Author Archives: mlwilkie

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About mlwilkie

Software Developer, Mother, Wife with keen interest in art, design and crafts of all kinds.

Summer and Fall Vegetable Garden Planning

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One thing I have discovered in my first year of designing and growing a vegetable garden…..it is truly a science.

My summer garden has been very successful, surprisingly so, since I knew almost nothing going into this project.  I grew from seed cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, bell pepper, lettuce and corn in my main garden beds.

  

In two oval tin barrels, I grew the herbs again from seed…basil, thyme, rosemary, chives, oregano, and parsley.

Some lessons learned this summer:

  1. Plant zucchini, in the south, as early as you can (after frost though) – you are almost guaranteed to get vine borer in early July and lose your plants. I almost cried when it happened as my zucchini were in full production and rocked!!! You can also replant late summer but there is still a chance you may loose this to.
  2. Don’t waste your home garden space with corn. Mine grew great but for the yield it takes up a lot of room.
  3. Bell peppers, due to the very hot weather here in North Carolina tend to be late summer. Due to the cooler temperatures and the rain this past month, my bell peppers are taking off (they like 86 degrees F or below). I gave them more room once the lettuces finished and I removed the corn.
  4. You don’t need to grow 40 plants of each vegetable :-). I had extremely high yield from my seeds especially the tomatoes and bell peppers – almost all the seeds produced and I was only expecting about 1/3 to grow….we had some happy friends who now also have plants.

Late in the summer, the other thing we started was our own compost pile. What a great way to reduce on waste, we were already recycling and now this is a perfect compliment and a great learning opportunity for the family.

For my fall garden, which I am hoping to plant this weekend (delayed since I am recovering from surgery) I was able to plan it out much better. For example, did you know that there are companion plants?? These are plants that should be planted with each other as they complement each other and can ward of viruses etc. There are also plants you should never plant with others in your garden. So my plans are to grow the following:

  1. Replacing the tomatoes with cabbage and spinach
  2. Replacing the zucchini with broccoli and swiss chard
  3. And once the bell peppers ripen and finish I will add cauliflower and carrots. The cauliflower I can grow in seed starter trays and then transplant.

I am also expanding the garden to include another small bed. I am thinking of adding more fruits to the garden for next year as my son prefers them to vegetables; strawberries and rhubarb are definite (rhubarb can remain for up to 5 years so I need more room).

To finish off, I wanted to share some photos of the fruits of labour.
          

Current Sewing Projects: Quilts and Chair Bags

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So I have been off work recovering from sinus surgery, which went really well, the only issue is boredom. I decided to start 3 sewing projects while in isolation ;-):

  1. Quilt for my Niece for Christmas – Four Seasons Quilt
  2. Quilt for our bed – Grey and Orange Quilt
  3. Chair pockets/Chair Bags

This is my first time quilting and I am enjoying it, and I have been pleasantly surprised by my sewing skills. Here’s what the beginnings look like.

Project 1: Four Seasons Quilt
I wanted the quilt for my niece to be fun and have multiple textures. I came up with a 4 panel design that shows an apple tree in Spring, Summer, Autumn/Fall, and Winter. My goal is a 54 x 90 in. quilt. I drew templates for the major material pieces and cut everything out yesterday.

Template Cutting:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s Spring all sewed to the panel:

 

 

 

 

Now I have started sewing on the buttons which I am using for the leaves and blossums.

 

 

 

 

The other seasons will look like:

 

 

 

 

Project 2: Our Quilt – Grey and Orange

My husband and I have been looking for a quilt for a while but we have not been able to find one we like. So this is the first square of 64:

 

 

 

Project 3: Chair Bags/Chair Pockets

My mum use to make us chair bags when we were kids. It was a easy project that helped me get sewing again. I made these ones for my son’s new wood chairs:

 

 

 

 
 

I enjoyed these so much that I am also making more of these chair bags which I am hoping to sell them for $30 for a set of 2. Here are the swatches I chose to start with.

A few of my favorite things: A Sweet Breakfast

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Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day. Over the last year I have actually been making time for it – normally I am just a weekend brunch person.

I have a few favorite places we go in the weekend, Guglhupf (a german bakery – an amazing cafe with a great outdoor atmosphere), La Farm Bakery (a French Bakery), then of course an easy, hassle-free family option – iHop (I know, I know, started off well 🙂 but I do like the breakfast sampler).

I also have a few favorite recipes –  a couple of savory ones which I will post next, you are in luck though if you have a sweet tooth. Let’s start with the sweet – you’ll see the european influence.

Strawberry and Banana Crepes
My husband and 5-year-old love these crepes. They take very little time and we actually have enough left over to have them again a couple of days later.

Ingredients (makes 4 crepes; with mixture leftovers – 4 more crepes):
1/2 cup All purpose flour
1/2 cup White whole wheat
3/4 cup egg whites (5 egg whites)
Pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup non-fat milk (skim milk; if your mixture is too thick add more milk)
1 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 Punnet Strawberries, sliced (1/2 pound)
1 banana, sliced (optional)
3 Tbsp Nutella (optional)
3 Tbsp Whipped Cream (optional)
Icing sugar

Add the first 6  ingredients in a bowl and whisk it until mixed, set aside. Heat a non-stick fry pan on medium heat. Make sure you have the strawberries, banana and Nutella close to the element, you will need to move fast.

  

My pan does not need any butter, but if yours does, add some before adding the mixture to ensure an easy flip. Use a 1/4  cup soup ladle and spoon the crepe mixture into the fry pan, move the fry pan in circular motion to spread and thin the crepe mixture. Once it starts to bubble all over, flip the crepe (I use another crate and barrel tool – spatula). Quickly spread a tablespoon of Nutella on 1/2 the crepe, add 1/4 of the strawberries, 1/4 of the banana) – I leave the crepe ~1-2 minutes just to turn a slight golden color on the bottom.

  

Platter the crepe and fold over the top, using a sift sprinkle icing sugar over top and a dollop of whip cream. Serve immediately. Repeat for other crepes.

NOTE: For me, I prefer a lighter version and I omit the Nutella and cream – you won’t believe the strawberry taste you get :-).
NOTE: We have also tried these with caramelized apples (apples cooked in butter and brown sugar) – very good as well.

Bircher Muesli
This recipe works great for the working week. It stores well in the fridge for 5 days – due to the apple juice.

Ingredients (serving size 1/2 cup):
2 cups rolled oats (not the instant kind)
3 cups apple juice
1 grated granny smith apple
1 container plain greek yoghurt (~6oz)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup of dried fruit (e.g.. sultana’s, apricots, dates)

The night before, add the rolled oats and apple juice together in a medium-sized bowl. Place in the fridge until morning.

In the morning, added freshly grated granny smith apple, greek yoghurt – stir. Add other ingredients, mix again. I tend to use sultana’s (golden raisins) as my dried fruit.

NOTE: You will find that the mixture will thicken slightly by day 2. If you want it thinner add milk; if you want it thicker add less apple juice.