I'm thinking summer...

...it's gotta be somewhere under all these 30 inches of snow. I am looking forward to getting the jogging stroller back out of hiding, walks in the park, and hopefully entertaining a little toddler! I've already started to think about what outdoor toys my son might like this summer. Will he want a pool again (the last one broke!), a sandbox, slide, or maybe a wooden swing set?

I have fond memories of hanging off our swingset when I was little... I've been browsing through CSNStores.com to see what kind of play toys might work for a 14-20 month old this summer. I'll be reviewing a product from them soon - not sure what I'll decide on (I COULD use some winter boots if this snow doesn't stop coming down!). But I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, check out CSN for yourself!

Help me out - What is/was your child's favorite outdoor play toy or game around age 1-2?

Planning Season

Plant carrots in January and you'll never have to eat carrots.

~Author Unknown

No, it's not time for planting. But it is time for PLANNING. This is your friendly reminder that you need to order seeds, plot out your garden plans for this coming growing season. Because pretty soon, if you want to eat those carrots, you need to start some seedlings indoors or in a cold frame.

Happy Gardening!

Hybrid Seeds, or Heirloom Seeds?

If you're thinking about planting a garden, the winter months are the time to get started planning, plotting, ordering seeds. Browse through some catalogs or look online for ideas.  One question ask is whether you want to use hybrid seeds or non-hybrid/heirloom seeds?

Hybrid seeds are created by artificially cross-pollinating two plants to create an improved plant. Perhaps one that has greater resistance to disease, or tolerates drought. However, a major drawback is that you cannot "save" seeds from hybrid plants because they don't reproduce reliably. Instead, you have to buy new hybrid seeds every year. And, hybrid seed plants often need special fertilizers and chemical pesticides in order to flourish. One other reason I don't prefer hybrids is that due to the time it takes to create a reliable hybrid seed, there aren't that many varieties of each type of plant available, so your gardening choices are limited.

Heirloom seeds, on the other hand, can be saved from year to year, allowing you to save money and also invest yourself more deeply into your gardening. Heirloom seeds tend to adapt to their environments as well - learning to fight off pests, or withstand a drier climate, and so on - they tend to be hardier. Also, heirloom seeds come in lovely varieties, so the choices of colors, sizes, and flavors of your flowers and vegetables is nearly endless. Heirloom seeds can make experimenting in your garden much more fun!

We'll talk more about the benefits of heirloom seeds, and how they can be organically gardened as we go throughout the year.