Yes! That is the first thing that came to mind for my subject heading this morning. My fingernails are a little bit dirty but that’s because I’ve been working in the glasshouse and the barn. Dirty fingernails are a badge of honor!
The glass-house is my happy place in the winter.
Plus there is no polish on my nails so you can see them! The dirty nails.
Naked nails get a bad rap here in The States. Over 100 million women use nail polish in the USA. That is almost all of them!! I have always said that if you want to start a new business (maybe to pay off all your Christmas debt)- I suggest; A dog grooming business. A nail salon. Or a house-cleaning business. (What does that say about the state of the nation!)
The cold was very cold yesterday but now the warmth is coming back again.
There is an enormous pile of chickenshit compost sitting down the end of the field waiting to be spread out onto our field. It arrives in semi loads and smells something fierce. I wrote to the farmer, I texted him and said, can you please not spread that around my house just before I serve Christmas dinner – he made some smart-alec retort so I’m not sure what’s gonna happen next 😂.
The smell of organic compost is probably the least fun part of organic, small grains farming. But it is better than the chemicals so we have to deal with the aroma.
They till it straight in but it’s still stinks.
If you have celery in your fridge, cut the end off and pop it into a pot of soil. It will grow and you won’t have to buy celery anymore. Unless I am making celery soup I seldom use more than a couple of sticks anyway. I’m doing an experiment with bok choy. We’ll see! Nothing is safe. I put everything in the ground to see if it will grow.
Do you see the tomato cutting? When I prune the tomatoes or the rosemary or the sage – in a cutting goes!!
Green onions too (spring onions) when you buy them at the supermarket. Chop off the end with the roots and place them into soil. I plant them in with my greens mix so they are naturally cut in to my salad.
Black cat is back. We don’t always see him but we are so far from other houses I don’t think he is visiting. He is living in the barn. I just think he is clever at camouflage.
And to be fair, I am not sure whether he is a he or is she.
Have a lovely day!
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
33 responses to “Dirty Fingernails”
Great celery tip – I’ll try that!
They grow every time. I have had kids grow them on wet paper towels.
Brilliant!
So much for no more cats! But he/she has adopted YOU, so no choice there!😂
Yup – no choice!
I absolutely get you about the dirty fingernails! I find I have to cut my fingernails down below the tips of my fingers to prevent even more dirt from accumulating under mine! And in the spring, summer and fall maybe even a little shorter so I don’t end up scratching the heck out of chigger and tick bites, which I steadfastly try to avoid, often without success. It’s the tick bites that have become most dangerous lately and absolutely need to be avoided. The chigger bites just itch like crazy, and to relieve the itching one tends to scratch the skin around the chigger right off! Whoops, sorry for the diversion into insect bites, but fingernails and scratching go hand in hand for me! How wonderful to have a glass house right off the main house! And welcome to the black cat! 🙂
My attached glass house warms the house and feed us at the same time.!
Why are tick bites becoming more dangerous? I am so glad we don’t have chiggers! They sounds awful.
I didn’t know we had chiggers–didn’t even know what they were–and then went to a party in the neighborhood park and got them. I have never itched so bad in my life! Misery!
I know Charlotte!!! Chiggers are absolutely horrible!!!!!!!!!!!
I had forgotten about the black cat. Must be lots of good hunting in the barn.
Growing up in the 1930’s and 40’s in Niagara Falls, Ontario my Mum remembers the stench of a neighbour’s chicken coop to this day. They were living in city neighbourhood so I don’t know if it was allowed or people just kept them. Black cat is very handsome. He found a wonderful spot living with you.❤️
He sticks to the shadows. A beautiful puss.
I love your cuttings experiments. Please keep us informed about those! I planted some lemon seeds once. Stuck them in the dirt and put the pot in the dark like the internet said, and that little lemon tree grew! I was amazing. Apparently they are fickle seeds. Never bore fruit though. xx
The seed would have probably reverted to the rootstock. But fun! Did it flower?
No.
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I love your starter suggestions, thank you!
I had to laugh over this one my friend. When I worked at a local garden center, during the spring and summer, our fingernails were always dirty and the dirt even embedded in our skin. My good friend and co-worker laughed at me one day when I was using a broken planting stick to get some of the dirt out. She whipped out a very un-Vermont-like bottle of bright red nail polish and proceeded to paint my nails.
“Happy?” she asked.
I was, at least until it had mostly chipped off the next day!
Being a full time gardener, I am glad to be one of those few woman that do not use nail polish either. I mean, it would be ruined after just a day anyway. What’s the point?
I was going to comment on another important subject this time of year to one of your other posts regarding live Christmas trees but couldn’t find it so I’ll leave my 2 cents here..
I know you have said a few times that you abhor the tradition of the cutting down of live trees only to watch it succumb in the house and while a potted tree is certainly ideal, I’d like to extoll some of the benefits of a cut Christmas tree, if I may.
Being an avid environmentalist, let me list a few of the many biological, environmental, benefits (did I already say that):) of a Christmas tree farm or plantation, as it is known in some parts of the country.
Live trees support life as they absorb carbon dioxide and other gases and release fresh oxygen back into the atmosphere..
They stabilize the soil, protect the water supply where they are grown and provide precious habitat for wildlife while creating green belts, which otherwise would be paved over for a shopping center or subdivision or who knows what else.
The trees are biodegradable and can be recycled for mulch to return nutrients back to the soil or used for other organic purposes. Livestock can also eat them. I fed mine to my goats when I had them and now give them to my friend’s goat dairy.
You are also in most cases, supporting a small family business that grow these trees as a crop and for every tree that is cut, 3 seedlings are usually planted to replace it.
There are other benefits to supporting one’s local Tree Farm but I’ve taken enough of your time. Thank-you!
This might be useful information for your Sustainable living blog/newsletter..holiday issue.
Peaceful Holidays!
Thank you! A great comment. Very useful info. I love live trees as Christmas trees.
Yes, I have no problem supporting our local (now 3rd generation) Christmas tree farm every year. The elderly grandpa and original owner of the land told us he is forever being approached by developers and corporations that want to develop (destroy) the property and turn it into some huge strip mall, or housing development or business. It is many, many acres and just green trees for as far as the eye can see.
They have a huge collection of old abandoned bird’s nests that they take out of the cut trees…He said..don’t worry they just build new ones every year. 🙂
How fantastic!! Which reminds me I found a nest the other day she think it may be a squirrels nest. I am going to research it.
I’ve never been one for manicures. I used to go for pedicures a couple of times a year but stopped when they started lining the tub with plastic. Why? Are they not cleaning it properly? That was a turnoff for me. I did my toenails at home for a while and then realized that nail polish, and nail polish remover, are toxic chemicals I can do without.
All that plastic! What are all these people thinking!! I had a pedicure once and loved how they cleaned all that dry skin off my poor neglected feet!!
I know! I do enjoy a pedicure. Maybe I need to call a few places and quiz them on their plastic use!
Go for a ‘dry’ pedi, where they peel all the dead skin off your feet with an alkaline paste and deal with your cuticles with tiny drops of liquid, instead of soaking the whole foot. I have never had such soft feet in my entire life and the dead skin that came off was horrifying. No dabbling your toes in suspect water, nearly as bad as a hot tub…
Thanks for the suggestion, Kate. I’ll have to investigate if there’s somewhere to get a dry pedi where I live.
Wow. Maybe when I am in Aussie next!
I will have to try planting the celery. I don’t use a whole lot of it either but have discovered that if you wrap it up in aluminum foil it keeps a lot longer.
It would! Good thinking!
Good tips Celi! Nice to see the black cat again ..