Day: July 15, 2017

Turkey Tracks: Hope’s Edge CSA Goodies

Turkey Tracks:  July 15, 2017

Hope’s Edge CSA Goodies

Tuesday is CSA day–or a visit to my Community Shared Agriculture Farm “Hope’s Edge.”  (Hope is the name of the nearest town, and this farm is on the edge of it.)

I stopped on my way out leaving to take this picture of a row of cabbage as the colors were so beautiful.  This cabbage must be in the red family, but I’ve never seen this lavender and aqua form before now.

Bryan and Corinne were fascinated with my garlic scapes.  I made pesto with mine, and Corinne steadily inhaled it over the next few days.  Sadly, I could not taste it as it has aged cheese in it–Parmesan–which would trigger my Histamine Intolerance, which went off the charts this winter.  More on that later.  Maybe.  I am doing much better after eating a low histamine diet since November and have lost 35 pounds.

Here are some Hope’s Edge scapes.  And look at the color of that lettuce.  I can’t wait to eat it.

My own lettuce in my cold frame is thriving, but beginning to bolt.  I has fed so many of us for weeks and weeks now.

I reseeded, and some of those seeds have sprouted.  It is VERY dry.  The “D” word is on people’s lips, as in Drought.

I picked some of the last strawberries at Hope’s Edge this morning.  They are tiny, due to having no rain and being among the last to ripen.

Meanwhile, another BIG HAUL of raspberries here this afternoon.

I will likely get another quart from the bushes with ripe berries.  Meanwhile, look what’s coming along:

The garlic looks good.  The veggie plantings are light this year in terms of crops as I’m not sure if I can eat beans or not.  I have tomatoes for the visitors and squashes (yes, I can eat) planted.  And that’s my Georgia grandmother’s mint on the right front.  I almost lost this mint a few years back.  I’ve had it for about 50 years and in three houses.  One of my childhood memories is being sent out to her garden to get mint for the sweet ice tea served at “dinner,” in the middle of the day.

I’m enjoying this summer.

 

Turkey Tracks: Summer Joys

Turkey Tracks:  July 15, 2017

 

Summer Joys

For me, one of the big joys of summer are my flowers.  My whole yard smells so sweet.

A favorite spot in deep summer.

So like New England:  shingles, white trim, and flowers.

Back deck:

 

 

I’ve never planted single heliotropes in container pots before this summer.  The whole deck smells like vanilla.

Lynn Vermeulen gifted me with these yellow daisys a few years ago.

Drought damage in this tree from last summer.  Not sure what to do with it.

The flower beds are all doing well.  I mulched this year–heavily–so the beds all look pretty tidy.

 

 

Turkey Tracks: “Big Star” Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  July 15, 2017

“Big Star” Quilt

I’ve wanted to make Jen Baker’s “Grand Vintage Star Quilt” (free on her blog) for some time.

Why not make it with selvages?

Well, for one thing, the blocks shrink up a bit when sewn with selvages.  I lost a few star points in that process.  But, I also learned A LOT.  Next time I’d cut my background (the charcoal) a bit bigger, and I’d draw a line for the first strip that is the true center of my finished block–never mind the extra bit on the edges.  Then I’d trim where needed, but keep my center line on target.  I think that might work.

I had a lot of fun quilting this quilt.  I did the selvage bits on the long arm.  I had to rock back and forth a bit as my long arm has an 18-inch throat and the selvage hals-square triangles are longer than that.  Rocking worked fine.  Then I pin basted the quilt as I unrolled it, which works well to keep everything straight for sewing on the domestic.  My Janome 8900 has a stitch that will lock at the start and at the end automatically and does not leave a big knot–IF YOU BRING UP YOUR BACK THREAD FIRST as you would with free motion quilting.  You can trim those threads from the front and the end of the line from the back.  So, I sewed each line separately, which meant I did NOT have to keep turning the quilt.

Nice, yes?

This middle part, as you can see above, was STRETCHY.  But it all came out nicely in the end.

The back has a lot of texture as well:

Thank you Jen Baker.