Eggs for Tomatoes

This year I'm feeding eggs to my tomatoes.

Eggshells, I mean. Tomatoes love calcium, which eggshells are full of. Calcium helps prevent blossom end rot, and contributes to general health. Since I did so damned badly with my tomatoes last year, I'm hoping that this helps.

Grind the shells into a very fine powder, using a coffee grinder, spice grinder, or a mortar and pestle. Then MIX 'EM INTO THE DIRT.

I've been washing my used eggshells, and then baking them on low heat (about 300 degrees F) for a while, until they're hot and brittle (and, importantly, sterile). I have a granite mortar that I pour them into, and every time I go into the kitchen, I give it a few good grinds with the pestle. Eventually I get them ground into a fine powder.

Today I planted some tomato seeds (Principe Borghese plum tomatoes, if you're wondering). I washed out an empty plastic cat litter container, which I'll be using to mix soil from now on. I put in some of the soil I'm using in my containers this year, and thoroughly, by hand, mixed the eggshells in. If you're doing this, you'll be able to see the fine white specks of it throughout the soil when you're done. I then mixed the eggshell-enriched soil in with the regular, by layers, as I filled the pot up. I used about four eggs' worth of powder in this. Peppers like calcium, too, so I'll be sprinkling ground shells around the plants as they grow, since it's too late to mix them into the soil now.

I've also read suggestions of soaking clean eggshells in water. Apparently the calcium easily leaches into the water, which can then be used to water plants. It sounds very convenient, but I still prefer the powder. There's just something I love about getting my hands right into the dirt.

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!

Phoenix Botanicals: Updated Review: Jasmine Beauty Balm

This is, I'm afraid, very much overdue. I have no proper excuses - it simply never got done. However, I did faithfully apply the balm every day for a couple of weeks, and gave it the fair trial I'd promised.

In my previous review, I'd mentioned that it seemed to make me break out. I don't know if that was something that resolved itself, or if it never actually had anything to do with the balm at all, but this time around I didn't notice any skin problems. The only (minor) thing was a bit of extra oil, which didn't seem to clog my pores, so no harm done. It's probably due to my combination skin, which gets oilier as the weather gets warmer. It might not be ideal for someone who is concerned about oil or wants a moisturizer with a matte finish.

Because of the oil, I was obliged to stop using it as summer approached. I know I should be using a moisturizer, but I'll have to find one a little less rich, with sun protection. However, I will be resuming use of the balm once the weather cools. And, of course, there's the fact that the fragrance of all that jasmine is so fantastic that I occasionally open it up just to smell it.

I do recommend that you give it a go. At around $9, even the small size lasts forever, so it's good value. And even if it doesn't work as a moisturizer, its gorgeous, androgynous scent makes it a great solid perfume.

Again, here are the links:

Phoenix Botanicals' Etsy Shop (you'll find the product under 'herbal balms'.)

Main website: http://www.phoenixbotanicals.com/

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!

The End Of ChefButler

Today I came home to an email from ChefButler, explaining that their subscription box program will be ending (their last box will go out in July). I feel a strange sort of guilt that I haven't taken the time lately to show off all the amazing meals I've made thanks to their boxes, but as neither their main website or their Facebook page give any other explanation, I can make no other assumption other than that yes, they are shutting down because I didn't post enough pictures. (If I learn anything more in the next few days, I'll update.)

Now, I enjoyed this subscription a lot. It was fun, the customer service was great, and they really loved food. Regardless, I would have probably stuck with them even if they were mediocre, because as far as I know, there is no other similar program in Canada at this time. I hope that a few other companies will start up to fill the void - the various food subscriptions in the US seem to be doing well.

Thanks for the good times, ChefButler. We'll miss you!

To Come: Updated Review for Pheonix Botanicals' Jasmine Beauty Balm

Just a quick post to let you know I'll be doing an updated, solo review of the Jasmine Beauty Balm. After reading my review, Pheonix Botanicals had some questions, specifically about the balm making me break out. I agreed to give it another trial run in order to give them more thorough feedback.

Unfortunately, I was delayed by first the onset of my seasonal breakout (every season change. Never fails.), then by a several silly things (guests, changes in schedule, a nasty cold that quite frankly makes me hate everything, sheer laziness) that are really no excuse but that nevertheless prevented me from maintaining a routine. In order to make myself accountable, I'm updating you all on my intentions.

Beginning today, I'll be applying the balm twice a day - once while I get ready for my day, and once before bed, after washing my face. I'm not currently in the midst of a break-out, and I'll be giving it a two-week trial, no other changes in routine/diet, so it should be pretty fair.

We'll see how it goes!

Review: BumbleBerry Honey Maple Creme

Before I get started on the review, here's a bit about BumbleBerry Farms, from their website:

Here at BumbleBerry Farms, we take our lead from
the bees – one hive can collectively travel as many as 55,000 miles visiting more than two million flowers to
gather the nectar needed for one single pound of our Heritage Select Honey! With that same care and diligence, our honeycomb is hand-spun to gently release the sweet honey we offer up to you – bottled in vintage-inspired, cork-stoppered glass bottles.

We’re a small operation, located in the foothills of Pennsylvania’s Laurel Mountains, and as such, we craft everything ourselves in small batches. We hand-select the ingredients for our delectable honey-based spreads from a dairy farm and a maple sugar camp just down the road. Our skin care products are kept simple, using fair-trade, organic butters whenever we can get them…like our shea butter, which is harvested by women, the sole supporters of their communities in the Burkina Faso region of West Africa.

We are forever grateful to family and friends who have helped us along the way, lending their children for photo shoots, helping us in our festival booths, volunteering as testers for products in the making. With that same nod toward giving others a lift up, we follow their lead and offer
a Honey Bee Good jar of our yummiest nectar with profits benefitting a local charity. Currently we’re supporting Outdoor Odyssey at Roaring Run, a youth mentoring and leadership development program.

We hope you enjoy your BumbleBerry goods and that
you will do as we attempt to do:

Spread a little sweetness on the planet. Bee happy. ^TM

                         .                                                                                                           Sounds great, doesn't it? I have a special place in my heart for bees, and a special place in my stomach for honey. I adore both and am happy to do what I can to help keep bees (and honey) around for years to come, especially in light of the drastically declining number of bee colonies. And supporting charity, of course, is always fantastic.

Which is why it makes me feel a bit down about writing a less-than-stellar review. But, in the interest of providing an unbiased opinion, here we go:

The big, bad problem here was graininess. Why was it grainy? I don't know. What were the grains, anyway? Again, I don't know. They were a tiny bit sweet, but definitely not sugar. Some sort of strange combination of milk proteins and maple syrup crystals, perhaps? If they were properly sweet, like, say, pure maple sugar, I'd probably have just enjoyed it. Graininess itself, while not what I expect in a spread, doesn't inherently bother me. However, these Mystery Grains took ages to melt in my mouth, had no real flavour or sweetness, and were all around more suited for some sort of sticky bath exfoliant than a food item.

Not to be deterred, I decided that despite the lack of sweetness, the Mystery Grains were probably sugar-based in some way - clearly they had crystallized, and could, theoretically, be melted down again. So I tried microwaving some of the spread, in two batches: one, in a quick hot burst, and another over several short bursts, stirring thoroughly in between. Both ended up bubbly and sticky. And both remained as grainy as ever. Now, it's possible that if I scooped the spread out into a saucepan, and simmered and stirred it slowly for an hour or so, that the Mystery Grains would eventually melt down. But in that case, I might as well be making my own, thus removing the main benefit of a prepared spread in the first place.

Then, there was the taste. It was fine, a nice milky caramel sort of flavour. If I'd ordered a plain caramel spread, I'd be delighted. But there was very little, if any, maple taste, which was what I'd been wanting in the first place. Perhaps all the maple flavour was eaten up by the Mystery Grains.

Anyway, thinking that the creme might have been near expiry, I checked the date on the bottom, which said: BEST BY 111315. Originally I'd assumed that it was good until November 13th, 2015. I don't see how it could mean 2013, since the 13 is in the middle, but it seems possible somehow, especially since I ordered it at the beginning of the year and it came from a secondary supplier (Mouth). Who knows how long it's been sitting in a warehouse? Plus, BumbleBerry's website features the creme with a distinctly different label. I don't know. It didn't taste off, but... those damned GRAINS!

I may be making a big deal out of a simple thing. If there's a quick way to fix the weird graininess, let me know, and I'll try it out. If it works, I'll adjust the review accordingly! But until then:

5/10. Decent taste (but a bit bland and not what I expected); texture made unpalatable by millions of Mystery Grains.

If you want to give it a go anyway (I'm so perplexed that I think I might order it directly from the website and see if the new batch is any better) you can buy it from BumbleBerry Farms at $8.50/5oz plus shipping, or from Mouth, as I did originally, at $13/10oz plus shipping.