Bright Life Toys

Gardening Resolutions

As I get started on this year's garden, I think back on what I did wrong last year. Not giving enough space to the tomatoes, not being diligent in getting rid of squash bugs, not amending the soil enough, and not feeding the plants when they were seedlings. Whoops!

This year, I hope to change all that, and I hope the garden that is in my head actually shows up in real life.

So this year I'm putting much more space between the tomato plants so I can get to them easier and they have better air circulation. (Early blight is a problem in my area, and crowding the plants just makes it worse.) I brought in 20 tons of compost, and added it to the garden with my darling husband's help. (But I totally COULD have done it myself with just a wheelbarrow, despite what he thought about plan.)

I spread 4" of compost in the entire garden on top of a 8" layer of shredded paper bags, straw, leaves, grass clippings and kitchen scraps. I lifted up the stuff under the compost, and there were tons of baby worms already hard at work.

I also potted up my swiss chard and baby basil plants, as they all had the beginnings of a second set of leaves.

What did you do in the garden today?

A New Year - A Slew of Resolutions

I've mentioned several times in the 4 blog posts I did last year that I'm a terrible blogger. I just forget to post, or put it off until months have gone by.

Well, I'm going to fix that this year. There will be blog posts a-plenty, as I'm going to use this as part gardening journal too. (This is so I don't wind up irritating my friends on Facebook more than I already do.)

Part of my business goals for 2013 will be to blog consistently. This will be part business related, but mostly personal stuff about me and what I like to do when I'm not chained to my machines.

So, here we go!

I vastly enjoy gardening. I love putting a tiny seed into the ground (or a seedling tray) and seeing a wee plant emerge. I love seeing that seedling grow up into an enormous plant.

In particular, I love swiss chard. I tried it for the first time for Christmas dinner, and knew I wanted to put it in my garden. I also love rainbows, and chard comes in a rainbow of colors! In my area, chard can go in the garden in February.

I started a tray of chard seedlings on Saturday and they're germinating today.

My best friend and I are gardening buddies this year, and we're growing basil together for kitchen use. i.e. we need something to grow NOW to tide us over until we can start our summer stuff. See the wee little basil neck?

Rainbow Bear Blog Giveaway!!!!

In January, I set a lot of lofty business goals for myself. One was to start this blog, another was to get my LLC. As I've been crossing the met goals off of my list, I decided to offer a giveaway as a "thank you". Without you, I would not have been able to meet any of my goals. Every time you make the choice to shop with me instead of a Big Box Store, you're making the choice to support a family, and a dream.

If you are around on my Facebook fan page, then you know how much I love rainbows. Just a peek into my Etsy shop confirms that as well.

So as a "thank you" for your patronage and support, I'd like to give away this rainbow teddy bear. It is crafted from my hand dyed organic bamboo velour, and is stuffed with polyfil (making it easy to wash!). The velour was dyed with professional grade Procion dyes for color longevity and durability. It measures 13" long, making it perfect for snuggling!

How to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A winner will be drawn via rafflecopter and I'll post the winner on 7/19! Good luck!

What I've Been Up To

This past month has been busy (isn't everyone busy?) here at BLT. I finished up a co-op style sale on Etsy, and have been pulling veggies out of the garden left and right. It started off pretty small, but then got progressively larger:

Then there is the dyeing. Oh, the dyeing.

I managed to get a couple of my Bermuda colorways done. (More about those in a separate post.)

Atlantic Blue

The Dockyards

Horseshoe Bay

There was also an extremely exciting morning where my oldest came running into my studio, screaming that something horrible was happening in the house. I ran into the kitchen to discover that the ceiling was leaking onto my kitchen table. Turns out the shower dohickey was loose, and it just needed to be tightened. My super handy husband repaired it and then patched the ceiling. He made a bigger mess than intended.

I'll be going more into the Bermuda colorways (and dyeing some more!) in the very near future! Stay tuned!

Eep! A Mouse!

I love making new things, and especially love when customers request something new. It gives my brain a workout and breaks up my sewing routine.

Here is a recent request - a mouse! It is crafted from hand dyed organic bamboo velour, and its facial features are hand embroidered.

It is available for sale on Etsy.

Hornworm Hunting

If you grow tomatoes, you know that tomato hornworms are the bane of your existence. They can (and will) defoliate a tomato plant quickly and easily. They will also start chomping on your green tomatoes - the same tomatoes you've been waiting to ripen. The same tomatoes you've been looking forward to for months.

So how to spot a hornworm: there are 2 telltale signs hornworms have taken up residence in your tomatoes. 1 is leaf damage, and the other is frass (super fancy name for poop).

Frass (or poop) looks like wee little grenades. It can be black or green. There may be a little or a lot, depending on how long your hornworm has been noshing on your plants.

Usually, if you look straight up above the frass, you will see the hornworm. However, the one on this plant has been moving around a lot so I actually had to hunt him down.

It takes a LOT of hunting sometimes to find them. They blend it very very well with a tomato plant, making them difficult to find. Peek-a-boo! I seeee you!

Now, if you're a brave little toaster, you can pull him off of the leaves. They don't bite, and the horn is fake. But, if you are a giant wuss like me you have a couple of options:

1. Remove the leaf the hornworm is on, taking the hornworm with it.

2. Enlist a child to pull the hornworms off your plants, and pay them a dime for every worm they get.

In this case, I took the leaf with the hornworm on it. My son usually gets them for me, though.

*Shudder* That one is still a baby, believe it or not. They can get 4+" long and will eventually turn into a moth.

You can drop the whole thing in a bucket of soapy water as hornworms aren't great swimmers. You can squish them, but they make a bit of a mess because they're so big. If you're lucky enough to have chickens, they really enjoy them as a tasty snack.

I wipe the frass of the leaves so if I don't think there is another worm on the plant at a later date. I check my plants at least twice a day.

You can use Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki) ton control the population, which is safe for all critters that aren't a caterpillar.

Happy Gardening!

Update

Admittedly, I am not the world's best blogger. I put off blogging until "tomorrow", only I don't exactly mean literally tomorrow. In my defense, the past 2 months have been very busy here at BLT central. My oldest 2 children both had birthdays, I've been preparing my garden for the summer crops, Easter happened (my 2nd busiest time of year) and my husband and I went on vacation together for the first time in nearly a decade.

Excuses aside, here is what I have to report - the garden is flourishing! Tomatoes are my main crop, followed by peppers, then peas, zucchini, cucumbers, and basil.

For tomatoes, I'm growing:

- Yellow pear (one of my favorites)

- Cherry

- Black cherry

- Amish paste

- San Marzano

- Brandywine

- Yellow boy

I think that is it.

I planted them outside on April 14th, just a wee early.