California - What are you doing this month?

Turan,  You will be in the heart of mini farms and vineyards!  Close to Growing Your Greens. And only 30 minutes north of Baker Creek Seed Bank.  I think it is worth the side trip just to see that many racks of seeds.
This is just part of the racks.  There is also an interesting basement.
I little drive east then south on highway 12 is neat, garden-wise, with a touch of Hippyville.

I went with DH to ride in his Razor dune buggy.  It was great to get out of the red hazard air pollution.  I posted a photo of looking down at the Valley under Local Woods.  Me bundled up, especially the front of my neck and chin.

DH and his baby:

There were signs of the drought along the drive. Dead oaks and pines, brown grass. Sniff

How fun!  We are a 4 wheeling family.  Our kids have Toyota Land Cruisers set up for off road.  We go up above Shaver and camp with a group each summer.  Fun times 

Just above Shaver on 168 is a staging area.  Tamarack?  Is that where you go?

My cousin in Westminster reported that they had rain yesterday and last night.   I had to water the greens and cabbage.  I finally got the oranges peeled and sliced and they are in the dehydrator now.  We are fighting ants so I set up a a 4-legged stand of kiddie glasses and an old baking pan with DE and cinnamon sprinkled around the glasses.

Yes, at that staging area, a road heads back into the hills.  About a 15-20 minute ride in, is a wilderness campground we use that can hold about 100 people.  We do off road runs up Bald, and to some of the little lakes up there.  It's great, dusty, crazy fun.  Hubby and I weren't able to do it last year as our trailer door was broken.  

The lengths we go to try to outsmart the common ant!

Hello! I'm new to the forum so I read the least couple of months. Now I'm ready for spring and getting a better schedule based on the knowledge here. Sanderson...any update on when the online class might get started again?

Welcome, Barbara!  I was just in Fresno today and saw irises blooming at a shopping center.  I couldn't believe it since it's so early.  These are the winters that tease you into starting early and then you end up with a late, hard freeze!  

I know I need to start thinking about what I'm going to start and when, but it still doesn't feel like we've had winter to even be thinking about it yet!

Hi, Barbara, Welcome to the Forum!   Please go to the Home Page to "Introduce Yourself."  What are your hopes, dreams and experiences with SFG?

PS:  I will let Belinda know you want to take the course.

Just received an email from Belinda.
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/teach/

Hi Barbara!  Welcome from Atlanta, GA!!

I haven't been able to do anything outdoors.  First 7 days of red hazard pollution.  Then Tuesday, I had the annual torture x-ray so I thought I would make a visit to Kristina's, Fresno's oldest health food store, to buy raw milk for the lawns, and a trip to a 99 Cent store to see what gardening supplies may be on sale.  I wore my face mask to the first 2 places but not in the busy 99 Cent store.  Probably where I picked up the cold.  I found the perfect little garden fences to use around the Dragon Tongue beans, 99 cents for each 4' length. url=https://servimg.com/view/18260475/860][/url]
Also found talc-based baby powder for ants. The baby powder DH just bought was corn starch based. Times change. Bottles of spices for 99 cents. Purple garden kneeling pads.

I picked the snow peas on Tuesday (I was really friskie that day), blanched for 2 minutes, chilled and froze. They were really sweet - must be the cold, cool weather. The garlic I planted New Years is sprouting! It's a second generation from grocery garlic I bought last year. I also ate a teeny piece of raw garlic and discovered that it is hot! Had no idea because I've only eaten cooked garlic. Still need to go through my seeds, order what I want or need, and update my Excel list. And, the most critical, fill out the plot plan for what I want to plant and where.

And get over this stupid cold with all the sneezing, runny eyes and runny, sore nose.

So sorry to hear you're miserable :-(  With the terrible air quality, I had what I thought might be an eye infection but turned out to be really bad allergy reaction.  

It just dawned on me 6 weeks from now is possible last frost (full last frost is March 15th) so I better get cracking on starts.  Perhaps over the weekend or next week.

I've been spreading my new compost a little each day on the landscaping.  Generally two wheelbarrow loads is a day's work.  

Fun stuff at the dollar store.  I wonder if the border would be enough to keep the cats out of the new bed which is already about 16" off the deck?  What do you think?

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:Fun stuff at the dollar store.  I wonder if the border would be enough to keep the cats out of the new bed which is already about 16" off the deck?  What do you think?

If a width of plastic was clipped to the frames all around the bed, like boffer does to keep his kitties out.

Thanks for the co-misery. Made that word up. It's hard to think with a runny nose, sneezing and watery eyes.

sanderson wrote:

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:Fun stuff at the dollar store.  I wonder if the border would be enough to keep the cats out of the new bed which is already about 16" off the deck?  What do you think?

 If a width of plastic was clipped to the frames all around the bed, like boffer does to keep his kitties out.

Thanks for the co-misery.  Made that word up.  It's hard to think with a runny nose, sneezing and watery eyes.

I'm not sure I understand "a width of plastic" do you have a link?

I looked at pests, pets, critters and cats and could not find the photo that BOFFER posted.  Maybe BOFFER will see this and post the photo here!! If you have a 4 x 8' bed, it will take a long strip of a total of 64' length X 1' wide. Clothes pins, etc. to clip it to this type of fencing. Or, a little longer strip to binder clip it to vertical EMC or PVC supports. I think Boffer's may be a little over 1' in width and it's doubled if I remember the photo good enough.

sanderson wrote:I looked at pests, pets, critters and cats and could not find the photo that BOFFER posted.  Maybe BOFFER will see this and post the photo here!!  If you have a 4 x 8' bed, it will take a long strip of a total of 64' length X 1' wide.  Clothes pins, etc. to clip it to this type of fencing.  Or, a little longer strip to binder clip it to vertical EMC or PVC supports.  I think Boffer's may be a little over 1' in width and it's doubled if I remember the photo good enough.

Here is the thread, about 2/3 the way down from the top of page two.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t18518p16-pnw-september-2014


Wow, you can copy a picture from one thread into another.  So this is the close up of Boffer's table top showing his set up for keeping his cats out of the bed.
Boffer wrote, "Yes, strips of plastic cut from scraps.  Ugly, but they keep my cat out of my TTs."

Curse this cold, it should have been 24+', not 64+'.  Thanks, Boffer.  It also looks like the plastic is only a few inches up the vertical supports; the rest is down over the wood sides so the cat can't jump to the edge and then over!

Boffer,  Can you post your photo and explain under this thread?  Thank you so much
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t6000p128-cats-in-your-garden?highlight=cats

Sweet, CHEAP and simple, thanks for posting it.  I'm planning to put hoops on my new beds anyway.  I may decide to put shade cloth on them during the summer since we have such ridiculous heat and intense sun.

Here we are in our "winter."  50*F, cloudy, overcast, misty.  At least the Air Quality Index is down from 150+ to 55.  Much, much better.

I fed the worms this evening, watered the beds and hybrid compost pile.  Too cold to do anything else, like clean up. However, it is a perfect time to go through the seeds, toss older ones, buy new ones.  (OSH has 2015 Renee's Garden seeds in so I am guessing HD, Lowes, and nurseries have their 2015 stock.)  Go though the catalogs and order seeds for those special varieties I just have to try this year.  Get serious with the plot plan.  Also, a perfect time to hit the Dollar and 99 Cent stores for gizmos and gadgets.

Got the dehydrator all cleaned up.  Need to check the canner/pressure cooker.  Maybe upgrade the wood-framed shelves for the summer outdoor dehydrator boxes.  I'm thinking of custom ordering small metal-framed window screens so I can immerse them for cleaning after use.  In 2 weeks, I will get the T8 lights out and see if they work.  Assemble the PVC frame from which the lights hang.  Since I moved the 2 newest table tops, I need to get the drip systems hooked back up.

February will be here before we know it.

Just arrived home to 75 Deg. weather (from Elk Grove, Ca.-50 deg.) NOT GOOD!!! if this heat wave keeps up, my 17 fruit trees will start budding too early. Two years ago that happened and all the fruit set too soon, and were hammered by a late frost- lost 70% of the fruit  I wound up with a lot of empty canning jars that season.

YS,  I'm so sorry.  I hope it cools off for you.  It sounds like you are a serious canner.  How many do you put up in a good year?

Audrey,  I'm impressed you got your pile turned in this cold.  The pile temps sound encouraging.

Someone asked if California was still in a drought mode.  I'm sorry I forgot who.  I can only speak for the central valley part.  So. Cal and far northern Cal have received rain while Central Cal hasn't.  So far, we have received 2-3."   A recent forecast was 20% chance of 2 days of rain in February.    Not very encouraging.

Right now it's foggy, damp or misting, no sun.  The solar panel meter is rolling the wrong way!  I keep looking at the neighbors' trees that are boxing me in.  I sure hope the one to the West really goes through with having it removed.  I've got exciting ideas for that side of the yard if she does.

I started going through my seeds this morning and it's amazing how many packets I'm tossing.  Some I'll never grow again (beets), some I don't have room for (Lima, peas, and black-eye peas).  Lettuces from 2013 season.

I may not be buying anything from the catalogs this year.  I wanted to try banana peppers this year but got the free seeds from Praxxus.

My wife does the canning, and calls it quits after 24 quart jars of apple butter,as well as plum, aprium, and apricot jams. What fruit we don't use, we hand out to the neighbors; the apples we hold in refrigeration or freeze for pies. I grow way more than we can consume, but sharing is good.

Tuesday's gentle rain = 0.21" for a season total of 3.4". Normal for a full season is 11.5". Beautiful sunny day, so I guess I have no excuse to stay inside.

I have had birds digging up my beds this winter - I haven't had that before.  Before I can plant, I'm going to need to make low tunnel covers for my new raised beds then I intend to direct sow in them.  That will keep my all-to-curious cats out of the beds as well.

I'm going to have to send hubby to the hardware store and get it done in the next week or so.  Geesh, I feel like I'm running out of time already and it hasn't even really been a winter yet.  

I'll cover my tunnels with 6 mil for starting and finishing the year and may cover with shade cloth during the worst of the summer. It's interesting to see how much larger my lettuce is inside of my greenhouse compared to outside. They really do like the warmer day and night time temps in there. I can make a pair of mini greenhouses out of the 4x8's for the not so delicate things and keep the most sensitive in my double greenhouse set up in the main one. I've only had to double cover for less than a week this entire winter. I do that when it drops below 37 or so at night.

Okay, I got 8, 2' x 8" window box planters started with several squash varieties, several cucumber varieties, lettuce, radishes, tomatoes (already growing), basil, lemon grass, fennel, and I can't remember what else planted. They are in my greenhouse. I was TERRIBLE at putting my seedlings out during the day and remembering to bring them in at night and I don't have room to start them under grow lights so this is just plain easy. Today is 6 weeks prior to our last frost date, though we might have already had our last frost as warm as this winter has been.

How about anyone else? What are you up to?!!

Well, I'm in Sac this weekend.  I haven't started any seeds knowing I had this trip.  Maybe next week.  DH made a Gwennifer rolling TT for oldest son.  He bought tiny trowels for his 2 little sons!  So cute.  I'll take photos when we get it filled tomorrow.