The Garden in Late May

Here's our garden in late May, when the weeds haven't overcome the veggies. We have 2 garden areas for vegetables, and these photos include both. Howard inherited his love of gardening from his father.

Above: Asparagus, onions, several rows of green beans, beets, squash, potatoes

Taking a break from hoeing

Lynn's ornamental gourds

The small ornamental gourd vines have not yet started climbing.

Hoeing is lots of work!
Looking at the onions
Our garden across the driveway has corn, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, spinach

Good looking corn this year
lettuce and spinach
Tomatoes and squash

Cabbage

Cabbage starting to head up

Broccoli forming head

Flowers near our front steps

What's for Dinner? Fresh picked Green Beans and Vegetarian Moussaka!

These green beans are the first of the year from our vegetable garden. If you've ever tasted green beans picked and immediately snapped and cooked, you'll know what I mean when I say they are like no others. They actually remind me of fresh asparagus (which we enjoyed earlier in the season.) Here are a few photos of them just crisply snapped.

I used oriental eggplant from last summer's harvest that I had frozen to make this vegetarian moussaka. Instead of meat I used Morningstar Farms crumbles, mixed with eggplant, onions, wine, spices, etc. We love the creamy white layer that tops off this dish. A little salt and whipped butter and these green beans were to die for. The moussaka was perfectly spiced and so tasty. Growing and cooking with our own vegetables is a little more work, but oh so worth it!

Natural Materials for Basketry

I love variety in my work, and using unusual natural materials is one way to shake things up a bit!

My shop now features a few naturals that I grow using organic methods. Below are a few examples of baskets made with bleached Hibiscus fiber. It's a wonderful, versatile fiber that can be used natural, bleached or dyed.

I've also listed Miscanthus grass, which is great for coiling, rim treatment and embellishment. Visit my shop and check them out: http://www.etsy.com/shop/midnightcoiler

This wild and wooly twined basket features bleached hibiscus bark accents and peeled and natural akebia. The beads are actually seeds.

This one was started with a hibiscus center and features a hibiscus rim. It also has pine needles miscanthus and kudzu!

Spring Flowers from my Garden

My garden is a jungle of beautiful flowers. They are taking over the house! Some are good for weaving baskets.

Lorepetalum

Lorapetalum with Akebia taking over house

Akebia quinata, a beautiful vine for weaving

Akebia quinata, also known as Chocolate Vine, smells like grapes to me.

Wisteria growing wild.

Wisteria, another great vine for weaving

Carolina Jasmine

Carolina Jasmine is a thin flexible vine for weaving

Some of my Teacher's Marketplace Items for the North Carolina Basketmakers Convention

Basketmakers, Are you ready for the 2 hour basketry feeding frenzy we call Teacher's Marketplace at the NCBA Convention? I'm preparing and here are some of the items I'll have for sale. Take a look at my Midnightcoiler Shop on Etsy to see more.

miniature clay bead bowls rustic pottery tie-ons

stoneware pottery charms

willow needle cases

Cork Cubbies™ cork vials

drilled/dyed/ready to coil mini gourds & jewelry pieces

kits

Fibers:

hibiscus, kudzu, miscanthus, pecan stems, yucca, palm inflorescence

twined waxed linen necklaces neckcord maker

gourd seed

See you at Convention, March 11th, and at Teacher's Marketplace, Friday evening, March 12th! Can't wait!

Naturally Yours,
lynn hoyt

A Rare Snowfall!

It can go years without snowing in Eastern NC. Here's what it looked like yesterday at my place.