Mrs. Greenhands - Dandelion Salad

Happy Groundhog Day - a gardeners indication to see if spring will make an a early appearance. During the winter, not much is growing and gardeners are chomping at the bit to get started. Gardening catalogues are flooding in and you are planning your fantastic garden for summer 2016. However, you can probably find dandelion leaves poking their heads up and this is one of the plants that blooms very early in the spring. Here is a recipe using dandelion leaves ... afterall, 

weeds are in the eyes of the beholder.

Pick tender young leaves for salads - before the flowers bloom - they're great mixed with other pungent greens such as cress and arugula, and dressed with a good vinegar. Since the dandelion part of this recipe is so easy, I will also include directions on how to make great vinegar (although this takes 4 weeks to get the full flavor).

Ingredients:

• Dandelion and other pungent greens
• 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• ¼ onion, chopped
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp of your favorite mustard
• 1/2 tsp mayo
• 1-2 cloves of fresh garlic
• handful of pine nuts or sunflower seeds
• salt and pepper to taste
• Garlic croutons (optional)

Directions:

Put all the ingredients, expect greens and eggs, together in a bowl and whisk vigorously until emulsified. Put greens and eggs in large salad bowl and pour mixture over your fresh greens. Gently mix salad until greens are lightly covered. Garnish with garlic croutons if using.

Mrs. Greenhands - Growing Spourts

Now that winter has a firm grip on the Bluegrass, most gardeners are anxious to start planting indoor seeds to produce seedlings for the winter garden. One indoor gardening activity will help feed your appetite - growing sprouts. It is very easy to grow a variety of sprouts, and it is a fun activity for entire family. It requires no special equipment and you don't need any horticultural experience to do it. There will be quick growth, so you won't lose interest. You can eat sprouts five days after starting the project. 

Equipment:

*A glass jar any size (a bigger jar means more sprouts).
*Cheesecloth to cover the jar opening. (You can also buy a special sprouting jar, but it is not necessary).
*A rubber-band to secure the cheesecloth (it needs to be tight).
*Alfalfa, mung bean, clover or other seeds of your choice. (After you have done this a few times, you'll develop favorites).
*Water (Distilled is best, but tap will do).

Instructions:

Day 1

*Cover the bottom of the glass jar with your seeds for sprouting.
*Cover the seeds with 2-3 inches of water.
*Cover jar with cheesecloth.
*Secure with rubber-band.
*Place jar upright in a dark, cool cupboard.

Day 2

*Drain water from jar. (There is no need to remove the cheesecloth, you can rinse and drain through it.)
*Rinse seeds.
*Drain again. (The seeds should just be damp, not standing in water).
*Place jar back in cool, dark cupboard, only this time on its side (this will allow sprouts to grow evenly).

Days 3&4

*Rinse seeds.
*Drain.
*Place jar back in cool, dark cupboard, on its side.
*Repeat several times daily to discourage fungal growth.

Day 5

*Drain water from jar.
*Rinse sprouts well.
*Harvest sprouts.

Why grow sprouts?

Most people don't realize sprouts are full of protein. They are an easy to grow, plant based protein supplement for vegan and vegetarian diets. They make a delicious fresh addition to salads and sandwiches in winter months. By growing your own sprouts, you can have fresh "garden" produce all year. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Mrs. Greenhands - January planted bulbs

If you are like many gardeners, you have visions of beautiful spring bulbs emerging and blooming as the cold winter starts to lessen its hold. You relish the sight of dainty snowdrops, purple crocus, yellow daffodils, pink hyacinths and multi-colored tulips - a sure sign that spring is on the way. You probably bought dozens of dozens of bulbs this fall with visions of gorgeous blossoms for this spring. But like many gardeners, your visions may have been greater than your time and energy to plant the bulbs.

The first thing you need to do is check over your bulbs to make sure they are still healthy. You don’t want them to be soft or show any signs of damage. Just as with fall planting, you want to make sure your bulbs are firm and healthy.So here you are at the beginning of a New Year with dozens of unplanted spring bulbs and you have many regrets about not getting those expense bulbs into the ground. Is it too late to think about planting these bulbs? Not really – as long as the ground is not frozen and you are able to work the soil, then it is not too late to plant these precious bulbs.

Next is preparing the planting beds. Most bulbs are planted in mass for a more visual display when they bloom. Check your bulb packaging for the appropriate planting depths, but a good rule of thumb is as follows: 5 inches for smaller bulbs like allium, crocus and grape hyacinths; 8 inches for medium bulbs like daffodils; and 12 inches for larger bulbs like tulips.

Pick a warm day in between cold spells and dig your bed to the appropriate depth. Loosen the soil in the bottom of the bed and work in some Bulb Booster or another 8-8-8 fertilizer. Space the bulbs in the bed according to the suggestions on the package. Mix the soil removed from the hole with about half organic matter – like compost – and replace half of it over the bulbs. Water the bulbs thoroughly and then add the remaining soil. Water again and then mulch the entire bed with about 3 inches of shredded leaves, pine straw or other available mulch.

January-planted bulbs will normally bloom later than those planted last fall, but most should flower this year. Even if they do not bloom, they will produce green leaves which will help to nourish the bulb for future years.

Mrs. Greenhands - Unusual gardening ideas

During this time of year, especially this year with its mild temperatures, many thoughts turn to garden. Now is the time to start planning what your garden will be for the coming growing season. 

You are probably receiving all types ofgardening and seed catalogs in the meal and your visions are full of all the gardening possibilities.

This year, maybe think more about container gardening. Container gardening gives you some advantages over regular gardening:

1. Contains warm sooner than the ground soil, so you are able to plant some crops sooner.
2. You can place containers where you like them in the garden.
3. Containers are easier to water and maintain than regular garden bed.

There are many things that can be used as a container for gardening: wheelbarrows, old buckets, and old cooking pots, anything that will hold soil can potentially be used to garden with.

One of my favorite items to use in gardening is used tires – either car or tractor tires. They can be used for all types of gardening, or as compost heaps. Place them in the garden, fill with good garden soil and presto, you have an instant garden.

This year I found the pictured flower garden and I have plans to make this for my coming gardens. It is basically several car tires painted different colors and stacked in varying order. When the tires are in the shape you want them, fill with garden soil and plant. Instant beauty and an easy way to have color all through the growing season.

Mrs. Greenhands - Gardening journals

January is a great month for gardening – not digging in the soil or nurturing flowers, but in planning your new gardens with the use of gardening catalogs. At this time of year, gardening catalogs are arriving in mailboxes and email inboxes are full of gardening specials. It is so fulfilling to clip photos and information of new plants and flowers into your gardening notebook or journal.

In addition to including your dreams in a gardening journal, it is worthwhile to record current day to day information from your actual gardens. You can start by including the daily temperature ups and downs as well as the actual weather conditions. You will also want to note the emergence and blooming of each month’s flowers. It is fun to look back from year to year and see when the first crocus or snowdrops bloomed.

If you do not have a gardening notebook or journal, now is the time to start on and fill it with you wishes and expectations for the coming gardening season. Use your journal to plan new garden spaces or to expand current areas with new species of plants, flowers and vegetables. Gardening journals will keep all of your notes for years to come and will allow to you look at your gardening progression throughout the years.

When you have formed a habit of recording the day-to-day conditions of your garden – the plants, the challenges, what you hope for the future – you can start to add articles and research about a new plant you would love to own. As your journaling grows, you will wonder how you were ever able to garden properly without the use of your journals and notes.

Why not make it a gardening New Year’s resolution and start a gardening journal today. If you live in the Bluegrass Region, then you can record the snowfall we are having, as well as the high and low temperatures. When the newest gardening catalog arrives in the mail, plan out a new perennial border or a kitchen garden. Dream of plants to include in current gardens and work up an agenda of how you are going to meet your current gardening goals. Journals are a way of keeping you current in the gardening world and to keep you involved in gardening research.

Spring bulbs are popping up

With the warm spring-like weather we have seen in the Bluegrass Region during December, it is not uncommon to have spring bulbs start popping up out of the ground.

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There are certain bulbs that will make an appearance in the fall as a normal and expected occurrence. Grape hyacinths do it, as well as most bulbs in the Allium family, including garlic. My granny used to tell me the plants were saying, "Don't dig here!'" as we would look for yet another place to put fall-planted bulbs.

Most of us would agree we have had very unusual weather here in the Bluegrass Region. In Kentucky, we had way too much rain in over the course of the spring, summer and fall.

The fall season was beautiful and it stayed warmer longer than usual. We got a nice amount of rain and the gardens perked up. Last week, during the Christmas holiday, it was 60+°F. While unpredictable weather is characteristic of the Bluegrass, this has been a strange year for weather.

No wonder our gardens are confused! With bulbs relying on temperatures to regulate their growth and blooming schedules, many of them just don't know whether to sleep or leap. The crocus are blooming and daffodils, tulips and garlic are up about two inches all over the gardens. Now I’m just going to let Mother Nature take over and protect these super producing bulbs and give me beautiful flowers in the spring.

Mistletoe

Christmas and mistletoes seem to go hand and hand, but did you know that Mistletoe is a parasite? Viscum album or European Mistletoe - the variety found in the Bluegrass - is a hemi-parasitic plant that grows attached to and within the branches of a tree or shrub. It is a poisonous plant that causes acute gastrointestinal problems including stomach pain, and diarrhea along with low pulse.

In the Bluegrass, now that most trees have shed their leaves, Mistletoe can be seen very easily growing high in treetops. Mistletoe grows on a wide range of host trees, which will stunt their growth and can even kill them with heavy infestation.

Mistletoe has sometimes been called the "vampire plant" because it can probe beneath the tree bark to drain water and minerals, enabling it to survive during a drought.

Mistletoe is commonly used as a Christmas decoration. An old Christian tradition said that mistletoe was once a tree and furnished the wood of the Cross. After the Crucifixion, the plant shriveled and became dwarfed to a parasitic vine. According to an old custom of Christmas, any male and female who meet under a hanging of mistletoe are supposed to kiss, hence the reason you see people standing under the Mistletoe.

Although there is no scientific data to support the use of Mistletoe extract as an anti-cancer agent, the extract has been used homeopathically for several centuries. In 2001 Mistletoe extract made headlines in the United States after actress Suzanne Somers used it instead of undergoing chemotherapy following her treatment for breast cancer using surgery.

Mistletoe is also the state flower of Oklahoma.

Living Christmas tree

In order to have a living memory of a particular Christmas, displaying a live Christmas tree not only perks up the season, but provides a tree for your landscape. There are many people who hate to buy a cut tree then turn around and throw it out and many more who do not want an artificial tree.

Select a tree that is right for your climate, soil and light conditions. Be sure to select a tree variety that is hardy to two zones colder than your climate. Most nurseries will tag and hold trees until you're ready to bring them home.

Once you have picked out your live Christmas tree, here are a few hints on how to care and maintain it during the holiday season:

1. Gradually introduce your living tree from outside to inside over three or four days via the garage or enclosed porch. A tree that is dormant and exposed to immediate warmth will start to grow. You want to avoid any quick resumption of growth.

2. While the tree is introduced into the house using your porch or garage, check for critters and insect egg masses as the tree acclimates to an inside environment. Remember that you will need to reverse the process to plant the tree later. Now is also the time to dig a hole for permanent placement in your landscape – digging later may be hampered by freezing soil.

3. Visit your nearest lawn and garden supply store. Purchase a spray with an antidessicant or antiwilt product to minimize needle loss. This particular product will not only reduce needle loss, it will contain the loss of valuable moisture lost to a climate controlled home.

4. Try to locate your tree in the coolest part of the room and away from heating ducts. This will work with the anti-wilt product to keep the tree moist and prevent the loss of valuable moisture that is needed to survive.

5. Place the tree in a large galvanized washing tub including root ball. This tub stabilizes the tree and ball and confines water and needles into a more manageable and cleanable space. It will also contain any mess you might have and limit problems associated with a live tree living inside the home.

6. Stabilize the tree in the tub in a straight and vertical position using rocks or bricks. Water only in the tree's tub container if not a balled-in-burlap tree. Directly water balled-in-burlap tree that fits snugly in the tub container.

7. If balled-in-burlap, fill empty space around and on top of the ball with mulch to retain as much moisture as possible. Then water your tree as often as necessary to moisten the roots but not soggy. Never over water beyond moist.

8. Leave your tree inside no longer than 7-10 days (some experts suggest only 5 days). Never add nutrients or fertilizers as that may initiate growth which you don't want to occur in a dormant tree.

9. Carefully introduce tree back outside using the reverse procedure and plant into the pre-dug hole in the landscape.

You can skip the galvanized tub and stabilization steps if the tree comes packed in a plastic bucket. Remember to protect floor and carpet from water by using a pan. Anti-desiccants and anti-wilt products are sold under the names of Wilt Pruf or Cloud Cover.

Christmas lights do not pose a serious threat to plants; depending on the types of lights and how you use them, however, they can cause some minor damage. Large bulbs can create enough heat to actually burn leaf surfaces, so use only light strands that come with tiny bulbs.