A Few of My Favorite Things: Garden

The weather is turning nice finally -- at least around these parts.  No snow in the forecast, hallelujah.  I've got thoughts of sunshine and tomatoes and flowers and cranberry gin dancing through my head and have been trying to get outdoors and in the garden as much as possible.  With that in mind, I thought I'd list a few of my favorite things for the garden.

 

 

Plant Protectors.  I call these gizmo's water walls.  They are made of heavy semi-opaque plastic and formed so that there are "cells" that can be filled with water.  The water absorbs heat from the sun during the day, protecting young plants overnight from the cold, and the plastic provides wind protection as well.  I tried these for the first time this year and was amazed at how well they worked.  My tiny tomato plants were flowering and almost bursting out the top by the time I removed the forms.  They can be reused repeatedly, another bonus.  I bought a package of 3 for about $14 at my local plant nursery. 

 

 

Tomato Cages.  Speaking of tomatoes, these brightly colored tomato cages are a whole lot more fun than the standard galvanized ones. 

 

 

Snips.  These little cutters made by Fiskars are perfect for snipping herbs or deadheading small plants.

 

 

Garden Attire.  A wide-brimmed hat is a necessity when working outdoors.  This one from Angela's Garden is made of cotton and can be thrown in the wash.  The matching garden apron has pockets in the front for holding all manner of things, including little snips.  The benefit of having a convenient place to stash your tools as you mosey around the garden is that you don't forget where you left them, and you don't stick them in your back jeans pocket.  And then try to sit down.  I got my set from Amazon.com, and there lots of styles and prints available.

 

 

Shoes.  Garden attire extends to your feet, and how can you resist fun rubber shoes?  These are by Sloggers, are inexpensive and surprisingly comfortable.  Besides protecting your feet from garden detritus, they are waterproof, so you don't have to worry about getting your socks wet when you play with use the hose. 

 

 

Gloves.  Hand protection is another garden necessity.  I have several types I use, from plain cotton to heavy leather, depending on the task.  But I really like these brightly colored nitrile-coated gloves.  They're great for digging in the dirt, and the waterproof palms keep your fingers from getting all yucky and pruney when you play with use the hose.  I found a package of 6 for about $8 at Costco.

 

 

Red Wheelbarrow.  Enough said.

 

 

Garden Art.  I love quirky little garden pieces, and the work by Dan Shattuck is among my favorite.  He puts together recycled kitchen utensils in the most creative ways.  This dragonfly is made with knives, fork heads, and the handle of a spoon.  It's utterly charming.  Unfortunately Dan doesn't seem to have a website, but he does art-in-the-park type shows throughout California's Central Coast. 

 

What are your favorite garden things?

Summer Is Coming. Gin Is Involved.

Is it wrong to be thinking about summer when spring has barely sprung?  I think not, especially when a little advance planning will result in a cranberry-infused adult beverage.

Flipping through a preserving cookbook recently, I came across a recipe for cranberry gin.  Simple enough -- basically add cranberries and sugar to gin and wait 3 months.  It was in the summer section of the book, with notes of enjoying the finished beverage by a warming fire in the wintertime.  I thought that pretty odd since cranberries are available in the fall/winter season, until I recalled that the author is from Australia and their seasons are opposite from ours here in the northern hemisphere.

Summer here is really not that far away, so with a bag of cranberries languishing in my freezer and visions of hot summer nights spent on the deck with a refreshing gin & tonic dancing in my head, I decided to give this a try.  DH wondered why I wouldn't just add cranberry juice to some gin, but I think that's just one question too many.  <g>

This is the gin right after mixing the ingredients.  After about a week, the sugar has fully dissolved and the gin is a dark pink.  It should be interesting to see the final result in about 3 months.  Cheers.

 

 

 

 

CRANBERRY GIN

From Art of Preserving by Jan Berry

 

1 lb cranberries

1 1/2 cups caster sugar (aka superfine or ultrafine sugar)*

3 cups (750mL) gin

 

Place cranberries in a large sterilized jar with a tight-fitting lid.  Add the sugar and gin, close the jar, and shake gently.  Store in a dark place for 3 months, shaking daily for the 1st month and weekly thereafter.  Strain through a fine mesh or muslin-lined sieve into a sterilized bottle and discard the fruit pulp.  Store in a cool dark place. 

 

*Caster sugar is a fine sugar somewhere in between regular granulated sugar and confectioner's (powered) sugar.  It is sold in my area under the C&H brand as "Baker's Sugar."  This sugar will dissolve much better than regular sugar, so do use it.  It can be used in place of regular sugar in baking, so have no fear of having leftover sugar.

 

Note:  I used a 12-oz bag of frozen cranberries and reduced the amount of sugar and gin accordingly.

 

Beads in a Basket (A Tool Review with a Sneak Peak)

I love cool little tools, so I was delighted when the lovely Joanna of Chic-a gave me a sample of this clever new product when we were at TNNA.  Called the Gadget Tray, it's a small square of oilcloth and heavy lining fabric with snaps in the corners.  Fold up the corners and secure the snaps, and you have a handy tray/shallow basket perfect for any number of crafts.  Unsnapped, it lies perfectly flat, making it easy to store away.  The Gadget Tray is available in 3 sizes (3", 4", and 5") and a number of Chic-a's signature oilcloth prints, and the smallest size has a magnet inside which will keep needles and other small metal objects in place. 

The tray came in quite handy when I was working on a beaded knitting project.  The beads were easy to access, didn't roll all over the place, and the steel crochet hook I used stayed put in the tray thanks to the magnet.

So what is this beaded knitting project, you ask?  Well, it's a sock, and that's all I'm saying for now.  Here's a little sneak peak.  Look at that wonderful bright pink yarn! (Baah Yarn La Jolla, in Flamingo Pink).  And beads!  The design is off for test knitting and photography now; watch for the pattern in a few weeks. 

It's Always Preserving Season

The height of summer is usually associated with preserving, and indeed, all those luscious stone fruits and tomatoes and cukes and zukes mean some hot sessions in the kitchen if you're a canner.  But really, at any time of the year -- even winter -- there is something from the garden or farmers' market or just the grocery store that can be put up in jars to serve you for the weeks and months ahead.  Leeks and onions can be made into savory confits, mushrooms can be packed in olive oil, and dried fruits can be made into jam.  Many of these preserved can be cooked up very quickly and stored in the fridge, without the need for waterbath canning.

Here in California lemons are available year round, and I was surprised to find a lemon tree in the garden here in our new place in Northern California.  I thought we were too far north for citrus, but the tree is doing well and a few weeks ago I found myself with several dozen lemons that ripened all at once.  Hating to waste produce, I scrambled to figure out what to do with that much lemon. 

I had planned on making a big batch of salt-preserved lemons but discovered to my dismay that I had left the lemons on the tree too long and they were over-ripe.  So I did the easy thing:  I squeezed most of them, put the strained juice in ice cube trays to freeze, then stored the frozen cubes in freezer bags.  Very handy for when you need a tablespoon or so of lemon juice for a recipe. 

That still left me with a whole lotta lemons, so I decided on making a batch of pickled garlic.  Aside from the peeling, this was quick and easy:  whole garlic cloves, lemon slices, mustard seed, and some other spices put up in a vinegar brine.  Pickled garlic is great in vinaigrette and can be used in any recipe calling for garlic.

 

 

 

Aren't they pretty?  I love seeing them when I open the pantry door.  I divided the recipe into smaller jars so that I could give some away, but next time I think I'll halve the recipe and make just one large jar. 

 

After I canned this batch of garlic, I still had a large number of cloves left, so I made a quick jar of pickled garlic to go straight into the fridge.  I tweaked the recipe because I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand (how did I not have any peppercorns?), but here is the original from The Glass Pantry by Georgeanne Brennan. 

 

PICKLED GARLIC CLOVES

 

1 cup peeled garlic cloves (from about 6 heads)

2 bay leaves (fresh or dried)

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp allspice berries

2 or 3 juniper berries

1/2 to 3/4 cup red wine vinegar

 

Put the cloves in a dry sterilized jar.  Add the bay leaves and spices, and then pour in enough vinegar to cover the garlic.  Cover the jar with a lid and store in the fridge for up to 4 months.  Makes about 1/2 pint.

The Stitches Goods

The very best thing about Stitches is the hugs and hellos from some of my favorite people.  The next very best thing is the chance to see all the wonderful yarns and fibers and tools and things and more things.  ALL THE THINGS.

As a vendor who can barely leave the booth for a pee break, I don't really get a chance to shop, but I still manage to do a little wallet damage and bring home a few goodies.  This is what came home with me this year.

Yarn (of course).  A skein of Sock! by Lisa Souza, who lives here in my new hometown of Placerville, CA.  The colorway is White Noise.  I just had to have it.  Then a really scrumptious skein of Floating by A Verb For Keeping Warm.  It's 70% Superfine Alpaca, 20% Silk, and 10% Cashmere.  Did I say scrumptious?  Verb won the Prettiest Booth contest this year, and it was well deserved.  Last, several skeins of hand dyed Natural Shetland Fingering by Jeane de Coster of Elemental Affects.  I've mentioned my buddie Jeane and her dye operation before.  I've got a new design featuring Natural Shetland Fingering which will be released soon; the yarn was such a joy to work with that I decided that I really needed a few more colors for my stash.

 



 

Needle tools and face/body care.  From the lovely Saremy of Chicken Boots, I purchased a straight needle case and some needle keepers.  It seems I've always got multiple projects going on DPNs, so I thought I'd try her stretchy endcap style.  I always stock up on Face Pudding and Lo-Lo body bars from Kismet of Bar-Maids whenever I'm at a show with her.  She makes all of her products in small batches using natural ingredients, and they are beyond fabulous.

 



Hand Care and Yarn Care.  My hands are really shot from all of the show prep over the last few months, so I grabbed a tub of Topricin from the Carolina Homespun booth.  This is a great natural remedy that's good for tendinitis, muscle soreness and the like.  And from the Buffy Ann Designs booth, I picked up a few more Yarn Cozy's.  I like this little gizmo for keeping yarn cakes nice and tidy and free from the cat hair that's always floating around my place.

Shawl Pin.  I couldn't resist this beautiful sterling pin by Rosemary Hill/Designs by Romi (shown sitting on the awesome Ida Lace Cowl, by Debbi Stone).

And my really big splurge, a Blending Board by Clemes and Clemes.  I saw one being loaded up by Mr. Clemes as I was zipping down his aisle, and stopped in my tracks to watch him pull off a gorgeous blended rolag.  I was hooked.  This will be great for making batts for myself with things like angelina and silk noils, without having to worry about contaminating my drum card which I use to produce my natural fiber batts.  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) 

I had a great time at Stitches this year, as always.  Many thanks to all the wonderful folks who came by my booth!

 

When 5mm Isn't 5mm

I heard from a customer recently that the Ringlets stitch markers she had purchased through my Etsy shop -- which I advertise as fitting up to size US 8 / 5mm needles -- didn't fit on her size 8 Addi's.    "Weird," I thought.  I use these markers myself, and certainly sized them when I first designed them.   So, I set out to do a little investigating.

First I scrounged around for some Addi needles, and luckily found some Turbo straights, clearly marked as US 8 / 5mm.  Then I grabbed a handful of Ringlets (because you know I have handfuls all over the place), and set to work.  And lo.  Some Ringlets fit on the 5mm Addi's, and some didn't.  Weird.  So I pulled out the needle gauge nearest to hand (sold by Lion Brand Yarn) and found that the Addi's didn't fit the 5mm hole -- it wasn't that they were just tight, they did not fit through the hole at all.  Okay, weird. 

More testing ensued.  I pulled out a variety of 5mm needles, choosing different materials and manufacturers.  Besides the Addi's, some vintage Boye plastic needles were the only ones that did not fit the 5mm hole in the Lion needle gauge.  Lantern Moon wood needles and Clover bamboo needles fit, albeit very tightly, while Hiya Hiya and Clover Takumi bamboo and Boye aluminum needles fit just fine.  Okey dokey. 

Then I pulled out two other needle gauges (the only ones I could find).  One was a plastic gauge with The Fold's imprint on it, and the other was a laser-cut wooden gauge given as a handout by a LYS.  The Addi's just barely fit into the 5mm hole on these gauges.  All of the other 5mm needles fit fine except for the Lantern Moon wood needles, which barely fit in the LYS wooden gauge.

So there you have it.  Addi's 5mm is bigger than other manufacturer's 5mm.  Not all 5mm needles are created equal.  And neither are needle gauges. 

Ringlets.  They fit up to 5mm needles, unless your

5mm needles are not the same size as my 5mm needles.

 

The Recurring Gift (A New/Old Tradition)

My husband's grandmother, Helene, was a charming and gracious woman that I was very fortunate to get to know.  She was a thrifty person, as those who lived through the Great Depression tended to be, and didn't spend much money on herself.  But she did have a weakness for at least one thing -- and that was Waterford. 

Every Christmas (and most other gift-giving occasions) back when John's grandfather, Grandpa Jack, was alive, he would give Helene money with which she would buy herself a pair of Waterford glasses.  Each time she'd select a different pattern and a different type of glass.  Over the years she amassed a beautiful collection. 

Before Grandma Helene passed on, she distributed her collection to various grandchildren, and I was fortunate and honored to receive a set.  I got the Old Fashioned glasses -- old fashioned glasses indeed, as I don't know anyone who drinks Old Fashions these days.  But they are good for eggnog, or brandy, or the occasional Kahlua and Cream.  I find having a set with all different patterns utterly charming, and it's fun to select a particular glass when I do use them (which really isn't often enough; I need to get over my fear of breaking them). 

I was thinking of Helene and her annual gift tradition recently, and decided that I liked it so much I was going to foist it on suggest it to my own husband.  And thus, the Annual Signature Needles Gift has been born.  I get something useful and beautiful that I might not otherwise buy for myself, and John doesn't have to struggle to come up with an appropriate gift.  It's a win-win.

This year, I selected two sets of circular needles (US9 and US10).  I generally knit with straights, but I needed some circs in larger sizes and thought perhaps Signatures might get me over my circ aversion.  I think they just might; I cast on this afternoon and have been happily knitting on them ever since. 

The needles:  Signature Stiletto circs, size US 9/5.5mm

The yarn:  BMFA Gaea (100% Certified Organic 21.5 Micron Merino)

in the colorway Haida Fledge. 

The pattern:  Ida by Debbi Stone

 





On this Christmas night, I will pour a brandy into a carefully selected Waterford glass, and toast Helene's memory and the start of a new/old tradition.