Friday, February 26, 2010

Seeds, Seeds, and more Seeds

Johnny's had a $1 bin the other day! That is a rarity so I took at advantage and bought a few ;) packs of seeds that were on the verge of expiring. Depending on who you talk to and what you read germination may not be as good but I DON'T CARE! We have seeds from years back that still seem to produce. For me it was an opportunity to try products we've never grown and/or tasted before. There was a mix of hybrid and heirloom seeds available. We grow both but my interest in heirloom seeds is increasing as I plan to learn more about seed saving. Next time I go to the library I plan to take out a book on seed saving and see what I can learn and put to action this year.


So here are some of the goodies we are going to plant this year. And I SWEAR this is the year that I am going to keep track of what is where! I can always tell what is what, those are pumpkins, here is the corn. This year I WILL go beyond that by knowing the variety. For instance, Winter Squash, Specialty Long Island Cheese

My plan is to make a map and track the varieties Maine Man plants where. He truly is the brains behind this operation! The garden is the one place I do as I'm told as he is the Master Gardener;) He does give me free range in my assigned herb area, that is about it. Harvest and preservation, that is a whole different story!

I am so excited to grow the above squash. If you click the link there is lots of great info! I have always admired them year after year at the Common Ground Fair. Now I am going to have them growing in my back yard! They are said to be a great for cooking. This past year was the first time I've ever cooked up pumpkins and froze. I have enjoyed having a pumpkin/squash stash to cook with but I really can't wait to see what this year's bounty taste like.

Basil Dark Opal is another variety I picked up. This with be my 3rd year of growing herbs. This year's herb patch will be bigger & better then previous years. I am amazed how easy they are to grow!

To list a few of the seed packets pictured above: Sorrel (I have never tried but heard of), Endive (Is known to be winter hardy. This will be our first year attempting 4 seasons growing/harvesting), Chinese Lanterns (I have always wanted to grow these), hedgehog gourds (just for the fun of it!) then there are the traditional peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, corn and so on.
So psyched for Spring! The past few weeks in Maine the weather has been UNUSUALLY warm and recent rains have wiped out much of the snow in our area. Wouldn't it be sweet if this was our end to winter? Ha, we will see what March brings!


On a final note, a FYI for my fellow bloggers:

I have previously mentioned printing out my blog into a book and I have finally taken a step towards this. Reasons why ..... 1) if the internet crashed and burned I would be distraught at the thought of loosing documentation of the last 3 years of our life. Not to mention the recipes that I recall almost on a weekly basis. 2) as a keepsake for my children 3) in this world of digital photography the days of photo albums (at least in this house) are over. Back in the days of film photography I was faithful at filling my albums but right around 2003 that all ceased. Now I rarely print them out except if I plan on framing, giving as presents, an occassional photo book for family or friend, and my annual calender that I give to our parents as a Christmas gift.

The secret is Blog2Print . It literally only takes a few minutes! You type in your link and a few minutes later you can view the book and see what the cost will be if you decide to order. No cutting and pasting, Quick & easy! I made and ordered a book from the first year of my blog, 2008. The more information you have naturally the more you will pay. I also made a book for 2009 and placed it in my shopping cart. I am waiting to see if I like the end result. I did not include comments as that added many more pages which = more $ and I ordered soft cover to limit the money paid out. My plan is to print one at at the end of each year therefore making the cost more managable.
I will let you know how I like. In the meanwhile I encourage any of you fellow bloggers to give it a try. Hope you all find this helpful!

14 comments:

Bookncoffee said...

Interesting about the Blog2Print information. Excited to hear more about your gardening as time passes. We are in Tennessee and looking forward to growing ours. We did herbs, squash, butterbeans, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, cucumber - and that is all I can remember. We always have a good time with it and enjoy those summer meals at night with these treats from the garden.

jenn said...

That's a whopper load of seeds! How exciting. I can't wait to plant.

I'll be really interested to hear how your blog book comes out. I've been thinking along those lines, too.

Don said...

I'm ready to get this garden stuff going!!

You are going to have a great summer.

small farm girl said...

Hey, I like that blog2print idea! I just might give it a try.

Little Messy Missy said...

I love starting seeds. We have 15 flats under lights now. Let me know if the Chinese lanterns do well I have been thinking about starting some and think they would look very nice next to our koi fish pond. Blog book....great idea!

Prairie Mother said...

I am ready for my garden too! We have a long list for our garden this year too. My husband has 300 tomato seeds, what was he thinking?

I'm excited about Blog2Print too, thanks!

Shayne said...

Thanks for passing along the Blog2Print information. I'd never heard of that before, but it sounds great.

What a great deal you snagged at the seed sale!

Anonymous said...

Testing
Mike

Anonymous said...

Oh How Fun. Looks like you got a lot of good seeds.

Sandy

gardenofsimple said...

I just ordered our seeds the other day (finally!) we were snowed in and I was thinking spring! I sat down and mapped out (sort of!) the garden. This is our first year in the house so I'm trying to be good and start small, but seeds are so tempting!

I've been looking into the book thing too, I think it's a great idea. Keep us updated on how it works out!

Inger said...

Thanks for the info on blog2print. I will definitely check it out. Looking forward to seeing your garden grow.

Karen Sue said...

Thanks for the Blog2Print info. It will be good to see how you like it and we can learn from you! I started some onion seeds today that I received from a bloggy friend in the mail. I couldn't take the cold and snow anymore, I had to do something that shouted SPRING!! I way overplanted tomatoes for the space I had last year, but that's OK. I'm just looking to expand another bed this year and trying to figure where the placement is the best. So many seeds, so little time!!

Sheryl at Providence North said...

I have enjoyed reading your blog!

I am a seedaholic. I freely admit it. This year I swore I would only have seeds that I would truely plant and grow. I still have way more than I think I am going to have time for.

I have deicded to start planting one thing every day now and I bought three little greenhouses to put all the seedlings in. I am going to be VERY busy when the ground thaws!

Nice to see another small farm in the great white north!

Onkel Marc said...

Here is something you are going to like - get your Blog as ebook (PDF) for free - it is ready for printing ;-) www.bookfabrik.com Cheers, Marc