Never heard this before...

 I have seen various Youtube videos on gardening over the past year or so. Lately, several of them have highlighted the spotty to ever increasing widespread lack of seeds for vegetable gardeners. Part of the issue is that with all the Covid madness, more people have taken to gardening. Fair enough. The other part is that the seed producers have experienced dwindling seed production due to weather abnormalities. Most do believe the weather will continue to change and not for the better. But that's a whole different story.

On one video, the presenter said that there are a lot of reports of seed shortages and that the big problem seeds were beans and peas. That is because the bulk of those seeds are produced in a region where there was a huge loss of productioon due to crop damages. I filed this information in the back of my mind and decided to see if there was a local problem. I went to my usual source and asked asked if I could buy 2 lbs of each. They did have them but when I asked if they were experiencing tight seed supplies, the person who I spoke to said they indeed had some actual shortages but not many. Then they told me that their supplies were a little lower than normal. This is before the seed buying season has begun in earnest. I would just advise anyone who is going to buy seeds, to do that now. I have a pretty substantial amount of seeds and varieties so I am not that concerned at this point. I will also add that the prices of seeds have skyrocketed which substantiates the issue. The demand has risen while the supply side has contracted. Hence, higher prices.
If you know of any local seed suppliers in your area, that would be the best place to start. I just got the new catalog from a major seed company and I have to express alarm. I was amazed at the price differential of my local contact to theirs. In some cases, their prices were 3 times as much. I don't mean to disparge them, they certainly are a good company. But, if you can find a good reputable seed company locally, perhaps their prices will be easier on the pocketbook.
Well, just wanted to give a heads up today. Don't want anyone to get caught unawares of the issue at hand. Good luck everyone and Happy Gardening!

Snow? What Snow?

The forecasters are 0-2 in my area. We were supposed to get 3-6 inches of snow but instead were treated to sleet and plenty of it. One of our local TV weather people said that they had no idea this was going to happen. She said that none of their models saw this happening. Well, I would tell her it's time to get some new models. This was very far off the mark. Here is picture of our morning scene below.

But, I digress! During one of the more intense sleeting periods, I decided to check my greenhouse as I knew it would be covered in ice. And, I was correct. When I turned the corner to view my greenhouse, here is what I was confronted with.

I went inside and noticed that the roof panels were bowing from the weight of the icc/sleet. Not a good situation with yet more sleet being forecasted. So, I went back to my house and related the predictament to my wife. I began thinking I would put an electric heater in the unit to raise the temp in the greenhouse which was sitting at 28 degrees. My wife came back and told me about a thing she had seen called a terracotta clay pot heater. Intrigued, I listened to her explain it. When all was said and done, it entailed putting a candle on top of a base and then placing the pot over it - making sure there was allowance for air to get into the area under the pot. One twist was to use a sterno candle instead of a regular candle. This boosts the amount of heat it produces. After gathering all the items I needed, I went out and constructed my first terra cotta heater. Here is the finsihed product.

I used 4 cement path pavers for the base. I made one alteration. Since I had space on each of the 4 pavers, I decided to use 4 small pots I had and put teacup candles under them. So I lit the sterno candle and the 4 teacup candles. When I finished, I closed the greenhouse and began shoveling our walks and steps. After about an hours time, I went back to the greenhouse. I found that the temp had risen to 43 degrees in that hour - a 15 degree increase. I was surprised given the outside temp was 26 degrees. I could hear the ice crackling and melting on the roof of the unit. So, I took an old broom and proceeded to brush the ice off each panel on both sides. It didn't take much effort to get the ice to slide off them. Here is a picture of it after my brushing.

Almost all the ice came off and the panels seemed to be back to normal inside. And, I learned a new technique to use if winter decides to visit us again which we all know it will. These terra cotta heaters can be used in an emergency to heat boats, campers and even rooms in a house in a crunch. One person said they used it to heat an unheated area where there were water pipes during a really cold snap.
Both my wife and I were a little surprised this worked so well. It's always a good thing to have an emergency contingency to fall back on. The other "surprise" was that we had these supplies and never realized they could be used in such a way. You learn something all the time. I am very grateful to have a wife that is so resourceful and full of useful information.
Well, that's all I have today. I am currently seeding in a new set of crops for the early spring. I had a failure of sorts with my last attempt. Seems I may have used my heating pads a little too long. I did have seedlings but they were very leggy which most likely was a result of too warm of soil. Spring crops prefer cooler soils. Lesson learned. Seems gardening always has a lesson to learn regardless of your "expertise".
So, please check back as I start anew with my seedling production. I am hoping that winter will go away and I can get into the garden. I have much to do there and time is ticking. Until next time, Happy Gardening Everyone!

Winter finally arrived!

The Mid-Atlantic was visited by old man winter this past weekend. But, knowing it was definitely heading right for us, I decided to open up my leaf mold composters while it was snowing in order to get a little moisture into them. It was snowing at a pretty good pace when I went out as attested to by this picture.

It was supposed to come down at a very fast and furious pace for several periods throughout the day. So, in the morning, I went out and took off the tops of the various composters and dumped the snow from the lids into each container as seen from the pictures below.

Overnight, we were hit with an ice storm which is causing major traffic issues and sidewalk problems. Some areas have had power outages. I'm just grateful to be retired and not out in the mess. Here is a picture showing the ice out in our and our neighbors yards this morning.

We are expecting another wave of snow today through early tomorrow. I"m going to have to go out and get my front porch and sidewalks unvovered before that hits.
As of yesterday, the plants in the greenhouse have been hanging in there but I need to get out there to check their status today. Here's hoping they came through.
There is lots to do and report on in the coming couple of days so once the snows/ice are gone, I'll start digging in to them. Please check back periodically for the updates. As always, Happy Gardening Everyone!