Wednesday, Jan. 6, is the Day of Epiphany. The Twelfth Night, Old Christmas, Epiphany, or The Day of Epiphany. It is the day that we celebrate the arrival of the Wise Men who followed the star that led them to Bethlehem to a house where they found the Newborn King of the Jews, who at this time may have been two years old. We do know according to the gospel of Matthew that they came to a house, not a cattle cave or manger. We don’t know how many Wise Men there were. Many think there were three base on the three gifts they presented to Jesus. The number is not as important as the fact they came after much searching and found the Christ Child.
Will January 2021 bring us much snowfall? Can we expect much of the white stuff in the month of January? There is always a great chance and the possibility that the new year can bring us several hefty snows. Snow in January has quite a few benefits and it will certainly brighten up the new year! It will also excite the kids and grand-kids and it will layer the garden plot with a blanket of white to kill off wintering insects and add nutrients to the soil as well as build up the water table. It would turn the January landscape into a marshmallow world and give us several whipped cream days!
After last month’s blooms, the Christmas cactus gets a break. All the cactus were beautiful as they bloomed in the sunny living room. We were especially proud of our new red one that bloomed in early December. As we move into January, we will remove all spent blooms and apply a layer of Flower-Tone organic flower food and check the foliage as the cactus continue to winter over in the living room, where they keep company with the panda and asparagus fern and snake plant. All they need is a drink of water each week and a layer of Flower-Tone once each month.
Even if we get January snow, the garden plot still has plenty of green in it. Even if we do get some snow in the month of January, the garden plot will still have plenty of greenery in contrast to the whiteness of snow. The green of collards, mustard, Siberian Kale, onion sets, broccoli, turnips, and cabbage will adorn the winter garden. They will pop through 10 inches of crushed leaves with no ill effects from the snowfall. Snow will only sweeten the green of the garden of winter.
An unnoticed begins in January. As January begins, the unnoticed gift of an extra minute of daylight is being received each evening. It is really too early to take note of the difference yet, but each day from now until June 21, we will receive an extra minute. By Saint Valentine’s Days, we will see some difference. It was just a subtle sign of spring even in winter’s longest month.
Red, white, and pink decking up the stores. Saint Valentine’s Day is a month and a half away, and signs of hearts, flowers, balloons, cards, and candies can be seen in Walmart, Target, Lowe’s, Food Lion and many other stores. Displays in florist shops hint that it is the season of the Valentine. The colorful displays are a welcome sight in the blahs after December and the cold of January. Spend a little time checking out Valentine’s displays this week.
Recycling Christmas boxes, bow, and ribbon. Now that all the Christmas decorations have been taken down and stored away, it is a perfect opportunity to gather all the boxes, bows, ribbons and containers that Christmas gifts were wrapped in and break them down and store them up to use during the year for birthdays, showers, as well as next Christmas. You can use a large box to store ribbons and bows as well as Christmas bags. If you have rolls of Christmas gift wrap, store these rolls in the same box along with the bows and ribbons. Many stores still have rolls of Christmas wrap for less than half price.
Weeds are a menace to the garden in all seasons. Many weeds do not take a break because of winter. Some weeds that thrive all year are chickweed, Bermuda grass, wild onions, nut grass, crab grass, and other weeds. Chickweed is easy to control because it has shallow roots that can easily be pulled up. Bermuda grass grows all winter and can be pulled up along its long root system. Be sure to toss it out of the garden so it won’t sprout again. As wild onions spike up in the lawn and garden, use the weed trimmer and cut them down to ground zero to slow their growth. The very best week control is the two hand and ten fingers that God gave you!
A recycling resolution for the new year. As the year of 2021 begins, make recycling one of your priorities in the new year. The task of recycling can prevent a lot of materials thrown in the trash carts from filling the landfills. You can do your part to protect the environment by recycling aluminum cans, plastic milk cartons, cardboard boxes, newspapers (bundled up), plastic bottles, foil plates, metal cans, glass jars, catalogs and phone books. Clean all cans and bottles and remove labels. Clean all cans and place lids in the cans and mash them shut for safety reasons.
Checking 2021 seed catalogs as new year begins. The 2021 seed catalogs have all arrived, and with the holidays over, we can have a look at what the seed offerings of the garden year of 2021. Almost every season we can be sure there will be several varieties of new tomatoes that may be worth experimenting with. The most important thing to remember about ordering from seed catalogs is to purchase only those varieties that you can’t find locally at seed stores, nurseries, and garden shops. Most seed catalog packets only have 20 to 30 seeds in them. You also have to pay shipping, handling, and sales tax fees. One thing that seed catalogs offer is a huge selection of cucumber and squash varieties as well as a great selection of flower seed. Never buy seed by looking at the pictures (like you would on any packet of seed you would purchase at a seed shop or hardware store).
Get your 2021 edition of Blum’s Almanac. One thing you can do as the new year begins, is to purchase your 2021 edition of Blum’s Almanac, which is their 193rd edition. You can buy them at local hardware stores, supermarkets, and book stores. The almanac has interesting articles, information, weather predictions, recipes, fishing calendars, moon phases, astronomy events, moon planting signs, eclipses of the sun and moon, sun rises and sunsets as well as moon rises and sets, the morning and evening stars and planets that are visible in the night sky. The whole year of helpful information in one book.
Making a chocolate chip cheesecake. This is an easy rich chocolate cheesecake and a great recipe to start the new year. You will need:
2 cups finely crushed Oreo chocolate cream cookies (run through blender)
1/4 cup melted Crisco shortening
3 eight ounce packs of softened cream cheese
14 ounce can Eagle Brand condensed milk
3 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 cup mini chocolate chips (divided)
1 teaspoon plain flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cookie crumbs and melted Crisco. Place in a nine inch pie pan and press down firmly to form the crust. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy, gradually beat in the Eagle Brand condensed milk until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Toss one half cup of mini chocolate chips into cheese mixture. Pour into the prepared pie crust, sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top. Bake for 55 minutes until center is firm. Cool and refrigerate several hours. Keep leftovers refrigerated.
Hoe-Hoe-Hoedown: “The right Miss Right” – Jamie: “Why are you going out with that plain Jane girl?” Wally: “Well, she’s a lot different from all the other girls I’ve met.” Jamie: “In what way is she so much different?” Wally: “The fact that she’s willing to go out with me!” “Biting the bullet” – Doctor: “What seems to be wring with little Mickey today?” Parent: “We think he swallowed a bullet!” Doctor: “Well for goodness sake, please stop pointing him at me!” – Policeman: “I clocked you doing 96 miles per hour sir. Is anything wrong?” Motorist: “Yes officer, I forgot to plug in my speed radar detector.”
The Almanac for January 2021. New Year’s Day was Friday, Jan. 1. The moon reaches its last quarter on Jan. 6. The Day of Epiphany is Jan. 6. Elvis Presley’s birthday is Jan. 8. The new moon of January is Jan. 13. Benjamin Franklins birthday is Jan. 17. Martin Luther King’s birthday is Jan. 18. The moon reaches its first quarter Jan. 20. There will be a full moon on Jan. 28 and the name of this full moon will be, “Full Wolf Moon.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com