Hello plants!

So I added that last post really late, and I already have an update for my plants!

 My tomatoes are DELICIOUS! Since I bought the plant from a greenhouse, they were already growing before I got them. So I woke up one day for work, and noticed thee was more than just green in my plant! I was so excited! 

A few days later they were even more red! Yum, time to eat!

I had to decide how I wanted to eat my first garden tomatoes! I wanted them to be the least changed from their awesomeness as possible. I made delicious Fort McMurray-Famous Sunshine Bread (recipe will come later) and warmed the sliced tomatoes up in a little bit of olive oil on the stove.

D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. 

Gardening with power tools

Those of you who know me, you know I have a soft spot in my heart for power tools. Something about building projects, I love it! So when I started exploring vegetable gardening, I saw a project for making self watering containers to plant in, and I thought it'd be a good thing to try! My tools are in storage in Lethbridge, so I got to use my Dad's.

The goal of this project is to make a container that waters your plants from the bottom, so you don't have to worry about them every day (perfect for a summer shift worker like me!). This project is taken from my new gardening book The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible by Edward Smith 

For this project you need

Get your supplies!
(Thank you Dad for making such a
beautiful deck for me to put my garden on!)

•  2 buckets (big ones, 5 gallons preferably) for every container you want to have at the end
• Drill that will make a hole in thick plastic
• Tin snips (something that will cut thick plastic)
• Tape measure
• Plastic down spout (4" per container)
• Permanent marker 

Step 1. Get your buckets! I got buckets for a dollar from Booster Juice, they're not 5 gallons but big enough for my needs. My Dad also picked up some 5 gallon ones from Rona for me. I had enough for 5 containers at the end. 

Step 2.

 Step 2. Drill holes all the way around the inside of the small circle of on the bottom of the bucket that will become the inside bucket.d

Step 3.

Step 3. Using snips, cut the circle out by cutting between the drilled holes. Watch your fingers on this step! I pushed the circle out and cut my thumb pretty bad!

Step 4.

Step 4. Drill a dozen holes on the bottom of this bucket, this will allow excess water to drain out.

Step 5. 

Step 5. 

Step 5. Cut a 4 inch piece of downspout, and drill about 3 holes on each of the four sides, keeping the holes within an inch of the bottom of the pipe. This will be the wick that draws water up to the inner bucket.

Step 6.

Step 6. Place this piece of pipe into the center of the bottom bucket. Place the bucket with the holes into this bucket.

Step 7. 

Step 7. Hold the buckets up to the light so you can see the silhouette of the inner bucket. Using your permanent marker, draw a rectangle onto the outside bucket, with the top of the rectangle meeting the bottom of the inner bucket. The rectangle should be about an inch deep, and two inches long. This is where you'll be able to add and check water in this self watering bucket!

 Drill and snip the rectangle to take it out. I drilled holes into each corner, then one or two in the middle of each line so I could use the snips more easily. Remember to make it as smooth as possible since you'll be putting your precious fingers in to check water a lot!

Step 8

Step 8. Fill the pipe with moistened soil and place back into the center of the bottom bucket. Replace the inner bucket (the one with the holes). Line up the bottom hole of the inner bucket with the soil in the pipe so there is little to no space where there is no soil. The soil you will be putting into the inner bucket will connect with the soil in the pipe so water will be wicked up to the plant's roots. Yum Yum Plant food!  

Step 9. 

Step 9. Fill the inner bucket with CONTAINER SOIL. **Something new I learned - regular dirt is not the same as the soil you need for containers! It would dry out too fast! So look for the good stuff!

Sunflower seeds! Grow!  Grow! 

Plant your plants and move them to their location FIRST before you add the water to the bottom, through that hole you cut out earlier. It will be extra heavy once you add the water.

Another tip - Write your plant names on the buckets so you don't forget what you've planted!

Happy Gardening!!!

Pita Chips & Blogging!

So I have recently become addicted to scouring the internet for food blogs and of course that means I'm also cooking a lot! So between great recipes from food blogs and the great cookbooks people help me find - I have so seriously delicious food to share with you all! I also have lots of other things to share as well, things that colour my world. Things like great books and interesting and enlightening videos! Most recently, I've started gardening for the first time ever, other than a sad little flower garden my friend I planted in the shade next to my playhouse when we were little. Hopefully my thumb has gotten a little greener since then! All these things add colour my days, so I decided to start blogging to share them with my friends and family, I hope you enjoy!! 

So to start off this blog of things that colour my world, here's one of my favourite snacks, and it's super easy! 

Pita Chips

All the ingredients you need

• Bag of pita chips I usually use one of the giant bags, so I can make a lot! This bag can be fresh or even older pitas that you want to use up before they go bad! They taste great no matter what. 
• Olive Oil 
• Parmesan Cheese Now, fresh cheese is best for almost all recipes but not this one. Get the dried pre-shredded stuff.
• Garlic Salt
• Oregano
• Cookie Sheets Preferably with parchment paper!
• Scissors Remember to clean them before you use them on food! 

Step Two

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees, and get cookie sheets out and put parchment paper on if you have it. 

2. Open pitas or cut the edges off. Fresh pitas are easily pulled apart without ripping them, but older ones can be cut. Using scissors cut around the edge so that the pita can be pulled apart to get two round pieces. 

3. Brush or spray the inside-side of the pita with olive oil.

4. Cut the pitas into chip size pieces (I usually cut it in half, to make a semi circle. Then cut that in half, and into triangles, some of which need to be cut in half again because they're too big.)

5. Spread out evenly on the cookies sheets, with the inside, olive oil side up. 

6. Sprinkle with garlic salt, and then Parmesan and oregano. All to your own taste! 

7. Bake for 4 to 5 minutes at 400 F. Really watch your chips, they can burn really fast. You want them to be brown and crunchy and chip-y. Cooked too little and they'll still be chewy, cooked too much and they'll be burnt. 

8. Remove and let cool for a couple minutes, before you serve with salsa, hummus or your favourite dips! I usually store them in the plastic bag the pitas came in to help them stay fresh. 

Enjoy this delicious and easy snack (that's definitely healthier than regular chips, and equally as delicious!) 

Yum Yum!