Try coloring eggs naturally

Use about a handfull of dye materials of your choice. Cover dye materials with water in a pan. Bring to boil and then let simmer for 15 minutes to up to an hour. Remove from heat and strain the liquid. Add 2 to 3 teaspoons of white vinegar for each cup of liquid. Let the eggs soak. The longer the eggs soak, the deeper the color. Try overnight soaking in the fridge for even darker colors. In the morning, you'll have a colorful breakfast.

 

Color	Items To Dye With
Blue	Canned Blueberries Red Cabbage Leaves (boiled) Purple Grape Juice
Brown or Beige	Strong Coffee Instant Coffee Black Walnut Shells (boiled) Black Tea
Brown Gold	Dill Seeds
Brown Orange	Chili Powder
Gold	Turmeric
Green	Spinach Leaves (boiled) Liquid Chlorophyll
Greenish Yellow	Yellow Delicious Apple Peels (boiled)
Grey	Purple or red grape juice or beet juice
Lavender	Small Quantity of Purple Grape Juice Violet Blossoms plus 2 tsp Lemon Juice Red Zinger Tea
Orange	Yellow Onion Skins (boiled) Carrots Paprika
Pink	Beets Cranberries or Juice Raspberries Red Grape Juice Juice from Pickled Beets
Red	Pomegranate juice Canned Cherries (with syrup) Raspberries Cranberries Lots of Red Onions Skins (boiled)
Violet or Purple	Violet Blossoms Hibiscus tea Small Quantity of Red Onions Skins (boiled) Red Wine
Yellow	Orange or Lemon Peels (boiled) Carrot Tops (boiled) Chamomile Tea Celery Seed (boiled) Green tea Ground Cumin (boiled) Ground Turmeric (boiled) or Saffron

Keeping our cool




Happy St. Patty's Day!!!



Peas were soaked overnight to help speed up germination



Often, Memorial Day weekend is thought of as the time to start planting veggies outside.  That's true for some crops.  Heat-loving plants like tomatoes, peppers, squash and eggplants thrive in the summer heat and hate the cold. There is still the fear of frost in the Pittsburgh area until mid-to-late May.  The weather is unusually warm this year, but don't be tempted to plant heat-loving crops.  The frost will kill those seedlings.  





Instead, cool season crops are the perfect choice for planting this time of year. St. Patrick’s Day is a good time to plant greens, peas, carrots, beets and radishes.  These plants tolerate the cooler weather and taste sweeter after a frost.  We planted seven lucky varieties of peas, even a yellow variety called "Golden Sweet." 



Pea ready to be planted









Just a reminder, it  snowed last year on March 31, the same day as the public garden kick-off meeting. 





Wormy workers

We have started preparing the beds for spring crops.  The in-ground beds and garden paths between the rows need a bit of re-grading.  Thanks to the earthworms, the soil is loose, even on the paths which were walked on over and over last year.  The soil temperature is getting warmer and the earthworms are making their appearance above ground.  This guy was found next to some of the lettuce that overwintered.  Earthworms are quite the workers and a delight to see in the garden.  They aerate the soil, breaking down organic matter and help make nutrients and minerals available to plants.  Our harvests of summer crops, like tomatoes, are months away, but our earthworms are hard at work already.