Harris Seeds to the Rescue

Have you ever realized that your best intentions of being early for something was quickly slipping away? Well, that's what happened to me on Monday, April 12th. Suddenly I realized that I hadn't ordered my seeds yet. Even though I received my Harris Seeds catalog months ago. I had even highlighted every seed I intended to buy. AND I made a matching list...All done months ago! But I had never actually ordered. So I hopped online Monday and ordered my entire list. ~Sigh~ I felt better.

3 nights later, I woke suddenly from a sound sleep. My heart was racing and panic filled me. I had forgotten to look at shipping! What if it was 6-8 weeks before delivery!?! What would I do? I needed those seeds to get started in the next week or two. Falling back to sleep was not easy.

Yesterday morning, as I wrote my blog about the seeds I ordered I nervously worried, and fretted. The "What if's..." playing havoc with my brain. So finally with catalog in hand I dialed the Harris Seeds number.

I hurriedly explained to the operator my worry. She immediately put me at ease by assuring me that most orders are shipped within 24-48 hours. YEAH! Then she offered to check the order for me. During the time that she looked up the information she talked to me about gardening, the warm weather, how she feared that some gardens hadn't given enough thought to the "killing frost" that sometimes hits late in the season. I told her about how I was starting my seeds much later than everyone else but how I refuse to trust my seedlings outside until Memorial Day (I'm in 5A after all!). It was a wonderful chat. Almost like talking with an old friend. She even asked for me to send some photos of this year's harvest!

Needless to say when the conversation ended I was very impressed Harris Seeds. I was so relieved and so pleased that I smiled for nearly an hour. Just as my smile started to fade I checked my mail and what did I find? MY SEEDS!!! It was like Christmas morning for me! I stood like a kid in the middle of the road, clapping my hands in excitement!

I was so pleased with Harris Seeds that I immediately sent off an e-mail. They quickly responded and asked for permission to use my "testimonial". I easily agreed. Why wouldn't I? With great service like that why wouldn't I?

Harris Seeds urges me back to the Garden!

After what could arguably be the most difficult year of my life I think I may be ready to rejoin the "rest of the world". My daughter's Epilepsy diagnosis nearly a year ago sent me into a bit of a tailspin. It seemed like living in the Twilight Zone. While she doesn't have good seizure control yet we are working towards the goal.

I was just beginning to think that maybe it's time to reconnect with those forgotten hobbies when I got a gift in the mail...My Harris Seeds Catalog. I thumbed through the pages and began thinking, "This year's garden will be better!" (Well, after the horrible results last year it couldn't be much worse!) Then just this morning Harris Seeds sent me a second gift...An e-mail invitation to a Seed Starting Seminar!

After watching this seminar I was impressed! While I knew (or thought I knew) most of the steps in seed starting this seminar answered all the "Why?" 's. I found it to be a wonderful, comprehensive, easy to understand, and thoroughly enjoyable seminar! So if you have some time (it is quite legnthy--in a good way) I highly recommend a visit to Harris Seeds if not for the seminar then for their seeds!

Peeking Peppers in my Peat Pots

This the first year I've used peat pots or peat pellets. I've heard so much about them (both good and bad) but I have to say they are so easy and convenient that I may be hooked! I started a most of my seeds on 3/22/08 and have seen great results! And more importantly, today I...

Peeked Pepper Plants in my Peat Pots!

I'm a Happy Gardener!!! And lookee at my greenhouse:

Lots of Green!

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Peppers...

After some dedicated gardener spent hours toiling away in the dirt planting the seeds, praying for sunshine, and protecting them from varmits! Yet, does the gardener get any recognition for the vital role that they played? No the only thing remembered is:

Peter Piper Picked

a Peck of Peppers,

Peter Piper Picked

a Peck of Peppers,
Peter Piper Picked

a Peck of Peppers!

Well, Peter just better stay away from my garden because if I see his grubby little hands on my precious peppers I might just get violent! I have just planted Burpee's Signature Big Dipper variety of sweet peppers. I find myself very being very protective over my little pepper plants (and they haven't even sprouted yet!). I have to ask myself why I am so emotionally connected to these tiny little pepper seeds. Maybe it's because of those childhood memories that flood back when I see the seed packets.

In my childhood home a Pepper seed packet meant only one thing to me...Pepper Relish! Mom's homemade pepper relish would make any plain-jane meal into a tasty treat! I realize now that my children have had this extrordinary treat only occassionally!!! I have done my children a grave disservice and this is the year that I WILL rectify the situation!

I vow this is the year when I fill my cupboards with the tasty treat and that we have stuffed peppers on a regular basis! This is the year when we mix fresh peppers in our meatloaf! This is the YEAR!

So if I am seen softly crooning love songs to a flat of soil with no obvious signs of life do not think me a mad woman! For I am the dedicated gardener upon which Peter Piper depends!

A "Seedy" Stress Reliever

Since those frightening moments of Monday morning I've found that my mind has been in high gear as I try to figure out how this happened and what I need to do to make it better. I have to "watch" for suspicious symptoms all day and at night too. Which means my daughter has her own "camp" cot set up in our bedroom. Needless to say, I'm not sleeping well and neither is she. Stress has hit "Garden Girl" and Mom quite hard.

But I know I'm not the only one who deals with stress on a daily basis. Some very healthy people head straight for the gym to work(out) their stress away. Some very intellectual people head straight for a book to read their stress away. Some very talkative people keep dialing phone numbers until they've talked their stress away. But Gardeners are not normal people. What others feel are more household chores gardeners relish as the best type of stress reliever. Why?

1. Sunlight. The news is constantly reporting both the benefits and the dangers of being in the sun. However, nothing feels better than feeling the sun warm your skin as you tidy a garden bed filled with the fragrant blooms.


2. Sense of Accomplishment. One of the best stress relievers is feeling as though you've accomplished something. Creating a beautiful garden bed where once there was nothing is an excellent way to do just that.


3. Connect with Nature. As we live our normal lives with cell phones, computers, automatic doors that don't seem to open for us we all encounter stress. Nature provides us the opportunity to disconnect from the world and tune into a quieter part of ourselves and our environment.


4. Exercise. Only someone who has never weeded flower beds for hours on end believes that gardening is easy. Lifting, bending, stretching, digging, planting, raking. All of these vigorous activities get the blood pumping and can give the same benefits to a stressed out gardener as going to an "actual" gym. And the garden smells a lot better!
   

So, my dear "Garden Girl" daughter and I are planning to de-stress ourselves by planting our seeds together first thing Saturday morning. Last Sunday I received a call from my local Ace Hardware store. This was unusual but a happy surprise. The manager called to say that they were holding a one day only sale and were randomly contacting some of their Ace Rewards Members. We had nothing urgent planned for our Sunday so we gathered the tribe and went into town. Upon entering I realized that the store was prepping for spring! And there among their goodies were seeds...marked for the one day only sale...10 for $1.00! So instead of hemming and hawing over which I could afford I let my two girls pick out the pretty ones. Apparently we're going to have a lot of pink and purple flowers in our whiskey barrels this year. They chose:

• African Daisy ~ Mixed colors


• Alyssum ~ Rosie O'Day


• CandyTuft ~ Dwarf Fairy Mix


• Cosmos ~ Sea Shells Mixed Colors


• Larkspur ~ Giant Imerial Mix


• Phlox ~ Dwarf Beauty Mix


• Portulaca ~ Moss Rose (Pelleted)


• Snapdragon ~ Dwarf Magic Carpet


• Sweet Pea ~ Royal Family Mix


• Sweet William ~ Extra Dwarf Mixed

They had so much fun...and I got a real bargain on my annuals. What could be better? Thanks Ace, and our wonderful manager who decided upon entering the store to have the one day sale!

Seed Acquistion Distress

There is so much on TV right now about Seasonal Affective Disorder (a.k.a. SAD). It's a disorder based primarily on the way our mood is affected by lack of natural sunlight. I can easily admit that lack of sunlight has deeply affected me.

Matter of fact, it has caused a whole different version of S.A.D. to begin to form. It's a new disorder that may only affect me and other gardeners. It is: Seed Acquisition Distress. I am truly sick with this. I'm surprised that the internet hasn't melted down with all of the seed sites I've been visiting. And still when I finally give up and walk away (because something/someone in my home requires me to make them food) I am so distracted by what seeds I should purchase that I can't concentrate (resulting in slightly burned hamburgers). My young daughter is a gardener in training. That's why it was so disheartening to me when I heard her angelic voice say, "Daddy, is it normal to carry around gardening gloves in the middle of winter?" To which my husband answered, "Only for your mother, honey." As I entered the room I caught hold of my little girl and said, "A good gardener always knows where her gloves are." She answered, "I know where my snow gloves are, do you?" Darn!

Gardening: Time to Move the Garden Inside

Yet another Lake Effect Event has covered my gardens with another foot of snow. Yes, I said ANOTHER foot! I remember the good old days when we got just a couple inches a day. Now we can go for weeks without a trace and then overnight...feet! So spring seems an eternity away.

I've begun searching the web for new gardening ideas. My friends Apple and Country girl at http://appledoesntfallfar3.blogspot.com/ encouraged me to begin blogging. So if I'm terribly boring you can blame them...LOL. I'm using their blog as a launching spot into the blogging world. Which is how I came by a seed starting idea that has me itching to try seeds again. I haven't been very successful with seeds in the past. Hence the over abundance of perrenials in my garden. As I think about starting seeds I'm always concerned about the amount of space this requires inside my log cabin home. With the tribe of animals and people in my home it's only a matter of time before there is an accident resulting in a muddy seedy mess. So this idea (found here ) is not only space saving but also somewhat accident proof and budget friendly. As I wander through her site I am amazed by how creative her gardening ideas are. I think I'm going to like reading through more of these great gardening blogs!