Nothing Wasted
I mentioned earlier this week that I was going through my seed stash and being ruthless about weeding out old seed. Last year, I did a few experiments with seed for the same vegetable from differing years (seeds were from the same company). The fresh seed germinated much quicker and the seedlings were much stronger and were more resistant to stress induced issues (like too much sun, not enough water, etc).
After my experiments, I decided it was worth it to start each year with seed that is as fresh as possible. Some seeds stay fresher longer than other, brassicas and tomatoes are among those, thus I’ll keep those seeds for a few years. Onion seeds on the other hand really shouldn’t be saved from year to year. I will no longer be pushing the dates for viability of seed, it’s just not worth my time to risk things not germinating or seedlings not thriving. For a downloadable seed shelf life chart head on over to this post and download the PDF.
The seeds could have been thrown in the compost pile, but I decided to sprout them for my chickens instead. Of course you could sprout them for yourself if you don’t have chickens. I knew these hard working ladies would appreciate some lovely green sprouts in the middle of the winter, they’re still laying so well, I decided to give the sprouts to them instead of eating them myself. They’ll give them back to me in the form of big, beautiful eggs.
Sprouting seeds is as easy as can be, and you don’t need any special supplies. A glass jar and a piece of cheesecloth will do. Simply soak seeds for a few hours or overnight, drain out water and set jar upside down, tipped slightly in a bowl to drain excess water. Rinse several times a day when you remember, draining the water each time. Rinsing is important to keep mold away! In a few days sprouts will start to appear, when they are to your liking – enjoy!
What could be easier than that. This is also a good way to watch how seeds germinate and to monitor the different germination times with different vegetables.
What do you do with your old garden seed?
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It’s Official
Well, I guess we’re finally official Maine residents, we went and switched our license plates to Maine plates yesterday. It’s a lot of paperwork here in Maine, there are forms to fill out by hand with carbon copies – CRAZY – I haven’t seen those since doing paperwork in Colombia 10 years ago.
It’s all rather a lot of work here in Maine, there’s excise tax to pay at the town, registration fees, you also have get an inspection as well. It’s also not done according to birthdays either, so your plates need renewed whenever you got them originally. In Ohio, it’s all done according to birthdays, so you know your plates expire on your birthday, so much easier to remember. You can also renew on-line, and for 2 years if you want in Ohio, and they send you a letter in the mail telling you it’s time. It’s definitely not a streamlined process here in Maine, a little old fashioned I suppose. I fell sorry for the town clerks that have to do so much paperwork every year for car registrations! Perhaps it’s only Ohio that streamlined and easy, maybe other states are just like Maine.
What’s the car registration process like in your state?
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Neglected? I Think Not
It seems everywhere you turn people are upset that some folks have outdoor animals. I’ve seen lots of name calling, confiscation of pets and even in some municipalities people are citing people for having outdoor pets. With proper shelter, warm bedding, water and extra feed, many animals do quite fine outside, even during the winter. We have outdoor animals, chickens, ducks, guineas, cats and even Tara spends most of her time outside. I can guarantee that they’re not being neglected, or abused, in fact they’re all happier for it, much, much happier! These animals would be absolutely miserable if we tried to keep them inside to stay warm all winter.
Tara is one happy dog when she’s out in the cold, in fact, she’s much happier the colder the weather gets. She’s been getting extra bones and lots of the fatty pork trimmings we saved when we slaughtered our pigs. As you can see, she’s happy as a clam out in the cold munching on her goodies. The duck pond that has a stock tank heater in it is close at hand, which means she has delicious ducky water to drink (it’s her favorite kind, so much better than the fresh stuff in her heated dog bowl).
The chickens, ducks, and guineas are also getting a nice warm meal before they roost up for the night. Remember all those potatoes I planted this past summer in the garden? I’ve been cooking them up on the wood stove and mixing them with fermented grains, dried herbs and a bit of lard as well for good measure. Naturally, the fowl are tickled pink with these delicious meals and are rewarding me with loads of eggs.
The Sweets, which is our little feral garage cat, is also spoiled rotten. We have a heated mat for her in the garage, but she refuses to sleep on it, even when the weather dips down to -20. She does however, relish the warm venison burger with added bacon grease. She gobbles it right up along with chicken necks and wings and anything else I take out to her. In the winter she eats about double what she does in the summer. Her fur is so thick you can’t get your finger through it down to her skin, it’s amazing how velvety she gets during cold weather. She also loves to hunt down by the sauna, no doubt there are load of mice down there.
The truth is most animals adapt very well, bringing them into a heated space during a cold snap actually does them more harm than good because it can cause loss of their warm winter coat. If you have stray animals around feel free to provide extra nutrient dense food for them and provide shelter with warm bedding, but please don’t try to put them in a heated space to keep them warm. And please, don’t assume those with outdoor animals are neglecting or abusing their pets, sure there are some people that are, but most are not.
Do you have any outdoor animals? How do you help them in cold weather?
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It’s Official
I guess when I pull out all my seeds and start going through them the 2014 garden season has officially begun. This is what my coffee table looks like at the moment. I’m being ruthless about what seeds are getting sprouted for chickens and which ones I’m going to actually start this year. No doubt my seed order will be minimal this year in hopes of finally whittling down my seed stash.
I’m also going to be simplifying what I plant a little this year. There are loads of garden chores that need done, and I’d rather spend my time preparing new planting areas for future gardens than tending to a huge variety of vegetables. That’s my main goal for this garden year.
How do your goals for this garden year differ from the last?
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Wintertime Fun
Our driveway is slick, after the ice storm and several snow storms afterwards, it was pretty much a luge track. At one point, both of our cars were stuck at the bottom and Mr Chiots needed to get the filled gas cans in one of the cars. He rode a sled down and hauled the gas up on the sled. After using the gas to fill the plow truck, we were able to get the cars up the driveway. That gave him an idea though, use our 1/3 mile curvy driveway as a sledding hill – it’s PERFECT.
It sure makes for a long ride down with twists and turns which created a few spectacular crashes. The only problem is the LONG walk back up! Unfortunately we got a lot of rain yesterday that melted our sledding track, guess we’ll have to wait for more snow. At least we got a few good runs in while the conditions were great!
When was the last time you went sled riding?
