Herbal Inspiration

So, this summer I did not have much luck unfortunately with my Chocolate Cherry Tomato Plant that I was so excited to try this year.  As an amateur gardener, I have to remind myself that part of "succeeding" as a gardener is to try different things knowing that some work and some don't.  I was pretty bummed about this one though since I was so excited to try something I hadn't even heard of before.  But something much greater than all of my effort took over this unique tomato plant and took a hold of it in a way that was not recoverable.  Oh well - I will just give it another try next year!

On the up side of my gardening ventures this summer, my herbs have done very well!  Which is a wonderful thing because I absolutely LOVE herbs.  I love the way they smell, I love the way they taste, and, I love, LOVE, being able to walk onto my back deck & snip a few herbs for whatever meal I am preparing.  

This year I went a little light on my herb garden and just focused on some basics - Basil, Thyme, Sage, & Rosemary.  These are such amazing ingredients for summer cooking & eating, but they are also great for heading into the fall and winter seasons too.  I grow my herbs in containers so that I can move them in & out if needed, which makes them super easy to move inside when the temps start to dip.  If you are not someone who keeps containers all year round, then drying the herbs that you have from your summer harvest is a perfect way to take those delicious little plants into the upcoming season.  Just make sure you give them a good bath and then dry them on either a drying rack (I have even used window screens before!) or bundle several stems together and hang in bunches.  Once dry, then you can either keep them in bunches for their fragrant beauty or run all of the dry leaves off their branches with your hand into airtight containers (I use little spice jars for mine).  They are wonderful (& handy!) all year round. 

A few of my very favorite uses of my herbs include of course basil pesto (when I have enough leaves), rosemary parmesan crackers, toppings on homemade pizzas, and of course soups!  I am thinking about trying to actually infuse some of my herbs this year in a little olive oil to make my own "flavored" oil.  I'll let you know if I try it & how it turns out!  So enjoy those herbs for the remainder of this summer - clip, eat, dry, experiment, create, and infuse them however you find inspiration to do so! 

 

If Walls Could Talk

If walls could talk, I am confident that our walls at Bella Vita would say "Ahhhhhh".  Why, you ask?  Well, a couple of them just went through a "mini spa treatment" of sorts.  We partnered with Natural Interiors & Articulate Finish to "treat" a few of our walls and display an environmentally friendly, sustainable, yet beautiful wall treatment using American Clay (kind of like a mud facial treatment!).  It is quite the technique with a beautiful, warm, rustic finish that surpasses (in my opinion) any other decorative finish a wall could have.  This clay that is applied to the wall is actually natural clay found right here in the good ole USA and is then tinted with natural pigments to create a dynamic, yet very clean, decorative technique for the walls of your home, office, or business.  The process is amazing as it is applied with trowels and artistic strokes of the hand to create the texture.  There are multiple colors you can choose from so it is easy to find colors that fit into any interior color scheme.  It is 100% natural, VOC-free, easy to use, durable, & absolutely beautiful.  We will be hosting a class this fall so that you can learn more about this gorgeous application & how to apply it in your home.  If you are interested in participating in the class, let us know and we will sign you up!   

We are delighted and so grateful to Natural Interiors (a wonderful shop in Wheat Ridge full of natural products, like American Clay, that are for the interior of your home) & to John Wood from Articulate Finish (he is the artist & mastermind behind this amazing application & so many others too!) for this partnership.  Please come by and see our newly "spa-treated"/transformed walls.  I am confident you will love the look of this natural clay and perhaps you will even hear our walls say "Ahhhh"! 

{John Wood from Articulate Finish "in process" of the application}

{The walls post treatment...}

Inspiration by Farmer's Market

We are in the depths of Farmer's Market season here in Colorado and it is always amazing to me to see the markets packed with shoppers week after week!  And, I do have to say that it is very encouraging to see our communities supporting the local farmers, crafters, and artisans at these markets.  For me personally, one of the main reasons that I enjoy a local farmer's market is because I just love to pick up all the fabulous fresh produce that is available and occasionally find a sauce, jam, or bread that is irresistible too!  And for whatever reason, the produce that I get at these markets just tastes better than what you can grab at the grocery store.  Maybe that's because the markets are bringing the produce to us at the peak of their season when they are intended to be enjoyed the most.

But one of the other reasons I enjoy the local farmer's markets is that I get SO inspired!  I don't know what it is exactly that bubbles up this inspiration, but I always walk away with energy to do something - whether it is to cook yummy meals with all the fresh goodies I find, to decorate or refresh my surroundings with fresh flowers or herbs, to work on my garden (which right now consists only of a tomato plant, a couple of herbs, and a few geraniums), to throw an outside dinner party, or just simply be outside enjoying my surroundings - I just LOVE it!  However, with the typical hours of our local farmers markets falling during our own shop hours I am greatly limited in my attendance of the markets.  So instead I have decided to bring the farmer's market "feeling" and inspiration to Bella Vita this summer...

{These Farmer Market Bags are perfect for carrying all those goodies you find}

{And these porcelain Berry Baskets are fabulous for holding your fresh berries, soaps, or whatever!}

{I LOVE these handmade seasonal jams that we have - absolutely DEELISH!!}



{Handmade Marshmallows - perfect for S'mores whether camping or just needing a dessert for dinner}

We actually have several Farmer's Markets going on through the summer right here in Evergreen - the Bergen Village Farmer's Market (every Tuesday from 10-2 at Bergen Village), the Downtown Farmer's Market (every Thursday from 2-6 right on Main Street), and the Evergreen Farmer's Market (every Wednesday from 11-5 in the Mountain Home parking lot). 

And, this year, I have discovered the BEST kept secret in town...the produce stand at Aspen Specialty Catering's Store Front in Conifer.  This local catering business opens it's doors every Thursday from 11-2 and sells delicious produce (with amazing prices too!).  The selection is different each week, and you have to get there early because they run out fast.  Oh, and while you are there, you can grab lunch too.  They usually have a couple of sandwich selections, salads, and soups - all handmade with fresh ingredients by Mary & Craig.  It's the best little inspirational treat in town!

Life is a...Chocolate Cherry Tomato Plant

Summer is finally on our doorstep here in Colorado and since it is such a short season in Evergreen for gardeners, I get particularly anxious when we have agreeable weather so early in the season.  At the first nod of sun and warmth, I get overwhelmed with a desire to plant red geraniums, herbs, and even a few veggies.  This year I found myself in one of those gardening dilemmas - I was ready to plant but knew it was much too early. 

It was the end of April and we were having an unusually warm and dry spring week.  Mother's Day was coming and we desperately needed some flowers (and some color!) in the front of our shop.  Knowing that our selection of flowers was going to be limited because of the earliness of the foothill season, I set out to look for something that could handle cold evenings and perhaps deter the hungry wildlife while still producing a nice 'pop' of color.  And, of course there is really no place to land with all of that criteria other than Pansies.  {Always fascinating to me that such a hardy flower has a name that doesn't even come close to describing it's true character!}  As I was perusing the lovely selection of pansies at our local garden center, I came across a small little tray of plants that looked like cherry tomatoes.  I have no idea why this tray of plants caught my eye since cherry tomato plants are a dime a dozen, but today they captured my attention in an unexpected way.  I went over to look at them, pulled the tag, and was surprised when I read the description....Chocolate Cherry Tomato.  Now, all of you gardeners out there may think this was not a unique find.  But to me this was hugely fascinating!  I had never seen or even heard of one of these plants and was therefore instantly intrigued.  I began to ask the very helpful garden center ladies if they knew much about them.  They told me that they were cherry tomatoes but with a "chocolate" colored skin.  I was still considering whether or not to buy this little plant, when one of the ladies told me that what she had in that tray was all that she was going to be able to get this year.  I snapped one up as quickly as I would consume a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup if it had been in my hand! 

I took my little Chocolate Cherry Tomato plant home and have been nursing it in my kitchen since then.  It actually did very well over the last few weeks and has grown quite a bit with little 'blooms' beginning to sprout.  This week was the first week though that I finally felt confident enough to leave it outside, but it was still in the little plastic pot that I had purchased it in which had become much too small for it's size and it's sprawling roots.  My schedule wasn't allowing me the time to transplant it into a bigger pot, and I was becoming frantic with worry by the second (just ask my husband!) that I was slowly killing it.  So, finally this morning I had the opportunity and the time to finally put this intriguing little plant into a proper home.  As I was planting it, I was so quickly reminded of the joy that gardening brings to me.  I walked away from my one planting this morning and was overwhelmed with not just the feeling of joy but also with the most strong feeling of LIFE.  There is truly so much life to live and planting a Chocolate Cherry Tomato plant is just one little tiny aspect of that for me.  I think Summer is an interesting season of living in so many ways.  People are outdoors more, there are baby elk & deer springing up everywhere, and we see what we planted in the Spring come fully to life, to grow, and then to produce ingredients for a delicious meal or just to grace us with it's sheer beauty.  Ahhh....perhaps life after all is not just a bowl of cherries, but a Chocolate Cherry Tomato Plant too!  Happy Gardening & Happy Living this Summer!

P.S.  I will definitely keep you posted on the progress of my plant, but in the meantime, according to the Park Seed Co., this is what the Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes will look like....

A Seasonal Re-Arrange

Summer is coming and what a great time to refresh your home and ready it for the season ahead!  Bella Vita just went through a refresh of sorts as my husband & I spent last week re-arranging the shop.  It was quite a task this go 'round for some reason, but when it was all said and done it does feel good to have a fresh new look.  You might be wondering why the re-arrange now when it seems like we just arrived at our new digs.  Well, in all honesty when we moved our shop into our new space we worked really hard to get our doors open as soon as possible.  So for our regular customers out there, the new space probably felt very similar to our old space in Kittredge.  But after "living" here for a few months, it really felt like it was time for a new look, a new perspective, and so the plans for the re-arrange began!  Ironically, the original plan which was to re-arrange everything over a weekend and have it all in place by Monday morning came to a screeching halt when we walked in to the shop last Monday morning.  We had spent the weekend re-arranging, and there were parts of the re-arrange that seemed okay, but the overall flow just didn't feel right.  So much to my husband (and my) chagrin, early Monday morning we started moving shelves, tables, the bed, everything again, and yet again!  Our poor customers who decided to pop in that day were welcomed by big shelves in the middle of the room and product literally everywhere - what a mess!  But by the end of the day we had achieved a place of rest.  We were exhausted and completely tired of moving shelves from wall to wall, so we landed where we did and we feel like it is a good landing - at least for now and for this season! 

Perhaps you are feeling an urge to refresh or re-arrange your home as this summer approaches.  Although it may not sound like I would be such an advocate from my experiences last week, I say go for it!  A seasonal refresh is always a good thing and helps you celebrate the beauty of the new season.  It doesn't have to be a complete overhaul either.  Maybe it's just adding throw pillows in a seasonal color, new bedding or just new pillow shams, switching out dining chairs, or adding a new runner to the table.  Maybe it is even as simple as a candle or linen spray that brings to mind favorite vacations or memories of the season.  Find what inspires you about the season ahead and then however big or small, surround yourself with the celebration and beauty of summer!

Mom's Garden of Goodies

If you get a chance to stop by this Saturday (May 7) for our Annual Mother's Day Open House, then you have to be sure to check out our "Mom's Garden of Goodies".  What in the world am I talking about??  Well, I have set up a table in our shop filled with goodies that would be a beautiful treat for mom (because it's Mother's Day or just because!) or that would be a beautiful treat for you or maybe a friend too.  This "garden" table is set up with flower pots of soaps, garden wagons of yummy bath powder, and trails of sugar scrubs, body butters, and candles too! 

These goodies have been marked down and the rest of the goodies on the table that aren't already marked down are 50% off. These are really great deals on really great products that will be just too hard to pass up!  So, stop by if you can, peruse the "garden" table, and stock up on some yummy treats!  Think verbena, lavender, jasmine, gardenia....I am suddenly feeling inspired to start gardening!

Save the Date!