There have been some really useful things coming across my screen lately when it comes to planning your garden for spring — which I know will be just around the corner despite this wildly cold spell we are having here in Germany right now. Thinking of spring and seeing the tulips I planted indoors coming up while it’s about 0°F outside is really keeping me going…not to mention all the wonderful sunshine we’ve had with this cold.

I thought I would share some useful pins from the last few weeks that will hopefully get you inspired and thinking about what your garden will be like very soon. You can check out more of my gardening pins on Pinterest along with my other interests.

This one I actually shared on FB as well, but it’s just so fabulous that I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss it. I really great visual guide to companion planting, this is one of those charts you’ll want to reference often when planning your garden.

Thinking about putting together a compost bin but just aren’t sure how to get going? Here’s a tutorial for a great 3-bin compost system that will have you creating rich, perfect compost in no time. (We seriously need to see about doing this ourselves since our current system isn’t cutting it.)

Short on planting space or just have an old dresser you want to find a new purpose for…how about turning it into an herb or flower garden?

Or maybe you’d prefer to turn some old galloshes into planters? I think this idea is really fabulous and would look great near your entry to your home or garden.

These little garden markers caught our eye the other day and are too cute. They also wouldn’t be too complicated to make with a little bit of artistic ability.

What inspiration have you come across lately? Do you have your own collection of gardening ideas on Pinterest you’d be willing to share with us? Just scroll down to link up below. 

Want to join in the garden fun and link to your own blog or images online? You can share about anything related to gardening, old or new posts, from recipes to harvesting to grow reports to DIY projects or inspiration.

Here’s how this works:

PLEASE READ THESE GUIDELINES, especially if you have never linked up before!

That’s it! Share your garden with us by linking up below!

Today is Mackenzie’s first day of preschool. How in the world did we get here so quickly?

I know it might not seem like a bit deal to some, but to this mommy who has had her little girl around all the time for the past 3 years, it’s that first step toward her independence and moving out of the house.

I actually never thought it would be so hard, and for the last few weeks, I have been holding it together pretty well. Stefan seemed more affected about her starting school than I was. But perhaps I was simply just trying to keep it out of my mind so the tears wouldn’t come.

As a work at home mom, I’ve had the opportunity to be there with Mackenzie as she has been growing up and to experience all those moments of her day that matter. And now, I have to share her with someone else. Which is hard for my heart to swallow.

I know that it’s going to be great for her and that I’m going to appreciate the 4 or so hours during the day when I get to have some peace in the house to get work done. But it’s oddly still here at the moment. Perhaps I’ll just have to pretend that she’s still asleep for a few days to keep my mind from thinking about her taking this first step of growing up.

Somehow I managed to keep it together in front of her as we said goodbye, even when she started crying as we walked out the door. But I don’t imagine I’d be all that fun to have around today since I can barely think straight and have a constant case of watery eyes.

She’s been telling me for the last few weeks that she didn’t need me and that she is a big girl. Those words only gave small tinges of sadness compared to the jolt I’ve had today. And I know she’s in good hands there, although the next few weeks will be a challenge for her as she’s forced to talk more in German and hone her language skills. Which of course only helps to compound my aching heart/guilt.

The preschool just called to let me know that she’s settled down and is playing and having fun. While it makes me happy that she’s not going crazy and missing us still, it also just makes the realization of her becoming a big girl all that more apparent.

Guess I’ll just have to cuddle Ayla and the kitties a few extra times today as I drown myself in work to fill the void. Even the dog seems to be wondering where the kiddo has gotten off to. It’s going to be an adjustment for us all.

No wonder some people have kids every few years — it helps keep you young and you get to enjoy those first three years of having them all to yourself all over again. But I don’t know how some parents manage to do this over and over again with their kids, letting go of them so early. Maybe it gets easier the more you do it?

What happened to our little girl?

Those reading NOH for a while know that Stefan’s car was stolen from in front of our house nearly one year ago. About a month later, when he was fed up with the inconvenient train schedules and the longer commute, Stefan started looking for a new car. He really wanted a 7-series to replace the one that was stolen, but there just weren’t any on the market in the price range we wanted. So he ended up with this:

Not our Cayenne but it looks just the same

The Porsche Cayenne is a nice sport SUV, but it would never compare to the BMW…and unfortunately it’s about the least economical car/truck we’ve ever owned. Not only does it guzzle gas, but it also costs a fortune to insure (about 25% more than the 7-series and nearly twice as much as my Defender)…and there’s always the fear of it being vandalized due to its status as a luxury car (even though the BMW was far more luxurious.)

Ever since we bought the Porsche, Stefan has been dreaming of getting another 7-series. Except that none has come our way yet that really compared to the old one.

But lately, he’s been giving some thought of going in a slightly different direction with a practical, economical and still stylish crosssover SUV: a Subaru Forester.

It’s still an SUV but more in the crossover direction, and the costs of ownership is far less than the Porsche.

Positives for the Forester

• A new 2012 Forester costs about the same as our used Porsche Cayenne
• The Forester uses about 7 liters diesel to drive 100km — while the Porsche is upwards of 20 liters when we travel on the highway, and 14-15 liters in the city. We know the gas mileage is pretty accurate because Stefan’s dad has been driving a Forester for the last few years.
• The Forester would be a diesel, which for now is still a bit cheaper than unleaded gas.
• Another major plus is cheap car insurance. For the Forester, we’ll be looking at about half the yearly insurance rate versus the Porsche.
• Better acceleration. It’s hard to imagine, but the Forester actually has more get-up-and-go with its Boxer engine than the Porsche. Obviously if it was  a Turbo Cayenne, that would be another story. But a Turbo would also guzzle even more gas.
• Lower to the ground, making it easier for Ayla to get in. She’s not getting any younger and a high SUV like my Defender will some day require a ramp. But at least for now it makes life easier for her.

Similarities

• 4-Wheel Drive — with our winters getting progressively colder and worse, it’s never a bad idea to have a reliable automobile that can get you where you need to go, whether that’s just home from work, or from the other side of the country.
• Cargo space — both don’t have nearly as much space as my Defender, but we have seen on multiple occasions just how much will fit in the back of a Forester.

Cons for the Forester

• No built in navigation system. But I have a portable Tom Tom for my Defender which I rarely use as well. So on the days when Stefan needs to travel somewhere other than work, he can just borrow it…especially since I seldom venture out somewhere that I’m not familiar with.

I’m sure I’m missing something…but those are the important points for us so far. Now we just have to look into selling the Porsche when things settle down a bit.

What do you look for when you’re considering buying a new/used car?

Have you ever awakened one morning to find your plants covered in strange little black bumps? Or sprayed the aphids from your plants for the 100th time but still don’t seem to ever successfully be rid of them? Would you like to know how to once and for all deal with insects and diseases of all shapes and sizes on your plants with natural and organic methods without searching online for hours? How about being able to check out detailed photos of what your plants might look like right now with solutions nearby of how to deal with the troubles?

Wow. That totally sounded like an infomercial. But that is exactly what I’ve found myself using this book for. The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control: A Complete Guide to Maintaining a Healthy Garden and Yard the Earth-Friendly Way is my go to book whenever something goes wrong with my plants. I not only used it to get rid of funky black scales on my houseplants, but also to save my rosemary bush that was becoming infested with furry mildew. If it’s not in there, I know I’m in trouble because we’re being attacked by aliens.

There are tons of websites out there with information about organic remedies for your garden, but in my experience, I’ve often run into a lot of conflicting advice as well as stuff that was just downright wrong. So it’s nice to have all the information I need in one 500+ page book that has (so far) never steered me wrong.

I actually have the 2006 version and I’m not really sure what the difference is between the two, aside from the fact that you can get the newer version new for a better price, the covers look different and they’ve made the tagline of the book more trendy. Don’t you just love the idiosyncrasies of books?

The Nitty Gritty

Basically, the book is broken down into four parts: Plants, Insects, Diseases and Organic Controls.

• In the plant-by-plant listing, you’ll be able to flip through alphabetically (by common name, not Latin) to get an overview of what issues you may be facing with your plants. Glean some tips on how to grow the plants, what conditions they like, how to get the best germination rates and then the meaty stuff about disease and pests.
• Then you can get a closer look at common insects that may be harming your plants — but will also find an overview about bugs that are fine or even good for your garden. This book is quite thorough, and explains things like the life cycle of pests plaguing you, what they look like exactly (including images), where they are generally found in the world (so you know if you really need to be worried about boxelder bugs or not), what sort of damage they do and how to control them. I’ve found this to be extremely helpful not only in getting rid of bugs I already have, but also in knowing what to watch out for and giving myself some room for prevention.
• The Diseases section nicely describes how diseases are spread, how to control them, and most important, how to prevent them from even taking hold. You’ll figure out how to quickly recognize common diseases, as well as be able to see a detailed list of diseases with images, symptoms, what types of plants it affects, and prevention and control guidance.
• Part 4 is all about Organic Controls, creating a plan for your garden to keep it healthy and how to go about implementing the plan. There are numerous tips in this section of actual remedies like how to get rid of slugs or make compost tea for getting rid of mildew. They also cover beneficial insects, common household items, companion planting, crop rotation and more.

A really nice feature of The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control are the What Goes Wrong and Why images throughout the book. The You can get a really nice visual representation of what is happening with your plants and what steps you need to do to save them. Naturally, these diagrams are just a jumping off point, because once you actually pinpoint what the problem is, you can flip to the following pages and read more about what exactly you can do to control the issue.

My final thoughts

This is one of those books that you reference over and over again but would not really read cover to cover. There are a lot of good things to learn in the introduction to plants, and of course in the Controls chapters as well, but I don’t know that anyone would want (or need) to go through and read about every bug or disease that could at some point assault your garden. Who needs to live in constant fear?

I highly recommend The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control for both newbie and seasoned gardeners. It’s a really well thought out book with everything you need to know about keeping your garden in great health, without dousing it in chemicals!

Just made your seed wish list? Starting seeds for winter hearty veggies already? Got a great recipe to share for garden goodness? I’d love to have you link up below! You can share about anything related to gardening, old or new posts, from recipes to harvesting to grow reports to DIY projects or inspiration.

Here’s how this works:

PLEASE READ THESE GUIDELINES, especially if you have never linked up before!

That’s it! Share your garden with us by linking up below!

There was quite a bit of discussion on Tuesday after I shared my “what I don’t like about Hessen” post…and apparently I got a lot of people thinking that I absolutely detest living here and should leave as soon as possible.

Let me state for the record that although living over here has certainly had its ups and downs, I am happy living here and there are certainly some great perks to being in Germany. Yes, of course, I get homesick and I don’t know that I’d want to stay in Germany forever…partially because I want Mackenzie to experience other cultures as well. But after 10 years, we’ve certainly become more used to the German way of life.

What’s cool about living in Germany?

• Like they say in Eurotrip, Europe is practically the size of a postage stamp. I mean not literally but visiting various countries over here is a bit like driving to another state in the US. So any time you feel like escaping, you can just hop on a cheap flight to Spain, France, England or anywhere else you like and make a weekend of it.
• There’s a lot of nice day trips outside of Frankfurt…as well as cool places in the city to see and photograph. Palmengarten, Frankfurt Zoo, Opel Zoo and Hessenpark are some of our favorites. The Senckenberg Museum of Natural History is also high on the list after our first trip there last year. And when you drive outside of a city, you are generally in the forest or other types of pure nature within an hours drive. And of course Bavaria is a little slice of heaven!
• Curbside recycling is commonplace in most larger cities and you don’t even pay for pick up of paper, plastics or other packing wastes. Each town usually has a recycling center nearby and they will generally take your items without cost, as long as it’s not something too huge. There are also recycling trashcans at every gas station, airport, shopping center, etc. Special free collection days also exist for old furniture as well as chemicals or old paint, and most cities also have someone you can call to come pick up your old electronics for free.
• It’s really easy to be green here. Aside from the great recycling practices I mentioned earlier, there are all sorts of things in place here in Germany that make it easier to be kind to Mother Earth. They’ve been reusing shopping bags for decades because otherwise you have to pay for a new bag every time you go shopping.
• Stores are closed on Sunday. Yes, that is a real shock to the system at first…but I actually prefer it. After they extended the shopping hours to something normal (most stores are open until 8pm, some even until 10pm), there became no reason that we couldn’t get the shopping done, even while both working full time. Not being able to shop on Sunday is a great feeling because although you might discover you need something, you just can’t do a thing about it. So you learn to plan better as well as take a day exclusively for yourself and/or your family.
• Privatized healthcare is not only affordable but incredibly good. The public healthcare system here is alright…better for the consumer than the doctors. But it has serious faults. After recently switching to a private healthcare, I have to say that the service you receive is far above and beyond any other service you receive, and the costs are extremely reasonable…especially compared to the insanity one encounters for care in the US.
• Germans know how to party. If Oktoberfest, the largest, most popular, two-week long event to celebrate the royal wedding isn’t enough to convince you, go to just about any local Fest and you will also find a bunch of people living it up. Frühschoppen is a huge tradition around these fests, which basically means you get up in the morning and start drinking. I’m pretty sure it’s to curb the hangover you undoubtedly have from drinking late into the night the evening before…
• And their beer is the best in the world. Drinking beer in the US is and will never again be the same. Nothing compares to the hearty, full body beers of Germany — and the fact that every one of them from each brewery (large or small) has their own distinct flavors. Augustiner, Schneider Weisse & Altenmünster are some of our favs.
• Finding quality food is easier, and often local. In the US, it can be a real challenge to find a real butcher who can cut you a slab of beef just the way you want. But in Germany, they are around every corner. Our town of 2000 people has 2 butchers. Sometimes you might have to ask more questions but our small town guy will even give us US cuts if we order in advance…and he grows the cows himself. There are often little farmers’ markets in each city, although that doesn’t always equal organic or local produce — but at least you are supporting your local businesses.
• People are better at living within their own means. So many Americans have a complete dependency on their credit cards and have absolutely no clue how to live on a budget, nor why you’d want to. Germans by nature are very wary of credit debt and many places don’t accept credit cards — or even ATM cards for payments.

Dear Mackenzie,

Wow. Thirty-eight months old and you definitely have the world on a string. You have gotten almost as many presents in the last month from two of your godfathers as you got at Christmas. So many people love you so very much — you are an extremely blessed little girl.

One thing I learned in Florida is that “the birdie” (my hand making a bird-like head and me talking with a silly accent) will get you to do just about anything. While sitting at dinner, you were totally uninterested in your food (which happens a lot lately) but with some help from the birdie and a bit of time, you managed to gobble down everything on your plate.

We both learned that jet lag sucks. Your schedule was completely turned upside down in Florida and we had a few mornings where you were up at 5:30am — but it did allow us to go look for shells super early without any competition. So once we got back to Germany, we had to get you back on track yet again.

Your own DIY ball pit with PlayMais

Although you are full of energy when you wake up on your own in the morning, you are the sleepiest little girl I have ever seen when someone else gets you up. Thankfully, after about a week, all was back on track. Since you can get out of your bed in the mornings, you are up between 6 and 7 am, raring to go. Quite honestly, I would appreciate a bit more sleep…but I guess I’m just going to have to find it somewhere else.

You are officially sleeping in a big girl bed (and you fully helped your daddy convert your crib to a bed.) We found out that one of the best ways to keep you in bed is to let you know that your stuffed animal friends are so, so tired…and if you don’t stay in your bed so they can sleep, they’re going to come and sleep in our room. It took a few days (and some tense moments of trying to get you to stay in bed) until I came up with that scenario, but once you’ve had a refill of milk and had your diaper changed, you usually settle down pretty quickly.

While we were in Florida, you got to visit the beach for the first time. You loved splashing in the waves, despite it being just a bit chilly in the water. And we also built our first sandcastle — which was totally awesome! You’re quite the construction worker.

You’ve become quite adventurous with food lately and have basically not turned down anything I’ve offered you in a while. You especially love foods that you’ve cooked yourself — and your absolute favorite meal right now is a mixed salad with tuna on top and a light vinaigrette.

Speaking of helping me make food, you love, love, LOVE helping us do things around the house. And you’re actually starting to do them without causing a mess in the process. Stirring things, helping to add ingredients to pots, using a screwdriver (you helped your daddy put together our new PC a few weeks ago and have definitely got the screwdriver thing down pat) and all sorts of other good stuff. It’s just crazy how far you’ve come in 3 short years.

You also love to tell me all the time that you don’t need me anymore for things. While I’m happy that you want to express your independence, it is rather sad for me that you’re growing up so darn fast.

As I sit here finishing this up, you are launching plastic building blocks across the room…which makes me thankful that you’re pretty good about cleaning up after yourself. Apparently that is the best way to find the pieces you need to build a house. I guess I didn’t know. At least they’re bigger than the little packing-peanut-sized PlayMais you also love to throw all over the place.

While we were in Florida, you got to spend a lot of time in the pool, and we were working on teaching you swimming. Although your fear or water is next to nothing now and you are getting the dog paddle down pretty well, we still have a little ways to go before you’re ready to start swimming on your own. We had hoped to start you in your first swimming-related course next week, but it was all filled up before we could sign up. So I guess we’ll just have to hope for better luck the next time around.

You came inside a couple days ago after playing in the courtyard and announced you were looking for a little ball. When I asked what color it was, you reponded, “It’s got black hexagons and white hexagons.” Oh sure, cause that’s how every kid would describe a soccer ball, right? I think hexagons must be your favorite shapes right now — but everything from pentagons to decagons gets identified as a hexagon.

And your daddy FINALLY managed to get you to wear a pony tail for more than a few minutes. In fact, you even ask for it now. All he had to do was tell you that wearing a pony tail makes you jump higher and you were sold. Speaking of which you are also now a master hopper, jumper and can even balance on one foot for 5 seconds or so. Maybe you’ll join the circus…

“Yo” is apparently the funniest word ever. On the rare occasions that I say it to you, you laugh hysterically a if I’ve just started tickling you with feathers. But you have one of the best laughs which is just filled with heartiness and thrills. You throw your head back and just surrender yourself to the laugh…which is often induced by the round of tickling that you so love and actually even ask us to do.

I can hardly fathom that  next week you and I will be heading over to your preschool for a meet and greet with the teacher and the kids. I know it may be a little bit of a challenge at first (for both of us) since so much is going to change…but you’re going to love it. Especially once you get that crazy German language nailed down!

My deepest love,

Mama

Happy Wednesday, my friends!

You are not going to believe this…but mom has seriously lost it. I mean really, really lost it.

This past weekend, there was a flurry of activity in the house, and mom decided it was time to clean out my toy box.

Yes, that’s right, I have an official toy box inside and a basket outside — and it’s overflowing with toys, my travel bag and other random things. This does not include my food or treat drawers either. Hey, I’m a big dog. Not only do a take up a lot of space, but so do all of my trappings.

I have always had free reign of that box, and I love to open it up and dig something out, play with it a while, then move on to the next toy. Mom will then go around behind me and pick things up. She once started trying to train me to clean up after myself, but I pretended that I didn’t get the point, so she gave up on those shenanigans.

At any rate, I walked into the kitchen on Sunday afternoon, after just waking up from a little nap…and what do I see? All of the stuff from my toy box is strew around the kitchen floor and mom has her head down in the trunk. I was concerned, to say the least.

But she managed to find the most wonderful and magical things in there. For starters, she pulled out a pig’s ear that had to be at least 2 years old…mom stopped buying them forever ago. But it tasted just as good as ever, despite looking like I’d buried at some stage in the yard.

She also pulled up some filled rawhide bones that I forgot I had and a bunch of old toys that I couldn’t recall ever receiving in the first place…but it was awesome to say the least.

Mom pulled everything out and then grabbed the vacuum cleaner. She got all the dirt and dog fur out, and then started putting stuff in. But not all of it. She thinks I didn’t notice but I did. Some of the stuff went into a garbage sack…like the stuffies I have destroyed beyond recognition, with only a 3-inch big tuft of hair clinging together at the seams. And other things went into a cardboard box, which I have now lost the whereabouts of. From what I gathered while she was talking to Mackenzie, who was extremely concerned that mom was stealing my toys, other dogs who don’t yet have a home are going to get to play with them. Something about our local animal shelter which has a bunch of dogs that end up at the shelter for extended periods because they need to be trained and readjust to living with people that don’t seem to hate them. I don’t know.

I guess it seems like a good cause. I certainly wasn’t going to play with those things anymore. But they were MINE! On the other hand, the fact that mom washed all my grungy stuffies and laid them all out so I could inspect them (she says they were drying) was nice of her. I’ve already found one that still had squeakers in it and promptly removed them. By the way, the days of mom sewing up my stuffies when I start trying to open them up for liposuction are long gone — and I can’t say I’m sad about that either.

Bark at you soon!

You may have noticed that in general, I try not to be a naysayer. I like to look at life as if the glass is half-full, and think positively so that good things happen. I fully believe that if you focus on the negative all the time, you are only going to produce more negativity. But our trip to Florida over Christmas really got me thinking about what a miserable place Hessen can be to live.

I mean don’t get me wrong, we have some of the best neighbors a family could ask for…and have generally been very lucky when it comes to neighbors. But there are always one to two evil ones in the bunch that go and cast a shadow over the block…and we definitely have a big one of those here.

Neighbors aside, there is generally just a huge difference between living in Germany and living in Florida. I know the two places would usually never be on the table for comparison, but Stefan and I actually met in Miami while we were in college (Go ‘Canes!) and then we moved here to the Frankfurt area. Most people can’t quite understand what we were thinking but we were young and invincible then…and we definitely value the experience. But in retrospect, we do sometimes wonder what in the world we were thinking when we left The Sunshine State.

What makes Hessen so horrible?

• People usually won’t greet you on the street even if you greet them first — not even a super cute 3-year-old waving frantically and saying, “Hallo!”
• Germans are just not as open & friendly as Americans. This goes above and beyond greeting strangers…Americans can become instant friends with anyone, anywhere, and we don’t feel uncomfortable joining in on a random conversation we overhear. Americans also are often more social and want to throw parties, have friends over or entertain. We have thrown a lot of parties in our days, and almost never received a  invite to anything in return. Granted, it wasn’t our sole purpose in hosting, but it’s nice to have a friend invite you to dinner at their place or just to go hang out somewhere. Maybe we just have the wrong friends…
• The weather is the worst, especially in winter. I actually looked up the average number of rain days per year, which is 173. But after living here for 10 years, I would estimate that on average, our area gets about 150 days of rain, 150 days of weather looking like rain and 65 days where you get to see the sun for more than an hour. Not pleasant at all. And let’s not even delve into the temperature extremes and the total unpredictability.
• You can’t wear flip flops year-round. Perhaps I’m just spoiled because I grew up in Texas and Florida (although I did spend 4 years in Virginia in between) but I LOVE my flip flops and open shoes…and I hate that I have to put on big galoshes and snow boots a good portion of the year here because of the sucky weather. But LL Bean sure does appreciate it.
• Customer service is the pits (this is actually a bit of a Germany problem overall) and there are very few occasions when the customer is ever right or valued. For example, we have a restaurant down the street which has decent local fare. The business has been in the family for generations and the same 4 people are working in there every night. The owner lives literally around the corner from us and we pass him on the street regularly. Once while we were in there, we noticed a bunch of old photos on the wall, some of which feature our house, and we talked with the owner about them. Now if it were me, I would make sure I notice locals that are in my restaurant almost weekly during the summer. The Asian take-out place sure has no trouble remembering us even if we disappear for a month or six. But not this guy. Or perhaps being rude and impatient is how he shows he likes you.
• Everything in Germany is highly taxed. Your income is heavily taxed (up to 60%), your business is taxed (and do not even get me started on what a pain it is to run a business here) and nearly everything you buy is subject to the VAT (value added tax) at the whopping rate of 19%. Seriously, I can fully grasp a 7% tax (which does apply on some items like certain foods, books and magazines, flowers and things like mail services) but 19% is harsh. And the tricky thing is that it’s priced right into whatever you’re buying, so you just barely notice it. Which is good or I’d probably be angry about it all the time.
• I miss coupons & bargain shopping. Being able to use coupons and special offers to get something for next to nothing was always one of my favorite challenges. But here, coupons & sales at times other than the end of seasons were only recently introduced so they aren’t really that big. So going to the grocery store and actually having the store pay you to take their products or bringing home two huge bags of clothes for under $75 just doesn’t happen here.

Why Naples, Florida, may be the greatest place on Earth

• Of all the places we were in Florida, not one person was rude, impolite or in a bad mood. Yes, Mackenzie is very helpful for improving the moods of people — but somehow her powers are far greater in the US.
• It was warm enough to go swimming outdoors on Christmas Day.
• I got a sunburn on the beach the day after Christmas — where we were able to wade in the water without fear of frostbite.
• People say they live certain places because they need seasons….they can have mine! I’m happy with hot season, tourist season, hurricane season and rainy season (the latter of which means a rain shower torrential downpour daily that lasts 30 minutes between 2 and 3pm.

Those of you who have lived in Hessen/Germany or currently live here — what do you think about all this? Did I just get spoiled being back in the US?

This post is linked up to Oh Amanda for Top Ten Tuesday

Wow. We have had a seriously productive weekend around here. Actually, it was mostly a seriously productive Sunday because that is when things from David Allen’s book  Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity started to really click in our brains and lives…and when Stefan started implementing most of what he’s read so far. You see, I got the book and started reading, then I got caught up with other junk…and now he’s encouraging me to get back on the bandwagon.

But before this turns into a massive long story about decluttering (which in a way it still is), I’ll just hold off on the next group of decluttering progresses for another day. And instead, I’ll get to the point of why I so love Evernote to organize recipes. If  you’ve been keeping up with me on my new blog, Who is Tiffany, you probably caught my post about why Evernote totally rocks.

I started using this free note-taking software (although there is a paid upgrade) several months ago and it has really revolutionized the way I take notes and keep up with paper clutter. Little by little, I have been going through all of my old handwritten notes about future projects, tasks, ideas and so on, and putting them into Evernote. All of your information can be synced across multiple platforms (PC/Mac, online, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android, etc) or you can just use the software offline.

Now remember the bookshelf full of magazines I posted about in my decluttering in 2011 roundup? Well, I knew that the process of going through those magazines was going to be daunting. And I also know that my willingness to try new things is not quite as great as Stefan’s — so I decided to get him to start marking the recipes he found interesting on Sunday, just when he had a few minutes and wasn’t really doing anything else. As you can see, we made some steady progress on tagging what needs to be scanned.

Evernote for Recipes

As I’ve mentioned in the past, my MIL recently shared an idea she had about scanning her recipes so she can have her favorites with her whether she’s in Germany or America. She was just keeping them on her laptop, until I told her about Evernote.

The beauty of Evernote is that you can make the filing system complex or simple. But really, you don’t need to go overboard with putting things in folders and so on. I just set a few essential tags (like breakfast, dinner, beef and so on) and let the built in search features of Evernote do the rest of the work.

Because Evernote can search images and PDF files for words you search for, you really only need to list those tags which are not already in the recipe itself — or in my case a translation since I have a lot of recipes in German but can’t image typing in “Hänchen” instead of “chicken” when I’m looking for dinner inspiration.

The Evernote Recipes Hack

All of my recipes are in one folder together and meals / meal plans in another. As I mentioned before, Evernote has such powerful search capability that you don’t need to go overboard sorting things out –unless you just really have too much time on your hands. And in that case, you can come to my house and help me get organized. I find this extremely practical because I always have a bit of trouble figuring out where to stick certain recipes.

And, using a single folder also makes this next little tip work like a charm. There is a really cool feature that I only recently learned about (thanks Honey!), which actually speeds up the scanning & entering process significantly. There’s a lot of software and special scanners on the market just for Evernote (yes, it’s seriously that big) and these will add items directly into Evernote for you without any extra action. BUT you can do this with the basic functionality of Evernote too — it’s just that most people don’t tell you how!

What you do is go up to Tools –> Import Folders…

You’ll get a dialog that looks something like this:

Now what you want to do is click on the “Add…” button and navigate to the folder where you are storing all your recipes (or projects or whatever it is you want to import into Evernote) and select it. Then you will tell Evernote what Notebook you want that information added to and if you want the files you are importing to be deleted when done.

This feature is so fantastic and works great. Although I have had the problem that Evernote is adding images while I’m scanning them (should likely close Evernote while scanning) and duplicates get added. This is not a huge deal because you can just through and delete them quickly, but it is a bit of a pain.

Hop over to Evernote.com to learn more and get started.

What sort of system do you use to organize your recipes? Do you feel like you’re missing out on using a lot of your recipes because they are closed up in books and magazines…or even packed in a box somewhere?

As you may recall, I recently went into a long dissertation about why heirloom seeds are important to our future when I was mentioned the Seed Savers Exchange. But if you’re not really sure what an heirloom seed or plant actually is, let me break it down for you.

Heirloom seeds are those which have been passed down from generation to generation. They may be plants which have been growing in your garden for many years or they may be something you buy yourself to get your gardening going. Sometimes, heirlooms will actually be given an age of at least 50 years old.

Now why are heirlooms so special? Well, for starters, heirlooms allow gardeners to grow plants that are native to their area, which ensures a better success rate of growth and great produce. Using the Seed Savers Exchange, a member could actually zero in on specific gardeners in their own area based on the plants they want via the seed yearbook. Or just buy directly from their own organic fields.

But in general, heirlooms usually show a resistance and tolerance to climate changes, soil conditions, pests and overall changes in nature as they have naturally developed over time. There is no fear of GMO or adaptations by large seed producers who primarily want to make sure that you keep buying their seeds and other products year after year. Learning how to harvest seeds from your own heirloom varieties allows you the ability to completely control your own seed source and you’ll know just what your plants have been exposed to as well as how they do in your own growing environment.

If you have decided to go with heirloom seeds this year, there are tons of options. Your local farmers’ market may have vendors selling seeds or you may find them at local farm stores. And there are plenty of online sources as well. Here’s just a few popular ones in the US, as well as a couple in Germany.

• Seed Savers online store
• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
• Landreth Seeds
• Victory Seeds
• Seeds of Change
• Amishland Heirloom Seeds
• El Dorado Seeds (they ship worldwide)
• For those in Germany: Bio-Saatgut
• Also in Germany: Sortenbuch des Samenarchivs (this on is kinda special with over 2800 kinds of tomatoes, 500 kinds of peppers and more — a bit like Seed Savers in Germany since you can actually trade your own seeds with the guy running this HUGE operation)

We’d love to know what is going on in your garden right now. You can share about anything related to gardening, old or new posts, from recipes to harvesting to grow reports to DIY projects or inspiration.

Here’s how this works:

PLEASE READ THESE GUIDELINES, especially if you have never linked up before!

That’s it! Share your garden with us by linking up below!