October 2020 Week 4
jlhart76
3 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (68)
Okla Moni
3 years agojlhart76
3 years agoRelated Discussions
August 2020, Week 4
Comments (59)Larry, You're welcome. I have cured it, and it didn't mold in the cracks, but you'll have to watch for that because the mold could happen. We're usually very hot and very dry when it is squash-curing time here and have low dewpoints, so I can get away with curing cracked squash, but you have more rain, more humidity and higher dewpoints there most of the time than I have here, so you might have mold happen. This week we don't have the moisture but we have the high dewpoints and the high heat indices that go with them, but I don't have anything drying or curing so I guess it doesn't affect me. I've store an excess crop of winter squash in the garage and it has kept out there for up to 18 months without spoiling. Most years I just lined them up on top of boards laid on the floor (to allow for a little air flow around the bottoms of the squash) but one year I put them on shelves and they were fine. Our garage is detached from the house and not heated, but it is very well insulated. The squash survived outdoor temperatures of around 15-18 degrees but it probably was a bit warmer than that inside the building. Other years I've stored them in a single layer in shallow boxes underneath the beds in the spare bedrooms or on my light shelf (minus the use of the lights since I wasn't starting seeds) in the spare room. Or, some years I've stored some of them on the floor along the back wall of the walk-in pantry. You can put them anywhere like that as long as you don't have rodents that might chew on them. Your mind is not feeble and I'm sure you're thinking of Dana, who lives in or near Harrah or at least she did back then. I don't know if she still is gardening but you might search for her on FB under Dana Pattison Garcia or Dana Garcia and see if she still has a FB account. The pumpkins she gave you sound a lot like George's Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin or maybe Long Island Cheese Pumpkin, both of which are C. moschata types that produce large fruit and are highly productive. Kim, I never have, but know that you can make jelly out of virtually anything that qualifies as edible fruit (including turk's cap and roselle, which itself is made from the flower calyces) as long as you have pectin and sugar. In our climate turk's cap ily plants can bloom on and off all summer, so I assume a person would have to collect and freeze the fruit all along until they had enough for a batch. Texas Jelly Making undoubtedly has a recipe for just such a product and I'll find it and link it here. Turk's Cap Jelly Nancy, I'd love to have a weed torch, but our grassland area we live in is perpetually too hot, too dry and has a tendency to burn any time any one gets near it with flame and we spend far too much time at grass fires without me being out there accidentally setting the grass or mulch on fire with a weed torch, so I'm never going to have one. I think they're a great tool in the right setting though. Heat and butterflies were all we had going for us yesterday too, and it was excessive heat at that, making it a long, hot, horrible miserable day. Today will be the same. Jennifer, I'm sorry work is so demanding. It is hard enough in general to work with children and now y'all are doing it with all the added demands made necessary by Covid-19. Hang in there. I had a salt lamp and threw it away after reading about dogs and cats licking them to get the salt and then becoming ill and even dying of salt poisoning. That made me paranoid, even though I'd never seen our dogs or cats near the salt lamp, so I just got rid of it. I'm not indoors with them all the time so it could have happened and I would have been so upset if it did. Everything about weddings, including the showers, are such big productions nowadays. I was so happy that Jana and Chris didn't want all of that, but I am sure that if it had been their choice, we'd have helped the two of them pay for everything (because her family lacks the means to fund a big wedding or even a shower). They 'eloped' to the courthouse with just Tim and I and the girls and it was fairly casual, very relaxed and just perfect for them, and then we celebrating by going to one of their favorite Mexican restaurants (a little hole in the wall type place I'd never even heard of, but the food was great). I loved how low-key and relaxed it was. My sister's stepdaughter just got married in a big outdoor wedding at a winery in Texas on the first weekend in August and it was a gorgeous wedding, but we didn't go (we watched it on FB Live) because it occurred during the big summer virus resurgence in TX. I hated missing it, but we have avoided crowds all year and will continue to do so until the worst of the Covid-19 crap is over. In a sense, I understand what the wedding venue woman is worried about. I recently read about a wedding in the northeast that the same occurred the very same weekend as my sister's stepdaughter's wedding, and from that northeastern wedding (must have been an indoors wedding/reception because I don't remember reading it was outdoors) about 18 people who attended that wedding almost immediately came down with Covid-19 and spread it to others, so the "effect" of that event was 55 new cases of Covid-19, at least some of which resulted in hospitalization. I haven't heard of any similar thing happen wingith Maddie's recent outdoors wedding in Texas, thankfully, so I'm not saying it will happen to y'all either....just that it happened to the people at that one wedding, and surely that news and other similar news like it makes other wedding venue operators extremely nervous and worried about their legal liability. However, if she isn't willing to let y'all fully use the facilities, she ought to refund every penny and let y'all cancel. I believe the virus is very real (almost 25 million cases worldwide and around 880,000 or so deaths, and that is not fake) but is being exploited by various political groups for their own purposes, especially here in the USA, and I try hard to ignore the politics of it all and just focus on what the researchers are learning about the virus, how it spreads and how it affects people. We know it kills some people, and not just old sick ones---every now and then you read about a young person in so-called perfect health dying from it. We know it is leaving a certain percentage of people who had it with long-term, debilitating side effects similar to chronic fatigue syndrome or Lyme's disease that could affect them for the rest of their lives, and some people have had to have lung transplants and organ transplants after the virus damaged them so badly that they couldn't function. Some have lost limbs due to pervasive virus-related blood clotting. So, while most people seem to have a fairly mild case, those who have a more serious case and survive can have their lives changed forever. That is the part that bothers me because no one knows how it will affect them until they get it. With different strains in circulation and some people barely being affected while others die or suffer from serious, permanent side effects, it seems like it will take researchers a very long time to understand this virus. I wonder about the differences in it in some places---in New York City, for example, the death rate was especially high. There even were spots in Texas where the death rate was exceptionally high, but others where it wasn't. Why there and not here? That must be the question each community asks if they see it having a mild effect in their community compared to a much more serious effect in some other community. It is mind-boggling. It would be easier to ignore it and carry on with life as usual if it were consistently affecting everyone in the milder way, but it is just so variable. The schools are in a no-win situation. Two of our county's 4 school systems are shut down due to multiple cases, the third one has remained open and just sent home for quarantine the folks who contact tracing indicate might be in danger of coming down with it after being exposed to the ones who tested positive, and the fourth, a very small school, hasn't reported any cases. The third school is the largest school district in our county and I think they'll try to stay open as long as they possibly can, but imagine they must have some number in mind that would be 'too much' and would cause them to shut down the school if they reach that point. I'd hate to be the superintendent faced with deciding what action is best for their local school district, and you know that there are going to be upset parents on one side or the other no matter what the superintendent decides to do. Whether we like to think of schools as a form of day care or not, in essence they are, and when the schools shut down, a lot of parents have to miss work (and risk losing their jobs) to stay home and do the distance learning routine with their kids. What a mess it is. I think the superintendents must think hard about that too---what happens to the families if the schools shut down, if a parent loses their job because they have to stay home with the kids, etc. So many people are unemployed now and are being affected by this virus in ways we cannot imagine if our jobs have remained and our bank accounts aren't suffering because of the virus. I know that churches and food banks near us and across the river in Texas are giving out tons more food than usual, and every time they have a drive-through food giveaway, enormous numbers of people show up and line up early and line up endlessly and then they run out of food before they can get to everyone. That is sad. We always try to have a year's worth of food on hand and stored away, so we could go a long time on that stored supply if the virus hit Tim's job, but that seems unlikely to occur in his line of work (they are busier than ever now). I do like knowing that if there is a serious resurgence of illness during the standard flu season, which I guess this year will be the flu + COVID season, then I can skip going to the store and we can get by on what we have. I've been more diligent this year about replacing food as we use it since we don't know if we'll see a repeat of last Spring's supply chain disruptions. Since I generally preserve food on a three year rotation (I try to can, freeze and dehydrate three years' worth of home-grown food when we having a bountiful harvest), we still have home-canned food from the last big canning year, but I'll have to grow enough to restock all that preserved food next growing season because this winter we'll finish using up what we have from a couple of years ago. Well, except for the roselle jelly and syrup. I did make that last fall and what we have in the pantry will last a good while yet because I made a lot more than we would eat in one year. I have stocked up more on seeds in advance of next year's gardening season, having learned from the 2008-2009 economic downtown which led to huge seed shortages that it is better to get them early and have them than to have to worry about seed shortages or slow filling of seed orders caused by the increased demand from millions of new gardeners needing seeds. It is hard for seed companies to predict when an economic downturn will occur and will cause a sudden huge surge in demand. It was hot yesterday---we hit 104 and our max heat index was a whopping 116, and yes, it felt as bad as it sounds. Today is expected to be virtually identical, so the NWS upgraded our Heat Advisory to an Excessive Heat Warning. It is going to be too hot to do anything today. I did go outdoors a couple of times yesterday and pour ice cubes into the animals' water bowls so the feral kittens and chickens had cooler water to drink. I didn't let our pet cats go out at all and the dogs only went out briefly. We're all just trying to stay cool and get through this latest heat wave. I did not hear an excessive number of medical calls on the fire radio that sounded heat-related, so I think folks here heeded the warning to stay indoors, stay in the shade while outdoors and to stay hydrated. The high schools down here had their first football games last night, and the heat indices were over 100 degrees when the games started---now that is ridiculous and I bet it felt miserable out there. Fall weather cannot get here quickly enough. I hope September brings it! Dawn...See MoreAugust 2020, Week 5-September 2020, Week 1
Comments (63)Yay for the violets, Nancy! And...you still have summer squash? The bugs killed ours long ago. Even the C. Moschata. I am pooped. So tired. We shopped today and I don't have to tell anyone that shopping is very unpleasant right now. However, Dillards allows you to try on clothes and I found a dress. It's not exactly the bohemian/fairy princess dress that I wanted. But it fits nicely and its a forest green color...and it's Robin Hoodish (not really), so I bought it. Paid more than what I wanted to pay, but it's done. DONE! Came home around 3 and sliced, breaded and froze okra. Then figured out how to use my pressure canner as a water bath canner and pickled some okra. On my own. The lids sealed so hopefully we're good. My house is getting to the point that I am very unhappy. I know a clean house isn't the most important thing in the world....but I enjoy a clean home. It just feels nice to me. However, a clean house isn't anywhere in my near future. I am hoping the robot vacuums are cheap this Christmas. That will at least help. We are celebrating Mason's BD tomorrow and that will be fun. It's at a very good restaurant that I haven't been to in a long time. Then grocery shopping and then maybe starting more lettuce seed. In between all of those things is animal care. Lots of animal care. There's always one of them doing something they shouldn't be doing or somewhere they shouldn't be hanging out. One of the fat buff orpingtons has figured out how to get out of the chicken yard. And she isn't swift. She is dumb--beautiful but dumb and wanders over by the dogs. So, I'm constantly leaving whatever task I'm working on to catch her or entice her back to the yard. And everyone is always hungry all the time. The 3 young pullets mingled with the main flock today. It went very well. Having a good rooster helps with that. They're roosting in their own coop, though. It will be a gradual thing as always. Momma Blossom will be tired of her chicks soon and those two chicks will need to move to the pullet coop at that time. Although, at least one of those chicks is a cockerel. Tom may or may not start doing meat birds and these two could be the start of it. They won't be THE meat birds, but they might be the parents of. I've named the one I think is a girl. Her name is Gwendolyn, which is sorta funny because Gwendolyn (actually related to Jennifer/Guinevere.) means white ...and Gwendolyn is a dark cornish. I'm simply rambling now....See MoreSeptember 2020, Week 4
Comments (51)Jennifer, I like the video. It reminds me of stories my mom, dad , and grandparents use to tell. Times must have really been hard for many years. I remember my dad telling the story of when he was very small, the Arkansas and Mississippi river flooding. The family was taken to what sound like a refuge camp, everyone lived in tents, he said disease was so bad that people were dying like flies. They worked along the Mississippi, or Arkansas river in the cotton fields, and never knew anything but hard work. Dad left home when he was 17. He worked his way to the west coast and back. He could not read or write, and the family did not know if he was alive or dead. He made it back home the day his family heard that he had been killed. He then started to work in the coal mines, when called for the war, he failed his physical, but he said that the miners were not allowed to quit the mines anyway, because the coal was needed for the war effort. Dad left the coal field around Paris AR., and came to the coal fields along the Arkansas, Oklahoma line, that was when he met mom. They knew one another 40+ days before they were married. Dad died of cancer about 15 years later. I don't think mom ever quit loving dad. Mom is buried next to dad, I had a stone made just like the one she picked out for dad, they sit side by side. I can remember mom telling about my grandmother, who was Chickasaw Indian, cooking meals out side, she used a very large rock to set the supplies on, and would build a camp fire by the rock. When I was young, up till I was married and had kids we would go on a large camping trip every summer and granny would do all the cooking. I wondered how she could cook so good on a camp fire, that was when mom told me that use to cook like that all the time. I am sorry, this has not been about gardening, but instead about memories that the video brought back to me. Jennifer, Madge and my neighbor are trying to get me to buy a new tractor. They tell me that I am getting too old to work on that junk, I don't see well and am not very strong, and my tractors range from 20 to 70 years old. I dont know what I will do, but I dont wont to just sit here and dry up, and I cant garden by hand any more....See MoreOctober 2020, Week 3
Comments (65)Kim, the flowers are pretty. Jennifer, I am glad the zinnia bloomed. Mine also bloomed very well. The ones in the wildlife garden did not do as well because they were planted in poor soil. The area I had them planted had most of the top soil removed to fill in low spots in the wildlife garden. Daikon radishes, forage collars, rye grass and Austrian winter peas are planted there now, I am trying to rebuild the soil. Even in the poor soil the zinnias did well till it got so dry. I dont have water in the wild life garden, I have to haul water over there, and I did not have time to haul water for flowers. When I get the soil built up I will need less water. 2020 has not been a great year for me either. Although, I still had more crop than I needed. With this covid thing we have been dealing with it was harder for me to give produce away. My daughter and grand daughter came over about every other Sunday and took a lot of produce home with them, I think they gave a lot away, which I was happy about because Madge and I try to stay in, but we got exposed to covid anyway. We are still discussing what to do about Thanksgiving. We normally have a bunch of people here, but about half afraid to this year. I want to start prepping for next spring very early, because this election may not cure all of our problems, it just might give us some new ones. I think this country has problems that no political election can cure....See Moredbarron
3 years agoluvncannin
3 years agohazelinok
3 years agoHU-422368488
3 years agoLarry Peugh
3 years agohazelinok
3 years agoLarry Peugh
3 years agoLynn Dollar
3 years agoAmyinOwasso/zone 6b
3 years agoluvncannin
3 years agojlhart76
3 years agodbarron
3 years agoNancy RW (zone 7)
3 years agoNancy Waggoner
3 years agohazelinok
3 years agoLynn Dollar
3 years agoLarry Peugh
3 years agoNancy Waggoner
3 years agoOklaMoni
3 years agojlhart76
3 years agodbarron
3 years agoAmyinOwasso/zone 6b
3 years agoNancy RW (zone 7)
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoAmyinOwasso/zone 6b
3 years agoNancy RW (zone 7)
3 years agoAmyinOwasso/zone 6b
3 years agoAmyinOwasso/zone 6b
3 years agoluvncannin
3 years agohazelinok
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agojlhart76
3 years agohazelinok
3 years agodbarron
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoAmyinOwasso/zone 6b
3 years agojlhart76
3 years agoLarry Peugh
3 years agodbarron
3 years agoluvncannin
3 years agoOkla Moni
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agohazelinok
3 years agoOkla Moni
3 years agoOkla Moni
3 years agoLarry Peugh
3 years agoluvncannin
3 years agoOkla Moni
3 years agodbarron
3 years agohazelinok
3 years agoNancy Waggoner
3 years agoOkla Moni
3 years ago
Related Stories
KITCHEN DESIGNNew This Week: 4 Kitchens Put Dining at the Center
Country-style tables and spacious islands create lively dining spots in these kitchens
Full StoryBATHROOM DESIGNNew This Week: 4 Visual Tricks With Bathroom Tile
See how pros use tile color, size and placement to make rooms appear larger or smaller
Full StoryKITCHEN CABINETSNew This Week: 4 Not-White Kitchens With Character
See how cabinets in gray, pale green, light wood and inky blue bring character and dimension to their spaces
Full StoryEVENTS5 Big Trends From This Week’s High Point Market
Learn the colors, textures and shapes that are creating a buzz in interior design at the market right now
Full StoryTRENDING NOWThe 10 Most Popular Bathroom Makeovers of 2020
Smart layouts, stylish materials and pops of color define the most-viewed stories from our Bathroom of the Week series
Full StoryTRENDING NOWThe 10 Most Popular Patio and Deck Tours of 2020
The most-read stories from our Patio of the Week series show clever ways outdoor areas can create more living space
Full StoryTRENDING NOWThe Most Popular Kitchen Tours of 2020
Lots of white and wood, high-contrast style and smart storage made these the most-read kitchen stories of the year
Full StoryDESIGNER SHOWCASESTour the 2020 Kips Bay Decorator Show House Dallas
See how designers transformed a sprawling Texas mansion with earth tones and rich textiles for the charity design event
Full Story
Nancy Waggoner