Tuesday, December 17, 2013

a beautiful full moon, a nice bright day and seeds!

this is a pic of the full moon last night....so pretty eh?


here's a good supper when it's cold outside and the wind is howling - some fried eggs, some avocado, our fried homegrown potatoes and some beans - can't beat that to fill your belly when you're hungry and it's cold - teehee.


(seriously tho - i loooove having breakfast for supper. but then, as most of you know, i have always been a rebel - bahahahahaha!)

here is a pic of the sunrise this morning - so pretty....but dangnabbit cold as heck!


it was probably about -9C....pretty dang cold! but it warmed up this afternoon and i got another pretty shot:


it was about -7C or maybe -6C this afternoon. a little too cold for any serious yard work but jambaloney went out and fed the birds and did some odd jobs. it was a perfect afternoon for this, tho -



that's a bunch of more seeds that we gathered during harvest season and then let dry in our pantry/hidey-hole. i don't think that there is anything that we love doing more than saving seeds...well, except naked gardening, hot-tubbing, swimming in the river, swimming in the ocean, fishing, reading books, napping, spending time with our friends and family here, emails with our bestest internet buddies, petting and kissing cats...you get the drift. we really like saving seeds.

we have a very technical seed-saving set-up. it's because jambaloney is an IT specialist and because i have OCD!!! i should have taken a picture of our set-up for all of you to follow - i promise i will next time.

copy and print this next section if you are serious about saving seeds:

1. gather your dried seeds with stalks at harvest time, put them on a screen on your plastic-wrapped porch and then forget what each screen holds.
2. once the seeds are dried, try and figure out what they might be, dump the seeds and stalks in a paper bag and then scribble something on the front of the paper bag that you won't be able to decipher 2 months later.
3. 2 months later sit with your husband on a beautiful winter day and gather some of the bags. don't do all of your seeds at one time or else what will you do on the next beautiful winter day? you're welcome.
4. try to figure out what each bag of seeds are, using all of your skills trying to decipher what is written on the bag. i am a trained linguist....just not trained in egyptian hieroglyphics.
5. once you have both agreed that those look like daikon seeds and those look like oregano seeds, get each of you a dinner plate and separate the seeds from the stalks and or/casings.
6. make little bags like those pictured above, tuck them away into your pantry/hidey-hole and salivate every time you walk by knowing that you have a ton of seeds for next year!

we need to purchase very few seeds for this upcoming year and those are luxury-type items. we have saved almost all of the seeds that we will actually rely upon/depend upon for food already! saving seeds is a great way to save money...and it's fun!

after all of this hard seed-saving work, we are getting ready to make a salad for dinner and jumping on the couch to watch some movies.

i hope that all of you are warm and well (and saving seeds!).

18 comments:

  1. Are you sure that is the moon? I know you are like way up by Santa's house and all but that looks like a street light Jamby hung up in the woods. Is the moon really that much smaller up there :)

    Thanks for the seed saving list. Already printed it out here!!!

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    1. PP- yep, that is the moon buddy, but as you can tell from the pic, it was taken just at dusk so it is low in the sky. jamby's got waaaaay tooo many other jobs than to be hanging street lights in the woods.

      did you actually read the seed-saving list ya nutter. it's kind of tongue-in-cheek - bahahahahahah!

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  2. Santa came early to our home. I really need to thank the jolly elf. I will send you an email later today.

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    1. that jolly elf really appreciated your thanks. got the email buddy. am so glad that you have Sammy at home, that your eldest boy is gonna be home and you guys are gonna have a wonderful christmas - i couldn't wish for more for you buddy!

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  3. What an awesome winter pic...the big full moon shinning on snow. Enjoy it. Looks gorgeous and very seasonal.

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    1. Gurlie - when we are out in the hottub at night and looking at the full moon - it is sooo gorgeous! but the past couple of nights have just been way too cold. and because we got powder snow which then froze with the serious drops in temps - the snow is crunchy and unworkable for making snowmen! no worries tho...this stuff should melt soon and then we'll get regular snow with regular temps and we'll be able to make snowmen for the boys! xox

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  4. It's really cold here tonight and the wind is howling, but we have no snow. You could make post cards out of your photos, they are really spectacular.

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    1. Harry - sometimes when the wind is howling it shakes the whole house and i have to admit that sometimes it gives me a right scare. thanks for the compliment but i honestly just point and click my camera...it's the actual landscape here that makes for the pretty pics!

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  5. Haha! I was all set to concentrate and take notes on Jam's seed saving techniques. You got me that time. lol Speaking of seeds, how did the garlic from seed experiment go so far? Garlic, peas and kale are the only seeds I saves this year. You are amazing! I just hope there aren't too many surprises for you when the garden comes up next year. :-)

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    1. oh poor Sue - thinking i was all serious about our fantastic seed saving technique! but i have to admit that those steps really ARE our seed saving technique - bahahahah! one of these days we won't be running around like mad, scatterbrained and whatnot and we will figure out how to be organized with our seed saving! as for the garlic seed and bulbils - they will be planted in the spring - can't wait to see how they turn out. just as an aside, i planted about 80 bulbs this autumn...things were looking great. and then we realized that the fence around the bed was folded way down as i watched our 45lb cat jump in the bed and start digging around - he and the other cats had been doing it for days - arghghghghg! i think i got maybe 12 garlics up, the rest were in a pile in the middle of the bed going rotten - i swear, if i didn't love that cat soooo much - arghghghgh! bahahahah! much love hon. xoxo

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  6. I love breakfast for supper. But, you forgot the blueberry pancakes.
    I'll let Kathi know about your seeds. We didn't save any from last summer. Though, I do have some onions still in the garden.
    And I love your pictures.

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    1. Flier, buddy - it's been a while - i missed you! oh ya, blueberry pancakes made with the blueberries that we picked at our friend's farm - yummolicious! saving seeds isn't hard at all...tell kathi to fire me off an email if she wants specific and proper instructions and not the ones i provided in this post. thanks buddy - be sure to drop in again k?

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  7. Hullo, dahlingk! Long time no see...but I have been mad as a Hatter, so no surprise there. SOmeday I'll tell you about my seed saving (more every year, still not enough) but for now I'm down the Rabbit hole !! Toodles !!

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    1. akannie - yer a true and proper nutter you are - bahahah! i love it dahlingk! i can't wait to hear about your seed saving so please don't hold out too long k? missed you Gurl...glad to see you back! xox

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  8. When are you going to start your igloo? brrrr

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    1. Russell...since we have been experiencing this unusual drop in temps - it's too cold to build our igloo...should be back to regular temps this week...then we'll build it. i'll be sure to take a pic for you, buddy!

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  9. Great seed saving tips and pretty photos as usual! Have a lovely Christmas,my friends!
    Donna

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  10. Ohhhhh, snow. I wish...! :) Love the pics - thanks.

    Merry Christmas kymber & jambaloney. Keep warm and safe.

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