Prepare to drool...

 Picked up the shipment from Johnny's at the PO today:

And the order from Territorial was in my mailbox this afternoon:

I also picked up that extra table today...you know...the one you talked me into? :)  It is now home to 10 flats (720 cells total) already filled with soil and waiting, impatiently, for seed.

Seeeeeeeeds!!!!!!

Hooray! Seeds have started to arrive!  Two shipments arrived Saturday, and I still have a package waiting at the PO because it wouldn't fit in the mailbox. *giggles maniacally*  And there are more on the way!! **swoon**

Here's my shipment from Baker Creek:

 I've ordered from them before. I love the new packaging, but would it kill them to list "days to harvest" on the package?

They included this nice little bonus:

The shipment from Pinetree:

 This one, from Pinetree, was a test order.  I'd read a lot of bad reviews online.  Some people said it took weeks to get their order. Mine only took three days.


Of course I've been playing in the dirt.  Here's what I've started so far, and how many of each:

Roma tomato - 144
Japanese Black Trifele tomato - 24
Striped Cavern tomato - 18
Sub-Arctic Plenty tomato - 18
Tiny Tim Patio Tomato - 36
Tess' Land Race Currant Tomato - 30
Serrano Chili Pepper - 36
Burpee Green Gooseberry Tomato - 30
Japanese White Egg Eggplant - 72
King of the North Pepper - 23
Thai Hot Pepper - 42
Big Jim Chili Pepper - 72
Keystone Resistant Giant Bell Pepper - 72
Bloody Butcher Tomato - 12
Delicious tomato - 18
Rutgers Tomato - 12
Homestead Tomato - 12

Total: 671 seeds started

The Roma were started on the 23rd.

Now to get the greenhouse put back together!  Eöl picked up some hardware, but the weather hasn't cooperated.  We've had snow and 50 mph wind gusts.  For now, the greenhouse is safely flattened on the ground.  It's not doing my plants any good, but at least it's not blowing away...with me attached. 

When I pick up my package at the PO, I know I'm going to do that junkie-jitter-dance-thing.  I need to start more seeds, but I'm out of table space.  I am seriously thinking of picking up a second table.  The trays in the pic are on one of those long folding tables.  I've gotten a lot of use out of it:  canning, butchering, seeds, cookouts, and farmers market.  Another one would be handy, right?  I could use it in the greenhouse, as well as all those other great uses.  Ok...you talked me into it. :)  

More seed pics to come!

Well, crap.

Back to the drawing board.  I had this HUGE list of seeds for one company, and then I find out they aren't reliable.

So...back to the seed catalogs.  Since I can't get the larger quantities of the seeds I wanted, I am consoling myself with smaller quantities and more varieties.  I have two pages of nothing but tomato seeds.

I'll be doing more seed crops...meaning I will plant certain crops to harvest mainly for seed for the following year.  That works out pretty well, since I get a packet of seeds for a few bucks, but not many seeds, then one tomato can yield a LOT of seed for future use.

That doesn't work quite as well with squash, though.  Squash tends to cross. I ended up with some interesting varieties last year.  I had delicata that crossed with acorn, which looked an awful lot like the carnival variety.  I think that's how those came about, originally, but went on to become a more stable variety.  Some hybrid plants are prone to reverting to parent fruits.  It's all pretty interesting.  Fortunately, I don't mind crossed squash, and enjoy the occasional surprise variety.  The striped spaghetti squash were really pretty.

But when it comes to selling plants at market, most people prefer to know what they are getting.  Sometimes, there are surprises there, as well.  I bought some Oxheart seed, and when the plants fruited, what I got was most definitely not Oxheart.  Thankfully, my customers didn't complain.

I had a problem just last year, when I planted a slew of cherry tomatoes, and ended up with, well, not cherry tomatoes.  I'm hoping for better luck this year.  I don't feel too bad, since I know this happens even at big commercial greenhouses.  Nature can be tricky.

Oh...yeah...about the greenhouse.

Squish.

Yes, squish.  The wind was insane, caught the plastic, and broke a leg on the frame.  That, my dear, is what I get for buying the cheap frame.  The whole thing is salvageable. We can rebuild it.  We have the technology.  We can make it better, stronger, faster...um..the bionic greenhouse?  As long as it doesn't cost six million, right? lol Sorry...caught up in a flashback there.  So...as soon as the snow melts, the greenhouse will be reassembled and reinforced.  No more wind nightmares.  It really was a nightmare...I had to run out there and take the darn thing apart during the wind storm just to keep the rest of the frame from being torn all to bits.  Ever been inside a bag of microwave popcorn? That's how it felt, with the plastic blowing this way and that, ballooning around me and smacking me around. ( I can't hold it..she's breaking up! She's breaking up!) (Where is Steve Austin when you need him??)  And then I had to crawl out from under all the plastic and pile everything I could find on it to keep it from blowing away...and taking me with it.  Oh...for pete's sake...stop laughing.

I'll be starting seeds this coming week, greenhouse or no...I have spring fever.

 Must. Play. In. Dirt.

Seed Addicts Anonymous and getting rich at the Farmers Market

Seed Addicts Anonymous...I should join.  I have almost finished my seed lists.  Yes, lists, plural.  I have a list for each seed catalog, and there are...umm...four or five that I'm actually ordering from.  I sit down with a notebook and a huge pile of seed catalogs, find something I like, then cross-reference that selection with the other catalogs, looking for the best deals and more information on certain selections.  I'm ordering from a couple of new places this year (not new companies, just ones I've never ordered from before), and I hope that works out well.

I'm getting frustrated with the Baker Creek catalog.  Most seed catalogs have details about the plants:  zone info; days from seed to harvest; determinate or indeterminate, etc.  Baker Creek has wonderful stories about walking along a dusty path and finding this amazing fruit, but that doesn't tell me if I can grow it here.

I'm looking forward to this year's Farmers Market.  If I can make enough money to cover what I've spent on seed, I think I'll be doing well.  You know, that brings to mind something I've read in many homesteading books: selling extra produce at roadside stands and the like.

A lot of those books lead one to believe that you can make a decent amount of money selling at markets.  That really depends on your location and how much you have to sell.  If you are near enough to a big city, you may make a decent market wage, provided you have enough produce to make it worth your while.  I could, in theory, drive to Cleveland or Columbus and do the market there.  It's a pretty big investment, since a season at those markets can run over $500 in stall fees, where our local market costs a mere $15 a year.  Also, some of the larger markets require a vendors license, health inspections, etc, each of which comes with its own fees.

Personally, I prefer to keep it local.  I'm sure, even in the big cities a hundred miles from home, compared to major grocers my produce would be local.  But here in our small village, when asked if I'm local, I can proudly say, "Grown less than two and a half miles from where you are standing."

Another thing that most books don't point out is that many people visit farmers markets for bargains.  They don't realize how much work goes into growing, harvesting, prepping for market, hauling, setting up, etc.  They seem to think that our produce should not only be fresh from the garden that very morning, it should be cheaper than, say, Walmart.  Most of the time, it actually is.  But I did hear one lady complaining about paying 75 cents for a huge, lovely red pepper, when she could get it for that price at Walmart.  Oy.  It wasn't my pepper, in case you were wondering, but still..sad.

When it comes to selling produce at the market, there's a lot of competition.  It's hard to get a good price out of something when every other table at the market has the exact same thing.  My best sellers have been those things that no one else grows - unusual varieties of squash, tomatoes, etc.

As for setting up a roadside table near your homestead...well, most homesteads are too far from major thoroughfares.   Sometimes there are laws against doing that, anyway, so you'd have to check for your area.


Either way, I've rarely heard anyone say they made a killing at the Farmers Market.  I did hear about one lady that made quite a bit by purchasing produce at auction and hauling it to one of the bigger markets.  How does that make it local?  I feel it's a bit fraudulent, when people think they are buying something you grew, but you are just the middle man.  Turns out I'm not the only one that feels that way.  Many of the markets are doing garden inspections to verify that you grow what you sell.  I realize that sounds a bit overboard, but when you have people showing up at market, complaining about a sore back from picking beans, and then selling beans they bought at auction, well, you just have to do what you have to do.  Dishonest people make life harder for the rest of us.


Anyway, when it comes to the market, it's hard work, and you won't walk away with a lot of money, but you'll meet interesting people, learn a few things, and have fun.

**yawn**

I need a nap.  I have been so busy lately, and not sleeping my requisite 8 hours per stretch.  Some days, I'm lucky to get four in a row.  I'm tired, it's raining, the house is toasty, and I feel like I could lay in front of the hearth, cat-like and snug.  (More like Garfield than a sleek house cat. Bleh.)

Yesterday, though, I felt so energized.  It was a GORGEOUS day.  The sun was shining; the sky was blue; the birds were singing; and the air smelled of spring and green things.  But it was one of those crazy, hectic days that required running here, there and everywhere, so I didn't get to spend much of it outdoors.

The plastic is on the greenhouse.  It's not quite finished; we are going to add some extensions made of pvc and 2x4's, since the plastic is plenty big enough.  Right now it's 200 sf, but the added space will come close to doubling that.  I'll have room for my potting supplies, a potting table, and so. many. plants. **drooling** The greenhouse is even close enough to the house that I can run an extension cord for heat lamps.

If you could only hear the mania in my voice when I talk about this greenhouse.  Bwahahahah! I'm like some mad scientist with a fresh batch of victims....I  mean experiments...I mean chemicals.  Oh, heck, I don't even have a great analogy for it.  If you are a complete and utter garden maniac, you are probably bouncing around in your seat, yelling, "I know what you meeeaaaannnnn!!!!"  If not, you'll most likely never understand, but you can come by the Farmer's Market and buy your three tomato plants from me, or other maniacs just like me.

I wanted to spend today working in the greenhouse, getting things set up, taking inventory of supplies, and all that fun stuff.  But it's pouring rain, and getting my supplies from the far end of the property and into the greenhouse would be a slick, mud-filled adventure.   Instead, I'm inside, doing the mundane stuff like putting away last year's files and starting new ones for this year.  B-O-R-I-N-G!!!

What's ironic is that I used to love office type work.  For many years, that was my job: Executive Administrative Assistant.  Or: Girl Friday, for those of you old enough to recall that phrase.  Mentally exhausting work, complete with Secretary's Butt... a sort of expansion of the hindquarters, brought on by extended periods of sitting, sitting, and sitting some more.  Wait..now that I think about it...I was thinner then..no muscles...and the butt happened when some sadist put in a vending machine that had Peanut M&Ms.  That bastardo!!

Little Sis was too young to remember my having an office position.  Not long ago, she boggled at the very idea.  "You  had an inside job??" she asked in utter disbelief.  Inside meaning indoors, not some insider trading hoopla, lest there be any confusion.  But yes, I told her, I once worked inside a building, all day long.  She just shook her head as if I'd told her the Easter Bunny was going to deliver pizza in 30 minutes or less.

I guess I should get back to work on these files.  urgh.  Or I could go outside and look at my greenhouse.  Or I could work on my seed list. Yes, I think I will go work on my seed list...in the greenhouse...because I really loathe office work and would rather play in the mud!!  WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

The first buzzard of spring, a welcome, and a hug

Just this week, I have seen a total of five turkey buzzards.   I don't think I've ever seen vultures before March.  What the heck?? This is insanely early for the vultures to return.  I wonder if this means an early spring?

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!

___________________________

In other news:

Welcome new readers!!  I want to give a great big THANK YOU ((((HUG)))) to the luv that posted the link to my firewood post, making it my "most read post" ever.  I've never been called "feisty" before...I like it!  :)

Today was gorgeous!!  The sun was out, the snow was melting, and the air had that smell that always reminds me of a defrosting freezer:  damp, chilly, and warm at the same time.  It just smelled like spring....in January?

We've had one snow so far, other than a couple of dustings.  The ground has only been frozen for a few days all winter.  I'm not complaining, I'm just hoping that the trees don't bud too soon and lose their blossoms, as well as this year's fruit harvest, to a freeze later on.  An average winter here has snow on the ground from November to April.  This is a nice change.

The worst part about today was that I was completely exhausted.  For reasons both boring and mundane, I was up till 3:30 a.m., and then had to be up this morning at 7 a.m., once again for boring and mundane reasons.  I desperately needed a nap, but didn't want to waste such a beautiful day.  I compromised with a 30 minute coma power nap, and spent the rest of the day outside.

I brought in the wood and did some other every day chores, then decided it would be a great time to put fresh hay in the critter houses.  When I want back around to lock up the critters at dusk, I found that my mud-slogging-itchy-hay-hauling was not as appreciated as you would've thought.

The ducks were horrified.

"Drake, dahling!  Come here, quickly!" chirped Mrs. Muscovy, "This simply will not do! We've been redecorated!  Oh, it's horrid!!"

The young chickens in the tractor were also upset:

"Dude!"

"Gag me with a pitchfork! Why is our house all full of green, itchy stuff?"

"Oh. My. Gosh.  This. Is. Gross!"

"I am totally sleeping outside.  You cannot make me go in there.  I just had my feathers done."

Just kidding. I love Cyndi Lauper.
We should all age so well. 

"Chicks just wanna have fun."



At least the geese were happy:

"Yo, Vinny! How you doin'?"

"Yo, T! How you doin'?"

"Yo. Dat lady put new hay in da house.  No more mud for youse guys, she says."

"Fuggedaboutit!"

Ok...I guess it's weird I hear critter voices in my head, and they all have their own nuance and character.  But after a total of four hours of sleep, well, I'm lucky that's my only problem.

How to (or how not to) buy firewood -Updated

I've edited a few things, thanks to tips from Roo and The Colonel. I appreciate the input, you two!!

You'd think it'd be easy, right?  Just call up the local firewood guy, and voila! you have a nice, toasty winter.  Um...not quite.  Not unless you happen to know a great local firewood guy to start with, anyway.

Last year was the first year we bought wood.  Before that, we did the wood ourselves.  Let me tell you, that job is not all it's cracked up to be.  Not when the only mechanical device involved is your chainsaw, and the rest is all manual labor.  It's even worse if you don't really have a clue what you are doing, which we didn't; we made it up as we went.  

When we first moved here, we didn't know jack about firewood.  I didn't even know what a cord was.  Ok...you can stop laughing now.  For those of you that are just looking confused:  a cord of firewood is 128 cubic feet, generally measured in a stack 4 feet wide, 4 feet tall, and 8 feet long.  You can stack your cord of firewood any way you like, but the measurements of a true cord will always be 128 cubic feet.  That's length multiplied by width multiplied by height, LxWxH,  for those of you that don't recall that from basic algebra.  Don't feel bad.  I had to struggle to recall it myself.  Here's a handy cord calculator, thanks to The Colonel.  He'd suggested it before, but I'd forgotten all about it.

Back when we were city folk, and really hadn't a clue, we bought wood this way, just to light up our decorative fireplace:

You sure as heck don't want to try to purchase a winter's of wood that way.  I can only imagine the cost of a cord when you are paying that kind of exorbitant fee.

Take a peek at your local Craigslist or other firewood ads.  Some firewood dealers will try to sell you a rick, a rack (not the kind to fill out your bra; you'll have to see someone besides a firewood dealer for that), a truckload, or a face cord (4 feet high, 8 feet long, and however wide the one stack of logs works out to be).   As it happens, in Ohio, all of the above are not allowed.  Firewood must be pre-packaged, as in the above pic, sold by the cord (or fraction thereof), or sold by the ton.  The ton must be weighed on a certified scale.

Keep in mind, a full cord of firewood can not be hauled in one load in a pickup truck.  You'll probably run across at least three people with a truck load of wood for sale that will try to tell you different.  A cord of wood weighs about 3500 lbs, and most trucks can't handle that, even if the cord would fit.

Before we found our reliable wood guys, we dealt with some not-so-reliable types.  Our first load of wood was supposed to measure two cords, loaded into a dump truck.  When it arrived, it was dumped in a pile, so we had no idea how much wood was actually there.  It was covered in snow, soaking wet, and chock full of ants.  Zillions of ants.  So many ants that I only brought the wood inside as I was ready to toss it into the fire.  Lesson one:  inspect the wood before it's dumped, and don't be afraid to say, "Get that shite off my property!!"

Once we stacked the wood, we discovered that it was barely a single cord.  Lesson two: Just because the measurements of the truck multiply out to 256 cubic feet, that doesn't mean you are actually getting that much wood.  Picture this:  Wood tossed willy nilly into said cubic footage, versus wood stacked neatly into same cubic footage.  Which one do you think will be closer to the actual two cords?  Of course the neatly stacked wood will fit more into the space, as there will be less air space between logs.  That said, how many wood delivery guys do you think stack wood neatly into a truck?  So far, the answer would be NONE.  Lesson learned.

Our next firewood adventure was with a guy that advertised a guaranteed amount.  Great.  He showed up, dumped the wood, got paid, and left.  I stacked the wood and discovered it was over 1/4 short.  Grrrr!  I called him and he said he'd make it up on the next load, gave me some stuff about a "thrown cord" being an allowed measurement, but blah de blah.  His next load we took in good faith, and it measured a full cord...still 1/4 short considering what he owed from the last trip.  I chalked it up to experience and moved on.

Finally, we got lucky.  A dear friend of mine, Roo, and her husband, The Colonel, live on a tree farm.  When The Colonel has time away from work, he clears certain trees, not suitable for lumber, from his woodlot and cuts them for firewood.   We were fortunate enough to have him sell us a few cords of the driest, cleanest, hottest burning wood we've yet to run across.   The only problem so far is the rather awkward issue of telling my dear friend that her husband has the best hardwood around.  Um...double entendre, anyone?  Fortunately, she has a good sense of humor. ;)

We found a second wood guy through Eöl's work, and he's been wonderful, as well.  Between the two, we managed to purchase 13 cords of dry, seasoned, split hardwood, before the first snow even fell.  If you've ever struggled to get your own wood cut and split before snowfall, you know that sense of warm fuzziness I'm talking about.

If you are unfamiliar with firewood, but are thinking of heating that way, here are a few things you should know:

• Unseasoned or green wood will only produce 2/3 of the heat of seasoned wood.  Seasoned firewood has a moisture content of less than 50%. (I got this fact from the Ohio website, but The Colonel says that dry would should be 18-22% moisture.  He's the expert! Probably why is wood is so awesome.  (Sorry, Roo. ;) ) Seasoning hardwood takes several months, and in some cases a full  year, depending on storage, type of wood, and moisture content.
• A cord of wood stacked green will shrink a bit.  One site said 8%, another said 10%, but I'm going to check with The Colonel on that one.
• When a seller advertises dry wood, ask if he means dry as in seasoned, or dry as in it is still green but has been under a tarp or stored in a shed.
• Transportation of firewood across county lines, in many areas, is illegal.  The emerald ash borer and gypsy moth are the main reasons here in Ohio, but be sure to check your local laws.
• Check your state's Dept of Agriculture website for more information on firewood laws in your state.
• Hauling wood uphill, in the snow, on a sled, absolutely, without a doubt, is one of the suckiest things I've ever had to do, but you'll never truly appreciate firewood until you've done it. 

This is what a cord of firewood looks like, dumped in a tidy pile in the driveway:

See how the logs are all stacked neatly together?  That's how wood should be stacked for measuring if you are unsure of your delivery amount.  You've probably seen wood stacked in a sort of criss-cross method, where each layer goes a different direction for more airflow, and would not give an accurate measurement.  I'm only pointing this out because I didn't know it at first, either.

This is Eöl, standing on at least two cords of wood.  The snow was packed, and digging the wood out wasn't a lot of fun.  I'm thinking it's time to build a woodshed. 

If you are wondering how many cords you will need for an entire winter, that's a darn good question!! Ask around to your friends that burn wood, and double it.  Better safe than sorry, right?  For us, we do burn more wood in our smaller home than a friend of mine burns in her much larger space.  She has a whole-house wood-burning furnace, and not nearly as many windows as we have.  Her home is also newer and better insulated.  (But I can cook on my wood stove, as well as heat the house, and she doesn't have that option.)  There's also the factor of perceived comfort.  I spent so long freezing after we moved to Ohio, that I'm pretty happy when I can roam the house in only one layer.  Our home is set up for passive solar, which is just a high tech way of saying we have a lot of southern facing windows, and when the sun shines and the wood stoves are fired, it's so hot I put on a pair of shorts.   Can I get a hallelujah?? 

For our area, wood has turned out to be the warmest and most affordable option.  As city dwellers, we spent over $450 a month in natural gas alone, and still froze our tushes off.  With wood, our entire winter is paid for in advance.  If I buy more than I need for the winter, it's not going to rot or anything before the next cold snap. And don't forget, wood is a renewable resource.

Those of you out west probably burn pine.  Nothing wrong with that.  Hardwood is just what we burn 'round these parts.

A note on creosote:  I've heard a lot of people say it's caused by burning pine.  Nonsense.  From wikipedia: Burning wood and fossil fuels at low temperature causes incomplete combustion of the oils in the wood, which are off-gassed as volatiles in the smoke. As the smoke rises through the chimney it cools, causing water, carbon, and volatiles to condense on the interior surfaces of the chimney flue. The black oily residue that builds up is referred to as creosote, which is similar in composition to the commercial products by the same name, but with a higher content of carbon black. 

You'll still have some creosote, even if you are Eöl and can start a super hot fire with nothing but your smoldering good looks.  Be sure to keep your chimney clean!

If I've forgotten anything, drop a comment or email and let me know.  I'll probably make a few edits anyway, if I can get The Colonel to take a peek at this.

Sources: Missouri extension, Ohio DOA Firewood Tips, some hands-on experience, and a few tips from The Colonel.  ETA: The Colonel recommends FirewoodCenter.com for more information.

Happy New Year!

Here it is...the first day of 2012.  Let's all join in the Doom Song, shall we??

To illustrate my concern, I've spent today frantically... being as lazy as possible.  *shrugs*  It's the last day of Christmas shutdown for Eöl, so instead of worrying over the housework and prepping for the return to the real world, we spent the day doing pretty much nothing.  We took a walk in the woods, got caught in some weird snow/rain/drizzle/downpour, watched the 45 mph gusts of wind bend the trees, then warmed up by the fire.  Overall, it's been a really nice day.

Hoping everyone's New Year is off to a peaceful start!