Winter has returned to Brasstown. The warm temperatures we’ve been enjoying have skedaddled for the next several days. We know to expect these cold spells in spring of the year, they are called little winters.
The red bud trees are blooming so this is red bud winter. You can learn more about the little winters of Appalachia here.
Some of our fall garden is still hanging on. We need to pull it all up so that we can use the area for this year’s garden.
Yesterday I harvested all the kale that was left. There are several kohlrabi plants that still look good, but they aren’t near big enough yet unless you only want to eat the leaves. I’m thinking about transplanting them to another part of the garden.
The turnips are mostly gone. There’s a handful of either turnip or rutabagas still growing. I pulled one yesterday to see if the root bulb was any good. It was very pithy and didn’t have much of any taste to it. I’m sure our chickens will enjoy them.
The fall garden has fed us all winter. There’s never the bounty from it that you get from the summer garden, but it’s enough to give you a taste of fresh greens throughout the coldest months of the year. The fall plants take care of themselves so the only real work is done on the day you plant them.
I’m feeling behind on the spring and summer garden front.
For the last few years we’ve planted our carrots in late February or early March, but we haven’t managed to plant them this year. Nor have we planted any onions or lettuce.
Our cabbage plants are hanging out in the greenhouse but they need to be planted soon.
Hopefully over the next few weeks we can catch up in the garden. I’m excited about this year’s garden, but I guess I always am 🙂
Last night’s video: Moonshine Revenuers, Fur Trade & House Fires in Appalachia.
Tipper
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Tipper,
Your kohlrabi leaves look tasty. It is to cold here for kohlrabi to overwinter but we can have parsnips ready. Matter-of-fact they are better when they are over wintered in the garden.
Our grass is getting green and was peeking out from the ice and snow we had this week.
Some words and phrases you might enjoy:
Peek-ED— not feeling, sick or roof that has a very high slope
Salit– Wild greens ie plantain
cold spring– spring on the north side of the mountain that is unusually cold
gully washer– (Ryan Hall on Y’all used this phrase) heavy intense rain that will cause flash flooding
Yo– Old female sheep (ewe)
phone wire– wire that was used in the days of community phone switchboards– copper center with
galvanized outer coating
Mean as a striped snake– a very aggressive child or person
Northern Made– metal items such as mattocks and crowbars that were made in factories oppose to
items made by a local blacksmith.
Big Head or Big Man– Person that thinks he is important to others when he or she is not.
Hope you enjoy them. When Charles and I went to the Arctic several years ago folks would stand and listen to our dialect. We didn’t make it worse. We just talked like we always do. Anyway we were glad that we were able to share a touch of the Appalachian Mountains to folks of ice and snow.
Have a good one,
Kathy Patterson
Central Texas where I live is about the same latitutde as Jacksonville, FL. Our Winters are usually mild with only brief periods of intense cold or even cold spells. For example, we’ve been in the 70s and 80s for the last 6 weeks or so with the occasional dip.
The weather guessers, as Chuck at SheratonParkFarm.com calls them, are predicting a high of 80 on Sunday and a low near freezing overnight and temps in the 30s Monday.
I guess we should call this Bluebonnet Winter because the famous Texas bluebonnet blooms are waxing.
Of course, the “desperation move” as far as an overwintering vegetable garden is growing sunchokes. Even if you think you harvested all the tubers when the ground was still able to be dug into, you likely didn’t get them all, and that fact will show up when spring comes in earnest. You’ll see more stems than the ones you knew would come up (because you had left a piece of the tuber so that the plant would regrow). Always grow them in a raised bed, because otherwise, they’ll just keep moving laterally and before you know it, you’ve got an out-of-control patch of them. when that happens, you can’t give ’em away since too many people don’t know how to make them to where you don’t get gassy eating them. If you have hogs, they might eat the blessed things. Or, you could do like the Germans and make ‘shine out of them…
Afternoon everyone. My Redbud tree is also blooming. Forsythias and 1 Dogwood too. The Mockingbirds are making nests in their usual trees, seems like Spring. Then I went outside to clean up the garden that I keep putting off. Too cold. I have to laugh when I hear about “revenuers”. Here in Arkansas the Motor Vehicle Dept. is called the Revenue Department. Anna from Arkansas.
My winter greens froze out by Christmas, but they didn’t have any protection. I’m getting the planting itch too. May God bless us with abundant harvests this year!
Wednesday, the grandchildren were playing out in short sleeves. Yesterday we woke up to winter temperatures and snow coming down covering the trees and the ground. Today it’s cold, but sunny, and everything has pretty much melted. I love spring in West Virginia. It’s so unpredictable, but so beautiful. When it was snowing yesterday morning, there were robins everywhere. At the first sign of their return, we always call that snow a ‘robin’s snow. ‘
Well, the heat’s on this morning. Seems like March is always unpredictable. I do hope everyone can get their gardens started soon. I’m fixing to go read about the little winters of Appalachia. Have a great day all!
Tipper – our warmer days have skedaddled here in my corner of the world as well, bringing various amounts of snow in nearby areas, varying amount of rain in others, and very cold winds everywhere. But we know it won’t be long before winter hibernates and spring arrives. I’m still trying to adapt to the new time change. Like you, I seem to have always required more sleep so takes my body to ‘catch up’ with the new ‘rising’ hour. Blessings.
Loved the show last nite about the old times. I could sit and listen all day to those kind of things. thank you for having that on.
its cold here again at night burr hurts after being so warm lol. they,r saying it will be 20 by SAt. night. Red buds are blooming here also .
I have a heat light in my greenhouse I sure hope it keeps my lil seedlings warm enough. Ive used it before but ya never know.
I,m hoping to get some gardening beds this time so I dont have to tear up my yard. I have a pine that has gotten so big its shading my garden and things dont grow well there anymore.
Hope you have a great day.
We have redbud blooming as well in our area! Also, tulip trees are putting on a show. I also enjoyed the interview of the gentleman last night. I grew up hearing stories from many different family members we visited over the years. Now it’s our turn to tell about days gone by.
We are having winter where I am at again as well after getting a warm and beautiful taste of spring! Last night, the snow was swirling and this morning I woke up to the wind just howling outside! We are projected to get a late season winter storm on Sunday which is projected to bring anywhere from 10 to 18 inches of snow in my area. Even though when we had such warm temps last week almost all of our snow melted, we knew better than to think it would be the last time we would see the white stuff. The latest really large snow impact I remember from my adult life, is quite a few years ago having a blizzard on May 5. Thing about these late season storms is that the snow typically doesn’t last a really long time. Often it warms up soon after and then you just have a soggy and wet mess. 🙂
We had snow in the Richmond, Virginia area yesterday. The temperature dropped from 69 around 7 a.m. to around 35 at 1:30. It didn’t stick to the roads, but it did to the grass and our back porch. A little after 4 p.m., it quit and the sun came out. Some of it melted, but there was still a dusting on the ground this morning.
Good Day everyone! Here, in southern Wisconsin we are having 60 mph wind gusts and 1 7’waves on the lake. It’s not a good day to be out even if the temperature is in the lower 40’s. On Monday and Tuesday we will only reach the mid 20s. It’s been too cold to plant anything. We can have frost until mid May. This year I’m going to plant some kale seeds earlier just to see if it works. Last year I had some great collards surprise me from prior year seeds. I have a lot of problems with cabbage moths and must remember to apply good amounts of red pepper powder to all the brassica plants. Sure wish it worked on squash plants. Today I’m going to test out some 2 year old heirloom tomato seeds. They sure were great producers of delicious tommy toes and they didn’t want to stop. I was overwhelmed with them until the first cold snap.
I love your cabbage plants, Tipper and can see how they need serious planting. Are you growing more this year so you can make more slaw? You had made a slight comment to that effect last year. I might try making it this year.
We might have a few more heads than last year but not enough to really say we increased much 🙂
Mornin Miss Tipper…
Warm weather is skedaddlin here in Amelia, OH as well. Gonna be a blustery day here. I enjoyed a nice cup of hot cocoa in my new Celebrating Appalachia mug earlier this morning. I love that mug. Thank you for making them available to us. Glad I don’t have to be out and about on this windy day. Good day to stay inside and make some comfort food. Thinking about making some chocolate chip cookies. You’ve inspired me to start some plants from seed. I might just play in the dirt some today. I hope you’re all well. Stay safe and warm in this topsy turvy weather. Y’all enjoy a blessed day.
It’s good to know I’m not the only one feeling behind on my garden chores. That looks like a good mess of greens that survived winter. I keep hoping the weather will cooperate long enough for me to spend a day cleaning up last year’s mess. I sure hope we don’t get severe weather today, but I will use the threat as an excuse to stay inside and watch the KY basketball game. The garden will have to wait until the games are over and the temperature is warmer.
We’re still in the planning stages for this years garden. Our growing season starts a little later than yours, but you inspire me as I see you start your plants. I did hear our Spring Peepers a few nights ago. That’s a sign that spring weather is on the way. I like to sit on the porch in the evening and listen to their singing. A few days ago we hit 80 degrees here in south east Pa and this morning it was 28 when I got up. Oh well it’s, Pennsylvania….if you don’t like the weather, just wait 10 minutes…..it’ll change. I think every state says that at some point.
Yes, everything you post today is so familiar. There isn’t much let up gardening if you have both spring/summer and fall/winter gardens. I have that same problem of wanting to keep the healthy winter surviving plants but needing the room. Still, it’s a good problem to have. I had never heard if red bud winter before. They are blooming here also and the forsythia has little leaves as well. I have English peas, onions, lettuce and kale up though the peas are very patchy and the kale is puny. I planted radishes to but I could count those that came up on one hand. These night temperatures dropping to freezing are slowing me down right now though.
it is amazing to me that another year has come and gone–ever since I started following you I judge a year going by according to your planting season… in the video of finishing the shed (I think) Matt was saying you guys have had the tractor two years and I thought there is no way two years have gone by since getting the tractor–but evidently it has. The milestones of your family have been many since I became a subscriber (sad ones as well as happy ones). So don’t be hard on yourself if you are a little behind in planting things, your life is very full of ‘life events’ that interrupt and detain you from a nice easy to follow chore schedule–I know you know it will all come out in the end one way or another, that God will provide, and you and Matt will make due with whatever you get done whenever it gets done. It is my and all your followers joy and honor to ‘come along with you’ as these years whiz by. I don’t have my carrots planted either–the copd, my heart, or the weather have played a big factor in that but I will check the signs again and if tomorrow is a good day for planting I will try to follow through and get my seeds in the ground….of course it is almost the rainy season so that might wash away the seeds before they have a chance to sprout—but whatever happens, God is Good!!
my tomatoes are about ready to harden and I just got my potatoes from MIgarden along with a large grow bag. Last year my potatoes looked great but they never grew. im hoping with a larger bag I’ll have better success.
Here in west central IL I got excited this past Tuesday when it was a record breaking 86° and planted a bag of onion sets in a protected southern spot. This coming Monday our weather is supposed to go from a high of 63° to a low of 16° with a good chance of snow. Will my little onion sets survive? I sure hope so! My red buds are budding as well, so we shall see if my over zealous garden itch was worth it. I was watching an older video of you and Matt digging white sweet potatoes. I’ve put them on my list to try, if I can find some starts. My garden list keeps growing and therefore I’m further behind. Haha!! The thrill of anticipation is real!! Hope you, your family and all of the acorns have a great weekend ♡
This goes back to yesterday and old time dentist. I have heard this story many times. The train track ran and stills runs along Main Street at Belton, SC. Many years ago the train stopped for a break and one of workers with a toothache went to the town dentist to get it pulled. This man was a big, ruff, tough man, the dentist was a small man. The dentist pulled his tooth, but instead of one tooth coming two came out with one falling on the floor. It was said the dentist covered the one on the floor up with his foot until the man paid him and left.
It’s winter again in Georgia and my cat doesn’t like it or the time change. She doesn’t like change
I enjoyed your interview with your friend! Very interesting to hear about the fur traders and sellers and the revenours. Not sure how to spell that .
Happy planting, soon!
And enjoy those precious little boys!
Big frost here this morning!
I’m still not sure I’m gonna be able to raise a garden this year. I did manage to get my little plot tilled up. I didn’t get any seedlings started yet and it’s about too late.
Good morning Tipper and Acorns. I enjoyed yesterday’s oral history post. I did a few several years ago for our local museum in Butler (The Town That Wouldn’t Drown). I do hope you get your planting back on track. I just love the little winters. I’m off to look at the link you posted after my Bible reading and Prayers for everyone here and up Wilson Holler. I love y’all.
It is 32 degrees and frosty this morning at my home in southern Greenville County, SC. This is 30 degrees colder than yesterday morning. I am sure glad I covered up my grandmother’s peony. I have never heard of redbud winter, but often heard blackberry winter or dogwood winter. My Daddy would always say there will usually be a cold snap around Easter.
Winter returned here yesterday too. The forecast said rain with snow mixed in but it turned into wet snow and came down thick accumulating to about a half inch. Most of it was gone in a few hours. Today the temps are going up to the 60s.
It’s always enjoyable seeing nature come to life. I love the garden too.