As per usual my posts stop as soon as summer hits. On any given day I would be doing many various things from DIY craziness to my start-up business. I'll break it down:
Gardening:
Every spring brings in new experiences with a garden... you never know what you're going to get. This spring was an explosion of dill and fennel along with random tomatoes popping up and a wonderful vine of spaghetti squash right next to the compost.
I tried to keep things neat and organized this year. Before anything could even be planted I wanted to build 2 new garden beds with trellises for my tomato vines to grow nice and neat.Yeah right.
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| Looks tame now...this was back in June |
My biggest downfall this year with my tomatoes was planting too much of them. I was a little over zealous and got carried away with over 30 tomato plants. An even bigger oops was maybe not pruning them early on and continuously throughout the season. Despite the trellis...they just went wild, spilling over into the grass and the neighbors yard (I don't think she minded too much when I told her she could have whatever tomatoes grew on her side). The rest of my garden grew with a bit too much gusto as well.
In fact, it went crazy. Not just in sheer number, but it all just OVERFLOWED.
I was expecting the zinnias to be about 18" high. And they were. But the more you prune them the taller and more abundant they get. They are now 2.5-3 feet tall. Sunflowers...ok, I got the mammoth. It was mammoth as I expected it would be. No problem there, but the sunburst sunflowers that I thought would only grow to about 24-36" actually grew to 5 feet.
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| August. |
Another lesson well learned were the tomatillo plants. Apparently there has to be at least 2 plants next to each other for cross-pollination to occur. We only had one and it got HUGE with tons of gorgeous little tillo flowers...that never came to fruition.
I also learned about the squash vine borer. A nasty little bug that gets into the vines of squash and eats it from the inside out. This makes it appear like some kind of rot...but it isn't. Luckily my vine survived and was able to get 5 nice big yellow spaghetti squashes.
Canning:
When spring hits, I get in canning mode and I was just itchin' to get started. Tomatoes weren't coming in yet so I decided to make a strawberry chipotle chutney. The recipe was something like this:
3 quarts strawberries
4 cloves garlic
1 onion sliced
cinnamon
8 cloves
some nutmeg
balsamic vinegar
apple cider vinegar
1/2c brown sugar
and 3 chipotle peppers
I just kind of simmered these ingredients together and adjusted the flavors as needed. I also added a bit of Pomonas Universal Pectin just to make it jell up a little.
Once the tomatoes started coming in, however, I was canning once a week. The first batch of tomatoes went to making a nice marinara sauce using the fennel and basil from the garden as well. I don't have any written recipe, but it's pretty simple.
Saute onions, garlic and fennel on low for 45 minutes (adds sweetness). Then add all your tomatoes, some of the herbs, and season with salt. Simmer for a couple hours until the right consistency, blend, then add the rest of your herbs. Simmer for another 15 minutes, then can.
Super easy trick with canning: USE THE OVEN!
Rachael told me about this trick. Essentially the oven method is the same as the boiling method. Just bring your oven to 200 degrees. Sterilize your jars for 15 minutes, take them out, put your filling in, then throw them back in the oven for however long you would usually boil. Since tomatoes are easy and really acidic, I just threw them in for another 15 minutes. Works great!
Then came the enchilada sauce. Similar style as the marinara just different herbs and spices. Saute garlic and onions, then throw in some soaked Guajillo and Japones peppers. Toss in all your tomatoes along with some cumin and oregano...maybe some beer, then simmer until thick. Blend and can.
There were definitely days where I didn't feel like chopping, dicing, and pureeing. For those times I just did stewed tomatoes. No seasoning. Nothing. Or I would simmer it down into a paste.
This is the bounty...with still more to come and a salsa having just been made:
Artisans Market:
Every other Sunday I was at the Fulton St. Artisans Market. And every week I wasn't there I was making, adjusting, and re-designing my jewelry displays. I think I've finally come up with something that works:
Studio:
I generally try to be in my studio at least 3 days a week which can be had to do with everything else that is going on around me. I have a part-time job that I go to every evening around 4, so for me to be productive I need at least a good 5 hours before hand in my studio. When I'm here I usually develop new ideas. Probably the latest and greatest are the Michigan birch bark pins.
I work with a lot of things from nature. Back in July, my mom gave me a nice handful of the bark which inspired me to create these. Little did I know that people are just as excited about birch trees as I am. After putting these up, there were lots of little nibbles on my Etsy site, but no bites. At least not until a month ago when a woman from Interlochen MI contacted me. She said she was trying to find something for herself and stumbled across my birch tree copper cuff:
She was in love with my stuff and wanted to know if I do consignment. This woman, Paulette, owns a shop in Interlochen that is all Michigan made items. It's called Michigan's Gifts and Treasures. Awesome! So I sent up a package of goodies along with the contract in hopes that something may be sold.
GROW/ Business plan:
Late Winter/early Spring, I started attending the GROW program and am glad to say I have now officially completed the program! All summer long I've been gathering information, contacting, networking, writing, researching, and getting my business plan under way. It's about halfway done but still a lot more to go with finding an attorney, tax consultant, realtor, and writing up my first 5 years of accounts.
Internet and other horrible computer duties:
As many know...I am not that computer savvy. I struggle with these things and loathe technology. But it is essential to not just growing a business but getting ideas out there. Time has come to bite the bullet and get my own website. Luckily I've managed to find an awesome techie! Andrea Napierkowski. She is not only designing my page, but teaching me the steps along the way. Because the key to making a great website is making it relevant and keeping it updated.
So all summer long, I've been watching her tutorials and slowly figuring things out. Many times I build an idea, only to decide I don't like it, scrap it, then learn how to do something different. Frustrating, but totally worth it.
In a crazy nutshell this was my summer. Filled with gardening and harvesting the bounty to my head-jam of learning frustrating new things on the brink of creativity (and I think I did some natural dye baths in there as well).
The days are getting longer, cooler, and more colorful. Plants are slowing down which means *sigh* I can finally slow down and relax a little as well. Just a little.
More posts soon to follow.
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