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Apartment Gardening: Fall Veggies for Indoor Containers

In our day and age, vegetable gardening is one of the most accessible ways to connect to nature—and it’s not restricted to community garden plots or sprawling backyards. Every year, more and more people are beginning to grow healthy, vibrant foods within the walls of their own apartments. If you’re feeling the urge to reconnect to nature in a delicious way, we have some great tips for you. Getting Started If you have a south-facing window or balcony, chances are your plants will receive full sun through the fall. If not, identify the room in your apartment that gets the most natural sunlight, and take note of how many hours it’s sunny each day. “Full sun” is 6 or more hours of sunlight each day, while 3-6 hours is “partial shade.” With our hot temperatures and desert climate, Gilbert, Arizona is in growing zones 9A and 9B. Elsewhere, the seed-sowing window is ending, but in zone 9, September and October are the perfect time to sow the seeds for a wide variety of fall vegetables. Here’s a selection of the fall crops that we think work best in an indoor or outdoor container garden: Green Beans Use a narrow but deep pot for your green beans. For a cheap pot, you can drill holes in the bottom of a hardware store bucket. Be sure to have a tray to place it on, rather than ruining your carpet! Keep your green bean container somewhere exposed to full sun, and sow according to packet instructions. For pole beans, be sure to add a trellis! As a bonus: Green beans are a nitrogen fixer, which means that they’ll leave this pot with nitrogen-rich soil for your spring indoor crops! Carrots Although technically a full-sun crop, carrots are noted to do well even in imperfect lighting conditions and are perfect for a kitchen counter. To plant your carrots, select a pot at least eight inches deep and fill it with well-drained soil, but no large stones. Keep the soil consistently moist, especially early on to help seeds germinate. The soil should feel like a moist sponge—but not one wet enough to leak! Lettuce Lettuce can be grown in full sun, but is a perfect choice for a partial-shade room. Be sure to keep lettuce away from window sills: The way your windows focus the sun’s light on its leaves can be like a magnifying glass frying an ant. Layer in pebbles as the bottom inch or two of your potting soil, and make sure you have good drainage materials mixed throughout. Plant lettuce 6-18 inches apart depending on the seed packet’s instructions, and as always, be sure to water the soil and not the leaves. Spinach Full sun is best for rich, nutritious, leafy spinach plants, but they can be grown successfully in partial shade. Use the same potting mixture as you do for your lettuce, ensuring soil is well-drained. When planting outdoors, spinach plants are usually placed 12 inches apart- but indoors, anecdotally, many gardeners are able to place them much closer. If you have pots left over, look forward toward the first week of October: it’s nearly time to plant peas and kale!

Hot Drink Recipes for the Start of Fall

Autumn has officially begun, and with it comes a whole new selection of things to be excited for. Whether you’re looking forward to the changing leaves, the comfortable nights in, or a socially-distanced afternoon in a pumpkin patch, we can all agree there’s plenty of fun to be had. Today, we’re going to be talking about one of the coziest things about the season: hot fall drinks. Slow Cooker Apple Cider Apple cider is a staple of the season, but not everyone makes their own. With just some tasty ingredients and a slow cooker, you can make a delicious hot cider that will warm you all the way to your toes, all at home! Ingredients 9 medium-sized apples of your choice (We personally recommend honeycrisp!) 10 cups of water 1 finger of ginger, a couple of inches long 1 orange 3 sticks of cinnamon ½ a cup of brown sugar 1 teaspoon of cloves 1 teaspoon of nutmeg ½ a teaspoon of allspice Directions To prep ingredients: Wash your apples and your orange. Then, cut both fruits into quarters. Peel and slice your ginger into thin strips. You can use less or more ginger, depending on personal flavor preference. Not everyone likes the taste! You want to have your slow cooker ready to go, a vessel for all this autumnal deliciousness. Add all your non-liquid ingredients into the pot: the apples, the orange, the ginger, and all your spices. Then, pour in your water. It should be enough to cover all the ingredients, but with a couple of inches of room at the top so it won’t boil over. Put the lid on your slow cooker, and cook your cider! You either want to cook it on low heat for 6-7 hours, which can be done overnight or while you’re working, or on high heat to 2-3 hours. When that time has elapsed, you want to mash up the soft apples and oranges, and then put the lid and cook it for one more hour! After the cooking is done, you should strain out the solid ingredients, leaving only the liquid. Then you put the finished liquid into your chosen container, mix in your sugar, and drink it hot! Honey Latte This fairly simple, tasty latte enhances your morning coffee with the dreamy combination of warm milk and golden honey. It’s perfect for those days when you want something special to drink without sacrificing your caffeine fix! Ingredients Steamed/hot milk of any kind you like, whether that be dairy or otherwise. The amount of milk required will depend on the size of your mug, so it’s hard to specify! If you have a way to foam milk, that can also in the cup after your coffee. 2 shots of espresso, or some strong coffee if espresso isn’t an option. 2 teaspoons of honey, and some extra to drizzle on top. Directions Pick out a mug. The size is up to you. This is a delicious latte, so you might want to go with a big one! Add your two tablespoons of honey to the bottom of the mug. Pour some of your warm milk into the mug, and stir to mix the honey at the bottom. This definitely shouldn’t be more than half the cup, as you’ll still be putting in your coffee, and more milk or foam. Add in your espresso or coffee, and then pour in the rest of the steamed milk! You can also add your foam now, if you’d like. Top with an additional drizzle of honey on top. Then drink! S'mores Hot Chocolate This sweet drink is a little more elaborate and takes more steps than the others, but it’s also a decadent, desserty delight that’s worth the effort. Give it a try! Ingredients 3 cups of milk of any kind 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup 3 tablespoons of sugar ½ a cup of mini-marshmallows ¼ a cup of cocoa powder Crushed graham crackers, for the rim of your mug A pinch of salt Directions First, crumble up your graham crackers and put them on the bottom of a wide round tin or something of a similar shape. You don’t need too many, because it’s just for topping and for rimming your mug, but you want to put them in a vessel that’s big enough for you to dip the mug in. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit. This will be used to broil your marshmallows! When you do it, you want to use the top or second highest oven rack, so you can get them toasty and gooey without having to be in the oven for long. Heat your milk in a saucepan on the stove, over medium heat. You don’t want to overheat the milk or scald it, so take it slow. You want it to be heated through, but not to develop the skin on top that can happen when milk is heated too quickly at a high temperature. While your milk is heating, if you keep an eye on it, you can take some of your marshmallows, split them, and rub the sticky side around the rim of your mug to help the graham cracker crumbles stay in place. Dip the rim of your mugs into the graham cracker crumbles until you’ve got a nice circle of crumbs around the top. Put your chocolate syrup, your sugar, your cocoa powder, and your salt into your heated milk on the stove. Then whisk it thoroughly to mix and combine the ingredients. Turn off the heat when it’s all fully combined. Pour your hot chocolate into your mugs, and top with marshmallows. It’s nice if they cover a good bit of the top. Then, carefully put the mugs on a baking sheet in your pre-heated oven, and let the marshmallows heat until they’re gooey and browned. Watch them carefully to make sure they don’t burn! They shouldn’t need to be in there very long. Turn off your oven, and use potholders or a towel to remove your baking sheet from the oven and set it somewhere safe for the heat, like the top of the stove. Let the mugs cool a bit. They should cool quickly, without the liquid inside getting cold! Then, add some extra graham cracker crumbles on top if you’d like, or some more chocolate syrup, or really anything you’d desire if you want this to be even sweeter! At that point, you’re free to enjoy. Let us know in the comments if you try any of these delicious fall drink recipes, and what you thought if you did! We’d also be happy to hear about your favorite drinks for ringing in the beginning of the new season.

Best Donuts Near Gilbert for National Cream Filled Donut Day

National Cream Filled Donut Day is September 14th, and while we don’t really need an excuse to sample some of Gilbert’s finest pastries, it’s always nice to have one. So in order to make the best possible use of the holiday, here’s a list of some of the best donut shops and bakeries in the area. Donut Worry Coffee & Smoothies Only a thirteen minute drive from our community, this Arizona-local shop serves more than just dessert. They feature bagels, coffee, milk tea, sandwiches, and a truly stunning array of donuts in different flavors (and don’t worry -- they have cream filled!) As a result you can not only satisfy your donut cravings, but get a whole breakfast as you do it. They’re keeping their usual hours but doing take-out only, so you can pick out your favorites and eat them in the comfort of your own home. Or in your car, if you can’t wait. (Image from Donut Worry Coffee & Smoothies) Donut Parlor Donut Parlor has been providing delicious donuts since 2016, and actually also partners with a variety of Arizona charities to support good causes, so this is a treat that’s both tasty and potentially helpful! They have a ton of different donut flavors, covered in sprinkles and icing, from Ferrero Rocher Nutella to Boston cream to cinnamon sugar crumble. Try them out, they won’t disappoint! They’re doing delivery and takeout right now, so you can get them brought right to your doorstep without even having to leave the apartment. (Image from Donut Parlor) 19th Donut Hole This donut shop is also doing both takeout and delivery, so getting a selection of gorgeous pastries is super easy! 19th Donut Hole works with local suppliers to get the freshest ingredients possible, and they sell more than just donuts -- they have coffee and full, customizable cakes, too! Coffee and donuts are already a classic combination, but so is one of their chocolate chip roll specialty donuts and a buttermilk bar. Try them yourself, and tell us what you think! (Image from 19th Donut Hole) Happy National Cream Filled Donut Day! It may not technically be a real holiday, but we hope you celebrate with something delicious.

Artistic Take and Make Kit Fun in Gilbert

If you’ve been craving the addition of a little bit of creativity in your schedule, you’re not alone. Plenty of us have wanted to find something fun and creative to break up the days, and maybe even give us the chance to develop a new skill! Luckily, Gilbert has some wonderful local art studios and workshops that offer things like recorded classes and take and make kits, which brings the fun of an art class to you at home. Here’s some great options for your next artistic fix. The Art House The Art House has a variety of recorded art classes with accompanying take-home kits, from watercolors to kids’ painting classes to brush pen lettering. Some of these classes are geared towards the practical (for instance, how to cut and distress your own denim), while others are all artsy fun. Pick your class of choice and spend the night developing your artist’s eye! You could even make it into a cool family event. (Photo from The Art House) The AR Workshop The AR Workshop has a whole selection of DIY take and make kits, mostly focused on home decoration! These kits include detailed instructions and all the required materials to spruce up your wall or decorate for your favorite upcoming holiday. It’s never too early to start getting ready for Halloween, is it? They even have specific project types within the different categories, so you can really customize according to your preferences and what you need. If your wall decor is looking a little sparse, this might be the perfect way to spend a couple of days and make something cool with your own hands! (Photo from The AR Workshop) Studio 223 Studio 223 has a super fun lineup of diverse take-home crafts for you to peruse. They have their own spin on things you might find elsewhere, like decorations you can craft yourself for your room or yard, as well as more exotic options like soy candles, chunky blanket knitting, or cookie decorating! They also offer some really cute themed coloring books which could be a great gift for the kids in your life, including one that’s Gilbert themed! We love celebrating our wonderful area, and this is a great way to do it. (Photo from Studio 223) Of course, there are other ways to get into crafts at home, whether you want to start cake decorating or try your hand at collage. However, we think these are all fantastic possibilities, especially if you’ve wanted a little more creativity in your life and aren’t sure where to start! These detailed kits can help you make something out of this world. Let us know in the comments if you or your families have been trying out any new artistic endeavors in this time, with a take and make kit or otherwise!

Home Spa Tips for DIY Relaxation

There’s no shame in admitting it -- life can be stressful sometimes, and some of us are feeling the effects of that stress more than usual right now. Taking care of ourselves is an instrumental part of managing daily life, and honestly, sometimes we don’t focus on it enough! We’re here to provide you with a few options for the best at-home spa day you’ve had in a while. A Warm Bath This option is both super relaxing, and super customizable to create the best possible home spa experience for you! All you need is a bathtub, and the rest is up to you. You can add bubbles, or go all out with a bath bomb. You could (safely!) set up candles in the bathroom to really hammer home that spa atmosphere. You could even combine it with another treatment or two, like a refreshing face mask while you soak! The steam is good for your skin, and the hot water is good for your muscles. Collect your favorite bath supplies and enjoy your ideal spa-style bath, with all the works. Give Yourself a Mini Massage Never underestimate the power of some hands-on care. It could be nice to grab some soothing lotion and give yourself a massage in some of the places that you may not pay as much attention to, like your hands, wrists, calves, and feet. When we think of a massage, we often imagine the neck and shoulders, but those smaller parts of our bodies can hold a lot more tension than we realize, especially when we’re doing a lot of different things with them! Do yourself a favor and rub some of the stress out of your muscles. Finish Up With a Calming Beverage One of the best ways to round off a relaxing evening is with a good night’s sleep. The right drink could put you in the mood for a great rest, as well as being a meditative and soothing activity by itself. There’s lots of potentially perfect beverages, and we’re sure you have your favorites, but we’d love to recommend some hot tea for this! Choose a type without any caffeine, heat some water, and have a warm mug, maybe with some lemon and honey. Even the action of drinking something hot can help you wind down! We hope you take some time for yourselves soon, and have a relaxing evening! Let us know if there’s any special comforting ritual that you do that we didn’t list, because we’re always eager to hear suggestions!

Bring Taco Tuesday Home From These Gilbert Restaurants

Many of us have taken to our own kitchens to make the favorites that we used to go out for since restaurant dining rooms have closed. And although some restaurants in Gilbert are open again, most of us can agree that your very own dining room is one of the best places for dinner these days! So if you’re looking for an excuse to take the night off from cooking, and you’ve been craving tacos, here are three Gilbert taco restaurants that offer takeout and delivery so you can enjoy Taco Tuesday from the comfort of your Acero Cooley Station apartment! Backyard Taco Voted Best Taco in Town three years in a row by the East Valley Tribune, Backyard Taco is the definition of authentic tacos in the heart of Gilbert, AZ. With a passion for flavor , every dish that comes from the Backyard Taco kitchen is enough to make you wish you had ordered more. Adhering to the continuously changing dining experience due to COVID-19, Backyard Taco has online ordering along with takeout and delivery options, so you can have all of your favorites right at home! Famous for their always fresh and never frozen Tacos al Carbon, prepared on a mesquite grill for supreme authenticity, Backyard Taco brings a new dimension of flavor to your typical Taco Tuesday dinner. (Photo by @BackyardTaco) SoCal Fish Taco Company When was the last time you had fish tacos? Nothing says summer like fresh mahi tacos from The SoCal Fish Taco Company . Offering all sorts of coastal favorites, like broiled salmon tacos, beer-battered lobster tacos and of course, shrimp tacos, you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu . Located in the Heritage District of Downtown Gilbert, you can enjoy the flavors of California, beach-inspired street tacos while kicked back on your Arizona patio with a street taco in one hand and chips and salsa in the other. Whether you’re placing a delivery order or stopping by to pick it up yourself, you’ll be glad you did because these fish tacos are out of this world. (Photo by @JaredSegerPhoto) Rusty Taco What do you get when you combine fresh ingredients, authentic flavor and a splash of spice? Rusty Taco . That’s what you get. And it’s easy as ever to get all of your street taco cravings satisfied with Rusty Taco's online ordering and delivery. Essentially, you could put on your favorite sweatpants, sit back on the couch, place an order on your phone and dinner could be at your door in just a few minutes. What a time to be alive! When placing your order, be sure to add the smoked BBQ Brisket Street Taco to your cart (you’ll thank us later). (Photo by @RustyTacoGrams) We know how fun it is cooking up delicious masterpieces in your Acero Cooley Station kitchen, but we also know how relaxing it can be to just order your favorite meals right to your door! Keep these local Gilbert Mexican restaurants in mind the next time you’re craving tacos without the hassle, and let us know how your takeout dinner goes on Facebook and Instagram ! We’ll see you next time here on the Acero Cooley Station blog .