Thursday, September 16, 2010
Houseplant Takeover
I've owned several sago palm houseplants over the years. Mostly they just sit around and do absolutely nothing for years on end, being so boring as to either make you forget to water them or decide they are dead and throw them away.
But they're architectural and non-messy, so I like them despite their boringness.
Recently in my world of ownership of two boring sago palms, however, A DEVELOPMENT!
That is a new set of leaves!
Holy crap, and yikes. I'm thrilled one of my pair of palms actually did something, but I'm not sure I'm on board with this whole tripling in size thing. I seem to be having an issue with houseplants bossing me around lately, just ask the 14+ foot bird of paradise and anyone who has paid my living area a visit recently.
Anyway, how weird that these new leaves are completely different than the existing leaves in their appearance. I assume this is due to the conditions here at Modern in MN vs. those of wherever it lived before I was it's momma, but still....very strange, in a prehistoric, Invasion of the Body Snatchers kind of way.
But they're architectural and non-messy, so I like them despite their boringness.
Recently in my world of ownership of two boring sago palms, however, A DEVELOPMENT!
That is a new set of leaves!
Holy crap, and yikes. I'm thrilled one of my pair of palms actually did something, but I'm not sure I'm on board with this whole tripling in size thing. I seem to be having an issue with houseplants bossing me around lately, just ask the 14+ foot bird of paradise and anyone who has paid my living area a visit recently.
Anyway, how weird that these new leaves are completely different than the existing leaves in their appearance. I assume this is due to the conditions here at Modern in MN vs. those of wherever it lived before I was it's momma, but still....very strange, in a prehistoric, Invasion of the Body Snatchers kind of way.
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Puttin' Up
Help.
I'm drowning in garden goodness, although at this point in the season I have to admit "goodness" isn't exactly the right term. Overwhelming is more like it.
Here's a run down of what I've picked, processed and canned just in the last TWO DAYS:
2 pounds of hot peppers
12 pounds of tomatoes
5 pounds of carrots
6 pints of chow chow relish
and 15 pounds of cukes still await, yikes.
The spicy carrots and chow chow relish recipes came from that great book in the photo, a fabulous gift from my fabulous pal Knit-Whit, and just in time for canning crunch time!
Adding this to my totals so far this summer:
60 pounds of tomatoes(!!)
endless pint jars of dill and bread and butter pickles
8 or 10 pints of dill and spicy green beans
I'm running out of room to put all of this stuff, really. Imagine shopping for canned goods for an entire year, all at once, and that would be what I'm dealing with. Or at least that's the hope, but suddenly my generously sized pantry and plentiful cabinet space are not all that.
Technically, most of the tomatoes ended up going into the freezer...faster and easier than canning, but that did mean that I had to go out and buy and then excavate a spot in the garage for a big auxiliary freezer.
Forced garage tidiness, it's a good thing.
So lots and lots of good stuff to eat over the winter, but holy cow I hope I'm done dealing with the tomatoes and cukes. And here's hoping we don't get sick of pickles.
I'm drowning in garden goodness, although at this point in the season I have to admit "goodness" isn't exactly the right term. Overwhelming is more like it.
Here's a run down of what I've picked, processed and canned just in the last TWO DAYS:
2 pounds of hot peppers
12 pounds of tomatoes
5 pounds of carrots
6 pints of chow chow relish
and 15 pounds of cukes still await, yikes.
The spicy carrots and chow chow relish recipes came from that great book in the photo, a fabulous gift from my fabulous pal Knit-Whit, and just in time for canning crunch time!
Adding this to my totals so far this summer:
60 pounds of tomatoes(!!)
endless pint jars of dill and bread and butter pickles
8 or 10 pints of dill and spicy green beans
I'm running out of room to put all of this stuff, really. Imagine shopping for canned goods for an entire year, all at once, and that would be what I'm dealing with. Or at least that's the hope, but suddenly my generously sized pantry and plentiful cabinet space are not all that.
Technically, most of the tomatoes ended up going into the freezer...faster and easier than canning, but that did mean that I had to go out and buy and then excavate a spot in the garage for a big auxiliary freezer.
Forced garage tidiness, it's a good thing.
So lots and lots of good stuff to eat over the winter, but holy cow I hope I'm done dealing with the tomatoes and cukes. And here's hoping we don't get sick of pickles.
