Seed Catalogs

Many years ago, I used to start getting seed catalogs at Christmas time, and considered them God's Christmas gift to me.  Right after Christmas, with a week off between Christmas and New Years, I would go into a very heavy schedule of working all day in an office, and then selling tickets, ushering, or taking tickets for an event staff group at the public buildings in Kansas City, Missouri.  I worked for 28 years doing this, and ended with managing a theater's public spaces for the symphony, the opera, and the ballet, but that's another story.  Back then, the shows would come hot and heavy... we would have the Metropolitan Flower, Lawn and Garden Show, which in those days was a huge affair.  It would be preceded by the Boat, Sports and Travel show, and followed by the Home Show, the Mobile Home show, etc. etc.etc.  As I sat in my little ticket booth on Saturdays and Sundays in January and early February, I would read my seed catalogs and plan my gardens.  I did this for many years. 

Many of these shows have gone by the wayside with the economy the way it is... and the flower show has been rolled into the home remodeling show, and is a very small entity indeed, in fact, we did not go to either this year, because of their disappointment last year.  However, Keith has ordered our vegetable seeds already, and I am getting myself in gear to order flower seeds this weekend.

These are the catalogs I'm using:

This is my fantasy order.  Usually every year I plan a big order, only to never send it in or go online.  I love their plants.  I am ordering ONE or TWO things this year, because our gardens deserve it!

This one, of course, has the cool vegetable seeds, and don't let the down-hominess of the Gettles fool you, they are on both coasts now, and heirloom seeds are a big business.  If you notice, I have quite a few pages marked, but as Keith has already ordered the vegetables, I'll pare this order down to a few things.

And this old standard got most of our order this year:

In fact, they sent a second catalog just this week with a different cover, as if to say "Hurry up, Mary Ann, Hurry up! "

I hope to have my orders ready by tomorrow sometime, and will let you all know what I ordered.

With lettuce by head at 1.88 each at Walmart last night, we have got to grow as much as we can.  Keith is itching to get his pea seeds in the ground within a week!

On a sadder note, Dovey did die today in the big henhouse.  Keith found her dead this afternoon, and saved her for me to see.  I knew this morning, so held her for a second and said goodbye.  She must have died shortly thereafter, because she was stiff by midafternoon.  We are hoping it was old age and infirmity and not anything catching, but are going to clean as much as we can this weekend.  It will take very good weather and the pressure washer to get the gunk from the starlings out, but we will do that soon.

Everyone enjoy Farm Friend Friday at Verde Farm!

Hen Gleat

What is it, you ask?

I didn't know either, though I had a suspicion.  Cheyenne, one of the readers of this blog, suggested that is what was happening to Nanny.  I got a good picture of the front of her tonight when I got home.  No, she doesn't spend all her time in the rafters, but I was sad to see her frontside:

She looks worse than last night.  Hen "gleet", as I looked it up, is a large systemic infection that is incurable and eventually kills the hen.  Cheyenne suggested smelling her vent and nostrils, but she was up on the roost before I could get in the henhouse tonight.  Keith got home at mid-afternoon and checked the birds, finding starlings in the henhouse again despite the warmer temps.  I have worried about the spread of infection because of them, and the sodden bedding that I just changed two weeks ago. 

I suspect we are losing Nanny.

This one is going, too:

Dovey and her sister Rosewitha have raised many a fine chick for me, they were the best of mothers.  Rosewitha is still roosting in the rafters, but Dovey has lost almost all her toes.  I have found her twice this week in the dark corner between the ramp to the pophole and the wall.  Keith and I talked about it this evening, and it's the circle of life... they are both five, and we suspect their life lines have run out.  They won't be put down unless they are suffering, though.  I'll really hate to see them go, we have had Nanny since the get-go.

I found this in the yard this morning:

I was very sorry to see it, too, a red-winged blackbird.  They are the harbingers of spring for us.

I suspect Lilly, she can catch them out of the sky, we are not kidding you.  There was a junco dead on the side deck, as well.

Last night, little Josie snuck out the door every time I let the dogs in and out.  I spent the evening getting her back in.  We are so afraid to let her out because of Gwen's death.  I noticed when I got in bed with the pugs that Josie, who usually sleeps with us, was not at my feet.  In the middle of the night when I got up to let Hannah out, Josie ran in the door.

I've waited a week too late.... she appears to be in heat, and got out tonight for 30 minutes.  When I got her back in, she began pacing, and is still doing so.  She is in the kitchen by the door, walking back and forth and crying.  Josie rarely makes noise, her meow is the quietest I've ever heard, but I hear it tonight. We'll try to get her to Dr. Tom Friday to do what we should have done a month ago.