Seed Swapping

https://sites.google.com/site/thedummyfarmer/home

I have just started to look at sites for which you can trade your seeds, and I have started my own, well a list. If you follow the link above, you can view my seeds. I just started to build this web page today, so I haven't quite figured out the details, but if there is seed that you would like to trade for, email me. Most of the seeds that I am presently offering are store bought. This year I intend on seed saving and will be offering next year one year tested garden seeds . My soil is all natural, I could opt for an organic status but choose not to, expensive. Ideas, suggestions are welcome.

I have discovered that there is a "National Seed Swap Day", the last Saturday of the Month in January. This phenomenon started in Washington in 2006 and since then cities across the nation have joined the celebration.

http://www.backyardgardener.com - backyard gardener - forum - seed exchange – many offerings – not a very friendly user site.

http://www.blossomswap.com/wiki/swap-seeds-on-blossom-swap - blossom swap - Post your list on The Seed Swap forum. In this forum Blossom Swap members offer seeds for trade and request seeds they are interested in. Lists may also include offers for postage. When your seed is gone you must edit your listing to remove.

http://www.emilycompost.com/seed_exchange.htm We have decided that we have to shut down the seed exchange at least temporarily. We have been overrun with spam e-mail to the point that it is uncontrollable. As we redesign the remainder of the site we will redesign this page so as not to generate spam. Thank you for your support. Keep checking the site for a redesign.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/exseed/ - recommended by mother earth news magazine - this site trades seeds and plants and garden articles too. just about anything that goes in your garden can be found.

http://www.garden.org/seedswap/ - national garden association - traditional swaps are a 2-way trade. interested parties will contact you by phone or email. We store information about your seed offering or request in our database, along with your email address. when someone wishes to swap seed with you, they will submit their email address. we will then send you an email with that person's address so that you may contact them and make arrangements for the seed swap.

http://www.seedswaps.com -Seedswaps is a community where we make seed trading with others easy and convenient. do you have more seeds tahn you need for your garden next year?would you like to have hard to find seeds for your garden?

http://www.thriftyfun.com/board_seeds.html - this is the easiest web site so far for swapping. Over 310 listings!

Companion Gardening

What is companion gardening? It is an opinion, an observation, one farmer's method vs. another. I was quite afraid that I had not been doing things right and after several hours of research I have nothing to worry about. But I can incorporate some of these ideas with my garden planning. I used 3 websites to build this grid. I hope you find it useful. Please check out these sites for additional information.

http://www.gardenguides.com

http://attra.ncat.org

http://no-dig-vegetablegarden.com

Plant Name	Friends	Foes
Asparagus	Tomatoes, Parsley, Basil	Onions, Garlic Potatoes
Basil	Tomato, Pepper, Marigold
Beans	Nasturtiums, Most Vegetables & Herbs
Beets	Garlic, Bush Beans, Cabbage, Onions, Sage
Broccoli	Dill, Rosemary and Sage	Oregan, Strawberry
Brussel Sprouts	Potato, Thyme	Strawberry
Bush Beans	Beets, cabbage, carrots, celery, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, pea, radish, strawberry, savory, tansy and marigold.	Onion
Cabbage	Mint, bush beans, celery, onions, tomato, strong herbs, nasturtium, and marigolds	Strawberries, Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants, Rue, Grapes, Lettuce and Pole Beans.
Carrots	Bush Beans, Pole Beans, Lettuce, Onion, Peas, Radish, Tomatoes, and Sage	Dill
Cauliflower	Beans, Celery, Oregano	Nasturtium, Peas, Potato, Strawberry, Tomato
Celery	Bush Beans, Cabbage, Onions, Spinach and Tomato	Parsnip and Potato
Corn	Bush Beans, Pole Beans, Cucumber, Melons, Peas and Squash	Tomatoes, Celery
Cucumbers	Bush Beans, Pole Beans, Corn, Lettuce, Onions, Peas, Radishes, Marigold, Nasturtium, and Savory	Sage, Rue, Potatoes, no strong herbs
Eggplant	Garlic, Beans, Marigold, Capsicum, Potato and Spinach
Grapes	Strawberries, Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants, Rue, Grapes, Lettuce, hyssop, Clover, Chives and Pole Beans
Leeks	Carrot, Celery, Strawberry
Lettuce	Bush Beans, Pole Beans, Carrots, Cucumbers, Onions, Radishes, and Strawberries
Melon	Corn, Nasturtium, Radish
Mint	Tomatoes, Cabbage
Nasturtiums	Beans
Onions	Strawberries, Chamomile, Summer Savory, Leeks, and Carrots	Bush Beans, Pole Beans and Peas
Parsnips	Bush Bean, Garlic, Onion, Pepper, Potato, Radish, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Eggplants, Rue, Grapes, Lettuce and Pole Beans
Parsley	Tomato, Asparagus
Peas	bush beans, pole beans, carrots, chicory, corn, cucumber, eggplant, parsley, early potato, radish, spinach, strawberry, sweet pepper, tomatoes and turnips	chives, late potatoes, and onions
Pepper, HOT	cucumbers, eggplant, escarole, okra, tomato, swiss chard, and squash chives, late potatoes, onions, basils, oregano, rosemary and parsley	beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, or fennel
Pole Beans	Carrots, corn, cucumber, eggplant, lettuc, pea, radish, savory and tansy.	Beets and Onions, Beets, Kohlrabi and Sunflower
Potatoes		Tomatoes
Pumpkins	Corn, Marigold	Irish Potatoes
Radishes	English Pea, Nasturtium, Lettuce and Cucumber	hyssop, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and turnips
Rhubarb	Broccoli, cabbage, columbine flowers, garlic, onions and roses.
Sage	broccoli, cauliflower, rosemary, cabbage, and carrots	cucumbers, onions, or rue
Spinach	Peas, beans, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, eggplant, onion, peas, strawberries and fava bean
Squash	beans, corn, cucumbers, icicle radishes, melon, mint, onions, and pumpkin, borage, nasturtium, and marigolds	Potatoes
Strawberries	beans, borage, lettuce, onions, spinach, and thyme	cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, and kohlrabi.
Sunflowers	Corn
Tomatoes	asparagus, basil, bean, carrots, celery, chive, cucumber, garlic, head lettuce, marigold, mint, nasturtium, onion, parsley, pea, pepper, marigold, pot marigold and sow thistle	Corn, Potatoes, Apricot, dill, fennel, cabbage and cauliflower
Turnip	English Pea	Irish Potatoes
Zucchini	Nasturtiums
http://www.gardenguides.com
http://attra.ncat.org
http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/companion-planting.html

Let's Say Thanks

If only life was as simple as this! my family and i simply do not say thank you enough; apparently we are not alone, I turned on the news the other day and there was a segment on thank you notes, woman's day magazine november 2010 issue included this....

thanksometer.com - started as a way to highlight nice things people do for each other every day, this site allows visitors to anonymously thank friends or relatives for a kind gesture - or simply get inspired by other's stories. a drop down menu prompts you to thank someone by choosing more thank 50 options (including "for being courteous" or "for a job well done") or writing in your own reason. then, check off how it made you feel and share your full story. you can also sign up to receive weekly email with a featured story of gratitude from the site's submissions or plucked from the news.

graceinsmallthings.com - this site encourages members to list five things they're grateful for every day. to get started, gist lets you create your own blog to chronicle this 365 day journey. not a wordsmith? you can also upload photos and videos - of that sanity saving weekend vacation you just took or your new puppy, for example. interact with other members by reading and commenting on their blogs, or join one of the groups hosted by the site (such as "knitting in small things" or "the great midwest"), which aim to bring members together through shared interests and backgrounds.

facebook.com/aogp.org - set up to function like a online gratitude journal, the attitude of gratitude project encourages members to answer the question "what are you grateful for today". browse the responses daily and add you own. growing steadily since 2009, the facebook page is now 13,000 fans strong and also features information on upcoming gratitude get togethers, where members can interact face to face and listen to guest speakers discuss living more gratefully. what's more, aogp recently started a namesake nonprofit organization which donates to various charities.

i pledge to enter a thank you every day and i pledge that my children will join me. at bare minimum i will have 2 followers, just kidding!

mom - 1/26/11

I am thankful for my family and friends

I am thankful for my animals and the pleasure they bring

I am thankful for my job - its not the best job - but i don't work nights & w/e's & most of all its a job

Compost - 140 Degrees - Am I Gonna Die?

I find compost to be a scary subject, my whole life I have thrown food scraps in the trash or down the drain, now I'm going to save them, throw them in the backyard, pray to God...nothing eats my cat and let it winter so I can add it to the garden's soil with some chicken manure that I have been saving aka compost activator. Yummy, can't wait for those tomatoes!

I found this chart which I plan on printing and paste to my refrig, perhaps you might want to do the same. http://eartheasy.com/grow_compost.html#a (smaller version below)

Benefits

Carbon: leaves leaves breakdown faster when shredded shrub prunings woody prunings are slow to break down straw or hay straw is best; hay with seeds is less ideal pine needles acidic, use in moderate amounts wood ash only use ash from clean materials, sprinkle lightly newspaper avoid using glossy paper or color inks shredded paper avoid using glossy paper or color inks cardboard shred material to avoid matting dyer lint best if from natural fibers corn, cob stalks slow to decompose, chop up sawdust high carbon levels, add in layers to avoid clumping wood chips high levels of carbon, use sparingly Nitrogen: table scraps add with dry carbon items fruit and vegetable scraps add with dry carbon items grass clippings add in thin layers so they don't mat into clumps lawn & garden weeds only use weeds which have not gone to seed green comfrey leaves excellent compost activator flower cuttings chop up any long woody stems seaweed & kelp rinse first; good source for trace minerals chicken manure excellent compost activator coffee grounds filters may also be included tea bags loose or in the bags Neutral: eggs best when crushed ________________________________________________________________________ garden plants use disease free plants only

Planning Your Garden

Today I am taking a break from my seed catalog list. I have learned a tremendous amount several new words, ideas to incorporate into my farming career.

I have been ordering my catalogs and seeds, and now I have to figure out where am I going to plant/put them.

I need to do a little more research on companion gardening, before sending to print, but in the mean time, I think I will have a little fun with the following sites and their garden planning programs...

http://planagarden.bhg.com/planagarden/ with this site I was able to construct a close replica of last year's garden, this will make crop rotation easier. It was not as easy as it sounds. I had to create 3 separate gardens and then I had to print, cut and paste and label/identify objects. But the end result was definitely better than anything I could have done by hand and faster too.

added january 25, 2011 - http://gardenplanner.rhshumway.com/ - r h shumway's seed catalog just came in and viola there on page 5 an offering for a 30 day trial period for their garden software, no offense house and garden (program above) this program blows yours away. you can create your own garden, draw growing area, add vegetables, herbs and fruits from drop down menu, let the planner calculate how many plants you'll need. you can use traditional row spacing, raised beds or even foot gardening. it can send you personalized emails to remind you of your garden needs. $25.00 annually. but it too required that the garden be separated into areas, it had a circuit over load with my original size and locked up.

added january 27, 2011

http://www.smallblueprinter.com - this site is much easier than the two listed above - it has a ton of stuff to play with, requires very lit'l to get going, 14 day trial period. can be bought for $24.00. online support.

http://www.gardeners.com/Kitchen-Garden-Planner - kitchen garden planner, this site is very limited, but the raised bed / kitchen planner is a nice tool for just that planning the raised bed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening - this site is completely free. i experienced difficulty down loading this. will check with my kids and see if we can get this going. it looks like it would be very interesting.

http://www.5dollardinners.com - this web site offers four different kinds of pre-printed forms that you can down load, print and complete for your gardening record keeping and off line garden planning. this web site offers dinners that can be made for $5.00 or less, it deserves to be looked at. the recipes are not only the author's but from viewers every where. i have added it to my favorites.

http://www.gardendesignpro.co.uk/acatalog/free_garden_design_software.html - I am learning google sketch up with this - this is truly a fun site. gardening in 3D.

http://www.growveg.com/gardenplanner - this site offers a free 30 day trial period, after that $25.00 annually. i believe this is the same as the one above but not thru shumway's web site, this works better than the site above, experienced no problems with this site.

Organic, Non GMO, Non Hybrid - What does this mean?

What does organic, non-hybrid, hybrid, non-treated, open-pollinated mean? Does this mean anything when I am choosing seeds? Apparently so, please read on.

What is organic? - organic means all natural – no chemicals, sludge (sewerage), radiation, or genetic engineering are used. When dealing with animal product such as dairy, eggs and meat, there is an additional criteria no antibiotics or growth hormones can be given. If the animal becomes sick and antibiotics are given, the animal loses its rights to be called organic.

Organic typically means to include mother nature's best interests at heart. Maintain or improve the soil with compost, crop rotation, and choosing plants suited for the area. Animals are raised and slaughtered in a humane fashion. Animals are usually free range.

Organic farmers are required by USDA – NOP regulations to use organic seeds and planting stock when commercially available. They can use non-organic, untreated seeds when organic seeds are not available in the form, quality, or quantity they need. Annual seedlings must be organic; only the USDA Secretary can grant a variance for seedlings. Perennials can be started from non-organic stock, but must be raised organically for one year before any crop is harvested as organic.

http://ezinearticles.com - this site is an excellent source for sludge/manure (poop that can be used) for the garden.

The best manure for the garden is cow manure and supposedly can be added directly to the garden. The absolute best is chicken manure but it must be at least 3 months old before applying to the garden, it can burn your plants and is often called hot manure.

Did you know that phosphorous contains a naturally occurring radioactive material. Supposedly the amount of radiation from these fertilizers is not harmful, but who really knows, just another reason for organic gardening or all natural status.

Genetic engineering allows us to combine human, fish, mouse, and insect genes in the same animal/plant. Genetically modified organisms (gmo's). This relatively new science allows DNA from one species to be injected into another species in the laboratory, creating combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.

http://www.nongmoproject.org (excellent source to learn about gmo's)

non-hybrid – seeds which have been naturally pollinated also called open pollinated

hybrid – seeds which have been created artificially pollinated (by hand).

open pollinated - naturally pollinated

After reading the above and a little more on the internet I will only being buying heirloom, non-treated, non-gmo seeds! I hope you do the same.

WHAT ORGANIC MEANS WHEN AT THE GROCERY STORE.............

(thanks to) november 2010 - good housekeeping - page 57

thanks to the usda national organic program, it's less of a labelling free for all in the supermarket these days. when you see the circular "usda organic" logo on a package, it means that the food was produced according to the strict practices that don't alow the use of synthetic flavors, colors, sweeteners, most preservatives, toxic or long-lasting pesticides and fertilizers, or methods like genetic engineering. organic farming and production methods also ensure that animals are treated more humanely. another assurance: producers of certified organic food are subject to announced and unannounced inspections to make sure farming and manufacturing practices are up to snuff. while timely follow-through has been a problem in the past for the usda program, major increases in its budget and staff have given it more bite.

Page 59 - November 2010 - good housekeeping - smart shopping

sounds like organic, but .... many people confuse these claims with the real (certified organic) thing. here's the lowdown on the lingo

natural - on meat and poultry, this indicates that no artificial flavorings or colorings were added and that the cut was not irradiated to reduce bacteria, but it doesn't tell you anything about how the animal was raised. on products outside the meat case, the term is undefined ( and unregulated ), so it doesn't mean anything.

free range - when you see this term on chicken and eggs, it means that the bird has had access to the outdoors. but the usda doesn't regulate how much time chickens must spend there or what kind of surface it must be (it could be cement).

locally grown - can you define "nearby"? neither can the federal regulators - there's no standard for descriptions of how far food has traveled to reach your store. it's also important to remember that not all organic food is locally grown, nor is all locally grown food organic - even the vegetables and fruit you see at the farmer's markets.