Gardener's Handsoap

Spring arrives this Friday! So, that means it's time to clean up our gardens and start planting some cool weather flowers like Pansy's!  I actually started working in my backyard last week with raking leaves that were left behind from last fall.  I am looking forward to our Apple trees blooming, not only for the lovely blooms, but for the privacy it gives us while we enjoy our backyard.

Just as I have started gardening, I have also started making my special soap.  This melt-n-pour soap is super easy to make.  The soap is excellent at exfoliating; the coffee and herbs deep clean your skin gently but thoroughly.  

Make some soap for you and give some to your fellow gardeners.  They'll dig you for it!

Ingredients:

8 oz vegan soap, grated - I use Dr. Bronners

2 T organic ground coffee 

1/2 cup organic dried herbs - rosemary and thyme 

Method:

You will need 1-2 soap molds. I use plastic molds that you can purchase from craft stores. The molds come in many shapes and sizes.

Melt the grated soap over medium heat in a double boiler.  Stir in ground coffee and herbs.

Pour soap into molds, fill each mold all the way to the top.

Leave soap to harden; should take a couple of hours.  Pop out each soap.  If the soap won't come out, you can place the mold in the freezer for a few minutes, this will help the soap to loosen and pop out.

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Vegan Cilantro and Chive Butters

It's not often that I can get organic corn on the cob at Whole Foods.  So, when I went shopping this week and saw that they had some, I was so excited and bought several packs.  The corn was delicious! I even went back yesterday to buy several more packs to freeze.

*cilantro butter is shown on top followed by the chive butter below.

As I was preparing the corn for dinner, I thought that plain butter was not good enough for this sweet organic corn on the cob.  So, off to the garden I headed with my kitchen shears.  

These butters are also excellent on bagels, pasta, rice, and even melted over popcorn.

Chive butter on a freshly baked garlic bagel.

Ingredients for both chive and cilantro butter:

1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened 

2 tablespoons fresh organic chives

2 tablespoons organic cilantro (leaves only)

Using 2 small bowls place 4 tablespoons each of the softened butter.

With your kitchen shears, snip the chives into small pieces.  Do the same with the cilantro leaves.

Add chives to one bowl and cilantro to the other.  Mix each thoroughly.

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Lavender Water

If I were able to plant only one flower in my garden, it would be lavender.  I love the smell of lavender; it's so relaxing.  My lavender is in full bloom. The aroma of lavender fills the air in my front garden.  This is were most of my lavender grows, a south facing garden that has the perfect soil for lavender to thrive.  My original plants are 14 years old and they have naturally reseeded in many places in my front garden.  It's a delight to see new seedlings growing in the spring where just last year there were none.  I transplanted some small plants today in a rock garden, fingers crossed they thrive.  I do hate to transplant my lavender; I hate to risk losing such a lovely plant.

I have had surprising success in growing lavender from seed.  One of my biggest lavender plants I have today was grown from seeds.  I remember receiving the lavender seeds from a friend. As she handed them to me, I was thinking to myself, these will never grow.  But, to my surprise, they grew to be a very large plant in a pot and when I transplanted the lavender into the ground it tripled in size. Every year it grows a bounty full of purple jewels for me to enjoy.

Lavender has many benefits, including being an antispectic, a anti-inflammatory,  and it also helps to relieve stress. I make many things with lavender, so I have decided that I will dedicate this week to the many uses of lavender.  Each day I will give you a new recipe using lavender.

This week we start with lavender water!  It's simple to make and much less expensive than buying it in a boutique.  Lavender water also makes a lovely gift, a little luxury in a bottle.

You will need the following:

Roughly 30 lavender stems
A clean glass jar with a secure lid
16 ounces of distilled water
1/2 teaspoon of organic vodka

Pour the water and vodka into the glass jar, add the flower heads, seal tightly.  Place in a cool dark location for 1 month.  You may swirl the mixture around gently every few days. After one month, strain the water through a sieve to remove the flower heads. Decant into a spray bottle.  You may use the lavender water to mist your pillows before bed, helping you relax and sleep better.  Or, use it as your ironing water to take out wrinkles, leaving a fresh clean lavender scent on your clothes. Decant the lavender water into a bottle that has a long neck; fill the bottle with lavender water and attatch a pour spout into the neck of the bottle.  This makes using the water a lot easier when ironing.  Better yet, add a couple tablespoons to your rinse water when washing clothes.  Even use as a room freshener, and give a few sprays to your furry family member's bed; they deserve the benefits of lavender too.

I hope you enjoyed my first recipe. Check back tomorrow for another!

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Garden Decor

As I was sitting in my garden this weekend enjoying the cool morning temperatures before the afternoon heat sets in, I noticed I had a few items in my garden that might be of interest to others.

My first item is my water feature.  I made this using an old oil/gas vessel I bought at a flea market.  I purchased a basic water pond pump, attached a water spicket to a piece of pump, then attached the pipe to the pump.  You can adjust the water pressure by the spicket, just like a faucet on a sink.

This is a vintage tub that we hooked up to a spicket that is attatched to our garden hose.  I clean my veggies from the garden in the tub before I bring them in the house.  Or, it's perfect for washing your dirty hands after working outside.  Once for a party we filled it with ice and filled the tubs with drinks.

This idea is truly one of my favorites.  I bought this old mailbox at an antique fair.  You would think finding an old mailbox would be easy, but it took me months to find this one. Worth the wait though!

Lastly, my chandelier that I purchased from a garage sale.  It originally was a shiny gold before I spray painted it white. I put faux candles in the bulb sockets.  This chandelier is very pretty at night hanging in my garden, a very unexpected lighting fixture that can hang from your trees or garden hooks.

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Faerie House & Faerie Garden

Wouldn't you like to attract the fun and mischief of faeries into your garden? Well, first they need a place to live..

So today I'll give you some tips on, first building a Faerie House, and then using this house as the cornerstone of the Faerie Garden design.

This easy DIY project is one of my favorites for several reasons:

• Faerie Houses are whimsical, so precision and exact carpentry skills are not required (you might even say that they'll be the ruin).
• It's a great way to use recycled and re-purposed materials (my boards came from an old birdhouse and some fence pickets).
• You can make your house and garden as simple as you like, or you can let your imagination run wild and go crazy with detail.
• It's FUN!!!

For the Faerie House, I believe it best not to follow a specific plan, but to just have a general idea of the style and effect that you are going for. Perhaps draw it out on paper first to get the proportions down. The one I built has approximate dimensions of 16 inches (40 cm) tall, 4 inches (10 cm) deep by 7 inches (18 cm) wide. You'll want to scale yours for the size of the pot or garden area that you are using.

For doors and windows, I prefer the look of curved lines, so I used some of the natural knotting and holes in the wood for inspiration and then cut them out with a jig saw (a hole saw could also be used if you want them round). I nailed the sides together, but an outdoor waterproof glue could be used (just make sure that its vegan). Add other materials that you have on hand for architectural detail (the finial on top was a scrap from an antique claw-foot furniture leg). I added a stake to the back wall so the wind doesn't blow the little house down (it gets rather windy in these parts).

For the garden, try to find plants with small foliage so the scale works (ours has a pine seedling for a tree). Add rocks for a path and other details; if you want to go nuts, small scale furniture can be made or purchased. The second one is a work in progress; stay tuned for more pics as it develops.

Use your imagination and the faeries will flourish!


Guest blog post by Jeff.

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Vegan Panzanella Salad

It's harvest time already in my cold frame, my lettuce is growing at record pace.

Even though the temps have finally risen and seem to be staying, I cannot remove my cold frame covering because I have a little friend that lives on my property.  This little guy, or gal, likes to dig up my plants, making gardening impossible.  My lettuce is getting pushed down by the covering, but if I want to have lettuce this cover has to remain.  I had to thin out the lettuce and remove the tallest leaves, leaving me with a rather large amount of lettuce to use.  Enter the Panzanella Salad; this salad is known as a Tuscan salad, which features bread (croutons) and tomatoes with a olive oil and vinegar dressing. This salad is perfect for the warmer months, and in the cooler months add a big bowl of tomato soup, perfection!

Making this salad is not an exact science.  I will give you veggie ideas to put in the salad, but I'd say that if you have carrots (use them), artichokes (go for it), onions, olives, or cucumbers (delicious).  The main ingredients you should use are: bread (croutons), tomatoes, olive oil, and vinegar.

Any type or mixture of lettuces that you like can be used.  For this salad, I was making it for two people, so I used about 4 cups of lettuce.  We also had plenty of panzanella leftover and this salad only gets better when allowed to sit over night.

Wash you lettuce thoroughly; I recommend using a salad spinner.  There is nothing worse than soggy lettuce in your salad.  A spinner whips off all moisture, leaving you with perfectly clean and dry lettuce.

You will need croutons to push this salad over the top.  I make my own. You can use stale bread if you have it.  I cube the bread and place it on a unbleached parchment lined baking sheet.  Drizzle organic extra virgin olive oil, organic garlic powder, and organic dried dill over the cubes and mix with a large spoon.  Spread out the cubes evenly on the baking sheet before placing in the oven.  Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

To my salad, I added, carrots, onion, olives, tomatoes, and croutons.  Place lettuce and veggies in a large bowl; in a small bowl whisk together 1/4 cup organic extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons organic vinegar.  I also add 1 tablespoon organic Dijon mustard and salt and pepper to taste.  Now, you will want to alter these amounts for the size of the salad, or to make it a drier salad, or instead to drench to dressing.  Pour the dressing over the salad and mix.  Add the croutons, and mix again.

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Bling for your trees!

Crystals are romantic, fancy, glamorous, and they are just the thing to add pizazz to the trees in your garden.  Imagine a sunny, warm, spring day; you enter your garden and find your trees glistening in the sun.  Who would not want their trees to look like giant chandeliers dripping with crystals?

This effect is very simple to achieve.  You can purchase vintage crystals of any size and color from flea markets or antique fairs, or purchase them new from lighting stores.

If they have some type of hook,  you can hang the crystals directly on the branches. Or, tie ribbon onto the crystals first and then tie them onto the branches.

Transform your garden by using just a few or a few dozen crystals on the tree(s); it's up to you.  The sun will shine through the crystals and sparkle into the evening.

If you know someone having a garden wedding, this is an economical, unique, and memorable way to decorate.

For this Mother's Day, how about having a tea party in your garden?  Place a table and chairs under the trees and enjoy the light show that nature will provide.

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Brill Razorcut Premium 33 Review

There are many things that cause my neighbors to look at me strangely, but the thing that I am writing about today are the stares that I get when I cut the grass. Well, these stares began a couple of years ago when I switched from using a fossil-fuel-guzzling lawnmower to a push reel mower. Have you seen one of these human-powered contraptions from yesteryear? Before buying my first one, I had only seen them at antique fairs. However, if you are concerned about doing all you can to reduce your carbon footprint, “push power” is the only way to go.

I am completely hooked on push reel mowers for the exercise/health benefits and fuel cost savings. Plus, these green mowers offer the advantage of 5 clean-cutting blades on a reel (like the kind that golf courses use) instead of one rotary “butcher blade” (like gas mowers use). Believe me, your grass will notice and appreciate the difference. Although, there are types of grasses not particular well-suited for push reel cutting, including St Augustine, Zoysia, or Bermuda.

Push reels are unique, so I gave consideration to some things in particular before deciding to purchase the German-designed Brill Razorcut 33 (33cm cutting width or about 13”). Reel blades are difficult to DIY sharpen and expensive to have sharpened professionally. Pushing can be difficult and may also put extra strain on the handle. Here the Brill offers some great advantages over other mowers. First, it is super light weight at just a hair over 15 pounds. It is so light you can easily hang it on the wall of your garage or shed. The cutting mechanism doesn’t make contact with bedknife making it simple to push. So light and easy to push, that I found it easier to push than a shopping cart. So easy and quiet, in fact, I thought that it wasn’t working, until I looked down at the perfectly manicured lawn. This cutting design along with hardened steel blades report to only require sharpening about every 10 years instead of annually like most other mowers in this class. The Euro Brill also has the very simplest to follow, Ikea-esque, picture-only instructions which require no tools for assembly. It took less than 10 minutes to put together since you only have to attach the rugged aluminum handle (the blades are pre-set up at the factory). Another 30 seconds to set the blade height (also requires no tools) and you are ready to cut.

With all these fabulous features, plus a purchase price of just $129.99 (with free shipping and 60-day money back guarantee) currently offered by Clean Air Gardening. The Brill Razorcut Premium 33 may be the greatest gardening value ever!

*I discovered this product on my own and purchased it with my own money. This review was in no way endorsed by the aforementioned companies.*

This a guest post from Jeff.

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