Shopping cart advancement!

I've been playing with adding a shopping cart to my website, and it looks like I've figured out the paypal shopping cart stuff pretty well. I do need to adjust the shipping costs in paypal, but I'm afraid that'll mess up checkouts done through etsy. I'll save that experimentation for another day, when I'm braver and have more patience.

I've only got three things in the shop on this site, but I plan on adding things as I add them to my etsy shop or renew listings. It might take awhile, but I'm not in a hurry.

It's extremely nice to have this all coming together. I hope I'll be able to build up traffic to this site, rather than relying on etsy to provide all of my sales. Since the reseller invasion over there, it's been tough to compete and stand out. My hope is that directing traffic here will provide lots of focus on me, me, me! :)

I think summer's almost over!

Not a hurray for most people, but I'm glad things are cooling off. We've had a lot more rain than we have the past two years (thank goodness!), but we've started getting afternoon thunderstorms. I dearly love them, but the cat runs under the nearest couch or bed and the dog sticks to me like glue during them.

In preparation for the fall garden adventure, I've cleared a nice spot in the garden, and have started spreading guinea pig bedding. My fall seeds are in order, and I'll probably get those out in the next few days...if I manage to get my butt in gear and overcome the sapping exhaustion and aches and pains.

I also order 16 cu ft of perlite, joy of joys, and am mixing potting mix like crazy. We invested in a lovely machine for redoing the flooring in a few locations, and this magical machine cuts glass like a knife through butter. I'll post some pictures of the new, green planters I'll be posting in my shop soon.

I've got a couple new varieties of tomatoes that just went off for germ testing, so keep your eyes peeled for those!

x-posted to fluffnflowers' website blog.

Meet the new EOT!

The EtsyOrganicTeam, after a short break and revitalization, is back! Things are much tidier, and we now have an all-in-one website with forums, a team shop, the blog, directories, slideshows, and the whole nine yards. Applications and reapplications have started trickling in, the twitter feed is up and running, and we're off to a great start.

The reorganization has been a great thing and I think the team will be able to have a much more involved membership, move forward with marketing projects, and generally be able to grow as a team. It's been a project, but it was worth the effort.

Check out the website and see what you think! :)

Bad blogger syndrome

Things have been very busy here. It's the green season and things are really picking up speed. Of course, in the middle of it all, we had three trips to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.

I made my first pumpkin custard last week from this lovely. It's a Rouge Vif d'Etamps -- or the Cindarella pumpkin. I must say, it's delightful orange exterior is nothing compared to the delightful orange insides!

The potato blight is BACK!

Yeek. The late blight is taking no prisoners this year. It's not here yet, but I'll definitely take the rain over the drought!

Green things

By now, word has probably leaked around that the EtsyOrganicTeam is temporary closed for redirection, recentering, rebuilding, and a bunch of other re's. I've been working with Brenda, of NaturalStar, and Maura, of GreenWorks, and we've been making leaps towards a new, fresh start. Make sure to check back soon for an announcement that we're open and ready to roll!

Now for a few garden shots.

This is a flower on my asparagus pea vine. Look at the flower closely. Think. Giggle to yourself. Move on. :)


Here are some greenies. I believe this plant is a Black Zebra tomato, but I can't recall for sure. The hail didn't keep these guys too down, and they're putting out flowers and little tomatoes like crazy. With my luck this year, a hornworm will come along and gnaw them down.


This is a spontaneously occurring pumpkin. The vine put out this 10 lb (and growing!) beauty in a week. It's actually the variety of pumpkin that the Cindarella coach was modeled after, which is kinda neat. Can't wait for pumpkin custards!

Bounce back!

We just got back yesterday after a week at the Mayo Clinic, and oh my how the gardens have changed!

In a week's time:

• grass has done some damage in my flower beds
• my asparagus peas are podding
• my pumpkin vines spontaneously produced a 10 lb beauty (still needs a few more days on the vine, but it's lookin' good!)
• little green tomatoes are showing their faces
• my compost caught on fire
• my lone hydrangea is in full bloom
• the first fig of the year was picked

Tomorrow, I'll take some pictures of the upcoming bounty. It rained like the dickens today, so I just took a quick run through the raindrops to check things out.

I may also see about getting my butt in gear and putting together some new kits for my shop. I've been dragging my heels on that, but I have some plans and some inspiration fresh and ready to go!