Mini Greehouses.... Yes, I know it's 30 Below!

Even though it is a frigid 30 below outside, that doesn't hinder my seed starting! This year I have decided to start onions from seed. Much cheaper of course than purchasing sets in the store, but it takes many more weeks to start them. So... because I don't have a greenhouse set up yet, I started the task of creating a simple mini greenhouse to get those onions going.

1. What I bought...

Clear under the bed tote... remember it must have a clear top to be effective. $5.97 at my local Walmart store.

2. Take a drill and put small holes in the top for air ventilation.

3. I lined mine with a bit of newspaper for more moisture hold.

4. line up toilet paper rolls in the box

5. Fill with organic seed starter mix $4.95 at Walmart.

6. Water the mix and let settle

7. Fill again with seed starter mix

8. Water again.

9. Put 2-3 seeds in each toilet paper roll

10. Lightly cover the seeds with mix.

11. Cover and set in sunny location

12. Check moisture level every couple days


These are the perfect size  mini greenhouses to be able to move around, set outside when the weather is nicer and take right to the garden when you are ready to plant! Also they are much more durable than the little Jiffy greenhouses you can purchase.  These can be used year after year, and they keep the cats from messing with your new seedlings!

All in all for the tote, seed starter and seeds (I did both yellow and white) my cost was $9.97! (I only used about half of my seed starter for this project) Of course I had been saving the toilet paper and paper towel rolls all year. Great way to get your seed pots for free! Put them right into the ground at time of planting. Some blogs I have read tell you to "close" the bottom, but I don't bother with that step.


Happy Wednesday all! ~A

Create your Own Path...

This quote is so true.... so many people nowadays just follow the pack. Be yourself, you are you and no matter what you do, your interests are, your personality, it is unique and you can find happiness in being just that!
I can't stress this to my children enough, with all the pressures of school, fashion, friends, drugs, cars, yada yada yada, it becomes so easy to just go with the flow of others versus creating your own "flow"
It's a daily mention around our house how important it is to dream your own dreams and do what it takes to follow them and make them YOUR reality, not somoeone elses! Even if those dreams change everyday, (and they do around here) take the initiative on your own and move forward with them! Hopefully, all my nagging about this really sinks in, and both my children become their own persons.

Happy Saturday! ~A

Just another Tuesday....

Just another beautiful Tuesday.... wow! We made it to 32 degrees today! How wonderful for a Minnesota January day! Anyways,  a long day just dizzin and loosing track of time... crap it's all the sudden time for supper!

So I scrounge the fridge and freeze and decide on pork chops and rice. And then thought I didn't want to do the typical bland herb chops... I peruse Pinterest and find this wonderful recipe! It was a hit, though I did make a minor change. Here ya'll go!

Ranch and Rice Pork Chops

Ranch And Rice Pork Chops

4 thick-cut pork chops, bone in or boneless

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 pkg. dry ranch dressing mix

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c. chicken broth

pepper

Combine soup, dressing mix, garlic, and broth.  Sprinkle chops with pepper (do not salt).  Place chops in slow cooker and pour soup mixture over top.  Cover and cook on high 4 hours or low 6-7 hours.  Serve over rice.

My changes..... I used Cream of Mushroom instead of the Cream of Chicken, I added a can of sliced mushrooms. I put them in a casserole dish and baked in the oven at 350 for about an hour. It was DELISH!!

Triple Berry Cheesecake Cookies

Dessert.... Triple Berry Cheesecake Cookies!

2 pkg	marth white's wild berry muffin mix, or strawberry
4 oz	cream cheese, room temperature
1 stk	butter, room temperature
2 Tbsp	canola oil
1/2 c	brown sugar
2	eggs
1 c	vanilla or white chocolate chips

1

Cream together the cream cheese, butter, sugar and eggs until well blended and smooth.

2

Slowly add the dry muffin mixes, blending well. Stir in the chips and nuts, cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

3

Place on cookie sheet with cookie scoop, use floured bottom of a glass to press down slightly. Bake in 325* oven 10-12 minutes, the top will look pale, but bottom will be browned... remove and let cool 2 minutes before removing from pan.. These cookies are a cake like cookie, they will not get crispy,, they stay soft.. Store in covered container. 

 

My changes... I did grease my cookie sheet just a bit to prevent sticking, as well I used some left over candy coating wafers broke into pieces for the white choc chips.  These are very similar to Subways Raspberry Cheesecake Cookies! NUMMMMMY!!

A wonderful evening of food... hope yours is as well!! ~A

And so we begin...

Let the Blogging begin! What a great outlet for all the jumble of thoughts that run through a persons head! So where to start?

Well... a great place to start would be a bit about me. I'm a farm girl at heart (hence the blog name), growing up this was everything that I didn't want to be. However, I quickly decided that city life just wasn't for me full time. I like it in brief spurts here and there, but my home and heart belong in the country.

I live and come from a dinky little town, where yes, everyone knows your name, and everyone likes to think they know you more than you know yourself! Ha! While this can be quite annoying at times, it's also reassuring that your life is always talked of being more interesting than it really is!  And as a Sex in the City fan, I always find myself thinking that things are way more interesting in these little podunk towns than in big city life... there really should be a show about it. Why not, there's one for everything else!

I am a single mother of two wonderful children... yep that is a total cliche, doesn't everyone say how wonderful their kids are? Well, I'll be honest... they are both wonderful MOST of the time! My daughter is 15 and she is definitely me in my younger years, just maybe has a little more focus than I have ever had. My son is 11, and he is a total country boy, hunting, fishing and getting as dirty as he possibly can... that is his life, but he is sweet to his momma!

I am a very typical Pisces, I change my mind every 5 minutes, I dream very big, and I love many, many different things. Whatever I do, I tend to go overboard, then it fades quickly. Which is why I LOVE my job in graphic and photo design, it changes with every client, so there is never room for boredom to set in.

I absolutely LOVE gardening, if I could plant all day everyday, I really would, unfortunately... I live in Minnesota, so that is just not possible, but I try to make the most of every moment of Spring, Summer and Fall to do this.

Pinterest has become a major addiction of mine, and I can't believe that there are so many things to do out there that I just never thought of. I have more pins than I will ever be able to finish, but I find a lot of enjoyment in just being able to know that these little cool things can be done. Crafty things are just too cute, and if I can make something for my home for virtually nothing... I will. On the total other side of the spectrum, I have WAY too many purses, WAY too much nail polish and I love to go out and have a good time with my bestie and raise a little hell every now and again.

So... enough about all that for now. I wanted to rant a bit and that's that... off to do the pile of dishes staring at me... good night all! ~A