Best Of
Pretty Darn Excited Right Now
Yesterday I worked on my seed order for the 2020 growing season for my fruits and vegetables plus I ordered some more sprouts and microgreens for this winter.
Hopefully this weekend I can get my herbs order finalized so I can get that in also.
I was amazed though when I placed the order the company is already sold out of some varieties which they handle for the 2020 season. I have placed several small fill-in orders with them the last few months of this year but this will be my first big order and thankfully I did get it in now.
The best thing I like about them... for us medium to small home gardeners they actually pack their seed varieties in quantities which we desire. All of their varieties come in packs from about 5 or 10 seeds, some varieties up to 50 to 70 seeds. They also pack everything in larger packs also just in case you do want more seeds then it's available.
But most companies sell small packs of hundreds of seeds. Well if I want 4 kinds of tomatoes and I get 250 seeds of each that's about 950+ seeds I'll never use because I have no room for all of them!
Now I can pick and choose whether I need a few seeds or a whole bunch of them. Somebody now is actually thinking about us small home gardeners!
If you would like to check them out here's the link. https://www.seedsnow.com/pages/shop-all-seeds Every seed I have received from them has exceeded my expectations so far. Their germination rate is much, much better than most companies I have purchased from. And since there is no minimum order, if you need one pack of seeds...then go for it!
greyfurball
Old things...like, REALLY OLD
I love history. Not just dates, but REAL history...hands on, names, stories, not just school grade stuff...empty dates of wars & battles. I want connection; I want meat! 😉
I was privileged yesterday to view (and very accidentally barely touch) a 400 year old document that someone I know found. It was said that it was a lawyer written contract for servitude. It is said that is an agreement of someone coming from Scotland (or thereabouts) to the New World to work in exchange for transit (voyage) debt.
It is in old English (and so perfectly wtitten), on vellum (which is thin cow hide). This document had many wax seals. It was found in a special sealed box in an old shed that was quickly succumbing to the elements. The document was super musty. The box was crow-barred to open it. It could have just as easily gotten thrown away.
It was the COOLEST (oldest) old thing that I have ever seen in person. More specific research is about to start on it. I am excited to hear what comes of it. It might not be worth anything, and that isn't the point. It is its story that is sought.
Moral of the story...leave nothing unturned, unexplored, or unopened. This was in a junky old shed. You never know what could be hiding.
I also recently read about an old barn in Russia that held secrets of a sordid & violent past. Some of these people listed could easily be some of my ancestors as they came from this town & some if the last names are in my history. I know some of the stories, but am so fascinated with new information. I followed many of the links. It is a very interesting read. Oh, to go help in the puzzle work of discovery!
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/mennonite-tombstones-ukraine-1.5345781
Laurie
Re: What is this?
OK Ladies and Gents, looks like we are having WEEDS for dinner!
I will have to see how this goes
smockv
Gratitude and Thankfulness
I've made a daily practice of keeping a gratitude journal for over 12 years now. It started out in a notebook, and was something I learned while a student at Wilderness Awareness School. Some years ago, I started listing 3 things I'm grateful for each evening on my Facebook page. I've been surprised at how many people tell me that they look forward to it each evening. I don't even know many of them!
Even on the most challenging day, I can come up with 3 things...sometimes it's only that I woke up breathing that morning, no new bills came in the mail, and my car started when I needed it to.
Most days, it's much easier. I try to think of someone I'm thankful for, some nature thing that I saw or heard that made me happy, and some personal little bit from my day to share.
Today, it will be for my good landlords, who replaced a broken down pellet stove with a propane heater. It's such a blessing to not have to order a pallet of pellets this week, then move the fifty - 40 pound bags to the shed so that I can drag them in as I need them. At almost 61, that was becoming too difficult for me to safely do.
I heard the chickadees in the treetops when I walked my little dog this morning. They are such cheerful birds that I always smile when I see or hear them.
And, I'm thankful to have moved a bunch more of the wood chip mulch to the path between my fruit trees. I'm almost done with that chore!
As Thanksgiving approaches, are you more aware of things to be thankful for? Or do you notice them every day?
What is one thing you are thankful for right this minute?
Re: Help for diabetes?
@merlin44 in nursing school in this country, they are supported by the pharmaceutical industry.
Of course, from their perspective there is no cure. If they cure you they no longer have a patient, thus loss of income. I don't care what the condition is, in this country there will never be a cure for it in conventional medicine. All there is will be a drug treatment regimen to control the symptoms. Unfortunately those drug programs often are more injurious than the original disease.
But from the pharmaceuticals perspective, they are fulfilling their mission in your health journey.
I'm sorry to have to say this but all these "Walks" in this country (for cancer, the Pink Ribbon walks, all the MS, Lou Gehrig's, Lymphoma and on and on) each and every one of them are not to raise funds for a cure, I don't care what they say. Sure the funding goes to testing but not for a cure, it's for more drugs to maintain the condition.
In this country if you want a cure you will have to step away from conventional medicine and all its principles.
Now remember this is just my opinion so I'm not saying it's gospel. I am just saying it from experience and my own research.
greyfurball
Basil, more than just a seasoning!
Did you know that adding basil to your diet brings a wide range of amazing benefits that support great health?
https://www.naturalhealth365.com/basil-health-benefits-2479.html
According to this article, it can help your body deal with stress, lower blood pressure, relieve systemic body pain, reduce blood glucose levels (great for diabetics), and more. It can even protect your DNA from toxins and radiation (think polution, wifi and emf)! I grew a boatload of basil this year! Now I just have to find more ways to use it in my diet. 🙂
Leslie Carl
Permaculture Cookbook
Well I reckon it is time to announce the new project. A week, or so, ago, a Permaculture colleague suggested that I consider writing a Permaculture cookbook. Essentially, she said that Geoff Lawton had mentioned that most modern cookbooks were irrelevant to folks who farm like us, because they only deal with food available in the grocery stores.... So much of what I eat is harvested wild, or grown in my garden from plants... seeds/cuttings, etc... taken from the wild. I know how to cook.... well, maybe 1,000+ foods that the average American grocery shopper will never even see... So, yes, it made sense. I have been making notes and thinking a lot about this... and I've even decided to go back to school for some credentials... My ETA on the first book is 2 years. I want to document growing/foraging/hunting/fishing/trapping/raising each ingredient. However, I will begin doing so.... seed to tummy, very soon. I have registered the blog permaculturecooking.blogspot.com and the FB group Permaculture cooking... videos and posts soon to come! My plan is to focus on seasonal foods, native, heirloom, annual, perennial, wild or cultivated... meat or plant... no modern tech, no "semi-home made"... real food... how to grow or procure it, process, preserve cook; to the table. The majority of my recipes will be based on pre-1950 and centuries old, adapted to the modern kitchen. My goal is that , say you have grown or found Jerusalem artichokes, or killed a couple of squirrels.... I'll tell you and show you a dozen ways to cook them, from scratch, in my own laid back, easy going Southern style.... and it will be sooooooo good! Oh yeah... my background is that I'm a cook, food historian, grew up on an old Southern farm , learned to cook from my half French, ancestors and am a Permaculture Design Consultant.
judsoncarroll4
Forum Tools and Abbreviation Explanations
Hi everyone,
I am the type of personality that likes things spelled out. There is a drop down menu that deals with forum content rules; there is no listing of how to work things out while creating or responding to a discussion. Apologies to @Jimerson if you are already working on this idea.
I added abbreviations because questions have come up about them too. I don't know some of them myself.
I have seen new users ask the same questions as previous new users. I hereby start a thread of how-to forum tools. Experienced users need to chime in and correct me where necessary, PLEASE.
To speak directly to someone, use @ sign and their name. Pick their name from the drop down menu to guarantee that they get notified.
Use envelope symbol next to your profile object if you want to e-mail someone directly -- use @ sign as described above.
The bell icon will show any notifications to you or responses to discussions that you created.
Use 😀 plus tools next to it located at bottom of comment box to attach file or picture and to embed something or add emoji.
The star symbol should allow you to bookmark something. I haven't tried it yet, seems like a good way to find things later.
A problem posting should be flagged with the flag icon to get admin attention. I am hoping for a future method that is more immediate. (I recently clicked on an embedded link and had a virus take over my computer -- I had no idea how to notify the correct person so it could be safely removed.)
A vote up or awesome is a way to agree with someone without a lengthy reply.
LOL is a way to show that the discussion had you laughing out loud.
A down vote should not be entered into lightly as it is interpreted as a global rejection of the person.
Quote allows you to grab a quote from another comment.
iow is shorthand for In Other Words
BTW is shorthand for By The Way
FYI is shorthand for For Your Information
shllnzl
Could the zucchini gun surpass the potato gun? 💪
This bugger was hiding in plain sight - yet neither I, nor any of my friends saw it! LOL.
It weighs 7 lb. 6 oz.
Holy moly!!!
LOL, it looks like I am going to shoot myself in the foot with this thing.
And all I can hear in my head is my mother saying "you are going to put someones eye out with that thing".
Re: Witches Brew
I am a witch, yes an ACTUAL witch. I learned my skills and recipes as they were passed down from my Grandmother and G Grandmother when I was a child (Luckily I still have my Grandmother at 96!) We follow and use the traditions and techniques of the Ol' Granny Women found around the Appalachians, to the Deep South ( not to be confused with the VooDoo traditions often found in the Bayous and along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana).
Now, my Grandmother and G Grandmother would NEVER call themselves witches, but that is the most accurate "label" to put on who I am AND what I do. They would say they are/were doing the works of God by caring for those in need- it didn't matter if you had 2 legs, 4 legs, or more. They never asked anyone for payment for anything, but there were always baskets of fresh herbs, veggies, wild nuts and berries left on the porch. This was just how things were done, times were simple- man I miss 'the old days"
smockv