Spring 2012

Well, this year looks like it was the winter that never really was! A fall hurricane and October snowstorm that caused major power outages, makes me seriously consider installing solar panels on the roof. Seriously! I like the look of the newer panels I have seen and the cost is more reasonable. It is becoming a real possibility.
I have been contemplating the future and have come to realize a few things. As an educator, I am experiencing the drastic change in our younger generation's interaction with the world. Technology is such an important part of their lives and education in the traditional school system is struggling to keep up. Today, the traditional methods of teaching are not working for all. The school system was designed in the 19th & 20th centuries and students were trained mostly to work in industry as factory workers or on farms. Sitting quietly in a classroom, following an unrealistic schedule, taking solitary tests and using textbooks and worksheets isn't going to continue to work for students today. They need quick feedback, up-to-date technology, and lots of social interaction. If they don't get it in the classroom, their cell phones are out under their desk tops and they are texting each other throughout the class. They are teaching each other the latest game strategies or searching out the latest celebrity and style. We need to incorporate this into how we teach them. They need to move around and interact with each other. They need to quickly find the information they need and share it with each other. This is what they want and this is how they learn. This i
I am so torn as to how to teach them. On one hand, we are REQUIRED to teach to the standardized tests they have to take, but I know I am not teaching them the real skills they will need to be successful after high school. And, not all of them really need, or even want, to go to college. Teachers today really need the tools, training and time to help each student learn in their own, unique way and become successful in the world. They are our future and we all need them to become contributors to our society. They are the doctors, scientists, politicians, farmers, inventors, etc. we will need in the next decade and beyond.
My other observations have been guiding my plans for the future. I have noticed the gray hair on many of the people interested in creating things such as quilts, embroidered items and sewing. However, I see an interest in these creative activities by a growing number of younger people. Gardening is another area that seems to have many gray-haired experts. Most "Master Gardeners" I have met are older women. There appear to be a growing number of community gardens and school gardens "cropping" up in many places throughout the country. I am hoping the younger generation will begin to take more interest. At the middle school level, I had a gardening club as part of an after school program for the last few years and a small number of students really enjoyed starting and planting seedlings. Now that I am at a high school, I am trying to make use of the old, unused greenhouse at the school and get a few students involved there. It's such a small effort, but who knows, if I can inspire just one or two students to take an interest, it is worth it.
So, I am starting my pepper &and tomato plants, preparing for what looks like an early spring and having a feeling of that eternal Hope that all gardeners have, that this will be a successful and fruitful season.

Embroidery

I have been sewing up a storm, and my machine has been embroidering for many hours. I saw a few photos on one of my Groups that really caught my attention. These are 3D free standing lace ornaments made with my embroidery machine. They are from OESD and I ordered the CD from Amazon last week. They arrived in a few days and I have been embroidering out some beautiful ornaments. There are also some flat designs, such as the angel and dove. They have applique sections, in which I used organza. They also feature velvet textured stitches that must be cut open with an exacto knife after stitching. I couldn't resist trying them as tree toppers on my little trees in the living room. They look so beautiful with the light shining from inside.

Baby Shower

Two weeks ago we had a baby shower for Marie. A teacher she works with made her a cake to go with the theme, elephants. Isn't it cute?

Baby coming soon

In a few weeks we expect a new addition to our family. My daughter and her husband, Mike, are expecting a baby boy. There was a shower for the baby given by her mother-in-law. I would say Elisette could give Martha some competition. She prepared & decorated quite a spread.

Halloween costume making

Julian asked me to make him his costume this year. He wanted to be Pikachu, one of the Pokeman characters. He was very specific about the details he wanted and gave me a little toy to use as a model. He wanted to have his face behind the mouth which was covered with red knit fabric which he could see through if it was light enough outside. He didn't want to have a mask or cut outs for his eyes. Here is how it came out.

The garden harvest continues despite the dry weather. Those hot days of August and early September have finally gone and the cool evenings are very refreshing. Of course they slow the ripening of many of my crops, but that is actually a relief since it gives me a break from trying to use and preserve the harvest. We finally had a day of rain but it barely soaked the ground. Thankfully, the soaker hose has kept the tomato plants happy. One of the best tomatoes I have grown is an Italian plumb type. I'm not sure what the variety is because I grew them from some seeds my son Peter gave me. I saved some seed to grow next year. These tomatoes are a rich red color and are heart shaped. They are about the size of an actual heart too, not the little plumb tomatoes I have grown in the past. They are very meaty inside with fewer seeds than my other tomatoes.
Among the successes of this summer in the garden; eggplant, peppers, yellow summer squash, zucchinni and pumpkins. I have some white pumpkins growing this year, plus small orange sugar pumpkins and a couple of BIG ones. I have to get out there today and tend to the crops. It has been a wonderful experience to grow enough to share, especially when my coworkers tell me the tomatoes I brought in were the best they have ever tasted! Several dozen went to the local food pantry too!

Summer Garden July, 2010

Companion planting trials. Pumpkins with corn and cabbage with onions and monarda.



Things are progressing well in the Z Farm garden. I harvested lots of squash and beans. Made some zucchini bread, now that the weather has cooled off a little. Flowers are in bloom and tomatoes are finally ripening. It seems that every year we have lots of green tomatoes hanging on the vines and they just refuse to turn red until the calender says "August"! Well, they are worth the wait. The bean and melon plant Julian started as a kindergarten project, are growing out of their alotted space! We actually have some melons ripening. I discovered a pumpkin in the patch too. I tried some companion planting this year. I now have pumpkins growing among the corn stalks. I also planted a small raised bed with red cabbage and brussel sprouts. I read that cabbage likes onions and rosemary so I added those in between. I also planted monarda, to attract pollinators. The bees love it! So far, they all seem to be happy together. I am noticing some leaf damage on the cabbage but nothing really bad, just a few holes in the leaves. Since I will be shredding the red cabbage up for salads, it shouldn't make much difference.

Summer Road Trip 2010

I just completed a 10 day road trip with my daughter, Marie. We covered 9 states in 10 days. We started the trip by visiting the Rodale experimantal farm nearKutztown, PA. From there we traveled through Amish country, stopping at Burkholder's Fabrics in Denver, PA. What a great store, if you are a quilter! Many rooms of beautiful fabrics. We headed south, through the Blue Ridge Mountains and stayed at the Skyland Resort in the Shenandoah National Park. Definitely will return to this beautiful place. Despite the fact that the Northeast was experiencing the hottest temperatures on record, we took a room with no AC,or TV for that matter, only a ceiling fan, and were quite comfortable because we were up at the topof the mountain, at 3,680 feet! It was nice and cool and the views were breathtaking. From there we headed further south to Raleigh, NC to spend the night and then made our way down to Wilmington, NC to stay with our wonderful friends, Clair & Fred. What wonderful friends they are. We were treated to a Down Southern Boil cooked by daughters & the guys.

We enjoyed their company for 2 days and then headed to Winston-Salem and a ride through the Smoky Mountains, a visit to the Cherokee Museum and then on to Knoxville, TN to the AQS Quilt Show, where we saw some beautiful quilts and met Alex Anderson, in person. We enjoyed a nice conversation with her and her assistant.

We also just HAD to go up to the top of the Sunshere! (My idea, Marie was feeling a little squeemish) But we got an awesome view of the city.

From Knoxville, we headed over to

Frankfort, KY. Frankfort is actually the capitol of that state, not Lexington or Louisville! We stopped to do a little shopping and picture taking, and made it to the Woodford Reserve Distillery, just after they closed at 5:00 pm. Soooooo, we stayed overnight in Frankfort and got to the distillery in the morning, just as they opened.

What wonderful horse country it is over there!

After stocking up on gifts, we started to head back east,

and home. Since we hadn't reserved a place to stay that night, we decided to make it a driving day and set our goal on getting

to Gettysburg, PA before sunset! We made it, booked the last room in the Comfort Suites hotel and headed out for dinner, our last dinner together on the trip. We were up early in the moring and hit the road, stopping at the Amish Farmers Market on the way. We stocked up on fresh fruit, had the best chicken fillet sandwich EVER, and then headed home.

At the market, I saw the best gift for my soon to be born grandchild, an Amish made rocking horse! A little Amish boy was riding on it as we walked by and Marie and I stopped to watch him. A few minutes later, the boy was done playing, Marie was busy looking at a print at the ajacent shop, so I made the purchase. I put the rocking horse in the shopping cart and when Marie was done she turned around and saw it. She said "Thanks Mom" with tears in her eyes. A good hug made it the best ending of our trip ever! We arrived home safely after a few hours more of driving and New Jersey & New York traffic. It was the best trip we ever had together and I am so thankful that we did it! We will have the memories and pictures for a long while and we will be able to tell the baby that we all took the trip together!

New garden addition, "Grow Camp"

I am sooo excited! My husband & I completed assembling the new addition to our garden. We bought it online at Costco and it is called a Grow Camp. Basically it is a bottomless box with an attached frame that has plastic film on each end and mesh screen fabric attached at the top that is attached with velcro along the sides and across the bottom of the sides. It also came with plastic film that is also attached at the top and fits over the screen and is also attached with velcro along the sides and bottom. I am posting some pictures. It assembled easily enough. We just had to make sure we were attaching things facing the correct way. It is easy to assemble things backwards. Once it was up, I decided to get some dirt and use it as a covred raised bed. It took a LOT of soil, 30 bags plus a whole garden cart full of compost. And it could really use more! I planted some cucumbers, parsely, red cabbage so far. I may remove the red cabbage since the book says it takes up a lot of room. I think the cucumbers will like it! I'll probably plant some peppers, since they like nice warm conditions. I stuck my transplanted seedlings out there too, just placing them in trays on top of the soil for now. They sell planting trays for the Grow Camp. I will probably order some of those, since you can hang them from the cross braces to form a shelf above the plants in the soil. I love it! I am hoping to extend my growing season and have peppers and root veggies long into the fall.

April,2010

The play, "Beauty & the Beast" was a huge success. Three sold out performances! The cast and crew were wonderful. Now that the rehearsal frenzy is over and the weather is better, it's time to get the garden ready. Yesterday was a warm, dry day after almost a week of rain, rain, and more rain! Our heavy clay soil just holds that moisture and it takes time to drain. I was able to clean up our side flower garden and the raised beds. Thank goodness for those raised beds. I have been building them over the years, since we have a yard full of boulders that we can't budge. So... the solution was to use them as borders and build up the soil around them to make the raised beds. With our heavy soil, it works! I planted asparagus in one bed. Today I will plant lettuce, spinach and chard. I also harvested a whole bucket of Jerusalem artichokes from the bed I was preparing for the asparagus. They just multiply! There are still many areas of the garden where they grow every year.