Book Review - Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking

I first found out about this book from an excerpt I read from Mother Earth News. I had no idea a no knead bread even existed. My husband and I love fresh baked bread, but I am a horrible bread maker. It never seems to rise like it should even though it tastes great. I never know if I am kneading the dough enough. Since I don't have a large mixer, I have to do it all by hand and it can get tiring on the hands if you are not used to it.

After reading the article in Mother Earth News I made a loaf of this sour dough type bread and it was fantastic. I was sold and had to buy the book right away to see what more information they could tell me about no knead breads.

The first part of the book talks about why their method works and then they go into the types of ingredients used and why it's best to use the ingredients they specify. There really are only four ingredients for the master recipe....water, yeast, salt and flour. That's it. The master recipe makes at least three loaves of bread and can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks, so you don't feel compelled to bake everyday unless you want to.

There is also a chapter on tips and techniques which even answered some of my questions regarding traditionally baked breads.

Then the book goes into the basic recipe and how to form different types of breads from the basic peasant loaf to cibatta, to couronne pizza doughs and flatbreads, plus many more. There are so many recipes in this book that I think you could make several different types of loaves each week and not have a repeat for a year.

I can't wait to try the Vermont Cheddar Bread, the Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread and the Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread. There are even pastry recipes in this book using the same techniques.

One of the best things about making your own bread is that you know exactly what's in it and there are no preservatives or chemicals that can harm our bodies.

If you have never been good at making traditional breads before, you have got to get Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

If you prefer a crusty outside to your bread that you don't get with bread machine type breads, you have got to get this book. There are few recipes for soft sided breads, so you are not limited to just crusty breads.

All your friends will think you have slaved hours in the kitchen to get bread this good.

Book Review - American Junk by Mary Randolf Carter

I just picked up this delightful book American Junk this past week and I knew immediately I had to share it with all of you. Anyone who knows us or has kept up with our blog or website knows how much Gary and I like junk. We love to hunt for junk at flea markets and out of the way antique shops and we love to display it in our home and in the gardens. If you are anything like us, you will want to get this book too.

The first thing that struck me about Mary Carter's book is that it is full of photographs. Photos of junk are like chocolate to me. The only thing better would be to have the junk in my possession and a place to put it all...LOL.

The book is full of antidotes about how she got into loving junk and how she has acquired her junk. She even tells us how much she has spent for some of that junk. Junkers all over the world love to brag about how little they spent for a particular piece. She has found some great pieces for next to nothing.

The book is divided into sections, so that if you fancy a particular type of junk you can turn to that section quickly. Topics range from western junk, to glass, to kitchen junk to shell collections. There are 12 topics covered in all, so I am sure there will be something for everyone.

Not only will you find pictures of her junk, but junk from people she knows and from junk shops she has visited along the way. You can see how nicely junk can be displayed in your own home. That was the main reason I wanted this book. I wanted some new and fresh ideas on how to display my collections. And of course I got ideas along the way for new things to collect.

There is a resource section in the back of the book, so you can visit some of the same places she has been. There are shops listed from California to New York, so I'm sure you could plan a road trip around them no matter what part of the country you are from.

Mary Randolf Carter has also written Big City Junk and Kitchen Junk. I'll be sure to check those out as well.

If you are new to the world of junk, you may find my Junkin' Tips useful. Check them out here.

GGTV - Hellebores

Hellebores are one thing I wish I did have in my garden. Fall is a great time to plant some in your garden. Many are only hardy to zone 6 and iffy in zone 5, which I guess is why I have never planted them before, but I think I will plant a few once the greenhouse is built. I figure I can create a little micro-climate from the warmth of the greenhouse.

Check out another video from Paul James the Gardener Guy. And in case you missed it, he has his own website now www.gardenerguy.com

Zestar!® Apples

This year I tried Zestar apples for the first time. I saw them at our local Farmer's market about a month ago. I didn't buy any that first week. Instead I came home and looked them up online to see what they were supposed to taste like.

The description I found was from http://www.apples.umn.edu. They describe it as a crisp sweet tart apple that is very juicy. Hmmm....I love sweet apples and I like them to crunch a bit, but I don't like them too soft or too crispy. I couldn't imagine how an apple could be crisp and juicy at the same time. I don't recall ever having that experience from an apple before.

So the next week I bought a small bag of Zestar apples at the farmer's market. I had one immediately and really liked the crunch, but it was a little too tart for me, so they just sort of sat there over the next week. I let Gary have a bite of my apple, and he wasn't overally impressed either. How could an apple that gets so much praise on the Internet not excite us?

Last week I decided I'd better eat these up, like them or not, so I could get some of our old stand-bys to eat instead. I hate to waste a perfectly good apple, even if we don't care for the taste. Boy was I pleasantly surprised! All they needed was a week or two on the counter to ripen and they are FANTASTIC! They are still crispy, without being hard and oh, are they juicy! And they are much sweeter than they were a couple of weeks earlier.

The website described them as having a brown sugar undertone, which I could not detect but then again I am not so good at picking different flavors out when I am eating foods. They have a long shelf life, which is unusual in a early ripening apple. They are supposed to be cold hardy to zone 4 and even zone 3, but since they blossom early, I wonder if they might be susceptible to late frost damage. They might be fun to try and grow in my own garden.

I plan on trying some new apples real soon. I will definitely keep an eye out for varieties I have never seen before. Just another reason why I love shopping at the Farmer's Market. You just never know what you'll find. I won't be surprised if Zestar apples begin to show up in grocery stores over the next 10 years. Once the word gets out that they are super tasty and store well, I can't imagine the stores not wanting to sell them.

Photo courtesy of the University of Minnesota.

GGTV - Mulching Container Plants

Here is another wonderful video from Paul James the Gardener Guy. I've been mulching my containers for years. Just seemed like the right thing to do. Now we have confirmation.

Greenhouse Update #3

We were able to get quite a bit done on the greenhouse after work this week. I try not to push Gary to work to hard after work since he has to work so hard in the lumber yard all day, but I think he is just as anxious to get this greenhouse finished as I am.

We are hoping that it's completion will mean he will have more room in his wood shop to build his projects. His shop is only 10x12 and he's easily got enough stuff in there for a 24x24 shop. Our goal is to move out all the garden related paraphernalia from our storage shed and move it to the greenhouse. That should free up one end of the shed, plus a section or two of shelving (crossing my fingers). I plan on getting rid of anything I have not used in a while, which will free up even more room. I'm hoping we can have a yard sale at the same time, but with it getting so late in the season, we'll be at the mercy of Mother Nature. I hope she will smile down on us.

Once that is done, we plan on moving all his wood storage from his shop area to the shed where we originally had the garden related stuff. Then the addition that is attached to his wood shop can house the lawn tractor, push mower and snow blower and any stuff related to the cars and maintaining that equipment. His shop should be empty of everything but his tools and woodworking equipment, which means he might be able to turn around in there without knocking something over....LOL.

The greenhouse will also act as my hobby house where I can do my hypertufa and grout my mosaics. Since I won't be using the greenhouse over the winter for plants, I'm hoping I can work out there on sunny days in the winter. Hopefully I won't have too much garden related stuff to store in here so that I can still do that. After all, this greenhouse is only 8x12. With some clever storage ideas, I hope we can pull this off.

Here's what we got done this past week. As you can see, the wall studs are up.
The studs are double studs meaning two 2x4s have been attached together at each point to give added strength. The studs are the same distance apart as the windows we are using. The bottom half of the greenhouse will be covered with cedar clap board and insulated and the windows will be on the top half. Gary says that the pieces all fit together like a glove, which I guess is a compliment to me since I cut them all myself. :)

This view (as seen above) is the front of the greenhouse. The center part is where the door will be. A friend of mine (who I met on a gardening forum) gave us a wonderful Craftsman style door from her home, and we will be using that for the main entrance. I'd like to try and convert it to a dutch door, but that project will come later. Anyway, this is the front and the huge open area at the back of the greenhouse will be for a double door. Gary got the double doors free when they were renovating the store where he works. They are completely made of glass, so I think they will work perfectly, plus look really good with the rest of the windows.

It might be hard to tell in this photo, but there are two thin strips on either side of the double door. I think I may fill that area with a thin stained glass piece or use plexiglass panels that have been mosaicked. Either way, the added color should be very cool to look at.

Today will be a play day for Gary and I and if we do any work at all, it will be to decorate some Adirondack birdhouses to help replenish our Etsy shop. Tomorrow, we will work on framing out where all the windows will go and possibly putting up the rafters. I'll keep you all posted.

Ahhhh...Late Summer

There is not much going on in the gardens right now except the bright yellows of the helenium flower and rudbeckia maxima that I planted this spring. There are a few late blooming garden phlox and a sprout or two of foxglove putting on another show, but nothing spectacular. The rose of sharons are even done blooming. That seems early to me.

The Sweet Autumn Clematis is getting ready to bloom, but it's still a very young vine, so not very impressive yet, but it will be one day, I am sure of that. I will get a picture of that in the next week or two when it is at it's peak.

The hydrangeas are gloriously pink and getting pinker by the day. My Endless Summer hydrangeas do not have nearly the amount of blooms as they normally do, which leads me to believe that not protecting them last winter was the source of that problem.

Thank goodness the new round bed with the metal bird tree has a lot of annuals in it. The cleome still look fantastic as do most of the cosmos, zinnias and nicotiana. I wintersowed some snap dragons and finally planted them about a month ago. I think they will bloom this fall if it stays mild for a few more weeks.

Birds & Blooms Oct / Nov 2009 Feature

In case you missed it, we are again being featured in Birds and Blooms magazine for the October / November 2009 issue. This time we have submitted a super easy birdbath project that is not only beautiful but fairly inexpensive to make.

Look for another budget friendly project in the November issue of Birds & Blooms Extra.

Book Review - Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza

Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding!

I think that above sentence tells it all. I recommend this book to everyone I know that wants to create new gardens without a lot of work. All it takes is a little planning ahead.

Greenhouse Update #2

On Sunday, Gary and I worked on the greenhouse. We had decided beforehand that Saturday would be for fun and we'd work on the greenhouse Sunday instead.

We went to the Beaver Lake Nature Center on Saturday to attend the Harvest Festival. We had a great time enjoying the cool weather and watching a blues band and looked at all the crafts. It was a great place to bring the kids as there were pony rides and face painting along with puppet shows and other activities for the kids. I wanted to bring my niece, but she didn't want to go.

As a bonus, they were having a used book sale to benefit the Nature Center, which we didn't even know about beforehand. We decided to continue with that trend and visited another used book store after having lunch at Salsarita's Fresh Cantina. We had a light dinner and ended the day with a movie at our local mall. It was a fun and relaxing day.

On Sunday, Gary finished the floor of the greenhouse. He used nails to attach all the studs so that it will be stronger.

The studs are 16" apart. A little closer than usual (for added strength) since the framing of the greenhouse will be a little unconventional. We used a combination of 4x4s and 2x4s because that is what we had on hand.

Here is a close-up of one of the corners. Gary used a scrap piece of 4x4 to make a corner support. You can also see some chicken wire in this photo. We've had problems with skunks, woodchucks and rabbits digging under our sheds, so we are preventing this problem ahead of time by putting down some chicken wire all around the building. The chicken wire has been stapled to the studs on the inside for extra protection. Since these types of critters like to dig right up against the foundation of a building, they won't be able to since it's surrounded by the chicken wire. Even if they decide to back up and try to dig some more, they can't because the chicken wire goes out at least 14" on all sides. The chicken wire will be covered with weed fabric and a short raised bed will be constructed that will be filled with mulch or pine bark. This area will most likely hold potted plants and garden art for decoration.

We finished the floor with three sheets of 4x8 treated plywood. I had to laugh when Gary suggested we have a party since the dance floor was ready...LOL. This is a very solid floor.

He screwed down the plywood on each corner and all down the center of the plywood attaching it to all the studs. There is no need to screw down the outside of the plywood any more than that since the sill plate will be going around the outside further securing the plywood to the floor studs.

After this was done, we had dinner and decided to get the wall studs cut and ready for the rest of the week's work. He let me use the chop saw and do all the cutting. What a guy! And a brave one at that....LOL. I donned some really fashionable goggles and cut away. (Sorry no picture of me in the goggles).

We were lucky and there was a slight breeze so the mosquitoes were not bad at all. That has been the hardest part about working on this project in the evenings. The mosquitoes are terrible and swarm even with repellent on. So in many cases, not much gets done until the weekend. But it's started now and I feel confident it will be done before the snow flies.

Monarch Butterfly Lifecycle

Monarch Butterflies -- Egg to Butterfly - More DIY How To Projects

This is a very educational Instructable, and very interesting to boot. Check it out.

Greenhouse Project

Anyone who knows us, knows that I've been wanting to build a greenhouse for two years now. We are going to be using old recycled wooden windows that Gary got for free. He works for a building supply company and the contractors that represent them often bring their construction waste back to the shop to be put in the dumpsters. When Gary got wind of my idea, he began to save appropriate sized windows. When he thought he had enough, he surprised me with a pile of them.

Luckily, many are the same size, so it made it easy to design a greenhouse that didn't look like a hodge podge of windows. I want it to look cute, kind of like a cottage and I plan on putting the veggie garden around it and it will be enclosed with a white picket fence. You can see our plans for the greenhouse on our website. http://www.gardensandcrafts.com/greenhouseproject.html If you want to see any of the plans larger, just click on the photo and it will open up in another window.

I didn't even know Gary had started work until I looked out the window on Sunday afternoon and here is what I saw.

I nearly wanted to cry, I was so happy. He works so hard all week that I know he doesn't want to work that hard at home all the time too. So I am very grateful he is willing to make this for me.

What he has done in this first photo is to dig holes for the cement blocks he is putting in. The holes will be filled with gravel and patio base and packed in and leveled. You will notice that some stones are flat and some are cement blocks. We are just using what we have on hand. You won't see them anyway, so there is no need to buy matching blocks or matching filler. They are only there to help level the building and to keep it level. We got lucky when we ran low on gravel and found some patio base marked down at Lowes because the bags were broken.

I'll try to post a weekly update, or as often as we have new progress to show. Though we need rain here (already an inch below normal for September), I am happy we have had good weather to start this project.

GGTV - How to Water Container Plants

Paul James is one of my favorite television personalities when it comes to gardening and I was crushed to hear that his show on HGTV was not renewed this year. I am happy that he now has his own website and has begun posting some short videos with gardening tips for the everyday gardener like you and me. I will be featuring these videos from time to time. You are welcome to visit Paul's site at http://www.gardenerguy.com

Platform Cactus Planter

I just had to share this Etsy Artist with you. I came across this shop when I found out that Lynda had featured my bowling ball project on her blog The Rusty Hoe. Thanks Lynda!!

So I was looking through Lynda's blog and came across a post she did a little while back about an Etsy Shop called giddyspinster. Very interesting stuff here. And what a brilliant way to reuse a shoe.

And Lynda's shop herbanelements has some very unique and beautiful jewelry in it. I must say I am enchanted by this coneflower ring. I can't even begin to imagine the hours of work that this piece took. Worth every penny and then some.
Thanks so much Lynda! See you around the Blogasphere.

Berry Picker

BERRY PICKER - More DIY How To Projects

Though berry picking is almost over, I thought this one was pretty ingenious. Not only would it make a good berry picker, but a good apple picker as well if you use a larger pipe for the picking end. To make the pipe a little lighter to handle, you could use a reducer coupling a few feet in so you can use a smaller piece of pipe on the end you are holding.

Living Wall - Succulent Quilt

I thought this was pretty nifty when I came across it on Instructables.com. This might also be a great way to have more herbs in a small space since they like drier conditions.

Succulent Quilt - More DIY How To Projects

Book Review - Weedless Gardening by Lee Reich

I feel pretty strongly about some of the gardening books I've read over the years and I've decided to start reviewing some of them on the blog from time to time. I get asked often what books I recommend and this is the perfect format to put those opinions down on paper, so to speak.

My first review is a great little book called Weedless Gardening by Lee Reich. In a nutshell this book is about "Introducing a system of gardening from the top down that protects the soil, eliminates heavy work, and reduces water needs". That's my kind of gardening!

I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Reich speak at the Rochester Flower Show a few years back, which is when I discovered his book. I was so excited, I bought a book for my sister as well. When I finally got to the front of the line and had him autograph my books, I thanked him for telling the world that it was OK to be a lazy gardener. I had been using his practices for many years not even realizing it, but he helped me refine them even further and just validated all I had been doing for so many years.

Weedless Gardening starts out by telling us how we got here, meaning, how did gardening get to be so complicated. We have been so conditioned by modern advertising to think that gardening is a lot of hard work and requires expensive chemicals and tools in order to garden successfully. That is just not the case. Don't get me wrong, there is some work involved, but not as much as you think.

There are many reasons why you want to take Mr. Reich's approach to gardening. The biggest and most important reason, in my opinion, is that the less you disturb the soil the less weed seeds you will bring to the surface. The less weed seeds that are sprouting, the less weeding you will have to do. The less weeding and turning the soil, the more time you have to do the fun stuff in the garden, like planting new and exciting plants, or just sitting and enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Weedless Gardening will take a little getting used to. You will wonder how you got so much free time, for example. You will wonder why you worked so hard in the year's past and you will wonder why everyone isn't doing this type of gardening. Mr. Reich touches on why mulch is important and why cover crops are important for vegetable gardens. He will go into what needs to be done in the fall as far as clean-up is concerned and what needs to be done when you decide to plant a new garden. All his techniques will be adaptable to flower gardens as well as vegetables gardens and even if you prefer a formal looking landscape, you can benefit from his techniques.

Don't take my word for it however, check it out for yourself. Weedless Gardening

Late Summer in the Mixed Border

This garden is an absolute jungle this time of year. Not only have the plants gotten so big there is hardly a space to spare, but the plants have gotten so big that it is very difficult to weed. Despite it's unruly nature, I can't help but smile when I see it.

This border lines the east side of our property which is an acre in size. I started with a small hosta garden on the shady end and then connected it with a rugosa rose that was planted at the other end of the property in a sunny spot. Over the years I added shrubs like lilac, ninebark and hydrangea. I plan on pulling out a few things that just haven't worked for me and replacing them with some other shrubs I have growing in containers now. Eventually I think this whole area will end up being shrubs and trees one day, but for now, I am happy with the mixture.

Starting with the front of the property, it looks a little like this.


You can see the White Pine is center stage here. I had always planned to move the perennials that are around it as it gets bigger and I think I will need to move a few things this fall or next spring.

Our property has a slight curve to this side. As you walk around the ditch that separates this garden from the road, you will come to a grass called 'Karl Forester'. This is still pretty young, only being in the ground about three years I think, but it's doing pretty well considering this soil is full of clay here on this side of the yard.

Past 'Karl' is a ninebark, a spirea and a rose of sharon I grew from seed along with some phlox I just planted last year and some helen flower that does remarkably well in this poor soil.

A walkway splits the border in half where I grow all my clematis up and over the arbor.

Then you will enter a more shady area that contains a Kousa dogwood, a redbud, two hydrangeas and a bunch of perennials.
Some lovely goldenrod has self sowed itself in my garden and I could not be happier with the sunny yellow color this time of year. Though I had many mums in this garden at one time, I do not believe any of them survived this past winter. Slowly, they began to die off from winters that were too wet and from other plants just crowding them out. I plan on just adding mums here and there in containers from now on.

Beyond the redbud tree you can see how beautiful the hydrangeas are and another batch of helen flower (helenium), black eyed susans and coneflowers.

So that's my mixed border, warts and all. I hope you enjoyed the trip.