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Dec 10, 2023

Groundhog Day — early spring, or more winter?

The Garden Plot A few days till day of the hearts The day of hearts, flowers,

The Garden Plot

A few days till day of the hearts

The day of hearts, flowers, and chocolates is a few days away. That is still plenty of time to find that very special Valentine gift. Most businesses and shops have plenty of gifts and most supermarkets have many floral arrangements and potted flowers. It's definitely plenty of time to find that special Valentine gift

Keeping your vehicles wiper blades clean

The snow, sleet, and ice events combined with slush and road salts can have a negative effect on your vehicle's wiper blades. Use a few paper towels and some glass cleaner to clean the blades once a week. Keep the windshield washer filled with a de-icer solution of spray that you can purchase in gallon containers. Keep a spray can of de-icer fluid under your car seat.

Halos and thunder in winter

In the cold of winter, it's not unusual to hear thunder booming or see a "halo "around a full or near-full moon. Both may occur several times during winter. The is a result of colder air aloft that causes ice crystals to form a crystal ice "halo" around the moon. Thunder in winter occurs when warm air aloft meets with cold air on the surface and causes thunder in winter. In winter when thunder occurs snow, sleet, ice or frozen rain occurs within several days after thunder is heard.

Starting something red for Saint Valentine's

February still has 19 days remaining and most of them will be cold. Not many vegetables can be planted during February except the winter hardy radish which will survive in cold temperatures and produce a harvest in about 50 days. Even in winter, radish seed have a germination rate of almost 100%. Choose from many varieties of radish seed packets that cost less than $2 per packet. You can choose from Cherry Belle, Cherriette, Cherry Bomb, Easter, Egg, Early Scarlet Globe, Crimson Giant, and Champion. Two seed packets will produce more than enough seed for a harvest. Even in cold temperatures, radish will germinate in about 14 days. You can sow them in a row or bed. Sow seed in a furrow about three inches deep. Place a layer of peat moss in the bottom of the furrow. Thinly sow radish seed on top of the peat moss and cover seed with a layer of peat moss. Apply Plant-Tone organic vegetable food on top of the peat moss and hill up soil on both sides of the furrow and tamp down soil with the hoe blade for good so contact with the soil. The layers of peat moss will provide great protection from ground freezes by absorbing moisture and promoting growth. Allow 50 days for a harvest even though the packet may state 40 days. We allow ten days for the seed to germinate, and then add 50 days for a harvest.

Making a Valentine chocolate dream pie

Anything with chocolate in it is a Valentine treat. This is a no-bake chocolate pie that is plenty creamy and will melt in your mouth. For this pie, you can use a nine-inch pie shell (baked and cooled) or a graham cracker crust. Other ingredients are two envelopes of Dream Whip whipped topping mix, two three ounce boxes of Jello Instant Chocolate pudding mix, one teaspoon vanilla, two and a third cups cold milk, half cup of chopped pecans, and one tub of Cool whip. Combine two envelopes of Dream whip with one cup of the cold milk and teaspoon of vanilla in a large bowl. Beat on high about six minutes until the Dream Whip thickens and forms peaks. Add the remaining milk and Jello instant pudding and chopped pecans. Blend together on low and then high for two and a half minutes. Spoon the mixture into the pie shell. Cool the pie in the refrigerator for four hours. Top the pie with the tub of Cool Whip. Keep the pie refrigerated until ready to serve.

The American bee balm protected on porch

The classic American bee balm survives during winter months by being protected by six or seven plastic bags and a double layer of card board to cover the bags. Both these protective items shield against freezes, ice, snow and sleet. A drink of water once a week is all they need because too much water will cause potting medium to freeze. The balm is cut back to about three inches tall so the plastic bags and cardboard can fit over top of them in the container. When temperatures rise above freezing, pull back the cardboard and bags so the bee balm can receive sunlight. Always replace bags and cardboard before sunset to protect balm from overnight freezes.

Keeping a check on the Christmas cactus

The containers of Christmas cactus are wintering over in the living room in a semi-sunny location. They are cascading over the sides of the containers. All of the five containers of cactus are looking well. They receive a drink of water every ten days and some Flower-Tone organic flower food once a month. They will be ready for their move to the deck in mid-May where they will spend mid-spring summer and early autumn.

Time to feed the lawn

As we approach the middle of February, the winter lawn is still dormant and mid – February is the best time to feed and apply lime to the lawn for the best results. Never use 10-10-10 fertilizer to apply to your lawn. Your lawn does not need pelletized chemicals but food that is especially formulated to feed lawns in a slow-release process and not some quick fix. Snow is possible in the middle of February and this will combine well with the slow release lawn food and soak the lawn food into the soil without washing it away. Spend the extra money and get a lawn food that will produce positive results over a long season.

Hearts reaching out to the birds of winter

As Valentine's Day draws near give a heart-felt helping hand to the winter birds that visit the feeders in search of a meal and to the bird bath for a drink of water. Their search for food is much harder in winter when water freezes in the bird bath. Empty the ice from the bath and refill with fresh water when the temperature rises above freezing. Fill the feeders during the week and keep a count of birds as they visit the feeders and bird bath.

Asparagus and panda fern wintering over

As February reaches the halfway mark, the asparagus and panda ferns are wintering over in the living room in a semi-sunny area. They are green and growing in the environment of the living room. They develop long runners as they absorb rays of winter sunlight, we keep them trimmed back to promote growth. A drink of water every ten days and a handful of Flower-Tone organic flower food once a month keeps them healthy and green. They will be ready to move outside to the deck to a semi-sunny location in mid – April.

The robins of winter forecast nasty weather

It seems to us that robins are the birds of all seasons and not just signs of spring. In winter they visit the lawn almost every day in search of worms, grubs and insects. Their search always seems successful because they always have a meal in their mouths. In the dead of winter, they seem to sense that nasty weather is on the way. A few days ago, we saw an unusual number of about a hundred robins in the backyard pecking around for a meal. Next day, there was sleet and freezing rain with ice on the trees, but there were no robins on the lawn that day. Most likely they were hunkering down in a hollow tree or log or under the leaves of a barn, house, or out building. "As the north wind doth blow, where will the robin go? To the barn or the hollow, and the other robins will follow." We learned that robins of winter make better weather predictors than the groundhogs in the burrows!

Starting a row or bed of leaf lettuce

A bed or row of leaf lettuce can now be sown to start the cold weather vegetable season. Lettuce packets in Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe's Home Improvement cost less than $2 a packet and they contain many seed. You can choose from Iceberg, Green lce, Bibb, Limestone, Black Seeded Simpson, Red Sails, Grand Rapids Oak Leaf, Buttercrunch, Salad Bowl, and also Romaine. A harvest of lettuce takes about 50 days. In the cold February soil, always use peat moss in the bottom of the furrow before sowing the seed and then cover the seed with another layer of the peat moss to absorb moisture. Add a layer of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food on top of the peat moss. Hill up soil on each side of the furrow and tamp down with the hoe blade. The seed should be sown in a furrow about three inches deep.

Hoe hoe hoedown

"Sleepwalking." Jan: "My mother has trained herself to walk in her sleep every night." Fran: "Why would she want to do that?" Jan: "To save time. This way she way she can get her exercise and her rest at the same time."

"Medical Question." What kind of people enjoy bad health? Answer: Doctors!

A bit of unwelcome green in the winter landscape

Weeds always seem to survive in winter's most harsh conditions and endure despite the freezing temperatures. The chickweed, wild onions and Bermuda grass show up at this time of year and remain during winter. Chickweed is easy to get rid of because it has a shallow root system and can be pulled up with little effort and can be thrown out of the garden. Don't even try to pull up wild onions, but use the weed trimmer to cut them down to ground level which will stunt their growth. Bermuda grass has a long and deep root system Winter months are an ideal time to pull them up by their roots and make sure to throw them out of the garden or better yet dump them in the trash bin.

The winter hardy pansies colorful in winter

The dark green foliage and brilliant colors are a special display on the front porch and deck during winter. The familiar faces on those flowers adds another special touch on a cold morning. They will thrive until the warmer temperature of of late April and early May. They can then be replaced with the annuals of summer.

Do not over water perennials or winter flowers

Perennials and winter flowers need some moisture in winter, but don't over water them because too much water will cause the potting medium to freeze. Moisten the medium but do not let water run out of the holes in bottom of the pots or containers. Water sparingly twice a week. Use Flower-Tone organic flower food on the perennials and winter flowers once a month.