Cultivate Simple 60: Seeds of Change
On this week’s podcast we discuss buying seeds for your garden. The seed catalogs have arrived and it is time to think about planting even though you may be buried in snow.
Thanks for the support Misti from Wildscape Photo and Samantha. Also a big thanks to Melanie from CA for the lovely food care package from her farm!
Brian’s Geeky Corner
Check out Toggl.com for some time tracking goodness!
Seed Buying Tips
Figure out how much space you have and how much you can dedicate to each item. If possible simplify, it’s always easier to keep track of a few seedlings and varieties than a lot. But that being said, don’t be afraid to try something new!
Find a friend to go in on seeds with!!! Save so much money, even if you have a gardening friend you can try to split up seed starting (though I must admit this would drive me crazy).
Organize, organize, organize – figure out a system that works for you. When you have a decent sized garden and grow a fairly large number of different vegetables you must keep your seeds organized. I organize mine by type as you can see here, I know someone who organizes theirs by planting month. It becomes very difficult to keep track of large quantities of seed.
Books of the Week
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:15:43 — 52.7MB)
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Little House – no time to waste in spring
“There was no time to lose, no time to waste in rest or play. The life, of the earth comes up with a rush in the springtime. All the wild seeds of weed and thistle, the sprouts of vine and bush and tree, are trying to take the fields. Farmers must fight them with harrow and plow and hoe; they must plant the good seeds quickly.”
Laura Ingals Wilder (Little House Series)
Right now the ground is covered with over a foot of snow, spring seems really far away, but the growing pile of seed catalogs by my chair reminds me that it will be here sooner than I realize.
I’m not quite ready to get my seed order organized, but I don’t really have much of a choice. As much as I love gardening, I’m really enjoying a little bit of rest this winter. However, if I linger too long I may not be able to get the seeds that I want.
Luckily I still have a little time to rest before things get started in earnest. My onions will be started first in about a month. That gives me four more weeks of rest!
Do you ever have to do things before you want to because of circumstances outside of your control?
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Citrus Season
It’s citrus season here at Chiot’s Run. Since it’s is season in more temperate regions, we order up boxes of various kinds of citrus to brighten up our days. Right now I’m enjoying Rio Red grapefruit from G & S Groves in TX. Grapefruit is my all time favorite kind of citrus to eat. I also got a box of Valencia oranges for Mr Chiots, which is his favorite.
I’m also working on a box of Meyer lemons from Lemon Ladies Orchard (we’ll be doing a giveaway in a few little bit). Earlier this week I made a batch of lemon curd and it’s AMAZING.
Of course with all the citrus I’m making gallons of my citrus infused vinegar to get me through the cleaning year (see my post about it here).
There’s something so happy about citrus, I LOVE it. Perhaps it’s my tropical roots, or maybe it’s just because it really does brighten up a cold winter day!
What’s your favorite kind of citrus?
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Friday Favorite: The Brown Chiots
It’s hard to believe that the Brown Chiots is 12 years old now. Or at least she will be in the next week or so, we’re not sure when exactly she was born, we got her at the local dog pound in early March and were told she was 7-8 weeks old at the time.
The day after we got her she got sick, really sick. Turned out she had Parvo. It was the weekend and the vet told us to try to make sure she got enough fluids through the weekend and to bring her in on Monday morning if she survived. She made it through the weekend and on Monday morning to the vet she went. They kept her for 2 days and gave her IV fluids and then she came home almost back to 100%. It’s amazing she survived.
She drove us absolutely CRAZY when she was pup, but that’s what puppies do. She ran away, dug holes in the garden, ate plants and did all sorts of destructive things. She was great as far as house training though, never once soiling indoors. She also was fantastic at not tearing things up, she never once ate a shoe or tore up anything she wasn’t supposed to.
Her only vice was tearing up all tissues that didn’t make it into the garbage can. Those she would frolic and play with throwing them around until they were in thousands of tiny shreds all over the floor.
Then at 2 years old she matured into the best dog ever and has been that way ever since. She’s the garden namesake, as she used to love to run around the garden. She still does, though at a much slower pace in her old age. She’s closing in on being the oldest pet we’ve had. There was a cat named Jeffrey that I got in high school who lived to 13 before getting cancer.
What’s the longest lived pet you’ve had?
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Jack Frost
Jack Frost visited my windows the night before last and left this beautiful pattern, it’s unlike any window frost I’ve ever seen. It’s simply stunning!
The super cold weather we’ve been having has been keeping us on our toes, closing blinds at night trying to keep the heat in and the cold outside where it belongs. The other night it was -9 when we were arriving back at home from being out – BRRRR – that’s a little chilly. No doubt some of you see these temps all the time.
What’s the coldest it gets in your area of the country?
