Breaking My Personal Best! and One More Day for Heirloom Tomato Giveaway!

It's the last day of January...and I'm very close to exceeding 2,000 page views for the month! Not only will this be my all-time highest page view count since this blog started in November 2010, but it will exceed my previous all-time high by almost 750 page views! This might not sound like much to the blogging big-wigs out there, but it's huge for me!


Help me get there, spread the word (and you might just read something interesting in the meantime)!

Also, entrees into my heirloom tomato seed giveaway (Click Here) are open until noon tomorrow (Feb 1). Tell your friends and get entered today! 

Make Your Own Seed Starting Shelf

I recently saw somebody post about an awesome looking seed starting shelf sold by Johnny's Selected Seeds. It comes with the shelving unit, plastic trays for each shelf, light fixtures for each shelf, and four wide-spectrum fluorescent tubes per shelf. This particular model has four shelves...and costs $895 (plus $49 shipping)! YIKES!

I happen to be making my own seed shelf this spring, and I'm going to see how much it costs. The last few years I have started seeds in my basement (and no, I haven't had any midnight raids from the police). However, my basement is about 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the house. With the basement at only 55 to 60 degrees, my seedlings grow a lot slower than they could if they were grown at say, 68 degrees upstairs (which is what my thermostat is set to during the day). Also, I think it will be more fun having the seedlings upstairs where I can see them all the time. This might also help prevent a little watering mishap that happened with my seedling-sitter last year while I was out of town.

Last year I grew seedlings under five, 4-foot shoplights. This year I've upgraded to six, which will light three shelves. However, my shelving unit has 5 shelves, so if I ever want to upgrade to more lights, I have the option.

I will be comparing my seed starting unit with the three-shelf unit from Johnny's, which is $695 (plus $44 shipping).

Here's what I purchased to build my seed starting shelf:

• $70: 5-Shelf Steel Shelving Unit, 72" H x 48" W x 24" D. I will be using this shelving unit in the off-season for storage in the basement.
• $60: six, 48" shoplights. I have accumulated six of these over the last 5 years, but they've aways costed about $10 a piece. 
• $8: three packs 48" Cool-white fluorescent tube (two-pack).
• $14: three packs of 48" Warm-white (a.k.a. Soft-white) fluorescent tube (two-pack).
• $3: twelve 1 3/8" eye hooks.
• $3: twelve S-hooks.

Total Expenditure: $175

Until seed starting time rolls around, this shelf will be used as kitchen storage. I think it will be fun to have the seedlings in the middle of the kitchen!

Two cool-white and two warm-white bulbs per shelf should do the trick!

Fluorescent tubes should be replaced periodically because they get dimmer over time. I bought all new lights this year, which is expensive, but I shouldn't have to replace them for at least two years.

Comparison:

My version: 

• $178 (could be built for even less money if you already own a suitable shelf and/or shoplights)
• Combination cool-white/warm-white bulbs may not be as effective as wide-spectrum bulbs, but they are a lot cheaper and have worked very well for me in the past.
• Lights can be raised or lowered using S-hooks and/or chain
• Can be used for storage elsewhere in the house when not in use.

Johnny's version: 

• ~$750
•  Wide-spectrum bulbs may be more effective for plant growth
• Adjustable shelf height
• The shelf is on wheels and can be moved around easily
• Shelves are not solid, but instead have rails to hold drop-in plastic trays...however, this means that the shelf can't be used for storage during the off-season.

The Johnny's version might be a little fancier, but I think I'll stick with my version for now. Just think! You could build four homemade seed starting shelves for less than the price of one pre-fab shelf! I'll keep you updated on how well my new seed shelf works.

What kind of seed starting setup do you use?

New USDA Zone Map...Finally

The USDA recently released an updated zone map. I was really excited to see if my zone changed or if my first and last frost dates changed.  I read an article released in the last few days that said something along the lines of "8 million gardeners rejoice as their gardens move a half zone warmer". Well...not for me. My area was zone 5b on the old map, and it's still 5b on the new map! Bummer!

Apparently, the USDA was going to release a map in 2003, but the Busch administration didn't want it to be released (because it showed evidence of global warming). And because of that, over twenty years later, we were still using a map from 1990! I'm glad for the updated map, but it doesn't open any new doors for me!

Google thinks I'm a 40-year old

My friend Joseph over at Greensparrow Gardens recently posted on Facebook about Google Ads Preferences...basically Google tries to guess your age and gender based on the types of websites that you visit most often.  While they at least got my gender correct, Google thinks I'm 10 to 20 years older than I am. I guess I must have very "mature" interests and hobbies! It makes sense though...in a horticulture class I took a few years ago, they taught us that most marketing for gardening products is targeted at 40-year-old women (and you'll see below that most of my internet time is spent looking at gardening stuff).

To try it for yourself, simply click on: www.google.com/ads/preferences

Here's what came up when I clicked on the link:

"Your categories

Below you can review the interests and inferred demographics that Google 

has associated with your cookie. 

Business & Industrial - Agriculture & Forestry - Livestock

Food & Drink - Cooking & Recipes

Food & Drink - Cooking & Recipes - Fruits & Vegetables

Food & Drink - Cooking & Recipes - Meat & Seafood

Home & Garden - Gardening & Landscaping

Pets & Animals - Pets - Rabbits & Rodents

Shopping

World Localities - North America - USA - Midwest (USA) - Michigan

Your demographics

We infer your age and gender based on the websites you've visited. 

Age: 35-44

Gender: Female"

Giveaway: Heirloom Tomato Seeds

Every year I've added a few more heirloom tomato varieties to my collection. As of my 2012 seed inventory, I have about 28 varieties in my collection and I will be adding a few more this year. I don't grow all of them every year and I don't continue growing the ones that I don't like.

Here's a portion of what I have stashed in the fridge  (in no particular order):

Kellog's Breakfast

Yellow Pear

Bloody Butcher

Japanese Black Trifele

Aunt Ruby's German Green

Principe Borghese

Martino's Roma

Polish Linguisa

Matt's Wild Cherry

Cherokee Purple

Pruden's Purple

Taxi

Tigerella

Black Krim

Goldrush Currant

Yellow Brandywine

San Marzano

Amish Paste

Moonglow Chocolate Stripes Creme Brulee Peach Blow Sutton Anna Russian And here's the giveaway:

Leave a comment below (USA and CANADA residents only please) telling me which three varieties from my list that you'd like to grow this year. A week from today (Wednesday Feb 1), I will randomly select 2 winners and mail you a packet of seeds for each variety you've requested (at least 10 seeds per packet).  If you want descriptions of the individual varieties, check out either Pinetree Garden Seeds or Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

Keep in mind that these are seeds that I've saved myself, so the germination rate and trueness to type can't be guaranteed...that said, I've have excellent results saving seeds year after year and I think they'll work great for you to!

Casting Your Vote As A Meat Eater

No, this post isn't about meat-eaters versus vegetarians. It's about choosing what meat you consume as a meat eater.

I recently had a talk with my boyfriend about the possibility of raising meat rabbits. He seemed to take it in stride with all the other off-the-wall ideas I have on a daily basis. My boyfriend has spent his college years eating a lot of prepared foods, and like most Americans, doesn't often think about where his food comes from or how it was produced. I don't blame him for it, because that's how most Americans are raised (including myself). It wasn't until my college years that I really started giving a hoot about this stuff.

I told my boyfriend that I was going to buy a butchered rabbit from a local grocery store so we could see how it tastes. There's no point raising meat rabbits if we don't like how they taste! He was fine with the idea of eating grocery store rabbit. But then I asked him if he would eat rabbit grown in our own backyard, he said he would be weirded out by it and that he wouldn't want to eat animals that he knew. This response threw me for a loop!

Whether you buy nameless/faceless meat at the grocery store, or slaughter and butcher your own animal, you are casting the same vote. Either way, an animal is being slaughtered! And wouldn't you rather know that the animal had a happy life, was raised in a spacious and clean home, and was slaughtered in a stress-free environment?

I'm hoping I can bring him around to the idea...and I hope our initial taste of rabbit (from the grocery store) is so good that he'll be hooked for life!

Popcorn Chickens

My boyfriend brought home a giant garbage bag full of popcorn to feed to the chickens. I'm only giving it to them in small quantities since it is butter-flavor popcorn, but I'm sure a little bit won't hurt them any.

They love it! They seem to like to crunch it up into smaller pieces and then pick up all the crumbs.

I wonder if this will make their eggs buttery tasting (or higher in cholesterol)?