I started this yesterday but didn’t get it posted. My Studio Open House and Garden Sale weekend was lovely. It was great to see so many people and one couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather. If you weren’t able to come, give me a call. I can open my studio by appointment, and the hoop houses in the garden are doing very well right now so if the weather allows I’d be glad to show them to you. My contact info is on my studio website: http://www.lacetree.com/.

It has been a long time since I last posted because I thought things would settle down after the Open House, but I have continued to be quite busy. Thanks to those of you who have sent me comments. One friend asked that I write more about my spirituality, which I will be doing in my next posting. Another friend sent me a great blog from which to get ideas and suggested I include photos. I hope to try that out soon, too.

I am going to send another e-mail to let you know I’m posting this, but please sign up as a member (it is on the upper right of the blog) so you’ll get a link to any future postings.

Here is what I wrote yesterday, Saturday, December 3^rd:

Great day! My dear husband came running in this morning yelling, “Cranes!” That’s always a good way to start the day. We love seeing the Sandhill cranes on their migration south, which passes right over our farm. This is the latest in the season we have seen them, though, according to my records. It was a small flock so hopefully we will see more in the coming days. We have seen hundreds at a time before, sounding their distinctive call. It will give you goose bumps (or should I say "Sandhill crane bumps"?)

The warm, sunny weather gave me a chance to work in the garden. I harvested and weeded and cleaned up plants under the hoop houses. Three big heads of Chinese cabbage, a gallon bag each of broccoli, mixed lettuces and Vitamin Greens (a leafy version of a bok choi green), found their way to the kitchen as well as a small pot of mixed greens from the plants needing pruning. Not bad for December 3^rd. I recently added a layer of plastic to the long hoop house right on top of the row cover to give more protection and I can already see the benefits of larger harvests.

Though the biodynamic signs weren’t the best I couldn’t wait any longer to get more garlic in the ground since there is more rain in the forecast. I got 4 short double rows planted and hope to get the rest in before it rains tomorrow.

A busy autumn and a recipe to share

I have found myself thinking about writing a blog while working in the garden or weaving or cooking, wishing I had time to share this something or that something. I have done pretty well at writing myself notes with subjects to blog about. The Baked Fries recipe I am sharing a little later is one of those ideas. I hope there will be more spare time soon, now that the summer garden is close to being put to bed for the winter and the winter garden is on autopilot for the most part. But more on the garden in a minute. 

I have recently been working most days in my studio, weaving the new handbag design I've created, and which I'm really excited about. I hope to have 5 finished for my Studio Open House on November 5th and 6th. For more information on my Studio Open House and Garden Sale go to www.lacetree.com and click on News and Events. My new studio is finished and I'd love for you to come and see it. I'll have my weavings available as well as other gifts and Young Living Essential Oils.

I will also have some things from the garden available out in the greenhouse. You'll find such things as seeds and gourds, herb plants and cut herbs, as well as free information on the hoop houses I've been using for my winter gardens. Visit the hoop houses in the garden if the weather will allow, and please feel free to wander around our farm if you are inclined in that direction.  

As I said earlier, the summer garden is winding down, although there are still pepper, eggplant and zucchini plants out there. The zucchini, which I planted later in the summer, are under a row cover and have been producing pretty squash quite regularly despite the cooler temperatures.

The broccoli which my daughter, May, bought for me at Wal-mart in September, rewarded us with a couple of 8" heads a few days ago, a record for my gardens. There are 3 more out there nearly ready to be picked. The cabbage caterpillers have found the older broccoli plants, one of which I planted in the spring of 2010 and wintered over last year and which is still pumping out good size sprouts. But so far they haven't found the new plants.

One thing that didn't go well for us this year was the Yukon Gold potatoes, which are usually reliable for us. They didn't come up well in our very wet spring. We usually have some late blight, but this year I didn't get them dug as soon as I should have, so we have a small yield and some bad spots on them.

Anyway, we have had to eat them quickly and they won't last until spring like they usually do. Bummer. One of our favorite ways to eat them is Baked Fries. This recipe works well with sweet potatoes, too, which, by the way, did well for us this year and are actually better for you, I have heard.

Baked Fries

Nonstick spray
2 large potatoes (~1 lb.)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. pepper

Lightly spray a cookie sheet or large stoneware bar pan with Nonstick spray. Cut potatoes into thin "fries". A layer at a time, put the fries into a bowl and lightly spray with Nonstick spray (olive oil or butter spray both work well, but any will do) and toss after each layer to get the potatoes evenly coated. Mix the rest of the ingredients, adding cayenne or red pepper flakes or any other seasonings you prefer. Add the cheese mixture a little at a time and toss the potatoes until lightly coated. (I save what I don't use in the refrigerator  for the next batch rather than putting on too much. You can even make a double batch of the cheese mixture so you have some on hand for a quick batch on another day.)

Arrange potatoes in a single layer on the pan and bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until golden and tender, turning once. Season with salt.

Next time I'll tell you why we think we got such a good crop of sweet potatoes, and, by the way, it isn't too late to plant some spinach and lettuce. I'll post some photos of my hoop houses and give a link to information on how to make one.

Roller Coaster

It has been over a month since my first and only blog entry and I have been on a roller coaster since then. The spiritual retreat I was leaving to attend was one of the most amazing and uplifting weekends I can remember. It had quite an impact on me!

Soon after it became apparent I would need to travel again to my parents home in Iowa, and in a whirlwind trip I flew out, packed up all the belongings my mom and dad wanted us to keep in our Kentucky family homes before they sold the rest, and then drove over 16 hours straight in a rental truck with a 15 foot bed. Whew!

Getting back to some semblance of normal has been my goal since my return. I woke this morning with a new handbag design buzzing around my mind so I'm glad I've relaxed enough to get the creative juices flowing again.

I have spent the last several days doing my homework for my next Peer Advisory session with Kathleen O'Brien next week. I've done a lot of planning and organization to get my weaving business on the road again with style.

You might be interesting in seeing the work I've done on my Lacetree Weaving web site, which you can see at http://www.lacetree.com/ , which, though not complete, has several events you might be interested in attending. I have a piece in a Gathering Artists collaborative exhibit, called the Red Thread Project, at the Community Arts Center in Danville, KY in October through mid November. And you can come see my new studio and our farm during the Lacetree Weaving Studio Open House and Garden Sale on November 5th and 6th. I hope to have several of the new style handbag available by then. Please check out the News and Events page on my web site for more information.

The summer garden is winding down and I've cleared some of it for winter. Soon the summer garden will be put to bed with either mulch or cover crops. I will write a blog soon on fall and winter gardening and hoop houses, two subjects dear to my heart. It isn't too late to look into planting for fall and winter crops.

Until then, love and light, Fox

Thoughts on weaving, gardening and being Fox

In an effort to bring various aspects of my life together in a more integrated fashion, I am beginning this blog today on my dear husband's birthday.

My weaving studio, Lacetree Weaving, llc, is installed in the new addition to our house and things are moving along nicely. I soon will be finishing up my piece for the Red Thread Project, a Gathering Artists exhibit at the Community Arts Center in Danville in October and November. This blog is part of the homework I've been working on from my session with Kathleen O'Brien, a Peer Advisor with the Kentucky Arts Council. She is helping me put a new face on my company and pointing me in a positive and energetic direction.

The garden is producing well and yesterday netted salsa nicely lined up in pint jars, okra flash frozen in bags and marinated roasted Carmen Italian peppers flash frozen in cupcake shapes to grace our winter dishes. Seedlings in the fall and winter garden are doing well, but take daily care. They are covered with row cover cloth to keep the insect and mammal pests out.

I'll need help from the birthday boy to keep things watered for the next few days as I am attending a spiritual retreat. "Being Fox" or more accurately "being my Self" is my daily goal and this retreat is a break from the day-to-day distractions to help me find out how to better be me.