A "by request" post

I received a lovely email from a fellow blogger requesting that I publicly state my seed collection.

I have seeds.

Oh, I think she meant more details. I have seeds that I had seed saved from almost two years ago. I didn't get a garden last year due to the whole shattered leg thing and moving. They should still be viable. ( I will be having my "I relearned how to walk!" anniversary soon)

I do not have cabbage, green beans, pumpkin, or squash(es) seeds. I do have a wishlist item. Tiger melon. We love it, but the seeds went to mold so no longer have them.

And I do not have a place warm enough to start my early seeds, like tomatoes and peppers. All my starter equipment was somehow overlooked and left behind in Kansas. Ugh! I can live. Will just have to buy some cheap leggy starters at one of the stores.

I have already began cold weather garden prep. We had a couple days of nice weather. And I was getting itchy. I will post more on that in a few weeks, when it is time to get potatoes planted.

I think that's it.

D. Landreth Heirloom Seed Company needs YOUR HELP

Barb Melera describes the company’s situation on Facebook:


“We set about to restore this Company because it is the most historically important American small business in existence. It is the only American company, still operating daily, that existed when this country became a nation. Its founders were honorable men who helped establish and guide the agricultural and horticultural industries of this country in the 1700s, the 1800s and the 1900s. Landreth exemplifies American business and the ethics and integrity that built this nation.


On Wednesday, August 31, 2011, the Company’s accounts were frozen by a garnishment order initiated by a Baltimore law firm. If this garnishment order is not satisfied within the next 30 days, Landreth will cease to exist and a part of America’s history will be lost forever. I need to sell 1 million 2012 catalogs to satisfy this garnishment and the cascade of other indebtedness which this order has now initiated.”


D Landreth Company Home Page

D Landreth Facebook page.


The catalogs are only $5. I know that is a bit much for a catalog, however they are printed in the US. Please take a moment to learn about this company and perhaps spread the word and help save this heritage company.

You too can have your very own pop bottle garden!

It's all the rage. Only the coolest of the hip have them. And I know you don't want to get left out.

First you need a Husband bent on burying you alive in your house



Then some wood flooring, and build some tiers.



Then a bunch of pop bottles cut in half.



Now you have a gorgeous, colorful garden of plastic.

oh, and there is something about placing herb seeds and plants under those pop bottles creating a terrarium that will help keep your new sprouts safe from the coolness that is swing season.

Hybrid does not mean GMO or GE

I was wandering around the world wide web yesterday ( as it was too cool and wet to do much outside) and noticed something. It bothers me a bit when people that put themselves out there as an authority figure, confuse issues. If I give the wrong info I really hope someone calls me out on it. I will either give you examples as to way I think what I stated was correct, or apologize and fix the post. There are some out there however that are adamant that they are correct.

A woman asked a question about hybrids verses heirlooms. The answer by someone was that all hybrids are GMOs. No one questioned this. As I wasn't a member of the group, I was not allowed to correct the information. And I see little point just to join so that I can blast their leader.

Hybrid plants do not have their genomes messed with. They are plants that have been either open pollinated or done so by hand. As Humans we do this selective breeding all the time and have for centuries. It helps make once non-edible foods, or hard to digest foods, easier on our stomachs and our palates. Our heirloom and heritage plants were once hybrids, it just that these plants have been able to breed true for many many generation.

Do not fear the hybrid.

GE or GMO's are different. Man has gone in and spliced and removed certain genes to create a more perfect monster.

Attack of the killer Tomatoes

Now I am not going to go into why GMOs are good or bad. I think they should be clearly marked on food labels and seed/plants so that we can make decisions based on the information available and believed by the consumer. The point of this post is that hybrids are not GMOs.

Hybrids can be made by nature as well a by man.

When it comes to choosing a hybrid, look at the filial number. 1 means that it is the first cross hybrid generation. If you are choosing plants to seed save for, this filial number is not one you really want. You will be able to seed save and a plant will grow, however it will not be true. F2 and F3 are the 2nd and 3rd generation of that hybrid plant. Seeds saved from them will produce true to parent offspring. (exception to the F1 rule is plants that can only propagate themselves by roots and vine)

Then you have your heritage and heirlooms that are almost guaranteed to produce true to parent plants because they are 100's of generation removed form the parents.

What seeds and plants to purchase and consume is up to you. Just do your research and make the best decisions for you and your family.

Happy Spring! Give it a way

Good morning all. Spring break has begun here for the boys and I slept until 6am. Course that meant I had to do chores before I posted this morning.

And now I am in the mood to propagate my seeds through out the US. Now that didn't seem right.

I have prik-e-gnu's seeds to give away to 3 lucky people. But what is prick-e-gnu you ask. Good thing for you I have have an entire post about it here: Prik-E-Gnu

It is very compact and good to grow in a container. So my Urban Homesteaders should love it. It's pretty too.

Just leave me a comment for today until Tuesday evening and I will randomly draw 3 names to win a pod or two of seeds. Organically grown here on the Neophyte Homestead.

While you are waiting, here's some pictures from yesterday, enjoy.

As you can see we did bunny maintenance yesterday.

Baker Creek Heritage Days

Husband and I have been discussing it and we will be attending one of the Baker Creek Heirloom Heritage day festival that happens every 1st Sunday of the month between March and November. But I am not sure when we will be going.

Anyone want to go along? Or is planning on going? That might help us make our decision on when. Or maybe not, ~wry grin~

We do want to go. I figure we spend a lot of money there, might as well see the place, and it isn't too awful far from the homestead.

Advice on Ordering Seeds (guest post)

Been awhile since a guest blogger has graced these pages. enjoy!


This post was written by Amy who writes the blog My Suburban Homestead, where you can find her writing about cooking, gardening, animals, parenting, and greener living.

Advice on ordering seeds

Seed catalogs have been streaming into my mailbox and whetting my appetite for spring. If there was a 12 step meeting for vegetable seeds, I surely would be a candidate---I find the descriptions irresistible and want to plant everything I see. However, I've learned over the years that carefully selecting which seeds to grow in the garden will greatly enhance my success. Here are some thoughts for you to consider.

Length of Growing Season
Probably the most important aspect for you to consider when purchasing seed varieties is the length of your growing season. For example, there are many wonderful heirloom varieties that I would like to grow, but some of them require a very long period of warm weather to mature and I might be better off choosing a different variety. Conversely, there are some cool weather crops, such as peas and lettuce that require a period of relatively moderate temperatures to grow well.


So, when deciding whether or not to purchase a particular vegetable seed, you first must ask yourself this question: Is my season long enough for this particular vegetable to grow? Answering this question can be a bit complicated. Finding out which zone you live in can help you determine your period of frost-free weather for planting frost-sensitive vegetables. But there are other temperature related variables that are important as well, such as considering just how hot your daytime temperatures are likely to get, amount of rainfall (which will affect your soil temperature) or if your nights cool off significantly due to your proximity to the ocean, etc.

With time, the answers to these questions will come to you easily. But if you are a beginning gardener, calling the seed supplier and providing details as to your growing conditions will help them answer this question. You can also ask other gardeners, such as neighbors or gardeners on forums such as the Kitchen Gardeners forum.


Saving Money

I used to have a habit of buying tons of those little seed packs, which can rack up a sizable bill rather quickly. One trick I've learned is that once I've found a vegetable seed I like is to buy seed packages in larger sizes through the mail order/website suppliers. The purchase price for seeds goes down considerably when you purchase larger quantities. For example, consider the prices on this Carson Bean seed through Territorial. A one ounce package of seed costs $2.20, but if I were to purchase a 1/2 pound package for $6.95, the price of the seeds would go down to 86 cents per pound. This could be especially advantageous if one were to go in on purchases with friends and family on seed purchases.

On caveat: a few seed species, such as corn and onions, do not last long. Their seed is listed to remain viable for only a year. Make sure to check the catalog.

Recommendations from other gardeners

On many gardening websites, such as the Kitchen Gardener's International website, people discuss their success or failure with particular varieties. I find reviews of particular seeds to be quite helpful. The only drawback is that the gardener reviewing the seed could life in an entirely different zone and seeds may behave differently than where you intend to plant them. I have a page on my website, in which I've collected articles and reviews of particular seeds.

Seed Lingo

Certain vegetables have many terms attached to them that are rarely defined and can be confusing to the uninitiated. I've written some helpful articles on my blog (listed below) to help shed light on the issue. Check out the links listed below:

Beans
Carrot terminology
Corn: hybrid sweet corn varieties and differences between grain types
Onion varieties
Potato terminology
Pepper varieties
Tomato terminology

Seed sources

A list of my favorite seed sources and descriptions of what they sell are located here.

Happy gardening!

Get 10% off your Seed Purchase

I received this email from Hometown Seeds Yesterday, your supplier of survival seeds.

We at Hometown Seeds have been overwhelmed by the help given to us by the online gardening community. From advice on products, tips to improve our website, and links to help increase traffic to our site, we sincerely appreciate all you have done for us.

In appreciation for your help, we would like to offer a 10% discount on all of our products to you and your web community. By entering the coupon code thanks, 10% will be reduced from the total cost of any order. The code will be good through February 28, 2010. Feel free to offer this to your readers and visitors.

Sincerely,

Scott

Scott Peterson

Public Relations

Changing cold weather seedlings

Every day they keep changing the forecast, and it gets colder and colder and snowier and drizzlier than before. Let's keep it right there. I really don't want it to get any cold. You also have to factor in the wind and the feels like temperature. And the thing is, what ever they forecast for Wichita, it is always 2-4 degrees cooler and 2 more inches of snow here.

I bit of good news. The propane man showed up and was impressed with our amount of consumption. He told us that one of our neighbors got a full tank the same day we got a half tank, and that neighbor was down to 5% while we (on the same day) was only down to 15%. Well there is a very good reason for that. . . but we are not freezing.

Time to start the cool weather veggies. I have broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, brussel sprouts, rhubarb and onions going. If you live in zone 5 or 6, sometime this week it will be a good idea to get them going. You should put them out in your garden come St. Patrick's Day. To get a long harvest season out of these items, plant a new seed every 3-7 days.

Edit: Before I startle any more people, allow me to explain the eggplant thing. You actually have until March to get those seeds going. I have found however that because eggplants are so picky about cool temps, that if I start them in my zone when I start my first batch of seedlings, and put them in the garden come May, I don't have them dying without harvest by the time the first bit of cool weather comes.

Boring

I'm even boring myself lately.

Melissa came out yesterday. Surprised me. I actually like it when people come out in the middle of the day. Even though I have neighbors, most of them work away from home, and it can get a tad lonely out here. We chatted a bit about helping each other out. She needs a place to put a beef cow, I need. . . what do I need? Shall I get all existential on you all? Do you really want to get that personnel with me?

They are calling for rain later today. I am going to see if my good neighbor will come over with his tractor and dig up my garden. The tiller and tractor are still down. I have to get something, almost everything up, in. I need to plant some more stuff in doors. Why? Because I want to eliminate the chance of weeding them out, them getting flooded out, or never even sprouting. It is just something to make my gardening life easier.

Speaking of such, I have noticed that many of us are struggling. Our food preserves are dwindling, and money is scarce. I am right there with you all. I am lucky enough to still have a freezer full of pork. Last night we made home made pizza, the only ingredients that were store bought where the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda for the dough. We made farmers cheese for the topping, ground up pork and seasoned it with herbs, and opened a canned jar of pizza sauce. It is possible to do a lot with a little. It might be a subject I should write more about.

So if you want, which I know that one of you was very vocal in wanting this, in the up coming weeks, as produce starts coming in, I will write on the various ways of using and preserving. And not just the typical items or food stuff. But the more odd and desperate. Since we all live in different climates, feel free to let me know what you have started bringing in that you need help with. It's why I am here.

Break out your decoder rings

I had a rather self interesting day yesterday. Not going to really share the details, but I thought you might find the mere fact that I had a self interesting day, interesting.

Large is now officially grounded for 2 weeks. He is pushing us very hard. We tried to show him the error of his ways, but being an hour late home, forcing me to retrieve him, after being late several other times, finally broke me. 2 WEEKS BOY! 2 WEEKS! Hermit Jim had a post about listening to your parents when you got older, and the behavior of Large has me wondering if they actually ever listen.

"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasent facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."
-- John F. Kennedy. Remarks made on the 20th anniversary of the Voice of America at H.E.W. Auditorium, February 26, 1962

Why the quote? Because I am talking about the Hate Crime bill and banned books over on the Kansas Preppers Network.

Yellow Grape
Roma
Super Sioux
Paprika
Rutgers
Habenero
Mortgage lifter
Amish Paste
Arkansas Traveler
Black Krim
Beef Steak

Told you to break out those decoder rings.

Actually the list is of tomatoes and peppers that I have growing in the closet, and should be ready to go outside next week.

It is still raining, I just need two days of sun and dry so I can get everything outside.

I am not on drugs, I am just frustrated. I waited all winter to do something, but haven't been able to. This would be spring fever.

Waffles

If your seedlings are popping up then dying, make sure you check that they are not getting cooked. And make sure you are feeding them something.

If you plant 2-3 seeds per pot and they all pop up, don't yank them out. Instead remove them, still in the soil, from the container. Gently pat to crack the soil, and carefully separate the seedlings. replant in separate pots. Water well.

If sowing directly into the garden, you can eat most your sprouts when you thin (except anything in the nightshade group, like tomatoes)

It is storming here yet again.

Give your seeds at least a full week before giving up on them (if they don't sprout). Good fertile seeds usually only take 3 days to sprout, if cared for correctly.

Fish emulsion (for you that fish, guts) is a great general food source for your garden. So are the majority of your weeds. When weeding, throw them on top of your mulch in the garden. EXCEPT for morning glories. Make sure you take them far from your garden. Many of those vining weeds are trouble. They can sit dead on top of your soil until it rains, then it will re-root. Did you know that a morning glories root system can grow twenty feet in length before popping above ground?

If you have had problems in the past with transplanting, grow your seeds in peat pots. You never have to touch the roots. Make sure everything is watered well after placing them outside.

Before transplanting your plants outside, set them on your porch for a day, move them in at night, and repeat for a couple of days. Getting them use to being out.

If you smoke, wash hands well before handling seedlings.

Medium made us waffles for dinner last night.

How to end school

I am glad to see the HB 2121 was vetoed. But what happens when She becomes HHS and the new guy is Governor? Something to watch.

If you can't tell yet, I am kind of dry on the how-to's. I guess I could repost something, but not sure about that. Some of you have been reading for years, some new readers have gone back and read every single post ( I have changed a bit over the years haven't I?) some of you have utilized the tags on the sidebar to ferret out info, and some of you haven't. This will pick up more once my truck is running again and I can actually navigate the water logged roads that lead to the farmstead.

The school year ends here on the 21st of May. That is when the farmstead project should go into full swing. Sunday we will be marking off corrals. Once I have the fencing, it should only take me a good day to get it strung. The lean-tos are a different story, and a lot more work to fix.

Yesterday Medium was using the pitch fork as though he was born with it. And he actually liked using it, pitching hay to the cattle. I think he might be a born rancher. If only he would use his talents for good. ha!

When it comes to my not planting until the second week of May, I do start transplant able seedlings this week. Melons, cucumbers, and squashes mainly. I have decided that this year I will be planting everything I have. A lot of my seeds were leftovers from last year, so they have to be used. I will have an odd amount of food stuff, but you are able to can just about everything, so I am not worried. If we have to eat pumpkin puree most evenings this next harvest season, so be it, I have a few Cornishes that will go wonderfully with pumpkin.

Same Ole Same Ole

I am surprised that no one questioned the wild peacocks in Kansas yesterday. Or maybe not. . .


I learned yesterday that we "freak" some people out. Our horse neighbor informed me that he had some friends out, and they were concerned about cows in our front yard, well concerned might not be the appropriate word, more like "freaked out". Horse neighbor said he shrugged and said, "and?" it's normal for him and our other neighbors. Then his friends saw my husband and declared that he was a real live mountain man. Horse neighbor said they couldn't get over it, and kept staring at husband, amazed by the mountain man. My husband has been called worse, and he is from Denver. If the were amazed about the amount of beard he has now, I wonder what they would have thought had they seen him when we first met. Husband's hair was down passed his lower back, and he sported a braided goatee that hit mid chest. None of what horse neighbors friends said bothers me. What bothers me is when people avoid eye contact with my husband, or pull their children closer to them, or when they talk to me about him while he is standing next to me. If they should be scared of anyone, it should be my temper and my fierce loyalty to my husband.

I got some new plants started in the seed box yesterday. Everyone keeps telling me that I should have everything in the ground the first week of May. I have to politely disagree with them all. And I don't care what the Farmer's Almanac says. It is a great resource, but I have learned from unfortunate experience not to place anything tender out until the second week of May. The last frost date is April 28th, but there have been many years that frost has killed all our neighbors plants that first week of May. This is a great reason to keep a garden journal. Some habits should be broken. 2 years ago we were the only ones in the neighborhood that had tomatoes because we waited until that crucial second week.

I am not expecting too many strawberries this year. The goat ate them this winter, and they are starting over. I will have to find a U-pick it, if I can still find any. They are disappearing rapidly. Financially they are just not feasible, customers tear up your fields because they can't seem to keep a handle on their children or just don't have the respect. Pumpkin patches are disappearing faster than the others here.

Today? Same ole Same ole

Howling Hill Seed Swap

Alrescate asks wait we were exchanging, I wasn't ignoring you, just waiting for this post.

This is the second year I have been part of this. There were only a few of us last year. This year, wow! There are all kinds of goodies in this ratty envelope.

People sign up, give their mailing address to Howling Hill. She prints it up, stuffs a few seed in the package and mails it to the first person. That person takes some seeds and adds some new ones. The only rule, no GMO's.

I took a pinch of a few things, deciding against taking an entire package of something.

I took pinches of

yellow grape tomato
Seminole pumpkin mix
Numez Big Jim Chili peppers
Black Krim Tomatoes
winged Beans
Amish paste tomato
Mortgage lifter tomato
King of the north Pepper
Marigolds
Market More cucumbers

I put in:

Peanuts
Culinary Sage
California Black eyed cow peas
Amish Pie Squash
Japanese white popcorn
Sunberry
dent corn
red clover
Kidney beans
pinto beans


I will get this off in the mail sometime today.

There is an article here, for those of you that were asking about early spring planting (what you should plant).

Seed exchange muddin'

Howling Hill's seed exchange is still in my hands. I have taken out Echinacea purpurea, California Wonder Bell pepper, and garlic seed. And have added Golden Zucchini Squash, Kentucky Wonder Green Beans, cow peas, snowball cauliflower and ailsa craig onion. They will be mailed as soon as Gina emails me back. There is still time to join, just let me know.

My red bell peppers are starting to flower.

This weekend we took a little down time to play.

My middle son has declared that he wants to race ATV's

While the youngest ate a lot of mud during the fun, and then slept hard.

Winter Madness

3+ inches of snow, howling winds, and a wind chill below 0F, causes one to stay deep inside of their home. Venturing out for frostbite only when the animals must be fed. Winter has now lasted too long. The restlessness of the homesteader throws its hissy fit, and you don't know what to do. I have already fantasized about my garden, and that gets boring if you can no longer put a little kink, I mean element into the mix. I have tried to sew, my braided rug looks like a bowl, and I have baked every single bread and dessert I know, twice.

Now is the time you start making other plans. Plans to take over the world Pinky! Did I say that out loud? Luckily for me, my husband is home so that my talking to myself doesn’t seem all that strange as anything that I might mutter will be greeted with a nod or an uhhuh.

What plans can my strange little mind form? What devious plot will birth in my brain? It doesn’t help that my good neighbor’s mother brought over some heritage seeds. She gave me some Cherry tomatoes, Marglobe, yellow, beefsteak, Rutgers, and oxheart. Oh my garden seduced mind quivers in joy! And to send me over the edge, to help complete my garden fetish, she gives us Back to Basics, by Readers Digest. I am not sure I can contain the excitement. A new book in the house is like another hit of Primo. Though I must say that I caught my husband in bed last night, the blankets pulled up, the door shut, giggling in glee as he palmed the RD book. As I burst through the door, he hid the book as though it contain naughty photos. What are you doing? He wouldn’t tell me, but I caught a glimpse of the book. That’s mine! I screamed and dove for him. I am not strong enough, he easily pinned me and the torture of tickling began. Not Fair! The book is mine! I squealed. “You can look at it after me.” ah, but that wouldn’t work. How about we look at it together? I asked sweetly, innocently. "No." Ack, I have to wait. Huff...I laid down in bed next to him, trying to peek at the pages in a way that he wouldn’t notice.

I didn’t get to concoct any plans last night. But this morning, this morning the book is all mine! MINE I say!

Garden Check

Blogger just doesn't want to post pictures for me today.

1st week seeds

Here are the Good Neighbor Peas. On the right is the Brandywine tomatoes. In the middle, onions. (they are trying to come up)

The cauliflower is doing well.

My youngest turns 4 on Tuesday, and he is the only one excited about the sprouts. Many ooo's and awwws were forth coming, as well as squeals of delight. When I asked him if he was going to eat them when they fruited, he gave a loud "uh huh!" My 6 year old declared he would only eat broccoli.

To my LJ Friends, these are the seeds you sent me. Thank you, they are doing great!

Phelan's Box

A few of you asked about our seed box. The box is one of our tools as well as a repurposed item, (and to make Stephanie happy, it is made from scratch) Surprisingly enough, it is a relatively inexpensive item to make. Here is the run down.

You will need;
We have very little money into this box, most of the things acquired where given to us, or we had laying about.
3 1/2 sheets of plywood
We had 4 sheets of 3/8 plywood 6 feet tall given to us (one reason for the shape of the box) 1 for the front, 1 for the back and 1/2 for each side, and 1/2 for the top.

2x4s in the corners and across the top

You can use a variety of light sources or heat mats with low light water bed heater, just keep the air moving so you don't turn your box into an oven. We run 400 watts in ours using a grow light

1x material

reclaimed door hinges, screws

A reclaimed squirrel cage and dryer vent, and metal coffee can help vent out the heat so we don't scorch our plants. A small fan (was an osculating fan, but won't osculate anymore) that can be turned on to regulate any heating issues, and keeps the carbon dioxide levels up by exchange old air for new. The height helps with temp regulations as well.

Mylar or anything reflective is used on the walls and the doors (glossy white house paint works, and is the cheapest of all the materials that could be used unless you have stuff laying about that you could use). The reflective stuff is used for light refraction, keeps the light bouncing around the box, maximizing your lumins.


Drip trays are need for any condensation or over watering.

What to do:

Split one sheet of plywood in 1/2 for the doors. the 1/2 sheet of plywood for the top. This gets you the basic box. In one side cut a hole that you metal coffee can can sit in. Mount the squirrel cage in the opposite corner, attaching the dryer vent to the cage and to the coffee can. Mount the fan on the same side but different corner of your coffee can.

Then use 1x material for the door seem over lap and the hinge mountings on the doors. Attach the doors. Use your reflective material either before you put it together (as in the paint) or after (as in the Mylar). Hang the lamp.

We also use two reclaimed floor vents that have been placed on the bottom sides (either side) to help with air circulation.


Dimensions of our box is 6 foot by 4 feet wide 34 inches deep. and hidden behind our bedroom door (so don't give me that, I don't have the room). Using the egg cartons we have 264 seedlings, if we used the seedling flats, we could have close to 500 seedlings in our available space (egg cartons were readily available at this time).

You can scale the box way down, we just used what we had instead of chopping everything up. 4x2x4 can be accomplished with 2 sheets a plywood, doing seed flats. (they are about 1ft wide 2 ft long)

You can do this in the corner of your garage, just make sure the temperature is regulated, between 80-90 f

Planting a New Year

Some of your seed packages tell you that you should start seeds inside 8 weeks before last frost. And that is exactly what we did this weekend.

My husband sifted together the peat moss, chicken litter and soil. Even getting the boys to help out.

Once completed we prepped the grow box.

The soil mixture was then placed into one of my good stew pots {he thought he was being sneaking, but it does wash out} and then used a broken ice cream scoop to place the dirt into the egg cartons.

We planted onions and brandywine, celery, climbing tomatoes,

and Good Neighbor Peas.

Once these sprout they will be moved to the nursery while a new batch of seedlings are placed in the box.

Have you started yours yet?

On a side note; thank you to whomever sent my the gift certificate to the photo studio. We haven't had a proffesional photo done in almost 10 years. Thank you thank you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!