Saturday, November 20, 2010

The House Of Orange And Other Tales...



Our yard is lousy with carrots. There are carrots poking up everywhere, all up in our business. There have been carrots in the potted Maple tree. There are carrots growing on the side yard underneath our neighbor's window, where no carrots should be. There are carrots in all of our garden beds. I can tell you that carrots seeds will survive in hot compost, and that unless you want a farm of them, do not put flowering carrot plants in with your food scraps...

Unfortunately, they taste really bland. I keep waiting to pull them all up and take them over to my friend Leslie, feed them to Pie and Jake, her two horses, and be done with it. The rogue carrots are white...

Fred read that all carrots were originally white, yellow, and purple, and that the orange varieties were developed by the Dutch, as a tribute to King William I of Orange, aka, "William The Silent", who led the revolt to gain independence from Spain in the 16th century. The orange carrot had a better taste, and it was adopted it as the Royal vegetable in honor of the House of Orange.



Believe it or not, Britain's Carrot Museum (I know, that is really weird), disputes this and calls it a myth. I, for one, love that story and I'm sticking to it.

I planted all sorts of carrots about a month ago - Cosmic Purple (really cool with orange insides and very yummy), Red Dragon (also delicious), and the classic Orange Danvers. I just mix up a bunch of seeds in one envelope and plant away. I love that you don't know what you're going to get until they come up out of the ground! You wouldn't believe the looks on my tiny pals Jasmine, aka, "Sprinkles", and her brother Malik's faces last spring when they pulled up carrots that were NOT ORANGE. They couldn't believe it...if you have kids, this is a sure way to get them into carrots. The weirder the better, but the white ones, I'll tell you, are best left for the 15th century and soup stock.

XOXO
Yvette

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Holiday Gift Ideas For Gardeners Part Two: Beatrice Holiday Handlebar Bags





Okay, these have nothing to do with gardening, but I think that it's safe to say that MOST gardeners love bikes, and these bags are so adorable that I couldn't resist sharing them. I saw one on a bike the other day while hanging out in Venice with my friends Colette and Kaitlin, and I literally squealed...

Here is some info about the company, and the owner, Alisun Franson, who always cruises in style:

"The birth of Beatrice Holiday - Wheel Cute Couture came to be after countless mishaps on my cruiser bike. Fallen lipstick into a gutter, lost credit card that slipped out of my pocket while in transit, keys that slipped thru the crack of my basket into another gutter. Lots of cruiser roadkill left in my path! I can't be the only one right? So, I created a line of Cruiser Handlebar Bags, Cruiser Basket Liners and matching Cruiser Seat Covers crafted out of vintage upholstery fabrics that really make your cruiser stand out from the pack!!

Cruising around the neighborhood is something that is second nature to me living in sunny Denver, Colorado. I love to cruise to the farmer's market, the park with my dog, meet up with friends that are also on their cruisers. It's just part of my everyday routine... so naturally I wanted to pimp out my ride a bit - and doing so with vintage fabrics and naming the line after my NANA makes it all that much better.

Beatrice Holiday products are designed and constructed out of vintage upholstery fabrics and made in Denver, COLORADO."



BUY THEM HERE (or, better yet, buy two and send me one!)



XOXO
Yvette

PS. All product photos were gratefully borrowed from the Beatrice Holiday website!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Holiday Gift Ideas For Gardeners Part One: Blackboard Garden Labels




These are the BEST. Please buy them for me!

This set of ten eco-friendly labels are the perfect gardening companion. Made from sustainably harvested birch wood, these blackboard labels help you easily keep track of the plants in your garden. The white chinagraph pencil is perfect for the blackboard as it won’t wash off in the rain-but can be reused to last you many seasons in the garden. 10"H, 1"W

Order HERE From Terrain...



XOXO
Yvette