Spring in the Blue Ridge

i absolutely love this time of year. Spring has definitely arrived in the Blue Ridge. A few weeks earlier than expected, but she is definitely here to stay.



i have a pair of bluebirds that appear to be house shopping. i have two empty bird houses. One is an actual bluebird house and the other a wren house. Last week we cleaned them out and removed a bunch of moss from the previous tenants. i've never actually seen bluebirds nest in the bluebird house, and i'm guessing the sparrows or chickadees usually claim it. Anyhow after getting the houses cleaned out, i began to notice the blue birds.
They have visited the last couple mornings. The male sticks his head inside the wren house, and calls for the female. She pokes her head inside and then begins to bicker with him. i can just her her telling him 'it's too small, the location isn't right...the door isn't facing the right direction'. He checks it out again, trying to convince her it's a great house. It is so fun to watch them, and listen to them bickering back and forth. They have come back daily, but have yet to begin building their nest, so i think they are still looking for the perfect house. :)

i've begun hiking again in the mornings. i like to go out each day and look for all the spring changes. There are so many amazing wildflowers that pop up overnight. i've also been on the look out for morel mushrooms. When the Mayapples and skunk cabbage appear the ground is warm enough for morels. This is a Rue Anemone. They appear all over the woods.

Coltsfoot is one of the first wildflowers to bloom in the spring.

Deadnettle is another early spring plant. It is considered an invasive weed, and comes up everywhere this time of year. It has small delicate pink/purple flowers.



It is always wonderful to see the butterflies return. i have only seen a few so far, mainly cabbage whites hovering over my brassicas. i did happen to spot this lovely swallowtail sunning herself at the edge of the woods.

Bloodroot has started blooming in our native flower garden.

My daughter has already begun the hunt for critters of all kinds. She adores the salamanders, toads, crickets and earthworms. Every day the week she has found a few of these guys.

These are red backed salamanders she has been finding them all around the play area and yard, under every rock and log. Soon we'll be seeing the red spotted newts and giant toad that lives under our deck.

i always enjoy my morning hike, and love seeing the new wildflowers that pop up overnight. My husband teases me for taking pictures of the same flowers year after year, but i can't help myself. You will see more posted each week as the woods begin to explode in colors.

An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day. ~Henry David Thoreau

Sarah's Silks winner annouced!

Linda Kwolek said... 134

Rose Fairy Pink

March 26, 2012 6:31 PM

Congratulations Linda!! ! i will send out an email later today. You will have 48 hours to respond to my email or a new winner will be chosen! Thank you all who entered!!

Sarah's Silks Pocket Silk Giveaway!

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At Sarah's Silks they believe in the magic of creative play! Their playsilks, dress-ups, canopies, and playthings are natural fiber toys that stimulate a child’s imagination, and capture the magical soul that lives in young children.

Children love to dress up with these beautifully dyed cloths! With an inspiring palette of playsilks, children will spend many hours exploring their limitless imaginations.


We have always encouraged imaginative play in our home. Play silks are a wonderful open-ended "toy", the uses are endless. My daughter is a big fan of Sarah's silks! Here's one of my favorite pictures of my girl chasing bubbles in her fairy tutu when she was 3, and all dressed up like a rainbow queen in her fairy dress last year. She has a quite a collection of dress up silks, and it's so fun to see her imagination at work as she creates different outfits and uses for the silks.

This spring, Sarah's silk introduced their new pocket silks. These silk pockets are secret hideaways for the most treasured toys. Perfect for wearing on hikes to collect acorn caps, stones and other nature treasures. Wear it as a apron, or a belt to accent a princess dress, or a sash for a pirate.


Pockets are magical and exciting. They can be used in so many ways. Here are some other ideas:

• horsie reins
• doll slings
• doll dresses
• sword holder
• pirate head scarf
• doll hammock
• tooth fairy pocket
• obi kimono sash
• gather crystals

Sarah's Silks new pocket Playsilks are 54" long by 6" wide dyed and sewn in USA.
The beautiful illustrations were made by artist Caron Dunn.

Buy it!
Available in 5 styles. $19.95 each.
They make lovely spring basket gifts. And will be used year round for dress-up..

Win it!
Sarah has generously offered one reader their choice of Pocket playsilk!

Entry is easy!! 1. To enter, Visit Sarah's Silks then come back and leave me a comment letting me know which pocket playsilk you would choose if you win!
Leave a separate comment for each entry you complete and be sure and include your email so i can contact you if you win!!

Extra Entries!! (do mandatory first!)
2. "like" Sarah's Silks on facebook. Leave me a comment with your FB name!
3.Follow Sarah's Silks on twitter. Leave me a comment with your twitter name!
4. Sign up for the Sarah's Silks mailing list. (bottom right) Let me know you did!
5 follow Sarah's Silks on pinterest Leave me a comment with your Pinterest name!
6. follow my blog via GFC! Leave a comment letting me know you do!
7. be a fan of my page on Facebook. Leave a comment letting me know you are and your FB name!!
8. Share the giveaway post on FB and/or twitter. Leave a link in your comment! (can be done daily)

**Rules**

• Giveaway ends March.27, 2012 at 11:59pm EST
  
• Winner will be contact by email, and posted on the blog.
  
• Winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email or another winner will be chosen
• This giveaway is open to everyone
  

i hope you enjoy these artist features! i plan to be featuring a new artist/crafter a few times a month. That's my hopes anyway, life often gets in the way of what i'm planning... but i would really like to spotlight a few folks who's work i really love.

First signs of Springs

It seems that spring arrived this weekend, literally overnight. We had a some scattered showers, and temps in the 70's and many early spring flowers just exploded into full bloom.


It started with the daffodils. i have several variaties of daffodils, including the gorgeous King Alfred, Ducat (doubles), and miniature daffodils.

These are Holland Sensation.

These are called Ice Follies. They are my favorites.


i have just a few crocus coming up in random places. i one had these growing on my front hill, but many of the bulbs i had planted stopped coming up...and started appearing in random places around the yard. i think this is probably the work of a mole or vole or some other underground critter rearranging and maybe eating my flower bulbs.

My Nanking cherry just started to flower on Friday, and by Saturday the entire thing was in full bloom and alive with buzzing bees!!


My peach trees are just beginning to bud, however i found three peach trees coming up behind our house that are in full bloom. A little strange, because they are in the shade. We are transplanting the larger two, and have 5 small (12"-18") white trees in pots to give away or barter. Last year we traded peach trees for pear, plum and cherry trees. i'm still looking for a few apple and maybe a walnut tree.


Grape hyacinth are also coming up in random places. i have a few still coming up on the front hill, but i actually found this one underneath my lavender bush. :)

On Sunday, it was a bit dreary out so i took the kids to town for a bit. On the way through Hillsville, we saw Forsythia, Bradford Pear and Magnolias in full bloom. It all seemed to happen overnight. From past experience, i know that there is a good chance we'll still get another snow or two...but i'm definitely enjoying all the signs of spring popping up.


Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Happy St. Patty's Day!

i admit, St. Patrick's day is one of those holidays that we don't really celebrate. As far i know, we are not Irish, we are vegetarian so we won't be eating corned beef, and i'm not a drinker. So yeah, not a whole lot to get excited about.
However, the school makes a bit of a big deal about it so both kids came home this week super excited about St. Patrick's day. i had no real plans to do anything special, but did agree to make green pancakes. :)


i even attempted to make them shamrock shaped. :) In order to get myself into the mood, i put The Dropkick Murphys station on Pandora. :) If you are a fan of Irish punk, this station is awesome! It plays lots of Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, The Young Dubliners, Blaggards, and the Tossers. Good Stuff. :) Sure to get your feet moving and make you feel a bit Irish.

We spent the whole day outside! Lots of swinging, hula hooping and playing. My boy is getting a bit too old to like having his picture taken. hee hee.

Both of my kids can totally rock a hula hoop! :)

i think Sage has been feeling nature deprived. She was so happy to spend the entire day outside, looking for leprechauns, running, jumping and rolling in the grass. Even though our winter was pretty mild, we have all been ready for spring! It feels so good to be out in the sunshine, with flower popping up everywhere, our Nanking cherry is in full bloom, and the peaches are begining to bud. It truly was a glorious day to be outside!


My only other contribution to St. Patty's day was a rainbow cake! If i'd put a little thought into it, i would have purchased some chocolate coins to decorate it with...but it was totally spontaneous and too late to run to the store. No speeches on the horrendous amount of food coloring in this...lol. We only do these once or twice a year. ;)

We ended our day eating dinner outside around a Bonfire. This was our first bonfire of the year. im already dreaming about spring/summertime, dinners outside, playing till dark, chasing fireflies and playing in the creek.


St. Patrick's Day is an enchanted time - a day to begin transforming winter's dreams into summer's magic. ~Adrienne Cook

Gearing up for Garden Season.

Spring is definitely in the air! You may have noticed my lack of blog posts recently, and it's because the gorgeous weather has been luring me outside every possible chance i can get. We are gearing up for garden season, which means cleaning out the garden beds, supplementing our soil with composted horse manure, and turning it all up.


We have a local hook up for free unlimited horse manure that has composted for several years. We added some to the garden in the fall, and added another load this spring. The benefit of adding composted horse manure is that it builds good soil structure and texture, increasing the amount of air that can infiltrate and the amount of water it can hold. We have heavy clay soils, so adding compost really helps to loosen the packed soil. In composted Horse manure, nitrogen has been converted to a much more stable form and will be slowly released, allowing plants to use it over a longer period of time. It releases nutrients slowly when plants are small and at greater rates as soil temperatures warm up and the major growth period begins. It also supports essential soil bacteria; feeds earthworms and allows them to multiply; and gradually changes soil pH levels that are either too low (acidic) or too high (alkaline).

The downside of adding the horse manure, is that it tends to be full of weed seeds. So before we till it in, we let the chickens loose in the garden to scratch up and eat as many of the seeds as they can. They will also pluck up the fresh green weed sprouts as they begin to grow. They don't completely prevent weeds, but do help to keep it from becoming completely unmanageable.


We also have a hook up for free pine mulch. So the husband has gotten several loads of it, to mulch the kids play area. We also use it on our blueberry bushes and acid loving shrubs.

Garden season means garden planning, and seed organizing and ordering. i have never been an organized person, but i try! One of the ways i organize my seeds is with a trading card album. The pages contain 9 pockets, and it's in a 3 ring binder and is very inexpensive. When i plant a new flower i keep the seed package and place it in one of the pockets ( cut it down to fit). Then at the end of the season, when i collect the seeds i place them in small bags that are dated. Then i can store them in the pocket with the picture and growing info. i've been using this system for several years to organize my flower seeds, and it works quite well for me.


This year, i ordered the majority of my seeds from Seeds of change, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and Seed savers exchange. i've been really focusing on growing mainly heirloom and non-GMO seeds. Although i do have a few hybrids...like that fabulous Redbor kale!! You can find a list of safe seed companies here.


i received this awesome little indoor greenhouse from my folks, and am super excited that i can actually start my seeds inside this year. In the past i have tried starting sees inside, but we have very limited space, and very curious kitties....that always find a way to dump over all of my seed trays. So far, so good. Although my cats like to nose around the greenhouse (there is a catnip plant in there) They haven't managed to dump it over yet. So i'm feeling pretty optimistic. :)
So far i have broccoli, cauliflower, kale, lettuce and a couple of tomatoes started along with a few herbs.



Another handy little tool i recently came across is SproutRobot.com. You plug in your zipcode and it creates a personalized planting calender that tells you what seeds you can start inside, or plant in your garden week by week. You can even sign up for the free email notifications of what can planted each week. Pretty cool eh? This is great for people like me...who don't know what month it is most of the time..lol.

Have you started planning/planting your garden yet?

Seven feathers tribe Winner announced!

Daph said...

I follow your blog
earthdancedaph@yahoo.com

March 5, 2012 6:16 AM

Congratulations Daph!! ! i will send out an email later today. You will have 48 hours to respond to my email or a new winner will be chosen! Thank you all who entered!!

Planning a Purple Garden :)

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Just for fun this year, i decided to turn my front garden into a purple garden this year! Typically my front garden is used mainly for cold crops. i usually plant spinach, kale, lettuce, broccoli and peas in this bed. This year we are really moving things around, trying a few new things and having a bit of fun with the gardens.
We are moving many of our cold crops to the old potato bed. Potatoes will be planted in the new garden that we made in the cleared area. That leaves the front garden open for whatever.

While ordering seeds this year, i started to notice how many purple varieties are out there and i got the idea to plant a purple garden. :)


i created a board on pinterest, to pin all my favorite purple veggies! i probably will not be growing all the varieties i pinned on my board, but i have bought seeds for quite a few and am still on the look out for more. Here are a few of my favorites!

These are called Blue podded peas....but come on, that is purple!! :) This will be my first year trying these, so i don't have an opinion yet. From what i have read, they make a good dry soup pea, but can also be harvest young and eaten fresh like snow peas.

Redbor kale is another variety i'm pretty excited about. Isn't it beautiful!! We eat ton of kale here. Most years i grow the Dwarf Blue Curled., but last year i also planted Rainbow Lacinato Kale and was really impressed with the color variations. When i saw purple kale for the first time, i knew i had to grow some!!

i've never been huge fan of cauliflower, but isn't this beautiful!?! i already have my seeds started for this, and am pretty excited to see how it does. This is Sicilian Violet Cauliflower. i picked up my seeds on ebay from this seller, Ohioheirloomseeds, and am very happy with them. i ordered quite a few different seeds from them and like the flat rate $1.69 shipping no matter how many seeds you order. The seeds are packaged and labeled well, and they have a wonderful variety of heirloom varieties.

This will be my first time growing these, Cosmic Purple carrots. :) These are also available from Ohioheirloomseeds, although their photo wasn't quite as impressive.

A few other purple vegetables that i'll be growing are purple podded pole beans, Royalty Bush beans, Purple passion asparagus, Cherokee Purple tomatoes (even though they don't look that purple), purple basil and several varieties of red/purple lettuce. i also plan to accent the garden with a variety of purple flowers and herbs.

i'm still on the lookout for differnt purple veggies we can incorporate into our purple garden, and love the convenience of the pinterest boards to 'pin' any potential vegetables i come across. Feel free to follow along on my Purple Garden Pinterest board for more purple garden ideas!

i look forward to sharing photos of our purple garden this summer, once things are growing.

Seven Feathers Tribe Artist Feature and Giveaway!

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Artist Feature: Seven Feathers Tribe

About Cre, "I have been a crafter as long as I can remember. I am always crafting. Always. Just ask my family. From jewelry work, soapmaking, candlemaking, lampworking, sewing clothing..I could go on and on..and now toymaking! My latest passion is making felt food products and felt masks. My daughters are my biggest inspiration and are always tossing new ideas my way. Our family lives in a small hollar nestled down in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We peddle our wares on etsy and we vend at several local festivals in and around the Asheville area. "


i have been a huge fan of Cre's work for many, many years. Back in the day, she made gorgeous patchwork clothing with the most intricate, beautiful appliques and her business was known as Oceantribes. She still sews some clothing items and does amazing applique work, but her focus has changed a bit as she and her family have grown and evolved over the years.

In the last few years, Cre's focus has moved away from the patchwork clothing and towards making eco-friendly children's toys and masks. She uses Eco-Fi felt (also known as Ecospun) for her handcrafted toys and masks. It is made from 100% recycled post-consumer plastic bottles and is compliant with the Consumer Product Safety Act, making it a great, eco friendly choice for children.

If you visit her etsy shop, you'll find it packed full of lovely felt play foods, imaginative masks, felt crowns for dress up play, market bags and more! She makes an amazing variety of play foods. She pays special attention to detail and craftmanship. Her felt masks are very creative and original, she has lots of woodland creature masks, ogres, birds and many more!



Show some support to this fabulous mama who creates these amazing handmade toys so that she can stay home with her children.


Buy it! You can purchase Cre's work through her Etsy store Seven Feathers Tribe.

Win it!
Cre has generously offered one reader their choice of felt mask.

Entry is easy!! 1. To enter, Visit Seven Feathers Tribe , then come back and leave me a comment letting me know which mask you would choose if you win!
Leave a separate comment for each entry you complete and be sure and include your email so i can contact you if you win!!

Extra Entries!! (do mandatory first!)
2. Add Seven Feathers Tribe to your favorites on etsy. Leave your etsy id in the comment.
3. 'heart/favorite' your favorite item in her shop. Leave your etsy id in the comment
4. "like" Seven Feathers Tribe on facebook. Leave me a comment with your FB name!
5 follow Cre on pinterest. Leave me a comment with your Pinterest name!
6. follow my blog via GFC! Leave a comment letting me know you do!
7. be a fan of my page on Facebook. Leave a comment letting me know you are and your FB name!!
8. Share the giveaway post on FB or twitter. Leave a link in your comment! (can be done daily)

**Rules**

• Giveaway ends March.14, 2012 at 11:59pm EST
  
• Winner will be contact by email, and posted on the blog.
  
• Winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email or another winner will be chosen
• This giveaway is open to everyone
  

i hope you enjoy these artist features! i plan to be featuring a new artist/crafter a few times a month. That's my hopes anyway, life often gets in the way of what i'm planning... but i would really like to spotlight a few folks who's work i really love.