The Glaskins Perpetual Rhubarb seedling is looking good. It has two true leaves now. I'm hoping it at least doubles in size in the next few months so it doesn't get lost when I plant it outside.
Happy Friday the 13th. I've been working on getting stuff back up into my Bonanza Shop. So far I've gone through a couple hundred items. Lots and lots more to go through though! Please feel free to check it out. I'll be adding more as I have time to.
The Glaskins Perpetual Rhubarb seedling is looking good. It has two true leaves now. I'm hoping it at least doubles in size in the next few months so it doesn't get lost when I plant it outside. Another rough day (surgical recovery is kicking my butt), but I did get two loaves of bread baked yesterday and I have another loaf in the oven now. I have (or will have withing the next 24 hours) eight bags of Amish Friendship Bread starter if anyone in the Brainerd area is interested in trying it out! Like I've said before, free to anyone who wants to pick it up in the area, or I can ship it if someone out of area would be willing to pay the $6 Priority Mail price. The Chester Thornless black raspberry cuttings have made a complete recovery from the spider mite infestation that nearly wiped them out. It's looking better than it ever has. With the shifting of stuff in the upstairs fish tank, I have kept the Red Romaine Lettuce seedling alive and well and away from the cats. It's still very small (just now sprouting a fourth leaf), but I'm hoping for the best. It's not looking very red at the moment. Perhaps it's getting too much light, or is just too small to have proper color yet. I can confirm that we are officially expecting kittens within the next month or so. Miss Mabel has an ever expanding baby bump, and yesterday I felt a kitten move in there!
This morning I was feeling a lot better, but I think I was a little over zealous with going grocery shopping. I needed supplies as bread baking day came and went while I was in a pain medication fog. Now I'm tired and sore and still need to get that bread baked. I checked the PO box. I know, it's only been a week. Nothing there! I must admit, that's really disappointing. I thought I'd have some letters by now that I could send some seeds off to. I guess I'll see about checking next week. I'm in no rush to run back to an empty box again. :( I'm off to attempt some late night bread making. Lacking any original ideas and having found no takers for dough, looks like I'm making six loaves of Cookies and Cream bread. I do apologize for missing my daily blog yesterday. It was a bit of a rough day for me. Turns out I don't do so well coming out of anesthesia. I was dizzy for hours after it should have worn off, and so dehydrated that I didn't have any saliva to be able to swallow the toast. When I finally got out of the hospital, I was so loopy from the pain medicine and muscle relaxers that I was pretty much in and out of consciousness all evening.
I'm feeling better today. I'm at least up and moving (albeit slowly), though I'm doing a fair bit of sleeping too. I'm anxious to get back into projects again, but with a fresh dump of snow outside, my gardening dreams are going to be put on hiatus for a bit. I haven't gone outside, and don't want to look at that horrible cold white stuff, but my husband tells me there's probably about eight inches of fresh snow out there. Yuck. At least I have a good excuse why I can't shovel it. I'm scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning, and my pre-op instructions include a "clear liquid diet" today. I have a new-found appreciation for the availability of food in my house (that I currently cannot eat). I've been drinking copious amounts of honey tea, white grape juice, and chicken broth. I don't think I'll eat chicken noodle soup for a long time after this.
I'm so fortunate that my parents live nearby and will be taking the kids for the day. I'm not sure how soon I'll be back on my feet and conscious (not just upright and awake but actually aware of what I'm saying and doing). My mom has invited us to have dinner at her house - which I truly appreciate. I'll be in no shape to make my own dinner. That said, I'm very much afraid that I will be so exhausted from lack of sleep, anxiety, early morning wake-up, surgery, anesthesia, and what-not that I'll be more interested in sleeping it all off than attending a social gathering - even if it's just dinner at my parents' house. Maybe they'll give me some kind of pain medication so I won't have to worry about it. I sure will be glad to get some real food back in my belly again. So, here's to uncertainty! I'm off to drink more water. For lunch today I harvested eight of the largest leaves from the three Green Star lettuce plants. First salad of the year! Yum!! A perfect one ounce salad. Just perfect for a light lunch. Tasty with a dab of dressing. Tony and the kids think it's silly how excited I was to harvest, rinse, and eat this salad, but it's the very first salad I've ever grown!
I got the call today that I am officially scheduled for surgery on Monday. I admit, I have mixed feelings on it. Glad to get a surgery that should (hopefully) fix an ongoing problem I've had, but a little hesitant to undergo surgery. Thankfully I'll be unconscious for the procedure, but the last time I had anesthesia I was out for a couple days before I regained full awareness. I'm not looking forward to losing two days again, but maybe things will go better this time? I don't know. Either way, if you don't see any blog posts from me on Monday or Tuesday (or Wednesday), chances are I'm just recovering and not fully able to get my head out of the fog yet. Wish me luck, say a prayer, or send me some good vibes - whatever you believe in. Here's a picture of noodles on a cracker - just for fun.
Alright, time for the big reveal! The project I've been working on is a seed swap / free seeds deal. I was inspired by a few other offers I've gotten seeds from and thought it would be wonderful to give away seeds... but I don't have a lot to begin with. So here's the plan! You send me some seeds and a self-addressed stamped envelope (two stamps) and I will send you some seeds in return. I have created a page with all of the details HERE, which also includes a photo guide to putting together your SASE.
I went out to the post office today to rent a PO box for this project. I only rented it for 6 months, so we will re-evaluate how this project is going come August. I would definitely appreciate donations of extra seeds, postage stamps, envelopes, bubble mailers, packing materials (to pad larger seeds shipped in envelopes), plastic craft baggies, paper coin envelopes, and/or money to pay for these things, and possibly an extension on the PO Box if this project goes well. I woke up this morning to find that the cats had knocked half the lava rocks from the Red Romaine Lettuce Aquaponic cup into the fish tank... Including the seedlings. I managed to find and retrieve only one seedling (the largest) and have put it back in the cup under the light. I put a shelf panel over top in hopes it will prevent future feline raids. I was met with further disappointment when I checked the Tiny Tim sprouts - both wilted. I added about eight Tiny Tim seeds directly into the Aquaponic cup and will see what happens. Maybe some will sprout and grow, maybe they won't. It's worth a shot. The Alabama Red Okra seeds have gone bad. I'll have to start some over again. I am trying some anise seeds on paper towels in a baggy. If they germinate, I'll be trying to start them indoors to lengthen the growing season. From what I understand, anise requires 120 frost-free days. I'm working on a cool seed trade opportunity. I'm hoping to announce it tomorrow - so stay tuned! It's about time to round up the plants and give an update. The Red Romaine Lettuce in the upstairs tank (aquaponic) has two sprouts. One seed has not sprouted, and one looked like it was starting, but has shown little sign of growth since. May just have two in this container (6 seeds sown). The Tiny Tim babies are looking a little wilty, but it's only been a day, so I'm hoping for the best. They are downstairs in an aquaponic tank under a light on a 12-hour timer. The Green Star Lettuce has really taken off! I turned it today and had to pull three leaves off due to burn (getting too close to the grow light). I put the leaves in the fish tank. They'll be eaten and turned into nice things for the lettuce growing in the tank. The Glaskins Perpetual Rhubarb plant is doing well. It has the first two leaves and one true leaf, and appears to be starting a new one as well. I'm very excited to get this one through winter and started outside. I'm hoping it lasts many years and provides us with lots and lots of rhubarb coffee cake! The Spineless Prickly Pear cactus is looking fantastic since the re-plant into fresh cactus potting soil! I watered it yesterday (not that you could tell), and plant to water it just once a month to prevent my overzealous watering from killing it. Aloe Vera plant continues to suffer from the indented portions of the outer leaves. The only references I can find to a similar issue online is over-watering or improper soil. It continues to grow new branches and seems happy in the fresh cactus soil. I'm not sure what the issue is. And last, but not least, is #3's spider plant. It was just a little thing when it arrived, and one of the kids nearly drowned it, but it's coming back and looking wonderful! We are going to have to pot-up soon!
This morning I took the Tiny Tim sprouts out of the germination bags and transplanted them into the aquaponic cup. The two sprouts seem so small, I'm not sure how they'll do. The third seed sprouted a tiny root, but no leaf so far. I put it in there as well.
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