Snow & Seed Catalogs - 2016 January 12

After a very mild fall and early winter, our typical weather has found us. It is a chilly 15* outside tonight. The low is predicted to be 7 with just a -4 windchill. Still not too bad for mid-January. For a while today, the wind was blowing the snow sideways. First from the West and then from the North. However, by Thursday & Friday, Weatherbug is predicting we'll be back into the mid-40's. Anyway, after the blowing stopped, I took a couple pictures out the back & front windows, too comfy to even open the door to get a better shot. The sky has been amazing for the last several days.

Looking South & West out the back window toward the back of the property. 

Looking North out the front window toward the barn.

These back & forth temps have ticked off my left hip, a problem that first showed up 40 years ago when I was pregnant with our daughter. As my mother-in-law would say, "Old Arthur has come to visit again".  And since I need to be off my feet today, what better time than now to begin looking at the seed catalogs.

The catalogs begin showing up in the mail just before Christmas. Their siren song distracts me from all that needs to be done before the first of the year. Better than any Sears Catalog remembered from my childhood. It takes real willpower to just stack them in a corner until a day like today presents itself to make a cup of tea and just indulge myself.

First,  I decided to checked out some reviews. This is something I've never done before but this year's mail brought many new catalogs to browse. It turns out the ones I normally use (with the exception of Burpee) have some of the best ratings. And I use Burpee less and less as I find better companies with more organic and non-GMO seeds. Baker's Creek (http://www.rareseeds.com) and Bountiful Gardens (https://www.bountifulgardens.org) are my current favorites. They have scads of seeds in many different categories and I always learn something from their catalogs.

I use all kinds of excuses to purchase seeds I may not get planted this year. For example, I NEED something to plant in the orchard that will help get the trees strongly established. And gluten free flour is so expensive, wouldn't it be nice to grow my own gluten free grain to mill? And I've never been able to grow Brussels sprouts and broccoli successfully. Surely there must be a variety that will grow well here. And wouldn't it be nice to grow my own butter beans because we can only find them canned in the grocery store about 1/2 the time, and how can I make Kansas Prairie Beans without them? 

The most difficult part will be pacing myself, remembering that I have so many seeds already. Especially as I saved some seeds from last year. In fact, seeds are the only reason last years garden wasn't a complete bust. I'm sure I'll be writing about seeds again before I finish my orders. And of course there's that giant order for the orchard that needs to be placed with Stark Bros. But that will need to wait until another day.