Text 18154, 93 rader
Skriven 2014-10-16 22:09:32 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
  Kommentar till text 18138 av NANCY BACKUS (1:123/140)
Ärende: Re: Peppers
===================
Hi Nancy,

>> Neat how herbs just take over by themselves.  I wish a perennial basil
>> would make it through winter here, but I don't think there is a strain
>> that would make it through the winter freeze <sigh>  I guess that is
>> cost for those glorious snow storms where everything is buried under
>> several feet of snow :) Well, it used to be that way, anyway (g).

> If we got the snow before the hard frosts, the basil might winter
> over... the snow would act like a blanket...  :)

Well, I doubt that.  My basil plants all curled up and died already.  Temps.
have been in the 40's and 50's at night.  So they're gone.  The oreganos
(Italian and Greek) are still alive and enjoying the daytime temps... for now.

>>> got the rabbit. Since these cats were feral when we got them from the
>>> Shelter, I guess they are mighty hunters (grin).
>> Sounds like kitties are trying to get more protein in their doet? (G)
>> Or chased it into the dog area?  Maybe that makes more sense :)

> My nephew's cat Throgmorton (Throggy for short), although domesticated,
> is a mighty hunter... and has in fact caught, and eaten, full grown
> rabbits..  He gets the run of the outside, of course.  Needless to say,
> he's a big cat...  ;)

Only one of ours could be considered 'large' and she's not really very big.
She's the largest of the litter but not a 'big' kitty :)

>> One year I remember freezing sliced summer squash.. didn't work out
>> too well Lol.. Too much water in the squash I guess... :)

> IIRC, anything I've read about freezing summer squash indicated that it
> would only be feasible for saving to use as an ingredient in
> something... not as an identifiable vegetable to serve on the plate... ;)
> I suppose one might do a little drying of the slices before freezing...
> that might let it freeze intact...  :)

Not worth the space in the freezer hehe... I'll wait til next summer.

>> tomatoes, I was told to hold off until mid to late April to be sure we
>> were frost free.

>> Yes, makes sense.  There's a balancing act between when you can get
>> them in and evening temps that can damage plants.    Over here, we
>> still had some chilly evenings when I got the tomato plants in (freaky
>> year again this year) but the plants made it ok, maybe some slight
>> discoloration, but nothing that affected buds later, thankfully.

> When we bought our house, my next-door neighbor encouraged me in putting
> in flowers (and my brief try with tomatoes)... she told me that the rule
> of thumb here in Rochester was to not plant or put out anything tender
> until Decoration Day (May 30)...

Heh... mine went in in mid June, and we had a cold snap in Ithaca... that was
when the damage was done.  Happens sometimes...

>> I remember some years in SE NY throwing thick plastic sheets over the
>> garden and one year, bedroom sheets, to protect plantings in the
>> spring.. sometimes you have to do things like that.  The problem with
>> that is you have to get those covers Off in the morning so the plants
>> don't "steam" once the the sun is up :) :)

> Bed sheets work better than plastic for that... just because of the
> steaming factor...  Newspaper works well too, I suspect because the
> paper and the cloth tend to absorb moisture as well as trap a modicum of
> heat next to the plants...

You still have to remove them in the AM for sure though.  I think the type for
me depended on where we were located.  In Warwick, plastic sheeting made for
the garden worked well.. in Windsor, bedroom-sheets worked better.. :)  You can
also use garbage bags when their is danger of frost in early spring.... and in
the fall.

>>> It's just so great to see green living things spurt up through the
>>> snow after a long winter.. at least in NY (G)

> That's why I like the snowdrops and crocuses so much...  little spots of
> green and color poking through the snow...  :)

Yeah... spring is really on the way.. or here. :)

> You had a nice stack of them in the corner of the kitchen by the office
> window for that first picnic at the new house... ;)   I almost missed
> them when we came back the next year...  (G)

Smaller house - much smaller house - It took quite a while to find places to
store a lot of it.

Take care,
Janis

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