Germinating Seed Starts. 1.27.22

 So far, so good.  Most of the seeds are germinating.

All of the eggplant varieties have germinated.  So have the basil, yellow hybrid onion, Red Wethersfield historic (non hybrid) onion (seeds two years old), Chinese leek (Chinese Chive, Garlic Chive), Cheyenne Spirit Echinacea (not stratified), and most of the peppers.   The Tigridia have not germinated, but at a close look, one seed might be starting.  The Thai peppers were slow but a few are starting to emerge.  So far, the only peppers with zero growth so far, are Arapaho and all of the Yellow Banana Peppers, from any packet / source.

I thought that none if the Thai peppers were going to germinate, so I used some dried pepper pods still on the plants that I'm trying to overwinter, and collected some seeds to start.

I also collected some seeds from dried Pasilla-ancho peppers, from the grocery store.

Those don't look promising, but I planted them today, anyway.

That got me thinking, I might like to try growing some other varieties, including Anchos, somI ordered some more seeds :-)

More Seeds To Start Now, And First Ones To Emerge. 1.12.23

 I know it's early, but I started most of  these early before and they grew and produced nicely.

The first Cheyenne Spirit Echinacea emerged, without stratification.

No idea what to expect with the tigridia seeds, or if they last a few years.  Those were saved from corm-grown plants in 2020.  Chives may only last a year, also onions.  I don't know about the basil either.

The first onion has emerged, a yellow hybrid.

Still  long way to go.  It gives me something to obsess over.

The temperature on the heating mats is about 5F lower on the soil surface than at the bottom of the cells.

Starting Onion And Garlic Chive Seeds. 1.8.22

 I always start onion seeds early.  They can be planted out earlier than most seedlings, clearing the way for more tender plants.

Last year's onions didn't do well, so this year I'm trying hybrids.  I really think it was  my growth conditions and not the varieties, but I want to try the new varieties for their hybrid vigor.

I also bought seeds for Chinese Chives (Chinese Leeks) to see if they do better than my 22 year old plants.

The hybrids are long-day (fir this Northern latitude), Red (Red Carpet) and yellow (Frontier).  

I planted the onion seeds and Chinese Leek seeds in the green reusable silicone seed starting trays.  

I also have some heirloom red onion bulbs planted in the garden to see if I can get seeds from them this summer.  My experience is that home saved seeds sometimes do better than bought seeds.  Also  I'd like to continue to gain seed independence, by saving more varieties.

Starting Chili Pepper and Sweet Pepper Seeds. 1.8.22

 Today I sowed seeds for most of the hot peppers and some sweet peppers.

Some of the seeds are old.  I don't know how they will do.  I sowed a lot of the Thai peppers because the label showed poor germination in 2018, and they are much older now.   Of course, there are the overwintering plants too.

I have some more to plant.  This should be a good start.  I start peppers early because they take SO much time to get growing.

This time I'm using re-usable seedling starters that can be washed in the dishwasher to sterilize (after washing to remove grit etc).  In theory, these can be re-used many times over the years.  They are larger than the usual six-pack seedling starters, which I think is better.

They are on seedling warming mats now.  I need to get a new thermometer, which I ordered today.

The green seed starters are silicone trays, also reusable.  I used them at least twice in last year 's seed starting, washing in dishwasher to sterilize before re-using.  Those contain the Echinacea and onion seedlings.

Stratifying Perennial Seeds. 1.8.22

 This year I want to grow Echinacea "Cherokee Spirit".  The colors are very nice, and the plants are more compact and bushy, compared to species Echinacea.  They are expensive, so I ordered seeds.  Species Echinacea seed requires cold stratification.   The seed packet did not mention that, so I'm stratifying half and starting the other half directly.  I don't know, but maybe early starts will give first year flowers.  With species Echinacea, I don't get flowers until the second year.

I use the same method that usually works for me - place the seeds on a moistened paper towel, place that into a zipper sandwich bag, and place that in the refrigerator for two months.

I'm also starting some Goldenrod.  Same method.

As an experiment, I also sowed half of the Echinacea seeds in a six-pack, which will be on a seedling warming mat. 

Then I opened a paper bag of Rudbeckia seed heads, that I collected in the fall and stored in the pantry.

A lot of seeds had already fallen into the bag (which I missed when preparing to stratify).  I brushed seed heads with my fingers, to harvest seeds. 

Then I treated some of those, same method as the Echinacea.

We'll see hoe they do.

Red Star Quilt. Getting Started. 1.8.23

 This will be another quilt that starts using a pattern in Modern Quilter, by designer Lynn Goldsworthy.   I like her designs very much.  I made changes, based on my use of (mostly) upcycled fabrics.  One major change, the original design has a lot of background in cream colors, wide areas of fabrics.  Mine will have patchwork background, mainly greys and minimalist patterns on white.  

The changes have taken quite a bit of trial and error on paper, but I think I have it.

Here are the shirt fabrics, curated, washed, starched, pressed, cut at the seams.

The reds are mostly a deep color, sort of ox-blood, or burgundy.  One is light, sort of mauve.  

This is a preview of the star pattern, minus one point.

I could do a few things to fill in the missing point.  Such as, repeat a fabric, vs. buy something at the fabric store, vs. continue shopping for shirts to upcycle.  One point is the reverse side of another, I could try that. I decided not to be a purist, and ordered a yard of a deep red Indonesian Batik on Amazon.  That will add a little something extra, if I actually use it.

The original pattern was published as a supplement in Today's Quilter, Issue 75.  The complete link seems to be broken.

Accidental Timber Bamboo Harvest. 1.7.23

 These bamboo fell over three weeks ago during an ice storm.  The root mass is unexpectedly minimal.  I've been cleaning them up and cutting them to useful lengths.

I cut most into approx 8 or 9 foot lengths.  Some ars very thick and sturdy.

I used some of the sturdiest lengths to replace an espalier trellis, including adding the third and fourth tiers.

I like how that looks.  I think it will last a number of years,

Pepper Plant Overwintering. Update. 1.7.23

 There is a little growth on the overwintering pepper plants.  Minimal, which is what I want.  Enough to show they are alive.

The bottom left plant is a cayenne pepper.  I think most of the growth is early flower buds.  I removed the obvious flowers.  I don't think the plants can support them yet.

Pruning a Massive HorseChestnut Tree. 1.7.23

 This tree seems to have a semi-weeping configuration.  It's been spreading too wide.  The branches trail to the ground.  It's a major challenge mowing under the tree, or doing cleanup.  So I generally don't.

Today I did a lot of pruning.  Here is the before picture.

That big branch on the left had to go.  I could not mow under it.  Also, it looks like it might be at risk of breaking off.  In fact, when I examined it more closely, this alarming, full thickness, several feet log split was about two feet from the trunk.

Here is the tree after pruning.  I was careful.  My chain saw is just an electric 16 " blade.  

I think that the branch on the right side also needs to be removed.  I want to use the pole saw to remove as much as I can, first, due to the height and size of the limb.  That will have to happen some other time.

Interesting, with the area cleared, I saw this fig tree sticking out of a dwarf evergreen.   Where did that come from?  i can't imagine that I planted it there.  It's probably been there since before we bought the place.

Overwintering Pepper Plants, Update. 12.22.22

 Here are the pepper plants.   Not much change.  One of the Tabasco pepper plants has more growth than the others, but not enough to be concerned about.

This Tabasco has the most growth.  Fortunately, it's not a lot.

This Cayenne Pepper plant has tufts of growth, but again, I don't think it's too much.

This Banana Pepper has very minimal growth.

Overall, I'm happy so far with how these pepper plants are remaining mostly dormant, but still alive and green.  They are half way through the dormant period.

Next month, I also plan to start pepper seeds.  It looks like these plants will be way ahead of the new ones I start in January.

Sewing A Cotton Rope Bowl. 12.16.22

 This was my first attempt, so it counts as practice.  The goal was to make a pie carrier, so a pie wouldn't slide around.  I thought I was making it too big.  But it turned out way too small.  It's also a little wonky.   Still, there were some learnings.  I made this using 3/8" cotton rope.

When practicing, I used some cotton thread I had sitting around.  Poor quality, broke multiple times.  So I changed to a better quality cotton thread meant for machine quilting.  Worked perfectly, did not break even once.

Despite not being the size I wanted, this did make a nice rope bowl.  It seems quite strong.  It takes a little practice to make, but isn't difficult at all.

The braided cotton cord that I ordered came, so I made another.  This time, 1/4" diameter.  The rest was the same method.

I thought the 1/4 inch was more difficult to sew well, because the narrower diameter was not as easy to see  under the presser foot.  Still, it worked fine and the final product was a very nice rope bowl.  I think it worked perfectly.

Dragon Hot Sauce. 12.6.22

 The Thai Dragon + Cayenne + a few Tabasco pepper sauce has been fermenting for more than two weeks.  I made Tabasco - type hot sauce.  There was enough for a bottle plus a little more.

 This is what it looked like fermenting in the jar, after two weeks.

I ran it in the food processor until as finely pureed as it would do.

Then I used a sieve in a bowl, and a spoon to squeeze the juice out of the pulp and seeds.

A turkey baster worked for transferring the juice into the bottles.

I tested the sauce on a fried egg.  Nice flavor and lots of heat.

Rufus At Home Depot. 12.6.22

 I wanted some fence posts to support the mini apple trees in the mini orchard, so took Rufus to Home Depot.

He likes riding in the cart, and it keeps him from being underfoot and getting into trouble with the leash.

Kitchen Curtains For The Holiday. 12.6.22

 We don't do much for the holiday.  This fabric was end-of-bolt so the price was very inexpensive.  It's just the valence, so the view of the duck yard is unobstructed.

The kitchen window gets a different curtain for each holiday or season, so it doesn't become too boring.  I have some fabric on order for Chinese New Year, for the first time, but that's doesn't start until late January.  

This valence only takes about an hour to make.  Very straightforward project.