Spring is just around the corner

Confession time - I still haven't pruned the roses!  Last year I put it off until the bushes had started leafing out and swore that I'd do better this year.  Hmmm, if I don't get busy I'm not going to make it.  It's on my ever expanding list of things to do today.

Although there is probably still a bit of cold weather ahead of us this year, it is certainly time to get the vegetable gardens going.  Get your cold weather plants in now!  By June, it's just too hot in NE Texas for peas, lettuce, spinach and all your other favorite cold weather veggies.  I put the kids and husband to work over the last few weekends and now have a nicely tilled garden fertilized with rabbit and chicken droppings.  My daughter and I spent yesterday morning planting seeds.  The rows are crooked, but I'm hoping the plants will forgive us!  My husband and oldest son spent the afternoon fixing the raised beds - tightening all the loose screws and repairing boards, and I cleaned them out and got them ready for planting.  Today is asparagus planting day.  It's a new venture, but experimenting is a great way to learn.

Oh yes, and I have to prune the roses!

Seeds, Seeds and More Seeds!

I really need to stop buying seeds. Today's haul....

Peach Preserves - Yum! And Other Things....

I'm trying my meatball recipe again tonight, only this time using Michele's peach preserves. I believe it must be basically the same recipe she uses for her wild plum jelly, though I noticed some peach chunks in it. Here's a link to her original post on jelly making: Link! Well, I tried some straight from the jar, and these preserves are DELICIOUS! She is definitely getting tapped to tutor me in the fine art of canning this season!

I'm still waiting for my big seed haul to arrive. I don't intend to start the seeds until early February. I had a problem last year with late frosts. The weather was too cold to put my seed trays out in the warm sun. I don't have a great sun spot for seed trays or a grow light (yet). Consequently, some of my seedlings grew "leggy" (long and skinny, kind of like alfalfa sprouts) and ended up in the compost pile, too weak to survive Texoma's winds and spring rains. So despite receiving several emails from plant selling companies advising me to start now, I'm holding off a bit longer.

The warehouse depots in our area are selling seeds and bulbs right now. I know that Michele already picked up her onion bulbs, and I think I'll do the same. Onions are about the easiest thing you can grow round these parts, and so tend to be in high demand. They sell off pretty quickly, so you may want to grab yours while you can. Just store them in a dry place for now. You can get them in the ground even in cold weather, though I usually like to wait until the danger of frost is gone. But onions are very, very hardy and can take a lot of abuse.

Whup, I hear the water boiling for the egg noodles. Must run. Looking forward to dinner tonight!

Jenny - Seed Shopping

I'm having a great time tonight seed shopping online! I have a few favorite places: Penny's Tomatoes, Pepper Joe's, and good old Burpee, but there are lots of great places to find seeds, including your local home repair warehouse or supermarket. My husband and I have plans to expand our vegetable gardens this spring, so I'm sure that I'm getting carried away with seeds. :)

If you're a nut like me, here are a few tips on seed shopping and storage:

- Read. Read. Read the growing information. Seeds become plants. Make sure that those plants will grow well in your climate and soil. Don't waste your money on anything that clearly will not suit your garden.

- Store your spare seeds in a dark, dry place. I keep a seed case in my kitchen, tucked away next to my cookbooks, away from the fridge, stove and sink. Moist seeds are ruined seeds, so a damp basement or next to your stove where steam will get to them are bad places. Your motto: dark and dry.

- If you don't use all of the seeds in a packet, don't be too hasty with trashing it. Tape the package firmly shut and store it away. While an old seed packet tends to have a few more duds than a newer one, I have yet to fail with growing successful plants from seeds 3-5 years beyond the date stamped on the package. Might save you a little money.

- Consider taking the time to put together a card or electronic catalog of your specific seeds and their growing information. I know there are some smartphone apps out there too, but I have yet to find one that I like. While this kind of information is also readily available online, you'll want something close at hand. When you can spread out your cards and see how long each plant will take to fully grow, it's easier to plan out your garden space and know when to sow, especially if you don't have a lot of space to work with!

More on starter plants later. In the meantime happy seed shopping!

Jenny - Great Meatball Recipe

Great meatball recipe that I've just kind of jury-rigged together. Came out delicious!

1 lb of meatballs, beef or venison preferred

6-8 oz of beef gravy, jarred or homemade

8 oz of Michele's wild plum jelly

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Roll the meatballs up, small to medium. Use whatever seasonings you like. I used salt, pepper, dill and parsley. Brown them in a pan. You don't have to cook them all the way through. You're just browning. Remove the meat from the pan. If you're making your own gravy, then deglaze the pan and make your gravy. I deglazed with a little wine and then added about 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour, salt and pepper to taste. I then added water until I had about 6-8 oz of gravy. Dump the meatballs, the gravy, and 8oz of the wild plum jelly into a slow cooker and cook that on low until all the flavors are melded together. This took about 40 minutes for me.

Serve on a platter with toothpicks stuck into them for an appetizer, or in a bowl if preferred. I bet these taste great over egg noodles!

Michele - A Frost

Well, we have enjoyed the yield of our fall garden for more than a month, but sadly, the frost over the Thanksgiving weekend has put an end to it.  I'm wondering if there is anywhere I can get some onion bulbs this time of year.  Rumor has it that they will grow nearly year around, and I'm willing to test the theory. 

Just  because the vegetable garden is done for the moment doesn't mean it's time to rest.  Now is the perfect time to start pruning and preparing for spring.  It may seem a long way off now, but I seem to remember two ladies scrambling to get the rose bushes pruned before they put their new leaves on this past spring.  Don't procrastinate (like me), start now and you'll be able to relax and enjoy your efforts later.

Jenny - Pepper Harvest

Yesterday my husband picked a huge harvest of peppers! There was danger of a frost overnight, so he ran out to the garden to salvage what he could. It's typical of us to have multiple pepper harvests out here. Our plants often last well into autumn. We'll be shipping some out to my parents on the east coast. Here's a pic, and these are not even all of them!