Itsumo Mawaru

Here is how I make up my seed packages. I used the ideas from this blog entry but modified it for ease of production.

Here’s what you’ll need:

A seed package template, I made mine out of a cereal box. A page from a catalog, I’ve used my old Veseys wildflower catalog as it has lots of nice pictures. A marker to trace the template onto the catalog page, and scissors to cut it out. Tape of any sort to construct the package, a label (I used CD labels as that’s what I had on hand) a pen to label with, and of course your seeds.

Step 1: Trace the template onto your catalog sheet and cut them out. I can fit a good number onto each sheet. At this rate I might use up this catalog in a decade!

Step 2: Use your template to fold the paper. I have a mark on my template that shows where I need to fold, so I can leave the template open and just fold over the paper, which speeds up production.

Step 3: Tape up the sides of the envelope. I cut a long length of tape and leave it hanging off the edge of my desk. Open up the top flap, align the tape with the open edge of the envelope, then carefully press it down along the envelope’s length.

Then I put the envelope on the desk and carefully bend the tape over the other side. I smoosh it down with the back of my fingernail to make sure it’s really tight.

Voila, your seed envelope is ready to be filled!

I secure the envelope flap with another piece of tape, and add a label on the front.

Look at the wide array of seeds I’ve collected so far this year! I really like how the packages look similar yet different. I appreciate that they are all the same size, it makes storing them much easier. I can’t wait to use these seeds next year!

My mother and I attended this year’s Rural Ramble. It is quite fortunate, we have a cottage in Quadeville, Ontario, which is in the Renfrew Valley. It acted as our home base for the weekend. It was quite nice to be able to come back and relax after spending all of Saturday out exploring!

Here are some pictures from that weekend!

Of course I have tons more pictures from the weekend. They have all been organized in Flickr, so here’s a link to the master collection where you can see them all.

Country Life: A handbook for realists and dreamers, by Paul Heiney, 1998, DK Publishing.
Rating:

Come on, who can argue with a title like that? I’m both a dreamer and realist, so this book appealed to me right off the bat!

Another thing that appealed to me even before opening the book was the cover, which includes many items photographed on a white background. I’ve found that any book which has such pictures tends to be a high quality book filled with great information, thankfully this is true with this book as well.

Country Life covers all sorts of topics related to having a farm in the country, from tending the grounds to producing food and animals, to using these items in their final products. The book dedicates pairs of information-packed pages to the most common of animals (chicken, ducks, geese, sheep, goats, pigs, cows, horses) as well as casually covering other less common animals (bees, rabbits, alpacas and llamas). The book also contains an in-depth evaluation into farming fields of hay/corn as well as fostering a great pasture. While the book does contain information on growing vegetables and fruits, the information is not as in depth as can be found in more dedicated bo0ks such as The Self Sufficient Gardener by John Seymour.

That said, I find this book has immense value because it is not as in depth as other books are. Country Life is the perfect book to keep on your coffee table, to casually flip through when you have a moment or for curious visitors to gain more insight into what you do. The visual design of the book is such that one can open it to a random page and learn a new fact in a few seconds, or can equally read the book from cover to cover.

The only way I could see this book being improved is if it contained more information of what to do with the produced items. Only the last twenty or so pages is about this topic, and covers such mundane and well discussed items as making bread and preserves. I would like to see more artistic and creative endeavours included. The book is admittedly aimed at people who do not intend to make this into a profitable venture, so it would have been nicer to see more information on doing things which are also not profitable, such as processing the fleece from start to finish, or creating baskets of goods for friends.

Country Life is a book I will be adding to my permanent collection. It reminds me greatly of those educational casual encyclopedia-style books I read while growing up, and in the same vein it delivers a great amount of information in a fun to read format. I rate this book 4.5 stars out of 5, and would highly recommend this book to anyone looking at starting a small farm.