Sunday Bits #56 (gardening & Yule prep)

This is a good Sunday Bits post! Jam packed with baking ideas, festive ideas, and best of all, all sorts of gardening reads. Our weather is fantastic, sunny and warm, and dry! Oh so dry. My task this afternoon is to go water in this year's new trees and shrubs, the seed bed, and the garlic. Luckily, we are well into the plus degrees so no problem to hook up the hose and give everything a drink.

Here are this weeks' reads.... Happy Sunday!

Gardening Bits

Stems Seeds has some of their flower seeds available right now, in case you want to give some to that gardener friend on your holiday gift list. Or perhaps pick them up now for yourself so you are ready to start in January, when the holidays are in the rearview mirror?

Also, Tomato Fest has some of their heirloom seeds on sale right now. Sale goes on till January 2nd. I have bought from TF for many years, they have great service, very personalised, the largest heirloom tomato selection, and great seeds.

Creative ways to use your leaves. If you still have leaves to deal with (I sure do!), here are many great ways to use them. I have fed my raspberries and garlic beds, and made a pile to use in my compost bin next spring, the ones on the front lawn get to stay there, we definitely never waste them. Check out some of these really great ideas, like the tomato idea!

Starting a new bed next year? The time to get it ready is now, if you can still get in your yard to get it ready. Read all about sheet mulching here... no more digging out grass!

I thought this garden trial was very interesting. They buried different food scraps by their tomatoes to see if they would help produce more fruits. I think you may be surprised by the results.

Winter gardening tips and ideas for all the zones! I loved the coldframe in the greenhouse idea for here in my zone 3. For the zone 7, the watering in winter tip was very important! I used to keep my potted bay tree and apricot in the hoophouse, along with any other tender plants, plus my bed of winter veggies. They would all get so dry, especially during those sunny winter days. As the water was turned off in winter, I lugged many watering cans of water into that hoophouse once a month, or so.

Honey mushrooms at the base of one the shrubs in my border planting.

Honey mushrooms! They may well be a delicacy, but mean a certain death for the tree or shrub they show up at the base of. Check out the above picture of a shrub in my Cedar yard. It was alive, healthy, flowering, so pretty all summer long, but died the following summer. The honey mushroom spreads (albeit, slowly) underground from tree to tree, shrub to shrub. It does not affect flowers or grass, just woody plants. This is very grave concern on Vancouver Island, is very destructive and has no cure.

This pollinator lawn was originally planted with shrubs all along the curving pathway.

I had a semi-circular area out front (of the acreage) where I had planted a row of shrubs all along the curving pathway to the house. Thought it would make a lovely border planting to have something in bloom from spring through fall, plus provide some shade and privacy. One by one, these shrubs all died. It did not happen all in one year, happened over a span of 4 years as it takes a while for the mushrooms to spread underground. I turned this area into an alternative, flowering, eco-lawn for the pollinators instead. Still pretty, just different.

Beebalm and Larkspur.

Bees love Beebalm, and I do, too! Here is a how-to for growing it from seed.

Also, how to grow Anise Hyssop (and what to do with it). I had a blue/purple one in my potager, but I sure did love this lovely pink one I found! It's favourite with the bees and hummers.

This read about calcium in soil. It made me think to mention that if you are watering correctly but end up with BER each summer, you may want to check your ph. If your soil is acidic, it makes it harder for the tomatoes to take up the calcium from the soil. Dolomitic lime with calcium can be added right now so that it has time to make a difference in your garden in time for next summer. Maybe just try in a small area? This is absolutely not a thing here on the prairies, where our soil is clay and more on the alkaline side, but may be pertinent to your potager if you live on the west coast.

Homey Bits

Okay, I have posted a lot of kitchens over the past year, but this one, well, this one has to be in the top 3, for sure. So pretty and functional. Love those open shelves, too. I know most people don't love open shelving, but when used for the containers, I think is such a smart idea.

Gets them off the counter tops (where mine reside). Or, imagine them with pretty cannisters of tea all lined up in a row, eh? Something like JusTea., they have the loveliest cannisters!

Free vintage printables that I made into Christmas post cards.

Make your own vintage Christmas cards. I do this each year. I print off freebie vintage cards and use them as gift tags, place cards, and cards to send friends and family.

Also, these free printable gift tags! I have already printed off a bunch of them : )

This list of Christmas tree decorating ideas even has a Humbug like me oohing and ahing. Loving trend #6, especially in velvet. Tbh, anything in velvet makes me happy, though.

This lovely coffee bar idea is written for Thanksgiving but I think it would be perfect for Christmas, as well. When you have those guests over for the holidays. I am so envious of everyone who has a coffee bar! I would have to do some more renos to make space for one... and I am not ready for that quite yet ; )

Make these paper bag snowflakes!

Recipes

This cranberry orange cake is beautiful! I think this is one that I have to make. Unlike the baker of this cake, who hates baking but loves cooking, I am exactly the opposite. I dislike cooking, only make things that are fast and easy, but I love to bake! The unfortunate part of that is that I love to eat my baking, too ; )

Speaking of baking... if you do not follow me on social media, you have not heard about those ciabatta buns that I posted the recipe for last Sunday. I made them, and you guys, they are the best, the most delicious, yummiest, chewy outside, airy inside, as good as bakery bought! I am ridiculously proud of my perfect ciabatta buns!

Here is The recipe again, it is super simple to follow, has very few steps. The only drawback is that they take about 18 hours to make! You make the starter, the biga, the night before, and let it bubble away for 12 hours.

I made mine just before I went to bed, it took less than 2 minutes to put together. The next day, you put the ingredients together and let it rise 3 times! At an hour or more each. So, you gotta plant to be at home that day, or at least all morning. They are so worth the time.

A wreath making workshop at the Nitty Gritty Greenhouse.

Host a wreath making party! Here are the things you want to think about. You need to hold one! They are so much fun! I used to hold wreath making workshops at my wee greenhouse biz. We always had such a blast, and it was so neat to see how very different each wreath was though made at the same time, with the same supplies. I will be holding a few of these next year in the new wee workshop. Btw, the metal wreath frames can be so hard to come by, pricey at Michael's, so just in case, here is a link for 2 of the frames we used at the ngg.

Hoping you all have the opportunity to spend the afternoon with friends... making wreaths, baking cookies, crafting cards or snowflakes, or maybe some other yuletide goods.

Happy Sunday ~Tanja

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