Old Fashioned Lifestyle

I went through some old photos today, and ran across this from last year.

Technorati Tags: horse, mountains, snow

Snowy winter afternoons, a perfect time to read that novel you haven’t found time for yet, work on that knitting project, or start preparing for the garden.

What?

Prepare for the garden? We still have months of winter left!

True enough.

But now is the perfect time of year to start figuring out what to plant, where to plant it, and get ready to either order seeds from the catalogue or exchange seeds with other gardeners.

Exchanging seeds can be a great way to go if you like to plant heirloom seeds or you are in the market for crops that are not sold at your local grocery store in the spring.

This year, I will be planting some new (to me) crops, as I plan to follow the methods presented in “Four-Season Harvest” In this book, Eliot Coleman teaches his reader that it is possible to harvest year round, even if you live in a zone 5 climate. One of the most elements of his process is to pick a crop that can tolerate cold weather.

So, this year, I am in the market for the following (new to me) garden seeds:

• Arugula
• Green Chicory
• Endive
• Escarole
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Leek
• Mache
• Mizuna
• Radicchio
• Sorrel

While I love the winter, this afternoon has made me look forward to spring!  Do you have any of these seeds?  I’d love to exchange with you.  I’m listing my barter items at Swaperoo.

Our neighbor is a cattle rancher. He left town for a few days to visit family, so we are taking care of his cattle in the mean time. In exchange, he lets the kids skate on his pond. They had a fun morning skating with the cows!