2024 February week 1
AmyinOwasso/zone 6b
3 months ago
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February 2020, Week 1
Comments (56)dbarron, The time is flying by, but I think it is because I'm keeping myself busy with other projects since gardening is a dud so far. Tim and I should put all these long-standing water puddles to use and open a fish hatchery, because we're never going to dry up ever again. We have more rain in our forecast for tonight, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. After that, we are supposed to have a few days with no rain. We'll see if that happens. Our soil is squishy and squishy is not good. The only flowers we have blooming here are wildflowers, but they are early. The little Spring Beauty flowers have been in bloom (at least on the occasional sunny day or sunny portion of a day) for about a week, so they are slightly behind the henbit and about six weeks or so later than the dandelions. Normally the Spring Beauties do not bloom this early, but once we had that 83-degree day last week, all the plants here declared that it is Spring and they are rushing headlong into blooming....probably too early and undoubtedly they will suffer from later cold weather. We walk past a big Burford Holly each time we walk in or out of the mudroom's exterior doorway. I only have to take a few steps south of the door to look at that holly up close, and so I did...and there's tiny flower buds all over the stems. They aren't nearly big enough to bloom yet, but their presence this early is a bit shocking. I want to knock them upside the head and remind them it is only early February, but they probably wouldn't listen. Larry, You have a lot going on in the garden considering how wet it has been. We have winter grass (poa annua) dying now, leaving bare patches where the dormant Bermuda grass is visible, because the poa annua cannot handle all the standing water. I wish the Bermuda grass would do the same, but it won't. Nancy, All the plants are so confused, and it alarms me. Most years when we get the really early blooms combined with the erratic temperatures, we get enough cold later on to freeze back the plants that have bloomed really early. It is different when we have a consistently warm winter....the early bloomers sometimes get away with it, but not in the yo-yo winters. Just in the last week our temperatures have gone from the low 80s here to the low 20s and back up into the low 60s. Most nights have been pretty darn cold, in the 20s, and with frost, so it doesn't matter if you have a lovely 60-degree afternoon as you're still likely to have a 20-something degree morning. It drives me crazy, and I'm guessing the plants don't love it either. I noticed poppy plants popping up in the front wildflower meadow. They must have been in the wildflower seed mix I sowed back in November...or October....or whenever it was. Normally the poppies don't pop up here until late March or early April, so it is odd to see them sprouting in early February. Everything is odd this year. I still have no veggie seeds sown indoors. Maybe Monday. I won't get it done any earlier because the grandkids are here and they are keeping me busy. I'm totally not in the mood to grow veggies this year---I wanted to focus almost 100% on renovating the landscape and just let the front veggie garden be mostly all wildflowers, but the rain is ruining those plans. You cannot rent a sod cutter and cut up remove sod that has saturated soil (and standing water), so we cannot start on that most important part of redoing the landscape and it is making me crazy. I'm wondering if it will stay too wet all Spring to work on the landscape. That really would drive me crazy. I may have to revise my plans and postpone the landscaping (and I am not happy about that prospect) until we dry out this summer, and just plant more veggies than intended in order to keep myself busy and out of trouble. I hate this rainy year already. Larry, I am planting tomatoes and peppers in containers this year, and will fill the bottom half of the containers with old half-rotted wood, chopped/shredded autumn leaves, twigs and compost....hügelkultur style. I'll then fill the top half of the containers with a good soil-less mix. I've been "consulting" with our son on his gardening all week...starting seeds, building raised beds, etc. I even picked up some supplies for him today while I was out grocery shopping because he was at work. It is fun watching him getting heavily into gardening. They have a new worm bin and are really getting into vermicomposting so the girls can learn how that works. He knows more than he thinks he knows because he always helped me with the garden when he was a kid, right up until the time he got his driver's license and decided he had better stuff to do. I think he fears he has forgotten everything he ever knew about gardening, but I can tell that he has not. The apple does not fall far from the tree.... It is late, I am awake and everyone else is asleep, so I'm going to go start next week's thread before I go to bed myself. Dawn...See MoreAlmost February Week 1 but it's actually still January
Comments (59)Amy, I hope you are nicer than I am. I have seeds all over the dining room table. I pulled out the seeds I wanted to start under the lights, very nice list, but if I am going to plant all those plants I will need to buy more land and another tractor. I am sure Madge is going to change my mind. I might be able to start that many plants, but no way am I man enough to care for that many plants, so I have big time trimming to do on my list. It is starting to warm a little here, it is 27 degrees, the highest it has been since the cold started. We only have about 2 inches of snow, with a layer of ice under it. The roads have not been cared for out here and are still covered with ice, if the sun would come out for a while it would really help....See MoreHealthy Lifestyle Progress - Week of 1/7/2024
Comments (14)I read these weekly, and always mean to write earlier in the week. But something causes me to wait until later. I've picked up weight training again these past few weeks, and my body feels sore and good! I've listened to a few podcasts about longevity lately, and, like Gscience's article, there is no doubt that strength training is essential. One longevity expert/researcher even cited a study where, out of all the exercise options, strength training was shown to better reduce cancer. Don't ask me to cite it... it's long buried in my list of podcasts. But it's part of the overall and very clear message that we need to maintain muscle as we age. Saying that, my shoulders and arms are especially sore because I shoveled snow twice yesterday (the heavy "heart attack" snow), and I have to shovel one more time today before temps drop. My driveway and sidewalk are not long, but just long enough that it's a physical challenge. And I remind myself how fortunate I am to be able to manage this on my own. Food-wise, I'm doing ok, but have had a few extra sweets that I don't normally have, thanks to DS's late-night trip for ice cream. But I haven't eaten out since the holidays, and so lots of homemade food. Yesterday, I made a cauliflower lentil curry soup that was filling and delicious. I agree, Funky--this is soup weather. I enjoy the process of making soup, and especially vegetable based so I can use whatever I have on hand. Sue's chili sounds like my next one....See MoreHealthy Lifestyle Progress - Week of 1/21/2024
Comments (20)@funkyart - I'm sorry you are hurting. Maybe the walk will help? Stretch it out and warm up the muscles? If it persists maybe PT? I am such a fan. They helped me with a shoulder injury almost immediately and told me the stretches to do at home that worked. @Rnmom - thanks for the Noatmeal reminder! My health coach told me about that way back when I started this, but I had forgotten all about it. And as Sueb suggested - I did add some protein powder to my oatmeal one morning. That was perfect for my glucose monitor and my day! It just works for me if I do a high protein breakfast. Sets my day up perfectly. My blood sugar levels were better the whole day. I didn't LOVE the taste of it, but I think I can experiment with that and the Noatmeal and find a good breakfast alternative. For me, it really is key for the whole day. I haven't bought into the whole protein powder thing, but since I can't really do a lot of eggs and I don't like yogurt, it is probably a good alternative for me. I also tracked my weight this week and I'm not really status quo like I've been telling myself. When looking back over the last year, I am steadily up about 5 pounds and trending in the wrong direction. I think it's a combination, diet of course, but I am not moving. It's so nice in the warmer months when I can play pickleball for hours. Now, I'm lucky to walk 1/2 hour a day. I might need to seek outside accountability of a gym or class to really get back into it. I haven't sweat in months and that isn't good. And it doesn't feel good. I haven't read the MOVE book yet, but I can say from first hand experience how important it is to stable blood sugar. I can walk for 10-15 minutes or fast for a couple hours to get my numbers back down. And they're just not stable if I don't move. It's really quite amazing the difference it makes....See MoreAmyinOwasso/zone 6b
3 months agoAmyinOwasso/zone 6b
3 months agoAmyinOwasso/zone 6b
3 months agoAmyinOwasso/zone 6b
3 months agoAmyinOwasso/zone 6b
3 months agolast modified: 3 months ago
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