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Sunday, January 03, 2016

Winter



It just got here, albeit with a hiss rather than a roar.

However, I am over it already and it can leave at any time.

Meanwhile, I will be getting out there to get year birds for my list, and maybe submitting lists to eBird. I did one the other day and although it was a bit difficult I think I may have done it right.

And gardening. I picked these little beauties yesterday. And ate them.

Promptly.

There will be a few more it looks like, although the little 2-year-old volunteer tomato plant in the big geranium pot is looking a bit the worse for wear. However, I am going to drag one of the wooden plant boxes Alan had a coworker make for me out to the kitchen, trim off the oddities it still contains, and plant it to lettuce. I love growing lettuce in the big windows, and as I said, I am so over winter.

Nothing like a little fresh greenery to take the curse off.

13 comments:

tryon1@frontiernet.net said...

:How did the wedding go? I bought some little tomatoes. I'm sure they do not taste as good as yours.
Love,
Mom and Dad

Anonymous said...

What! The winter has not really started yet.

Jan said...

We draw closer to the sun but not fast enough.

Linda said...

I've tried house tomatoes but I just don't have enough light and they become yellow straggly vines that produce nothing and don't even look nice so......I just put them out for the winter to take care of.....and winter can be cruel ;)

Terry and Linda said...

I am so over winter also!! Over it. We are thawing the drain down that the rental house, for some reason after many, many years it decided to freeze solid. AUGGHHHHHHHHHHH!

Linda

ellie k said...

The tomato farmers here in Ruskin are really getting into the little tomatoes now. On of the packing put in a new line to process them.the tomato crop in just finishing up but I saw some new fields being planted today and a big field of bell peppers already looking nice. We are having a bit of a cold spell for us, hopeful there will not be a freeze this year. It was in the 40's this morning. I like 80much better. Citrus growers cannot take much more to make them just give up. citrus crop will be low this year and a freeze would just about wipe it out. If the oranges freeze and can be picked and to the juice plant before they thaw they can be used for juice. When there is a freeze it is hard to get a picking crew in all the groves at once. Growers usually do not have there own. Rew, the crews have a schedule and travel from one grove to the next. I did see my son in law has quite a few tangerines just turning orange, he is waiting for pickets to get to them. Stay warm, tuck that baby between her parents to stay warm. When my husband was living and it was cold he would go to bed a few minutes before me and on my side, when I came he rolled to his side and gave me the warm spot. That was love.

threecollie said...

Mom, I guess the wedding was lovely. The little tomatoes are so tasty I am eating them before they are ripe. lol No more blooms on the plant though. I hope the warmer days get it flowering again. Love you

Anon, I think it started this morning......

Jan, In my head I know the days are already getting longer, but my cold toes disagree....

Linda, it can. It is. This plant looks as if it may be dying, but it has to stay in because it volunteered in the pot of an heirloom double geranium my late mother-in-law left me. I am hoping to keep it going though....

Linda, that is rough, dagnabbit. I am so sorry to read it. It is really cold this morning but at least the sun is out. Not that I can see it with the windows all frosted over....

Ellie, I also hope for no freeze for you! Delighted to read of the increase in little tomatoes. I would much rather buy them from Florida farmers, and they seem to taste much better than the big ones that are shipped from afar.

It delights me to imagine looking out and seeing tangerines ripening. We kind of take apples for granted up here, but citrus is so exotic. I plant all the orange, lemon, grapefruit and lime seeds I find in fruit and finally have two tiny little plants growing in a pot in the kitchen....don't know which they are though. lol
I read all I can find about it, and much value the information you share with me. The kids do all they can to keep Miss Peggy warm, and she is smart enough to be pretty willing to wear her hat and mittens even though she doesn't like them. What a sweet man your husband must have been! that is love indeed!

ellie k said...

Some of the seed catalogs will have small citrus trees in them, ones that can grow in a large pot that can be brought inside in the winter. The ones we buy are about 18 or 20 inches tall and usually take off like a weed growing.

threecollie said...

Ellie, I'll have to give that some thought. I bought a little lemon once, but had no luck keeping it alive. I love to mess with exotics though. lol Even grew some banana trees from seed once, but lost them as well, when they got about two feet tall.

ellie k said...

Our banana trees are over twelve feet tall , they only bear one bunch of bananas and then start to die and fall over. New ones are coming up all the time. The trees are mostly water, you can cut them down with three or four cuts with a small saw. They are very heavy. The leaves are really pretty but a little wind makes ribbons out of them.They require a lot of water, the bananas are small and very sweet. I cut them when they are still a bit green and they start to ripen from the bottom up. You have two or three ripe ones every day.

threecollie said...

Ellie, how I love reading this stuff! mine got to be about two feet high and succumbed to who knows what. Becky bought me more seed to try again, but i am kinda dragging this winter and haven't bothered yet. I can't imagine having real bananas growing right where you can go out and pick them for breakfast! How cool is that! Our house is probably too cold for all the tropical stuff i try, although I do have two pineapple tops all rooted on the windowsill over the sink. One of these days I will actually pot them, Keep forgetting to buy the right soil for them. Take care...

ellie k said...

We have had luck with pineapples but the fruit never tastes that good. I don't think there is a pineapple farm in Florida now. We do get good sweet pineapples at a store called sav-a-lot. I don't like to buy out of the country fruit and veggies. The regulations for sprays are so lax and you never know for sure. Florida has lost a lot of farming in the past years. There is not a slaughter house that does pork now. we had friends that had a huge pig farm and hauled the pigs to Georgia for slaughter. He has since gone out of business. There are small family run places that handle all animals. Most do a lot of deer and wild pigs. My grand daughter got a wild pig with a cross bow a few weeks ago, brought it down with one arrow. That was made into sausage with hot peppers and cheese. They have a cattle ranch where they can hunt on. and like you very selective about letting others hunt there.

threecollie said...

Ellie, sorry this comment was sent to spam for some reason so it took me a while to see it. This is s first for a pineapple for me, but I am having fun with it. I am with you on American grown food. I won't buy it if it comes from somewhere else....if I have a choice. Cool on the wild boar! Alan and I are going out turkey hunting this morning. Mack is terrified of his decoys!