Setting Debt Goals

At the beginning of this year, Marco and I set a few goals for ourselves.  You know, regular stuff like, "be healthier" and "participate more intentionally."  This has led to a few guidelines in our home that we have been working on over the last few months.  The guidelines are not rules- they're more like guidelines, but their purpose is to help us achieve our goals.  For instance, "be healthier" means move more; eat more slow foods; listen and take control over your body.

Well one of the guidelines for "participate more intentionally" is to pay off my debt- which I shared on Monday.  *I know, I know, will she ever stop talking about her debt?!  Not until it is gone.*

But what I want to share today, are a few of my (our) guidelines for how we are going to get there.  Honestly, right now I am only thinking about my personal student loan debt, but I can see this becoming fairly addictive (mortgage debt?!).  So these are a few things I do to make sure this is a positive experience that still leaves plenty of time (and money) for playing.

Guideline #1:  Set A Debt Spending Goal.  Each month, I am trying to put $1,000 towards my debt.  Oh yeah, it's serious.  This means that sometimes I have to get a little creative in my endeavors  and sometimes I make a few sacrifices  but it really helps me see a smaller, more achievable goal than just the grand total looming over me.  I picked $1,000 because it is roughly 3 times my minimum payment and it is large enough for me to push myself each month, but small enough to actually be achievable.  If you are planning your own debt free plan, you may want to pick a different number, but $1,000 is perfect for me.

Since I am not making tons of cash yet with Oxford Handmade, meeting my $1,000 goal pushes me to promote myself more (you can check out upcoming classes here), sell more, and produce more (to promote and sell).  This also means that I am going to host a sample sale in a few weeks- cleaning out samples/seconds will free up some closet space and make a little cash to help me with my goal next month.

Guideline #2:  "Found" Cast Goes Straight to the Debt.  My income tax return?  Straight to the debt.  A refund for a service I never received?  Straight to the debt.  Stuff that I find in my house that we no longer want/need that I can sell on Craigslist or via a Facebook Resale page?  Straight to debt.  This month alone I have "found" over $200 in stuff to sell on line or at my booth at the Antiques Depot.  Again, easy money and spring cleaning all rolled into one.

Guideline #3:  Trim the Fat.  I decided several months ago that there were areas that I was willing to cut back on in order to have more money for my debt.  One of them being new clothes- this was easy since my friends and I have clothing swaps about once a month and I really like my clothes anyway.  But another area was groceries.  Y'all know I like a challenge right?  So I made the personal goal of only spending $100 a month on groceries.  I have been following www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com for several months now, and you know, so far so good for us.  I know that we have a little extra lenience if necessary, but my goal has been $100.  There has only been once when I went over- and that was because our favorite salsa was on sale... The extra money that is left over from the grocery budget goes straight back to my debt.  So I have incentive (other than personal stubbornness) and a built in safety to help meet my $1,000 a month.


And finally Guideline #4:  Have an End Date.  My goal is to pay off all $9.000+ of my student loan debt by December 31st.  That means roughly 9 months of payments (I am counting March in those months).  With a goal of $1,000 a month I should just be able to make it.  Does the acid in my stomach boil as I worry about whether or not I will be able to make it?  Yep.  But I am bound and determined.  And once January 1st rolls around, that will be an extra $1,00 a month in our pockets!


Is anyone else trying to tackle a demon like debt this month?  I am all sweaty just thinking about it, but I know I will feel so much better this time next year.

What I Got for Free Today: Bulbs

I am officially addicted to two things: cleaning out my junk, and bartering with it. This is what I got today:

A shopping bag full of daffodil bulbs!

Usually I buy our bulbs (3 years in a row now) from the Garden Club President, but I could not pass up a chance to add to my collection- especially since I know this bag is full of white and cream daffodils. So anywho- when I saw a post on my favorite barter page on the Facebook, I started looking around for things to swap. The lady with the bulbs wanted to trade for other plants, and I happen to have quite a few of those.

So I snipped off some nice sized pieces from both of our rosemary plants and stuck them in water. A couple of days later new root knots had started to form and I jumped at the chance for free flowers.

Now I just need to get these babies in the ground and let'em go. They will be the perfect addition to a new flower bed we're installing in the front.

I love free stuff and bartering. What would you trade for daffodils?

Using What I Keep

I have been cleaning house for what feels like months. Last week I gave away all of our chemical-y cleaning and bath products. I have ruthlessly culled cthockies, fabric, unused jewelry, things in triplicate... On and on until I can finally feel a little more space. I saw somewhere once, probably on Pinterest, to not have anything in your house that you do not find truly beautiful or useful and I am running with that thought.

So now I am at the part where beautiful and useful things are left. Time to start using them and displaying them. This can get very tricky however, if I find that I do not have a place for my beautiful/needful thing.  Stuff can still get culled if I can't find a place to put it.  Nothing goes back into "storage" unless it is holiday/time of year specific.

For years I have told my family, "why have it, if you never see or use it?!" Well here is where I start living the walk. Or something like that. And I'm going to start with an item that I have refused to part with since 2006, even though my last 3 living places did not have places to use it. It has been stashed in the back of our linen closet for nearly two years now and every time I reach back there I pull it out and consider whether or not the time has come to part ways.  I still love it, it stays.  But before I get into what exactly "it" is, let's back story a bit shall we?

This is our "new" half bathroom. I call it new because it isn't original to the house- we added it last year. And I use quotes because it's been there for a year now.

But anyway- when one is using the facilities, this is what one would look at:

Charming huh? You can see I was actively doing laundry during this photo. Well, now it looks like this:

A little short, yes, but very shiny? Very yes.  Let's get a better angle.  Excuse the weird lighting, that curtain is shiny.

My Nanny bought this polyester curtain for me when I moved in with my college roommate sophomore year and I loved it. I love it now. I will love it forever. And now it hides my laundry when guests use the guest bathroom. Using what I have success!  I'm not 100% sold with the gold on gold action, but I have been unsure of the gold paint in that bathroom since the very beginning.  It is the same color of our dining room- and I love it in there, but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by it in this tiny space.  I am sure we will figure it out- but until then, and probably after, the curtain stays!

Have you dug anything out of your closet's depths lately? I'd love to see it!

What I Got For Free Today

I posted on Monday that I am working hard on paying off my debt. In fact, since writing that post this weekend (and posting it on Monday) I have come up with another $150 to throw at my student loans- that's what we call progress.

But all of this not spending, and budgeting, and being mindful about our money doesn't mean that I'm missing out on new stuff. Today for instance, I picked up this bar of soap.

I traded three shopping bags full of odds and ends from my crafting stash to get it and I have to say I could not be more excited.

The woman who bartered my supplies for her soap, actually makes these herself in her own small business. So in honor of my free soap, here is some free advertisement for her!

Cypress Lake Soap is a wonderful locally owned company that makes wonderfully smelling soaps.  I kid you not.  I left my single bar of soap on the dining room table, to remind me to tell Marco about my sweet trade- and within the hour the entire room smelled of natural (not artificial perfum-y) lavender.  I'm considering buying a bar for each of my dresser drawers and just letting them scent everything!

I have not actually used this bar yet, but I realized that I had been given a different bar as a gift a few months ago.  The packaging has been long gone, but I remember that I had been saving this soap for really important baths. This of course means date nights, "I need a really long shower" showers, after I have run a race, or just need a little pick me up.    And it totally works.  My super dry skin feels soft and smooth.  It has a great lather.  It smells for ever after I towel off and I love that it's from a local business.

Plus, if you check out their website, you can see that there are so many scents available.  I also love that Michelle, the owner, lists every ingredient on every bar.  Y'all know I like my ingredients listed.

And that was how I replaced my old soap, that I really didn't love, but we had in the house, with a new bar that helped me clean some house.

Have you bartered for anything incredible lately?

Getting Real Real

I find that sometimes, in the blogiphere, people forget that real life happens to real people.  Yes, a very large part of my life right now is growing vegetables, sewing children's clothes and cooking new (to me) foods, but there are other parts as well.  In an attempt to become "more" in my blog voice, more realistic, more honest, more open, I am going to start talking about a few things that are also very real to me every day.  The first is debt.  Come along won't you?


If you have ever spoken to me for longer than 4 minutes, you know that I have student loans from my time at University.  It was stupid- I didn't even need them, but I felt, at the time, like I would be guaranteed a job after I graduated and I could just pay them back.  Plus I'd have real live credit!  And a credit score!  At 20 years old I thought this was a win-win-win situation.

Now those student loans haunt my sleep.

It's not even "a lot" of money, $9,686.42 to be exact.  This amount is broken down into several smaller, individual loans that I have been paying more than the minimum on for the last 18 months.  Now it is time to get serious.

I cannot think about these loans any more.  I am determined to get myself, and my family out of debt while simultaneously trying to build my small business.  I took a huge pay cut (ahem, like 99%) when I chose to leave my job at the public library, but I am still able to pay on my debt each month.  Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband who provides for our family and is so wonderfully patient and understanding as we learn these lessons together, but the debt I pay comes directly from me each month.

So far I have been able to make enough cash each month by selling my dresses in my Etsy shop, taking on "remake" or alteration clients, selling items I find or no longer use at our booth at the Antiques Depot here in town and by doing the odd babysitting job or custom sewing.

Plus, any and all extra money I come into each month going directly to my debt as well.  In fact, I am about to pay off $1,200 of my debt in just a few minutes- the entire amount of my tax return, directly to my debt.

Why am I suddenly confessing all of this??  Maybe because I've been closely reading several money based blogs lately- CarefulCents.com, MoneyVsDebt.com, AndThenWeSaved.com are my current favorites- but also because I realize that several of my (our) life decisions are based upon the way we spend money and the way we want to spend money.

Marco and I are not going to be able to make it to Italy in June this year because we are choosing instead to finish a few projects on the house.  We have not been having date night dinners out because we are choosing to put more money into our savings.  I have not bought some things because I am choosing instead to dig myself out of debt.

It is all a matter of perspective and preference.  I prefer to make sacrifices now, so that I know later, we will have the freedom to "live a little."  There is nothing wrong with the way we live now- it is merely our current choice and we still drink plenty of wine and have wonderful adventures together.  But I say all of this to help shed some light on a few new topics that I will be bringing up over the next few months.  This will be my own Debt Pay Off Year and I thought I would share some of that journey here.  The decisions to buy/not buy/DIY are where many of our ideas for our home/garden/lifestyle come from, so I think the beginnings are equally as important as the endings.

I say all of this with the hope that you will come along and encourage.  Maybe you will find your own debt and be inspired to pay it off as well.  Here's to the next 9 months of debt down payment.

Leave No Plant Behind

I like to think that I have a green thumb, and I like for all of you to think that as well.  I walk around, replanting baby plants, and growing seeds and showing off pictures of green leafy things, but sometimes, even I let a few things slide, and suddenly I find myself having to back peddle.  Case in point.

I acquired a few plants when the library had their foyer redone.  The Master Gardener's of Oxford came in and repotted things, fixed things, watered things, and suddenly things were looking great!  Plus, me and several other library assistants got a few things out of the deal as well.  I brought home one of these:

Actually, that is a weird branch that I cut off a mother plant.  The mother was huge and very branchy, so last summer I just sawed off a branch, stuck it in a milk jug of water and let it grow roots.  Low and behold, a few weeks later I had a plant- so I planted it.

Then winter came and most of our plants were moved inside.  Sadly, the mother plant was not moved inside fast enough... and when it did, it came in looking like this:

Please note that the first and second picture were taken on the same day.  This is not a "and several months later" kinda deal.  Sad isn't it?  It gets worse.

Because then I did this to it:

I know!  I just cut it all off! You see, the plant has frost damage.  Frost is a four letter word in this house, unless we're talking about kale or cabbage which both like the frost.  It had tried very, very hard to kill this plant, but I am trying very, very, very hard to not let that happen.

In fact, when I chopped off the major parts of the damage, I noticed the insides of the stems looked like this:

That black on on the left is the frost damage, the middle is too, but the one all the way on the right is the new, still damp and smelling fresh inside of the newly cut parts.  Looking good right??

But I still had this to work around as well:

The plant is majorly root bound.  See that crazy piece leaning to the right?  That's a whole new plant that should have been removed years ago.  And the Y shape on the left?  That's two separate plants that have fused together.  So I'm planning to take my hand saw back at it and get these guys good and separated.  I have been soaking the roots for a few days to help loosen up the dirt and try to unweave some of the damage by hand, but there are no promises with this one.

Anyone else ever bring a plant back to life after frost?  Have you ever sawed a plant into pieces and then had all of them regrow??  Most importantly, if this works... who wants a free house plant?!

New Garden Bed

On Monday, I disclosed the looong laundry list of things we plan to plant this year.  Of course I have known for months just how lofty our 2013 goal would be, so about the same time the seeds catalogs arrived in the mail, I started planning new places to put those seeds as well.

Some things, like our potatoes, were easy to place because they get their own planters (if you can call a circle of covered wire a container), and some were fit into our raised garden bed from last year.  But even with those two huge areas I knew we'd need more space.  So I waited until Marco was out of town for work and I struck out to find us some more vegetable room.

I was/am mostly worried about our vegetables that grow "up."  Beans, peas, cucumbers, corn, these all need to grow up on a trellis (or each other in the case of corn/beans), and that could potentially cause a problem for our garden because it is on the southern most part of our property.  If tall plants such as corn or beans were planted at the "top" of the garden, they could shadow other plants and the other plants wouldn't get as much sun as they needed.  So I looked and looked for a wasted space with plenty of bright sunshine.

Bingo.

Actually, this is a during picture.  *Note to self, get better at taking true before pictures.*

Imagine this, the back of the house, full of junk and weeds and piles of clay.  Frankly, it didn't have too much going for it, except that it was a wasted space and it gets full sun all day- perfect for growing veggies that can be potted and trellised.

The area is actually about 4 feet deep at it's widest, and this section is roughly 18 feet long.  I had to create a "break" at that point to allow an opening for the crawl space door, but don't worry, I already have plenty of ideas for the other side too.

The process was fairly easy, I gathered up a few cardboard boxes that I cut into pieces and layed them along the area I wanted to make my new potted garden.  I quickly realized that the ground in this area was really unlevel and the cardboard was too thick.  So I removed parts of it, and laid out several (maybe 4 or 5) layers of newspaper instead. Then I started to arrange my pots to fill the space.

This was a great chance to figure out exactly what would go into each pot.  I tried to keep things that climb separated so that nothing would get too tangled.  Plus I wanted to make sure that nothing in the front would grow too high so I would be able to reach things in the back.  Add on top of that I wanted the planters to look nice and even, not too many "extra large" on one side and filling in the spaces with smaller planters too.  It took a little over three hours but eventually I got everything nice and settled in.

I have plants to go back and add mulch around all of the planters.  This will help break down the weeds under the newspaper and cardboard and be much more attractive than the newspaper as well...

Other perks of adding this new garden bed to the back yard?

It will cut down on the amount of lawn we have to mow- saving time and money.

It motivated me to clean up a part of the yard that was full of junk (wooden pallets, scrap wood, unused yard tools) and three foot weeds.

It will make sure that all of our potted plants get watered.  Potted plants need to be watered daily in our Mississippi heat and before, when they were scattered all over the yard, a few of them would get missed.  Now we know where all of the pots are and we can make sure they are watered each day while also saving time.

Gathering the potted plants in one place also clears up space in the yard/flower beds for a cleaner, more streamlined look and more flowers.

And finally, I get the satisfaction of knowing I helped find a place for all of my new seeds.

Don't forget, I set our family a goal of growing 750 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables this year, so finding room is a top priority.  I know this will help us get there, but if anyone else has any other ideas, I'd love to hear about them too.

Do you have a garden goal?  What's the heaviest produce you produce??

How Much is This Gonna Cost Us?

People want to know.  How much are we planting, what is it, and how much is that gonna set us back?  So I'm here to spill it.  You may want to put the kettle on and settle in though, because this is going to be one heck of a list of lists.

First a key to use and help peruse:
SS means that we ordered this item from SeedSavers.com
B means that we ordered this item from Burpee.com
ZG means that I ordered these seeds from ZZiggysGal on Etsy.
BB means that we plan to purchase this item from my Dad's friend Mrs. Barbara who I have known 98% of my life.  She is a wonderful woman who first showed me what wonder plants/creeks/outdoors can bring into one's life.
Other places where we purchased/found things are listed.

What We Plant to Plant:
In our 2 backyard and partial front yard veggie gardens:

1. Cucumbers
-Japanese Climbing.  Seeds purchased new this year.  A new variety for us, but apparently great for pickles. SS
-A&C Pickling.  Left over seeds from last year.  They were huge and made great bread and butter pickles.  SS
- True Lemon.  Left over seeds from last year too.  We planted these in pots last year and I don't think they got enough consistent water.  We're relocating them in the garden so hopefully they will do better this time.SS

2.  Soybeans
- Envy.  These are new seeds we ordered this year.  I have never grown soybeans but they freeze easily and are loaded with protein so we're going to give them a try.  This variety does well in pots and small spaces so they may be potted if we can't find room. SS

3.  Beans
- Provider.  Both beans are new seeds this year.  I am looking to use more vertical gardening plants along a new bed that I am building. These are a bush, snap variety.SS
- Valentine.  A black bush bean that has rave reviews for drying.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained. SS

4.  Tomatoes
- Yellow Tomatoes   An obscure heirloom variety that I have lost the paperwork to... these are seeds left over from last year that we started a few weeks ago in our tiny greenhouse. ZG
- Cherry Tomatoes.  Again, lost paperwork left overs from last year.  They are doing great so far. ZG
- Other Heirlooms.  We will be picking up several plants from my Dad's friend Mrs. Barbara.  Her plants did so well here last year that we are saving our greenhouse room for other things and just spending the money on plants. BB

5.  Peppers
-Aji.  A left over from last year.  Really hot and dried really well.  We used plenty in our salsa and sauces, they have been slow to germinate in our greenhouse, but are starting to come around. SS
-Red Bell.  Left overs again.  Also slow to germinate, but moving along now. ZG
-Variety from Mrs. Barbara.  She always has interesting plants that are full of surprises.  One of her best are her peppers.

6.  Eggplant
- Long Purple.  An heirloom that takes forever to germinate.  We tried these last year, but only had a few tiny eggplants to show for the effort.  We started them earlier this year in hopes that will speed up production.  ZG

7. Squash/Zuchinni
- Yellow Longnecks.  We have some seeds left over from last year but I do not have much hope for the plants this year.  Squash bugs ate everything in sight over night last year.  We may just skip the squash and buy them from the farmers market.  I can think of other ways to use the space.  ZG
-Black Beauty.  Again with the squash bugs.  We will see. ZG

8.  Okra
- Hill Country Red.  I bought these last year, forgot about them and when I found them again it was like Christmas.  I cannot wait to see these babies grow.  SS  **We will be planting these in our flower beds and faking like they're flowers until they grow veggies on them.**

9.  Lettace/Arugula/Spinach/Kale
-Mixed Beds.  I have a few small mixed lettuce beds from Seed Savers and ZZiggysGal.  They are cut and come again, heirloom varieties.
-Buttercrunch.  Last year's lettuce that we didn't finish but did well.  ZG
-Spinach- Did well, but the rabbits got it.  I'm moving them in the bed, and hopefully the new fence will help as well.  SS
-Blue Kale.  Left over, easy to grow, super easy to freeze and use later.  SS

10.  Watermelon.
- Blacktail Mountain.  A great variety that produces small but tasty fruit.  We picked this because the fruit actually fit into our fridge whole.  They all ripened in one week though and we gave most of them away.  Left overs from last year.  SS

11.  Broccoli
-Waltham 29.  Heirloom left over from last year.  We ran out of room and only tried to seed 3 seeds, then forgot about them.  Better planning this year.  ZG
-Calabrese.  Unopened from last year.  SS

12.  Blue Berries.  New this year, I planted them in the front like shrubs.  They are fairly old (3+ years) but need time to settle before they really produce.  I hope for a few this year, but expect more next year.  From The Barn Trading Company here in Oxford.

13.  Strawberries.  New.  I am retro fitting a rain barrel to hold them.  I cannot wait!  B

14.  Corn.
-On Deck Hybrid.  These are the reason for my new garden bed in the back.  This is supposed to be corn you can grow in a 2 foot planter.  We will see because I am ready.  B

15.  Birdhouse Gourds.  Not a vegetable, but this vine did really well in our shady front bed.  It looked nice growing up the porch and we got a few gourds from it.  SS

16.  Luffa.  New as well.  Just couldn't pass up the opportunity to grow a luffa.  B

17.  Potatoes.
-Red.  Red seed potatoes.  I have already shared how I built their cages, but I may have to move them... From The Barn Trading Company
-Yellow From The Barn Trading Company

And I think that is it for seeds and plants.  We did order a few herbs (basil, thyme, dill) but we still have plenty of those seeds left from last year too.  It's just that they tend to be more delicate and can rot so easily, I thought better safe than sorry.  Oh, and there are herbs that came back from last year too!  Chives, mint, spearmint, rosemary, and thyme.  Plus I planted a few garlic cloves that had started to sprout and a couple of onions that went green in the pantry.  But I don't count those because they are "grocery store" variety and I do not expect them to actually reproduce.

So how much did we spend??  Luckily, we were able to pull most of our wants from last years supplies, and that makes sense because last year we spent over $120 just on seeds. That doesn't count soil, compost, building materials or the watering systems.  This year our new seeds cost us just $25.00 (ish) with plants (strawberries, blueberries, potatoes) setting us back $55.00.  Plus I bought fencing to build our potato cages which was about $20.00 from Home Depot.  And our new seedling containers- which were 4 @ roughly $3.00.  So $12.00 on them.  Another $12.00 on coconut conifer seed starter (ordered from Amazon) and we are just about there.  We are building the new beds out of scrap lumber salvaged from friends and kudzu vines.  There are still plenty of  big planters left over from last year as well.  I am planning on building a few trellises from scrap trimmings and kudzu vines, but I would love to find a nice willow patch as well.

The rain barrels were given to us by a company that no longer needed them, but we are going to convert them into rain barrels for around $20.00 a piece ($40 total), but an extra one will hold our strawberries.  We have been wonderfully lucky to find a great place with free topsoil and mulch to help fill our garden beds and our 18 months of composting are finally paying off as well.  Add to that the worm compost (I guess you can add in that $25.00 to our garden fund) and we're looking at a nice grand total.

In fact, let's add it up shall we?

Last year we spent over $600 in materials, dirt and watering system stuff and another $120 in seeds.  That was a grand total of about $720 for roughly 300 lbs of vegetables.

This year, with all of those numbers up there added up, we're looking at about $169 total.  Whew that is much better but hopefully next year it will be even smaller.  We're adding another element to our compost/pest control and our soil should be top notch.  Plus the worms will have paid for themselves and the rain barrels will be complete.  The same goes with the blue berry bushes and the potatoes.  Plus we will finally start working out which veggies give us the most bang for our buck.  We have a lofty goal of producing 750 lbs of produce out of our garden this year, but we are also trying to make sure we are growing things we will actually eat and use.

There is a lot of growing with gardens, emotionally, physically  spiritually- all of which we find to be ultimately priceless.

Salty Upgrade

With me being home, and needing more projects, I have really taken on the role of house wife and homemaker (sometimes).  Mostly, this means that I am more aware of when things need cleaning and I have really gotten into the habit of cooking/shopping/saving us money on groceries.  This also means that sometime we buy in bulk.  And sometimes my sweet husband notices that I love to reuse things and then this happens.

He refilled the "old" salt container with new sea salt from our bulk container in the pantry.  He knows me so well.  Keeping a former container and just refilling it.  I knew I married a good one.  But I couldn't just leave that blue tape on there.  So like a good wife, I went back behind him and fixed it.


I cut off the top from the old container, flipped it upside down and traced the mouth of one of my canning jars onto the back side of it.

Then I flipped them both over, added the salt, twisted on a canning lid and labeled accordingly.

Later I added a few rubber bands around the glass to make it easier to hold and less likely to slip and break.  It still pours the same and is now completely refillable.  Plus moisture is less likely to seep in and it cost me exactly zero dollars.

I have a few more canning jar upgrades to share over the next few weeks too, but I have to stop soon because I need those jars.  Last year we only put up tomatoes, salsa, peaches and pears, but this year I'm excited to try out our new pressure canner.  We will be able to preserve so much more without having to pickle everything and I cannot wait to get started.

Pea Prep

Yesterday I spent the whole day with the windows open saying to myself "What a wonderful day it is today!" and then today I have spent back in my sweaters with socks and house shoes cursing the wind and rain and cold.  There has been a lot of hot tea today, and much more dreaming about spring planting.

We are really moving along with all of our seedlings that we have already started.  This weekend I will be seeding a few summer cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower.  But tomorrow I am going to put out a few of our pea seeds.  Peas are really easy to grow.  They are super fast, plant early and die back rather quickly.  Because of this though, it is best to plant peas every few weeks so you always have a batch preparing for harvest.  We only planted one round last year and I was really sorry because the ones we were able to harvest were great.  This year though, we've moved them to the front yard to act like a trellis in the back of the new beds I have been imagining.

But before I put them in our vegetable planters, I thought I'd share a quick tip I picked up last year.

First, these are the peas I am planting.  There are more of the same coming next week(ish), so I thought I would go ahead and get these started.

These are "Green Arrow" peas.  They are an heirloom variety and I bought them along with several other heirloom seeds from ZZiggysGal Etsy shop last year.  I bought the variety pack so I could try out a few different things other than what I had purchased from Seed Savers.  This year I bought a larger batch from Seed Savers only.  Anyway, notice how shriveled and dry they are?  Technically, if you water them enough, they will sprout anyway, but I do not like to chance things when my 750 lb goal could be in jeopardy.  So I did this:

I took a ziplock bag (one that I had used, washed, and reused), filled it with about a half an inch of water, and tossed a few seeds inside.

And by the next morning they were plump as, well, peas.  I put a few in our indoor seed boxes (where other seeds hadn't sprouted) and tomorrow I will put a few outside to begin our garden perimeter.

Just a quick step to jump start seeds and an easy way to weed out any dead ones before you put them in the ground.  And instant gratification for those of you, who like me, can't wait to see stuff growing already.

Prepping Potatoes

Last week I mentioned how I started our potato beds.  Well, honestly, I am experimenting with our potato beds.  What I've read about potatoes is that once they get going, they are pretty easy, especially with the raised round beds I built, but it's the getting them there that seems the hard part.  So I took an experimental approach.  

The beds that are in now have pieces of potato (with 2-3 eyes each) that I just buried like seeds and have kept watered.  I don't see any signs of life yet, but that is to be expected.  However, I also took a few pieces and started them indoors as well.  One of the problems with just planting the pieces directly into the ground is that they can sometimes rot.  So some people suggest starting them inside first.  Basically you cut pieces with 2-3 eyes like the ones I planted outside, but you keep them watered and let the plants develop a little before transplanting them.  

Honestly, this was an experiment on so many levels because I was pretty sure there were no eyes at all on these pieces, so I thought "Hey, I'll try that grow in water thing first, see if eyes develop, and then we'll move'em outside."  Potatoes are one of those plants you want to stagger anyway to increase your yield and keep'em coming over a long period of time.

And what'ya know?  There are eyes on all the pieces.  You can just make out the tiny green buds on that middle piece there, but trust me there are plenty on all of my "wasted" pieces.  

So far, so good if you ask me.  Now if I can just get'em to grow once they get outside.