Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Not much has changed in the garden this past week. I’m still doing plenty of weeding: all the seeds blown in from the shelter belt trees (I’m looking at you, Chinese elm) are sprouting with wild abandon due to the rains. Those seeds nestled up against what I planted, so weeding involves a lot of crawling along the rows on hands and knees, pulling each tree wannabe individually. I keep reminding myself that this activity helps with my flexibility. Once in a while my brain protests that this is bunk: this activity is ruining my joints. I will say...
We're far enough into the gardening season that only maintenance is needed. Most of that maintenance is boring: mowing, weeding, and watering. The rain helps a lot, but then it is followed by too much wind, which takes the moisture right back out of everything. (It also brings in another maintenance chore: picking up the downed twigs, destroyed bird nests, and tree limbs torn off the trees that litter the mowing surfaces). And now the heat is here. I know it's needed, but it also restricts my...
It’s been a busy and productive week for me. The master procrastinator is maybe turning over a new leaf? Probably not. The main thing I’m proud of having accomplished is getting (almost) all the houseplants moved outside for the summer. A few (notably the Hoya vine, the newly started mango and avocado trees, my kaffir lily, and a couple other small ones) will remain in the house where the Montana winds cannot rip them apart. But just moving them outside isn’t the complete job - it’s also then getting the windows washed (both inside and out), a...
I've been struggling with the electric fence not working. We've had both solar units out that are supposed to send the sun's power into the vibes that deter the deer, but neither one has delivered that thrilling tingle (the one that makes me swear) when I touch the wire. Dennis bought a tester which proves both units are capable of sending out the juice. I've walked the perimeter and not found anything causing a short in the system. We even bought an actual six foot grounding rod, of which...
There are enough goldfinches and other birds in the yard that refilling the feeders is now a daily chore. Refilling birdbaths will soon be added to the list. So far I've only put water in one of them, the one that's a full-time fixture in the yard. It's the one not apt to be broken by hail nor freezing water, so it stays out year-round. The other ones (glazed ceramic and colored glass) still need to be brought out from the storage shed. That has been added to my "to-do" list. There was a bit of...
The lovely rains have really set off lots of new growth. The lawn has had its first mowing and needs another. The wheat is coming up nicely, even though we’re not quite finished with seeding as I write this. It should all be in the ground by the time you read this. The weeds are also coming up such that I’m weeding the garden rows as I plant more of my desired seeds. The beets, carrots, and Swiss chard were planted right after I wrote last week’s column (before the rain/snow mix). Last Saturday I put in radish and onion seeds. Next up will...
We’ve finally had a wonderful transfusion of rain to bring life back to our parched land. It’s wonderful to see the prairies and pastures turning green again. I was so tired of the many depressing shades of brown/tan/burnt umber the landscape had been showing us. We’re able to report rainfall in tenths of an inch instead of hundredths. I can’t tell you how much we actually received because those not-so-wonderful winds I’ve whined about had blown a blade of dead grass into our gauge. It slithered through the screening that’s supposed to...
I’m starting yet another season of gardening. It must be the 47th? Because it’s stayed nice, I’ve finally tilled the garden space. It worked up very nicely. After my few hours running the garden tractor, I spent several more hours laying out the drip system and staking it down in place. The electric fence to protect the space from deer is not yet in place, nor are my pea fences. I’m still mulling over what’s going to planted where. I try to rotate things every year. Of course, there are perennials in my garden: the raspberries, honeyberry bushe...
I don’t want to jinx it, so keep this on the down-low, but I think maybe spring is really here this time. We’ve had several decent days in a row. And I’m happy it’s warmer temps and some nice rain showers, but the best thing is not much wind! That’s the most amazing (and welcome) part of it. So there’s no need for me to dig out a new synonym for complaining. Of course, the grackles have returned in force.I have a couple “squirrel-proof” bird feeders that I count on to foil those greedy, wasteful birds. They tend to knock all the seed out in...
We still haven't had any decent "get outside and do some yard work" weather. We are, however, still having a surfeit (excessive amount) of wind, and I, for one, am about sick of it. I'm sure I'm not the only one, either. If only Mother Nature would heed us in our complaints, she'd surely shut off that fan that's running amok. This week I've decided to cool it with the kvetching (it didn't help anyway) and try carping (complain or find fault with trivial matters) instead. Aren't you happy I've di...
I feel justified in kvetching about the weather again since we’ve been hit with even more snow. It is supposed to be spring, with the grass greening up, not buried in cold white yuck. The wind was unrelenting until Saturday morning, which is also far from cheering. This is not to mention the cold temperatures: we saw a morning reading of only 6° once. The other big complaint, and it’s a major one, is that the three-day snowstorm had little to no moisture in it. All it did was stress both people and livestock. (Yes, I know other areas were hit m...
Since I'm using the word "kvetch" for my continuing bellyaching about the wind, I decided I should have more information about it. Kvetch in Yiddish means "to press" or "to squeeze" (which is what I do with a slice of lemon into my morning tea) but has come to mean "to complain" to us non-Yiddish speakers. You can be a kvetch or you can do it. Occasionally I'm guilty of both. At least, I hope it's only occasionally and not often! If it's too often, feel free to kvetch at me. We've had another...
It's really nice to have the warm sunshine and summery-looking clouds, but someone could sure shut off the fan! We're tired of constant howling winds. One calm day per week isn't enough to suit me. We even had some snow squalls last week, but there wasn't enough moisture in them to register. We're more than ready for those April showers and the resulting May flowers. I've managed to get healthy enough to clear off another couple flowerbeds. This was after finishing the one that caused me to expe...
It seemed so glorious outside last Wednesday that I temporarily lost my mind and forgot it was still March in Montana. After doing some spring cleaning inside in the morning, I spent a couple hours in the afternoon clearing debris and dead leaves (so many dead leaves!) from one flowerbed. This particular flowerbed is on the south side of the house, closest to the deck, so it gets all the benefit of the sun as well as being sheltered from the wind. In it grows the Virginia creeper that has grown...
Spring. It's come on suddenly: the snow is melting away. Our creeks have been running enough to have filled our bird sanctuary/reservoir. A friend said their dam filled up. We'll see how long those stay filled. We're always hopeful the life-giving rains will return. But we're realistic enough to not hold our breath! The snow that had blown into the shelter belt all winter was about twelve feet deep last week. It's condensed down to about eight feet now. We've had a few fairly nice days since I...
I'm not feeling very turtle-ish yet. Let me explain: years ago Dennis and I caught a comedy routine that contained the line "Hope springs in turtles." We still occasionally use that line. I had to go look it up in order to give credit to the comedian. His name is John Bowman, and the bit came from his In Stink routine. I will caution you that his language wasn't devoid of "bad words." The bit had to do with a stoner explaining that even though turtles are "slow and pokey" since they're carrying...
March has arrived, coming in like a lion. We're therefore hoping spring will really be here at the end of the month. All the continued strong winds combined with fresh snow, as well as freezing sleet mixed with rain (at 24 degrees!!) has me still ignoring those seed catalogs. I have, however, purchased new gladioli bulbs, new large dahlia tubers, a couple bright pink peony roots, and several packages of onion sets. This is obviously long-range planning. All of those are being stored in our...
We had a nice trip to watch one of our grandsons play 10U AA hockey just outside Chicago over the President's Day weekend. (His team competes at the single A level, but got bumped up.) Now that I'm catching up with the mail, and specifically the Courier, I see no one took me up on writing a guest column to cover for my absence. You still could, of course... I'm trying to think spring, but the recent nasty weather hasn't helped push me that way. There was lots of fresh snow in Fargo, but the road...
I must need a vacation from writing. I keep putting off getting this column done each week lately and so I miss the actual deadline. Luckily, the editor/manager at the Courier has been putting up with my tardiness. I am taking next week off. If someone else would like to sub in for me, I think the paper would appreciate it, maybe. And maybe you’ll have a new gig. I’d be okay with being replaced… We’re heading off to near Chicago where our youngest lives. We’re driving (well, Dennis is), so we’re very hopeful the weather will behave and that ro...
I’ve been busy getting our paperwork ready for the accountants. It’s tax season, my least favorite. This is a yearly task that I dread, and so I procrastinate. However, I think it’s a necessary evil in order to have public services that benefit us all. And so I do it (also so we can avoid hefty fines and/or prison. No one wants to suffer either option.) Seed catalogs: I’ve started to glance at them - if only to winnow out the duplicates. Just today I tossed the third issue from Burpee, and the second from both Gurney’s and Seeds ‘N Such. They...
Today is houseplant watering day, so technically I could say I’m tending my “green spaces in rural places” as a former editor termed what has become “my” column. It isn’t really gardening in the traditional sense, but it keeps my hand in. Outdoor “real gardening” is getting closer. I can tell from the number and variety of seed and plant catalogs showing up in our mailbox. So far I haven’t cracked open a single one of them, but I’m also not tossing them into “file 13” where the ones that showed up in December went. One of these days, when the...
This week I’m fully back into cooking our meals at home again. There’s a LOT of dining out when we’re on vacation. I’m also once again doing the Whole Life Challenge, so I’m using recipes that work for my chosen nutritional level, which remains the most lenient of the choices. I’m not going overboard (full-on vegan, and something in-between that level of craziness and just skipping real sugar and wheat flours). While we were in Florida, we dined at P.F. Chang’s, at Dennis’s request. He loves their Mongolian Beef - go figure. Kim and I share...
We arrived back into Montana from sunny, warm Florida Thursday night, and we were back at home by Friday evening. It just kept getting cooler (I don't dare say colder after you all endured the way-below-zero temps we avoided) and whiter the farther north we went. There's plenty of snow on the ground up here by Opheim. And while we aren't too excited about these conditions, at least there's some much needed moisture in that white layer of yuck. As Dennis said, it's "more than we had last...
This week I had planned to write about mangrove trees. We'd been to see the manatees, those huge seal-like mammals that were supposedly mistaken for mermaids by sailors who'd obviously been out to sea much too long. After you've seen live manatees, you really have to wonder about sailors' imaginations or deliriums. Anyway, there are lots of mangrove trees alongside the walkways and creeks and the estuary at the manatee center here in Riverview. I even took photos of some of the mangroves. (The...
First off, I feel I owe all of you another apology. Maybe a double one. We are on vacation in warm, sunny Florida, and so are (aren’t?) missing out on all that delicious below zero temps you’ve been enjoying. So that’s one (that we’re warmer than you right now). The other is because of the timing of the holidays, I lost track of what day of the week it was or what the deadline should have been. So I didn’t get a column written last week. I’m crying crocodile tears over that lapse. (In other words, sorry, NOT sorry.) We haven’t just been enj...
