Garden Smart Contest

Yep, another one. This time it's a monthly from Garden Smart TV:

How Garden Smart are You? Let's find out.

We're having a Garden Smart gardening Trivia Contest!

Each month we'll post a new set of questions and pick a Monthly Winner from the viewers who enter.
The winner will receive a Gardeners & Naturals gift basket from CRABTREE & EVELYN and a 250 Gift Certificate from WAYSIDEGARDENS.
All winners will have their names posted on our web site and receive a gardening gift.
No purchase is necessary.

I'd love to win this one. Good luck, y'all!

Winter Sowing Will Have To Wait

Yeah, another shameless plug for winter sowing.
:)
I can't help it - so many people are just salivating over seed catalogs and waiting impatiently for spring.
Why? Start 'em now people. Yeah, in the dead of winter! Go play in dirt in Jan, Feb, March...you get the idea. Get some milk jugs (or whatever containers on hand that will work) and go for it.

I gave my own advice last year and learned to start mine a little later here in zone 5.

I don't have a choice about it this year, though. Temps yesterday were -13. Yes, you read right: 13 below zero. Ugh! And the forecast is calling for record temps of a possible 60 in the coming week. Unreal. So, I'll hold off until the temps even out a little. Well, maybe, just maybe, I'll throw some lupine seeds out there - they can take it!

I found some seed on clearance at Kinney's yesterday (along with some Charlie for a Christmas gift!). My youngest son is on this 'hot' food kick. He puts hot sauce on just about everything that's going to touch his lips. Oh, to be that young again! Flammable hot wings are history for this aged digestive tract. ~sigh~ Anyhoo, I found a clearance pack of jalapeno peppers and snatched them up. Maybe this will be the key to getting him interested in gardening? ~wink, wink~ And they had a packet of Armenian cukes that I've been wanting to try. Well, I do have trellis room and who can resist 3 foot cucumbers? Yes, I know they aren't really cukes, but I haven't run accross one person yet that didn't sing their praises!

And just as a mention: Jung seeds (catalog page 5) is offering 'Margaret's Peppers'. Caption - This superb pepper was presented to us by Margaret Gubin, a long-time Jung customer from Cambria, Wisconsin, who urged us to produce it for our customers. The original seed was hand-carried from Hungary to the U.S. by a family member and seed stock was carefully maintained by Margaret for over 50 years. Margaret lost her valiant fight against cancer in 2005, but her legacy continues with this first production of her pepper. In her memory, we are donating 25 cents of every packet sold toward cancer research.

If you already order from them, why not add a packet to that order?

After-Christmas Sales Rock

Oh, man! Talk about a deal. Almost as good as the sale I got way back when.

4 Poinsettias (pots of 3 - red, white, salmon) = .50 cents each.
My grandmother had one she kept coming back for years and years, so for 2 bucks, what the hay, I'll give it a shot! Besides, the large pots themselves were worth the 50 cents. And the hubs makes cardboard boxes, so shouldn't be hard to get some for their 'dark' phase. lol.

5 Cyclamens = .50 cents each. And with pretty, hot pink and gold, woven pot covers! Yeah, another you have to diddle with to come back, but I'm game for the try. My problem is going to be letting them go dormant, I can see it now.

4 Christmas Cactus = .25 cents each. Can you believe I've never had one? Yes, I am hanging my head in shame. What kind of a gardener am I, anyway? Gave one to the oldest daughter to try.

$5.50 for $215.00 worth of plants! Yeah, us geeks actually figured out what they would have been at normal price. Ha! I'm ecstatic!

So, then we hit Kmart's 50% off sale. And . . . I am almost done with my parents for next Christmas! Unreal! I've never been this far ahead. Ever. I've found things here and there sometimes at after Christmas sales, but this was a wicked hit when they still had good stuff left. And I only spent 40 bucks. 40 bucks! I'll still have to get them a few more things, like some Charlie for my step-mom, but dang!

Ran into AC Moore's quick to see if I could find some Christmas stamps for the seedcards next year, and lo and behold - a whole stamp set, ink and all, for 4 bucks! And the hubs actually found it! Good thing he did because some guy came up behind him about twenty seconds later and took ever single one that was still on the shelf!
Oh, and cute little ornament kits for the kids to make as a gift for step-mom for .40 cents. The youngest and I try to find something cool and 'crafty' to do for her every year, so this was perfect.

What a great weekend.
:)