harvesting cucumbers

Our cucumber plant has exploded in the past few weeks and has some fruit ready for picking. The first few, we are just going to be harvesting for fresh eating so we waited until they were around 6"-8" long, had a nice firm texture, and were a dark green color. I am thinking we will make a cucumber salad or just enjoy them with some salt. In the near future, we will hopefully be making some pickles which we will mean harvesting the cucumbers when they are much smaller. For sweet pickles, I read that you should pick when the cucumbers are 1" - 2.5" long. For dill pickles, the recommended size was 3" - 4". I, unfortunately, do not recall what type of cucumber plant I got (there are specific varieties for pickling vs. eating fresh) so I am just experimenting and learning as I go. Have a good Monday everyone!

bedroom inspiration

A couple of weeks ago, I did a post about how much I enjoy spindle beds and have since been dreaming of how I would use one as the focal piece in our master bedroom. For me, the Gwendoline Spindle Bed by Bradshaw Kirchofer is the bed that is the most visually appealing. Its proportions are spot on and the detail work is incredible. I further fell in love with the bed when I learned a bit more about its makers. Bradshaw Kirchofer is a small, handmade furniture company based out of Los Angeles.  It was started in 1994 by a couple who had and continue to have a deep appreciation for furniture inspired by their British heritage. Their furniture is created by a team of skilled craftsmen who hand finish each solid pine wood piece. The furniture is available in 21 different finishes ( 4 stained and 17 painted) with an option to completely customize your own item. Additionally, the company offers ready to ship pieces that are available for delivery within roughly 2 weeks of the order being placed (custom, made to order takes approximately 4-6 weeks to complete). Personally, I most drawn to their stain options but could see how doing a colored finish could be equally amazing (like their new St. Andrews Daybed in Heritage Blue).

For our inspired master bedroom plan, I am torn on finish selection as I really like the look of the black walnut, limed pine and english pine stains. If or shall I say hopefully when I order our bed, I would definitely need to see wood samples (which Bradshaw very conveniently makes available for you here). However, for the sake of this design exercise I selected the english pine stain which is their ready to ship finish and looks pretty amazing with the brass accents. Since the bed is more rustic and I like to mix styles, I went more modern with the other elements in the room. I used matching mid century inspired dressers from Chelsea Textiles Ltd (featured in this furniture design post), brass accents in the drapery rod and lighting, a fun take on a traditional pattern for the curtains designed by Sarah Richardson for Kravet, art from photographer Kevin Russ (recently written about here), chunky knit throws from West Elm, pillows made from Kelly Weartsler's new line for Groundworks and would complete the look with adding gray grasscloth on the walls. Now only if I could make this plan a reality....

1. Lucite and brass drapery rod by LuxHoldUps via Etsy  2. Brookhaven Chambrey by Sarah Richardson Design for Kravet   3. Chunky tassel throws by West Elm  4. San Pedro photo by Kevin Russ via Society 6  5. Feline Lake/Slate by Kelly Wearstler for Groundworks  6. Gwendoline Spindle Bed by Bradshaw Kirchofer  7. Robsjohn-Gibbings inspired chest of four drawers by Chelsea Textiles Ltd.   8. Gourd bedside lamp designed by E.F. Chapman via Circa Lighting  9. Leona Gold Leaf Pendant by Worlds Away

our bird netting solution

As I mentioned last Monday, we added a bird net to our vegetable garden. Initially, I just draped it over top of the cucumber trellis knowing that sometime in the near future we would need to add corner posts. Yesterday, Jeff went out to the store and bought some bamboo posts and now we have a garden that looks like a covered wagon. The solution is not particularly elegant and I do have concerns that the cucumber plant is going to growing into the net but I think it should work for the remainder of the grow season. Its all a learning process and I definitely will be making some design edits next year.