Posted on 02/26/2022 6:25:45 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
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I have a stressed put wife who is stressing em put every day with worries about pur home sale and moving to Texas (hint she is not doing well with the “unknown” factors.)
She peppers me with the same questions which we don’t have the answers to and won’t have the answers to until....wait for it....until we have the answers!
I don’t have a garden this year because we will be moving and that wpuld be my main destressor.
I am dodging carbs and sugars in my effort to lose more weight (down 70lbs and want to drop another 15-25) so scotch is not an option.
I think I need a Garden Humor meme thread Diana.....save me from breaking something in this house!....:)
Pollard, Augie; 50s, 60s, and 70s will the highs next week in KC, every morning will start off cold.
Fruit trees will start blossoming and a late frost will kill off the developing fruit. (I have plums. I think the Aronia will be OK.)
Snow, but no sleet. If its dry later in the week I’ll see if I can do some tilling.
Need late varieties here or something. I’ve got a peach tree that has had the blossoms freeze and drop off 6 years out of 8. Japanese beetles got the fruit one year. Only got a few peaches in the “good year”. Ten times better than the store but ...
" Growing a Tea Shrub" "The tea shrub is hardy to Zone 8. The United States is broken up into hardiness zones with similar temperatures and weather patterns. Zone 8 includes the Mid-West and the Southern U.S. states. If you don't live in these areas, don't fret. You could try growing Camellia sinensis in a greenhouse, or in a pot that you can bring indoors during cold winters. "
Your peaches are already planted, but for others that might read this, avoid planting your fruit trees on a south slope where they will get a lot of early year sunlight and bark heating and sap rise which leads to early blossom.
If you have a choice plant them on the north slope of a hill so they get less sunlight until later in spring and are less susceptible to a late frost. Alternatively plant them on the north side of an implement shed or barn if you have one maybe.
I do not have a hillside with a north slope. I do use a trunk protector that is supposed to keep the trunk cool and prevent splitting. People paint fruit tree trunks white to try and keep them from heating and splitting, and perhaps that would also prevent early blossom. I have never care for how this looked. It seemed "Old World". I might try it this year after reading this article: (If you have trees this is worth reading. It also prevents rodent and rabbit girdling. )
Painting-tree-trunks-protects-against-rodents-borers "
"Painting fruit tree trunks with white latex paint can prevent the bark from splitting and cracking off. Splitting can happen when the tree is exposed to freezing evening temperatures, followed by a daytime thawing. The painted white trunk will help reflect sunlight during the daytime hours and keep the tree warmer at night, according to a University of Missouri Extension website."
They have a formula for white latex paint and drywall compound. If used it should be applied soon. I suppose you will still need to spray the unpainted part of the tree with dormant oil. (Also s/b pretty soon! Next week might be good! )
Japanese beetles; Someone else suggested using mosquito netting during the annual japanese beetle invasion. (They love plum tree leaves....) My trees are semi dwarf so It might work. Walmart sells some for about $16 a piece so I might get a couple for this year.
/caramel-syrup-recipe-5082963-085-59dabca910b04988b7146e0f6fb932cc.jpg)
Homemade Caramel Syrup is surprisingly easy to make from scratch, calling for just sugar, water, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt and taking less than 20 minutes to prepare. It adds a rich sweetness to drinks, including your morning coffee or evening cocktails. The syrup can also be drizzled over breakfast food and desserts, such as pancakes, French toast, and ice cream.
This caramel syrup recipe works well with both raw and white granulated sugars. Which sugar you use determines the syrup's color as well as the underlying taste. Raw sugar creates a darker syrup with a slightly richer flavor, while white sugar produces a softer flavor and golden syrup.
In general, caramelizing sugar to create candy or sauce can be tricky because it requires high heat and it can burn easily. When making syrup, however, water is added, which makes caramel syrup more forgiving, though it does require your undivided attention. Take care to regulate the heat, watch the syrup as it cooks, and stir constantly except when it's boiling.
Ingredients 1 cup raw or white granulated sugar 1/2 cup water, divided 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Pinch kosher salt
Steps ....on low heat, combine the sugar and 1/4 c water. Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves, 8 to 10 minutes. Turn up the heat to medium-high, cover, and boil for 3 minutes.Remove from heat. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of water in a slow stream, stirring constantly. Stir in vanilla and salt.Let the syrup cool completely, then transfer to a sealed container and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
What's the Difference Between Caramel Syrup and Sauce? Caramel sauce is a popular topping for ice cream and other desserts. It is thick, creamy, and most often includes butter and milk. Although made in a similar way, caramel syrup is most often dairy-free (including this recipe) and designed to be runnier so it pours rather than drips from a spoon.
Tips Be careful when the syrup is at the boiling stage. When removing the lid and adding the extra water, there is a lot of steam that could burn your skin. As the caramel syrup cools, it will thicken slightly; once refrigerated, it will reach the consistency of maple syrup. So don't worry about cooking the syrup until thick as you risk burning it. If a thin film forms on the top of the syrup while it cools, simply skim it off with a spoon.
Recipe Variations For a thinner syrup, add 1/2 cup of water after boiling the syrup. Add a little more salt—up to 1/2 teaspoon—to create a salted caramel syrup. While it's cooling, add a cinnamon stick or two to the syrup for a cinnamon-caramel syrup. Remove the cinnamon before bottling.
More Ways to Use Caramel Syrup Although the most common use for caramel syrup is as a coffee sweetener, it's also tasty in a variety of food and drinks. For instance, it is a fantastic sweetener for spiced teas like chai and a key ingredient in cocktails like the salted caramel martini. It can also add a dark, rich sweetness to apple cider drinks, either warm or cold, or create caramel-sweetened milk. Use it as an ice cream topping or add it to the blender for a caramel milkshake. The syrup will also work as a substitute for maple syrup on top of your favorite breakfast dishes, and can sweeten up desserts like pound cake (add to slices on the plate). Just keep in mind that since it's runnier than glazes and sauces, it will get soaked up quickly and can result in soggy baked goods.
I have a hillside facing East which ain’t bad but it’s very rocky come to find out. With a lot of work and top soil, it would work. One year, I tented my lone peach tree and stuck an electric heater in there to try and save the blossoms from the frost. No luck. The Missouri AG extension has recommended varieties like Contender and Reliance so it’s probably best to go with their recommendations. Might be a slight trade out for taste compared to those two best ever tasting peaches I did get but that’s the way it goes. Still ought to be better than the tasteless things at the store.
Liz! Very nice! Thanks!
Glad you liked it.
Pollard Or maybe it will without too much amendment.
https://treejourney.com/best-fruit-trees-for-rocky-soil-and-how-to-plant-them/
I just tried yaupon. it seems like decent tea.
I’ve read it is a nice ornamental. Have you harvested any of the roots and replanted them? I’m in zone 5b so I’ll have to do pots.
It is two zones out of it's comfort zone so it needs careful handling.
Anywhere north of South Carolina it is going to be difficult to grow classic tea plants.
Thanks Pete. Nice website. Sadly I am zone 6 and could not deal with a big container plant that I would have to shelter in the winter.
https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-blueberry-tea#1
Potential Health Benefits of Blueberry Tea
"Although many people drink tea for the taste alone, blueberry tea offers a number of health benefits. Add a cup to your morning meal or pair a glass with dinner to supplement your diet and enjoy several rich health benefits such as:
Improved heart health. High levels of potassium make blueberry tea a heart-healthy beverage. Studies show that enough potassium in your diet can help prevent heart disease. Drinking blueberry tea is an easy way to add potassium to your diet without adding fats, carbohydrates, or sugars found in other potassium-rich foods.
A stronger immune system. That can make you sick less often and speed up your recovery process when you do get sick. Blueberry tea is rich in Vitamin C, which has been shown to help make your immune system work better. Anthocyanins in blueberry tea further strengthen your body's immune system.
Better brain function. Blueberry tea can help your brain work better. This applies also to people with cognitive brain disorders like Alzheimer's or Dementia. For instance, blueberry tea helps prevent plaque from building up in the brain."
Note "If you drink a lot of blueberry tea at once (more than 3 cups), you could feel nauseous or have diarrhea. Make sure to enjoy your blueberry tea in moderation."
Wow and thanks. There are blueberry farms all over west Michigan. I never realized the health benefits of the leaves
Definitely doable!
That’s so funny - here yaupon is a persistent pest brush. We work hard to keep it under control.
I have not harvested it, but I will after this year’s growth.
Thanks infoman. :)
“Stone Fruit” will grow in rocky(stony) soil. Imagine that.
We have wild cherry, plum, persimmon, service berry trees, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry bushes growing around here.
My original thinking was to plant fruit trees there but I had apples in mind knowing that they grow up North and reading that for further South to plant on Northern slopes. I didn’t know how rocky it was until I burned the leaves off one year. I do have one tiny Northern slope but it’s just enough room for a root cellar. A tree would still get afternoon sun. The one good thing about my Eastern slope is that there’s not a bunch of dead or dying trees like there are on a few spots of my property so maybe I’ll do ok there.
I’ve noticed other spots nearby where a lot of trees have died or are dying. Some areas here have 50% gravel for soil and some have many big rocks from 1-3 foot in diameter. When I dug holes for fence posts, some of what I dug out had the consistency of quikrete as far as rock to sand/dirt ratio. Clay in this case, not sand like quikrete. It’s hard to know which one the trees dislike, gravel or boulders. Might be a matter of abundance of rocks or how the soil drains in a particular spot.
My original plan was to somewhat terrace that area. Not full length on contour terracing but 15-20 foot in diameter spots for each tree in sort of an X pattern or trees offset in every other row. Saw it in a book.
I’m burning nothing for firewood but standing dead trees this year from this 14 acres and there are enough out there for next year’s firewood. I haven’t split any wood this year because all the dead trees I’ve cut this year have been small.
The weather conditions are very locally diverse here. There’s one spot down the road that would be a bad spot to build. It seems like the shape of the land mass and hills funnel the wind into this particular spot. Perfectly healthy 12-15 inch trees get knocked over with a nice full root system or they just get snapped off.
For the other Missourians on this thread;
Home Fruit Production: Peach and Nectarine Culture. https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/g6030
Coming up for air after almost a solid week of being glued to my laptop, following Iron Dog Snow Machine racers on GPS & comments on Iron Dog Group (FB). Family & the Iron Dog Group are the only reasons I tolerate FB (and Facebook Purity that lets me knock out the majority of the cr@p .... I couldn’t stay on it without FBP).
Anyway, I did get some seeds ordered this week - Dragon’s Egg and Diva cukes and a kale variety called “Dazzling Blue Kale”. I just liked the name of the kale ... plus my dad is on a kale ‘kick’. At the local nursery (went very early .... before the guys were on the trail one morning), I found seeds for French Breakfast radishes, Nero Toscana kale, Jalafuego jalapeno peppers, Jade bush beans (have never grown beans before), & Tokyo Long White onions - bunching/scallions. I’ll buy my tomatoes & bell peppers in 4-packs, already 3-4 inches high) when they come in - very cheap & I’ve always had good luck with them from this nursery. Now I have to figure out my garden plan - I had one more or less in mind, but that’s out the window with some of the ‘extra’ seeds I got this year.
I’m working on ideas to protect plants that are going to have to be outside my veggie raised beds fencing for me to get everything planted. Deer love radishes, parsley & I’ve had them lean over a fence & munch the tops out of tomato plants .... crows like a lot of things too - they’ve stolen tomatoes & pecked up young zucchinis & eggplants in years past. The garden is out in the open enough that I generally do not have to worry about rabbits/squirrels - they’re afraid of the hawks that hang around our place. I’m thinking of simple, cheap frames for bird netting - that would probably do it.
Anyway, the weather is still nuts .... 30-40 one day, high 60-low 70’s the next. We normally take a risk planting in April - late April/early May is when we can usually get things in the ground (but still have to be ‘watchful’ for the odd very cold nights). January/February have gone by pretty fast - I’m thinking March is going to drag a bit because I want to get in the garden so badly.
Last thing - the fox got another 2 chickens in broad daylight this past week. There is one laying hen left. There is a very old ‘retired’ hen as well - the two are now in the same coop and appear to be liking each others company. This coop is totally secure at night and has buried wire & a tight door. The other coop was mostly secure at night, but the run had no buried wire & this last massacre, the fox got in the door down at the corner. My SIL saw the fox 2 days later - big, beautiful red one, just sitting in the deer food plot, surveying the chicken coop scene. My guess is it’s a female that is going to have kits under the barn - in previous years, when the fox had kits under the barn, my SIL lost a lot of chickens. So .... looks like maybe some chicks are in the future for this spring to replace the laying hens. I loved those hens ... great egg layers & interesting personalities, too.
PS - 4-H lamb update - my great-nieces, ages 6 & 3.5 have their very first lambs this year! The never-handled-before wild “woolies”, after 3 weeks, are now eating food out of the girls’ hands, standing (instead of running away) to be patted, wearing halters, & (mostly) leading around the barn. They’re still a little stubborn at times, but the leading gets better every day! The girls are doing a great job taming/training the lambs. They have a 4-H show the end of April & the lambs need to be ready to show by then.
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