December 12th, 2011
Every Christmas I am reminded of a very simple Christmas spent with my mother who had collected my sisters and myself and moved to Colorado from Wyoming. She had never had her children with her for Christmas and consequently did not have the trimmings and trappings to decorate with that most established families have. She didn’t have the money to just go to the store and purchase everything new either. No trim a tree in a bag decorations! lol As a 10 year old I was astounded at her cleverness and she laughs still when I tell her, her creations live on 43 years later, as her finest hour. So fine in fact I recently went to one of my favorite stores here in Costa Mesa, http://www.paper-source.com and re-created some for my daughter so she will remember my story. My treasures are as I said, simple. Take 2 pieces of pretty paper and glue them together. My mom used foil wrapping paper in all colors. When the glue is dry, trace different shapes onto the paper, 2 of each. Circles, squares, stars, Christmas tree, etc. Cut them out. Next, lay 2 shapes together and with your sewing machine, sew down the middle leaving a long tail for a hanger when you remove them. Tie the thread in a knot close to paper at both ends to keep it from unraveling. Trim one and tie a knot at the end of the remaining for hanging on the tree. Fold out layers to reveal a three dimensional ornament.
The year my mom made these our tree was close to a heat vent and the warm air blowing through it made the foil ornaments twirl and sparkle! We watched it by the hours mesmerized by it’s beauty.
This is a great project for making this year. Money is so tight for so many families and it is a fun thing to do with the kids. Their specialty is cutting and pasting right? Storage requires a large manilla envelope. How perfect is that?
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December 4th, 2011
My favorite winter vegetable has to be beets. Beets of all colors. Roasting beet roots is a preferred method because it brings out a creamy texture and flavor that is not accessible when the beet is raw.
I use to blanch them to take the peels off but now I simply peel them with a vegetable peeler. I then cut them in quarters.. I repeat this process with sweet potatoes and toss both, in separate bowls,  in olive oil, melted butter, (if you want to go really insane; bacon fat) fresh ground pepper and sea salt.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake beets 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Add sweet potato mixture with the beets on the baking sheet. Continue baking 45 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes, until all vegetables are tender.
I sometimes add caramelized onions before serving. I don’t roast the onions with the delicately flavored beets and sweet potatoes because they like to steal the flavor show.
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September 13th, 2011
Beet Jelly
Time 40 minutes
Serves 12
Ingredients
12 medium beets peeled and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 package sure jell
6 cups sugar
How to make it
Wash beets then peel and cut into small pieces.
Cover with water.
Cook until tender. Drain juice off.
(For every 4 cups juice  add package of sure jell.)
Add lemon juice and sure jell then stir until dissolved.
Put over high heat and stir until mixture boils hard.
At once stir in 6 cups sugar and bring to a full rolling boil then boil hard for 1 minute.
Remove from heat then skim off foam and pour into glass jars.
Process in water bath for 20 minutes.
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January 12th, 2011
I spent last week playing with my latest garden innovation; Garden Connects. I was motivated to discover ways to build plant supports from metal material after my Nana shared with me there is science behind the use of metal plant cages. It is called electro-culture, the metal in your garden attracts static electricity and charges the atmosphere in your garden during thunder storms, increasing vegetable production.¬† Check out this copper creation…. 
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October 6th, 2010
Wrote LOTS of orders for the new Garden Connects at IGC. Everyone was very excited to have something so simple to build plant support structures with. It is great to know other gardeners besides myself had the same need for this type of product. Here is an image of the final design and packaging.
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August 22nd, 2010
I have had so much fun developing this product! I don’t have a lot of time to create plant supports with traditional methods using twine or wire to connect my bamboo and have at times, taken a short cut and purchased those awful wire cages that are not only visually obtrusive but are a pain to store at the end of season. All of these issues brought me to design a connector that would accommodate a variety of stake diameters and give me the ability to configure them in any way I chose. I wanted Tinker Toys for my garden. And that is exactly what I created. I can use this clever (if I do say so myself) little 5 petal silicon rubber flower to build any type of structure I need; cages, tee-pee’s, trellises, and frames for covering with cloth or net for protection. At the end of the season I will just pull them apart or collapse them like an umbrella. Nice!
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July 26th, 2010
I was recently island hopping in the Pacific Northwest and stumbled upon this scene as I toured beautiful Vashon Island, a short ferry ride from  West Seattle:
Islanders with a fantastic sense of humor have collected several misfit USED stationary bikes, positioned them to over look Puget Sound as if to invite the casual passerby to jump on and take a spin while enjoying the view.
Oops!  Somebody went crazy and rode right off the bank!
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May 26th, 2010
Since seeing the imaginative “Book” planter box idea, I have been on the look out for other unique planter ideas. This one takes first prize and I wish I had a photo for you but I would have had to flip a u in the middle of Saturday traffic to follow a truck. Yes, a truck; a little garden truck to be exact.
I call it a garden truck because that is what I called my very old but beloved 1980-85 series Mazda B2000 truck that I used to haul garden stuff around the property and branches to the dump. It was a little truck like that with all the character enhancing dings, scratches and rust. In addition to the “well loved” appearance, what made this truck special was the cute little white picket fence themed planter boxes mounted on each end of the rear bumper, complete with flowers in them! A mobile and small space garden all in one!
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May 10th, 2010
This is a window box I stumbled upon at the back of the general store located in picturesque Langley on Whidby Island, Washington. I did a double take thinking it was a shelf of books. As I got closer I realized the books were merely random pieces of lath painted to look like¬† book spines. The VERY original titles such as “Ten Minutes to Normal” and “My Family and Other Animals” made me laugh. Waiting for the Sunday night fairy to the mainland gave me plenty of¬† time to consider the many creative ways I too could re-think “outside the box”. The window box that is.
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April 10th, 2010
Surrounded by all the beautiful spring flowers today reminded me of celebrating spring as a kid. We made cute little May baskets out of all sorts of things. The fun part was hanging it on someone specials door knob, ringing the bell and running. How fun it was to see a good friend or favorite neighbor smile in surprise!
I wanted to re-create that fun this spring for a special gardening friend. The utilitarian in me pondered what to use for the basket. There was no way I would use something “typical”. I have been thinking what a cute gift pocket the Garden Holster would make and gave it a try. It is so cute don’t you think? I bundled the stems of the flowers in plastic wrap secured with a rubber band. Stretch it out and fill with just enough water to keep them fresh. You could put all sorts of little surprises in it for a variety of occasions or just because. I think it would make a great garden club favor too.
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