N&C Midwest—January 2018!!!

llama momma wrote:I hope more people start returning here soon.

llama momma wrote:ALIVE !!  Hello Scorpio !
When the garden is down, there are still animals to take care of around here.  My first winter with chickens.  Frigid, horrid weather and trudging through snow and wind to look after my little feathered friends, three times a day.

Haven't even given the seed catalogs a serious look yet.  Need to do that pronto.

I hope more people start returning here soon.

llama momma wrote:ALIVE !!  Hello Scorpio !
When the garden is down, there are still animals to take care of around here.  My first winter with chickens.  Frigid, horrid weather and trudging through snow and wind to look after my little feathered friends, three times a day.

Haven't even given the seed catalogs a serious look yet.  Need to do that pronto.

I hope more people start returning here soon.

Kate888 wrote:I have Bakers' Seeds and Annie's Heirloom Seeds catalogs.  Other than the first year I started, I usually use seeds that are a year or even 2 years old and they usually germinate well for me, but this year most of my seeds are even older and I'm going to have to buy a lot. 

 I took last year off from the garden.  I was a little frustrated with my returns the year before and my hubby and I were gone for 2 weeks in July for our 30th anniversary trip and I had no one to willingly care for a garden while I was gone.  (I have 6 children living here, 3 of them adults, and not one has any interest in the garden.)

My usual: Tomatoes, Snow Peas, Bush Beans, green onions, garlic, lettuce  (All but the tomatoes always do well, and I've just got my heart set on good tomatoes, so gotta have them every year.)

The ones I debate most years: broccoli, cabbage, sweet peppers, spinach, zucchini (and end up planting and usually I'm disappointed again)

I'm hoping my husband won't be too annoyed that we'll have to put a little more money into this than some years.  My Mel's mix has seemed to shrink over time, I suppose a little loss here and there when removing plants - anyway, I need to add some this year.  I have 5 boxes that are 3x6.  Also, if I'm to grow any squash I need floating row covers to try to keep the pests at bay.  I plan to make a pvc cage to cover them, as well as the lettuce and spinach with shade cloth.  If I'm going to go at it again this year, I want to do my best to avoid the issues of the previous years.

I love the seed starting, and usually start my cruciferous plants in late February, so I figured it was time to start ordering seeds.

Cindy G wrote:This will be my second year of sfg. I have 2-4x4 boxes and 1-2x2x12 that I used for potatoes last year. I am planning to add 2 more 4x4s. I do need to top off my existing boxes.

I think I’m going to try to start some seeds indoors this year. I’ve never done that before, so I’ve been researching that. Also looking at seed catalogs. 

Overall last year was good, but I did make a few mistakes. I started my cool weather fall plants to late, so they didn’t really produce well. I’m going to plant them in spring this year. Also I need to work on keeping the critters out. And my 2 year old grandson, the few peas I did get he ate as soon as they were picked. Lol

Scorpio Rising wrote:

Hi, Kate!  My tomatoes didn’t do well last year either.  Apparently the compost I made with hay had a ton of grass seed in it, so I had grass and tomatoes that got lost in the prairie.  

My boxes have deflated too....

Scorpio Rising wrote:

llama momma wrote:ALIVE !!  Hello Scorpio !
When the garden is down, there are still animals to take care of around here.  My first winter with chickens.  Frigid, horrid weather and trudging through snow and wind to look after my little feathered friends, three times a day.

Haven't even given the seed catalogs a serious look yet.  Need to do that pronto.

I hope more people start returning here soon.

Thank the stars!  Hi LM!
So how has the chicken endeavor going?  How far from your house is the barn?  

Hi Scorpio-----I have a gorilla cart I wheel back and forth from the garage to the coop is 150 feet.  300 foot round trip in snow driving rain mud whatever..... with a bad back.  Fun.... but I love my 6 little girls.  Kind of crazy I had no idea how much I would love and enjoy them. The eggs are great and I've lost 20 pounds hauling supplies back and forth. 

Hi Scorpio-----I have a gorilla cart I wheel back and forth from the garage to the coop is 150 feet.  300 foot round trip in snow driving rain mud whatever..... with a bad back.  Fun.... but I love my 6 little girls.  Kind of crazy I had no idea how much I would love and enjoy them. The eggs are great and I've lost 20 pounds hauling supplies back and forth. 

sanderson wrote:

DorothyG wrote:Ok, so I cannot calculate the age of my granddaughter. lol She will be 11 weeks old this Friday.  Geeze

Thanks, Sanderson and SR.  She sure is a delight!

SR:  We're about 15 miles from where we used to be.  Same zip code and all.