SHIFTING ROOTS

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How to Make an Adorable Halloween Chick Costume

October 28, 2017

One of the things I love most about my son is that he’s not like everybody else.  In the last three years when I’ve asked him what he’s wanted to be for Halloween, he’s always come up with a unique answer.  And he never waivers in his choice either.

Last year he wanted to be an orange chick.  Try finding that in a big-box store.

Thankfully, the year before he wanted to be a rooster, so I already knew how to make his costume with just a few modifications.

Today I give my public service to the internet, should any other Mom find themselves with a child asking for an orange chick costume.  I’ve got you covered.

[Read more…]

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

10 Comments
Filed Under: DIY, Halloween, Parenting Tagged: Autism, costume, DIY costume, easy, Halloween, Halloween costume, minimal sewing, orange chick, random, tutorial

Kindergarten

September 5, 2017

Don’t worry friends, Shifting Roots isn’t turning into a mommy blog anytime soon.  My son started Kindergarten today and I think that’s an occasion worth breaking my niche for.

Kindergarten.

It’s Dominic’s first day of kindergarten and it feels so bittersweet.  Part of me can’t believe that my teeny tiny baby is now a sweet little boy.  Part of me can’t believe that the Hermit and I actually kept a small human being alive and functioning for five whole years.

But the rest of me?  Is really excited.  Let me tell you why.

Back when Dominic was around 4 or 5 months, strangers loved to point out that Dominic wasn’t like other babies.  He had a large head and people couldn’t resist asking if I had noticed.  Thankfully one of the doctors in our church referred him to a pediatrician, who after a few tests confirmed that his head was fine.

However, he seemed a little behind on his milestones.  She told me not to worry, but that she wanted to be proactive and refer him to the Kinsmen Centre so he could get some help and get caught up.

This is Dominic’s last day at the Kinsmen Centre. He’s aged out now, but it was such a big part of our lives, and one of the few places where I could let down my guard.

Being a first-time Mom I was a little surprised.  I didn’t think he was that far behind my friend’s babies around that same age, but we went and I was grateful for the help.  Surely we would only be there a few months and whatever was wrong would be “fixed.”

Soon “just physiotherapy” turned into occupational therapy and physiotherapy and then that turned into speech therapy and parent-speech-class and feeding clinic with a child psychologist thrown into the mix.

This was not what I bargained for.

We were thrust into a whole different world where I learned that my son’s repetitive play and tidy eating were not actually normal.  He was missing or behind on milestones I didn’t even know existed.  And I was about to get a new education in sensory issues and how to help my child make sense of a world that doesn’t make sense to him.

Dominic has Autism.  If you know my son, this might surprise you.  He probably seems pretty “normal.”  And in many ways, he is.

He is loving, kind, and tenderhearted.  He is currently obsessed with yellow, triangles, Story Bots, and science.  He loves to play with other children and make friends, but sometimes he misses some social cues and we’re still giving him lots of rules and advice to help him make sense of it all.

People often wonder if Dominic really has Autism.  The thing is, he is able to function so well partly because of where he sits on the spectrum, partly because of early intervention, and partly because he has an amazingly supportive group of family and friends who love him unconditionally and nurture his strengths.

I don’t want to go into detail on his particular struggles, only because I want to preserve some of his privacy.  But please know that it hasn’t always been easy, and we’ve all had a really large learning curve figuring out how to meet each other in the middle.

But that’s why I’m excited.

Happy first day of Kindergarten!

Because there were a lot of days when he was struggling that I wondered what school would be like for him.  Would he be able to handle it?  What kind of future would he have?

While I don’t know what the future holds, I do know that we’ll be able to handle it.

We will walk through the tough stuff and figure out ways for him to succeed.  We will nurture his strengths and let him fly in those areas that he’s really advanced.

And as for today?

He’s ready.

 

Another small disclaimer.  The cliche that if you’ve met one person with Autism you’ve met one person with Autism is totally true.  Our experiences and challenges are unique and can in no way speak for every single person with Autism.

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

5 Comments
Filed Under: Fun Tagged: Autism, Dominic, kindergarten, sensory issues, Sensory processing disorder

I Hate Food: Why my Relationship With Food is Driving Me Crazy

April 27, 2017

I hate food. Well, that’s not entirely true. You’ll notice this blog happens to create a lot of food posts!! I love eating good food, but the whole idea of the preparation, supposedly-enjoying, and planning is driving me INSANE. Where do I even begin to untangle this hate-fest? I’ll try and start at the beginning, but I don’t promise anything.

[Read more…]

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

11 Comments
Filed Under: Autism, Get Healthy, Parenting Tagged: Autism, eating, family, food, meal planning, meals, overweight, weight gain

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Welcome!

Hi, I'm Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

P.S. First time gardener? You'll want to download the quick start gardening guide below!

Recent Posts

  • How to Grow Eucalyptus for Cut Flowers (Even in a Short Growing Season!)
  • 26 Best Flowers to Grow for Dried Flower Arrangements
  • 17 Perennial Flowers That Love Shade
  • How to Design a Cut Flower Garden in Raised Beds
  • How to Start a Cut Flower Garden

Welcome!

Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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Growing a luffa sponge was possibly the most chall Growing a luffa sponge was possibly the most challenging and finicky thing I've taken on so far as a gardener in zone 3.  And all I got to show for it was 3 baby loofah sponges, which are so precious to me that I can't bare to actually use them. (Kind of defeats the point, doesn't it?)⁠⠀
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I'll be starting mine soon, so I though I would share some of the improvements to the growing process from last year.⁠⠀
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1. Plant in larger containers!! I thought I used large enough ones, but I sorely underestimated how big these plants would get indoors.  Once of my readers suggested buckets, and I think this is an excellent idea.⁠⠀
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2. Plant only 1 plant per container.  I thought loofah's would be like a cucumber or pumpkin or other vining squash where you plant in a hill.  The containers with two plants in them did not do as well as the single seed containers.⁠⠀
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3. Have a string for the vine to climb.  Cutting the vine off of my window screen was not fun.⁠⠀
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Will you try luffas this year?⁠⠀
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#luffasponge #loofahsponge #luffachallenge2012 #seedstarting #wintergardening #indoorgardening⁠⠀
Got the seed starting itch? There's some things y Got the seed starting itch?  There's some things you can actually seed start now and you won't end up with crazy leggy seedlings and endless problems.  In fact, these plants require that you start now, and need to be started in zone 3 by the end of February at the absolute latest.⁠
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I've already started some lisianthus and eucalyptus, and am waiting on my seed orders to start some more.⁠
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If you're starting a luffa sponge, make sure you have some sort of eventual plan for the vine.  last year mine went over my fall windows before I was able to take them outdoors.⁠
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P.S. I've actually never started onions from seed, so if anyone wants to chin in about their experience, feel free!
Growing eucalyptus for the first time this year? Growing eucalyptus for the first time this year?  A new post is on the blog to walk you through it.  While in theory eucalyptus is easy to grow, it's challenging in my zone 3 garden for three reasons: ⁠
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➡️It needs a long time to mature⁠
➡️I have a short growing season⁠
➡️I live in a cool climate, and eucalyptus grows better when its warm.⁠
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That said, you can see by this picture that it can be done!!⁠
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Are you growing eucalyptus this year?
Oh friends, if any of my nice, curated photos sums Oh friends, if any of my nice, curated photos sums up how this last week went, I think it's this one.  Babies crying, trying to stay calm, outwardly looking like it's all under control, but feeling very overwhelmed.⁠
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This post isn't gardening related, so feel free to scroll by if you're here only for the gardening content.⁠
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Thankfully it's January, and I keep reminding myself that the Internet will not break if I don't keep to my self-imposed posting schedule.  But it doesn't make a week full of teething-and-not-sleeping baby any easier. ⁠
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Felicity slept through the night for the first time ever last Monday, then proceeded to punish us with frequent wakings and terrible sleep until Saturday.  And as tough as this is in regular times, in Covid times its extra frustrating because I don't have my village.⁠
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I can't just call up another Mama friend and go for coffee at her house.  I can't take my son out for a Mommy-and-Dominic date because everything he'd want to do isn't really much of an option.  There's no playgroup or play place to just drop in on.  And forget just taking everybody out to get groceries just for a change of scenery.⁠
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I know people have way more serious problems than this, and I hope I don't sound whiny and entitled, it's not my intention.  Please know that I'm very grateful for my family and job and that so far we've been healthy. ⁠
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A lot of you who follow me do so in part because you are also juggling life with very little people through this strange time.  I hope that in occasionally sharing my struggles, it makes you feel better about your struggles. (You're struggling too sometimes. . . right?)
Do you tend to plan out your garden to the nth deg Do you tend to plan out your garden to the nth degree, do you just wing it, or are you somewhere in-between?⁠
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I tend to plan it all out, and then when I actually get out in the field, so to speak, the plan changes a little bit. ⁠
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If you need a garden planner that's both pretty & practical, my garden planner is available in the ebooks section.  It's only $9 and has lots of upgrades from the previous planner.  Use code CANADA if you're Canadian to account for the exchange.⁠
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P.S. You can see exactly what you're getting in the video--no surprises. ⁠
P.P.S  I get my planner bound and printed at a printing place.  Lots of people just print their own and put the sheets in a binder.
Are you gardening in containers this year? When y Are you gardening in containers this year?  When you're shopping for vegetable seeds, look for varieties that have names with words like patio, tiny, small, etc.  While lots of vegetable varieties will do fine in a container, you'll have an easier time with ones that are specifically bred for that situation.⁠
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📸 by @blushbrandphotography
I'm living the pepper dream in this photo. While I'm living the pepper dream in this photo.  While these ones are a bit on the small side, who doesn't want ripe peppers in July in zone 3?!?! ⁠
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Over the years I've gotten better at growing peppers, and I promise I'll spill my secrets in February when it's actually time to start them.  Until then, get yourself all or one of my four favourite varieties: ⁠
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🌶️Carmen⁠
🌶️Escamillo⁠
🌶️Candy Stripe⁠
🌶️Hungarian Hot Wax⁠
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Do you have a favourite pepper variety?⁠
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