garden | kimberly ah

May 23 2014

gardening, home is a 1970s apartment, homemaking

Behind on the Balcony

I’m behind on getting our balcony all summer ready.

I looked back into the blog archives to find that in 2012, I was all planted by May 9th. And last summer, I was potting flowers on May 15th. This year…well it’s May 23rd and I’m still not quite started.

Yesterday I went to look for flowers but came home pretty empty handed. I bought one big hanging pot of geraniums since most of mine didn’t make it through the winter. (They may have been a little bit neglected in the water department.) And last weekend I bought the fuchsia above. Its flowers are so interesting and fun. The two fuchsia plants don’t quite fill out the pot as much as I’d like so I bought an accent plant to tuck into one side. We have a few perennials leftover from last year and two mint plants potted, but it’s looking rather bare out my window at the moment.

Oh and in other devastating news, my hen & chicks, which I’ve had since we moved here in 2010, died this year. I’ve left them out over the winter every year, but this year proved too cold for them. Poor things. I feel like I’ve lost some old friends.

My dad put in an outdoor outlet for us, so we can hang lights and make it a party-like atmosphere out there and I bought some fun new pillows for the love seat. Yesterday I spent some time sweeping up and moving furniture around. Hopefully we’ll make some progress out there this weekend (and in our community garden plot too!) and I’ll have more to share next week!

Have a good weekend!

Tagged decorating, diy, garden, gardening, home, home improvement, homemaking, summer

May 09 2014

April & May Paper Parcels

I fell off the wagon of sharing my Saturday Morning Vintage monthly paper parcels from my Christmas gift subscription. I’m determined to continue to catch up on sharing, because every month is a delight in my mailbox. So today, I’m sharing April & May and I will go back to February & March soon.

When I get my paper parcel and take it out of the mailing envelope, it always looks like a gift, so pretty and perfectly packaged. I leave it on my desk for a few days to savor it for a little longer, until I just can’t wait to see what’s inside. You can see April’s “gift wrapped” paper parcel above…the theme was Spring and it was one of my favorites so far. I don’t know how Xenia gets all the little bits to stay in place, but they always look so pleasing in the cellophane envelope. I especially love how the birds are peeking out from behind the label. I am planning to use most of this paper pack for yet-to-be-created garden journal to document our first year of gardening last year. I want to blend the pictures and notes I took of Plot #6 into a pretty mini-book. These larger pieces of old nature journals are going to be perfect background and filler pages. I love the old “Honey Do Pad” and the Yard Work order form. What unique finds! The old seed packets are so lovely and I love the vintage bird information card, but I have to say the vintage Dennison flower and bird labels (bottom right) are the big treasures here. They are die cut and embossed and their colors are so vibrant, it’s hard for them not to steal the show!I would love to see Xenia’s entire playing card collection because all of the paper packs have a few enclosed and each one is fabulous. She really outdid herself with the floral playing cards though. Can’t you just imagine a 1950s ladies bridge club playing with those pretty round cards?May’s paper parcel theme was Travel. It was gift wrapped in an old map and tied up with an air mail envelope. I’ve been using up a lot of my air mail envelopes lately. I can’t get enough of those red and blue stripes! Again, everything was wonderfully displayed in the cellophane…In the bigger pieces, there were old maps, dictionary pages, postcards, travel cards and vintage air mail envelopes (one with 6 cents of postage printed on it!)There were old train tickets and a lot of travel game pieces. I love those travel bingo cards (center bottom). My favorite piece from this month’s packet is the round “United States Lines” sticker. The little bits include taxi tickets, stamps, more Dennison labels and a fabulous American Airlines air mail label. And the playing cards!! American Airlines, England, Canada, Santa Fe…so many good ones.

Next month is the last month for my subscription, but Naoto already promised me a Paper Parcel anniversary gift so I’m looking forward to getting treats in my mailbox for the rest of the year!

For more information on the Saturday Morning Vintage Paper Parcels, go here.

Have a good weekend!

Tagged adventures, crafts, garden, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, vintage

May 08 2014

2 Comments

Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening

Let’s Go To The Garden!

Yesterday, Naoto had a day off so we headed to the garden for the first time this year to prepare ol’ plot #6 for another year of planting. We were afraid of what we would find, but thankfully, as you can see above, it wasn’t too bad. Actually, compared to the state the plot was in when we inherited it, this was a dream! Naoto and I tackled the weeds (and radishes?) together and we picked up the dried out tomatoes that were left behind last summer. Just like last year, the community garden had a bunch of mulch delivered for the garden plots. Naoto shoveled two wheelbarrows-full for me to spread over our plot. As I spread the mulch onto our plot, Naoto worked with a claw contraption and broke up the soil and incorporated the mulch into the old dirt. I used the claw while he was refilling the barrel–that thing provides a nice workout. Less than an hour later, our plot is ready for planting. Now we just need to decide what we are planting…

I’ve linked this post up with Mary’s monthly link-up celebrating nature. Thanks, Mary!

Tagged forest park, garden, gardening

Oct 17 2013

2 Comments

adventures, Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, what's for dinner

Community Garden Pizza Night

I haven’t blogged about the garden lately…Naoto and I have become gardening slackers–I already regret not taking advantage of our mild, summer-like autumn, but once we came home from Japan, it was like we lost our garden mojo. Don’t get me wrong, we are still totally on board for gardening next year, we just lost the drive to continue poking around the garden for one last tomato and lima bean this year. But that hasn’t stopped us from hanging out with our fellow community gardeners at the garden events. We went to a barbecue at the garden at the end of September. It was fun relax in the garden and eat grilled foods and the garden-y dishes we all contributed. (Naoto and I brought this…it was a hit!)

Last weekend, we went to a grilled pizza event. We all loved the grilled pizzas from the progressive dinner so the garden held another event to teach everyone how to make them. Michelle and Andrew basically held a cooking show in (the other) Michelle’s dining room. They demonstrated how to make the crust and how to cook the pizza on the grill so it crisps while the cheese and other toppings cook evenly. (It is harder than it looks.) Naoto and I don’t have a grill–it’s against the rules to grill on our balcony–but we are hoping that some kind friends invite us over to try our hands at pizza grilling. In the meantime, we plan to perfect our crust and use our oven. The best part of the night (well, second to the pizza, I suppose) was when Michelle lit a fire and we turned up the music and had a sing-along to awesome old songs like Total Eclipse of the Heart and Faithfully and Oh Sherrie…there is nothing like a chilly night, a fire and classic rock ballads…I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect night. And with that, I’ve written 300 posts. Thanks, everyone, for reading and for commenting and for encouraging. It means a lot.

Tagged adventures, food, forest park, garden, gardening

Aug 30 2013

5 Comments

Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, summer manifesto

Garden Update: Surprises

Well look at that…we have a tiny watermelon! Just like that time I found the cucumber in the wild west mess of unkempt vines in our garden, I was shocked to find the watermelon.

Downright bowled over.

Now I don’t want to leave it. I want to stay home and keep it safe from bugs and other nibbling beasts. (Our second cucumber was a midnight snack for something.) Our red pepper is ready to be picked! We are going to get to enjoy one before our vacation, and our neighbors (who are watering and harvesting while we are gone) will be able to enjoy another one. There are two, smaller green ones still left on the plant. Hopefully those will hold off until we get home. I’m going to miss the garden while we are gone. I’m sad that I’m missing a week of new discoveries and tomato picking. Even though I know our plot is in good hands (thanks, Brett & Karen!), it’s tough to leave it. A few of our tomato plants are almost done, but most of them have newer green tomatoes on them and even some blossoms still. I hope that we can still have a few fresh tomatoes when we get back. In the meantime…hang on tiny watermelon! I want to enjoy you when I get back!

Tagged food, forest park, garden, gardening, summer

Aug 28 2013

2 Comments

gardening, home is a 1970s apartment, homemaking, summer manifesto

Shamrock Revival

This shamrock plant was “dead” in the spring. It had been sitting on my kitchen window ledge and on my desk since March 2012, and over the winter, it kind of gave up. I think lack of water and limited sunlight were contributing factors. I almost threw it out, but the book clubs ladies encouraged me to keep it and move it to more sunlight. I dug around in the soil and found the little oxalis bulbs. They still looked healthy, so I planted them in a fresh pot with some fresh soil and stuck the pot in the north corner of our balcony and forgot about it. (Forgot about it=rarely watered it.) The next time I noticed it, several leaves were popping up…by the end of July (when this picture was taken), the plant was thriving, bright green and full of flowers. Lesson learned…it needs more light. I have two other oxalis sitting on my kitchen window. Their leaves are purplish green…I’m thinking about moving them outside for the rest of the summer, too.

When we get home from Japan, I have to start thinking about the plant plan for the cold weather months. I have brought more indoor plants into the apartment this past year, and finding a place for both the houseplants and the balcony plants (the ones that come inside for the winter) is going to be a challenge. I’m a little sad just thinking about it.

Tagged garden, gardening, home, home improvement, homemaking, summer

Aug 26 2013

3 Comments

gardening, homemaking, Simple Summer Suppers, summer manifesto

Simple Summer Suppers: Roasted Tomato Caprese

The challenge is on! We need to eat up all of our tomatoes around here before they go bad and before we hop on a plane for Japan. We’ve been giving away tons of red beauties, but still have so many to use! Last weekend, we had a mini-garden fest with our friend, Karen. We dined on our favorite panzanella, lightly grilled zucchini, Karen’s citrus rice salad and this delicious roasted tomato caprese salad. We were so lucky that the weather was perfect for dining outside on the balcony.

Honestly, it seems like a shame to roast perfectly delicious, garden-grown tomatoes…but it’s more of a shame to let them go to waste. I really think this salad will be a good one to try this winter with sad, peaked grocery store tomatoes. I’ll let you know. But for garden tomatoes…holy cow, the salad is crazy-good!Ina Garten’s Roasted Caprese Salad

12 plum tomatoes (or the equivalent in lovely tomato varieties from your garden), halved with seeds removed

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

16 oz fresh mozzarella

handful of fresh basil, julienned

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees while you prep the tomatoes.Place your tomatoes on a sheet pan (I covered mine with parchment paper to reduce sticky messes.) cut side up and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add garlic, sugar, salt and pepper.

Roast for two hours.

Cool tomatoes to room temperature and dump contents of pan (tomatoes and liquid) into serving bowl. Add fresh mozzarella (sliced) and basil. Mix and serve.Ina recommends arranging everything beautifully and adding a bit of extra olive oil, salt and pepper. But we found that the dish is fine without the extra oil. And while it’s lovely to serve alternating slices of tomato and mozzarella, serving it in a bowl is easy and rustic (and in no way lazy at all).

Tagged food, garden, gardening, homemaking, summer

Aug 21 2013

5 Comments

Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, summer manifesto

Garden Update: CUCUMBER!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a cucumber!

This was great cause for celebration on Saturday afternoon at the garden. Because we didn’t care for our vine plants properly (hence the Wild West title for that part of the garden), they’ve only managed to become a tangled mess of cucumber and watermelon vines intertwined with fallen peas and lima beans and a wayward Juliet tomato plant. We kind of gave up on that section, chalking it up to our rookie year (and a little bit of laziness for not building a little vining contraption sooner).

So, when we were digging around looking for red Juliets, I came across the little guy above and shouted, “LOOK! A CUCUMBER!!!” Thankfully, we were the only ones at the garden, because I’m pretty sure I sounded like a crazy woman…but if you can’t get excited about growing a vegetable, what can you get excited about?In other good gardening news, our red pepper is getting bigger and starting to turn red. It’s often overshadowed in the garden by the crazy tomatoes, so I’m glad it’s plodding right along to redness. While Naoto weeded, I harvested another large bag of tomatoes (along with a yellow squash from Haig). I gave a few pounds to the book club ladies on Saturday morning, and by Saturday afternoon, our kitchen counter was full again.

Tomato takeover!

Tagged food, forest park, garden, gardening, summer

Aug 14 2013

1 Comment

Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, what's for dinner

Tomatoes Are Red, Limas Are Green…

Are those not the most gorgeous tomatoes, You’ve ever seen? (Sorry…I cannot resist a cheery rhyme about vegetables.)

On Saturday, while I was baking a cake, Naoto was harvesting tomatoes. There were a LOT of bright red ones! And, while he was at the garden, he ran into Haig, a fellow gardener, who added to our tomato bounty.Needless to say, our neighbors got tomato deliveries and we made caprese salads and panzanella this week. (And, if you live close and would like a tomato or two…please don’t hesitate to ask!) On Saturday afternoon, we finally cooked up my lima bean harvest…what you see above is the tiny ramekin that held my lima snack… Yes, we steamed a giant pot of water for less than two dozen tiny beans! I would love to try to grow limas again next year because they are soooo good when they are fresh! Even Naoto (a self-described lima hater) enjoyed one!

That’s about all of the harvest for now…still waiting to see if we will have a cucumber or a watermelon…in the meantime, it’s all tomatoes all the time! No complaints here!

Tagged food, forest park, garden, gardening

Aug 06 2013

4 Comments

Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, summer manifesto

Garden Update: Leaning Towers of Tomatoes

This week at the garden, I was informed that I bought “terrible tomato cages”.

Thanks for the “advice”, fellow gardener…a couple of months too late.

This first year has been all about learning. I didn’t remember from my dad’s garden (which is about twenty times the size of our plot) that tomato plants grow this much. I didn’t do a lot of research about each of the tomato varieties that we planted, but if I had, I would have learned that Brandywines (the tomatoes pictured above) are very heavy, and tend to weigh the plant down a ton. We should have staked it with a pile driver. (Kidding.) Now that we are harvesting the tomatoes, I feel like as long as we can keep the plants standing and producing, we’ve succeeded for Year One.Right now, since we cannot turn back time and buy sturdier cages, we are doing what we can to keep the plants stable and (as much as possible) out of the walking paths in the community garden. We bought some sturdy stakes and have tried to situate them in a way that holds up the cage along with the fruit-laden plants. We also brought some twine to the garden so we could tie up the wayward branches (as seen above on one of our Early Girls). Our garden plot isn’t going to win any Garden of the Year awards–especially considering the Wild West portion (pictured above…seriously, have you ever seen such a mess of plants?!) but we are really happy with our tomato harvests so far. We’ve pulled juicy red tomatoes from each of our four varieties and they are all sweet and delicious and there are many, many more green ones in waiting. As long as we can keep the plants standing, I’m sure we’ll be eating tomatoes throughout August and into September. We’ve also harvested a few more peas and some lima beans–not quite enough to make a side dish, but enough for me to have a first little taste of freshly picked peas and limas…a win in my book.