Monday, September 6, 2010

Weekend Projects


We have been working on a couple family projects here at our place this long weekend. I usually try to come up with a couple small activity or projects for me and the lil one to do during the week. This weekend's project were:

  • The Excalibur Dehydrator Project (which was mostly my own project)
  • The Garden Label Project
The Excalibur Dehydrator Project was downsized a bit to mostly just clean up. Everything seems to run fine, it was just really needing some love. Although I did realize I have a weird quirk! If I don't really know where an item has been it's whole life I have a hard time using it. For example, I would probably never want used couches or bed mattress unless I knew the previous owner. I'm okay with 2nd hand clothes, plates, knick knacks, but there are certain things that give me the heebies jeebies. A friend of mine said, "maybe it's because you will never really know how clean it is!" Could be true, but I know for couches and mattresses I worry about bugs travelling into our home. As for the dehydrator I feel like I keep having to give it another cleaning and scrub before I use it. What is with me!?

Here are some before pictures

And here are the after pics...

It's in pretty great condition and run smoothly. Excalibur sure knows how to make a dehydrator! I'm thinking of making some dried apple slices for my first run through, since apples are just hitting the harvest season here.

The Garden Label Project is something my lil one and I have been working on. This is a great project for the kids! All you need are a few of those paint sticks you get free at any paint supply store, non-toxic paint, and some paint brushes. I let my little one get creative and choose whatever colors he wants for the stick/label itself. Once it's dried I use a small paint brush to write the vegetable's name. If you have older children they could totally do this project all on their own.



Supplies:
Paint sticks
Non-toxic Paint
Paint brushes
News paper (to protect the surface you are working at)


This label is actually one I worked on myself, since my lil guy's are still a bit damp. Pictures to come soon! His are so pretty because he blended colors together, it reminds me of sunsets and the ocean.





Other than projects we've been enjoying our long weekend by staying indoors. The fall weather has hit us, so it's rain, rain and chilly weather!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pam @ http://rawfoodinspirations.blogspot.com/ says...

Hi ya Maggie girl...all is well! Just haven't been floating around much in the bloggie world...he he! Miss ya too! I've still been keeping tabs on ya!

Very nice garden...love your lil markers...cute! Congrats on your "D".....you will have a blasty!

xoxo

Maggie said...

Pam! I'm glad you are well and that you are taking some time out for yourself :) Thank you for the compliments on our garden! Although today I noticed we have some sort of bug eating our kale and butter lettuce :( Hopefully it's off to a good enough start to be resilient. Stay in touch xoxo

Anonymous said...

Mary @ http://bitesandbliss.com/

Awwe those labels are cute :) I bet your little one had so much making them with you.

Maggie said...

Thank Mary! He loved making them, he is such a cute painter! I can't wait to post the one's he did, they are much more creative than the plain solid colors I chose. lol :D

Anonymous said...

Tash @ http://therawbutterfly.blogspot.com/ says...

Thanks for sharing your projects, great labels too. Would love to see your sons ones too! Its nearly Spring here is Sydney so I'm preparing to grow some veg and am getting excited about it. Thanks for the comments on my blog Maggie, always appreciate them xxxx

Maggie said...

Thank you Raw Butterfly! I'm going to try to post the one's my son did tomorrow if I get a chance :D
Almost spring in Sydney, you lucky lady. Such a fun time for growing a veggie garden! What are you thinking about planting? Any favorites?

xoxo
PS I love reading and commenting on your blog! You are always so kind and honest about the journey you are on and I appreciate that! :)

Anonymous said...

Tash @ http://therawbutterfly.blogspot.com/ says...

Thanks Maggie, thats always lovely to hear!

Last year was my first garden venture, with some hits but some misses! This year I'm going to try more leaves, less fruiting veg as I don't think I get quite enough sun for that. I'll be blogging about it all so you can keep track, and all advice/suggestions will be very much appreciated to help me! xxx

Maggie said...

Tash -

For sure, can't wait to read all about it! This is my first leafy veggie garden at this location, so i'm getting some hit and misses happening too! Right now my garden has some catepillars (ie/cabbage worms) and they are eating my kale, and broccoli :( If I could redo I would have put up some nylon netting so the moths couldn't get near the plants.

Based on this expeirence, i'd check to see what the local garden pests are in your location and see what preventitive measures you could take :)

Anonymous said...

Melissa @ http://contagioushealth.blogspot.com/ says...

What fun weekend projects and yay for the dehydrator!!! I love those little labels for the garden..so cute!
The rain this past weekend was not fun..and super cold too!! Fall apparently has arrived LOL!

Maggie said...

Fall has apparently arrived! Although I think it's tossing and turning about making it a final decision lol Woohoo to sunny weather this morning! Hope you have it on the mainland too! :)

Anonymous said...

Lorra says...

Yes, I agree about the beds and couches thing - even if you THINK they are not infested, they might be!
So yes, be very careful about ANY used thing you bring in, regardless if it's furniture or not. I am heavily paranoid about anything used, now, and if I buy used clothing they will go into the washer and dryer upon entry. I even get paranoid about any public seating now, including the bus.
Excaliburs are awesome. I actually found two newly hatched bugs in the dehydrator box when I unpacked, and luckily I could turn it on high (I wrapped it in a plastic bag first so nothing could escape if it WAS there) and left it on for 3 hours. At least that was doable! Hell, I could heat treat anything in my dehydrator, I guess! ha.
I feel like anything you buy used...just really know what to look for in terms of the bugz, and heat treat anything that comes into your home. When I travel from now on I'm going to have some sort of bug-proof thing for my luggage - at least an enormous plastic bag! Trust no one!

Maggie said...

Lorra! Yay, someone that understands this! After reading the bug stories you shared, i'm now extremely cautious about what comes into our home. I throw everying immediatly into hot water (ie/clothes, kick knacks, dishes) and wash them x3 lol :) I don't blame you for feeling paranoid about it, after having to deal with something like that you never want to again.

I can't believe you had a couple bugs in your dehydrator! And it was brand new??! Isn't surprising, they will go anywhere they can. Good idea about turning it on, that would get rid of whatever was in there. LOL heat treat no doubt, i was amazed on how fast the excalibur heated up compared to my old dehydrator! I lucked out and got the dehydrator free from a friend! They never used it! Total score! But i'm still cleaning the damn thing lol :) I better stop talking bugs, i'm getting itchy all over!

Anonymous said...

Elle @ http://thewaybyelle.blogspot.com/ says...

Ha! I have to laugh about you not wanting to use things second-hand unless you can get them really clean! I like getting used clothes and anything that I can really disinfect, but beds, pillows, shoes--NO WAY!

How do you dehydrate foods? I have a tough time getting them when they are the right texture instead of too hard.

The markers for your garden are great! I wish that my garden was that organized!

Maggie said...

Elle! lol You know what I mean then about sanitizing 2nd hand stuff! You just can't do it enough :)

I am using the excalibur dehydrator now, I used to have a cheap 30 dollar dehydrator. If I know that it's an food with a lot of water I usally let it run over night, if not then I do it during the day so I can watch it carefully. :)
I always rotate what is the dehydrator if I can, just so there is even dehydration. I'm not sure if I will need to do this with the excalibur, but it was needed with the cheaper dehydrator. I hope that helps a bit! Also there are some great dehydrating books out there that give you reccomendations on how long to keep food in it, such as apples, banana's, etc...