My Week - Wood Conditioner, New Tree, and Pumpkin Pound Cake

My wood conditioner! Isn't it lovely?

So, the other week I bought new cutting boards. My old, cheap bamboo ones were starting to get splintery and gross, so I finally bit the bullet and bought beautiful new maple hardwood boards. Coincidentally, at around the same time, I ran across this post on the Joybilee Farm blog. I decided to follow the simple recipe and make my own wood conditioner. This way, I'd know exactly what was in it, and be able to make more when I ran out.

Apparently, it is literally impossible to buy organic essential oils in this town. I see a lot of people recommending Mountain Rose Herbs, but when I went to order from them, the sweet orange essential oil I wanted turned out to be a restricted item, meaning they couldn't ship it to Canada. If you're in the States, though, they really do come highly recommended. Anyway, after going to several stores, I settled for regular 'natural' essential oil. The salesperson at the health foods store said that the reps from the company they sourced from had told her it was technically organic, but not certified. Well, if she says so. It was the best I could get, so I settled. My life, it is so hard.

The rest of the ingredients were easy to source. And let me tell you, the finished product smells freaking amazing. I used extra virgin coconut oil, so the scent is a very strong, tropical coconut and orange, with a trace of honeyed beeswax. And, since it's completely natural, when you're done pouring the conditioner into it's jar, you can rub the leftovers on your hands, since it works as a body-safe moisturizer as well. And then you, too, can smell like a tropical fruit salad, which is all a person can ask for, really.

Here's one of my boards, half-conditioned, to show you the difference:

For the life of me I could not get a picture that showed the lustre of the conditioned wood. It's the darker section, by the way. But I assure you that it looks marvelous. And smells incredible.

I also got a little Meyer Lemon tree! It came with over thirty blossoms, though none, for some reason, on one big branch. Anyway, the blossoms are gorgeous.

I'd never smelled a lemon blossom before. It was lovely, and not what I'd expected. Almost like a sweet, light jasmine. I'm hoping I might actually get some lemons. Heaven knows I'm tired of throwing tons of cash at bags of tiny organic lemons that go moldy after approximately two hours in the house.

Pumpkin-y.

Through my blog-browsing, I also came across a recipe for pumpkin pound cake, from Back To Our Roots. I did it as mini pound cakes and one loaf, instead of in a bundt pan. They were delicious, but turned out pretty heavy. I wonder if it's because I didn't mix enough? Next time I'll really cream the heck out of the butter and sugar etc.

And, my seedlings are surviving so far. I have four pepper sprouts, and nine tomatoes, as well as three types of basil and some flowers. I've been keeping them all under the plastic wrap, which seems to be working to keep them alive. I'll take some pictures once there's finally something to see.

Also, I had to put the mint plant outside, on account of discovering that it had a MASSIVE BUG INFESTATION. I was terrified that it would get my sprouts, so out the mint went. It's really thriving, though. People aren't kidding about keeping it in a pot, I feel like it would happily take over everything, like a peppermint Napoleon.

Of course, I can't leave without blessing you with a picture of the cat, trying to sleep while an irritating man takes close-up photos of her face:

You're welcome.

March 2015

I've been gone for a long while! I suppose life just caught up to me - I'm working two jobs, and most weeks don't have a day off. This winter was pretty dreary, too, just rain, and weather too cold to grow anything. The hydrangea and roses lost their leaves. Our jasmine and dahlias died. It was a relentless procession of days of going to and from work in the rain.

But Spring is finally here, and I'm starting to feel better.

I've been cooking more - beef and potato stew; buttermilk cinnamon pancakes; homemade pho; lemon sugar scones.

I've started several plants, but cautiously and carefully, in the pots I intend to grow them in. I think that a big part of my failure last year was beginning too early, and starting them in the peat pots, which didn't keep them at the right temperature or dampness. There isn't a lot of sun yet - in fact the entire week so far is supposed to be rain - so I'm hoping the seedlings will be all right.

How about some pictures?

That's a pepper sprout! I planted ten seeds, and so far, four have germinated. The low germination rate might be because the seeds were left over from last year, but they might not be done yet. We'll see. Anyway, I've been keeping the pot covered in plastic wrap, and well-misted with water mixed with a bit of epsom salts. When the seedlings started to come up, I propped the plastic wrap up with little sticks, to keep it from crushing them. I hope I can uncover them soon, but the weather needs to be a bit warmer and sunnier first.

These are all basil. One of Minette, one of Siam Queen (Thai basil), and one of Sweet Genovese. I planted the seeds yesterday, so hopefully there will be sprouts soon.

What's happening outdoors?

The Beloved's hydrangea bush is ALIIIIVE!

The beebalm has started growing between the pathway stones. I love the natural rustic sort of look of that.

I thought that the clematis was dead. I nearly pulled it up! I'm so glad I decided to wait - it's growing like crazy now.

If you look at these last few pictures, you can see the little divider I made of grey wallstone. I plan to do the next side as well, once I can get over my reluctance to carry 42 lb of stone home by hand again.

That's probably enough for one post. Next post: eggs for tomatoes!

Garden Progress: Before and After

It's been a long time since I updated here! Working two jobs (and often working entire weeks without days off) I've been rather lazy about maintaining things online. But, never fear, I'm putting in a bit more effort to be prompt now.

Anyway, I haven't been neglecting my garden! I thought that it might be fun to post some before and after pictures.

April 2014. Nothing. And boring.

July 2014. Much better! The bright red flowers are dahlias. The lawn, however, is slowly dying. I don't have access to a hose or water spigot, so I do all my watering by hand with a watering can. Unfortunately it'd take about a hundred trips to soak the lawn properly, and I just don't care enough about it to do so.

Do you see the dead plant in the middle? That's not mine. The neighbours noticed that my garden was doing well, and brought over a dead plant with a sign on it (you can see it still there) reading 'Help Me!' I've been doing my best, but unfortunately, it was already gone. Also, as you can see, it's a bit cluttered. That's something I still have to fix. The long red container in the center has little tiny pepper plants starting to grow. I started them from seed and for ages, nothing came up at all, until a few weeks ago. I hope that they can fruit before the season ends!

Anyway, here's another few pictures:

Another one, from a distance. You can see the rose bushes on either side and the strawberry basket hanging up by the pillar on the left.

My violas and dahlias are in bloom! That huge plant next to the dahlias is beebalm. It hasn't flowered yet, and I hope it does so soon. The leaves smell so good, though.

Hydrangea and Double Lavender Superbells (Calibrachoa). Again, waiting for flowers from the hydrangea, but there is a tiny cluster of buds, so it might be soon!

One of the June roses. Soon after they began blooming, something killed off the blossoms! With luck they'll go a second round before the summer's through.

Jasmine plant: July 2014

Jasmine plant: May 2014

The rose on the left side. In the background are ginger geranium and a flower I've forgotten the name of, but which has an abundance of gorgeous coral star-shaped flowers. The plant next to the rose bush, on the white lattice, is my cucumber! It's gotten huge, and there are several little cucumbers growing.

It's been awesome planting and watching everything grow. I already have plans for next year, but we'll see how things go.

And yes, the guy in the reflection on the doors is me. If I'd realized I'd show up, I'd have dressed better!