Dwarf Fruit Tree Jitters

(It's the end of the world people! I'm updating twice in one day!)

OK, so around Christmas time (yes, I've been thinking about this for almost a 1/2 a year), I read a really interesting book called The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen. If you are into the whole "Greener/Self-Sufficient" living thing and you happen upon the book in your library, I would recommend picking it up for an interesting weekend read. Or if your like me and have a Barns & Noble gift card burning a hole in your pocket, you may want to consider purchasing the book. Even if you are not into the whole green living thing, the book can give you ideas and inspirational tips of how to be a bit more frugal in your life. (Lets face it, who doesn't want to save money?) Lets just say that when I picked up the book, my intentions were to get a few gardening tips and maybe a few DIY up-cycling project inspirations from within its pages. However, after finishing the book, I now have drafted plans for my duck coop in my future backyard of the home I have yet to buy (lets face it, ducks are cuter then chickens) and have visions of growing a peach tree off of my non-existent balcony. 

Make no mistake, this is not a book that gives detailed instructions on how to build chicken coops or how to install DIY hot water solar heaters on your roof. It's just not that kind of book. It gives you just enough to realize "I can totally do this!" Which in my case, can be a very dangerous thing. I have been known to jump right into things that I have no business doing. (Like building a duck coop because I want duck eggs.) So the only reason there is no dilapidated shack or a massive looking twig with no leaves sitting in a very large pot right now is simply because I am not living in my own place right now. Fast forward to the present time a 1/2 a year latter, when I am finally in a position to think about getting my own place, the top things I want to put on my list for my future realtor are a backyard with a patio or a large balcony. 

I have realized a very conundrum during my ponderings over the past 6 months, I know nothing about growing fruit trees. The fruit trees that my father planted growing up never produced any editable fruits. Yeah they were beautiful during spring, but I was always hoping for some fruit off of the trees that I never got a chance to eat. So I decided to do some research to further my understanding. Coyne and Knutzen mentioned dwarf fruit trees in thir book, but during my research I have come across another form of potable fruit tree: Ultra-Dwarf Fruit Trees. (I know, highly original name...) These trees are even smaller than draft variety of trees, averaging only 3 to 6 feet, a perfect size for an apartment balcony, or for even an indoor garden. Here are some helpful sites that I have found along the way:

• GardenGuides.com - How to Grow Ultra- Dwarf Fruit Tress
• GardenGuides.com- Ultra- Dwarf Fruit Trees
• Growing Fruit Trees Indoors
• The Art of Growing Patio Fruit Orchids 
• Growing Dwarf Fruit Trees
  
• Differences Between Dwarf and Mini-Fruit Trees
• What Types of Fruit Are Available in Ultra Dwarf Trees?

Here are some photos of fruit trees grown indoors and in pots (still want that peach tree):

 

The future fate of my one-day-I-will-buy-a-condo balcony:

  

I have returned from the dead

My God, I live. For all those who have actually come to this site multiple times waiting for new updates, I apologize for taking a year and 1/2 to make one. But considering that I have only made, what 3 posts? I don't really think that I have all that much of a following... To be fair, my life has more or less been a mess for the past year and 1/2 and it has finally calmed down a bit and I can breath.... But only for a short while :) At the end of the month, my mother and I will be hiking the Inca Trail. Jealous yet? You should be.

That's right. My mother and I are not only going to Machu Picchu, but we are doing the 4 day hike to get there. So for the past 6 months I have been training to prepare myself for the trail. In Florida. Yeah... all the travel forums suggest that you train hiking mountains and/or doing long walks at higher altitudes... not happening in the state of Florida. The closest we get to hills are on treadmills set to the peak mode. But my mother and I are determined to do the trail, so at the end of the month, we are packing up our stuff and flying out to do a two week tour of Peru including the Amazon, the Sacred Valley, and Lake Titicaca. We decided to go with G Adventures Peru Panorama Tour. They are a bit more expensive than some of the other places we were looking at, but they have a good reputation. But I digress from the original purpose of this post, my Mother's Day gift.

Truth be told, I realized yesterday that Mother's Day is this Sunday, and I panicked for a bit. So I did what I always do when I need inspiration for DIY gifts, I Googled it. Yup, I use Google search for all the conundrums in my life. If Google can't solve my issues, then I consider myself screwed. So I went searching for a Mother's Day gift that wont cost much that my mother will actually use. Tada! Google does it again! Meyer Lemon Sugar Scrub! Supper easy, you can whip up a small jar's worth in about 30 mins, and best of all, cheap to make. Now the only thing you may not have laying around your house is Coconut Oil. Surprisingly enough, I found some at the grocery store, it's not all that cheap, but you can cook with it like olive oil and I plan on using it for more bath related crafts in the future. I also figure that you can sub out the lemon zest for any zest of a citric fruit. I used an orange for mine. So on with the craft!

Citrus Sugar Scrub

If you look closely, you will see that the top is a darker color than the bottom. That's because the top is Orange and the bottom in Lemon.

What you will need (aka what I used):

• One small jar that holds about 1 Cup
• A Zester
• A Small Mixing Bowl
• A Spoon
• Rubbing alcohol/olive oil
• Paper towels
• 2 Lemons/Limes, or 1 Orange
• 1 Cup of Granulated Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons of Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon of Coconut Oil

(Ok, I know the materials seam long, but its really not all that bad.)

Step 1: Prepare the jar. If you are reusing a jar (like I did), you are going to want to get the sticker labels off, which always leave sticker residue. This is where the rubbing alcohol and the olive oil come in handy. Scrubbing the jar with rubbing alcohol got most of the residue off, but not all. To get it all off I coated the jar with a thin layer of oil and scrubbed. Came right off after that. Then wash and dry the jar. Tada! Jar's ready!

Step 2: The tedious part. Zest those lemons/limes. If you want to make half one citrus and another half anther   citrus, just zest one lemon/lime or 1/2 an orange, split the recipe in 1/2, and repeat the recipe for the other half.

I despise zesting... so I distracted myself by watching Love it or List it...

Step 3: Add 1 Cup of Granulated Sugar, 2 Tablespoons of Virgin Olive Oil, 1 Tablespoon of Coconut Oil, and your wonderful freshly made zest to the Small Mixing bowl.

There is Lemon zest in there I swear.

Step 4: Here comes the rocket science now people...Take a big breath, here it comes: Mix everything until all ingredients are blended evenly. Yup, that's it. ;) Rocket science right?

Step 5: Pack inside the prepared jar. At this point in time, if your like me and wanted to do half and half, repeat the recipe using 1/2 the ingredients.

You can see the Orange zest in this one :)

Step 6: You're done. Stick a label on it and wrap that bad boy up. It took me about 1 hr to make one jar, so if you are just doing one type of citrus, it may take you only 30 mins to make, if that. (Depends on how fast you can zest.) Oh yes. One more helpful suggestion when making this. Since it is editable, try not to eat all of it before you can give it as a gift with the excuse of liking it off your fingers...

So that's it for the new post that was  year and 1/2 in the making. Now that I have more time, maybe I will actually have the time to make posts...

Portabella Mushroom Pizza Recipe

So it has been a while and not because I have forgotten about the blog, nor lazy and just didn't feel like writing, but rather I'm still trying to get use to my Blackberry and trying to get the pics that I took with my phone on to my comp. Mission acomplished! So now I have I no excuse for not posting, except that I have been so exhausted for the past few days that I have come home and passed out after work. x_x So on with the post....

So the other day I was in the grocery store and they were having a sale on portabella mushrooms... so bought two and was originally planning to make a grilled portabella sandwich, but I was feeling adventurous (that plus balsamic vinegar is expensive...) and decided to find a new recipe. In my quest came across a Portabella Mushroom Pizza recipe and had to try it. I did make some modifications since the original called for mozzarella, but I decided to use Swiss, and I added my own spices to my sauce to make my own flavor. Before I give the recipe I think that I should mention that I am a by taste estimator when I cook. In other words I add seasoning to taste and estimate that amount that I need, so the following measurements are estimates of what I used. But here is the recipe:

INGREDENTS:

(Total Time: 25-30 mins)

2 Whole          Portabella Mushrooms

½ tea               Olive Oil
1 C                  Tomato Sauce
½ tea               Oregano
½ tea               Italian Seasoning
1 C                  Swiss Cheese

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. (Mind blowing right?)

Step 2: Remove the stems and gently clean the mushrooms. Brush lightly with oil and place on a cookie sheet.

Step 3: Place the mushrooms in the oven for about 10 mins.

Step 4: In a bowl add sauce and seasoning to taste. Feel to add any seasoning you heat desires. If you are not a veggie like me, you can also use a meat sauce or add some meant into the sauce. Also if you have a block of cheese, now would be a good time to shred it.

Step 5: Remove the mushrooms from the oven and spoon out the sauce onto the caps. Add the cheese on the top and any other toppings you may want on your pizza.

Step 6: Place the pizzas back in the oven for about 10 more mins or until the cheese starts to turn brown.

Step 7: Eat it! J

Awsome Indoor Waterfall

So this shall be my first official post :) Now this is something that I watch several years ago on TV that has stuck with me. I'm not 100% sure what channel it was, nor the program, but I'm pretty sure it was Planet Green and they were running a special. Basically  the U.S. Department of Energy runs a contest every two years to build a green solar home called the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, and the results are freaking awesome. There are green innovations up the wazoo, and my fav so far was back in 2007 with University of Maryland's Leaf House.

Now for those of you who know me know that I am a water person. I have BS in Marine Science and Biology, a certified SCUBA diver, and have lived in FL, HI, and Australia. I love listening to the sounds of the ocean, lakes, rivers, and steams. There is just something very tranquil and relaxing about those sounds for me. So the Maryland team innovated a heating and cooling system that incorporated an indoor wall waterfall called the Liquid Desiccant Waterfall.

Now I wont even pretend to know or explain the technical and mechanical details of how this works, but it is a dehumidifier system that help keeps the house cool and non-sticky during the summer. *Grins like a Chester Cat* I want one. How freaking cool would it be to have an indoor waterfall in your house that acts like a dehumidifier, helps cool the house, and runs on solar? I have decided that when I build my first green house, I am hunting down the engineering team and commissioning them to build me one. But hopefully I can get them to run the system not only on solar power but also through wind power, after all not everywhere is sunny for the majority of the.

Welcome to Angie's World of Randomness

If by chance you have come across this blog, I here by welcome you. Now the decision to create a blog has been haunting me for over a year simply because I could not decided what to blog about; and considering that I am one of the most indecisive people in the world, this was a big challenge for me. I have so many interests, thoughts, and beliefs that I don't even know where to begin. My first inclination was to create yet another crafting blog, because I love doing crafts. Yet, I have no time to do such things except around the holidays because I'm poor and make my gifts. Then I though, well I'm really into the green movement and building, so let me start a blog about Green Building, a topic really know nothing about...Then since I'm going back to school and I am into event coordinating I thought that I would blog about that, but I don't actually coordinate events (yet)...I love to travel, but I'm lucky if I can leave the state for more than 48hrs to visit a friend let alone take a week vacation to go some place fun. Love the outdoors, camping, hiking, backpacking, etc, yet none of my friends in the area do, so I almost never go (I know, not a good excuse x_x). However, I do consider myself to be an environmentalist, so I'm all about renewable energy and organizations that invest in our planet's future, and believe that Americans can integrate environmentally friendly practices without sacrificing their way of life. Oh did I mention I am a Vegetarian and love to cook? IN the end I couldn't decide and this is the result.

So this blog will be about integrating and exploring environmentally friendly alternatives and choices into daily life, because if you thought Inconvenient Truth was scary (or a hoax), reality is even worse (but that is for latter postings). So I shall share crafts that I do and discover about cool up-cycling projects and DIY-ing ideas (guess what TV networks I like...) among other things; and since I have always enjoyed learning about new innovative, greener, and cost effective alternatives, there shall be postings about that too. Of course I shall write about awesome and amazing recipes that I find and try out, because I'm a bit tired of people asking me: As a Vegetarian, what do you eat? Me: Everything that is not meat. I am also pretty sure that along the way there will be other random post thrown up here, but that's a given due to my eclectic personality.

Please don't think I am some kind of fanatic tree huger, because I'm really not (OK so I've done it once... maybe twice...lets just stop counting). I don't believe in pushing my beliefs and feelings onto other people and saying that their way of life is wrong. This blog is simply about discovering and sharing more environmentally friendly options and making suggestions. So please, sit back and enjoy the ride. :)