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Weekly Garden Thread - December 2-8, 2023 [Does Your 'Birth Month Bird' Match Your Personality Edition]
December 2, 2023 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

Posted on 12/02/2023 6:51:19 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.

If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.

This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.

It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a week Ping List. We DO post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!


TOPICS: Agriculture; Food; Gardening; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: birds; garden; gardening
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To: Qiviut

yes presents are my least favorite thing about Christmas....I love the snow, the peaceful outdoors, the birds at the feeder, and smell of a fresh tree, poinsettias, baking and candy making and of course the music...


41 posted on 12/02/2023 8:31:31 PM PST by cherry
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To: cherry

Yes. They are large rats that run along the utility wires from tree to tree. They steal a lot of fruit from trees.

Not sure what their official name is but that is what we call them around here.


42 posted on 12/03/2023 6:09:55 AM PST by Bon of Babble (You Say You Want a Revolution?)
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To: MomwithHope

Thanks. Some of my best blooms come in November and December as the weather cools in So Cal - not as big as the spring blooms, though.

I usually cut them back after the late fall bloom.


43 posted on 12/03/2023 6:11:15 AM PST by Bon of Babble (You Say You Want a Revolution?)
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To: Qiviut

That thermometer in a spatula sounds perfect for Maple Syrup final boil off, too! Got a link for that?

Secondly, I LOVE ‘Mavis’ from One Hundred Dollars a Month. I need to check in and see how her budget is working out with all of this inflation!

We’ve had our second round of snow - exactly the same pattern as last week - 2” overnight which will most likely be gone by the end of the week, again. However, since my VW doesn’t ‘go in the snow’ Beau is going to drive me around for groceries and such again today. Yay! I love being chauffeured around - and as an added bonus, he even lets me sit in the CAB of the truck versus the truck bed, LOL!

Mom lives and dies by those casserole carriers. Smart move.

Good book choices.

And, no. Definitely NOT a Canary, LOL!


44 posted on 12/03/2023 6:32:09 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set. )
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission

Thanks, Pete!


45 posted on 12/03/2023 6:39:41 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set. )
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

https://www.amazon.com/Lightbeam-Digital-Thermometer-Temperature-Silicone/dp/B09K7PN3SL

Looks like a great idea - hope it works!

I bought extra bags of fresh cranberries at Aldi’s & threw them in the freezer so all I need is 3 apples & an orange for the jam recipe. I have some pint jars & I think I will use them rather than the half-pint jelly jars - processing time should be the same. I should get 4 good pints with a little left over for mom to sample on her English muffin at breakfast.

We have ‘weather’ for next weekend - right now, no snow & I hope that’s going to hold up because I do not want to be driving up a winding, curvy, icy road over the Blue Ridge Mountains to get to the Valley family Christmas dinner on Sunday!


46 posted on 12/03/2023 6:51:51 AM PST by Qiviut (If the genocide was unintentional, they would have pulled the poison vaccines, long ago.)
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To: Bon of Babble

They are all wonderful to see, especially because everything here in Michigan is asleep and frozen.


47 posted on 12/03/2023 7:23:26 AM PST by MomwithHope (Forever grateful to all our patriots, past, present and future.)
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To: Qiviut

OK I thought about it and I can see why you don’t see yourself as a canary. That is for other people to see. A canary sings for others and can alert them too. Those who read your posts and stories, each long one is like a song. And we enjoy them!


48 posted on 12/03/2023 7:52:54 AM PST by MomwithHope (Forever grateful to all our patriots, past, present and future.)
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To: MomwithHope

Well thank you!

If I had to pick a bird from around here, there are two: mockingbird & red-shouldered hawk. The hawk & I have this thing about squirrels (for me, particularly in the garden - hawk doesn’t care where they are) & I will leave it at that. The mockingbird sings & sings ..... so many songs & I always feel like I write way too much.


49 posted on 12/03/2023 8:20:37 AM PST by Qiviut (If the genocide was unintentional, they would have pulled the poison vaccines, long ago.)
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To: Qiviut

“I always feel like I write way too much.”

I think it’s more stream of consciousness.


50 posted on 12/03/2023 10:31:30 AM PST by MomwithHope (Forever grateful to all our patriots, past, present and future.)
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To: KarlInOhio

Lol!


51 posted on 12/03/2023 2:40:25 PM PST by Silentgypsy (In my defense, I was left unsupervised.)
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To: Qiviut
I always feel like I write way too much.

I know how you feel.

52 posted on 12/03/2023 5:06:10 PM PST by Pollard (Stick a fork in the USA, it's done!)
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To: Pollard

😊


53 posted on 12/03/2023 5:14:17 PM PST by Qiviut (If the genocide was unintentional, they would have pulled the poison vaccines, long ago.)
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To: Qiviut

I’ve been a member of a lot of “real” forums based on different subjects, automotive, homesteading etc where people can start their own personal thread and and if it ends up being huge, will show up at the top of the category forever based on number of replies/posts, unlike here, where time buries everything, like a social network.

Here’s the longest thread ever on composting. It’s an interesting read because he has a way with words. The first several pages are almost exclusively posts from the OP.

https://www.homesteadingtoday.com/threads/extreme-composting.342651/

The original forum owner got overwhelmed shortly after Trump took office because many of the liberals suddenly became rabid and fighting ensued with the conservatives. They wouldn’t keep it in General Discussion either and reached into every forum category. She didn’t have what it took to make the decision and start booting people from one side or the other so she sold it. Then it sold again and again. Each owner also went to different forum software. It’s a shell of what it was but that thread remains, 198 pages long with 20 posts per page.

The original thread poster is long gone(from the forum), driven out by the rabid left. Pretty much all the conservatives are gone, driven off to a state of internet diaspora.

Another place you see long ongoing threads is automotive forums and they’re usually named, “My 1951 Chevy truck build”, etc.

I started a similar thread over at No-till Growing forum based on my high tunnel adventure of learning and building. Every step of the way, every decision making or learning process, loaded with pics and techno-jargon.

Ya’ll got it easy.


54 posted on 12/04/2023 1:36:06 AM PST by Pollard (Stick a fork in the USA, it's done!)
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To: Pollard

55 posted on 12/04/2023 1:39:28 AM PST by Pollard (Stick a fork in the USA, it's done!)
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To: Qiviut

Thanks! :)

Ordered one for Beau for Christmas. It should help a LOT in temping the Maple Syrup right before bottling. Right now we’re using a so-so candy thermometer.


56 posted on 12/04/2023 6:42:52 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set. )
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To: Pollard

“The original thread poster is long gone(from the forum), driven out by the rabid left. Pretty much all the conservatives are gone, driven off to a state of internet diaspora.”

That happened to many of us on the Simple Living forum. It’s ridiculous. But - we landed elsewhere and are MORE than happy to be away from the nuts. (And they WERE nuts!)


57 posted on 12/04/2023 6:46:22 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set. )
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To: Pollard

I read a couple of the compost thread posts .... and had to stop. Since I am attempting to compost & just built a large bin for composting leaves, I could see myself rapidly becoming ‘hooked’ on that thread and reading and reading and reading ..... LOL!

I love doing “projects” and making/improving things myself, especially when I can repurpose stuff that’s been lying around in piles or the under the pole barns for years. The Great Depression was part of my dad’s childhood plus his dad saved every bent nail, scrap of wire, wood, string, etc. so dad came honestly to his ‘save everything ‘cause one day I might need it’ mentality. I have a lot of materials to work with & most of the time I can find what I need without a trip to the hardware store.

I do read your posts on the Garden Thread. To be honest, do I understand them? Sometimes yes, sometimes partially, & other times, way over my head. When you are doing a neat project or one that’s important to you, or one that requires a lot of ‘figuring out’, a decent part of the satisfaction is derived by sharing what you’ve done & are doing. I am very much looking forward to seeing the progress on your high tunnel & especially when it’s completed & in action!

PS - you freaked me out with your ladder ‘crane’ on the truck ... until I saw how you had secured it, then I felt a little better. No way I could climb that thing with my ‘fear’ of heights. I did get the clock reset to EST & changed the battery which required a ladder since we have 11’ ceilings in that room & the clock is way up there - that’s about as high as I can go :-)


58 posted on 12/04/2023 6:54:59 AM PST by Qiviut (If the genocide was unintentional, they would have pulled the poison vaccines, long ago.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

👍


59 posted on 12/04/2023 6:56:01 AM PST by Qiviut (If the genocide was unintentional, they would have pulled the poison vaccines, long ago.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

This past week here in Central Missouri was mostly cool and damp. It was too wet to move dirt from the garden, and Nanner was busted again anyway, so I wasn’t able to make any progress on that project.

Last Wednesday Pops hauled the 30-days-new busted starter to the MF dealer and swapped it out for another one. I installed that on Nanner Thursday after work and the dang thing wouldn’t hit a lick. Pulled it off and bench tested - it liked to jump off the bench it spun so hard. OK, now what? I started methodically testing voltages and ground connections on the tractor and was getting some odd and inconsistent voltage readings on one of the two starting batteries. I disconnected that one and pulled it out. It checked a couple volts low... moved it again and it read 12.6v just like it should... that’s when my dim bulb came on... intermittent cell in one battery... the two batteries are connected in parallel so the second battery was holding the no-load voltage up to spec, but when the current demand came from the starter motor there was none available. $411 and change for two new batteries at the NAPA store solved that problem. The old batteries were almost five years old so I’d say I got the good out of them.

With conditions too wet to move dirt I decided to work on the driveway yesterday afternoon. I was making good progress and then had a front tire go flat. Pulled the wheel off and grabbed the little red Massey out of the shed at Pops’ and headed across the hay field to load the flat in the truck... AND then the front drive axle on that tractor started popping and crackling in the differential. 2nd time since Pops has owned that tractor for the front diff to crater. I stopped where it broke, rolled the flat tire/wheel out there and used the loader to put the tire in the truck bed, then hooked the flatbed trailer to the truck and loaded the tractor for a trip to either the fix-it place or the trade-in place. I think we’re both leaning towards trade-in but we’ll have to compare the cost of repairs with the cost of replacement before we make that decision.

Just one more of the joys of being a home owner...


60 posted on 12/04/2023 7:40:34 AM PST by Augie
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