Rick, its too bad that you don't have your cap yet, I bet you could sell it for a good profit.

Your temp is lower than mine, but that's okay, because I expect you are tougher than I am. My min/max was at 7 when I got up, with a low of 6, which is about 15 degrees below my lowest gear. I have not been out to check on anything, but at this point I cant do anything about what has happened. We are to have a lower temp tonight, but I cant do anything about that either.

I expect that I am like a lot of you, I spend a lot of time planing/dreaming about what I want to do garden wise, but Madge is still saying, "plant less", that is a very "ungardening thing to say". What am I going to do with her?

I'm just younger Larry but not by a whole lot.

Haven't got my insulated coveralls yet either. Dang vendors are dragging their butt shipping things out. Guess the cold slowed things down.

I wanted all that gear for when I'm having to drive in this.

I need to get off my butt and get up my seed lists.

Won't be long before the onion bundles start showing up at the feed store.

Rick

Larry She wants what’s best for you but doesn’t realize that gardening is what’s best. Last year I laid in bed thinking I might as well die if I can’t garden. It’s is my hearts desire. It is very cold here right now. And I think it will be for the next few days.

it's snowing now in OKC. It's not much , just a dusting right now.

5 degrees , wind chill -11.

Rick

All the way up to 4 degrees here at almost 3:30 sunday. Earlier I made my work lunches for the week, a pan of brownies, some hand pies out of leftover chicken and crescent rolls, plus did laundry and started the dishwasher. I’ve now eaten half the pan of brownies and had to remove myself to the other room to get away from them. Now I’m watching reruns of baking shows and playing with seeds.

I was dreaming of spring yesterday while I did some wintersowing. Some tomatoes, a few more perennials, some hardy hibiscus. Tried to take the containers out to the back yard yesterday evening, and the brick I use to hold the gate closed was frozen to the ground. I’m not used to that. I’m a little frustrated because i want to keep working on filling the new beds, but its way too cold.

Also researching dishwashers. The heating element went out in mine, and its not worth it to fix. I expect a lot out of dishwashers, so I’m being very intentional about what i choose. Impatiently waiting on my tax stuff to show up, so i can file asap and get the refund.

I guess I’ll start the grow list thread, even though i really just have tomatoes decided on right now. And the hibiscus.

I’ve started quite a bit in jugs. Most of the jugs I planted 4 varieties. I don’t have lots of potting mix. Or jugs. Last week of the month I am going to Lubbock and will be able to pick up more jugs. I also found close supplier of bulk compost. When I get back I will get a load.

Larry I’m sorry you and Madge are having health problems. you sound like me and my husband a lot. We went out to feed cattle tonight and he said for me to stay in the truck and drive-don’t get out. So while he was getting the tractor and a bale of hay I dumped the feed, then cut the strings on the hay bale. He said

“ Woman what’s it gonna take to get you to mind me?” (We’ve been married almost 49 years - he knew that was a dumb question” I’m not going to tell him what you said about shooting Madge 😂

We take turns helping - our roles change according to who hurts the least daily.

He chews on me constantly about working so hard in the garden when I can go to Sprouts and buy the same things. Then he goes out and fixes me another bed or brings me a load of composted manure and hay. He knows my garden is the only thing keeping me sane.

Our low was 1° but felt warmer than yesterday because less wind.

Rick, I have a cap like that but mine is red and black checked. It is wonderfully warm but i rarely wear it. We have coveralls and hooded duck coats plus a layer of thermals underneath. . I miss the days when I was able to wear lined boots but my ankle has screws in it so can’t bend it to wear them now.

I havent started any seeds yet but certainly have the itch. I did go through seeds and check inventory

farmgardenerok, What is your name again? I think you told us a few weeks ago.

I also went through my seeds a few days ago and know what I need to purchase now. I enjoyed your story about you and your husband. :D

Rebecca, I like your organization on preparing your lunches in advance. And if your brownies are as good as your cookies, I can see why you ate half the pan.

We actually got out for lunch today and there were several people out and about despite the cold.

Mostly I've just been checking on the animals. Changing out waterers because they don't stay unfrozen for long. So far, everyone is doing okay.

We also scraped the popcorn ceiling in our bedroom. What a mess that was. Tomorrow we are both off of work so will texture the ceiling and hopefully I'll start painting soon. The house is a disaster, and it will be that way until the bedrooms project is complete.

Which makes an issue for the light shelf. It's in the 3rd bedroom. It will be the last bedroom we work on. It may be a situation where I have to move the shelf from room to room and that will be a pain. When we have all the bedrooms scaped, textured, and painted, we'll need to move all furniture out of those rooms to get the carpet installed. I'll go with the flow, I guess.

Rick, thanks for starting this thread.

Rebecca, thanks for starting the other thread. I'll go check it out.

HJ, its the Ghirardelli mix Brownies are something I cant make better than a mix.

Looks like my post from yesterday isn't showing for anyone but me? It says the last post on this thread was 2 days ago, but I clearly see my post from yesterday right above this one.

Dunno.

I see yours Jennifer

And that’s okay cuz me and Larry are on week 2

Part of the reason I stay lost is that my print is so small that I can read it unless I blow it up. I think the print size can be adjusted, but I don't know how.

I was so happy to see the temp to get above 40 today, I was looking for my swimming trunks.

Larry you are funny

Got my hat finally.

Rick

Nothing really gardening to talk about other than I might order my seeds tonight or tomorrow.

I'm trying to not think about the garden too much right now because of the house stuff going on. We were able to get the popcorn ceiling scraped, the ceiling textured, and the walls and ceilings painted. The closet too. It's far from perfect, but the walls were imperfect to begin with. It looks nice.

Now, just need to paint the window sills, trim and baseboards. And Tom will change out the outlets and light switches. After than, just putting in the small door between the bedroom and the bathroom. (the one a tub wouldn't fit through) and new closet doors.

Hoping to get that done by the end of January and then on to Ethan's room. Really want to not dawdle on this project so I can focus on the garden in March.

Tom's truck is still in the shop so I'm waiting for him to pick me up from work. I'll be leaving early today.

What's everyone else up to?

I am not doing much.

Madge took me to Fayetteville AR this morning for a Dr. appointment.

I checked the garden a while ago, and it is gone. We have had a lot of time below 10 degrees, and my min/max has shown that we got as low as -3 degrees, I can't expect much to look good after that. I do expect the onions and garlic to come back, but I may not get much of a harvest. I have a pretty good supply of chopped green onions in the freezer, and more bulbs to plant after hard winter is over. The garlic should take lower temps than the onions, but I don't know what type of garlic I have, just some I bought at Twin City Produce. I planted 204 cloves of it.

Jennifer informed me that a couple of my low tunnels blew open at the north end last week when the Siberian air was coming down. Probably doesn't matter anyway since row cover won't protect from single digit temps unless a second layer of plastic is put over it.

I mentioned it in a previous post but couldn't get over in time to do that .

I'll come over probably Sunday ( before the ice storm) and see what the damage report is.

In the meantime , I need to go over east and see what is going on in the O garden over there ( and how the pipes , plumbing is doing).

What a pain in the butt.

But at least I got my cap for it.

Rick

It’s a little icy around here today

Schools, and some businesses are closed here. I am showing 34 degrees on the back porch, up from 32, but a low of 24, and now raining, I would like to go to the store, but feel I need to wait a while.

Madge is still having problems walking, and I am not big enough to make her stay off her left foot. Having a lame mate can be a challenge, I can not do a lot of things as well she can, but I still want her to rest and be happy that I am trying my best, I will never be as good as she is. I have always heard that "you can't keep a good man down", that must apply to women also.

Larry, from the Grow List thread regarding Malabar. it's not that it tastes bad. It's actually very mild. It's the texture that is off-putting (to me). It's sorta thick and...juicy maybe?

Both of my jobs were closed today, so I've been home continuing work on our bedroom. I got the final coat of paint on the windowsills and got the baseboards sanded. I've convinced Tom not to replace them. Our bedroom is not large so they hardly show once the furniture is in. I'll sand the door frames later this afternoon and get them all ready to paint, along with the baseboards. It's amazing what fresh paint and clean outlets/light switches can do to make a room look fresh.

In bad news, there is a pretty awful crack in the closet. Honestly I knew it was there. Decisions will need to be made regarding piers. I just wish I knew what the OTA will do with our neighborhood. I sure don't want to spend money on piers if they're going to take our property.

And, the carpet is so gross. Juno peed in the corner of our bedroom, which is why she's now a shop cat. The smell is awful after pulling a portion of it up. (She went to the vet and didn't have any health issues. It was all stress issues with her. She only likes me and is scared of everyone else. She comes up in the evening and sits with me for awhile. Don't want anyone to think we didn't have her checked out by the vet.)

Tomorrow is my day off (look at me getting a 4 day weekend!) so I'll paint the baseboards and door frames.

I haven't been to the garden at all....or the hoop house.

I did get all seed ordered last night. I didn't order much tho...Sweet Valentine romaine, Simpson Elite looseleaf, Crawford Bibb, Marconi pepper, pepperoncini pepper, and Lacinato Rainbow kale--all from SESE. And from Bakers Creek: Jamaican Scotch Bonnet pepper and Sugar Rush Peach pepper.

The only thing left to order is onions.

I'll probably pick up some everbearing strawberries if I ever get my Greenstalk set up. This year, I might do half strawberries and half lettuce/greens. I want to order another Greenstalk to evenutally have one entirely for strawberries and one for greens/lettuce/herbs.

Oh, and when Rick decides on the SG, I want to but some Yukon Gold, if he does potatoes out there. They don't do as well as the red potatoes, but they are everyone's favorite because they're so delicious.

Does anyone have an opinion on sweet potatoes in clay soil. We've considered doing a row of sweet potatoes in the SG.

We've eaten all of the sweet potatoes I grew in the containers last year already....and finished the onions and potatoes too. I think I've already mentioned that. Still have plenty of garlic, tho.

I sorta cleaned out the house freezer this morning and found a jar of potato soup from November 2021.

Yes. I have a hard time sitting still for long. Usually in the evenings I can sit for a long while.

The roads were a mess here. Even doing animal chores was dangerous. I found a box of pickling salt in my pantry and sprinkled it on the backstep. Then Tom remembered we have ice cream salt in the shop, so he sprinkled it around so I wouldn't fall doing my chores. The poor chickens were slipping and sliding. Josi slipped once. It's much better now because we're above freezing here.

I'm sitting here thinking that I would like to have rabbits. Not to eat, but because they're so adorable. And I need another thing to care for.

Did anyone's garden have survivors?

My back gate is still frozen shut. We’re right ar 32 degrees still. Hopefully it will warm up enough tomorrow or wednesday that I can get out and survey the damage. I couldn’t get back there before it froze to move my hardy hibiscus back to the house shelter, so I’m worried about it. I’m sure the surviving herbs are toast.

Home Depot has their early spring bulbs out, so I bought a new pack of gladiolus bulbs. We love them, and I didn’t get last years lifted in time. ADHD FTW.

I had to stay home from work because I slid off the road in my neighborhood, and because I was able to walk back home safely (on the ground, not street), the tow company insurance paid for didnt put a priority on my car.

I remember some time in the past I asked if there were any seed potato companies that would ship in time for planting by mid-March. Now I can’t find the question.

HJ, Yukon Gold do great for me. I do fertilize, though.

Well right after I posted this morning I slipped on front step and spent half the day in the ER. Nothing broken. Salted that area well. I hope I can work tomorrow. I leave Thursday for Lubbock.

We went to Stillwater on Friday for feed. Atwoods was just carrying in the boxes of seed potatoes - nobody knew prices yet

I have a dishpan of sprouted Yukon Golds

already, but I have a new bed to plant potatoes in. Jennifer, i prefer the golds too even though the reds produce better. The experimental potatoes i had survived right up to last week - some were almost a foot tall, I’m wondering if they will come back this Spring.

We had a solid sheet of ice here this morning but this afternoon most of it had melted.

Kim! I'm so sorry. You're probably so sore and bruised. I was afraid of doing the same yesterday. Luckily Tom warned me to be careful or I would have stepped right out on it...and fallen. I found that pickling salt and sprinkled it on the backstep. It was dangerous yesterday morning. I'm glad you didn't break any bones.

Wow, Glenda! So, the potatoes did okay until it hit the single digits.

Yeah, the golds are...creamyish? They're just so good. I think it's worth growing both the red ones and the gold ones if you have space.

Rebecca, what do you use to fertilize your potatoes? I hope you got your car back.

Tom finally got his truck back yesterday afternoon. I was in the middle of painting so Jaco took him to his truck. The roads were fine then.

I am about to start painting again. Just drinking my tea first. Hands are so achy and sore. Sanding the trim and baseboards was hard work. I'm going to look for some type of electric sander for the other two bedrooms.

Well, the dryer just buzzed so it's time for me to get up and get busy.

Rebecca and Kim, my sympathy for your fall and the car problems. I used to throw birdseed on ice like that. You can also use cat litter, but then you walk it inside.

One of the problems I had with bird seeds was that some of the cheaper bird seeds have a lot of milo seeds in it, and milo can roll like a b-b on a handicap ramp after the snow and ice melts. I don't remember falling when stepping on the milo, but I have had at least 1 exciting ride.

I went out to the pasture garden to see if the spinach survived the cold weather, I think that maybe it did. Everything is so wet now, I cant wade the mud to check much. I got excited to see that I may have some turnips and rutabagas out there that will be okay to eat. The plants may come back from the base, but I don't know if they will be fit to eat, I am tempted to go out as soon as the ground is firm enough for me to stand on and pick a few.

This is the best looking turnips, they were sort of protected by a trailer I have parked next to this garden.

This is my rutabaga bed, I have not eaten any of them this year, I didn't know I had any big enough to eat, but when it drys a little I will be checking on these. I was not really this close to the rutabagas, I used the zoom lens. I also forgot to take a picture of the spinach, but it looks much, much, better than the turnips and rutabagas, but it does have damage.

That's about the way my turnips look.

Might have a few usable bulbs.

I don't mind if they're done in . Need them out of the way for spring planting anyway.

Onions bundles and seed potatoes will be showing up at the feed store before too long, if not already . Need to start checking in on it.

Rick

I doubt I will plant any Irish potatoes, I also don't plan on as many onions. I have not had a lot of luck storing onions or Irish potatoes. You can see my ground does not drain as well as it should, and I have a hard time getting the soil ready in the spring.

The plants shown were in the pasture garden, it was not started until this past fall, so there are no amendment in the soil. I like working with "new ground", but it has its challenges. The soil test on this garden came back as.....PH is 5.7........... P is 47 ppm.......K is 178....Z is 6.0. I can work with those numbers. I may plant rows far apart and grow a cover crop between rows. I have plenty room to bust up more ground it I need to, but wife and daughter say NO, NO, NO.

Finally check a few things in the garden. Mostly just the hoop house and the hinged hoop. The broccoli in the hinged hoop had that very, very thick frost cloth on it. (It is one that Tim gave me. I would like to have more of it, but I've never seen anything like it. I can't remember where Dawn said she purchased her frost cloths. Did anyone else get any from Tim at the SF the year after Dawn passed?)

ANYWAY, the broccoli is damaged. It was starting to make little heads and they are goners, although the plants are still alive. I doubt they'll make anything now that the heads froze. The stuff in the hoop house is mostly gone and/or damaged. I put an extra layer of covering on it even though it was inside the hoop house. The lettuce and arugula are gone. The cabbage looks really bad, but it wasn't great to start with. The kale is standing strong. The spinach was in a container and uncovered and is damaged.

I'll probably just pull it all except the kale and spinach and start fresh. Now, just gotta find time to start seed. And a place to put them. I might just try to start them later than normal, like around March 1 when the remodel should be complete and try to put them out mid April. We'll see how it works. Just depends on the year we have and how quickly we heat up this summer.

Just got Dixon Dale's online catalog.

https://dixondalefarms.com/

Rick

I tried to start a new question for this but Houzz wouldn’t let me.

One of the big seed companies is advertising a new yellow summer squash that is bred to grow vertically. Is it different than any yellow squash that is trained to grow up a stake or pole? Anyone have experience or CCD whst is your opinion?

I found one named smooth criminal (for SQUASH?) and one named rise and shine. They appear to have an upright stem that doesn't look like it needs support. Fruits grow on that stem. They're still like 3' wide. Just from looking at the pictures I'd say it is different. Still subject to all the diseases and pests of regular yellow squash. Neither variety had the Latin name listed.

I don't grow summer squash because of vine borers, and I don't think I ever tried yellow. I have grown the Korean summer squash which is a moschata rather than a pepo. It grows in a long vine that, if you keep up with it, can be trained up a trellis. I don't think it is 3' wide at the base, so if your yellow squash trained up a pole is narrower than 3' I'd say that is the difference. Apparently this squash grows 4' tall.

i have a friend who swears by Anasazi beans. They look like the Jacob cattle beans I raised many years ago. She is vegan and also diabetic - said her doctor suggested she try them. They are very expensive in stores if you can even find them. I’m wondering if they will grow here - native to Mexico and drought tolerant. I did order the Rise snd Shine yellow squash to try, kinda pricey but I have most of my seeds saved in freezer. i still need to find some fresh Porter tomato seed - the ones I planted last year were 2018.

We got almost 1” rain last 2 days If it gets as warm as predicted the henbit will be greening up.

Glenda, have you tried Tromboncino squash, I am not sure I have the name right, you can tie them to a trellis, but they run a lot like a butternut. I also think I have some Anasazi bean seed, I got them last year too late to plant, and I have not germination tested them, they came from a produce market, I was told that they had to grow at 5000 feet or above, I did not buy that story, so I saved some for seed. When I plant these seed, I will lie to them, and tell them my 500 feet is 5000 ft.. The beans are good, if Madge has not cooked all the seeds I will be glad to share them. Come to think of it, I think I saw some packages at Walmart, might be worth checking out.

Larry I have not tried the Tromboncino squash - they look interesting, especially the part about squash borer resistant!

i will keep them on my radar. Thanks for the tip. A friend at church told me Walmart here carries the Anasazi beans which could also be used as seed.