From faithful gardening correspondent Marvel:
Over this-away, we’re starting to get a tiny bit restive, what with all the time we’ve spent these last few months weighing down the couches & chairs.
Aside from a nasty early freeze in November which positively nuked a bunch of still-recovering new growth from our Big Freeze the previous Winter, it’s been pretty mild here in the Willamette Valley. Too rainy & cold for much outside work, but very few seasonal extremes.
…and yesterday our first crocus emerged. Spring’s still a long ways off, but it’s always a happy day when these little wonders pop up and join in the dance.
***********
Since I spent last evening removing six inches of heavy, wet snow from our front steps, it seemed almost cruel to my fellow New Englanders to publish this — especially since we’re promised another “one to two feet of snow” starting Monday evening! And yet…
What’s going on with your garden plans for Spring, assuming it will arrive eventually?
Betty Cracker
The mister has been shuffling several trays of seedlings in and out of the house. I think it’s tomatoes and peppers.
raven
It’s going to be interesting to see how things progress with the impending addition construction. The main sewer line is finished and they will connect the houses this week. That’s is all great but they will be digging trenches on both sides of our house that will be six feet wide and 10 feet deep in places. I mounted the planter/bicycle on the garden fence and it looks ok, it’ll do until we find a better location. The collards are thriving and she has the bulbs planted so, for now, it’s wait and see.
Tommy
I did the raised bed garden thing a few years ago. Some epic fails, but I learned from them. It was kind of cool how easy it was to learn from your mistakes if you just tried to plant some food. I am doubling the size of my garden his year. It is a few months off but I can’t wait. It will be almost 200 square feet of food.
OzarkHillbilly
Went to my Jeffco buddy’s house last Sunday where his wife and I decided what we would be growing this year and get the seeds ordered (this way we share the costs). Most of the seeds arrived from Baker Creek and Renee’s the past 2 days. I put my grow lights up but I am still waiting for the new propagation mat to arrive. Once that gets here I’ll be able to start my plants. Sad thing is, I don’t even remember what all we ordered, beyond too much.
Other than that, I’ve just been working on the chicken coop. Still got a long ways to go but then, it’s still January too.
Rosalita
Oh how I wish something was pushing up in the garden, instead we are getting dire weather warnings of a f***ing blizzard. :o
Guess I’d better join the hysteria at the grocery store and get a few necessities.
Mustang Bobby
We had a cool front blow through here last night to the point that it is 48 F this morning, which for us is pretty cold. I went out to check on the orchids and they seem to be doing okay with it.
Three of the five have already put out second blooms this season, which is really good for them; usually I’m lucky if I get one. The hibiscus have been blooming, too, but they seem to always be shouting “Come hither” to any passing bees.
It’s also been a pretty dry “winter” so far; it’s been a couple of weeks since we had a good soaking. I’m sure we’ll make up for it later on.
TheMightyTrowel
Hello from down under! Mr. Trowel is the one with the green thumb, I just benefit. Our tomatoes are getting riper by the day – harvested the first two yesterday, two more look ready for lunch tomorrow. The lavender is blooming, the hops are going wild and the herbs continue to flourish. Today I made a chili garlic paste with our own chilis and garlics and smeared it all over some lamb chops so they’ll be nice and tasty for the grill tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow morning I’m making zucchini bread with the bounty my neighbour keeps leaving for me because there’s only so much he and his fellow can consume.
Today it was 92 and no clouds in the sky.
Isn’t summer wonderful?
HeartlandLiberal
This year my 2,000 sq ft of vegetable garden will tilled up and planted in wild flowers and sunflowers. I may put in several rows of potatoes, and just let them go.
Reason? We are going to be traveling for almost seven weeks starting in late April, by Royal Caribbean cruise ship to Europe touching ports Ireland, England, France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Norway, then on the ground 18 days touring Copenhagen and northern Germany, Amsterdam, and London, then coming home on the Queen Mary 2. We will be staying one night i Southampton in hotel where Jane Austin stayed before embarking for home.
50th anniversary trip. We lived in Germany for a year decades ago, and know southern Germany and middle German very well, Paris, Switzerland, Vienna, Berlin, but we never got to see Scandinavia and northern Germany and London. I am gearing up to start dropping the full payments over next few weeks, including full trip insurance, just in case.
I will be investing in a new good dark suit. Dress for the formal dining room in the QE2 requires tux or dark suit, evening gown for the women. Very old school formal. We are actually looking forward to the experience,
And how can you beat eating marzipan in Lubeck, the home of the treat? Or spending a half a day in Hamburg in the Minature Wunderland? If you are not familiar with the latter, go to YouTube now, and check it out.
satby
@HeartlandLiberal: Happy 50th anniversary(soon)! That is worth celebrating!
WereBear
CROCUS IN JANUARY???????
(hysterical laughter — hot cocoa must be applied)
satby
I noticed how deep in the doldrums I’m in yesterday, my friends back in Chicago keep saying how nice and sunny it is when I talk to them on what are relentlessly gray days here. I was considering pulling out the seed trays, but I always start my seeds too early and they’re spindly when I can finally plant them outside. So this year I have resolved to wait at least another few weeks. It hasn’t been too bad weather so far this winter, but snow is forecast for today and we still have weeks to go.
JPL
@Rosalita: You should pick up a travel magazine and imagine what it would be like to the Heartland Liberals on their cruise. Hope you and the rest of our northern friends are okay. Since it is suppose to be blizzard conditions, hopefully the wind will blow the snow off your walkway.
JPL
@raven: The bike looks great. How long is the project going to take?
Hunter
Nothing going on here, and since I now don’t even have a back porch, no containers, but my Colmanara “Wildcat” has put up a flower stalk, so in a few weeks I’ll have flowers. I did manage to get everything repotted, and now have two more plants than I started out with — the Encyclia tampensis got divided (or divided itself, actually).
And the weather is in January thaw mode — pretty much in the 30s, with occasional flashes of sun, but not much.
Seeing those crocus up top, I’m reminded of the year the January thaw hit big — I think the temperature went up to near 70. The snowdrops came up and bloomed all over the back yard. Then froze solid two days later when the temperature went to single digits. Be careful what you wish for.
Tenar Darell
@HeartlandLiberal: Wow. Congrats! Wonderful itinerary. What port are you flying to start in Europe?
Pogonip
I would like recommendations for small flowering plants for a west window. I used to keep African violets in that window, but they kept getting whiteflies.
currants
@satby: Me too–I’m trying to wait til Feb (I guess that’s right? to plant in May?) to start tomatoes peppers and eggplants. I also just came across an intermittent fan that greenhouses use to help plants be stronger when you transplant them outside.
debbie
I checked a few neighbors’ yards yesterday but haven’t seen any snowdrops yet. They’re usually the first to emerge. There are plenty of buds on trees and bushes and the birdsong has picked up noticeably over the past week.
WereBear
@Pogonip: You need a soil that is at least half vermiculite for the African violets; they are happier, and you won’t have the whitefly problem.
Because for blooming and ease of care, there’s nothing like them!
I intend to set up a couple on my desk at work, as soon as I get over my pneumonia.
stinger
@raven: That bike — so cheerful! Especially against an all-bark background.
satby
@currants: Last year when I learned that putting the grow light lower over the seed tray and fanning them helped, I did both, and it did make for stronger seedlings. So I will do it again this year. I didn’t have an intermittent fan, but I read that just lightly blowing on them or brushing a paper over them works, so that’s what I did. I’m sure the fan would give more consistent results though.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: Yes, you want the grow lights close to the plants, that way they aren’t “reaching” for the light. Had not heard that about a fan tho. Interesting.
Schlemazel
@WereBear:
Yeah, this is just cruel to those of us on the still frozen tundra!
If you want a less hurtful sign of spring you could have just mentioned that the Wassila Quitter says she is seriously considering a run for President! That blossom with die faster than the crocuses but its a sure sign it’s spring.
WereBear
@Schlemazel: It’s a bit early, but we could say the Sap is Rising.
Schlemazel
@raven:
Cute planter.
The county is coming through this summer & ripping up out flower gardens as part of a complete rebuild of the road out front. The rest of the yard is so shaded we moved all our plants to the kids yard & are just going to fight the construction dust this year.
Elmo
Hm. Gardening.
I suppose I ought to think about doing something with all the leaves in the yard. But it’s wet and cold outside, and my wife is playing Dragon Age in the basement and that seems like more fun. Maybe next weekend.
Schlemazel
@WereBear:
Yes she is.
WereBear
@Schlemazel: We dealt with that last summer — one lane access, six foot deep and four foot wide trench across the driveways, low water pressure… horrible.
But now, we have a sidewalk, and they plow it, so it’s easy to walk to work. It’s great to get on the other side!
Svensker
@raven:
That’s gorgeous.
It’s 13 degrees here right now, supposed to warm up to 19. No croci for us for a while. It doesn’t even feel like a long winter yet — that doesn’t come until the end of February.
But we do have black ice, which is always exciting!
raven
@JPL: Which? The sewer should be totally done by mid-Feb. The addition won’t be started until late March and take 3 months or so.
Schlemazel
@WereBear:
Well that’s an improvement for you. They are taking away our boulevard garden & replacing it with concrete. They are also straightening out a curve just past our place that has had a few accidents over the years because people drive too fast around it. This will either eliminate the accidents or just encourage fools to go faster. But they are also burying all utilities so it should look nicer minus the flowers.
raven
@Schlemazel: I hope the work is as beneficial to you as this work will be to us.
WereBear
@Schlemazel: I hope burying the utilities will pay off, at least. I loathe losing flowers; I hear you on that.
Schlemazel
@raven:
Seems like your project has been going on forever, probably feels worse to you. They did the far end of the road last summer so we have a preview of what to expect. At least it won’t last long. Hopefully all that time will work out really well for you.
Citizen Scientist
I’ve been religiously checking my garlic to make sure the cold hasn’t killed it yet; I think the couple of inches of leaves that I applied back in the fall have really helped insulate it. Also, waiting for my seeds to arrive via mail to make my starts. Really thinking about replacing my lawn with pollinator plants and food crops someday.
Schlemazel
@WereBear:
The boulevard thing started about 10 years ago when a neighbor got tired of cutting the grass and put several plantings in, it swept the neighborhood in a few years. We had a hard time as the first couple of years nothing survived the salt & road schmutz killed our early efforts. It was nice to drive through when things were in bloom but there are still several yards that will be putting on a flower show so it won’t be awful.
FlyingToaster
Like Anne Laurie, I’m in the “guaranteed 15″-18″ snow, with banding causing accumulations of 2′ ” forecast.
I can’t start my seedlings until Feb 20, because no one will water them for February vacation week (WarriorGirl & I visit my mom in sunny FL, while HerrDoktor pays the mortgage and never ventures into the basement). Also, our overnight temps don’t stay above 55 until the end of May. I start getting seedlings at the end of April, put out the greens over the course of May, and plant the tomatoes at the beginning of June.
HerrDoktor & WarriorGirl are out shoveling right now; we cut down an OJ carton and use it to scatter Roadrunner ice melt over the icy patches. It snowed ~4″ yesterday (which we shoveled to bare pavement), then ice pellets, then another inch of snow after dark. Since we live on a corner, we have to maintain the sidewalk as well as our porches, stairs and driveway.
I’m already booking on no school for tuesday or wednesday.
Pogonip
@WereBear: Vermiculite repels whiteflies? I didn’t know that. Thanks!
MobiusKlein
Well, January Rain in San Francisco is 0.00. Not sure if that counts as summer, spring or winter.
Sierras are likewise low on snow, so who knows around here.
mai naem mobile
Not that gardens arent interesting but where’s the update on the puppehs?
Iowa Old Lady
It’s snowing. That is all.
WereBear
@Pogonip: Well, vermiculite “lightens” the density of the soil, so it drains better, and does not foster the wet conditions whitefly needs. This is why whitefly is such a menace in Florida and greenhouses… humid, warm, conditions.
A self-watering pot can also avoid the conditions which foster whitefly. Disinfect everything with a bleach solution, lighten the soil, and master the watering schedule… you’ll have wagon wheels in no time.
BGinCHI
Gardening???
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
It’s winter. Go back to sleep.
raven
@Schlemazel: 19 months but we’ve got a glimpse of the end and, honestly, this could not have happened any other way. If the city had known where the sewer line was we would have never gotten a building permit in the first place. It was a test of patience but it’s all good.
Baud
I suspect spring will arrive before we see another thread.
SiubhanDuinne
I’m in the movie theatre (early) for the HD transmission of “Swan Lake” from the Bolshoi Ballet. In a couple of months I’ll be back in the same theatre, probably the same seat, for the Royal Ballet’s version. In the meantime and beyond, there are lots of other one-screening-only ballets, operas, Shakespeare plays, art exhibits, and the like, all via Fathom and mostly at a very affordable $15. This is really a bumper year for these cultural cinema events, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity.
http://www.fathomevents.com
kindness
California here. We would happily trade you some wet snow for our weather. Hasn’t rained since mid-December. Was supposed to hit 80 in the Bay Area today. Sunny, beautiful….but this no water thing is going to kick us in the huevos. Plus I wanna ski some. So, by all means send us some of that and we’ll happily trade you some of ours for now.
chuckbutcher
Well fer cry-eye-yie its Jan in N MI so my plans involve snow shoveling for more than a month… Ya sick bastard.
gogol's wife
@FlyingToaster:
What school in KCMO did you go to?
gogol's wife
Our first day of class is Monday, then BLIZZARD. Great. Can’t wait. I want to move somewhere where there’s no weather (and no earthquakes, so NoCal is out).
mohagan
@kindness: I’m in N CA (Mendocino County) and yeah, we need rain! A few of our early daffodils are showing yellow (almost open) and the fruit trees have buds swelling on the branches. My husband pruned last week and I took some of the cuttings and put them in water and the buds have continued to swell and one branch is showing pink (it’s an apricot). I’m thrilled – always wanted to try cuttings and never did. Nature and the force of life FTW!
HeartlandLiberal
@Tenar Darell: No flying the entire trip. Ship across Atlantic east bound, first port Cork, Ireland. Then the QE 2 to come home to New York. AmTrak to and from east coast and home.
Mustang Bobby
@chuckbutcher: Forty-five years in northern Ohio and northern Michigan (Frankfort and Petoskey) and I finally got the hint in 2001. Got a job in Miami and gave the snow shovel to Goodwill.
Violet
@HeartlandLiberal: Congratulations! That sounds like a fantastic trip!
It’s been cold and miserable where I am but we’ve had good days interspersed. Yesterday and today are some of those days. I’m exhausted from moving close to 500 bricks and a bunch off other stuff yesterday. Some family friends are downsizing and we got some garden stuff from them, including all the bricks. I’m beat.
Today I’ve got to get back out in the garden. I’m super late getting my tulip bulbs in and that’s today’s project, plus cleaning up the beds, weeding, etc. If I get around to it, I’ll re-tag the peach/nectarine tree. Given how exhausted I am and the fact that I’m starting late, I’m not super optimistic about how much I’ll get done. Glorious day to be out, though.
WereBear
@Violet: Don’t over do! You haven’t built up your reserves again!
Violet
@WereBear: Most of what I’m planning to do today is low key. I just went for a walk to get the blood moving. I’m not planning to overdo. You’re right. My body is tired. But I’ve also learned that if I just sit around all day it’s not good for me so I need to keep moving.
SWMBO
Piglets! We want Piglets! Since there wasn’t much yesterday, I’m assuming that JC got Ginger to the doggie spa. He said her foot was better so I’m hoping for a new ‘do for her. Thurston Howl and Lovey are ready for their closeup. And I still would like to see moar Rosie, Steve and the incomparable Lily. Need moar Piglets!
PurpleGirl
Haven’t been on-line for a day or so and I want pet pics, JC. Maybe I should be planning and researching plants for the terrace now and not wait until the late spring.
Cckids
Its our first spring (yes, it IS spring here in S. NV) in an apartment. So just planters & pots for me. It is quite an adjustment.
I’m going to re-pot & move around some of my succulents & cacti, they’ve outgrown their current homes. And am trying to plan some blooms & possibly a patio tomato. But we have full-on Southeast exposure with the patio, so the heat is beyond intense come June.
I guess I will see.
SWMBO
@Cckids: You could get a rollup screen to help block some of the heat and sun in June/July.
morfydd
@HeartlandLiberal: Sounds like a great trip! Feel few to drop me a line (username@gmail) if you’d like to meet up in Hamburg. Miniatur World really is spectacular and I haven’t even seen the latest new projects.
FlyingToaster
@gogol’s wife: KCMO Hartman Elementary; NKCMO West Englewood Elementary; NKCMO New Mark JHS; NKCMO Oak Park HS. Left in 1979 :)
gogol's wife
@FlyingToaster:
Oh, okay, I’m from the southern part. Troost/Pinkerton, and Southeast HS (which doesn’t even exist anymore).
MobiusKlein
@FlyingToaster: Hey, nice throw back name. Any connection with the Screen Saver company, or just homage?
FlyingToaster
@gogol’s wife: I don’t think Southwest exists any more either. I lived on the other side of Troost (Hartman’s district was 75th-85th, Wornall to Troost). Used to bowl at King Louie on Troost, and learned to swim/play piano/guitar/volleyball at the JCC between Holmes and Troost.
KCMO has closed half of the schools I grew up with, sold most of the buildings off, and I don’t even venture south of the Plaza/Loose Park when I go out there anymore. Nothing left of interest.
FlyingToaster
@MobiusKlein: Homage. And I still have the TShirt from my MacWorld days (when Broderbund was still a company).
It also enables me to taunt wingnuts with “Bend down and kiss my shiny metal ass!”
MobiusKlein
@FlyingToaster: I worked there in the day (Disney Screen saver, 3.0, Simpsons, You Don’t Know Jack). I appreciate the memories.
One of my cherished memories – Customer support forbade us to ever use underscore characters in file names, since it made their life hell. Ah, DOS.
OlFroth
I’m still pulling carrots out of my SW Pennsylvania garden!