Hello, seedsters!

How is my seed family doing? Please check in below (even if it's simply to say 'here') so that I know you are all doing okay! I worry about you guys, but hopefully you and yours are all doing well and are safe, happy, and healthy. If you check in below and let the rest of us know you are still okay, I think we will all sleep a little easier.

Also, just a note, but depending how things go with the coronavirus, I may make some necessary changes to the normal way the swap is done. I will post updates as we get closer to swap #8. (If you haven't signed up for swap #8, please do so now so that you are sure to get updates as they are posted.)

With love and warm hugs,

DnD

(Also, I want to thank all of you for your patience as I am gone from garden.org for longer stretches of time right now. My time is gobbled up by an adorable little creature that still doesn't sleep the night but loves filling up the hours during the day being by my side and blowing bubbles and raspberries to keep us amused.)

Hi DND!

It's sweet of you to worry about all of us! I'm fine. Major outbreak in NYC but expected. Kinda eerie with so many people at home so hardly any traffic and mass transit is pretty empty too. Most everything is shut down so no place to go anyway.

I can't stay home because of my job (I work in healthcare) but right now I'm on vacation. I'll see what it's like going back to work on Monday.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe!

Hi Dnd!

Thanks for asking! I hope you and your family and all our "seedsters" and their families stay well.

I'm okay for now. A good friend is waiting on test results. Her possible exposure was AFTER we had her over for supper.
I started a 1 day a week home medication setup up route, so I'm back into healthcare in a small way.
However, I have a bit of chloroquine left over from malaria prevention on various Central American medical mission trips, so I'm better prepared than most.
We always keep a month or more supply of stuff in case of emergencies, so our "stocking up" didn't even take half a shopping cart. Mainly it was gloves, alcohol wipes and hand sanitizer for my job, because I'm betting the company I work for will get in a crunch and not be able to supply them.

There's never been a better time to grow your own food at home!

Elena - Let me know what it is like when you go back. I can only imagine how strange it must be to go from the hustle and bustle of normal life where you life....to lockdown or lockdown-like status. Wow. And thank you for your service in the medical field. Right now, being in the medical field seems as heroic as being on the front lines of a war.

DraDiana said:
There's never been a better time to grow your own food at home!

So true! I was thinking about how grateful I was for us to have been able to have the seed swap this past season and even just to be able to grow my own food in a garden. I am late getting my seeds going this year, at least for some things, but better late than never!

We are doing well here in western PA too. I worry about my 91-year-old dad, but he is bravely downing a teaspoon of my sister's elderberry tincture every day, as it is supposed to improve immunity. We also are drinking sassafras at the moment, so liver cancer may get us before the virus does! (Just kidding.) I actually had to work at a special election earlier this week, but don't seem to have suffered any ill effects from that. We may have to cancel a writers' conference we hold every summer at a local college, though, as registrations have dropped to zero at the moment.

On the up side, all the flowers are very early this year. The crocuses are blooming now, and we have both daffodil and primrose buds already.

Hey Libby,
I can just imagine you with Phoenix bubbles blowing. Enjoy these days. They pass all too quickly.

OK Here. We've had a few deaths in the state and the number of cases goes up on a scary scale every day, especially in an area near us. Since I recently had spine surgery, have a compromised immune system from a couple of medical conditions and, (Sigh) I'm almost 60, I've been playing it safe and just staying at home.

I'm starting an Ebay/Poshmark resale business so I've had lots to do at home.

I pray all of our seedy friends stay well. God bless you all.

I am over sixty Leslie

Lots of cases and several deaths around us here ,

You all stay well City ,town , closes thru 8 to 10 pm. here
Tomorrow it goes into ordered absolute ,

Prayers are always a good idea ,, again careful and stay well all ,

At work now and it's very quiet. All elective procedures have been canceled and almost all visitors are barred. The few visitors allowed in are screened for any sign of the virus.

The number of cases here is rising fast but we have a really high density of people so it's expected. I'm lucky in that I don't have to take public transportation to get to work. But now that lockdown is in place, there are very few people out and about so I guess it wouldn't be so bad.

I'm lucky. I can go in the backyard and do some gardening to get out of the house. I feel awful for all the people that live in apartment buildings who are stuck inside.

So I hope everyone stays well and takes all necessary precautions. It isn't just visibly sick people spreading this virus so remember to keep washing those hands for 20 seconds and not touching your face!

I live in a rural area but I work for a bread company & my job is to stock the bread the route guy left in the back room. This last week has been easy/waste of time & gas because shelves are cleaned out & there's no backstock. I live in Arkansas but am only a couple miles from the Louisiana line & where one parish connects to another parish. So within a 30 miles radius I'm near the Arkansas county I live in & 2 Louisiana parishes. Every one of them have had 1 or 2 confirmed cases but most are in the larger cities like Little Rock or Shreveport.

My husband is on oxygen all the time & has numerous health issues such as COPD, congestive heart failure, etc. & he's 60 so he's really nervous. He wants me to ask for a leave of absence but I just don't see them giving me one or me having a job in a few months. I'll turn 50 next month & I'm a college drop out with no other job skills other than retail so realistically I don't see me having an easy time getting a job. I don't want to get sick or bring something home to him So I've told him I'm watching & waiting & will reassess every few days.Meanwhile, I am taking what precautions I can.

I had missed church for the last month due to work & so I went this past Sunday. The best way to explain it is that I needed my batteries recharged, especially as it looks like we won't be meeting for awhile. The preacher recorded the sermon & said he should be getting the equipment in to live stream & he'll start doing that.

Sunday was also the day my cousin's husband & son were buried. Not many people knew it was going to be that soon because it was a murder/suicide & the family still had their GoFundMe up trying to cover costs. My cousin is still in the hospital & has not awakened. It's a messed up situation. My cousin & her husband were always partiers, drinking, later drugs. Last year she really started to quit all that & started going to church. I think her husband may have also quit but I don't know for sure. They lived in a mobile home behind the husband's parents' house. The son told the grandparents he was going to kill his parents with a baseball bat. Afterwards, he came back & killed himself in front of them. With this quarantine, people don't know what to do. I mean, we don't know what to say in situations like this anyway but we always took food to people, let them talk or cry or scream, just let it out. We are praying my cousin isn't brain dead & that when she wakes up, she doesn't immediately remember what happened.

Sorry to be so heavy.

Kathy, besides handwashing, and guarding against catching the infection yourself, you might consider this: When you get home, I suggest you go straight to the washing machine and drop all your clothes in it, then go straight to the shower. If you don't catch it yourself, that should keep any virus from contaminating your house.

Doing okay here. Not much excuse to not be doing my gardening chores.

Some gardening , some blooms after 8 pm quiet town , virus everyplace ,
staying in noodles roots and nuts to chew on , All pretty good considering the going's on ,


Daffy outside

Kathy - wow. I am completely stupefied. Those sorts of things are the sorts of horrors that we hear about on the news but never imagine it to happen to anyone we know. It is incredible and deeply saddening to hear about it happening in your family/circle of people. Tragic barely begins to describe it and I hope, like you, that your cousin pulls through this okay and isn't brain damaged or immediately traumatized by the memory of what happened. The brain does process things as we sleep, however, and it is entirely possible that a coma might be necessary for her mind to psychologically work through what she has been through. She will need a lot of love and support when she comes out on the other end. I can't even imagine being in her shoes. Or yours. As to the virus...please be careful. We need people responsible for food and food deliveries to continue, but if there's nothing to transport, I hope that you have the ability to stay at home or continue to do things in safe, clean spaces.

Jim - thank you for sharing the beauty of your garden with us. I have daffodils here, too, that are just on the verge of blooming.

Diana - Good advice. I am one o fthe lucky ones that can hole myself up in our house and not really have to go out much, but I did need clothes in the next size range for my little girl just the last couple of weeks and so I bought a lot of second-hand clothes from someone looking to get rid of all of theirs. The way I treated the clothes and the bags they came in, you would have thought that they were covered with flesh-eating bacteria or something.

Her kids made a Facebook group so people can leave encouraging words & thoughts, & give everyone an update. I took a screenshot to show how far she's come. I believe this is a miracle.

Wow! That's awesome.

Kathy, I am so sorry to her of your family's tragedy, but what a miracle that your cousin is making a rapid recovery. I hope she is able to go home to her kids very soon.

My husband and I are staying home, except for driving 10 miles a couple of times a week to check our little ranch, where we see cows and a horse, but no people. I do have to drive 90 miles tomorrow to an oncology clinic for the monthly infusion that suppresses my immune system and prevents rejection of my transplanted kidney. I don't like going to an area with confirmed cases of the virus, but the infusion is absolutely necessary.

The clinic called Friday to question me about health and travel and asked me to wear a mask or bandana over my face when I come in. They will screen me again when I arrive. I'm pleased they are being careful, though I will wash and use hand sanitizer frequently. I know they clean the chairs after each patient, so I won't take my spray cleaner with bleach, though it's tempting.

Other than that, I will pick up a small order of supplies curbside at a grocery store and head home. The supplies, all nonperishables, will sit in their bags in the back of the van for several days before I touch them. I'll still throw away the bags, wipe down the stuff, and then sterilize the countertop. I even sanitize my hands after handling the mail. My husband objects to my making him do the same, but he does it nonetheless.

My garden is way behind as the wonderful soaking rains have given the weeds and trash grass a huge head start. The oaks which cover our acre and a half are in full pollen mode, and when I mow or even just work outside, my allergies attack. There's a coating of yellow-green pollen crud on everything, I'm hoping the rain expected tomorrow will wash the rest of the pollen out of the trees and clean everything off.

If anyone wants veggie seeds, let me know. I seem to have accumulated an abundance and am happy to share. Some varieties do very well in pots on the porch or patio.

I pray that the virus is gone very soon and that all of you and your families stay well.

Thank you Dnd for starting this thread and to all of you who have checked in.

God bless to all of you. Your trials & tribulations, sickness, unexpected deaths and even those we see coming, new life and so much more all take their toll. It's good to have a place you can come to share, vent, cry, laugh & rejoice, I am soo grateful for your association and the support given each other by this wonderful community; no judgments just an ear to lend.

Here in CO we've officially been under 'stay at home' orders for a couple of weeks. I've been under self quarantine for about 10 days longer than that. I manage a local coffee shop. About 80% of our visitors are new, many of them just in from the airport or on the way to the airport. We had a customer from the ski area towns in working on his computer for about 3 hrs in our shop. He called us a few days later to tell us that he had symptoms and was doing his own self quarantine. We thought it only prudent to do the same. We closed up shop and haven't been open since. Luckily my husband is deemed an essential worker, he delivers bread regionally for Bimbo. Also luckily, he drives a semi and is just delivering to the warehouses, not the individual stores so his exposure is very low.

I am very happy to have been participating in the seed swaps for the last few years. Especially in light of the word from my main seed company. They have been filling orders as fast as possible, but have purposely slowed some things down and are doing their part to reduce the spread so are operating with just a partial staff. They've gotten angry e-mails and even death threats from people who are all of a sudden, desperate to grow their own food. Makes me very sad. I have a very nice stockpile of seeds, so didn't have to put in a panic order. I've always focused on mainly edibles so I'm ahead of the game there. I have started quite a few out in buckets. Even here in CO some things have started sprouting and are on their way to being on a table. Mustard greens have been the best. I think I planted them late Feb or early March. Didn't do a thing to them and when the weather was right they started sprouting (there is a reason they are so invasive!)

Everyone take care and hang in there. I think the nationwide peak of this thing is still a few weeks away, then who knows how long that peak will last. If anyone needs any help, please post it, someone here may be able to be that help. Love you all.

Karen

I had to take my sister to her cancer doctor in Shreveport, LA which is about an hour from me. Actually just to get her port flushed. She works at a grocery store & one of her customers had made her a mask so she brought it just in case. I decided it would be best to stay in the car. When she came out she said they took her temperature & asked if she had a mask so she put it on. They gave her a pair of gloves so I'm sure they would have given her a mask too if she didn't already have one. And I'm betting I would have been turned away so that they could save that mask & gloves for the next person.

The towns near me on the Louisiana side seem to have curfews. The town I actually live in only has about 300 people & 2 gas stations & a restaurant as the only businesses so I don't count it as significant. The next town over is 25 miles & that's where most of us shop, work, etc. I honestly can't tell the difference. Seems to be even more people. Today I have been looking for ONE can of Lysol or wipes. Something for my car because I ran out & I just like to give myself a sanitizing spray before going home. I may just buy a tub of baby wipes & pour 60 proof rubbing alcohol or whiskey or Dr. Tishener's in it. I need to get some zinc, coral calcium, & Manuka honey but I just can't face going to Wal-Mart. I have to work there tomorrow morning & am dreading it. They've implemented this new set-up where we are all lined up & piled up to get in & get out in the same door. I think a better system would be have everyone enter at the grocery side or the GM side, & exit the other. And allow anyone elderly or disabled to cut in line to get in or out without waiting. Arkansas does not have a stay at home order & I'm not sure if I agree or not. I don't want to see small businesses close because they can't recover, but supposedly grown folks can't do right. I am seeing whole families out, kids, babies.

A stay at home order in Missouri started today. I have to call my vet and see if I can keep my appointment for rabies shots for our 2 new puppies 2 days from now.
One day a week I do home medication set-ups and some diabetic toenail trims, so I have an "Essential Worker" paper for that.

Kathy, there's no zinc online or on the shelves around here. I hope you can find some. It is something I have always kept, along with Vitamin C and Echinacea to prevent and/or treat colds. You might still find some in a combination product. For example, Hair, Skin and Nails supplements nearly always contain zinc.