Seed order placed, finally

Some things just take time to think over. And  a seed order is no different. I have pondered the seed catalog all day long. The pictures are pretty and there are lots of things to choose from. So I made a list of things I needed and wanted and went online and finally placed an order. I think I have stated before that I was gonna be ordering from Baker Creek Seeds this year. They only sell heirloom varieties that are non GMO. And this is what I was looking for. For a total of $70 I now have my seeds on order. I have a lot of seeds saved from last year, so that helped keep cost down a good deal for me. An online chat buddy and fellow homesteader had told me that Baker Creek was sold out of a lot of seeds already and that prompted me to get in gear. When I was doing my online order I did notice that a few varieties that I had wanted were sold out. Nothing that I cant live without tho. I am getting a couple more herbs this year as well. I am going to try growing caraway for seed. And I also ordered an heirloom variety of parsley that gets taller than most I have seen. I may need to expand the herb bed again. That is provided I can get help moving dirt to fill one in. Didn't have much luck getting the strawberry bed expanded so I may be peeing in the desert trying to settle the dust here. Oh well, wont be my first rodeo.
I will spend some time tomorrow getting some things ready for butchering this weekend. I need to grind some hot pepper to mix with the salt/sugar cure for the meat that will be cured. I also need to get the salt and sugar mixed for the cure. Then its on to knife sharpening and rounding up large containers for the meat to be put in till it gets processed and put up. I am so excited to have good homemade country sage sausage again. And I am glad I have plenty of sage that we have grown to make it with. No chemicals in our meat here. I know lots of people use saltpeter in their curing meats but we don't here. All it really does is preserve the red color of the meat to make it look like store bought and it does have some antibacterial properties that prevent spoilage. I guess that would be OK to use if it was warm and there was a chance of the bacteria being able to live. We have a tendency to do things the old way and that is what we will be doing with the hog we are going to butcher. Now unless I have a mouse trap moment I will do my level best to take some pics and maybe video for the ones who might be interested in doing their own curing. I will include recipes in the form of instructions also for things like sausage and maybe souse meat if I can get the head cleaned to use for it. We shall see what Saturday holds for us.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella