Friday, January 22, 2010

Coming this spring!

Raintree sent an invoice.

We have the following (some I ordered, some were bonuses) coming in the spring:
10 crowns of Jersy Knight asparagus
1 Rosa Rugosa Alba
1 P. aureosulcata Bamboo
1. Rosemary-4 inch pot
1True Grosso Lavender
1 Horsradish
1Fred Boutin Lavender
1 Highbush cranberry

Friday, January 15, 2010

Dirty Laundry


Well, clean, actually. I've been intending since Labor Day to sum up my Clothesline Challenge. From May 29-Labor Day Weekend, I did 108 loads of laundry. Forty-eight of them were line-dried. I didn't quite make my goal of 50%. It was cold and rainy at the end of this summer, and I thought I'd get out and improve my percentage after Labor Day, but, honestly, I didn't. I may have dried 2 or 3 more loads before the weather got yucky.

Other laundry--
I did not count, in these totals, 4 outdoor furniture cushions that I washed in the washer and were dried outside, 4 loads of laundry that Ben did, nor 2 loads of laundry I did at my mother-in-law's house while we were on vacation.

Thoughts--
I love laundry dried on the line. I love seeing the clothes flapping in the breeze. I love seeing the different sizes of my kids clothes all lined up. I love the smell of clothes dried on the line. Tried doing towels, but, yeah, prefer not to. Usually dried those with underwear, etc. in the dryer. I did hang kitchen towels and beach towels. I made my line bigger(it's not attractive) part way into the summer. I have a large-capacity front loader, so a load included a lot of laundry. I would like to get a better line, but what I have works, although I would need a different system in order to really up my percentages. I can't generally dry more than one load at a time, and with 6 people in my house, being able to dry more than one load would be advantageous. Benefits? Yummy-smelling clothes, fewer wrinkles, cooler house, cheaper electric bill, an excuse to be outside.

Pouring through the seed catalogs...

Working to make a realistic plan and not overdo the seed purchases...Everything looks lovely.

On the list, but not specifics yet--

Early season tomatoes in addition to some later ones--we're hoping to start these from seeds this year because it is our understanding that the blight came from the nursery tomatoes.

pickling cukes

potatoes

>>I need to do some research and we need to take some precautionary measures regarding disease with these due to last year's problems. This will include some new soil.

In self-watering containers--
bush cukes
mini eggplants
mini melons
mini bell peppers
basil

Other-
pumpkins of some sort (have a couple of different types of seeds already)
radishes
onions, particularly scallions
garlic
horseradish
thyme
broccoli--probably a couple different varieties
cauliflower
lettuce
spinach
turnips
carrots
sunflowers

snap peas
peas
peppers
---again need to do research here--we've never had good luck with peas or peppers. I'm hoping a self-watering container will help with the peppers.

flowers/herbs (some for companion planting)
borage
nasturtiums
sunflowers
poppies (a couple varieties--we love these)
hollyhock
calendula
lavender

Hoping our perennials come back strong this spring.

We also have some other things coming this spring that I ordered back in July from Raintree. I have an email in to them to confirm what's coming, because I can't remember anymore, LOL.