Starting seeds indoors.

This year with the rising cost of garden plants, I decided to start my seeds indoors. As posted in a previous post The seeds were ordered on line from SEEDS NOW. All Heirloom and organic so we don't have to keep buying seeds " HOPFULLY " So far I have planted 3 different kinds of tomatoes "I will list names with produce later" 3 different kinds of peppers, eggplant, and some cold crops. all are doing good except 1 type of tomato and eggplant. Here are some picks.

Just coming up.  I started them in a mix of top soil and aged horse manure , because that's what I had on hand. So I have to make sure they aren't left to dry out . The soil will get hard and the seedlings wont be able to get thru the soil. I keep them on a tray , so I can water them from the bottom every couple days .

 Here you can see they seem to be doing well. P.S. the funny looking thing is ginger.

 As you can see , some never have come up yet. Tomatoes and egg plants. I don't think they will !

 I use paper towels to sop up the extra water , so they don't get to wet. Just because its to heavy and messy to try to lift and pour off. We also hung a $12.00 shop light over them and a clip on light. we also have a small heater under the plants, under the table " my table is a glass table " and I keep the temp VERY LOW and I insulated the table with old bedding ,  to keep them warm for germination. This worded for me. You will need to figure out what works for you.

 Once they all have there true leaves " these are the 2nd set of leaves that each plant forms " They will be moved out side to a small green house, to get hardened off.

  do not leave it unattended ! THIS LIGHT  does not get hot/ hot, it is not for heat, it is for light . I will be planting more plants next week and these plants shown here, will be going out into the small green house. Happy gardening ! T

Home Made Easter Candy is cheaper.

Happy Easter EVERY ONE......
This year we decided to try making our Easter chocolates/candy. And you know what, It was easy and it was a lot cheaper than store bought. We used almond barks in white and chocolate, and also candy melts from the grocery "walmart". Check them out.

 We made all these for around $6.75, But I already had the almond bark.

 And I already had the candy molds.

 We did some Mint chocolate.

 Some milk chocolate.

 and some peanut butter. see the filled hen on a nest.

 Happy Easter.

CHICKIE MOMMA !

Well its official !   I am a chickie momma!
I received my 27 chicks right on time. "I ordered 25" However they did not come from welp poultry as ordered. They would not ship them together. And they said I would have to pay for shipping twice. So ,I ordered from McMurray's Hatchery.  So glad I did. I have 25 still living, 2 did not make it .I don't think I had heat up enough at first. They would have replaced them if I wanted, but they also sent me 2 FREE, so I m ok with that. They always send every one extra so they can share with some one else. That's nice. These chicks are very hardy. I have had them outside already and temp is down to 77 in the baby pool I am Keeping them in already, and they are doing just fine. every time we uncover it they are jumping out ALL OVER the place.  They are soooooo cute ! We are now scrambling to get the coop completed. Also working on adding more beds to the garden. Here are some pics of the little ones.                                                                                The dogs wanted to see.

                                                                                                                           Does not look like 27 chicks , but trust me. There are.

                                                                                                                           Just look at that face!

                                                                                                                           A little rooster

                                                                                                                            They will be so beautiful.

 A face only a mother could love...

 look at those freckles.

Cute.

 Enjoying the great out doors.

 They took right to the yard.                                     Below. Chuck rounding up the troops.

 

Welp Inc.

I have FINALLY found a place to order my day old chicks. Yes !!    The hatchery is called Welp Inc.
You don't have to bother with shipping/handling and yes they vaccinate and spray for pennies. My delivery date is the week of April the 7th. They said I should receive them within 2 days of shipping.   I can not wait. I ordered Red Rangers and Naked Necks, both are dual purpose birds, eggs and meat. Good foragers. Heritage breeds, cold hardy and MOST IMPORTANT friendly and not overly noisy. Its about to happen.  With rabbits, chickens and the garden, I can now call it a mini farm .   Well, this is the farm girl saying so long for now. T.      Churp! Churp! Churp!, oh ,  that's going to drive me crazy !

SEEDS NOW!

 

 

    Well, I finally made an order for my garden seeds. Turns out , it was a hole lot easer than shopping for chickens. That I haven't ordered yet! But, That's another story.  Back to the garden seeds. I ended up ordering from a company called SEEDS NOW. And boy do they mean it. I couldn't be happier with the selection ,thou no potatoes seeds , sunflower seeds or garlic. AND , of course no corn. There seeds are all organic,100% GMO free,85% germination garintied,99% purity , heirloom seeds. That's why no corn. The other items, I gather they just don't handle.           Aside from the obvious above mentioned reasons , I love the fact that this company offers smaller      " trial packs " for .99 cents each. Just enough for back yard gardeners like my self and I'll still have enough to share with my sister ( if she puts a garden out this year ) . I also got 2 packages of planting pellets, 25 in each pkg. and they sent me a free pkg Gourmet Lettuce mix seeds with  a soil pellet and 5 coupons , $5  off my next purchase of $ 30, no expiration date. Last year I purchased a pkg of watermelon seeds ( $3.50 ) when I opened it up , I got 4 seeds- 3 of witch did not grow and I had to buy another pkt. I got a total of 4 eatable watermelons. At seeds Now, I got a pkg of sugar baby ( pkg says 20 seeds but there are 25 ) most all pkg are like that to make up for the 85% germination guarantee I guess.  Oh,  and did you notice those CUTE little Ziploc pkgs they come in !     Now I can't wait to start seeds and put them to the test. COME ON SPRING !!!! I say as the snow still falls in our back yard. 

THE ARM CHAIR GARDENER !

View from our back deck.  

                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                  BUNCH OF CLUCKIN  CHICKENS !
                                                                                                                  
  I tell  ya, I think this winter planning for the garden is some stressful stuff now !   I have been trying to decide how much and what I would need and want to plant this coming season.   I plan on expanding the garden and adding more. It did so well / I still have carrots and onions in the bed wintering over, we have been eating and feeding the Wabbits .   I also plan on saving my own seeds from know on. So as to eliminate the cost of having to buy every year .                             The PRICES                                   OF ORGANIC , HEIRLOOM SEEDS !!!!!        Makes you want to think ! Think ! and RE-THINK just what it is you really want and need to grow.  Iv been working on it for a while now, and I still can't bring myself to pick-up the phone and make the orders. Seed potatoes  from one place , onions another , rest of veggies from yet another !   I can't find ONE place that has it all.  Than I switched over from that, to give myself a break and decided to start investigating hatcheries for ordering the chickens I want to get this year.    SHIITAKE  MUSHROOMS !   It's a foreign language !   Greek I think !  It takes more to ship than it does to buy .  I just wanted some all around birds, there trying to tell me I have to pick- broiler-fryer-Cornish-BBQ ?  Can't ship little ones with bigger ones, no turkeys with chickens. Easter eggers-brown eggers-dark brown eggers- white eggers-rainbow malty colored ?  Think I might try an old time standard  Red Ranger chickens and maybe some Cornish game hens.  Red Rangers  get to be a good 5-6 1/2 lbs  in 80 days. They're broody ( in Greek ) that means they will sit and hatch there own chic's ,  so I won't  have to keep buying them. And they are good brown egg layers / 150 eggs per hen per year .  I figure can take us down to 5 hens and a rooster for winter . Saving coast of feed , putting the rest in the freezer .  Now the Cornish hens can be, shall we say" harvested"  in 1 month at 2-2 1/2 maybe 3 lbs. and they can be free ranged . I think that's a good plan for the birds and the freezer. Now , if I could just get the garden seeds ordered !   BEFORE THEY SELL OUT .     T

A NEW EXPEREANCE IN THE SUSTAINABLE KITCHEN.

I have been on a journey to see just how self-sustainable I myself can become. As a part of this journey, I was fortunate enough to come into some meat rabbits , thanks to my long time  friend Marty. These are beautiful rabbits , and YES I have grown accustomed to seeing and talking to them twice a day. How ever, I clearly understand why I got them. I received 5 babies when I got the adults . Total, 4 adults/5 babies, and was told I could butcher the babies soon enough. SOOOOO.
The time had come !  I did all my time consuming, careful research and decided I could not hit a rabbit in the head . How could I be sure it was dead ?  Nor could I shoot it in the head. NOT GONNA HAPPEN !   I decided to go with a method using what is called a kill board. A long plank board with the center section cut out. The Ideal is, the board get mounted. You slip the neck of  rabbit into the center cut out section of the board , then pull down quickly. This severs the spine.
MY kill board needs work !    It didn't work!   I cried !   My husband had to shoot the poor thing.  I cried a lot that day. I worried I had caused the rabbit to suffer . My husband thinks I got to attached to the Wabbits , as me and the dogs know them. (smile).
And he is Partly correct .  I believe you need to show love while caring for animals , no matter what you have them for.  Finally, the rabbit was skinned, cleaned and being cut up , when I cut thru the broken joints , I went a little to fare and sliced the skin that holds MY TWO FINGERS TOGETHER.
Yes that SMARTS !  Of course the first thing my husband says is " see , I told you the knife was sharp !    "Maybe because,''  earlier  in the proses, when I just starting out, it didn't seem to be cutting so well. So I asked hem,  if he was sure the knife was sharp enough.  HA HA....... Well I still have the other rabbits to deal with, soon.  For now I'm healing my wounds, and working on my board. Oh !
Before I forget !  One rabbit will feed 4 people . It was a good size ! And it taste like a cross between pork and chicken.  I slow roasted the rabbit in celery soup, yum yum.      I'll keep you posted,    T