Hastypearl in the Tomato Garden!

Hastypearl in the Tomato Garden!

Well, I know that its not universally true, but its getting Time in Texas, 

that gardeners start getting itchy to get their hands dirty.

I Am One of Those :)

After almost 40 years of gardening, I finally got a little help 

and for the last two years, hired two men, 

to spend two days, cutting back my perennials.

I have miles and miles of them and  

I cant TELL you how much weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.

That subject could be its own blog posting...but if you are 

burdened with an area in your life...get help!

It has made being in the garden Joyous again, 

and given me back some time for other areas in my life that I enjoy, 

like being Hasty in my art studio:)

So, our local grocery store has recently enlarged 

and added a beautiful garden center.

I was extremely surprised this week, 

to find a number of Heirloom varieties of Tomatoes 

and like a moth to the flame...I bought them!

Heirlooms tomatoes are often less acidic, which my body loves, 

and also usually, a bit smaller in size.

So, if you are looking for one of those softball sized tomatoes, 

I don't think that Heirlooms will accomplish that.

Otherwise, the flavors, colors and shapes are Amazing!

One thing that you can do to get your tomatoes up and going and larger 

at planting time, is to get them into pots, 

larger than the size that they generally come in.

Sure death for most plants, is to plant them below the crown, 

which is the junction where they were growing when you bought them 

(unless they were originally planted too deep).

Tomatoes on the other hand, love to be planted deeply 

and will just sprout new roots along the buried stems.

More roots, stronger plant!

I took my small plants, some empty 1 gallon buckets that I had saved 

from previous purchases, my shovel and I headed for my soil pile.

Every couple of years, I have a load delivered 

that is mostly compost and fertile soil.

It waits patiently for me to use up, and then I get another delivery!

That's not necessary to have of course, 

a nice bag of potting soil will do the trick.

I placed a small amount of soil in the bottom of the pot

 and then placed the small plant deep in the bottom of the pot.

You can see how much of the stem that got covered with soil.

Don't forget to place the plant identification tag in its pot.

 There's no WAY that you will remember which is which

...even though you're sure that you will!

After I got all of the transplanting done, 

I moved them into the greenhouse 

and gave them a good drink of water.

A nice sunny window will accomplish the same thing.

It will be fun to see the plant begin to settle 

into its new pot and begin to Grow.

Don't be surprised, if you even see a 

beautiful yellow blossom appear, very soon!

I will periodically give them a little sip of some organic food.

There are lots on the market, FINALLY! :)

When you are past your last frost, 

you can pop them into the garden 

and just think how much farther along the plants will be,

 than if you were to plant the small plants.

The Bigger at planting, the sooner you'll harvest those Juicy Tomatoes!

Don't think that you have to have a separate Vegetable garden.

Tomatoes look fantastic next to your flowers, shrubs, perennials or roses.

I love a full bed mixed with wonderful variety and surprises.

This little project, is a wonderful thing to do with your little ones.

There's SO MUCH to learn from gardening.

It hurts me to think how many children never eat a tomato 

or even know where one comes from.

I Hope that you enjoyed this garden project 

and that reading this posting 

got you all Itchy for Spring!

If its still a long way off for you, most nurseries will begin 

carrying bulbs and seeds that you can force to bloom, right on a windowsill.

Go talk to any nursery worker bee and you will see that 

they LOVE to teach you how to plant!

Send me some pics of your garden...and tomatoes!

I would LOVE to see them :)

.....as always...thanks for stopping by....Laura 

ps. You will notice along the right side of this posting, lots of opportunities to follow hastypearl.

If you are into FB, or Pinterest or Instagram, I am, too!

I'd love for you to add me to your list!

There's so much Hastiness to share :)

Red Oak Book Workshop My Books Hastypearl

Red Oak Book Workshop

My Books

Hastypearl

Hopefully, you have already read my previous posting 

about a fantastic workshop 

that I recently hosted, with Roxanne Evans Stout 

and Leslie Marsh...in the teaching seats.

While we are still floating along in Post Workshop Bliss, 

that's not what this posting is about:)

I thought that I would simply show you... what I created!

No two students book covers were alike 

 and no two pages were alike, either.

We were given technique and tools 

and left to our own imaginations!

Ahhh...so refreshing.

I will apologize, but Once.

When I say that, you will understand.

If you want to know what these books 

look like from the hands of the talented teachers, 

you would be wise to go to their websites.

That is not to say that I'm not amazed and proud 

of our work.

Its just important that I direct you to look 

at what Years of practice in these techniques, can look like!

Our books had Soldered and bound covers.

Some people sent Leslie pictures that they wanted to use on their covers, 

but she somehow and amazingly found for me,

Vintage pictures 

of the town that I live near.

I had never seen any of the pictures that she found.

This one is undoubtedly of the river 

that runs through the city and its original bridge.

I will Treasure this Sentimental Find.

My book will Never lay flat, Nor close!

That's OK.

I love FILLING the pages.

That's my style!

We were all amazed at the simplicity of the graphics 

that the string made on our paper and fabrics, 

from winding it around and around a copper pipe.

After dropping our "wands" into the boiling water, 

the leaves made their own beautiful tracings. 

Those of us addicted to Mixed Media Art, 

are always scavenging materials.

I retrieved the strings that came off of our pipes 

from the trash cans and along with some ribbons, 

made a little weaving.

Again, I could hardly pay attention to Roxanne's 

copper box making tutorial, 

because all I could think about was 

grabbing her little copper squares, leftovers :)

She also told us a story about where 

she illegally   ;)

found this metal grate, 

but again, I cant remember it, 

because all I wanted to do was grab it :)

I tied it to one of my pages and cut out the openings.

I love how light pours through the holes 

and even better, how it looks from the back on the pecan leaves.

It was fun asking the owners 

of the Turn of the Last Century Old Time General store

 that I shop at, if I could have leaves 

from their Century Pecan Tree! 

They were actually curious 

and asked if I would bring the art that I made with them!

I'm a talker, and find that most people 

love hearing about other peoples interests AND, 

that same store owner, gave me a really great suggestion 

about who I might invite to future art workshops!

One thing leads to another, right ? :)

As you have seen, I've made Many more pages.

I will post them 

along the way on my Facebook timeline.

I hope that you will stop by there 

sometime and see what I'm up to.

There is a button on the right side 

of this page that will instantly link you to it, 

and to my Etsy shop and more! 

Next, are a few images of a mini book that we made.

Leslie sells AMAZING books with beautiful embossed lead covers, 

in her Etsy shop and at Shows.

I was fortunate enough to buy one 

from her last year, and I wear it all of the time.

I look forward, to making another embossed cover.

It is definitely something that repetition will help with.

It was another opportunity to practice 

the bookbinding stitching that she taught us.

*

* 

So, there You are! 

A little continuation of my previous blog posting.

Its an Understatement that 

Both ladies opened many new doors, 

for ALL of us.

There are workshops of Every Kind, 

available around the country, All of the time.

Do be Bold and Try New Things!

Its a great way for us to build our brains, feed our imaginations and souls,  

and Discover things that we Might just fall in love with!

So, Thanks for stopping by my hastypearl blog.

I hope that You find Wonder, wherever you are!

Fondly...Laura