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#16
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Winter Cover?
In article
George Shirley writes: That's what winter is for for gardeners. That and perusing the seed catalogs that will be coming in shortly. We're always trying something new for our climate, might be some new stuff in the catalogs. BEWARE!! gardening is almost as bad as drugs, once you're addicted it seems all the seed companies find out and send you beautiful catalogs. That is part of my mental survival strategy for Ohio winters, especially the February part. My stance is that once the seed catalogs arrive, winter is obviously finished. When there are pictures of ripe tomatoes, frost must be running away briskly. And don't tell me I'm wrong, because I won't be listening. If it doesn't work form my wife, it won't work for you. A couple more not-so-standard companies found me this year, and they will be straining my seed starting capacity next year, I think. BSEG Beautifully seeded early garden, I will insist on [naively] reading. -- Drew Lawson | I told them we had learned to change | our swordblades into plows. | I told them they should learn from us | what should I tell them now? |
#17
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Winter Cover?
On 11/07/2015 09:56 PM, Derald wrote:
You're at a latitude where, it seems to me, one gardens from frost to frost well stated |
#18
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Winter Cover?
On 11/7/2015 11:56 PM, Derald wrote:
T wrote: I think it is time for me to start plotting and scheming about next years plant. Perhaps. You're at a latitude where, it seems to me, one gardens from frost to frost ;-) My only experiece is in a warm climate, which definitely suits. I've always thought that SE Texas was a warm climate until a cold front moved in last night. Woke up cold, now waiting on the coffee pot to do its job. Took a look out the back door, looks like the tomatoes have bit the dust, not sure about the sweet chiles and the eggplant but one can only hope. The eggplant and chile crops this year were absolutely tremendous. Thankfully my wife loves eggplant fritters cause the freezer is full of them and chopped chiles. |
#19
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Winter Cover?
On 11/8/2015 11:26 AM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote: I've always thought that SE Texas was a warm climate until a cold front moved in last night. Woke up cold, now waiting on the coffee pot to do its job. Yeah, been watching the front on the box hopeful of a little rain but not terribly optimistic. Temps not likely to get below "cool", I hope ;-) We've had about twelve inches of rain in the last two or three weeks. After years of drought it seems the rain gods are finally figuring out we need the stuff. Up early this morning, no rain, sun is shining brightly again and the wind has switched out of the north. Looks to be a fairly decent day. Need to pick eggplant and sweet chiles and pull up the last of the tomatoes. Winter veggies are coming along nicely, looking forward to the leaf lettuce and all the other salad fixings. I do like a nice salad with home grown stuff in it. |
#20
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Winter Cover?
On 11/8/2015 3:22 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote: We've had about twelve inches of rain in the last two or three weeks. After years of drought it seems the rain gods are finally figuring out we need the stuff. Yeah, I been hearing about the weather on a Texas radio station. We had an abnormally dry October here and NBT has set two or three high temp records within the past few days. Up early this morning, no rain, sun is shining brightly again and the wind has switched out of the north. Looks to be a fairly decent day. Need to pick eggplant and sweet chiles and pull up the last of the tomatoes. Winter veggies are coming along nicely, looking forward to the leaf lettuce and all the other salad fixings. I do like a nice salad with home grown stuff in it. Tomatoes are good 'til Thanksgiving most years down here and into December occasionally. My biggest cold weather concern is usually the "English" garden peas. They're usually pretty well into early production when coldest weather arrives in February. The blossoms and young pods are extremely tender. No eggplant this year. Still have some in the freezer and my only neighbor who cooks has no taste for the stuff. My late field peas and okra finally are done. Cut down the last of the okra plants yesterday. A few pea vines remain because they host colonies of plump little aphids. When the weather cools a bit more, those vines will be done for and the aphids on their own. Got a few greens coming along. Hot weather has stalled the garden peas (two varieties), broccoli, and cauliflower. Scarlet Nantes carrots germinated but two other varieties did not—soil's still too warm, I guess. We grew a monster crop of okra five years ago, there's still a half dozen packages in the freezer. I only like okra fried or in a gumbo so they don't get used much. I reckon it's time to go through the freezer and check dates and condition again. Need to clean the fridge again and check the freezer that's the other half, where the meat is. There's always something that needs doing. Still need to wash the walls in the master bath, then put on a primer coat and then the finish coat. Wife is wanting, finally, to repaint the rest of this house. Getting tired of the colors put on by the sellers in 2012 and get her colors up. I'm getting to old for ladders and hard labor, may just hire someone to do it under her supervision. The only good thing about getting old is that is better than the alternative. |
#21
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Winter Cover?
George Shirley wrote:
On 11/7/2015 11:56 PM, Derald wrote: T wrote: I think it is time for me to start plotting and scheming about next years plant. Perhaps. You're at a latitude where, it seems to me, one gardens from frost to frost ;-) My only experiece is in a warm climate, which definitely suits. I've always thought that SE Texas was a warm climate until a cold front moved in last night. Woke up cold, now waiting on the coffee pot to do its job. wow! surprised the cold got that far south that quickly. we had a hard frost last night and will get another tonight. Took a look out the back door, looks like the tomatoes have bit the dust, not sure about the sweet chiles and the eggplant but one can only hope. The eggplant and chile crops this year were absolutely tremendous. Thankfully my wife loves eggplant fritters cause the freezer is full of them and chopped chiles. yes, definitely our best year for sweet red chili peppers (aka red peppers) by far. songbird |
#22
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Winter Cover?
On 11/9/2015 8:50 AM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote: The only good thing about getting old is that is better than the alternative. Oh, I don't know.... I know one old guy who is enjoying the lowered expectations of the world at large: Hell, old farts are _expected_ to dither. Yeah, I know some too, I'm still married to the same woman for 55 years. G I have a list of places I go, the barbershop, the grocery store, a nearby Big Lots, and the library, mostly to the library. Wife likes trips, the dog and I like it when she's on one but are also happy when she gets home. We have two kids, five grand kids, and six great grands, we live within a few miles of all of them but we seldom see them, they're young and busy, we're old and lazy. I've been declared dead twice by doctors but I'm still here so there must be something in my favor. Could be a loving dog and a garden to peruse and sometimes am allowed to work on and in. It could be worse, I could be in prison or dead. I just take it a day at a time and try to stay happy. Picked a two-gallon bucket of sweet peppers and eggplant today and the damned things are blooming again. Also picked enough greens from the winter garden to make a nice salad for dinner tonight. Believe it or not the honey bees are swarming our flower beds and gardens, winter must be close, there were hundreds of them out there today. |
#23
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Winter Cover?
George Shirley wrote:
Derald wrote: George Shirley wrote: The only good thing about getting old is that is better than the alternative. Oh, I don't know.... I know one old guy who is enjoying the lowered expectations of the world at large: Hell, old farts are _expected_ to dither. Yeah, I know some too, I'm still married to the same woman for 55 years. G i think it's great that someone can be with someone else for that long. I have a list of places I go, the barbershop, the grocery store, a nearby Big Lots, and the library, mostly to the library. Wife likes trips, the dog and I like it when she's on one but are also happy when she gets home. We have two kids, five grand kids, and six great grands, we live within a few miles of all of them but we seldom see them, they're young and busy, we're old and lazy. i always get a smile remembering someone sing a song called, "How can I miss you if you won't go away?" as it pretty much describes me and how much of a homebody i can be. luckily the balance here is doing fine as Ma goes out and visits her friends and does stuff and that gives me time to do other things. the other night when she was out i played some rock concerts and was a general pest to the neighboring animals for a change. I've been declared dead twice by doctors but I'm still here so there must be something in my favor. Could be a loving dog and a garden to peruse and sometimes am allowed to work on and in. It could be worse, I could be in prison or dead. I just take it a day at a time and try to stay happy. perhaps they could tell how pickled you were already? i dunno, my own philosophy has been that every day is a gift and to try to enjoy it as much as i can, but it wasn't until i was 25 or so that i reached a more stable and even approach. happiness is to some extent a choice. i was born premie and had several episodes of not breathing and such that were caught by the nurses. i'm quiet, hate loud noises (especially in the morning) and really appreciate a good hug, a good book and the gardens here... Picked a two-gallon bucket of sweet peppers and eggplant today and the damned things are blooming again. Also picked enough greens from the winter garden to make a nice salad for dinner tonight. Believe it or not the honey bees are swarming our flower beds and gardens, winter must be close, there were hundreds of them out there today. not seen any bees around lately. just found a very tiny nest of some kind of bee on a branch of a cedar tree, a small mud nest that looks like a tiny little pot. i've kept it so i can take a picture of it sometime (when i get a camera again). fresh green salads... we'll be on California rations again now *sigh* for fresh stuff and using up what we've put up. started talking about making some shortcakes again already. we've had enough hard frosts now that nothing is left other than a few dry bean pods that i'll find as i rake up and bury the plants. the brussels sprouts are out now, carrots are out, beets are out and pickled. we've had the live trap out seeing if we could get the raccoon that has been going around and moving things and digging in some areas. up until last night we've had no luck but finally it is in the trap this morning, we'll take it for a trip later to a better home. we also saw yesterday the semi-feral cat that has been coming through now hunting rabbits etc. it's not a particularly large cat, but it makes up for size by being persistent. weeks ago i saw the tail end of a chase where it caught a rabbit that was nearly as large as the cat. it's welcome to what it can catch out there, the coyotes and foxes don't seem to come in this close and so we always seem to have rabbits and chipmunks around (even after trapping nearly 40 of them this season). mice and voles applenty too. songbird |
#24
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Winter Cover?
On 11/8/2015 11:26 AM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote: I've always thought that SE Texas was a warm climate until a cold front moved in last night. Woke up cold, now waiting on the coffee pot to do its job. Yeah, been watching the front on the box hopeful of a little rain but not terribly optimistic. Temps not likely to get below "cool", I hope ;-) It's hot here again, 1249 and 74F, muggy, looks like more rain, heavily overcast, had to turn the AC on again. Damned eggplant and sweet chiles are still making like crazy, neighbors hide when they see us coming up their walk with a bag in hand. Went to local stupor market, scored some very good beef from the "used meat bin." Ran into middle grandson, shot two deer on his hunt, probably help him butcher and vacuum seal the meat. Of course we get a share. George |
#25
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Winter Cover?
On 11/11/2015 9:38 AM, songbird wrote:
George Shirley wrote: Derald wrote: George Shirley wrote: The only good thing about getting old is that is better than the alternative. Oh, I don't know.... I know one old guy who is enjoying the lowered expectations of the world at large: Hell, old farts are _expected_ to dither. Yeah, I know some too, I'm still married to the same woman for 55 years. G i think it's great that someone can be with someone else for that long. I have a list of places I go, the barbershop, the grocery store, a nearby Big Lots, and the library, mostly to the library. Wife likes trips, the dog and I like it when she's on one but are also happy when she gets home. We have two kids, five grand kids, and six great grands, we live within a few miles of all of them but we seldom see them, they're young and busy, we're old and lazy. i always get a smile remembering someone sing a song called, "How can I miss you if you won't go away?" as it pretty much describes me and how much of a homebody i can be. luckily the balance here is doing fine as Ma goes out and visits her friends and does stuff and that gives me time to do other things. the other night when she was out i played some rock concerts and was a general pest to the neighboring animals for a change. I've been declared dead twice by doctors but I'm still here so there must be something in my favor. Could be a loving dog and a garden to peruse and sometimes am allowed to work on and in. It could be worse, I could be in prison or dead. I just take it a day at a time and try to stay happy. perhaps they could tell how pickled you were already? i dunno, my own philosophy has been that every day is a gift and to try to enjoy it as much as i can, but it wasn't until i was 25 or so that i reached a more stable and even approach. happiness is to some extent a choice. i was born premie and had several episodes of not breathing and such that were caught by the nurses. i'm quiet, hate loud noises (especially in the morning) and really appreciate a good hug, a good book and the gardens here... Picked a two-gallon bucket of sweet peppers and eggplant today and the damned things are blooming again. Also picked enough greens from the winter garden to make a nice salad for dinner tonight. Believe it or not the honey bees are swarming our flower beds and gardens, winter must be close, there were hundreds of them out there today. not seen any bees around lately. just found a very tiny nest of some kind of bee on a branch of a cedar tree, a small mud nest that looks like a tiny little pot. i've kept it so i can take a picture of it sometime (when i get a camera again). Mason bees make mud hives, single bees, lay their eggs in them and then die. We have all of them, European honey bees, African bees (not many hives though), Mason and Carpenter bees (Carpenter bees can be a pest as they drill into wood and make their nest), and good old bumble bees. Not to mention another pollinator that we see infrequently, bee flies, have saved our crops several times over the years. fresh green salads... we'll be on California rations again now *sigh* for fresh stuff and using up what we've put up. started talking about making some shortcakes again already. We get most of our fresh stuff from the Rio Grande valley and from Mexico, most of it really good. we've had enough hard frosts now that nothing is left other than a few dry bean pods that i'll find as i rake up and bury the plants. the brussels sprouts are out now, carrots are out, beets are out and pickled. we've had the live trap out seeing if we could get the raccoon that has been going around and moving things and digging in some areas. up until last night we've had no luck but finally it is in the trap this morning, we'll take it for a trip later to a better home. we also saw yesterday the semi-feral cat that has been coming through now hunting rabbits etc. it's not a particularly large cat, but it makes up for size by being persistent. weeks ago i saw the tail end of a chase where it caught a rabbit that was nearly as large as the cat. it's welcome to what it can catch out there, the coyotes and foxes don't seem to come in this close and so we always seem to have rabbits and chipmunks around (even after trapping nearly 40 of them this season). mice and voles applenty too. songbird I think I have some nice recipes around here for raccoon, wood chuck, and chipmunk. Let me know if you need them. I used to market hunt wild rabbits when I was a boy. Sold the skin and the meat, back then a couple of bucks for a rabbit was good money, pretty much equal to two hours work at the refinery for my Dad. Waaay in the past though. |
#26
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Winter Cover?
George Shirley wrote:
.... I think I have some nice recipes around here for raccoon, wood chuck, and chipmunk. Let me know if you need them. I used to market hunt wild rabbits when I was a boy. Sold the skin and the meat, back then a couple of bucks for a rabbit was good money, pretty much equal to two hours work at the refinery for my Dad. Waaay in the past though. if i knew someone who'd kill/clean/skin it i might be willing to try cooking it, but we don't "take them for a ride" aka what the mafiosi would do, but take them for a ride and release them from the trap in a better place for them to live than here. caught another one last night. songbird |
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