Flowers (annual and perennial), Vegetables

Hardening Off

Have you bought plants at the greenhouse, set them out in the garden or flowerbed and they died? It is the same as you wintering in your house then going outside on a nice spring day and ending up with one heck of a sunburn. Plants are the same in which they will get burnt by the sun because their tissues are soft from growing in a protective environment. Wind will whip their stems along with “burning” their soft leaves. The solution is called “hardening off” where you gradually toughen the plant.

Set them in dappled shade for a couple of days then move them to a sunny place for a couple of more days. Take them inside if the night gets under 50 degrees. Make sure to water them every day. I use a cold frame to place the plants after growing under lights in the house. Gradually I place the plants into another cold frame in the sun. If the nights get cold, I cover the boxes.

If you are in a hurry, make sure you plant on an upcoming cloudy, cool day or several cool days. My mother used to place cutout coffee cans around the little plants to shade and protect them from cutworms. Some use a couple of shingles placed on the south and west of the plant.

Growing vine crops is easy. I start the seeds indoors in 3 or 4-inch peat pots. As soon as they emerge, I move them out to the cold frame. After they get their first or second true leave, I move them to the garden.

Rural life

Wood Cooking

There is nothing like using wood when you are grilling. Wood cooking goes back to the stone age. Now it has become an art. Using different types of woods gives different flavors to what you are cooking or smoking.

Like slow cooking hickory being a hardwood stands up to large cuts of meat like briskets and whole fowl. It has a spicy, smoky profile giving the strongest, smokey taste.

  • Oak is a level below hickory for smoky flavor. Good for any meat which you want a smoky flavor.
  • Maple is good for vegetables especially corn on the cob. It gives a mild, sweet flavor. Sugar maple is used mainly for turkey.
  • Alder is milder than hickory and gives smaller cuts of meat particularly fish a subtle flavor.
  • Applewood gives a mild, sweet flavor to white meats like pork, poultry, and fish.
  • Cherry like apple gives a sweet, fruity flavor to lamb, beef, and gamey meat. Also great for steak.
  • Pecan gives more of a nutty flavor which is good for chicken.
  • Mesquite is the most concentrated, earthly smoke you will have. Like hickory, used for large cuts of meat.
  • Apricot is like hickory but not as strong and sweeter.
  • Black walnut and chokecherry have a bitter flavor. They are used to mix with other woods.
  • Citrus wood will give a milder, fruity flavor compared to an apple or cherry.
  • Lilac is used in Europe for smoking cheeses. It produces a mild, sweet smoke that goes well with poultry and pork.
  • Plum and pearwood give a fruity, mild flavor.
  • What some of you do not know is cottonwood can be used to give a mild smoke for those that do not have a strong smoky smell or taste. The Sioux used cottonwood to remove some of the gamey taste of the bison meat. As with all woods, avoid greenwood.

How much smoke do you want is often a trial by error. So before cutting any hardwood tree down, maybe you might make use of wood by placing it in your grilling recipe.

Landscaping decor

Solar Outdoor Accent Lights

Solar outdoor accent lights have come a long way from the simple path lights. The lights are brighter, coming in changing colors, and the batteries last longer.

The advantages of solar lights are that they can be placed anywhere as long as they are in full sun during the day.

The disadvantage is that my solar light works for maybe a year and needs a battery replacement. I went to the low voltage lighting, but solar lights have their use.

Their use of pathway lighting adds to curb appeal. They increase security and reduce injury from tripping on something. Path lights come in the usual light on a stake, one that looks like a rock that shines from the side, and the flickering ones looking like a flame.

Solar floodlights and spotlights come with a motion detector that can be mounted or placed around the home. The floodlights without the detector can be part of the landscaping accented to certain flowerbeds or trees. I used a few floodlights in a flowerbed with white flowers creating a moon garden.

String lights can be hung from trees, along with the patio, and under gazebos for a party-like or romantic atmosphere depending on the hues of the lights. Just make sure the solar receptor is placed in sunlight.