Before and After at the Tiny House

I was posting pictures like a madwoman when I first moved into the tiny house. Haven't done too many since then, but I thought you might want to see what I've been up to. Looking at these is making me tired.

Here's a bit of what I've done so far.

The first picture is what the garden looked like when I moved in. I filled the window boxes and the bare spaces with flowers. They are all in containers. All planters and holders were either donated or came with plants. Most plants were clearance. I made cushions for the "free" plastic chairs and I like them.

The next picture is my living room/front door. The reason I took a picture of just the door, is that other than a ratty old beat up sofa that I recovered in the second picture, there was NO furniture. Second picture, Ikea sheers, $70 clearance chair, donated and repainted curio, recovered sofa and pillows I made.

The side tables are mission style, dark wood. Two and a matching coffee table were $40 and I have one more brown chair that was $30. The ceramic elephant was my uncles, is very heavy and one of the few things I've been lugging around for years. Several elephants on the shelves too.

Finally a peek at my sewing area. I had a table and machines and some bolts. There were 2 shower rods, so I took the sturdiest one and put it in the nook to hold my bolts and spools. A few months later. a small storage unit holds a shelf for bolts and orders.

A cubby at the side holds tubes of fabric. There is a plank on the other side to hold the shelf and there are pegs in it to hold spools. The shower rod is still in use, holding threaded rods with nut ends for my spools of trims. The unit is completely freestanding and can come with me if I move.

I've done a lot more, but that's all I'll bore you with today. I still have much work to do in the dining room, but I'm really getting there.

Deer in the Yard

I was so excited when I saw a deer in the yard last Sunday. As a matter of fact, I yelled so loud that my visiting Grandson tore off my headset and almost broke them coming to see what I was yelling about.

Even though we were close to a National Park, I think there were just too many dogs near us on the little lake to make it desirable for them to visit.

OK, so I love that the deer visit, and my DD said, maybe I should put out a salt lick, but I know deer strip trees for food in the winter and I was afraid my landlord might not like that. So I'm not tempting them with food or salt into my yard.

Then I took a friend to look at my lovely row of Day Lilies at the side of the house. I noticed that some of the stems were trimmed back, all at the same height, you know, nibbling height for a young doe. All the flowers on the front had been nibbled off. I plan to bring some potted herbs and tomatoes. I think I need to make sure they are out of mouth's reach.

I still love my new house. And I love the deer. I just need to learn how to keep the deer from eating the flowers.

What's Cooking - Green Tomato Pickles

Sadly I have an abundance of Green Tomatoes and also an abundance of insects that are hungry for the tomatoes as soon as the start to ripen. Vines are starting to waste away too. So yesterday I want out and reaped all the green tomatoes of decent size. Just not anything under 1 1/2" diameter.

The larger tomatoes, I will use to make fried green tomatoes, the smaller ones I quartered and made green tomato pickles. These are a little different than cucumber pickles, because the only seasoning I use is Garlic, lots of Garlic! Give these a try and enjoy.

GREEN TOMATO PICKLES

quart canning jars
white sugar
salt
whole garlic cloves
cider vinegar
boiling water

Quarter the green tomatoes, they should be about 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" in diameter. Each jar should have 3 peeled garlic cloves. I put one on the bottom, one in the middle and one on the top. Fill jars tightly with tomatoes, leaving about 1" headroom. Make sure to tap them on the counter to get as many as you can into each jar.

When the jars are full, add one tablespoon sugar, one tablespoon salt, and 1/2 cup of vinegar (don't forget the garlic). Add the boiling water slowly to just cover the tomatoes, there should be 3/4" headroom left. put on canning lids and do a boiling water bath. I process for 15 minutes, because these are firm and can take it. You can do 10 minutes.

I know it will be tempting to try, but these do better if they sit for at least 3 days. I've tried it, and they just don't absorb enough of the garlic for a few days.

Worth Repeating - Zucchini Pickles

I posted this recipe originally in July of 2011. This week, I've been hitting the jars of pickles I made last month and I thought I'd like to temp you again. They are remarkably crisp and just the perfect combination of sweet, sour and a touch of hot. I make mine with the hot peppers. If you have an abundance of zucchini, and have run out of freezer room for bread, or can't get the extra's to me, you might want to try this great recipe.

You can also find the original recipe in my recipe pull down, along with other great recipes.

Zucchini Pickles                                

9 qt thinly sliced zucchini
10 small onions sliced
6 ½ c sugar
6 c cider vinegar
¼ c pickling spice in cheesecloth
6 T salt

Optional 4 or 5 hot peppers halved seeded and sliced

In a large bowl or non aluminum kettle, sprinkle salt over all vegetables. Let stand for 4 hours. This will draw out excess moisture. Put into colander and drain.

Combine vinegar and sugar in a large kettle, add spices. Stir over high heat, cover and boil for 5 minutes. Add vegetables and bring to boil. Boil one minute. Remove spices.

Place in hot clean jars, apply lids according to manufacturers instructions. Process for 10 minutes with water one inch above tops of jars. Cool completely. Check seals the next day. Makes 5 quarts.

These sweet Zucchini pickles are absolutely wonderful on top of a slice of cheddar on a Ritz.

Life on Mars - Gardening Bliss

Even though the climate was like that of the Angry Red Planet this week (in more ways than one) I'm just so thrilled at the outcome of my garden this week that I can forgive all.

I've been quiet this past week. I lost a loved one and am adjusting. Things in my home are a bit unstable and I'm adjusting. I've taken to walking to calm myself when I'm frustrated and I think I should have done that years ago. When I feel like I'm about to boil over, I just take a walk. Why didn't I think of that before. I have quite a temper, I would have been really fit.

Back in the garden....this week I was able to pick several handfuls of beans. I didn't plant a lot, so I didn't expect much and did get more than I hoped for. They are still producing. I picked through the turnips and found one great 2 1/2" diameter one. I hope the rest grow that big. The leaves are getting a bit lacy from the leaf eating critters though.

I love that the  bugs don't eat tomato plants, and I rotate the tomatoes so the tomato worms don't find them. Did you know that's how to keep them away? Never plant your tomatoes in the same place from year to year. Also, beans add nitrogen to the soil, so they beef up the soil for other plants.

Native Americans planted corn, pumpkin and beans together, to make a sort of symbiotic plant system. The pumpkins shield the ground (cooling and keeping weed free). The corn makes a pole for the beans to climb, and the beans add nutrients to the soil. Brilliant.

I really wanted to talk about my flowers today. Some of my favorites and my inspiration for my jewelry. Last year the yard was pretty bare so we got a few clearance rose bushes and I borrowed some Shasta Daisy roots from the lake.

I also dug up some Day Lilies that were behind the house in the shade and brought them into the light. The soil was so good that they all flourished far better than I expected.

And then there is the roses. There are three bushes, all doing well, but the biggest surprise was the climbing bush. The flowers looked pale pink at first and not attractive, but since planting have turned into a vibrant deep magenta. I'm really liking them now.

My own flowers are not so literal. They are just impressions of these beauties that I love so much. You can find all of my flowers at akacinders.com or on Artfire at http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/akaCINDERS

Best Garden Ever

One would think that with as little space as I have to work with, I might do better with my garden. Someone keeps threatening to move. Not until after harvest PLEASE, because I finally got things to produce in this lousy piece of soil.

Just look at the lush green. OK, so maybe the turnip and radishes have a few holes in the leaves, but mostly it's perfection. I've actually eaten some of the onion green, some radishes and a tiny pepper that had a dead spot on it. I cut the bad part off and removed it to not affect the whole plant. I think it was from the scorching hot sun the past few days.

Not that the garden is perfect, something ate my cucumbers, and my lettuce and carrots. The rows between the turnips, radishes and beans are a bit wider than planned. And OMG the tomatoes are so much bigger than I had imagined they would get. I am so eager to pick those puppies.

See my little row of herbs. Some are in pots, but most of them are in collars sunk into the ground to keep them from spreading. In front of the basil (out of view) is oregano, parsley, and a pathetic globe basil that I will never try again. The cilantro grew from last years seed I replanted in the pot. It's fabulous. The mint is growing like mad.  I "borrowed" some from the gardens down at the lake. This is the second year for the oregano too.

I decided to do this with the herbs after my DD's MIL kept weeding them out of our front beds. She apparently can't recognize leaf shapes, or the smell of herbs on her hands.

The line around the garden, isn't really a fence, it's more of a trip wire. Actually it's a line of demarcation, in hopes that the same family won't mow over the plants, or put the lawn furniture on them when they mow. So not kidding about that one. You should have heard me scream when I found our wagon on my budding onion sprouts. 


The overall view of the garden. The buckets in front are full of potatoes. When they are ready, you just dump them over and voila, No digging. Behind the potatoes are in order, onions, beans, radishes, turnips, tomatoes, patty pan squash and in pots at the back, green and jalapeno peppers.


 A row of corn runs down the side and there'a a huge squash type plant I didn't seed, at the back of the garden. I think it might have been Halloween pumpkin compost overflow. We'll see when it starts to produce. 

Oh how I hope that I can keep the garden this lush and harvest more than a few green tomatoes this year. The corn is fast growing, but I don't have much time to get it knee high by the Fourth of July. I plan on it being a fence to keep unwanted visitors out. 




As for the tomatoes. Here is a sweet baby, just waiting to grow and be enjoyed. isn't he a cutie?

Life on Mars - Just another Manic Monday

I've been so behind on my posting lately. I really should keep you all up on my latest adventures. I guess I've just been busy with....drum roll please..

a. extra sales (money - thank you)
b. baby sitting (money for Poppy - thank you)
c. finally finishing the bathroom
d. getting the garden planted

I love to garden, didn't know if you got that. So far the garden is doing great, other than that the slugs really like lettuce and cucumber sprouts. They didn't make it. Next year I'll make copper rings for the cucumbers and plant the lettuce in pots. Although slugs will climb the pots too I think. Once the garden gets big, I'll post pics of it. I think I cursed mine last year by posting early pics.

This year I added junk to the soil, put down more landscape fabric, and bordered the garden on one side with potted herbs and the other with corn (no corn sprouts yet, and I saw ants trying to carry away some of the seed ) I'm thinking the corn will act as a fence if it grows and it runs East to West so won't block the sun on the garden.

My Marvel comic Bow tie made it to the front page of Wanelo this week, but I think it got pulled, because maybe they were afraid it wasn't legal? But it is legit to use and resell this licensed fabric. Anyhow, I got a lot of views and a few sales too. Wanelo seems to be a good spot to post too.

We had a power outage this week, and I got an offer to go to the store during it. It turned out not to be the best trip I've ever been on. It was a little more intense than I expect. But I made it home safely.

I almost finished the bathroom this week. Just need to paint the ceiling and finish a bit more trim. It looks finished, but I want baseboards that I didn't get up yet. I'll make a post on what I did, because I did very different shower walls, I think you'll like to hear about. You can try it too, because I think they are awesome and they are NOT tile.


Oh yeah. I won these awesome vintage Dr Scholls exercize sandals. I'm hoping I can wear them on my pitifully flat feet. I used to love them. I bought them because I just love the shoes with print fabric wrap ties, and I thought I could easily alter these. I may just use them as is though. They are so cute.

That's all I care to share this week. Hope you have a good one, and I'm hoping for a little less excitement in my life this one myself.

Shops I Like - Cubits - StudioBotanica - TheHickoryTree

This week I'm looking forward to the garden. It's been a crazy winter and an even crazier Spring. I think April was colder here than it was all winter, and March had days as warm as Summer! I hope to plant my veggies as soon as I'm sure we're not getting snow (like in June).

These three sellers are nature lovers like me. All three have very different product, but all three celebrate the garden and nature. I love what they have to offer. Two of the sellers I know, the third is a shop I recently found  and love too.

The first shop is Cubits. cubits.etsy.com. Like their banner says, organic, rare and heirloom seeds. And what a selection there is in this shop. Someday my garden will be filled with these treasures. I can't wait to try the Organic Lemon Cucumber or the Heirloom Tomatoes. Look at these yummy veggies and fruits. Head over to the shop right now and get you seeds, I did. Great selection of Herbs too. What can I say, my mouth is watering.

The next shop is Studio Botanica studiobotanica.etsy.com. I've been acquainted with Cristy for quite some time. I remember when she first started selling and wasn't sure which craft she wanted to focus on. she's a very talented person. I think her love of nature pushed her in the right direction finally, because her new shop offerings are just wonderful. My personal favorites are her pressed flower and leaf rings and pendants, but her botanical vials and plant printed flowers and journals are great too. You really need to stop by and see her work.

Finally we have The Hickory Tree thehickorytree.etsy.com. I recently came across this shop. I'm not only a big fan of nature, I'm absolutely fascinated with stones and wood, and does this shop have the wood. The shop is filled with some of the most unique buttons you could possibly find. For those of you who do not know wood, finding spalted maple or hickory or even lilac wood buttons are just a delight. So beautiful and well crafted. These are all made from branches, which is wonderful because branches fall naturally, or they do have to be thinned from trees, helping rather than harming the tree. You have to take a look at this shop, really! These buttons are really great for fiber artists, but there are more things in the shop too.

It's been such a beautiful adventure. I think I'll go sip some coffee out in the sun and enjoy the day. Please stop by these great shops and get yourself a little treasure or two.

The Garden Visitor

Yesterday I did a lot more work in the Veggie Garden. I finished turning over the soil, left it fluffy to dry, and turned in some more humus. I also put in some planters around the yard. I found an old Sap bucket without a bottom and an old Fire Station bucket without a bottom. Those will be great for planting. I love to contain oregano, but it likes to be deep rooted, so I'll put it in the Red Fire Station Bucket and the old ammo box which is really weather resistant, will hold my potted cilantro and basil. I can't wait. I'm going to look for some more cute planters to line the garden with, because that is the sunniest part of the yard, and it will look much cuter.

I also took the sap bucket and planted it in the ground and found a piece of terracotta drain pipe that I placed next to it. I put some sedum in the pipe, but not sure what I will put in the bucket. Doesn't get much sun so maybe impatiens will be nice there. I love to use that little sedum in pots too. It comes back every year and looks cute draping over the sides. If you buy vinca for you planters, you can take it out at the end of the year, roll it up and bury it underground, at least 6 inches.Then pull it up again in the spring. You don't have to buy it every year.

I know some Italians who love fresh figs so much that they do this with their fig trees. They don't weather will in Cleveland, but they have to be uprooted and buried a little deeper. It works though.

Now for my visitor. After all my hard work, I looked out of the window and saw a cheap tacky scarecrow in the corner of the garden. The property owner found it at a flea market for $1and added it to the garden. He was being nice, but I thought it was kind of tacky. Well I went out today to take his picture and I guess I found him a little charming, because I wasn't so upset when I took his picture. Maybe he will bless the crops at the back of the garden, where he won't block sunlight. Yeah, that's it.

I also found a clump of almost blooming Daffodils. So pretty. I bought a rose bush to plant in the beds this weekend too. I've been having problems with them. Who would believe. You can't get rid of roses when they establish, but trying to get them started is a chore. I planted one last year, too close to the dog run and she decided to dig it up. Nothing else, just the rose bush.

Hope you had a nice weekend too. It's raining today, so no more planting, but I'm looking forward to it again tomorrow.

It's Daffodil Time

I finished turning more than half of the Garden, broke down the compost bin and moved it to a better location. I always leave it right in my garden, because the decomposing food and garden wastes work great to add nutrients to the soil. It's a great place to plant tomatoes around, but I think I'll plant them where the compost bin was last year.

Moving the bin was a little tricky, because I had to keep only the bottom, decomposed compost and had to move the fresher compost back to the bin. Our garden in on a hill, so I put the bin at the highest end, so nutrients will flow down in the rain. Smart huh? Last year was the first year, and I had to rush the garden, no time for real planning.

The garden is almost ready for planting, and if the clouds break, I plan on spending another lovely day out in it today. Maybe I will even get out my onion sets and plant my potatoes in the canvass bags. Lettuce and peas should be planted now too, but my beautiful big tomatoes and peppers will have to wait a few weeks.

We have crocus up and the daffodils are just about ready to pop. The lilac bush and Cherry tree have a long way to go though. Not like DC where the Cherry Blossom festival waits. Hope I get there some day.


I'm really excited about the flowers. We don't have a lot in the yard, but we have a few. I'm going to try to get a few more this year. There are a lot of perennials down at the lake and we are just a few yard walk away from it.

Hope you get a chance to work in the Garden today. It's a wonderful way to refresh and revitalize after the long dark Winter.

Obsessed with Gardening

“The kiss of sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth, One is nearer God's Heart in a garden Than anywhere else on earth” 
Dorothy Frances Gurney

Last week I was obsessed with Totes, OK I still am. Totes and clutches. But with the warming weather, I'm growing an obsession with gardening too.

I've planted my seedlings and my Tomatoes, Peppers, and Basil are doing great. I needed some cilantro, so instead of buying a bunch, for about the some price I got a plant. I thought I can put it out soon. The cat's aren't too happy about this plant thing, because my seedlings are sitting on the table in front of the window that they usually sit on to watch the birds.

Today, if I get the energy and the sun is out as promised, I'm going to go out and pull up all the ground cloth, and turn over the garden. It's time to plant the cool weather seeds, the peas and lettuces and I can even start onions and potatoes. I used to plant potatoes in a plastic garbage can, that I drilled with holes for drainage and light. It worked well, but didn't make it here from NY.

This year I got a fantastic Idea I bought some coffee sacks last summer, that turned out to be much coarser and not printed with nice patterns, than I expected them to be. Very disappointing, but the auction listing did say bags can vary. I thought that those might be really great to grow the potatoes in. I did a little research and I'm not the only one to get that idea. Here is a link on how to make potato planters at Sustainable Eats. I think the bags will look really cute too. Here is a great link with other planter ideas.

I think I might take another bag and grow carrots in it too. Our soil is not wonderful and I can fill them with soil and humus mix so it's nice and soft for the roots to grow. Our soil is OK for peppers, zucchini and tomatoes, and in time the beans I plant will add vital nitrogen.

I'm a Garden fanatic, actually. I could go on about how and why you have to rotate tomatoes and what you need to plant by the beans and why garlic and marigolds are beneficial. I love the black plastic mulch, because I hate to weed, I prefer to spend my time harvesting. For years we've enjoyed rabbits as pets, because they not only are sweet and cuddly, but their droppings don't have to be composted for fertilizer. Just put their cage cleanings right on the garden.

Hope you all get out to the garden this summer.