starting seeds: week 1

After the end of the year holidays finally came to an end, I started going through my seeds and catalogs to figure out what to grow on our new homestead. After getting carried away ordering seeds and the like, I began planning out what needed to get started before our last frost. 

With the last projected frost date being around mid-May, it’s time to start some hot pepper boys and others that need all the time they can get to thrive outside. 

Back in Rhode Island, we had a successful year of hot peppers on our little ⅛ of an acre and they were so fun to grow! It seemed like everytime we went out back with the dogs, there were new flowers and new peppers to pick. Mike made a bright orange hot sauce from the habaneros and we were just about drowning in them, jalapenos and long red chilis. I can’t recommend them enough, as long as you’ll have a use for them~

Peppers(Hot) 

  • El Jefe
  • Amazing 2 F1
  • Numex Suave Orange
  • Helios F1
  • Cayenne Purple
  • Sugar Rush Peach
  • Arapaho F1

While some of these peppers are your more traditional finds at the grocery stores, I went with a hot purple cayenne from EdenBros seeds and a hot/sweet pepper from BakerCreek seeds. I really love the idea of having weird colored fruits and vegetables around the property and I’m excited to see how these lil babies do~

Strawberry

  • Elan F1
  • Yellow Alpine

I’ve not had the best luck with strawberries. I believe I bought slips in the past and promptly killed them, so I’m hoping starting from seeds might give me a better chance. I think the yellow alpine seeds are a bit old but they might surprise me.

Echinacea

  • White/Pink (unmarked in my seed collection)
  • Magnus
  • Cheyenne 

I grew one tall echinacea plant in our last summer in Rhode Island and it was such a bright spot in the garden. I’m hoping for a lot more this year so they can get established and give me some root medicine in a couple of years~ 

For week two I’ll be moving on to sweet peppers, eggplants, black eyed susans and oregano. I’m a bit scared to start all of these seeds without really having an idea of where they’ll end up outside but that’s half the fun of starting a garden~

🌿permaculture coloring

 Our Maine homestead will be my first and hopefully last big scale garden and already it has presented some planning challenges. Our property is pretty wooded, fairly rocky and a little oddly shaped and with our big plans that include orchards, tiny homes, and a hill garden, planning is very important. 

For the past few months I’ve been working through a permaculture certification course to become a permaculture teacher and freelancer. While working through the course, I’ve been doing exercises with permaculture maps. These maps have been so helpful in figuring out where I’d like garden items to go, what plants should go where and they’re so fun to draw. 

So far, I’ve mapped out the areas directly next to or near the house and have gone in depth with some of them in terms of structures, types of plants and water features. Some of these have wacky additions that may not reach the final planning stage but my permaculture-related goal is to find a balance between function and form.

Even if you don’t plan on drawing maps and being a freelance permaculture-ist, these maps can be really helpful and give you an excuse to buy some sweet colored pencils and relax with some of Maine’s recreational greens~

maps on maps

With my maps, I’ve broken them into sections so I can focus on one part of the property at a time. I start with drawing a rough approximation of the area and include pre-existing features like stone walls, utilities, trees and stumps among other things. Ideally, you’d want to take rough and refined measurements of the area so you can get a better idea of scale. Considering there’s a foot or so of snow and it feels like -1F outside, I’m waiting for a longer thaw to get measurements.

Once I’m happy with the layout, I think about what this part of the property is being used for, what sun/shade conditions exist and where the wind primarily blows from. (LINK- This can be helped by keeping a local weather journal) After the set up, I can now go crazy with ideas, layouts and specific plants I want in this area. 

Going into March, I’ve drawn six maps of growing areas around our home and already I’m thinking of ways I’ll need to adjust and omit some things in my designs. Thinking about implementing small water features, vine fences and secret garden areas has been so fun and I really recommend giving them a try.  

vanilla extract- a beginner’s DIY

I’ve been making my own vanilla extract for a few years now and while I don’t think I’ve tasted a difference, it’s a fun DIY that can also double as a cute gift for whoever in your life~

You only need 3 things and about 2 months, then you can show off and brag and beat people over the head with your weird new thing. 

two batches, ready to go~

Items:

  • Liquor (Vodka, Brandy, Bourbon, Rum, pretty much whatever you have on hand that’s unflavored and high proof)
  • Whole vanilla bean (bought for a ludicrous amount of money at any grocery store)
  • A jar to combine the two 

Process:

  • Cut open the pod and chop roughly 
    • I’ve seen a couple of tutorials on prepping the vanilla but for my previous batches, I’ve had luck with just chopping the bean a couple of times then transferring it to the jar. Feel free to experiment~
  • Add vanilla to jar then liquor, pouring to top of jar
  • Seal, shake and date the container
  • Store in a dry pantry or cabinet and forget about it for a couple of months
  • Then find it in the pantry and use it for baking, mixed drinks, or just smell the bottle of homemade vanilla~
  • If you’re gifting bottles you could choose to strain the extract if you rather not have floaties but I’ve left them in mine with no issues
store in a cool, dry place and keep your spices company

I’ve made about five batches of extract using different liquors but I can’t say I notice a difference between spirits. I do have two jars going at the moment, one in bourbon and whiskey (+ added cinnamon stick~) so perhaps these will have imbued the extract with woody flavors. In the future I’d like to try and make blends of vanilla and orange to get really bougie but having the real stuff on hand is fine too.