Potting recipe for colorful spring yard

 

 

I'm planting winter seeds in South Orange County California. Time to get into the dirt:  lettuce, chard, wildflowers, sweet peas. Sharing a tip with you that is easy. I save seeds from last year but I also buy new not Monsanto seeds. First I solarize the area to plant (cover with black plastic tarps and let the sun cook the weeds and bugs for about 2 or three weeks, 2 if the weather is warm, 3 if cooler).  Next I pick out any survivors and toss not compost. Dig and loosen the soil and add some rotted compost. Mix the seeds with used left over coffee grounds to allow more even spreading. Put the seeds into the cool used grounds and stir well for 10 seconds. Spread to the depth required and sprinkle soil fairies on top. Water well for the next ten days keep wet. A recipe for sturdy beautiful spring flowers and food right here in Laguna Niguel

Gorgeous potting bench arrangement by Tiffany Hunter check her amazing staging for homes to sell on 1588 Monrovia Avenue Newport Beach  www.tiffanyhunterhome.com

 

Crow Prevention with Kindness

 

 

We have a problem with crows being overpopulated in South Orange County. They are rather intelligent birds and work in family groups. Crows can be noisy, aggressive and I believe they recognize human faces as individuals. I have an organic garden that I don't want them stealing produce and I don't want to use chemicals. Here are some strategies to deal with these guys.

I have a neighbor in Wyoming who decided to try and shoot at them (not actually hunt them) to scare them off his property but this action brought the wrath of the crows. First they proceeded to poop on his truck at every opportunity, then they would scream before dawn on his roof. They even tore the rubber lining off his front pickup truck windshield (pecked at the whole lining until the glass would rattle). I believe it is illegal to hunt crows in residential neighborhoods of Orange County. They are protected as migratory corvids.

The crows pull up lawns in Laguna Beach and Laguna Niguel during the Fall months looking for these white moth larvae. The damage is pretty ugly and no amount of lawn poison seems to kill off the grubs that attract the birds to come rip panels of grass up. I read that the grubs do not like clover so my lawn in the front is now predominantly three kinds of clover (red white and pink). Planting the variety keeps the lawn green year round.

When I saw the damage this year the crows were starting on my neighbors lawns I decided to take a new attitude and befriend the crows rather than shoo them away. For a week I took the heel of a loaf of bread, some peanuts, or sunflower seeds and randomly tossed them in a very showy gesture not at the crows but on my driveway. Then I waited and did my weeding. They were very suspicious of me at first. The first two days the birds did not come down until I went back into the house. On the third day the largest bird hopped down waiting for me to spin the food into the air and called his buddies to join in the meal. Now three weeks later I feed them randomly twice a week, and they have left us alone.

Maybe making peace is easier than prevention. In the photograph is an apple and a persimmon tree that a neighbor is using brown grocery bags and paper clips to keep the crows away from stealing the fruit. Perhaps it’s also to keep the south side from sunburn, we’ll see if it works. Don’t start calling me Tippi Hedren...

Update to story 4/9/2013 here: http://cgbarbeau.blogspot.com/2013/04/peace-with-crows.html more to follow

 

Candy Corn

photograph by Caroline Gerardo of Harvest Corn - decorative not edible

Photograph of three balls of the candy corn dough in process. This project was started and inspired Fall Fun by my daughter Blair

• 4 1/2 ounces powdered sugar, approximately 1 1/4 cups
• 1/2-ounce nonfat dry milk, approximately 6 1/2 teaspoons
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 1/2 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1/2 cup
• 3 3/4 ounces light corn syrup, approximately 1/3 cup
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 drops yellow and orange gel paste food coloring

Making ribbons of the corn in a row. Traditionally the order of colors is orange yellow white but on the last one I mixed it up

This part takes time to cut and form each piece of candy. This is probably done by some giant machine in a candy factory, thank you Willy Wonka, we're doing it home made. This is a creative and fun project you can do with your children at home. If anything after making all these they will never forget how much time it takes to make one little piece of fun.

Directions

If it is humid or raining, turn on air conditioner or warm up kitchen. Making candy in muggy weather ends up with a greasy residue. Temperature and humidity may require you to add a few more drops of water to the mixture. Think dry desert- add.

Combine the powdered sugar, dry milk and salt in the bowl of mixer. 1 minute until the mixture is smooth and well combined. Set aside.

Combine the sugar, corn syrup and water in a 2-quart pot. Put over medium heat, cover and cook for 4 minutes. Add the butter, clip on a candy thermometer, and bring the mixture to 230 degrees F, about 1 to 2 minutes. When the sugar syrup reaches 230 degrees F, take the pot off the heat and remove the thermometer. Add the vanilla and the dry mixture, stirring with a silicone spatula until combined. Pour onto a half sheet pan lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Cool until the mixture is cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes.

Your children can help with the rolling and cutting and this is quite fun. Keep the sink filled with cool water to be able to dunk and dry hands as they work as the “dough” gets “sweaty”. Working with messy in the kitchen is fun and although this has food coloring the dough doesn’t stain.

Dividing the dough into 3 equal pieces. Add 2 drops of yellow food coloring to 1 piece and knead the dough until the color is consistent throughout. Add 2 drops of orange to the second piece, and knead until the color is consistent throughout. Leave the third piece white. Roll each piece of dough into a strand, about 18-inches long. Cut each strand in half.

Roll 1 of the white pieces into a strand that is about 1/2-inch thick and about 22-inches long. Repeat with a yellow piece and orange piece. Lay the strands side by side and press them together using your fingers. Cut the strand into 4-inch pieces. Lay the strands, 1 at a time, onto the silicone mat and press into a wedge shape, like a triangle. Use a small think knife to cut the candies into pieces. Or a wire butter slicer, metal bench scraper or pizza cutter to slice the dough into small pieces. Repeat the procedure with remaining dough. You may need to shape them with your fingers to make the corn look somewhat round. You can also make pumpkins by rolling a small ball of the orange, add a tiny drop of blue to the yellow and use for the stems. Lay the finished pieces on a piece of parchment or waxed paper to dry for 1 hour in the refrigerator to harden. Store in a sealed container with parchment paper between each layer.

The batch makes a good deal of candy and if your children don't eat half in the process, I saw a recipe for candy corn martinis. You might need one after this...

Fall color from Laguna Nursery is a pretty old wooden cart with gourds, white pumkins, butternut squash...

These are called Princess pumpkins. I am not certain if a princess was supposed to make her Cinderella chariot out of them or what, but we stacked them like a japanese rock offering.

A little birdy told me

http://mywjb.com/caroline-gerardo/


My W J Bradley Mortgage Capital LLC website went live today.
I hope to add blog posts about real estate financing and local Orange County
market news directly into the new website. Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, South Orange County Real Estate News

Please go take a look and tell me  what you think. Photograph of a silly little birdy telling you where to find Caroline Gerardo 's website