Gerbera Daisy's

Something had to come home with me after going on my weekly trip to the local nursery.  This time it was two beautiful Gerbera Daisy's, I'm very excited about these guys.  Last year was definitely the year for Daisy's, it was sunny and hot all summer.  I'm just hoping this summer will be like that, but I have a feeling it will be a pansy year ;). I really am itching to get outside into the garden, but it snowed again today so I'm thinking we will have a late start and until I can get outside I will just have to look upon these beauties.

Coffee Bar

This is a recipe that my husband and I created.  We really like coffee cake so we tried to create something similar in a primal way :)
It only takes about 15min to make and no baking required.

Ingredients

1 C pecans
1 C Almonds
1/4 C Butter (salted or unsalted) we prefer unsalted
1/4 C Coconut Oil
2 Tbsp finely ground coffee (we like pacific pipeline from kicking horse)
1 Tbsp Honey

Topping

Any type of dark chocolate, 75% or higher.  If using 100% add a little honey.

Place nuts in a food processor and process until you have your desired consistency. Add to a mixing bowl. Melt butter and oil, then add to bowl along with the honey and coffee. Stir until all ingredients are mixed well. Line a 9X9 pan with wax paper and pour in mixture. Melt chocolate and drizzle over your coffee bar, place in fridge for an hour or so then cut into desired squares. Keep refrigerated.

The Fern

Let me start off by saying I've never had luck with ferns..  I try so hard and every time they die, I've tried low light, I've tried bright light, I've tried keeping them damp, I've tried letting them dry out a bit, I've taking them to the shower with me, I've spritzed them, I've talked to them, I've sang to them and nothing.  They always died in the end.
So when I told my husband I wanted another fern I got the look, you know the one ;)
He said I could try one more time, but that's it.  So I'm going to get this sucker to live no matter what.
I have it in bright indirect sunlight and I've fertilized it with a little Epsom salt and I try to spritz it everyday.  I've done this now for a few months, and so far so good.
Although the underbelly of the beast was looking a little sad the top is healthy and growing.  I gave it a haircut and transplanted a little shoot that had started on what looked like a new plant on the side of the pot.
Maybe my bad luck with ferns is over, fingers crossed :)

Indoor blooms

So I'm trying it again.  Starting my blooms inside, this time I'm starting Narcissus and Hyacinths instead of Tulips.  The last time I tried this it actually did work right up until they were about to bloom then they started to rot and wilt. Not sure what happened, I'm thinking I ended up adding to much water and getting the bulbs wet.
This time I put them in a shallow bowl with decorative stones and just a little water in the bottom, hopefully my cat won't find them to interesting. On that thought I should really grow him some more cat grass.
I'm really feeling the need to grow something, omg I have like 4 months to go :( oh well I will be starting seedlings in February again so then it won't be that bad.
We have so much snow here right now and it snowed again today, I love it but it's getting to be a bit much. I work outside, which is awesome but I do find myself exhausted at the end of the day and ready for bed by 8pm.  But the days are getting longer again and spring will just be around the corner :)
Hope you all had a fantastic and safe new year!

Christmas 2013

Wow, another year has gone by.  I had such an incrediable year, I traveled, I camped, I grew things and most importantly I ate what I grew.   I learned so much this year, about myself, my surroundings and the people in my life. I am so thankful for everything in my life I can't really bring words to how I feel.
2014 is going to be a fabulous year, I'm planning to stay a little closer to home and instead of a few little trips my family is planning one big trip in the fall. I found that I regretted leaving in the summer months when all my plants are starting to grow and bloom, and besides it's not fair to make my friends and family take care of everything while I'm gone  ;) 
I have a few new things coming for 2014 and am super excited about it, once my new toy arrives I will share it with all of you.
But for now have a very happy and healthy new year!

Update on my baby orchid

I have an update on my baby orchid.  So earlier this year (I think it was early March) my orchid grew a keiki off its old bloom spike.  I was so excited because everyone I asked about it had never been able to grow one before, and here I was hoping to just not kill the thing and it grew a whole new plant for me.
I have now expanded my orchid collection to 6, one of which is a gorgeous light purple dendrobium, the rest are phalanopsis orchids. All are doing really well.
So this is my keiki in the picture and you can see its stages of growth, now I'm really excited because with any luck it will come full circle.  In the bottom right picture you can see a tiny bloom spike starting ( I've marked it with a red arrow), I'm so excited!!  The blue arrow is where you can see the cut bloom spike from the mother plant.
It's doing very well and I can't wait to see it bloom, I'm not using any grow lights just the good old sun :) oh and momma is also producing another bloom spike!

Seeds, seeds and more seeds

I was going through my seeds today, not a good idea. Now I'm ready for spring, lol. Anyway in an earlier post I talked about storing my seeds using the dried flowers.  Well that didn't work, they rotted and looked horrible, a couple of them were ok but the majority of them just rotted and got moldy.  So instead I took pictures of all my flowers and got the printed (2 X 3) and pasted them on the outside of the little envelopes instead :) 
Worked much better.  I have so many seeds, I'm excited to start them all in the spring!