Fresh Lavender

My neighbor has a huge lavender bush because she has had them for several years.  Since I could barely pick much lavender from mine, I gladly took a basketful of clippings from her!

I put some in a tin can I bought from Target in the dollar section and put it on my white antique night stand by my bed.  It smelled amazing!

Aren't they beautiful??

Things like this make me so happy my heart feels like it's going to explode! Before I went to sleep last night, I was thinking about how excited I get going to sleep in a pretty pale green bedroom with a tin of lavender on my white night stand.  I smiled closing my eyes to sleep while whispering that my heart is going to burst.

How to Own Backyard Chickens

This year I raised two hens in my backyard in a city.  I wouldn't say NYC kind of city...more suburban.  It has been a success and it's such a joy.  One is black and the other is orange.  I had my boyfriend's sister pick two up for me so I didn't get to see what kind I got.  B and I have some guesses.  Each one is laying now so I get two eggs a day.  They are delicious.  The yolk and the whites are so sturdy and the shell is extremely hard to crack.  I'm kind of a meticulous person so they are very healthy and clean.

The black one is King Kong and the orange one is Godzilla.  They follow me now and run up to me; they also squat when they first see me.  I thought they were asking to get picked up or pet, but when I googled it they are actually saying "I submit to you" like I'm an awesome rooster.

I have been sharing eggs with my parents, a few neighbors, and some relatives.  I also made a quiche (ham, sharp cheddar, broccoli) and took it to my neighbor with cancer. I was afraid she wouldn't be able to eat because she is doing badly now, but she enjoyed it immensely.  She said it was something different since she's never had quiche before.  I'm really glad she was able to eat some good stuff!

The winter is coming and I'm not sure what I will do about their water freezing over, but my plan so far is to just go out in the morning before work to give them some warm water; come home in the evening and give them another load of warm water.

So do you want backyard chickens too? It's pretty easy since nature just works like a miracle. Thanks, God!  You can either get adult/pullet hens from craigslist or a farm.  I went the hard way and bought chickens from Tractor Supply Co. in the spring and raised them from little furry yellow chicks.

Build a coop for your chickens when they are old enough to live outside.  You can also buy a coop for around $100-150 from Tractor Supply Co. or buy one off someone on craigslist.  Make sure it's surrounded in chicken wire.  For the tops I used bird netting from Lowe's (to keep out birds from berries) and put it over the top of the chicken wire fence.

Feed them chicken feed until they are old enough to eat layer feed.  Then switch their food to layer feed.  You can also feed them almost any kind of vegetable. They also love yogurt, mealworms, and corn on the cobb.  I also give my chickens fruit when they are starting to look beat up.

They make their water dirty almost instantly, so I would suggest buying a shepherd's hook and a Cheery Chick water feeder.  It's such a time saver!!  Chickens are actually smarter than people give them credit for, by the way.

I clean their coop out with bleach and water every week.  I sometimes go every other week if I'm too busy.  Make sure to put their coop near shade because if they get too hot, they can die because they can't lay an egg.

How to Save Tomato Seeds

I found this on a website about seed saving, and I'm amazed! I might try this so that I can use some of my seeds from this year.

Tomato - Lycopersicon esculentum
PLANT: Separate varieties with short styles (most modern varieties) by at least 10 feet. Varieties with long styles (heirlooms and older varieties) need at least 100 feet to ensure purity. If solitary bees are prevalent, separate all varieties at least 100 feet and place another flowering crop between.
FLOWER: Tomatoes produce perfect, self-pollinating flowers. Anthers are fused together into a little cone that rarely opens until pollen has been shed and the stigma pollinated. (Older varieties with wild tomatoes or L. pimpinellifolium in their genetic ancestry may have stigmas that stick out beyond the cone containing the anthers. Varieties with this trait can be identified by looking closely at mature flowers and need to be treated accordingly.)

SELECTION TRAITS: Tomato is the most popular vegetable in America and hundreds of the genes have been mapped. Those of immediate importance for home gardeners include: Plant size: Determinate varieties, r; b ush varieties, r; dwarf varieties, r. Leaf Shape : Potato-type leaves, r. Disease resistance : Leaf mold resistance, r; fusarium wilt, race 1 and race 2, D; verticillium wilt, D; alternaria, D; tobacco mosaic, D; nematodes, D. Ripening : prevents green shoulders, r; prevents ripening and is found in Longkeeper, r; produces parthenocarpic fruits which do not need to be pollinated. Tomatoes without seeds can be produced in weather too-cold for pollination to take place, r. Fruit color - produced by the combination of flesh and skin colors:
red: pink flesh, r covered by a yellow skin, r
pink: pink flesh, r and colorless skin, r
crimson: bright, purplish-red flesh, r and yellow skin, r
purple: bright, purplish-red flesh, r and colorless skin, r;
yellow: yellowish flesh, r and yellow skin, r
white: yellowish flesh, r and colorless skin, r
orange: reddish-orange flesh, D and yellow skin, r
HARVEST: If possible, allow tomatoes to completely ripen before harvesting for seed production. Unripe fruits, saved from the first frost, will ripen slowly if kept in a cool, dry location. Seeds from green, unripe fruits will be most viable if extracted after allowing the fruits to turn color.
PROCESS: Cut the tomato into halves at its equator, opening the vertical cavities that contain the seeds. Gently squeeze out from the cavities the jelly-like substance that contains the seeds. If done carefully, the tomato itself can still be eaten or saved for canning, sun-drying or dehydrating.
Place the jelly and seeds into a small jar or glass. (Add a little water if you are processing only one or two small tomatoes.) Loosely cover the container and place in a warm location, 60-75° F. for about three days. Stir once a day.
A layer of fungus will begin to appear on the top of the mixture after a couple of days. This fungus not only eats the gelatinous coat that surrounds each seed and prevents germination, it also produces antibiotics that help to control seed-borne diseases like bacterial spot, canker and speck. After three days fill the seed container with warm water. Let the contents settle and begin pouring out the water along with pieces of tomato pulp and immature seeds floating on top. Note: Viable seeds are heavier and settle to the bottom of the jar. Repeat this process until water being poured out is almost clear and clean seeds line the bottom of the container. Pour these clean seeds into a strainer that has holes smaller than the seeds. Let the excess water drip out and invert the strainer onto paper towel or piece of newspaper. Allow the seeds to dry completely (usually a day or two). Break up the clumps into individual seeds, label and store in a packet or plastic bag.

Pizza Night

This weekend, R came over from an hour away.  I really appreciate how friendly she is and that she is willing to take the time to build a relationship even if it requires driving.  I know that you and I probably have "friends" who don't see you because they won't spend the gas money to drive more than 7 miles.  I picked up Papa John's because she really sounded like she wanted to get a pizza there. I found a half off coupon code online ("summer50" good through August 12) so we got it half off.  I have been reminded of how delicious their crust dipped into their special garlic sauce is.  She ended up staying over until three in the morning so she is probably taking this Saturday to sleep!

Today we are going out to Barbeque with the boyfriend's cousins.  This should be fun getting to know them better.  They are really sweet.

I also need to start preparing all of my camera equipment for my next few photo shoots in August.  I oddly got a lot of requests in August even though I have completely stopped advertising or talking about the business and was kind of going to let it drift away into dissolution.   I also have a nagging part of me that needs to start my violin lessons back up.  What's stopping me is that my teacher is upset that I haven't called him in a year.  I'm scared to talk to him on the phone now to beg for him to give me some more lessons knowing I probably have hurt his feelings because violin is his life.  He can't imagine anyone not taking it as seriously as he.

This past week Ben bought me a magnolia tree - Golden Bird.  It was so expensive and I can't believe he bought it for me even though he is unemployed.  I feel like I'm so blessed beyond belief because I couldn't have asked for someone like him in a million years.  You should see my old wish list in a boyfriend.  Pretty funny.

Current Song I'm Hooked on:  SMS (Shine) - David Crowder Band

Happy Weekend!! xox

Gardening

The fruits of labor - a table overflowing with fresh garden vegetables!  What I planted from seed got eaten by animals twice.  So this year was a costly garden lesson.  In the end I just ended up buying huge plants from English Gardens on sale and I should have spent the money there instead of on the seeds.  The lettuce was the only thing that worked out from seed.

I bought a large eggplant plant that already had flowers on it.  I also bought a huge green pepper plant that had 10 peppers growing already.  These have turned out prolific.  I also went to the Farmer's Market on the weekend to buy a tomato plant that was still a baby.  This plant however took off and is producing an insane amount of roma tomatoes.  I harvest around 7 a day!  Next year I'm just going to use my money on plants that are already started with really strong stalks. 

Tip of the day: pick off all your flowering fruit when the plants are small.  It will make the plant grow longer, taller, stronger which means better and more fruit later.  It's a lesson in delayed gratification and sacrifice! It hurts to pull off that baby green fruit!!  Just like how God works  you through hard obstacles in life which are painful, but it produces better fruit later!

It's a joy to bless neighbors and family with abundant fruit and eggs from the chickens.