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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

It's 19 degrees here this morning at EarthNSky with a 15 mph wind and
45% humidity.  I don't know the windchill right offhand, but it is
freaking COLD.  We are under a winter storm watch with a 90% chance of
precip tonight and through tomorrow night, and even though they say "no
accumulation" I don't trust it...lol..I'll bet we get a little ice storm
out of this..just got that feeling.
Yesterday, I completed Round 1 of planting for this year's garden.
I have seed flats and pots all over the bedroom floor in Kate's old
room.  I also planted a few things outside: peas, radishes, turnips,
spinach, chard, and onions.  I already had garlic in the ground. Here's
what I am growing in flats in the house (for now):
Crop            Variety         ~# seeds sown   # Pots/flats

Broccoli        Early Dividend  200             20
Broccoli        Packman         100             20
Cabbage         Danish Ballhead 100             10
Celery          Tendercrisp     2500 (1g)       10
Chinese Cabbage Michihili       680 (2g)        10
Chives                          pack(200)       3
Cucumber        Tendergreen Burpless    20      10
Dill    Long Island Mammoth     1/4pack (250)   3
Honeydew        Green Flesh     12              6
Hops            Humulus lupulus pack            NA
Pak Choi        Joi Choi Hybrid 100             10
Pea             Experimental Variety'   pack (1oz)      NA
Pea             Snow Green      pack (1oz)              NA
Peppers         Anaheim                 150     24
Peppers         Red Peter               12      5
Peppers         Jalepeno                50      10
Pumpkin         Atlantic Giant          10      5
Radish          White Icicle            1 pack  NA
Spinach         Space Hybrid            1 & 1/2 packs       NA
Squash          Yellow straightneck     15      5
Squash          Butternut               30      10
Squash          Yellow crookneck        30      5
Squash          Yellow crookneck        10      5
St. Johnswort   Hypericum perforatum    pack    2
Swiss Chard     Fordhook Giant          4 packs NA
Tomato          Bloody Butcher          30      6
Tomato          Black Plum              50      6
Tomato          Tomatillo Green Husk    30      10
Tomato          Tomatillo Toma Verde    75      25
Tomato          Sausage                 30      6
Tomato          German Red Strawberry   100     6
Tomato          Amish Paste             100     12
Turnip          Purple Top              1 oz    NA
Valerian        Valeriana officinalis   pack    3
Watermelon      GA Rattlesnake          6       3
Wormwood        Common Wormwood pack(100)       1
Zucchini        Calabacita              10      5


There were a few things I didn't plant..
I was going to plant some carrots and a different variety of radishes,
but decided to wait as the ground was  practically frozen in that bed.
It had not been covered so it was colder.  I have a few other varieties
of spinach, too, but will wait until I see if these germinate before I
plant the Bloomsdale in a few weeks.  Hopefully, by starting all of this
early, I will be able to transplant a lot of it early and get a jump on
the squash bugs and take advantage of mason bee pollination in the Spring.
Of the stuff I planted outside, I'm not worried about losing it.
Mostly, it's a grand experiment with old seeds.  If it doesn't work,
I'll replant in 2-3 weeks with newer seeds.
Some of the things I am growing are not for me.  I'm growing the cukes
for my stepfather, who asked me to start them for him.  Other things,
like the Black Plum tomatoes and the Atlantic Giant pumpkins and all of
the yellow squash are seeds that are almost 10 years old, so I need to
try to grow some new stuff.  I'm really bad about putting seeds back and
then forgetting about them, so a lot of this early stuff is old seed
that probably won't germinate, but shoot, I gotta try, right?
Tomorrow, barring an ice storm, I will split wood and shovel some more
stuff out of the old chicken coop.  I am beginning to think that I will
never finish these jobs.  I guess I just need to hunker down and get it
done, instead of doing a little bit every couple of days. My garden beds
could use that chicken poop in the old litter to kick start the warming.
 It's aged enough to plant in, I think, but it could compost some more.

We've had quite a bit of 'family disturbance' here in the past few
weeks, so all this planting and stuff is really a good distraction from
that.  I'll spare you the details. ;)
Today, I am supposed to go down to the Atlanta area to help my friend
pick out plants for landscaping her new house.  I'm up early so that my
joints will be working properly and I can be dressed by the time she
wants to leave here in a few hours.  It sucks to have arthritis in this
kind of weather, but at least I am moving..slowly, but moving.  I'm
gonna be pissed if she cancels the trip after I got up so early...lol..
Oh well, time to stoke the fire and make a fresh pot of coffee..
'Mornin' everyone!

Bev

--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm   Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.