2014 August | Bohemian Cottage

Soba Noodle Salad with Sriracha Baked Tofu

This Soba Noodle Salad is a perfect summer side with grilled chicken or as a main dish on its own.

On a quest for healthy meals for the family, I came across a recipe for a soba noodle soup. Heavy on the ginger, with the addition of spicy sriracha baked tofu, it became the favorite dish I make for Coda. When summer came along, I wanted to be able to serve the same flavors but without the warm broth, and that is where this salad was born. It is very versatile, you can add whatever seasonal veggies are available. In this particular version I was able to add the snow peas and golden zucchini that I grew in the garden this summer. (read more)

Naming Our Bohemian Garden

This butterfly on our daylilies was the first thing I saw upon coming home one evening

Something I have recently came upon as a concept for us gardeners to consider is naming your garden or home. Historically the large estates and manors of the wealthy have always had names such as Midford Castle (actor Nicolas Cage’s house), Buckingham Palace or Gipsy House the name of writer Roald Dahl’s home. I thought it would be fun to name our garden. We initially named our cottage Fox Cottage when we moved in.We pulled up into the driveway one evening and a fox was waiting in our yard. He looked at us for a long pause before he ran off. The image of that stuck as the name of our new home. In some Native American beliefs, the foliage provides Fox with the camouflage for protection. I like to think of our garden as protector. Some of the reasons that you might want to name your garden or home or both is that it brings more awareness to your space. It infuses the space with personality and character. Naming the garden space is also a good idea to help when designing the garden, to help invoke an image and create meaning, and helps to establish your theme to build upon as you design. There are even websites dedicated to assisting with the house naming process. Do you think it is to hoity toity to name your garden? As you may have guessed, I think it is fun and for all the reasons stated above, a good idea. (read more)

Little Sprouts Community Garden

We enjoyed a lady bug release party at the Little Sprouts Community Garden

A couple of weeks ago the kids and I participated in a ladybug release party at the Little Sprouts Community Garden. We released hundreds of ladybugs, learned about bugs both beneficial and pests, did some crafts, had fun with a butterfly net and bug habitat and ate some tasty snacks!

We made Butterfly crafts

We made the cutest tie dyed butterfly craft while there. They are a simple craft for all ages. I will put up the instructions in a different post so you can make one too!

Makayla making her butterfly craft

We released hundreds of ladybugs to help the garden defend against pests. We even got a bug habitat to take some home to release in our own garden. (read more)

White Porcelain Floral Hand Jewelry Holder

Collectables. What do our collections reveal about us?

This iron hand was the first piece I got when I started to collect hands.

Most people have collected something at some point in their lives. I think it is human nature to collect, based on some of our most primal basic needs for food perhaps. Carl Jung had his theories on it as did Freud. I got to thinking about what some of the collections I have might be saying about me and my personality. Most of the things I collect are for the aesthetic aspects of it, also symbolic and my constant thirst for the hunt of a particular object. Some of the collections I have did not start intentionally to be collections, they just happened. Kind of like my collection of hand sculptures. The very first one, a cast iron open hand, was purchased as a crystal ball stand. It is one of my favorite things that I own. Then I became fascinated with hands of different sorts when I would come across them. I found a set of tiny clay hands that fit perfectly a small smoky quartz crystal ball I had. Then I had 2. I picked up jewelry holder hands made from resin, ceramic and wood. They symbolize to me help, work, balance, giving and receiving. (read more)