Cool Weather Garden Tips

So dull and dark are the November days. The lazy mist high up the evening curled, and now the morn quite hides in smoke and haze; the place we occupy seems all the world. ~John Clare

I'm hoping for some sunny days this week to do last minute fall garden chores, so I thought I would share some of the things we can do for our landscape this time of year.

Chrysanthemums should be cut back fairly close to the ground once they have stopped blooming and the cuttings can be added to your compost pile. If you have potted mums that you purchased, remove the plant and add to the garden, giving it a hole a little bit bigger than the pot was. After planting, cut as mentioned, water and mulch.

If your peonies, roses or hollyhocks developed diseases such as rust, blight, or anything similar, remove the leaves or branches that were effected and burn them or dispose of them in your waste bin-- don't compost. Do the same things with other plants and trees too. Check your phlox, beebalm (mildew can effect it), dogwoods and lilac. You don't want to prune your spring blooming trees or shrubs, JUST remove the diseased parts.

This is also the time you'll want to empty out all your outdoor planters, baskets, clay pots and window boxes. Empty the soil into the compost pile and wash the containers with soap and a weak bleach solution before putting into storage where they will stay dry and not freeze. You'll be way ahead in the spring!

Water all of your evergreens deeply one last time before a major freeze. This will help them throughout the winter season.

We all know mulching is great to keep moisture in during the hot months, but it also offers protection during the winter. However, it's really best to wait until the ground starts to freeze but before the blizzards hit. I know-- it's a much colder chore doing it this way, but if you do it too soon you may be making a nice cozy place for mice and other critters to hang out. Mulch can be free organic matter like pine needles, straw, chopped leaves or bark chips/shreds.

If you have planted trees this year you may have been given advice on wrapping the trunks with a paper tree wrap, but it's been found to actually injure trees in many cases. If you do decide to wrap the young trees trunks do it ONLY in the winter and remove it in the spring. You can protect the tree trunks from rodent damage by using plastic guards or mesh wire. It can be from 12 inches to 2 foot tall. If you have very deep snow in the winter you may want to go taller than that. Remove before the tree grows too wide. Also, make sure there is no debris around the tree trunks.

A few notes for warm climates:

Some of you are entering a cooler season but won't have the cold winter many of us do. You can plant bedding plants now such as snapdragons, calendula, ornamental kale or cabbage, and dianthus. Some wildflowers can even be direct seeded now: bluebonnets, rudbeckia, pansies, calendula, candytuft, foxgloves, snapdragons, stock, and sweet alyssum. Calendula is a wonderful cool weather plant and is easily direct seeded!

In locations like Southern Florida vegetables can be grown now such as tomato, endive, escarole, snap beans, potato, peppers, peas, lima bean, collard greens, parsley, celery, turnip, mustard, onions, spinach, lettuce, radish, cabbage, beet, carrot, cauliflower, and broccoli.

One note for warm climate gardeners on bulbs. If you are in Zone 8 or up you will need to chill your spring bulbs before planting. It's usually 10-12 weeks of chilling in the refrigerator.

We have mulching tips from an excerpt on OFL:
http://www.oldfashionedliving.com/mulching.html

~Brenda

Fall Activities for the Entire Family

Between Halloween and Thanksgiving is a perfect time to try a few nature crafts with the kids. The great thing about the crafts below is they are fun for teens, as well as smaller kids, and adults. It's easy to get wrapped up in the holiday rush as it gets closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think spending a few cold, rainy days making art is a good way to get away from the crowds, the video games and the television.

Make leaf rubbings. You'll need fresh, moist tree leaves or other plant leaves, a hammer, and pieces of cotton muslin. Lay one muslin down on a piece of paper, taping it down around the edges with masking tape. Place the leaf down on top of the piece of muslin, and lay a thin piece of paper over top of it (scrap will do). Pound the leaf with the hammer evenly over the entire leaf. This will transfer the leaf shape and color to the piece of muslin, so make sure to pound it all. Afterwards, you can glue the muslin to a piece of cardboard-framing it with a colorful mat if you wish.

Have the kids gather leaves, and make a big collage on a piece of poster or foam board. This won't be a "keeper" art project, but they will have a great time collecting, being creative with their design and gluing the leaves in place. Hang it up or display the collage for the season, and be sure to take a picture of it for them too. Slip in learning fun by having them identify each leaf and place the tree names in their collage.

Pumpkin or squash seeds are so light in color that they can be dried and painted to use for art. Air dry, or spread them on a cookie sheet to slowly dry in the oven. Don't use oil or anything else on the seeds. Once they are dried, and cooled divide the seeds into groups, depending on how many you have. Example: ten of each color, using browns, blues, reds etc. You can also water down paint if you want them to be softer colors. Let the seeds dry completely. Use them to create pictures, collages, mosaics or anything else that strikes your fancy.

I still have art that my kids made when they were small. I love to get it out and put it up during the fall. Of course I'm also a pack rat:)

~Brenda

Friday Recipes:Old Fashioned Halloween Party

It's Halloween and you want to stay away from the big parties and door to door trick or treating with strangers. What do you do? Give an old fashioned party that will please everyone and get the whole family together! We can take some hints from The Modern Priscilla Magazine issue from October 1915. They advised the hostess to invite family and friends that are close to each other so everyone can feel comfortable dressing up and joining in.
The Invitations and Decorations

Invitations and menu cards should be adorned with witches on broomsticks, owls, black kittens and such things. Menu cards aren't used much for family gatherings, but they are a fun memento for guests to take home. Simply cut cards out of stiff paper, decorate and neatly print the occasion, the menu, date, and even a little poem or quotation. Place one by each guest, or hand them out at the door.
Decorations in the early 1900s were simple but fun. Jack-o-lanterns peeking from every corner, dried corn with branches of colored fall leaves would be suspended from chandeliers. Pumpkin shells can be scraped clean and used for soups, dips or casseroles. Dye cheese cloth yellow and attach autumn leaves, string popcorn spray painted orange, or a modern touch of black plastic spiders can be added. Faces were also painted on gourds and turnips to decorate the entire house.

Festive Food

The food was rather light and easy, which fits in perfect with our busy lifestyles today. Egg, chicken or tuna salad sandwiches, cut into fourths with additions of thinly sliced cucumber, herb butter, tomato or watercress could be served on platters with colored toothpicks holding the bread in place.
Nut sandwiches were a suggested treat. Bake gingerbread or poundcake in loaves and thinly slice. Toast nuts for a few minutes in a hot oven, then chop or crush. Mix with whipped cream or honey and spread on the slices of bread. In addition to the sandwiches serve brownies, fruit compote or salad, hot cider and salted nuts.

Hot Spiced Cider

2 quarts cider
1 cup brown or white sugar
2 sticks cinnamon
6 cloves
1 tsp. allspice
nutmeg
Add the sugar and spices to the cider in a large saucepan. Simmer, do not boil, for 15 minutes. Strain and serve hot in small glasses or mugs. A little grated nutmeg may be sprinkled on each glass before serving.

Halloween Bars

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
2 well-beaten eggs
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 tsp. orange extract
1 cup flour
1 cup crushed nuts
Cream sugar and butter, add eggs, molasses, extract, flour and nuts. Mix and turn into a buttered and floured cake tin and bake in a moderate (350 degrees) oven for 30 minutes. Cut in fingers and serve warm or cold.

The Halloween Games

Bobbing for apples, dancing, and door prizes were some of the simpler activities in the early 1900's. We can add some modern touches too. On the bottom of each plate tape a number. After everyone finishes eating draw numbers and give away adult and kid's door prizes. Bean bag animals, marbles, and card games are fun and inexpensive for the kids. Adult door prizes can be boxes of herb tea, jams, coffees, fancy cookies or crackers.

Be sure to have some fun music such as the Chicken Dance, The Hokie Pokie, or songs from classic musicals like Oklahoma or The Sound of Music. Besides dancing, musical chairs is a great game to encourage the kids and adults to play together.

A game of Pin the Stem on the Pumpkin can be fun for all ages! Draw and color a large pumpkin without a stem on poster board. Using another piece of cardboard or construction paper cut out a stem, and attach a tack to it with tape. Tape the pumpkin onto a cork board. Blind fold each guest during their turn while they try to pin the stem on the pumpkin. The kids will love seeing the adults playing right along with them!

Old fashioned Halloween parties are a great alternative to door to door trick or treating. It's fun, and safe, plus it brings together family members of all ages to share in the memories.

What is Chai? Where Did It Originate?

There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea. ~Bernard-Paul Heroux

In the simplest terms, Chai is a tea brewed with spices from India. If you live in India, the word "chai" is actually a generic word for tea in Hindi. The brewed, spiced tea we think of as chai is actually known as masala chai. The tea leaves and spices are boiled with water, then strained to serve. Some prefer it stronger and it's actually "stewed" for awhile before straining. Recipes vary from family to family, some have been handed down from generation to generation. Masala chai was thought of as a "cure", kind of like we think of chicken soup in the US. It's possible families have been making a form of masala chai for thousands of years. Early versions most likely used herbs, barks and spices instead of black tea, but changed as black tea was brought to India and became more common.

The following recipes are variations of masala chai. You can use loose tea or tea bags, but all need to be strained before serving. It's fun to create your own version of the chai once you have tried your hand at these recipes!

Easy Indian Milk Tea

Ingredients:
2 black tea bags
2/3 cups water
1/2 cup milk
1 cardamom or small piece of crushed ginger
1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Place the tea bags in water and boil vigorously for 5 minutes.
Pour in milk and add sugar. Let it to boil just until the milk
rises. Add crushed cardamom pods or ginger. Steep for
ten minutes and serve hot.

Chai Tea

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. fennel or anise seed
6 green cardamom pods
12 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 inch piece ginger root, peeled, sliced thin
1/4 tsp. black peppercorns
7 cups water
2 Tbsp. loose Darjeeling tea
6 Tbsp. honey or brown sugar
1 cup milk

Add the fennel/anise, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, ginger,
peppercorns and water to a pan. Bring to a boil, and simmer
5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons loose Darjeeling tea. Steep
for 10-15 minutes. Strain. Place back on heat and add the
honey or brown sugar and the milk. Heat just until boiling.
Serve.

Masala Tea

Ingredients:
1 tsp. loose Ceylon or Darjeeling tea
1 pinch cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon
a drop of pure vanilla extract
boiled milk
1 tsp. granulated sugar

Steep tea and spices at least 10 minutes. Strain tea,
add milk and sweeten to taste. Serve hot.

Enjoy! ~Brenda

Wordless Wednesday: More Fall Photos

I realize this is "wordless" Wednesday, but I wanted to make sure I gave credit for the photo on this post. It was sent to me from Tinker Swiss Cottage in Rockford, IL. Thanks for the lovely shot!

The other three photos are ones I took around town here.

More Kitchen Tips

Last week I wrote about a few things that help me in the kitchen. I asked if you had any and Deb in Wisconsin was kind enough to share all these wonderful ideas. Thanks Deb!

Using your favorite pancake recipe.....bag up all the dry ingredients in a quart-size zipper bag. I sift the dry ingredients into a bowl first, then pour into the baggie. You can also do this with scones, johnny cake (cornbread/cakes), and pizza dough. I've been doing this for years, and the only "problem" I've ever encountered was ONE TIME when the baking soda in the scones mixture kind of clumped up, so the batter didn't rise properly....so I DID use up that batch (I make about 10 baggies at a time), and simply added another portion of baking soda to the mixture before adding the wet ingredients.

To make this really simple, I posted the Wet Ingredients needed for each recipe, on a sheet posted on the inside of my cupboard door nearest my baking/cooking center in my kitchen. So I don't need to get a recipe book out, just open the cupboard door, and there's a note with the needed ingredients.

Another "step ahead" you can do, when you're freezing or canning any of your garden veggies, make them in sizes that you'd use in your regular recipes. For example, my favorite pumpkin cake recipe uses 2 cups of pumpkin, so when I can or freeze our pumpkins, I do them up in 2-cup portions. Same for grated zucchini (or yellow crookneck summer squash) for
my Chocolate Zucchini Cake recipe.

It also helps to do some mega-chopping sessions with nuts...then freeze them in portion sized zipper bags--they're ready for your recipe!

When red, orange or yellow sweet bell peppers are on sale I buy a slew, then wash, dry, slice and chop into small-ish pieces, lay them out on a cookie sheet (or two), then pop the cookie sheets into the freezer for a few hours (or even longer--as I usually forget!). After they're frozen, I use a pancake turner/spatula to loosen, and then pour into a large plastic container
(with a tight-fitting lid). Whenever I make spaghetti, chili, sloppy joes, or any Oriental recipe, I grab out a handful or two (or more) and into the sauce it goes. They don't stay as firm as "fresh" peppers do, but they still have that great flavor--and the color is just what perks up a winter-time dinner!

Another EXCELLENT time-saver at the end of August or beginning of September...when your tomatoes are all turning red at the same time, and you can't stand another minute cooking in a hot-n-humid kitchen, or you don't have time "right now" to make up tomato sauce.... Put your tomatoes (right off the vine) into a large brown paper grocery bag. Fill that right up,
then close it tightly. Put in the freezer and in about January, when you dig in there after all the holiday fuss, you'll see that bag (or bags!) of 'maters. Then all you have to do is SO SIMPLE: fill the sink with HOTTEST tap water, drop about 13 'maters in there, let float for 20-30 seconds, and the skin should slip right off. Plop the de-skinned tomato in your LARGE canning pot; when the pot is as full as you want, then cook at low to medium heat, they will be juicy and need stirring every so often. Once they break down, you can add your other ingredients. I run mine through a blender--after they've cooked down. I like my
tomato sauce to be broken up.

Thanks for all those fabulous tips Deb! I especially love the tomato idea, excellent. If you have some time saving kitchen tips, send them my way and I will post them here.

Fall Tips: Birds, Houseplants & Herbs

A house is never still in darkness to those who listen intently; there is a whispering in distant chambers, an unearthly hand presses the snib of the window, the latch rises. Ghosts were created when the first man awoke in the night. ~J.M. Barrie

Goldfinches are one of my favorite birds because they remind me of little bits of fast moving sunshine as they hunt for seeds. They will eat seeds from many garden plants and herbs such as catnip, lemon balm, coneflowers, rudbeckia and sunflowers. They also have a reputation for being "weed eaters" because they love thistle seeds and other weed seeds so much that they reduce their number by eating so many! If you have any of these plants in your landscape consider leaving the seed heads rather than cutting them down for the winter.

Many people are convinced their houseplant foliage should shine, so they buy commercial leaf-shine products, but these really aren't good for your plants. They clog the pores and cells of the plant. Instead, wipe the leaves off with a clean cotton t-shirt or other cotton rag, dampened with water. Hold the leaves gently in your hand to clean. Spray your plants regularly and provide good air circulation to keep them looking their best, and give them an occasional "shower" by placing them in your bathtub, giving them a gentle rinse with shower water.

Remember, if you haven't cut back herbs such as oregano, mint, chives, thyme and lavender do it now before winter sets in. If you don't have time to preserve and harvest the plant cuttings, add them to your compost pile.

READER'S TIP:
I have a tip for those who would like to grow Christmas cactus.....

These are "tropical" plants, even though they're called "cactus".....so make sure they get LOTS of sun in the summer. In fact, I move mine out of the house and put them on the back porch where they get lots of afternoon sun (not directly overhead since they're "inside")...but it's very hot in that porch, so toasty warm for them. Also whenever I'm home at the same time that there is a gentle rain shower, I move the plants out on the porch rail, so they get a good dousing.

I recently purchased an "Easter" cactus (I don't know if that's for real or not, but it did bloom in spring), with white blooms. It's a baby, though, and only had three gorgeous white blooms this past spring. I'm hoping for better in a couple of years. As you said, it takes a bit of time to get them well established and "root bound."

~God's blessings from an avid-reader and friend in Wisconsin, Deb H.

On OFL we have tips on fresh and ground ginger in your cooking:
http://oldfashionedliving.com/ginger.html

~Brenda