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I could not help myself when the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed catalog arrived. I ordered a few more seeds for the garden. Given what I have already acquired, you may be wondering what else could I possibly have gotten and whether I have expanded my garden into my neighbor’s yard. There are always more seeds to buy and no, I have not taken over my neighbor’s yard but if he offered I would not say no!
Here is what I got:
- Gaillardia lollipop mix. I don’t grow many annual flowers but these struck me as both beautiful in color and interesting in flower shape and I could not resist.
- Black garbanzo beans. Say what? I love garbanzo beans and eat a lot of them. They are long season, warm weather beans and it never made much sense to try to grow them because they can be had so inexpensively in bulk at my food co-op. But black ones? I didn’t know these even existed! These apparently tolerate cooler soil, which means I can plant them early enough to get beans before frost. This is more a novelty than anything, but you just never know what might come of it.
- Mongolian giant sunflower. This one is for James whose loves sunflowers. How can one say no to a 14-foot tall sunflower with a head that might reach 16-18 inches across? If it truly gets that large, there might just be enough seeds the birds, squirrels and I can all eat some.
- Variegated plantain. No, not plantain the banana, but plantain the weed. The regular variety pops up in the garden here and there, usually in a path so it ends up getting trampled. These are pretty enough to give them a place in a garden bed. Plus the crushed leaves are good for bug bites and cuts and they are edible too. I have poor luck when trying to grow domesticated versions of weeds so we shall see how this goes.
Minnesota winters are no longer reliable. Oh, it’s still cold and they last a long time, but whereas I could depend on a continually deepening cold and snow piling up higher and higher until March, with the warming climate, there is much more thawing and freezing than there ever used to be.
Last week, it snowed about three inches overnight Wednesday. Then in the morning temperatures went up and up and it poured rain all day long. Rain. Given how much it rained, if it had been below freezing there would have been about a foot of snow. This is no consolation, however, because the ground is frozen and the rain has nowhere to go. When I went out to close up the Dashwoods at sundown and it was still raining, I needed to wear my wellies because the water in the garden was over the top of my boots in a few places.
Once the sun went down, the temperature plummeted and all that rain with nowhere to go turned to solid ice. The falling rain eventually turned to freezing rain and then a dusting of snow. When I went out Friday morning to let the Dashwoods out of the coop, it was a treacherous walk across the garden.
We have a combination lock on the run door that we lock at night and while we are away during the day so no one gets it into their heads to try their hand at chicken rustling. The freezing rain froze the lock so it wouldn’t turn.
Back across the icy garden I went. Indoors I rummaged around for a lighter and minced my way back to the chickens. There was a bit of breeze to add to the challenge. So there I am bundled up in my coat, standing outside the chicken run, holding a lighter against the metal lock to melt the ice and carefully cupping my gloved hand around it to block the wind while hoping my mitten didn’t catch on fire. If my life had a sound track, it would have been a good time to cue up Free Bird or something equally as ridiculous.
All this time the Dashwoods are closed up inside the coop, not in the run on the other side of the door I am trying to open. They are awake and hear me. I can hear them moving around impatiently, cooing, and probably wondering what the heck is going on and why I am not letting them out of the coop into the run so they can have breakfast.
Finally the lock is warm enough and the dial spins easily. I get the run door open, move the coop ladder, open the coop door and put the ladder in place. The Dashwoods crowd the coop door, all four of them trying to squeeze through a one-and-a-half-chicken-wide door at the same time. Eventually they push themselves out one by one and start down the ladder, grumbling and giving me some chicken side-eye.
I check their water and their food and leave them to their morning. Since I am on vacation, I leave the run door open even though they will not come out onto the snow and ice. With their run encased in plastic to keep the weather out, they can’t see through it. So an open run door, even if they don’t venture out of it, lets them see outside and keeps them from getting insanely bored.
By next weekend temperatures might rise into the 40sF. That will melt some of the ice and perhaps create enough clear patches for the Dashwoods to leave the run and wander around the garden; get some sun on their feathers. I might have to go out with them and get some sun on my feathers too.
It is neat that you are thinking about planting already. Beans are really such wonderful food that it is always good to be planting more of them.
I am glad to hear that The Dashwoods were finallly freed. Hopefully they will have a good winter.
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I am in agreement Brian Joseph! One can never grow too many beans. 🙂
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We are getting very mild days followed by a few cold ones. A few days ago I was planting bulbs. My snowdrops are coming up – too fast as they;re needed for decorating my son’s wedding mid February – nightmare!
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That you can dig in the ground and have anything growing is amazing to me. Uh-oh. Is there a plan B for the snowdrops for your son’s wedding? Fingers crossed it all works out!
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Our winter is weird- it feels like spring here, but I know we usually get colder weather in late Jan or Feb so I am not starting seedling yet! I need to make some seed orders this year, too. The variegated plantain looks interesting- I’m curious to see how it does for you. I have the ordinary one in my yard too, and have picked it a few times for use but if I had a pretty one like that in the garden would be nice.
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Jeane, wise choice to wait on seeding! I am always tempted by warm days in early April and it is so hard to wait! I’ll let you know how it goes with the variegated plantain 🙂
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I’m still laughing at the image of you with the lighter trying to thaw out the lock – with the potential of setting your mittens on fire!
Here in Lancaster, we’ve had almost twice the normal annual rainfall. We, in our new house, looking at puddles in the yard every time it rains,are thinking ‘do we have a drainage problem?’ Fortunately, the house doesn’t seem to leak from the ceiling or the basement, and it is an extraordinary year for rain.
Best wishes to you, Bookman, the Dashwoods, and the rest of the household for a Happy New Year!
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Heh, Joan, it was pretty ridiculous and I am very glad my mitten did not catch on fire! Wow, you have gotten a lot of rain! Glad your roof and basement are sound. Are you in an area where lots of rain is becoming a new normal? Our rainfall is moving toward bigger, torrential storms with long dry stretches in between. At least during summer. Winter is still sorting itself out and I think it is going to take a while.
Happy New Year to you and yours as well!
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Hooray for freeing the Dashwoods! Hilarious. A friend and I are going to plan our gardens soon, seeing if we can tag-team on any items and order our seeds together. Fun stuff!
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Have fun planning your garden! It’s so much fun to imagine and dream. Can’t wait to hear what you decide to grow 🙂
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