Desktop Terrarium Project

This was a really inexpensive project for dressing up my desk through the dreary winter.

Collected materials:

• Colored stones from dollar store
• Air tight glass jar for $5 on clearance at local hobby store
• Potting soil
• Plants (These were perennial hen and chicks that I had to dig out from under a snow bank)

1. Washed out the jar with water.
2. Washed the plants with a little water since they were bare root. Left them damp.
3. Placed stones around the outside of the jar in a colored pattern.
4. Added a layer of potting mix.
5. Placed more stones around the outside of the jar.
6. Added more potting mix.
7. Wet the potting mix until water was visible around the stones.
8. Added plants, patted them into place.
9. Placed the jar in a sunny spot.

Surprisingly these pictures taken a couple of weeks after planting show that the hen and chicks established nicely even though they were frozen under a snow bank. I also planned to add some irish moss, but I couldn't find it. Maybe I'll add it in spring.

Even Better at Night

First Big Snow of Winter 2009

First big snow. You can see all my flowers giving the snow a little texture out in front of the house.

Peppers (Part 2): Pepper Sauce

So, with many peppers around, we decided to try a new recipe. The recipe for pepper sauce, found here, only takes a few minutes. Put a handful of peppers, some peppercorns, garlic, and a pinch of salt in a jar, and cover in warm apple cider vinegar. Allow to cool, stopper, and keep in the fridge. In a few days the vinegar absorbs all the flavors and is ready for use.

We'll let you know how it turns out. Look for Peppers Part 3 for more pepper uses.

Fall Color

In the spring, my wife and I with the help of our daughters, planted 2 large river birch and a royal burgundy cherry in our backyard. These trees were mainly for summer shade and beauty, but I couldn't turn down the opportunity to show how beautiful the fall foliage colors are. The contrast between the yellow and red is quite striking. Over time, I think we'll have the best display of fall colors possible in such a small space.

Peppers (Part 1)

With the winter season taking its toll on my summer's plants, last weekend found my daughters and I gathering up our cayenne peppers. We picked a lot of red peppers, with some even starting to try on the vine. A few of the newer peppers were still green. Both can be eaten, according to online sources, though the green peppers have a milder flavor. Here are the pics of my helpers with the peppers. We got these from about 6 plants.

In part 2, I'll show you what we did with them.

Ragweed, Mums, and the Late Summer that didn't Happen

Ragweed pollen count is off the charts here, so my gardening activities are kept to a minimum.

My wife and daughters are picking tomatoes and every time we get a large batch we cut them up, boil them, run them through the food mill and cook them down with spices into tomato sauce. The sauce gets put into ziplock bags and stuck in the freezer. Of course, a little might get eaten on pasta on tomato sauce days. :-)

All the mums have arrived in green houses in the area. We bought some orange and purple ones to plant in the front flower beds. I like purple and orange for Halloween, and mums are usually in full bloom as it approaches.

The grass in my front yard is still green even without watering this year. The late summer heat and dry spell didn't hit us this year. The strange weather patterns of this summer lead to a cool, wet August. It seems to have been good for plants, but it makes it difficult to know what is doing well because of good gardening and what is doing well because of the atypical weather. It is very nice that I haven't had to worry about the trees I planted in spring. They have been well watered and are doing fine.