Summer 2021: What's new around 3 Squares Cottage?
Hello and happy hot summer from Utah—or as we (sort of) jokingly say, “Hello from the surface of the sun!”
I hope this finds you happy and well! We are all doing fine. Jack is as busy as a farmer in hottest summer on record could be, which means he’s out in a field at first light, home and fast asleep in the afternoon, and then harvesting, packaging CSA’s, and prepping for farmers market in the evenings. This year, he’s at the Salt Lake Liberty Park Farmer’s Market on Friday evenings. The fruit tree farm at my parents house had a bumper crop of apricots for the first time in years! Despite the heat and implementing automatic short-cycle drip systems to conserve water, this year’s crops are doing well! Plums and pears are up next and peaches are on their way starting next month.
My parents each celebrated their 92nd birthdays and they are doing great! Our kids are well and working hard ,and the grandkids (11 and 4) are growing like weeds! We are so lucky to have them over every week!
Speaking of birthdays, I celebrated my 60th in June! Whew! My daily world has been a rocked at bit by getting a new treadmill and adopting a meditation routine aligned with the number 12. Post-Covid, back to the plan. I’m working to be ultra-conscientious about getting enough protein, mostly avoiding sugar and bread, and I’ve been eating as much fresh food as possible. Back to yoga, too, using an app called Insight Timer. I’ve been working on launching a vintage kitchen and home goods business, Cottage Vintage, and little sister vintage barware business, Boozier Than Usual. It’s a design-build project, so more to come about all that in future months!
And of course there are some new things around our house this summer!
In the Garden
For sure, we needed a place dedicated to seed starting. We have also been selling gad-bunches of micro-greens, so we converted our old pergola into a micro-green house. We had to run new wiring to power all the lights and tray warmers, added a roof made of wavy poly-carbonate panels, repurposed the stainless steel shelving we had used in Jack’s hydroponics project, screen panels and a screen door. This year, we were able to start plants from seed to fill all 6 of the plots we’re growing! It was an investment this year, but will help the farm’s solvency in years to come. To see more about our farming operation, visit our online store at 3squaresproduce.com
Since, thanks to the micro-green house, I had so many more plant starts, I wanted to use every sunny spot available to grow fruits and vegetables. (Our yard is mostly shady because we have so many old trees, which is both a blessing and a curse!) When we moved to this house in 2000, I adopted a garden style I learned about from P. Allen Smith called Ferme Ornee (Ornamental Farm), where food and flowers grow in pots and in the ground together. I made tomato cages from the sticks pruned from the fruit trees in the orchard and began pruning and trellising my tomatoes, using a technique from Josh Statin of Statin Hill Farms. As of mid-July, we’re deep in tomatoes. It’s been a great year for apricots, as well, so we’ve dried, frozen (to make marmalade later in the fall), and made apricot-orange-pineapple sauce for barbecue and coconut shrimp.
Upstairs Bathroom Remodel
After living with the same bathroom decor for more than 21 years, I’ve thought and looked and planned and talked it over with my visionary contractor son, Ian, and it’s time for a change! Here’s the inspiration photo:
Photo credit: House Beautiful
Here are the bathroom “before” photos:
We’re waiting for the copper bathtub to be delivered around August 27, so today I’m just posting the elements and sources. I’ll post the progress next month. The tub weighs a ton, so we’ll be reinforcing the bathroom floor from the laundry room below!
So far, I’ve been able to order everything online. The floor tile is Congoleum Alternatives “Starry Nights” from Lowes; the Vintage Vinyl Floorcloth is from Hudson and Vine; the copper bathtub, “Melody” is from Vintage Tub and Bath (call them and talk to Dee), and 8” x 24” bright white wall tile (for the wall behind the tub and sink is from Home Depot. I’m working on some metal art for either side of the built in medicine cabinet, and we are planning on painting the inner window frame black and inserting grid stanchions. We understand from friends and neighbors who are doing home improvement or remodeling projects this summer that the supply chain may or may not yield what is expected. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for everything to come in on time. Okay, that’s all for now.
Love, love, love to you and yours! Take care. I’m wishing the remainder of your summer is filled with fun, peace, and joy! :) Kari