More Tomato Madness

I think this is going to be the last of the list for this year. I'm not going to hold my breath that the others are going to germinate, but they'll get to sit and wait for a couple of weeks before I completely give up.

Since last post:

Cherokee Chocolate
Chocolate Stripe
Costoluto Genovese
Coyote
Great White
Italian Tree
Kosovo
Marglobe
Marlowe Charleston
Mr Stripey
Nepal
Old Brooks
Old German
Omar's Lebanese
Opalka
Paul Robeson
Pink Ruffled
Polish
Red Zebra
Roma
Ruby Gold
Silvery Fir Tree
Speckled Roman
Super Snow White
Tigrovy

Hopefully, the rain will stop and I'll be able to start my squishes and corn and melons. Woohoo!

So far...

I've been obsessively checking my babies for germination, and I've got a few heads popping up. I'm very, very behind this year and just finished my tomato sowing a few days ago, so the list will get longer. So far, here's what's up and leafing:

Amish Paste
Azoycha
Big Rainbow
Black Prince
Black from Tula
Black Sea Man
Brandywine
Caspian Pink
Cour di Bue
Dinner Plate
Early Glee
Esther's Cherry
Fuzzy Peach
Green Bell Pepper
Green Zebra
Hank
Heinz 1439
Kellogg's Breakfast
Marianna's Peace
Schimmieg Stuffer
Supper Beefsteak
Transparent Yellow
White Wonder
Yellow Brandywine
Zapotec Pleated

I also have a handful of eggplant and pepper varieties that are going strong, but I don't have that list entered yet. I haven't started my corn, squashes, or gourds yet.

I have an illness. A serious, tomato bourne illness. I can't wait for shredded Jerusalem artichoke, chopped tomato, fresh basil, and parmesan salad! Spring is here and the madness has begun.

Good morning, Spring!

After Sunday's 3" snow of the year, I think we can say that Spring is officially here. Things are starting to come to life, and my list of tasks is longer and longer. I've got seeds out of my ears and little plants everywhere. So much work to be done!

We've still got a lot more work to do on the new Tomato Plantation, but it looks like we're approved for a water meter on the lot! We haven't gotten the permit yet, so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.

Gotta get moving.

Spring is officially here! Only a couple more nights are expected to be below freezing, and I've got soooo much stuff to do. I'm a bit behind this year, but that's what I get for always finding a new way to get sick.

I've got a handful of seed orders that are still in the mail and I want them NOW! I said I wasn't going to do any orders, but I broke down and decided, with the newly expanded space, that I must have new stuff to fill it in. My tomato trading group seeds should be here Tuesday, and that's what I'm most excited about. I'd love to top 90 varieties grown this year, but we shall see.

Now for the master list:

- clean up property; bricks to the back, unusable corner, hay raked in
- start more seeds!
- get a roll (or two!) of concrete reinforcement wire for more tomato cages
- get water hooked up

And back by popular request...

More pictures of the demo for my destruction loving viewers! :D The demo is now complete and the site has been crudely graded, so the fun is pretty much over and we're looking at this:



Boring, right?

Yay for front page!

Well, that lovely treasury that monkeysalwayslook put me in (I'll call her the evil wench, since she objected to the 'nice people' label) made it to the front page!

Yay!

It had my fly bags in it, and I think my little fluffnfixings shop got more views today than it normally gets in a month!

Mmmm, compost!

I've been pretty productive for the past couple of days. I finally got around to dumping out one of my composters and can't wait to start filling it up again. I dumped it out after it got rained on, so I declined taking pictures of the finished product. I added some leaves and bark shreds to it, and it's now sitting in our 'pit' to cure.

I set up these composters about two years ago and they've served me well. Here are some pictures.We assembled a 'deck' out of scrap lumber and fixed a bunch of small, fixed casters we got at Harbor Freight for .35 each.

I cut a door in the end, screw in hinges, and a latch. I also used a hole cutter and drilled 1" holes in rows along the sides for ventilation and drainage.

We got the white bin from someone who attempted to make a standing bin. She was moving and it hadn't worked out for her, so we happily took it off of her hands and have a nice second bin. We had to modify the deck to work with the way it was cut.

You can see how the bins sit on the decks. They roll quite freely and it's soooo easy to get things mixed up. I knew I couldn't do the pitchfork/pile method, but this has been great for us. These bins maintained temperatures into the hundreds all winter last year, which I thought was pretty surprising.

BURD!

This little guy was hopping around on one of the trees in the front yard, confirming our suspicions that the tree is, indeed, dying (not that we needed a confirmation!). He was very shy and would hop around the other side of the tree every time I tried to open the storm door. I wish I could have gotten closer or, at least, gotten a snap of him without the branch in front of his head. Didn't happen.

Snow!

Alright, not really.

Monday night, we had some freezing mist, and the little fluffy balls of ice piled up on the ground. I didn't notice it sticking all that well, but Tuesday, around noon, I went to check the mail and saw this!
I love snow, and the South has totally cramped my winter style. Seeing this made my day...well, that and a handful of sales! I guess holiday shoppers are hitting etsy, finally, and the past couple of days have kept me busy. I've had to set up two custom listings and my Erlenmeyer Terrarium Kit sold. I was kinda sad to see it go, but I'll fix another up sometime this week, I think.

Of course, I've conveniently run out of bubble mailers and bubble wrap to make more mailers, so I'm waiting for both of those to come up. If I get any orders between now and when I get my supplies, I'll have to break down and see what I can find locally. Can't complain too much! :)

I'm back! -- and eggs

As you may be able to tell, I'm back from our quick, Thanksgiving jaunt. I packed up five orders today and they'll all be going out Monday to their new homes.

I spent some time shopping around Etsy today, and decided to go for two eggs from SwedishDesign. I got a Santa and a Snowman, and I can't wait to get them! They're wonderful illustrations and will make excellent gifts for my sets of parents.

I spent a lot of time going through some incredible work by several very talented egg-workers, for lack of a better term. I thought I'd share some of these amazing creations with you.



Here's a wonderful pysanka ornament by doreseggs. The colors and patterning are captivating.









This artist, PysankyPanky, has too many incredible pieces to pick a favorite from, but this one is at the top of my list!










Here's a little wonder by 1eggman. This artist has the most amazing carved eggs I've ever seen!




Check out my favorite items and favorite sellers for more incredible egg artists!

Mmmm...chocolate!

A big thank you to simplydoodles for including my chocolate mint plant in this lovely treasury:

New things!

I decided to change my avatar. I may change it back to the one I've had since I joined (over a year now!), but I figured I'd give this one a try for a little while and see if I adjust. Talk about living on the wild side, eh?

I've decided to do a fluffnflowers sale from 28 Nov.-1 Dec. in honor of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you haven't already checked out my shop, you might want to take advantage of this sale before the spring rush!

Buy 3 packs of seeds or $9 equivalent (not including S&H) and get a free pack of seeds! AND 15% off of any CUT GLASS growing kit.

It's cold!

It's finally gotten cold, here, and it looks like it's probably going to stay that way. I'm excited and I hope I get to see snow this year! I'm not holding my breath, but it'd sure be nice.

Our yellow tree is almost out of leaves, which is a bit sad. It starts turning first, holds onto it's lovely colors, and then fades out after every other tree. I should investigate and see what kind of tree it is, but it seems that I never get around to it until after the leaves have all fallen and then I don't know which it is! It looks quite striking between the pine trees.

Other than that, I seem to be recovering alright. It's only been a few days since the procedure and things are still pretty up and down, but I've definitely noticed some improvements. Being able to sleep through the night without being woken up a million times by a stopping/starting heart is really, really, really nice. We'll see what's happening in a month or so...

I made it out alive!

I'm back home and comfy after my heart surgery. Sadly, the procedure wasn't as successful as we'd have liked, but we'll know better what the course of action will be in a month or so.

For now, I'm thrilled to be home, and I've been pretty busy. I've redone a couple of listings, added a few new listings, and have been getting together more promos to send out for the next big rush.

I spent some time before I went into the hospital cutting and finishing a bunch of glass bottles, so I've been taking pictures and introducing these 'pinch' garden kits. The containers are small, so I've chosen seeds that do well in tight quarters for several months. Spicy Globe Basil, Fern Leaf Bleeding Heart, and Jewels of Opar are some of the selections I've made.

Things are slowing down.

Winter is obviously starting to set in. All of the trees are losing their leaves and plants have stopped their furious growth. I've been pulling in seeds, and I'll be lifting some of my cold-sensitive bulbs shortly. Entertainingly enough, everything is slowing down, but a handful of weeds are going insane.

Thursday (I skipped the 11th!) is the big day, and I hope I'll be back in fine form shortly after. Supposedly, the procedure is easy and has a fast recovery, so keep your fingers crossed that my heart is thumping the right way soon!

Today, while I was cleaning I found more of my business cards! I thought I was out, but I apparently just misplaced 100 of them. So, now I can staple together promos while I wait for my 1250 others to arrive.

I also ordered 100 post cards. I'm not going to mail them out and intend on using them on thank-you notes, actually. I normally use large note cards to write the thank you and tape seed packs to the back. These will be pretty and serve the same function. Woohoo!

Another lovely plant to propagate.

Today, I'll be going outside, braving the cold, and clipping off a handful of cuttings from this lovely. Mine is still holding onto it's leaves and flowers, but I don't know how long that'll last with the weather being as cool as it has been.

I have decided that I will stop shipping live plants (not including moss!) at the end of the month, unless by special request. I've reduced my live plant prices, so take advantage of this and grab what catches your fancy or wait until next spring!

In other news, my heart surgery is scheduled for 13 Nov. Eek!

End of harvest.

It's nearing the end of my harvest season, and I've been spending a lot of time sorting seeds, packaging seeds, and planning out next year.

New things for the week:

Seedpods! I sent some of these off to a friend to see what magic she could work with them. If anyone else wants them for whatever reason, I'd be happy to send some off to you. :)

My lawyer gave me the free-and-clear (and a handful of free templates found online with the same layout), so I also placed another business card order, today. I added another flavor to my stash, so I now have five different images. I hope to be able to continue adding variety.

Health news, my heart appears to be clear from obvious defects, so here's to hoping there'll be no exciting surprises during the surgery. I should be scheduling the procedure next week.

Dog 'poo!

Being the handmade soap addict that I am, I decided to check out Etsy when my last jug of dog shampoo ran out. I shopped around and found several products that I was interested in, but I was a bit concerned about the moisturizing effect of these soaps.

I know most people love dogs with soft hair, but I've got a wire-coated dog with a thick, oily coat. I asked a few sellers about whether they'd consider their dog 'poo to be conditioning, and only one came back to say that they couldn't claim the soap to be conditioning. Score!

(forgive the hair on the bar -- I took the pictures post doggie bath!)

Well, my girl needed a bath a few days ago, and I got to try out wwizebody's dog soap. I must say that I'm QUITE impressed with it!

What I love:

1. Size and shape of the bar make it easy to hold on to when wet.
2. Amazing lather made it a quick job to soap up the dog. A few swipes was all it took! The liquid shampoo concentrate I normally use doesn't suds up that much and takes a lot of work to get distributed.
3. The fresh smell wasn't overpowering but still managed to compete with the wet dog smell. It's been three days, and she doesn't smell like dog, yet! The fragrance from the soap didn't held in her coat, but she's not supposed to be an air freshener. :)
4. The great cleaning power! My pup's coat is shiny, clean, harsh, and not grubby feeling. No second wash needed with this stuff!
5. Less waste, if nothing else, makes this bar a great choice. Usually, I use about a cup of diluted, harsh-coat concentrate each time I shampoo my dog because the lather isn't very good. With this bar, the edges are barely rounded, and I don't have to worry about accidentally spilling the bottle!
6. It rinsed out easily and cleanly. 'Nuff said.
7. It's not conditioning, but it doesn't seem to dry out skin. No itching, no scratching, and no flaking. Hurrah!
8. The convenience. Usually, when I go out of town, I carry a premixed bottle of 'poo for her, in case she gets skunked, rolls in something nasty, or just gets filthy. There's nothing worse than finding you haven't mixed enough or having to clean up the ruptured container. Now, with air travel like it is, the liquid is pretty much impossible, and it's equally impossible to find in most locations. This little bar is a great size and it's SOLID -- perfect for travel.
9. The price. I have no doubt that this bar will last many more washes and be much more affordable, in the long run, than the concentrate I normally purchase.

Summer is over.

Summer is obviously over. The nights and days are getting cooler, which I love, but it breaks my heart to see the bees that I spend all summer watching and cultivating a habitat for start to slow down.

That's how it goes, though. They'll be back next year, but I hate finding their fat, formerly busy bodies clinging to my flowers. :(

New DesignStyleGuide website!

I am SO excited about the new DesignStyleGuide website! It goes live on Monday, but I've been playing around with the member access stuff for a couple of hours tonight. Can I say brilliant?

I opted for an 8 listing membership, rather than the basic 2, and I'm glad I did! It was a bit more expensive and I was afraid it'd be too much trouble to fill them out, but the listings are sooooo much more intuitive than I expected. I've already got 6 of the 8 I signed up for done, and I'm trying to decide what others I'm going to include.

There's a treasury feature that's not dependent on the ever crappy flash, so I'm able to actually USE it. Even more exciting!

Picture me very pleased.