Reusable Christmas

My parents were not the ones who taught me "eco-friendly" values. I picked that up from books, media, trips to parks, and my awesome elementary school. Slowly, as I started applying the lessons to my own life, my parents started to use reusable bags at the grocery store and put some food scraps into their green bin instead of the trash. Along the way, without anyone making an intentional decision, our gift-packing methods shifted. Slowly, we started to use less wrapping paper and more tissue paper and bags at Christmas (or as I think of it, the winter solstice celebration). Each year, we save the tissue paper and bags (and sometimes ribbons) to be reused next time. Each year, the pile of trash and recycling to be tossed after opening presents is smaller.

I am delighted about this shift. As I told my mother, this adds to my enjoyment of the celebration, rather than worrying about the environmental impact of wrapping gifts in disposable paper.

Baking bread

I recently read the book Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: What You Should and Shouldn't Cook from Scratch--Over 120 Recipes for the Best Homemade Foods, by Jennifer Reese. I'd always heard that bread is very easy to make at home, but this was the book that pushed me to actually try it.

The verdict? Everyone was right, and I have no need to purchase artisan bread ever again.

This bread is dense, with a thick, crispy crust, and I added poppy seeds and sunflower seeds for extra flavor. I brought these two fresh loaves to my parents' house for Christmas, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

I will experiment with increasing the ratio of whole wheat flour to all-purpose white flour (the recipe calls for 1 3/4 C whole wheat to 5 1/2 C white), and with adding more types of seeds and nuts.

Jewelry making

I am writing this post in October, but scheduling it to show up after my family exchanges Christmas presents. This year, I was inspired to try my hand at jewelry making. The first step was spending two hours wandering back and forth in the jewelry and beading section of Michael's, and figuring out what the different tools and accessories were for. Second was picking out the colors and styles of beads I wanted to use. The third part, actually putting it all together, was surprisingly quick and easy.

Click on any picture to see it come up in a bigger size.

For my parents, I made three sets of magnetic wine charms:

And for my sister, I made a necklace in memorium of her beloved kitty, Sasha:

I was pleased to find a photo of Sasha in front of a window, making a glow around him that lends to the vintage feel of the brown pendant, beads, and leather strip. The beads match his orange tabby fur.

Pea flower

The first flower on the pea plants!

Never mind that it's December 22nd. We had a new nights of frost a few weeks ago, and now it's in the mid-60s again, so the plants are confused. The camellia out front is covered in flowerbuds and some are already opening. That's California, y'all.

Yard work

Went over budget this month on garden supplies, but my succulents needed a frost cover ASAP.

It's not exactly air-tight since the wooden planks below the balcony allow air flow, but cross your fingers for them. Once the frost passes (probably just another month, maybe two), I'll replant them into the big plastic bins as planned. I was going to do that today, but I broke my box cutter as I was shortening the sides of one of the bins. I'll add a new box cutter or maybe just a good knife to next month's shopping list.

I bought the frost cover at Pollinate Farm & Garden, my local urban farming/homesteading store (how cool is that?!). I also said hello to their beautiful chickens.

The hen on the right was really a gorgeous silver color. I am so looking forward to having chickens someday.

One other item I purchased: an impressive collapsible rake, allowing you to rake tight spots as well as store it more easily.

So I spent the afternoon cutting up branches that had fallen during the recent wind storms, and raking up a small portion of fallen leaves until our green bin was completely full. Being the gardening and organizing kook that I am, I enjoyed it!

Next year's gardening plan

Ate all the scallions and the last of the spinach this morning. The frost has arrived and they wouldn't have grown any more, as far as I could tell.

Speaking of frost, some of my succulents are struggling with it. I made a tiny greenhouse out of a translucent plastic tub for this one and a couple of other small guys. Crossing my fingers for them.

The pea plants should survive the winter fine and start growing pods next year. The parsley and dill should also survive, though I have been wittling them down stem by stem. Yum!

I spent yesterday planning my garden for next year. It was my first time making a formal plan, yet it was easier than I'd expected because my picky eating limits the variety of plants I want to grow, and I have even fewer containers to house them all. (I'm growing solely in containers because the soil here is poor and compacted, and I don't know when I'll move and would be sad to leave my plants behind.)

I live in USDA zone 9b. The first frost date is roughly December 15th (though it came a week early this year), and the last is about February 15th. This means that I have a very short winter to deal with and will be able to resume vegetable gardening in just a couple of months!

I am setting aside my largest container for a good crop of scallions, with successions planted every two weeks. I adore scallions, and even with the largest tub devoted to them, I know that I'll still be buying more from the store.

The rest of the containers are much smaller. The one that was sharing space between spinach and scallions will be in partial shade and grow successions of spinach only (seeds planted every 2 weeks in the spring and fall, since summer will be too hot). I will retry a couple of cucumber starts in the round pots. The dill and parsley and pea plants will be replanted in the same pots as needed.

I would like to add carrots, radishes, and potatoes to my garden, but I need more containers for them. (In particular, deep containers for the carrots and potatoes.) I'm in a serious money crunch right now and can't afford to buy more.

On the bright side, I found a giant plastic tub abandoned in a park and it will be a perfect new home for many of my succulents in small individual pots. That will make it easier to water them and move them when I eventually move to a new place. Plus, many of them are currently living in soil that's 1-2 years old and they need a nutrient boost. I'll do this transplanting next time there's a warm afternoon...

First meal from my garden, and compost progress

A delicious milestone: I cut the spinach leaves and ate them with pasta and a little olive oil and spices. There's one more portion left for tomorrow. I actually should have harvested the spinach a couple weeks ago, before I left for vacation. But even if the food doesn't come out perfect, it's still so satisfying to eat something you grew yourself!

The scallions (the skinny stalks growing between the spinach) will hopefully be ready soon, too. In the next planter over, the parsley and dill are looking healthy and delicious as well.

I was eager to open the compost bin and see the worms' progress while I was gone. I was blown away -- nearly everything in the bin is already broken down into dirt. Only the bigger and more recent additions are still whole. It smells earthy and good and soon I will sprinkle the finished compost into the potted fuschia and fern.