Reaching the halfway point of winter. On Candlemas, which occurred Tuesday, February 2, we reached winter’s halfway point. On this day in February, the Amish in Pennsylvania Dutch country burn a candle in the window all night to celebrate “hump night,” the midpoint of winter. They also checked out their supply of wood to determine whether they had enough to last for the remainder of winter.
Saint Valentine’s day is only a week away. The day of hearts, love, flowers, and chocolate is only seven days away. The choices for Saint Valentine’s Day are great and the stores are well-stocked. The florists and even supermarkets are filled with containers of flowers as well as rose bouquets. Early this week is a great time to order flowers for delivery on Valentine’s Day. There are plenty of alternatives that can replace floral offerings for Valentine’s Day. You can choose from huge assortments or chocolate, including heart-shaped boxes, gift cards from supermarkets, hardware stores, fast food restaurants, and any local business. Always get a small box of chocolates no matter whatever else you give for Valentine’s Day to make it special and romantic as well as unforgettable.
February is winter’s shortest month. With only 28 days, February is the shortest month of winter. Even though it is the shortest, it can also turn out to be the very coldest as we reach past winter’s hump. We can receive a few hefty snowfalls any time during the month. On the brighter side of the month, we can see robins bouncing around on the lawn and dark green spikes of jonquils and hyacinths peeping out of cold soil as well as Valentine’s Day coming at the midway point of the month.
The benefits of hard freezes during February. It seems that in the past few years, the ground does not freeze as many times as it did a decade ago. Maybe this February will bring a few hard freezes to kill of wintering insects and their eggs and larvae as well as wipe out many weed seeds, fungus and harmful organisms in the soil.
Long winter means keeping wiper blades and windshield’s clean. The winter weather surprises of the month of February make it difficult on your vehicle’s windshield and wiper blades. The salt, sand, brine, mud, as well as ice, sleet, and snow that splatter the windshield and windows and make visibility rough. Here are ways to make driving better during winter months. Keep windshield washers filled with deicer mix. Never leave home without cleaning the windshield and all the vehicle windows. Allow vehicle to warm up to prevent windows from fogging up. Clean the wiper blades often during winter. Keep a durable snow and ice scraper with a stiff brush at the other end of the scraper. Brush the hood and top of your vehicle before leaving the driveway. Keep a can of deicer in the glove compartment.
Tough robins of winter bouncing on the lawn. We have seen robins on the lawn all during the month of February with no signs that winter weather is having any ill effects on them. They seem to be doing what they always do-search for a meal. We think they have adapted well to our Southeastern winters where they find plenty of places such as hollow trees, junk cars, old sheds and barns, eaves of house, under outbuildings, in hollow logs. We do not believe it is global warming, but survival of the fittest. Robins have adapted themselves to the best of our winter wonderland.
The month of February is lawn care time. It may be cold, but the lawn of the month of February is dormant which means it is the opportune time to feed lawns before spring arrives next month. Never use 10-10-10 fertilizer on lawns because this is a garden formula. When feeding lawns, use a specially formulated blend just for lawns. There are several varieties designed just for lawns in the Southeastern area. Pick a day during February especially when snow is forecast in the area. Snow will soak the lawn food into the soil and prevent pellets from washing away. Real lawn food is named just that — food. You do not want to fertilize your lawn but feed it. Great lawn food may cost more, but it provides longer lasting results. Always remember, you get what you pay for.
Time to prune trees and grape vines. During February trees and grapevines are dormant. Limbs and branches can clearly be seen with no foliage and you can clearly see areas that need to be trimmed and pruned back. Pruning makes trees and vines look better, bear more fruit, as well as make harvesting easier.
Spraying dormant oil spray on all grapevines and fruit trees. After you have pruned the fruit trees and grapevines, pick a sunny day with no wind in the forecast and apply a layer of dormant oil spray. Mix the proper amount of water to the oil spray and pour into a sprayer. Spray trunk, branches and limbs from top to bottom until they are shiny. It works even better when no rain is in the forecast for several days.
Starting off the 2021 garden year with a bed of red radish. Radish are a tough cold weather vegetable with the shortest of maturity dates of about 45 to 50 days. They are one of the earliest vegetables that can be sown in the garden plot. There are many varieties including Cherry Belle, Easter Egg, and Solaris. Most seed packets say radish will mature in 30 days but we know this is just not true because they usually require two weeks to germinate, so a harvest can be more like 40 days. A packet of radish seed costs about $2 or less. Sow radish seed in a bed or short row about two inches deep and sow thinly. Cover the seed with a layer of peat moss and an application of Garden-Tone organic plant food. Hill up soil on each side of furrow and tamp down with a hoe blade.
Beef Stroganoff. To make this beef stroganoff, you will need one pound of round steak cut against the grain into quarter-inch strips. Cover strips with flour, salt, and pepper and lightly brown in three or four tablespoons of Crisco oil. Add two third cups water and a three ounce can of mushrooms (undrained), stir in one envelope of Lipton Beefy Onion Soup mix. Heat until mixture comes to a boil. Blend in one cup of sour cream and two tablespoons plain flour together. Add this to the beef mixture. Simmer and stir until the mixture thickens. Serve the stroganoff over a pack of cooked Minute or Success rice.
Hoe-Hoe-Hoedown: An old man limped into the doctor’s office complaining that his knee hurt and he could hardly walk. The doctor checked him out from head to toe, paused and said, “How old are you?” The old man told the doctor he was 98 years old. “Just look at you,” the doctor said, “you are almost 100 and your knee hurts. What do you expect for your age bracket?” The patient replied, “Well my other knee is 98 years old and it doesn’t hurt!”
The Almanac for February. Groundhog Day was Feb. 2. The moon reached it’s last quarter on Feb. 4. There will be a new moon on Feb. 11. Lincoln’s birthday is Feb. 12. Valentines Day is Feb. 14. Presidents Day is Feb. 15. Mardi Gras begins on Feb. 16. Ash Wednesday is Feb. 17. The moon reaches its first quarter on Feb. 19. George Washington’s birthday is Feb. 22. The full moon of February will occur on Feb. 27. This moon will be named, “Full Snow Moon.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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