Lots of herbs have to be started early. So I started them: Greek Oregano (*) x12 Sweet Marjoram (*) 3 rows Rosemary (*) x13 True Lavender (*) x12 Lemon Balm x12 Lovage x12 Valerian x 12 Mints: Bee Balm 3 rows Mints: Common 3 rows Mints: Pennyroyal 3 rows Luckily most of these (not the …
Author Archives: kaat
Robins Arrived Before the Snow
The first of that big snowstorm assailing the East Coast has flurried in, and so did the flocks of birds. I’ve noticed that the regulars – the flocks of snowbirds, sparrows, finches and mourning doves, and the lone cardinals and blue jays – come out to the feeder when it starts snowing. Maybe it is …
First Seedlings of 2010
It took me three hours to wash all the plugs and containers from last year. Or should I say, another three hours? I had washed them at the end of last season, but storing them on the screened-in porch turned out to be not a good idea. So I washed and scrubbed in a bucket …
Start Growing!
I’m ready to start sowing in my basement light setup. I checked it and everything still works. I just received the first batch of seeds from Fedco. We also found a great deal for a 4-flat heat mat with thermostat, so jumped on it – and that has arrived as well. I bought my seedling …
Power Down
Do you think about the future? Do you wonder what it will be like? Or do you live like it’s always going to be the way it has been? ~ I found at least 5 entries like this one, all in drafts, abandoned. As I prepare for the growing season with more resolve and urgency …
Bees
Well, yesterday evening was eventful. I heard a wild cat (or a fisher? – see the comments) in the street. Someone in a drive-by knocked our mailbox right off its perch. I saw the brake lights, heard the crash, the door slam and it speeding off, but it was too dark even to see the …
A Bobcat?
So this happened half an hour ago, at 10 pm. I’m sitting in my living room, working on the laptop. Suddenly there is a racket in the street. A small dog barking very, very loudly? Surely that’s not a dog? I go outside with my flashlight. It’s 10F and I’m wearing a skirt and a …
In Other News
My first Beekeeping class this evening! I’m very excited and plan to report in full. I realized that with all the soil (clay) we’ll be digging up to create the pond, we’ll be able to make an earth oven. There might even be enough to build a small adobe structure around the oven. We’ll just …
Of Calcium in the Soil – Part 7
This is already the seventh part in a series on how calcium and other nutrients get into the soil and then into plants. Here we finally meet the plant roots, and investigate how they take up water. Click to read part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4, part 5 and part 6. ~ …
Riot for Austerity – Month 15
Last year’s averages (calculated here) are mentioned as a baseline. I use this calculator. Gasoline. This is the usual: still too high. When the temperatures go up I’m really going to work on biking Amie to school and back. 9.52 gallons per person (pp) in cars + 10 miles pp on public transport =Â 23 …