Spring Fun


Two or three weeks ago I got spring fever and joined a seed swap club. This is where you send packets of seeds, either store-bought or ones you have saved from your own garden, in along with a wish list of what you might like and you are sent seeds in return. As a new member I received much more than what I sent in.

These are the seeds I sent in:

3 packs of those hot red peppers I grew last year.
2 packs of watermelon seed
1 pack of wax bean seed

In return I received seed packs for the following:
(note picture above)

Orange tomato
Black Prince Tomato
Pink Brandywine Tomato
Marglobe Tomato
Yellow Pear Tomato
Beefsteak Tomato
Red Currant Tomato

Green Salad Lettuce Bowl
Spinach
Collards

Burpless Cucumber
Pickling Cucumber

Ornamental Gourd Mix

Red Burgandy Onion

Choppee Okra

Detroit Dark Red Beet

Radish

Blue Goose Pea
Greasy Grit Bean
Mountaineer White Half Runner Bean

Marigolds
Zinnias

WOW! Is that a great return for my postage or what?! You DO have to send return postage of course, but that's pretty cheap considering what you'd have had to pay for all those seed packs in the store. Especially since some of them are heirloom seeds and not available just anywhere; like the Blue Goose Pea nad the beans. I can't wait to try them! I already have some of the tomato seeds planted. I am curious as to what this "Black Prince" will turn out to be.

I also broke down and actually ordered some raspberry plants from a seed company, along with some vine peach seeds. According to the company a "vine peach" can be canned just like a tree peach, but it's a gourd. I like to try new things so I want to give this one a go of it. I will keep you informed.

Yesterday hubby and I got our "table" garden in; onions, lettuce and radishes.

Then today I was cleaning out my flower bed and found what looked like an almond that had sprouted in there. I was bewildered for a bit until I looked around and saw the shell; it was actually one of the peach tree seeds from the peaches that hubby's aunt had given us a couple of years ago. I was so excited. I potted it in a flower pot and put it on the porch. I hope it does grow, though I am not sure where we will plant it.

Such excitement on the dairy!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hey CK!: does your blog email still work? It bounced my e-mail back like..uh..a superball in a BLENDER? I liked the blender analogy in the recent post. If you are ever in a house with MULTIPLE small children you will recognize a certain "mashed down" look in the whole house, sort of like a field which has been used too long by too many cows.....
March 19, 2009 at 11:12 PM
Amrita said…
would love to try those varieties.
March 19, 2009 at 11:28 PM
Calfkeeper said…
GC-no, when I get the time I will have to change my blog email. I thought I had done that but I think it hiccupped and redid itself.

Amrita-If I get any to sprout and go to seed this year, I'll mail some to you.
March 25, 2009 at 3:09 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Oyster

It isn't even halfway through the month yet and I have run out of lists or anything amusing to tell you about the dairy. So here is a poem I picked up on a homesteading forum. It does deal with ag issues, just of a different sort... Enjoy! The Oyster Baxter Black The sign upon the café wall said OYSTERS: fifty cents. "How quaint," the blue-eyed sweetheart said with some bewildermence, "I didn't know they served such fare out here upon the plain." "Oh, sure," her cowboy date replied, "We're really quite urbane." "I would guess they're Chesapeake or Blue Point, don't you think?" "No ma'am, they're mostly Hereford cross . . . and usually they're pink But I've been cold, so cold myself, what you say could be true And if a man looked close enough, their points could sure be blue!" She said, "I gather them myself out on the bay alone. I pluck them from the murky depths and smash them with a...
Read more

The Blind Calf Story

Image
This happened last month. I thought it was an interesting case. Wed Aug 15th 2007 8:30 AM: Went out and brought new heifer calf and cow in from field. Not too sure how old calf was; umbilical cord sort of dried up, but calf still seemed damp. Left her with cow all morning ‘til maybe early afternoon, then separated them. Beautiful, normal calf. 6 PM Fed calf bottle. She slugged back the whole thing. Thurs Aug 16th5:15 AM (approx) Calf comatose. Or as near as I could tell. She was on her side, non-responsive, drooling, head on ground, eyes closed or just barely opened. I tried to feed her bottle but she only swallowed convulsively once or twice, then milk just drained from her mouth. 5:30 AM. Husband went out and looked at her. Drug her out of pen and out of the way to be taken to boneyard later after chores were all done. She was barely breathing and as I said, totally non-responsive.This was a real grief as the cow she came from is a great milker and to get a heifer from her was a joy....
Read more

Blind Turtle

Image
The post in which I talk about how my RES was blind and now can see! ALERT!  CAUTION!   I am not a veterinarian.  I am not giving any treatment advice here!  I am only telling the story of my turtle, a common red-eared slider, or pond turtle.  We call her Turkle. I actually have no idea if this is a "he" or a "she", but I decided on "she" just to make things easier when I write about her. You can find the story of how I found her here: The Turkle" As of this writing I have had her about a year.  Feeding her has been a challenge; and this is the snag upon which hangs this tale. Unbeknownst to me the diet of the RES is about 75% vegetation, according to one website.  From the get-go she summarily refused anything but protein; wouldn't eat the pellets, wouldn't strike at earthworms even; just cooked chicken or dried shrimp or mealworms.  So for the first 5-6 months of her life that's what I gave her. Then Dec of 2016 as the temps ...
Read more