winter-activities-in-Appalachia

After Christmas I start thinking about gardening. I was hoping to get The Deer Hunter to turn our garden at least twice this winter in the hopes of killing some pesky bugs we had last year. But with the wet weather we haven’t even turned it over once.

I’m already trying to decide when to plant our seedlings. Some years I do it too early and we have to try to take care of gigantic plants before its safe to transplant them outside. Last year we had so much going on that I waited way too late and our transplants weren’t nearly big enough when we moved them outside.

We desperately need to do some repairs to the chicken house and during the process I was planning to mine their run for garden compost. Yet another task that hasn’t happened because of the infernal rain. Can you tell I’m tired of the rain?

Along with all my garden planning I’m always hoping to get ahead on the Blind Pig and The Acorn blog posts, but somehow that rarely happens. I’m usually posting by the seat of my pants.

I try to remind myself to enjoy the cozy slower pace of winter before the gardening and gig performances start in earnest. I love to cuddle up with a good book or fight the girls for a spot in front of the heater to soak up the heat.

I love to cook up a storm and fog up the kitchen windows too. Although this winter has been so mild I haven’t been able to create much steam.

I hope you’ll leave a comment and tell me about your favorite winter activities.

Tipper

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16 Comments

  1. Deep cleaning, read s book, catch up on genealogy. Let me suggest ordering and installing Famiky Tree Maker on your computer. Makes doing your famiky tree so much easier! It also allows using the internet to search for ancestors.

  2. Tipper winter is a time for me to sit and daydream what I am going to do starting in February setting out trees and scrubs and cleaning house just enough to keep dust particle from dancing when the sun does shine in and expose the uncleaned window that have to wait until spring to clean. I sure think up a lot of honey do’s for Mr T to get done with my help of course . When it gets cold in Texas no squeezing in a brisk walk and summer so hot even the buzzards don’t fly much so I being a mountain gal will have to plan my activities quite different to NC starting Feb through June . One of my favorites winters days is daydreaming about my beautiful mountain home wishing and praying I was home.

  3. Since we’re still working, we hold to our normal routine of out of the house at 5:30 and back home by 4 (or so, depending on traffic). As y’all who have been around a while know, I can’t do vegetable gardening, so I do hummingbird gardening. I’m already all over the websites of some of the amazing providers of specialty plants that hummingbirds so enjoy. I also stay busy keeping the “yankee” birds quite happy with their feeders – year-round. I also manage to keep the deer happy down in the swale. My two dogs keep me hopping inside and I get to go “play” with my horse at least 5 days a week. Not much changes around me – no matter the season. The only difference is that in late Spring, Summer and early Autumn I have to keep up with hummingbird feeders, too.

  4. Doing some major cleaning and i mean major. Between working two jobs its hard to get things done at home. I still have alot to do. I love to get with my grandson and bake cookies. Yum! I love ever minute i can spend with him. God Bless!

  5. This year we’re dealing with illnesses (grumble, grumble). I hope to start seeds soon, give hummingbird feeders an extra cleaning so they are ready to go out mid February (central Texas here), try once again to solve the problem of water backing up over the step below the front porch, finally (hopefully) get the watering system in place for the flower gardens and the vegetable gardens. We’ve had some lovely weather recently but haven’t had the wherewithall to take advantage of it. “this” too will pass and I will be barefoot and in the garden soon!
    (P.S. – I have a friend along the NC coast and she shared the following – I thought you’d find it interesting: https://www.obsentinel.com/features/and-now-it-is-time-for-old-christmas-celebrations/article_fefb40a7-700a-5c3f-811d-04f28034881d.html?fbclid=IwAR0zGIpA-KtTTgwRS0WEkaGs1Y2i7O3R-0ErfhT0ly48pCtJzSzYy9TcFdg )

  6. I received my daily email subscription but when I clicked on the post it would just return with error code so I googled the website and up you came. Yeah! When I was younger I enjoyed looking at magazines for what i wanted to plant in vegetables and flowers. Now I have a lot more to do because my husband is not physically able to do much so my son gifted me with two planter boxes that stand about 4 ft tall and I can easily take care of one tomato plant, one tommy toe plant, one cucumber plant, one green pepper plant and a yellow squash. That may not sound like a lot but my goodness it produces quite an amount. Oh, and I start out in the cool month of spring with lettuce.

    In the winter months, I try to spend some quality time at Planet Fitness trying to strengthen my bones and muscles in my legs. I must say it does work and gives you energy too. I would love to have time to read some good books but it seems the majority of my time is taking care of husband and house. I do sewing for my church group – sewing servants and we get many requests so there is always something to be made for nursing homes, veterans, and others in need. Seems like I can get more sewing done in the winter months, when summer comes I want to be outside.

  7. I don’t get much done!! Need to do a major house cleaning but will need to recruit helpful volunteers. I love the stuff on top of my kitchen cabinets but it is really dirty.

    I always enjoy reading and winter is prime time. Cooking is more rewarding, too, as everybody is starving when it’s cold.

    I’ve got a few seed catalogues already. I’m going to try some of the old stuff, purslane, etc. if I can manage to.

  8. Good Morning, Tipper….Mary and I live about 17 miles southwest of Brasstown in north Georgia just west of Nottely Lake….We moved here from central Ohio three months ago to retire so we are getting to know the beautiful area surrounding us this winter!….We are not gardeners but generally in the frozen snowy north where we used to live we did a lot of sitting by the fireplace….Haha….Really, we loved getting outside hiking in the countryside parks and enjoying time with family and friends…..I hope to attend the Brasstown Fire Department Fund Raiser on January 20…..Mary sings and plays guitar in our church choir and likely will not be with me but I am looking forward to it.

    1. Ed…
      Hummm, bears were late hibernating this year…bet they wake up early too…Our frogs are already singing this week…One warm rainy afternoon there was only one or two..the next warm afternoon the whole chorus broke out in chirps, gurgles and trills…LOL

  9. This time of year has become my favorite. This gives me opportunity to do some deep cleaning, read a book, bake a lot which I avoid in Summer heat, and just generally plan my work instead of it driving me. I love a garden, but it seems I fight fire staying caught up. It probably sounds like “Bah Humbug” but all those holidays so close together can make one feel overwhelmed. So, this is a time for homemade soup, baked rolls, enjoying home, and for me feeding my You Tube addiction. You can learn how to do things when you have time!

  10. Reading, genealogy and writing in that order and throw in some episodes of piddling around with making herb or cocoa blends or something like that. Somewhere along in there starts long thoughts about what to plant and where to plant it. Those are the fun to do things.

    But there is always the need to do things; pick up or rake up or both the annual crop of sticks, clean off the garden of all the plants killed by the first hard frost, trim trees and bushes, etc. Cold bothers me more now and I dread getting out in it, all the while flogging myself for being such a wimp when I used to work in it all the time and it was just normal.

  11. I’ve started thinking about my gardens also, Tipper! A couple of nights ago I ordered 6 strawberry plants that will be shipped at the right time (fingers crossed) for planting. I’ve wanted to plant strawberries for years, but needed to make a raised bed tall enough I can tend it without leaning down, and I finally did that last year. The soil needs loosening up though – it was all stuff I sifted the rocks from, one shovelful at a time, and then barn cleanings added in. Very dense. Like most of my gardens, I could put a sprinkler on it for 15 minutes and never get moisture below the first quarter inch.

  12. I too would like to plow the garden, but with all the water I’m not sure when I can get it done. I have water seeping out of the hill side in places I have never had water. Now that cold has finally come the ground is beginning to freeze. Has anyone had problems growing Irish potatoes because of too much water? I had lots of marble and golf ball size potatoes. I quit digging them it was so frustrating and don’t know why except for so much rain.

    Wish I was close enough to attend the Brasstown Fire Dept fund raiser. It will be a fun afternoon.

  13. I spend the long winter days cleaning out drawers, closets, and pitching accumulated items we’ve acquired through the years. My husband loves flea markets and yard sales. He can’t resist a bargain. If not for us, then someone else in need. I also ketch up on mending. Planning my garden and looking forward to spring is a real treat. Wood in, ashes out keeps a comfy fire. So many blessings from the Lord. I start my seedlings the middle of March. Here in Michigan plants don’t go in till after Memorial day. Happy winter to you, Tipper

  14. Reading, that’s my biggest winter time activity. When it’s cold, rainy/snowy or just plain cold curling up with a good book near a heater is the most entertaining thing I can think of. A good book keeps me from thinking too much and since I tend to be heavy on the thinking side a good book proves to be a wonderful distraction from the cold and mess of winter.

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