When to plant tomatoes

This year I planted my tomatoes pretty late, and was feeling glum about that - worried that my crop wouldn't be bountiful. But I was insistent on using all my great heritage (Koanga Gardens) seeds, so I planted seeds around Labour Day (Oct 22).  (Usually people are planting big seedling plants into the garden then).  Just a note for myself for next time - August would be the earliest sowing time for the sub-tropical region of Auckland.  Apparently you just need 3 warm, frost free months for a good harvest. (I just looked it up on this great NZ website - www.gardengrow.co.nz. Has every plant you could want. Wow.  Will use this site when I make a beautiful growing calendar.) The summer has been so hot though, so I think my crop may be fine all the same, which is making me very happy.

I am planning to try to make pasta sauce, and even tomato sauce (that's ketchup to you, North Amerikeens).

I have heirloom jam tomatoes planted that are apparently supposed to be good for saucing this year, some regular jam tomatoes (using saved seeds from a tomato from my friend Bridget's plants), and some random interesting heirloom ones given to me by by friend Debbie (Chocolate Stripes).  For the full biodiversity of tomatoes you could grow here, look on Koanga Gardens' website seed list here.  I am going to save the seeds from the tomatoes I grow this year that I like best, not worries about if they mix and mingle.  I can culture my own favourite variety, right?

One of my seed-sown (end of October) babies, actually getting big.

A stick I picked up on a walk is a useful (and free) support for this plant.  The natural character of a forest stick provides a useful notch to support the tomato plant's weight.

 

I rip up old t-shirts to use as stretchy staking ties.  You can also buy stretchy cotton cord at the garden store, but this is free, and also gets rid of old horrible t-shirts for me - a great cycle.  

I also bought some curved bamboo sticks to stake the tomato plants on.  Since I want alot of tomatoes - although most gardeners do prune the laterals off tomato plants as I did last year (so that the fruit it produces will be bigger and the plant will be tall and straight), I just read in a book by Australian author and gardener Jackie French The Best of Jackie French: A practical Guide to Everything from Aphids to Chocolate Cake  (Harper Collins September 2000), ISBN 0-7322-6551-7) that she doesn't prune her tomatoes.  She feels that if you do, you get less fruit.  She also says to feed them well, that it's impossible to overfeed a tomato plant (as in over-fertilize).  I figured that all those branches of the vine that appear to grow in various directions might be just like having more than one plant coming off the same vine.  Meaning: if I feed the plant well enough, perhaps then it's fine to have unpruned tomatoes that are also good quality fruit.  Hopefully can just guide all the crazy directions of branches of the vines onto these curved hoop stakes and have heaps of tomatoes this year?  So unlike last year, I am allowing them to be like vines.  Besides, Jackie French is obviously a creative woman, so is probably a great and tuned in gardener.  (She has also written children's books, historical novels, etc etc.  All her books are listed here at www.jackiefrench.com).

I can't wait to try all her recipes for what to do with the tomatoes after: tomato paste (which I  love), tomato sauce, dried tomatoes, tomato jam (like fruit jam).  (She places recipes for that fruit or vegetable after the gardening advice - great eh.) 

Apparently the first tomatoes brought back from South America were yellow.  Yellow tomatoes today are lower in acid.  

Loved this also from the Jackie French book: apparently the time to plant tomatoes traditionally is when you can sit on the ground comfortably for 10 minutes, "bare-bummed, but it isn't essential" - which is August to December.

Bu I am used to Canadian weather,so I had better not try that.  I would probably find it comfortable year round.

Favourite top performing eco-products that have stood the test of time

Some ideas I have tried for the sole purpose of having less impact on the environment have not been enjoyable or practical.  However, these products have stood the test of time as being used all the time and loved by my family, as well as a good idea in terms of the environment.

Stainless Steel Drinking Straws

When I visited home last year, my sister-in-law Iris had these.  I loved them, and bought ordered some before I returned home.  They prevent the waste of buying disposable straws, and they don't ever wear out.  Over the past several months, although I also have some plastic coloured twisty straws available, my kids actually prefer the metal straws now.  They are lovely to use, try them!  They look really cool in adult cocktails as well.  They don't really require the cleaner thing that comes with them - just hold them under the tap and the pressure of the water will swoosh them out.  They are of course dishwasher safe. 

The set that I bought were called "Handy House Stainless Steel Drinking Straws", but a few companies make them.  You can order them from Amazon.com, search for "steel straw". 



RethinkNZ Reusable Fresh Product Bags

I still get compliments from fellow shoppers and cashiers whenever they see me using these.  They reduce plastic waste every time I buy veggies and fruit from the grocery store as I don't use the plastic film bags, but they are also preferable in function.  They are strong, breathable, you can weigh your fresh produce in them, and just keep your fruit or veggies in them in the fridge or cupboard if you like.  If they eventually get bits of veggie matter caught in them you can throw them in the wash.

You can get these organic cotton net bags at this NZ website, RethinkNZ.com.

Ginger Pye Reusable Sandwich Wraps

Since we started using them over a year ago, we haven't needed to use any plastic cling wrap (Glad wrap, Saran wrap).  My kids love having their own print to identify their wrap.  I clean them by spraying with a vinegar/water solution and wiping.  Or if I want to get serious, I immerse in water and wash with dish soap and hang to dry.  Happy, fun, responsible.  Unlike the "Glad Wrap" commercials that I hate, I can truly mean it when I say, "Better living, everyone."

You can order these ones in NZ, made by two sisters, at www.gingerpye.co.nz.




Ecostore Lemongrass Soap

I have tried all the varieties of Ecostore Soaps, but I love his one.  It smells  great, doesn't cost that much, contains true and genuine lemongrass extract.  Ecostore was started in 1993 by a couple (Malcom and Melanie Rands) who were living in a permaculture eco-village (growing their own food amongst the forest) and didn't want to pollute their water supply.  They did some research and were horrified by the chemicals that were in the products they were using.  They developed their own products (consulting with medical and chemistry people).  Since then it was grown tremendously, recently expanding into the USA (which will fill a sorely absent niche there).  (I recently saw a short piece on them, which led me to become more loyal to them - rather than just seeing the products on the shelves.)

You can find their products in every supermarket in New Zealand.  If you're farther away just wait a little bit (if you're my family I plan on sending you a sample of all of these great eco-products!)  Their website with all of their products is here: www.ecostore.co.nz

How to clean with vinegar and baking soda

Simplify your life by removing all those cancer causing cleaners and replacing them with baking soda and vinegar.  

Basically, I use vinegar and baking soda for everything now, and it's great.  It's not quite as quick and easy as the chemical bottled cleaners, but my house is healthier without all the toxic cleaners - it's a healthy clean.  I have read that vinegar kills 99% of germs, so it's a great disinfectant, and baking soda actually neutralizes and restores PH balance which helps it in deodorizing and cleaning applications.

However, coming directly from my personal uses and experience...



Using vinegar and baking soda for cleaning:

Baking soda provides the friction for cleaning.  You can use it for cleaning stovetops, bathtub rings, and toilets. You deposit a small amount of the powder directly onto the surface you are cleaning and use a damp cloth to scrub it around.   It does leave a powdery residue - unless you then spray some vinegar onto it. It will then foam up as the two react together, which is pretty cool. (Or you can just wash it away with your cloth).  For this reason I don't use baking soda on mirrors - just use some soap and water, or vinegar and water.  Baking soda works wonders for ceramic stovetops (the stoves with one seamless glass surface).

I always use vinegar to clean spills on the carpet - it's very safe to use. If that's not enough, I use baking soda, then add the vinegar.

I actually clean my toilet now by dumping some baking soda into the bowl and a bit all over everywhere else. After using the brush to clean the bowl and a rag to clean the seat and other parts I spray and pour vinegar all over. It froths up as it reacts with the baking soda. Spilled baking soda and vinegar help to clean the surrounding floor.  Around the bathtub, you might need some sugar soap as well - or some dish soap - but the baking soda will help remove bathtub rings. 



Laundry:

Pour a cup of vinegar into the wash to kill germs, and neutralize urine when kids have wet the bed (or when washing cloth nappies/diapers).  Vinegar is an acid, and urine is ammonia.  Baking soda is good for the odours too. 



Personal uses:

If you have insect bites or eczema, baking soda in the bath takes away the itchiness.   I use a spray of vinegar and water (half and half) for disinfecting in the kitchen.  (I bought a good garden spray bottle which is works very well).


You can brush your teeth with baking soda to remove plaque and also whiten them.


Zero waste:  I refill large baking soda and vinegar containers at a whole foods store (Binn Inn, in NZ) so that I also eliminate all the million cleaning bottles that would have been necessitated from buying cleaning products.  

Of course another really safe great tool for sterilizing and cleaning is a kettle of boiled hot water.



For cleaning recipes and ideas, check out Bea Johnson's zero waste recipes .  She has a zero waste home in California, and makes all her own cleaning products.  She lives in California, but is from France originally - she has that flair.

Pumpkin whorl

 

  Pumpkin whorl,

 

...with room to unfurl.

 

 Marigolds glow,

 

helping seedlings to grow.

 

 

 A playhouse is built

where the weta goes.

Plum juice for jam, and drinks, and doors.

Neighbourhood kids gather together,

life is better when we care for each other.

Magic elasmosaurus (learned from the library),

beautiful Troy.

A life lived closer to the land is a life full of joy.

How to knit striped alpaca baby mittens and hat in the round

  (4 - 10 months, baby stage after newborn)

 

The alpaca wool that I used was 8-ply.  I bought it from Silverhill Alpacas.  Alpaca wool isn't scratchy, like sheep wool, so it's a great choice for babies.  One 50gm ball of royal blue, one of red.

Sustainable living struggles:  It is best to find and support a local supplier if possible.  The alpaca blue and red I used here was sold by a local alpaca farm, but they imported their bright colours as they are breeding for the natural colours (not usually white).  But they do sell white undyed fleece - maybe I could talk to her about it and learn how to dye my wool brightly in future...and get it spun by locals?  Or just buy from someone else who does dye it locally. 



To make the mittens

Cast on 24 stitches onto 3 double-pointed needles, 8 on each needle, of the blue wool.  These needles are 4 mm.  Knit 2K 2P, and repeat for 7 rows, which will create two stitch wide rib.

Because the number stitches is even, each needle will always start out with 2K and end with 2P.  Because you are knitting in the round, there will be no need to invert the pattern after each round, it will happen automatically.

Change to the second colour, and K one round, stopping before the last stitch.  Create an extra stitch from this one (I use the KFB method).  Repeat for 5 more rows.  Switch colours every 2 rows (the stripes are two rows in length), taking care that the colour string you are leaving is up over the work.

Above photo:  see how the blue string I have just finished with is over the work, not below so I won't create a hole.

Now take a large needle such as a tapestry needle and push it through the 6 extra stitches you have made, pulling a piece of wool through them to place them on hold.

Knit on as usual, excluding the 6 stitches on the outside of the circle.  (Later the thumb will be knitted onto these stitches.)  4 rows later, decrease by K2together on the last stitch of the row, then shift the stitches on the 3 needles to allow for all the decreasing you will be doing at the left and right sides of mittens only as it makes a better shape.  So every round, K2together at the sides of the mittens.  Repeat until you have 4-6 stitches left.  Take a large needle and pull your remaining wool through (cut it), then bind it off with a few knots, camoflauging the wool ending somewhere, gliding it inside the wool.  

Etcetera!

More on the decreasing:  I shifted more stitches onto the needles where I knew I was decreasing.  For example, I wanted the mitten back to be a little wider than the front so it curved around a bit, so I shifted stitches so there was a total of 14 on two needles for the back (9 stitches on one and 5 on the other), and 10 on the other needle.  I always decreased at the beginning of the needle with 10 stitches on it, and at the start of the next needle with 9 on it, so that the decreasing was only at the sides of the mittens.



To knit the thumbs

Take up those stitches, onto 3 needles, and knit away for several rows, then start decreasing - I just ended them by eye as long as I thought a thumb should be.  If you don't like feeling your way around, 7-8 rows in total?  I had the cool idea of not trying to end the thumb rounded, but in a point.  A pointy thumb wouldn't bother the baby, and like a pointy hat, would be cute.  


Finishing them:  A very important last step is to weave one string of the wool using a tapestry needle in and out around the wrists of the mittens to act as a drawstring (see photo above).  Babies are active things; they will otherwise throw them off and lose them.  (I was originally going to fasten a string between them, as you do with older childrens' mittens so they don't get lost - but with babies that could be a hazard.)  



To knit the hat

The baby hat (or toque, as they say in Canada) was just knitted in the round, and ended with a point.  I just looked up the common diameter of a baby's head - like this:

0 to 3 months - 29.2 to 33 cm
3 to 6 months - 35.6 to 40.6 cm
6 to 12 months - 40.6 - 45.7 cm  

And of course, I finished it off in a point!  (Because elves are cool.)

Making bread at home becomes easy - just like everything else

One thing I have found is:  

Everything is hard the first few times you do it.  Then it becomes easy.

It was the same with getting used to using my breadmaker instead of just buying bread.  Although it took only five minutes a day to throw the ingredients in the breadmaker, at first there was a real investment of energy as I got the right measuring cups and ingredients ready, and actually read enough of the manual to figure out how to operate the breadmaker.  But that investment has paid off, since now I can't believe it took discipline to use a breadmaker at first (instead of buying bread).

After I got used to the routine of using a breadmaker, and in fact used it so often (and sometimes forgetting things like THE WATER), it broke after about a year.  But I also at that time visited my family in North America, and my Dad showed me how to make no-knead bread - as they now make all their bread this way.  Once more, it took awhile toget set up with all the things I needed, and to truly understand the process.  Now making no-knead bread is easy.  (And using the breadmaker - I've since gotten it fixed - is just like falling off a log...)

Don't get me wrong - regular bread is easy too - kneading is quite therapeutic.  And I love whipping up pizza dough with my hands, when I am in the mood for it.  But if you have to work too, as we usually too nowadays, and you still want to make bread at home, it's good to have an easy method so that you actually can realistically accomplish it.

Easy bread links on this blog:

How to make crusty white no-knead bread (artisan bread) in five minutes
How to make100% whole wheat no-knead bread (brown bread) in five minutes
How to make buns (bread rolls) easily at home using a breadmaker

Video on making artisan bread (no-knead bread)