first snow of the season

i've been spoiled by this past few weeks of nicer weather. i knew it couldn't last forever, but it sure was nice to have extra days to get the gardens put up for the winter and to putter around.

now, we're getting a nice gentle blanket of snow drifting down, on the fringes of the worst of it as places further south have gotten quite a bit more.

we did get out for a walk this morning before it got too slippery on the road.

the temperatures are supposed to get back up in the mid 40s again at some point -- perhaps i'll be able to get some of those apple saplings moved after all. we'll see...

songbird

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songbird
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We had a couple of hours of rain this morning, current temperature is

66F, wx folk say 36 by tomorrow morning. I will wait and see. So far we are using neither ac or heat, house lows are about 71F at 0600 so no need to turn the heat on. AC guy is coming tomorrow for the six month check-up and replacing the HEPA filters. It is nice to see the utility bills for the last two months have been a bit cheaper.

Picked all sweet chiles and eggplant today, what's left of the cherry tomatoes can get frozen for all I care. Fall garden is producing radishes, several varieties of greens. Cabbage nor broccoli are heading yet but we planted a little late for here due to the heat. Kumquats are almost ready to pick but is going to be a scant crop.

George

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George Shirley

George Shirley wrote: ...

yeah, we too have really enjoyed not having to run the heating that much the past several weeks. it's like being given a gift from Momma Nature saying, "Hey you don't need to do anything special but enjoy the day." and we surely have been. :)

i sure hope the cold doesn't get that far south this early...

i haven't had any eggplant in quite some time. i used to eat it regularly and liked it about any way it was cooked. many Middle East foods had some sort of combinations i could whip up. roasted and mixed with tahini and garlic and whatever else was handy sometimes chick peas and lemon juice. other times mint and yogurt. making myself hungry...

i guess with the cold that will be the end of the eggplant?

a lot more snow came down and we'll be getting the shovel out tomorrow. :) good, i like the exercise if the wind doesn't get too ferocious. if it is i wait and let it blow away instead as much as possible.

made up two new worm buckets today which are going to be sent to a friend's garden for the spring planting. a bit late, but whatever can be done for their garden soil will help as it's so poor and sandy. too bad they won't keep their own worm bins as they cook a lot of their meals and could use those scraps for worm food.

songbird

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songbird

I have a lot of eggplant recipes if you need some. Lived five years in Saudi Arabia and learned to really like the eggplant recipes there. Wife makes a lot of zucchini and/or eggplant fritters using rice as a base. We make big batches during the growing season then let them cool and vacuum pack them for the freezer

Only got to about 40F early this morning and the eggplant leaves are curling. Suspect they will be gone by tomorrow as the temps for tonight are going to be in the freezing range.

We put earthworms in some of our beds but haven't seen any of them lately. May have to get a new start from our daughter's worm pit. I'm wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt for the first time this year. Feels strange not to be wearing shorts and a tee.

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George Shirley

just enough to get things wet, but not enough to do much good?

we have bright sun today, cool, clear, chances of more snow, but nothing too major, went out to check out what i thought i saw were mouse tracks going from one of the front yard planters to my car (which i'm still trapping mice in even after plugging all holes i could find they could be getting in...). unfortunately, not enough snow under the car so that i could track them further to where they're going in. in a bit i'll go out and shovel the drive and then move that planter and see how much of a nest or food store they might have under it. if i can't get them at one end, i'll get them at the other.

the rumors that Bounce fabric softener sheets will keep them away is unfounded. the car smells better than dead mouse now, but it also stinks of Bounce which is rather horrid. oh well, i don't use it that often anyways. which is why it gets mice in it to begin with.

songbird

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songbird

George Shirley wrote: ...

heh, that's ok, can't get Ma to eat it and so don't ever buy it any more.

...

it's been below freezing here overnight and into today. i did get the drive shovelled (about 30 minutes worth so not a whole lot by the time i got out there most of it was melted by the sun and residual heat in the cement).

tracked the mouse trail from the car to off where i was hoping it was a food store that i could root out, but the trail actually went much further and i could not follow it to any place notable. so the mystery continues as the mouse traps inside the car had no new mice in them.

...i wrote...:

the worms tend to hide from heat and cold extremes as well as any dry spells. so if your garden raised beds are not very thick then the worms will often wander off to other places...

it has taken me years to get some worm populations established in the few raised beds here and they are not nearly as many as what the regular gardens support. we have a lot of clay in our soil here too, so i always bury plenty of organic matter down deep so the worms have places to hide and stuff to feed on during the hot and cold parts of the season.

in putting the gardens up this fall i've seen plenty of good signs that what i'm doing is working. worm life and soil diversity of critters is doing better and only one garden showed signs of needing more TLC by being a little sour smelling. it was next on my list of major amendment gardens anyways so i've now put down quite a bit of organic matter fairly deep to help with the drainage, airation and of course worm food. :)

we had shorts and tee shirt weather a few weeks ago... gives us something to look forwards too for the next season. haha! my eyes! my eyes! :)

songbird

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songbird

Forecast for this morning was 36F, ended up being 40F. Turned the heat on yesterday evening, came on about 0200 this morning and ran a bit. House is well insulated so only needed a little burst of heat.

We're replacing the roof on this poorly made house. Two hail storms and cheap shingles don't mix well. Taking off the metal roof vents and putting in ridge vents, thirty year shingles, and heavier "tar paper" to stop any more hail storms from doing damage. Fairly reasonable price for this area. Hoping to get started soon, just waiting for the contractor to come by and pick up the agreement. He gets paid after I inspect the done job. Of course I will have my middle grandson inspect as I don't climb well anymore plus grandson worked a few years as a roofer. Nowadays he's an elevator mechanic. Was a welder for a while, did lots of odd jobs so now he's our go to guy for most anything. It helps that's he's 6' 5" tall and weighs well over 200 lbs and has a good work ethic.

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George Shirley

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