Vegetable Intimidation/Identification

This is a quiz. Do you know what the vegetable in the photo is? It is a bit larger than a softball. Do you know what to do with it? I can't wait to hear your answers! No Googling for answers!!

Gourds

I really love gourds. They come in any number of beautiful shapes and sizes. Green, white, stripy, orange, yellow, warty....their only real purpose is to look good. Yes, I know if you get the right one, birdhouse, luffa or spoon gourd you can actually make something but I think the real pleasure is in how they look and feel. They grow very easily and would look and home dangling from an arbor or snaking through your flowers. This year, I put mine on a 5' trellis. They probably would have covered at least 10' of trellis easily but none the less it took minimal training to get them to climb on up. If you want to keep them, care is simple and there are any number of authorities out there on how to do that... I suggest you just pick, clean, dry, display and enjoy! If you want more information follow this link to the Cornell University Cooperative Extension

Teach Your Children Well

In my opinion one of the biggest tragedies of urban living is the distance that is put between us and our food. If you do not garden or keep small animals all your food comes from the grocery store, not the the cow, chicken, pig, stream or earth. It is a separation that I feel has caused us to become callous and removed from the cycle of life and each other. The distance fosters little appreciation for the hard work of the farmer and laborer when in fact these are the very people who are at the heart of your dinner table. Municipalities often make it difficult to even sustain for yourself through strict covenants and city rules. I would challenge you that even if you don't have the room or will to raise your own food there are plenty of ways to foster this relationship. Take your kids fishing, visit the local farmers' market and check into many of the "agritainment" opportunities out there. You never know what you will find. And above all, be sure to foster this relationship for you children. They need to know where their food comes from and they need care about it!
Oh, and congratulations A, for bringing your first meal to the table!

Butterick 4842

I took a garden hiatus and made this dress for A last weekend. This is a Butterick 4842 dress and pant pattern for girls and boys. I have only made the dress shown. A few skulls seemed appropriate for fall! I found the pattern to be moderate on the clarity of instructions. Figuring out how to do the collar took a bit of thought but I think the dress turned out nicely. I will definitely make another one! I made the size 3 for a small 3 year old. Plenty of room to grow. It took me about 4 hours from pattern cut to finish product. I am sure second time around will get you there in 1-1.5 hrs.

Inspiration

Looking for some fun sewing ideas? Check out Dana of MADE! She has some of the cutest tutorials for both girls and boys!

Mum's the Word

Bargain Alert!!
Run, don't walk to the closest big box store and get your fill of cheap garden mums! They are a must have to make that transition into winter! I picked up several of the gallon size for $2.50 each since they are starting to clear them out of the stores!

Further Reading

Every once in a while I try to reward myself with something besides food and I have to say this was a great reward! The magazine is called Urban Farm and the "starter" edition is on the stands. I was trying of figure out how to order this magazine when I realized its not out yet! It seems to be an offshoot of the magazine Hobby Farm. Lots of terrific articles centered on urban sustainability. I think it is going to be something to watch for!