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Bedford Ramblings
Steve Mills
Steve Mills and his wife have one daughter. They previously owned two coffee/ice cream shops, currently operate an internet sales company and teach classes, but his primary job involves the paper industry worldwide. Hobbies and interests lie in gardening, photography, recorded music and of course, their pets.
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Middle TN Seed Swap is over. Great turnout.

Posted Thursday, January 9, 2014, at 2:41 PM
Be sure to come visit, seeds or no seeds.

I could give you all the info here, but why don't you go here https://www.facebook.com/events/197040893814452/ and read it directly. Then while you are there, maybe join us on the Facebook group?

It is like Weed'em and Reap. No dues, officers, etc., just gardeners chatting online. And LOCAL at that!

There is one part I will copy and paste here. ***IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY SEEDS: Come on anyway! Many of us have an abundance of seeds (especially cosmos and zinnias) that we will happily share for free!

There is no better way to get started saving seeds than to mix with those that do. I went last year with nothing but me and they STILL let me in the door. (I got to eat roasted Jerusalem artichokes for the first time)

I have my seed orders from Pinetree and Baker Creek all ready but will hold off until I come back from there. Who knows what I will find?

Last year I came back with an issue of Mother Earth News that had an acquaintance of mine on the cover! I never could find reference to him in the magazine, but hey, it was neat anyway.

I sure hope nothing gets in my way of going. I can't go to the Fall plant swap because of the Bell Buckle Art and Craft Fair (Webb Fair)and I missed of few of these January ones, but after going last year, I will try a LOT harder.

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  • What a beeeautiful day and what a difference from last weekend. It may be too wet to drag in some log but surely is too beautiful to waste inside.

    Guess I will do some tractor maintenance and then set up the bathtub gardens along with a few tire gardens I plan to use for herbs.

    It is also a great time to get some winter sowing in. This will be a topic discussed at the Seed swap mentioned above.

    I doubt that I can use plastic jugs since our dogs, especially PITA, will probably not be able to resist the temptation, but I will try a few.

    Instead, I will do it in my garden tubs and tires. After preparing the soil and seeding, I can easily cover them with glass or plastic.

    My challenge with these will be to keep the cats from jumping on top and caving it in (or breaking the glass). I can stop that with the cold frame because the glass is slanted, but the others will have relatively flat surfaces.

    Then, if the body holds up, I will rework the garden beds around the greenhouse. They have been neglected way too long and could be much more productive than just growing iris or lemon mint.

    Whew! I'm tired already just thinking about it. Maybe it is time for a nap. :-)

    -- Posted by stevemills on Sat, Jan 11, 2014, at 12:12 PM

  • I don't have much to trade, but I'm still going to try to make it. Real nice people there...

    -- Posted by espoontoon on Wed, Jan 15, 2014, at 6:43 AM

  • They are nice, aren't they. Occasionally I run into someone who reminds me of the "flower children" of the 70's, but for the most part they are everyday gardeners who enjoy taking care of their part of nature.

    I forgot that I had a class scheduled for this Saturday, but the students were understanding. Not that I told them I wanted to go swap some seeds. I vaguely remember an Aunt who had died several time years ago but is now back, or something like that. :-) (Sorry Aunt Madeline)

    -- Posted by stevemills on Wed, Jan 15, 2014, at 7:49 AM

  • Any chance for a carpool?

    -- Posted by Palindrome on Fri, Jan 17, 2014, at 12:07 PM

  • I can get three people up there, but I have an eBay consultation scheduled after that, so I will be going a different direction when I leave.

    Anyone else able to bring them back?

    -- Posted by stevemills on Fri, Jan 17, 2014, at 12:49 PM

  • Remember, you don't need to have saved seeds. You could bring some drinks, something to eat or as I am doing, bringing magazines and other publications to give away.

    While some will bring baggies to make it easier to share, bring some of your own if you think you will be wanting some seeds. Never too many baggies.

    -- Posted by stevemills on Sat, Jan 18, 2014, at 7:52 AM

  • There was a really strong turnout for the seed swap although not many of us came from Bedford County. I had to leave about a half hour early but I would bet there were still a lot of seeds for the taking.

    I didn't get my baked Jerusalem artichokes this year but the food was great anyway.

    Ruby and her son gave a presentation on winter sowing. Made me feel a little guilty for throwing out all those empty mill jugs, but I still have a few and will probably try some Chinese cabbage and maybe tomatoes later in February.

    I forgot to mention that my Chinese cabbage in my bathtub garden survived that bone chilling, single digit weather last week. I forgot to put the glass back on and luckily the first night had a blanket of snow. That probably made the difference.

    -- Posted by stevemills on Sat, Jan 18, 2014, at 9:12 PM

  • Thank you to all who organized this event. https://www.facebook.com/events/197040893814452/ Heather-Lin claims to not have done much, but from the turn-out, she did a lot.

    -- Posted by stevemills on Sun, Jan 19, 2014, at 9:45 AM
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