Pam Kennedy

I so appreciate these suggestions for using those wonderful but ubiquitous  (in my house!) jars. But it feels at times like a huge promotion for Amazon, which I do not use.

I am so frustrated with toasters. In winter we keep our wood cook stove going and grilling is easy. But when the stove isn’t going we do use an electric toaster. We have been through a few in the last few years, including an expensive toaster over. I want to find a reliable and simple toaster or an alternative method of toasting bread when we are not using our wood stove.  HELP!

I am late to this thread but want to,give a library. I solicit seeds from great seed companies like Baker Creek, Seed Savers Exchange and our own High Mowing. The seeds are from the previous year and usually have good viability. We purge the collection each fall, discarding those that are past a reasonable viability rate. Some volunteers take them home to try, some seeds become compost. We also encourage folks to save donate some back to the seed library. We provide seeds to lots of gardeners and homesteaders as well as community gardens and schools. We also encourage the establishment of other seed libraries.

Here in northeastern Vermont it was hot and dry early in the season, causing carrots and beets not to germinate despite watering. Then the rest of the summer was damp, cloudy, cool and downright rainy! So greens loved it and flowers. Tomatoes, potatoes and other vegetables we usually count on, not so much! It was our. Second year using a hoop house for some vegetables and it was more successful. If we were ten years younger we would put in a second! Garlic was great and zucchini kept producing until this week. Reliable beans were great. Lesson learned? Diversify as much as you can so that some crops are a success. Extend the season and protect from pests (we are directly in a deer path and had our first ever woodchuck…and a bear destroyed our corn field! Keep experimenting with companion planting, succession planting (kale and turnips planted where the garlic was are still going strong), new varieties and learn from other gardeners!

I stopped doing any business with Amazon a number of years ago for a number of reasons. How else can I get this book?

I use this tradition to write real letters to family and friends who live far away. I changed them to solstice cards and currently use woodland themed winter cards from Etsy  - hoping to make my own in the near future. I give myself all the way until the end of January so that I can think and write personally. I have also heard of folks doing New Years or Valentine’s Day cards instead…

I really enjoyed Katrina Rodabaugh’s books on mending and creating. Pretty inspiring for keeping clothes going! I buy very little and get attached to old clothes so I really appreciate her information n “visible mending”. Thrift and creativity!

I use mason jars for everything, all kinds of storage, dispensing, fermenting. But most accessories are available from other places besides Amazon, which seems to be the primary source you cite. I stopped doing business with that greedy enterprise a number of years ago and search out other merchants. Luckily the Mason Jar company is a great place to find what you need!