Fall Is Here-It's DIY Time to Get Ready For Winter

Have you heard about Habitat ReStore? http://pdxrestore.org/
" Habitat for Humanity ReStores are open to the public and sell a variety of good quality building materials, appliances, furniture and other home improvement products at a fraction of retail prices.
All our merchandise is donated by businesses and individuals and we get new things daily. Follow us on twitter for the latest great deals.

The ReStore Mission

Our ReStores raise funds to help Habitat for Humanity build affordable homes in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan areas. And, we keep usable materials out of the waste stream and into home building, remodeling, and creative arts projects.

In just the past two years we have raised over $275,000 for our affiliates and kept over 1,800 tons of materials out of the landfill.

Get Involved

Donate: Individuals and businesses can donate new and gently used materials to our stores. We accept donations both large and small.
Shop: We have two locations, one in Portland, OR and one in Vancouver, WA. Come visit us. New goods daily. Treasures are waiting.
Volunteer: The Portland and Vancouver ReStores need the help of volunteers like you. We have plenty of opportunities for both individuals and groups. Find out more on our Volunteer page."

Our local Habitat Restore is doing a series of free workshops on weatherization and home improvement. Since the cooler weather is here we may as well be doing something interesting inside.

Clark County Habitat ReStore

5000 E 4th Plain Blvd

Vancouver, WA

 

Saturdays at 1 pm.

October 2, 2010: Session 1 will focus on exterior weatherization. Topics will include window and door installation, exterior trim install, correct caulking, sealing and house-wrap installation.
1pm - 3pm

October 16, 2010: Session 2 will focus on sheetrock installation and correct taping and mudding procedures. 1pm - 3pm

October 30, 2010: Session 3 topics will include interior painting processes and baseboard and trim installation. 1pm - 3pm

All sessions will be taught by awesome trade professionals! Our lead instructor will be John Schwager, a local contractor and Restore customer. John is a great guy and we’re sure you will learn lots from him.

Rain and Fall

I haven't posted in a while because the  summer has been intensely busy. We, TwoRivers Music, have played all over Oregon and Washington this summer and have shows booked "away" through October.

The weather has kept things interesting in the garden. We have discovered that our front garden in really a wind tunnel-part of the "gorge effect" I'm sure. High on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River the wind comes zooming from the East, up the street, across the front garden and through the back gate. Our tomatoes suffered from this and it actually took out our trellis of Scarlet Runner Beans. Ah, live and learn. The front garden in a different micro climate from the back. The back gets sun all day and is much more sheltered from the wind. Next year tomatoes will go in the back. Basil growing in the back is also much happier than in the front so...Basil in the back next year!!
We've canned applesauce and peach butter, frozen lots of cubes of basil for winter use. There will be more of that as the basil in the back is still producing!!

Next project: we started a no/low cards/ no wheat way of eating. I won't call it a diet because it's a change of lifestyle. I've lost 11 pounds and quite a few inches (yay!) and my partner has lost 20 pounds (!!!). We both feel much  better. When it came time to add carbs to what we eat we considered how best to do it. Didn't want to eat processed foods to the extent that we did and the wheat free breads are very expensive in the local stores and the variety is very limited. After research and consideration we sent for a packet of dry sourdough starter from San Francisco and bought spelt flour. By feeding the spelt flour to the starter we now have a 99% spelt starter. Have a lovely ceramic pot with sealing lid from Value Village for the starter. Had one misadventure with the bread. We bought a used clay baking pot and it cracked and fell apart with the first bread baking.  Very disappointing. Next trip to Value Village we got a Corningware pot and lid. It works really well. The bread is dark, rich, moist and very sour! Makes great toast and is good with Eric's home made egg salad!! Last night after work (full day teaching piano and voice lessons, accompanying a church choir at rehearsal) we made our first trial at sourdough, spelt chocolate chips cookies. End result, very tasty, 8 dozen cookies mostly in the freezer. Thank you Eric for doing all the work and clean up!! You have the master's touch!
For those who might be interested all these experiments will result in a cookbook.
Canning tomatoes today thanks to a friend whose garden is not in the wind tunnel!! Playing music at a retirement home. No watering the garden today as the fall rain is taking care of it. We have green beans, tomatoes, peppers, lettuces, broccoli, basil, carrots, chard, onions and more still growing. Starting the fall clean up and planting. Got a mini green house to set up and much organizing to do.
Happy Fall!

The Sweet Potato Experiment and more

As an experiment we're trying to grow a sweet potato. Bought a Red Garnet at our grocers. Cut it in half, laid it in a pie plate with some "muck", in a couple of weeks lovely sprouts appeared. Time passed and we carefully broke the sprouts from the sweet potato and planted them in our back raised bed. It appears to be flourishing. Later this fall we will know if it worked.







Growing sweet potatoes for profit (Circular)

What's in bloom? First Basil harvest - 10 feet from the door.

July is going by like a rocket. The weather is the usual-changeable. Monday a chilly feeling 62 degrees F today might be 86 F.

The garden is responding to the sun and rain.

Here are photos of what we have in bloom. From right to left: Calendula, Cherry Tomato, Chives, Clary Sage, Coriander, Cucumber, Mystery Plant, Nasturtiums

Tuesday evening we stayed home to watch baseball-the All Star Game-and harvested our first bunch of Italian Large Leaf Basil. We made fresh pesto, hung some to dry and today will process some for the freezer.

The harvest was much more abundant than anticipated! One of the best things I can imagine is having wonderful, fresh, natural food less than 10 feet from your door.

The books in the last photo are the "gardening bibles" from Rodale Press. Much loved and used for years.

We have around 70 square feet under cultivation. Today we're adding another raised bed - 6 'x 3' I think - behind the house for more basil, sweet potatoes, onions and whatever sounds good. Going to start carrots in a couple of big nursery pots. We have very rocky soil (ancient riverbed) so pots and raised beds work the best. We have a seed packet of a lovely multicoloured  variety of carrots. Planted a fun sounding pumpkin which is supposed to be orange, white or striped! Can't wait to see that!

Gardening is an adventure, a process, relaxing and not incredibly hard work if you go for raised beds, containers and intensive planting. Taking control of at least part of your food supply is something that can be done in a window box, on the porch or patio, yard, or however much land you can use. If this isn't possible find out about community gardens in your area and take a little bit of freedom into your hands with every growing plant. You can have good food less than 10 feet from your door.

Rodale`s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs

Summer at Last!

Summer arrived the day after Solstice! This year we planted five kinds of tomatoes (total of eleven plants), Gold Nugget Cherry, Red Pear Cherry, Cherokee Purple, Roma, and Red & Yellow Bi Color. The Gold Nugget, Cherokee Purple & Roma were started from organic seeds. Only one Cherokee has made it. The others are flourishing and the Gold Nugget and Bi Color are beginning to bloom.     Gold Nugget Cherry Tomato on left  Red and Yellow Bi Color Tomato  on right.                                                                       Wild garlic and chives are blooming.                                                                             Nasturtiums and Pansies are rioting. We have a few raspberries and tiny blueberries are looking pretty good. Scarlet Runner and Blue Lake beans  are curling around everything. Lettuce, mostly Red Sails, is great! Haven't bought any lettuce since mid March. That has almost paid for the garden by itself! Peppers look happy and healthy. Sweet potato starts are still in the laundry room but looking good. Red and Blue potatoes are growing well in the pots. Enjoy the warm weather and sunshine. Have a great week and a happy 4th of July. Growing sweet potato for tubers and leaves (Njala University College circular)

Small Acreage Tour and Info

Yesterday we took a road trip. 21 miles from our backdoor (thank you Google maps - there are shorter ways to get there!) to the Conway Family Farm near Camas, WA. On 5 acres the Conways have a herd of Nubian goats, 15 of which they milk every day. In the pristine working dairy they produce milk, cheese. The milk is also made into a wonderful goats milk soap. Some of the non-milking goats are harvested for meat which is processed at a local USDA certified butcher. The family is careful in their selection of a butcher following their beliefs and practice of dignity through out the life of their animals. I have to say that these are the happiest, most friendly, healthy goats I have ever seen.
There is a flock of around 27 laying hens. Five roosters (a by product of a class one of the daughters took) provide a background track for the visit. 

A small flock of Border Leicester sheep provides wool for yarn. 

Blueberries and lavender provide a seasonal cash crop.


Products created at The Conway Family Farm and for salae include


Direct marketed, USDA processed chevon
• Licensed Grade A raw goat milk dairy (fluid
milk, cheese, goat soaps, creams)
• Honey and beeswax candles
• Wool production with value-added yarn sales
• Blueberry production with U-pick blueberries,
jams and jellies
• Lavender production with cultivar sales, bath
and body products (lotions, perfume, soaps)
• Raised-bed vegetable garden produce
• Composted manure
• Fresh cut flower arrangements
• Eggs
• Agritourism events


All these products are available through the farm store comfortably located by the front driveway.
To learn more about the Conway Family Farm please go to http://www.conwayfamilyfarm.com/ and http://www.conwayfamilyfarm.com/Adobe/Small_Farm_News_Fall_09.pdf


We found this wonderful and informative tour through our Clark Co. Extension Office.

Gardening shows come and go. One of the newest is "Growing a Greener World" hosted by Joe Lamp’l, a.k.a. joe gardener of the "$25 garden Challenge" and “Garden Girl” Patti Moreno, and celebrity chef Nathan Lyon (host of Discovery Health and Fit TV’s hit series, A Lyon in the Kitchen is interesting and informative. You can find them at http://growingagreenerworld.com/ where full episodes, podcasts and more are readily available.

Your County Extension Office

A great source of information and farm/garden related events in your area is your County Extension Office. Here in Vancouver, WA you can find them at http://clark.wsu.edu/about/.

Today we off for a "Small Acreage Tour" with about 40 other folks. This is just one of the free services you can access through your County Extension Office.

More later!! Enjoy the sunshine, the US against England in the World Cup and The Grand Floral Parade in downtown Portland! What a day!