04.22.09

Happy Earth Day!

More streamlining is in order. I'm proud to introduce an idea that has been on a low simmer for the last couple of years. Today marks the beginning or launching of Eco Design + Living, an information resource for the Emerald Coast and beyond about living lighter on the planet.

Please visit the site, browse around, let me know what you think. Check back often and subscribe to the RSS Feed. Become a fan on Faceboook. Have fun and live well.

Chandra

01.19.09

Check my blog for the latest: http://elitrope.wordpress.com/

In an effort to further streamline my life, I've decided to go back to blogging where I originally started. There is where you will find the latest tidbits on the garden, building, projects, etc.

Cheers!

01.13.09

oh, there's just something righteous about harvesting your own food for lunch. The hoop house is working out splendidly. The only exception is that the collards are stressed, though, the peppers are loving it. Today I harvested a head of buttercrunch lettuce, three radishes, a pepper and a salad spinner full of collards. I also started a flat of cress and a flat of rocket, which I'm intentionally calling 'rocket' instead of arugula. Maybe 'rocket' will become the new must-have salad green. I know, that's already a reality, it just goes by the name of arugula.

Rocket is in the mustard, cabbage, or Cruciferous family. When learning about plant families, they are easier to remember when you can start to identify patterns of the different families. As example, flowers of cruciferous plants have 4 petal flowers, resembling a cross and the seed pods always form in a radial pattern around the stalk. Anyhow, if you grow you're own rocket or other greens from the mustard family, let them go to seed and check out the flowers and seed pods.

01.07.09

The mini hoop house. We're ready for cool weather now, except we're one week into January and it's not here yet. My goal is to get a jump start on some seedlings. I am also experimenting with semi-perennializing an heirloom Red Marconi pepper. The peppers are in the cages, in the bed just past the collards.