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
Look at those nice, fat, purple stems on your tomato babies.
No legginess. Perfect.
The consistency and size of kohlrabi is much like a turnip, except it tastes like a slightly spicy cabbage. Some varieties get huge, up to 10 lbs. Comes in green, red, white, and purple. They mature faster than cabbage or broccoli and can be planted much closer together.
Basically I slice them and dip them in ranch dressing, or eat with some good dark beer. Mom like them in stir fry. I like White Vienna myself. Gourmet seed has some good varieties:
http://www.gourmetseed.com/category/gourmet_seed.vegetable_seed.kohlrabi/
The consistency and size of kohlrabi is much like a turnip, except it tastes like a slightly spicy sweet cabbage. Some varieties get huge, up to 10 lbs. Comes in green, red, white, and purple. They mature faster than cabbage or broccoli and can be planted much closer together.
Basically I slice them and dip them in ranch dressing, or eat with some good dark beer. Mom likes them in stir fry. I grow White Vienna myself. Gourmet and Fedco seed has some good varieties:
http://www.gourmetseed.com/category/gourmet_seed.vegetable_seed.kohlrabi/
http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/search.php?search=kohlrabi
Disregard the first post, I got mouse happy.
We burn corn for heat. Usually throw some corn in with the wood. Corn burns much more white hot than wood and adds nice color to the fire, as well as additional heat.
When you fill them with soil, you only want to handle them when they are relatively dry or they fall apart. They get a little better when filled with roots, but by then the newspaper is getting fragile from being repeatedly watered.
You can see in my photos that I've really got the pots packed together in the plastic trays. Learned that is the best way to keep them from falling apart.
The fragility is really one of the best aspects of the paper pots, however, because the roots come through so easily that you never have any transplant shock. My experience with the newspaper pots is far better than my experience with peat pots.
I have a friend that put some uncomposted cotton moat in her garden soil once. That stuff was so hot that she grew birdhouse gourds that were 3 ft. tall and huge in diameter. I still have 2 of them in the garage that I haven't painted yet.
Excellent! Thanks so much! I had cut and pasted it from last year but “someone” (mr b) crashed my computer so everything was lost. Planting chart and notes all gone, grrr. Guess what I’m going to be doing tomorrow. I’m wanting to enlarge my tiny garden but the septic is out there so mr b is not too keen on it. But I need room for tomatoes!!!
I'm not sure what you mean. Everything that goes into a water bath canner should be near boiling hot. "Hot" and "cold" pack generally refer to pressure canning, or stuff that will be stored in the fridge. I'm probably not understanding what you wrote.
"The jars I put into the fridge always seal on their own."
Because they cool. When you put something hot into a jar, as it cools the warm air and contents of the jar take up less space and it will pull the button down on the canning lid. There is probably not a vacuum on the jar as is created when the jar is placed in water and the air escapes.
"Mostly with the whole “sheeting” thing - takes a practiced eye - and I got panicky about it this year, LOL."
If you are making jelly with Sure Jell, don't worry about the sheeting, just boil hard for one minute prior to adding the sugar and boil for one minute after adding the sugar. If you followed the recipe there is little chance that your jelly won't set.
If you are cooking your jelly or jam without adding Sure Jell, you have to pay attention to sheeting.
I am so glad that you are taking up the practice of canning. There are so few that do it these days.
They were very healthy tomato plants. If it is cool outside, I start them in the garage with a grow light. I keep the light very close to the pots. If it is warm enough, I let the sun do the trick and only bring them in at night.
Thank you for that post. Very informative.
I forgot to add ... don’t use any newsprint or circulars that have a shine or slick surface to them. I don’t know what it is, maybe the kind of ink that they use on those, but it doesn’t do well for the plants at all.
The Mrs. and I spent $40.00 on a wide selection of seeds for this year. I don’t know where I’ll put them all. Most likely, I’ll have to build another new hoophouse. I’m really excited about the okra seeds you sent ;)
Good luck with everything!
The bulb can be hollowed out and stuffed, baked, toss a salad and the meal is finished. I love it, raw, sliced and used in a dip. It’s a wonderful veggie.
Where, pray tell, is that? We have nothing like that near us..central Tx. Hwy 183 near Austin?
Where, pray tell, is that? We have nothing like that near us..central Tx. Hwy 183 near Austin?
Ok, I’ll try that. I’ll have one “on ground level” garden this coming season, but the other 3 are 2 feet above ground. Bionic hip.
Goofy has a cast iron constitution and loves vegetables.
She steals ripe tomatoes, red sweet peppers straight from the plants.
Few winters ago she found a small cabbage under the snow and ate it frozen.
She has helped herself to broccoli .
Carrots and celery are her favorites.
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