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Blogs for February, 2015

checkout the archived city farm blog articles to learn about our takes on farm & city life

Spring/Summer Enjoy Blog

Sneak Peek at Spring/Summer at The City Farm!

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We are getting ready for the warm, sunny Spring & Summer days ahead! Here’s a peek at our latest photoshoot. All these new arrivals and more coming soon!

600_0022  600_9205 600_9355 600_9411 600_9445 Red Striped Unbleached Tablecloth600_9879 Hand Painted Stoneware Vases, Set of 3 600_9391 Slate Combo 3 600_9629

Ikebana Grow Blog

DIY As Art: Exploring Ikebana

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DIY As Art: Exploring IkebanaIkebana, the Japanese art of floral arrangement, plays with the idea of nature in constant change, and the art of exploring that rhythm and order.  Considered an art-form along the lines of painting or sculpture, it was more often practiced by men, and, in the past, “was considered an appropriate pastime for even the toughest samurai.”

As we anticipate spring showers bringing up all kinds of flowers, why not take an ikebana class?  Or host one!  Have your friends over, and invite a teacher to your home?

What you’ll need, according to Ikebana International:

Containers: most ikebana artists use glass containers, to reflect and play with the light in the arrangement. Bamboo baskets are most commonly used during the warm months.
Holders:  There are a variety of holders to fix your flowers in your container.  A few:

  • a Kenzan:  Used to fix the flowers in the container, a kenzan is a heavy lead plate with erected brass needles where the stipes are fixed,
  • a gotoku-dome (tripod):  Shaped like a tripod, used to hold an iron kettle or pot over a hibachi fire.
  • akutsuwa-dome (horsebit holder) is iron, and shaped like a horse’s bit, which can be twisted into 50 different shapes, each with its own name.

Click here to find a chapter in your region!  Will you start practicing the art of floral arrangement?  Share photos with us on Facebook or over on Twitter @TheCityFarm!

(Photo Credit: My Personal MFA)

Grannys Cookies for COOK Blog

Granny’s Double Cookies

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These cookies are perfect for Valentine’s Day!  You need two heart shaped cookie cutters to make this. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. salted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1-1/2 cups flour

1 Tbsp. cream

powdered sugar

raspberry jam

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix butter and sugar well.

Stir in flour.

Stir in cream — you may need to add additional cream – make the dough usable!

Roll very thin. Covering rolling pin with wax paper helps.

Cut out with a heart-shaped cookie cutter a little larger than a silver dollar. Bake until light brown.

Sandwich 2 cookies together with jam and sprinkle with powered sugar.

Cut a heart shape out of the “top” cookie so that the jam shows through.

(Photo Credit: Pinterest)

Groundhog Shadow, Celtic Goddess, and Indoor Terrariums

Groundhog Shadow, Celtic Goddess, and Indoor Terrariums

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Happy six more weeks of winter, according to our favorite, favorite groundhog, Phil.  But before we worried about more cold weather from the world’s wee, furry winter season soothsayer Punxsutawney Phil, there was the day the Celts called Imbolc, or St. Brigid’s Day, to determine whether the winter would continue six more weeks.  Unlike the marmot medium, the Celtic goddess of winter, Caileach, was said ensure beautiful, wood-gathering weather on February 1st in order to gather her firewood and ensure her favorite wintry weather would continue.  Monday, it appears it was a good wood-gathering day, as Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, and predicted 6 more weeks of winter.

The good news? You can plant a terrarium or air plant indoors, no matter the weather!

It’s easy to create and care for your own air plant or terrarium. What do you have in your home to house your indoor greenery?  A fish bowl?  A jelly jar?  The City Farm’s Cow Milk Glasses? A sea urchin from your last ocean dive, such as what LA-based designer Cathy Van Hoang creates, with upside down shells as planters to create indoor, aerial jellyfish? Mother Nature Network gives an easy, step-by-step guide:

  • First, rinse out your choice or terrarium with bleach water, and let it fully dry out for two days, to prevent any mold or spores that might affect your plant.
  • Because your jelly jar or sea urchin doesn’t have drainage, start your terrarium with an inch or two layer of pea gravel, and then break up some sphagnum moss or burlap on top of the gravel. (According to MNN, the moss or burlap will prevent potting soil from seeping down to the bottom of the container.)
  • Next, add a half inch layer of horticultural charcoal, to absorb unwanted odors, and then, adding approximately 2 inches of potting soil, depending on the height of your container.
  • Visit your local nursery to choose the plants you want for your terrarium – thick, leafy plants like reindeer moss and ferns are favorites.  You can also add decorative rocks, or little tchocktkes that you love – miniature unicorns? Why not?  (Sweet Digs is a fabulous shop in Yucca Valley, just outside Joshua Tree, where you can create your own!)
  • Keep your plant moist, but not wet, with misting, and placing it in indirect sunlight.  If you can’t see your plant through the condensation in the container, you’re giving it too much moisture.  And if you notice mold or fungus, you can remove bits of the plant, as well as dead flowers or leaves,  with tweezers or chopsticks.  Twice a year, feed your plants with small amounts of a granular fertilizer.

Six more weeks of winter?  Bring it, Phil.

Will you be planting a terrariums or air plant? Show us your gorgeous indoor garden on Twitter!

(Photo Credit: Air Plant Jellyfish by Petite Beast, Mother Nature Network)