Nichols Seeds

If you buy any seeds from Nichols they are having a special of 25% off all veggie, herb, and flower seeds.  Just use the code SUMMER

I like this company.  But that is me.

in case the link doesn't work:  www.nicholsgardennursery.com/

start of this years gardens

Here are some pictures of what has been started for the gardens this year; both at home and school:

seed catalogs, garden calendars, and a few more things

Yes I was not going to post on here anymore ..but you know what they say about good intentions.

haha!

I've gotten two seed catalogs so far: Johnny's (one of my favorites) and a new one "Sow True Seed".   This new one is located in North Carolina and offer a biweekly newsletter and three ways to order.  I'm really getting to like being able to order online and they offer this.  BUT it is SO much easier to "go overboard" online, ya know what I mean?  Harder to write a check.  LOL!

The newsletter says it offers:  event schedules, workshops/classes, seasonal offerings, & discounts/giveaways

Here is where you can sign up for their newsletter:
sow true seed newsletter

And their website:
Sow True Seed

Now about garden calendars.... I STILL haven't found or made one I can really use. And I can't seem to just keep a journal like one.

I lose "real" ones, like on a calendar or in a date book.  But I can't find an online one that I like ...that is free!  yes, I'm cheap!  I've thought about simply recording things on here -and I may.  But I want to use a similar pattern each day.  I'm thinking date, temperature, weather, what got planted, what got harvested, what got weeded, what pests found, plans, designs, etc...

But I've told myself that I really want to keep records this year; so I'm gonna try again. After all, I need to eat better, I enjoy gardening, I need more exercise, and my life may one day depend on my garden.

I have these same thoughts every year but "life" (aka: work) takes up so much time, I'm exhausted by the time it is time to work in the yard.

So I'm watching more "how to grow a zillion pounds of food in ten square feet" types of videos, trying to get my students involved in food production AND trying to "make a plan"!

I really want to be a garden warrior and not an armchair one. ;)

One more goal I have is to establish a really good herb bed.  I've managed (somehow) to grow a few herbs here and there and have managed to NOT kill my rosemary (yet) but I really want to do more.  I've four raised beds and a bunch of older seed.  I'm gonna fill them with fresh soil and lot's of rabbit poo and see which seeds sprout.  So I'll have four "surprise" beds.

Speaking of all this; I really need to find a place fairly close, to find treasures to use in the garden... things I can use to make more beds, etc.

Ya'all have a great day!  :)

Gonna be moving

Hi all!

Well I've come to the conclusion that Blogger just won't "fix" so I've set up a new forum.  I know it isn't going to be in this format and i still have to figure out pictures and all that.

But if you'd like to come join, you are most welcome.  I just really got fed up with NOT being able to post on my own pages and reply to the comments.

So if your game and want to, HERE is the new and improved KAIJAFONS CHATTERING 

I'll be leaving this for a while but eventually this will be deleted.  :(

Thanks so much for being  a part of my life!

a few pictures from the yard

someday I will ID this pretty delicate blue flower.  it's all over my yard.

First strawberries of the year, yum!

some of my container plants, both eatable and non-eatable

The plastic spoons help keep the cats out! grrrr!

my bunny loves the violets

This green pepper plant is from last year and I thought it was dead. 

Pretty new rose.  But it is more orangey in real life.

so hoping that I will get some tators!  the pot  has raspberries. 

the "secret" garden... lol! actually just the south side of the yard and best place to grow stuff.

Yellow straight neck squash, sure hope I get some this year. 

GRAPES!!! first year!  but some are already 'rotting'.  boo!

my ginko plant I grew from seed, finally replanted.  

not sure what is going on with these leaves...

And the blackberries are producing!  got a few today ripe and yum!

It's that time of the year where I try to...

March 1st... the beginning of my own personal struggle to control myself.

First there are those seed catalogs that are trickling in.

Then those mesmerizing moments when I "accidentally" wander too close to the garden department at Walmart.  Drive too close to Lowe's.

Well yesterday, I DID wander too close to the garden dept of Walmart.  They have their roses out.  They had the older bags of bird seed marked down (but still not low enough for me), old bird feeders marked down (yep, ended up controlling myself with just ONE), and hundreds of packages of seeds.

I ended up with a touch top garbage can for the Rabbit poo (yep I'm getting a rabbit on Monday for my classroom, (miniature lion manes' ???) and need something to put the poop in so I can bring it home for my gardens raised beds.

I got thick and thin bamboo sticks for a green bean trellis I am planning for one of my raised beds.

Two new house plants cause I've not killed nearly enough of them.

and my yearly new rose bush.

So I think I made out ok.  Didn't go TOO badly overboard, I did resist the bird seed after all.

But I can smell spring out there now.  And that tells me it's time to get some seeds started in pots. :)

Go outside and breath the spring air!  It's there, somewhere.

Seed order

Got my seed order in from "MySeeds.co"  (there is no "m" there) and I have to say I love that place.

They have a 'coupon code' right now that takes off 15% and a flat rate for shipping of $3.95 which is GREAT especially if you order a lot of seeds.  I ordered around 40 different seeds and was able to save quite a bunch of $$$ IMO.  There are many seed packets which are $1, yep ONE DOLLAR!!! and some of the packets I ordered have HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS of seeds in them.

This is a perfect site for those who want to experiment with new seed and even those who want 'regular' seed.  (whatever that may mean to you)

I found every seed I was even REMOTELY thinking about growing.  From Red Grand Onions to clover to feverfew.  sigh, I'm in seed heaven.

Anyways, they are NOT paying me anything for this "plug"; I'm just that happy with my order :)

I will be making another order before the year is over since the code is for this year.... (code: 15OFF)

and it is so easy to check out...they take paypal!

Anyways.... for those of you who want a LOT of seed for cheap price....check them out!

I have to admit that I ONLY was looking at their herbs and for specific seeds so I have NOT checked out the WHOLE inventory of what they have.

I will be doing that.

Also, please remember that if you leave a comment, I cannot reply for some reason... but I DO read all comments!  And I thank you for them!

Some links to some recipes

Ok, I was scanning one of the various sites I look at and one is Agriculture.com and they had two very yummy looking pages of recipes.

these are canning recipes and "how to"

here is the "CAN LIKE A PRO" link

and here is some "FAVORITE CANNING RECIPES" link.

Then I got side tracked by THIS:  "CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD"  doesn't that sound awesome?  It is from the "living the country life" website.  And then just when I didn't think zucchini could get any more interesting, I found "ZUCCHINI PANCAKES"!

I'll be saving all these.

And as soon as I find my stupid charger for my camera, I'll take pictures of my yard/garden.  Weeds and all!!!

Now where did that thing get to.......

some picture from around the 'homestead'

We've been having storms for the past three days so I thought I'd take a moment to post a few pictures of what is growing around here.  After all the storms are over, I'm sure everything will be bigger! lol!  I've gotten strawberries and green beans out of the "garden" so far.

spring has SPRUNG 2014!

It's the second day of spring and I saw from the weather man that a huge snow storm ... a "polar vortex" (now ain't THAT a new PC word) will be hitting most of the lower 48... even creeping down to the ole AR/MO border possibly.

But I'm going to pretend that spring has indeed sprung here since all the Daffodils are blooming and I've already started seeds.

I'm teaching a few labs and so since there are grow lights in the lab, I started three flats of seeds.

This is a small flat with lot's of goodies.  Looks like all but one (3 cells) type of plant is growing

This is the "left" half of the flat and started last  (each flat was started one week after the other)

The right half, looks like a good start.

flat #2 right side

flat #2 left side, some things are not germinating it looks like.  

I have other flats and pots started at home.  I'll be taking pictures of those, but you can't see anything yet since I just started them a few days ago.  I'll also be taking pictures of all the things that ARE growing in the yard but that is for another post.  

enjoy! ;)

Wish books: aka: seed catalogs

I'm one who loves to look through all the new and latest possibles for my garden.  Of course, I cannot afford ALL the things I would love to try to grow but that does not stop me from drooling.... I mean LOOKING at all the seeds offered by all the different companies.

I do try to NOT buy anything connected to Monsanto of course but I was sent this link which has SEVERAL places/links you can go to order your own various seed catalogs.

Someone did all the work for us!  ;)

Have fun!

Here is the LINK for THE HERB GARDENER  and their list of FREE seed catalogs

Seed Catalogs

I've begun to receive all my "wish books", aka: seed catalogs.

My favorite by far is Baker Creeks which is super thick this year!!  They have SO many seeds now.  And they are all free from GMO's!!!! None of that nasty Monsanto!

The only problem is, I've no extra money to buy seeds this year.  The good news is that I only really "need" one or two things that I want to try to grow that I don't have seeds for.  So I'll probably skip those this year OR I'll just wait and order them later (and hope they still have some seed) and plant late.  Not the best choice but I could always toss the seeds into the fridge (I swear I need a fridge just for my seeds) until next spring... 2015.

I'm going to try to go all out this spring, build two or three more raised beds... I'd love to have at least five more.... but we will have to see about that.

English Walnut trees are still on my wish list and yeah, I'm going to get a few of those nuts from Wally world this winter and plant them.... see what happens.  I did plant a bunch of those a few years ago in one pot and I have one nut tree but I'm not sure exactly which.... I'm thinking Almond, which is very cool.

Which reminds me, I need to transplant that this spring before it gets leafy.  And my ginko tree.  And my oak tree...... And.... hahaha! just kidding................ I think. ;)

Anyways, enjoy going over your own "wish books" of seeds!  Maybe I'll make a plan this year.  hahaha, right.

Saving Seed

I tend to be a lazy seed saver and it shows.  lol!

I will go out and pick seed heads or shake them into paper towels or whatever I happen to have.  Then wrap them up and stick them in the fridge.  Until it's time to plant them.  I don't have a LOT of success in this so I go out and and buy seed every year...even if I don't plant them... extra goes in the fridge.

Why do I stick the seeds in the fridge?  Because I DO have more success with those from the fridge than those NOT stuck in there.

Have I ever mentioned I have two brown thumbs?

Yes, despite my love for plants, they don't love me like I love them.  And that may be a good thing because if they did, well, I'd be overwhelmed with plants..... literally.

Plants tend to do better without my loving attention.  Case in point, I have a few tree saplings and grape vines that grew like crazy this year because I ignored them.  So I'm going to figure out where I want my Ginko; Pecan; and Oak trees in my small yard or maybe over in my extra lot.  I'm hoping that one of the trees is an Almond tree which sprang from me throwing a bunch of the nuts from the grocery store into a pot and covering them.  (yes those from the big bin during the holidays..... I was trying for an English Walnut... but I have not given up on that since I have several in the .....you guessed it.... FRIDGE!)

Anyways.... back to saving seed.  Well, I've read several books on it and it seems that as long as you keep them dry and cool, they should stay viable for a least a year... germination rates go down each year.  I had one book tell me that I should just throw out all my "last year seeds" since they would not be worth the effort or work trying to germinate them..... WHAT????  I've had TEN YEAR OLD bean seeds germinate for me!!!  And these were from the bags from the grocery store!!!  (yes those one and two pound bags of dried beans you find on the bean aisle of every grocery store there is.... hey, cheap seeds and good beans! )

And guess where those beans were kept?  Yep, the FRIDGE, some had been in the FREEZER part for years.  sigh.... I never throw seed away, if anything, I toss it in one of my garden beds and see what happens.

So the two most important things to remember about saving seed.... dry and cool.

And don't trust any book that tells you to toss last years seed!!

Do You KNOW It?

In my most humble opinion (snort), I feel it important that each and every person have some basic knowledge of plants.  Now it could be just because I happen to LOVE plants...after all, they "make" the air I breath, fed my belly, and sooth my soul with their beauty.

All over this earth, since man has been here, he/she has used plants to survive and thrive.

And yes I know how "many" opinions there are out there.... everyone has one.  And that is great since it allows us to have an exchange of ideas and thoughts.  Then each of us can glean out of this immense and vast pot of knowledge for those things WE feel are important for us and our family.

My suggestion:  do a inventory of what your family NEEDS.  Are there health problems?  If so, what is used for the care of these?  How much do you use?  How hard would it be to GET these if society fell apart?  Now think about and do some deep research on what plants these things FIRST came from.  Most pharmaceuticals are around because plants were used first.  Plants were the guides.  Not all, but most.

Now learn all you can about those plants.  Where do they grow?  Can YOU grow them?  How would you use them?  Exactly how would you PREPARE them?  In other words, get to know them.  Intimately.  Do try to grow them or see if you can find them in nature.... or find them in nature first and when they make seed, snag a few and then try to grow some.  (Use care for any endangered species, huge fines can be placed if laws are broken....this should be part of your research)

If you have time and patience, learn how animals use it....what pollinates it?  what scatters its seed?

Now if you do decide to try it, go slow....only a little.  You can see if may be allergic by rubbing a bit on the inside of your arm.... a LITTLE!  Use some common sense.  Pay ATTENTION to any WARNINGS you came across in your research.  Talk to people who have used it.  There are some great groups on the internet that can give you their experiences.  But don't expect YOURS to be exactly the same.  We are unique individuals after all.

Once you get to really KNOW one plant...move on to another plant.

I HIGHLY suggest you keep some sort of notebook, where you record everything you learn about the plants you research....and I mean everything.  From online research to the day you plant a seed (or transplant a plant) to all the end results.  It can be in some sort of online notebook but I suggest you go "old school" and keep it all recorded in good old pencil and paper.  (pencil will not 'run' like ink does if it gets wet, btw) Do both online and hard copy!

Then PASS YOUR KNOWLEDGE ON!  Leave a wonderful "library" for your offspring.  Share with others in those groups you learned from.  Start a facebook (or other) page and talk about wonderful plants!  Even if you do not feel comfortable posting actual "advise" about plants, and don't feel bad, many of us feel the same way.... encourage others to get to KNOW plants.

This does not mean you have learn all hundreds of thousands of plants in the world.... just start by getting to know ONE that will benefit YOU or your loved ones.

Have a great day!

Debuting the artificial......leaf???

ANAHEIM, March 27, 2011 — Scientists today claimed one of the milestones in the drive for sustainable energy — development of the first practical artificial leaf. Speaking here at the 241st National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, they described an advanced solar cell the size of a poker card that mimics the process, called photosynthesis, that green plants use to convert sunlight and water into energy.

Now I have heard about this and it seems to work pretty well but somehow, I just do not think we would get the same pleasure walking through a garden of these as we do walking through real plants. :)



(update:  I found this one in my draft folder and don't remember if I published it, lol! that's me for ya)

collecting seed

One of the best things about growing things is getting free seed, that is IF you planted heirlooms.  Hybrids, well they don't put out seed that is like the plant....ok, let me take that back, they MAY put out seed that is similar for the first year but usually they revert to their original "parents" within a few generations.

I like hybrid veggies, especially burpless cucumbers; but with all that Monsanto is doing with their GMO's and such, getting good heirloom seeds is becoming harder and more expensive.  Unless you take advantage of a few tips.

Here are a few things I do:  I get seed from friends who have heirlooms, there are many groups like yahoo groups that are about gardening and most have seed exchanges.  Just be sure to ACTUALLY EXCHANGE seeds!  Don't just wait for them to send you some and then disappear. You'd be surprised at just how many people do that.  This is usually the second cheapest way (first being, people close by with whom you can exchange seeds or sometimes they will just give them to you).

Then the internet can be a great friend.  Seed catalogs do have heirlooms, but be sure they ARE heirlooms...if they are NOT labeled as such, they probably are NOT.  Now these seed catalogs, mostly have online sites where you can look at a catalog and order.   And ordering has gotten MUCH easier these days but be careful of how you use your information!!!  Make sure you do NOT click on those 'ads' on the sides of things unless you are on site you TRUST.  Go directly to the gardening site and make sure that in the URL, there is ONLY their name plus 'dot come'.  There should not be any other names or numbers.  If you go through any other route, be sure you are going through a trusted site.  Now that all that is out of the way, at this time of the year, many of these sites have major markdowns and free shipping coupons or enticements.   For example, Burpee just had a major reduction on many many seeds and if you bought $50 worth, you get free shipping.  (Yes I'm waiting for my order to get here, lol!)  If I were to have bought all I bought for $50 at regular prices, the shipping would have been $13 and the cost of the seeds would have been over $200.  And they are decent varieties.. Not all the "yucky stuff" that you may see in stores.

Speaking of stores, The Dollar General and Walmart have seeds for 20 cents to 3/$1 or close to this.  However, if you go this route, CHECK the packages.... gently feel them to make sure that there are not only seeds in it but plenty of seeds.  These cheaper packages are NOT always filled correctly.  I've found many with one or two seeds and others with lot's of seeds.  So check them all over.  They do ok.  In my opinion, just as good as the more expensive stuff.  Now if you want to go with Ferry Morse, well I have to say they have a great customer service.  I bought a pack of rosemary and none of it grew (probably my fault since I have two black thumbs) and they not only replaced that package but sent a freebie too!

Amazon and Ebay.  Yep you can find lot's of seeds that are fairly priced and if you buy several from the same "store", they usually will toss in free shipping (and no taxes for many of the states).  I love Amazon.  If I ever put ads on my page, that will be one of them.

At Ebay, look for "lots of seeds" as in a bunch of packages for one price/bid.  If there is bidding, bid, don't just automatically 'buy it now".  You'd be surprised what you may pay. But there is tax and shipping usually at Ebay.  (I like Amazon better, lol)

Lastly (but maybe not the last way...just the last way I will talk about) is saving your own seeds.  Which is what I started out to tell you and got sidetracked.  When you grow heirloom foods, let a few of the really good fruits (and veggies) go to seed.  I think tomatoes are the easiest  because you just pick when ripe and then mush out the seeds on a paper towel or three and let them dry.  WELL OK, some people will wash them first and them spread them out on the paper towel or plate and let them air dry.  That is probably the better way.  Don't forget some plants are biennial and you have to leave them for two seasons before they make seed.  Like carrots.

Other plants you can go online and find some great advise on how to save seed from specific plants.  There is a lot of good info out there.  For free.  You don't have to buy a book.  But my one final piece of advise is to go online and see what the seeds LOOK LIKE as they mature.

ok, I've blabbered enough.  If you have a great way to save seed, leave it in the comments! :) take care!

summer's end update of the Medicinal Garden

Here is a few photos of the medicinal garden at summer's end.  The "beebalm" bed was resowed after the beebalm died. 

For the first season, I think it did really well.  And those are rice hulls for mulch in case you were wondering.  :)

Here are some plants that are started for next season:

The Hyssop, Stevia, and Feverfew are not doing too well :(