Musings on a Trampoline Up-cycle, a Skirt Conversion and Pasta Sauce

Greetings Fellow Earthlings:

Garden News: 

Last summer was very cold.  So cold and wet that we got zero pumpkins, zero spaghetti squash, maybe 2 or three small zucchinis, perhaps one cantaloupe, no honeydew or water melons.  The tomatoes in the garden were dismal, at best.  As were the bell peppers and pickling cucumbers.  We were thankful to have had our little greenhouse so we could at least harvest the heat loving veggies from there.  And we were very grateful to have had that for my canning and preserving.

We had been discussing (mostly wishing about) covering our main garden for years.  Making it into a huge high tunnel over the whole garden.  But this would have created other issues and the expense was too much to even consider!  So, we just carried on with what we had.  Until, that is, our 10 year old trampoline got a tear in the tarp early last spring.

Unable to repair the tear, I set about to try to find a replacement tarp. 

First of all, did you know that the number of springs is different from one brand to the next, even if the diameter is the same size?  Who knew? 

Then, when I do find a replacement with the same number of springs, the price was over 5 times what we originally had originally paid for the whole trampoline in the first place!  Well.  I love my grand buddies, but that's not happening! 

So, the trampoline was taken apart and we contemplated what to do with it.  The tarp could easily be re-purposed as a shade cloth for the chicken run after I whip stitched the tear.  But what to do with the frame?  What to do?

As we contemplated the miserable and mostly non-existent harvest of the out door, heat loving plants that same summer, we revisited the thoughts of a high tunnel.  And how nice it would be to be able to protect those tender, heat loving plants . . . 

Then suddenly, inspiration hits!  We have a perfectly good 14' trampoline frame.  If split into two halves, the two pieces suddenly become 2, 7' high by 14' wide half circles/arcs.  What if we could use those to make a high tunnel, just for the tender plants? 

What if other people had old trampoline frames hanging around their properties and just wanted them disposed of since they couldn't justify the cost of replacing their tarps as well?

So, I placed an ad on a Buy and Sell site:  "Wanted: Old 14' Trampolines, Will Pick Up".  Within 3 days, we were offered over 5 frames.  I had to pull the ad.  Apparently this is a common issue!  Most of these old trampolines were already frozen in for the winter, so I collected the names and phone numbers to arrange for spring pick ups.

Papa began to put his thoughts onto paper and played with our own trampoline frame in his workshop.  In theory, this would work!  Now, all we needed was the lumber for the end walls/door, the plastic and a place to put it.

The lumber and plastic were the easy part.  He ordered the necessary wood and after deciding how long he wanted this high tunnel to be, he contacted Bob at www.northerngreenhouse.com, and placed his plastic order. 

Now that the snow has finally decided to leave us, we are beginning to collect the old trampolines.  I am so excited at the prospect of having a covered area for the tender, heat loving plants and more room for the root crops in the main garden.

As this needs to run East to West to maximize the South facing sun, we ended up having to put it into the lower pasture.  We needed easy access to water and the house, so Papa decided to move a bit of fence to make this happen.  It's not the first time he had to move rail fencing for a project, hopefully, it will the last.  But somehow, I doubt that too!

Site of the New High Tunnel.
He has the grass removed and is beginning to build the support
walls for the soon to arrive trampoline frames.

Yesterday, while doing a property tour with my trusty companion, I stopped in the greenhouse to check out the progress in there.  Imagine my delight to see tomatoes in flower and mini, baby cucumbers already forming!  Fresh veggies will soon be on our plates again.  Yay!

Tomato blossom!

Itty bitty baby cucumber! Grow, baby grow!

Spinach and Romaine Lettuce growing in a tub!
Can't wait for fresh greens again.  It has been too long!

Also on our walk, we noticed the Pond is starting to thaw out.  No sign of any fish yet as there is still feet of ice to go, but it is melting away around the edges.  One of the cats was down for an ice cold drink!  And I did notice one of our pond plants in the newly iced cleared water, is starting to turn green, so that is a good thing.  You won't ever know what has survived the winter, until the 18" of ice finally melts away! 

Studio News:

I am still actively attempting to make a dent in my scraps collection.  I swear that it multiplies daily! 

My current scrap buster attempt has been sewing strips onto old phone book pages.  These strips are random widths, anywhere from 1" to 2.5" wide, including leftover binding strips. 

I start with a phone book page, cut in half, so My paper happens to be about 5.5" x 8.5".  The actual size really doesn't matter as the point is to use up the fabric strips and make uniform blocks for another project. 

I then lay on two strips, right sides together across the middle of the page.  Make sure your strips are longer than the paper is wide.  You want to be able to cut away some excess fabric when you are done, to make nicely squared up blocks, all the same size.
 
My sewing machine is threaded with 50 weight cotton thread.  The color doesn't matter.  This is a great project for using up partial spools and those partly filled bobbins. 

I have a size 14 sharp needle and my stitch length is set to 1.8.  I have a 1/4" piecing foot on, but your width really doesn't matter much either, since you keep adding strips until your paper is covered.  Some blocks will only have 4 or five strips.  Others may have 8 or more.  Variety is key.  And you want to clean up those strips!

Once the first two pieces are sewn on, I press them open, then keep adding strips and pressing until the paper is completely covered. 

I then turn the blocks over and trim away the excess fabric and remove the paper.  Because it is very thin paper, it pulls away cleanly and neatly.  I did this once with computer paper, with unhappy results - the paper is too heavy to be removed easily. 

These striped blocks will be the beginning of another scrappy themed quilt. 

Did I make a dent in the scraps?  It would appear not.  But it was fun and mindless sewing.  So it's all good!

One pile of scrap strips in random widths and
a pile of Phone book pages, that were cut in half.

Right sides together, sew the strips onto the paper.

Press open.

Keep adding strips . . .

 . . . until the paper is completely covered.

Fabric side down, paper side up, trim away the excess fabric to the same
size as your foundation paper, then remove the paper.

Another finished striped block done!

Another project I recently completed was the transformation of an old, ill fitting pair of jeans into a cute denim skirt.  

I had purchased these jeans several years ago.  I really loved the embellishment detail on the front pockets.  When I tried them on, I thought they fit really well.  That is, they seemed to fit really well. 

It wasn't until later that I discovered I couldn't sit down in them. Every time I sat in these jeans and stood up again, I had to pull them back up.  Every time.  When your job has you going from standing to sitting to standing to sitting, many, many times a day, the constant pulling up of the jeans got really old, really fast.  So, they hung neglected and unworn in my closet for several years.

I was cruising thru Pintrest one day and ended up seeing a denim skirt that had been converted from a pair of jeans.  This piqued my interest right away.  I figured that I had nothing to lose, so I did a quick search on YouTube on how to transform jeans into a skirt.  Voila!  A couple of hours later I am now the proud owner of a sweet little skirt!  Yay!  I would absolutely do this again should I ever need to!

Cute, ill fitting jeans with the inner leg seam opened.

Front of Newly crafted skirt.  So happy with the result.

Back of the altered jeans/skirt. 
Yes, that is a dip on the bottom hem.
I had lots to work with, so why not!

In the Kitchen:

This is a super quick to make pasta sauce that will feed a crew or keep two old people stocked up with left-overs for several days.

Gremlynn's Spaghetti Sauce:

Add the following items in layers, into a 6 quart crock pot and set to low:

1 pound of ground beef, broken up in the bottom of the crock, sprinkled with 1 tsp each of salt and pepper and 2 tsp of worchestershire sauce (omit this step if vegetarian)

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1/2 green pepper, seeded and diced

6 or 8 mushrooms, chopped

1 tsp sugar (cuts the acidity of tomato sauce - surprisingly, you will notice it, if you omit it!)

1 handful of dried parsley (about 2 tbsp)

1 handful of dried oregano (about 2 tbsp)

1 tbsp of crushed basil 

Mix the following tomato based ingredients together in a separate bowl and pour over top the layers already in the crock pot:

1 small can of tomato paste

1 litre of stewed tomatoes (or close to if using canned)

1 pint of tomato sauce (or close to, if using canned)

1 can of tomato soup (right out the can, undiluted)

Let simmer away for about 6 hours on low, as it is. 

After about 6 hours, stir and combine everything in the crock pot.  The hamburger (if using) will be a cooked layer on the bottom.  I use a "S" style potato masher to break it all up into smaller chunks.  If you don't care for the texture, just precook it the next time you make this recipe.  It won't make the same solid base that uncooked ground beef makes. 

Cover and leave on low until you are ready to cook your pasta for dinner.

This reheats beautifully!  I usually make spaghetti for 2 nights using this sauce.  On the third night, I'll do up some ravioli, or bow ties, or penne noodles and make a casserole by combining the noodles, the reheated leftover sauce and do a pasta bake.  Sometimes I add spinach for a change.  This is then topped with cheese and baked for 45 minutes at 350 f until casserole is bubbly and cheese melted and brown. 

Or you can freeze the left over sauce in smaller portions, for a quick supper another day.

I also use this sauce as the base for my lasagne, which I will often make after night two, instead of the pasta bake.  I freeze the lasagne unbaked, for another future meal.  

A great and versatile sauce with minimal effort.  My kind of cooking!

Until next time, keep staying safe.

Regards,

Gremlynn