A Story: "Rural Renewal" and Starting Onion Seeds with Recycled Stuff

A story:

Rural Renewal

Pine-fragranced air breezed freshly into Tara's lungs.  How robust she felt on her strong, sure-footed horse as he navigated the wild terrain of the trail to her rental cabin in northern Ontario.  Each swinging stride connected her to his energy.

At the cabin, she built a campfire.  Hot dogs, roasting on sticks, sizzled in the heat.  Steamy tea warmed her bones.  After, hot toasted marshmallows sweetly fuelled contentment.

Later, lying in bed, Tara gazed through the skylight at myriad stars sprinkling passionate light.  Billions of vibrant suns pulsated hope to her.

Tara smiled, cherishing life, defying her cancer.

I like to start some of my onions in January.  It's always a bit unpredictable as January can be sunny or cloudy, and if it's a cloudy month the seedlings don't do well. However, if the weather co-operates then I get larger onions in the summer from my January sowing.  I planted Norstar onions which are a long day variety.  In Ontario, you need to plant long day onions if you want to get any good sized onions in the summer.

I used an empty margarine container for the pot. The plastic clamshell, which works like a mini-greenhouse, is from greenhouse grown lettuce and the plastic tray underneath is from 
Ferrero Rocher chocolates. So my planting set-up only costs me the seeds and potting soil. I've planted about a dozen seeds in this container. 

Once the seeds sprout, I will open up the clamshell if it is sunny but close it up if it is cloudy to keep more heat inside.  By March, I will get rid of the clamshell to harden the seedlings off a bit.  I will also trim them to about 4 inches so that they don't flop over.

 

A Story: "Opportunities" and Dependable Kalanchoe

 A story:

Opportunities

Gerry was quick to seize an opportunity.

A farmer gave him a deal on a dozen peacocks. The birds were worth $75 a piece; for Gerry, $100 for the flock.  A month later, the peacocks had flown the coop.

On to the next venture.  A new widget had been designed and stocks were bound to soar.  Gerry jumped in and quickly free fell to zero.

Undaunted, he snapped up some valuable baseball cards.  Who knew they weren't popular anymore?

An orchard would grow money.  Bad luck.  Bugs, drought killed the trees.

All things considered, Gerry had the minus touch.

Kalanchoe have become my favourite winter flower.  This plant is two years old and I have been able to get it to rebloom easily simply by leaving it on the windowsill and closing the drapes over it so that it doesn't get the indoor light in the evening. The blooms last for several weeks.  The plant form is looser than when you buy it at the store but the flowers are just as vibrant.

This pot has six cuttings that I took from the above plant.  Last week I stuffed them all into one pot.

The bright pink is so welcome in the dead of winter.  Kalanchoes are super easy to grow.  Because they are succulents, they don't want or need much water and one or two fertilizings when they are blooming is all that's necessary.  To take a cutting, simply cut off a piece of stem and put it in soil. It will root in no time.

I put one kalanchoe outside last summer as an experiment.  It got morning sun.  The leaves took on a deep green colour and the stem was less leggy.  However, it did suffer some insect damage and it is blooming a month later than the indoor plants. I brought it inside in October as the temperature got cold outside.

A Story - "Escape to the Country" and Trying to save an Orchid

A Story

Escape to the Country

Here was John's chance to get out of the city.  His boss was making distance work permanent.  John's budget was limited but a rural area had very affordable house prices.  He bought a quaint older house and moved in.

All summer he fished in the nearby crystal-clear lake.  At night, the stars were spectacular.  Every day

he heard beautiful new bird songs.  He even once saw a bear.  He made new friends and hosted relaxing beer-infused barbecues.  It was fantastic.

On October 15th, winter began with ten inches of snow.  John sold his house and moved back to the city.

I've known for several weeks that this orchid was not well as it wasn't making any new growth. I almost threw it out a couple of times but it was so pretty when I got it with small delicate pink flowers that I wasn't ready to say goodbye to it.  Finally when the Christmas busy time was over, I pulled the inner pot out of the decorative pot and had a look.  Oh, my!  The roots were totally finished although it looked like it had lots of healthy roots at one time.  The photo shows the little bit of viable root that was left after I cleaned it up.

I looked at some "rescue orchid" videos and decided to try to save this one.  I dusted the lower part where it would send out new roots with some rooting hormone.  I have it resting in a jar where the root is in the water for part of the day, and then I leave it suspended just above the water so it will get some humidity.

My big take away from this is to always check the roots of any new orchid I buy, right away, so that I can deal with any rotting roots before the plant is destroyed. I'm careful about watering an orchid so I am guessing that the roots were already rotting when I got it and it kept blooming just on reserve energy.

 

A Story - "The Christmas Exchange" and Poinsettia

 Story

The Christmas Exchange

The Christmas gift exchange for the adults was organized by the efficient oldest daughter using a random selection program that ensured that no one received a gift from someone they were giving to.  The creative son got mixed up and gave a gift to the wrong couple who then fretted that they were expected to reciprocate.  But what about the exchange rules? It was discovered that younger daughter didn't get a gift.  Quick! An e-gift card for her favourite store.  "Are these my chocolates?"

Christmas is always full of fruitcake.

I bought this bright poinsettia a couple of weeks ago.  One year, I kept a poinsettia growing over the summer and then did several weeks of short days by covering it with a garbage bag to trigger the formation of the red bracts.  It did make some red bracts but all in all it was disappointing.  I had a big awkward plant and not much colour.  So I have decided to let the greenhouse growers do their magic and I simply buy a fresh plant each Christmas and throw it out when the red bracts are finished.  Lovely pink and cream coloured ones are also available. A collection of all three colours, if you have room for that many plants, makes a nice decorative arrangement. 

A Story - "The Next Chapter". and Beet Carrot Corn Salad

 This story is a Covid-time story inspired by outside church services that took place when people were not allowed to gather inside a church.

The Next Chapter

Puffed clouds nestled in the cerulean sky.  A breeze wafted by, uplifting a monarch butterfly and a sparkler of plant fluff.  Mrs. Graves sat in the shade of an ornamental crab apple tree polka-dotted with crimson fruit.  Spaced out around were her fellow church members.  The pastor's mellow voice blended with melodic bird songs.

Suddenly Mrs. Graves' chair crashed over; the pastor froze mid-word.

A few days later, Mrs. Graves was buried in the graveyard across the road among the mossy crooked tombstones that she had gazed at for weeks of Sundays, the next chapter of her life beginning.

Beet Carrot Corn Salad

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups cooked (boiled or baked) diced beets

1 1/2 cups cooked (boiled or baked) diced carrots. Only cook carrots until they are lightly softened - boil    5  min.

1 cup cooked corn. I used frozen.  Fresh or canned would work, too.

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp black pepper

Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together and top with salad dressing such as ranch or vinaigrette.

This blend of vegetables is also tasty heated up and served as a warm vegetable mix.

A Story - "Waves" - Spiced Carrot Sweet Potato Soup , dried Parsley

 A Story:

Waves

Life was so grey.  Work so dull.

Alicia hoped a Maine seaside holiday would recharge her.  Today the ocean, at high tide, was calm, and the hot sand had warmed the water enough to make it swimmable.  She swam lazily, the gentle waves rocking her, the saltwater buoying her.  But she didn't want to be lulled, she wanted excitement.

A plastic bottle, something inside, slowly drifted near her.  Curious she grabbed it and swam to shore.  She extracted a note: "The waves will find you, my special love.  Call:  Liam, 222-333-444

Alicia gasped and whipped out her phone.

Spiced Carrot Sweet Potato Soup

1/2 medium onion, chopped

3 medium large carrots

1 sweet potato

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese

Saute the chopped onion in oil or butter.

Add 3 cups water, carrots (peeled and diced), and sweet potato ( peeled and diced)

Simmer until the carrots and sweet potato are soft - about 20 min.

Add the ginger and cinnamon, salt and pepper, and simmer for another 10 min.

Blend with a hand blender or mash with a potato masher.

Ladle into bowl and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

This soup is creamy and smooth and taste a lot like pumpkin pie.

I like to dry my parsley in the refrigerator.  After rinsing it, I place it in a paper lunch bag or, in this case, some paper towel.  The parsley keeps its dark green colour while it dries. I find if I try to dry parsley just by hanging it in the air, it gets yellow.  In the fridge, it will take the parsley a couple of weeks to be fully dry. When I use a paper bag, I make sure that I don't overfill it. If I have lots of parsley, I use multiple bags.

A Story - "The Well-worn Shoes" and Lentil Vegetable Soup

A story:

The Well-Worn Shoes

The white sneakers were noticeably creased, grass stained, scuffed toed.  Marley picked them up, studied the worn soles.  The shoes were a testament to a life lived richly, generously, fearlessly.

Just four days ago, her mother had died. In life, she had always taken her time lacing up her shoes as she pondered where they would take her, who she would see.  Her acts were lovingly thoughtful, appropriate.

Marley felt the weight of the shoes as her mind swirled with memories.  Her mother's legacy would always be with her.  Bending over, Marley put on her mother's shoes, laced them tight, and walked into life.

                                  The  amounts are suggestions.  Soup is very flexible.

 Lentil Vegetable Soup

1 small onion

3 medium tomatoes (I used frozen from my garden)

1/2 green zucchini

1 large carrot

1/2 cup sweet pepper - any colour

2 cups dried red lentils

Saute the onion in a tablespoon of butter or oil of your choice.  Add 3 cups water.

Add chopped carrot, chopped zucchini, chopped sweet pepper.

Add tomatoes - I would use peeled tomatoes. Canned are already peeled, and frozen are easily skinned by running them under hot water and slipping the skin off.

Bring to boil, then simmer for 30 -45 minutes.  Season with salt, pepper, and any herbs you feel like. I used Greek oregano but thyme, parsley, marjoram, sage would all work well alone or in combination.

Simmer a bit longer to let the herbs flavour the soup.

If the soup is thinner than you like, simply simmer until more water evaporates.

Pair the soup with a sandwich and you have a substantial lunch that will get you through the afternoon.