My man was in a workshop fury since the weather got cold. He’s been cleaning and organizing the garage workshop while at the same time making a mess building DIY projects.
So I put him to work to upgrade my windowsill planter boxes. I have so many herbs and starter plants to bring indoors…it was about time to take advantage of that south-facing window.
The final product populated with all types of herbs, including cat grass for the kitties to graze on.
With so many herbs and starters in the windowsill planter, it’s a lot of work to keep things watered and maintained. Either we start using more of these herbs or I’m going to have to start tossing some of these in the mulch bag.
Golden Delicious Pineapple Sage blooming in the windowsill planter
I haven’t written up a recipe in awhile. But rest assured, I stayed busy in the kitchen all year.
I tend to prefer broth-like soups, but every wet, cold wintry day demands a spicy stick-to-your-ribs seafood chowder.
This recipe pairs crab and corn together for liquid gold creamy goodness. During warmer months, I usually omit the potatoes, but recently DH demanded potatoes in his chowder, so in they went.
Lite crab corn soup – minus the potatoes
The result is a kicky, New England-style chowder that’s sweet, spicy and chunky.
Base:
4 oz onion, chopped or diced
1 tablespoons evoo (for onion saute)
16 oz lobster broth
15 oz canned cream corn
8 oz light cream cheese
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (omit for less spicy)
.25 tsp salt
2 tsp stevia or sweetener of your preference
Make your own lobster broth for best flavor! Slow cooked shells
Saute the onions over medium heat, then add the rest of the ingredients above and mix thoroughly. Immersion blend till desired liquid consistency. Pour into slow cooker, then add the following ingredients.
16 oz russet potatoes, diced
1 medium or large jalapeno, diced (remove veins for less spicy)
4oz heavy cream
2 tbsp corn starch
6- 8 oz claw meat
12 oz roasted corn
2 to 3 sprigs of thyme
Slow cook until thickened and potatoes are tender and cooked through, about 20-30 minutes over high heat. I don’t recommend pressure cooking because there isn’t enough liquid in this recipe, which will trigger the burn warning. Slow cooking will let this dish develop its flavor over time and thicken as it cooks.
Prior to serving, stir in 6-8 oz of crab meat. Garnish with chives or green onions.
Back in October I purchased a Quictent pop-up grow house in preparation of housing my frost-tender plants outdoors, including my first-this-year variegated lemon tree. It took 2 tries to get it right, but in the end I was happy with the results. All I have to say is watch the unpacking video, read the instructions, and watch the video AGAIN so that you don’t encounter problems in setup. I confess that I strayed from the step-by-step order and ended up snapping one of the fiberglass poles, held together by stretchy rope.
I walled off about 32 square feet on the patio with a cinderblock border about 3 blocks high, or roughly 2 feet tall.
I then unpacked and erected the tent, though I found it helpful on the 2nd try, to have an extra pair of hands setting it up. Strong winds can make setup challenging.
Originally, DH suggested a pass through, so we cut 4 pieces of lumber, stained them, and purchased additional planter blocks to create something of sliding system for a removable wall.
I picked up a wifi enabled mini hygrometer made by Inkbird to monitor night time internal temperatures. I soon learned that on frigid nights, the grow house really didn’t offer much insulation. I would have to find a way to heat the space.
String lights to the rescue. Or not! I dug through closets hunting down old Christmas string lights. Meanwhile, DH put together a light stand constructed from PVC pipes and erected it inside the grow house.
Unfortunately, the mini string lights didn’t produce enough heat to impact overnight temperatures inside the grow house. But it looked pretty enough!
Blue and white mini string lights, just not enough heat
Temperatures stayed anywhere in the range of 4 to 10 degrees above local outdoor overnight temps. And the tent was brighter too. Overall I used a total of 3 25ft string lights, connected to a splitter on the power cord end. The number of bulbs limited the number of strings that could be connected together, without blowing a fuse–unlike the LED strings that I had hung previously.
On the wall end, the power cord connects to a wifi-enabled dual headed outlet rated for outdoor use. It was handy to schedule times when the lights turned off and on. I could also run automation to turn on the lights when local temperatures dipped below a certain threshold.
All in all, it was a learning experience setting up the tent and heating it. Time will tell if this outdoor grow house setup can endure the harsh winter elements. The only grievance I have is with the delicate C9 bulbs whose filaments break very easily at the slightest blow. I discovered this after I tested every light beforehand, only to find bulbs damaged post installation.
I spotted these seed pods on my variegated milkweed, Asclepias curassavica Monarch’s Promise aka Butterfly Kisses, in late November. This is the first year I’ve seen seed pods on my milkweed and I was highly anticipating seeds from this variety.
Pods!
My previous attempts to propagate this milkweed from cuttings have ended in failure, and I just want to avoid buying replacement plants next year. The fact that this specific plant is a survivor from a May 2019 purchase makes me want to preserve it even more.
I placed small ziplock snack bags over the pods in hopes of capturing seeds when the pods ripened and burst open.
Alas, it took only one frigid night in December to damage the top growth of the plant and render my collection efforts futile.
Chilled to the bone
Needless to say, I was disappointed to find a pod branch had simply dropped off the plant. I expected the rest of the pods would follow, so I removed them all.
Will they grow? One of the pods was already molding in the bag…
I don’t know if I can collect seeds from these green pods if I let them mature and dry out like some fruits. Google search hasn’t yielded answers on this subject. So I’ll just sit them out on a counter and see what comes of it.
