While it’s not really pepper seed planting time here, we have to get an early start as we have so many different seeds to start. We are going with 40 different peppers, both sweet and hot, this year, and over 127 tomatoes! Now, with just me planting seeds, I have to space them out as my poor old post-surgery knee will bear. I can only sit up for about an hour at a time or my knee swells and becomes more painful. So, I work for an hour, lie down with my leg propped up for an hour and so on through the day. When I’m down, I’m in my notebook, sorting out gardens’ plantings and deciding what goes where to ensure seed purity.

This is Chervena Chuska, a wonderful Hungarian sweet pepper.

As the work force and economy slump, it’s harder and harder to find sources of some of the seeds we grow. Thus, we have to be sure we have abundant seed for all our customer’s gardens. This is much different than if we were just growing to supply our pantry! (You can always substitute if you can’t find this or that. We hate to disappoint our customers!) Thank God we have friends, Mike, Dara, and Sheri coming over regularly to help us pack seeds and stamp envelopes!

Here’s another of our pretty sweet peppers (even though it looks hot!), Corbaci

Will plans on erecting another solar bank this spring. Below that, I’m going to make another perennial flower bed. So, you can imagine I’ve been busy on the Lily Auction, buying several new daylilies to go in it. It works well as moisture hitting the solar panels runs down and off, right into the flower bed, making them pretty much self-watering. I love it when things work out that way!

Under our solar panel array is a flower bed with peonies and daylilies, like these fancy ones. I can’t wait for the next array to go up.

— Jackie

19 COMMENTS

  1. Still praying for a FULL knee recovery for you. Can’t wait to hear you say, “I wish l had done this 20 years ago!” As some of my friends say!

    • I’m working up to that daily! It still hurts from time to time but I’m getting around much better. It’s definitely better than the non-surgical bad knee!!

  2. I totally agree about folks who help out but don’t keep track. (I worked 5 hours for you so you OWE me 5 hours.) And not being in debt? Again, I totally agree. Right now, we’re socking every cent into paying off the loan on our little Kubota tractor. We’ve cut it in half and hope to keep knocking it down all spring. No loans on land, cars, etc. and we feel totally blessed!

  3. Snow, yes 4-8 inches starting tonight into tomorrow. It will melt fast as post-snow temps are mid-40s to low-50s. Mother Nature just keeps reminding us who calls the shots.
    Getting a bit irked that seed potatoes are NOT at my preferred seller yet. I will be planting taters Good Friday!!

    • Around five (maybe six) inches of the wettest snow I’ve seen. Melting fast due to the increase in temperature. Bought seed potatoes today YAY and before it snowed, better half saw some garlic peaking up. I think it will be a good foraging (morels, ramps) and garden season this year for my area.

    • Wow, that’s cool. I can’t even imagine planting potatoes on Good Friday! We’ve got a good two feet of snow on the ground and although it’s warmed up some, it’s nowhere near 50. You’re getting spring faster than us, for sure. Enjoy it!

    • Our local nursery has them in February, but not this year. Usually loose and in bulk. Checked today, the end of March and they don’t know when they will come in. So they replaced with packaged seed potatoes. They are1.16 each. Searched somewhere else where they were also well over a dollar a piece. So called Tractor Supply who’s had them in since early February, 4 lb sacks, $8. Now that’s what I’m talking about!

  4. Our hot peppers are up and the tomatoes are lifting their little heads up through the soil. The bell peppers are are looking good and we are looking to start some herbs now. Our garden is coming along fine. I started some flowers which will be used around the garden for bug control and just plain prettiness.

    • It’s so nice to hear what we’ll be doing in a few weeks. I just planted our sweet peppers and tomatoes go in, in a week.

  5. All of my tomatoes have sprung up (Purple Cherokee, Atkinson, Cannonball, Sweet Apertif Cherry and Clakamus Blueberry). My peppers are taking longer to pop up – only the early red bells so far. Waiting on all of my hot peppers to appear. I just love watching everything pop up! And all the seeds are from Seed Treasures! Thank you!!

    • And thank YOU, Jeanine! Hot peppers take the longest. My habaneros aren’t up either. Hang in there and keep them warm. Peppers are heat lovers for sure.

  6. Keep taking care of your knee…sounds like it! It just takes longer at our age to jump back from these health issues but hang in there. All your hard work and taking good care of it will pay off….just not as fast as we would like :)). We got your wonderful catalog and making our choices now. You and Will are in our prayers.

    • Thank you so much. I know the knee is getting better. If the pain would just abate more; it tires me out! Okay, I’m being impatient. I know…

  7. How on earth do you separate 40 varieties of peppers! I wish I could separate 5! We are super thankful that you do! love buying seeds from y’all!

    • All it takes are 6 gardens, four hoop houses and a greenhouse. It is a challenge, figuring it all out!

    • Last year, while I watched the rain run off of our array in the front of the house, I was so glad I’d planted there. Something I’ll sure do again.

  8. Corbaci! I love these! They are so prolific it’s amazing, and mild enough that even I, someone who does not like hot food at all, can enjoy them.

  9. While being able to grow/can as well as raise/butcher, ANYTHING you can do to keep your cost of living low is a good thing. One is in much better shape with no debt or only a very small mortgage payment. None of us likes paying $$ for dozen eggs but if you have flexibility in your budget, it isn’t quite as painful.
    One cannot put a price on those in what I call “the circle” – aka good people who help each other out but DO NOT keep tabs. And unlike so many, you make use of your downtime (resting your knee). I call that chair work. And nothing wrong with thinking before doing – most of the time it does save time and energy.

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