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 Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 8:10 pm
Phew! One should not pick strawberries and then make them into jam in the middle of a heat wave. We were about to miss the last few days of picking though, so we had to.
I did that today. And learned that I am apparently allergic to strawberry leaves, I got a rash up both my arms.
Then I got home and made a tiny batch of raspberry-strawberry jam (2 little jars, so cute) one for the fridge and one for the freezer.
I think they turned out very well for my first actual jam making attempt. I made some peach "spread" last year just by mashing some peaches, but this time it was for real.
The tiny batch was pectin-less because, well, it was so tiny, but it even seemed to do the jam-ing thing while I was scooping it into the jars. I thought it might also be more of a "spread" than a jam but it worked.
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 12:07 am
Today I learned there's a possum in my house sweatdrop
at 1:30 A.M. one of my housemates came into my room with a broom in hand and announced "There is a possum in our midst". And the hunt began. I have named him Bubbles and hope I can convince my housemates that chasing him out of the house will be easier then trying to kill him. Any advice? We're basically on our own because our 'handyman' (Who I've never witnessed nor heard of ever fixing things) and our landlord do diddly poop.
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:34 am
rilsin-b Phew! One should not pick strawberries and then make them into jam in the middle of a heat wave. We were about to miss the last few days of picking though, so we had to. I did that today. And learned that I am apparently allergic to strawberry leaves, I got a rash up both my arms. Then I got home and made a tiny batch of raspberry-strawberry jam (2 little jars, so cute) one for the fridge and one for the freezer. I think they turned out very well for my first actual jam making attempt. I made some peach "spread" last year just by mashing some peaches, but this time it was for real. The tiny batch was pectin-less because, well, it was so tiny, but it even seemed to do the jam-ing thing while I was scooping it into the jars. I thought it might also be more of a "spread" than a jam but it worked. I hope the strawberry leaf exposure is temporary. I know my arm and hands use to itch while I maintained my mother plant who is currently going crazy with runners. But my hands, I guess have hardened off <- no joke intended. XD
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:57 pm
It only lasted 30 mins or so, but it was a terrible itch while it did last.
And today something in my garden made me itchy again, but I don't have strawberries. I have a feeling it was the bean plants I was reaching through to pull up some (adorable tiny) carrots.
My peas are slowing down quite a bit, but I'm hoping they will start again when it cools down next week. We've had a few days of mid-30s in a row now and will have more, but next week goes back down to normal.
I am thinking of planting a second crop of them, but I'm not sure how they'll do in August.
My last few lettuces were absolutely filled with earwigs, so I made my husband go through them to check them. I knew they would be, but I was hoping I was wrong about where they scurried off to when I uncovered them last week.
I gave some beet+carrot leaves to the groundhogs that live near the grocery store, since we were walking by there anyways. Everyone always gives them bread, but they need their veggies more.
My tomato plant has flowers on it now, and the backyard ones are doing alright. My neighbor trimmed back the grape vine so we can see just how many are growing on it (answer: way too many for us four families to consume!)
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:49 pm
rilsin-b It only lasted 30 mins or so, but it was a terrible itch while it did last. And today something in my garden made me itchy again, but I don't have strawberries. I have a feeling it was the bean plants I was reaching through to pull up some (adorable tiny) carrots. My peas are slowing down quite a bit, but I'm hoping they will start again when it cools down next week. We've had a few days of mid-30s in a row now and will have more, but next week goes back down to normal. I am thinking of planting a second crop of them, but I'm not sure how they'll do in August. My last few lettuces were absolutely filled with earwigs, so I made my husband go through them to check them. I knew they would be, but I was hoping I was wrong about where they scurried off to when I uncovered them last week. I gave some beet+carrot leaves to the groundhogs that live near the grocery store, since we were walking by there anyways. Everyone always gives them bread, but they need their veggies more. My tomato plant has flowers on it now, and the backyard ones are doing alright. My neighbor trimmed back the grape vine so we can see just how many are growing on it (answer: way too many for us four families to consume!) XD I hope you find out what is making you itch soon. If you plant beans or peas in August I suggest an Eastern side. Its warm and sunny then but its cool the rest of the day. The only down side is that most of the bright sun is the morning and the rest of the day is mild brightness, but its the only side of my property that the snap peas will tolerate. That and the North side. I havent had much luck with my peas this year, I attempted on some container gardening and put them on the south side, ahhhhhh.... I think the afternoon sun cooked them, they're very dry, but the ones on the North side are finally setting some young pods. biggrin and the strawberry plants love them. Apparently dad doesn't like my yellow string beans, and I cant eat them unless I cook them until they're limp (really pointless). Guess they're just green fert then. Oh well.
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 8:56 pm
Today I wrote an essay on the destruction to the environment by the fashion industry and I worked on a pretty dress I'm making from an old thrift store dress.
(This is pretty much what I do everyday...aside from Gaia lurking.)
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:19 pm
Oriole Lyric XD I hope you find out what is making you itch soon. If you plant beans or peas in August I suggest an Eastern side. Its warm and sunny then but its cool the rest of the day. The only down side is that most of the bright sun is the morning and the rest of the day is mild brightness, but its the only side of my property that the snap peas will tolerate. That and the North side. I havent had much luck with my peas this year, I attempted on some container gardening and put them on the south side, ahhhhhh.... I think the afternoon sun cooked them, they're very dry, but the ones on the North side are finally setting some young pods. biggrin and the strawberry plants love them. Apparently dad doesn't like my yellow string beans, and I cant eat them unless I cook them until they're limp (really pointless). Guess they're just green fert then. Oh well. I only have a small community garden plot, it's all facing every direction xd Basically they will go wherever I have some space. Probably where my carrots and lettuce were. Mine got cooked last year on a west-facing balcony. I got maybe 5 tiny pods with tiny tiny peas in them, plus some that never got big enough for me to feed to anyone but my mice. I also got a grand total of 3 cherry tomatoes that year, and enough lettuce for.....3 sandwiches. It was not the best first season ever. This season was much better. I have some green beans starting now. They were fuzzy though when I picked a few small ones. It was disconcerting. I probably picked them too early, or else this isn't a bean type one should try to eat raw....lol I planted some misc beans and also a few scarlet runner beans which I am excited to have dry since they will pretty up the place until I cook 'em wink
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Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 5:17 am
rilsin-b Oriole Lyric XD I hope you find out what is making you itch soon. If you plant beans or peas in August I suggest an Eastern side. Its warm and sunny then but its cool the rest of the day. The only down side is that most of the bright sun is the morning and the rest of the day is mild brightness, but its the only side of my property that the snap peas will tolerate. That and the North side. I havent had much luck with my peas this year, I attempted on some container gardening and put them on the south side, ahhhhhh.... I think the afternoon sun cooked them, they're very dry, but the ones on the North side are finally setting some young pods. biggrin and the strawberry plants love them. Apparently dad doesn't like my yellow string beans, and I cant eat them unless I cook them until they're limp (really pointless). Guess they're just green fert then. Oh well. I only have a small community garden plot, it's all facing every direction xd Basically they will go wherever I have some space. Probably where my carrots and lettuce were. Mine got cooked last year on a west-facing balcony. I got maybe 5 tiny pods with tiny tiny peas in them, plus some that never got big enough for me to feed to anyone but my mice. I also got a grand total of 3 cherry tomatoes that year, and enough lettuce for.....3 sandwiches. It was not the best first season ever. This season was much better. I have some green beans starting now. They were fuzzy though when I picked a few small ones. It was disconcerting. I probably picked them too early, or else this isn't a bean type one should try to eat raw....lol I planted some misc beans and also a few scarlet runner beans which I am excited to have dry since they will pretty up the place until I cook 'em wink Wow a community garden! it must be so pretty there! XD all directions! What about Shade netting for a portion of your garden? Oh yeah I came across that problem last year beans were gritty fuzzy feeling when I went to check on them like almost fine velcro. ._. my hands got itchy from that. THAT i remember. @_@ bwa its so hot today!!!! someone save me! I do not do well in heat!
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:33 pm
cut back half of my nasturtiums. They were getting really rowdy and tattered looking. eh, they look like they can come back. They came back from every other pruning I gave them.
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 2:15 pm
Today I bought carnations and roses from Lowes. Fun, fun, fun!
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 7:43 pm
Scholasticism Today I bought carnations and roses from Lowes. Fun, fun, fun! Carnations! They come back from seed and cuttings!
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:53 am
I got tomatoes growing in and some nice bell peppers! The lemon balm is turning out nicely too as well as sage. they are LOVING these really hot temps. sorry that I have not posted much in here, I have been with some other sites as of late, and spending time with my family. Felt nice to get away on a weeks vacation with momma and papa wolf.
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:49 pm
Oriole Lyric Scholasticism Today I bought carnations and roses from Lowes. Fun, fun, fun! Carnations! They come back from seed and cuttings! I love carnations smile
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 1:51 pm
Harvested some peas! Not much but enough for a yummy handful and enough for another handful to be planted.
I've decided its too much of a hassle to individually plant pea seeds. I loosened up a few places in my garden then just sprinkled the remaining peas I had in the packet and the newly harvested and covered them. Maybe they'll pop in a much more decorative way this way.
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 5:17 pm
I've started making...I don't know what to call them, I guess sun charms. In Theatre we have sheets of colored plastic called Gels, that how our lights get different colors, they're super heat resistant and since they come out with new color systems every year, the companies give out little sample books every year. So I have a lot.
So I started hanging up individual samples of all the colors from the vine garland on my ceiling with two or three paper cranes threaded on. Now I have different color systems on the wall as the sun moves, and then each breeze or fan wave causes them to spin. Best recycling project ever.
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