December To-Do’s

 You can obtain a monthly garden to-do list from the Master Gardener’s website, or from Sunset. I obtain my list from observing my yard, and from four other resources, which I combine to help you compile your own to-do list. Many of your fruit trees will need either a copper or lime sulfur spray by now, in order to aid against many of the damp climate diseases. Rose canes that will whip about and get damaged need to be trimmed a little. This isn’t the early spring pruning that causes new growth, but just a mild preventative measure against harsh winds. Dig up bulbs like dahlias. Prune grape vines.

Rake up yard debris such as leaves, to remove hiding places for snails and slugs, and mulch frost-sensitive plants, but put no mulch against trunks, where it makes a nice warm spot for rodents and their chewing. Turn your compost. Water overwintering dormant hanging plants such as fuchsia baskets. Bring in some greens for the season, and this is a great time to utilize that holly, and hopefully remove it, if it is the one that is on our invasive species list. I see the community garden beds will be emptied now for the winter, and I noticed in Romania that their garden beds and acreage are already turned over, awaiting the winter.

Make certain tools are cleaned, sharpened, and oiled, and inspect your houseplants carefully for pests and also for pot-size. My poinsettia decided to live from last year, my Christmas cactus has a spectacular show going on, my amaryllis is now coming out of dormancy, and will probably bloom early this next year. The paperwhites have flowerheads on their long stems and will fragrance my home for the first weeks of December. I can hardly wait.¤

No Doggone, It’s Here

We’ve had the most spectacular Fall, haven’t we? Crashing storms, pounding rains, and glorious blue days to offset the garden colors of reds and yellows. I’m still in a Thankful Heart spirit as we move into the darker winter days. I received this second reply on gardening with dogs after posting my November garden articles. It was left anonymously at The Sentinel office.

I believe it’s from one of the wonderful gals at Eden Valley Natural Foods. “Gardening with my dogs, I need a little more patience, a sense of humor, and a tad more space for sharing. They’ve learned to stay in the walkways between the wide rows. So the patience is for accepting their favorite places to lie: Rosy, in the middle of the chive patch and Hunny, in the newly planted zucchini. Humor is for when Rosy the ‘foodie’ starts picking peas on her own, and for when I hear ‘crunch, crunch’ behind me and find out she’s chosing the best from my gathering basket. Beets, carrots, potatoes and peas are her favorites.

 They both graze in the strawberry beds so planting extra is necessary. I am grateful for their constant companionship. I’m also grateful that they don’t turn my peaceful garden into a madhouse by chasing the kitties that sleep beneath the blueberry bushes and under the daylily leaves.” Doesn’t that set the greatest picture in your mind? I loved it, and am grateful for the contribution it made to all of us. When you drop off food at one of the local food banks, consider remembering to drop off some animal food, won’t you?

 The food banks served over 1100 families this last year, combined, and I’m sure some of those families may have had a pet who meant quite a lot to them.¤

Thankfully Going Green A few friends of mine have needed to be "roto-rooted," that is, have their arteries cleaned out. They were the lucky ones. Are you afraid of heart disease? How about cancer? When I was young, my grandma fought a slow and losing battle against cancer, all while living in our home.

 I’m thankful that these stories are not the stories of my parents. However, my brother-inlaw, younger than I am, died of heart disease. I guess it isn’t that uncommon. What does this have to do with the garden? I bet you can guess! A recent article from "Taste For Life" at the health food store mentioned several medical studies that discussed the vitamin content and nutritional impact upon folks that leafy greens such as spinach and broccoli sprouts were having, even to the extent of affecting cancer, some types of ulcers, and heart disease potential in people.

 Growing up, we didn’t know much about that, but we knew we had to eat our vegetables, and somewhere along the line, I just started to like them. I like them still. That article says that they studied quite a few elderly folks, and those who ate the most greens seemed to have the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attacks. My mom maybe knew that when she told me to eat my greens. Naturally curious, I’ve also tried other delicious greens than what Mom served, such as dandelion greens and nettles. I suppose many are thankful for that extra piece of pie, but I hope you are thankful for the beautiful green things you are planning to eat tomorrow and every day. I hope you never need to be "roto-rooted," or have heart disease. I hope you can thankfully go green to the bounty and blessing given us by God.

Have a terrific Thanksgiving!¤

Dawn Marie’s Wonderful Animals in the Garden Response My dog mostly knows to stay on the paths when she ventures to keep me company. It's something she picked up on her own. Also, I have arching lengths of wire fence over some of my row crops: she would certainly get tangled up in the mesh.

 My garden was lovely 2 months ago, but right now it is winding down, shriveling up, turning brown, and whatever Mother Nature is not returning unto the Earth, my friends the slugs are finishing off. Re: garden gifts... I make homemade wine, but mostly the ingredients come from foraging not from gardening (here's where I plug my book, "Wild Wines" by Dawn Marie, at the Coquille Library). I have shared dried goodies such as tomatoes, plums, and apples. I put them in a plastic bag and give them away (nothing fancy about that).

I make jelly, jams, and fruit sauces that I share without fanfare, and I whittle wooden hair sticks from the hardwood of trees and shrubs. As far as recipes, I love to garden, cook, and eat. I consider myself a locavore, eating whatever I grow when it is in season. When it is out of season I preserve it through canning, drying, or freezing. I make a delicious vegan chili using kidney beans and tomatoes from my garden and skunk cabbage from my swamp, but it doesn't seem like the average reader would enjoy such wild fare.

 I drink tea made from fireweed, elder blossoms, and blackberry leaf, but again Coquillians may not share my same palate for the wild things. I made brownies with turnip and raspberries, pretty popular at the community garden "meet and greet." If you think it's worth sharing, I'll be happy to do so. ¤

November To-Do’s

 Weed. Slug and snail hunt. Autumn leaves mixed through your compost pile provide some great nutrients, or consider that they mat nicely and will mulch out weeds on paths, even if they do provide hiding spots for the slugs you want to eliminate. It is not so cold here that you cannot grow a nice selection of edibles year round. Spinach, onion, and garlic grow nicely this time of year.

 Drainage and some frost protection are considerations in the winter food garden. It's still a good time of year to plant flower bulbs, and if you began chilling your bulbs in the refrigerator for indoor forcing, now’s the time to get them out to grow. Is your greenhouse clean? Take down hanging plants like fuchsias, and trim them back, setting them under a porch or something for next year. Move planted pots into covered areas, and clean empty containers in preparation for the early spring seedling plantings.

 As the rains start in earnest, two things you ought to be watching for are where water accumulates and where water rushes off into streams and storm drains. We’ll talk more about this in future articles. Don’t forget that many plants don’t like sitting in puddles any more than you do. Mulch plants that could be frost susceptible, and clean debris from plants where debris creates problems, like around fruit trees.

 Many trees will need their first "winter" spraying for pests and disease this month. Remove dead fruit and leaves from around fruit trees. Keep in mind that some types of debris in various garden spots are good as shelters for predators of snails, like some types of beetles. Prune anything that will whip and be damaged by winds, and look around to see what evergreens you’ll bring in next month. Feed the birds. Go for walks. Enjoy the remnant of autumn.

Newsletter from Settle, England My husband’s family is from Settle, England. My son sent me the community news from the Settle district. Here’s a bit for you: The newsletter "opened" with Alastair Cook of a farm in the Yorkshire Dales, speaking of moles, rats, rabbits, tiny birds called house martins, and swallows. The Pet Rescue had a garden party fundraiser, and even the Settle Middle School had a Gardening club.

There was a call out to gather at the local bar to discuss "going green" and being an "eco-warrior." Bus schedule changes were discussed right along with sheep shearing contests, where vintage and modern farm vehicles were part of the "parade," and I wish I could’ve watched "fast hands" Caton, who sheared a sheep in 47 seconds flat. News of garden tours was interspersed with discussion of an adopted town in Africa and how the townsfolk in Settle, England might assist those in Eastern Cape, Africa. Settle, England has a public swimming pool. They have funding issues, too. The town council is actively interested in the opinions of the townsfolk and features e-mail contact information and quicklinks.

Were I there, I’d invite my friend who is a birder to see the free falcon watch, where high-powered telescopes are supervised on falcon walks so the public can see Britain's large falcons. Historic reminiscent columns talked of how machinery has taken the place of working folks, and concerns about town appearances have caused "adoptions" of public government "garden-suitable" areas. Apart from a minor language barrier, (did you know, the toy library there was taken over by a number of Mums, which in my garden are growing quite red, but here I’d call Mums "moms"). I believe the land there may not be so very different from Coquille. There’s no place like home.