Getting our gardening on

This weekend we finally finished up our planting for the year. Yes, I know it's almost the middle of June, but we didn't want to plant anything before our trip for fear it wouldn't survive while we were away, and then it took us a little while to get back into normal life after we returned.

Thankfully, we've had a remarkably cool late spring/early summer so far, so I'm confident we haven't gotten in too late. It also helps that we bought plants for everything because we knew trying to work from seeds just wasn't going to happen this year.

With the exception of the flowers and a few herbs that survived from last year, we were able to get everything from a local farmer at the farmers' market, so everything is local and organic, which was exactly what we wanted. We also got a good deal on the plants (and he threw in a few extras for free) because we're so late.

We planted herbs in pots on the deck: cilantro, oregano, dill, rosemary, thyme, basil, sage, and chives. Another pot on the front porch contains mint and parsley.

Then, we have two garden plots. The smaller of the two is up next to the house and was already in place when we bought the house. We managed to get a decent crop of tomatoes and peppers out of it last year, so that's what we planted there again: four tomato plants plus jalapenos, red and orange bell peppers, and a few cabbage plants.

We created the larger plot one weekend earlier this spring when my dad and step-mom were in town. While my step-mom watched B, the rest of us worked on pulling up and replanting the grass, getting compost and fertilizer into the soil, and putting the garden timbers in place. We added the stakes and chicken wire during our planting session this weekend.

This garden includes zucchini, eggplant, kale, chard, two more kinds of peppers, garlic, and more cabbage.

 Up front, we planted a few pots and our little front flower beds with a few annuals.

I love how much cheerier the front porch looks when these pops of color get added.

And of course no project would be complete around here without a little sewing. I've been planning to make a cushion for the front chair since last summer, but I kept putting it off. This summer, I was determined to finish it, especially because I knew it would be such a quick project.

And it was after I finally found the fabric, which turned out to be much harder than anticipated. I ended up at Joann's, and I wish I had gone there first because they have a huge outdoor fabric selection, and it was on sale. Bonus!

The chair looks so much more inviting with a little soft color on it. It'll help add a little character even once the plants are gone. I think I might make a little matching trivet for the plant on the table, too. We'll see.

For now, I'm just glad there are plants in the ground. Grow, baby, grow!

A foxy diaper bag

I'm officially getting back into the swing of things around here, and that includes sewing! This month's St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild meeting was on Saturday, and it got me in just the mood to head down to the basement and get to work. I finally started on a quilt for B's room, but you don't get to see that today. Instead, here's a project I finished before our Italy trip but didn't have a chance to show you. Introducing, B's new diaper bag!

Like so many things, this one was on my to-do list for a long time. Our old diaper bag was just too dang big now that we don't have to cart around as many baby things for B, so I wanted to make a smaller, cuter bag for us to use.

Of course, I had to use some fox fabric, right? I had a lot of the Foxy Too fabric left over from making B's fox and the houndstooth pants, and this was the perfect project for it.

The inside is lined with the Elvendale print from the Fox Hollow collection. After I finished the bag, Matt told me he actually preferred this fabric over the Foxy Too print and wished I'd put it on the outside. Yeesh. It is a great fabric, though. I love that fox peeking around the tree stump. See him?

The strap and inside and outside pockets use two Flea Market Fancy prints, which help to break up the craziness of the main fox print. I think they also help to keep the bag from becoming too babyish. This is definitely a bag I can use for other things once we no longer need a diaper bag.

I used the Osoberry bag pattern featured on Whip Up, and it worked out great. The tutorial is super simple and very easy to follow. After all the cutting and interfacing, the bag basically came together in one night. The only major change I made was adding more pockets inside. The tutorial only includes a small slip pocket on the inside, and I decided to basically mimick the big outside pockets on the inside. I love how you quilt the fabric on the bottom and around the back of the bag to help reinforce the bottom and add a little visual interest.

One of the things I loved most about the design of this bag was the placement of the straps. They're attached pretty low on the sides of the bag, so when the bag is less full, the top flops over like a messenger bag, but it can also be filled really full like a tote bag.

And a few pics of the bag in action in Italy

Now that we're home, I need to shorten the strap a bit, but otherwise, we're loving it. Ciao!

Bring on the berries

It's berry season, folks, and I'm so excited. We've been stocking up like crazy at the store and farmers' markets lately.

Our first weekend back from Italy, we picked up a quart of strawberries and two pounds of rhubarb from the market. Then, later in the week, we added four more quarts of strawberries and six pints of blueberries to our stockpile.

Fresh berries are absolutely one of the best parts of summer.

We've been enjoying the berries raw, we've frozen some, and of course, there's been some baking. In between trips to the basement as the tornado sirens went off, we started our weekend with a little strawberry-rhubarb jam making session (we used this recipe, which we doubled).

Aren't they pretty? I love the way the flavors turned out, but Matt would suggest using a little less lemon, in case you're looking to tackle the recipe.

Then, we had some friends over for brunch on Sunday, and I made a strawberry-rhubarb coffee cake using this recipe, which was delicious. Super easy and great to make ahead.

I'm still debating how to use up my last few stalks of rhubarb.... Any ideas? These muffins from Smitten Kitchen are looking very tempting.

Now I'm just waiting for my favorite berry of all, blackberries, to start rolling in.

I'm back! And I brought gelato.

Man, it's been a really long time! But I have a pretty good excuse. We were in Italy for almost three weeks of May and have now been home about a week. As you can imagine, it's taking a little while to get back into the swing of normal life.

I have a ton of posts I'm hoping to get to soon: Italy adventures, Beckett's 18-month update, and more sewing updates (my fingers are itching to get back to it!), of course.

But for today, I'll leave you with gelato. Lots of gelato.

 

Quintessential gelato face right there.