Make your pattern pieces or decide to measure directly as you cut You can make your chicken from any size square, but I found I liked the 4 inch square size the most. Because I was going to be making several of them, I cut some pattern pieces out of my roll of manila pattern […]
Tips for Storing Homemade Seed Starting Soil Ingredients
Almost one year ago today, I made my favorite and very successful seed starting soil for the first time. Not only was it a fraction of the cost of pre-mixed potting soil, it was at least as good as anything I have purchased in a bag. I actually like it better than anything I have […]
Lessons from Lulu’s Sourdough Discard Pancakes
I have been working on perfecting my pancake recipe for my whole adult life. I’m not saying it’s perfect now, as I am constantly surprised by learning new things. However, I am extremely satisfied with this recipe. It combines several things I have learned. Things like: Here’s my sour dough discard pancake recipe: Pre-heat griddle. […]
Variations on Sewing Studio 7t7’s Shark Pencil Case
To get the full pattern for this shark pencil case, you will need to go to the Studio 7t7 website and sign up for her email newsletter. It is free with signing up. I am not associated with her. I simply found the pattern when researching gifts to sew for my grandchildren this coming year. […]
Growing Sweet Potatoes in SW Idaho
It was my husband’s idea. I had never heard of anyone growing sweet potatoes in Idaho. To inspire me, he found videos about growing sweet potatoes for us to watch together in our home dinner theater (aka watching from the comfortable couches in the living room). The southern accents and plant life in the videos […]
Replanting Overwintered Onions
Perhaps you have tried to harvest an onion that overwintered in your garden, but upon digging it up discovered it felt mushy. Your first instinct was probably to throw it away. Nobody wants to eat a mushy onion. But there might be another option. The onion might not be mushy because it is rotten. It […]
Super Easy No Knead Sourdough Discard French Bread
My sourdough starter was losing potency, even though the method I describe in Basic Sourdough Bread Making for Ordinary People Part One had worked for several years. Basic Sourdough Bread Making for Ordinary People Part One So I read up about bringing life to it in The Art of Baking with Natural Yeast. However, after […]
Dealing with Allergies from Weeding Blooming Kochia
Usually my allergies are skin allergies. I get intense irritation from even the slightest rubbing of things like sunflower leaves. I have had extreme skin breakdown from tea tree oil. I am very careful about what I put on my skin. However, this year I discovered blooming kochia will give me a full-blown upper respiratory […]
Flambo Bean and Ham Bone Pumpkin Instant Pot Soup
What are flambo beans, anyway? I grew the flambo beans and pumpkin in my garden, but not this year. That is, those ingredients that I put in the soup were not this year’s crop, which is part of why I am so thrilled with how well it turned out. The flambo beans are dry beans, […]
Blue Dye for Keeping Track of Weed Spraying
Why a backpack sprayer works best for an acre I have been spraying weeds for many, many years with my Solo backpack sprayer. It is the most convenient and efficient method for dealing with an acre. An acre is too large to deal with using a hand held sprayer, where you have to constantly squeeze […]
