{"id":11451,"date":"2026-03-03T17:50:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/?p=11451"},"modified":"2026-03-05T11:57:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T16:57:37","slug":"our-cold-spell-has-ended-for-awhile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/2026\/03\/03\/our-cold-spell-has-ended-for-awhile\/","title":{"rendered":"Our cold spell has ended. For awhile\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey, it’s still March and we get a lot of really nasty weather during March \u2014 wind and snow. But we’re very grateful for every day that it’s nice and one day closer to real spring. One thing I’ve noticed is that our willows are starting to show red and green on their stems, a sign that sap is starting to flow. I know further south; folks are tapping maple trees. Yea! Every day that is not nasty is a huge blessing for those of us so sick of “real” winter!<\/p>\n

When I went to town today to mail seeds from the post office, I was shocked to see the gas prices have already jumped thirty cents a gallon overnight. Oh oh, I figured it was coming, but not like a freight train on flat land! The new war in Iran is going to raise not only gas and diesel prices but everything else, as it’s transported, usually hundreds of miles, to the stores. Get set folks! I’m so glad we bought our bulk farm fuel last month, when it was cheaper than today or tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Like the gas prices, I was shocked when we stopped at Walmart for tape (for our catalogs). I was scoping out prices and holy cow, everything has also jumped in price, from beef jerky at the checkout to vegetables in the produce section. We left with just tape and a pack of pens. Nothing else. And, you know what? It felt really good! I feel like folks who are on the self-reliant path are gentle protesters. No, we don’t march in the streets. But when enough people say “that’s too much. I won’t pay that!” it is bound to affect prices as sales are lower, as are profits.<\/p>\n

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When I think of the food in the basement I’ve canned up and stockpiled, I can go through the grocery store and not buy much at all.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our new pepper seedlings are growing like mad. I’ll be transplanting them in about two weeks. Luckily, I bought my ProMix last year, before the tariffs went into effect. We stopped at Menard’s to get Drew some insulation for the house and I checked out the seed-starting soil. They have Sunshine #4, which I’ve had good luck with, but in bales only. That’s fine for us, but smaller growers would have to split a bale with friends. No ProMix.<\/p>\n

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The pepper seedlings love the warm, moist little plastic greenhouse in the south-facing living room window.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Just look at them go!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I got my petunias and pansies planted in little plastic containers I sometimes get pretzels in for a snack. Of course I save the containers! No, I’m not <\/em>a hoarder. It was a plan from the get-go.<\/p>\n

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These are my little petunia and pansy seeds, waiting behind the wood stove to germinate. The lids are just set on, not snapped tight, as that would cook the poor little seeds with no air flow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let me remind those of you who missed prior posts, we are transferring the seed business in August, but we are not <\/em>retiring, as quitting writing, homesteading, etc. I’ve even had people ask if we’re moving to town. That’s a definite NO! I’ll still be writing and homesteading full time as well as gardening big time. We’re just giving the seed business work up as we are having a hard time handling it well.<\/p>\n

At 80 this year, and knees that hurt like h-e-double hockey sticks, I’m ready to slow down just a bit. Definitely not quitting! There’s a Jess Hazzard inside me that won’t let me. (If you don’t know what I mean, you haven’t read my Western novels, have you?) Ha ha! — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey, it’s still March and we get a lot of really nasty weather during March \u2014 wind and snow. But we’re very grateful for every day that it’s nice and one day closer to real spring. One thing I’ve noticed is that our willows are starting to show red and green on their stems, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,12,13,17,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11451"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11451"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11457,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11451\/revisions\/11457"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}