Sweet Ninja

How does your garden grow?

Like this

first harvest

Walking in a Field of Flowers

OK, that may be a bit of an exaggeration but anyway here is a glimpse...or a tease rather, from my potted garden. When it's fully planted and has had a little time to set it's roots I'll give you a full tour. But for now:

Pretty Dahlias, sigh. And almost as pretty some new Campers. I'm leaving for Vegas tomorrow and these should be stylish and comfy, just like there are known for!

I'll talk to you when I return and hopefully I'll have some nice gaudy picts to share!

Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day everybody! (And Happy Birthday Kristin!) I figured a seedling update would be appropriate for today. The zucchini and the tomatoes got big enough to transplant into larger peat pots. They were actually taking over the whole seed starter and crushing the much smaller herbs.

I also bought six vinca plants today with hopes of starting some outdoor pots this weekend. Technically danger of frost ends May 15th here...but the plants were already outside at the store.

Also for earth day here is a list of ways I'm trying to be greener. It will also help as a reminder for myself:

-use reusable canvas bags when shopping (like this one- shameless plug)
-turn off the faucet when brushing my teeth and in between rinsing and washing plates
-take a thermos to work as often as possible filled with organic fair trade coffee instead of buying it once I get in the city and throwing out a cup everyday
-keep my tires properly filled in order to get better gas mileage
-turn lights off when not using them and keep heat/ air at a reasonable temp
-turn my monitor off when not using my computer
-try not to get lazy about recycling (including stinky cat food cans)
- and keep dreaming of a hybrid, or even better solution, car

We actually celebrated Earth Day where I work today. I happen to work for a company that tried very hard to be environmentally sound. I don't really like to write about work but this part seems pretty cool/ interesting to me so I'll share it.

Part of what my company does is design and sell textiles. We carry several post- consumer recycled poly (post being soda/water bottles mostly as opposed to pre which would be waste from a factory or stuff we never see) textiles. At our celebration today we were told we will now recycle clear, green and blue plastic bottles that will go directly to a fiber manufacturer to be recycled and extruded into yarn that will go directly into fabric we sell. I feel that makes recycling a little more personal and interesting. I thought it was cool. Maybe that's just me.

And since I'm talking about work I'll just tell you that another thing we are doing that I'm very happy about is participating in the
 
The goals is to plant one million new trees in NYC by 2017. (I think other cities are doing something similar) A friend of mine at work proposed participating since we have a fairly large veranda, the company agreed to provide funds and a bunch of employees volunteered to do the work. On Monday two palettes of soil, planters and four or five trees to start will be delivered. It will be an ongoing project with additional plantings and continued maintenance but it should be fun, allow people who work in different departments to work together and give us a pretty sweet place to sit outside at lunch.

But really...enough about work

The Little Seeds That Could

You may remember this tiny farm from a few weeks ago. Well here's progress. The big sprouts you see are the zucchini which I probably won't be able to support in my little potted garden. I think they'll end up at my Mom's, but so far so good.

I'm really liking this self watering seed starter because I don't have to feel guilty when I neglect them! I'm also going to CA next week and can rest easy knowing they'll be okay on their own...and hopefully even bigger when I get back! I'll keep you posted.

In Like a Lion...

In the beginning of March I bought this cute vintage lamb planter from Which Goose's Etsy shop.

I planted some mixed flower seeds in it that my sister-in-law recently brought me back from Colorado. Here's the start of something...and the start of spring. Bring on the April showers so we can get to the good stuff!

Silky Smooth

I've been behind on blogging and making due to the fact that my sweet little nephew Patrick has unexpectedly ended up in the hospital for some pretty serious stuff. So as a distraction and to give you something to look at, here is the story of how silk comes to be. (These picts are from my honeymoon in Thailand)

Little silkworms working their magic spinning their cocoons. Those who are lucky enough to emerge as a moth will lay eggs then die within 24 hours.

The unfortunate ones....are set in the sun to dry, which kills the worm inside. The cocoon is then boiled and spun into silk yarn.

The woman just pinches the cocoon to find an end to start with then feeds the silk from multiple cocoons together while spinning. They just bob up and down in the boiling water while she spins. I didn't ask but my assumption is that they can't let the worm hatch from the cocoon because it would cause too many breaks in the fiber?

Winding the silk warp in preparation to weave

Weaving up the finished product. Actually I'm not sure if this was just for show or if it would actually be turned into some of the beautiful items available in the shop you're directed into after this tour. I picked up several silk scarves for myself and gift. Bill scored a tie.

World's Smallest Farm

Once again I'm dreaming of being a farmer. Also dreaming of warm weather. With hopes for both I've just planted the world's smallest farm.

I planted basil, chives, mint, oregano,rosemary, tomatoes, squash and three rows were dedicated to fuchsia tidal wave petunias. I only have a small deck and can only plant in pots so some of what I planted will be given away, but I'll use as much as I can. This is of course assuming all these seeds take.

I'm already thinking about the rosemary oven fries and tomato  with fresh mozzarella  I'll be indulging in in a few short months.

The thing I'm most excited about is that this little seed starter kit is self watering! This takes a little pressure off me during their delicate and fragile start. Here's hoping....