Second seed catalog has arrived

My second seed catalog arrived today.  This one was from Vermont Bean Seed company.  While they do not participate in the Safe Seed Pledge, it is always fun to look at colorful seed catalogs during the winter. And dream.  And plan. I like to order from those companies that promote non-GMO, open-pollinated, and heirloom seeds. One of my favorites is Baker Creek Seeds.  They have seeds from all over the world and an incredible variety.
Does anyone else have a favorite seed catalog they like? Gotten any in the mail yet?

Thanksgiving Cactus



My Christmas cactus is more of a Thanksgiving cactus this year.  

Snow!

There has been a lot of talk for months predicting that this winter will be harsh, much like last year.  I am not sure how accurate those predictions are.  I just heard this week that last year's winter was predicted to have been mild.  Well then...
We have had snow showers and flurries here in the Midwest most of the week.  Enough to stick to vehicles and roofs and make the grass look a little white.  Enough to get this snow lover excited.  :)  It is certainly cold enough for snow!
Currently, the National Weather Service home page shows a large area of the middle of the country under a winter weather advisory.  I am hoping that they are right in that we will get the snow and wrong in that we will get more than the forecasted amount.  A girl can dream, right? 
Interested in finding out weather facts and records for your area?  A search for your local National Weather Service site provides a lot of interesting facts around snowfall, if you receive the white stuff in your area.The earliest snowfall ever recorded in our area was September 25, and the 2013-2014 calendar winter was the snowiest on record with 57.6 inches of snow and the least snowiest was a tie between 1965-66 and 1994-95 with only 7.8 inches.The most snow in a 24 hour period?  18 inches.
Here's to hoping for a snowman by the end of this weekend!  :)

The Beetles are Back

Although they are not as bad as they have been in previous years, the Japanese beetles have returned.  Thankfully, the most I have seen of them at one time is in the pool skimmer...drowned.  They seem to particularly like the okra plans this year, doing typical damage as pictured below.

Today in the garden

After a late planting this year because of weather delays, the garden is finally starting to produce.  By the number if cucumber blossoms, we are in for a lot of fresh eating and pickling this year.
The green beans and black eyed peas are blooming, the yellow crookneck and scallop squashes have tiny fruits.  I am anxious to pick and eat them.  There are LOTS of green tomatoes also.
I have noticed a few pests in the garden, particularly cucumber beetles and Japanese beetles.  They aren't causing to much damage right now though.

Another transplanting

I am currently working on the last transplanting, or potting up, of my tomato seedlings.  Last night I transplanted around 90 plants...and I am not done. 
This has caused me to reflect on a couple things. 
1.  I need another shelving unit with lights.
2.  I need more containers
3.  Going on vacation during all this may or may not be a good idea.  This remains to be determined.  Hopefully they will still be alive when I return.
4.  I LOVE playing in the dirt and can get lost for hours gardening.

Potting up

Repurposing yogurt, cottage cheese, and sour cream containers for potting up tomatoes.  Love recycling!  I burned drainage holes in them with yet another repurposed tool...a woodburning tool.  I definitely do this outdoors so I don't breathe the plastic fumes.  My great grandma would use a heated nail to make drainage holes in Dixie cups.  I think of her every time I do this.

Back in the swing of things

Well, I have successfully survived my first year of graduate school.  All in one piece.  Wow, is mid-life learning ever different from learning as an 18-23 year old!  The brain just doesn't function quite the same as it used to.

I am taking the summer off from school so gardening has a priority status once again.  :)

The biggest change that I have made this year is transitioning to an all non-GMO seed garden.  The seed saver in me had a tough time throwing away all of the old seed that I had.  Can you believe that I had seeds back from 2008?  While I have ordered seed from other Safe Seed Pledge companies in the past with good results, I ordered all of my seed from Baker Creek Seeds this year.  No particular reason other than I was one stop shopping for the sake of time at that moment.  I take that back...I did get a package of Seeds of Change yellow pear tomato seeds at the local Menards.  Oops.

Here are my towers of drying, recycled containers after I washed and santitized them.  I used nearly every one of them transplanting just tomatoes and peppers.

This is my indoor seed starting set up in my potting shed.  I am going to have to rob my sewing/craft room of its shelving in order to keep my seedlings under florescent lights as I continue to transplant and pot up seedlings.  I think I will be running out of room!

 

I transplanted tomatoes and peppers on Sunday.  I was a bit worried because the peppers totally wilted on me initially but were fine by the next day.  Whew!  The tomatoes got transplanted up to their first set of leaves...not their first true leaves, but the seed leaves.  They will grow extra roots this way.  The amount of growth in them in just a couple of days has been amazing.  I feel like a mother hen checking the progress in the shed every day, sometimes multiple times a day.  Each time, something new is sprouting, needs watered, or just admired.  :)  There is nothing quite like gardening to soothe the soul. 

I am looking forward to documenting this year's garden adventures again...at least until the fall semester starts up again...

New Beginnings

Ever since I graduated from college, I have wanted to attend graduate school to receive my master's degree. Throughout my career as a nurse, I have had many roles, each with its own specialty degree offering.  They all sounded tempting, but none of them stuck with me as something for the long term.  I have finally taken my plunge and after much, much, much research, (did I mention that I really researched this decision?), I have chosen my program and my school.
Anyone that knows me really well knows that I agonize over decision making.  I rarely make spur of the moment decisions.  Everything is researched to the nth degree.  We don't even buy household items without me checking ratings first.  My DH has laughingly adapted to this.  Thankfully.  Even after all that planning and researching, I continue to second guess the decision.  There is probably some syndrome name for me.  Yes, I think it mirrors perfectionism.  :)
I am starting with just one class since it has been over two decades since I graduated from college.  I need to get my feet wet first.
Excited and scared to death.  Just the beginning of a new journey for me.  Moving right along....  :)

Box Elder Madness

Awhile back we had groupings of box elders.  I haven't ever seen them like this before.  Not sure why some look different that the usual box elder bugs.

 

Tomatoes!!

Busy picking day today!  There is canning in my future.

Fungi

I saw this while picking tomatoes.  Fungi are fascinating to me.  I think all of our recent rains after all of the drought has caused them to sprout.

 

Fun picture of the underside

 

 

Out with the door...in with the window

Another post of improvements.  This time on the house...not the garden.

Jackhammering out the old concrete steps.

The concrete was totally solid...

Removing the old door

Open air access

The new window.  No more drafty old door.

First tomatoes

Look what I found in the garden tonight!  The first tomatoes of the season!  Minus a couple that were eaten directly off the plant.  There is just something about eating a tomato in its element.  Yum!


The red tomatoes are Juliet.  The yellows are Yellow Pear.  Somewhere the pear part was left off....
The Zucchini is Costata Romanesco.

Update....the yellow tomatoes are now gone.  As well as more reds.  They are so good!  ;)

Change is good....right?

I have seriously considered changing the focus of my blog to incorporate other areas of my life as well.  I love gardening, but it is but a piece of the quilt of my life.  There are so many things that I would like to share with others without having to have multiple blogs.
Currently my struggle is to change the url of my blog.  This has been something I have wanted to do since I noticed what comes up when a search is entered for "seed and weed".  In all of my naivety, I did not even consider what those words would conjure up in a search engine.  Yikes!  Not the image that I want to portray at all!  Now to figure out how to change the url and continue to keep my followers.  Anyone with suggestions?  
In the meantime, I am in the process of thinking of a new name for my blog...
I am looking forward to sharing many of the other "pieces of my quilt" with all of you!

My Singing Frog

I found this little guy hiding behind the window basket.  For such a small guy, he packs some punch with his vocals.

Break in the heat

Per the local weatherman, yesterday marked the fourth day of 100+ degree heat in our area.  The last time that occurred was in 1988.  I remember that year well as the year that the corn was literally brown between the heat and lack of rain.  Many fields in our area are now irrigated as we sit on top of a large underground aquifer.
Today's forecasted high?  A cool 89 degrees...

Garden update

I had known prior to the growing season even starting that this was not going to be a big year for the garden.  So far, I have been surprised that as much is in the garden as there is.  What there is was planted later than usual, but we will just enjoy the harvest a little later.
The heat wave we have been experiencing is supposed to break tomorrow.  Now to break the drought...

Tomatoes.  These had been damaged by our previous hail storm but so far so good.  

Section of Roma tomatoes.  The blue tarp is in place to heat the soil underneath and kill the grass that keeps trying to grow there.  The goal is to add more raised beds in that area.

Baby Romas

Our greyhound, China.  She could easily walk over the fence, but tends to not.

Debby Downer vacation

We are in Gulf Shores at the start of our vacation and under a Tropical Storm warning.  Who would have thought?  I love storms and have often said that I would love to be in a hurricane.  All I can say is, be careful what you wish for. 

Hail storm

I enjoy a good thunderstorm.  We don't seem to get them like we used to in years past.
Last night it started to thunder so I went out to the porch off of Bill's shed to read and enjoy the incoming storm.  Little did I know what I had gotten in too.
The rain started and then we got pea to marble sized hail.  The hail on the metal roof was deafening!  Then came some wild wind!  For a split second, I was actually a bit worried.  That quickly ended and I was grinning like a kid.  :)  The porch ended up being no shelter from the driving rain, and I was soaked.
The fascia was peeled off of the neighbor's house, a trampoline blown over a fence into another yard, patio tables and basketball hoops blown over, trees down, and shredded foliage. 
An exciting night!