Patina General

Growing Mums

I know what you're thinking...  Mums are a FALL flower, why is she talking about them now!  Well I love having several of them to decorate the outside of our home and many more to decorate the inside and outside of the store each fall.  If I wait til fall, the bushel basket size mums get pretty price-y when I want sooo many.

Several years ago I thought I'd try growing my own.  It was easy and quite fun to watch them grow.  When fall came the reward was enjoying all their beauty.  I've been doing it ever since.  Sometimes the hardest part is finding a place to buy the starter size mums.

I buy them in the little 3 inch pots and plant them in a variety of containers (galvanized buckets are my favorite) and some in the ground.  I place a few empty flower containers in the bottom of each large pot to take up space so I don't need as much dirt.  Makes them much lighter when transporting them to the store or moving them around the yard to make sure they get hit by the sprinkler system while we are on vacation.

They look a little lonely in such a large pot at first, but eventually they fill in the entire pot.  I use Miracle Grow Potting soil to fill the pots, but my best growing tip is using Miracle Grow Fertilizer in my watering can everytime I water them.  I put one scoop of Miracle Grow and fill the watering can with water and water them everyday because they like full sun and dry out quickly.

I continue this routine as they grow, pinching off any flower buds that sprout so the growth goes to the plant.  I pinch off buds until the 4th of July, after that, let them come.  Around August 1st I stop using Miracle Grow Fertilizer and switch over to Miracle Grow Bloom Booster to promote lots of buds and flower growth.  Follow this routine and you'll have a harvest of fall beauty to enjoy.

I use the Bloom Booster daily in my watering can when watering all my summer flowers.  Just one scoop does the trick.

Junk in the Pots!

Once May 15 hits here in Minnesota, we are supposedly safe to plant, and I've been doing just that!  Of course, at this early stage my pots are not all full and beautiful, and definitely not picture-worthy.  I even pinch all the flowers off, so they'll work on their roots for awhile.  So I thought I'd show some past years' big full pots of flowers to inspire you to add some junk into your pots!  I love the beauty of flowers and foliage, but add a little galvanized, some rust, and some chippy paint, and I'm in a happy place!

Last year I wanted to use my birdcage collection, instead of just letting them look pretty and bare-naked on the deck table.  But I didn't want birds occupying them...

Bright colored flowers peeking through the bars were so much more pretty!  And of course, they not only looked good in perfectly seasoned terra cotta, but much junkier in vintage galvanized buckets...right side up, and upside down!

 

Dead-heading proved to be a little difficult, but I learned to just open that little door and reach my scissors right in!  

Vintage cemetary fencing is so much happier elevating lively flowers next to the garage...

I always add flags to all my pots Memorial Weekend and Fourth of July weekend. Sometimes I'm so happy with how festive they are, I just leave them in for that whole time!  This heavy gauge, extra tall fencing is hard to come by.  I'm hoping Mr. Fix-it will have time to make a couple more of these before next occasional.  They're made perfectly for a plastic planting pot with a lip to set in.

And don't let those old chippy chair legs or spindles go to the burn pile!  Grab a small clay pot, a couple of washers and your drill.  They look just lovely tucked into any pot of flowers!  Add a citronella candle for nightime festivity and function, or let the water collect and see the butterflies and dragonflies enjoying a drink!

I can't wait till all my junky pots look nice and full again!  I'm feeding them faithfully!  Oh, glorious garden season, I'm so glad the winter is finally over and the colorful beauty of creation is unfolding!

 

 

Cupcake & Muffin Liner Storage

Looking for a way to store your cupcake and muffin liners?  I found that wide mouth canning jars work great!  No more crunched or wrinkled liners roaming around my cupboards.  

I use liners or papers as they are sometimes called for all my muffins and cupcakes.  I know Lora makes her muffins naked and uses "Pam" to spray her muffin tins, but I see how much over spray I get with a paint can outside. I don't trust myself with a spray can inside.

I like to order my white liners in bulk online so I always have them on hand.  I use another jar for my seasonal and holiday liners that I find on clearance after each holiday.  My seasonal jar looks a little low, better start hitting those clearance isles again.

Confession, I didn't make that cupcake.  Hubby and the kids picked them up at Sam's Club yesterday.  Now that it's out of the box, guess I'll have to eat it.

Goodbye to the Horses

As a young girl, growing up in the city, I longed to own a horse.  My favorite books were about horses...Flicka...The Wild Horses of Chinotique Island...Black Beauty.  I took Horsemanship at summer camp, and felt pretty good about my skills after one week!  I loved their strength, their beauty and grace, and their big brown eyes.  When we went to the Minnesota State Fair I always wanted to stay at the horse barns and equestrian area longer than my family.

Along with the deep ravine and wooded area on our property, the horses across the street "had me at hello" when we first looked at our home. The country girl inside me still had that horse envy. I'd gotten over wanting one for myself...I've got three kids to care for!  But being able to have horses across the street...this fufilled the dream!

I remember coming home one afternoon that first April...kids in tow, unloading groceries, when we noticed a horse in the front pasture, right next to the road.  There was a freshly born pony right next to the fence.  The mother still exhibited her afterbirth and was very protective.  From our deck, we got the pleasure of seeing that pony's first wobbly steps.  I remember being so thankful that my kids could have this "country" experience, and felt truly blessed that my horse love was finally being fufilled!

Over the last ten years I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing these beautiful animals frolicking in the pasture, their cold breath misting the winter air, and their tails slapping flies in the summer.  I even love smelling them, when the evening wind changes and comes from the east.  Many days I would push a stroller across the street or take a small hand in mine and go watch the horses, passing them handfuls of grass. In the last year, Big boy has gotten to be a farm hand and learned how to muck out stalls.  This city-turned-country girl loves seeing her kids exposed to farm life!

Life changes, seasons pass, and our neighbor has decided to move South to escape the winter (imagine that?).

The trailer's hooked up, and the horses are heading to their new home.

I'm feeling a little misty about the whole thing.  The acreage will more than likely be split up into several homesites.  Unless there's someone out there that wants a small hobby farm that's been organic...but they'd have to have horses!  Until it's decided, I'll be looking at an empty pasture, and will once again have that horse-longing that's been deep inside since my childhood.

Words with Family

One of the most popular areas of our store is the letter shelf in the General Store area:

 

We are constantly on the hunt for scrabble games and any other games that have letters to satisfy the hunger of our customers!  Seems everyone wants to incorporate words into their lives.  Sometimes it's a last name, sometimes it's a teacher's name, sometimes it's a child's name, other times it's an inspirational word, maybe a greeting.  We have taken the time to paint some of our scrabble trays, which makes it even more fun to display that special word.  Certain letters get picked over because each game only has 1 or 2 of them. Each weekend we hear someone hunting for the elusive "K", or a "J".  We sell over 100 letters each occasional!

As I told you in January, my word for the year is "Pursue".  I have placed the letters on a cute painted aqua tray to inspire me at my kitchen sink.

Maybe it's a temptation, or maybe we need to get the "Words with Friends" game on our phones, but every morning I come down to a different word!  Someone grabbed an "IT"...guess "Pursue it" works...think the real reason is that more words can be created!

Here's a sampling:

Is anyone else experiencing this at their homes??  My mom said her word was being messed up so much, she decided to glue it on!

Maybe I can blame my lack of pursuing on the messed up words?  Think I need a word that says..."Just Keep Up"!  But there's a lot of good vowels and consonants in there...