medium sized butternut squash- peel, deseed, & cube

1 can nibblet corn                                                      1 bunch  chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp. salt                                                                   1/4 tsp. ground black pepper           

1  28oz. can crushed tomatoes                          Juice of 1 lime

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper or 1 T. Siracha (optional)

*Heat oil in large soup pot over med/high heat. Add celery, onions and garlic,

sauté for approx. 5 minutes. Add oregano, chili powder, and cumin.

Sauté 30 seconds more.

* Add broth first then squash, kale, corn, black beans, crushed tomatoes,

cilantro, salt, pepper, juice of lime & red pepper (if desired), stir occasionally

and simmer approx. 15minutes more or until squash is cooked through.

* Great to make a day ahead. This soup freezes well.

 ( Shortcuts for soup; bagged kale, frozen cubed squash, frozen chopped onions,

 1 T. dried cilantro)

Baby Style Dinosaurs Baby Quilt

 Another dinosaur baby quilt with a more animated baby style dinosaurs. I love the double Irish chain and even though it isn't perfect, it still turned out cute!

Dinosaurs In Blue and Green Baby Quilt

 This little quilt was for a grandchild. The batik fabrics accent the dinosaur fabric fabulously!

Pink and Gray Irish Chain Baby Quilt

Wild Animals Baby Quilt

This is another baby quilt featuring jungle animals and cute sayings. 

Mom's Quilt Block

This mini lap quilt is actually a collaboration. Since my mom passed away in May 2019 I have slowly but surely been going through bags of fabric stash from her house. A few months ago I stumbled upon a quilt block with the two pieces of fabric she had used to make it. 

Even though my mom was an avid sewer she wasn't really a quilter, so the block definitely surprised me. Right away when I saw it I knew I wanted to use it. This winter I finally got to it. 

The block she made is in the very center minus the outer block strips I added with the tiny turquoise squares on each end. Since my mom's block gave an illusion of movement, I wanted to carry that on throughout the project. I am happy with the results and wonder what my mom would think about our collaborative project. I guess a little piece of my mom will live on in this quilt. 

Happy quilting! 

Under the Sea Baby Quilt

This is a baby quilt I made for my niece Christina. I use flannel to back these baby quilts to make them extra cozy. This one is so cute! (Of course I think they all are!)

 

Batik Inspired Quilt

   

I have finally finished the binding on this colorful quilt.  Although it was a challenge, it was a whole lot of fun to make!

In the Organic Garden: War on Borers positive midsummer update

Here is another update on the zucchini squash plants growing out of the cut off solo cups stuffed with floating row cover around the base of the stems. The plants are doing great so far. They are growing up the tunnel made by a large tomato cage and chicken wire. Some challenges have been to double check  if there were squash lower on the plant so they didn't get gigantic, and wondering if watering low in and around the cup would be enough. Clearly it has been taking up enough water. 
 

This is a view of the left cup that had 2 plants in it. I have definitely realized that 2 plants is way too many, so next year I will make sure there is only one plant per cup. I have had many zucchini squash and am so happy that so far this trial run of how to combat the borers has succeeded. If you tried this method as well, I would love to hear how it is going for you. 

Happy Gardening!!

In the Organic Garden: War on the Borers, Zucchini is Growing

When the zucchini were starting to grow I put chicken wire around the tomato cages in order to force the plants to grow upward.

This is what they look like now. They are doing very well! I actually picked my first zucchini in two years. I had to loosen the wire around the cage that had 2 plants in it because the plants were becoming very squished. Otherwise things are going well. Last year I had multiple borers in the vines and ended with dead plants and no zucchini. This year has been so much better so far. 

I wonder if anyone else has tried this method? If so I'd love to hear from you. 

As always, happy gardening! 
 

In the Organic Garden: The War on Squash Borers; Round two

On to round two. The seeds sprouted so I cut a piece of floating row cover in about a 3 inch wide strip across the top of the fabric like floating row cover material.

 I cut a length of that piece I would say around 18 inches long, bunching and tucking it inside the cup rim around the stem of the plant. The first cup had both seeds sprout so that was a little trickier, but I made sure to tuck in between the stems to make sure all the soil was covered. 

In the past few days I finally planted my winter squash seeds. I used old yogurt, cottage cheese, and a tub from salad greens to box in my seeds this time, again cutting the bottom off just like the cups. I used floating row cover to cover the top this time and poked some air holes with the skewer again. 

On a side note, I always collar my newly planted tomatoes with paper, and am doing the same for my peppers this year in an effort to hopefully avoid those nasty borers as well. 

Good luck and I will update as the season rolls along. I would love to hear if you are trying this too and how it goes for you. Happy planting! 

 

In The Organic Garden: The War on Squash Borers

Last summer I saw borers in places I have never seen them before! I live in Zone 4 near the Minneapolis area. This year I have decided to wage a kind of war on the borer. And by war, I mean try to prevent the bugs from laying their eggs in the soil near my plants so that when they hatch the borers are no where near my vines to bore into. 

To the left you see what the adult egg laying vine borer bugs look like. To read more information about them you can go to this web page  https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/squash-vine-borers                                                                                                The bugs are about a half inch long.                                                               

To start my quest I took two 18 oz Solo cups and cut off the bottom of the cup just below the first "o". You can see the mark on the cup where I cut. 

Here you see the cut cup. I used a sharp knife but scissors will probably work too.

Next I took a clear plastic bread bag and cut squares out of it big enough to cover the cup, then used a rubber band to secure it to the top of the cup. I then used a wooden skewer to poke some holes in the plastic. The holes are very small, just large enough to let in some air but way too small for the squash borer adult bugs to get into the cup.  

I prepped my soil by turning it over then added my organic fertilizer with egg shells and potash. I have a small garden so I only have room to make 2 wells for planting. 

At the bottom of each well I placed 2 zucchini seeds. I want one to sprout so I usually plant 2 seeds. The seeds are close enough to fit into the size of the cup. 

After I poked the seeds into the soil I watered them in, then pressed each cup over the seed area in the wells. 

Since our weather was unusually warm the seeds sprouted very quickly, it took just a few days. ( I checked them daily ) After I removed the plastic I immediately packed in grass clippings to cover the soil. If you don't have grass clippings, pack something around the sprouts so no soil is exposed.  I will also check this daily. After both areas around the sprouts were covered I covered the entire area with grass clippings. The clippings will hopefully deter the bugs from laying eggs anywhere near the plants, but if they do hopefully the young borers will just bump into the outside of the cup and won't find the young vine. 

I thought about a platform to keep the plants off the ground but ultimately decided to put some large tomato cages around the seedling areas. My thought is to contain the zucchini plants and keep the vines off the ground as they grow. 

That is as far as this journey is right now. If you are trying this or something else like this in your own garden I would love to hear how it is going. I will post an update as the summer progresses. 

Happy planting!

 

Quilts for Mom

 This quilting project was in memoriam of my mom. The middle area of each quilt was made out of 9 patch blocks. In the middle of each 9 patch is a large square. Those large squares were cut from 2 articles of my moms clothing. The fuchsia/orange squares came from a floral jacket she used to wear that really looked great on her. The khaki squares came from a pair of pants she wore to work at Target. She really loved working there for 25 years. The other pieces of fabric came from fabrics my mom had in her stash of fabrics. I bet she would never have guessed this is what that fabric would be used for. I made one lap quilt for each of my siblings and one for myself for a total of 8 quilts. It took me a while to finish all of them, but I am happy I made them. 

I forgot to take a pic of this one before I sent it out. 

 

Lentil Soup with Potatoes

 I ordered some lentils from Rancho Gordo and couldn't wait to put them in a soup. I also was able to use some of the purple carrots I grew this summer in the soup as the lentils were the Black Caviar Lentils (they only look small and black but don't taste or have anything to do with fish!). You can see the color tinge the carrots gave the soup. The soup turned out great! It is very hardy and would lend itself well if you wanted to add some sort of meat to your soup. I used the Rancho Gordo lentils, but you can use any lentils you have. I hope you try it!

 

Lentil and Potato Soup

1 cup Rancho Gordo Black Caviar Lentils (or any lentil you have)

2 tsp. minced garlic

½ cup yellow onion diced

2 large potatoes, peeled & diced

2 large carrots, peeled & chopped

1 large stalk celery, chopped

1 bunch kale, chopped

8 cups of water

3 T. vegetable bullion

¼ tsp ground red pepper

1 bay leaf

¼ tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried cilantro

1 tsp. salt

* Place water, bullion, and bay leaf in large soup pot.

* Add lentils, potatoes, garlic, onion, carrot, celery & kale.

* Bring to a boil, then simmer.

* Add red and black pepper, cumin, cilantro, & salt.

* Simmer 30 to 60 min.