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Post by upnorthlady2 on Nov 21, 2020 20:48:06 GMT -5
Susan - I honestly don't know how a governor expects to police the Thanksgiving rules. They can't possibly go from house to house and check everyone! If it was me, I'd have thanksgiving like I wanted to, and take my chances with the covid, especially if everyone is pretty sure they are covid negative. Unless you have nosy neighbors who would "snitch" on you, who is to know? And all the covid rules are certainly hypocritical. Around here casinos are still open but restaurants and bars and schools are closed and churches are "urged to close". All this stuff makes me really angry too. And I don't even want to begin talking about the election results. Something just doesn't seem right, doesn't pass the smell test. I think we are having to deal with worldwide globalists and their combined powers affecting our elections, with fraud running rampant. I hate to get political, and this forum isn't the place for it, but it is just so maddening! All I keep telling myself is that God sees all, and He will administer justice as needed. And I sure wouldn't want to endure the wrath of God's justice! At least no governor can take away my salvation. My husband and I just try to live our simple country lives, doing what makes us happy and feeling blessed while living the good life. But it is certainly frustrating to listen to the news, even the local news. On the seed saving, you are saving seeds from non-hybrids, right? We save seeds, too, but I always plant either heirloom varieties or non-hybrids. A person can sure save a lot of money by saving seeds. Whenever I do buy seeds (some things like green peppers are usually hybrids), I buy them when they are on sale at the local farm supply store early in the year, and start a lot of my own plants. I've never saved seeds from cabbage or lettuce or spinach either, but I suppose it can be done.
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Post by susan on Nov 23, 2020 9:23:48 GMT -5
Good Morning Everyone! It's sunny, but chilly. Only 34 when I got up. Patti, I only use heirloom seeds. I ordered new seeds from Baker Creek, but couldn't get everything I wanted, then found another seed company based in Arizona. They are small and didn't have a big variety, but they had the other things I couldn't get from Baker Creek. That's the first in a long time that I've had to go to more than one company and make more than one order to get what I need. I had a funny looking little garden this past summer, but it produced. Not sure if it was the age of my seeds, they sprouted and grew, or the grand solar minimum or a combination, but the sun was burning my plants. So I bought a sun shade cover and used a metal frame from an awning and had all of my tomato and pepper plants under it. I also used big plastic totes to make raised container beds so I could reach the plants easier by sitting. When we closed down the garden we put the lids on the totes to keep the cats out of them until next spring. Well, I need to get busy. We have Vivian for a little bit this morning while her baby brother goes back in for a weight check. He was in a week ago to clip his tongue tie, and immediately it improved his ability to nurse. So he should definitely have gained better.
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Post by upnorthlady2 on Jan 11, 2021 12:58:54 GMT -5
It's been pretty quiet on here lately. Hope everyone had a nice,although probably quiet, Christmas. Now the new year is here, and wow! Is everyone crazy in Washington DC?? Must be something in the water? I can't believe the amount of hate and craziness going on there. I have totally sworn off watching, reading or listening to the news ever since the big riot on the 6th. I don't want to get political and this is not the place for it, but I am very worried about the direction our nation is going in. After a lot of prayer, I have turned everything over to God. Whatever His will is, that's what it is. Meanwhile I am just enjoying my life as best I can. Somehow turning off all the news has brought the peace and serenity of my country life into a new appreciation. But I do worry about my grandchildren's future. Nuff said..........
It's been very foggy and frosty up here in the north country. The trees look so beautiful when they are covered with frosty rime. God can make even a dull winter day gorgeous! I have been feeding the deer cut up pumpkins that didn't quite last the winter, and got too spongy for my purposes. But the deer are enjoying the treats. I have been catching up on reading, and trying some new recipes. I have about 600 cookbooks, so re-reading them for ideas has been fun. I also have returned to playing my organ and accordion and just playing music to cheer my soul. Hubby and I play Scrabble every night, followed by a few games of Kings In The Corner card game. We listen to a radio station on the internet out of Thief River Falls MN that plays old time music - waltzes, polkas, and schottishes and other music from Germany, Bavaria, Scandinavian countries, etc. The music is so different every night that we never hear the same thing. We try to snack on healthy foods like cut up veggies and cheese and crackers and nuts, but sometimes we go whole hog and do cookies or candy. Often we pop popcorn and have either cider or hot chocolate. Up here in the cold north we just wait for spring by staying cozy inside. That's about all that's happening here. Hubby and I both got our covid vaccine last week. No side effects other than a slightly sore arm. Our booster shot will be done in early February. Here in MN we got the Moderna vaccine.
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Post by Granny Smith on Jan 11, 2021 14:38:16 GMT -5
I'd be afraid to get the covid vaccine. They used to require a lot more testing than they've given this one. I can't take vaccines anyway. The last flu shot I got nearly destroyed the nerve in my arm. The doctor told me not to take any more vaccines.
I've also quit watching the news. I record an hour program in the middle of the night, but skip all the news and only watch the fun stories. I also quit Facebook because of too much news. Now if I could get people to stop sending me news stories and videos, I'd be all set.
I've been taking stock of my preps, starting a few seeds for the garden this coming summer, and ordering a few things I might need. I ordered a new landline phone, in case we don't have power. My old one is too crackly. I also need to get some gas for the generator. Our power went out last week and got me thinking about all this stuff.
In my spare time, I've been working on some art projects. It would be nice if I'd actually finish some of them.
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Post by upnorthlady2 on Jan 11, 2021 15:20:29 GMT -5
I have also ordered my seeds. Some seeds I save from our own stuff grown. Some seeds I buy locally. Some of the specific types of seeds for varieties that I like, I buy from catalogs. I think this summer will be another big year for gardeners, so I made sure to get my seeds early. Many of the seeds I just buy at Menards or the local hardware store or nursery. This year will be a much smaller garden, as hubby and I will not be doing the Farmer's Market in town. We're just getting too old to lug around and pick 35 lbs of green beans, 40 to 50lbs of cukes, tubs full of tomatoes and zucchini and potatoes and cabbages,etc. It would take me hours and hours to clean, sort, price and display veggies. We were one of the major vendors at the local market, so I hope someone takes over. I know folks will miss our produce, and we will miss the money, but things just had to change. We can feed ourselves and have some to spare for others, but we just can't feed the community anymore. I should have an easier time with weeds now! We will still do honey and maple syrup, but we found a local store that will sell it for us. They will get some of the profits, too, but we'll still make enough to make it worth while.
I usually start some of my plants for veggies and flowers in February. The stuff that takes 12 weeks to get started. That's always fun to get the seeds going and dig in potting soil!
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Post by Granny Smith on Jan 11, 2021 16:46:31 GMT -5
I've been trying to find potting soil so I can try out my new greenhouse. Apparently, it's seasonal, so nobody locally has it yet. I reused some from a bag I grew carrots in last year to fill the few pots I planted in the kitchen (the greenhouse wasn't finished yet)
I got my little seed order today. It's just Chamomile, Stevia, and Strawberry seeds. I'd never heard of anyone selling strawberry seeds, so I had to give them a try. I hope I have better luck than I've had with the plants the last few years. They start to grow, then just die. I've tried amending the soil, mulching, and covering the bed so animals don't dig in it, but nothing seems to help.
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Post by susan on Jan 12, 2021 12:07:56 GMT -5
I'm glad to see people back on here. I'm still hanging out on facebook in order to delete many of my posts ahead of getting off and deleting my page. I've tried several ways to delete posts and fb fights me on it. So last night I decided to just delete everything. Facebook would not allow me to use the delete button. So this morning I admitted defeat and decided to put the posts in trash where they stay for 30 days before deleting. Low and behold, the first post that went to trash had a statement telling how to go into settings and delete them! It's tedious and will take quite a while, but so far this morning I've deleted 2 months worth of political posts. I don't know where you can find potting soil this time of year. Maybe you can find a way to make some. I've read of what to mix together, but I can't remember what they are. Last fall I had Mike pick up potting soil before Walmart closed down lawn and garden. He came home with a huge bag, that was all they had. That was even better than what I told him to get. Remember my weak tomato plants last summer? I had one that I didn't transplant outside, I didn't think it was going to live. Well, it hung in there on my table in front of the window and suddenly took off and looked healthy. I now have a 2ft tall tomato plant on the table in front of my bedroom window that faces south. I'm going to repot it into a larger pot and see if it will keep going. Well, I have lots of stuff to get done today, be back later.
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Post by Granny Smith on Jan 12, 2021 14:08:46 GMT -5
I have some bags of cow manure in the old van. I think I have some peat, too. I used a mixture of those in my raised beds this year. That would probably do for potting soil, too.
Just to be clear, I bought the cow manure; I didn't just gather it, so it's sterilized and ground up.
I'm waiting for it to warm up a little more. Then I plan on going out and putting that spray foam along the bottom edge of the greenhouse. It should be warm enough in another hour or so. While I was waiting, I made bread, walnut butter, and ketchup and cleaned the house.
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Post by upnorthlady2 on Jan 12, 2021 19:00:06 GMT -5
Gayle - When you said you were starting strawberries from seed, I was surprised. I guess I never thought of doing that! So today when I was in town I bought some strawberry seeds at the farm supply place (L & M Supply), as well as a bag of potting soil. They actually had lots of potting soil, AND canning lids and rings and jars!! So I stocked up on canning supplies, too. For the first time in my life I'm going to try growing strawberries from seed. Lots of us northern gardeners were buying seeds like crazy today!
Question: do you put your seeds in the refrigerator like the internet says to do? Or do you just plant them on the top of the soil in the trays and wait for germination? How long does your germination take? Do you use a heating pad to keep the tray warm? I read so many conflicting methods on the internet, I don't know what to choose to try. Bear in mind I live in the cold north, and when the plants grow (if they do!) I will put them in my high tunnel greenhouse. Do you pick any fruit the first year, or do you wait until the second year?
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Post by Granny Smith on Jan 12, 2021 19:52:27 GMT -5
Patty, I can't answer a single one of your questions. I've never grown them from seed before. I didn't even know you could buy such a thing until I saw them on Baker Creek's site. Ever since the tornado, I haven't had luck with even storebought plants. I suspect my soil is too alkaline from all the lye that was in the tornado (from rain mixed with wood ashes, where most of my neighbors heat with wood) It was so bad that cleaning things we'd salvaged took the skin off my hands.
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Post by upnorthlady2 on Jan 12, 2021 23:43:50 GMT -5
Well, I guess we'll both have to have the grand experiment growing strawberries from seed! Let me know how yours turned out and I'll give you the progress of my efforts. From what I gather, the first year fruits aren't much, and you need to winter them over. This might be a problem for me up north here, but I figure in my high tunnel greenhouse with it being closed up for the winter and if I mulch it with a lot of straw, maybe the plants will be OK. I grow garlic after all, in there, just fine by planting the garlic in October and covering it with about 10-12 inches of straw. In the spring I uncover the straw and the garlic is up and growing. So maybe the strawberry plants will too? According to the internet you can even save seeds from your own berries and plant them. I have tried a couple times to grow strawberries outside in a raised bed, but the weeds took over, my cats destroyed the plants, and so did the deer. This is why I want to put the plants in my high tunnel. No cats or deer are allowed in there!
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Post by upnorthlady2 on Jan 12, 2021 23:48:55 GMT -5
By the way, the photo of me is in my high tunnel greenhouse. I have long raised beds in there, and there is screening all around. The sides roll up or down to regulate the wind and temperature. We built this ourselves for $300. It is 14 x 25 x 9 1/2 ft high. Things really grow well in there. I especially like it for herbs, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, and even cabbage. I put statice and strawflowers in there,too, to dry for future use.
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Post by Granny Smith on Jan 13, 2021 14:27:49 GMT -5
I used to have a similar greenhouse, only smaller. Of course, it didn't make it through the tornado. I had it set up as an entrance to the shed we normally went to during storms. I could grow all sorts of things in it, year-round and the shed was a good place to store supplies. I'm hoping the one I've been working on works as well. The strawberry bed I've been using used to be inside the old greenhouse. I might end up putting one in the new greenhouse. It would be nice not to have to replant every year and never get anything. Now if I can just get the rest of the things I need to finish it. Some of the items will have to wait till spring, when the garden areas are restocked and open again. It doesn't look like I'll be using the greenhouse this winter, like I'd hoped.
I also need to finish the inside of the new chicken coop and put up some fence for the run. So many things to do and so little ambition.
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Post by susan on Feb 4, 2021 17:37:59 GMT -5
Well, we are back to babysitting after a 3 month break. Christy took 12 weeks off this time instead of 8 weeks. Breastfeeding is going much better. She pumps during the day while at work. Cragen is a little chunk, weighs almost 14 lbs. That's rough trying to lift and hold him. Vivian is definitely a 2 yr old, lol. Mike went to Dollar Tree and got dog collars to fasten the cupboard doors shut. Mainly don't want her getting under the kitchen sink or where we have glass cook wear. She's smart, knows her colors and can sing the ABC song. I haven't been doing much except working at FB to get off of it. If I close my page it remains to be seen for at least 30 days. I don't like what's happening with our freedom of speech, or should I say lack of it. So I've been going back through months and years of posts and deleting anything that our new government wouldn't like. I'm pretty close to done, then I can close my page. Well, I need to go unload my dishwasher and get some clean up done before starting supper. It's a never ending battle.
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Post by Granny Smith on Feb 4, 2021 18:20:48 GMT -5
While I don't agree with FB's opinions on things, especially politics, I feel it's their right to do what they want since they own the site. I would do the same thing if someone was posting a ton of things I didn't agree with. As a matter of fact, I have. I figure it's like someone coming to your house and running down everything you believe in. That's why I mostly just posted funny stuff over there.
I can't tell you how much it galls me to defend them.
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