The Woolen Rabbit

Summer is rolling right along in the garden....

Look.....we have red tomatoes!!

Last summer we never saw a single red tomato after our dealings with late season blight, so I am feeling somewhat encouraged this year.

I roasted our first batch of tomatoes tonight and oh my...what a sweet treat they were!  I will share that recipe with you next week.  They are SO good!

 I am seeing some blight however.  The good news is it appears to be early blight which is not uncommon especially here in the northeast.  While it is not good to see, it is definitely not as destructive as late blight which what many of us dealt with last summer.

When I first spotted the yellowed, blighty leaves I felt pretty discouraged, but I sprayed them with a natural fungicide hoping to ward off total destruction and so far most of the plants responded well.  Can you believe how big these babies are getting?  They are almost taller than me!

I am pretty sure that the 2 plants I bought as mature plants from a nursery who no longer raises the plants from seed, but rather imports them in is where the blight came in as they are the only 2 tomato plants that have not thrived.  I will probably not purchase any further vegetable plants from them and rather stick with the 2 nurseries up here who only sell plants that they started from seed themselves.  I am also thinking about maybe setting up a cold frame and raising my own seedlings. ;-)

It's simply amazing how different a garden can be from year to year.  Last year everything other than cukes and squash were a daily struggle, but here this year the garden is lush and green.  (shh...do you think I may have planted too many bean plants?  Oops. :-)

Yes I probably did plant too many bean plants but I didn't have the heart to pull a few of them out as they all seemed so healthy and happy and amazingly pretty much bug free.  Bean leaves are a Japanese Beetle favorite, but so far they have not been fornicating all over my bean plants so YAY for that!

I should be picking beans tomorrow. :-)

Interestingly enough my pepper plants while very healthy, green and large have not set much fruit this summer.  The peppers that I have been getting are big and healthy....but there has not been nearly as many as I usually get.  I am not sure why, but the weather here has been pretty dry so that may be part of the problem. I have been watering every other day but it could also be that they need a good fertilizing as well which I will do tomorrow, so we will see. 

All in all though when I make my daily trek out to the summer garden this year I always come back with a smile.  It's simply amazing what a difference a year makes.

Last year was a tough year for New England gardens with the cool, damp weather, but this year so much in the garden is thriving which keeps us moving on...

How's your garden looking?

Fiber Happenings and Podcasts.......

At first, form is needed.
Then doubt and inhibitions must be dispelled.
Eventually, form is celebrated with joy,
And expression becomes formless.
Deng Ming~Dao

Before I get started on my fibery stuff I wanted to tell you about a new podcast called The Knitting Pipeline.

You are not going to believe this but up until now I had never listened to a podcast....yikes!  This new podcast is put out by Paula of A Piper Knits.  Paula was introduced to my yarns via another podcast and since then we have become cyber friends.

Go take a listen to her show....she has a wonderful calming way about her.  I listen to her podcasts when I am working in the garden and have really enjoyed it so far.  If you listen to Episode 3 there will be a little bonus surprise in it for you. ;-)

Ok.....so there has been a lot of fibery happenings here at The Woolen Rabbit.  I have brought in a bunch of new yarns that I am very excited about.  Of course when I bring in a yarn I always try to test knit it before I put it in the shop to be sure that I like it.  I can't sell anything that I do not like myself.

At the end of this past winter I blew a hole in my favorite Keukenhof Soks.  It was a sad day when I tossed those in the trash.  I could hear my" in my head voice" playing taps.....I was so very sad.  I know...kind of strange, but that's how I am...strange...LOL

When I started dyeing this new sock yarn that I call Pearl, I was really excited to get some of it on the needles and so far it hasn't disappointed me.  It's very soft with a lot of spring to it and it. I thought I was going to have to use size 0's which I would rather not knit with, but I have been pleasantly surprised that it is knitting up nicely on size 2.25mm, my favorite needle to knit socks with.

Another new yarn that I am now carrying is Lark.  This is a fingering weight blend of Alpaca, Cashmere and Silk....SO soft!  I wound this cake this afternoon as I am going to test knit a new shawlette for Anne.  Of course this fiery red is one of my favorite colors so I know I will be smiling as I knit. :-)

I am working hard at getting colorways dyed and photographed, but if you see a colorway that you love that is not photographed you can always order it via my Custom Yarn Color Page

Moving on to the real fibery portion of this post.....this is the first year that I have participated in Tour de Fleece.  I am on the Reeves Racers team...go Reeves!  Of course I am not a power spinner as my time is limited, but I have been making time each day to spin.  The roving above is some left over Splish Splash superwash merino that I had.  It had traveled with me to a few shows and after being handled a lot it was not in what I feel is salable condition, so it became mine.....and I am enjoying it. :-)

I am always so amazed and blessed that I get to do what I love most as a job.....I get to play with fiber all day long and I so enjoy seeing the smiles that my handiwork brings to others.
These are good days.....

Weekend Gardening.....herbs...

I thought I would spend a little time taking about herbs.

  Every year I plant herbs but somehow I never seem to utilize them to their fullest..mostly because I really didn't know how to.
  This year I decided it was time to learn a bit more about growing, harvesting and storing herbs.  If I'm going to grow them I should be using them right? 

 

One thing I have learned is herbs should be harvested early in the morning.  As the day heats up the herbs release their oils which creates a bit of bitterness if they are harvested later in the day....so early yesterday morning I headed out to the garden with my big basket and kitchen shears.

 

This year in the herb bed I have the following herbs....
Lemon Thyme, Pizza Thyme, Tarragon, Sage, Flat leaf Parsley, Cilantro, Dill , Oregano, Lavender and LOTS of Basil...we love basil here. :-)

Again because we had allocated a good sum of money for compost and tomato stands I had Ken rig up an herb drying contraption for me instead of buying something.

  What we did was to take an old wooden window screen that had been in the barn and to that Ken cut out a piece of nylon mesh screen that we have for screen repair to the size of the window screen.  We then stapled that piece to the top of the screen on the same side and added a strip of velcro to the bottom and the sides.   This way the herbs can be stored either horizontally or vertically out of the sun and still get good airflow for drying.  The cost was next to nothing...yay!

There are 3 different methods that I use for storing herbs.  I will start off with the herb we use the most.....basil.

Basil is a tender herb and bruises easily, so when I harvest it I try to utilize it quickly.  If you can not get to it right away you can put it in a vase or bucket of water like you would a bunch of flowers to keep it from turning black.

So...what I do is pull all of the leaves off of the stem....fill up my little mini food processor and add a tablespoon of Olive Oil to keep the basil green.....hit the button...chop, chop, chop....add a little more basil...chop, chop, chop chop...and then....

I press the mixture into these little silicon muffin bakers that I have.  These go into the freezer for a few hours..then I remove and put the little muffins into a freezer bag.  Each little muffin is the amount that I use for a double batch of pesto which we eat a lot of.  I also toss this mixture into my spaghetti sauce or soups...yum!

Some herbs in the garden are very prolific, such as Oregano, Thyme and Rosemary.  Cutting herbs back hard every 7-10 days encourages growth and holds them back from flowering, but there is no way that we can use that many herbs in that short of a time frame, so these herbs I dry when I cut them back. 

There are different methods of drying, such as the drying rack that I use for the less prolific growers.  The other method I use is drying upside down in bunches.  In the picture above you can see the fresh oregano that I picked on Saturday.  I stripped the leaves about an inch down from the end of the stem.  Then I gathered about 5 or 6 stems and wrapped an elastic around the end.  These bunches live in my office where I have a shaker peg rack.  It takes about 2 weeks for them to completely dry.  Once dried I slide my hand down the stem and the dried leaves go into the jar....easy peasy. :-)

With tarragon I do something a bit differently.  Tarragon is another herb like basil that holds a lot of water and has a tendency to turn black, so with Tarragon I strip the leaves off of the stem and chop it finely with a knife.

I then set the chopped tarragon on a dry cotton towel to dry.  It only takes a few days for tarragon to dry this way and the nice thing is...it dries green :-).  Tarragon is my favorite herb from the garden and I love the way it's aroma fills my kitchen as it is drying....mmmm....!!

Lastly and the easiest is storing herbs you know you will use within a week.  Just wet a paper towel and wrap a little bundle in it.  Above you see a bundle of cilantro and a bundle of parsley.  I pop these little bundles into a plastic bag and use them as needed during the week....again, easy peasy!

Drying herbs does take a little time.  I spent my Saturday morning doing all of this, but I will be happy that I did so when I use these dried herbs in my cooking over the winter.  I know that no pesticides were used and I saved a boatload of money ...dried herbs are getting expensive in the supermarket!

I hope that these little tips will encourage you to plant an herb garden.  There is nothing quite like wonderfully fresh herbs....and the dried ones that you raised yourself will make you smile in the winter..... :-)

And now a treat from the perennial garden...one of my most favorites...Rudbeckia.  If you click on the picture you will see the tiny happy bee fly.....buzzzzz............Thanks Paula for letting me know that it isn't a real bee...who knew!

Until next week...happy gardening and stay green. :-)

Colors of Friendship

And I'll see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful,
Like a rainbow
Cyndi Lauper

A few weeks ago I met Terry for lunch in Freeport, Maine.  We try to get together every now and then for a few hours to visit and catch up on what's going on in our lives .... I look forward to these visits.

 Before we headed to the restaurant where we were going to have lunch, Terry handed me a pretty paper bag with this amazing shawl that she knit. (my pictures do not do this shawl justice...it is stunning!)

I swooned when I saw the color and I will tell you why in a moment.  The pattern that Terry knit was designed by our friend Susan from Utah and the wonderful little pin was made by another  friend Romi...and oh. my....I LOVE this little bunny pin!

I started blogging around 6 years ago when my friend, Anne, originally of Spinning At Waldon Farm...introduced me to the world of blogging.  It was a new and fascinating world....I loved peeking into the lives of people that I really didn't know, but respected.  Gathering new and creative ideas from them.

 Since then my dearest friends today are the ones who I have come to know thru blogland. As a dyer I truly do think of them in colors, which may sound silly, but it really is the way I think.

 Anne above is soft and blue...loves pastels...
Terry....of course is always blue
Margene....soft shades of blue, vibrant pinks and subtle reds
Anne.....loves everything green as do I
Carole....loves those hot summery reds
Manise (blogless)...is pretty keen on blue purples

So when Terry gave me this incredible gift and was a bit worried that I might not like the color I had to chuckle. This color is exactly the color I have been surrounding myself with lately....in yarn, roving and even in the bag that I am carrying.  Normally I am not really a pink person but toss that beautiful gold into the mix and I am SO there!  Somehow we friends know the colors of our friendships and that is a special gift. :)

I feel so blessed to have made the life long friendships that I have over the years through blogging.  As the years have progressed my time at the computer is not what it used to be, but I am still  so incredibly thankful to have met and befriended those who I hold dear in my heart from blogland.

Thank you Terry.....I LOVE it!!

Tip Toe thru the Garden.....

After completion
Come new beginnings.
To gain strength,
Renew the root.
Deng Ming~Dao

Pattern:  Hayrick Socks
Yarn:  Woolen Rabbit Pandora
Colorway:  Scottish Heather
Needles:  2.25 mm

Can I tell you how much I enjoyed working on these socks?  I thoroughly enjoyed this knit!!!

Another fantastic pattern from Anne.  Very well written with her typical intuitive flow.  I was able to memorize the pattern after 2 repeats.  I so love this about Anne's patterns!

I managed to catch Hannah in a good mood today, which meant squeezing in a few pictures of finished items.  As you probably can guess Hannah hates having her picture taken, so when she is feeling agreeable I move quickly...LOL.  Hannah's feet are a bit bigger than mine, so these socks don't fit her quite as well as they fit me....and they fit me like a glove :-)  I'm still not crazy about knitting these short row wrapped heels, but I am getting better at them.  The next pair of these I make just may have a flap heel though....just sayin'. :-)

My only regret is that I did not add a few repeats to the leg portion of the sock.  I typically like a longer sock, but given that this was a test knit for a new yarn I didn't want to push it....but I could have as there was plenty of yarn left over.  Over all I am so happy with these socks.  Love the yarn, love the pattern....you will see another pair in the not too distant future. :-) 

Weekend Gardening....dealing with hot spells...

Whew....did you New Englander's survive last week's heat wave?  My hat is off to our Southern friends who live in this weather more often than not.  I can deal with the heat, but the humidity makes me feel like the Wicked Witch of the West....cranky and melting!

Since I have shown that I am not good with a regular Friday post, the garden reports will happen sometime on the weekend. :-)

I LOVE garden greens but unfortunately they do not always like the heat, so I try to help them along.  Because I had already spent a lot of money on tomato cages and soil prep this year, I didn't have extra money for hoops and covers.  Being the good innovative Yankees that we are, Ken and I rigged up the tarp that you see above.

Putting the tarp up like this is giving the lettuce enough shade during the heat of the day and enough indirect sun for growing.  If I know rain is coming or I am watering, I just peel it back and let it rest on the fence.

 

So far the lettuce crop has been wonderful and with the hot weather the aphids and slugs have stayed away for the most part...Yay!  This batch of cut and come again lettuce unfortunately has seen it's last hurrah though.  After I snapped this picture I cut them back hard.  I will get one more small harvest and then I will pull out the plants.

Last week all of the butter crunch heads were harvested and I planted the new heat hardy Red Sails lettuce seedlings that I started in the house in their place.  With tarp shading the hot midday sun they should do ok and start giving us more lettuce in a few weeks.  I think that I will put some broccoli seeds in place of the lettuce that I will pull the middle of next week for a fall harvest. :-)

Tomato plants thrive in this hot humid weather, but they also become very thirsty, so one of the things that I am trying this year is using soda bottles to water them a bit more evenly....kind of like drip irrigation.

It's so easy peasy!  To do this just collect a few empty 2 liter bottles of water or soda, cut off the bottom third and then drill a few small holes in the cap.  (Few and Small......ask me how I know...LOL)

I fill them up in the morning and then again later in the day if they are dry.  In between I do use the overhead sprinkler late in the afternoon if the entire garden is looking a bit thirsty.

 

Another thing I have started doing is covering some of the plants with straw to help retain some of the moisture in the soil.  I don't put a lot down because I don't want to encourage any fungus growth, but just enough to protect the roots of tomato and pepper plants from drying out too much.....

So far it seems to be paying off.  I will admit though after loosing my entire crop of tomatoes last summer, I still worry daily about these babies, but at least for today they are looking healthy and happy.

One of the rewards of this week's heat and humidity in the garden was the blooming and aromas of this beautiful Stargazer.  Such amazing beauty in this incredible Lily......

Until next weekend.............stay cool and stay green!

Hey My Little Honey Bee.................

Hey, my little honey bee
Oh baby, you been sweet on me
Hey, my little honey bee
Oh, my queen bee
Rock me to my soul
Rock me to my soul, baby, baby
To my soul, oh.....
Dawn Landes

Pattern:  Les Abeilles
Yarn:  Woolen Rabbit Abeilles
Colorway:  Perfectly Pear
Needles:  US 4

It's no secret here that The Woolen Rabbit loves bees, so when I saw this pattern of Anne's I immediately set aside what I was working on to start this shawl and I will freely admit that I LOVE it! 

In fact I love it so much that I named the yarn that I used Abeille, which stands for "Bee".  This lightweight bamboo blend is perfect for a summer shawl for the occasional cool night.  Once the humidity drops a little this week I will be dyeing up a bunch of this and adding it to the store. :-)

 Thank you Anne for such a lovely pattern!!!  Bzzzzz..............

Friday's Garden on Sunday.....

Lines on the face, tattoos of aging.
Life is proved upon the body
Like needle-jabs from a blind machine.
Deng Ming~Dao

Any avid gardener will tell you that the bane of gardening is dealing with the pests that want to enjoy the fruits of your labor as much as you do and sometimes they win sadly. 

One of the garden pests that I have always had to deal with over the years is the nicely colored cucumber beetle.  It always makes me a bit sad to squish this pretty yellow and black bug that reminds me so much of my beloved bees, but I always kill them if I can catch them because they wreck such havoc in the garden.

It's hard to believe that such a small bug could do so much damage isn't it?  They breed with voracious speed and as they feed from leaf to leaf they not only chew big holes in your plants which weakens them, but they spread fungi such as mildew and bacterial wilt....not good things.

Last week when I was doing my daily garden check I almost croaked when I saw how many cucumber beetles were fornicating all over my pumpkin plants.............YIKES!  It was scary I tell you!

I was ready to rip those plants out, but I knew that the beetles would just move themselves over to the winter squash and cucumbers plants in the other beds, so I started doing some frantic reading.  Norma had recently posted how she had planted some nasturtiums and marigolds as companion plants around her squash/cuke type plants to discourage the bug activity.

So off to the local nursery I went in search of more Marigolds (my favorite flower) and some Nasturtiums.  While I was shopping this organic spray caught my eye.  Made with garlic, rosemary and peppermint oils along with a few other ingredients it is said to be a good deterrent especially for Japanese beetles. (I'm thinking ahead to the bean plants in a few weeks).

Armed with my spray and new plants, I sucked it up and decided to give the pumpkin plants an opportunity before I yanked them out.

Interestingly enough, I wasn't able to plant the flowers for a few days, but I stuck the flats in the places that I planned to plant them in, except near my winter squash.  Within a day I notice much less bug activity except around the winter squash...Hmmm....I think Norma is onto something here. :)

While I have not completely eliminated the cucumber beetle and I doubt that I will this year, things are looking much better....especially since I have not seen any squash bug activity (very creepy bug) since using the veggie pharm spray and planting the flowers.

I know that there are people who think that we gardeners must be crazy to do this year after year when there are so many wonderful CSA's out there, but as I was kneeling in the garden yesterday cutting some herbs and greens....I smiled.  I love the feel of sun on my back and the dirt in my hands and yes, some years I may lose an entire crop of tomatoes to blight, lettuce to aphids and snails or corn to a wind storm, but something else in the garden always manages to shine and make up for the losses......so I march forward with my spade in my hand. :-)

I will have some yummy fiber stuff for you this week....I promise. :-)

Happy 4th of July!!!