Figs are in season right now, luscious and ripe! Get'em quick because, blink once, and the season will be over. I recently made a Fig and Walnut Tart that was very delicious. The recipe I used was from The Tuscan Sun Cookbook: Recipes From Our Italian Kitchen by Frances Mayes and Edward Mayes.

Closeup shot of thyme and purple flowers.

Another closeup shot of figs, lavender and thyme plants.

The items above were from thrift stores.

The large Willams-Sonoma linen tablecloth and twig placemats were also from thrift stores.

 

Fig and Walnut Tart

From The Tuscan Sun Cookbook: Recipes From Our Italian Kitchen by Frances Mayes and Edward Mayes

Serves 10

Pasta Frolla

10 Large fresh figs, halved

Extra-virgin olive oil for the baking sheet

6 Tablespoons Honey (Jasmine or Lavender, if available)

5 Tablespoons sugar

1 cup walnut halves, toasted and halved again

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/8 teaspoon dried

Preheat the oven to 375° F

Place the pastry in a 10-12 inch pie plate, trim the edges, pierce it all around with fork tines, and pre-bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Raise the oven control to broil. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and oil the paper. Arrange the figs on the paper and drizzle 2 tablespoons of honey and 2 tablespoons of sugar over them. Broil 2-4 minutes. Let the figs sizzle a moment, slightly caramelizing them. Don’t let the sugar brown, just melt. Remove them from the oven and turn down the oven temperature to 350°F.

In a small pan over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of sugar. Add the walnuts and toss just to coat them, about 1 minute. Take care: sugar can so easily turn rock hard, Remove the walnuts to a plate to cool.

Place the figs cut side up in the piecrust and arrange the nuts evenly over them. In a small bowl, mix well the cream, remaining 1/4 cup honey, the flour, thyme, and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Spoon evenly over the figs. Bake 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is warmly browned.

After taking this shot, my friends and I devoured the Fig and Walnut Tart - Delicious!

The Magic of Microbes

 

Plants are a big part of my decorating scheme, and since I want them to be lush, healthy and free of pests, I am always researching new ways to keep everybody in great shape.Just as organic produce is good for our human health, the quality of the soil is very important to plant health. I have to say that The Soil Food Web is my new obsession!

I'd like to tell you about a wonderful book called Teeming With Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis which brings to life all of the critters who live in the soil (or who try to, despite our uneducated efforts at killing them). All the living organisms in the soil, eating, working, fighting, pooping and dying help to fertilize and aerate the soil. I learned about Mycorrhizal Fungi which are "nutrient magnets: mycorrhizal fungi attracted by the exudate of the plants, attach themselves to the roots and produce chelates, compounds that break down the chemical bonds of inorganic chemicals that normally bind to organic matter and clay in soil and are unavailable to plants."

  

The book that changed the way I garden: Teeming With Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis, with Dr. Elaine Ingham, PhD, President, Worldwide of Soil Foodweb,Inc.  Though the science behind the Soil Food Web can, at times, be very technical, it is worth slogging through to get to the good stuff: how all of this will help our plants become healthy and beautiful!

  

From a page in the book: you can see in the example of the grass sample on the right, how mycorrhizal fungi assist the grass roots in obtaining more nutrients resulting in lusher, thicker grass.

Another example of how mycorrhizal fungi helped the pine tree seeding get more nutrients. There are endomycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungi. And it turns out that different types of plants prefer different types of fungi: most vegetables, annuals, grasses shrubs, softwood trees and perennials form mycorhiizae with endomycorrhizal fungi, and most conifers and hardwood trees form mycorrhizae with ectomycorrhizal fungi. Okay, so I had to get myself some mycorrhizal fungi!

After searching the web as to who might have these fabulous fungi, I hurried down to my local hydroponics store, and came back home with these products by Extreme Gardening. The guys at the store were very knowledgeable and really liked this brand of mycorrhizal fungi and compost tea, assuring me that these microbes were the freshest.

 

I also went to a garden store, and they recommended this product for geraniums. I must say that I've seen a big increase in flowers after adding this ammendment.

Now, to make compost tea, which I have also been brewing, you need to first aerate the water. Just as chlorine and fluoride are not healthy for us humans, these chemicals are harmful to the microbes we want to encourage, so it is necessary to aerate the water for 2 hours before watering plants. To make compost tea, after aerating the water for 2 hours, add the teabag, and aerate for another 24-48 hours before applying to your plants. If you don't have time to bubble the water beforehand, just let it sit for a couple of hours, and the chemicals will evaporate. At first, it seems like a lot of trouble to go through just to water plants, but do it once or twice, and it seems easy enough. We want to encourage the microbial growth.

Here is another wonderful product I was introduced to: Insect Frass. From their website:

Insect Frass is insect poop (like guano or castings) But unlike bats or birds, Insect Frass actually comes from plants. In all natural ecosystems (where there are no man-made chemical pesticides), insects feed on and digest vegetation, and give it right back to plants in the form of nature's perfect plant food. Plants benefit insects - Insects benefit plants! 

Insect Frass naturally contains the nutrition plants require, beneficial micro-organisms, and the only immediately plant-available source of chitin (pronounced “Kite-in”). Chitin fortifies a plant from the inside out, causing an "auto-immune" response that signals a plant to produce natural toxins which fend off its natural enemies like pests and fungal pathogens. The EPA says that chitin and chitosan defend against botrytis (grey mold), powdery mildew, early and late blight, fungal pathogens in the root zone (root rot) and root-feeding nematodes. Insect Frass does NOT cause a plant to kill beneficial insects or beneficial nematodes.

This is another brand of compost which I like very much; it comes in big bags, perfect for top-dressing your plants, and these tea bags to make compost tea.  You could also make your own compost tea bags from an old nylon stocking. You may think I've really gone off the deep end with all these different composts, but when I get into something, I really get into it!

Now to the results.....

 

Beautiful healthy aeoniums....

 

Lots of new growth on the bird's nest fern......

 

....and the succulents are happy as well. I'm going to stay with the program!

So, that's my most recent obsession. Hope you enjoyed learning about The Soil Food Web. Here are the links to the products I mentioned:

Soil Foodweb - www.soilfoodweb.com

Insect Frass  - http://www.onfrass.com/what.html  

Xtreme Gardening products  - www.xtremegardening.com 

Bountea, more bio-organic soil amendments  - www.bountea.com 

Bu's Blend Compost - www.http://malibucompost.com/   

E.B.Stone Organics-  www.ebstone.org/

Grow Your Own - Hydroponics and Organics  - http://growyourown.gardeningunlimited.com/

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. And if you have anything to add, please leave a comment in the section below. Thanks!

Quirky Flowing Contemporary Lamp

I just finished this lamp project which was inspired by a photo I saw. You never know where and when inspiraton will strike! Directions follow on how I made it.

Closeup of the white crackle glaze bowl with shells.

I love the seafoamy-flowing wave at the top of the lamp.

This is the large white crackle glaze bowl that I found in my favorite thrift store - a great score at $9.00!

I started with a simple lamp that I found for $7.50.

Simple linen gauze curtain from thrift store for $2.50.

I orginally tried the lamp with the shade it came with, but the pattern showed through the linen. So, I carefully removed the shade.....

....and covered it with a translucent film that I happened to have on hand.

To keep the fabric in place and to insure a clean edge, I stitched the curtain into a tube with an elastic band at the bottom.

I mixed up the wallpaper paste in a bucket and plunged the fabric into it, being sure to work the paste thoroughly into the fabric. It was a messy process, if you try this, be sure to wear rubber gloves.

I carefully hung the lamp, with the wet fabric tube attached, being careful to mass the bottom on the plastic for easy removal. I tried arranging it various ways until I found something that I thought would look good when turned upright. I then left it to dry for a good 48 hours. I was happy with how the wall size made a good sturdy shade which kept the pattern I wanted.

And violà! Here is my lamp along with the crackle glaze bowl filled with sea shells and sponge.. I think the lamps looks great against this African Kuba Raffia Textile. Simple and Contemporary. Total cost of lamp and bowl:$23.00.

Let me know what you think, and show me your projects as well! Until next time....

Celebrate the Summer Solstice.

With the excellent summer weather we've been having, it's a great time to have a picnic, so some friends and I met in the park today to celebrate the coming Summer Solstice. Here is a photo just before we dug in. My inspiration came from thrift store finds, except for food, of course, which was pizza and salad, along with fresh blueberries for dessert.

Here is the Vera tablecloth I found for $3.49.

And the great picnic basket which cost $2.49.

Again, here is my picnic setup: basket, table cloth, plates and glasses from previous thrift store scores: Total cost $12. 


Have you had any picnics lately that you'd like to share? Send me your photos and I'll post them.
Happy Summer Solstice!

From Pauper to Princess

 

Having a beautiful bedroom doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. Vibrant colors can be so beautiful and seductive, sending a powerful rush to the senses making you feel rich and sensuous. Combined with thrift store finds, and with pillows sewed at home, here is my latest bedroom project just completed, turning my client's pauper style bedroom into one fit for Moroccan royalty!

Here is a closeup detail of the stencil design I used called 'Moroccan Lace' sourced from Royal Design Studios. I was excited to find a wide selection of stencil design styles at Royal Design Studio  They have very beautiful stencils along with lots of information showing you how to stencil successfully. Be sure to check them out at:   http://www.royaldesignstudio.com/. 

  

This is a 'before' photo of the bedroom; the client had been really roughing it, waiting until the right time and designer came along to transform her space. She wanted something very warm and exotic, so we decided on a Moroccan theme.

This is the brass container I found at a thrift store, priced at $9.00.

 Here are burgundy colored silk dupioni curtains from Pottery Barn which I used to make the pillows.  In one curtain, there was enough fabric to make three large pillow covers; priced at $4.49 it was a great deal! The other pillows I made from magenta colored velvet and silk satin purchased from Discount Fabrics in San Francisco, CA.

And finally, here is the Moroccan style table I found at a thrift store priced at $31.00. It had some water stains which came out easily after a few passes with an electric sander; after two coats of ebony stain, it looked as good as new.

 

 I first painted my accent wall in a terra cotta color. Now I used lime paint, mixing the colors myself using powdered earth pigments, but you could use any flat wall color. Then, using a bubble level, I positioned the stencils and carefully applied the metallic paint using a small roller.

 

 

 I used Metallic Paints from a line called Modern Masters which has many wonderful shades of metallic paints. So hard to choose which color to use. I'm sure I'll be doing more projects with these just so that I can use some of those other colors!

 Small sized paint tray and rollers make for easy application. Be sure to mark the tiny triangle registration marks so that the pattern runs smoothly.

 And again, here is my client's beautiful bedroom - fit for a princess! Total spent: $300

 Zooming in on the peonies for a closeup shot - I love peonies!

Now, I would like to hear about your makeovers, just drop me a line in the comments section below, and I'll post them on the blog!

A Footed Bowl With Seashells

I found an unusual footed bowl I found yesterday at my favorite thrift store, and here is the arrangement I put together using shells and sea fans.




This is the way it looked when I found it. I had seen these bowls at up-scale garden shops priced at $60, so I knew this one priced at $3.49 was a good deal. But the color was a blah grey; so I painted it using black gesso. Very easy.

 

Again, here is my bowl filled with sea shells. Total Cost: Shells $18:00; Bowl $3.50.

What do you think? Do you have unusual thrift store finds that you have put together to make beautiful arrangements? Send me a photo, and I'll put them up!

Apocthecary Spice Jars

I love old apothecary jars like those used in antique pharmacies so I decided to make my own. Here are my finished jars; directions for making them follow.

 I collected multiple glass cylinder containers at my local thrift store, making sure that they were more or less the same height. I searched out large round corks to fit, which proved much harder to find. I finally found a source from a kitchen supply store in Napa priced at $4.95 each, bringing the price of each jar to around $7.00.

I designed spice labels on my computer using PhotoShop using the latin names for each spice or herb container, then printing them on high quality 100% cotton antique white resume paper. Using an Exacto razor knife and a straight edge, I cut them to size. The labels are then affixed to the glass cylinder using heavy weight clear packing tape.

 

It is important to make sure the labels line up correctly on the back side, which you can see I failed to do here. Cut the tape slightly larger and wider to protect the edges assuring the labels adhere to the glass cleanly.

 

And once again, here are my spice jars. Everyone who sees them in my kitchen comments on how unusual and beautiful they look. Tell me, what do you think?