The Parrot King Tulip
Today we’ll be taking a break from the cleaning series because I didn’t get home until late from the family Easter celebration and didn’t have time to take photos & write the post. Also because a few of my parrot tulips are blooming. These ‘Parrot King’ tulips are a show stopper and they’re stealing the show by my back door, the OOPS ones that I accidentally left in the garage. I can’t help but stop and stare whenever I’m head in or out!
I planted these in pots specifically to be able to examine them closely. The detail in these flowers is so amazing and hard to capture with my camera. They’re stunning from bud to bloom. The variety of colors in each bud, the fringe on the petals, the way the colors change and they get deeper as the blooms age.
Normally, I’m not one for blooms with flourish like these. I don’t even really like orange and yellow flowers, but for some reason I’m enthralled by these beauties. They remind me of Spanish Flamenco dancers with all the ruffles and their bright colors. Definitely focal points wherever you plant them. I’ll never have a garden without parrot tulips from now on and I don’t think I’ll go without forcing some in a pot to admire by the back door each spring.
Do you have a plant/flower that you love that doesn’t fit in with your normal gardening tastes?
For more photos of this beauty head on over to my Flickr photostream.
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Quote of the Day: Buckner Hollingsworth
“I think I yet see what I have so often beheld both in town and in country,” Mrs Grant continued, “a respectable mistress of a family going out to her garden, in an April morning, with her great calash, her little painted basket of seeds, and her rake over her shoulder, to her garden labors.”
Buckner Hollingsworth
found in Her Garden Was Her Delight. Famous Women Gardeners.
If you’ve never read the book above you should, such a fascinating book about women gardeners throughout American history.
I’m getting a little backed up sharing images since we’re focusing on cleaning. Here’s the update, scenes from around the gardens of Chiot’s Run this past week, harvest, blooms, and life. (if you are my personal friend or if you follow Chiot’s Run on Facebook you might have seen a few of these).
Remember those tulips that I forgot about in the garage? They are just starting to come into their own and they’re stunning, obviously no harm done by the accidental blanching. They are parrot tulips ‘Rai’, ‘Green Wave’, and ‘Parrot King’.
The tulip hillside is in full bloom, photos of that in the coming weeks complete with photos of each individual tulip variety in case you want to know which ones to order.
Do I really need to say anything about these photos? These show exactly why I garden; it’s peaceful, it’s beautiful, it feeds my soul and it brings me much joy during these busy, busy weeks!
What’s been bringing you joy in these last few weeks?
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Procrastination
This year spring seems to have come a little early. I’ve been taking advantage by getting a lot of jobs done around the garden, but mostly they don’t really need to be done right now. Things like moving hostas, building rock walls, harvesting compost, stacking firewood, etc. I’ve been putting off some of my seed starting in order to accomplish these other things. I have a good amount of my seeds already started, brassicas, celery, onions, and some herbs. I still need to start a lot more herbs, beets, lettuce and all of my tomatoes and other warm weather crops.
I don’t know why I’m procrastinating in this area, typically seed starting is one things I’m ahead on. Perhaps it’s because I’m already out of edible garden space and am trying to figure out where I’m going to be putting all these new seedlings, I don’t really know. Perhaps I’m just finally realizing that it’s not a race and my tomatoes will most likely fruit at the same time whether I start them in March or April.
Is there a gardening chore you’ve been putting off?
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Friday Favorite: Our Cow
I’m taking a break from the non-toxic cleaning series because – well, it takes a lot of time to write those posts and because the fact that when raw milk graces my fridge and my coffee once again it’s a source of much celebration here at Chiot’s Run.
Earlier this week, my friendly farmer e-mailed and said they could have fresh real milk for us this week. Why do we not get milk in the winter? Our farmers let their cows go dry in the winter, both for the sake of giving the cows a break, and for the sake of giving themselves a break. Lucky for us, there’s another small local dairy that offers pastured milk, it’s not raw, but it’s lightly pasteurized, the next best thing. It’s good, way better than grocery store milk, but once you’ve had good real fresh milk, everything else pales in comparison.
We dropped everything and went out to the farm to drop off our milk jars. We got to watch as the new calves were fed then our friendly farmers gave us a tour of all the pastures and told us all the cows names. I deemed this one as “The Morris Cow”. Her name is gluey and they were saying she’s homely & ugly, but I think she’s a real beauty.
Here in Ohio it’s illegal to buy raw milk, the only way it’s legal is to drink milk from your own cow. So we own a cow and we pay our friendly farmer to board her for us. We drive the few miles to the farm each week and pick up half gallon mason jars filled with rich creamy goodness. We love how the milk changes throughout the seasons depending on what the cows are eating. Fresh real milk from the farm is a true joy. It’s like most things, when you search out and have the best you really can never settle for anything less! Join me in dancing a little dance because our cups will be overflowing with fresh real milk until this coming December.
What local product are you most happy about when it’s available?
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Learning to Love Castile Soap
So what is castile soap anyways? Basically, it’s an olive oil based soap. It’s called Castile because it was named after the Castile region in Spain. Really, it’s as simple as that. I’ve read a lot of recipes on-line and it seems easy to make yourself. Perhaps I’ll try to make a batch here soon, I just need to read up on lye and what’s the best brand to use. You’ll be the first to hear if/when I tackle this. Seems the ingredients aren’t that expensive so I could probably save myself some cash by making my own. Then I would also know exactly what kind of oil was used in it (since I buy my olive oil from a small farm in California).
You might wonder why I buy my Castile from Mt Rose Herbs as opposed to other brands? I like it because they us all organic ingredients. I purchase almost all of my organic herbs and spices from them along with a lot of teas. My friend Miranda from Go Nude Soap loves them as well and purchases a lot of her supplies from them as well. She makes all natural soaps & lotions.
When you start using natural soaps you will notice that they don’t seem to cut grease. That’s the first thing I noticed when I started washing my dishes with it. At first, I felt like all the dishes were still greasy and the soap just wasn’t getting them clean. I continued using it because I didn’t want to be using products with SLS* (which cuts grease like you wouldn’t believe). Then it dawned on me that it wasn’t that castile doesn’t dissolve grease, it’s that it doesn’t strip away everything. Meaning, it doesn’t strip the natural oils off your skin or the finish off your dishes.
I liken it to the natural non-stick finish that builds up on a cast iron pan with good seasoning. Using a soap that cuts grease and strips oils ends up stripping off the protective coating that covers most everything we use in our daily lives. Once you get used to that feeling when you’re washing you won’t want to use a soap that cuts grease. After using castile soap for a while I noticed that my dishes and pans were much easier to clean.
So give it a shot, try using castile soap for a month or two and then see if you can go back to a grease cutting soap. Chances are you’ll realize that that squeakiness we were taught to attribute with clean is actually detrimental, to your hands, your body and the objects in your home that you’re cleaning! Sometimes when we try something new we have to retrain our minds to what is “normal”.
What has been the hardest thing for you to get used to when it comes to switching to non-toxic cleaners, soaps, etc?
NON-TOXIC CLEANING SERIES
Stocking Your Non-Toxic Cleaning Kit
Learning to Love Castile Soap
Make Your Own: Foaming Soap
Make Your Own: Infused Vinegar
Make Your Own: Multi-Purpose Cleaner
Make Your Own: Color Safe Oxygen Bleach
Friday Favorite: Charlie’s Soap
Friday Favorite: Twist Sponges
and more to come…
*Note that as Sage pointed out yesterday Sal Suds from Dr Bronners does contain SLS. I keep a bottle around and use it sparingly only if I actually do need to dissolve grease from my hands/clothing. It’s then followed up with castile soap to remove any residual SLS.
