Ducks ALIVE in 2025!

[ducks4you]

Sun 05 | Day​

23°


86%
NE15 mph
Watching a potential winter storm. Snow likely. High 23F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%. 3 to 5 inches of snow expected.

I cannot operate a snow blower right now. Best I can do is move my shovel to the basement so that I can shovel behind the house, and salt, then move to the side steps. Good thing I fed ponies by myself yesterday bc DD won't be able to drive over for me on Sunday/Monday.
I will probably put the boys inside Sunday afternoon. DH has assured me that HE can lead them to turnout later in the week. Probably right. HIS horse, "Cup and Cakes", is Very well behaved leading out from his stall, and "Buster Brown" will behave with the training halter and lead bc it has knots over his nose. A good smack if he is being fractious and he tows the line.
I really need to have a good 12 weeks knee healing before I do this.

 

[ducks4you]

Yesterday I fed ponies by myself, first time since my surgery. DD was relieved. Two months straight of it has done her in.
I have an appointment on January 7th with my surgeon to schedule a summer surgery for my Left knee. Much easier to help Duckums when the weather is mild, gardens are planted and ponies are on pasture!
Yesterday I dealt with left outside water buckets. One was cracked and it got tossed in the garage garbage. Two were put in the grain room.
I had packages of bedding pine pellets stored next to feed oil drum, which holds 5 (50 lb) bags), so blank space. Another was in the barn. Now there are 3 there and 2 more (new ones gifts from DD's) in the house.
I now have a total of 5 water buckets all ready for use. ALWAYS good to have spares, and the grain room has a door to keep ponies OUT. I also bought a new feeding tub, which needs storage there, too, by this weekend.
DD's had pulled all hoses (200 ft worth) that went to the 110 gallon summer water tank. I didn't have time/energy to coil them up in muck buckets and I DIDN'T want to get tripped up walking over them, so I coiled them up for the winter, back of the house in my mint bed. They are out of the way there. There isn't a problem leaving them out in the weather as long as nobody moves them with any ice.
DD's had moved the big water tank outside of the turnout to the other side of the gate there, to the Inner Sanctum area, and it's now on it's side for the winter--GOOD ENOUGH!, just so it won't gather rain/snow and crack on the seams. I am now using the 30 gallon small tank, which is just close enough for my 2023 new BLUE and easy to see in the snow, 100 ft heated hose to reach.
I happen to know that the water meters will be estimated for the next several months, so I will use as Much water as I please for the ponies and washing clothes that I don't say, "thank you for your service," and toss, hence the purchase of more 33 gallon garbage bags and twelve 17 gallon HD totes from Rural King.
I purchased 12 storage bins on sale on Sunday, and a new box of garbage bags since the can in the garage was out. I keep my boxes of bags at the bottom of the cans of several plastic garbage cans.
DD's wanted 6, I wanted 6 and the bins and garbage bags are all Schedule C write offs for my home office, especially since I hardly buy anything anymore for my home office. Last purchase was new toners in 2024, and 2 years ago I bought 5 boxes of letter paper and 1 box of legal paper.

 

[ducks4you]

Repotted Apple Blossom Amaryllis pup in it's own pot and moved the two others into a soaked environment in a used yogurt container. Clear top has 3 vents and I am leaving it on top of the fridge to await growth. One of the two has two small roots, the other has one tiny root. I am posting to the Amaryllis thread, too.

Amaryllis

UPDATE: Waterless Amayllis is now repotted and living happily by the sink, where I can keep an eye on it. Not the prettiest pot, but it's clay and new and isn't cracked, and has a drainage hole. What more could a waterless amaryllis ask for?!?!? by the sink you may be tempted to watering...

www.theeasygarden.com

 

[ducks4you]

Got a gardening calendar for Christmas. I have been researching articles about the dreaded squash vine borer for several years now.
Here is the latest worth reading, IMHO:

9 Tips For Preventing Squash Vine Borers This Season

Trying to figure out how to keep squash vine borers away from your garden squash this season? These pests wreak havoc on zucchini, and other types of squash every year. In this article, suburban homesteader and gardening expert Merideth Cohrs provides some of her top tips for keeping your squash...

www.epicgardening.com

MY solution is to plant so that each cucurbit that I want to grow/eat will flower After the vine borer season, which is, where I live, ending early August.
Many articles assume that Every squash family vegetable flowers at the same time. They.do.not.
I am figuring out how early and at what times I should start my zucchini, cucumbers, and even melons so that they all flower At or around mid August.
Since I will probably have my left knee surgery around end of June, it won't be impossible to start some crops on my porch as seedlings, and move them out to transplant late July/early August, especially if somebody else carries them out for me!
Watermelon, zucchini and cucumbers should be started in June.
Melons can be started late May since they take 8-10 weeks to flower. Pumpkins can be started in June, too, and they take 8-9 weeks to flower.
This will also determine how many plants I need. Nobody realistically needs more than 3 zucchini plants/season.
Any extra can go into the beds at DD's yard, just up the road. I am sure that they would take any extra melons, too.
This planting schedule also will help me determine how early I can start any of them. Chuck Vogt lives 100 miles north of me in Kankakee, IL. I probably can plant about one week earlier than he does.
Chuck Vogt's Seed Starting Schedule (Professor Emertis, University of Illinois, College of Aces, specialties in vegetables and herbs)
WHEN TO SOW FOR TRANSPLANTING FOR A SPRING GARDEN
January 15-February 15 (go out in March/April)
celery
celeriac
parsley
onion
shallot (from seed)
leek
chives

February 16-February 28
rosemary]]better off w/clone or cultivar
lavendar]]better off w/clone or cultivar

March 1-March 15(go out late March/early April)
cabbage
broccoli
cauliflower
kohlrabi
collards
kale
lettuce
oregano

March 15-March 31
fennel
dill
pepper
eggplant
sage

April 1-April 15
tomato (develop faster and go leggy if started earlier)

April 15-April 30
cucumber]]develop Very fast, put out when it has 1st true leaves
watermelon]]develop Very fast, put out when it has 1st true leaves

May 1-Mar 15
basil(don't put out before Memorial Day)
***
WHEN TO SOW FOR TRANSPLANTING FOR A FALL GARDEN
June 1-June15
brussels sprouts(bitter when grown for a spring schedule)(transplant in July)(harvest mid October)
==not going to make tight sprouts
==Glucosinolates in spring grown brussels sprouts
"The bitter taste of Brussels sprouts comes from compounds called glucosinolates and their degradation products, he explains. These bitter tasting compounds are an important part of the plant’s defence mechanism against leaf-eating enemies, such as insects, nematodes, slugs, and herbivores, like pigeons and deer. They are also responsible for many of the health-giving properties of Brussels and other brassicas, particularly their antioxidant and anti-cancer properties."

Brussels: a bittersweet story

Brussels: a bittersweet story

www.soci.org

July 1- July 15
broccoli
cauliflower
kohlrabi
late cabbage
collards
kale (flowering and regular)
fennel (florence)

July 15-July 30
early cabbage

August 1-August 15
kohlrabi
lettuce
dill (for weed)(don't want to flower late, so big fronds)

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Gardening calendar…That’s a great idea. I think I could use one of those .

 

[ducks4you]

For you tomato lovers and experts, check this out:
218 tomato varieties available this week only

Victory Seed Company
From:tomato@victoryseeds.com

Seasonally available tomato varieties now available, for this week only!

Ever heard of 'Giant Heart Climber' Tomato? It's a gigantic pink heart-shaped tomato that can be up to 32 ounces. And yet, we only sold a few dozen packets of it last year. Or how about the variety 'Stick'? That one is one of the most unusual plants, with straight stalks that look like sticks. The leaves develop into tight clusters that look like pom-poms. Truly an extraordinary variety, yet we only sold exactly 12 packets of it last year.

Other companies would simply discontinue offering poorly selling varieties, because it takes a lot of effort to keep seed in stock and most companies don't want to lose money maintaining varieties that few people want to grow. Not so with us! We're in the seed preserving business and we're determined to keep these varieties alive and available to our customers. But, we do relegate these underperformers to a special week each year in which customers can order them. Therefore, we have now opened up ordering for 218 of our rarest and most under-rated tomato varieties. They will only be available for purchase starting now until the ordering window closes on January 11th.

Seasonal Varieties

These varieties are only available for purchase during a one week period in early January. To learn more about our seasonal variety program, click here.

victoryseeds.com

 

[ducks4you]

I also posted this on the Tomato thread:

Tomatoes for 2025

I am thinking of growing an heirloom tomato next summer, rather than the Arctic Plenty variety I grew this year. I think that now with my indoor grow light kit, if I start the plants early they might have a hope of ripening before frost. A short growing time was my main reason for planting...

www.theeasygarden.com