Things to Do In January

Chickens

• Begin adding light

Events

• Look for rodeo events at http://www.lonestarrodeocompany.com/lonestarhistory.html to see when they will be around

Harvest

• Check to see if temperatures are good for black walnut sap harvesting

Infrastructure

• Build garden beds

Livestock

Breeding Table

	Breeding Date	Birth Date	Breeding Date	Birth Date
Mare	Jan 1	Dec 6	Feb 1	Jan 6
Cow	Jan 1	Oct 10	April 1	Jan 8
Ewe	Jan 1	May 30	Sept 1	Jan 26
Sow	Jan 1	April 22	Oct 1	Jan 20

One Hour or Less Activities

• Take pictures
• Trim up a tree
• Mulch a tree
• Put away cardboard
• Save dog & chicken food bags

Planting

• Blueberries should be planted while dormant, usually from November through March
• Indoors
• Flowers: Dianthus, pansies, snap dragons 
• Veggies: Cabbage, broccoli, onions, leeks (plant out in march), lettuce
• Prune
• Fruit Trees
• Blooming
• Petunia Cuttings taken in August may bloom now

Prune Fruit Trees

• When the temps are going to be below or close to freezing
• When the south or west side is not going to have sap flow

Snow Considerations

• If heavy snow, brush off of shrubs with a broom to prevent damage

Wildlife

• Put out nesting boxes so they will be weathered and ready for early nesting birds

January 31

2006

Gardening in the High Desert
Business trip every week for 3 weeks has not been good for growing seeds. They are surviving, but are lanky and leggy and no true leaves, yet. Toms need potting on. On MG [Morning Glory] died. Other one is not happy. I am thinking of planting it with our ficus inside. Sweet potato is very happy. Using up a cup of water every 2-3 days. Someone watered the ficus very well while I was in Baltimore. Excellent.

Seeds and catalogs from southwestern gardens came today. Will need to order more from them. Prices good, very fast shipping, and a good selection of short season veggies. Also, lots of high desert plants - sages, grasses and such. Wish I'd thought to bring it on the plane with me today.

Saw a nice light, water, PH, ferti. gauge at Charlie's Geenhouse. $35. I will probably get it. I wonder how deep the probe goes.

Good thing we are both employed with lots of over time - putting in/buying all of our infrastructure items.

Garden Bench Considerations

• Fit my height
  
• Peg board back
  
• Potting soil storage
  
• Hose and gravity fed sink
  
• make small hose long enough
  
• side windbreaks that fold against the back?
  
• shade - how?
  
• skids for ATV mobility - secure hooks for pulling
  
• fits through gates
  

Accomplishments

• Back [of back yard fence] done and part of east side. Jake [our Weimaraner] will step over MDH's string lines, but Mauly [our Dobie] will go all the way around. MDH says it's because she's done a number of "nose plants" into the ground [presumably by tripping]
  
• Bird seed on tray has either blown away or been eaten. I would guess, with our winds, they've blown far and wide. We'll see what sprouts.
  
• I left the laundry room lights on, but they are too far away to feed my little solar seedlings. Going to try put them under fluorescent lamp until I get a grow light. Need a cheap grow light frame.
  
• Toilet paper roll temp housing for toms that desperately need potting on
  

January 30

2010

Gardening in the High Desert

• Freshened up coop with half a bale of pine shavings
  
• Filled bird feeder. Little birds making all kinds of noise hiding in the old Christmas tree
  
• Hurried to put food and water under cover for the chickens
  
• Imbolc is this week - the halfway point between winter and spring
  
• Old seeds still seem to be quite viable
  
• no more peat pots - I have advanced to sowing seeds in flats and transplanting. This works for items that transplant well, anyways. Going to have to figure out how to deal with MG's [Morning Glories], however.
  

January 29

Weather Forecast: Weather Actual: Journal Entry: Accomplishments: To Do:

January 28

Weather Forecast: Weather Actual: Journal Entry: Accomplishments: To Do:

January 27

2007

Gardening in the High Desert

19:36

Lovely warm day

• Granddaughter and I filled the bird feeders
  
• Watered hybrid poplars on north side of metal building
  
• Watered fruit trees using 15 gal ATV tank as [the] water to [the] far back [area] is still frozen - about 5 gal per tree and 15 gal to the large apple tree
  
• Returned some library books last week and got more. P Alan Smith is becoming my next favorite author after Derek Fell, as far as gardening stuff goes
  
• Fruit trees appear to be doing well - no dead looking branches or buds so far
  
• Two [bearded] irises exhibit some frost heaving, but the rest look good
  
• More seed catalogs have arrived to seduce me. I am trying very hard to resist; I have way enough seeds!!!
  
• Trying to learn more about my houseplants
  
• Snow still hanging on on the north side of the house, metal building and back yard fence
  
• Basils and garlic are well represented in this year's catalogs - awesome!
  
• Daughter brought our brought our 1994 garden journal home - awesome and way cool.
  
• Taped some bulb package labels into my journal [2012 Note: I don't know where I taped them as they are NOT in the journal that I am currently transcribing]
  
• Scanned the journal [from 1994] that my daughter found
  
• Rotated ficus this afternoon and opened the drapes for it
  
• The herb growing containers I bough don't have drain holes and are not very big. I hope the plants will be ok. Have to be very careful with the watering.
  

January 26

Weather Forecast: Weather Actual: Journal Entry: Accomplishments: To Do:

January 25

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January 24

Weather Forecast: Weather Actual: Journal Entry: Accomplishments: To Do:

January 23

2006

2012

2006

1:03 AM

Gardening in the High Desert
Germination:
5 of 8 Sweet Baby Girl Cherry Toms
7 of 8 Mortgage Lifter Toms [1/31/2006 - one more germ'd]
Snapdragons germinated but did not survive my [business] trip
6 of 8 Steak Sandwich Toms [1/31/2006 - one more germ'd]
2 of 4 Morning Glory - Heavenly Blue
One Steak Sandwich Tom did not lose seed shell

21:54

Skinny, spindly, leggy seedlings. That's what I get for starting seedlings and not being there to see them sprout. Removing the cover & leaving the lights on seem to have helped. Need to find my grow light.

Can I start spinach yet? I've read it will grow in partial shade and tolerates frost.

Onalee says my lavender and white moon flowers have shipped. [2012 - Note - Seeds from both the lavender and white moon flowers were successfully grown out in the summer of 2011 from the 5 year old seed]

2012

Gardening in the High Desert
Weather: Snowed on the overnight
Traffic: 2 1/2 hours to get to work
Looks like it will be warming up so that the snow will all melt. Trees getting some sweet water today.

January 21

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January 20

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January 22

2006

2008

2011

2006

Gardening in the High Desert

Seed Orders

Bought 200 seeds of a lavender moonflower.  Never seen lavender ones advertised before.  [Finally got a few blooms in 2011 from a rabbit ravaged vine.] [Purchased from Onalee's Seeds] Also bought a few more seeds.  We'll see.

D has put up 10 more fence posts and is out of concrete now.

Should I get a Mantis Tiller? [2011-11-18 I did not, and I'm glad I didn't.  The sand is easy enough to just hoe up, and I do not have that big of a plot.]

Ordered some [used] "backyard bird" and "backyard wildlife" books from Amazon.com.  Had so much fun watching birds and such with my brother at his house.  Ordered a bird ID book, too.

From Onalee's Seeds - $27.50 Onalee@aol.com

• $15.00 - Impomoea Alba - White Moon Flowers
• $12.50 - Impomoea Turbinata - Lavender Moon Flowers

Plants of the South West $28.50 (Rec'd 1/28/2006)

• $2 - Lemon/Apple Cukes [2011-11-18 - Grew this in 2011 - seeds still viable - did not check germination rates, but it was over 50%
• $8 - High Desert Wildflower Mix 1 ounce
• $5 - 2 Pkt Blue Gama Grass
• $2 - Yellow Pear Tomato [2011-11-18 - These were also still viable in 2011]
• $2 - Sugar Snap Peas
• $2 - Mexico Miget Tomato [2011-11-18 - These were also still viable in 2011]
• $5 - Shipping

Prairie Garden Plant Ideas

(medium tall)

• Butterfly weed
• Columbine
• Cream False Indigo
• Narrow leave purple cone flower
• Nodding pink onion
• Orange Cone Flower
• Prairie Smoke
• Prairie Spiderwort
• Purple Con Flower
• Purple Prairie Clover
• Western Spiderwort
• Wild Petunia
• White Aster
• Prairie Dropseed Grass
• Blue Sky Aster (short)
• Downy Sunflower (tall)
• Little Blue Stem Grass
• Prairie Blazing Star
• Blue Gama Grass
• Big Blue Stem
• Prairie Sage
• Common Ox-eye

[2011-11-18 Note: Need to check if they are on the state "invasive" list.  Also, need to see what is poisonous to livestock, incase some escape from the "Prairie" to the "Pastures."]

Prairie Garden Tips

• Grow some samples in know places so you know what the seedlings look like
• Photograph samples for future 

Sweet Potato Storage

• Wash/Dry
• Grease with crisco, prick w/fork
• Bake 350*F until done
• Let cool & then wrap in foil (regular)
• Put in plastic bag and freeze

To Use

• Run under hot water and peal
• Prep as if fresh boiled
• Or microwave and will be like fresh baked

2008

Gardening in the High Desert
Need to start tracking weather in N TN and S Ky.

Remember: Procrastination Kills Plants!

2011

Gardening in the High Desert

00:46

I swear it feels like the tomatoes grew 2 inches in the last few days. Looks like the weather will be warm enough to put them outside a spell again.
Started, yes, more tomatoes. Also started some peppers. 12 weeks ahead of transplant time - just about right. Tomes will be leggy for sure, by then. But still, the more important thing is that they'll be old enough to start flowering as soon as they're in the ground. And set fruit before the scorching season arrives. Hopefully sunflowers will shaw and contain them.

22:17

Got so much done today; it was a good day for gardening

• Toms and basil and some ivy went outside
  
• Potted up some more basil from lettuce tray
  
• Potted sweet potato cutting in old Jack In The Box cup and put in a [decorative] tin pot
  
• Brought small daffs in for forcing
  
• Turned compost
  
• Hoed under some weeds in future beds
  
• Can't believe how much bigger the transplanted basil is
  

January 02

2011

Gardening in the High Desert.
Always with the grand schemes and plans for the new garden - but really how many of those dreams actually come true? So many things on the "To Do List" left undone. "This you will be different," I always say, but will it? I am determined to at least do better each year. Last year was better than the year before, and by many measures, my best year yet - ever. Keep striving, keep heading towards an ideal, clear vision, a plan, and ruthless execution - the keys to good project management and attainment of goals.

Snow in subfreezing temps followed by mild day daytime temps should encourage weed seeds to germinate in the new beds. Then I can hoe them under, letting their tiny leaves and roots enrich the sandy sand and help turn it to dirt.