Beautiful New Bookcase

     Almost 8 years ago when Matt and I moved in together he bought me a bookcase so I would have a place to put all my stuff in his apartment. Being poor we went to Ikea and I picked out a red 'Billy' bookcase for about $100. It worked great for awhile but Ikea furniture is not the most sturdy stuff in the world and although you can take it apart and move it, it does degrade a little bit every time. So after four moves and 8 years poor Billy was not doing so good. I'm sorry that I forgot to take a before picture but two of the shelves were busted and slanted while the back was coming off as well. It had never been particularly sturdy in the first place and the amount of stuff we had shoved in there was overloading the poor thing. To say we needed a new bookcase was an understatement. That thing could have killed one of our animals if they brushed up against it. So we went on a search.
     Finding a bookcase was harder than I thought it would be. We ruled out Ikea because we wanted something that would last and had a bit more character than mass produced particle board. So we did a google search for 'bookcases seattle'. Oddly enough not much came up. We live in the south end of the city which seems to be a wasteland for almost anything but food. (Columbia City neighborhood has a ton of great food, just FYI) One place did pop up though- Ballard Bookcase. Yup. Just as the name suggests it is a company that makes bookcases and is located in the Ballard neighborhood.
     Ok, fair enough, we decided to check it out. So on a rainy day -no, I mean, absolutely pouring down buckets of water from the heavens, we headed up to Ballard Bookcase. The shop was tucked away in the more industrial district but the showroom was pleasant, with friendly people and a good selection of bookcases to look at. They make a lot of gorgeous custom bookcases and there were a number of binders filled with photos of amazing things they had built. But all we really needed was a run-of-the-mill bookcase.
     We looked around at all the wonderful things they had and though Wow! Those are perfect but we can't afford that much! So we thanked the nice people and got back into the car. At which point we began to debate where to look next as waves of water washed over the car. We couldn't think of anywhere else to go. And it was getting close to lunch time. And the prices really weren't that bad since the bookcases were very well made. And we planned to keep this one until we died. So we went back inside.
     In the back was a tall bookcase with plenty of shelves and decorative moulding. It was beautiful solid wood and cost $470. I'm not sure what I was expecting to pay for a bookcase. Most of my previous furniture purchases have been from Ikea or Craigslist. After taxes the cost would be over $500. I think I paid less than that for all my other furniture combined! BUT, this bookcase was a quality piece. It had been hand crafted right here in Seattle and we planned to keep it for a very long time. When I thought about it in that light the price didn't seem so bad. If $10 dollars got me 8 years from a crappy Ikea bookcase then this quality real wood bookcase would last at least 40. That's only $12.50 a year! A bargain!
     So we snapped up the bookcase. We decided to come back in a few days when the weather was better and actually take it home. I was very excited when the guy put a little red "sold" sign on it. It was ours! No death by bookcase for our animals. But then there was a new dilemma. The wood was unfinished. We could stain it, paint it or wax it. Ultimately we decided to wax it using a special kind of wood wax with a hint of color.

     It took time but wasn't too difficult to do. The first day we did it the wax dried quickly and it was slow going. The next day we did it was warm and the wax went on like butter and the job was much after. The guy at Ballard Bookcase gave Matt in-depth instructions on how to apply the wax.

     In the above photo the top is stained while the bottom is not. It isn't a dramatic change which is why we picked this option. You get to see the grain of the wood but the color is warm and elegant. Doing the waxing was a bit of a dirty job though. I think I still have some dark spots where I got wax on my skin- and no, I don't mean my freckles.

     Here is the 'in progress' shot. You take out all the shelves and do them separately. The shelves are adjustable height which is nice for all our odd shaped books. Art and osteology are topics that demand irregular shaped books.

     And here is the beauty in its new home! All waxed and happy. We also managed to cull a few books from our collection so now there is room to buy more. Hurrah! The waxed wood goes nicely with our floors but is neutral enough to go with most decor when we move or change things up. So in the end I highly recommend Ballard Bookcase. I'm looking forward to a life time with this new addition to our home.

Sprouts!

     Huzzah for spring! The daffodils are smiling and the cherry blossoms are dropping pink snow on the ground. We've even had some sunny days hitting the 60 degree mark in the last week. Even though there is a lot of work to be done inside the house, with the warm weather and breaks in the rain we are turning our attention outside. In the next couple weeks I will begin preparing the garden beds, pulling weeds and adding compost, but the garden is already growing inside.
    About a week ago I planted my first seed starters. It is as simple as getting an egg carton, filling it level with dirt and popping a seed in each section. And voila!

 
     There are many ways you can start seeds. Pinterest has an amazing amount of ideas if you search "starting seeds" or some variation of that. I use both the bottom and the top of the egg carton. The free-rage eggs I buy come in compostable egg cartons so if I want to I can just cut them apart and plant the sections directly into the ground when it is time.
     The top section in the photo is all tomatoes. As you saw in the last post about garden planning we like a lot of tomatoes. All of those are either Amish Paste or Mortgage lifters. These two varieties are larger and meatier which makes for better ketchup and tomato sauce. You can vaguely see some of the marks  I have made to indicate what  I planted where. DO THIS! It comes in handy later when you have forgotten what you planted where.
     In the bottom section I have (starting on the left) two yellow bell tomatoes, six cucumbers and four basil at the right end. I've never grown cucumber from seed before so it was exciting to see them pop up and how big they are compared to the tomato plants.

     Here is a closer shot of the cucumbers with some tomatoes in the background. Last year we bought three starters for roughly $1.25 each. Seeing as we got maybe 15 to 20 cucumbers out of that I think $3.75 was a good investment. But, for about $2 you can buy a packet of seeds and use them for years. If you've got some time and a little patience then growing your veggies from seed will can save you a good chunk of money. However, if you haven't planned ahead or want to try something new, then grabbing a starter or two at a garden store is well worth it.
     Later this week  I am going to do some onion starts and maybe some fava beans. But fava beans are too big to start in the egg cartons so I might do toilet paper tubes with the bottoms cut and folded to hold the soil in or splurge on a few biodegradable pots. Other veggies such as lettuce, kale, and carrots  I will just plant directly into the ground sometime in April or even later this month if it stays nice. Those plants grow fast and tolerate the cool spring temperatures we have here better than the tomatoes. I really baby the tomatoes. Kale on the other hand is particularly hearty. I still have some in the yard from last year that got snowed on and frozen and has bounced back. It is a little tough since it is older but it works for kale chips!
     Now is a good time to stop reading and start planting.  Go now!

Garden Planning

     It may seem a little early for garden planning but I assure you it is not. Deciding what, were and when you are going to plant this spring is the key to getting the most out of your space. Particularly if you are new to growing vegetables or plan to try new varieties. It may also be useful to think about how much something costs in the grocery store verses how much space it takes up in your garden. Broccoli and cauliflower, for instance, are pretty cheap but take up a square foot or more. I could use that space for a more expensive or hard to find vegetables such as butter lettuce or fava beans. The Cheap Vegetable Gardener has a great article that you can find here on the profitability of plants. Of course you should grow whatever you are going to eat but it is something to think about when planning your garden.
     My planning starts with looking back and what  I grew last year and what seeds  I still have on hand. I plot out where I am going to put the seeds I already have and then decide what else I can squeeze in or just must have. This winter we have really gotten into eating spaghetti and butternut squash. And last year we impulsively bought three cucumber starters and relished in cucumber sandwiches all summer. I also like to balance what we plan to eat fresh and what will be canned or dried for the winter. Half our garden (roughly 40 square feet) is dedicated to tomatoes. Matt makes a variety of ketchup flavors and I make pasta sauce and salsa. We can jars upon jars of tomatoey goodness to have long after the last of the plants have died. So I also have to plant things like basil and onion to go with the tomatoes. But we also eat massive amounts of tomatoes fresh. Cherry tomatoes are particularly wonderful in salads or for snacking right there in the garden.
     Once I know what I am going to plant and where I can easily figure out how many seeds I need to start. Each package will tell you how many plants you can grow in a certain area. Now if you have a really small plot or are not sure about a certain type of vegetable you can always get starters. One starter can cost as much as a packet of 100 seeds but if you just want to try it out or are a little late in starting your garden then by all means, grab what the local nursery has, shove it in the ground and enjoy.
   
How to plan a garden:

     I start my garden planning by looking at what seeds I already have. Some seeds I saved from the plants the previous years and others are leftover that I didn't use. I've never used an entire packet of seeds in one year. There are just too many of any one thing in a packet. Here is a photo of what  I've got at the moment.

The beans in the the upper left hand corner area fava beans that I saved from last year. It is roughly two pods worth. I'm excited to see if I did it right and they grow this year. The beans on the right are red runner beans. I'm going to cook some but also plant some. Beans seem to be the easiest things to save so that is why I am experimenting with them first. I already have kale, onion, sugar snap peas, radishes, carrots, arugula, cucumber, three kinds of tomatoes, spinach and basil. I still need to get butter lettuce, strawberries, spaghetti squash and butternut squash seeds. Then my garden plan will be complete.

     I graphed out roughly what I want to plant where. Each square on the paper represents roughly 6 inches so two squares equal a foot. The big section on the left is the main side yard. We plan to make some kind of trellis for the cucumbers to grow on and the tomatoes also need something that helps hold them up. In the middle of that section you will see a blank. I left that there in case we had more tomatoes than I budgeted room for or if we decide to randomly plant beets or something. It's good to have a plan but it is also good to be flexible.
    The side yard is in full sun but the front plots are shadier. The plot on top of the page gets more sun than the one below it so I can plant two cherry tomato plants in that one along with fava beans, carrots and radishes. Cherry tomatoes get ripe faster than the big meat tomatoes so they can deal with a little less sun.

   
     The lower garden plot in the front is very shady because it is blocked by the front porch. But it is still a great place to grow leafy greens. A whole bed of kale, arugula, spinach and butter leaf lettuce will keep us well stocked with nutritious salads. I am particularly looking forward to cooking the fava beans with ground turkey and spices and then wrapping it up with butter leaf lettuce.
     If you refer back to the photo of the complete garden you will see the lower right hand corner has one little plot and then a note. We have a tiny strip by the house which is where we put the beans since they can then grow up the poles we lean against the house. There is also that little note to myself about clearing a space on the back wall for squash. Because squash are vine plants and like to grow and spread along the ground I thought it would be a good idea to plant them in the back and have them grow over the stone wall. There are just weeds back there now but it shouldn't take too long to clear out a little spot for them. Then they can go nuts and won't encroach on anything else's space.
     Next week I plan to plant the first of my starters. Until then get going on your garden planning!