BURGESS UPDATE!!! APRIL 2010

Here's new pictures of this year's batch! If you look closely, you can see how they bent one to squeeze it in the box.

Today I received (from Burgess) the replacement plants for the pitiful ones sent last year ... they arrived in much better condition, at least none of the stems were broken as they were last year. I still am not impressed with the way they ship their merchandise however. One label did fall out, although they did have them labeled with a tag attached right to the 4 pack also. None of the plants were out of their containers as happened last year also. They do lay them on their side however, and one four pack had their stems bent to be able to squeeze them into the box. I took pictures as soon as I opened the box so I could post the way they arrived this year. I can't say I would recommend ordering from them ... they have the worst return policy of all the companies I've dealt with also. Although they did replace what I asked them to, they would not have if I wouldn't have saved the original box they came in ... they needed the label from that or no replacement ... how many people save the box? I only did because I took the time to read the rules first ...

By the way, I do think it's a smidge too early to put peppers in here. I'm not sure what they mean by shipping at the proper time for planting in my area, but I do not think peppers can be planted here (very warm zone 4) until the middle of May ... so now I have to hope they live that long ... and they're in very small pots ... : (

I want to be 100% Organic! Baby steps!

In my opinion, it is important to switch as many things in your life as possible to organics. The reasons for this are numerous and new evidence seems to be added almost daily. I am taking baby steps to reach this point, it's expensive I know ... but I do believe it can be done!

The obvious, of course, is to avoid putting toxins and poison into your body in the first place therefore not having to detox to get rid of them!

Less obvious are things like the poisons used by farmers getting into our water supply, as well as the earth itself. Don't even get me started on people who spray their lawns with chemicals to get rid of weeds ... it kills weeds for god's sake and then their kids are out there playing on it! YIKES!! Good rule of thumb ... if you have to warn people to stay off/away from something, you probably shouldn't be spraying it all over the place!

It's been said the most important place to start switching is meat and dairy. Maybe just milk at first, then cheese, then eggs ... cut out some junk food to offset the higher cost. To enter a contest to win coupons for free Organic Valley products, visit this blog ...

http://thriftyjenny.blogspot.com/2010/03/organic-valley-giveaway.html

(Ends 3/30/2010)

Grow a few vegetables in your yard! Don't buy those chemical "miracle" fertilizers or soils though ... use organic! Your yard may not be 100% pure, but it's better than store bought and it doesn't get any fresher! If you live in an apartment and have a balcony you can still grow a few things. Tomatoes can grow in a pot, peppers, lettuce, herbs whatever you use a lot of and have space for. Consider using edibles instead of flowers in your front yard. Some of them are just as beautiful as they are delicious. one thing to watch for though is chemical spraying neighbors and dogs walking by ... they like to pee on plants and personally, I'm not thrilled with the idea of eating something I suspect has been a bathroom for the neighborhood hound! So, keep it away from the sidewalk and from the neighbor's property line (unless you know they don't use chemicals). Lawn chemicals will kill most veggie plants anyway ... that's their job, to kill anything and everything that isn't grass!

I also think that we should use only natural cleaners, after all whatever goes down your drain ends up in the water eventually! Remember the news story about the prescription drug levels in water supplies? Using natural cleaners can save you enough money to spend a little more on organic food! I'm not talking about the so-called natural cleaners on the market, many of them are using the term very loosely because right now it's "hip" to be green ... I'm talking about simple, effective cleaners that you probably already have in your kitchen! Things like lemon juice, baking soda, vinegar and hydrogen peroxide! They cost pennies and do a wonderful job at cleaning AND disinfecting! But that's a subject for another day.

Ordering plants, seeds etc ...

This year, I ordered seeds and plants from several different sources ... and here's the results! The cost is about the same for all of them after you figure in shipping and handling ... I get from several sources to get everything I want because no one company carried all of them!

1. Seed Saver's Exchange ... Excellent service! The fastest and most efficient of all of them. They will get the bulk of all my future business!
   Plants arrived intact and in excellent condition and are thriving!
2. Jung ... Several items were on back order, but all arrived in plenty of time for planting. Plants arrived in great condition and are doing very well!
   
3. Burgess ... I will never order from them again ... and here's why. See photos! The plants I ordered from them arrived tipped over and smashed in the box, and were very small, and most of the labels had fallen out so I couldn't tell which peppers were which ... the ones I could save have failed to grow very much. Planted right next to ones from other companies they are dwarfed in comparison! I ordered 6 blueberry bushes from them and 3 of them have already died. They only do replacements, no refunds, and it's a little late to plant pepper plants in Wisconsin now. Plus, they make you send back the mailing label to get your exchange. So my question is this ... if I send it back now for the things that have died, what happens if the rest of the blueberries die by next spring? I'm including pictures I took upon opening the box ...
   
4. The Cook's Garden ... I ordered about $100 from them ... and waited, and waited for it to arrive ... finally I called them and was told they had no record of my order ... even though they had my name, address, etc in their system (and I'd never ordered before) and I had a confirmation number for the order, claiming there was a few minutes when no orders went through. Lucky me! So, I canceled the order because it was mostly heirloom tomato seeds and it was too late to start them. I will try them again because they do carry a lot of heirloom tomatoes that no one else has.
5. Spring Hill Nursery ... I'm including them even though I did not order from them ... but my daughter did and was very impressed with their service. She ordered several perennials from them and a few died before she got them in the ground. she sent them an email and asked about their replacement policy and they sent the plants out before emailing her back with no questions asked! Burgess could learn a thing or two from them ...
   

Ordering Seeds, plants and other things

I have been going through the seed catalogs for literally months now, circling this, highlighting that, but now is the time I actually have to make the decision on what to order. I procrastinate ... I made elaborate charts listing each fruit, veggie, flower and herb, their price from each catalog and still I sit staring at the computer trying to decide which site to go to and order. "Make a decision already!" I tell myself ... and this is why, every year I end up at the store buying whatever is left after everyone else picks them over and never get any unusual varieties! Well ... this year is going to be different!! I just decided to go to http://www.seedsavers.org and order as many from there as possible, regardless of price, because I like their mission ... to save varieties that are disappearing! So, I must stop writing now and head on over there ... as long as I don't get distracted ... wish me luck!!

Farmgirl's Map

Jack Frost has a wicked sense of humour ...

Remember Christmases past when we would spray that fake frost on our windows because it was so beautiful? Well ... Mr. Frost showed himself in a big way one wintry morning (Jan 16th, 2009) here in Wisconsin ... this is for all my southern friends and family who "miss the snow, cold and winter" ... wish you could FEEL this! I took these pictures from INSIDE the house ... the ice was about 2 inches thick ... of course it was -40 with the wind that morning!
This was inside my bathroom! Showering was pure delight that day!









Going out to the kitchen, I discovered he'd crept in under the back door also!









I can't wait until it's so hot everyone's complaining about the heat ... I'll look at these pictures then ... brrr!!

Sourdough Bread!

Sourdough Bread!

I just mixed up a sourdough starter (mother) for bread, very simple, took less than 5 minutes! Every morning I will have to feed it now ... but that only takes a minute. I used purified water and organic flour. I didn't have enough white so I used about 3/4 cup of whole grain white ... we'll see if that makes a difference! So every Saturday morning I will be baking bread! Can't wait, there's nothing better than fresh bread! And organic breads are so expensive, but not this way : )
Here's a link to the recipe and instructions!!

http://budurl.com/cw4j


Enjoy! Let me know how yours turns out ... I'll update this as mine progresses.

Tuesday, day 3. I have "fed" it twice ... here's photos! It's starting to bubble!
















So, the day to bake it finally came! I was so excited! I LOVE the smell of bread baking and cannot resist eating a slice hot from the oven! I made the two grapefruit sized oaves per the instructions and put them on a baking stone to rise.

Looks pretty good doesn't it??

So, I wait in anticipation ... for 8 hours like the recipe says for them to rise ... but they just flatten out instead!! HORRORS! It's not working!! But, I bake them anyway ... 'cuz ya never know! ; )
Well ... after baking, they look pretty good ... from the top anyway!

Delicious looking aren't they? Well ... the bottom was this spongy, doughy mass that was sort of rubbery ... I'm not sure if it's the water I used or if putting damp towel over it instead of a dry one ruined it or what ... but I am not giving up!

So, the end result was a great treat for my dog ... watch her enjoy it via the magic of video!

Week two ... success!!! My starter was nice and bubbly and my bread is SO TASTY!!! I still can't believe it's made with just flour, water and a pinch of salt and honey! Unreal! I can't wait for Sat to bake again!!! Pictures of the successful loaves ...