Temp: 36* F
Humidity: 70%
Feels Like: 33* F
Wind: WNW 3mph
So, here on the homestead we got about 4" of snow, and Zen's school was cancelled for an entire week. Needless to say, with the weather (as laughable as it was) little work outside got done. Inside is about what I consider par for the course.
I moved the seedlings upstairs because it is significantly warmer up there, and the soil felt cooler than it should be down here. We currently have 24 tomato plants sitting on top of the dryer, 12 Roma and 12 Mortgage Lifter. I will choose the hardiest plants to go into the garden come spring. We have 3 Bell Pepper plants doing quite well. I am concerned, because I don't see any signs that the others are germinating. In the garden plan, we have 9 bell pepper plants, and I don't want to have to supplement that many from a nursery. I went to reseed the bells, in case the cold downstairs caused some seed damage, but only had 4 seeds left. I may have to buy another pack. If I do, I will need to do it soon. Currently none of the hot peppers have poked through yet. I thinned the celery to one plant per pod, leaving us with 18 celery plants. I also sowed the eggplant at 3 seeds per pod this week. No sign of the jasmine either. That is sad for me. I keep hoping that in time, they will all just come up like a blitz, peppers, jasmine and everything. I will keep you up to date as to how the seedlings are doing, be sure.
If our plum tree does not show any signs of growth or life this Spring, I am considering trying to exchange it (or cut our losses and replace it) with a "fruit cocktail" tree in its place. We have had really good results with the two grafted trees we currently have (they are our most vigorous). The fruit cocktail tree has plums (to replace those lost ripping out the plum tree), apricots, nectarines and peaches. Plus, they are self-fertile. I am thinking that more than likely that this is what will end up happening. However, I will have to wait until fall to plant it, so we will lose out on this season of growth. Our staples will be apples, pears, and cherries, though so I am not worried. We have time.
I am loving January though. I have gotten a stack of seed and plant catalogs as thick as a phone book, and have taken great joy in curling up in a hot bath paging through them. The one I want to let you know about right now is Farmer Seed Company, from where it looks like we will be placing our next order. I am so disappointed with Burgess. I have sent 3 emails, all with no response, regarding plants that arrived dead. I am not trying to insinuate that the quality of plants was inferior, as most things we ordered are doing quite well. My concern is with the warranty, and trying to get ahold of someone within the company. It is enough at this point for me to discontinue my business with them unless some reason is made clear as to why I have been ignored for the last 2 months.
We still don't have any potatoes, sweet potatoes, or enough garlic (among other things) that need to be ordered relatively soon. And I had really wanted to have the raspberries growing this season for mom. So that is something that needs to happen soon.
I am also brainstorming ways to make money, especially using the garden. I feel like it would justify all the expense that we have had to front to get this off the ground. I am really toying with the idea of getting a booth at the farmers' markets (probably not this year, but next) and selling produce, flowers, baked goods, and garden-related crafts. Missy told me her next door neighbor had a bumper crop of apples from their tree this year, and gave her 2 trash cans full of their excess. If we get any kind of yields similar to that, the farmers' markets could be viable.
I have been working through some Williams-Sonoma cookbooks, with very pleasant results. Tonight we had a lemon curd bar that was well worth making from scratch. (Or "with scratch" as Zen says) I think I may start sharing those with you on here. They will be posted as a separate entry than the homesteading updates. I will try to group about a handful of them with pictures, and let you know how they turned out.
**On another topic, I start nursing school on Tuesday, so you will see a lot of my time being diverted to tat venture, as well as some discussion as it pertains to the homestead**
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