Robin Day Revisited

February 20, 2009

458px-american_robinRobin Day has been a family tradition in our home for years.

Every year we would watch the melting snow outside to see who can spot the first robin of spring. Then we would celebrate with robin’s nest cookies for dessert.

It was a lovely tradition that helped my young children begin to recognize the birds and look for the other signs of spring.

It provided a much needed reason to celebrate every year in those early spring months when the weather was unpredictable.

So if it’s such a wonderful tradition- what’s the problem?

I have been seeing robins all winter! For some reason they have decided not to leave the state, but just hang out in the woods and underbrush despite the cold weather.

I saw robins in November, December, January, and now in February. I’m afraid that the first robin may no longer be the harbinger of spring.

So now what’s a mom to do?

If the robins don’t signal Spring? What do?

The turkey vulture.

turkey_vulture Seriously, every year we know that spring is officially here when we see the red headed turkey vultures flying overhead.

For years during sharing time in the little country church we used to attend, a sweet sister would sing out, “Honey, I just saw a turkey vulture – spring is finally here!”

But somehow, it just isn’t the same. Turkey Vulture Day just doesn’t have the same ring to it.  Besides, what would serve? Carrion?

Now I know that the turkey vultures have a purpose in our world, but I still can’t bring myself to celebrate their arrival.

So, it’s back to the drawing board for now.

First mud puddle? First daffodil? First green leaf? First thunderstorm? First wood tick?

By Country Gal | Posted in Family Traditions, Spring | Tagged , , | Comment (1)

Parkersburg, Iowa Tornado

May 28, 2008

We were driving west on I80 last Sunday when the news of the deadly tornado in Parkersburg first hit the air waves. Growing up just a few miles from there, I was shocked by the pictures that were shown. I know the area well, but could find no landmarks in the massive destruction.

We have since learned that it was a very rare EF5 storm, the strongest one to hit Iowa in 30 years. We’ve also learned that there are very few safe places to go in a storm with winds this strong.

It has been amazing to hear the stories of survival; the mom who held on to her children as the wind tried to suck them up; the man who was fishing and returned home to devastation, the elderly women who was dug out from under the rubble.

The other amazing thing I’m hearing and seeing is the quiet determination to get to work, salvage what we can and move forward.

If you would like to see some home video of the storm and pictures of its aftermath check out: http://www.kcci.com

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families who have lost so much in Parkersburg.

By Country Gal | Posted in Weather | Tagged , , | Comment (1)

Deep Mulch Gardening Pt.1

May 15, 2008

They kids were all out yesterday trying to get a new layer of mulch down in the garden. We have been using a modified deep mulch system now for three years and would never go back.

Since our soil on the entire property is very clay-like, we’ve had trouble producing a decent garden. Then a neighbor pointed out one area of the pasture where the grass was much longer and thicker than anywhere else. He told us that the old barn yard had been there and cattle had wintered in that spot for 40 years. Talk about fertilizer!

We decided to move the garden to that location and were pleased with the results. We still had trouble with weeds, though, (they grew so tall and thick that the children made a fort in them in the fall and were totally hidden from view!) Since the soil still had more clay than we’d like, we knew we had to find a system that kept down the weeds and also added organic matter.

My brother-in-law was the first to mention deep mulch gardening to us. It sounded a little crazy at first, but the thought of spending hours in the hot sun pulling weeds out of the clay soil that had dried up as hard as a rock, made us look twice.

The first year we plowed, tilled, planted, then when the plants had come up, mulched deeply around them. It saved hours of weeding, but by late summer, weeds were still popping up. Frustrating.

The second year we plowed, mulched the entire garden with about 18 inches of mulch, then tried to make rows and get the seeds in. Very frustrating to plant, but we had very few weeds all summer.

That fall we got a few pigs and decided the best place for them to run was in the garden. They did a great job rooting everything up for us, fertilizing the soil, and mixing in the remaining mulch.

Last spring we tilled, mulched and planted. We didn’t do a very good job keeping the weeds out of the rows however, but anywhere the mulch was at least 18 inches thick, we had no weeds.

This year we just added more mulch on top of the left-overs, pushed it aside and planted. This is the closest to the true deep mulch system that we have used. We’ll have to wait and see if it works well.

I do know that using mulch has greatly reduced our hours weeding. My goal of a weed-free garden is still a dream, but at least we have small fraction of the weeds we used to have!

By Country Gal | Posted in Gardening, Spring | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Finally in the Garden!

May 12, 2008

It’s a very good feeling to finally have some garden planted! The rain hold off long enough for the ground to dry so we could get in some of our early spring garden. (Although it is pretty late in the season!)

We have had a very cold and wet spring here in the Midwest which has delayed almost everything from the lilacs and tulips to the farmers in the fields. But the cold is slowly losing its grip and the apple trees are in full bloom and the daffodils are dancing in the wind!

Because our soil is very heavy and clay-like, it holds water for a long time. It also severely clods up if worked too wet. We needed several days with no rain and some warm sun and strong winds to dry things out enough to get the garden planted.

We finally had a small window of opportunity one evening and we took it! The entire family was out and worked diligently to plant our peas, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, cauliflower and broccoli.

It was a good thing that we did because more rain came in the next day and it’s been raining every third day since.

The calendar says that it’s time to get my tomatoes and pepper plants, and put some corn and beans in, but the ground temperature says otherwise. It is still much too cool for my warm season plants, so they, too, will be late this year.

I buy all of my plants from 2 small Amish greenhouses in the neighborhood. Not only are the plants nice and hardy, they come with lots of great advice! I’ve learned to ask any gardening questions I might have and watch their gardens carefully. Usually they are harvesting peas and eating fresh salad about the time that I get mine in the ground!

These year, thanks to my handy-dandy cold-frame, we are enjoying fresh baby lettuce and spinach already! Although my peas are in the ground, I noticed yesterday that theirs are already about 5 inches high. Oh well, at least I’m gaining on them!

By Country Gal | Posted in Gardening, Spring | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Fresh Rhubarb

May 7, 2008

Spring is officially here; I have eaten my first rhubarb!

This sweet and sour perennial has traditionally been used as a Spring tonic to wake up the digestion after a winter of canned or dried foods. Although the leaves are very poisonous, the stalks are delicious and one of the first plants we can harvest in the Spring.

I had trouble getting rhubarb to grow in our heavy clay soil for several years. Then a neighbor told me, “Honey, rhubarb doesn’t like to get its feet wet. You just mound up that soil in a nice little hill so it drains and plant the rhubarb on top.”

She was right! I mounded the soil before planting and now have several very nice plants.

Rhubarb should be harvested in the early Spring before it gets bitter in the warm weather. My daughters and I will cut rhubarb every three days for a while until we have all we need or the weather warms up, which ever comes first.

We like to freeze some every year to make pies and crisps all winter. We just pull young tender stems off the plant, chop off the leaf, and wash the stalk well. Then we chop it into bite size pieces, put it in a quart size freezer bag and freeze. We always label the bags because it only lasts about a year in the freezer before it takes on a strange texture.

We also make several batches of rhubarb jam, which tastes wonderful on homemade whole wheat toast in the morning!

My favorite rhubarb recipe was given to me by a dear friend, and I only make it once a year, in the Spring, because the calorie count is outrageous! (Now you know it’s good!) We just made our yearly batch the other night and enjoyed every bite!

Rhubarb Bars

Crumble together: 3 cups flour, 2 1/4 cups oatmeal, 3 tsp. cinnamon, 3 cups brown sugar, 1 1/2 cup soft butter.

Press half into a greased 9 x 13 pan and cover with 4 cups of rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch slices.

Combine in saucepan: 2 cups sugar, 2 cups water, 4 Tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tsp. vanilla.

Boil 5 minutes stirring constantly.

Pour over rhubarb.

Cover with remaining crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until rhubarb is tender and the topping is brown.

This is best eaten while warm served with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, but is also good eaten cold with a spoon, right out of the pan when the children aren’t looking!

By Country Gal | Posted in Gardening, Spring | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)