Seedlets!!!

How unbelievably cute are these?! Look at them. So adorable. My little tomato babies. I don't think I'd make it through January without them. Got some more gardening books from the library last night. The more big, glossy color photos the better. Green keeps the winter depression at bay.

So, I am reading a fascinating book called Urban Homesteading. It has a lot of information, probably more than I will ever need (or want) such as how to make flour from acorns. (?!) But on a less extreme level, it has a lot of good information. I'm still kicking around the chicken idea. I think I could handle three. I think we'd have enough space for three, realistically. That would get us two eggs a day on average. Not bad. I've got to do some more reading. Marc is far from sold on the idea. and I hardly have the money right now to be building a chicken coop. That, and they say the best way to do it is to raise the chicks yourself, so they are used to you and are calm around people. However, I think my cats might be a problem. As they said in the book, Chicks make the best cat toys ever! (Squeaky! Fluffy! Tasty!)

So, my boss ordered me some bees for this spring! He has a small orchard, and gets bees every spring to pollinate the trees. These are different from honeybees, they are solitary, so they don't have a queen. Each female lays her own eggs. And on a fascinating side note, the females can choose wether the eggs will be male or female. If they get sperm, which the female can save separately and use at her own will, they will be female. If she chooses not to add sperm, they will end up male. Apparently, they make girls first and boys later. They only live as adult bees for 8 weeks, but they lay eggs and grow in cocoons for the rest of the year. Again, starting small, but I think I can handle it. I am ordering a little house that has paper tubes under a little roof for the females to lay their eggs in. It should be interesting if nothing else.