Guest Post: Ready Nutrition

I've been following Ready Nutrition for a couple of weeks now after seeing an interesting post on how to become prepared over 52 weeks. Then they had a contest. Write a blog post, they said, and if we feature it you'll be entered to win! So I wrote. And mine happens to be one of the first ones to be posted! So I'm very excited. I wrote about preparing for storms and about the Rule of Threes. Have a peek over at the article and see what you think.

Busy days, longer days

The tomatoes are growing tall

Spring is finally here, independent of the calendar! The snow, while still there, is melting quickly. Sap is running, greens are poking through the snow in the herb garden, and my greenhouse smells like a steamy garden.

Green onions... not

The one dark spot on my current planting horizon is the flat of green onions. I planted them some time ago and they are not sprouting. Admittedly, the seed was a few years old, but I had hoped. I will have to purchase new seed and get that into the flat. I don't think it's too late; I started the seeds very early this year out of desperation. Then again, I seem to remember making that desperation comment last year around this time, as well. Ah well! Nothing is quite so nice as fresh green onions diced in a salad of greens you've grown yourself.

Kale, repotted

My kale is doing 100% better than the green onions, that's for sure. It took very little time for them to germinate. The rate of germination wasn't as high as I'd hoped (only nine out of the 24 seeds sprouted), each of the plants that made it is healthy and vigorous. They're happily stretching out their roots in their new, more spacious homes. I love my plastic cups, because they're cheap and easy, and they make excellent planters.

Beets, sage, and basil

The sage has been slow to come, but now seems to be doing quite well. The beets are fantastic. I have no idea if they'll survive transplanting, but these were intended more to be a germination test than anything else. Beets generally do best when direct seeded into the soil, because they create a taproot which is easily damaged. Sweet basil is coming up gangbusters, too, stretching its little leaves to the sunlight. I've been pleased with how well each of these seeds germinated, as they're all a year out of date. I also planted oregano, a year old, which did not germinate at all. I'm keeping copious notes, so that I know how long seeds will keep. Oregano apparently is not something to keep for more than one year, but peas, beans, and some other herbs have done quite well despite being out of date.

Broccoli, transplanted

Of all the transplanting I've done, the broccoli was the worst. Tomatoes have stems that break easily, so you need to be really careful with them when re-potting. Broccoli, on the other hand, is just all-over fragile. I managed to break about nine of the plants beyond repair during the repotting process. Still, there were so many that came up (100% germination!) that losing those few didn't hurt as much. I've put the broccoli into plastic cups as well, and despite looking a bit weary immediately after, they're now perky and happy in their new homes.

Greenhouses

I know I've mentioned my love of these greenhouses before, but I simply can't say it often enough. They were easy to put together, and beyond a few zip ties to keep things more secure, required no special tools. They've held the heat even when our house temperature dropped below 55F. They've kept the plants in a moist atmosphere despite being right beside our wood stove, which has been used on and off since we filled the greenhouses. They were an excellent purchase, and I'm forever grateful to Ms. T. for picking them up.

Until a couple of days ago I was only using one of the greenhouses, with the other one having some houseplants I was rehabbing, and my garden supplies. We've run out of room, however! I had to move the tomatoes (pictured above) into the second greenhouse. They were actually growing so quickly that I'm hoping the reduction of the light on them might hold them back just a wee bit. I'm still impressed with myself for creating tomato seedlings that are almost five inches tall!

Rhubarb peeking up

Outside the Freehold, we're finally seeing a few signs of life. The snow is still pretty deep in some spots, but the sunny area that encompasses the garden is rapidly melting. The rhubarb that I planted last year seems to be coming up wonderfully, and I've covered it with a clear plastic tub to "force" it to develop stems and leaves earlier. This is a common practice, especially in colder climates like our own. I have never done it before, but figured it was worth an attempt. Our family has a deep love for strawberry rhubarb pie, and so I really want this to work!

Worms!

One of the best signs of it really being spring was found underneath a box that I'd inadvertently left sitting out all winter. When I moved the box, there were fat, happy worms wriggling there. I'm pleased that our soil naturally has these fat, hungry little guys residing in it. It means that the soil is healthy, and that it's life-sustaining. The other bit of spring that I hope to see soon comes in a little green hopping package. Frogs abound on our property, another healthy sign. Our children spend their summers catching them, keeping them around for a day or two to watch, then setting them free again to be with their fellow frogs. We also have newts, salamanders, and some snakes, all of whom have found their way into our observation tank. Talk about education!

The current raised beds

Our raised beds got quite buried over the winter. From late November until just this week, these beds were under a couple of feet of snow. I wish I'd followed through on my intention to cover them with newspaper at the end of the harvest last year, but I didn't. The soil looks great, though it's still frozen quite solid. As soon as I can effectively hoe the soil, though, we'll be putting in our Lincoln peas, snap peas, and our green beans. Every day I'm out there, kicking the dirt with the toe of my bright red wellies, hoping it'll clump and crumble instead of thumping.

Mt. Maneenee

There's still a lot of snow out there. For some reason, hubby piled all the snow on top of my tire beds, so those are still a few days away from being free and clear of the pile. The kids have been packing it down all winter, too, using it as their "mountain hideaway" which they called Mt. Maneenee. Still, all that snow had to go somewhere, and where it currently sits will melt quickly and leave me with well moistened soil.

Herbs returning

The herb bed is harboring life, despite being buried beneath the mountain. I can see parsley returning, something I didn't expect since I bought cheap pre-grown clumps of it last year. Some of the chives appear to have died off, but more of it is coming up cheerily. I have some in the greenhouses to supplement, so I'm not too worried. The German thyme looks to be returning as well, although it's touch and go at the moment.

The compost pile

Our compost pile has done well over the winter, maintaining enough heat that it was almost snow free for most of the time. It desperately needs turning now, but until I dig out our garden tools from the shed, I'm afraid it's not going to happen. I need my manure fork, a metal behemoth with four, wide set tines. It digs deep into the warm interior of the pile, and lets me turn large chunks of compost, revealing the rich dirt below. We cheated just a little, adding some already-finished compost (with excellent worms) to the pile before it got cold last year. I'm expecting great things from the bin this year!

The site of the hen house

Each year, I try to expand the garden in some way. This year, being only our second on this new Freehold, will include the addition of a lovely chicken coop, to be occupied by ten or so fat and contented brown egg layers. Our family can eat a LOT of eggs, and it isn't unusual for us to put away three to four dozen eggs in a week. If we decide on a "breakfast for dinner" night, that number can reach as high as six dozen! Chickens are on the "must get" list for this year, and as soon as it's warm enough for new chicks to be brought in and not die on us, we'll have our new coop brought in and installed. We'll be running electricity and water to the coop (and a new shed we hope to put beside it) underground, thanks to Gray's backhoe. We'll be able to put the piping a good three feet below the surface of the ground, which ought to keep it from freezing all winter. The spot where the water comes out for the chickens will have to have a heat light shone onto it in order to keep it flowing, but it's doable. I can't wait...

The new orchard

We have a huge, semi-circular driveway, suitable for parking about 20 cars in. This is just too much for even our large family. We've decided to take a huge chunk of the driveway, and remove it. The resulting space will have good compost put down, sod laid on top, and fruit trees planted. We currently have plans for two more apple trees to supplement the one we have, two peaches, two plums, and two pears. We'll also be picking up several blueberry bushes, some raspberries, and blackberries. With any luck, we'll be able to put a nice shade in the area center of the picture to the right, suitable for a picnic table or table and chairs, and perhaps a hammock.

New raised beds

At least three new raised beds will go in this year. They'll be on the opposite side of the driveway (to the right in the above picture, whereas the current raised beds are to the left). The new spot (pictured left) is a bit more shady, but still gets about five hours of sunlight a day, and possibly more. This will be our spot for greens, beans, and other shade-loving plants. We'll be building the beds out of scrap lumber we've picked up at the dump and from craigslist, so they're free, for the most part, aside from a few nails. Then we'll get Gray to pick up several square yards of good compost from the dump, where they give it away for free. There's no way we could fill all these raised beds with good enough soil if it weren't for the wonder of our dump.

The cornfield

My last innovation is our corn field. Last year we used one of the raised beds as a corn field, albeit a tiny one. This year, I need that space for the large number of tomatoes we've sprouted. Each of these plastic tubs will be lined with a black garbage bag, and a few holes will be poked for drainage. Dirt will be put into them, and five corn seeds will be planted in each: the four corners and one in the center. During germination and early growing, they can be shoved all together, and if it gets cool some nights, we can toss a tarp over them easily enough. When they start to tassel and fertilize one another, we'll set up the tubs in a checkerboard pattern, allowing the spacing for good cross fertilization. I expect it'll look fairly nice, too! In the fall, after the corn is collected, we can just dump the soil out into our compost bins, to be recycled with the various other compost.

What amazing plans do you have for your garden this year? Are you a balcony gardener, or a farmer with acres of room to spare? Share your dreams and plans with us!

Check back often for information on canning, preserving, general homesteading and more. If you have questions or comments, please write to me below. I love to answer questions! You can follow the blog via Network Blogs and Google Friend Connect (see the left hand column for the button). If you purchase items I have linked through Amazon or the ads on my site, I receive an affiliate portion of the sale. If you find the items are useful, please purchase from my site! 
 
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Seedling trays

Seedlings in a tray (1)

Every year around this time, I find myself wandering around Home Depot or Agway with the family, often when other people are picking up supplies for house chores. I will meander over to the garden section every time, and look longingly at the neat, ordered trays they have with the little germination lids and the evenly spaced little cups and ... and ... and I never buy them.

That's not true. I did buy one, one year, and while it worked just fine it didn't work so much better than my usual methods that I'd bother doing it again. Instead, I re-use items from around the house that would otherwise get trashed, for starting my seedlings in!

Plastic tray from the swap shop

Throughout January and February, I start collecting items for creating seedling trays. Egg cartons, toilet paper and paper towel rolls (and the rolls from the middle of wrapping paper, too!) all make good seedling pots. Last year I also used Chinese take out containers (the plastic ones with a black bottom and a clear lid) and the similar containers that rotisserie chickens come in when you buy them at Market Basket. Clean any plastics well, and collect all your containers in a single place so they're easy to find when the time comes.

Don't forget about small sour cream containers, and the ones your single-serve yogurt comes in. Any small plastic container can be used to grow plants in, and some metal ones too! This year I'll be adding a few herbs to my windowsill in the cleaned out tins my Hungarian paprika comes in.

Egg carton planter

In my opinion, the best seedling starter around is the paper egg carton. Whether it's a six pack, a full dozen, or a tray of 18 doesn't really matter. You need to be sure that your egg carton is made of paper and not styrofoam, and if it has a lid that's good. Some people feel that the egg cups are a bit small, but it depends what you're planting. You wouldn't want to start a squash plant in an egg cup, but most herbs, tomatoes, and even broccoli will do well to start in them.

A plastic bag holds in moisture

Simply take the lids off carefully, and the little locking flap as well. Fill the egg cups with your planting medium (I use compost and potting soil, mixed equally, but you can also buy some decent seedling medium at most local stores in the spring) and make sure it's moist but not wet. Line the carton lid with plastic wrap or a plastic bag, then put the cup part into the lid. The plastic keeps the lid from getting wet, and helps keep the seedlings moist. The lid, being dry, holds its form well and keeps the egg cups from all falling apart.

The necessary tools

Plant your seeds one or two to a cup, depending on the plant. During the germination process, you can slide the whole thing inside a plastic bag, either a grocery bag or a ziploc style one. As soon as seedlings begin to peek through the soil, take them out of the bag right away and set in a sunny spot. Most egg cartons will fit relatively well on a window sill, and you could even stack them up using a baking rack or something similar.

Mark 1.5" from the end and cut

Toilet rolls and paper towel rolls can both be turned into seedling cups. To use the toilet roll, make a mark 1.5 inches from one end of the roll, then cut several times from the end to the line. Fold the resulting flaps in, and you will have a small, round planting pot. If  you have difficulty with keeping the little toilet roll pots upright, you can use a nice hemp or other twine to tie four together at a time, which will lend to their stability. Place dirt filled toilet roll pots into a plastic or tin foil bottom (old tin pie plates or roasting pans work great for this) and keep watered as you would for the egg cartons.

Fold in the flaps

Small plastic containers need to have a few holes poked into the bottom for drainage, but this is easily achieved by using a hammer and nail. Tap several holes into the bottom of each container and then fill with dirt. Treat them like the other seedlings.

The major difference between the egg cartons and toilet rolls, and the plastic containers, is that the former can go right into the ground without ever disturbing the roots of your seedlings. Plastic containers should be tipped upside down and tapped or gently squeezed to release the plants and dirt from the plastic. Plastic ones work better for larger plants like squash and corn, if you happen to be starting them indoors.

When it comes to seed starting, you can even start a handful of seeds indoors that you might normally put right outside. Cucumbers, for instance, normally just go outside in June and are planted in the soil directly. However, by starting two or three seedlings indoors, you can have vines already growing when you put the rest into the garden as seed. This gives you a handful of slicing cucumbers weeks earlier than you'll get the in-ground ones. The same can go for any plant, really.

It's economical and educational to start your own seeds, indoors or out. A packet of seeds costs less than a dollar in many stores, and not much more than that even for open pollinated or  organic seeds. The same plants as starters, purchased from a nursery or other store will cost you at least that much per plant! Starting those seeds at home gives you the opportunity to be a part of the life cycle of your plant, and lets you teach your children the value of life. It gives you control over what your plants grow in, and what pesticides and chemicals they are introduced to. Add to that, there is a definite feeling of accomplishment you get when you pick a tomato or eggplant that you've nursed from seed to fruit. You can taste the love, the freshness, the glory in it as you eat it.

Shared at the Backyard Farming Connection Hop #20!
Shared at Eco-Kids Tuesday!
Shared at The HomeAcre Hop #7!

Check back often for information on canning, preserving, general homesteading and more. If you have questions or comments, please write to me below. I love to answer questions! You can follow the blog via Network Blogs and Google Friend Connect (see the left hand column for the button). If you purchase items I have linked through Amazon or the ads on my site, I receive an affiliate portion of the sale. If you find the items are useful, please purchase from my site! 
 
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Planning for spring

The winter garden (1)

The weather outside is definitely frightful. We're in the midst of a snowstorm as I write this! Still, we're snug inside, with plenty of wood and oil, and food in the pantry. January is also the time for planning the garden. There's so much to think about, and so many catalogs to go through. Part of my own catalog-peering was sidetracked, though, when I received 24 packets of seeds for my birthday, plus the IOU for both asparagus and strawberry crowns!

Yesterday, I set down to planning. The first thing I did was look up each seed to see when it needs to be planted. Most of them give you an answer that requires a bit of math. You'll see something like, "Plant after all danger of frost is past." Or better yet, "Plant indoors five weeks before last frost date. Transplant to the garden two weeks after last frost date." It's frustrating, but it's worth the fuss of going over the calendar and writing it all down.

My planting season starts outside (believe it or not!) in March sometime, "as soon as the soil can be worked." That means as soon as my raised beds can be hoed properly, it's time to plant my peas and some of my beans. I'll tuck them into the soil about an inch deep, then mulch over them to keep them safe.

Seed packages (2)

In March, my broccoli will be planted in flats indoors. They need to grow for six to eight weeks before they go outside, and they also need to be transplanted outdoors about four weeks before the last frost date. That means that I take my last frost date (May 20 for my area) and count back four weeks (April 22) to figure out when my seedlings will be transplanted outside. Then I count back a further six to eight weeks to figure out when to start them indoors (in the March 4-11 date range).

I then have tomatoes that get planted in flats on April 7, chives on April 20, spinach that goes right outside on April 20, and bunches of other things right up until our last frost date of May 20. The very last thing to go into my garden will be my cucumbers, which need very warm soil. They'll be put into the ground on June 3. Each of the dates I figured out went into my Google calendar and my paper desk calendar. Each day as I sit down to work, I'll be able to see what needs to be done that week in the garden.

Once I knew all the dates they had to be planted indoors, then transplanted outdoors, or planted directly outdoors, I sat down and went over all of them again to figure out when I ought to start looking for harvest. Each seed packet tells you the number of days until harvest (for example, my Amish Paste tomatoes mature in 81 days). The harvest days go onto the paper calendar but not into my computer one, because it's much less exact. For instance, my dill will mature in 60 to 70 days, however I might find that parts of it mature faster or slower, and I'll probably begin pulling some of the baby dill long before it reaches maturity. I might also choose to pick a few green tomatoes in order to make a green tomato pie or fried green tomatoes.

My cork board

Now that I have all my planting dates figured out, I pegged the packets up on my cork board in the right order. As each seed's time comes, I'll pull it down and plant it indoors or out, depending on what it needs. My next seeds are always right there, ready to be pulled down and planted when the time is right. This keeps me organized, and I don't have to search high and low for my seeds. I know others who use a shoebox or other smallish box to keep the seeds organized, with the "next to be planted" at the front. Whatever your personal method, the more organized you are the easier your spring and early summer will be in the garden.

I spend less time planning out my actual beds. Last year I made elaborate "to scale" models on graph paper. The first problem came when my model said "rectangular raised bed" and reality provided me with a tractor tire. It all went downhill from there. Everything still got planted, of course, but it was all in different places in the garden.

Plans from 2012

This year, I'll make up my model to match my current garden, with room for adding new beds when I create them. Then, as I fill up each bed with seeds and seedlings, I'll enter them onto my "map" of the garden. This gives me a visual of my lovely garden, and lets me do minor planning from in the house.

There are other things I need to keep in mind while in the garden. Certain types of plants don't do well together, and others prefer one another's company. I don't want to plant my watermelons beside my cucumbers, as I don't want to find a foul tasting hybridized mix of the two growing somewhere. Different types of winter squash must be kept apart, too. If you plan on saving seeds, you probably shouldn't plant different breeds of tomatoes near one another, either. When you have a small garden, that can make planning quite complex as you try to shuffle things around to make space between veggies that dislike one another.

I can't wait for March!

Listed on the Backyard Farming Connection Hop #17 (click here to enter).
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Check back often for information on canning, preserving, general homesteading and more. If you have questions or comments, please write to me below. I love to answer questions! You can follow the blog via Network Blogs and Google Friend Connect (see the left hand column for the button). If you purchase items I have linked through Amazon or the ads on my site, I receive an affiliate portion of the sale. If you find the items are useful, please purchase from my site! 
 
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Winter Wonders - Making a planting schedule

Last week, I wrote about how fun it is to page through the newly arrived seed catalogs. I talked about the process of deciding what you wanted to plant, and figuring out how much of it you need to have on hand. Once you've gotten all your seeds ordered, you have to figure out when to plant them, and where to plant them. You have to know whether to start them indoors or put them straight into the ground in your garden. You need to be aware of whether they need full or partial sun, which means knowing what types of plants are growing next to one another.

When figuring out planting dates, the first task we have to complete is finding out our last frost date for the winter. According to the almanac, here in New Hampshire our last spring frost date is around May 20th, and we have a growing season of about 124 days.

Our seed catalog tells us that tomatoes take 40-60 days to mature, and do not do well until the soil temperature hits about 60F. This means that planting tomato seeds directly into the ground is going to yield few, if any, tomatoes. We'll need to start this indoors. We know that by Memorial Day the soil is about the right temperature, and our seed packets will tell us that sowing about six weeks before the last frost date is just about right. Counting six weeks back from May 20 puts us at an indoor sowing date of around April 1 through 8.

If we sow our tomato seeds indoors between April 1 and 8, by May 20 they will be ready to start hardening off (putting them outside in the sun for a couple of hours a day). By May 27, Memorial Day, we can be assured that they'll survive. If we do happen to have a frost past that date, and it sometimes happens up here in the North, we can cover our seedlings with floating row covers or tarps, or even an upturned bucket for the night.

We also know tomatoes need full sun in order to produce well. This means we have to make sure that they aren't shaded by anything else in the garden. If you plant something tall near tomatoes (like sunflowers, for instance), be sure to put the tomatoes on the sunny side, so the towering flowers don't hide them from the sun.

Each plant you want to grow needs to be given the same attention to detail, counting back to plant dates based on the last frost date. Some vegetables, such as peas, actually enjoy a little frost and will sprout better in cooler soil. Read the information on the back of each and every seed packet you purchase, and read up on the plants on the internet, too. If you're still not sure, call your local Agricultural Extension and they will have the answers you need.

When planting indoors, remember that you will need to water frequently. Some seeds may need special circumstances in order to sprout properly. These might include overnight chilling in the fridge or a snow bank, a warm seed mat to raise the temperature, or a breeze to make the stems work out once they do sprout.

I've found that putting plants into clear plastic bins works wonders for sprouting and growing. Drill a few holes in the side for air circulation, then put your seed pots into the plastic bin(s) and put the lid on. The miniature greenhouse will help keep moisture in and temperatures fairly steady. They also allow you to pick up your seedlings, en mass, and take them outside on particularly warm or sunny days, or move them from window to window as the sun moves. Watering can be done from the bottom (something important for seedlings, as it encourages root growth downward) simply by pouring water into the bins and letting it soak up into your plants. Don't let the seedlings sit in the water, though - pour it out if they haven't absorbed it all in 30 minutes or so. Too much water can encourage mold growth.

Once you know all the dates you ought to be planting on, write them onto your calendar or in a prominent place. I put mine both onto my desk calendar, and onto my Google Calendar (which emails me 24 hours beforehand to remind me to do things!). I know when to plant things indoors, when to move them onto the porch to harden, and then when to plant them out in the garden. I also make note of where in the garden they should go, so that when the time comes it's just a matter of going out, digging up a spot, and putting them gently in their new home.

The more planning you do now, the better your garden will be in May. Once spring rolls around, you'll be busy with other things, and there won't be as much time for all this planning. By putting the time in now, you save yourself time and effort later!

Linked to from The HomeAcre Hop! Want to enter? Click here! Also shared at the Homestead Barn Hop #95 (click here to enter)!

Check back often for information on canning, preserving, general homesteading and more. If you have questions or comments, please write to me below. I love to answer questions! You can follow the blog via Network Blogs and Google Friend Connect (see the left hand column for the button). If you purchase items I have linked through Amazon or the ads on my site, I receive an affiliate portion of the sale. If you find the items are useful, please purchase from my site!
 
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Winter wonders - the seed catalog

Catalogs galore!

January is one of the best times in the world for people who like to dream of gardening. There's not really anything outdoors to be done, at least in New England, but you can sit and dream and plan to your heart's content. January is the time when the seed catalogs start arriving!

So far, I've gotten eight of them, and I'm expecting several more over the next couple of weeks. I have the "standard" one, Burpee, because there are a few things I like to buy from them even though they're known to consort with evil corporations like Monsanto. They do carry some organic seeds now, too. I have Miller Nurseries as well, which is largely for fruits and perennial vegetables. The third normal catalog I get is Gurney's and I very rarely buy anything from them. However they sometimes send me $10 off coupons with no restrictions, so I'll go buy exactly that much (including shipping) so I get something for free. I'm wary of Gurney's though, as they do sell seeds tainted by the GMO monster.

My favorite catalogs are the specialty ones, though. Sow True Seed, which covers tons of stuff and comes out of Asheville, NC, has so many amazing items to choose from. Bountiful Gardens, too, has a great selection. Then there's Territorial Seed Co., Johnny's Selected Seeds, and Seed Savers Exchange. The best part about these catalogs is that they're all open pollinated seeds, Heirlooms or organic (or both). I don't have to be careful and check every item for GMOs and connections to Monsanto because I know these companies stand head and shoulders above the others, ethically speaking.

Seed Savers Exchange

For pure viewing pleasure, Seed Savers Exchange is my absolute favorite. It's a glossy color catalog, and everything in it is certified USDA organic. They have a lot of Heirloom varieties available. There's a certain joy knowing that you're planting the same variety of seeds as your grandparents did, or their parents. The harvest may be a bit smaller (or in some cases, a lot smaller) than their non-organic and modern brothers, but they make up for it in flavor and beauty.

Reading a seed catalog can be done in a variety of ways. Usually the beginning of January sees me simply paging through them, taking in all the images and some of the information. If there's anything really special I'd like to try, I'll mark it (I keep a highlighter with my catalogs!), but generally that happens later in the month.

By the end of January, I being to yearn for the warmer weather to arrive so I can put seeds out. Just as soon as the snow goes and the soil can be worked, I remind myself, I can put peas and beans out there! I start going through the catalogs in a lot more serious manner.

First, I decide on the basics. What do I always have in the garden? Tomatoes for sure, and beans, peas, cucumbers, and a variety of herbs. Do I have any of those seeds from last year that I need to use up? I check my box of seeds that sleeps in the liquor cabinet, to determine if I have left-overs from last year or seed I put away from my own crops. The remaining items on my list become the basis of my seed shopping list.

The second thing I do is figure out how many row-feet of each thing I will be planting. My raised beds are ten feet long, but with peas and cucumbers I plant on both sides of the trellis I use to hold them up, so I have to double the number of feet I need to purchase. The catalog tells you how closely you can plant things, and you can also check against the square foot gardening list to see if you can squish into a smaller space.

Once you know how many row-feet you need, and how many seeds you can plant per row-foot, you can calculate how many seeds you need. Always buy a few extra, just in case you decide to stagger your planting (a great idea for beans and peas) or you have a few holes in your row because of predators.

Information from a catalog

Each entry in your seed catalogs will have similar information. There will be a number, sometimes with a code attached (the 'key' will be listed somewhere else in the catalog), and this is the number you use on the order form. There's a name, and then a bit of history. Some background about the growth of the plant will be listed, along with some new vocabulary words: parthenocarpic, for instance, and gynoecious, along with others. If you aren't familiar with a term, go look it up. Google is your friend!

Info about a Thai pepper

Some catalogs have more information, including what the crop looks like, how prolific it is, and personal anecdotes. You can find out about the flavor, any problems that are known, and how long it takes to grow to maturity. At the bottom of each entry will be the price for the seeds. Some stores sell only one size, but others have a variety of sizes you can choose from, ranging from "sampler" (a handful) to pounds.

Have fun with your seed catalogs! Make lists: what you need, what you want, what you expect to purchase. Figure out where each item will go in your garden. Even in the snow, you can go size things out.

By the beginning of February, you should be ready to put your order(s) in. Sometimes I can find everything I want in one catalog, but often I purchase from two, plus pick a few small packages up at the local Agway or seed exchange. Once everything is ordered, your work really begins!

Next week we'll talk about ingenious ways of making a sprouting and planting schedule, and how to get organized before the spring rush hits! (Added Jan 14: Click here to read about planting schedules!)

Listed on the Homestead Barn Hop #94!
Linked to from The HomeAcre Hop! Want to enter? Click here!

Check back often for information on canning, preserving, general homesteading and more. If you have questions or comments, please write to me below. I love to answer questions! You can follow the blog via Network Blogs and Google Friend Connect (see the left hand column for the button). If you purchase items I have linked through Amazon or the ads on my site, I receive an affiliate portion of the sale. If you find the items are useful, please purchase from my site!
 
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Winter is here!

Snow out back of the house

Well, winter is sort of here (though certainly not in a truly New England proper way). It's definitely time to double-check all the safety procedures for your vehicle and person. You might think your car is pretty safe (and you'd be correct), but there's always the chance of skidding off the road, being in an accident caused by someone else, or the variety of "Acts of God" that sometimes just happen.

I love using the phrase, "Preparing for the zombie apocalypse," because it doesn't make anyone nervous. I'm not the type to be stressing over the end of the world, really. But I do know that emergencies happen, and that they're less likely to happen if you're prepared for them.

What emergency gear do you have in your vehicle? Remember your Rule of Threes and check your "Goodi bag" to make sure it has everything in it you need (for a great refresher check out CTJ's articles, Goodi I and Goodi II).

In the winter, especially in the colder parts of the world, you want to make sure you have a change of clothes in your car. If you fall in a snowbank or get soaked pushing the car out of a ditch, or are simply cold in whatever you're wearing, you need to be able to change into something practical, warm and dry. Two changes is great, but one is a necessity. If nothing else, pack a few pairs of extra socks. Cold feet can cause you to fall, making the whole, "I'm cold," thing even worse.

First aid kits are really important parts of any emergency bag, but especially so in winter. Be prepared to deal with frostbite, injuries from trauma (snowboarding and skiing and such), and broken bones from falls on ice. Also have on hand a manual to explain the details about winter injuries, and if you have a smartphone, consider picking up a first aid app!

Husband wrapped in camo sleep system

Along with your extra clothing, have a good quality sleeping bag or sleep system in your vehicle. You can stay in your car for a very long time and still be alright if you have blankets and sleeping bags and warm clothing, as your car makes a VERY good shelter.

If you are in an area that gets hit by fast, deep snow, you may want to invest in a tall orange or red flag that you can place on top of your car. Whether you're stuck in the car on the side of the road, or have to abandon it during an emergency, the flag will let emergency and road crews know there's a vehicle there.

On the food front, MREs are a great option for in a vehicle, both because they don't take up much space, and because the heater they contain is not dangerous to use inside the car. The vast majority of snow accidents that would leave you in your car for a time, should be solved within a day or two. A single MRE can feed one person who isn't doing hard work (ie sitting in the car staying warm) for a couple of days easily. Even one warm meal can give you hope and help you think more clearly.

The technical aspect shouldn't be ignored, either. Having your first aid app available is great, and having a GPS in your phone is also good. If you're stuck but unable to explain where you are, you can call emergency and let them home in on your phone's signal. You can use a phone to call for help, either from emergency crews or family. In order to use your phone, though, it must be charged. If you are in your car and it is turned on, put it on the charger. This assures your phone is always at full, available for you to use in any emergency.

There are tons of other suggestions for keeping yourself safe in the car. Have sand on hand to get you out of slippery situations, for instance, or kitty litter. Put blocks in the back of your car (if you have rear wheel drive) in order to give you more traction. Carry a shovel and extra gloves in case you have to deal with the elements. Some people even carry a chain saw or foldable saw, in case they're stuck behind downed trees!

What sort of things do you have in your car to help keep you safe? Please, share!

Check back often for information on canning, preserving, general homesteading and more. If you have questions or comments, please write to me below. I love to answer questions! You can follow the blog via Network Blogs and Google Friend Connect (see the left hand column for the button). If you purchase items I have linked through Amazon or the ads on my site, I receive an affiliate portion of the sale. If you find the items are useful, please purchase from my site!
 
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The smell of dirt.

I love getting ready for spring and early summer. The sun is brightly shining outside, and everything is melting. Though it's cold out there, you can feel that the warmer weather is on the way. With warmer weather comes seedlings and raised garden beds and fresh herbs and vegetables! I've been slowly planting things like tomatoes and green peppers in egg cartons and little pots, and storing them in the warmest spot in the house - right near our wood stove (which goes about 22 hours of the day) and in a bright, sunny place on a spare table. I keep the things that aren't yet germinated inside big plastic tubs (thank you Wally World) that are clear. They create a kind of greenhouse, and better yet, they're stackable! This means I can get more things onto my little table for sprouting in the sunlight!

I can stack inside the tubs, too. If you look closely, you can see that I have created a second layer to put plants on, by nestling a wire cooling rack with TALL legs in there. Everything still gets sun, but they're all carefully stacked so I can put more into a smaller space. I can also move the boxes (I currently have two but I think one more will be going into rotation next week because I have hollyhocks that need planting too), put them out flat, and store even more plants (already sprouted) on top of them. It's a real win-win situation, one I'm rather proud of figuring out, even if some of the idea came from Pinterest...

This morning I've planted two types of broccoli. I only need two plants of each, but some of the seed is older so I'm hedging my bets by planting extras of those. I have four egg cups each of a broccoli hybrid (though one NOT owned by Monsanto - ptuey!) and four of a heritage OP Calabrese broccoli. We'll see how they do. If they all come up fine, I'm sure I'll figure somewhere to put them... The other little four pack you see there (very right hand, blue flowers) is of Forget-Me-Nots in a  beautiful blue color. Again, these are old seed so I'm trying them out. If they germinate, I'll be planting the rest of the packet directly outside (they tolerate frost well, especially during germination). I am so pleased with the variety of flowers I have available to me this year!

I have hollyhocks, more forget-me-nots, marigolds by the dozen (which is good as I like to plant them around the garden to ward off pests), four different kinds of morning glory (which I'll be using to make the kids a "living fort" this summer!!), bluebells, and dozens of others. I'm not sure where I inherited these all from but wow, it's fun organizing them!

Originally all the seeds were sort of stuffed into the cardboard box you see (labelled "seeds for 2012"), because it was the best place to keep them while we were moving. Now that we're settled, however, I wanted them in a nicer place. Last year sometime, our friend Miss T gave me a beautiful garden box, sort of like a toolbox but designed for holding seeds and such. I managed to find that box this morning when I was looking for something else, and I also found sis's gardening bag (you can see it in some of the pics above; it's green) which was full of kids' gardening gloves and a wide assortment of hand tools. Yay!

I organized everything. The seeds were put into the garden box, all separated into herbs, veggies, and flowers. The ones that are open because they're already in my little greenhouse boxes were put into the drawer below the box part. My masking tape is there for labelling things, my scissors are there for cutting open seed packets, and my big black marker is there for writing on things.

I just can't wait for our snow to melt. I'll be working on digging the raised beds soon. I'm going to be digging the outline and pulling off the sod, and then hubby will rake out about a foot of dirt from the spot with the backhoe's shovel. The hole is going to be filled with punky wood, branches, etc. which will slowly compost and also help to keep water in the roots of your plants. The dirt goes back over the top, and whatever doesn't fit (hopefully a lot of it) will get mixed with sphagnum moss and potting soil and good clean compost, then put into the frames of the raised beds.

Come on, Spring! Hurry up!

Preparing for Spring

It is time for preparation. I've pored over the seed catalogs and sketched out the the garden plans. I've gotten wonderful and amazing seeds from the Thrifty Mama on a Trailer Park Homestead to add to my box of seeds for use this year. I've been squirreling them away since last fall, when we got the house and I knew for certain we'd have a place to garden this year. I also have some dried beans and dried blue popcorn that I hope to germinate.

I used some freezer jam jars with lids to test whether my seeds were still good. So far, my peas, beans, lettuce, and a few others have sparked off little green shoots and leaves in their glass and wet paper towel homes. I'm quite thrilled to see them questing for light up on the sill of our kitchen window. They get a grand amount of sunlight there, although it hasn't been the warmest place. The corn, green peppers, and delicata squash seeds haven't yet done anything, but I wonder if perhaps they're just too cold despite the sunlight. If they don't sprout soon, I plan on moving them to a warmer place with a bit less sunshine, in the hopes that they will perk up and prove to me that their still-packaged brethren are ready to be planted next month!

Out of sheer desperation, I have also planted some of my herbs, in "mini-greenhouses" that I created myself. I suppose the term I should use is up-cycled, as they are made out of take-out containers with clear plastic lids. The two large ones are made out of grocery store rotisserie chicken packages, which are just the right depth (a bit over an inch) and have that nice popped up top. I poked a couple of holes in the plastic bottoms to allow drainage, filled it with organic starter mix, and liberally dusted their tops with a bit of oregano and cilantro. The smaller one is a Chinese take-out container which now contains chive seeds, tucked into a pretty and moist earthen bed. They're not in the chilly kitchen, though. They are living on the little dry sink in our living room, very near the wood stove, where they will get quite a bit of sunlight and a lot of warmth each day.

I had to plant something. I had to smell that incredible scent of fresh soil, and feel it between my fingers. There is a lot more to plant, and I have toilet roll tubes to use as seedling starters, as well as some of the little soil pucks that expand into seedling size bags of soil. Sometime in mid-March, the tomatoes will get started, and even a couple of cucumbers. I don't do many cukes, because they grow best outdoors in the free soil, but I find that one or two started indoors is fun for myself and the kids, and if hardened off correctly, will start bearing a week or two earlier than their younger companions. I'm such a kid when it comes to seedlings and fresh vegetables. I want more and more!

It isn't all easy chores, though. Because we just moved into the house, we didn't have any wood chopped and drying before we moved in. We've been scrambling each week to keep enough wood chopped and split to keep us warm. The unreasonable price of oil is very dissuasive; we try to avoid using the oil furnace except to keep the house about 55F at night. The wood stove is going almost all the time, a dry heat we're thankful for in the chilly weather. Hubby has been chopping up the wood as we bring it in (it's fallen wood in the forest behind our house, already partially dried thank heavens). I've been helping more with stacking and arranging, though I've done a bit of splitting myself. While I have lamented having enough snow (I worry about drought this summer), the mild winter has been a blessing because we've been able to keep ahead of the cold with our wood supply. If it had been much colder and snowier, we'd have had a lot more problems.

We're also not neglecting our frozen stores. I was almost out of my previous batch of turkey broth, having used it in several recipes and a batch of turkey soup when I was ill. We defrosted and cooked up a deli chicken (rotisserie style) and a turkey breast (also rotisserie style) which we'd been given by a friend. After cooking all day (well, re-heating, as they were already cooked) in the crock pot, they fell apart during the meal that we enjoyed. Then I took every part of it we didn't devour, bones and all, and popped it all right back into the crock pot and poured in water and spices, and let it cook on low overnight. By morning, I had an incredibly tasty batch of boiled chicken which I used in another recipe. The bones were tossed out, and the broth itself I put into a big pot and jazzed up with some spices. I let it simmer down quite a bit, until it was double strength, and then I froze it (pictured above) in small containers. Whenever I need a bit of broth, I just grab one of these bad babies out of the freezer, and voila!

Today being a nice warm day (it was 54F earlier!), we decided to use a creosote eating log in our wood stove. Though the creosote isn't as much of a danger with the set up that we use, we figured it was better to get rid of as much of it as possible. The log has chemicals (yea I know... not great) that bind with the creosote and make it brittle. Over the next few days we'll have a bit of dust come down, and it'll all clear itself out. It's good, because our fireplace will burn much more efficiently.

What preparations are you making for spring? Are you planting in flats indoors? Sketching up your garden plans? Checking out the local CSAs to see which one fits your lifestyle and budget best? What things occupy your February time?

It's About Time: Inside the Beautiful Glass Cloche

It's About Time: Inside the Beautiful Glass Cloche:

'via Blog this'

This is an older article, from two years ago, but has some stunning pictures of glass cloches. I find myself wondering if I could do this with plastic soda bottles that have had the bottoms cut off. My garden isn't huge, but I have no way to create a greenhouse for my early plantings. This would provide a greenhouse effect without the expense (of both cash and space) of an actual glass greenhouse. I'd love to find actual glass cloches but I have never seen any in the stores or at the tag sales locally. I will have to find a way of making my own!