Thursday, March 26, 2020

Midwest Gardening: Late March 2020


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Here in Chicagoland, inside it looks like a greenhouse, 
most noticeable in my living room. YES, two-feet from my front door. The black boxes are an air purifier and a humidifier. 
The large pots are all holding my hubby's enthusiastic
Caladium purchases!


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So much for a pretty Spring housewalk.

Our well water ruined two furnace humidifiers, the portables are far cheaper, and can easily be maintained.

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In the kitchen, both windows are full of transplanted starts. 

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They are a bit droopy after transplanting, but Tomatoes  look better today.



We had to go up with portable shelving. I will be transplanting more if we get more dirt. ONLY if something important HAS to be purchased. 

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I label every HOT PEPPER pot...so these are planted far away and don't cross pollinate with our other other peppers. They will probably be in pots near the garage---quarantined if you will.


 Not colorful yet these are the colorful Coleus from my last garden post. $8.00 worth of seed, will give us MORE than enough coleus for our shady yard. 


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We had snow on Tuesday, so the greenhouse is still not viable, even though yesterday it reached 85 degrees in there. Nights need to temper just a bit more, before we move in plants. 

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A few hours straightening in here, and we will be ready to go!
I'm hoping to do the next round of transplanting out here!




All day Wednesday we got outside...the garden was almost taken care of in fall...and is now draining. We will have 4 days of rain, starting today. So tilling will be awhile. 
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Most of yesterday was cleanup!


Stacking wood from our spruce tree!

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Bundling branches for pickup, we are opting for less burning, and these will be mulched at a recycling center.

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Our neighbor is home from work and really tackled their yard.

It will be fun to see what revitalizes when the plants rise up!
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We only have tiny bits of green coming, mostly Iris, and some Daffodils. I leave ALL the leaves and healthy stems for bird nesting materials, and to protect our bees, which burrow underneath, praying mantis and other helpful bugs. 



 With my knee replacement last Fall, you didn't get to see that our project was well underway, to clear up our problem area.

Hubby spread we aren't sure how many bags of paver base across the yard where we have drainage issues and couldn't grow grass.


Paver base was spread over leveled ground, a layer of weed blocker, sand and then paver base. It really firmed up over the winter, and the leaves were easy to rake off.
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We didn't get to do any decorative additions, but now I have a blank slate and can begin a plan. (The Caladiums and Coleus should be very happy here in pots. 

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Hubby finished the fence in November. I can't wait to put some trailing vines and impatiens on those small shelves. 

Hubby planted Hosta I grew from starts, below and all around here, I hope they made it through the freeze/thaw winter we had.

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We never had deep snow cover for a long period of time, much of the yard was bare in between. I think we are 3" below average snowfall, for Chicagoland.
On the other side of the house my fisher pair, lost their poles again. I'm beginning to wonder if an animal carries them off to chew on.

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Around the pond, are Mini Iris, ground covers, Iris, 

and Daffy's coming up.


The pond is disgusting and just thawed out. I'll throw a cup of bleach in it, and scoop all the leaves out,
and then run clear water through it, when it warms up.

The frogs like some leaves in there to hide in. Our water plants, weren't brought into the house, because of the early frost, so I will have to purchase some new ones---Papyrus, for sure! 

I may just use some Philodendrom and a Spath also...I have none at the moment.
We usually have frogs within a week of cleaning the pond out.I do use mosquito floats in both of the ponds, and nothing seems to mind them except the mosquitos.

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Around the corner is the Sweet Pea trellis, I didn't get cleaned up because of my surgery. That will come down when I clear the flower beds. Our Sweet Peas are from a 59cent package in 1985!

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This area faces East. And, the Daffodils bloom here first. I thinned them two years ago---and it looks like they need it again. I need a new focal plant here, our 20-year old rose, finally croaked.

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Along the fence, I started multiple perennials last year, mostly Holly Hocks, and transplanted some Echinacea, and Phlox. We will see what comes up.

I had some going-south citrus fruit languishing in the fridge drawer, and I sliced them in half. I put them outside, just to see who might want them.
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We have lots of critters in our yard, so many birds, squirrels, chippies, moles (not good), possums, raccoons, woodchucks, frogs, toads, really a happy bunch of critters.

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We had hung some oranges up on a stick earlier, and they were ripped down and emptied underneath. 

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Sure enough you can see a trail along the beam of orange halves...I dont' know who took the limes...LOL. But, they are gone!

PS This happened during the day, Wednesday...so that eliminates the night stalkers!

HOW ARE YOUR GARDEN PLANS and Critters COMING?

Thank you for any and all comments.
Finally I am able to reply to comments by using Chrome. So all you Mac users who have upgraded to Catalina---this might help the glitches on Safari  and Blogger!



Monday, March 23, 2020

EXCUSE ME! It's supposed to be SPRING!

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Thoughtful Moments #6

March 23, 8am...Chicagoland 
SNOW AGAIN?????
STILL????
Forever.........sigh!
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It's not a ton....of snow, but people it is AFTER the Vernal Equinox...start of SPRING???
We have yard work to do...the spruce tree that died late last year, that we didn't deal with because of snow (and we just put Christmas lights on it, on the ground. Hubby got it cut up in the midst of rain and snow the last two weeks. Sigh.....

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NOW, if you wanted a photo of screen---you wouldn't be able to get one this clear, LOL.
The pond is still frozen...and the fisher gal and guy---are waiting....and waiting... and waiting 
 for Spring.

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I use the same setting on my camera for everything---and today it chose to focus on the mist on the window...you can see my planter with the Forsythia...cheering up the porch...HA HA HA!


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Snuggled in the Viburnum bush are our sparrows. 
They were not chirping this morning...
We did have a Robin last week, wonder where he is at, now.

Pinterest original source unknown

I looked for a 'thoughtful' quote,
 and this one just made me laugh! 

No wonder, I'm dragging my heels 
 decorating for SPRING???

Thank you for any and all comments.
Finally I am able to reply to comments by using Chrome. So all you Mac users who have upgraded to Catalina---this might help the glitches on Safari  and Blogger!




Sunday, March 22, 2020

"USE IT UP, WEAR IT OUT, MAKE IT DO, OR DO WITHOUT"

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Our home is full of antiques (enameled fish poacher makes a great space saver planter)...or 'old' stuff. 


I named my blog, "Old,New,Green,Redo",but I should have followed my mom's favorite saying.

We are children of parents brought up during the Depression. They were young adults during wartime; facing stress, shortages and pitching in for the good of all. 

Their generation knew how to stretch a dollar. 
My mom would say,"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." I heard this so many times during my young life, it actually 'sings' a little ditty in my head. 

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I remember material for my first prom dress was bought from grocery savings. We had a lot of casseroles made from chicken necks and half a pound of hamburger. 

I seldom buy anything new and often replace broken or chipped anything by buying the same thing at a thrift store. Why? Mostly because household items made 50 years ago...don't wear out! You seriously have to break something to throw it away! Thrift stores aren't just thrifty, we are saving the planet by reusing items, instead of clogging landfills. A GREEN thing to do. I'm sure Corning Ware would still be solid tossed in a landfill in a 1000 years...buried in tons of garbage. 

Yes, that is 1968 Corning Ware, from the time of our wedding.


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I utilize many OLD items for storage or display. Not just because they are vintage or antique, but because they are practical. Years ago, when my mom-in-law called me and asked, "Do you want the  stash of Blue Mason jars?",  she had always used for canning. I SAID YES!!!

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I keep staples in LARGE blue Mason jars with rubbers and zinc lids. A 1/2 gallon jar holds a large box/bag of pasta. Quarts hold beans, rice, peas! I use them in the refrigerator for nuts, buttermilk mix, flax seed.  Smaller pint jars are great for herbs, sugar cubes, marshmallows, lentils, baking soda, and smaller beans/peas.
I have labels on the back side, when the jar is empty--I easily add it to my grocery list.

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My grandmother's pickling crock is used for pickles in Fall and hides goodies the rest of the time.

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After going through and breaking two sets of everyday dishes in our early married life forty-some years ago. I began to just collect dishes in anything blue and white. Mix and match...this and that. 



I do have red Wachtersbach luncheon plates I found for 99 cents each for Fall and Winter to liven up my table.

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I love these egg cups (my mom's)...1950's Blue Willow...and we use them.

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This morning I'm making Pumpkin Oatmeal-raisin-pecan Muffins with roasted pumpkin from our freezer. My granny's coffee pot makes a great vase. The tablecloth is all cotton, reversible, 
bleach-able and vintage.

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Our fourth-generation family wicker fills our screened in porch. Cushions were recovered with vintage (spotted) tablecloths (I cut around the spots)---homemade piping was made for all of one fabric, backs were made from a Waverly 
discontinued fabric found cheap.
Our sofas in the living room are almost thirty years old...and really need to be replaced. But uncertain times means, we will wait---and we will make it do.

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A vintage cotton tablecloth ($6) was perfect for the settee on the porch.  Only things new here--are the wastebasket, and magazine holder---handmade by myself and my dad. The pillows are covered in ticking or plaid towels. The rocker cushions are from  from tablecloths.

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I've always redone and made do with used furniture. Here I took a $5 table and used it in my shop for ten years. When I brought it home, we reinforced it with a nice deep shelf.

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I love that it is really long and I painted it a neutral tone to match some chairs we had. It's in our nautical/fishing themed family room. The Grand girl gets to play with the doll house (1950's)  
on top when she visits.


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I use a piece of vinyl upholstery on the table top---so she can play hard and she does because the animals living in the house are very busy and raucous!


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Our pillows were all made from souvenir dishtowels of my grandparents and gifts. The sectional is in dark denim...and we love it, and it takes a real beating!

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An end table in the family room is the 1919 trunk my grandmother packed her belongings in when she came to America. I'm sure she had to do without, if everything she owned was in there.


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We have a vegetable garden and can or freeze all our produce.

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Corn relish is a favorite, made from a windfall of sweet corn from my sister-in-law last fall.

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We eat healthy, fresh and from scratch most of the time.

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Pickle relish was another large batch this year, we did as a family. And it is so much better than the glow-in-the dark green relish here in Chicago...what do they use to make it florescent???


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I've posted lots on our tomatoes, a wonderful source of vitamin C.

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Blanching tomatoes!

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Nothing is better than homemade, like spaghetti, or lasagna with home canned tomatoes and zucchini. 

I have no idea how old that funnel is. The old one fits much better than the new plastic ones...! We can so much stuff, we needed two for keeping up filling jars.

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SIGH! 
Remember when the weather was the worst thing we complained about?

We've planted more indoor seed starts for the garden. It's still very cold here in Chicagoland. I've seen snow flurries and white stuff 4 times last week, so everything still has to be in the house. 

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Our new greenhouse gets nice and warm during the day, but nights have been below freezing. The above photo is from May, last year. I hope we don't have to wait that long for everything to go into the greenhouse this year. Our tomatoes, peppers and broccoli need to be transplanted now to big cups. (Notice the reuse of beverage containers) All the shelving was reused from the old greenhouse as was much of the wood framing as well as the metal framing from the failed greenhouse.

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We started 24 pots of Caladiums and 5 huge Elephant Ears, as well as Coleus shown above.We have lots of shade in the yard, and hubby went a bit extravagant in purchasing some bulbs. 
But, I will use them for gifts for friends this summer. 
IF we ever get to visit anyone again.

In talking with friends many are housecleaning, 
projecting, crafting, and organizing in our uncertain time.


HOW are you,

 USING UP, 

WEARING OUT, 

MAKING DO, 

OR DOING WITHOUT?

**IF you wonder why I don't advertise---I think encouraging people to buy new trends causes rampant consumerism-usually of imported goods, and the latest trends end up in landfills. 

Mostly, ADS are annoying!

Thank you for any and all comments.
Finally I am able to reply to comments by using Chrome. So all you Mac users who have upgraded to Catalina---this might help the glitches on Safari and Blogger!

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. I am not reimbursed or given product for any of my opinions, or for use of a product in this blog. 

Thank you for your cooperation, 
Sandi