During winter’s longest month, mind the birds

The Garden Plot

Cold temperatures, frosty lawns, icy mud holes

Freezing temperatures at night and crystals of frost on the lawn and roof in the morning and the cold wind blowing out of the north and maybe a forecast for some snow — January can bring a mixed bag of ingredients and we can have a few sunny days mixed in to make the month interesting. The temperatures during most January days will rise above freezing and this really is a blessing because it prevents the ground from being continually frozen.

In the Piedmont, we measure our snow inches while in the Midwest part of the country they measure snow in feet. In Minnesota when the last snow falls in April, some of the first snow of the season is still at the bottom of the last snow of winter. Up north in New England, they receive their share of hefty snow falls also. A bit of weather lore for those areas of the country is if the weather for January is cold and gray, you can expect winter all the way into early May.

The bulbs of spring in their sleep mode

The bulbs of jonquils, hyacinth, crocus, daffodils and narcissus are under a blanket of crushed leaves. In the next few weeks, apply a layer of bone meal or bulb booster on top of them. When we get a hefty snow, the melting snow will soak the bone meal down into the soil and give the sleeping bulbs a boost. By the end of January, they should begin to show thin spikes of green.

Stocking up on vegetable and flower seeds

Many hardware, seed shops, garden centers, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's Home Improvement, Ace Hardware, Food Lion, Lowe's Foods and other supermarkets have racks of seed packets on display. Most packets cost less than $2. Each week when you are shopping for groceries, pick up a packet or two of flower or vegetable seeds. There are many choices at this time of year and the racks are filled. Place the packets in a small box and keep in a warm room. Keep an inventory of the seed packets. Place flower seed in a separate envelope from the vegetable packets and update your inventory each week. They will not spoil and will be ready when the planting season arrives. Make sure the packets are labeled packed for the 2023 gardening season.

The Carolina Jasmine has fragrant blooms

A fresh sweet scent is emitting from the edge of the garden plot as the amber blooms of the perennial Carolina Jasmine are beginning to bloom. What a perfume this flower emits here in the dead of winter. We believe this scent will stir up the bees in their hives and hollows. This bush is ten years old and blooms several times during the year. We keep it trimmed and shaped and it produces blooms in every season of the year. The dark green foliage is thick and birds like to roost in its foliage. Bluebirds love to hide in the foliage.

Keeping furnace filters cleaned or changed

To keep your heating system operating cleaner and more efficiently, change your system's filter or clean it once a month. Write the size of the filter on the door of your heating system with a black permanent marker. Keep several filters near your system. A clean filter makes the air in the home cleaner and healthier plus it makes less dusts and pollution.

A bit of unwelcome green on winter landscape

Weeds always seem to survive winter's most harsh conditions and endure despite freezing temperatures. The chickweed, wild onions and Bermuda grass show up every month of the winter. Chickweed is easy to get rid of because it has a shallow root system and can be pulled up with little effort and thrown out of the lawn, rose bushes, or garden. Don't even try to pull up wild onions but use the weed trimmer to cut them down to the ground level and stunt their growth. Bermuda grass has a long and deep root system. Winter months are an ideal time to pull them up by their roots and make sure to throw them out of the garden or better yet, dump in trash bin.

White frost crystals, dusting of snow and red cardinals

Saint Valentine's Day is about a month away. We can already see a natural Valentine on the front lawn on a mid-January morning when the colorful cardinals visit the bird baths and feeders. The frosty crystals with the winter sun shining on them and maybe a dusting of snow enhances the colors of the cardinals. They are colorful in all four seasons but the white background of frost and snow creates a natural Valentine card. The cardinal could be the official bird for Saint Valentine's Day!

Keeping birdbaths and feeders filled in winter

All the birds of winter are active as they continue their search for nourishment. They also search for water when there are no mud holes or rain for several days. Keep the bird bath filled and when the sun gets temperatures above the freezing mark, empty the ice from the bath and refill with fresh water. Check the bird feeders and refill them as needed. Sprinkle a handful of seed on the ground for smaller birds.

Making a meat loaf with brown sugar sauce

There are many varieties of meat loaf and this one is special because it features a sauce to give it a bit of spice. It is simple to prepare and the whole family will enjoy it. You will need one pound of ground chuck or ground round, two hot dog rolls or one bag of croutons run through the blender in grate mode, one cup milk, one envelope Lipton onion-mushroom soup, one teaspoon salt, half teaspoon pepper, two large beaten eggs, one half cup Heinz catsup and one tablespoon Worcestershire sauce. Mix all above ingredients well and form into a loaf. Bake in a 13x9x2 inch baking pan or dish sprayed with Pam baking spray in a 350 degree oven for one hour and fifteen minutes. For the sauce to pour over the meatloaf, mix together one cup Heinz catsup, half cup dark brown sugar, two teaspoons French's prepared mustard, one tablespoon Worcestershire sauce and one tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Pour over the meatloaf and bake for ten more minutes at 350 degrees.

Checking out the rose bushes in the dead of winter

As we move farther into winter's longest month, the rose bushes can use a bit of tender loving care. A fresh layer of crushed leaves can be applied for more winter protection. They could use a small drink of water if there has been no precipitation for a week or so. Large canes, nips and spent blooms can be removed. If ice and snow comes, take the broom and sweep off the heavy ice and snow.

Time to purchase those Saint Valentines gifts

Saint Valentines Day is less than a month away. All the florists, supermarkets, Walmart and other big box stores are very well stocked for the event. The day of hearts, flowers and love will be here before you know it. On a cold January afternoon, spend some quality time browsing through these stores and find the perfect Valentines for the kids, grand-kids, wife, husband or sweetheart. You can choose from gift cards from their favorite shopping place, flowers in pots or containers or ordered from the florist for special delivery, gift certificates from favorite restaurants, jewelry, candy, perfume, plastic gift cards in any amount is always a gift that will please anyone.

Squash sonkers in the middle of January

January is kickoff time for thinking about the kind of squash seed to sow for the summer gardening season which will also be the season to prepare Surry County squash sonkers for great summer desserts. Straight neck squash varities are the best ingredients to prepare squash sonkers because they are most uniform in cutting into cubes, have less large seed and also are more firm and meaty. The list of yellow straight necks are great and some will produce a harvest 50 days after sowing. Some of the best varities of yellow straight necks are the most popular Early Prolific Straight neck. Other straight necks are Enterprise by Park Seed, Saffron by Burpee, Butter stick Hybrid by Burpee and dixie Hybrid by Ferry-Morse. Many hardwares, Home Depot, Walmart and Lowe's Home Improvement now feature Burpee Seed in their seed racks. You can order a Park Seed catalog from W. Atlee Burpee Company, 300 Park Avenue, Warminster, Pennsylvania, 18974.

Harvesting purple top turnips

The garden plot soil in the middle of January is cold and so are the turnips that are harvested from it. The cold soil only makes the turnips sweeter and easier to peel. You can use a potato or carrot peeler to make peeling turnips easier. Turnips make a great winter meal and can be prepared like mashed potatoes. For a hearty bowl of mashed turnips, peel and cut the turnips into half-inch cubes. Place in a pot and boil until you can stick a fork through them. Drain the water and add one stick light margarine, half pound of crispy fried bacon, drained and broken into small pieces, add one fourth cup sugar, one teaspoon salt, half teaspoon pepper and two teaspoons white Karo corn syrup. Stir and mash with a potato masher or mix with mixer. For creamy turnips, add a couple of teaspoons of Dukes mayonnaise.

This month's flower feature: Johnny Jump Ups

As we enter another season of growing flowers and vegetables, we will be featuring a special flower variety once a month and highlight their special attributes. As we reach the halfway point of January, the feature flower is the Johnny Jump Up, which is also known as Viola, wild pansy and hearts delight. They are members of the pansy family and are sort of like wild flowers. They are much smaller in size than pansies and flower over a longer season than pansies.

One very feature about Johnny Jump Up's is that both the flowers and foliage are edible. The name of Johnny Jump Up's is unusual because they self-seed and jump up and grow in many places where you would not expect them to grow. Their flowers are much smaller in size than the pansy and only reach about an inch in diameter, bu they produce many more flowers per plant than pansies. They perform well in rows and will produce well in large containers. Unlike pansies, they perform well in summer conditions in semi-sun away from the heat of the day. Seeds planted in spring will produce flowers in summer. Seeds sown in summer will produce blooms in autumn; seeds can be sown six weeks before the last frost date and keep them in a warm spot inside the home. Expose them to winter sunlight and bring them inside at night. They will seed on their own if you allow the flowers to develop seed.

Foliage of Johnny Jump Up's have a mild winter green flavor and can be boiled to make a tea. Flowers can be used to decorate cakes. They can be eaten raw in salads.

Hoe Hoe Hoedown

"Neighborly advice." Lawnmower repairman: "Here is your lawnmower Mr. Jones; your mower is now in perfect condition. Just don't ever loan it to your neighbor again." Mr. Jones: "That is just the trouble, I am the neighbor."

"Doctor-patient relationships." Patient: "How can I live to be a hundred years old, doctor?" Doctor: "Give up candy, cake, cookies, ice cream, doughnuts, potatoes, biscuits, gravy and fried foods." Patient: "And if I do that will I live to be a hundred?" Doctor: "Maybe not, but it will certainly feel like a hundred years!"

"Knock knock." When your vehicle's engine develops a knock, the chances are going that it is opportunity knocking for the automotive shop.

"Stressed out." Husband: "I think the Johnson's are suffering from middle-age stress." Wife: "Why do you feel this way about our neighbors?" Husband: "Well, his wife says he won't act his age and she won't admit her age."

Getting ready for the season of the heart

All the stores and shops and big box stores are adorning themselves in red, white and pink for Saint Valentines Day next month. The shelves are now filled with racks of Valentines cards, candy displays, and party supplies as well as floral arrangements and of course there are plenty of gift cards.

Purchasing a 2023 Blums Almanac for the new year

The 195th edition of Blum's Almanac is now on sale at local hardwares. This is not only a useful planting guide but has much information, fishing calendars, recipes, moon phases, sunrises and sunsets, healthy information, planting signs, garden information, eclipses of the moon and sun and plant zones. Plenty of useful information for every day of the year.