Posted on 01/06/2012 9:53:54 AM PST by JustaDumbBlonde
January is not the most hospitable month of the year to be sure. If you're like me those cold dreary days are best spent curled up in a chair (for the guys that don't *do* curl -- sit there very manly) with a cup of tea (insert the manly beverage of your choice) and a stack of garden catalogs that you need a front-end loader to move (got you with the front-end loader, didn't I?).
I've got to hand it to the catalog people, the covers are exceptional this year and, by golly, with all of the $25 to $100 coupons right there on the front ... I saved $475 just walking in from the mailbox!
Your first five minutes spent thumbing through will tell you something, regardless of which catalog your choose: Prices. Are. Up. Must be that ol' supply-n-demand thing, because I choose to believe that MY favorite seed suppliers would never take advantage of a market that is growing by leaps and bounds as people discover that you can feed your family the highest quality foods and save money at the same time. Not to mention, you know exactly how your food was handled and by whom. It must be said -- produce from Mexico just doesn't have the same tropical appeal that it once did.
These are the catalogs I've received as of this morning. I've put these in the form of a link that you can take to that company, if you so desire. You can request a catalog of your own or, do what I do, which is peruse the paper catalog and then place an order online.
Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co.Please let us know about your favorite catalogs and gardening-related companies. I know that we all love to discover something new that will further our fun in the garden.
Musser Forests, Inc.
Michigan Bulb Co.
Agri Supply
Growers Supply
Stark Bro's Nursery
The Greenhouse Catalog
Gardener's Supply Company
Totally Tomatoes
The Cook's Garden
Burpee
Henry Field's Seed & Nursery Co. *
Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co. *
Jung's Seeds & Plants
R.H. Shumway's Illustrated Garden Guide* Henry Field's and Gurney's are one and the same group. I suspect that Burgess is also owned by them, but haven't confirmed
Then I got the John Deere z-mower and the finishing mower got stored in the equipment shed, but I still use the 770 with a rake attachment to clean up under our old oaks.
I had to move up to a tractor with more hp to use the implements I needed, and I got the front-end loader too. What a hoot! I use that thing almost every day for something.
You've got a great setup there!
On the pot maker that you ordered ... is it the one that makes pots from newspaper?
Hopefully goofy didn’t get a tummy ache! Enjoy the mild weather while it lasts. We had a high of 71 today, and I was in shorts and a tank. Love it.
It is a cabbage offshoot, cold hardy to about 10F. Peel the swelling at the top of the stem, then slice into strips for dipping or chunks and use in soups or stews or stir fry. Can be shredded and used like coleslaw. After a freeze it is sweeter. sweet slight cabbage taste. Leaves can be used also like any other green leafy vegetable.
Well, I did not get on FR after lunch yesterday so I missed the thread. I had been at the farm the other day and stopped by the Elgin nursery and bought some bulk seed. A person sure gets their money worth buying bulk, rather than the small packets you get at the local store.
Please add me to your gardening ping list.
Thank you.
Thank you, Sir Bender.
Yup. It took me 5 years to plant 60¢ worth of okra. I can buy a pound of mustard or turnip seed, which is about half of a brown paper lunch bag, for $3.50, and a $1.50 packet at the store has not even a palm full of seeds.
It's taken me about 4 years to plant 50¢ worth of Simpson's black seed lettuce.
Every spring we spade our garden to prepare for planting and I even gave our nearly new 7 hp tiller to our Pastor. I still have a little Troy-bilt soil stirrer but rarely use it anymore. Our raised beds are 12’ x ??’ so spading works best for us. Like you said, Good Soil Structure has to be maintained for plant vigor and health and I even go so far as to put 1x6 boards down every 3 or 4 feet to walk on. We have His and Hers spading shovels and I keep them sharp...
Just got back from Countrywide, the place I keep trying to get you to check out. I got a blueberry bush covered in buds (Tifblue), two wisterias, a passionvine, three llilies, a red-hot poker, all one gallons for a buck a piece clearanced.
Went up to Red Bard for strawberries and snapdragons.
Well, you may be shocked at what I am about to say but..............
I AM GLAD THAT MY SUMMER GARDEN UNDER PRODUCED !!!
Yes, I mean it.
Cause my canning skills suck, and nearly all of my hard work is a waste.
Woe is me. My processed pickles are mush. The ones I popped into the fridge from the same batch were excellent, but on canning the rest - tragedy.
My relish is sour.
My peach jelly ..... I don’t even want to talk about it.
I THINK my applesauce and apple-butter are good. But not as nice as last year.
I THINK my raspberry jelly is OK, but borderline gummy.
I’m sure my few jars of extra thick tomato sauce are good though.
I worked hard over that stuff! But I learned some lessons I won’t soon forget. All in all it’s not such a bad thing because I didn’t RUIN nearly as much as I could have.
LOL
PS-lets forget my one whole jar of pickled beets.
Did you notice the cedar pollen in the air today? I would say the visibility was less than 3/4 mile here this morning and imagine there were several calls about trees being on fire. My windshield was so bad. I had a greenish yellow paper towel when I finished cleaning it this afternoon.
I’ve never canned anything, so you have my undying admiration and respect for making the attempt, regardless of how successful it was last summer. :)
rather UNsuccessful. :)
Thanks. There’s always next year.
Exactly. That’s pretty much what I say every October. :)
Yeah, the pollen is about to get outrageous but we’ll have thunderstorms Monday to wash it out of the air and off surfaces. The live oaks are swapping out their leaves, too, where a lot of that yellow dust comes from.
The prices in the Burpee catalogue are incredible. What were they thinking? 5 and 6 dollar seed packets?
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