cover me up

COVER ME UP
usually around here we get a freeze about this time
sometimes though its been way into december
however
this year its coming early
probably if you are reading this blog in the us
then you are feeling the effects of that first
polar vortex they call it hitting all of us everywhere

it looks like it will be around here for 2 weeks
so
since we mainly heat our house with wood heat
i gathered all my wood in to my woodbox inside
and
loaded up my woodburning stove
we purchase a cord of wood each year
sometimes we need more and sometimes we have
some left over at the end of winter

so this morning i loaded up the wood stove after
running it at a low burn overnight
sturred the coals up real good
and this above is what i am looking at
as i write this blog

yesterday outside since i knew we would be getting
freezes i harvested all of my fall stuff that i could

most of these are pabloma peppers
for some reason they liked the weather this year
and went crazy growing
mixed it with this are
okra green tomatoes bell peppers jalepeno peppers
and banana peppers

fyi i will wash the bell the pablaoma and the jalepeno
peppers off well
put them in labeled ziplock bags
suck out all the air with a straw then seal them up

are you reading this my wife she
properly labeled and DATED

taking them out over the next year as i need
we just finished last years crop last month
i just take out the pepper i want
and
chop it up its so easy since its frozen

then out to the garden where we have a bed of
winter stuff
garlic arugulas kales asian greens broccoli brussel sprouts
the bed is 14 ft long and 4 feet wide

this stuff is cold hardy but a deep freeze can destroy them
so
i take floating row cover
i use the thick version in the winter
it allows light through
and
allows rain to go through
it povides about 8 degrees of frost protection
these plants will like this cozy environment and
seem to just grow faster

on a sunny cold day it feels warm in there
if it gets warm the row cover needs to be opened up

i start with the grey 10 ft electrical pvc
it seems to weather better
i cut off the ends at a sharp angle
then shove the ends down into the ground
some folks just use 18 inch rbar and slip the
pvc over it
i also run a pvc down the middle and tie it up
with zip ties
this seems to hold it all together better when the
heavy winds hit

i then slip the row cover i get at a local nursery
its 12 ft wide and longer than the bed

i them clamp the base of each pvc pipe with
these clamps i get at home depot for a dollar

so now i have a toasty environment for these plants to
grow

i also have this salad garden which has beets carrots
lettuces spinach peas swiss chard cabbage asian greens
cilantro in it

i made hoops like that above and covered it with row cover
fyi that spray bottle on the little windmill is bt spray i use on
my plants that have holes eaten in them
it kills the insects that do that

last weekend the cental texas gardener on klru the austin
pbs station had a section that lasts about 5 minutes
done by the guru organic gardener john dromgoole
on how they do this at the natural gardener
one of the top rated nurseries in the us

if you click here
then go to about the 21:55 minute
you will see an excellent video on how to do this
by the expert

bon appetit

the organicgreen doctor

johnnys the guy, hog man, freeze, meals

JOHNNYS THE GUY

well all those aggies are sure happy after this week
they and i thought this would be a bad year in the sec
he fooled them didnt he
and fooled us

johnny football
johnny heisman
johnny manziel
watched him accept the heisman trophy on saturday night
he along with the other two guys seemed to all three
be classy guys
not what you expect from college football players sometimes

makes you have some hope for the future for that generation
with kids like that representing them

HOG MAN


new football coach bret beilema seems to be the right guy
for this program
heck its a sign
his destiny
since he grew up on a hog farm  and use to have to call
the hogs every day
just seems the right fix
destiny if you will

hell bring a new no nonsense attitude to this team and some
stability they need

he plays smash mouth football and good defense
lets see who else does that
oh yeah bama

FREEZE
its going to freeze tonight
here at the country n it may be in the low 20s
what a shocker for us and those plants and my garden
it was in the 80s and shorts weather yesterday
now its going to be tundra weather for a day or two

be sure and protect your plants
cover them with blankets or row cover
water them all well today
check your pipes and water lines to make sure they are all
protected
here at the country n we will be dripping our faucets tonight to
keep the lines from freezing
and
getting that wood burning stove fired up to keep our place warm

dont forget your pets if they stay outside
they need extra protection from the cold

MEALS

one day a week i deliver meals on wheels to people
near where i live
there are only 7 people on the route but they are scattered
over a 20+ mile route
it takes about 1 1/2 hour to deliver the meals to these needy folks
i enjoy it
some of the folks only see one person that day and thats me so
i try to spend a few seconds with them when i deliver the meals

they are in great need of people to deliver this route
other routes are ran by regular volunteers
some from church groups some from home school groups
some who like me just want to volunteer and some moms and
their preschool kids
im sure the older folks enjoy seeing the kids
some deliver once a month some twice a month
and some like me once a week

if you have a group like this or if you are an individual and would
like to help
to run this route that runs from north leander to north of liberty hill
please call
denise at the williamson county meals on wheels program in leander
at 512-259-0288

they need our help
give

the organicgreen doctor