4th February 2010

SweetPea basically has no voice starting yesterday and so after a call into the midwife and , she said it was probably the lack of humidity in the house as it is only 22% in here, although it is 98% outside. So we are spending the day near a "humidifier" and just relaxing for a day to make sure she is ok. I am going through my seeds and getting out what I want to plant this year, although all 3 of my heirloom watermelon varieties have seemed to gone AWOL. I will have to see if I can get some more quickly. I can start planting some things right now if I wanted to, but I will have to clean up the garden area and get rid of the fallen apples and leaves. Tilling the new section will be sometime in March.

Picture Left: Sorting out my tomato and pepper seeds.

Yesterday I also ordered my ancient apple and pear trees, along with some unusual varieties of strawberries. I did also order 5 kinds of blueberries, but my online order crashed and I forgot to add them back on until now.

One of the pears varieties I got is a Bon Chretien d'Hiver scion and I get them free from a source here in Oregon, although I have to buy the rootstock to graft them to for $3.00 each. The Bon Chretien d'Hiver  is from France via Italy in 1485. It is established that it was imported into France from Italy by Charles VIII on his conquest of the kingdom  of Naples. It is a first class cooking pear. The other pear I ordered if also an antiquity.

I asked for 6 different varieties of antique apples as well.