This and That

Here we are well into December and I'm still not ready for winter. Winter doesn't seem to care. It went and sent snow this weekend and frigid temps. This all just makes me wish we lived someplace a little more temperate. I'd like a longer growing season and less snow and cold. Too bad I'm not getting those things. ::sigh::

I'm ready for my seed catalogs to come. It seems like everyone else has gotten lots more than me. All that has come so far has been Totally Tomatoes. That's nice, but I want MORE!! The seeds most be ogled and then lists must be made. Then the plans need to be played with. I must figure out how to use Excell or some other program to map things out. Mustn't waste paper! By the time Spring comes, I'll be ready to stop gardening before it has even begun. I should learn patience, but then there is that little voice at the back of my head. This year I'm very anxious to get my seeds ordered. There is lots of talk in the gardening world of seed shortages. Last years gardening was pretty poor for lots of us and seed savers were not immune. That is combined with a large increase in the number of people gardening. Between the two, we could have difficulty finding seeds later in the year.

Along the same lines, I'd really like to be able to save seed for coming years. Some things are easy, others not so much. I'm trying not to grow squashes from the same family, so that I can save seeds. The problem is that my neighbors' garden is very close to mine and their seed can cross with mine. The tomatoes shouldn't be too much of an issue. I grow too many pepper varieties to safely save those without intervention. Then I need to learn how to save seeds from the biennials like carrots, broccoli and cabbage.

I spoke to my Mother yesterday. She wrote the Christmas letter this year. Normally my Dad does it, but he tends to get a little gloomy at times and that doesn't make for a good letter. Apparently, she had a good time describing how nuts I was with all the things I do. I guess making and using lard is not a normal thing to do. Who knew? All the things that I'm trying to learn to do are not normal these days, but I sure wish they were. I think we'd all do much better if we went back to a more self sufficient lifestyle. What would happen if everyone stopped buying Hamburger Helper and started planting gardens and preserving their own food? If we stopped using overprocessed and chemical based yuck and went back to the basics. No more shortening or corn syrup.

I could go on and on about a world without all the convenience. Where people could actually create things instead of buying them. I'll stop there. It may be something that happens whether we like it or not.