The big P begins :)

Tomorrow officially marks the beginning of the "Big Plant", or, as I think of it: It's time to smell dirt!

My seed orders arrived in good time, and I have spent a couple hours figuring out what to start when, and how much. I only made two small goofs-I accidentally ordered a quarter pound of one seed (yikes!!) and not enough of another. A friend was kind enough to offer me the opportunity to add items to their own plastics order, and I need to pick up that this weekend also. This will be a very nice savings over the local retail prices on cell packs and small pots-I'm thrilled!

In the morning, I will root around in the greenhouse and locate a number of trays. I need to start about two dozen flats, but only have room in the one grow rack for 16. The rest will come to work-these will be grown on for someone who specifically requested them.

In February, more things get started but the truly big plant is in March, and every ten days thereafter. My last plant date is going to be about the first week of May or so......by which time I should be organizing my own greenhouse for moving in.

I've also been gathering information about building another, larger greenhouse to expand my "veggie starts" enterprise. It's going slow, as I am still gathering quotes on various aspects and as soon as I have some of this together I will be working on a formal business plan.

In other news, our family grew by one yesterday. Brennan Josiah joined the extended family at about 4pm yesterday. Baby is very healthy, 6lbs, 12ozs and mom is going great also. My youngest niece could also give birth at any time....her due date is about three weeks away but the baby is fully mature :) Another boy to welcome into the world-I am delighted!

The big dog is doing great, and little Jethro still goes everywhere with me. Although, my car now reeks of "dog" and until it warms up enough to seriously clean it out, I am resorting to air fresheners, lol The cats are fat and bored and yowling to be let outside, and my chickies? My wonderful chickies gave me a whopping 23 eggs in ten days! They are obviously very happy in their winter digs. I credit the super duper custom feed that I get from a good neighbor for their amazing productivity. Still planning on ordering in some baby chicks this spring, to augment the flock. Eventually I will convert over to the other breed, since they are much more cold hardy than my layers now.

In the midst of all these normal events and plans, I am watching with dismay and concern what is happening in Washington DC. So far, Alaska has escaped the brunt of the depression to come-but it will surely arrive if the cronies in Juneau don't do something to correct the anti-business environment we have here. Please don't forget that they are our "employees" and take five minutes to email them with your concerns-whatever those may be. I have written off Senator Begich, since he is joined at the hip with the Democratic party and votes only the party line-even when it is in direct opposition to Alaskan interests :( Very sad. I will certainly remember when the time comes to chose a senator and I am betting a great many others will too.