Spring is in the Air!!

Hi everyone!! Sorry for the long absence here. Hubby and I just returned from visiting his family in Mississippi. (Yes, we are responsible for bring this gorgeous weather back to northern Illinois!! :)) Seriously, though, we are enjoying this (hopeful) jump into spring. We were hoping to get the peas, carrots, and onions planted in the garden yesterday, but our yard is still much too wet. I'm hoping that the next few days of sunshine and breezes will do the job.


So, instead of planting outdoors, we planted indoors. Well, transplanted indoors. The seedlings that we started, including tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, and broccoli were outgrowing their starter pots and needed to be replanted into bigger pots. Now they have plenty of room to grow and get nice and big before their final planting in the ground.


Do you know you don't need any kind of fancy pots to grow seedlings? While I do start my seedling in 'cells' in a miniature 'greenhouse' planter, the bigger seedlings get transplanted into whatever is available. This year we used 7oz. plastic drinking cups. In the past we've used small yogurt containers or washed-out containers that quart-size plants come in. Plants aren't fussy--they'll continue growing in whatever kind of container you have. As long as conditions are right, plants have a God-given desire to GROW and PRODUCE!


It's getting warm enough that I'll soon be able to start cooking over the open fire in my cast iron pans. I'm excited for that and excited to do some posts on the yummy things that cook so easily that way!


I was able to use the clothesline yesterday for the first time this year. I love how the clothesline not only saves money and wear-and-tear on the dryer, but it also makes your clothes smell fabulous!! It's as easy as stringing some clothesline rope between a few trees! Give it a try this year. Enjoy the sun's energy, enjoy fresher-smelling clothes, and enjoy 'being green' in the easiest way! And on that note, here's an article I saw on Yahoo about how often clothes should be washed. If you're an over-washer you can save time and money by wearing your apparel a few more times before a wash.


Prep On!
Gen-IL Homesteader

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