Aug 18, 2008

Meari's Marvelous Monday Update 8/18/08

Gardening
Guess what?!!? I had my first baby romaine lettuce harvest last week. Anyone know a better way to wash off pesticides besides doing it leaf-by-leaf? I got to use my new salad spinner, too. It was given to me by a freecycler last year. Still in the box and she said she never used it! This is a huge 16" frying pan full of lettuce after I washed it.


A few other pics from my garden:


My planters now look like this:


As opposed to a couple weeks ago:



Stitchy Stuff
I spent an entire evening re-organized my DMC floss. I had one of those double-sided cases for hotwheels/matchbox cars (another Freecycle "gift") so I put one color of each floss in it. I don't know who said all the colors fit into one case... I'm here to say that they don't and some of my bobbins weren't even full. So if they were full skeins wound onto bobbins, all the colors definitely wouldn't fit. I went to find another case at Walmart last night and *none* to be found. Darn it all.

Duplicates are still in the larger bobbin cases, but I went from 11 down to about 5. I consolidated some of my stash into one large 124qt bin. The rest is still packed in boxes. I loved looking at all the kits I have accumulated, mostly Lorri Birmingham and Oriental designs. I've updated my multiply Kit album so I know what I have. I also did some wish browsing on ABC Stitch Therapy and updated my wishlist. The ones I liked are way beyond my price range and very beautiful. Maybe someday. *dreamy look*

I started a new project on a neat looking sparkly white fabric:

After 3 hours

25 comments:

Unknown said...

The lettuce and tommies look scrummy!
Your planters looks o pretty and colourful!
Love your WIP. The colours go very well on that pretty fabric!

GoldenAngelsWorks said...

WOW what a great garden.
Your planters look wonderful.
I know what you mean about trying to find something that will work to put your floss in.
Your Wip looks so pretty.... love the fabric.

Anonymous said...

What a great harvest you have! And I love the sparkly fabric. That project wil be very pretty.

Unknown said...

I wasn't really hungry until I looked at you picture of that yummy food, your flower and veggy garden look super

Lucy said...

Hi Meari...first time visitor...love your blog. I'll put you on my bloglines so I know when you update. Great Garden by the way. I love your slide.com on the side...I'll have to check that out for my pics.

CJ said...

I think you have a green thumb. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

I love the shiny fabric, is it DMC?

Katie said...

Everything looks great. I don't know about the washing pesticides. We've been hand washing each tomato a few times just to get the stupid stuff off. Anyway Good Luck!

Sandra said...

I have a few pumpkin plants that grew out of some seeds I threw at a pot, also four tomato plants, hope they grow as nice as yours!

Jinger said...

Your lettuce and tomatoes sure do look yummy! Makes me want to make a salad right now! :-P

Your planters are gorgeous! What a green thumb you have!

Rene la Frog said...

Your garden and planters look so pretty...you really do have a green thumb.

Love the new design...what is it called and who is the designer?

Anonymous said...

The tomatoes look yummy. And it looks like a bumper crop. Too bad you don't live closer. I'd take some of the extras. :) I never got to plant mine this year and adore fresh tomatoes.

Anonymous said...

Your garden produce looks wonderful ~ Enjoy! Your kitchen will be wonderful ~ what hard work your are putting into it! I enjoy your stitching!

Susan in MN

The Teacup Cottage said...

Yummy! I love fresh veggies. That's one good thing about living on a military installation in the middle of the country, there are a variety of fresh food vendors to choose from, though our fav was a mil-family who just moved. I'm very inspired to eat more healthy during harvest season.

Anonymous said...

pretty garden and planters! sure they are growing beautifully :) nice progress on the sparky fabric.

Lisa said...

I see future tomato stash!!!!

Anonymous said...

YUMMY looking garden congrats on the bumper crop. Plants are filling in wonderfully. Your new projects looks awesome.
HUGS
Patty Smith ILCS

Karen said...

Meari! What variety of tomato is that in the second tomato picture - where they're all lined up so perfectly on the vine????

KP

Joy said...

Ohhhh...your garden and flowers are lovely! I was just looking at the mums this morning at Walmart. I am hoping to have a garden next year...keep your fingers crossed!

Cindy said...

Your garden looks like it is doing very well! I think that ours wasn't too happy with all of the rain this year. We had some yummy jalepenos last night, and looking forward to BLT's tonight. I think that will be about the end of it though.

Lisa said...

Meari, your garden looks great. Other than those commercial sprays, which I don't use because we don't use pesticides, I rinse our lettuce twice, then use lemon juice and vinegar as part of the dressing,(either kills alot of bugs, etc...) and if we get a little crunch or two, eh...that's life...lol. I searched online and you may want to read this:

http://edition.cnn.com/HEALTH/blogs/paging.dr.gupta/2007/05/washing-off-e-coli-not-so-easy.html

Anonymous said...

Your veggies look soooo good. I love fresh tomatoes, but haven't really had any luck growing them since I moved from IN to TX. I really miss the fresh Michigan tomatoes.

As for the jammers, I've got the entire set of DMC in 2 of them (with some colors in doubles & triples). Love your new project you're stitching - especially the shiny white fabric.
Barb in TX

Nancy M said...

Well after DH put Preen on my garden twice after I told him NOT to, mine is a few weeks behind!! LOL Yours looks great. We had a couple tomatos getting red and I actually picked 10 beans yesterday! LOL I did all my own planters this year too and I agree... saved TONS of money. And much more satisfying....I posted a food blog stolen from you!

Anonymous said...

your garden looks great, as does your new start.

Jennifer said...

DH and I try to be as organic as possible. We listen to You bet Your Garden on NPR as often as possible, and the host, Mike McGrath, strongly advocates going organic, so no chemical pesticides for us. You might want to check his site for tips, see what he recommends for lettuces. (We have too many rabbits around here to consider doing lettuces without some sort of protection for now!)

http://www.whyy.org/91FM/ybyg/

Rachael Ray usually recommends using a sink full of water to wash your leafy greens, letting the water do the work for you.

stitcherw said...

Lovely new start, the purple is so pretty, and I love the fabric. Your planters look beautiful, and your garden looks like it is going great. I haven't tried a garden in years, but I remember how much I liked being able to get the fresh tomatos, they always tasted so good.
Sue