Today's Adventures
Jan. 21st, 2025 08:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithWe went out shopping today.
First we picked up mail. Next we went to Goodwill in Charleston. I tried on a bunch of clothes but only found one rainbow tie-dye T-shirt that fit. However, I also found two bags of used crayons, which can be melted down to make candles or firestarters -- we get a block of plain wax and color it that way, which is cheaper than buying the fancy candle coloring. I left the bags of gently used ones and the boxed crayons for people who'll actually color with them. My partner Doug found a DVD.
We dropped by McHugh's for lunch. I really like their Western burger which has Swiss cheese, bacon, and barbecue sauce (also onion, but I leave that off mine).
In Mattoon, we stopped by Goodwill to look for a couple of plastic beverage jugs that I spotted earlier but didn't think to pick up then. One of them had sold, but one was still there, and I found another in a different shape. I plan to test two different methods of making liquid fertilizer from comfrey: one with about half and half leaves in water, the other with just leaves crammed in as tight as possible. So far I've just been using comfrey in my mini-guilds because it does most of the roles, plus I can slash-and-drop the leaves multiple times per season as fertilizer around various saplings. (Ignore where it says not to take too many leaves for fear of harming the plant. Once established, you can mow comfrey when it flops out of bounds.) I'm also kinda curious if it will work the way some liquid fertilizers do, where if you use it undiluted it burns plants to death, making an effective weed killer. If nothing else, it'll be fun to experiment.
Next we went to Big Lots, which has further lowered its prices. I hit the jackpot. I was very surprised to see that they had gardening goods, which they didn't last time, and I didn't think they'd restock. It turns out the orders were already placed, so those will be filled until they run out. :D Since the pots I wanted were only a few dollars each, I bought 12 troughs, 8 giant round pots, and 6 small round ones for indoors, all self-watering. The troughs work great for growing herbs, as I can fit about 4 plants in there, or a whole row of a mass crop like basil. They're probably too shallow for something like a pepper or tomato, but the big pots should work for that. I'm still hoping to find some of the big cubical pots like I have on the old picnic table, which I also use for growing tomatoes. If I use all squarish containers on the new picnic table, I'll be able to fit more on top of it. Yes, I'm frankly fantasizing about gardening already. We also picked up a Buddha incense burner and several food items, including honey-roasted sunflower seeds (which I like to use in cookies) and a bottle of ketchup with extra vegetables (I'm curious how it tastes alone, and suspect it may make a nice cooking ingredient).
While checking out, we got into a long conversation about gardening with one of the clerks there. :D He moved to central Illinois from Washington state a couple months ago and is excited to try gardening here. I pointed him toward the Charleston Food Forest. He tipped me to Fast Growing Trees, which looks interesting; it's got a "shop by state" option which is convenient. He also taught me something interesting about fig trees: they are best grown with a supporting guild of anything that will soak up sulphur from the soil, such as alliums or peppers. This makes for a larger crop of better-tasting figs. Happily I have lots of alliums, from edibles like garlic chives and wild onions to my lovely and herbivore-proof ornamentals. Doug loves figs, so I plan to get one that is rated for Zone 5, probably the 'Chicago' cultivar. I just want to wait until we're into Zone 6b so next spring should be good.
Then we visited Bealle's so I could actually shop this time. I didn't find any clothes worth trying on, but lots of near misses -- things where I liked the color but not the texture or vice versa -- so it's worth keeping an eye on. We did, however, find a package of key lime cookies and the mint flavor of Just the Fun Part sugar cone tips. Sadly the latter is harder than the other flavors we've tried and not all that intense in taste, but we'd been wanting to try the mint ever since finding the others. They have the pistachio too so we'll try that next time.
Next was grocery shopping.
We ate supper at Chipotle. Doug has been wanting to eat there for a while. We got a bowl with the brisket, which turned out way too spicy for me. I like Mi Casa better. However, the beverages were excellent. We shared the Izzy blackberry soda, and then we got a watermelon lime agua fresca to go. I would gladly go back there for beverages. We may try different food some time, but it's not a destination restaurant for us.
This has been a fun and productive day.
First we picked up mail. Next we went to Goodwill in Charleston. I tried on a bunch of clothes but only found one rainbow tie-dye T-shirt that fit. However, I also found two bags of used crayons, which can be melted down to make candles or firestarters -- we get a block of plain wax and color it that way, which is cheaper than buying the fancy candle coloring. I left the bags of gently used ones and the boxed crayons for people who'll actually color with them. My partner Doug found a DVD.
We dropped by McHugh's for lunch. I really like their Western burger which has Swiss cheese, bacon, and barbecue sauce (also onion, but I leave that off mine).
In Mattoon, we stopped by Goodwill to look for a couple of plastic beverage jugs that I spotted earlier but didn't think to pick up then. One of them had sold, but one was still there, and I found another in a different shape. I plan to test two different methods of making liquid fertilizer from comfrey: one with about half and half leaves in water, the other with just leaves crammed in as tight as possible. So far I've just been using comfrey in my mini-guilds because it does most of the roles, plus I can slash-and-drop the leaves multiple times per season as fertilizer around various saplings. (Ignore where it says not to take too many leaves for fear of harming the plant. Once established, you can mow comfrey when it flops out of bounds.) I'm also kinda curious if it will work the way some liquid fertilizers do, where if you use it undiluted it burns plants to death, making an effective weed killer. If nothing else, it'll be fun to experiment.
Next we went to Big Lots, which has further lowered its prices. I hit the jackpot. I was very surprised to see that they had gardening goods, which they didn't last time, and I didn't think they'd restock. It turns out the orders were already placed, so those will be filled until they run out. :D Since the pots I wanted were only a few dollars each, I bought 12 troughs, 8 giant round pots, and 6 small round ones for indoors, all self-watering. The troughs work great for growing herbs, as I can fit about 4 plants in there, or a whole row of a mass crop like basil. They're probably too shallow for something like a pepper or tomato, but the big pots should work for that. I'm still hoping to find some of the big cubical pots like I have on the old picnic table, which I also use for growing tomatoes. If I use all squarish containers on the new picnic table, I'll be able to fit more on top of it. Yes, I'm frankly fantasizing about gardening already. We also picked up a Buddha incense burner and several food items, including honey-roasted sunflower seeds (which I like to use in cookies) and a bottle of ketchup with extra vegetables (I'm curious how it tastes alone, and suspect it may make a nice cooking ingredient).
While checking out, we got into a long conversation about gardening with one of the clerks there. :D He moved to central Illinois from Washington state a couple months ago and is excited to try gardening here. I pointed him toward the Charleston Food Forest. He tipped me to Fast Growing Trees, which looks interesting; it's got a "shop by state" option which is convenient. He also taught me something interesting about fig trees: they are best grown with a supporting guild of anything that will soak up sulphur from the soil, such as alliums or peppers. This makes for a larger crop of better-tasting figs. Happily I have lots of alliums, from edibles like garlic chives and wild onions to my lovely and herbivore-proof ornamentals. Doug loves figs, so I plan to get one that is rated for Zone 5, probably the 'Chicago' cultivar. I just want to wait until we're into Zone 6b so next spring should be good.
Then we visited Bealle's so I could actually shop this time. I didn't find any clothes worth trying on, but lots of near misses -- things where I liked the color but not the texture or vice versa -- so it's worth keeping an eye on. We did, however, find a package of key lime cookies and the mint flavor of Just the Fun Part sugar cone tips. Sadly the latter is harder than the other flavors we've tried and not all that intense in taste, but we'd been wanting to try the mint ever since finding the others. They have the pistachio too so we'll try that next time.
Next was grocery shopping.
We ate supper at Chipotle. Doug has been wanting to eat there for a while. We got a bowl with the brisket, which turned out way too spicy for me. I like Mi Casa better. However, the beverages were excellent. We shared the Izzy blackberry soda, and then we got a watermelon lime agua fresca to go. I would gladly go back there for beverages. We may try different food some time, but it's not a destination restaurant for us.
This has been a fun and productive day.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-01-22 09:42 pm (UTC)I have a fig tree. Never heard that about planting alliums around and near it. The corner where it's planted is crowded, but maybe...? Maybe I can fit some in there somehow.
I've also recently been able to acquire some fun secondhand clothes. Saturday was the Cute and Cheerful Plus Size clothing swap (took four bags, brought home one bag of good quality new-to-me clothes) and yesterday my friend GrrlPurple took me out to Savers and we tried on a bunch of things and I brought home a soft blue plaid (that desperately needs washing, someone's detergent is STINKY) and a SUPER soft oversized, vibrant chenille turtleneck sweater. The yarn goes from magenta to California poppy to bronze and then to a popping turquoise teal. I'm in love.
Yes ...
Date: 2025-01-22 11:05 pm (UTC)Definitely do that now, before everyone else does and the store might sell out. I shamelessly hogged the best pots from Big Lots yesterday, which I don't usually do, because of the closeout sales.
Use a seed start calculator to determine which to start which seeds in your locale:
https://www.groworganic.com/pages/seed-planting-calculator
https://awaytogarden.com/when-to-start-what-vegetable-seed-calculators/
Start indoors, or outdoors with protection:
https://www.thespruce.com/growing-seeds-indoors-common-mistakes-847800
https://www.theseasonalhomestead.com/starting-seeds-outdoors-in-containers-or-soil-blocks/
I think I want to experiment with sowing some seeds, especially wildflowers, early and letting them sit outside to sprout when they feel like it.
>> I have a fig tree. Never heard that about planting alliums around and near it. The corner where it's planted is crowded, but maybe...? Maybe I can fit some in there somehow. <<
Option 1: Plant small things with shallow roots that won't compete much. I highly recommend garlic chives, which my pollinators adore; they are also edible, discourage pests, and attract swarms of parasitic wasps. We used to have swarms of Junebugs and I hardly ever see them now, plus even the Japanese beetles are less common.
Option 2: Move some other things to a different location to make more room around your fig if you wish to plant, say, garlic and regular chives or chives and green onions.
>>I've also recently been able to acquire some fun secondhand clothes.<<
Awesome.
>>that desperately needs washing, someone's detergent is STINKY<<
Yeah, I usually wash anything before wearing it.
>>a SUPER soft oversized, vibrant chenille turtleneck sweater<<
I love chenille, and indeed, most other soft and fuzzy things as long as they're not too bad on static. Tencel turns me into a walking dustcatcher and so do most synthetic fleeces. :/ But I love the recent types of very soft, stretchable velour or velvet used in loungewear. So warm and cozy!
(no subject)
Date: 2025-01-23 12:02 am (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2025-01-23 12:23 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2025-01-23 12:39 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2025-01-23 02:43 am (UTC)... wondering if growing figs may not be such a great idea after all, given that I have sensitive skin and already need to stay out of sunlight.