There are now 12 Ball canning jars packed and ready to wait. Because they are not safe if I stay here ... because I will peek ... I always do ... whether I'm baking in the oven, or frying something, or natural dyeing ... I just have to peek.
But since we are going on a romantic getaway staged by our wonderful kids as a birthday present (from June) timed to coincide with the fortieth anniversary of our first date (in October) ... since I won't be here to peek, in other words ... it seemed like a good time to try putting together some India Flint inspired trials that could remain undisturbed for more than a day.
There was some rudimentary method to my madness: I used torn strips of the same tan cotton sheet, rolled up various vegetal products, tied up the bundles, put them in the jars with used tea bags, poured boiling water over each to cover, capped them, and put them on the back porch.
And for the record (because I will forget otherwise) here's what ended up in the jars:
- Dried avocado pits (unbroken) wrapped in copper wire
- Broken avocado pits wrapped in steel wire
- Dried avocado skins wrapped in copper wire
- Dried avocado skins wrapped in steel wire
- Yellow onion skins wrapped in copper wire
- Yellow onion skins wrapped in steel wire
- Red onion skins wrapped in copper wire
- Red onion skins wrapped in steel wire
- Dried avocado pits wrapped in twine, with 1 tsp grocery alum
- Dried avocado skins wrapped in twine, with 1 tsp grocery alum
- Yellow onion skins wrapped in twine, with 1 tsp grocery alum
- Red onion skins wrapped in twine, with 1 tsp grocery alum
Next time: windfall lichens and acorns are on the menu ...
have a wonderful holiday!
ReplyDeleteThank you ... I hate the preparations, but the going should be wonderful indeed
DeleteLiz, what a unique way to bundle...this is just great, a pantry of dyed possibilities, I use pantry cause that's what I think of when I see canning jars. Hardest thing to do is to keep the lids on tight. I think the longest I went was a little over a month. Sometimes you can see the color coming on in a few hours so it is so tempting, sometimes I have strength of character but other times, I've got that lid off before you can even blink an eye...
ReplyDeleteWhat a special get away you are having; long marrieds need to take time for just such occasions. I say this from the vantage point of 45 yrs in January. So we will await your return, more than likely, you will be glowing and I've got a good hunch that the cloths in your jars will be as well !
Marti - Welcome!
DeleteI love "pantry" as a concept ... probably because I love to cook. A meal has infinite iterations if you have plenty of odd bits and leftovers on hand.
I feel the same way about creating ... having a pantry full of ideas and leftover scraps ... you just never know what will come of it.
And I thank you ... your email the other day was just the nudge I needed to get going. Now my fingers are itching to twist open the lids, because change is happening already.
DON"T don't twist the lid...Wait. This is perfect, as the preparation for your Going...
ReplyDeleteWhen you get back...ahhhh.
A VERY Happy Anniversary to you and your beloved....
Thank you ... we thought about it and realized virtually all of our travel has been for family (which we love) or work (which we don't miss at all). Ironically, I wouldn't be surprised if we spend much of our time thinking and talking about family (the beautiful racket, as Mary Chapin Carpenter calls it).
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