On Being a Farm Wife (and other hazards) Joyce Bupp An array of beautiful blooms surrounds us. Lovely daisies of white, pink and yellow. Bright sunflowers, glowing orange and rusty-red. Perky blue salvia stems, held daintily above deep green foliage. Butterflies flitting over cherry red zinnias. Not a bug in sight. No weeds. No bending, stretching, digging, pulling. No sweat. Dreaming? You betcha. Dreaming with a stack of seed catalogs growing higher by the day, deliveries of cheery wishful thinking tucked in among the av alanche of tax forms, monthly bills, and endless come-ons from credit card companies. These annual paperback publi cations dangle hope and opti END TABLE SET | Oval or Square End Table fSa Reg. Ret. 1 ir l $879.95 I J--* Our Price $88935 I JjCloseout $ 209 95 ' 5 PC. DINING \ ROOM SET | Valley Oak Pedestal Table & 4 Napoleon Side Chairs ■ I Rea. Ret. $829.951 Our Price $44*95 tWffiPra 1 Close Out ■ 5349 95 / ~ TWirS/DOUBLE \ lEfenjJON BUNK I I fciejPJ 1 .? V. | J m Black Red, . "Tj M White, w/8’ I Jr 1 "Tl Futon Mattress | Reg. Ret. P ~ ■ Tl $898.95 I . SPECIAL $ 279" 7 pc7dTning ROOM* \ DOUBLE PEDESTAL , Wagon Wheel Chairs, Ball & Claw -Design I $2?09.95 I I mjFStaasSSmil Our Price<7W.99. j 7 PC. DINING ROOM SET Cherry Finish, 2 Arm & 4 Side Chairs Reg. Ret. $949.95 m m Our Price.s4493B BBgdfett) I* l CLOSE OUT pfflPfOf *309* 5 i 3 PACK TABLE GROUP | w/Pme Veneer Top • Reg. Ret. ' T . rn|fJH?S& CLOSEOUT Is *149“ five piece dinette 36x60 /m Table & Four Chairs - Natural, Jmg) White/Nalural, Green/Natural Reg. Ret. SI ,029.95 Cash Price $469.95 itttfsJPfKl V/V’H' mism on the umpteenth night in a row that I waddle into the milkhouse, padded with so many layers of puffy clothes that I re semble the Pillsbury doughboy decked out in quilted plaid flan nel. I grumble to The Farmer that I am positive I NEVER want to live in Alaska. Snuggled under a warm Af ghan, the woodstove crackling, and cup of hot chocolate in hand, I can study and sketch layouts and make lists and wish about the gardening season. Which is not really all that far away, if we can peek around those obscene, single-digit thermometer read ings to look for it. Along with catalogs from sev eral favorite old standby seed firms have come some interesting and unusual ones. Like one spe cializing in seeds for gardening Futon Closeout ' • In Black & White I • Comes w/ 8” Futon Mattress . Reg. Retail 1 $639.95 | Cash Price 3299.98 1 F** Only *1 39 95 * /SECTIONAL SLEEPER N I,—,T(", Loveseat, . Center Console, 1 I .cfei-; Side by Side | I j' '' Reclmers, Sofa [ Factory Liquidation w/Hide-a-Bed I I Reg. Ret. $2.589.96Fact0ry Special) I Our Cash Price $04,088 , 1f1,289.95 / /glider rocker ' Available in Blue, f | * Beige, Green If / | , Reg. Ret. $159.95 -J J// , Cash Price $48935’ (Q-raT / I I Special | $ 79 04 j ' 3 PC. COCKTAIL * END \ 1 TABLES SET OAK St GLASS | i&Sb -i Reg. Ret. . Irl ff%f| $499.95 1 I r-iLlir Our Price i , -$229.98 tl If Special I $4 0Q95 3299>«81 ..Close Out I ' BLACK & MARBLE \ QUEEN ANNE END TABLE i SET -p Reg. Ret. rfe> Ml $359.95 I CLOSE OUT I I- *B9“ > WRITING TABLE N SOLID WOOD (52x26x30) | Reg. Ret. $599.95 I Our Price i s2B9js uLirini Close Out 1 s is9 9s _ri < 1 r You Won't Find It!" 'J _ IOOM SI _ JRASS | »s».ag. -yws.ai ~ "9 04 J Stores in: LANCASTER • YORK • CARLISLE STORE HOURS: Mon.-Fn. 9-9 • Sat. 9-6; Sunday 12 to 5 PM • No Rotunda 89 Hi •No Exchange* For purchaata with ■ chtck, bring FINANCING 3E • Caah A Carry drivara licanaa and phont numbara AVAILABLE ansibic lor typographical We reservt the right to substitute gift items Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 6, 2001-B5 gourmet-cooks, with pages and ordinary heads of broccoli. fP/lfrtl inn pages of paragraphs offering an We are tomato lovers, so a cat- Ulltlg kJCfIcA amazing array of nutritious a i o g specializing in only toma- TV* A. it* /~hn salad-makings. toes really grabbed my interest. ■* ” rVIF L/ft Some of these edibles would Tomatoes for cold climates and JM/T'T'IP T 1!/ have been unheard of to many of others for Southern hot spots . \\lll V for Tomatoes that mature quickly HARRISBURG (Dauphin AC 3 nf thil and tomatoes that would be Co.) With 7.7 million acres of mSt’ of them cobred frosted before the y ever 41,111 farm,and and approximately red-and-white, but a few actually color here J ust north of the 50 ’ 000 farms ’ Pen h nsyivan ‘. a en : ,u ’ y Mason-Dixon line. compasses a rich mosaic of For those not into radicchio, Heirloom tomatoes, from as how about something from seven sorted colors of the popular fro™ PenS^vania’s pages of lettuce varieties? Brandywine senes ongmatmg croM section ot Pennsylvania s There’s classic head-lettuce, from our own Amish countryside 4a, 7 n to , mi ?s. inilova lve ' semi-cos heads, butterheads, to favorites from halfway around an,que ’ and traditional opera loose-heads, convoluted heads, the world. One from Eastern Eu- turns, and offers a.personal ook no heads, curly-edged, frizzy- rope, named Stupice, puzzled me mto an industry that many take edged, jagged edged, tender over the unusual name which JP" ... . , v . T r pink, pale lime, burgundy, red, probably means delicious or “ V' 1 * a 7 ir “1 JY 1 ™; frosty green and bronze-hued, wo „derfiil in another language. TV Sundays, Jan. 7 and 14 at 6 to lakes . ha " dM 10 makc . a swe's dals, Osh, elk, lamb, Sorrv. mouthful, and tomatoes hyped to poultry, cattle, fruit, vegetable Several seed mixes for mes- J* J m^ lt h . e ' p and mushroom farms. Twenty dun, that mix of tiny baby greens to h ‘ ,T‘ t T,le . If six farmers in 16 counties pro which retails for about $8 per 8f oun dhogs like to take one big v ide a glimpse of life on the pound, are available. One in- ™ te out °* and nun. Red toma- farm, and speak candidly about eluded get this dandelion toes, y edow tomatoes, white, the joys and hardships of farm seeds. (Your neighbors will be so “black’ (a deep maroon), orange, jug from the art and science of thrilled.) For “sprouters,” there striped, peach-colored, even to- growing world-class mushrooms, are seed assortments including a matoes that are green when to a couple who names their sprouts sandwich mix, sprouting they’re ripe. breeding bulls after Civil War stir fry mix, even sprouting broc- “How do you know when a generals, to a tour of the coun coli, described as being mildly green tomato is ripe?” wonders try’s “oldest continuously ojier spicy but reported to be 100 The Farmer. ated family farm.” times more potent as an anti cancer, anti-oxidant agent than 4 DRAWER CHEST Pine Finish and Brass Hardware Reg. Ret. $149.95 FACTORY SPECIAL *39 04 RECLINER SPECIAL N SReg. Ret. $389.95 Our Price $4Q9.9!> CLOSEOCT *89 M " ANTIQUE WHTTE/OAK v 5 PC. DINING ROOM SET , w/Drop Leaf Table & Spindle Back Chairs | -i O _-.e=st Reg. Ret. 3 $1,089.95 I Our Prlce’SSSM&i j'firfraTjTCash Price $52939* $ 329! 5^' Clflsei WOODEN FUTON \ w/Futon Mattress i In Open or Solid Panel Design . /"■i i-ia-Ea. Reg. Ret. 1 $839.95 | Cash Price $BB9Sf 1 oXout $ 269!?' 5 PC. PEDESTAL TABLE \ (42x42x60) & Arrowback Chair Set ■ w/18” Leaf /tn. /mK Avail. In | Green/N-tur-l Warmed by the snugly Af ghan, the hot chocolate and the promise of gardening heaven, I succumb to the tempting siren song of the catalogs, beckoning me to flee (if only in my dreams) from the demons of low-digit temperatures. As mid-winter escape excur sions go, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than a cruise. Mahoning Outdoor Furnaces | Cut Your Heating Costs With Our Outdoor Furnace • Standard Model Burns Wood, Coal or Wood by-products • Multi-Fuel Model Burns Wood, Coal Oil or Gas WANTED A Few Good Farmers To sell what you grow or produce - sweet corn, tomatoes, greens, strawberries, peaches, melons, apples, flowers, baked goods, honey, eggs, milk, cheese, meat, fish. To come to outdoor farmers’ markets in Philadelphia and work with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Farmers Market Nutrition Program. To take home as much as $l,OOO a day at peak season (farmers’ daily sales average over $600). Variety is the key to success. Small farms are welcome! Several of our most successful farmers grow on less than Call (251) 568-0830 or (800) 417-9499 or e-mail duane@hbertynet.org “Farming From The Heart” was produced by WPSX-TV, the public television station in State College. Farmers' Market Trust