Seed Starting Take Two… errr… Three… Maybe FOUR?!?

Lonely seedlings. Their companions didn't pop...

A while back I talked about starting my seeds.  I ran out of seed starter, and I ended up ordering more seeds, not to mention the impulse buys at the big box stores, so I actually started seeds on two other occasions.  I was thrilled to be so ahead of schedule.  Here’s the problem.  I didn’t get my seeds from tried and true sources this year.  I was trying a couple new things in planning the garden and as I planned I realized that some of the things I was looking for weren’t going to be as readily available from my favorite suppliers.  So instead of trying to get a few things from here and a few things from there I placed one larger order and pulled out some of my “old” seeds.

Today, I had to go back and resew some seeds in hopes that maybe they’ll germinate quickly and get a bit of growth in before it is time to start putting plants in the ground.  To say I’m disappointed doesn’t even really begin to cover it.  Now I’m behind and I’m questioning my strategy of using hybrids for about one half of my garden.  Previously, I’ve been an heirloom gal.  Strictly heirlooms.  Simply because they are open pollinated and I can save the seed myself with no issues.  Not that I always do that.  Sometimes I’m lazy.  Sometimes I eat it all before I think to save the seeds.  And sometimes, I just have a crummy year and don’t grow a whole lot that I would trust as reliable seed stock.  This year, in the interest of putting up more food for the off season, I decided I would go with some determinate hybrid tomatoes, as well as some hybrid peppers.  I knew I was making a sacrifice as far as flavor, but I was also going to get some gains in production.  I hoped.  So far, the heirlooms are doing OK, but I’m struggling with the hybrids.  I’m starting to think I should have abided by the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” rule of life.  I was especially disappointed that one of the seeds I ordered came in as a “treated” seed, but it wasn’t mentioned as treated online or in the catalog.  Hopefully these seeds will come up in a few days, but I am going to go ahead and start working on an order for Botanical Interests and Seed Savers just in case.

I love, Love, LOVE Botanical Interests.  I can’t say enough good things about their products.  The seed is reliable, the shipping is incredibly fast, and as simple as it sounds, the packaging makes you feel like an appreciated customer.  My seeds have always come from there in a heavy duty cardboard box, and tucked in a piece of green tissue paper.  I know it sounds hokey, but the thoughtful presentation makes me feel like they value my business.  Also, the packets are paper, which sounds like it is a given, but I have purchased seeds from two other companies who use plastic bags.  Not only is this a huge ecological no-no, but the seeds get a static charge and it is difficult to get them out.  The other unique thing about Botanical Interests is the seed pack itself.  It has beautiful art on the cover.  Yes, art.  Not a photograph, AND it also has loads of information about the plant INSIDE the packet.  You carefully slice the top, bottom, and one side with scissors or some other sharp object (supervision may be required if you are like me), open it up,  and there you find all kinds of extra information.  I have ordered single seed varieties from them as well as some of their mixes, such as the Honeybee Mix.  I really think they are a top notch company (and they are small, which makes me feel good about supporting them) but their product shines and their germination is quite good.  Also, pretty huge for me, is that they have signed the safe seed pledge, which means that their seed is not GMO.  They also have a satisfaction guarantee, which I have never needed to use, but it’s nice to know it is there.

Seed Savers Exchange has a remarkable variety of heirlooms, and I use them when I need to locate a variety that isn’t mainstream, or just when I’m looking to try something new and unusual.  Maybe I should say, old and unusual.    SSE’s mission is to maintain plant diversity, which is a great thing in this age of monoculture.  I like their packaging, and their shipping is fast.  As an added bonus, I have noticed that their seeds in particular stay viable for a VERY long time.  Granted, some seeds have been found that are still viable after hundreds of years, but usually those are in special circumstances.  SSE seeds have been viable in my trials for 4 years running so far.  Of course, this year I used the last of my stock so I will either save seed myself from these varieties this year, or just reorder next year.

I try not to purchase from big box stores, but like a siren call I can hear them singing to me as soon as I walk in the door.  This year I only picked up 5 packs from the stores though.

So there are my two cents on seed companies that are worth your money.  Maybe I’ll do another post on the ones I am not so fond of, but frankly, I just want to forget this terrible mistake.

Adding on to the Greenhouse… sorta

It seems like every day involves work of some type for the garden right now.  I know that I should enjoy it, because the next few months will fly by and then I’ll be complaining that there isn’t anything to do.  Scratch that.  There won’t be anything I want to do.  Right now is the honeymoon phase of the garden.  Yes, there is work to be done, and we’re still settling into each other, but there is still the excitement of each new germination and we don’t quite know what to expect from each other just yet.  I don’t know if the Inca tomatoes aren’t germinating because of something I’m doing (or not doing) or if it is just the way this variety behaves.  I don’t know yet and it’s all a grand adventure like any good relationship.  (It’s a hybrid and in the past I generally have avoided those.  Unfortunately, finding a good determinate bearer that is an heirloom isn’t an easy task.  But that’s another post entirely.)  I wanted to show you what we’ve been up to here on the Ponderosa.

The biggest change is that we have added on to our water storage supply by a great deal.  And by a great deal I mean by roughly 800 gallons.  The Handyman was search Craig’s List for something or other and came across a gentleman selling food grade containers that hold approximately 275 gallons each.  We got three.  Two are hidden behind the greenhouse with a newly installed guttering system feeding them and one is up by the porch where the old 55 gallon drum sat.  That drum will now be moved to live in the pump house (or beside it, hopefully) and that will become my water store for the hydrangeas out front.  The main water supply will be used for the food garden, as well as for the rose garden and other odds and ends around the yard.  Last year we struggled with a drought, and I felt guilty watering all the time.  You should have seen us out there last year, running around like a couple of ducks gone mad every time it rained.  We would empty the barrel every time it would get full in a storm into ANY empty container we had while the rain poured and lightning flashed.  Trash cans, Rubber Maid totes, empty gallon jugs, 5 gallon buckets.  It was bad.  But then, that water would be gone in just a few days thanks to the hot, dry weather.  This year we will be more prepared.  I hope.

I also planted some seeds for a friend’s wedding coming up in June.  I started some snapdragons and some Texas bluebonnets.  I discovered, though, that the blue bonnets should have been planted in OCTOBER.  Why, oh, why do seeds sellers put seed out at the wrong time?  I am going to take some sandpaper to the remaining seeds to see if I can convince them to go ahead and germinate.  I also will plant some sunflowers and zinnia seeds that I saved from last year.  She is having a florist as well, but this will be a bit of a personal touch.  That’s the plan anyway.  Cross your fingers for me, please.

Some tragedies occurred as well.  I’ve lost a seedling or two to natural causes.  I also had a rather stealthy caterpillar cause some of my plants to meet their doom.  I caused him to meet his own doom.  Then I fed him to the ants.  Recycle, I always say…

Poor watermelon... never saw it coming.

I caused this poor plant’s death.  I was clumsy.  It happens.  A lot.  This, friends, is why I have to plant so many seeds.  *sigh*

On a brighter note, I moved some things about to make room for more seedlings, and I found these little gems hiding behind a rose bush that I bought but haven’t planted yet…  Yippee!!! More peppers for my tummy.  In a few weeks anyway.  I’ll take this as a sign of success.  And speaking of signs of success… You remember that other pepper that I attempted to kill?

Here she is, showing off her lovely new leaves.  She has staged a comeback, friends.  She survived the great greenhouse overheating of 2011.  She has walked to the brink and laughed at death.  She needs a name.  I may call her, I don’t know, Brittney.  I’m open to suggestions.  If you have a good name for this survivor, please leave it in the comments.    And finally, I want to show you something that has zero to do with the garden.  Actually, maybe it does.  Perhaps it will keep my squirrelly friends out of the garden.  The four legged ones.  Not much I can do about the two legged variety.  I don’t have a real problem with them thanks to all the oaks we have around, but perhaps this will encourage them to stay in their greener pastures…

This friends is a squirrel feeder.  Made with a pickle jar and a fence slat.  The Handyman made it for me and I adore it.  I love to see my little friends out there just chowing down.  I took this picture shortly after refilling the jar.  It doesn’t stay this full for long.  I have one little friend who attempts to live in the little house part.  He will park his rear in there and eat, eat, eat, and fight off any other creature who comes close.  I worry that he is going to outgrow the holes and not be able to get out.

Anyway, that’s what’s going on around here.  I hope your garden is coming along.  I can’t wait to hear what’s happening in your yards soon!

This is only a test. A tasty, tasty, test.

A few months ago,I got the crazy idea to try making my own vanilla extract. I love vanilla. I even like it better than chocolate. So I decided with the crazy cost of real vanilla extract that I would make my own. I looked around town for affordable vanilla beans, but I couldn’t find any that didn’t cost an arm and a leg, or at least a few fingers. So I went online and found a great deal on Amazon.com. Then I headed out to the store and bought a bottle of vodka and a bottle of rum. I looked like a baker with a drinking problem.  I came home, split the beans, and popped them in a couple of repurposed peanut butter jars.  Then I covered the beans with vodka in one jar and rum in another.  I was glad I got a deal on the vanilla beans because I had to use several beans per jar. I gave each jar a bit of a shake, screwed on the lid, and put them in a cool dark place.  Every once in awhile I would take them out and give them another shake. A few months have passed and this is what they look like now.

I used some to bake cookies the other day, and it may have been my imagination, but I thought they were extra delicious and full of vanilla goodness. I didn’t keep track of everything I spent but I feel like this is a much cheaper way to get my vanilla fix. And even if it isn’t, it was fun to try. The only bad part is you really have to plan ahead. It takes months for the alcohol to extract the vanilla goodness. On the bright side if you’re not doing a lot of baking very closely together you can you add more alcohol and it will continue to extract the goodness from the same beans.  The vodka extract leaves a cleaner, vanilla taste, and the rum imparts a richer, warmer flavor. Both are super yummy. I bet they’ll both make a super yummy post planting cocktail. I’ll have to get back to you on that.

Seedlings!

Here is a (not very good, sorry) picture of my seedlings that I started about 10 days ago.  I had them in the greenhouse, but it wasn’t quite warm enough for germination, so I brought them in and set them on top of a heat register in my bathroom.  Dancing around it has been totally worth it because within two days all these little guys came shooting up.  I have taken the plastic lid off the top because they were brushing it and it was wet.  I didn’t want any weird fungus among us.  Now that most of these have popped I will move them into the bedroom where it tends to be a couple degrees cooler (though still warmer than the greenhouse) and hopefully a few more will poke up their heads.  A flat of peppers will move into the bathroom next.  Peppers really like a germination temp around 80 degrees and up.  It won’t be that warm, but hopefully a few will be encouraged to start growing.  I feel like I’m under a bit of a time crunch because I usually plant the first or second weekend in April.  Our “last frost date” is in March, but I don’t trust the weather guy.  He has burned me before.  Or should I say, frozen me, and with our wacked out weather this year I’ll definitely be on my guard.

Later!

How colors can affect us. Also, the brainwashing of civilization…

Color and light play an important role in our psyche.  Just think about how you feel after too many gloomy, rainy days in a row.  And if it is cold, to boot, well, you can find me at the bar.  Color is used by many advertisers and designers to motivate us to do certain things or buy particular products based on the emotions that those colors evoke.  While I was wandering in Pinterest land not too long ago I came across this infographic.  And we all know I have a weakness for such things.  But it really got me thinking… What if we radically redesigned buildings to let in more natural light and used more color in our indoor environments?  Would our moods improve?  Could we use color to alter our own spending habits or physical activity levels?  These are the things I ponder when it is cold and rainy and I can’t go outside to play.  The colors in my home are largely browns and greens.  Not surprising considering my love of the outdoors, but I also have a bit of blue and grey.  Oddly, the blue is in my least productive room.  Apparently I should spend more time there.  Maybe I would get some work done.

Courtesy of NowSourcing, Inc

Seeds, seedlings, and repottings…

Today I did a lot of work in the garden.  I started by  putting down a bit more cardboard, and then I covered it with mulch.  I am extending the garden by a couple of feet.  I put the cardboard down to kill the weeds and the mulch breaks down and enriches the soil.

This is what I put down at the end of last year.  I peeled it back so I could take a peek at how things were going along.  The box is breaking down nicely, but more importantly, the soil looks amazing.  The worms have been working it and the grass, the evil, evil grass, is gone.

Then I put these peas into the soil and I planted some swiss chard seeds.  In a couple of weeks I’ll also put in some pea seeds.  I’m trying to spread out the harvest a bit.

Then I moved on the greenhouse.  Things are going well in there.  I repotted some tomato seedlings.  I’m not at all sure what they are besides the fact that they are tomatoes.  I can tell that from the leaves.  I’m also certain they are indeterminate heirlooms, simply because that is what I had at the time of planting.  The rest will be a grand adventure.

Today I also repotted some butternut squash.  And some Big Boy tomatoes.  Notice that I know actually know what they are.  I wrote them down.  For the first time ever.  I am also tracking germination rates.  For the first time ever.  It will be interesting to see how things go and to see if there is any kind of difference in seed company reliability.

I’ll post a bit more about what seed companies I’ve used and what I’ve planted later.  I kind of want to see what actually comes up first.

The end result is 180 seeds tucked into the soil and in a few days I’ll hopefully see a few little sprouts.  I, of course, don’t have room for 180 plants, but I always over plan.  I assume I’ll screw up something along the way.  And if not I’ll pass them on.  Seeds are so much more affordable than plants that I can’t see not planning ahead and over planting.

Happy (over) planting.

Real Estate and what it means to my garden

Photo Credit Chesapeake Bay Program

I want to buy some land.  Why?  Cause where I live used to be relatively peaceful until a high school was built nearby.  VERY nearby.  Like I feel like I’m at the football/softball/baseball game when I am puttering around my yard.  The lights from the field shine in my window nearby.  It sucks.  For lots of reasons, really, but mostly because I’m one of those silly people who like peace and quiet as well as being able to see the stars at night.  That is something that is hard to come by living near the high school.  I can hear their announcements, their games, even the squealing of tires and thumping of music after a game ends.  It can go on quite late.  And for a person who hates a lot of “artificial” noise, it can be maddening.

So, for some time now, the Handyman and I have been on a hunt for an agreeable piece of land.  Agreeable (to me) meaning that I have less than a half hour drive to a decent grocery store and a reasonable drive to meet with friends.  His version of agreeable would be 20 acres of woods and swamp away from civilization.  Obviously, there will be compromise in this area.  I am hoping that we can find somewhere between 1 and 5 acres where I can have a garden and another greenhouse.  I wouldn’t mind if were a bit out of the way, but I do want emergency services to be able to reach us if we need them.  The problem is that we live in an area where the price of land is inflated because of our location.  We live in something of a tourist area what with all the beaches and such.  I get it.  I really do.  But I think people are asking for way more than the land is worth.  We really want to build something ourselves.  Something out of reinforced concrete to withstand the hurricanes that come our way.  But now that the banks are being bailed out yet again, it seems our dream is even slightly farther out of reach.  The really bad part is, we are the kind of people who live within our means.  We don’t go out and spend money that we don’t have.  We are quite frugal for the most part, so the government will never have to bail us out.  I hope that one day we find what we are looking for.  For now, I’ll keep planning on planting my garden and saving my pennies while I day dream of my some day house and garden.

Things I Love, A List.

This guy.  Totally.  He makes me crazy, but one look and I was a goner.  We won’t discuss how long ago that was, okay?  He’s pretty wonderful.  He builds things.  Like greenhouses.  And he changes oil.  And… get this… he cooks.  He doesn’t clean up after, but his mac and cheese is out of this world.  *sigh*  He’s kind of funny, too, if you appreciate the sense of humor a 15 year old boy would have.  He’s smart.  Most of the time.  I also have to admit, he lets me get away with a lot.  I’m spoiled.  I won’t tell him that, though.

Izzy.  She is snoring next to me right now.  She is soft and warm and purry.  That is enough.

My garden.  This is an old picture. 2008 I think.  But it is the best photo I have of my tomato set up.  It works really well for me.  I think this year I am going to change tactics a bit and move to more hybrids and less heirlooms.  Who am I kidding?  The reality is that I will plant twice as many tomatoes as ever.  I am hoping to can some this year so it should work out fine.  I hope.  Last year kinda stank.  Stupid drought.

Tomatoes.  All types.  Yum.  Reference the above item.

Bees.  They are groovy.  We have a few hives.  I love watching the ladies work.  We don’t fiddle with them too much and only harvest every other year.  We started keeping bees because one year, my garden did nothing.  Zip.  Zilch.  We needed bees.  So we got them and our natural pollinator population has soared, along with the health of our hives.  We are more interested in maintaining healthy hives than producing honey, which is why we choose to only rob them every so often.  Plus robbing them is work.  Sticky work.

That being said, I also love this stuff.  Golden goodness.  I’m pretty sure this is what the ancient Greeks were talking about when they referred to ambrosia.  Have you ever chewed on fresh comb?  Oh. My. Goodness.  Especially since we harvest in the fall when temps are still up.  I think it makes it extra yummy and chewy.  We use the honey, obviously, but we also use the wax.  I use it to make balms for my skin and this year we played about with making some candles.  Also, we give it away as gifts.  Of course, we also give some of the honey away.  I think next year he is planning on selling more though.  Not so much to turn a profit, but to cover the cost of some new hives he is building to replace some older ones.

I think on that sweet note, I’ll bid you a Happy Valentine’s Day.  I hope your day is filled with love and happiness.

Til next time, happy growing!

You really can grow onions in a jar.

So I saw this on Pinterest and I thought No Way would this work. But never a gardener to let any opportunity to try growing something pass me by, I gave it a go. And, Dear Friends, it works. At first it was slow going, but in the past week they have taken off. All you need to do it is use the greens and then stick the whites in a small jar of water. Place in a sunny window and wait. I change the water every couple of days. If you have chlorinated water I would let it set a bit or filter it first. Not sure how many “harvests” I’ll get but, I’m already ahead of where I would be so I’ll take it! Happy growing.

One Day you wake up and reailze

Life is going along swimmingly, and then one day, you wake up and realize, you have become your mother.  Or father as the case may be.  Or you may channel them both at different times.  I catch myself saying things and doing things more and more often that remind me of my Mom.  And that’s not a bad thing.  Generally, when I do something randomly nice for someone, I realize it is her, and not me.  I am not a “nice” person by nature.  I won’t be mean, mind you, she’d kill me if I was, but I’m not exactly nice either.  So if I go out of my way to make someone’s day a bit better, I know it is her influence. I can have a difficult time being compassionate to other humans.

One thing I didn’t get from her is a black thumb.  Sorry, Maternal One, but you know it is true.  My talent with the chlorophylled enabled comes from the other side of the gene pool.  That’s OK, though because she’s crafty and I am, not.  As in Not. At. All.  I am the “I can rig things together to make something work” kind of crafty.  She is the “I can make things look pretty and coordinate with five other objects” variety.  Such is life.  You can’t win all of the genetic cards I suppose.

So, why am I rambling in the first place?  It’s my Mom’s birthday.  And besides, the obvious, which is if she didn’t exist neither would I, she has allowed me to continue breathing in spite of myself.  I hope she has a great day.  And in her honor, I think I’ll go out and be randomly nice to someone.