The Fern Grove

Made a batch of play dough today for my 18 month old son. My mom always made it for us in on pot over the stove and I always made it this way as well. However, that recipe has cream of tartar which is not something I have around now that I am a budget conscious shopper – it is an expensive ingredient. I was looking through the recipes for playdough in a new book (one of my finds from the Elora Book sale) and found a recipe for No Cook Playdough. The recipe was easy and cheap to make and the playdough turned out great (maybe even better then the baked recipe I usually make). The book I found this recipe in is called: The Toddler’s Busy Book: 365 Creative Games and Activities to Keep Your 1 1/2- to 3-Year-Old Busy, by Trish Kuffner. This by the way is a great little book I would highly recommend for moms of toddlers or anyone who works with kids. It has great recipes for home made paint, clay , and dough and all kinds of ideas when you need something new to do with your toddler or to keep them entertained.

Uncooked Playdough Recipe from: The Toddler’s Busy Book: 365 Creative Games and Activities to Keep Your 1 1/2- to 3-Year-Old Busy, by Trish Kuffner

• 1 cup cold water
• 1 cup salt
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• tempera paint or food colouring
• 3 cups flour (I only needed 2 1/2 cups)
• 2 tblsp cornstarch

In bowl, mix water, salt, oil, and enough tempera paint or food colouring to make a bright colour. Gradually add flour and cornstarch (gradually is important, as you don’t necessarily need all the flour and if you add it all it will be to thick and will not mix well) until the mixture reaches the consistency of bread dough. Store covered.

Rhubarb picked fresh from my garden

Three well established Rhubarb plants are existing on our new property and on the last cold rainy day I harvested several stalks from each plant and then went on a search for some good Rhubarb recipes. By the size of each of these plants all ready, I should have a good supply of rhubarb this spring. I started collecting great looking recipes from one of Canadian Living’s article titled Delicious Rhubarb Recipes.  While looking through I realized that I was craving rhubarb crisp. I tried a Rhubarb Crisp Recipe I found online as Rhubarb Crisp with vanilla ice-cream is my favourite way to savor rhubarb from the garden. I’ll try some of the Canadian living one’s with my next batch of rhubarb if I remember to stock up on the other ingredients I need my next grocery trip – lol. The Rhubarb Crisp Recipe turned out great and was absolutely delicious – the best I have ever had. I did make a few adjustments to the recipe however so here is my version of the original Rhubarb Crisp Recipe:

My version of the Rhubarb Crisp Recipe has a little less sugar, a little more crisp topping (as this is my husbands favourite part), and uses flour instead of cornstarch to thicken – in case you don’t have cornstarch around! This crisp is great with whip cream or ice cream served warm or cold!

• 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
  

  The last plateful of my crisp - although the recipe made lots it didn't last long!

• 1 and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 and 1/4 cup quick cooking rolled oats
• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 cups sliced rhubarb
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

In mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, oats, butter and cinnamon; mix together until crumbly. Press half of the brown sugar and oats mixture into a buttered 8-inch square baking dish. Top with the sliced rhubarb.

In jar or container with tight fitting lid combine water and vanilla with the 2 tbls of flour and shake until well combined. In a saucepan combine 1 cup granulated sugar with the flour water mixture. Cook together, stirring frequently until bubbles start to form, then pour over rhubarb.
Top rhubarb with remaining crumb mixture and bake at 350° for 45 to 55 minutes.

NOW ENJOY and let me know how it turned out and if you have any other great rhubarb recipes!

a full bookshelf stocked almost solely from book saleing over the years

It has long been a tradition in our family to go down to the Elora Book Sale with my Dad early on the first Saturday in May. Now that I am all grown up it has become a family trip into Elora and a day my husband won’t let me miss.
The Elora Book Sale is a fundraiser for the Elora Festival which brings wonderful musical talent to the beautiful town of Elora for a summer of live performances. To purchase tickets or for more info on the Elora Festival go to www.theelorafestival.com. The book sale is an annual event held at the Elora Curling Club and has people lining up from 5am on (for a 9:30 start time) to be the first in line to enter the sea of books. Never have I seen so many people and so many books come together. There are always great finds and good bargains. If you are looking for a book of any type or obscurity, you are sure to find it here! Over the years we have filled multiple bookshelves with great reference books and all kinds of classic and new childrens’ books. In the past we have stocked up on books to guide us through home reno and decor, building, gardening, living green, crafting, raising animals and kids. This year my husband who is off work found some great leisure reading books for the summer and I filled a bag with all kinds of great books for my young son. My son loves to read with me and we have been through all kinds of great books from our collection and the library. Stay tuned for a review of some of the ones that I think are must haves for you and your toddler!

We decided it was time to start potty training. Actually I’ve been thinking about it the last couple of weeks since my son is starting to use a lot more words and want’s to do things himself I thought I might as well try harnessing his new found independence towards loosing the diapers!

Potty time books

My son is 18months which from my research is the early end of being ready for potty training but I think some of the signs are there so I’m going to give it a try.I’ve been collecting potty training books and reading them with my son. It has helped him to learn the language needed for potty training and he really seems to understand.

Potty Time!

We went out and got a neat potty seat and he was excited from the beginning. He wore his new big boy undies (you know the trainer type) just like the big boy in his potty book. He learned the word sit and was excited to “si …t” on the potty. I pointed out all the different things in the bathroom and read him lots of books while we waited for “wee wee”. No wee wee came, but he had a great time as we made such a big deal about him being a big boy and going to the potty when he needed to wee wee. We took him off the potty and he went and played with his new big boy undies on (no pants). Only 5 min. later we heard him scurry into the bathroom and then an “uh oh”. To our amazement he had run into the bathroom and went pee right in front of the toilet. Well, you should have heard the praise he earned. He got a cookie out of the deal too. It’s only the first night of potty training but so far so good.

Tonight I’m on the internet stocking up on potty training resources. Here’s what I’ve found.

• Readiness: usually between 18months – 3 years, 2 hour dry periods, language/communication to be able to tell you when he has a dirty/wet diaper or when they need to go, can understand simple instructions, show signs of not wanting to wear diapers or of not liking having a dirty diaper
• Potty Training Do’s and Dont’s:
• Do: make it fun and exciting (decorate potty, play on near potty to get comfortable with it), reward using potty language, going to the potty, telling you when they feel like they need to go pee or poo, read books and watch movies/shows that help teach your child about potty training.
• Don’t: punish accidents, train during stressful times, rush the progress or push for it too soon before the child is ready
• Great websites on potty training: ABC of potty training, parenting toddlers, canadian parents magazine

When talking about starting to potty train my son with my mom she told me that what worked for me was a doll she sat on the toilet and made pee with a container of water she poured down the doll and into the potty – lol – and then chips for rewards when I got it right!I read in a book the other day that a mom used coloured tape and cellophane cut outs to make a face on the lid of her kids potty and then the kids had fun feeding it with their wee wee’s and poo poo’s – lol. My son seems pretty happy with his potty the way it is now – but I think tomorrow maybe we’ll take some of his teddies to the potty.

What potty training methods have worked for you? I’d love all the advice I can get for potty training success!

Tea Pot Kettle Junction

As promised, I am admitting a horrible habit. One that has been apparent and bothering me the last couple of weeks and is now part of my Earth Day resolution (a concept I am coining). I will often (like two 0r three incidences a day) boil water for tea, forget about it and repeat, boiling the water up to four times before actually getting around to making the cup of tea. Our electric kettle uses 1500 W/h. Tip: the wattage of most appliances is stamped on the bottom and is the wattage per hour the device uses. Per minute, my 1500W usage Kettle would then use 25W. Assuming it takes aprox. 5min to boil a kettle full of water (yes I know, another faux pas – boiling a whole kettle for one cup of tea) I use an excess of 100W of electricity every time I attempt to make a cup of tea. In dollars and cents, based on my hydro bill that equals aprox. a penny a day wasted (again assuming I do this at least once a day – which I do!). It may seem like – well pennies – but over a year that is $3.65 which as far as I can figure would do better in a wishing well then steaming in my kitchen, heating it up on an already warm day. Just so that this post isn’t such a downer – on a positive note I’ve learned that using an electric kettle compared to a stove top kettle uses less electricity to boil water – so I can keep the kettle! I just have to start using it more efficiently and consciously.

gotta love a steaming cup of tea!

I’m sure other moms can relate to how the kettle ends up sitting instead of a teabag steeping with a toddler and husband at home and numerous chores and plans on my mind. So it is my Earth Day resolution to stop boiling the kettle unnecessarily and to only boil appropriate amounts for my hot water needs so as to not waste electricity and my moola! The question is how will I do it – will I have to give up tea? – lol!

For more info on determining hydro consumption of appliances you can take a look at this site. I found this to be an informative and easy to read article.

http://www.holysolar.com/determining-electricity-consumption-home-appliances/

Wondering what this pics has to do with anything to do with this post. Well, I can think of lots of earth day connection: the importance of protecting water ecosystems, practicing sustainable fishing, eating sustainable catch, etc. .... The real reason I've included this pic is to support the WWF (World Wildlife Foundation) this Earth Day. What a great gift for someone! Click the pic to link to WWF's adopt an animal page.

I spent earth day fittingly in the garden weeding, pruning and preparing to transplant a bunch of plants scattered about the property. I will try to vary the content on my next couple of posts, but I have a feeling a lot will be garden related as I take advantage of the perfect spring conditions to get my gardens going. In the spirit of earth day here’s a good article with tons of suggestions for how to live a ‘greener’ life: “25 Ways to Live Green at Home”. Stay tune for my next post on guilty energy use. I won’t speak of it now in order to not ruin the spirit of earth day. As one does on New Years, this earth day I have set an earth day resolution for myself to do with this wasteful energy use. What would be or is your earth day resolution?

Well the garden show I expressed my excitement to attend with hopes of washing the cold rainy day blaws away on a previous post turned out to be a flop! Being a garden show I perhaps naively expected to see at least some of the many nurseries, landscape companies, tree farms and green business that surround this beautiful area – but not a one showed up. There were a few green cosmetic companies from the city and John deer and Kaboda had their lawn tractors on display (this was a big hit with the little one), but nothing to inform, inspire or even sell to the gardeners. I was shocked. I would have thought that it would have been in the businesses best interest to come out to a community event like this. I know I like to support business that also support their communities and now I am left wondering who to turn to. All I can say is Bitter Disappointment … hopefully this was a dud year and businesses will clue into this opportunity to bring what they have to offer to the community at next years event.

If any one knows of plant sales or gardening events happening in the are (Simcoe, Wellington or Dufferin county) or would like me to mention their gardening events on this site I would be happy to. Just e-mail me at dragonfly@theferngrove.com.

Just moments after completing my last post on my wonderful crop of

The crime seen and evidence.

homegrown peppers sunning in my windowsill I went into attend to them and discovered that one of my mischievous cats (and I know which one) perched himself on the ledge, decapitated two of the smaller pepper plants, and shredded the leaves of two others.
My first thought was of course anger and resentment towards the crazy cat and my second thought was concern for his health not knowing if peppers were poisonous to cat’s or not, and thirdly the woe of the thought of opening up my pocket book to pay yet another vet bill if he becomes ill. For others who are wondering of have discovered online that pepper plants are not poisonous to cats (thank goodness). My cat has however been regurgitating some of the plant … probably due to the fact that he consumed so much of it in such a short period of time and is not use to digesting pepper plant – lol. I’ll keep an eye on him though just to make sure he is ok – even though I am a little ticked!

The Culprit

To prevent future grazing on my seedlings I’ll fill the whole windowsill with plants so there are no gaps for him to sit in. That’ll teach him – lol!!

windowsill of Pepper plants I grew from seed and other plants

Over a month ago now, I planted an array of different pepper seeds from spicy to mild in Jiffy pots. I had done lots of research on how to grow peppers after being given the seeds and knew that they were tropical and needed warmth and a longer growing season then I could give them under normal conditions around here. So they were my first round of seeds planted in rows of jiffy pots and placed on top of the fridge. I heated them with a seedbed heater pad underneath the tray and kept them moist with spritzing from my spray bottle and a plastic dome to keep the moisture in. Surprisingly within a week the seeds began to sprout. The first one’s to come up were the Joe’s Long Cayenne Peppers.

more pepper seedlings on my window ledge

The varieties I had planted were as follows:

• Alma Paprika
• Joe’s Long Cayenne
• Hot Habanero
• Hot Balloon
• Ornamental Sweet Mix
• Mini Choco
• Mini Red
• Mini Yellow

All varieties except one which totally flopped – the Alma Paprika peppers came up over a week’s time or so. Once the seedlings had there 2nd and third in come cases set of true leaves I transplanted them to recycled plastic pots and eventually (as I needed room atop the fridge to start more seeds) moved the seedlings over to my window ledge. I can not believe how well all these peppers are doing. The plants themselves are huge – at least twice the size of what you would buy at a nursery to plant in the spring.

look how large they are now ... and I started them from seed!

My only worry is that they are too big and may be more mature then they should to grow in the garden during the spring – I mean they look like they could start producing flowers and peppers any time now (see the pic at top and bottom of post!). I can’t imagine that this would really be a problem (just means more peppers sooner for me I hope!) Let me know if you have had this happen to you and how it worked out. I’d also like to know how to have some success growing the paprika peppers. What did I do wrong that not a single one of them came up? I have more seeds and would like to try again. Advice Please!!

Picture From Get Growing Garden and Home Show Site

We’ve been spoiled with sunshine and warm April showers over the last week and inevitably this weekend has brought a brief break to this perfect spring weather with a cold, windy, rain/snow combo forecast. Can’t think of a better way to escape then to head over to the beautiful little village of Creemore, Ontario and enjoy an inspiring garden show in the warmth of the indoor arena. It will be a whole family event with activities for kids, John Deer Tractor displays for my husband, and all kinds of live plant displays to inspire my gardening and landscaping this spring and summer. Can’t wait! I’ll report on how it was tomorrow. Details on click here for details on Creemore’s Get Growing Garden Show.