growing – Bubblegum Sass

Local Food Movement

June 23, 2017June 13, 2017 Sarah Leave a comment

150 Faces of YYC Growers ~ Local Food Movement

Ever heard of urban farming? What about the local food movement? There’s been a lot going on to increase awareness about eating local and supporting local producers & makers. Hubby and I are proud to a part of YYC Growers and Distributors through our small farm business, Happiness By The Acre. YYC Growers is a farmer/producer owned cooperative here in Calgary, with the vision for sustainable food that is delicious, healthy, fresh and supports community issues like environmental footprints, food security & food democracy.

{Read More}

(more…)

DIY Dino Terrariums

March 31, 2017February 23, 2017 Sarah Leave a comment

DIY Dino Terrariums ~ Succulent Terrarium Tutorial ~ Kid's Dino Birthday Party

This was the second year in a row that Sam requested a Dino themed birthday party and when you’re kiddo is turning FIVE, you smile & embrace all the fun! Which for me, means diving into all the Dino Pinterest projects I’m constantly pinning.

I grew up in the age of birthday favors, but struggle a bit with them now as a mama. In the past, it has just been candy. This year, I really wanted something the kiddos could keep & enjoy. From that the Dino Terrariums started to take shape. I opted for spending more money on the favors, but made them serve dual duty as a party craft too.

{Read More}

(more…)

In the Garden: Urban Homesteading Progress

August 3, 2016July 30, 2016 Sarah Leave a comment

In the Garden: Backyard Veggie Garden Progress ~ By Bubblegum Sass ~ Urban Homesteading

An update on the progress of our garden is long over due, I think. Earlier in the spring, I shared our garden plans with you. Now it’s time to take a peek at how things are growing.

(more…)

In the Garden: Garden Planning

March 27, 2015March 30, 2015 Sarah Leave a comment

Gardening Planning ~ Blog post by Bubblegum Sass ~ Garden journals from Taproot Magazine — Seeds from West Coast Seeds and garden journals from Taproot Magazine

There might still be the occasional snowflake falling from the sky these days, but it is time to turn some attention to garden planning & prep. My hubby is truly the brains behind the operation, while I lend my hands & time to the work in the spring, summer & fall. He comes up with our garden plan each year, while he plans out the other yards for his urban farming business. Even the seeds for our own garden get lumped into orders for Happiness By The Acre.

(more…)

How Grows the Rest?

July 28, 2014July 26, 2014 Sarah Leave a comment

Yes, indeed, the How Grows It? post was really just part one of our yard. Here’s the remainder. I’ve saved the herbs for last. Some we enjoy fresh and others we simply dry for use throughout the year. In fact, last year, we dried so much sage that we’re still using it (and we put sage in lots of recipes). So here’s a peek at the rest of the garden:

Lovely, lovely dill! I've been enjoying the dill the most this year, on grilled cheese sandwiches, in salads, in mac'n cheese, in salad dressings, etc. So tasty! — Lovely, lovely dill! I’ve been enjoying the dill the most this year, on grilled cheese sandwiches, in salads, in mac’n cheese, in salad dressings, etc. So tasty!

First time growing oregano since we moved back from B.C. Doing pretty good so far.

Our sage container, not doing as well this year as last, but not too bad.

How Grows It?

July 21, 2014 Sarah 1 Comment

Time for a little garden tour! Of course, I can’t keep up with documenting the growing out there, so these photos are at least a week old, but you’ll get the general idea of how things are going.

First a peek at how it all started this spring. Here are our three main garden beds in May, after the first planting.

Here are the main beds back at the beginning of June. Some bits of life starting to sprout up here & there.

Here are the main beds in full swing now. A green jungle with lots of yummy food being produced. What a difference a month makes!

Climbing beans are journeying up the trellis with a few blossoms.

Pea blossoms are so pretty. We've taken a few bowls of tasty sweet peas and snow peas into the house (and into our bellies) since this photo was taken. — Pea blossoms are so pretty. We’ve taken a few bowls of tasty sweet peas and snow peas into the house (and into our bellies) since this photo was taken.

Green onions needing some serious eating. Poor fellas have been a little neglected.

Loaded with tomatoes! So juicy and sweet!

Our precious broccoli. Or broccolini to be more precise. Lots being harvested off of these each week, and we've even begun to pull off the leaves and dehydrate them for our "super green" powder. — Our precious broccoli. Or broccolini to be more precise. Lots being harvested off of these each week, and we’ve even begun to pull off the leaves and dehydrate them for our “super green” powder.

Squash beauties with the cutest little squash and biggest blossoms right now! I always enjoy watching these gals grow.

From Weed To Yummy

June 9, 2014March 28, 2016 Sarah 2 Comments

Confession: Our backyard is a sea of dandelions.

They’ve taken over any area that we left as lawn. In past years, we tried pulling, mowing, even spraying them with vinegar (we refuse to spray any chemicals). This year, I’ve given up and I’m treating them like just another crop to harvest.

Dandelions are such a cheerful thing to harvest.

Here’s some tips I’ve found handy so far:

If using the greens, harvest fresh or no more than a day before. They keep in the fridge, but they really are best eaten as soon as possible.
When preparing to de-petal the dandelions, pick them no more than a couple hours prior. They are easiest to de-petal when the blossom is big and open. Dandelion blossoms tend to close up and wilt very quickly. In general, I pick a big bowl of blossoms right before making dinner and then 2-3 hours later, after Sam heads to bed, I get comfy on the couch & start to de-petal the blossoms. You can still de-petal dandelions even after they close up, but it’s just a trickier task.
Dandelion petals can be frozen! Once you de-petal the blossoms, pop them into a freezer bag or container (I measured out 1 cup bags). This makes life easier when you want to tackle bigger dandelion projects (like dandelion wine) or if you only have a small crop of dandelions and therefore have to combine multiple harvest days to accumulate enough petals.
I tried washing the dandelion blossoms, letting them dry, and then de-petaling. It was kind of a fail. Now I don’t even worry about washing the blossoms to de-petal them. You can clean off any bugs you come across while you de-petal each one. Our yard is chemical free, and pet-free, so I just don’t worry about it. I do wash the greens in cold water after I harvest them (just treat them like any other salad greens).
I choose to wear rubber gloves while de-petaling. Besides my struggle with eczema on my hands, I just don’t love the sticky, & yellow stain mess that is involved with de-petaling. Even with pumice soap, it’s tricky stuff to get off. Then again, I spend a couple hours at a time de-petaling, so maybe if you’re only doing small batches, it wouldn’t be so bad 😉
Fact: Children love to play with dandelions. They are an easy crop to teach kids to harvest. Sam has really enjoyed helping me pull off blossoms. Even got him de-petaling for a little bit one afternoon. So dandelion harvest time can definitely be a kid friendly task.

There are lots of interesting things to make out of dandelions. There’s a good collection of ideas & recipes on The Prairie Homestead blog. I started out simple, just making come dandelion green salads. There’s really no end of possibilities when it comes to salad combinations. Just think of some of your favourite salads or dressings, and add or substitute dandelion greens. For example, I love broccoli salad, but there’s no broccoli ready to harvest in the backyard, so I used dandelion greens instead, added my usual raisins, nuts, and cream dressing. Viola! I tend to like adding sweet things to salads made with dandelion greens, just to cut the slight bitterness of the leaves. I’m thinking strawberries and sunflower seeds next time around or maybe a sweet rhubarb dressing. Just have fun experimenting with it!

Dandelion green salad with fresh chives, raisins and pumpkin seeds. I made a simple creamy dressing of mayo, vinegar & a touch of sugar.

Dandelion green salad with fresh chives. I simmered dried apricots and prunes with coconut oil and a bit of water to form the dressing. Sooooo tasty!

There are several things I want to try making with the dandelion blossoms and petals, including syrup, fried blossoms, and wine (if I’m super ambitious one week). We made dandelion cookies this week from some of the fresh petals. They were yummy and a hit with Sam. I used a recipe from the Dinner For Everyone blog. Since they are basically oatmeal cookies with dandelion petals, I want to try adding raisins to them next time around.

Cookies made from dandelion petals. Yummy, but next time I'm going to add some raisins. — Cookies made from dandelion petals. Yummy, but next time I’m going to add some raisins.

Have you ever done anything with dandelion greens or blossoms? Would love to hear about it! Also, should let you know that if you happen to be one of those lucky folks who don’t suffer from dandelion invasions in your yard (or don’t have a yard), chances are you can purchase dandelion greens from your local urban farmer or grocery store. Here in Calgary, you can check out the YYC Growers & Distributors booth at some of their upcoming farmers’ markets. Some of the greens you purchase from them might just be from our yard.

Twenty-Four Whole Months

January 27, 2014January 26, 2014 Sarah Leave a comment

Two. Two. TWO!!! Seriously?!?!? The baby years seem like a distant memory now. We’re neck deep in the toddler moments these days & all the extra patience, love, & creativity required to parent our little man. A LOT has happened in Sammy’s development since my last post in August. I’m really not sure I’ll be able to capture it here. My brain is kind of mushy on all the details. It’s been enough just keeping up with him! Let’s try some quick bullet point highlights:

– He’s running, climbing, walking, jumping, dancing, crawling (he calls it turtle-foot), racing, chasing, sledding, and shoveling. Does he stop moving? Only just long enough to zone out & watch some of his tv shows on Netflix, or cuddle up for story time, or sleep in his crib.

– Sam is still all over the place with food & eating. Most meals feel like a battle & we rejoice when he eats something, anything, really. And then some days or weeks, he doesn’t stop eating. The food thing feels like the biggest roller coaster.

– Current fave foods include yogurt (still), milk, cheese, raisins, bunny crackers, butter, smoothies, pizza, mac & cheese, eggs & toast.

– Sam still loves spending time sorting, absolutely anything. And you can keep him happy as long as you let him help you with whatever task you’re doing. He’s great with laundry, emptying the dishwasher, rinsing dishes at the sink, vacuuming, and sweeping.

– When’s he’s not helping us, he keeps busy with all his tools, building blocks, Duplo, trucks, crayons, stickers, paints, building “fires” with wood, and books, books, books. Sam is quite the bookworm! Some days it feels like that’s what we spend most of our time doing. And it’s so adorable to listen to him read to himself! What a cutie.

– He’s totally an outdoors-type little fellow! Anything that has to do with the outside he loves, even in -20 winter conditions, he can’t wait to get outside & help daddy shovel snow. Although he’s not always crazy about the cold wind. Sam was an amazing helper with the garden last summer, watering, weeding, & harvesting! He helped put the veggies beds “to rest” in the fall, raked leaves, and hauled & stacked endless amounts of firewood (at home & the cabin). He adores carrying, stacking, & piling wood, and pretends to split wood (like his daddy with an axe… Sam uses his hammer or another piece of wood) and he has taken to building fires in the middle of our living room. Pray, he doesn’t learn to use matches or a lighter for a billion years! He enjoys the process of stacking paper and wood “just-so” to make the perfect little fire (in his mind), then blows on it to get it going. He even leaves it and then runs back later to add another log. Too darn smart!

– Sam’s language skills have exploded in the past two months!! I still can’t believe how quickly he picks up, not only new words, but entire sentences! He learns at least one new word everyday. You have to be so careful when you talk around him now. I find myself having to decide how to say some things, so that a) he will understand clearly what I mean and b) so that it is repeatable. We’ve had some fail moments that we’re not-so proud of. Sammy was pretty good at dropping the “f” word for a while, but he’s seems to have forgotten it finally. Lesson learned by all of us. We’re starting to work on “please”, “thank you”, “I’m sorry” and other necessary manners.

– Sam’s current fave shows are Caillou (still), Curious George, Magic School Bus, How to Train Your Dragon, and Pound Puppies. He also spent a lot of time over the month of December watching the claymation version of Rudolph, and Mickey’s Christmas. Since Sam wakes up around 5:00/5:30am, he starts his day with some Netflix time (after cuddles) so that mom & dad have a chance to wake up a bit. Then he gets to watch a couple of his shows after nap time (he’s officially down to just one nap these days).

– We’ve started doing a bit of potty training, but like most things, we’re letting Sam lead the whole process. If he’s interested in being on the potty one day, and then not so much the next day, that’s fine. We understand what a big adjustment it is for him (and us). At first he would barely sit on his potty, but then we grew smart and offered him a book to read (duh). That was the trick. Now, if he’s interested in trying to use his potty, he will be content to sit and read and wait for something to happen. Sometimes he actually “goes”, sometimes he doesn’t. At least he has learned to relax on it.

– Sam loves going to the zoo, Butterfield Acres (when it’s open), the cabin, and Grandma & Grandpa’s house. Let’s face it, he loves anything to do with Grandma & Grandpa! He usually gets to spend one day a week there and asks about them everyday.

– His sleep went super crazy wonky in the early fall, right around the time he weaned himself (Yep, he just decided one night that he didn’t want to nurse before bed. The next night, the same thing. He hasn’t nursed since.) I think he must have been going through some huge development stage. His vocabulary skills were just starting to take off, he went through a growth spurt & weaned himself. It was just a whole new time of personal awareness for him. And with all of that, came lack of sleep (for all of us). Once we survived our road trip to Colorado, we had to do a little sleep re-training with him. It wasn’t too bad. It’s never as bad as you think it will be (in my mind anyway) and it completely saved our sanity & got Sam back on track for the restful sleep he desperately needed. I’m sure we’ll go through more of these stages in the coming years.

And that, is as much of the past six months as I can remember. What a blur it is! I can’t wait to see the little boy he’s going to grow into this year!

Summer ending

September 17, 2013September 16, 2013 Sarah Leave a comment

We’ve been enjoying some pretty warm days in Calgary, but the winds are starting to blow. The temperatures are cooling off, the days getting shorter, the leaves starting to turn & fall. All the signs of autumn are surrounding us. Here’s a little peek at what the last days of summer have meant at our house, this year:

Fresh cut flowers from the garden — Last of the sweet pea & nasturtium blossoms

Late veggie garden harvest — Mounds of tomatoes and ground cherries finding their way into the house

Ground cherries — These ground cherries really are quickly becoming my fave treat from the garden

Dehydrated zucchini and crab apples — Lots of dehydrating going on including, crab apples and zucchini

Homemade apple cider — There might possibly be containers of homemade apple cider fermenting in our basement...

Everyone seems to celebrate and commemorate the end of this season with some special treat or tradition. Especially here, where hot days don’t last long, and are quickly replaced with frosty mornings & the anticipation of the first snowfall (which I keep being told will come early this year, but who knows). We’ve still have a lot of winding down to do here. Clearing out planter boxes & flower beds. Waiting on things to harvest from the garden and then putting the beds to rest for the season. Watering the trees heavily before the temperatures drop. Putting away the random garden toys & tools & furniture. And maybe, hopefully, finally, getting the last coat of paint on my wooden bench (a task I keep putting off).

I’d love to hear what the last days of summer look like at your house. Is there anything special that you make a point of doing or enjoying each year before true autumn hits?

Nineteen whole months (and a bit)

August 26, 2013August 24, 2013 Sarah 1 Comment

Yeppers. Our little man turned 18 months old, a milestone I managed to miss sharing on here. Now Sam is over nineteen months. If only we could slow the weeks down a bit, I might catch up to everything, even him. Needless to say, Sam has changed immensely since I last wrote one of these posts. He went from crawling baby boy to running (and climbing) toddler. He firmly has a foot in the door of “little boy”. Much less “baby” these days in all that he does.

And as my dear friend, Shauna, recently discussed on her blog, the task of capturing moments with these little people in our lives is a difficult one. Especially as they get older, go faster and engage us more. There are fewer and fewer photos taken of Sam these days, and more & more time just spent observing & playing first hand with him.

It feels impossible to share every detail of change with you (there really are too many in the past seven months). He’s grown into his own personality, body, and mind. So I will just attempt to share some of the highlights:

– And of course he is walking now, running most of the time. Tackling stairs like a big boy, holding a railing, wall or hand.

– Like most kids his age, he goes through stages with eating. One week, he’ll be a bottomless pit for food. The next week, you struggle to get anything past his mouth. He feeds himself these days, using spoon & fork quite well. Current favourite foods include fruit smoothies with kale, kale chips, raisins, grapes, peaches, salami, homemade fruit leather, crispy rice bars, anything he can use as dip, homemade dried cherries, yogurt & grits. He’s covered in homemade cherry jam in the above pic.

– Sam has lots of activities that he enjoys these days. He’s quite fond of water, playing with the garden hose outside, splashing in the tub, and his newest favourite… playing in the kitchen sink. He often grabs his step stool and drags it over to the sink. That’s your cue to bring the chair, a towel and toys. He is also spending a lot of time in the craft room, up on a chair so he can reach my counters, playing with stamps, stickers, coloured paper, washi tape, felts, etc. I love watching & helping him create!

– We’re also learning that he wants to do anything that we are doing. He’s a helper, like all kids his age probably. Which means, you have the opportunity to create fun learning experiences as you do simple things around the house, but it also means lots of tasks are difficult (nearly impossible) or frustrating to attempt when he is around. As a parent, I find that part a bit tiring some days, trying to find creative ways for him to safely be involved in all the things we do. There are lots of frustrating moments for Sam, when he can’t “help” us with something. Plenty of tears. All we can do is try our best to include them where possible, right? Even if it means a task takes five times longer. It’s that or tackle it when they are sleeping.

– Sam’s grandparents have started spending more regularly scheduled time with him. Grandma Judy comes in one morning a week from Banff. My parents take Sam to their house (or the cabin) every Thursday. It has meant some much needed sewing is finally getting done on my part. And Sam has a blast with his grandparents. What more could a child want, than complete and undivided attention (and treats)?!

– Our little man still adores books and story time. The types of books he enjoys has changed a bit lately, though. He likes when you read a story, but he mostly loves pointing at everything on the page and getting you to name it. We’ve started collecting more “baby’s first words” type books. Anything with animals is sure to captivate him! We also discovered these Caillou Look and Find books (kinda like Where’s Waldo, but more simplified). It is amazing to see Sam find things in each picture, without prompting or help!

– Oh and the personality!! It’s crazy to think what he was like this time last year. These days, he is quickly showing his mischievous side, his silly side, his lovely side, his wild side… so many different sides! And then there is the trying to express himself, not just with facial expressions, but gesturing & speaking. I swear he learns a new word every day. We’ve definitely hit a big development stage in the past two weeks. Between the crazy increase in energy, difficulty sleeping, and his constant desire to communicate through words. It’s no wonder these kids get frustrated and break down when we don’t understand them. The majority of tears shed these days are either because we don’t understand what he’s trying to say or do, or because of an injury. In times of miscommunication, we’ve started just calming asking him what he wants or saying “show me”, letting him lead you by the hand or carry him in the directions he points. You can usually discern what he wants pretty quickly.

– Most used day-to-day words include: more, bye-bye (sounds like die-die), snack (sounds like nack), night-night (sounds like nigh-nigh), done, empty (sounds like emp), ouchie, poop, stuck, up, no, mama, dada, meow-meow, out, and on & on.

– Besides his growing vocabulary, what really gets me, is just how much he understands. Even if he can’t speak in sentences, he can fully understand them. If you tell him that you’re going downstairs to feed the Chloe, he knows that means he needs to go to the cupboard & get her food. If you ask him if he wants to go into the sewing room to play, he’s half way down the hall in a blink of an eye, waiting for you to catch up. You can ask him to bring you particular books or hand you an item from the bath tub. Just astonishing how much he comprehends now!!

– He is still in diapers. No plan to potty train right now. He still sleeps in a crib (with his beloved blankie). He gets a fruit smoothie first thing in the morning and a bath in the evening right before bed, every day. We’re still trying to get outside time each day. Venturing to the park is quickly becoming part of the routine.

– We’re trying to cut back on “screen time” (he got in the habit of watching quite a bit of kids shows during the months of kitchen renos while we attempted to distract him from all the hazards around the house). I fully admit that a bit of screen time has its uses. It can be a useful tool. But we are definitely conscious of just how much he is getting. These days, Sam is watching Caillou, Wonder Pets, Guess with Jess, Pound Puppies (all on Netflix so no crappy commercials for him to absorb) and the How to Train Your Dragon movie (which he simply adores).

And that is our little man in a nutshell. I could go on and on. Right now, several more things have popped into my mind to share, but I’m going to end it here. I’ll try my best to share a bit more regularly, with a few less months in between posts. I have a feeling that his crazy, fast-paced, development stage is just starting. We’re in for quite the ride as we approach 24 months!