Posted on 12/17/2022 7:29:17 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!
Butterscotch Schnapps is a viable substitute for Marshmallow.
Well, mine did - and as punishment, I’ll be at the stadium tonight where we hosts the Dolphins...
... Where my suntan lotion?:-)
This will be the year I learn how to get the PH right in the garden...(I’ve been saying this for decades and never do) ;-)
If the heat in your home stays above 32° no need to worry about freezing fridge lines. Those lines embedded in an exterior wall though may have a small issue unless kept above freezing. Open cabinet doors where those pipes are located and you’ll be fine.
Brrrrrrr
Unless your pipes aren’t insulated at all, a freeze won’t usually reach into the pipes terribly. We don’t worry about ours until it gets to the low teens. We have one spot in our basement where it’s pretty exposed, and it has been a problem twice. We run a blow dryer pointed directly at the spot when the temps get that low. Haven’t had a new problem yet, and it’s been 7 or 8 years now with no burst pipes. The trick of letting the water drip helps too, but adds to the water bill. Still, a higher water bill is preferable to the cost and trauma of burst pipes.
Another idea is to open your cabinet doors in the kitchen and bathroom so that they get ambient warmer air in there. Of course, if you have kids or pets, that might not be a great option.
Cute fairy garden! I’m very into that. I leave my larger containers outside in the winter, but bring a few inside and overwinter them. It’s nice to know someone else out there enjoys the little ones like I do.
It’s been a chilly week here in Central Missouri. 18° F when I left for the data center this morning. Retiring to sunny Florida can’t come soon enough.
It’s too cold for my bones to mess around doing garden cleanup this weekend so I think I’ll water my plants in the greenhouse then retire to the nice warm workshop and get some fixing done on Mr. Clarence. With any kind of good luck I might have him put back together enough to start the engine sometime tomorrow.
All the hard work gardening and canning last season is paying off. Spaghetti squash smothered in ratatouille on the menu for supper tonight...
https://www.wikihow.com/Wrap-Pipes-for-Cold-Weather
The thermostat on our beach house (serves as a greenhouse) crapped out.. So a trip to Menards for a heater was in order. 22 degrees on the lake front.
I plan to do the cabinet doors and the water dripping. I will also turn the heat up at night. I would rather pay higher water and gas bills.
As far as I can tell, from pictures I saw of the crawl space, the pipes are nekkid, so that’s what I’ll have to do.
We are having spaghetti for supper with sauce made from tomatoes we grew this summer. Happy to be a gardener when the winter cold sets in and we have good food.
Checking in from rehab with dad - 1st full day. He is doing well. Earlier today, braved the traffic & crowds at Walmart (yuck) which were awful, to get him some sweatpants for PT. We had good success finding a size that should work.
Caught a mouse in the house this week - we always get a few when the weather gets cold. It’s not frigid yet, but Dec. 22-28 is when we’ll be teens at night, 30’s during the day. Our pipes are fine, might put a light in the pump house, but we didn’t do that last year. The kitchen plumbing is on an outside wall, so if it’s low teens, single digits, we open the cabinet doors under the sink at night. Outside hydrants are ‘frost free’, but we make sure the hoses are disconnected. I use black rubber feed pans with low sides for bird baths, so I can easily break ice out every morning & refill.
I do hot herbal tea a lot in cold weather (coffee in the a.m.), but what I REALLY have a hankering for right now is eggnog with a good slug or two of “something something” added ... must be the Christmas music putting me in the mood! :-)
It’s the ones in the crawl space that bug me. Even the laundry room, although unheated, will likely be OK due to heat radiating from the adjacent kitchen area, but that crawl space could get really chilly. I’m going to keep my heat at least 70 at night, to hopefully keep the pipes from freezing there via radiant heat.
In the bathrooms, I will shut the doors while running the heat and leaving the sink cabinets open, along with taps dripping. Hopefully, the resulting heat pockets will filter into the crawl space below as well.
I LOVE my fairy gardens - I have two of them and three in hanging baskets with succulents. I started making them because we have such water issues here and I didn’t want my garden pots to be empty. The little houses in each one came from the .99 cent store - I saw the same houses for $15.00 at my local garden center, so it pays to look around. I plan to design a few more.
Biggest problem is they are under large trees that shed leaves so I am constantly having to clean them out.
Send photos of yours, I’d love to see them and get some new ideas.
Got home from the hospital & what do you know, mouse #2. The little rascals are really coming in from the cold.
The soil in 3 out of 4 garden beds is in irder.....tomorrow #4 gets smoothed out.
Then tree limb borders and chipping the smaller branches for mulching.
Theeeeennnn....beds 5 and 6 get some compost then soil etc.
I got 3 different cover crop seeds (cowpea, daikon radish, & mustard greens) for bed #6 since it is the worst of the 6 as far as hard clay soil goes.
Those three are apparently good at breaking up the clay then ya chop n drop before they go to seed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.