Frozen Moss

It was 12 degrees here yesterday morning but by 2 in the afternoon, the temp was around 25 degrees and I was stir-crazy so I left the house to hunt for teeny cushion moss. All of a sudden, these things are HOT, HOT! I've started selling to people building fairy gardens and they are loving those little buggers!
After about 10 minutes in the woods, I learned the value of carrying a pocket knife. Those mosses were frozen solid in the ground. Back to the house I went and got the knife. That worked like a charm! In fact, they looked better than usual when I arrived home and they were thawed out. So off I go today to get some more with my knife in hand and lots of little zippy bags. Look for a bunch to be listed on all sites this afternoon!

A Frigid Morning!

Really cold here this morning - about 10 degrees with a wind-chill of -5. Not my favorite weather!
Today I will be taking inventory and listing. We are supposed to be back up near 50 by Friday and I plan on
hiking a lot down at the lake. There are so many interesting varieties down on that lake!
My goal this weekend is to find Rhodobryum Roseum aka Rose Moss, I think it's one of the most beautiful mosses on the planet. Perfect for terrariums and fairy gardens! When it's sporing the centers turn black. Just gorgeous!

Vivariums

I sell lots of mosses to customers who are building vivariums. Nearly all have frogs and are really excited about their creations. Below are some pics from one of my customers in Miami. She purchased sphagnum moss from me and we have been emailing back and forth. It's wonderful when you become friends with your customers and  it's great for me because I can glean a lot of information from people like Ashley. I know a lot about moss but not a lot about frogs. I also have learned what my Viv customers are looking for that are hard to find. It's great information for building a business!

Ferns

I'm getting lots of messages from my customers requesting ferns. I know a lot about mosses. More than the average person. But when it comes to ferns, I know very little. There are 3 main varieties of ferns that grow on my land. One is a maidenhair, one is "the big one" and the other is "the tiny one". I've sent out young maidenhair ferns to a dear customer in Miami for her vivarium. I will find out today how they are doing. If they are doing well, then I will identify the other two varieties and proceed from there. Chances are, these will not be readily available until Spring. We have been very fortunate here so far this winter. The temps have been higher than normal and the ground is still very soft. But if the weatherman is correct, that will all change tomorrow and looking ahead, overnight temps will be below freezing for the next 10 days. The ground will start to freeze. That will not affect harvesting moss which have no roots but it will affect plants that need to be dug.
Today I will be harvesting Partridge vines and a sampling of the ferns. I would like to send some ferns to a couple of my vivarium customers as a test run. I want to see how they do in shipment and after planting. Specifically, how long it takes before you see new growth. I would like to ship some to the west coast, the upper midwest and to the deep south.
Email me at ebedford4@aol.com if you are interested.

A New Year and a Great Start

What a great start to the New Year. Lots of orders already and today I found a goldmine of cushion moss. It figures..... I had finally decided to stop selling cushions until Spring. The ones I was finding back here were just too wet and the color was starting to get "funky".
Today I found tons of beautiful green cushions. Also nice frog moss and what can only be described as a field of tree clubmoss and creeping wintergreen. Gorgeous stuff! I'll spend my whole day hiking tomorrow. I plan on getting as much as I can before Tuesday when the temps drop like a rock here. Monday will be Sheet Moss day. The sheets on this mountain are the best around - I was really disappointed in the sheets I saw during my hike today. They just didn't compare.
My Partridge Vines are selling like crazy on Ebay so I've added them to my Etsy store. Already I have a custom order for them along with other packages. Who'd a thunk that those crazy vines would be so popular? I don't think I can take a step in the woods without walking on them - They are everywhere!
Still cannot identify this moss I found - it's driving me crazy!

Identifying Woodland Plants

I've been working on identifying several mosses and woodland plants.
It is a time-consuming venture.
Today I identified one of my plants as Maidenhair Spleenwort. Now I will gather more and try it in a terrarium. If all goes well, I'll start listing.
Another plant that is a challenge is this small plant that resembles an air plant. I have never seen anything like it. There is one in my front garden that popped up a few years ago. It would be perfect in a terrarium because it never grows or sets seed. Just stays the same, year in and year out. I may go out and dig it up today and see how it does in one of my terrariums.
Waiting for the mail lady. Lots of packages to go out today! I scheduled the pickup and now I'm beginning to regret that. Yesterday, she was 2 hours early. With my luck, she'll be 2 hours late today. I can't leave the packages out on the porch because she refuses to get out of the jeep. She just sits there like an idiot blowing her horn.
Well, enough venting about the mail, I'll get back to my research!

Snowing!

Right now it's snowing - time for a change of plans....

I've been brainstorming all morning about new things to sell on my sites and I've decided to go with terrarium accessories and a line of fairy garden plants and products. 

Today I shall start digging out all the things I've been collecting over the years. My creative spirit is soaring!

I want exciting original things created from recycled and natural materials. 

Once done, I'll post pics and links to my listings!