Green Onion Planter

Did you know that green onions can be put in water, allowing the green parts to regrow almost indefinitely? Just pick up some green onions with the little white roots attached (that’s how they’re sold in the grocery store), then put the bunch(es) in a container of water. Simple as that!

Green onions are so versatile! Here's a short list of how you can use them:

• Rolled in olive oil and then grilled
• Baked into a quiche
• On/in pretty much anything Mexican
• On/in pretty much anything Greek
• Sprinkled on:
• baked potatoes
• soups right before eating
• eggs

I tried it a couple of years ago and really doubted that it would work, but it did! I recently started “growing” them again, except this time I bought more stalks so it looks substantial enough to put in the window alongside my other plants.

The tip is to make sure you cut the stalk all the way down to the white at the bottom or the stalk just dries up like the stalk in the lower right picture below. I also put an elastic loosely around my two bunches to keep my stalks more upright.

What do you think?

My Weekend Follies

On Friday, my friend Gary and I went to not one...

Dufferin and 401

not two...

Thorncliff

 but three Goodwill stores for Friday Fever

Eglinton and Brimley

Unfortunately, Gary didn't find the kind of frames he was looking for, but I found a few great items. I'll post about those this week :-)

On Saturday, we went on a hike in Rouge Park. If you live in Toronto and you've never been, I highly suggest going! You can hike through it alone or tag along for the volunteer-run hikes they hold several times a week all-year long. One of the guys on this walk was a trained-ecologist and shared his cool ecological knowledge with us.

Kevin and I tried to get a nice photo of the two of us...I'd say the last one is ok, but he's fake-smiling grrrr! Also, I wear my painting jeans when I go hiking (I pretty much wear them when I do anything that might involve getting dirty and I have the foresight to put them on). I love those jeans. I wish I had another non-paint-covered pair...

 

After the hike I went to the Eaton Centre with Gary and Marcel and I bought a very well-fitting (but expensive!) bikini from Bikini Village. I wanted to go swimming last weekend, but the fabric from my favourite bikini had deteriorated in some spots and practically fossilized in others... I have other bikinis, but I don't like them as much - they don't fit as well. Don't get me wrong - I'm (mostly) happy with my body, but when I go swimming for the first time each season, I need to wear my best-fitting, most flattering bikini! The shape and pattern of it looks like this, but the colours on mine are different.

And as a random side note, I saw JP and Juan from One Girl Five Gays (best. show. ever!) while walking on King Street W on my way to MEC!! I really wanted to ask them to take a picture with me, but for some reason I can never bring myself to harass tv/movie people for photos/autographs. 

Case in point: My friend and I once had backstage passes at a Mariah Carey concert (don't judge me! She was awesome in the 90s!) and I was awkwardly standing beside her while a group of us were getting ready for a photo with her. I had my CD in hand ready to be signed and I couldn't bring myself to ask. But you know what? She asked me if I wanted her signature! Ha!

I know it's a little late in the game now considering it's Wednesday, but did you have a good weekend? Do anything fun?

Plant Killer on the Loose

I love plants and flowers and I've loved them as long as I can remember - in any form... potted, cut, hanging, terrariums, dried, silk...all good. I imagine myself having a beautiful garden in the front and back of my house one day - similar to what my mom has going on, but with less grass and more garden. 


But here's the problem:    I can't seem to keep them alive.


I know it sounds pathetic, but it really upsets every time I kill a plant. And trust me, it happens way too often! When my mom comes to visit, she (not so subtly) eyes all my plants and graciously takes the dying one(s) home with her and nurses them back to life. 


I've always been called a tree hugger and I'm a Virgo (apparently we loooove nature) and I come from a line of women (my grandmother and mother) who can pluck a sprig from a plant and grow a whole new freakin' plant!! Why didn't I inherent this green thumb?? It's embarrassing how fast plants wilt in my care. My defense is I just love them too much. Does this happen to other people??


My total plant collection includes 2 bamboo plants, a potted Gerber daisy, and 2 potted 4" Osteospermums in my living room, and an unidentified plant from Ikea that resides in my bathroom. I also have one currently in my mom's care - it's a vine of some sort...


In any case, my plants underwent some care this weekend: I cleaned all of their pots/vases, pot saucers, and wiped down their leaves. I'd like to think they "feel" a little better about being in clean pots and looking all nice with their lustery leaves, so maybe they'll live a bit longer now.


Obviously these aren't the same leaf, but after I wiped them all, I couldn't remember which one I used for the before photo...

 I emptied out the water, rocks, and marbles from the vase into the bathtub. I collected the rocks into a colander then sprayed them off with hot water to get rid of the residue. I refilled the vase halfway with water then put the rocks back in (large to small) a few at a time.

 Kevin gave me this plant for my desk at work when I first got hired, but the air circulation isn't great and I have a north facing window, so I brought it home with me. It used to be a bright green container, but I spray painted it white.

I cleaned off the stems and rocks 

The after shot of the bamboo shoots is making me crave asparagus...