My Spinach Lives (Despite the Cold)!

It's not growing, but I do have spinach continuing to live in my garden. Apparently you can grow spinach in the winter, under a cold frame, in climates like mine. But I don't have a cold frame.

I planted spinach in the fall, mulched it with leaves to protect it, and when it got cold enough it went dormant. And has not died.

Which is awesome. I get excited about little things. I'm hoping in the spring when things thaw, I'll have a great start on my spinach and an early harvest. It's all theoretical at this point as I've never done it before.

Pantry Organization Trick: Baskets

My pantry is a mess. But now it's less a mess than it was.

I have a tendency to throw my produce on the shelves of my pantry. I added baskets to the mix for said produce.

It's not perfect, but it's a start. I'm intrigued by the possibilities for organization. More baskets will be purchased.

Before:

 

After:

Homemade Chicken Fried Steak

My man had a craving for chicken fried steak. And while I generally avoid breaded things, chicken fried steak is really one of the best inventions ever.

It's one of the best comfort foods - the kind of food that you eat when you're bummed or after a great hike because you feel justified after burning 1,000 calories.

Thing is, there really is no good reason to make chicken fried steak. You can get pretty good chicken fried steak for not a whole lot of money at any good - or even decent - breakfast place. It's far more time-consuming and expensive to make it yourself.

Still, though it'd be easy enough to go buy chicken fried steak, I thought it'd be fun to make chicken fried steak. But I wasn't sure where to start.

A quick Google search turned up Alton Brown's chicken fried steak recipe.

I was introduced to Alton Brown while I was in the Peace Corps. My friend sent me videos of Alton Brown's show Good Eats on CD, and I watched them on my laptop.

I figured he'd have a good chicken fried steak recipe, and I was right.

A Resolution a Week: Week 5 - 20 Sit-Ups a Day

Every night, I used to do sit-ups and plank. It all started when I was in the Peace Corps. I didn't have TV then - well, I did, but it was in Russian and Armenian.

It certainly motivated me to do something. I would do 100 sit-ups, and worked my way up to 30 "girl" push-ups. (For the record, I do "real" push-ups now so I've made some progress. Turns out, you just have to do them, and eventually you can do more of them. It just takes time.)


It's so sporadic though these days. I still stretch almost every night. Occasionally I'll do push-ups. And when I feel like it, I do ab exercises.

If I committed to 20 sit-ups - crunches really, as my physical therapist told me I can't do full sit-ups with my awesome hips - it would make a difference. Rather than the 30 or 50 a week I end up doing when I'm sporadic about it, I would consistently do 140 sit-ups.

When you put it like that, 20 a day doesn't seem like so little. Chances are - and I shouldn't jinx it - I'll probably do more.

New Year's Resolutions: If at First You Don't Succeed ...

The problem with New Year’s resolutions is that people make them, break them … and then leave them in the dust.

I can be counted among those. Except I won’t leave them in the dust.

I’m making a resolution a week this year.

So far, I’ve made three and kept none. Go me.

It’s not like I haven’t done anything on my list. I just haven’t done any of them up to the standard that I declared I would. I’ve run, just not three times a week the past couple weeks.

I’ve successfully not watched TV as much. But I’m not sure it’s the “avoiding TV two times a week” I was planning on.

I’m not living up to my goals. I could blame not feeling great and work travel. Work travel indeed throws a crimp in routine. But given all the travel I have scheduled in the next few months, I should probably learn to adjust. I could also blame the weather; I live less than a mile from Planet Fitness, though, so is that really an excuse?

My point is, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

So that’s what I’m going to do. Because the only way to make the changes in your life that you want to make is to keep trying to make them, even if you fail. Don’t wait until January of the following year.

Pruning? Not Yet

I’ve been pondering whether I should be pruning my perennials this winter – I have a lot of brown, dead-looking plants in my yard.

But according to at least one expert, it’s not time yet. And this expert’s in Florida, which  you know, isn’t exactly known for its cold spells.

Whatever you do, “Don’t prune your plants, yet,” said Carol Lord, a horticulturist with Escambia’s Agriculture extension agency. “All that dead matter is insulation for the roots,” she said “Pruning will stimulate new growth and that will make the plants susceptible to future freezes.”

I have to assume that that advice applies here in colder climates as well.

Anyway, if you’re interested in learning more, read the article

Here’s a nice feature from Better Homes and Gardens on what to prune and when.

A Resolution a Week: Week 3 – Clean One Room a Week

I moved into a new house nearly two years ago now. The house is much larger than my old condo. The thought of cleaning every inch of the house is always overwhelming.

That’s right, I’m admitting I’m not exactly a clean freak.

My resolution this week is to clean more. I know that seems a little silly. And really, just one room a week? It does seem a little weak. To be clear, I mean really clean one room that is actually used.

That said, who knows? Maybe more than one room will get deep-cleaned a week. Maybe I’ll get on a roll.

I’m thinking it will push me to be more organized, which is something that I want to do better with this year.

It will also help me not feel so guilty about that fake plant I’ve been meaning to dust or my less-than-organized clothes drawers.

And to be clear, it’s not like I’ll let the rest of the house go to waste.

My Gardening Wish List for 2014

As I sit around my house, tapping my feet, waiting for January to come to an end so I can start preparing to start seeds, I find myself thinking about the fun new garden accessories I want this year.

I realize my list is really simple, but I am very practical about things - as I'm only in my third year of gardening. Yet I have realized how much of a nerd I am when it comes to gardening, I am excited no matter how vanilla my list.

Here are five:

1. Tomato Cages
So simple, I know, but I love the fact the cages linked above are square, and not cone-shaped like a lot of tomato supports. They also appear to be much stronger than those I’ve used in the past. My tomatoes always get much higher than I expect – a good thing I think – and more unruly than I expect. So having a stronger cage is worth paying a little more. And with my plans for increasing my tomato yield significantly this year, I need a consistent support.

Around the Web: Gardens Helping People

I love hearing stories about communities that have built gardens to empower different parts of their populations.

Like this community garden focused on helping the Burmese refugee population. 

I also like hearing about gardens as an outlet for those who need one, as well as a way to build skills that can be marketable, such as landscaping.

Like this prison that is implementing a garden project in partnership with Planting Justice and the Insight Garden Program. 

Here’s an old video of the San Quentin prison garden program:


San Quentin Prison Garden from Emily Bender on Vimeo.

A Resolution a Week: Week 2 - Take 2 Days Off from TV a Week

Not my real TV

Life these days consists of going to work, coming home at roughly 6 p.m., making dinner and sitting in front of the TV and watching "our shows." After all, as my husband says, they don't watch themselves.

If I'm lucky, I get up off the couch and go running at the gym.

But given that it's winter, it's difficult to say the least to get the willpower to do so.

Alas, this post is not about where to get that willpower. But I'm hoping my second resolution in my Resolution a Week for 2014 plan will help.

A Resolution a Week: The Challenge of Willpower When Your Workout Buddy Has None

It was only the first week of my grand Resolution a Week for 2014, and I've already failed. I even got new running shoes, and yet I only ran twice, rather than the three times I had aimed for.

I blame two things:

• My husband
• TV

I know that I'm just making excuses. It's not really my husband's fault I didn't run three times last week.

A Resolution a Week: Week 1 – Run 3X a Week

After beating my goal time of 30 minutes in a 5K,
thanks to running a regular, better planned
running routine this fall. Time to get back to that!

Last week, I outlined my desire to take a new approach to New Year’s resolutions.

The idea is to introduce a new resolution a week, all of which will contribute to one of the following three broader goals:

• Staying fit.
• Being happy & productive in my work.
• Being more adventurous.

The idea is to tackle a simple and realistic resolution each week, rather than say broadly “get healthy” or “lose weight.” I’ll then build on that week after week and hopefully feel like I’m more fit, happier and more adventurous at the end of the year than I was at the start of it.

I’m going to start my nontraditional approach to New Year’s resolutions with a kind of cliché resolution: exercise.

For my first week, I am going to recommit to running three times a week.

3 Things I Learned from My Newbie Garden in 2013

In the spirit of taking stock in the new year, I've given some thought to one of my newest hobbies: gardening.

At the risk of a little bit of cheese, here are three lessons I took from my gardening experience in 2013:

New Year’s Resolutions: Why Not a Resolution a Week?

I was contemplating New Year’s resolutions the other day. I have never really been one to set a New Year’s resolution. Maybe it’s because I know I won’t fulfill it.

That said, I think humans need Jan. 1 each year. We need (or at least I do) something that symbolizes a chance to start over – to start fresh. We all need another try at that elusive goal.

My problem is that a year feels like a long time to work toward what is usually an overly ambitious or at least overwhelming or vague goal to start with. Lose 20 pounds? That sounds like a lot of work. Exercise every day? That might last a week. Be happy? That’s a universal challenge.

So I have a new idea: What if I try to hold myself to a resolution a week?

I know, I know – why would I want one a week if I can’t even handle one a year?