Weekly Garden Thread - December 16-22, 2023 [Winter Garden Planning]

December 16, 2023 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Qiviut]

Just checked out the hardiness zone of the new place vs the current place. We go from a 7b to a 7a which isn’t too bad.

We got a solid 2” of rain Sunday - my brother, on the coast, got 4”. I do believe that catches our area up for the year on total rainfall. Talking to the family west of the mountains, they are in drought conditions and while they got some rain, there was nowhere near enough to change the drought designation.

What feels SUPER weird is looking at my garden. I got this past season’s debris out (dead plants), but still need to do a lot of soil/bed prep work, finish the weed barrier project, etc. .... except now I don’t. I will be ‘walking away’ from it all, don’t need to do a thing. I might need to take my 4 (3x6 so not huge) metal raised beds apart, which is going to be a ‘pain ... if I can get them loose in one piece, I might be able to trailer them without taking them apart. My 15 bags of pine needle mulch are going ... somehow. I think I can get them all in the trailer. Last I checked, the trailer lights worked, but the tires are ‘ancient’& very likely dry rotted ... I am having both replaced & the spare, so I shouldn’t have tire issues. When I had horses and was on the road with them a lot going to shows, I was really good at backing the trailer - I will have to dust off my skills. The trailer is small, but large enough to hold one golf cart, with the front panel down so I think I should be able to move the garden stuff myself.

I was in Walmart (ugh) yesterday, but it was a necessity. For the first time, I actually got a brief feeling of ‘Christmas’. We had no Christmas last year, so even if it was in a long line, in that store, I was glad to be feeling ‘something’.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

LOL! You sound like me when I sold my ranch house in the ‘burbs and bought my first farm. I had it written into the contract that I could come back the next spring for my compost pile. The new owners said, “YES! PLEASE DO!” :)

You’ll have that ‘Christmas Feeling’ again. Mine sucked in 2020 when my Dad died and we were all trapped like rats in our homes. But, Life Goes On, as time will show you. :)

My next Wal-Mert Adventure will be the day AFTER Christmas, but I plan on just placing an order for pick-up for the remaining things I need for our celebration on the 30th. If they don’t have the Garden Center open, I rarely go inside. ;)

[MomwithHope]

That’s funny. Did you have to place a value on the compost pile in case you didn’t show up?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

They couldn’t AFFORD my compost pile! Black GOLD, Baby! Nah, there was no price. They saw it as an eyesore (Gasp!) so I was appeasing them for the most part. ;)

That house sold in 24 hours, though. Just your basic 3-bedroom Ranch, but it had really nice features and a lot of oak flooring and cabinetry. I bought it from my Dad a few years prior, then did some upgrades myself. It was the house I lived in from the time I was 10 until I left for the Army at 17. I should’ve asked for more $$, but I wanted that farm SO BAD it hurt!

Owning a farm was always my biggest goal in life. :)

[Qiviut]

I wish I could take the great dirt in my raised beds & compost from last year’s leaves, but I think it might be too much to tackle - too heavy. My cousin where we are moving has an excavating & hauling company & could haul dirt or if I can find some & get it loaded, could use the old pickup like I did with the herb garden addition (that I have to leave behind for sure 😭).

The neighbor across the street is a great guy & his kids, daughter in particular, loves flowers. Mom takes them flower bouquets about once a month. He has a small raised bed & grows a tomato plant or two. I plan on telling him he is welcome to the dirt in the wooden raised beds & if he can figure out how to move them, he can have the beds as well. The two oldest beds are starting to rot - if they were a year or two old, I might have tried moving them. The herb extension is new, but the wood was warped & I had to take some ‘measures’ to get it together - don’t want to deal with trying to take it apart again.

Looking for a place where I can buy herbs where we’re moving - might have to hop across the mountain where my niece lives - she has ‘sources’. I am digging up the 3 lavenders & taking them for sure.

I might have a great spot against the back of the shop for hollyhocks ... will be there tomorrow for the home inspection & will be checking out ‘places’ .... :-)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Fingers Crossed for you on the inspection. :)

[Pollard]

Well, there ya go. Case closed. :) (I haven’t bought anything yet!)

Me neither and it won't be happening for a while.

My truck blew up a couple of mornings ago, close to home luckily. Still runs but is not drive-able any distance. I have enough mechanic experience to know it's something major with the engine and this thing's got 300k miles on it and it's a Ford and I don't even like Fords. My car is a Ford too. I bought it cheap from the ex-wife for a backup.

No more shopping for gardening/automation goodies or gifts or new work shoes, clothes. No NY Strip for a while. I wanted to go get another load or two of firewood but that ain't happening.

If it was warm weather I might try and fix it. Got a parts truck that can go with it so some Ford truck nut will buy them.

For now, I'll park it down at the tunnel spot and set the ladder/crane back up and use it to set the rest of the tunnel frames. Once those are done, it can go on craigslist as "Parts or repair - extra parts truck included".

In 2-3 weeks, I'll start looking for another 4WD/AWD vehicle. Will be looking for a 4cyl, small 6cyl or if I happen upon a full size Chevy 4x4, with 17" wheels, I'll grab it because I have brand new 17" mud & snow tires on the F150. Hell, even if I found another 4x4 F150 cheap that needs tires, I'd probably buy it. Wouldn't even need a tire shop to swap tires to different rims. Just bolt them on.

Don't really want to drive a fwd Ford Focus 40 mile one way commuting in slippery conditions. Crappy time of year to lose the truck. It's got great heat and the Focus has crappy heat too.

[MomwithHope]

Good luck on finding the right truck.

[MomwithHope]

Cooking slide - watched this on the dvr last night. Great cooking program with Mary Berry. Ever recipe was a wow factor. Especially liked the onion and fennel tart. If you search for her recipes for this show they are online.

https://www.pbs.org/video/mary-berrys-highland-christmas-xxdzjh/

Thought of you Liz, you would love this.

[Liz]

Many thanks. Your recommend is a big plus.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Her Christmas Special was on WI PBS last week. Was glad to see that she’s still around! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

So, TOMORROW is the First Day of Winter...and our predicted temps for the remainder of the week are in the high 40’s and hitting the 50’s! WOW. This hasn’t happened in a long time.

No White Christmas for us, and though we’ve had two snowfalls already, we’re still in ‘drought’ conditions and I hope this weather pattern holds for the winter. 50 inches of snow is our average snowfall each winter, so anything less than that is a bonus.

Granted, it’s going to rain a bit into the weekend, but it’s not SNOW! Yay! :)

Last week I FINALLY got my Asparagus cut back for the winter. The stalks (?) in the center of the patch were still green! There is a thick layer of straw already on it, so I didn’t need to add more. It’s 80+ degrees in the Greenhouse, today, and I STILL have blooming Petunias in there.

This is crazy. And we’ll more than likely pay dearly for it later in the winter.

Only 90 days until Spring, 2024! :)

https://days.to/spring/2024

[Pollard]

or car

Looking at a 2009 Subaru Legacy 4 door sedan, 4 cylinder, AWD. Minor wreck from hitting a deer. Could be straightened, headlight assembly replaced and driven. Fix it proper next year.

Sent them an email requesting interior pics but I'm pretty sure it's clean inside.

New tires, front and rear strut assemblies, front stabilizer bar links, front lower control arms, and headlight assemblies(one of which is now broken). Additionally, plugs, plug wires, and the ignition coil were replaced in March 2023.

They were putting money into it with the intention of keeping it for a while.

170k miles, very clean other than crunched corner - $2000 - NADA says $5,000 blue book value for the Subaru.

I've done paint and body work. Even had one inspected by Allstate which I didn't know was going to happen beforehand. They said I did a good job evidently. Fixed a co-worker's wife's car. Had to weld in a new rear quarter, paint the rear end, blending it into the rest of the paint job. Back when disposable 35mm cameras(and pagers) were all the rage and digital was still big $$$$.

Will see if they still have the Legacy in 2-3 weeks. Been listed for a couple of weeks but not many people are car shopping right now. I can tell by the wording that it's a stand up person who takes good care of their vehicles. I'm good at sniffing them out.

The Subaru would be nice because I do prefer commuting in a car, prefer a 4 door, it's AWD and they get about 27mpg. It's nice enough so that I could do the body work properly come Spring and sell it at a profit. If I like it well enough, keep it.

Another one.

2006 Nissan Xterra 4WD V6 4.0L for sale. This has been a great car but needs a little help. Presently the Check Engine light is on for a misfire on cylinder 3 and the fuel sensor is reporting a high voltage error. Hearing that, I've decided this is going to be beyond my mechanical means and not something I want to pay to repair. Up until last week it was my daily driver but I have parked it before posting.

I have a pair of new headlight assemblies and will give them to you so you can replace the yellowing lights.

If you're interested let me know. While you could drive this somewhere, I might not suggest too far. (He don't know me very well)

Between the wording and the cul-de-sac with red brick houses, probably a steal @ $2,000 People like that sell used vehicles cheap because they're afraid of lawsuits. NADA says $4,500 value. The worst of the interior is a little rub through on the edge of the driver's seat.

There's a couple of other possibilities including a Chevy 4x4 truck that lost 4th gear. Automatic transmission. Would be fine for driving 55 mph roads but probably just needs a shift solenoid which is an easy fix, albeit messy. It's got new tires but not mud & snow tires like I have on the F150. Both are 17" so mine would work.

and of course a couple of 4X4 F150s. One's jacked up which I wouldn't want and the other's a plain white work truck but with low miles. Needs a few minor things. I really want to get away from the Fords though.

In fact, as much as it sucks that the truck went down, I'm sick of it and the Focus we've had for years and looking forward to something new(to me). The Legacy, Exterra or maybe the Chevy truck. Or whatever else I find in 2-3 weeks. Vehicles that have spent their life in the nicer subdivisions, commuting to the nearby city are nice vehicles as long as they belonged to an adult. The F150 and Focus were like that but it only takes a few years on these gravel and country roads and commuting 30-40 miles one way to finish them off. ($2-4k every 3-4 years is very cheap car payments)

[Pollard]

About the same weather here in the Ozarks but ten degrees warmer. It’s weird but I’ll take it right now. February is coming fast though.

My brain always thinks of December as Winter due to Christmas and Winter solstice I guess but Feb is a .....

very low in the sky sun month

and then it’s seed starting time.

[Pollard]

Had the truck not blown up going 30 mph down the gravel road(??), this is what I would have bought today.

I've got plenty of seed starting stuff. This was just an upgrade to HD and all from the same manufacturer. If they're still in stock in Feb/Mar, I might grab them then.

[MomwithHope]

I’m impressed you can do all that. Looks like a smart purchase.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Welcome the Winter Solstice December 21

In the midst of the holiday chaos, the Winter Solstice brings a moment of complete silence. December 21st marks the solstice. Winter solstice is an astronomical phenomenon which marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year.

The Winter Solstice is a time of reflection, during the darkest and longest night of the year. A time to spend with family and friends. A time to imagine what the coming year will bring. As an expression in nature, the Winter Solstice is the time to reflect on the power of our spiritual beliefs and the belief in the power of ourselves.

Here Are Some Wonderful Suggestions to Start Winter Solstice Traditions

Feed the Wildlife - String cereal onto thread and drape it across the bare branches of trees for the wildlife to share... some apples too, hung on a thread. This is a wonderful gift to the creatures that share our world in the night, the longest night of the year.

Eat by Candlelight - Welcome the return of the sun by eating in only candlelight and firelight... thank the sun for all of its strength and energy, and for bringing light into our lives.

Release The Old - Use this time to release any old thoughts, patterns or unwanted energy from 2016. Just write down whatever comes, draw a picture. Sometimes words are not needed.

Welcome The New - One of the most important things that you can do is write out your hopes and dreams for 2020 on slips of paper, then light them on fire by candles or fireplace and watch as the paper transforms to smoke... carrying your intentions out to the universe. Your energy and intention is not unnoticed.

Light a candle (white, gold, or silver) and spend at least 5 minutes in mindful mediation. Make sure you take time to enjoy this sacred day in some special way.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Oops! Sorry about the random dates in there - was trying to make this info ‘generic.’ ;)

[Alas Babylon!]

I’m still planting!

Beets, cabbage, carrots, collards, fava beans, kale and lettuce. This is the prime time to plant these crops in the Deep South.

[deport]

Don’t forget okra, taters and onions..