Thursday, May 30, 2013

Meet the Doggies

So, I just wanted to introduce you guys to my two dogs.  Honestly, I don't know why I haven't posted anything about the dogs but you should be seeing some more in the next few weeks.  So, first of all, I have two dogs, both are mutts.  So now a little photo walk:



Melba is the older dog.  Melba is named after the toast, and Melba is a female and sometimes, we call her Femelba, pronounced femaleba.




Next we have Moose.  No not the animal moose but my dog!  Moose is male






Them together like great brother and sister!

I am sorry for the bad quality of the pictures.  I don't know why, but every time I try to take a picture, they always and I mean ALWAYS, they seem to notice.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Turtle Aroma Statue Thingy

  So, my family and I went to my great aunt's birthday party and she turned 90!   After the party we got some really cool party favors!   They were these, I want to say ceramic but they aren't, statue things that contain rocks that are I think sprayed with an essential oil.  The one that I got was a turtle that smells like lemongrass.  What I plan to do with it afterwards is either use it as an area to plant herbs or fill it with dried herbs to make it smell good again.  Enjoy the pictures!





Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Happy Belated Memorial Day

  Happy Belated Memorial Day!  Memorial Day isn't just a day when you go on vacation, for some of you that have work off.  Instead, today is the day where we remember and honor those who have died  in the United States Armed Forces.  All these veterans, that have passed are all who should be remembered and honored.  On Memorial Day, it is a custom to visit graveyards of those who have served in the Armed Forces, related to you or not, it is a great thing to do, knowing that they all served for your country.   One of the things that the president and or vice president does to celebrate is to give a speech and lay a wreath on the soldiers' grave in the Arlington National Cemetery, the largest national cemetery.  There are many ways to help honor the men and women who served in the war.  Even though I am posting this late, there still is time!  You could do these things any day!  Even when it's not memorial day!

~Put an American Flag or flower near the gravestone of those who have served in the war
~Ask an older family member if they know anyone in your family that served in the war and maybe visit them tomorrow.
~Dedicate a plant to those men and women who served in wars.

Tell me what you did to celebrate Memorial Day in the comments!  I'll be looking forward to reading them!

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Seed Library



  Hello guys, sorry for the lack of posts, crazy memorial week.  So, during the week, we went to a seed library.  Those of you who haven't been to a seed library, it's a place where you can get free seeds for exchanging however many seeds at any time you want for however many varieties of seeds you want to grow.  Some of the seed varieties that I have gotten from my local seed library are: golden beets, black prince tomato, green zebra tomato, and others.  This is a chance to get heirloom seeds you've been looking for, or even seeds you didn't know about.  I know this is the place I find new varieties of seeds and seeds I dearly want.  When going to a seed library, the seeds range from, amaranth to zinnias.  I highly recommend you to go to your local seed library to grab and donate some seeds!  I know I would appreciate it and so would other gardeners.  Happy Gardening!

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Homemade Mayonnaise


When having a craving for mayo or anything else that does well with mayonnaise, and you don't have, this is easy to make!

Magically Fast and Easy Homemade Mayo

Ingredients
1 whole egg
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
juice of 1/2 a lemon
pinch salt
1 cup oil
Method
Add all to a bowl. Let the oil rise to the top. Place immersion blender at bottom of jar and turn on. As the mayo emulsifies, slowly rise the immersion blender out of the jar and pulse a few times until the whole mixture is thick and creamy.
Keep refrigerated and use within 2 weeks. May be flavored by adding chopped herbs, spices, or citrus zest.
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I love this recipe personally, it always is  a pleaser!  When you forget to get some mayonnaise it's always really easy!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Broccoli Sprouts

  I have sprouted some romanesco broccoli seeds.  Broccoli isn't just easy to grow and germinate but also the sprouts are super beneficial for your health!
First of all they are beneficial for these reasons:
1. Increased vitality, energy and vigor from the large amount of enzymes in the little sprouts.
2. Its powerful antioxidants help fight free radicals and aging.
3.  It has 10 to 100 times more enzymes than fruits and vegetables when eaten within the first seven days of being sprouted.
4. It also has powerful antioxidants which help fight free radicals and aging.
5. The minerals and nutrients are easily absorbed into the body.
While there are many excellent sprouts, there is a specific reason why I grow them myself organic broccoli sprouts.  What broccoli sprouts offer is sulforaphane, a powerful anti-cancer compound that helps fight and reduce the risk of developing cancer.
Here are my broccoli sprouts that hopefully will seed later on!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Chilacayote Squash Sprouts

  You might take a look at the title and say, what is a chilacayote squash, well it's a squash that looks similar to a watermelon and tastes like and can be prepared like a pumpkin.  I did a seed trade, not too long ago and we traded rosemary seeds for some chilacayote seeds.  The chilacayote, is in fact a semi-rare plant.  You don't stumble across it as common as you would say, a pumpkin.  When she offered the seeds for my rosemary seeds, I of course was super excited, everyday I would be waiting for the seeds to come in the mail.  Once I got them, I immediately planted them, it took about five to six days to germinate.  I was purposly procrastinating my posts so that when you guys see the post, you would be as excited as I would.  As you can tell, germination, isn't a problem for me, with the right conditions, it can be really easy and be germinated fast.  



   Chilacayote Sprout


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Aloe Vera Splitting

  So as you guys know from my last post I have some new plants.  One of those plants is Aloe Vera, my favorite.  I bought it for three dollars and it came with some "pups" smaller plants forming near the larger plant.  I bought this plant because I knew that you could separate the pup plants from the mother plant and get more plants.  As you can tell from the picture there are three pups and what you cant't see are the three in the back.

So what I did was uproot the plant, which personally works for me.  Grabbed each of the pups from their base and gently but forcefully pulled it away from the mother.  Even if they don't have any roots when splitting, do not worry!  It will soon grow roots and turn into a healthy plant!  

As you can tell, I have six plants some larger than others.  I am hoping that every single one of the pups will grow to be healthy plants.  Also, if you have an Aloe Vera ready to be split and have split them, they make great gifts for young and old alike.  I gave one recently to a family member and she just adored it!  These will make perfect gifts!