Posts tagged ‘Garden’

Oct 13

Time for the House Plants to Shine

The Most Beautiful Begonia

I hate to say it, but if I was responsible for our house plants, they’d all be dead. I may turn them occasionally when I think they’re growing into the sun too much or repot them. Other than that I do nothing.

Now that our outside garden is getting ready for Fall/Winter it’s time for our indoor garden to shine. Since this is where we’ll be hiding for the next six months, we’re happy to have the green and beauty in the house to keep us sane.

Not only do we have the pictured Begonia but we have many Aloe, African Violet, Christmas Cactus, Wandering Jew, Spider Plant, Cacti and a couple random nameless plants. I got most of these plants for free by taking a small cutting from another plant, including the Begonia — we took a cutting from one of my mom’s plants. This is a great and inexpensive way to start a house plant collection.

Some time before our next big freeze I need to dig up the Aeonium in the outside garden and find a spot in our tiny house. They’ll be a nice addition to our indoor winter garden.

Oct 10

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Secret Garden Remodel

How the Front Yard Looks Today

After “discussing” it all morning, I think we finally agree how we’re going to improve the front yard. To start we’re going to turn the grass patch on the right into an oval — giving me a larger shade garden space under the magnolia (tulip tree). Then, we’re going to remove the small hedge and cement pathway leading to the front door. Instead of the rigid cement pathway I’d like to replace it with large circular stones that I haven’t found yet – but will. I also plan to move around a lot of the plants in the garden on the left.

New Front Door Close Up

So the rest of the house matches the new front door, we’re going to add a little brown accent to the inside of our window frames. I hear on these older houses you should really have three colors: your main house color, trim and accent color. We haven’t added our accent color yet .

Now, to figure out where I’m going to plant all those Japanese Holly I’ll be digging up along the front path…

I’ll keep you posted on our progress. We plan to remodel the back yard next to add a patio and more garden space.

Oct 9

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10 – Toad Lily: My Top 10 Favorite Plants

It took me a while to pick my last favorite plant, the Toad Lily. Surprisingly, it beat out Sedum, Echinacea and Red Twig Dogwood.

Random Unmarked Plant from Plant Sale Posted on Twitter

I found this little gem at the Snohomish Garden Club plant sale this past spring. When I brought it home I noticed the tag was missing and had no idea what it was. I didn’t even remember why I picked it out. So I took a picture and posted it on Twitter. Almost instantly my friend Jenn from Wisconsin told me it was a Toad Lily.

It was then that I knew why I picked it out. I love toads and lilies. Why not a Toad Lily?

Still not knowing what a toad lily was, I planted it in a part sun/shade spot by the cherry tree in my back yard. I figured it would stay small and I could enjoy the little spots on the leaves. I’m not sure why I didn’t just Google “Toad Lily” to find out – this is what I normally do with new mystery plants.

Almost six months goes by and I barely notice the plant. Mid summer I did notice it was taller than I expected so I moved it toward the back of the flower bed.

Then, earlier this week I was on Twitter again and my friend Kari from Connecticut posted a picture of her Toad Lily. I’m not kidding you, I opened the link, gasped, and ran to see if mine was as beautiful.

I had no idea. I fell in love instantly.

Toad + Lily + Spots + Beautiful = Top 10 Favorite Plant

My Toad Lily

Sep 22

4 Comments

Drying Tomatoes in the Oven – The Impatient Way

Just recently I heard about drying tomatoes in the oven and when looking for a recipe to borrow, I found that everyone does it different. Most people skin the tomatoes first and cook at a really low temperature (200°) for many, many hours. This is for patient people – not for me.

I got a recipe from my friend & co-worker Barb and found it was perfect for me with a couple slight modifications. To start, I LEFT THE SKINS ON. After making BBQ sauce a couple weeks ago, I will never remove tomato skins again.

As you can see by the picture, I cut the larger tomatoes into chunks, cut smaller ones in half and left the cherry tomatoes whole.

I drizzled olive oil over the tomatoes and made sure the surface of the pan was covered as well. Then sprinkled with a little course ground sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Since I left the skins on, I made sure the skin side was down when possible. Then placed the pan in the cold oven.

Next, I turned the oven to 450° and waited until the oven was preheated. This caused a real stink in my house – literally. It got pretty smokey, so if you’re like me and don’t clean your oven, you’ve been warned.

Once your oven is preheated, turn it down to 325° for about an hour and a half. Since I like mine a little softer, I turned it down to 200° for another hour and a half (three hours total). If you like them crispy, keep it at 325° for a full two-three hours. During the last hour, I checked the tomatoes often and pulled the smaller pieces off as they were crispy and dark.

You can tell when they’re done based on if they’re crispy, dark and taste wonderful. When mine were done, I put them on a cooling rack for about an hour and then put whatever I didn’t eat in the freezer.

I love how the dried tomatoes tasted sweet, zippy and then spicy. I wasn’t expecting that. Even though I put mine in the freezer, some folks put theirs in olive oil and store in the fridge (they do spoil faster this way).

Thanks Barb for the great recipe!

— Posted from the road

Sep 16

5 Comments