Marked “Springtime Japan R6746″ on the bottom. So colorful and cute. Fifty cents at one of the local thrift shops.
Monthly Archives: June 2008
Heirloom Veggies in Raised Beds
So.
My Fiancée and I spent this past Saturday setting up a raised bed vegetable garden at his parents hut.
We bought two of these jaunty, 1970s looking brown on brown composite wood Raised Bed Kits and set them up in the yard. One is a single tier for peppers and eggplant. For the tomatoes we needed a deeper bed so we went with a double tiered unit. They’re both 8 feet long by 4 feet wide. Don’t you know, the kits blend in quite nicely with the surrounding trees and foliage. And bonus – they’re perfect beside the cheerful Brady Bunch Era house! They were pretty easy to assemble and the only really hard part of the day was lugging all those bags of soil to fill them.
Our swell new veggie patch currently includes 12 types of heirloom tomatoes, 4 kinds of sweet peppers, 4 types of eggplant, basil, true lemon cucumbers and grey zuchinni. I started everything from seed with the exception of the basil, which I somehow completely forgot to grow.
Of course I planted some of my favorite tomatoes like Black Plum, Cluj Cherry, Scorsby Dwarf, Black Zebra and Missouri Pink Love Apple. But I’m most excited about some varieties that I haven’t tried before: Cherokee Chocolate, Purple Calabash, Carbon and Lime Green Salad. We’re also giving Black Cherry tomatoes and Dr. Carolyn Pink a whirl.
And so far so good, though the seedlings are still fairly small and I’m not sure how well they’ll withstand this insane 98 degree, four day heatwave followed by these wonky and erratic heavy rain and hail storms. Fingers crossed…
Spring Thrift Shop Finds & Yard Sale Goodies
Found this charming antique Westclox wind-up clock at a group tag sale for just $2! I know nothing about clocks, nor have I ever collected them but this one just called out to me for some reason. I asked the fellow selling the clock if it worked. He didn’t know, but did mention that he’d found it in an old barn on his property that was being demolished. Neato. And good news, it does keep time! Oh, I am giddy. I wonder how old this thing is? Looked it up online but haven’t found this particular model anywhere yet. Anyone know? I think it’s brass and there’s a delicate, sort of lacy scrollwork around the clock on the sides.
Then there were these cute old figurines, both marked “Japan” on the bottom. $6.00 for both at a thrift shop. Since the little dutch girl is seated I think she’ll be adorable perched atop a shelf watching our hut.
A copy of Historic Girls from 1896 by E.S. Brooks. And for just $8! This illustrated Victorian Era book details the lives of famous women from all over the world and their impact on history. Some of the ladies mentioned include Jacqueline of Holland, Woo of Hwang-Ho and Zenobia of Palmyra. And it’s in remarkable, near perfect condition, which amazes me. Someone gave this book as a gift long ago and far away — on the inside cover in black ink it reads “To Dear Judith wishing you a merry Christmas from Violet.”
