This Years Seed Harvest

[sheepdog 10]

All I can say is WOW! I just had the best seed crop ever in all the years I've planted my flower bed! I just finished the seed part of the harvest yesterday. Took me nearly all day. I had a customer come to pick up a puppy fairly early, so I got an early start, got the pup ready then started on gathering seed. It was slow going because I was mostly getting cosmos seed, and it was still a little greed and hard to shell out into the bucket, some heads I had to pick whole, they will shell out ok when they get dry in a week or so, though it will be a tedious job shelling them out that way. I was so tired last night I could barely move. But I counted jars when I got done and I had 49 full jars, and I still have 4 or 5 more racks of seed drying that I need to shell out, so I will end up with well over 50 jars of seed this year. I recycle my used instant tea jars, they hold about a quart, and I pack the seed down pretty hard, so we are talking about one heck of a lot of seed here. One year I only had a total of seven jars of seed harvested, which was barely enough to even get my flower bed seeded back the next year.

 

Now that the seed is out of the way, the hard part is next to come. Digging all the Canna roots. You can't leave canna's in the ground, if it gets really cold they will winter kill, and besides, if I leave them in we can't till the flower bed up in the spring. I hated to start in on it today, but I knew the way things have been going around here I better at least get a start on them. I was really hoping to get some help from one of the hired boys I have, but one of them found a temporary job and isn't here right now. I'm afraid if I don't get started on them I'll be out of luck. Don't know for sure if he will even come back, and I would hate to wait on him and then end up loosing all my bulbs because he found another job. I was dreading getting started, but I went ahead and got started tonight, and now I really am going to hate the job! Those things got HUGE! I wasn't looking forward to digging them anyway, and now that I know how tough the job is going to be I'm really dreading it. I came in tonight and warned the old man I may be making a run for his back hoe before this is over with! I know some of those clumps I lifted out had to weigh at least 50 pounds when they first came out of the ground until I could shake off the loose dirt and start breaking them apart. That's a lot of pulling and lifting for an old fat lady! Sure hope that boy comes back! I got less than one forth of the way down the row. But I guess that's not too bad a start on what is supposed to be my day off, and getting a late start since we went to the swap meet this morning.

[k_nitin_r 8]

sheepdog,

It's nice to hear about your recyclin of empty tea jars. I recall having a tin of a gourmet tea that I used as a piggybank. The golden shade of the tin never faded and the combination of black and golden seemed really grand and very bank-like. They had a picture on the tin from the old chivalrous times, though what it was, I can no longer remember.

You really ought to consider moving out to a different part of the world where help is easier to find. There are lots of volunteers who travel around the world to help out in the country side for a week or two, and the policies of the United States in keeping people out surpasses that of just about every other nation.

[sheepdog 10]

Yes, recycling is a great thing to do, and I wish people did more of it. Aside from keeping trash out of land fills, it saves those doing the recycling a fair amount of money. My glass jars are a good example. Buying new canning jars are as much as $7-$8 per dozen. And our recycling center now charges us 75 cents to turn in one bag of glass. So there is a big savings right there. Considering the delicate nature of seed, it's need to be protected from moisture, rodents and the like, glass is the best choice to use for storing it. And of course, it is reusable for years and years, providing of course you don't drop it. It can be easily cleaned and sanitized to protect the contents of the jars. I wish more people would get on board with this. Not just individuals either, it would help in manufacturing companies put some thought into their packaging materials. Do you know that now a days it is virtually impossible to find the old style glass one gallon jars? They used to be as common as dirt. They still have some that have a large metal lid that soon rusts out, making the jars useless. But the old ones all had the standard mason size ring and seal that you could replace easily.

 

We have help around here, it's just that the value of the product doesn't always justify the dollar amount it would cost to pay someone to do it. I might be able to sell some of my seed for $1 a bag, but it would cost me $5 to pay someone to shell it out. No money in that!

 

The good news is I finished up digging the last of the canna's yesterday. Will let them dry until the first of the week and then they will go to the basement for storage until spring. I did splurge and buy some (used of course) plastic tubs to put them in this year. This is kind of an experiment, I used to fill a dog food bag about half full and then roll them down to store them. Unfortunately, we have developed a leak in our basement so paper bags aren't going to work until we figure out where that is coming from. I am concerned about them getting over dry in large open tubs, but I am compensating by drying them a little less. I will just need to remember to check them a few times later this winter to make sure they aren't getting too dry.

 

I had hoped to start mowing the debris and grass and stuff along the edge of the bed today, got the hired man to gas up and air the tire on the old mower for me yesterday in hopes it wouldn't give me quite as much trouble getting it started as it usually does. But then it rained this morning so that chore got put on hold. I still need to go out and finish taking my soaker hoses up and out of the way. After everything is mowed and raked up I can burn it all off. So I'm hoping for a few more days of nice weather, but I probably won't get that lucky. I'd like to say the flower bed will be done after that, but in truth, that project is never really done. Even in the winter I can haul manure and stuff to it to help build up the soil for the next year.

[k_nitin_r 8]

Recently, all of the computers that I have purchased have recycled packaging and the packages are slimmer. About ten years ago, the boxes were at least twice as thick and the laptop and were packaged within a plastic bag held in place by plastic holders (probably because thermocol can get messy) and bubble wrap. Now, laptops simply have a plastic bag and something made of recycled paper to hold the laptop in place within a stiff cardboard outer box. It's minimal packaging because nobody really looks for a pretty box like they used to back in the day - the box is tossed out the day the warranty expires, or sometimes even on the day the laptop is placed into a laptop bag.

[sheepdog 10]

Well, the canna's are now safely (I hope) tucked away in the basement for the winter. Still haven't raked and burned the flower bed. It was so pretty yesterday I decided to work on my driveway entrance project, one I've been trying to get done for months now. Been fighting that stubborn grass we have here trying to keep it out of the patch of irises and the mum plant, but it is so tough and hardy it's about impossible to get under control. It send out long runners under what ever kind of mulch you lay down for many feet and pops right back up where you don't want it. I'm cutting up the liner of one of my old swimming pools and using it as a ground cover. Don't think any thing will grow threw it. I got some nice white polished stone to lay over it, so it should look pretty good when I get it all spread out. I also raised the concrete statue of the dog I had because the irises get tall enough in the summer you can't even see it.

 

Would of like to have worked on it again today but we had to cut a little wood, so didn't get a chance too. But it's supposed to be nice again tomorrow so maybe I can work on that some more and maybe start burning off the flower bed if it's not too windy.

[demonboy1990 0]

great to hear about the seeds sheepdog,

[k_nitin_r 8]

Cut wood? Do you have a fire place? That would be really cool! I live in a place with an arid subtropical climate so there is hardly any provision for a fire place in any of the apartments and other houses here. If they did provide one, they would need to upgrade the chillers that they use for the air conditioning and I imagine the only use of the fire place would be to serve as an alternative to the barbecue. Some of the local residents with a lavish lifestyle have a barbecue somewhere close to the swimming pool so they can beat the heat and can fire up the barbecue for something to eat.

I tried to get some plants indoor, but apparently only one was able to make it through all the years. Most usually last for anywhere between two weeks to four months. Despite being in a closed apartment (windows are always shut, door is usually closed and while it isn't airtight, there's a kind of a washer between the door and the door frame to keep the door firmly shut, one of the plants had an infestation with some tiny white insects. Perhaps they didn't fumigate the plants so the eggs of the insect came along in either the potted soil or on the branches. On the positive side, those white insects didn't spread and remained on the plant all the time so getting rid of the insects was not a bother. After the infested plant incident, I didn't get any more plants but the one I've had for about a decade continues to thrive while being watered only once a month.

[sheepdog 10]

We have a fire place, but seldom use it. They are not really very good for heating, they tend to suck a lot of warm air right up and out the chimney. We have an outdoor wood furnace behind the house which is piped in threw a kitchen window. Works nice that way, keeps all the mess you get with burning wood out there in the great outdoors instead of dragging it in the house with every arm load of wood you carry inside. Of course we have a Bar B Que. Nothing tastes quite as good as my hubbies BBq'd chicken. Unless it would be his smoked chicken. Actually, we have a BBQ grill, and a few years ago for Christmas I bought him a smaller grill with an attached smoker. Grills these days come in all shapes and sizes, they even have some disposable ones so they aren't really something limited to the financially well off. If you are just cooking for yourself they have small cast iron hibachi grills that only use a few chunks of charcoal to make a single serving meal. Those could be real handy.

 

Not exactly one with a green thumb are you? But hey, I have plants like that too. Aloe vera and mother in laws tongue are good plants for those folks not inclined to remember to care for plants. I'm betting your decade old plant is probably a Mother in Laws tongue. Tall long narrow spiked leaves. Nearly indestructible.

[sheepdog 10]

Well amazingly enough I managed to more or less get the flower bed burned off before the weather went to hell in a hand basket. I got it done the last day just before the big snow hit. It was still somewhat wet and didn't burn the best in the world, I will have to spread out the piles of unburned debris and just till it back in to the soil. I'm glad it had at least a few days to dry or it wouldn't of burned at all. I just couldn't wait any longer to try it with storms predicted to blow in. Hopefully the fire and smoke got hot enough to kill out the funguses. and weed seeds. So now starts the manure hauling job. I do cheat a little in this department. I park a little wagon in the barn and let the hired man fill it full of goat manure when he has time, and when it gets full I take it to the flower bed with the 4 wheeler and unload it, spreading it out along the length of the bed. All 194 feet of the length, so it's a lot of shoveling.

 

Of course, all of that is on hold now. We had one heck of a snow storm, somewhere I'd say between 6 and 8 inches. It's been pretty rough around here the past few days. First day after the storm the hired help couldn't get out at all, so I had to try to take care of everything myself. It's not real easy, and the snow really complicates things a lot more than people realize until you have to go threw it. Like just feeding the dogs. Normally you can pick up the lid to the dog house to put feed in the dish with one hand and hold the feed bucket in the other, but with 6 inches of snow on the lids, you have to really heave to even lift them. Snow likes to drift up in front of the gates, so even opening the gates can be a challenge. Of course, the first day I had no idea where they had layed out the water hoses to drain, so they were lost in the snow, meaning water had to be carried in buckets. All this in 20 degree weather did not make for a pleasant experience. Thought I might have more time to post here at Knowledgsutra, but honestly, by the time I get threw everything I don't have the energy to sit here. I find myself yearning for spring already and winter has hardly even got started.