2011 Garden Review

Earlier this week, I received this in the mail...

*happy dance* Pinetree is my all-time favorite seed company. I've ordered from them every year for about 15 years...always with great results. Reasonably priced, quick to deliver, great customer service, what's not to like?!? I'll be spending the next couple of weeks planning next year's garden and putting an order together for the seeds. Which reminds me...

I haven't posted my 2011 garden plan.

Some of this worked really well:
     pumpkins produced best crop ever
     tomatoes nearly overwhelmed me
     plenty of beans for pickling

Some things didn't work so well at all:
     most of the peppers' production was lackluster
     second crops of beets and peas were disappointing
     not enough tomatillos, onions or carrots

So, in addition to drooling over my seed catalog, I need to come up with a plan to increase production of all our favorite vegs.  One big change that we've already put in place is to remove the row of butterfly bushes along the fence and put that bed into veg production this year (thanks for providing the hard labor to make that happen, Mike!)  Not only do we love our fresh fruits and veg during the growing season, we've been so pleased with the quality of the home canned produce that we want to add to our stash.  2012, here we come!

Quilt Mania

During the last few weeks of gardening and canning season, I was spending everyday either picking produce, weeding garden beds or bottling the goodies up. While it is really satisfying to see all the finished bottles on the shelf, the process is exhausting and time-consuming. So, to distract myself while I was working, I was planning quilts and promising myself some serious quilt-making time when frost hit.

Frost came. I've been quilting. And quilting. And quilting....

A special, quick quilt for our newest family member, Aynslee. These fabrics were so lovely that I knew they'd be perfect for our little princess. I used a simple pattern, the disappearing nine-patch. Used lime green fleece on the back to make it extra cuddly.

I've done a post about this quilt, but wanted to include it here to show the order of operations. Used my 'Twister' ruler and backed it with off-white fleece.

Made from the fabric line 'Cookie Jar Treats', this quilt is an addition to my Christmas quilt stash that I share every year. This one brings the number up to just enough for everyone to have one...except me. Gonna have to get at least one more made this year!

Although this one is primarily red and green, it's not a Christmas quilt. Those are apples and apple pies! I thought I'd use this one in September to celebrate the harvest and be cozy while watching tv downstairs. I purchased these fabrics and the pattern from Quilts Etc last year planning to make a lap size quilt. It turned out more twin sized so I really had to work to get it quilted. Pretty happy with the finished product, all said and done.

Most recent project, just finished this morning. Again, fabrics and free pattern from Quilts Etc last year. This one is just the right size to keep Peri and I warm on the sofa.

This group of quilts represents nearly the end of my stack of quilt UFOs. With that in mind, I splurged on some cute snowman flannels at last month's quilt class so between that quilt and some Christmas projects, I'll be pretty busy through the end of the year. No time for the winter blues in my sewing room!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Our pumpkin crop this year is pretty darn good.  We have 36 pumpkins of two varieties...'Rouge Vif d'Etampes' and 'Sugar Pie'.  Both varieties produced pumpkins of pretty good size; no giants, thank goodness.  As you can see, a few have yet to ripen.  We actually composted quite a few smaller pumpkins that have no chance of ripening.

Next year, I need to start cutting the new pumpkins off in September.  We also need to figure out a way to give the pumpkins more space.  Some of these vines were over 15 feet long.  They wove their way through the pepper patch and the tomato patch and up into the compost.  I would also like to try the white 'Lumina' pumpkins again.

We're looking not only for attractive pumpkins for decorating, but, of course, really great eating quality.  So far, the 'Rouge Vif d'Etampes' is the best by far for eating, but I'm open to trying others if anyone has a great recommendation!

Salsa Verde - ish

I think I've finally finished the canning for 2011!

This is a batch of salsa verde, made with tomatillos and peppers grown in our garden.  Yes, I realize that salsa verde is supposed to be all green.  I tried. I really tried.  But while I was waiting for the tomatillos to finally ripen a large enough crop to make the salsa, the jalapenos and serranos turned red.  So my salsa is 'verde-ish'.  lol  It's also pretty dang hot as most hot peppers get hotter as they ripen.  Gonna need some help eating all of this as the gringos around here aren't going to want much of it!

Hugs and Kisses

I've been working on this quilt for a few months.  It hasn't really taken all that long to sew, but it took some doing to find just the right border and binding fabric.

The lovely prints are 'Hugs and Kisses' from Moda.  I was able to snatch up a layer cake at the February sale at Quilts, Etc.  I also grabbed a 'Twister' ruler from CS Designs.  I really like the technique.  First, I sewed most all the squares from the layer cake together and added the pale pink first border.

Lots of pressing to make the whole piece smooth!  Then the scary next step...

I had to cut into the squares I has just sewed together!  Don't know why it was so daunting, but I really did have to take a couple of deep breaths before the first cut.  I sewed each row together as I cut it from the big section.  It was so much fun watching the pinwheels appear.  The ruler is really well made and even included non-slip feet to make the job easier.

The finished quilt is just about 60 inches square.  A nice size for snuggling under on the sofa, but a little too big to be comfortably quilted on my regular sewing machine.  I managed it, but had to resort to some 'bad sewing words'.  lol.

One of my next projects will be trying out the new 'L'il Twister' ruler that I bought at the fall festival at Quilts, Etc.  Carin and I had thought a tiny version of this quilt would be awesome and lo, and behold, now there's a ruler for that!

A 'Welcome' Gift

I'm a bit behind in posting this, but I was absolutely thrilled to be present at the birth of my newest granddaughter, Aynslee.  She is a total doll, doomed to being shamelessly spoiled by her Granny and Papa. 

She's also already developing her own style.  She's definitely not a pale pink kinda princess.  Oh no.  More like hot pink, chocolate, and lime green kinda princess!  When I found these fabrics (Endless Summer by Riley Blake), I knew what I had to do.  Quick!  Make a quilt!

So, welcome to the clan, Aynslee.  You're gonna fit in just fine around here.

Not Done Yet

Snow notwithstanding, the garden is still really going to town.  We didn't lose any plants to frost, so the vegetable garden is still pretty much doin' its thing.  I'm so hoping that those last green tomatoes get far enough along to ripen.  I'd love to make one last batch of salsa!

The cooler weather, though, has been just the ticket for the flower beds.  The late hot spell made most flowers look pretty worn out.  Cooler temps have brought out the best of a lot of our colorful friends.

 'Double Delight' Rose

Another 'Double Delight'

'Betty Boop' Rose

Verbena x hybrida - love this color!

I spent a large chunk of this afternoon repotting the geraniums and succulents that I put out into my big decorative pots every spring.  Drives me nuts to have to shell out $2.99 each for geraniums that I can easily overwinter in the garage and replant each year.

I also repotted some special plants that live in the garage all year.  A few years ago, I received a start from my mom's asparagus fern (Asparagus densiflorus 'Sprengeri').  That fern has been in my family for at least four generations.  My great-grandmother, Lolah Holmes, took a start of the fern with her in a covered wagon from Missouri to Puyallup, Washington.  I would like to get a nice large plant growing so that I can take starts off of it to share with the next generation.