wood project

 

Ten Mistakes New Herb Gardeners Make

(and How to Avoid Them!)

http://skinnygourmet.blogspot.com/2008/05/ten-mistakes-new-herb-gardeners-make.html

So you're thinking of herb gardening, or maybe you tried it last year and it was an utter disaster? Have no fear. There are a few simple mistakes that many herb newbies make (and I know, because I made most of 'em myself). Master these simple and practical tips for herb gardening and you'll be using your own fresh herbs like Mario Batali in no time.

Fresh herbs are one of the greatest ways to increase the taste of your food healthfully. I often toss whatever leafy herbs are hand liberally into a salad to add unexpected variations in flavor (basil, oregano and dill are all great choices). Fresh herbs can add punch to sauces or create intensely flavorful crusts for roasted meats. While fresh herbs are now regularly available at grocery stores year round, growing your own herbs is a great way to build mastery over your food. Growing herbs at home can be easy whether you live in a house in the suburbs or an apartment in the city.

Let it be known that I have the blackest of thumbs. I routinely kill houseplants and whether from too much love or too much neglect I never really know. Moreover, I live in a condo in Chicago, so I only have pots on my back fire escape as my city "garden." In fact, I'll argue that it is my black thumb that gives me the bona fides to give beginner gardeners tips, because I have figured out how to grow herbs and am painfully aware of every lesson I learned along the way.

It surprises me how often I bump into friends who are flummoxed about some aspect of herb gardening. And strangely, I feel there are few practical guides to growing herbs on the internet for someone just starting out. Most of the advice is geared towards high end gardeners who can make sense of soil PH and whatnot. When I was starting out, what I really needed was some sort of herb gardening for dummies. So here is my quick and practical advice for growing herbs for beginners.

• Mistake 1: Growing from seed. When you first start out trying to grow fresh herbs, I recommend you begin by trying to grow from seedlings rather than planting your own seeds. These great little starter plants are widely available in grocery stores in the late spring. For the same price as a packet of fresh herbs from the produce section, you can buy your own little starter plant. Lots can go wrong in the seed to seedling transition (including not thinning out plants properly), so its probably best to begin by skipping that complicated task or you are in danger of washing out before you really begin.

 

• Mistake 2: Starting with the wrong varieties. I recommend you start by trying to grow fresh basil. It is the perfect trainer herb. First, basil grows quickly, allowing you to observe the effects of your care more easily. Second, basil leaves wilt visibly when not watered enough, but recovers well if you water the wilted plant. This makes basil a great ‘canary in the mineshaft’ to help you figure out how much water is enough.

 

• Mistake 3: Watering herbs like houseplants. Instead, water herbs a moderate amount every day. While some houseplants flourish with one solid watering per week, most delicate herbs require moderate and regular watering. This is particularly true during hot summer months. If you have good drainage at the bottom of your pot (at least a drainage hole, possibly rocks beneath the soil), it will be difficult to water herbs too much.

• Mistake 4: Not cutting early and often. As a novice gardener, it may seem like your puny little plant just isn't ready for a trip to the barber, but then you will find yourself sitting there wishing for leaves without much success. Again, basil is a great herb to practice pruning. As with all herbs, you want to cut the herb just above a set of growing leaves. With basil, when you cut the plant that way, the originally trimmed stem will no longer grow. However, two new stems will grow around the original cutting, creating a “V” shape (see the photo above, can you spot the Vs?). If you don’t trim basil aggressively, it will continue to grow straight up, and become too tall and top-heavy. Making your first trim approximately 3-4” above the soil produces a nice sturdy plant. Of course you want to be sure you are always leaving a few good sturdy leaves on the plant (see below). As it continues to grow, continue to prune it approximately every 3-4" for a nice solid plant. I like to let it grow for some time and then cut back to within 2-3 inches of the original cut. After only a few early trial cuts, this usually makes for a nice clipping with plenty of basil to use for a pizza.

• Mistake 5: Taking the leaves from the wrong place. When you are just starting out it seems to make so much sense to pick off a few big leaves around the bottom of the plant, and let those tender little guys at the top keep growing. Wrong. Leave those large tough old guys at the bottom alone. They are the solar panels that power your herb's growth. Once your plant is big enough to sustain a decent harvest, keep on taking from the top, as you have been when you were pruning. That way you get all those tender new herbs that are so tasty, and your plant gets to keep its well developed solar power system in place. Plus, if you pluck from the base and leave the top intact, you get a tall skinny plant that will flop over from its own weight (and yes, I know this from experience). When you pluck from the top, instead of clipping off just below a pair of leaves, you want to clip off just above a pair of leaves. It is a bit counter-intuitive as a novice, but trust me it works. The place where the leaf joins the stem is where new growth will occur when your plant sends off new stems in a V.
  
  
• Mistake 6: Letting your plants get too randy. If you are pruning regularly, this may never become an issue, but unless you are growing something for its edible flowers, be sure to cut back herbs before they start growing flowers. My friend once brought me to her backyard garden and pointed, frustrated, at her wimpy, small basil plants. "I just keep tending them, but they don't even produce enough leaves to put on a salad!" she lamented. I pointed to the glorious stalk of flowers at the top of each plant, "That's your problem" I explained. Because herbs are kind of like college boys: if you give them half a chance, they will focus all their energy on procreation and neglect growth. If you want leaves, keep cutting off the little flower buds whenever you find them (see photo above), and it will encourage your plant to focus on growing more leaves.

 

• Mistake 7: Using tired soil with no nutrients. Tired soil that has been sitting in your garden or lawn for ages often looks grey and a little depressing. Would you want to grow in that stuff? Give your plants a dose of the good stuff and they'll thank you for it. I grow my herbs in a combination of potting soil, used coffee grounds (with a near-neutral PH, available for free at Starbucks), and organic compost. If I have some on hand, I also throw in crushed egg shells. Those without access to compost (and no deep commitment to organic growing) may find Miracle grow useful. My momma swears by it for tomatoes. A diluted solution of Miracle grow occasionally can help many herbs flourish.

 

• Mistake 8: Getting in a rut. There is an element to passion about herb gardening. In order to be good at it, you need to feel rewarded. So don't stick too long with one or two herbs just because they work. Branch out to a few other basic herbs that you will use regularly in your kitchen. There are few things more rewarding as an urban foodie than being able to pop out to the fire escape to clip fresh herbs to use in my cooking. Once you have become comfortable with basil, I recommend moving on to try growing oregano, mint, rosemary and thyme. All are regularly useful herbs in the kitchen, and all are relatively easy to grow. You will notice that rosemary cleaves after cutting in a somewhat similar way to basil, but grows much more slowly, so the effect is difficult to notice. Some plants also respond to clipping by throwing out more full leaves at their base. I have long wanted to grow cilantro but have not had much luck with it.

 

• Mistake 9: You mean there's more than one kind of mint?When choosing herbs, read the label carefully. For example, there are two main varieties of oregano: Mediterranean and Mexican. Mediterranean oregano is the more common variety, and what you likely own if you have conventional dried oregano in your cupboard. I have Mexican oregano growing on my back fire escape. I love Mexican oregano in spicy dishes, for making beans from scratch, and often use it in tomato dishes where I don't want the flavor to seem too much like marinara. Similarly, there are many different kinds of mint. You don't want to be thinking of the pungent spearmint plant and accidentally take home the much more subtle (and not mojito savvy) applemint by mistake.

 

• Mistake 10: Feed me Seymour! If you are planting in soil instead of pots, take care that your cute little herb seedling doesn't become a giant plant that takes over your garden. A word of warning for oregano and mint: both can be voracious growers. If you are planting outside in a garden, rather than in pots, you may want to consider potting these herbs and then burying the pots in the ground. This will add a measure of control to the root systems of these herbs, which can otherwise take over a garden and strangle nearby neighbors. When in doubt, check out wikipedia, they usually are careful to point out which herbs are in danger of overwhelming your garden

 

 

Chlorophyll Benefits

 

Homemade Sunless Tanner

What you’ll need:
4 black tea bags
2 cups boiling water
Sponge or spray bottle (Either sponge it on or spray it on, followed by rubbing it down into the skin)

OR 

Cocoa powder
Body lotion

NOTE: Before beginning be sure to exfoliate your skin in the shower to ensure that your skin is clean and oil-free. Then dry off your skin completely before applying your self-tanning spray.

Put the 2 cups of water in a pot and bring it to a boil. Once it starts boiling, turn the stove off and put the 4 tea bags in and leave for 10 to 15 minutes.

Stand on top of a towel you don’t care much about or that you don’t care getting dirty. If using a sponge, soak it in the tea and wipe all over your body. If using a spray bottle, fill it and spray on your body and rub it in.

Let your skin dry and then apply another coat if you want a darker shade. Make sure that you are dry when putting clothes on so that they don’t stain.

If you want an extra kick in your color, slowly mix a little bit of cocoa powder at a time to a handful of body lotion. When you are comfortable with the light brown color, apply it all over your skin and wait for it to dry.

Tan should last for 3 to 4 days!

Easy Bookmark: http://www.primalrights.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=7920

 

 

unclog drain

 

tornado prep kit

What Is Needed For Your Tornado /Hurricane/ Natural Disaster Emergency Kit (Checklist) how to Create an Emergency Kit

1.Get a weather radio. I prefer the crank radios so you can use them even if you don’t have power. You may have heard from me before that you should get weather radio and I still fully stand by that as my number one advice for weather preparedness. You may not be able to access internet, have power for tv, or have cell phone reception, but you can always crank up a weather radio to find out what is going on and where.

2.Know your families plan. Do you have a certain room that you need to go to? If somehow you get separated do you know where you are going to meet up and are there any ways to communicate with each other?

72 hour emergency kit supplies should be 
This is a Check list

General safety - know your safe area, basement, closet, etc. It may sound dumb but purchasing cycle helmets with a face guard can save your life. Head trauma is the #1 reason people are killed in tornados. The face guard will also help with flying debris. Keep blankets and pillows in your safe area to cover your body and protect you from flying debris. If it's big enough, a spare mattress.

Get a very large backpack that you can carry on your shoulders. Adapt to whatever you think you might need. Keep the bag handy to where you can grab it in a moments notice. You may want a separate bag for each person. Take into consideration you need supplies for ALL members of the family and it won't all fit in one bag. If you are hit by a tornado, you can't try to lug a large tote on wheels and it will probably be blown away. The backpack stays on your body.

5 Water bottles per person in your house
2 Energy Bars per person in your house
5 bags of Dried Fruit
Pain Reliever
Flashlight + Batteries (Or a Crank Flashlight)
a medium sized pack of batteries
Glow Sticks - Don't use candles. Gas leaks could be present.
Mylar Blanket
or two small blankets
a whistle
a permanent marker
a small radio, preferably a self-powered radio
the best out there is "Eton" brand. It is self-powered and you can get it at Wal-Mart or Radio Shack. It has a weather broadcast, flashlight built in, emergency siren, alert light and it will also recharge your cell phone battery. Otherwise: Get a crank radio or battery radio with lots of extra batteries. 
a plastic bag
a hand-powered can opener
Canned food 
a few small plastic dishes and silverware
a cell phone
Duct Tape <- Trust me Duct Tape can save your life !!!! 
a first aid kit
money (preferably small bills)
Book/ Reading material a Map is a great idea
a car charger for your cell phone
Extra shoes and socks in case you don't have time to put yours on. 
medicines
a spare set of keys to your vehicle and home
an extra change on clothes for each person
anything you may need for pets food, medicine
anything you may need for children medicine teddy bear

put this in a large bin in your house where you can easily Grab it and Go in an emergency

During tornado season: (remember they can happen in the middle of the night with no warning or you don't hear the warning until the tornado is on you!)

First Aid Kit This is the basics what you need 

1. Antibiotic Ointment 
2. Antibacterial soap 
3. Burn ointment 
4. Adhesive bandages of all sizes 
5. Medical tape 
6. Gauze pads and large surgical pads (bleeding may be an issue) 
7. Tweezers 
8. Scissors 
9. Thermometer 
10. Eye wash/sterile saline 
11. Moist towelettes 
12. Over the counter: Aleve/Advil/Benadryl 
13. Several pairs of gloves 
14. Household chlorine bleach and an eye dropper - dilute nine parts water to one part bleach it becomes an antiseptic/disinfectant. To decontaminate drinking water - 12 drops per one gallon of water. No fancy colored bleaches or other chemicals! Just regular bleach.
This all may sound silly but you may be without help for an extended period and possibly injured.

 

 

DIY Wine glass candlelight

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Wine-Glass-Lamp-Shade/

Broccoli Cakes

Recipe below by Ele of Kitchenist, adapted from the beautiful Phaidon cookbook, Breakfast, Lunch, Tea by Rose Carraini.

You Will Need:

• Stand mixer or electric beaters
• 12-cup muffin tin, greased and floured well (or silicone)
• 12 trimmed broccoli florets (each one should fit into a muffin cup with room to spare)
• 275g (1 cup and 2.5 tbsp) butter, softened ?50g 
• (1/4 cup) sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 300g (1 1/4 cup) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 60g (full 1/4 cup) strong cheddar cheese, grated

Step 1 Prepare the broccoli.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Bring a pot of water to the boil and blanch the broccoli florets for 3 minutes. Rinse well in cold water to stop the cooking, then dry each floret well with paper towels and set aside.

Step 2 Make the batter.

Beat the butter until soft and creamy, then add the sugar and continue beating until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix together the flour, baking powder, turmeric, cayenne and salt, and beat this into the wet ingredients as well. Finally, fold in the grated cheese with a spatula.

Step 3 Floret your cakes.

Place one heaping tablespoonful of batter in the bottom of each muffin case, then tap the tin against the counter to spread batter out. Stand a single floret in each muffin case, and top with the remaining batter, dividing it evenly between the cases. Spread the batter over the top of each floret roughly, but don't worry about it looking perfect. 

Step 4 Bake!

Bake the cakes for approximately 30 minutes, until golden brown and hard to the touch. While baking, some butter will bubble up around each cake — you can mop this up with paper towels if you like, but don't worry too much about it. Allow the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack before serving, but do try to eat on the same day.

 

 

Skinny Shake

 

 

tastes like a Wendy's frosty:
3/4 cup Almond Milk
about 15 ice cubes
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1-2 Tbsp unsweetened Cocoa powder
1/3 of a Banana
Blend.
If you want to save this recipe for later, 'Share' it and it will store in your photo album.

 

 

Easy Photo Frame

 

Chicken Coop from Pallets

 Here's our pallet coop:

A month ago my daughter and I built a small coop for our 7 chickens.
We learned from several mistakes, and got 8 new chickens -
so today my husband and I took it apart and rebuilt it bigger and better for 15 of them!
The forecast was 81 degrees and stormy today. Well, good thing we didn't hide inside. 

It was perfectly cloudy in the 70's with a breeze all day!

The old coop

While their old coop was taken apart, they found a place to hang out.

 Old coop in the background, and a stack of pallets from my awesome neighbor.

Early morning, beginning of the new coop.

Inside the new coop, little pallets for perching!

Lining the roof pallets with plastic for the weather.

Johnny is happy, check out the steps. 

The door serves two purposes
 It closes the chickens in at night hooking to the coop
It swings open, hooking to the fence in the day to close off the run.
This allows for easier cleaning and a free range exit! 

The same door, closing off the outside in the daytime, opening to the coop to the run.

My son is 8, standing up inside.

Eric putting the finishing touches on the coop/closure.

She is finished, just need to fill in some side/bottom of roof gaps and wire.

************************

Day 3

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The last step here, enclosing the coop with chicken wire.

Some different angles from around the yard.

The coop - secured with wire buried several inches in the ground.

 Alcatraz

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/287684/new-rollout-nest-design-picture-heavy-edited-1-21