The Closeness of Holidays...

...have made me largely unproductive. And I don't know if it is the dormancy of winter, but I want to hole up and not come out until Spring.

On a lighter note, during Zen's visit to see Santa at the mall yesterday we stopped by a Yankee Candle Company store and they had a bunch of molded paper trays for shipping the candles, which are much deeper and will be fabulous for starting seedlings that will get pretty big before we can put them out. Plus, it saves them from a landfill, and they were free. Which is always good... She said they have tons and to come by whenever I need more. (Yay for YC company!!) Try your local stores to see if they are able to let you have any.

Planting in the paper containers reduces transplant shock because you can plant them directly into the ground without disturbing them. Plus the paper degrades faster than the peat pots in my experience. Plus once broken down, the paper provides organic matter that is great for amending poor soil structure.

Anyway, I have noticed that I have no appetite lately. Nothing looks good. It;s like all I want are fruits and veggies, but they are nowhere to be found. It's like everything tastes bland and heavy. I even found myself adding cookbook after cookbook of light, produce-filled themes to my amazon wishlist. Apparently I feel like Latin/Central American or Mediterranean. I just am sick of gravies, and think sauces, and I want something that won't sit to heavily in my tummy.

So, my point in all this is that I am truly pining for late spring/early summer. It feels like I would rather not eat until then if I could. But I hear anticipation makes a tasty tomato... (actually I have never heard that, I am hoping)

So, I am looking into a couple other homesteading moves to try once the garden is stable and I am in a frame where I only have to maintain it. Building it takes too much time for anything else. I am thinking of swapping the decorative maple tree in the front yard out for another, ahem, variety. Like a sugar maple for instance. I have been reading up a bit on maple syrup production and it seems pretty straightforward. Plus, one tree, from what I understand will more than cover the needs of our family.

Second undertaking being considered is making yogurts and cheeses myself. I haven't started reading up on it yet, but I am intrigued to say the least.

Part of me thinks that this summer I will have enough to do, trying to make sure the garden does well, and learning firsthand about preserving the harvest. I know I have bitten off a big helping. So even if I put a sugar maple in the front, just to be growing and getting strong, I will have my hands full until I am confident in what I am doing.

I know I may sound like I know a lot on this blog, but it is all academic at this point. I have read every gardening book that I could get my hands on. But this summer will be the first year I have actually done it. And I have a feeling that when theory turns to application, it may get bumpy. And I look forward to you guys sticking with me to see how it ends up.

And when the time comes for new projects (probably next winter) I have a long list of stuff I want to learn how to do. In the spirit of conversation, here it is:
-sewing
-canning
-quilting
-drying/dehydrating foods
-making syrup
-making cheese and yogurt
-building simple furniture
-making soap and candles
-pressing flowers
-making paper
-crocheting and knitting

****OH, oh, oh!! I forgot to tell you, I was walking around yesterday, and found a Confederate Jasmine plant that had gone to seed. Zen and I snatched a couple seed pods and took them home. He had so much fun pulling out the seeds with their little white "Mohawks". So, coming up this spring, we will also have Jasmine (hopefully trailing happily along a fence).

I read about the seed-snatching in Martha Stewart Living. Apparently when she goes on her walks, she brings some glassine envelopes with her, so that if she finds a particularly beautiful plant, she is able to get some seeds (for free) for her own garden.I have adopted the philosophy, and we will see how it turns out...