Work at home gardener

So apparently it’s not so easy to get in gardening time when you’re working all the time. I think it’s easier for my work outside the home counterparts because they generally (not always) leave work at work. Not me. It’s right here, there’s no clocking out at 5pm for me. I don’t generally bring in enough moolah to let myself off the hook so my family fully expects me to be at the computer from wake to sleep, with time off for (home)school work with the kids, some chores and feeding the bunch. I feel guilty walking away from work because the more I work, the faster I get paid – which might be the sign of a workaholic except workaholics tend to make enough to pay rent :lol

Anyway, so I’m trying to get in some gardening. The other half did some row prep done this afternoon and I full intended to transplant some stuff but nope, didn’t happen. I also have forgotten to start a few seedlings that my nifty planting calendars say I should have, like, uhhhhh, 2 weeks ago. Hopefully this week I’ll have a few hours of sunny (or at least not torrential downpour) to get some work in the garden done.

YOU! Yes, YOU! Turn your lights off! Tonight!

On Saturday, March 28, 2009, at 8:30 pm, our family is taking part in Earth Hour—a global event in which millions of people will turn out their lights to make a statement of concern about our planet and climate change.

Sponsored by World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour got started just two years ago and is now the largest event of its kind in the world. Last year, more than 50 million participated and the lights went out at the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sydney Opera House and the Coliseum in Rome, just to name a few. Even Google’s homepage went black for the day! In Israel, President Shimon Peres personally turned off lights in Tel Aviv.

This year, Earth Hour will be even bigger—nearly 2,000 cities in over 80 countries have agreed to take part including Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Nashville with more signing up every day. Around the world cities like Moscow, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai and Mexico City will turn out their lights.

But Earth Hour isn’t just for big cities—anyone can participate, including families like ours. Check out this video at http://www.earthhourus.org/video.

Participating in Earth Hour is easy, fun and free. We hope your family will take part in this amazing event. To sign up, visit www.EarthHourUS.org where you’ll learn more about Earth Hour including creative ideas for things for families to do when the lights go out.

One more thing–we want the US to turn out more lights than any other country in the world during this historic event so please pass this note along to anyone you think might want to take part. Let’s all turn out and take action on March 28 at 8:30 pm.

Remember – tonight – 8:30pm YOUR TIME! Lights out! We typically leave one on so the little kids don’t spaz, but everything else? Off!

Recipe collection: Chicken Salad

For lunches or the “ah crap I forgot to take something out for dinner” dinner (I’ve never done that :hide ), make this up ahead of time for best flavor or serve immediately if they just can’t wait. We make sandwiches with it, it’s probably great on crackers. My 2 year old like to steal the whole bowl and eat it as is (note to self, remember to get fridge lock). This is another “from memory” recipe, adjust amounts to suit your family’s tastes.

Amy’s Chicken Salad

2 cans white chicken
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp capers, minced
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4-1/2 cup mayo
salt, pepper and a dash hot sauce to taste

Drain chicken well, add to medium size bowl. Add celery, onion, capers, oregano, and garlic powder. Mix in enough mayo to reach spreadable consistancy. Add salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.

Another great planting calendar

Compostings made an excellent Excel spreadsheet for planting dates. Just input your last frost date and it gives you your dates!

Recipe collection: Potato Salad

I promised some time ago to post how I make potato salad and never got around to doing so because I do it off memory instead of a recipe page to remind me. So, here it is. Everyone likes theirs different, but my very picky family loves it. This makes a lot – I use this ginormous metal bowl to mix it all in!

Amy’s Potato Salad

4 lbs potatoes – any will work, young reds taste the best and are tender
6 eggs to hard boil

Basic dressing:
1.5 cups mayo (you may need more)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp yellow mustard
2 Tbsp dill relish
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried chives
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
pinch dill weed
pinch cayenne powder
salt & pepper to taste

Make the morning or night before you need this to let the potatoes and eggs cool and flavors combine.

Mix together all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl, cover and refridgerate to let flavors combine.

Start a big pot of water to boil, I use my pressure cooker (sans lid). Peel potatoes if you don’t like skins and cut into slightly larger then bite size pieces. Add potatoes to boiling water, let cook about 10 minutes or until they look a little translucent and break apart with a fork (don’t over cook or you’ll have mashed potato salad).

While potatoes are cooking, add eggs to a small or medium size pan, cover with COLD water, set on stove. I cook them about 17 minutes from putting on the stove, or 12 minutes from boiling. I do not add anything to the water.

Drain potatoes, carefully put into large bowl, put into fridge.Every 30 minutes, carefully and with a big spoon, stir the potatoes (bringing the bottom pieces to the top).

When the time is up on the eggs, place the pot in the sink and run cold water over them for at least 2-3 minutes. This should cool them enough to handle. Peel immediately to have the best results (and don’t forget the shells are compostable!). Put the whole eggs in a bowl, then into the fridge.

After 2 hours, chop the eggs, and mix into the dressing. Pour the dressing over the potatoes and mix carefully. The more gentle you are the less potato breakage you’ll have. If it seems “dry”, add more mayo. Let set at least 2-3 hours, covered, in the fridge, then serve.

Garden planner software

While contemplating how to create the layout of my garden this year, I stumbled upon GrowVeg.com I didn’t even bother looking for anything else, it’s exactly what I wanted, and more. The GrowVeg system lets you:

• Create Plans: Quickly produce garden plans, add plants and change the layout. Either metric units or feet and inches are supported.
• Growing information: Just click for full details of how to grow each plant, where to position them etc
• Spacing and Crop Families: Clearly shown by the colored area around each vegetable
• Personalized Planting Chart: Print a chart showing how many of each plant you require and when to sow, plant out and harvest them. Our advanced system works out the dates for your own area.
• Reminder Emails: Reminds you what needs sowing and planting out in your garden (optional)
• Easy Crop Rotation: Plan next year’s garden and it shows you where to avoid planting each vegetable

So not only can you create a map, you can organize where to put the plants based on family if you want, and it tells you when to start the seeds and transplant them if needed. You get a 30 day free trial, after that it’s $25/year, or $40 for 2 years. While the company is in the UK, the system is completely set up for you to enter your zip code and recieve customized planting date information. Try it!