Do you want to breed?

Seeds! I have seeds! And I have lots of them - more than I can use this spring. So if you would like some free seeds, pipe up here and I will send you some. Most packets that I've ordered come with 100-200 seeds. Some, like the corn, beans and peas, have less.

I just ordered these from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds:

Jaune Paille Des Vertus Onion
Stuttgarter Onion
Flat of Italy Onion
Calabrese Green Sprouting Broccoli
Romanesco Italia Broccoli
Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage
Bacalan De Rennes Cabbage
St. Valery Carrot
Parisienne Carrot
Muscade Carrot
Laurentian Rutabaga
Caraway
German Chamomile

And I ordered these from Cherry Gal:
BEAN, BUSH * BLACK TURTLE
BEAN, SOY * BLACK JET SOYBEAN
BEAN, BUSH * HUTTERITE SOUP
BEAN, BUSH * FIN DE BAGNOL
PEA, SHELLING * WAVEREX PETIT POIS
BEET * BUTTER SLICER
BEAN, POLE * TRUE RED CRANBERRY BEAN

Later this week, I'm going to order lettuces, spinach, peppers, chard, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumber, melons, corn and squashes. And about 10 different herbs, to be tucked in amongst the veggies.

So. I'm off to talk to some folk about manure.

warmest La Niña on record

from the WWF climate blog

Arctic Temperatures Continue Rapid Rise as 2011 Breaks Record Set in 2010

Published by Nick Sundt on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 18:52

NASA yesterday (19 January 2012) released data showing that last year temperatures in the Arctic rose beyond the record established in 2010 -- setting a new record for 2011. News of the record Arctic temperatures follows a series of alarming developments related to the Arctic in recent months.

Above: The surface temperature anomaly for the region extending from 64oN to 90oN, from 1880 through 2011, in degrees Centigrade above or below the temperature during the 1951-1980 base period.  The figures shows that temperatures have risen substantially since 1880 and that the rate of increase has been especially rapid since the late 1970s. Source: WWF, using data from NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Combined Land-Surface Air and Sea-Surface Water Temperature Anomalies, Zonal annual means.

( According to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) )