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| My toes are so cold--I have popsicle toes ;-O You need two pair of socks just to feel normal again.
Yesterday I sowed somes seeds! Emily aka VelvetHead the Destroyer, my dear darling puppy, snatched from the office table a packet of gaillardia seeds and basically shredded them. So I swept them up off the floor, pulled them off her lips, off her fur, from inbetween her toes. I gathered all the seeds together and without fanfare dumped them onto the soil surface of a frozen pot of geraniums on the front deck. When my bag of soil has defrosted I'll top them with a thin layer of soil. Last night, I celebrated Christmas with my ladies club, and we all handed up a greeting card and donation to be read at the dais. Well, as soon as was read "we celelbrate the return of the light", everyone at my tables said out loud--'that's yours Trudi'. They know me too well. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by gardenweed_z6a (My Page) on Fri, Dec 17, 10 at 8:18
| A brisk 9 degrees here this morning and it's already shot up to 11. Great weather for winter sowing (she observed peering out of her layers of polar fleece). I've got one more trade to finish and I'll be ready to get started as soon as I get home from work on Tuesday. I'm excited to find out what seeds everyone's sowing--gives me lots of ideas for trying a few things I've never grown before. This year it'll be gaillardias & penstemon. My bale of Fafard growers mix has been inside for over a month--I brought it in before Thanksgiving and tucked it in a corner of the kitchen. There are prepped milk jugs strung on bungee cords hanging from chair backs. I'll try to post a few pictures over the weekend. |
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- Posted by jodie74 (crandalljodie@att.net) on Fri, Dec 17, 10 at 8:26
| HIP HIP HORRAY!!! My plan is to TOTALLY be done with Christmas work by Sat eve.. Then I can spend Sun prepping jugs... Mon is for baking cookies & THEN TUES WS!! I thought I might want to get my cookie baking done before I switch my kitchen over to my potting area! LOL Dirt dessert anyone???? :P I am ONLY going to bake a couple of kinds this year anyways. My kids don't need the sugar & I DON'T need the calories! I also need to finish packing seeds for the WLOMWL swap. I do that at night while watching tv. Very relaxing to me! I printed the seed list for zone 5 from WS website & I might just go right down the list alphabetically or I might just read & copy everyone else's posts on what to WS when. I get the general idea though, hardy perennials first.... Will zone wars start on Tues? That seems fun!! Peace & love, |
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- Posted by gardenweed_z6a (My Page) on Fri, Dec 17, 10 at 8:46
| Hi Jodie - yes the Zone Wars begin on Tuesday altho' no one has stepped forward and offered to keep the tally this time around. My math skills stink--can't even balance my checkbook--so you don't want me doing the counting even if I had the time. Hopefully it'll sort itself out by Tuesday. |
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| I'm so excited for the "return of the light"! I would love some "return of the warmth" too, (25 degrees here in PA right now), but the days getting longer again is great too. Trying to remind myself that with the return of the sun comes the return of the sun's warmth, etc. etc. Brrrr. gardenweed, thanks for mentioning your potting mix in your kitchen! It reminded me to bring my potting mix back inside the house...my mix got transferred out to the shed a couple of days ago while we were doing some organizing, and I just remembered that it will probably be frozen by now. Still waiting for some seeds to arrive in the mail, but have my four to sow on the 21st... |
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- Posted by lesmatzek209 (My Page) on Fri, Dec 17, 10 at 10:22
| hi trudi, i am going to try winter sowing now for the first time it may not get cold enough here ? it has got to only 34 degrees so far maybe it will get colger in jan. and feb.. have you had better luck growing artichokes?,i have a couple of them i am growing now alomg with spinach broc. and caulf. take care and happy holidays. les |
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| Les, I'm not Trudi, but can tell you - it doesn't have to freeze. 40F is cold enough for those things that need moist cold. While I'll have some nights colder coming still, a typical winter month here is a lot of days about 50F, a lot of nights about 40F....and most of those with rain. Trudi, have you told us what kind of pup? If so, I've missed it. My sis just told me yesterday her husband is going to have to leave day after Christmas (were having a family lunch for 25 that day, and at her house) and meet the breeder she bought his Christmas present from about half way over the Mts. to E Washington - breeder had first agreed to keep the puppies 2 extra weeks until after the holidays and all house guests were gone, but now wants to take a trip so they need to take the pups. Yes, plural...she bought him 2 german shepherds to replace the one they lost to a cancer a year ago. They'll be 10 weeks old next week. |
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- Posted by countrycarolyn 6-7 nw TN (My Page) on Fri, Dec 17, 10 at 12:44
| I stripped a few layers since it is finally warming up here. I was so glad to get those thermals off. I had the thermals for when I worked outside well since I have been laid off I think I have put on a few pounds and they don't fit the best anymore, lol. Why is it you can sure put on 5 to 10 lbs easy but getting it off seems to take forever?? Ughhh!! It is 35f right now, whoooo hooo!! Much warmer than what it has been!! |
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| I went through my seed inventory list last night and pared to 25. Need to check my seed boxes to see if they are still available and do some more thinking and culling. I am potting up some amaryllis today and will fill my four jugs so only need to sprinkle seeds and water on Tuesday. |
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| Thank you morz8, Hi Les! I'm so glad you came to our forum--always nice people here ;-) For some folks, winter isn't brutal; it's not freezing and icy, snow is rare and it melts the close to the moment it hits the ground. Zone 8 and 9 are more mild during winter, Zone 10 is sub-tropical(?). However, you do still have a seasonal change--in winter it's cooler than autumn, the sky get dark early in the evening, and when the sun sets the air is colder than when it shines. I will start sowing my cold-season leafy greens and root veggies anytime after Christmas--they'll sprout near the ends of winter season and I can immediately transplant their seedlings into the garden. By mid February I've sown my tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, and then I also direct sow the peas. I can do them in a container too, but they take cold wet soil so I seed them right under their trellis. I do have pole beans which reseed here each year, but if I want any other beans I wait to sow around Mother's Day. I have not been able to get artichoke to flower here. Yet. But I am in zone seven, you are in a warmer climate. |
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| Emily Nina, our puppy, is a rescue. She came North Shore Animal League, we were told that she is a Rhodesian Ridgeback and Mastiff cross. When she was very young she looked like a mini Marmaduke. She's cute as a button. |
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- Posted by gardenweed_z6a (My Page) on Fri, Dec 17, 10 at 17:17
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| Mastiff! One of my favs ( if I'm not the one wiping down glass patio doors). I had a childhood book where the hero was an English Mastiff, somehow kept a soft spot for them all these decades :) even though I don't have the space one would need. Oh my, she's going to be a big girl if she isn't already. You'll have to give us a peek at a photo sometime. I'm a huge fan of the rescues - at least those where the behaviors are thoroughly examined/evaluated so the new households don't get surprises they can't handle... |
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| North Shore is a good shelter. My family has been getting pets from them for nearly a half century. Lizzy also came from North Shore. Yes, she will be a big dog. A VERY big dog. But we like big dogs and the yard is enclosed and big enough for her to run and fetch and play. And dig holes. Holes. BIG HOLES. |
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