Cast Hypertufa Birdhouse

 Amazon Prime Cast Birdhouse 

 

Here is a project that uses some of the many boxes one begins to accumulate when shopping on Amazon.  You can already recycle the boxes conventionally, but they just happen to make great re-purposed molds for this bird house project.  It is not the type you hang in a tree, but mount on a fence or a post instead, since it is cast using a mold made from a reconstructed Amazon shipping box and of course has a bit more weight.

 

What You Need:

 

Plastic covered worksurface

Mud gloves

i-3 assorted Amazon shipping boxes

Box knife

Scissors

Hot melt glue gun and plenty of extra glue sticks

Sharpie

Masking or duct tape

One or two 1” lengths of 5/8” PVC pipe

Pile of straight twigs

Any color latex paint

Mixing bucket

Trowel

Brick

Hypertufa recipe ( Here’s mine: http://fromthesummersgarden.blogspot.com/p/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-ja-x_10.html)

 

What You Do:

Select a shipping box that is a good size for the birdhouse you’d like to make and carefully take it apart where it is glued or stapled together.

 

If there are staples, remove and discard them.  Use the box as is if you want a flat roof. If you’d like your roof slanted, cut two opposite sides on a slant. Reassemble the box inside out using a hot glue gun 

 

Glue the flaps down on the outside of the box to serve as reinforcements.  The inside should be completely smooth with no flaps. Use masking tape to cover all seams on the inside. 

Glue the PVC pipe section(s) onto the inside of the box where you’d like the hole to be.

 

I used two to make two holes, one on either side. Use pieces cut from another box to make relief designs on each of the four sides.  I used arches inspired by gothic architecture for mine.  

 TIP: Whatever you decide to do design-wise, keep it simple and repeat your shapes. Glue the pieces onto the inside surfaces of your mold using the hot glue gun. Finally, run a border of masking or duct tape around the perimeter of the box mold at the bottom and again at the top.  This will prevent the box from sagging out of shape as you construct the birdhouse. 

Cut and glue together a cardboard tray with a bottom and one-inch sides.  This will serve as the mold for the roof.  It should be 1-inch larger both ways than the dimension of your box mold. This will ensure that the roof overhangs the birdhouse.

 

When both the birdhouse and roof molds have been constructed, paint them inside and out with a coat of latex paint and allow to dry. Coat the inside of both molds liberally using a paintbrush and vegetable oil. Mix up a batch of your favorite hypertufa to a clay-like consistency. Pack the mold by handfuls, firmly pressing the material against the side of the mold and forming a smooth inner surface.  Be sure to apply ample material across the top edge, smoothing to create a firm, durable edge.

When the birdhouse mold is cast, move to the cardboard tray and fill it with hypertufa using a brick to evenly tamp the surface smooth.  Lay twigs into the soft hypertufa and tamp into the mold using the brick.  

TIP:  Cut twigs the same size as your roof mold and have them ready to add when casting the roof.   They lend a nice natural look as a surface texture for the roof. 

Allow both molds to cure and harden.  This may take two to three days.  Remove the mold and

allow the birdhouse and roof to cure further for one week out of the sun.  Because the roof is heavy, it may simply rest on top of the birdhouse, making it simple to lift off for cleanout at the end of the season.  

 

TIP: To ensure the roof stays in place, apply hot glue to the top edge of the birdhouse at each corner, immediately place the roof on top and hold until the glue hardens.  This will keep the roof in place for the summer.  To remove the roof for cleaning, simply pry the corners gently with a screwdriver.  The hot glue will give easily.

 

Leave your birdhouse natural or add accents with exterior latex paint and mount on a wooden platform on a post or fence.  Use the hot glue technique here also to hold the house in place for the season.

TREE STUMP WATER BASIN

 

These days it’s wise to be creative in using what we have and “turning a sow’s ear into a silk purse” as my mom used to say.  I just had a large, messy silver maple taken down in my front yard.   Having spent plenty just to get it down and hauled away, I wasn’t about to spend another fortune to have the stump removed. Instead, the tree guys cut the stump a bit higher than usual and with as flat a cut as they could manage to result in a perfect pedestal for a large shallow water basin for the birds. At the same time, a load of topsoil was delivered to fill in all of the pits and ruts in the lawn from the tree removal.

The mound of topsoil made a perfect hump mold for a hypertufa water basin.  Here’s a very simple method for making a water basin in your garden.

 

What You Need

 An open space in your garden where you can build a mound of earth to the desired size of your water basin.

 

Your favorite hypertufa recipe.  Here’s mine:

http://fromthesummersgarden.blogspot.com/p/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-ja-x_10.html

 

large mixing tub

 

shovel and garden rake

 

plastic tarp or heavy dropcloth

 

nail, string, and a sharpie

 

paintbrush and can of paint

 

mud gloves

 

a brick, a trowel, and a length of rebar

 

bag of sand topping mix and a large paintbrush

 

What You Do

 

1. Using your garden shovel, build a mound in an open area of your garden larger than the desired size of your water basin.  Use the rake to shape the mound and to get a nice smooth surface.

 

2.  Spread out the tarp over a flat area.  Tie the end of the string to the nail and push it into the center of the tarp.  Measure out the desired radius of your basin and tie the other end of the string to the sharpie.  Keeping the string taut, draw a circle around the nail. Using the brush and paint, go over the sharpie line to make it easily noticeable.

 

3.  When the paint has dried, center the tarp over the mound of soil.  Weight the corners to keep the tarp in place. 

4.  Put on a pair of mud gloves and mix up the hypertufa, increasing the Portland cement by 1/3.  This will fortify the mix and make it stronger.  Mix a normal batch and if you run out, make more.

 

5. Scoop the hypertufa into the center of the circle, the top of the hump.  Lightly spread out the material so that it is thicker at the top of the mound, about 2 inches, and gradually thins to 1 inch at the edges.  

 6. Use the brick to firmly tamp the entire surface of hypertufa, melding the mass into a single large disk. Then use your hand to polish and smooth the surface.  Use the trowel to press in the outer edges of the basin so they are firm and not crumbly.  Remember the edge is where you will be lifting the basin and you do not want it to be weak and break.

7.  Finally, press the length of rebar into the hypertufa creating flutes all the way around the disk.  These add strength as well as a nice decorative touch. 

8.  Cover the basin with plastic and allow it to cure slowly for a week. 

 

9.  When completely dry, invert the basin and transfer it to its desired spot in your garden.

 

10.   Mix sand mix concrete mix and use the large paintbrush to skim coat the inside surface of the basin. This will ensure it will hold water.  Let the concrete dry completely and then you can leave it as and fill it with water or mosaic a decorative pattern with glass and tile on the inside. For this example, we used pieces of mirror, glass and marbles creating a dramatic focal point.

 

Blushing Apple Pie

This summer was a good one for apples. Here our dwarf Bonnie apple is loaded with these large clunky fruits! I have been searching for recipes that are a bit more interesting than plain ordinary apple pie. The beets have also grown well this summer, so here is a Blushing Apple Pie that features both of these ingredients together. I've tasted several interesting savory recipes combining beets and apples, but this one hits the sweet tooth.

Blushing Apple Pie

½ orange

6-7 baking apples ( about 2 ½ pounds fresh

¼ cup plus 2 TBS white sugar

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

½ medium beet, oven roasted until tender and chipped into ½ inch dice

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon cardamom

½ teaspoon salt

3 TBS all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon orange zest

1 TBS cider vinegar

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Egg wash (1 large egg whisked with 1 teaspoon water and pinch of salt)

Coarse sugar for finishing

 

Have ready and refrigerated a 9-inch pastry lined pie pan and pastry to finish a top layer.

 

Zest the orange and set aside. Juice the orange into large bowl.  Peel and slice apples into thin slices and dredge in the orange juice.  Sprinkle lightly with 2 TBS of the granulated sugar. Set aside to soften and release juices, 20-30 minutes.

 

In the bowl of a food processor, fitted with the blade attachment,. Combine the remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, chopped beet, ginger, cardamom., salt flour vanilla and bitters.  Process until the beet is fully incorporated into the sugar.

 

Drain excess liquated from the apples, add the beet-sugar mixture and toss the apples to coat them thoroughly.  Tightly layer the apples in the prepared pie shell so there are minimal gaps., mounding the apples higher in the center.  Add the pastry topcoat with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

 

Chill the pie in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to set the pastry. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Bake 20 -25 minutes until pastry begins to brown.  Reduce heat to375 degrees F and continue to bake for 40-50 minutes longer.

 

 

 

Dried Garden Wreath

 DRIED GARDEN WREATH 

As I move through the sections of my garden weeding and trimming, I am always amazed how much plant material I gather ends up on the compost piles.  Compost is good, yes, but some of these plant materials can also be used in a more creative way in the form of a garden wreath, that will allow you to bring the outside in and give you fond memories of the passing summer.

I plaited a wreath form from grapevine, wisteria and euonymus vine and let it dry.

Instead of going to the compost pile, mature oregano, lemon balm and mint were bunched together, forming small bouquets that were hung upside down in the garage to dry.  Two types of decorative grass were cut mature, but still green and braided, garlic-style, into short ropes that were dried curved. Zinnia, sunflower and dahlia blossoms were cut in varying sizes and dried in powdered desiccant to preserve their shape and color. After two weeks everything was dry and combined into a wonderful dried  garden wreath. You can make one too, using what you have in the garden.  This is a wonderful, fragrant decoration for the inside.  It simply will not hold up outside. 

 

What You Need

-Vine trimmings, i.e. grape, wisteria, porcelain berry, - anything from which you can plait a ring base for your wreath.

 

-Cut and trimmed garden herbs and flowers.  Good candidates for drying include oregano, lemon balm, and mint.  They are all very fragrant and hold their dried leaves well. If you are in doubt, try it!

 

-Any long-stemmed decorative grasses for the braided rings will work nicely.  It is easier to cut and use green rather than when it has turned brown.

 

-A selection of cut flower blossoms less fleshy and thicker is better than succulent and delicate. Zinnias are perfect for this.

 

-garden scissors

-rubber bands

-green floral wire

-hot glue gun with plenty of extra sticks of glue

-desiccant for drying blossoms. - purchased or homemade.  Visit this link to make your     

  own.  https://www.20muleteamlaundry.com/uses/arts-crafts/preserve-flowers-                        

             naturally/

-plastic tub or box to use for drying flower blossoms

 

 What You Do

 

1.     Use vines from one variety or several.  It really doesn’t matter, since most of it will be covered.  Start with a single long piece of vine and shape into a 12 to 15 -inch circle.  Once you’ve formed a ring, wrap the loose end of the vine around the ring and tuck in the end.  Repeat this process until your vines are used up and you have a nice substantial wreath base.  Allow to dry flat.  It will become stiff and serve as a nice framework on which to wrap your wreath. 

2.    As you weed and work your garden, gather herbs and plants that will dry well.  

Mix your harvest and lay out in small, full bunches, trimming each at about 12-14 inches in length. Do not scrimp on these bunches, they need to be full and fat. You can make the bunches shorter in length but your wreath will be stockier and not as luxurious. Hang bunches to dry, out of direct sunlight, for about 2 weeks.  Continue this process until you have around 20 bunches.

3.     Gather long-stemmed decorative grasses into a bunch you can wrap your thumb and forefinger around.  Separate the bunch. Into three equal portions.

 

4.    Secure below the seed heads with a twist tie.  Braid garlic -style to the end of the stems and secure with another twist tie. Slowly massage the braid stems into a ring and secure with a piece of string.  Hang these with your other bunches and let dry for two weeks as well. 

5.    Take a trip through your garden and select blossoms of non-succulent flowers.  It is nice to gather mixed stages of blossoms from bud to full bloom. Leave 1/2- inch of stem at the back of each flower.  Do not use old flowers that have faded or are beginning to fall apart. Pour a 1-inch layer of desiccant into a plastic-lined box. Arrange the blossoms in rows face up, sticking the stubby stem into the desiccant.  Cover the flowers completely with additional desiccant and cover the entire box with a plastic bag.  Let this sit for two weeks to fully dehydrate. 

6.    When everything has dried, set up a work table on which to make your wreath.  You will have much less to clean up if you do the wreath assembly outside in the grass, out of the sun.  This allows all the dried plant materials that fall and crumble, to disappear into the wind and grass.  Do not be alarmed at how much of the dried material may crumble-that is why the bunches were made nice and full. Removes and ties and rubber bands.

 

7.    Lay the wreath frame flat on the work surface and attach the end of a spool of florist’s wire to the ring leaving a 6-inch tail.  Gently fan out a bunch of the dried plants and drape over the wreath frame. Wrap at least three rounds snuggly around the frame with wire. 

Then do the same with the next bunch covering the stems of the previous bunch.  Wrap well with wire to secure and repeat the process making your way all the way around the wreath frame. 

8.    When you reach the first bunch twist the wire together with the tail left at the beginning and snip off the wire spool.

 

9.    Turn the wreath upside down and position the grass rings around the wreath, one each at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock.  The seed head should be pointing outward. Secure to the wreath frame with hot glue.

10.  Turn the wreath right-side up and place your dried flowers where you’d like them on your wreath.  Once you have them all positioned, attach each to the wreath with hot glue applied in a ring around the stubby stem.  

TIP:A ring of glue around the stubby stem will ensure the the flowers are firmly attached in more than one place.  Tuck or nestle the flower into the greenery so the flower is not lying flat on top.  

11.   Hang your wreath on a single long nail or screw out of direct sunlight. 

 

TIP:  Hang the wreath and evaluate if you like it. If not, take it down, give it a quarter turn and hang it again.  Keep repeating the hanging and quarter turning until you find it’s happy spot!  

 

 

Layered Concrete Planter

 

Layered Concrete Planter 

 

Here’s a cool planting container you can put to use right away this spring.  It is intriguing because of the layering technique as well as the use of recycled concrete pieces.  If you do not have pieces of old concrete to recycle, no worries, you just won’t use them. There is little you can do to screw up on this project and it offers a surprising “reveal” when you unmold it.  

 

For this planter, I used recycled concrete pieces, pea gravel, and blue marbles.  You can change out any of these components with a range of different sized gravels, colored aquarium gravel, marbles or glass pieces, even sand.  The important ingredient that cannot be substituted, is the rapid set concrete mix that holds everything together.

 

What You Need 

 -1 bag Rapid Set Concrete Mix from the hardware store or home improvement center

 

-Bucket of recycled concrete pieces.  Put down an old board on a cement surface and

                                                                  wack cement chunks into gravel-like bits with a 

                                                                 hammer- great job for kids!

-Bag of pea gravel

 

-Colored glass pieces or marbles

 

-Large round or square box to serve as your mold.  Large planting containers with   

                                                               smooth sides work well for this.

-Smaller plastic nursery pot to create the space for dirt on the inside.  Try to find one 

                                                                that will give you the most space for soil and still 

                                                                allow for the layering technique within your mold.

 

-Oil and brush to use as mold release

 

-Sheet of plastic to protect work surface

 

-Mud gloves to protect your hands

 

-Plastic mixing pail and trowel

 

 What You Do

 

1. Oil the inside of the outer mold well so the finished product will release easily.

 

2. Double check the inside plastic container to make sure it fits and is also large enough to provide enough space for soil for planting later.  Punch a hold in the bottom for drainage. Remember, this pot remains in the finished planter.

 

3. Open the bag of Rapid Mix concrete mix and measure a workable volume into the plastic mixing pail. I suggest about 8 cups to start.  It is best to mix several small portions rather than one large batch. This is because it sets so much faster than regular concrete. Slowly add water to the dry mix in the pail and keep mixing, adding small amounts of water as you go, until the mix is similar to runny yogurt. 

 

4. Pour the mixed concrete into your mold to at least a 1” thickness and shake to level out.  Center the inside plastic pot inside the mold on top of the concrete. You want this inner pot to be level with the top edges of the mold.  If you find it is too deep in the mold, remove it and toss in rubble or large gravel until you get the inner pot level with the top edge of the outer mold. Then, use the trowel to scoop in the remaining first batch of mix into the mold around the inner pot and shake to settle the concrete in the mold. 

 Before going further, use a screw driver, a large nail or a stick to bore a drainage hole through the hold you put into the inner container and through the concrete to the bottom of the mold.  

 

5. Now, drop pieces of rubble or large gravel in varying amounts around the mold, 

sprinkle in some pea gravel and a few marbles on top of this. 

 

6.  Mix up another 8 cups of Rapid Mix and scoop in dollops unevenly into the outer mold, sometime covering the gravel and leaving other parts uncovered.   In this project you do not want to be uniform-enjoy the freedom to be erratic, heavier here, lighter there!

 

7. Repeat the process of dropping in uneven amounts of rubble, gravel and marbles, covering portion once again with a layer of securing Rapid Mix.

 

8. When you reach the top, you will fill in the entire space with the Rapid mix smoothing it flat between the outer edge of the mold and the inner pot using the trowel.

 

9. Insert pieces of gravel into the smooth surface.  It is especially nice to showcase the colorful marbles in this top rim as well.

 

10. Allow setting and curing overnight.

11. Remove the outer mold.  Do not be concerned when you see areas of your pot  loose and fall away.  Now is the time to let everything that is not affixed by the Rapid Mix to the container fall off.  Shake carefully to get rid of all the loose material.  Sweep this up and save for your nest layered pot.   Use the trowel to smooth rough edges and remove anything you don’t like.   Do this gently or so as not to remove more than you’d prefer.

 

12. You can enhance areas of your layered pot with painted lines that simulate veining in rock.  Be sure the paint you use is made for the exterior.  Let dry and you are ready to plant!  

 

 

 

POINSETTIAS TO THE RESCUE IN SUMMER

Poinsettias are one of my favorite types of flowers.  They come in endless patterns and colors in the most vivid of reds you can imagine. They bring joy and happiness all through the holiday season, seldom stopping there. Quite often they lend color for Valentine’s Day, blooming well into spring.  Poinsettias are resilient and remain beautiful even with the summer weather challenges of the Midwest. 

As the summer begins to wane, they can step in to pinch hit when other container flowers have withered away.  A friend just gave me three beautiful potted pointsettia plants.  Having a container whose inhabitants could not take the heat, I decided to build a grouping using these three plants along with some caladiums and a bunch of lemongrass for the central thriller. 

 Yeah, I know, they are no longer red, but the green is deep and rich and really sets off the colors of the caladiums. 

As a final touch, several smaller Wild Poinsettias, (Euphorbia cyathophora) were popped into the corners.  I discovered them while running along a road in North Carolina and dug some up to bring home.  They have naturalized in my garden and reseed ever year.  They too are hardy and the very top of the plant turns brilliant scarlet just like their big cousins without having to be pampered or placed in the dark.

Poinsettias will even blend nicely with fall mums and grasses in fall containers.

You may have pitched your poinsettias by now, but if you still have them around, put them to work again!

PAPRIKA PEACH PIE

Laurie came home from the store with bag of fragrant ripe peaches. We made peach pie with a twist containing paprika, white pepper and Angostura bitters. The amount of sugar is also reduced further emphasizing the flavor of the fresh fruit. The recipe came from the Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book, my favorite pie shop in Brooklyn. They do a great job with pie and these unusual ingredients always small in amount, are way big on flavor.  Here's the recipe.

Paprika Peach Pie

Make your favorite crust for a double 9-inch pie.

5-6 cups sliced peaches
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 packed brown sugar
3 TBS cornstarch
1 TBS sweet paprika
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Egg wash (1 egg whisked with a teaspoon of water and a pinch of salt)
Sugar for finishing

Roll out bottom crust, fit into 9-inch pie pan and place in the refrigerator.

Slice peaches into 1/2 inch slices, add to large bowl and sprinkle with the lemon juice. (Note: I don't peel my peaches but if you prefer, do this before slicing.)

Add the sugars, cornstarch, spices and bitters. Toss well to combine. Spoon the filling into the cooled pie shell.  Arrange the lattice or pastry round on top
and crimp.  Brush crust with egg wash and sprinkle with finishing sugar.  Chill the pie in the fridge for 15 minutes to set the pastry.  

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  shift baking racks to the bottom and center.  Place a rimed baking sheet on the bottom rack.

When the the oven reaches temperature, place the pie on the rimmed baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven and bake 20 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F, move the pie to the center oven rack and continue to bake until the pastry is a deep golden brown and the juices are bubbling through, 30-35 minutes longer.

Allow to cool 2 hours and serve slightly warm with ice cream.  Ahhhh...heaven!