Please Touch Me Garden Arrangements

This morning, my six-year old and I made this arrangement from our garden.  It's filled with bright flowers and good smelling herbs.  We had fun walking around the yard smelling and looking at and talking about what's growing.  He carefully cut from the plants.  The lemon verbena, lavendar, and parsley flowers make the display so much more fun.  I taught with a teacher who talked about making "Please Touch Me Arrangements" for her class.  These never get old no matter what your age.

Caterpillar Time

Every year a new crop of caterpillars come to visit our garden.  Yesterday we discovered at least a dozen little guys crawling all over the parsley.  We carefully transferred two into a large jar and have been giving it lots of food and attention.  One has already begun the metamorphosis to turn into an Eastern Black Swallowtail!

Watching Caterpillars

We've watched caterpillars make the fantastic transformation into butterflies before, but this year, Frankie was fascinated.  His enthusiasm was contagious and the whole family got excited.  Our caterpillar will become an Eastern Black Swallowtail.

We made a little home for our caterpillar (which Frankie called Scobby Dooby) in a large jar and brought it indoors.  Every day, we fed it dill and parsley daily.  Currently it's in the chrysalis stage.  We can't wait until it emerges as a beautiful butterfly! 

5 Orange Potatoes has some great photos and advice about raising Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars.

Sew a Felt Carrot

Andria and I recently stitched up this simple stuffed carrots at the Cooper Young Farmer's Market.  They were such a hit, I thought you and your little crew might want to make some too.

There are a lot of stuffed veggie patterns out there, but this one is super simple and easy enough for even beginning sewers to find successful. 

My lovely assistant Miss Phoebe will show you how.

Supplies - An orange felt triangle.  Cut it nice and wide because you will fold it over.  Green felt for the leaves.  You will also need stuffing and a basic sewing kit.

Step 1:  Fold over your orange triangle so you have a point at the bottom.  It looks like a carrot already!

Step 2:  Cut a long piece of thread so that it will sew up the whole carrot.  Stitch up the long side.  Start at the point.  When you get to the top, take off the needle, but don't cut the thread.  You can sew with a running stitch or whipstitch.

Step 3:  Stuff your carrot!  If it's hard to get down to the point, use a chopstick or the eraser end of a pencil to push down the stuffing.

 Step 4:  Cut your green leaves.  Tuck them into the stuffing part of the carrot.

 Step 4:  Rethread your needle and sew across the top of the carrot using a running stitch.

 You have a stuffed felt carrot!

After making a carrot, Phoebe started cutting out shapes of different veggies and sewing and stuffing them together.  This simple project is sure to get your little gardener going!

Kitchen Bouquet

At first glance, these little bouquets may look like your ordinary garden variety.  However, tucked inside are little kitchen surprises.  Sprigs of herbs not only smell good, but come in handy while cooking too.

Need some parsley for your salad, pinch a bit.
A little mint or lemon verbena for your tea?
Add some rosemary to those potatoes.

Next time you cut some flowers from your garden, add some herbs to the mix.  You'll be glad you did.

Garden Sale

After seeing several lemonade stands in our neighborhood, Phoebe got the idea to have a garden sale.  She's working on saving money to buy a My Little Pony.  Since I, too, was a huge proprietor of lemonade stands as a child, I was all for her get-rich-quick scheme.

 First, she cut a variety of flowers.  We always grow the Cut and Come Again variety of Zinnias - they really do!  Herbs and lamb's ears were also added to the mix.

 Carefully arranging her blossoms.

 A sign was made.

 Careful attention was paid to the shop display.

Customers! 

While we knew everyone who stopped to purchase a little arrangement, they seemed to enjoy the little jars of flowers.  Phoebe didn't have any set prices, people just gave her some change.  For a socially shy child, this was a big deal.  I was so proud to see her talk to customers and figure out something on her own.  It looks like we'll be taking a trip to Target soon!

We Grew a Butterfly!

A little caterpillar was munching on the dill in the garden. Phoebe and I decided to keep it and see if we could watch it turn into a butterfly. We found a big pickle jar and put in sticks for it to crawl around on. For a top, I used plastic wrap with holes punched out.

The jar sat by Phoebe's bed for about a week. Each day we gave it some fresh dill and watched it - a lot. One night it was a caterpillar and the next morning, it turned into a chrysalis. Then, after another week, Phoebe yelled, "Something exciting has happened!" Indeed - the butterfly was out of the chrysalis gently flapping its wings on a stick.
It's a beautiful butterfly. We took it outside and watched it for awhile.
Finally, I gently lifted out the stick and butterfly flit, fluttered away. Goodbye little butterfly!

While we don't have a planned butterfly garden, I did notice that there was a good article and resources over at KidsGardening about them.

Garden Markers

I am loving these little plant markers spied in the school garden. They were inspired by this post found via The Crafty Crow. Instead of metal spoons, large plastic serving spoons found at a restaurant supply store were used. The kids used paint pens to draw the plant and write the name. Ms. Prewitt said she thinks opaque spoons would work better, but these are holding up quite well and look happy in the garden!

Just One More Halloween Post

Last night, for the first time in years, I really "committed" to a costume -- without spending a dime! Hours before the holiday, and with three parties looming, I decided to dress up as a scarecrow. I pulled an old cotton blouse out of the closet, and paired it with a pair of baggy khakis that I seldom wear. Went through my scrap fabric for various patches, which I tacked onto my clothes with cotton thread. Attached a crow from Halloweens past onto a kid-sized cowboy hat that I just happened to have on hand, and, for the final details, I drew on freckles and made bands of pine needles for my wrists and legs. I have to thank Amie for that one -- she gave me a quick phone tutorial on "nature bracelets" held together with packing tape! Anyways, the costume was a big hit. Hope you had a happy Halloween too!

Quick Pickles

Andria and I try to do some canning together every year. We haven't gotten to it yet, though. Last week, I found myself with a bumper crop of cucumbers while Andria was in Portland visiting friends.

So, I decided to whip up a batch of refrigerator pickles using this recipe that I had clipped from a 1999 issue of Martha Stewart. (It's nice to know the recipe was finally used.)

They are super easy, quick, and most importantly, yummy! If you are short on time or not sure of canning, I highly recommend trying these. I followed it pretty much to the T. I did cut my cucumbers into round slices instead of chunks and I don't think I had enough dill. Also, when I transferred everything into jars, the "juice" didn't fill up the jars. It was OK though.

While we won't have pickles in the middle of winter, it doesn't matter because we're enjoying them now!

Pink and Tomatoes

The power of pink.

Phoebe has shown only a mild interest in Legos...until now. She found the box of pink Legos I got for my classroom and immediately went to work. We may have to get a set for our house too.

Tomato Tip.
Looking for something to tie up my drooping tomato plants, I thought of the little cotton loops used for making pot holders. Just loop around the stake and tomato stem and pull tight. So far, it's working like a charm and adds a splash of color to the garden.

I also wanted to share a new blog I discovered today via a comment on Sewing School (I love it when that happens). Take a look at Rae Gun Ramblings and while you're there, put your name in the hat for a great Japanese fabric giveaway. She also has a great etsy store with the cutest kids clothes in even cuter fabric.

Herby Salad

If you garden, chances are you also grow a variety of herbs. I love watching them grow and using them while cooking, but at some point, I'm wondering what I'm going to do with them all. I mean, there's only so many uses for sage, lemon verbena, and chives. So, may I suggest, an herby salad - the perfect use for a variety of herbs and oh, so yummy! Each bite has a new flavor.
Basic Recipe:
*Start with a mix of salad greens (lettuce, mescalin, etc)
*Go out and cut a variety of herbs - don't be afraid, add them all! My salad has everything from rosemary to mint to basil
*Wash and snip your herbs. I cut the larger leaves with kitchen scissors and leave the small leaves intact.
*Mix the herbs and salad greens together.
*Add your favorite vinaigrette and some yummy cheese.

I made this recently for Andria's OSOME and the bowl was cleaned out - so I'm assuming it was liked by all. Hope you do too.

When We're Not Blogging About Sewing...

We're blogging about eating! Check out the details about our weekly supper club, OSOME (Our Summer Of Magical Eating), here. Basically, it's a weekly potluck that focuses on local ingredients. We have extended an open invitation to about 40 people (Amie and her family are on the list, of course), and every Thursday night, anywhere between 12 and 20 of 'em show up for dinner on my back patio. It's a lovely way to learn new recipes, eat healthily, and socialize!

ABC Love

Is it just me or have you noticed all of the great ABC themed ideas out there lately? I've been bookmarking like crazy for school next year. My two current favs are the great on-line mag LMNOP and the always fun The Crafty Crow. Do you know of more?

**Lazy Composting Update***
Thanks for the comments about composting yesterday. I'm thrilled to see so many lazy composters out there! A few things I should have said:
1. Keeping the containers in the freezer means that the kitchen scraps don't get smelly.
2. During the winter, I compost as normal. The pile may not go down as quickly, but I haven't experienced any problems. Now, please note that I live in super warm Memphis, TN.
3. While I haven't noticed any naughty critters getting into my bin (rats, raccoons, etc.) that doesn't mean it can't happen. You can cover your bin with either a tight wire mesh or a lid. If you choose to completely cover your compost, make sure you water it, lazily of course.

Confessions of a Lazy Composter

Hi, I'm Amie and I'm a lazy composter. I want to do my part to keep kitchen scraps out of landfills, but I don't want to spend much time/energy doing it. You too can be a lazy composter.

Here's how:
Keep empty yogurt or take-out containers handy to gather kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, etc.
Store the containers in the freezer until they are so full you can no longer close them.
Dump the scraps into your composting bin. I use an old metal trashcan purchased at a yard sale. Eric drilled holes into the bottom for drainage. It's in a corner of our yard that you can't really see. I try to remember to turn the compost every week or so, but this is where I get really lazy.

Do you want to see inside? You do, right?
Well, here it is, not so scary. It's amazing to see how fast the scraps go down. I just added some "browns" - old leaves to the bin. When it's time to plant and use the compost, I (meaning Eric) puts the top layer of the bin in a wheelbarrow. At the bottom is all the really good compost and I add that to the garden. We then put the reserved compost back into the bin and keep adding stuff. Even if you don't use the compost, it's amazing how much you keep out of the trash.

For more info on composting and gardening in general, check out You Grow Girl.
Happy composting!

Phoebe's Pet Butterfly

Preparing...

...for gardening. Phoebe (4 years) and Frankie (14months) are so into it. Maybe they'll even try some of the yummy veggies we grow (a mom can hope, right?!).


The kids squealed with delight over all the earthworms we uncovered while tilling the soil. I was excited to see so many, too. Watching the worms wiggle, I had to share with you this great book that Andria lent me last year: The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms by Amy Stewart. Who knew that earthworms were so exciting? Amy Stewart's effortless writing really made this book a page turner. A quick look at our public library shows 5 copies - so maybe you can pick a copy up at your library as well. For kids, I am smitten with The Chicken and the Worm by Page McBrier. I got this book from my PK-K Heifer International Teacher's kit. While the Heifer link doesn't indicate it, I received my teacher's kit around the first of the year.