Gardening Season Necessities

We have about 4 inches of snow on the ground, but the sun is warmer, the days are longer and the seed catalogs are arriving.  For people like us, gardening catalogs are very tantalizing.  My daughter and I spend a great deal of time thumbing through and dog-earring seed catalogs.  We eventually put ourselves on a budget and don't buy the dozens of flower and vegetable varieties we have selected.  Today, I was looking at gardening gadgets in a Lehman's catalog.  Cultivators, special shovels, benches, carriers, mini-hot houses, plant covers and how-to guides abound in gardening.  The real secret is -- you don't need all this stuff.  I like to have a maddock, a shovel, a pitchfork, a basket for harvest time, soaker hoses for the dry months and some milk jugs or big juice bottles.  Other than those items, I just need the seeds or starts.  Maddocks are great for turning rows, digging holes for starts, weeding when needed.  A pitchfork is good for spreading straw. Shovels move manure.  A basket is best for harvest because it can go from garden to kitchen storage.  Soaker hoses save water and keep it away from the paths between rows.  Finally, there appears to be a proliferation of items to keep out the cold and frost -- water walls, plastic barrels, wax paper "hats," but I use translucent milk jugs with the bottom cut out or big apple juice jugs with the bottom cut out.  They make nice mini-greenhouses when you need them and you can even take off the caps and water the plants. 

Balance--or lack thereof

Sometimes, there are just too many expenses for your income.  I've found myself in that situation and I have now acquired an official second job.  I'll be using my nursing license and working about 12 hours a week at the local urgent care.  It should help right the financial ship a bit.  So, now I'll be juggling teaching 4 classes, working at urgent care, my microbusiness, 3 kids, 1 dog, 1 cat, 4 hens, 2 rabbits and myself.  Hopefully, at the end of May, I will be down to one job, one small business.  Until then, I'll be at work! 

my new business website

I have a new website for my business: www.fastfoodie.biz.  Hopefully, by this summer, you'll be able to order directly from the site.