Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Editor's Note: As a result of a technology snafu, Mary Honrud's Green Spaces columns have not been published in the Glasgow Courier for a few weeks even though they were emailed. Below are three of Mary's columns that were not published. Oct. 6 – Temporary Respite While we have had a few frosts up here, north of the Middle of Nowhere, the summer-like afternoons have been most enjoyable. We do know those days are numbered. Dennis and I have taken advantage of a few of those nice days to get in s...
We took some time off last week. Dennis and I celebrated his birthday by going to Billings. There was some shopping, a nice supper, and the next day he had his Vette serviced. And there was a bit more shopping. The "change oil soon" light came on shortly before we arrived. That trip took care of two days I could have been getting some "put the garden to bed" chores done. I knew we were doing that trip, so I had a couple marathon days earlier in the week. I repotted so many houseplants my hands g...
Someone once said all good things must come to an end. I wish that someone was wrong. It's getting serious up here: Dennis tells me our thermometer showed 36° early Sunday morning. While that didn't give us frost, some neighbors (within a 10-mile radius) had a layer of white on their vehicles. I'm so not ready for that. While I do like wearing cute sweaters, I really don't want to have to wear "real" shoes. Let me stay in my sandals. And I don't want to have to turn on the heat yet (but I have p...
Since we finished the wheat harvest over a week ago, we've been taking life a bit slower. Although we did resume morning walks together. Dennis was walking by himself before harvest, but I've joined him now. The garden is still in full production mode, and fall with its cooler temps, is looming. I'm going to have to get myself revved up again. There's so much to accomplish before the first frost hits in our area. Typically that happens any day now. And rain is in the forecast. I did get almost...
Mary Honrud / For the Courier We spent the past week (plus a few days - there were some weather delays) harvesting our wheat crop. I really appreciate the Courier holding over my column from two weeks ago. It freed up a bit of my time so instead of writing I was cooking. I usually cram in my writing Sunday evenings (as I'm doing with this column) after spending the afternoon golfing. At least that's what I do in the summer. Last week I played piano for church (service is at 11 a.m.), then came...
Editor's Note: Mary submitted this column on Aug. 25. It has been many years since I planted zucchini, and so I forgot how prolific they can be. Luckily, a small section of my brain flashed a warning so I only put in one plant. That single plant is doing its best to out-produce every other plant in my garden. I haven't foisted any onto friends (yet!), nor have I dropped any onto neighbors doorsteps or into unlocked cars on Front Street. I'm not saying that couldn't happen... This past week I mad...
It always seems like it’s the end of summer when all the young people head back to school. All of a sudden, the lazy care-free days of summer indolence turn into the fall frenzy, even though it isn’t really fall yet. There are still many weeks of outdoor-worthy weather to come. While I am looking forward to enjoying to cooler mornings and evenings, I’m definitely not looking forward to less sunlight/more darkness. Nor am I excited about actual cold weather. There’s so much that needs doing before that time arrives. We’ve had the fun of lots o...
It's that time of year again when farmers are trying to harvest their crops. (Well, this has been going on for a while now, which is why I say my warning is tardy.) This means that there will be huge slow-moving pieces of equipment and machinery sharing the highways and roads with you. And when I say slow, I mean anywhere from 10 to 25 miles per hour. When you're driving 70 mph, you can come up on that combine/grain cart/hay baler very quickly. If you see the flashing hazard lights ahead of...
We’ve enjoyed a brief respite from the heat this past week. In fact, some of us were feeling chilled at a balmy 70°, with that slight breeze and a few sprinkles Sunday. (I’m some people.) But having a high below 107° for fair entry day was unexpectedly nice. (I’m projecting here, as this column was penned last Sunday. I was contemplating actually entering a few items after many years of not getting to town on entry day. I’ll be in town all of that day, so I might gather enough items to make filling out entry forms worthwhile.) The garden is com...
All the visiting family members have gone home, so I’m trying to catch up with all the garden and yard chores that were ignored these past couple of weeks. Of course, there’s extra bedding and towels to be washed, dried, folded and put away. The last load of sheets are in the dryer as I write this. They’ll be ready for the next onslaught of family, who arrive early in August. These past few days of cooler weather are greatly appreciated. It’s easier to work outside for longer periods of time. The netting I’d planned to use to protect my peas f...
I’ll confess to being in a slight state of the doldrums. What does that mean? According to the Oxford Languages, it is “a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or depression.” If you go to NOAA, it’s a nautical term for the equatorial belt where the winds don’t blow and so sailing ships get “stuck.” Merriam Webster says the meaning is “a spell of listlessness or despondency.” I’m at the stage of inactivity or listlessness, at least as far as it pertains to getting a column written! I’m sure, if you regularly read my scribblings, you’ve n...
It doesn’t pay to leave your garden for two weeks at the end of June. The weeds thought to act like mice do when the cat’s away. They’ve run riot out there. I’m sorry to see the plants I wanted to grow seem to not have that same desire to thrive. Don’t get me wrong: they’re all still growing, but… There’s a reason we have the saying “growing like a weed.” I missed out on seeing all my purple iris in full bloom. The Shasta daisies on the north side of the house are vigorously blooming, but the ones to the east of the yard (mostly volunteers)...
The garden is almost fully planted. Of course I'm also counting on a lot of volunteer plants out there. Those are mostly flowers from the edible flower seed packet I bought a few years ago when the school had that as a fundraiser. But there's also volunteer cilantro and dill (you only ever need to purchase those once!), husk cherries (you can find their fruit in the store now as golden berries), and moon flowers. Oh, and some asparagus. I'll move a lot of those volunteers into rows and always...
While I've had the garden space tilled for quite a while, I hadn't actually planted anything until May 31. After tilling, I procrastinated setting up the drip system for far too long, but finally got that done. Then I procrastinated some more. In fact, I did that procrastinating so well, I have to hand-weed each row before putting any seed into the ground. I find procrastination often leads to more work. May 31 dawned fair, with little wind (a minor miracle), so I hustled out there to put...
While in town last week, as I was letting myself be pampered with both a manicure and a pedicure, the marvelous lady in the next chair remarked that I should keep putting recipes in my column. I thank her for her comment as I sometimes wonder how much they are appreciated. I know they do pertain to gardening as we need to know what to do with our produce. Spring, of course, is prime rhubarb season. I have a couple new ways to prepare this delectable vegetable that we treat as a fruit. Oat and Brown Sugar Rhubarb Crisp Filling: Scant 5 C...
While we live far from the ‘burbs, we do seem to live in “birb” central. I believe all our feathered friends are back for the summer. I’m really glad I talked about getting the other two bird feeders cleaned in last weeks’ column. I set them out with fresh grape jelly plus a clementine cut in half a few days ago. Two days ago, a rosy-breasted grosbeak showed up to study those feeders, and to help himself to the regular bird seed. He tried to get through the living room window to the red blossoms on the geranium. Today (Mother’s Day) we had...
My spring’s work has been going in fits and starts. Every time I start, Mother Nature throws a fit! At least it’s mostly actual rain now and not snow piling up. The grass is greening up. The trees are leafing out. Perennials are shooting up lots of green in the flowerbeds. That green can be hard to see in the beds I haven’t gotten around to clearing. There are still lots of dead leaves from last fall embedded in the lawn. I’ll eventually get around to mowing and maybe by that time those leaves will be dry enough the mower can annihil...
As you know, if you read this column or are one of my Facebook friends, I'm once again in Florida. I've never been here at this time of year before. It's very unlike a Montana spring. Here there is green grass, blooming flowers, palm trees, and virtually no chance of snow. (We did have torrential rains the other afternoon.) It's pretty nice that way. My trip getting here was fraught with difficulties. The first of those was the last several miles driving into Billings on the interstate. Dennis...
Maybe my constant complaints about the weather have brought the results I've been wanting. And maybe Mother Nature is busy planning another blitz attack on us all after this week of warmth has sufficiently softened us up enough that it will be extra cruel when she hits us again with some misplaced winter. She does so enjoy dashing our hopes. We aren't the only beings that are now filled with dreams of summer. The robins have returned in force. There are flashes of red all through the yard....
The weather just cannot make up its mind, can it? This last bout with trying to defeat winter brought us an icy rain. The farther north we drove last Thursday night, the more winter won. We had about two inches of heavy wet snow before arriving home. Our yard is a casualty of that battle. It's definitely wintry. There are a few nice things about this newest snow cover: 1) it covers all the dead leaves on the lawn; 2) it sparkles in the sunlight; 3) it's full of much needed moisture; and 4) it...
This past week, while in conversation with a friend, we talked about pet peeves. I volunteered to air hers. She really wants everyone to have their headlights on at all times while driving. The lack of visible headlights in oncoming traffic, especially during snow and fog events, is not only annoying, it’s downright dangerous. You may feel you don’t need your headlights to see what you’re driving into, but they are definitely needed by the people you meet. Light-colored vehicles blend into that snow or fog. Even dark-colored vehicles can be ha...
I'm going to go on about a variety of things this week. The term "mishmash," which means 'a confused mixture of different types of things,' seemed apropos to me. Similar terms would include: hodgepodge, patchwork, mixed bag, jumble, assortment, or mess. Of course, mishmash is often used in a negative way, as if the person it refers to couldn't stay on topic. I'm okay with that, as often I am confused and disorganized. (I'm thankful that those who don't care for my ramblings don't bother to tell...
My sister Cece, who lives in southeast Missouri and is enjoying spring flowers (and her asparagus) already, recently sent me pictures of her Kaffir lilies. The mother plant has lots of red berries on the stalks the flowers had been on. Her smaller one is just now blooming. I’ve always cut off the flower stalks once they start puffing up to make seeds. I’d thought maybe if I didn’t, it would somehow diminish the plant and prevent future blooms. But Cece says she hasn’t and it’s always bloomed again. So now I need to go look up proper care of K...
I apologize for not writing anything last week. We were away on another trip. This one was to Nashville. Our 13-year-old grandson and his hockey team from Clearwater, Fla., were competing in a President’s Day tournament just outside Nashville, in Franklin, Tenn. They won, without suffering a single loss, although they did have one game that ended in a tie. Their trophy was a guitar. What else would you expect from Music City? (Each individual player also got a medal to take home. That guitar will go in the trophy case at their rink.) We went ea...
I meant to open this column with some light-hearted joking about taking weather forecasts from rodents and fell down a rabbit hole. (And rabbits aren’t rodents.) Prepare yourself for a lot of useless information. It might come in handy next time you compete in Trivial Pursuit. It is true that the groundhog is a rodent. Sometimes known as a woodchuck of tongue-twister fame, these rodents belong to the group of large ground squirrels (family Sciuridae) known as marmots. Gophers are also ground squirrels, but are rather puny in size next to ground...
