Monday, February 18, 2013

Land Ho!

 
I went to look at seed packets into various stores.
They were selling them for 2.99 and there didn't seem to be very many seeds to play with.
Some of them they already coat with chemicals to make sure they grow.
The dollar store had packets for a dollar which is supposed to be the regular price but they must be last years seeds or older.
So, I remembered what my Dad did.
He took his seeds directly from the plant, dried them and planted them in peat containers.
He had his own garlic, tomato, beans , green peppers, potatoes, squash.
I am not sure about the cucumbers but I would assume he got those too.
By spring he had very nice seedlings to plant.
So far I am drying the green peppers to try but next time I go shopping I'll be looking around for the
beans and anything else I can see with seeds that can be planted.just to see.if it works.

Also who needs to buy peat containers when you can make cones out of poster board or milk cartons
or other plastic containers we seem to collect a lot of after shopping.
Seems my garbage is full of those and they can be put to good use.
Sterafoam is wonderful to poke holes in and can be sewed into wonderful containers.

I also found people saying they received roses for Valentines Day and the stalk
pushed out roots.
So I will try to buy a rose plant and see if I can get other plants from the cuttings dipped in hormone powder.
There is something about roses which also cannot be denied.

I know I got so many cedar seedlings from the acorns I collected and took seeds from.
I had them in zip lock bags until they sprouted and grand little fellas they were.
So nothing wrong with putting your seeds into zip lock bags, poking a hole so excess water drips out but keeps a lot of moisture inside to sprout the seed. Then you unzip it to let it grow and when its time to plant, you just gently take out the rooted plant.

It gives you a sense of not only pleasure but personal peace to see your babies sprout and grow
and it also helps the environment. Each person is supposed to plant 250 trees in a lifetime.

Can you imagine this planet if 9 billion people each planted  250 trees, just by taking seeds
from each tree or cutting?
Palm trees, apple trees, cherry trees, orange trees, lemon trees. What a friendly world it would be.

I know my son enjoyed working with my parents in the garden. He enjoyed planting seeds and watching them grow.
He enjoyed the morning ventures into the garden to collect the produce for breakfast.
It was toast with tomato, cucumber, cheese and hard boiled eggs.
My Dad always had 2-3 white ducks in his back yard. They waddled around collecting all the bugs in the grass. He had a baby pool for them to dunk in.
Ducks are easier to keep than chickens. They are not demanding food wise.
Every morning he would get a few delicious double yoked eggs for break fast.

Because of the campers and summer vacationers who abused their rights, thinking they were in the country,
the town passed laws against the keeping of farm animals.

Every spring city people drive by and dump kittens puppies dogs thinking a farmer will pick it up or go to
auctions and bring in livestock like ducks rabbits  pigs sheep and let them go so they run around every where eating up in other peoples yards and gardens
So the few, spoil the benefits for the local people, who keep things under control.
But then again I think passing laws and laws and laws are negative things.
If you have to pass a law this means some one doesn;t understand behavior and must be encouraged or helped instead of passing lawss to stop him because he'll just go and do it somewhere else while you are stuck with a useless law.


Oh well.
-----------------------
Abe and Esther are flying to Australia for a two-week vacation to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Suddenly, over the public address system, the Captain announces, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm afraid I have some very bad news... Our engines have ceased functioning and we will attempt an emergency landing. Luckily, I see an uncharted island below us and we should be able to land on the beach. However, the odds are that we may never be rescued and will have to live on the island for the rest of our lives!"

Thanks to the skill of the flight crew, the plane lands safely on the island.

An hour later Abe turns to his wife and asks, "Esther, did we pay our VISA and MasterCard bills yet?"
"No, sweetheart," she responds.

Abe, still shaken from the crash landing, then asks, "Esther, did we pay our American Express card yet?"

"Oh, no! I'm sorry. I forgot to send the check," she says.
"One last thing Esther. Did you remember to send the estimate check to the IRSthis quarter?" he asks.

"Oh, forgive me, Abe," begged Esther. "I didn't send that one, either."
Abe grabs her and gives her the biggest kiss in 40 years.
Esther pulls away and asks him, "What was that for?"
Abe answers, "They'll find us!"
xoxoxoxoxo









4 comments:

Zuzana said...

Indeed, you are a true philosopher.;) I agree with you on the planting of trees and I love what your grandfather did. I am now an owner if a greenhouse, so this post was very interesting to me.;)
Always love your jokes, that punch line was surely unexpected.;)
have a great week ahead.;)
xoxo

A Lady's Life said...

A green house is perfect for a gal with a green thumb like you Zuzana lol You should have a lot of fun propogating seedlings.

George said...

I have a friend who is very good at getting seedlings from produce he buys. He always has a great garden.

I love the story of Abe and Esther.

A Lady's Life said...

George, it's not that hard to do.
My Dad loved beef tomatoes and he would grow a seedling then cut off the top and then it would grow a thicker stem which turned into a hardier plant. He was always very proud of his tomato plants. lol