The season of the pumpkin is arriving. Orange is the color of the month of October and it is evident at roadside stands, produce markets, as well as supermarkets in the form of pumpkins in all sizes, shapes, and shades of orange. Pumpkins can also be found scattered on church lawns as fundraisers for many church organizations. You can also find pumpkins at pick-your-own pumpkin patches. This is a fun place to take kids and grandchildren to pick out their own personal jack o’lantern. Many patches have all kinds of fun things for kids to do such as hayrides, petting zoos, refreshments and treats. A trip to the pumpkin patch can be topped off with a trip to McDonald’s for a suppertime treat.
The pumpkin has a great shelf life. Pumpkins are tough and they have a long shelf life. Most pumpkins in the United States are raised in the Midwest and Illinois is one of the largest producers of pumpkins. At this time, most pumpkins for commercial purposes have been or are now being harvested. The pumpkin you place on your porch for harvest decor will endure all the way past Thanksgiving. Pumpkins are members of the squash family, so like the winter squash, pumpkins are pretty tough vegetables.
Jack-Be-Littles and ears of Indian corn. These are two great decorating materials for harvest, Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations and centerpieces. They are now featured in supermarkets and produce markets. Jack-be-Littles are about the size of your fist and bright orange in color. You can paint faces on them or make scarecrow faces and adorn them with tiny straw hats. Jack-be-Littles also make colorful table centerpieces. Indian corn is ornamental and comes in colors of purple, maroon, bronze, tan, and brown. Indian corn can be used as ears or shucked from the cob and scattered on centerpieces. Dried gourds and squash in all sizes and colors make great centerpiece additions.
Making a harvest pumpkin pound cake. Pumpkins make moist pound cakes and are also colorful from Halloween all the way into Christmas. Your family will enjoy this pumpkin pound cake that is easy to prepare. You will need one box of carrot cake mix, one cup water, half cup Crisco oil, four eggs, half cup light brown sugar, one teaspoon vanilla, one can pumpkin, one tablespoon pumpkin pie spices, half teaspoon lemon or orange flavoring. Mix all ingredients together for two minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a tube pan with Pam baking spray. Cut a piece of foil to fit in the bottom of the tube pan and spray it with Pam baking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and cake springs back when touched or cake pulls away from sides of the pan. Cool cake before removing from pan.
A few Christmas cactus plants showing up. A few Christmas cactus plants are showing up at Walmart and Lowe’s and more will show up by month’s end. If you purchase one, go ahead and buy a larger container and a bag of cactus medium and transplant the cactus as soon as you bring it home. The cactus on the front porch have been thriving outside since late April and will be moved to the sunny living room in a few weeks. They should have blooms by late November.
Sounds of acorns falling from mighty oaks. They bounce off the roof of the neighbor’s outside building as the gentle breeze blows each afternoon in autumn. It reminds us of the tin roof at my Northampton County grandma’s house when we were growing up in the 1950s. The acorns were loud as we tried to sleep to the sounds of the acorns pelleting the roof above us. To my grandma, the acorns were a message about what the coming winter may bring. The amount of acorns that fall during autumn would determine whether the winter would be very mild, very hard, or a mixture of both — all depending on how many acorns covered the ground. As kids we harvested acorns in five gallon buckets and sold them to a hog farmer for $1 a bucket. Believe us, they were dollars well-earned!
The curly mustard greens producing the first harvest. The curly mustard greens are now producing their first mess of greens. Boiled until tender and chopped up and served with cornbread and a few shakes of hot pepper vinegar. My mother always seasoned her greens with country ham and made “pot likker” with the liquid from the greens. With chunks of cornbread dropped into the “likker” and it became a meal in a bowl. At our house, we season our greens with light margarine and add a couple of tablespoons of Baco-Bits. It may not have as many calories and fat as grandma’s, but a lot healthier, and you taste flavor of greens, not the grease!
Trimming evergreens in October. The month of October is the best month to prune evergreens and the ideal season to plant new evergreens. New evergreens will not have to contend with warm temperatures drying them out. They will have plenty of winter precipitation to boost them along. Remember that you do not prune evergreens but trim and shape them. Autumn is the best time to do this so they will be sturdy enough to support the strings of lights for the Christmas season.
Keeping a close eye on the turnip harvest. The nippy nights of October should be a good thing for the turnip row or bed. This is a great time to apply a layer of crushed leaves on both sides of the row or bed. Frost will soon be here so you need to cover the turnips with crushed leaves before frost arrives. Check under the foliage to see if small turnips are forming. Thin the turnips if they need thinning out.
Onion sets should be up and off to a good start. The sets should be spiking out of the cool October soil and shooting some green. Once they spike from the soil, apply a layer of crushed leaves between the rows. Feed the onions with liquid Alaska fish emulsion mixed with proper amount of water in a sprinkling can and pour over the onion sets. The onions will quickly respond to this healthy boost.
Cotton picking time in eastern North Carolina. It used to be called “King Cotton” years ago. It is still a big crop in the eastern part of North Carolina as a main crop. If you have traveled to Myrtle Beach during this time of year, you probably noticed many cotton fields along Highway 38. Most cotton is now harvested by machinery. In the 1950s, cotton was picked by hand. Every day after school, we pick cotton until dark for a local farmer. We learned it takes a lot of cotton to make a pound, more to fill a bag, and many bags to make a bale. We also learned a lot about cotton because grandma lived down the hill from a cotton gin, and we watched them gin (getting seed from the cotton) and baling the cotton. There are many materials in today’s fashion world but none like a cotton sheet!
The almanac for October. The month of October begins with a full moon and ends with a full moon. This is a “blue moon” month of two full moons. The first moon of the month occurred on Thursday, Oct. 1, and was names “Full Harvest Moon.” The moon will reach its last quarter on Friday, Oct. 9. Columbus Day will be on Monday, Oct. 12. There will be a new moon on Friday, Oct. 16. The moon reaches its first quarter on Friday, Oct. 23. The second full moon of the month (blue moon), is names “Full Hunter’s Moon,” occurring on Saturday, Oct. 31. Halloween is Saturday, Oct. 31. It is very unusual for a “Harvest Moon” and “Hunter’s Moon” to occur in the same month.
Hoe-Hoe-Hoedown: “Wrong Diagnosis!” — A man walked into the doctor’s office, and the receptionist asked him what he had, “Shingles” the man replied. The receptionist wrote down is name, address, medical insurance information, medical history, and weight, and told him to wait in the examination room. Half hour later, the nurse came in and asked him what he had. “Shingles” he said. So the nurse took his blood pressure, gave him a blood test and an EKG. Then she told him to remove his clothes and wait for the doctor. An hour later, the doctor came in and asked him what he had. “Shingles,” the man replied. The doctor said, “Where?” The man replied, “Outside in the truck, where do you want them?”
An update on the fogs of August. We have the update on the 2020 August fogs, their number and density in relation to snowfall predictions in connection with fog amounts. For our neck of the woods during the first week of August, we only had two light fogs but quite a lot of rain that may have been a factor. On Aug. 8 we had a medium fog, on Aug. 9 there was a heavy fog, Aug. 10 brought a medium fog, Aug. 14 there was a medium fog, Aug. 15 there was a heavy fog, Aug 16 there was a heavy fog, Aug. 28. there was a medium fog, Aug. 29, there was a heavy fog, and on Aug. 31 there was a light fog. For a total, we had five heavy fogs, four medium fogs, and three light fogs. That means according to fog amounts in August, winter will bring five heavy snowfalls, four medium snowfall, and three light snowfalls. According to the foggy predictions, the year will produce a lot of snow.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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