Sunday Schoolism Plus #3: Do Not Conform

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

                                                                                                           Romans 12:2

Gardening Seminar

Spring is getting closer and closer!  The days are getting longer, the sun's arch is moving northward, and it is time to get the greenhouse ready for warm weather seedlings. 

What a perfect time to attend the North Central Louisiana Master Gardener Garden Seminar!!

Robert Bob” Rickett – Retired physics professor from University of Louisiana at Monroe, Bob has pursued his interest in natural photography with a special focus on wildlife. He has produced a number of science programs on wildlife that have been used by schools, civic groups, garden clubs and television. One of the most popular of these programs is about hummingbirds. With his photography and study of hummingbirds, Bob has become a local expert on how to attract ruby-throated hummingbirds to our Southern gardens.

Miriam Norris Schrock – Miriam is the Education Director for the Friends of Black Bayou where her focus is on monarch conservation. She has been an active gardener for the past ten years with a focus on butterfly gardening the past five years.  She has designed and planted butterfly gardens for the Monroe Zoo, the Wesley Foundation at ULM, and the visitors' center at Black Bayou. As a native plant enthusiast she grows many plants from seed, and will have native milkweed and nectar plants for sale at the seminar.

Mary Evans – A fifth generation Arkansas farmer/gardener, Mary has been a lifelong gardener. She is a Master Gardener, and enjoys instructing Master Gardener classes. In 2001, she opened Garden Makeovers, a company that specializes in landscape design, installation and maintenance, herbs, perennials, habitats, and  much more. Her gardens have been featured on many tours of the Little Rock Council of Garden Clubs, Master Gardener garden tours, the 2007 International Master Gardener Conference, and various other groups. Mary believes a garden should be a happy and healthy place for both humans and wildlife. 

                                                                                       ****************** 

There will be goody bags, snacks, and door prizes!! What a great way to spend a Saturday morning!

                                                                              See you there,

                                                                                                  Shelli

Charlatan

A charlatan is someone who claims to have knowledge or a skill that they don't really have. 
 I don't want to be a charlatan, so this is my anti-charlatan post where I own up to all that I don't know; all the times I realize I am such an idiot!

Charlatan #1: This fall I was so excited to plant my newly built circle garden! I went down to the local feed and seed to pick up some transplants. I found two types of kale, curly kale and a kale labeled just "kale", no type or description, so I called it flat leaf kale. I planted the flat leaf kale in the back of the bed and the curly kale in the front. 

We ate mixed greens salads throughout the fall.  The picture above shows how depleted the kale was by the end of November. When things got busy prior to the Christmas holidays, I quit checking on the garden as often, but after the New Year, I went out one evening to see if  there was anything left to throw together a salad with and THIS is what I saw.......

Yes, this charlatan had been growing kohlrabi and calling it flat leaf kale!!!!!! I was stunned - could hardly believe my eyes! I wasn't even really sure what kohlrabi was. I had to look it up. Kohlrabi is a type of cabbage also know as a turnip cabbage or German turnip. You are suppose to slice the turnippy cabbage thing and saute' it. When I stop feeling embarrassed, I might try cooking them.

Charlatan #2: I have been determined to free range my chickens.  Every time I mentioned this to Kathy and Liz, my chicken mentors, they knitted their eyebrows together and looked extremely skeptical, but I was too foolish to pay heed. At the end of the growing season, I cleaned out the big garden leaving only some over grown zinnias for the hens to peck on. This is what it looked like before I released the chickens.

This is what it looked like after they had been free ranging for a few weeks!

There was nothing, and I mean nothing, left!! Their scratching had shot pine straw out all over everything; it looked like a bomb had gone off. And they had accomplished this while free ranging for only a couple of hours each afternoon!! 

Fred and Ethel didn't dig this hole, the chickens did!!! They were even digging up the dadgum drip lines!

Well, I gathered up leftover wire, netting, and anything else I could get my hands on and slapped together a makeshift fence to section off a chicken yard inside the garden.  I'd show you a picture of it, but it is too ugly to admit to. 

Love ya'll,

Shelli

The trouble with people is not that they don't know

 but that they know so much that ain't so.  

~Josh Billings

You can be sincere and still be stupid.  

~Charles F. Kettering

Light travels faster than sound. 

 That's why most people seem bright until you hear them speak. 

 ~Author Unknown

Bottle Show 2016

                                       

 Saturday was the Jackson, Mississippi Antique Bottle and Advertising  Show.  James and I go every year. It is the highlight of our January. In case you are interested in stuff like that, here are some pictures to peruse.

                                                

Crocks are a favorite of ours, especially when they are local.

Of course, James is in it for the cars. He collects dealer promotionals.  These are model cars from the 1950s - 1970s that were given to the customer by the dealership after a test drive.  There aren't any in this photo, but he was on the lookout!!

Yep, each of these bottles contained poisons and it says so on the front of each.

The little, short bottles in the foreground of this picture are ink wells.

I want to buy every bottle in this color!!

There's more than bottles at the show.

Vintage matchstick holders.

Privy Probes!!! For more about these interesting items, go to last year's Bottle Show post:

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=789869904570576664#editor/target=post;postID=4007511194758589312;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=165;src=link

We couldn't decide if this was a true light from a buoy or not. 

When I was teaching school, I collected NASA stuff for our unit on space exploration. 

Vintage Kleenex box.

And last, but not least, this advertising sign from the 1920s proves that Spanx™ are not a new idea!

                                                                                             Love ya'll,

                                                                                             Shelli

"My mom decorated with lots of antiques.

 I never liked it when I was a little girl - I wanted to live in a modern house.

 But now I love it."

 - Paris Hilton

Sunday Schoolisms Plus #2: The Armor of God

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.  Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.   Ephesians 6: 13-17

"But with the standard of truth in place, you can adjust everything else in your life - your ambitions, choices, and feelings; your mind, will, and emotions - until all of it is "tuned"correctly."

                                                                                                         Priscilla Shirer
                                                                                                         Armor of God

Cauliflower Week

After the holidays, the broccoli and cauliflower were ready to harvest and  I experimented with several new recipes.  James still refers to that week as "Cauliflower Week", in definite derogatory terms, but he loved this dish. It really was so good, but what isn't with bechamel sauce!!!

Broccoli and Cauliflower Flan With Spinach Bechamel 

INGREDIENTS

1. • 2 1/2 cups cauliflower florets
   • 2 1/2 cups broccoli florets
2. • 2 6-ounce bags baby spinach leaves
3. • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
   • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
   • 2/3 cup whole milk
   • 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

PREPARATION

1. 1. Cook cauliflower and broccoli in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, reserving 2/3 cup cooking liquid. Transfer vegetables to large bowl. Cool.
   2. Rinse spinach, then toss in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just wilted. Drain and cool. Squeeze spinach dry; finely chop.
   3. Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and reserved 2/3 cup vegetable cooking liquid. Whisk constantly over medium heat until sauce thickens and boils, about 3 minutes. Stir in spinach and cheese.
   4. Using fingers, coarsely crumble cauliflower and broccoli in bowl. Add spinach béchamel sauce; stir to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Butter 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Spread vegetable mixture in prepared dish. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover and chill.)
   5. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake flan until puffed and heated through, about 25 minutes if at room temperature and 35 minutes if chilled. Serve hot.

Free Little Libraries

Our friend, Cheryl Maxwell, invited us to her house for lunch on New Year's Day.  She has an New Year Open House and serves soup to neighbors and friends. Cheryl is such a fun person. You may remember her from last year's Master Gardener Fall Plant Sale.  She was the one who looked so chic and put together in that morning's sub-Arctic temperatures only to reveal that she still had her pajamas on underneath her clothes!

Besides getting to visit with Cheryl and her sweet husband, Richard, at the open house, I also wanted to check out her Free Little Library.

Isn't it adorable!!! Now Cheryl is creative, but she didn't dream this up on her own.  There is a whole Free Little Library movement.  You can look it up on line. Here's what Wiki had to say...

Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization that supports the worldwide movement to offer free books housed in small containers to members of the local community. The organization is based in Hudson, Wisconsin, US. Little Free Libraries are also referred to as community book exchanges, neighborhood book exchanges, book trading posts, pop-up libraries, and micro-libraries, ^[3] and have been likened to human bird feeders. ^[4]

I adore the human bird feeders analogy!!! Notice in the picture that Cheryl's library has a white label on it. When you start a little free library, you can register it and it gets its own number and everything. Isn't that deluxe!!

For more information go to http://littlefreelibrary.org/

                                                                                                       Love ya'll,
                                                                                                       Shelli

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.

 ~Anna Quindlen, "Enough Bookshelves," New York Times, 7 August 1991

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.

 ~Charles W. Eliot

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. 

~P.J. O'Rourke

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Attributed to Groucho Marx

Sunday Schoolisms Plus #1: Your Daily Bread

OK, so up until now I have used this category of posts to relay the themes or thoughts of my awesome Sunday School class.  This year I will continue to do so, but from time to time may want to add thoughts from Bible studies or perhaps ideas from our incredibly thoughtful pastor and his meaningful sermons.  Most importantly, there will be no commentary from me!  I don't want to preach; couldn't if I wanted to!

To mark this change, let's call this Sunday Schoolisms Plus :)

We'll kick this off with a question my late, Great Aunt Hittie asked me many years ago.  I don't remember why we were talking about the Lord's Prayer, but we must have been because she asked me, "Sheen, what is your daily bread?"

I remember that I immediately answered, "Patience!"  At the time I was teaching sixth grade and probably did need patience, but what I realize all these years later is that I wanted patience to help me deal with all the people, not just students, who weren't doing things the way I wanted them done! I had a control issue (aka self righteousness issue). Now I realize that my daily bread needed to be so much more than just patience! I needed humility, empathy, wisdom, submission, kindness, and a zillion other traits!!! In fact, the people who needed patience were the ones who had to deal with me!! Yikes!!!

So for the first Sunday Schoolisms Plus post, 

we'll pose Hittie's question, 

"What is your daily bread?"

Love ya'll,
Shelli

Thanks, Girls!

I mentioned earlier that we had a delicious frittata Christmas morning made with fresh eggs from the girls.  It really was yummy and I thought you might enjoy the recipe.

Roasted Vegetable Queso Frittata

Recipe by Jessica Merchant

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS
Vegetables:
1⁄2 red onion, diced
1⁄2 green bell pepper, chopped
1⁄2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen sweet corn kernels
1 cup broccoli florets, chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces mushrooms, chopped

Queso:
2⁄3 cup heavy cream
12 ounces white cheddar cheese, freshly grated

Frittata:
8 large eggs
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION
For the vegetables, preheat the oven to 450ºF. Add the onions, peppers, corn, and broccoli to a large bowl and toss them with 11⁄2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the salt, and pepper. Add the mushrooms to another bowl and toss with the remaining olive oil. Add all of the vegetables to a nonstick baking sheet. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, tossing once during the cooking time.

While the vegetables are roasting, make the queso. Heat the cream in a saucepan over medium heat until it bubbles along the edges. Add the cheese and stir constantly until it is all melted. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside. If the cheese firms up too much before you need to use it, simply warm it over low heat and stir until it becomes melty again.

For the frittata, add the eggs, garlic, cream, salt, and pepper to a large bowl and whisk. Add the vegetables to a 10-inch ovenproof skillet and mix them with a few spoonfuls of the queso sauce. Pour the eggs over the top of the vegetables and then spoon the remaining queso over the top. Bake the frittata until the eggs are set and the top is golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let the frittata cool in the skillet for 10 minutes before slicing.

Winter Sowing At Turkey Creek Garden

Hasn't the weather been something!! One day it is 65 beautiful degrees outside with a low of only 40°, and the next day the High is 44° with a Low of 27°.  Plus, it hailed Friday night!!! But through it all, I have been growing delphinium, columbine, poppies, and larkspur. It's all thanks to winter sowing.

Now yesterday's post told you all about winter sowing and I hope you took the time to visit the suggested websites, so you know what the North Central Louisiana Master Gardeners are all excited about this winter. Some of our members have been winter sowing for years and some of us, including me, have just hopped on the winter sowing band wagon. Here are some pictures of my winter sowing project.

I started with gallon water jugs and a good potting mix, ProMix. 

I used the distilled water to moisten the potting mix.

Throw away the lids.  Because you are essentially making a mini greenhouse, you need a hole at the top to let in water and release heat.  

I drilled drainage holes in the bottom of the jugs.

Then it was time to cut the jugs so that they would have hinged lids.

This is the goal.

I added soil and planted seeds.  Be sure to look up the germination information for your seeds.  Some seeds need light to germinate and will just be placed on top of the soil, while others germinate in the dark and must be covered.  I don't trust the information on seed packets and it doesn't hurt to double check. Because my soil was moist and rain was forecast for the following day, I did not water in the seeds. Last step was taping the middle of the jugs back together.

I put the jugs inside the my pallet garden where it is sunny and Fred and Ethel can't get to them.  I raised them up on brick pavers so they would drain well. Although I labeled each jug on the top and side for easy reference, I also labeled them on the bottom where the sun couldn't fade the name.  Cheryl Maxwell reminded us that Sharpie has a new pen with fade resistant ink for outdoor projects.

Now Mother Nature takes over and provides the moisture, and temperature needed for germination at each seed's optimum time. However, when the seedlings begin to grow and the days begin to get warmer, you can add more holes to the tops of the jugs to release more heat.  If a day is unusually warm, as can often happen in our area, you can untape the jugs and open them up.  This process of adapting to weather changes is called hardening off and is essential for transplanting success. I read that it was also good to run your hand across the surface of the seedlings to mimic the wind blowing.  This stimulates stem strengthening. So I guess we should take time to "pet" our plants. Ha! 

Here are the winter sowing projects of two fellow Master Gardeners.

 These little winter sowing greenhouses belong to Liz Allison.....

and these belong to Kathy Davis.  Notice that they are using lettuce, salad, and strawberry containers for mini-greenhouses. Whatever you use for winter sowing containers, be sure to put drainage holes in the bottom and holes in the top to release heat and let in water.

For more pictures and information, check out winter sowing on Pinterest!

I am so excited about winter sowing, most of all because it gives me something to go out and check on in the garden even during this cold time of the year. 

                                                                          Love ya'll,
                                                                          Shelli

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. 

~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show 

Winter Sowing

The following post was the December Master Gardener article for the Ruston Daily Leader. Tomorrow I will include pictures of my winter sowing along with pictures and plants lists from fellow Master Gardeners.)

                                                                                                    Love ya'll,

                                                                                                    Shelli

Winter Sowing

First, a questionnaire: (True or False)

___I want big, beautiful, mature plants as soon as possible in my spring flower beds.

___I would like to acquire these big, beautiful plants for pennies on the dollar.

___I have experienced past frustrations trying to germinate seeds in my kitchen.

___I don’t want to fool with heat mats and grow lights.

___Damping off is my mortal enemy.

If you answered “true” to most of these questions then you need to try winter sowing! Winter sowing, as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture, is a propagation method used throughout the winter where temperate climate seeds are sown into protective containers and placed outdoors to foster a naturally timed, high percentage germination of climate tolerant seedlings. The idea of winter sowing was hatched by Trudi Davidoff who didn’t have the indoor space or expensive light set-ups to germinate seeds indoors.  Instead, she gathered empty recyclable materials such as milk jugs and turned them into mini green houses. After adding potting soil and seeds, she set her "greenhouses" outside and let Mother Nature take over. 

In their natural setting, many seeds go through a process of stratification where their seed coat is loosened by a series of freezes and thaws.  Then, when the conditions are just right, the seed germinates. Mother Nature supplies the light, temperature, and moisture. Growing outdoors the seedling acclimates itself to its natural conditions producing a hardier plant. Using the winter sowing method also lessens the chance of damping-off, a condition that results in the collapse of many seedlings started indoors.

Winter sowing is not appropriate for all seeds. This method works best for most perennials, hardy annuals, cool-weather vegetables, and some herbs. When perusing seed catalogs for plants that respond well to the winter sowing method, look for key words and phrases such as reseeding, self-sows, needs stratification, hardy seeds, or cold hardy. Many seed catalogs contain germination tables that will help you identify seeds to use for winter sowing.  Some examples are angelonia, arugula, bellflower, calendula, carrot, catmint, columbine, coreopsis, delphinium, larkspur, oregano, phlox, salvia, thyme, and Virginia bluebells.

Upon first hearing about winter sowing, my initial question was, “What’s the difference between winter sowing and direct sowing?”  With direct sowing (planting seeds directly into the ground), the gardener must hope that the seeds don’t get washed away in a heavy rain, rot in the soil, or get eaten by rabbits, bugs, or birds. With winter sowing, seeds are in a protected environment increasing germination rates.  But on a personal note, there’s something else that really appeals to me about winter sowing. When I direct sow a patch of larkspur, I imagine an evenly distributed bed of beautiful spring plants when in reality I might get three seedlings in one corner of the patch and six in another, with a big empty spot in the middle.  By winter sowing my larkspur, I can evenly space hardy transplants into the flowerbed, placing the plants right where I want them!

Many people winter sow on the Winter Solstice, but this year, with El Niño wreaking havoc with our weather, after the holidays will be a perfect time to set out your homemade greenhouses filled with promising seeds.  For step-by-step directions to get you started as a winter sower, visit the following websites:

www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/11/winter-sowing-101-6/

getbusygardening.com/winter-sowing-seeds/

www.gardenweb.com/gardenweb/query/winter-sowing