Whew, this has been a busy week around here, even though I have been on vacation from work.  In fact, I think I have worked more this week than normal, and I can sure tell it.  I need a vacation!

Before I get to the accomplishments of the week, let me share a few pictures I have taken of some seed I was sent a week or so ago:

Dutch Brown (Bean) Cross

Dutch Brown (Bean) Cross

 

Harmony Flour Corn

Harmony Flour Corn

 

Joseph's Popcorn 2014

Joseph’s Popcorn 2014

 

Glass Gem Corn

Glass Gem Corn

 

New Popcorn

Unnamed Popcorn from Roadside Stand

All of this except the last picture came from Joseph Lofthouse, who I consider to be one of the premier Landracing Proponents right now.  The last popcorn came from another gardener in Indiana who happened to pick the popcorn cobb up from a roadside stand in Kentucky.

The big activity regarding homesteading this week has been the 2014 popcorn trials.  Yes, I know it is 2015, but I was doing popping trials on my 2014 popcorn.  I am almost done now, and there will be a post later this week or next week telling all about it; however, the most important part is I am happy how well things are popping.

You may be wondering why I am doing the popcorn trials.  There will be more details, I am sure, in an upcoming post, but basically I am trying to find which of the corn cobbs pop the best for selectively saving seed.  The point being to improve the crop year over year, ultimately getting to the point I am growing a great popping corn that tastes much better than what you might get in the store.

The other big homesteading activity of the week has been garden planning.  Our garden is many times larger this year than it was last year, which is going to allow me to do a number of things, not the least of which is have a more viable population for seed saving.  I still have a little work to do on my garden plan for the year, but I should be able to share how it looks in a week or two.

Speaking of gardening, can you believe it will be time to start growing some cold weather crops like peas in just a couple of months!  Wow, how time flies!  More to come on that too.