The Maxwell House

The first seed catalog arrived in the mail this past week, from Fedco. The timing of these catalogs is always perfect, as December is far enough away from September that I’ve recovered from the end of year gardening rush and am ready to once again commence planning the following year’s garden. I’m also experimenting growing some lettuce and kale in containers in the windowsill. These were originally put in an Eastern facing window (most kid inaccesible) but have since been moved onto a sill that receives southern exposure. All 5 whopping hours of exposure. As you can guess, these little plants look super wimpy and chlorotic. Next winter I think I’ll wait until after the winter solstice to plant them.

Winter is also a good time to peruse local Gardening blogs to see fellow Alaskan’s successes and failures. Here are some of my local favorites:

• 98% Organic in Alaska
• Alaska Suburban Farmstead
• Gardening Gone Bad
• Last Frontier Garden
• Wasilla Alaska Garden Adventures
• Woodside Gardens

And now, a photo because blogs are supposed to have photos, and I didn’t have the heart to snap a picture of my spindly little winter seedlings:

Because today this little dude is 10 months old, and I need a reminder of how small and immobile he once was 😉

I think I’ve posted this before, but here are some helps for saving you a few bucks during this shopping season (late, I know!!):

Ebates – Ebates offers cash back for purchases through their portal. The amount of cash back is usually between 1%-5%. Even if you’re only purchasing a low-cost item, the rebates add up. When I’m tempted to skip this step during shopping, I often ask myself, “If I saw a nickel lying on the street would I bend down to pick it up?” As long as it’s not encased in doggie poo, the answer is “yes”. Ebates even offers cash back for shopping at Ebay. Not yet a member? Be a pal and use my referral link. Or don’t. Whatever.

RetailMeNot – Online coupon codes for all major stores, and many lesser known shopping venues as well. A comments section allows you to see which codes are working and which are out of date.

Swagbucks – Start your shopping research here, and you’ll have a bit of extra “swag” in no time. Just by using this search engine a couple of times a day I generally earn one $5 Amazon gift card a month.

I wish I remembered to use these sites more often than I do. The work is very minimal (unlike some of the other points/$$ earning sites) and the payout is small but free.