Drying herbs

As I have mentioned my garden is growing like crazy. It is quite a surprise to me since I live by the sea and it is not all that warm here most of the time. So I have found myself with more herbs than I know what to do with. I decided to try drying them. This is my first time...so you may or may not want to use this as a how to. I should say it took me WAY longer than I thought it would.

My first round of drying~Golden oregano, black stemmed peppermint, lime thyme, rosemary, and regular thyme.


I stripped off a few of the leaves at the base of the plants after picking them in the mid morning. I carefuly wiped each sprig to make sure it was free of bugs and things. Then I bunched the sprigs in little bundles and tied them with string.


Then the bundles go upside down in small paper bags that I have punched holes in for airflow and labeled.


I didn't have a lot of bags so with small herb bundles I tried to tie several bundles in one bag without letting them touch.


Tea break! I used some of the snippets that I cut off the ends to make a nice fresh herb tea. You would be surprised how many herbs taste good as tea. Be sure not to add too much they will be much stronger than dried tea that you get in the store. My favorite combo currently is rosemary and lemon balm.


This cup had cuttings from Rosemary, lime thyme and some mint. Odd combo but it tasted fab!


The thyme was so tiny I suspended several little bundles together


I have more tarragon and marjoram than I know what to do with.


I found that my IKEA shelves have great little holes in them that are perfect for tying off herbs to! (Yikes a peek into my messy pantry)

Birthday~Ajax Cafe

For my birthday we stayed at a super cute furnished cabin right by the Ajax cafe in Port Hadlock. We had dinner (to go) in the cabin so I could hang out with my peeps.

The cabin




My peeps


Ajax Cafe (sorry no photo of dinner it was so good it was gone before I could take a pic!)




The view near Ajax



I love love love a good carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. This amazing one came from Blackbird Bakery on Bainbridge Island.

Garden update~July 12

I moved some plants up to my new garden area. My pumpkins are not happy at all and I hope they survive. I planted them in a pot that was too small to begin with. I wasn't expecting all my seeds that I planted to actually grow! I have several broccoli growing, some zucchinis that are just about ready to pick, cucumber, and strawberries! Next year I want to plant more strawberry plants because these are the best tasting strawberries ever! I have a variety called Quinault. My herbs are so hug it is crazy. I am going to try to cut and dry some next week before they get so bushy I can't see my deck. I have all kinds of lettuce...my spinace has bolted though so I am waiting for my next crop to come up. In my new planting area I am going to plant various and sundry greens for the winter.

BEAR!

Last night I was all comfy and settled in bed finishing The country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett (it was great)...when crash bang crash crash crash! What could have only been a bear went crashing through our front yard to our blue berry bushes! I tried to see out there but my flashlight was not powerful enough. The bear paused for a while enjoying our blueberries (I assume) before crashing into the neighbors yard. They saw it so that confirms our sneaky blueberry eating bear suspicions.

We are trying to grow more and more of our own food and hope to grow a good percentage of our own veggies by next year. But for now since we live far from our nearest healthy grocer (all the way up in Port Townsend) we have decided to order some of our produce from Pioneer Organics Lucky for us they will deliver to N's office on Bainbridge Island! Whoot! Fresh organic produce delivered!

Sauteed Greens~yum!

I have been getting the most wonderful baby greens from the Kingston Farmers Market lately. Last week I sauteed some green (early) garlic with some garlic tops and an organic onion (all from the market) and then added a little butter, salt, pepper, and some smokey flavoring. You can add broth or juice from another dish your cooking-this is quite flexible. Then just add your greens and cook them for a few minutes. I like mine fairly well done and soft throughout. This week I added a can of white beans to this dish and it was just fab.

How many artists does it take?

How many artists does it take to build a shed/studio?

Just one...Derek! The rest of us are just messing around!

Not much goes to waste

Not much goes to waste around here. Remember that tree that fell in our yard in the fall? Well we are sawing it up to use as firewood. Even the sticks are going into piles and boxes to use to start the fires in the fall and winter. Our primary heat source is our wood stove so we will put these sticks to good use!

4th of July lunch

Who knew it would take days to level gravel

It has taken us days and days to get the gravel and pavers level...and after unpacking the stack of wood that is to be my tiny gallery (about 1,500 pounds) we decided we needed some help. So I have called in my art pal calvery. Derek and Al ( you can take a peek at their website/blogs in my links to the right) are going to help me raise this Shed!

Art in my Etsy shop July-07

I have work back up in my Etsy shop!

New work! Anteater Zeppelin

This little anteater is getting a lovely ride from a zeppelin with a wombat on top. You can buy all kinds of cool stuff like t-shirts, mugs, cards and tiles with this image on them in my cafe press shop.

You can buy the original piece of art direct from me by emailing me. I will have it available in my new gallery/studio once it is finished being built. (Ok so the story there is it has taken DAYS just to finish the foundation...so I am getting some help this weekend to put it together). I should also have some buttons so you can buy direct from my blog soon! Whoot!

Morels for Rachel

I added this funky morel picture to my cafe press store and put it on all kinds of stuff. I even put it on an apron! I was thinking of my neice Rachel who is very fond of morels and who is a chef! Hope you like it Rach.

Greens and corn mash

This was quite tastey..it is an African dish.

I started by frying up a little bacon. I chose a cut that was mostly meat and cut off some of the thick fat. This bacon does not have any nitrates or perservatives in it.



I added a can of black eyed peas to the bacon when it was just about done and warmed the beans up. That was served on top of my greens and corn mash.



This garlic and onion I put in a big pot and sauteed for a few minutes with just a little olive oil. Then I added fresh yummy rainbow chard from the local farmers market. I added a couple of cups of water (you can add broth if you have it). Then stired those and cooked them on medium for 5-10 min. Then I added a cup of corn meal to the top of the dish. I did not stir but rather turned up the heat to a slight boil and covered the dish for 10 minutes. Then I opened it up and stired and cooked (lowering the heat to a simmer) until the greens and corn mash were cooked through. You might need to add more water as you cook.



This tastes WAY better than it looks. I am not a big fan of greens so I like to sneak them into dishes so they taste yummy.

Why buy pet toys?

Happy dogs!

I do have some art to show soon...really I do! I just haven't scanned it yet. My happy dogs will keep you entertained for a few more days while I get my act together.

Corn on the cob!

Garden update~July2

Everything in my garden is doing pretty well. My herbs are growing really fast so I think I am going to dry some this season. My veggies are doing pretty well too. The peppers look a little pitiful. I am not sure it is hot enough out here for them but they are hanging in there.

Dinner party for 2

Dinner party for 2? Why not.



I served all sorts of lovely vegital from the local Kingston Farmers Market. I also made a dip out of lowfat cottage cheese and fresh dill, tarragon, and chives from my garden...with a little lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Tiny Studio Progress~Foundation

We worked for several more hours on the foundation for the new tiny studio...although it doesn't look like we made much progress. It is ready for pavers and then some boards to keep it up off the ground for good air circulation. It is too damp where we live to set it right on the ground. We are all a bit tired this weekend so we think we will start the building of the studio over the 4th holiday.







This is how the shed arrived


This blue was no help at all


Nor was this one


And a cat help? Forget about it.