I had to have rain water for the seedlings on the sun-shelves, but to get to the water, I had to use a hammer to break through about 3" of ice. The nearly week-long 20F weather has consequences.
/johnny
Posted on 02/07/2014 12:31:57 PM PST by greeneyes
CONGRATULATIONS AFRAID FOR THE REPUBLIC 55 YEARS OF MARRIED BLISS
Sorry I haven’t been around much lately, my work schedule is taking up most of my time. I do read FR at work but I’m not allowed to actually log in from there.
The first time I ordered seeds from the government seed bank, they sent them to me without a fuss. This time they wanted me to prove I was really doing research with them and not just growing them for fun. Well, I think research is fun, but I did explain to them how I’m testing things for resiliance and trying to breed sturdier, hardier plants. They agreed to send me some of the seeds I requested.
As for the rest of the seeds, I discovered that http://www.etsy.com has a seeds section! Lots of new seeds to try there that aren’t in any catalog :)
I’m trying to plan out my garden for this year. I still have squash from last year, and it’s still rock solid. The problem is, as much as I love growing squash, I’m not so fond of eating it! I have some recipes that are tolerable, but I’m still looking for a really good one. I might get some wonton wrappers and try squash dumplings. I can’t roll out dough or I’d make it from scratch.
Sorry if I’m rambling and mistyping stuff, my nighttime meds are starting to kick in. That reminds me, I still need to find skullcap seeds! Best remedy fr twitchy muscles that I’ve found, eve if it does turn me into a pumpkin every night :p
I bake my winter squash, put it in the blender to puree it and then use it in pumpkin breakfast or coffee cake. I use this to extend my coconut and almond flours for my kids that are gf/cf. If you use the stevia powders to sweeten you could make a gf/cf/low carb snack cake that’s high in protein (I use 8 or 10 eggs per recipe but I have chickens so YMMV) and doesn’t run my blood sugar to the stratosphere.
I’m sure there are more recipes out there.
This breakfast cake is pretty much what my kids eat in the fall/winter/spring. Slice it, toast it with some butter and yum. I’ve put pecans/walnuts and the occasional chocolate chip in it. It’s also good with store surplus bananas if you can find them.
We used to camp, but we gave away all the tent camping stuff. Now we camp at the motel with king size bed, fridge and microwave. It comes with daily clean beds and such. That’s roughing it for us. We do take a fully loaded large ice chest and tailgate somewhere on the side of the mountain at a safe location. Our picnics are a favorite activity of ours, since we take everything you could want for a meal under the trees, or by the river or lake.
“hardscape”...n ever heard that term before, but I have a good idea what it means! Very Descriptive!
The trailer sound like it had a good setup . The Audrey trip was before all the early warning we have now , of-course we didn’t even have a radio with us.
You are jealous of 70, they are now saying 71 today and 78 tomorrow. A couple of cold days Mon and Tues but back to around 70 the rest of the week. Typical Texas weather. You don’t like it now, wait 5 minutes. The big duffuses are getting cabin fever so they’re going to have fun out in the yard today... probably searching down their little black and white friend from last weekend, ick.
Yipee, the curtains are open so the seedlings might have some sunshine! A trip to town later today for more starting soil.
I had to have rain water for the seedlings on the sun-shelves, but to get to the water, I had to use a hammer to break through about 3" of ice. The nearly week-long 20F weather has consequences.
/johnny
Put the dough in a pasta maker.
It is raining in Benderville. We have had about 2 inches this week. BBL
My tomatoes have come up leggy, so I'm transplanting them early, and transplanting them deep so that just the first leaves are above the soil.
This batch may not work out... Oh well, that's why I do multiple batches, and have 3 times what I want to put into the garden.
/johnny
I had to pull some carrots today to make room in the cold frame. They were a little small, and ugly, but they are going to go in soups.
/johnny
Since you include tools, weapons, and sports gear in your photos, how about showing us your famous chef’s knife. I would really like to see what a good chef chooses.
We are up to 50 for only the second time since Feb 2, when we hit 65. We are supposed to go to 57 today and 72 tomorrow.
I now have 3 sprouts up, all are Boxcar Willies. I am looking forward to growing this one. An youtuber really speaks well of this variety for production and flavor.
I hope the other 46 seeds start to make a showing. I am always impatient at this point, wondering if they will sprout or be duds. I have 5 varieties of heirloom maters and 2 peppers in cups. Temp in my seed starter is 81, in a cold garage.
I have a heater going in there now to see if I can warm the place up enough for me. I had somebody put insulation in the attic over the garage a few months ago, so we will see if it can be made tolerable in there.
From left to right, most used to least used, are my good chef's knife from Japan, a cheap bread knife (but the best one I've ever owned, better than the fancy German one), my good paring knife from Japan, a German boning knife, and last is my 'loaner' chef's knife that I let mere mortals use when they need to borrow a knife for a shift.
I bought all of those back when money was not a concern. I could have had any knives in the world. These are the ones that worked for me, over time. I have a lot of $$s invested in the knives from Japan, and the German knife wasn't cheap, but the bread knife and backup chef's knife were very inexpensive, and have proven themselves over hours in commercial kitchens.
/johnny
Thanks for posting the picture. I was curious about the size and shape of a good knife.
/johnny
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