more seeds and temperature

It's time to order more stuff!

I have already ordered a boatload of seeds and bare root plants from Turtle Tree and yes, Burgess. The stuff I ordered from Burgess isn't organic, but it's things that you don't harvest the first year, like asparagus and hazelnuts, so I am only going to chastise myself so much for not paying an obscene amount of money to get every single thing from organic seed.

I started some Thelma Sanders (Saunders?) Sweet Potato Squash from seeds I saved, as well as lemongrass, basil, tomatoes, and lupines, and I'm hoping for the best. i had to google what "heeling in" bare root plants is. I had no idea. It's not complicated, but for some reason temperature seems to become a big issue in alot of my endeavors.

My last batch of beer was only in the correct temperature for 2 days during fermentation, then somebody turned the furnace down and we now have peach wheat "breakfast beer," which is my polite name for a very low-alcohol brew.

Years ago, my father had started a root cellar under the house, in addition to all the other weird crap he was working on under there, and never finished it. I put a thermometer down there and even though it was 17 degrees a few mornings ago, the strawberry bare root plants were enjoying a pleasant 41 degrees. What this indicates in practical terms is that our house is really, really badly insulated, but for now it's helpful.

So anyway, the point here is that I have a free shipping coupon from Johnny's, and I need to order some decent weeding tools. The Japanese hand tools that people rave about are for right-handed people, so I'm going to indulge in a stirrup hoe. I can absolutely use that! We're going to try out some wheat and those beautiful cauliflower, Veronica, those spiral lime green ones. I don't like cauliflower, but many people do, and it would look great in a veggie tray. There's other little things I'd like to order, stuff I don't need but that I'd like to have, like some more sprouting seeds and things like that.

And the other happy update: I settled on a chicken tractor. I'm using the plan from gardeneggs.com and having a friend build it for me. The price absolutely can't be beat. I modified the plan to include nesting boxes, since the original didn't include them, and I think it will be lovely. I can't wait!