by  Emily Cates

Were you caught off guard the other night when we got our first frost? I’ll admit I was a bit. As gardeners in northern climates well know, the first frost, no matter how mild, signals the imminent end of a growing season and the beginning of a whole new array of garden activities. Let’s take a look of some of them, including pre-frost roundups and post-frost clean-ups.

Of course, it is best to know when the frost is on its way a night or so before it happens, so that sensitive fruits and veggies like tomatoes, watermelons, eggplants, and peppers can be harvested and brought into a space above freezing temperatures. From there, we can put them into cold storage or process them into all sorts of goodies. Helpful hints: If the fruits (like tomatoes) aren’t quite ripe, it’s oftentimes helpful to pull the whole plant and hang it in a barn or shed or similar place. You might get more to ripen successfully this way than if you just harvested the fruits by themselves. Also, if the frost is light, the season might be extended simply by throwing a blanket over the plants at night. Keep in mind the benefits of cold frames, as easy as a storm window set on a frame of hay bales.

Once we get a frost, there’s no turning back. Sometimes you’ll find fruits, hiding in grass or under the cover of leaves, that are still good. However, if they succumb to the freezing temperatures, it will be obvious. Those with the characteristic frost damage will only be fit for the King of a Compost Pile. Render these “offerings” as part of the garden cleanup that should accompany a frost.

Probably one of the most important things you can do for your garden right now is to ensure the proper clean-up and disposal of garden debris. Pests and pestilence will find a happy home in a garden without this proper treatment, so don’t skip out on it. Then throw these spent plants into a hot compost pile, burn them, or send them to the dump. Remember to pull up plastic mulch and take down temporary trellises, too.

Once garden hygiene is tended to, it’s a good time to add fertilizer and amendments. So scoop out that coop, take a mattock to that paddock, haul out that stall, shovel some stuff until you have adequate material to make your garden happy. I tend to add enough manure or compost to darken the soil a few shades. When making a brand new bed, though, I like to frame it up with cedar posts, mulch the bottom and sides with untreated cardboard or plain newsprint, with and fill it completely with whatever organic materials I have on hand or access to in abundance. (Examples include manure and bedding, compost, or a mix of these.)

While we enjoy this time of year and the accompanying crisp air and beautiful foliage, let’s think about ordering and planting trees. This is a good time of year for it, and we’ll talk about it in the next article. Stay tuned!

by Debbie Walker

Have you ever noticed how someone can make a comment to you and all of a sudden you’re traveling back in your mind? That just happened to me tonight.

Ken came to the kitchen and told me he had been resting his eyes (he was snoring!). Resting his eyes. That took me back in time so quickly. My whole body was affected. I was doing a body smile.

“I was just resting my eyes,” was what Great-grammie Smith used to say. For sometime Grammie lived across the road from us in a tiny mobile home. There wasn’t much room in it but there was room for her rocking chair. She also had her sewing machine set up and probably another chair. I can’t quite remember.

Every chance I got I would make the escape across the road to Grammy’s. I was always welcome; it was like she was always waiting for me.

So many times I would go over, open the door and there was Gram, sitting in her rocker, with her eyes closed and snoring. She’s not here to be upset with my telling you she was snoring! Sometimes I would just sit and wait for her to open her eyes. She was so funny. She would open her eyes and say “Oh my, you caught me resting my eyes.” Then we would laugh and begin our visit.

Grammie used to make and wear patchwork aprons (and how I wish I had one she made!). Her hands were so knarled up with arthritis; it would make anyone wonder how she did anything with her hands. (She had the softest touch when she would brush my hair.) Those aprons were so neat, so many colors and patterns and she enjoyed doing it.

One day Gram was working along on an apron, when she picked it up she had made a mistake. She had sewn the new apron onto the one she was wearing. We had a good laugh over it and then she let me take out the stitches.

I don’t even remember how long Gram lived across the road from us but I loved every minute of it.

There was a Christmas I will never forget. I had found a pant suit, in the Sears catalog, that I was desperate to own. I had to have it. It was corduroy, in a beautiful shade of teal, a different color for that time period. The top had a big cowl neck collar, the front came down to a point and had a tassel on the end. My life just would not be complete without it.

Mom had pretty much told me it was out of the question, which left Grammie. I certainly put in my best sales pitches to her. The closer it got to Christmas the more desperate I was. I knew Gram would have to buy me something and it would have to be in her little home.

Most mornings I would get up and run over to Gram’s to wake her up. No need for locks back then. I would just let myself in, go in to Gram and wake her up. She’d say “I’ll be right out.”  Well, her “I’ll be right out” would give me a little time to hunt for signs of my Christmas present and then I would be innocently sitting in her rocker when she came out. No luck, I hunted every day. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed.

Christmas morning came and dad walked Grammie to our house to celebrate. We all sat in chairs in the living room as we started the wait for each of our turns for a gift.

Imagine my surprise when dad handed me my gift from Grammie. I unwrapped that absolutely wonderful pant suit for which I had o diligently campaigned. When I finally got it open Gram laughed right out loud. It seems that she had really put one over on me. She took great delight in telling me that with all my searching (she knew!!) I never found it. She informed me I had been sitting on it every time I sat in her rocker. She had hidden it under the cushion. Over the years she enjoyed reminding me.

Gees, okay, all that came out from Ken saying he was just resting his eyes. Hopefully this little ramble will have given you happy memories of something you have tucked away in your memory box.

You can’t imagine how many times a day I’m Just Curious about something, maybe I’ll try resting my eyes.

Reach me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com sub line: Gram   Hope you enjoyed reading. Can’t wait to hear from you!

by Debbie Walker

Okay, so let’s play catch-up. Time has been flying by too fast. I am getting up to about 45 degrees in the mornings. I’m not happy about this. I’m really not ready to see all the leaves fall and the snow fly!!

So…. I have been volunteering for a first grade class. That pretty much means the kids are either late 5-year-olds all the way to new 7-year-olds. Fun ages! I just love them. They are so comical. One of the girls asked me the other day, “how come your skin under your arms wiggle?” Too funny. I told them it was because I’m getting old! They giggled and walked off, happy with their answer.

I couldn’t possibly be upset with their questions, they are just curious, too. I promise I’ll do better. I’ll try to remember to explain to them that it’s not nice to ask some questions, but I want to do it without destroying their curiosity.

Sometimes, in this time with them, I am reminded of my daughter or my grandkids at that age. I found a clump of curly hair on the floor beside this one desk. Gee, what do you suppose happened here? Well, she just didn’t know because it wasn’t her hair. Too funny. I remember when my daughter cut her hair, it was the first and last time I ever allowed the babysitter to bring a friend. They were in the bathroom doing their hair and Deana was in my bedroom cutting her hair and hiding it in a Sears catalog. Oh yeah, before the night was over I saw the damage. That morning she had school pictures, thank goodness it was after the pictures and not before. The beautician was able to come up with a short shag with what was left.

I will be glad when the testing is all done. I know schools have to develop a baseline to have something to compare the coming spring tests to. I just can’t say it is my favorite part. I so enjoy hearing their excitement when they are learning, especially when some subject gives them a new interest!

As I had written in my first column where we talked about volunteering I believe I told you that even if you can’t leave your home, teachers have to do preparation for some of their activities and they would appreciate someone cutting and gluing,  etc., anything that saves them precious time.

Well, so much for “catching up” time. I’ll find something new to share before next week. After all you know, I’m just curious. Thank you so much for reading, hope it gave you a chuckle and woke up a memory for you.

Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com  Sub: Catching Up