Vegetable Gardening

Did anyone else get their vegetable gardening catalogs yet? They always send them in the midst of the bleak winter when you're yearning for color and delicious summer fruits and veggies. Now I will plan a garden about 4 acres large and by Mother's Day, I will have to whittle it down to 3 tiny raised beds and a few loose pots.

When I was little, my friend's mom had the prettiest garden. She grew flowers in the front yard along the walkways, which the butterflies loved, and a vegetable garden in the back. Her gardens were not huge, although they seemed that way when I was little, but they always had enough veggies to collect every time I was over there. I remember how colorful they were and how fun it was for my friend and I to stand in that garden barefoot and collect veggies in the bottom parts of our sundresses.

Now, I have had a garden on and off since I was, well, very little and I am still a terrible gardener. (Before you laugh at this picture, remember: It was the 90s and my socks match my tie-dye.)

Gardening is fun for me and I work in the garden almost everyday in the summer and I normally end up with about 5 tomatoes and a green bean. I am normally frugal but I do admit to spending about $50 in the summer on enriching my soil and other garden needs. What am I doing wrong?

So I have decided I no longer want to waste money, even though the garden is a lot of fun. I'm asking my readers for tips, suggestions, and book recommendations that will allow my garden to be fun and frugal.

Any ideas? Any books you could recommend?  

Sick Day with a Good Book

Ugh! I've been so sick! Luckily I've been in bed with a really awesome book: Fashion : A History from the 18th to the 20th Century. It is a photograph rich book detailing dresses from the Kyoto Costume Institute. It's normally a pretty expensive book but it is currently on sale in store at Barnes and Noble for $10.00 in their 50% off section. :D

I normally do not buy new books but I really couldn't pass this one up. You can read a preview of it here. Be prepared to drool and have your "To Sew" list expand by 100 garments.

 

Hope you enjoy!

Full View Godey's Lady's Book for January 1864

I really love it when people have wonderful resources at their disposal and take the time to share them with others. I decided to digitize one of my Godey’s Magazines that wasn’t available online so everyone can benefit from it. I wish it turned out a bit nicer but I couldn’t use my scanner without damaging the magazine. The benefit of using my camera is that the pictures are of a really high resolution. You can read it in my pages at the top of my blog page. It is really hard to read in picture form, anyone who would like a PDF copy of it, please leave a comment with an e-mail I can send it to or send an e-mail to TheSailorsWifeSA@Aim.com.

Enjoy! (Oh, and I promise, no more Civil War posts for a while, I've been neglecting other periods and topics terribly.)

1850s Multicolored Yarns

Pearl wool and Chine Wool were multicolored wools similar to multicolored yarns today. In the late 1850s, these yarns were a relatively new style. These yarns were dyed alternately white and one or more colors, about 1/4 inch to 1/2 and inch long of each color. This yarn was used in scarves, hoods, and decorative pillows. This very pretty, sweater vest is possibly made out of pearl wool.

Another type of multicolored wool was "Clouded Wool." Clouded wool was  Clouded wool was wrapped in corn husks,paper, cloth or string every two or three inches apart before dyeing to create a white and colored effect. Clouded wool was popular in the 1840s.In later years clouded wool was made by combing two different colors of dyed, raw wool together before it was spun. Blue clouded wool socks are referred to in many early 20th century books and a possible "clouded blue sock" can be seen at the Wisconsin Historical Society. 


Below is a pattern for a knitted comforter or scarf. It is knitted with pearl wool and black to imitate woven plaid. For reenactors, if you can find 100% wool with 1/4-1/2 inch color streaks, a knitting project using it could add some much needed variety to the group impression.  

Living History Award 2010

With the end of the year approaching, I thought I'd point out some excellent blogging, living historians.  Currently the award if for ladies only. The ladies are the unseen foundation of living history and few people actually see all of the work they put into reeactments.

Many people don't get to the clothing we sew, the food we cook, and the chores we do, just so the men can have a battle. :D We also have to look pretty while wearing the same clothes for three days straight, not showering, and sleeping on the ground. (Okay, I admit, the men do a lot too, some women go into battle and some guys sew their own clothes.) But I think that everyone will admit that the following ladies do deserve recognition for their dedication to the hobby:

*The 1st award goes to Atlanta from The Story of a Seamstress. She always has a lot of projects going that get us through the reenacting off season. She also created a website for beginning reenactors. 

* The 2nd award goes to Becca Kae. and Susan and The Lady's Guide for Re-enactresses. Their blog gives numerous tips for reenactors.  

* The 3rd award goes to Bethany Lynn at Diary of a Seamstress. Bethany Lynn is a Living History rising star. Her blog shows photos of a lot of beautiful clothing she has made for both men and women. I expect more, great things from her in the future.  

Congratulations Ladies!

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With that being said, I need help with my HTML. My blog template has a serious issue. On some computers the page looks fine and is readable, but on many computers it is tiny. I have read a lot about how to change it, but nothing adjusts it so it looks good on small and large computer screens. Does anyone have any idea how to improve the template?