Green Tomato Chutney

December 10, 2016December 22, 2016 | randie.hov

Near the end of fall, my friends Meredith and Hardeep showed me how to prepare and can green tomato chutney. Over the course of a day, we prepped, boiled, and heat-sealed enough chutney to send each of us home with over 20 jars apiece!

This chutney is special because all of the green tomatoes were harvested from the UMD Community Learning Garden, which Meredith manages. Hardeep and I were regular volunteers this summer. We had at least 100 green tomatoes remaining at the end of the summer and they all went into this recipe, along with locally-grown apples purchased from the Olney Farmers & Artists Market.

Everything else came from the Burtonsville Giant. Sorry.

Because the tiny jars are so giftable, I decided to design a Christmas-themed label. A 2″ diameter sticker nests perfectly on a standard-sized Ball jar lid, so I took advantage of Sticker Mule’s 10 stickers for $9 deal.

round-chutney-sticker

And then, my super-Seinfeld-fan-friend Hardeep requested a Festivus sticker. It seemed apropos. Hardeep requested a square 2×2″ design so that he could print at home and add in a custom title. He is a regular hot sauce connoisseur and has a need to label his many varieties of homemade hot sauce.

chutney-festivus-sticker

The way we cooked, canned, designed, and labeled together feels so rewarding! Thank you, Meredith and Hardeep for sharing your canning expertise and design feedback with me. Merry Christmas and Happy Festivus to all!

“Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way…”

-Frank Costanza, The Origins of Festivus

Doge Pumpkin

October 27, 2016October 28, 2016 | randie.hov

Ah, pumpkin carving. My favorite way to welcome the beautiful changing leaves, weird brown-gray sky colors, and “cold humidity” that signify the arrival of autumn in Maryland.

This year’s pumpkin, much like last year’s poop emoji Christmas ornament, was inspired by a fun post from Buzzfeed: 18 Insanely Clever Pop Culture Stencils To Up Your Pumpkin Carving Game. Indeed I did “up my pumpkin carving game,” using a pattern of Doge from the list.

doge-pumpkin-carving-randie-2016 — So Halloween. Very boo.

I am so happy with how this turned out! I think doge would be proud. What pumpkin design are you carving this Halloween?

UMD Community Learning Garden Banner

August 31, 2016July 31, 2023 | randie.hov

Check out our crew in front of the fancy new UMD Community Learning Garden banner! We are but a few of many burgeoning gardeners who meet at 4 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays to learn about sustainable food production and help tend the raised beds and terraced plots.

umd-clg-banner — At the official hoisting of the garden banner last Monday. I ended up in the middle of the photo. This is awesome.

Sustainable Ag advisor Meredith Epstein (middle, in teal) manages the garden and leads the work hours. When I started working with Meredith at the Institute of Applied Agriculture, the garden quickly became one of my favorite spots on campus. This summer I grew soybeans, pole beans, green peppers, tomatoes, kale, thyme, sage, and basil in my garden plot.

I was excited when Meredith asked me to design a 12×4′ banner for the garden. I had previously made a sticker design for the garden club, so I took this as an opportunity to build consistent branding by pairing the same colors and fonts with the provided terp/carrot logo.

comm-learning-garden-banner-preview-option2 — At 12′ wide by 4′ tall, if you can’t see the banner to find the garden I feel bad for you.

The UMD Community Learning Garden is one of four campus gardens at the University of Maryland, College Park. Formerly called the Public Health Garden, it is nestled between the School of Public Health and the Eppley Recreation Center. You should definitely follow on Instagram.

Can I Graduate

August 2, 2016November 14, 2016 | randie.hov

Today I submitted my application for graduation from UMUC. I will officially have my M.S. in Marketing Management this December. I felt exactly like this:

But I know that when I have that diploma in my hand this December, I will feel like this:

In the meantime it is finals week, so this is how I feel right now after 24 consecutive weeks of taking two courses (one of which is a dystopia of work overload) on top of work:

And now you know why I have a “Randie’s Groundhog Day ends on December 4, 2016” widget on my sidebar.

Baltimore Rent-A-Tour

July 29, 2016July 29, 2016 | randie.hov

I just bought tickets to my second Baltimore Rent-A-Tour experience, for this coming Sunday. The last one, a Christmas lights tour, was magical. Our group met at happy hour and then a charter bus drove us through the city while our tour guide, Chris, pointed out various historic sites.

This time it will be another tipsy tour, but on the water. We’re going to take a Water Taxi and Chris is going to narrate the pub-related origin of our National Anthem, describe the Baltimore-based forerunner of the modern sports bar, and tell us the history behind one source of many of my college hangovers, National Bohemian beer.

Looking forward to my second tipsy tour reminds me of a project I did for fun when I used to work with my friend (and Chris’ girlfriend), Jen. In the storage closet on Jen’s floor there was a pin maker that I always coveted but never got to use (it would have halted productivity). After having so much fun on the Christmas tour, I created these pin designs in Illustrator.

baltimore-rent-a-tour-pins — If you are in the city, definitely check out Baltimore Rent-A-Tour! Unless you hate history. Or fun. Or both. Then we don’t want you.

Meghan and Danny are Getting Married

July 9, 2016July 9, 2016 | randie.hov

…and I designed their wedding program!

Randie and Bill Explore Vermiculture

May 9, 2016May 10, 2016 | randie.hov

In my quest to take the trash out less, I have tried a couple of methods. One was to eat everything in the kitchen. Another was to compost.

I went to a composting workshop at the University of Maryland, but I was interested in learning how to turn my trash into plant food, and the workshop was focused more on campus sustainability. I don’t live on campus because I am 27 years old (or 77 in undergrad years). So I pressed on.

I had a stroke of luck when my co-worker Meredith asked me to give a 10-gallon Rubbermaid tub packed full of worms and trash to a friend of hers. I thought that as a gift to be given in the spirit of friendship, this was an interesting choice.

As it turns out, the worms eat biodegradable matter and create poop. While this may not sound extraordinary, the worm doodies, or “castings,” can be used as superfood for plants. Ka-ching!

I further explored vermiculture yesterday by creating two worm bins with my dad. We ordered a 600-count bag of worms from Nature’s Good Guys and split them. Today is day one and I already woke up to a few escapees making their way out of the worm farm. I hope for Bill’s sake that mom doesn’t see any worms coming out of his bin at their home.

red-wigglers-natures-good-guys — Cute little animal friends with their army hats, pickaxes and shovels. ❤

I Went Viral

March 6, 2016July 31, 2023 | randie.hov

Last fall, my co-worker Larisa Cioaca presented me with some statistics about Maryland agriculture and a request to create an infographic. Larisa is the Agricultural Business Management lecturer and advisor at the Institute of Applied Agriculture (IAA), where I am the Student Services Coordinator and Graphic Designer.

The project was shelved for a little while, but I eventually put it together and posted it on the IAA Facebook page last Friday at 10:00 a.m.

As of right now (11:00 a.m. on Sunday) it has 40 likes and 84 shares. Whaaat? Why wasn’t there this much hype about my Open House post?

I credit Meredith Epstein, lecturer and advisor of the Sustainable Agriculture course of study at the IAA, with the idea of drawing male AND female farmers in the “350,000 Marylanders” block. Because: equality.

I feel so affirmed by my newfound ag peers. I look forward to creating the next infographic for the IAA, Alternative Agriculture in Maryland.

Please feel free to download the infographic from the IAA website for printing and posting in classrooms.

**Update: We are now up to 121 shares! Whaaat?

All I Want for Christmas is Poo

February 11, 2016February 11, 2016 | randie.hov

When I saw the Buzzfeed article 6 Easy Holiday Gifts You Can Give Everyone in Your Squad, I knew that I must realize my dream of creating poop emoji Christmas ornaments. Unfortunately I didn’t see this article until December 22nd, so I made them the Wednesday after Christmas. Womp womp.

Additionally, I somehow managed to delay the posting of this until February. Also womp.

However, because I spent most of an afternoon purposely turning Sculpey and glitter into twinkly poops, I feel that I now can share some helpful photos with you should you choose to embark on the same adventure. Click the photos to enlarge.

The instructions showed eyes and smiles made out of white Sculpey. Instead, I decided to paint them on. I did this prior to applying the adhesive and glitter.

Don’t waste $8 on Martha Stewart glitter. Glitter is glitter.

Spray with several light coats of adhesive. Then lightly sprinkle the glitter on and allow the adhesive time to set. Follow with clear coat after the adhesive is dry. Complete these steps outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. See the next photo for more spray adhesive tips.