Extremes

The highest temperature recorded in North America was in 1913 when Furnace Creek Ranch CA (Death Valley) was 134 degrees F. The world record is in Libia at 136 degrees F in 1922. The coldest temperature in North America was in the Snag, Yukon Territory, Canada in 1943 at a -81.4 degrees F. The coldest in the world was in 1983 in Antarctica at -89.2 F. The most rain in a 60 minute period in the world was in Holt MO in 1947 with 12 inches. The largest hailstone weighing 2.25 pounds was in Bangladesh in 1986. The longest dry period was in Chili and lasted 173 months in the early 1900s. The point?  Extremes can point out several things:  (1) Right Here - Right now - Things aren't all that bad. (2) Extremes have been around for a long time. (3) There's always someplace worse than here. And remember these tried and true folk sayings: A warm November is the sign of a bad Winter. Onion skins very thin, Mild Winter coming in; Onion skins thick and tough, Coming Winter cold and rough. Flowers bloomin' in late Autumn, A sure sign of a bad Winter comin'. As high as the weeds grow, So will the bank of snow. Thunder in the Fall foretells a cold Winter. If there’s ice in November to bear a duck There’ll be nothing after but sludge and muck. On All Hallow's Day cut a chip from the beech tree; If it be dry the winter will prove warm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sunny, windy and 74 degrees here tomorrow - I'll be a happy little Midwesterner.  Hope it is where you reside, too.

Producing Help

Gardeners Unite!  When is the last time you were asked to unite?  Perhaps the 1970s?  As we move into winter, now is the perfect time to unite around sharing the produce from your gardens and pantries.

All food pantries need help.  The guidelines and what they will accept may be different in each area, but, I guarantee there is something you could donate and that includes cash.  The cash is typically used for bulk purchases from the Food Bank.

Our local Galva Emergency Food Pantry, 311 N.W. 4th Ave. (back of the old F.U. White school), will accept excess garden produce, such as tomatoes, sweet corn, potatoes, onions, green beans, carrots, squash (and in season strawberries, cherries, apples, pumpkins and other).  All items need to be clean and free from damage.

Contact your Food Pantry (local contacts:  Pete V. 309-932-2317 or Terry W. 309-337-1214) from 9 am to 4 pm weekdays.  Contact your local ministerial association (or your pastor) to volunteer to work/staff the food pantry.

As you bag up some clean fresh produce, consider including non-food items such as diapers, feminine hygiene items, paper towels, toilet paper, dish washing liquid, laundry soap, etc. 


Seriously:  No one in the USA should go to bed hungry, but, many do.  No child should have to go to school without breakfast, but, many do.  No elderly person should have to decide between medications and food, but, some will.  No young family should have to decide between shoes and food, but, some must.

I've always maintained gardeners are the nicest and most generous of the people I know.  Not only share that beautiful garden plant with a friend, share your garden produce with a local food pantry.  Donate your garden bounty, your financial gifts, and your time.  Do so on a regular basis.  Make it a monthly project for your garden club or other group.  Teach your children and grandchildren the joy of helping others by your example.  Share the bounty!

Side Note:  Galva Food Pantry is usually looking for good used upright refrigerators.   

"A friend may well be the masterpiece of nature."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

 
     

Good as Old

"Good as new is easy

Good as old takes talent."

- Edson Construction Co. advertisement in 1988 "Old House Journal"

Although this advertisement is talking about remodeling homes, it applies quite well to gardens.

Seldom do we exclaim over a new garden.  We save our "ooh" and "ahhh" for established yards.  We want to copy yards and gardens that have character - the kind you can only get from years of growing, loving and attention. 

What this little quote refers to is making something new look, feel and behave as if it was done perfectly years and years ago.  Putting a row of little shrubs around the foundation of a new home is easy.  Putting a foundation planting together that resembles an established home is much more difficult.  And, it takes talent.

A few of the talents needed is know yourself, vision, define your style, horticultural knowledge, a good diagrammed plan, a budget and buying the right plant for today and tomorrow.  It's not necessarily hiring a professional (although that is one way to help) and it's not necessarily spending huge quantities of money (although that's an option, too.)

• Know yourself:  What level of self involvement will you want?
• Vision:  How do you want your planting to look today and at maturity?
• Style:  Do you want a particular style and will it match your home's architecture?
• Horticultural Knowledge:  Do you know enough to do this project and will you be able to continue?
• Plan:  Having a diagram on paper/computer will help you visualize and keep the plan on track.
• Budget:  Knowing what you can spend prior to starting keeps your plan viable and is a must for both you and if you hire help. 
• Right plant:  Make sure your plan will transition into the future years and not outgrow it's beauty and function. 

I think we've all seen a new house with the little puff ball shrubs dotting the foundation every two feet or the twenty year old ranch home with bushes covering the windows.  Both examples show lack of the above steps.  Too bad since a planting gone bad typically costs as much in labor and material as a good planting. 

Probably the last comment:  If you have made a mistake, take it out.  This is my personal difficult rule.  I have feelings akin to disowning a child. 

I've made my share of mistakes when planting.  The hybrid Eastern White Pine Pinus strobus "fastigiated" that was to get a maximum of 15 foot wide and 50 foot tall.  It sounded like the perfect tree between my four eastern facing windows - a blank spot on the house visible to the road.  The thing is HUGE and starting to cover the bottom windows.  It's just too beautiful a tree to remove and is said to live up to 400 years.  I just can't kill it and it's way too big to move.

I've been fooled by "dwarf" varieties, "slow growers" and "maximum growth stats" several times.  Some have been successfully moved, some have stayed and are awkward and some have left us.  I try to rationalize:

Successfully moved:  The HUGE H U G E  forsythia bush by the front picture window was moved (thank you husband) and we were able to divide it into at least fifteen bushes now located away from windows.  It seemed like a beautiful yellow addition to that area, where we could enjoy the flowers and birds and insects who frequented.  Alas, it blocked all other views.  
      

Stayed:  The above mentioned White Pine.

Left us:  Raspberry bushes as foundation plants.  This was a method of keeping "peeping Toms and intruders" away from windows in Victorian times.  I thought, "How perfect for my old Victorian home!"  Not so perfect for the guys who were painting the house. 

Read,
study,
ask questions,
research and
make your gardens as good as old!
It's worth building your talents.

Harvest Home

Here's a great letter from the Indiana USDA office regarding farm safety and it applies to Illinois, too.  I call farmers the "Big Gardeners" and many safety hints relate to little gardeners, too.  As we see and hear farm equipment during this harvest season, let's all make an extra effort to be safe.

Farm Safety: A Serious Business

"As harvest is underway in the Hoosier heartland, how fortunate we are to benefit from the hard work and dedication of America’s farmers.  National Farm Safety and Health Week is this month. As we reflect on the agricultural abundance we enjoy in Indiana and this Nation, let’s acknowledge the risk inherent in this occupation. As these hard working men and women are creating this agricultural abundance – food, feed, fuel and fiber – over the next several months, they must be ever-vigilant for their own safety.

From their toil on farms, we have an abundance of healthy food to sustain us and make our lives enjoyable and a wealth of materials for clothing and manufactured products.   Every day our lives are touched and enriched by the fruits of their labors. 

Indiana’s farm families are among the most productive in the world.  An amazing bounty is produced on the idyllic family farms we picture in our minds.  But while living and working on a farm might seem like an entirely wholesome and stress free existence, there are few jobs in America that are more dangerous. 

The National Safety Council consistently ranks agriculture as one of the most hazardous occupations in the United States. A recent survey by USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service showed 200,000 work-related injuries occurred on U.S. farms annually. Farm family members accounted for 65 percent of those injuries.

We often think of dangerous jobs as firefighters, police officers, or miners.  But according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, agriculture faces an extremely high fatality rate of nearly four for every 10,000 farmers.  Only fishermen, loggers and aircraft pilots have occupational fatality rates that are higher.   

Dangers built into agricultural work include harsh weather, difficult environmental conditions, operation of heavy machinery and equipment and working with dangerous materials and chemicals.  Tractor roll-overs and ATV accidents continue to be responsible for a great number of adult and adolescent farm fatalities on our Nation’s farms.  Accidents happen in any field, but in agriculture, accidents frequently can be fatal.

I fondly look back on my childhood on the farm and cherish the hours spent riding on the tractor with my dad, or taking care of the Angus cattle herd.  I still marvel at how quickly he then, and still today, can plant a crop, bale a field of hay or sort cattle. I also remember the fear I have had many times with the “close calls” on the farm with either the crop or livestock operation.  He could easily have been severely injured. Our family farm does its best to practice farm safety every day.

My dad has been lucky, but others have not been. For every serious agricultural injury, the victim will have experienced 10 close calls and 30 cases of personal property damage. It is so easy to become complacent in daily farm work that safety basics can be overlooked.  Farm safety has to be constantly reinforced.

Please join with me in expressing our appreciation and gratitude to our farmers and farm families for their phenomenal contribution to our very well being.  At the USDA Farm Service Agency, we are taking this opportunity during harvest to raise the awareness of farm safety to help them stay safe, healthy, and on the job.  After all, it is the very practice of farm safety that sustains the health of our Nation’s farm families.  Here’s wishing all Indiana (and Illinois) farmers a productive and safe harvest!"

Indiana Farm Service Agency
5981 Lakeside Blvd.
Indianapolis, IN 46278
Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services
United States Department of Agriculture
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Op-ed by Julia A. Wickard (copied by permission)
State Executive Director, Indiana Farm Service Agency

OOoo La La Nina

OK, it's not even officially fall and the Climate Prediction Center issued a forecast that Le Nina "will garner strength during the coming winter."  That's the weather pattern bringing us both drought and record snowfalls in the U.S.

"While it is not yet clear what the ultimate strength of this La Nina will be, La Nina conditions have returned and are expected to gradually strengthen and continue into the Northern Hemisphere winter (of) 2011-12," the CPC said in a monthly update.

La Nina was blamed in part for the severe snow storms which struck the U.S. last winter and the worst drought in a century which has ravaged Texas and swathes of the southwestern part of the country.

Most of us in the Midwest prepare for a bad winter, La Nina prediction or not.  Here's a few reminder preparations for a winter of heavy and deep snow:

Arborvitaes usually have two or more trunks.  Loosely tie them together about 2/3 of the way up with old nylon stockings.  Heavy snow will often weigh those down and cause them to split open - often no repair is possible.

Make sure you have your snow blower serviced and make sure it will start.  If you don't own one, make sure you have a functional shovel, clean, sharp and oiled.  Keep one at home and keep on in the trunk of your vehicles.

Clean out the debris from your gutters.  Debris is heavy and added snow can rip them off the house.  In addition, the melting and freezing of snow on the roof needs to be able to run off and away.

Remove and store all garden ornaments near paths and driveways that will be buried in snow and be broke or trip someone.

Get an extra supply of kitty litter to put down on ice covered walks.  Put another bag/box in each trunk in case you need traction.

If your winter machines run on gas, make sure you have full gas cans in a place where you can access but not where they are a hazard.

Use large covered storage tubs to store quantities of bird seed.  The tubs keep mice out and keep repeat shopping at a minimum.  A heavy snow cover prevents birds and animals from reaching food on the ground.  Consider putting up bird shelters where they can roost away from the wind.

If you can afford the electric expense, invest in a bird bath heater.  Make sure the extension is placed where it isn't a hazard (tripping, cut with snow blower, whipped by wind) and for outside use only.  Wrap the connection with electrical tape.

Put up outside Christmas lights while it's still decent weather.  Maybe not the twenty foot Santa balloon but certainly lights on trees, bushes, fences, etc.  It will allow you to check them out without freezing.  It will also allow you to have a plan for placing the plug-ins.  The same warning goes as with the above extension cord.  Make sure all outdoor extensions are free from nicks to the rubber coating and have no frayed wires.  Remember electricity and moisture do not mix safely!

Tie down or weigh down any yard ornament, holiday decorations, tables, chairs, or other yard things.  We tend to forget the brute force of winter winds especially when in conjunction with a winter snow storm. 

Cover your grill or take inside.  Fall is the best time to wash and store screens.  Both last longer if they don't have to winter outside.  Take in all fabric accessories:  curtains, cushions, and pillows.

Any porch equipment, even if weather resistant, will last longer if you can store in a protected space.  Rattan and wicker will rot away after a few years exposed to winter weather. 

Wash all garden gloves and throw away those you can't save.  No one needs twelve left hand gloves with no right hand gloves...  Wash your ball caps and that stinky pair of garden shoes.  THROW away anything ripped and uncomfortable.

Wash and dry all garden tools, oil metal and wood and store in a dry place.  THROW away the tools that are simply past working right.  If you can't throw away - hang them on the shed wall as decoration, but, stop moving old broken tools while your looking for the one that works.

Oil the rollers on your garage door, put up snow fence where it drifts (before the ground freezes), service the lawn mowers, weed eaters, blowers and any other machines with a gas engine.  Add Sta-Bil to the gas tanks. 

Add any raked leaves to your flower and garden beds.  They make great insulation from the cold, they compost right into the soil, and they're free.

When adverse conditions are predicted, be prepared with a full tank of gas in your vehicles and generator.  Have emergency medications, baby and elder care supplies and a plan if you loose your source of heat.  Have your cell phones charged, extra batteries, a good flashlight, emergency band radio and perhaps candles and lanterns.  (I always like to have a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies but that's just me.)  Have your firewood dry and close to the house if you have a wood stove or fireplace. 

And lastly, make sure your pets are able to have warm shelter from the winter winds and snow.  My measure is if I'm not warm, neither is my pet and that's just not right.  It doesn't mean they must be inside pets, but an insulated house, with a flap door that is protected from the wind, always fresh unfrozen water and plenty to eat.  A nice layer of straw for an insulated bed and covered with a blanket.  If it all gets wet, remove and replace with fresh.  Bales of straw will make great insulation around a dog house and come spring they can be torn apart and put on the garden as mulch.

You know:  one purpose of fall is to get all the winter preparations done that you've been putting off all summer.  Since La Nina has been invited to the party, perhaps it's the perfect time to get your cha cha in gear and be prepared.     

     

The Annual Fall

With cooler weather, even drought suffering annuals are rebounding.  We had half an inch of rain the other day and although it didn't solve the drought, it did refresh most of the plants.  Grass has greened, annuals have stopped wilting, the garden vegetables are pushed along, and hopefully, all perennials have a bit of a boost.

(Impatiens:  Super Elfin "Parfait Mix" is  placed along the North path to the woods.)

Next spring when you're in the nursery, remember what annuals are rebounding with the cool weather.  Impatients will never looked as good as in the cooler fall weather.  Grasses are thick and most have blooms.  Vines have a combination of flowers and seed pods.

(Zinnia:  "Old Fashioned Pink" - grows to about four foot tall) 

Vegetables are heavily producing.  Tomatoes should put on a final batch - even if you have to pick them green come frost.  Winter squash vines have begun to dry and ornamental squash is still blooming big and beautiful.

(Dolichos Lab Lab:  "Ruby Moon".  Self seeded from last year.) 

Sunflowers are beginning to dry and the little Goldfinches are busy eating upside down.  After the shower, my yard has been filled with Robins eating at the insect buffet.  Squarrels are feasting on and hiding my bumper crop of walnuts.

(Cleome:  "Mixed Pink" - self seeded from last year.)

These photos are some of the pretty annuals currently enjoying this beautiful fall day. 

(Morning Glory:  Pink self seeded from last year (yes, I know..) and a huge dusty pink hybrid called "Chocolate".)

“By all these lovely tokens

September days are here

With summer's best of weather
And autumn's best of cheer.” 
Author Unknown

Pinktober

Tulip "Claudia" is a dramatic purple-violet pink with light pink-white edges.  Blooms Mid-Spring and is 16-20 inches tall. 

These are two of the tulips I planted this afternoon.  Walmart and EuroBlooms have partnered to give $0.30 to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure from each pack sold with a guaranteed minimum donation of $100,000. 
Tulip "Hope Blooms" is a variable white and pink with pink mottling.  Blooms in Mid Spring and is 12-16 inches tall. 

Hadn't thought about tulips for the cure, was simply focused on planting pink tulips under our big old walnut tree.  Many of my tulips have run their course and I was glad for the nice day to plant.  I've often been outside in early November digging holes while battling nasty weather.

If you'd like to buy some of these pink flowering bulbs that benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure cause, check out your Walmart store, garden section.  www.eroblooms.com/komen has the complete selection.

In addition to the two EuroBlooms, I planted tulip "Pink Impression" which grows to 18-24 inches.  There are now about 50 bulbs of pink tulip under the tree.  Towards the front of the bed I planted  36 crocus "Goldilocks" bulbs and they will bloom in early spring.  The late emerging comfry will eventually cover all the area where these bulbs are planted.

One of my favorite tulips is "Apricot Impression" - a dreamcycle colored large Mid-Spring bloomer on 22 inch stems.  I've had this one in my garden for years and replant as they begin to stop blooming.

All I have left to plant are about 50 daffodils ("Smiling Twin" and "Carlton").  I started planting daffodils in the woods a few years ago and hope to see WAVES of them in the years to come.  They are considered a long lasting perennial plus they naturalize.

If I gave you the impression I "color theme" my spring flowering bulbs - I sure don't.  I'm so color and flower starved come Spring, I love every color of flower that emerges.

I do manage to have complementary colors close together, but that's about as themed as I get.  My only theme is the thought, "I've never regretted a single bulb I've planted come Spring." 

Next month will be the official Pinktober - grab a few bags of bulbs along with your other donations to the Susan G. Komen For The Cure!  We all know a woman who has suffered and won the battle and a few who have suffered and lost.  We need a cure!