Sun's Coming Up

The sun's coming up on the container garden.

The kale's looking strong.

The basil's looking and smelling yummy.

The shallots are ready to go into the ground some time this week. It's tough taking a good picture of those, so here are the daffodils instead! They'll be in full bloom this week as well.

We got tea towels out to Betsy's Sunflower in Brooklin, ME last week. She's opening shop on April 30th. We also sent a bundle of towels to Bowerbird and Friends, in Peterborough, NH, a package of towels and produce bags to Archipelago (The Island Institute Store), in Rockland, ME, and stopped by Conklin's Maine Mercantile in Belfast, ME with some whale tea towels (we'll be shipping Garry more items this week). If you're in any of these areas, we do hope you'll stop by and say hello for us!

If you'd like to check out our Etsy Shop or like us on facebook, that's cool, too. We'd love to hear from you!

Hope your week's a good one.

2013 Show Schedule

Our 2013 show schedule is shaping up. We'll be at the following events this year:

June 22-23 - Vintage Bazaar at Pettingill Farm, Salisbury, MA
July 27 - Artisan Bread Fair, Skowhegan, ME
August 17-18 - Gilsland Farm, Falmouth, ME
September 20-22 - Common Ground Fair, Unity, ME
November 16-17 - Maine Harvest Festival, Bangor, ME

We'll post more information about the shows on our facebook page as we get closer to each event.

New Design for 2013 - Allium

Allium Tea Towel Printed in Violet Purple

We're starting to list new items in our Etsy shop. It's always exciting when a new design makes it from sketch to screen!

Hope your week's a good one!

Finicky Spring

Spring's been a bit finicky this year. Sunny and warm at the start of last week, snow toward the end. (Boo). But, let's just skip quickly past the white stuff and on to what's new in the gardens. Found some buds on the peony.

Peony 4/15/13

And the daffodils are looking luscious and green. Buds, soon? (Let's hope!)

Waiting for this to flower so I can remember what it is!

The cold frame experiment's going strong. Basil, shallots, and kale outgrew the seedling trays, so I put those in bigger pots over the weekend. Parsley and hot peppers are still rather small. Never heard from the ace peppers. I think the temperatures in this low-tech seed experiment were too variable for them. I'll just get some pepper plants from the local farmer's market in a few weeks.

Northern Tides, in Lubec, Maine, is hosting a book signing with author Ron Pesha. It'll be held April 27, 2013 from 1-3pm. Ron will be talking about his new book "The Great Gold Swindle of Lubec, Maine." If you're in the area, please stop by and say hello for us!

For more news, please check out our facebook page or our Etsy shop. We've started printing our new designs for spring and should have them available soon.

Hope your week's a good one!

Feels Like Spring!

I've been watching this little guy run across the yard looking for bugs.

The bleeding heart's starting to get some color on it.

And the chives are starting to come back.

The veggies are doing well. (The hot peppers and parsley decided to come out and play - still waiting to see if the Ace peppers will do anything...I have my doubts).

And, it's warm enough to sit out on the porch with a morning coffee! Now, that's more like it!

We heard last week that we've been accepted into Gilsland Farm Art and Fine Crafts Show in Falmouth, ME. The show takes place August 17 and 18, 2013. This is our first time doing the show, so we're really excited about it. The grounds are maintained by Maine Audubon. We're looking forward to checking out the walking trails, fields, and woodlands.

For more news, please check out our facebook page or stop by our Etsy shop.
  
Hope your week's a good one!

Signs of Spring

"In the spring I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours." - Mark Twain

No new snowfall this week, but it has taken a while for the snow to melt. I was glad to discover the snowdrops survived the storm.

Snowdrops March 2013

There are a few buds poking up from the earth as well.

And, the seedlings are doing fine. The kale and shallots are as hardy as ever. The basil and parsley are coming along. No peppers, though. I don't think the soil temperature has been consistent enough for them. (Note to self for next year's planting). The temperature on the porch reached over 100 degrees during the weekend.

Portable Cold Frame on the Porch

We shipped out some tea towels, produce bags, and napkins to Common Crow in Gloucester, MA and Conklin's Maine Mercantile in Belfast, ME last week, as well as some tea towels to Kennebec River Artisans, in Hallowell, ME. If you're in those areas, please stop by and say hello for us!

You can also find us at our Etsy shop or on facebook.

Hope your week's a good one!

Cold Frame - Week 2

Well, the first day of spring brought a foot of snow to Maine. It was, surprisingly, still warm enough to put the cold frame on the porch the next day.

Cold Frame March 21

I was worried about being able to keep the temperature even - we had kind of a cold snap - but things seem to be progressing. The parsley decided to come out to play, though the sprouts were still too small to get a good picture. Here are the kale and shallots week two.

Kale - Week 2

Shallots - Week 2

However this rather low-tech experiment works out, I've been enjoying seeing something green outside my sewing room window on these early spring days!

Christina's come up with some really cool designs to add to our collection: a whale tea towel, hydrangea tea towel, and allium tea towel. We hope to have them listed in our Etsy Shop soon. We'll post an announcement on our facebook page when they're ready, so please join us there. Don't forget to let us know how your gardening projects are going!

Hope your week's a good one!

Portable Cold Frame Experiment

 I recently read an article about starting seeds in containers (milk jug, yogurt containers, and the like). The idea is to plant the seeds in the containers, wrap them in plastic, and stick them outside for natural light. When it comes time for planting, the plants will already be "hardened." Seemed like a cool idea.

Plastic Bin "Cold Frame"

Instead of many small containers, I purchased a plastic bin and some seed trays. It's Maine in March (Zone 5a), and I wasn't 100% sure it would be warm enough yet to keep seedlings outside. The bin makes moving the seedlings very easy.

Week One Seedlings

The trick is to keep the temperature inside the bin somewhere between 60-75 degrees Fahrenheit and to give the seedlings enough sunlight to thrive. My south-facing porch seems to be working so far.

I bought a $3 thermostat to keep inside the bin. That helps me track the temperature. Sometimes, despite the 30 degree (or below) temperatures outside, the inside of the bin reaches 85-100 degrees. When this happens, I just prop the cover open to let things cool down a bit.

As soon as the sun starts going fading, the temperature inside the (uninsulated) bin drops quickly. I've just been bringing the bin inside for now. Hopefully, in a week or two, I'll be able to leave the bin outside even at night.

After a week, the kale, shallots, and basil have decided to show themselves. I'm still waiting for the peppers and parsley. Still a long way to go before these babies can be planted, but I'll keep you posted!