The Growing Season Begins

We planted our first vegetables of the season — cabbage and lettuce.  The cabbage can go 10 weeks inside before being put out in the garden in the middle of March.  Last year I started them in February and wished I had started them earlier.  They didn't head up until well into the heat of the summer.  This year we hope for cole slaw in mid-spring.

I'm thinking we may grow the lettuce entirely indoors.  Last fall we did a lousy job of growing green stuff to store over the winter.  I've never grown lettuce to maturity indoors, but I'm hungry for salad so we're giving it a try.  This batch should be ready to eat at the end of February.  I'll start another batch in a month that I'll plant outdoors after 30 days and should be feeding us by mid-spring.

For now they sit under grow lights in the basement.  I used slices of old milk plastic milk jugs for labels.  Last year my seedlings didn't do well, got too leggy, but I'm too cheap to buy the expensive grow light bulbs.  Someone at the store suggested I use a cool bulb and a warm bulb, and I've read somewhere that it will work.  We'll see. 

Now the challenge is to not abandon them.  These plants are in the basement in an area I don't walk by regularly.  They are too easy to forget.

Our mouse trap is earning its keep.  It's an electric one where the mouse climbs in a little hole and gets zapped.  It does about 25 zaps per battery charge. 

We're getting a mouse about every two days.  Ack!  We knew there were mice in the garage, but we weren't expecting that many.  A few have been a little smaller, which tells us they had set up house-keeping.  So we keep the trap charged and going. 

Yesterday we visited the "magic" house, friends of ours who have been inspiring as we've learned this life-style.  There is something so compelling about people who have walked the path ahead of us and aren't overwhelmed.  It makes everything seem possible.  While these folks have had a milk cow longer than us, they haven't done as much cheese-making.  We put together a "cheese kit" with most everything they will need to start making cheese, along with advice on how to avoid many of my mistakes.  It was satisfying to be able to give something back to people who have been so generous with us. 

Over the past two years, there have been many people who God put in our lives just as we needed them.  I continue to be surprised by how consistently it happens.  And grateful.