Flood Year Blues, Old-timers’ Almanac, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
Inside: Singing the flood year blues, planting by the old-timers almanac, and buffalo gnats, can you not come out tonight.
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Singing the Flood Year Blues
Life takes some getting used to in a flood year. Beyond the obvious–water, water everywhere–depending how close you are to a major river, or even a minor river that empties into a major one, your life is disrupted, which can be dire and drastic or simply a nuisance. Roads are closed and routes to work, school, shopping, life are detoured. For Hubs that means nearly double the miles–and gas money–just to head to his job.
Wildlife comes in close and personal, which means more deer and coon and possums sighted–and dead along the highway. I even saw a beaver quickly scamper over a highway to woods on the other side. I’ve spotted river otters swimming close in the swollen waters threatening to cover my only way out. Egrets and herons are enjoying their new extended fishing holes.
And the insects? Do you really want to know? Mosquitos are also celebrating better eats–namely us! The water brings them in close, and this year something I never encountered in all my 53 years–biting gnats! They get their own write-up in this post. (See below.) Just being out in the yard has been frustrating at times if I’m not sprayed up with insect repellent.
The fields, too, show signs of neglect simply because it’s hard to get a tractor in to work wet ground. So I’m not really sure just how high all the corn will be in July. And it would be nice to cut hay–if we could find three dry days in a row to do it!
But all this pales in comparison with the folks who find themselves homeless because of flooding. Nuisances and irritations will go away after a while. Losing a home is devastating. At times like these it takes communities coming together, filling sandbags and making sandwiches. Dispensing diapers. Handing out hugs.
And prayer. Much, much prayer.
Please keep us in yours.
The Old-timers Almanac
As the old-timers unofficial planting date of May 15 came and went with me still rushing around, trying to get my plants in the ground, I remembered this post from two years ago and wanted to revisit it.
When I was a kid, I heard a lot about old-timers. The old-timers say never plant garden before May 15. The old-timers say lard makes the best pie crust. The old-timers say a bargain isn’t a bargain unless you need it. . . .
I’d see them everywhere, these old-timers. Farm supply stores. The old mercantile with the floors that creaked. County fairs and festivals. A bench in the shade on Main Street. They were our sages. Weathered. Seasoned. These men and women connected us to wisdom from another day. Sound, practical, downright stubborn advice in the face of everything modern.
I remember being in awe of these folks, particularly when they took a moment to notice me. Sometimes a pat on the head. Other times a simple “You must be Gary and Ann’s girl.”
Old-timer sightings are rare these days. Like passenger pigeon rare. Why is that? Underappreciated? Micro-managed from well-meaning family members or the “it’s for your own good” crowd? Less welcome in the market place?
What does that say to our children and grandchildren? I realize kids are busy these days, with schedules rivaling a CEO, but it seems to me we’re losing something valuable. Old skills, practical solutions. Tried and true remedies. Connection to those who have gone before us.
I propose we do something different. Try talking to these voices of experience. Ask a simple question. Start with relatives and neighbors. Folks from church. Plenty of gold to be mined there.
God willing, we’ll be old-timers someday.
Buffalo Gnats, Can You Not Come Out Tonight?
Mosquitoes, move over! You’ve been supplanted by an even more brutal beast–the buffalo gnat, aka black fly. I must have led a sheltered life because my only prior experience with gnats were the kind that tried to fly into my eyes and nose. Irritating, yes, but nobody bit. So when I got these large welts on my ears, the back of my neck, and under my chin, I just assumed they were mosquito bites. But unlike mosquito bites, these didn’t go away by next morning. No, they itched like crazy, and the bites remained for several days. In fact it took about a week to get over them. At times the itching was so intense it kept me awake.
Ugh! Talk about flood year blues!
A week or so earlier Mike had told me about seeing large swarms of gnats along flooded Highway 79 on his way home from work, but we didn’t think anything of it. Not long after, every time I went out in the yard, my hand remained in perpetual swatting mode just to keep the crazies from nibbling on me. Things got so bad that I found I just didn’t want to go outside, which is so unlike my summer self.
Fortunately I found this all natural bug spray with the pleasing scent of vanilla and mint. Buffalo gnats hate vanilla! Who knew? I like this stuff for several reasons. It smells great, feels cool and refreshing, and it actually works! That said, you do need to reapply if you sweat a lot, so just keep the spray bottle handy. I close my eyes and spritz my face and back of my neck and head every so often. Good stuff!
To my fellow Mississippi River neighbors, I feel your pain, but at least now I’m not scratching gnat bites.
What’s happening in your neck of the woods? Tell me about it in the comments.
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How to Plant Strawberries
Inside: Planting strawberries isn’t difficult, but before grabbing that trowel it’s important to know the different types. Read on for our quick tutorial on how to plant strawberries.
Doing Strawberries
Sometimes we make things harder than they have to be. Case in point: how to plant strawberries. Though I’d been a seasoned gardener when I decided to try my hand at the sweet red berries, if I’m being honest, they intimidated me a little. Three different types of plants? Just what kind do I plant? Once I figured that out, the whole business with the crown and not planting them too deep left me confused. Plant them up to the roots, but not the stem, the directions said. Okay, could you be more specific? The perfectionist in me was afraid of making a mistake. And after I finally did get them in the ground, why didn’t they do very well?
This past spring as Mom worked with Bill from Sugar Grove Growers at the greenhouse, watching him trim down the roots of a strawberry plant and plunge it into dirt, she asked him about his methods.
“You can’t kill a strawberry plant,” he said.
After a few successful years of growing them, I’m inclined to agree.
What Kind of Strawberries Do I Plant?
That’s the first question. Strawberry plants come in three major types–June bearing, everbearing, and day-neutral. Here are the specifics:
June bearing plants yield one large crop of berries per year, usually in June, though for some it may be earlier or later depending on your planting zone. I’m actually getting June bearing strawberries out of one of my beds right now.
Everbearing plants have a smaller harvest spread out over the growing season and can begin producing as soon as there are twelve hours of daylight.
Day-neutral plants produce fruit during three peak periods–as early as June, mid July, and late August.
Tip: When choosing which type of strawberries you want to plant, see what type as well as variety other seasoned gardeners in your area are planting.
How to Plant Strawberries
So how do you plant strawberries? Here are the basics:
When to plant: For dormant bareroot strawberry crowns you can plant them in late winter to early spring, as soon as the nighttime temperatures stay above 25 degrees F and the ground is no longer frozen. Late spring frosts do not usually harm dormant crowns.
Strawberry transplants can be planted as soon as possible in spring after last frost.
How deep: Dig a hole approximately 4 – 8 inches deep, depending on the roots of your plant. You want to give them a bit of room to spread out, though a strawberry plant’s roots remain fairly shallow. Cover the plant to the top of the roots only, the crown (the short, thickened stem above the roots) should sit on top of the soil.
How far apart: Space strawberry plants 20 inches apart, and space rows 4 feet apart. That should provide enough room for “daughter” plants (runners) that will grow from the main plant.
How much sun and water: Plant in a sunny location that receives 6 – 8 hours of sun per day. Make sure your plants receive about 1 – 2 inches of water per week.
Give Them a Try!
Strawberries from the home garden are such a wonderful early summer treat. The harvest can be used fresh in recipes or used to make the most amazing preserves. And they’re absolutely great picked fresh as you’re browsing the leaves on a cool morning, hunting for the most bright red berries!
When it comes to planting strawberries, don’t be timid! Take the plant by the crown and give it a home in the good green earth. You will be rewarded for your efforts!
Do you grow strawberries? Tell us about it in the comments.
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How to Make Jelly From Wildflowers
Inside: What do you do with all those dandelions and violets popping up all over your yard? Make jelly, of course! Read on to learn how to make jelly from wildflowers.
Turning Wildflowers into Jelly?
Mom and I were walking around my yard recently when she kept bending down to pick up violets. “I’d like to try making jelly from these,” she said. I mentioned that I didn’t know about making jelly from the tiny little purple gems currently taking over my yard but that I’d heard of using dandelions. She said she wanted to make some of that, too.
Next thing you know, she did!
In fact, she took on the hard part of this DIY adventure by making three kinds of jelly–dandelion, violet, and lilac–and documenting the process. (Props to Mom for all of the jelly-making pics in this post.) Mine was the easy assignment: taste and write.
First Mom did a little research and found a good website for the recipes. Note, because these are not my recipes, I can’t post them here. For our purposes, we’re giving the reader our impressions of the process, so you can decide if you’d like to give it a try. Homestead Acres is the website, and Kim is your tour guide for the adventure of wildflower jelly-making. Her directions are thorough and easy to follow, so we leave you in good hands.
Dandelion Jelly
Due to a plethora of the cheery yellow flowers, Mom made the dandelion jelly first. While the picking was easy, the sorting was not. She picked six cups of flower heads initially, knowing she’d need extra to make up for the stem and green leaves that needed to be removed to yield the four cups required for the recipe. This was very time consuming–and necessary. The green parts give the jelly a bitter flavor, so it’s important to be particular about removing them. This task took her two hours.
Next she boiled the water to pour over the yellow petals to make a dandelion tea which she steeped in the refrigerator for 24 hours. After that she strained it, squeezing all the juice from the flowers. Then it’s simply a matter of making the juice into jelly. (Again, Kim from Homestead Acres provides pictures and instructions to make the job easy!)
Violet Jelly
By the time Mom had collected enough violets, she was ready for DIY jelly-making adventure part II–violet jelly! While the process was similar, she had a much easier time picking the violets and removing the stems. It’s worth mentioning here that our yards are not sprayed with chemicals–which probably explains why there are so many dandelions and violets in them. Anyway, best to avoid gathering your wildflowers from places that have been sprayed.
While Mom used the same method to make the violet tea, the resulting colors surprised her.
Lilac Jelly
We’re cheating a little here in that Mom picked the lilacs from a cultivated bush. Nothing wild about that. However, the third time must be the charm because she said of the three, lilac jelly was the easiest to make. The flowers pulled right out. Also, no bending or stooping to pluck flowers from the ground.
Again the method was similar to the previous batches of jelly. And once more, the color surprised her. Having expectations the lilacs might behave similarly to the violets because of their purple color, what she discovered was lilac tea started out light yellow and then became a darker color after steeping. Lemon juice didn’t change matters, either. The result was an amber-colored jelly–no purple blush here!
But How Did The Wildflower Jelly Taste?
The lilac jelly was Mom’s favorite. Not only was it the easiest to make, she liked what she described as a “floral taste.”
I liked the lilac jelly, too, but it gained a second-place finish from me. What I found interesting about it was the hint of a licorice flavor. Not wanting to scare the licorice haters, which includes me, I’d describe it as a pleasing taste in much the same way a pinch of anise would add to a recipe. And the licorice flavor was so subtle that Mom didn’t even taste it.
My first choice was the violet jelly, which received a thumbs up from both of us for prettiest color. I liked the fruitiness of the jelly, which to me had a hint of a grape flavor. Mom agreed with the fruity description, but she placed it second in her favorites.
Last but not least, I had for years heard about dandelion jelly, how it tasted “just like honey.” I would say the flavor was more honeylike. There is a difference between honey and dandelion jelly–not just in flavor and nutrition, but also in texture. For Mom, while she admitted it wasn’t bad, she felt the hard work of separating the green from the yellow petals wasn’t worth the end result. That said, others have raved about it. Go figure.
What’s Next?
So what’s the next flower jelly-making adventure? Mom’s seriously thinking about making elderberry flower jelly. (They haven’t bloomed yet.) And next year when the redbuds bloom in spring, don’t be surprised if she’s out there with a bowl picking flowers. Love that adventurous spirit of hers!
Will keep you posted on any further jelly-making developments.
Do you make jelly? Tell us about it in the comments.
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Quarterly Goals Update 2019
Inside: New planner, new year, one quarter down. How did I do? Check out my goals update 2019 to find out what worked and what needs work.
My First Quarter Goals and How I Did
This post is late in coming. We’re nearly a third of the way through with the first month of the second quarter, and I’m only now reviewing the goals I made for January, February, and March–one of which was time management. . .
Can you guess how that’s going?
But I’m not going to launch, head-first, into beating myself up for not mastering such a challenging subject as time management. Instead, I’m going to explain what did work and what needs improvement. How does that saying go? The biggest room is the room for improvement?
So let’s review. I am still–yes, still!–reading Time Management from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern. This is my second time reading the book, and she has many great tips and strategies–if only I had the time to pursue them! Okay, a little lighthearted ribbing toward myself. Time management is not something you learn over night–or even in three months. Right now I’m still taking in the information and working with this new planner. I find it a small “win” that I keep up with the planner almost daily. Baby steps.
Social Me?
The second goal for the first quarter of 2019 was certainly not “me” inspired. After prayerful consideration, I felt the Lord gently nudging me in the area of being more social. As I wrote back in January on the subject, my default tends to be “just stay home” rather than put myself out there. Surprisingly, I found He didn’t expect me to say yes to everything. For example, doing a 30-minute reading of my work at an art festival was something I had no desire to do when approached, and that was fine. Unfortunately I found myself attending several funeral/memorial services, yet also a wedding celebration in a snowstorm in January! Nothing like January for snow and new beginnings! More than anything, I’m developing a more open approach to each social event, whatever it is, rather than resorting to my default of just staying home. In this respect, it’s learning to be aware of my social habits and developing a more healthy approach.
Fair warning: I will never be a social butterfly. Or the life of the the party. . . Hey, I gotta be me.
Spending Habits Revealed
A third goal was to get a better handle on my finances by making a budget. I should mention here that I have a homemade spreadsheet with monthly bills that I use, but it doesn’t cover items such as groceries or eating out or buying gifts. Dave Ramsey’s app, Every Dollar, was the method I used. I say “used” because it never really caught on with me–but I don’t blame the app. It’s more that it doesn’t fit my brain and the way I do things. I found it a lot of work to enter all of the budget items, and I didn’t intuitively move through the learning process, so using the app never felt comfortable or easy.
I also don’t like breaking up my groceries into smaller categories. Vitamins or light bulbs, I don’t care what it is. If it’s in my cart at Walmart, it goes in the grocery category rather than health or home maintenance. So it wasn’t for me. That said, I did learn a few things about my spending habits by simply setting up one month’s budget, and for that reason I found the exercise valuable. I will be tweaking my own homemade spreadsheet system instead.
Second Quarter: Goals Within a Goal
Before I go any further, I want to mention that I like renewing goals on a quarterly basis. I wasn’t sure I would, but I find this very freeing. Making a bunch of goals in January for the entire year makes me feel like I already have my map for the year, and I can’t change anything. While I realize that’s a mental hurtle, and, yes, of course I could change a yearly goal, this just makes more sense to me and works better for the way I am wired.
My goal for April through June is this: Focus longer term. Decide what is and isn’t important to me going forward and build my days around this.
My new goal is inspired by the above-mentioned book, actually. Thinking about time management on a deeper level. One of the exercises in the book is to divide your life into three to six life categories. Mine are: God, Family, Health, Work, Home. These are broader in nature to simplify the process.
Next I ask myself what I want to attain in each of these categories. What are my big-picture goals? The activities that fill the pages of my planner need to reflect this.
At this point I’m not sure what this will look like. I’m continuing with the book and the exercises and will report back at the end of this quarter.
In the meantime, moving onward.
How are your goals going? Tell us about it in the comments.
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