Gardening inside

Technically, I guess I'm not gardening inside. If gardening is the act of putting a plant or seed in dirt and encouraging it to grow, I'm not gardening. But, I'm using the results of gardening. Rising to the top of The List are instructions for making compost paper...this has been in the file since an unknown time.* So, with a full compost bucket in the kitchen and more treasure to add to it, I picked out some choice pieces and made the paper you see here:

 
 
 


I boiled the thinly sliced orange peels, desicated ginger root and, um, I don't remember the other ingredients, but know they came from the veggie drawer in the fridge or from the compost bucket. Then, to add a solid base, I collected a few leaves from the gorgeous dogwood tree by the kitchen window, and a leave from a finished caladium. I added the leaves to the hot pot just for a few seconds. Then, I layered the ingredients on several pieces of plain white cloth. Each compost-ition (hehehe!) was topped with another piece of PWC, then sandwiched between lots of old newspapers and put in the fabulous screw press my darling husband made for me. Key instruction: change the newspaper several times the first day! Pressing out the moisture is the goal. The second day required less paper changes, and the third day even fewer paper changes. By the fourth day, the compost papers were almost dry. I finished them in a 200* oven for 12 minutes, which is about 6 minutes too long. So, I lightly spritzed them with water, put them back in the screw press with dry paper, and they're not too crispy.Love the colors, so rich! I did apply a thin coat of matte gel medium to both sides of each one.

Now, I don't know what I'll do with these 'papers', but something will need them, someday.













The other project I've been working on is this book, a challenge piece for Betsy Parker's blog, http://clay-cloth-paper-paint.blogspot.com/ . You see it listed at the left of this blog page. I was inspired by the beautiful full moon in November, the Beaver Moon and the leaves falling from that gorgeous dogwood by the kitchen window. So, that's what I've been up to lately...
 

*Some people compost their leftover vegetables, but fiber artists interested saving the planet may also want to slice up some "garbage paper," like Quilting Arts reader Sally Rorback has done. She based her experiments on the book Vegetable Papyrus by Maureen Richardson (Berrington Press).

November Garden, prefrost

 

Late as it is, I'm just finishing up the summer vegetable garden clean-up. This was the year of "you're out of here" for under performing plants. The blackberries moved to that list. They've alternated between producing heavily (33 pounds two summer ago!) to producing almost nothing. In addition, they are a Japanese beetle magnet. So, when I put the shovel in the ground to dig them out, it felt good. A happy looking collard patch is living in part of the former berry site. Of course, that soil hasn't been amended as intensely as the rest of the garden. It's on the list. With that in mind, I've located the current compost-in-place pile in the former berry site.

I'm a lazy composter. If it's compostable, it goes in the pile, somewhere in the vegetable garden, the place that is currently most needy. This time of year, when I'm dead-heading the summer flower and cleaning up the vegetable garden, the pile is the size of a small car. It reduces pretty quickly, particularly if we get some rain. Add to that all the compostable stuff from my kitchen, and it's an efficiently lazy way to make good dirt. I mightmaybe put a pitchfork in the pile, if the sunshine is right, and the birds are singing my favorite tunes, but I don't get too concerned about turning it. Or watering it...ok, if I'm passing by with the garden hose in hand, it will get a drink. It will compost in a year, or so, without any work from me.

The carrots were a surprise. I threw out some seed in the spring, and promptly forgot them. It was a crunchy vegetable garden season, almost no rain fell in four month. The rain in early September jump started a few plants that hung on, giving them a second chance. A few more carrots are still in the ground, I doubt I will harvest more. Next time, however, I WILL photograph them outside, where the light is much nicer than in my kitchen!

The rosemary by the front steps moved to the "you're out of here" list in the spring. They weren't getting enough sun, and the huge rosemarys (rosemaries?) in the white garden are looking gorgeous. I've installed a couple of dwarf loropetalums in their place by the front door. I think the purplish foliage will look pretty with my rusty-orange front door and turquoise porch chairs. All the day lilies in the cottage garden came out, too. Too much shade and too many deer. As much I love day lilies, that was a painful decision. Most of the purple conflowers came out, too. Under performing. The rest of the list includes moving a couple of hydrangeas and some heucheras, and maybe a few of the volunteer hellebores.

The lettuce is looking happy. Some is in the ground in the vegetable garden, some in pots on the east deck. Either way, we'll have fresh greens this winter.

YSA Late Summah 2011

YSA Late Summah 2011 week
For many reasons, we are all past due for this week of love and support. Seems that everyone's life (except mine, of course! Remember the Fairy Tale caption) seems to be demanding more and more. This is our decompression week. The only rule this week is that we do whatever we want to do, when we want to do it; and don't be late for dinner. We love the time we're all together in the spacious, well-equipped studio, working away at wonderfully varied projects. And often singing along with the songs on The Box.

I embroidered a belt, inspired by 2 Real Belts I bought in Guatemala last winter. I really enjoyed this project.

Martha worked with some beads, and things that weren't originally beads that she made into beads. Yep. Pretty!

Kari is working on gifts for her grandchildren.

And, the pages of a journal...this is from a class Kari took last year

Gini, I need a photo of the backpack you made!


 
 
 
 

Food, YSA late summer week

Technical difficulties are hanging out with me this week! So, until I learn a little more, guess I'll post the comments ABOVE the photos. Hopefully that will work.

Late October, 2011. We're off balance this week. Normally, Ginimarthabonniekaren load up with all our supplies and a change of clothes and spend a week with Juliekari in WV. Bonnie is away, we're missing her. But, away we go anyway!

Kari picked a peck of peppers from her garden in anticipation of an early frost in MD, and we chopped and dried for three days, producing a lovely-on-the-tongue crushed pepper mixture that would rival anything at Penzey's.

The week before Halloween. Julie and Kari are inspired, and the table is decorated with spookiness and fun! I was horrified to see those delicious cookies representing tombstones stuck in a platter of dirt. Julie handed me a spoon and told me to dig in: it's ground cashew sandie cookies, peanut butter oreos layered on top of melted dark chocolate 'mud'. Ohmy!

We enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast the second night, complete with all the foods we each wanted on the table. We're pretty predictable: turkey, dressing, cranberries, sweet potatoes and more. It was yummy, and we had built-in planned aheads for the rest of the week.

Julie is working on a miniature of her husband's barn, and it is awesome! She began with a lazy susan, applied a base and began sawing logs. By the end of the week, she had the windows (real glass!) installed and the wiring roughed in. The ceiling fan is just too incredible to describe, and I have no picture of it...