And now...a freeze watch?

Tomorrow: a high of 49, a low of...26!!  ACK!! Now that everything is blooming??

*sigh*  I know, I know, I shouldn't complain.  We've been fortunate to have such wonderful weather.  But maybe not, if all the local fruit is killed off thanks to a freeze.  It won't be the first time we've lost apples and pears to the cold weather, but it's still sad.  Maybe, just maybe, it won't actually get that cold.

This Weather Note has been brought to you by a frantic Country Wife.  We now return you to your regularly scheduled whatever it is you do on Sunday nights.

All hail La Nina!!

This weather is amazing!!  The sunshine is absolutely, well, decadent.  Really, that's how it feels.  Reveling outdoors in the sunshine and heat (yes! heat!)...in March...is like eating an entire box of Godiva chocolates:  not something you get to do often, so enjoy it while it lasts.  The trees are budding, the flowers are blooming, the birds are singing, and I saw butterflies yesterday!

Things I never thought I'd do in March, in Ohio:

• Get a sunburn.  Even painful red skin is awesome...when it's not from blistering cold!
• Take a bike ride and really enjoy it.  Little Sis and I rode 12 miles.  It was on the bike trail (fairly flat), so nothing like the 6-7 mile round trip I made to work (uphill, both ways).  The only thing that hurt when I was done was my heiney.  I have a friend that does 100 mile bike-a-thons.  I have no idea how she does it.  After our 12 mile ride, I thought I'd have to have my bike seat surgically removed from my...never mind.
• Sweat.  Yes, I am even thrilled to be sweaty and stinky.  Lame, huh?
• Have the windows open.  Ok, sometimes I do have them open in March to hear the frogs, but this time I'm not freezing because of it.
• Have cold wood stoves.  I haven't had them running for at least two weeks.  It's pretty quiet in here without the blower running.

I could go on and on.  I'm just hoping we don't get a freeze to ruin things that are budding ahead of schedule.

The greenhouse is almost done.  I still need to make a few adjustments, but for the most part I can start moving things inside.  I'm starting with my supplies, which are somehow scattered all over the farmstead, including in the house, on the porch, in the shed, in the other shed, in the hay shed...etc....  Once I have everything set up inside the greenhouse, then the plants can come in.  I'll probably move a few plants just to see how they adapt before I risk the entire plant population of my living room.

I can't believe how long it has taken to get this greenhouse back together.  I've hopefully made enough provisions for the wind-tunnel-that-is-my-yard.  Of course this, like any other homesteading project, suffers from the Rule Of Three:  Projects will cost three times as much and take three times as long as they should.

With all the activity- hammering, sawing, climbing ladders, wrestling heavy greenhouse plastic into gravity defying positions, trying not to knock myself off the ladder while scrambling for enough leverage to actually make the goshdarnstupidheaded screws go all the way into the wood without stripping the sonofamonkeybutt heads, and biking - I am literally sore from head to toe.  But, lucky me, I get to take tomorrow off from all that physical labor to have the oil changed in my Soul (literally, figuratively...you pick) and then go shopping...for clothes...for myself...aaaauuuuggghhhh!! 

 I'd rather be covered in the stinky slime water that was somehow encased in the greenhouse plastic!! I do, however, desperately need a new pair of jeans, preferably the kind that will allow me to bend over without fear of showing my bike seat bruised tush to the world, or fear of Little Sis attempting to drop a pencil into the crack of doom.  Whoever designed those low rider jeans never tried to sit down and keep them in place at the same time.  Or maybe they were designed by some creepy exhibitionist.  *shrugs*  Either way, I miss the jeans we had in the '80s.

And now I must prepare myself for tomorrow's grueling task exciting adventure.  I could meditate... or find a nice glass of wine...

Eggs: a confession

It wasn't my fault. Hens just don't lay when the days are short. We had dozens and dozens of eggs in the fridge in December. I traded a few, I baked a few angel food cakes, did the holiday baking, and then..there were no more eggs. None..nada..zip..zilch..zero! Not one single, solitary egg, alone in a carton meant for twelve..no, not even that.

What to do?? I did..the unthinkable. I..bought..*sobs*....store eggs! I couldn't help it!! I needed to bake cookies...what was I supposed to do? No, I didn't buy the super-expensive-organic-free-range-but-not-really-free-range-eggs. I bought the least expensive ones I could find. Grade A Large Eggs at $1.99 a dozen.

The last time I bought store eggs, which was ages ago, the expensive ones were $.79 a dozen. So the price was a bit of sticker shock. I hadn't even glanced at the price of eggs in at least a year. They've gone up a bit. *rolls eyes*

I opened the carton in the store, to make sure the eggs were all intact. What the heck?? The carton was full of tiny white chalky golf ball looking things. What are those things? They sure don't look like eggs to me!

Ok..at this point I have to admit I'm a little nutty. Or maybe nuttier than a fruit cake topped with a can of Planter's. When I got home, I lectured the chickens. *blush*

"You should be ashamed!", I told them, "I had to buy some pitiful store eggs produced by some poor caged hen that has never seen the light of day, let alone fresh grass!"

I guess my lecture worked (or the days started getting a tad longer). Within the week, we were getting eggs again. Just one every other day or so. Now we are up to three eggs a day, which is at least enough to get some baking done.

For those of you that don't keep chickens: hens need a minimum amount of daylight to produce eggs. Most hens need 14 hours for peak production, but certain breeds will lay with less light. Black Stars are great layers for winter. We actually only went for about two months with no egg production.

Our hens are not actually free range. They used to be, but now we have a new rooster with the hens, and he's aggressive, so we keep the chickens penned. But they still have access to fresh pasture, clean water, and free choice feed. And when I say they have access, I mean that they spend most of the day out there pecking and scratching around, doing the chicken dance, and having a good time.

I point this out because of some recent controversy about what free range really means. Seems that some have decided to use the term for hens that are not really free range.

Here is a break down of the nutrition in store eggs vs free range eggs.

This is a good example of the yolk of free range hens vs store eggs. The big yolk on the left that is a dark orange came from our hens. The pale yellow came from a store egg.

And for size comparison:

The little white egg on the right is a store egg. The brown one is from our hens.

Yes! A sure sign of spring..a green egg! Those are laid by our Araucana hen. That's the only color she lays. Inside, it looks just like a regular egg. And no, they aren't always so pointy.

The carton for Grade A Large eggs won't close with our eggs inside. Neither will the carton for Extra Large. Jumbo is a tight fit.

I love our hens!!

Spring cleaning

I hate it, but I love it.  I love the clean, fresh feeling of a room that is thoroughly scrubbed and polished.  I hate using the time better spent outdoors, though.

I don't know why we feel compelled to clean when the spring peepers get started.  Maybe it's the fact that things will soon get hectic, and we want to get ahead on the major cleaning.  Maybe it's a reflection of the freshening of the outdoors.  Or maybe it's the lovely spring sunshine, cheerily shining on all that dust and grunge that we somehow overlook during the dark winter months.

I'm taking it one room at a time, with a lot of help from Little Sis.  The living room is almost done.  I still need to clean off my desk, but with a pile of dishes to be done before I can go to bed, I think the desk will wait a bit.

I've heard people say, "Oh, I don't do spring cleaning.  My house is always clean, every day."  Wow, I don't know whether to envy those people or chase them with a chainsaw.

This weekend, we have plans (dare I say it) to work on the greenhouse.  We picked up the rest of our supplies today, and will hopefully, weather permitting (pleasepleasepleaseplease), have it finished up by the end of the weekend.

 I'm excited about it!  I have a TON of plants in my newly cleaned living room, so there'll be some extra cleaning once they are moved outside.  I will miss the smell of warm earth and green plants, though.  Big Sis said the other day, "It smells like dirt in here."

"I know," I replied, "isn't it wonderful??!!"

More updates

I should've noted this days ago, but I was busy...and tired...and lazy:

The peepers are peeping!!! They've been getting louder by the day, starting sometime last week, the 8th I think.

The vultures are back in full force.  We saw those two back in the winter months, and now there are flocks of them all over the place.

The trees are budding! There are tiny leaves on the wild roses, the harbinger of spring is flowering, and I'm hoping to find a few spring beauties soon.

Today temps are in the upper 60's and it's sunny, though the forecast had called for rain.  Tomorrow,  72 and sunny, and the rest of the posts for the greenhouse will hopefully be in the ground!

Overall, great weather for March!! We've had our share of wind and rain, but **knocks on wood** no major snowstorms this year, and already sunny and gorgeous and warm!!

I hope to get the garden ready for potatoes and root crops in the next few days and do some outdoor cleaning.  The inside needs it, too, but I want to be outside while the weather is nice.  The inside can wait for a rainy day.

More posts soon, hopefully with pics of my fully repaired greenhouse!

How to start seeds

There are many ways to start seeds.  I think I've tried most of them.  This is what works best for me.  

Containers:  You can use pretty much anything, from Dixie cups to egg shells.  The key is drainage.  If your seeds are soaking wet all the time, they are most likely going to rot or mold instead of germinate. I'm partial to these plug trays.  You can pick them up just about anywhere, and if you are careful with them, you can reuse them. This plug tray contains 72 cells.

Soil:  Actually, this should be planting medium, but we just call it soil, even though there's no soil in the mix.  Ok...to clarify that jumble of late night babble:  Buy potting mix.  Not potting soil.  Potting soil is just plain dirt, and, though you can start seeds in it, your germination rates will be much lower.  You can buy the specialty seed starting mix, but if you are starting a lot of seeds, it can get expensive.  I find the standard potting mix works just as well.  Miracle Grow is good, or one of the generic versions; just make sure it contains a wetting agent, or you'll be watering all. the. time.

There are recipes for your own potting mix, and I do mix my own, but not for seed starting.  I get better results with the commercial mix.

Sprinkle the planting medium into your container.  I always overfill mine.

Gently rake off the excess soil.  Don't smush it down  compact the soil.  

Notice the glove.  Gloves are a good idea when you have your hands in the potting medium.  My skin is pretty sensitive and the soil will sometimes give me a rash.  (Eöl says I am made of eggshells and bubble wrap, with my sensitive skin and delicate bones.  "I'm tough!" I tell him, pumping my fist for emphasis.  "Ow, I think I pulled something."....maybe he is right.)

See? Nice and level, but still loose, not compressed or compacted (or even smushed).

I think this pic looks funny.  If you can't tell, I'm watering the soil.  Go ahead and soak it before you plant.  See how the water is sort of beading up on top of the soil?  If there were seeds in there, they could wash right out, or get all mixed up.

Let your soil drain a bit before you start planting; nothing worse than seeds that keep floating to the top.

I use a popsicle stick for planting.  I use them to mark my plants, so it's just what I have handy.  You can use whatever works for you:  sticks, pens, a skinny sibling...

The popsicle sticks?  I buy them by the hundreds in the craft section of my local department store.  They call them "craft sticks" since they never held popsicle, fudgesicle, or anything delicious, for that matter.

Gently press the soil side to side to get a hole in the soil.  Or just pop some out, if you prefer. I put the stick in and wiggle it and voila! a hole!  I generally go about half an inch deep.

It's hard to tell from the pic, but there's a line of holes, just in the first row.  It's best to go one row at a time so you don't miss any cells.

Today I'm planting tomato seeds.  Tiny, huh?

I only need one seed per cell. This is true of most veggies.  Herbs, on the other hand, require a sprinkling of seeds.  But for now, let's concentrate on how to get one tomato seed into this hole.  For those of us with clumsy arthritic fingers, it's rather difficult to pinch up just one teensy seed.  If you don't have a handy helper with tiny fingers (let's face it: those helpers are more likely to put the seed up their nose than in the soil) then I suggest scooping the seed up with the popsicle stick.

Drop the seed into the hole, and you are done! There's no need to cover the seed. As you water, the soil will fall back into the hole.  I've seen some instructions that say to pat the soil in over the seed.  Not a great idea, from what I've learned.  At work, we don't even dig a hole for seeding.  We put the seeds in and cover them with course vermiculite, which is very lightweight and lets the seedling pop out easily.

If you are planting more than one variety of seed per flat, you definitely want to label each variety as you plant them.   Here's where all those tasty fudgesicles pay off.  Oh, wait...I mean, here is where you'll use those nice, fresh craft sticks. Yes, that's what I meant. ;)

I put the variety on one side and the date started on the other.

Then I jot it all down in my handy, dandy notebook:  date, variety, and how many.  Later on, I can see how many actually germinated and jot those down, as well.

Watering:  I use an empty, clean dish detergent bottle for watering.  This way I have more control over the amount of water, as well as where it goes.  I still end up with some in the floor, but when you have 26 flats, it's just too much trouble to drag them to the sink, one by one.

Water daily.  With good drainage, you should be able to give the seeds a good soaking once a day but not drown them.  If you need to water more than once a day, go ahead.  Just don't let your seeds and seedlings dry out.

Put your flat in a sunny spot.  Turn it at least once a day; twice if you have time.   Brush your hand gently across the seedlings whenever you pass them, or turn a fan on low and let it blow across them for a few minutes each day. This will give your seedlings stronger stems.

As I said, I know there are many ways to start seeds.  Some are very complicated, involving a seed in your ear and an exuberant round of the Hokey Pokey.  If that's the sort of thing that works for you, I say go for it.  And send me a video, would ya?

A quick update/weather notes/etc

The weather yesterday was amazing!! We hit 69 degrees Fahrenheit, it was sunny, the sky was blue, and even the wind was warm.  Hauling water certainly was less of a chore in the nice weather...except for sliding in the mud several times.  We had storms forecast for last night, but they all blew right by with nothing to show for it but some stray lightning.  The odd thing about that was the crystal clear sky above us, with the lightning off to the South and East.

Today's high is predicted at 44, with strong winds, and then tomorrow back up to 65.  So warm for this time of year!! I could get used to that.  But noooo...we have snow headed in for the weekend.   Sure would be nice to have decent weekend weather for a change, so that we could finally get the greenhouse ready.

The seedlings are doing well.  I may have to transplant some into bigger pots soon.  I have no idea where I'll put all those bigger pots, though.

I'm planning a couple of "how to" posts, as soon as I get a chance. Right now, fractured rambling is the best I can manage.  Lack of sleep, stress, and tiny teeth in my arm are messing with my concentration.  Chipmunk is teething, and has discovered biting, which has become a favorite thing to do when I'm balancing little Chip and trying to type at the same time.  A not so subtle way of saying, "Nana! We should be playing ball!!"

And now I think I'd better go play ball before the little cannibal gnaws my arm off.