Gardening

Zibby counted ten green baby tomatoes last night, and 2 baby bell peppers. The two tomato earthboxes are doing great. Growing very tall. My neighbor tried to tell me not to water them so much. There is a language barrier, but she just doesnt understand how the earthboxes work. She is very much a traditional gardener. The two tomato plants I just put in regular old pot containers dont look good. One had aphids all over it. I sprayed it with some insecticide soap (organic). The one lettuce box is still going ok, and the cuke box I planted looks good.

I also planted a golden zuke box, but there were a bunch of flowers that are now gone, and it looks kind of… bleh. Dont know if it will recover. Im not sure if zukes are supposed to grow up stakes or spread out laterally. ?

At any rate, Im learning a lot and Zibby is enjoying the garden too. She cuts all the lettuce.

Frisee with bacon and Champagne viniagrette

None of this is from my CSA, but its one of my favorite recipes.
Get a huge plate of fresh, washed and chilled frisee.
Saute a couple of strips of bacon, cut up into a large dice.
When bacon is crispy, remove from pan to bed of frisee.
Pour some of your favorite vinegar into the pan and mix with rendered bacon grease. (I love Trader Joe’s Orange Muscat Champagne vinegar)
Add dressing to greens and devour.

market totes and tutu

I found some really pretty drapery samples at the Ravenswood Manor garage sale. I used one of the panels to make my friend Hilde a set of market totes. I even made a small drawstring bag to put them all in. She could reused that to wrap another present or to carry something small.

I also made a tulle tutu for my mom to give to her step granddaughter. Zibby tried it on to see how long it was. I used this tutu-orial

May Gifties- Vanessa, NO PEEKING!

So, I was cruising around Etsy and came across several shops selling reusable sandwich and snack size bags. I immediately decided I should make some for my mom (and everyone else I know). I messed around until I sort of figured out what I was doing, and made 5 in various sizes. I used up a pillowcase I had thrifted from Goodwill recently. Sent them out for Mothers Day.

Later, I found a tutorial online for them, realized this was much easier than how I was doing it, and made a few more for my sister. Its her birthday soon.

For hers I used fabric from my stash. Last year I made my daughter an outfit from it.

My other recent project turned into a purse for my aforementioned sister. It started out as maybe being a diaper bag for a friend, but then it got kind of large. My friend is short and my sister is very tall, so I turned it into a purse/tote for my sis. Luckily her birthday was coming up. No project goes to waste around here! I got both the denim skirt and the diamond printed lining material at the Goodwill. I bought a zipper and straps. I also used some quilt batting as an interliner to give it some structure and a nice feel. I have to say, sewing an existing garment poses special problems. It was murder to sew in the lining over the front zipper in the skirt. I used a dark purple thread that didnt show very much, which is hiding a multitude of sins.  But overall, I think it turned out pretty cute.