Saturday, February 07, 2009

Squirrel and gardening

I've written about the cute red squirrels here before.  We saw our second squirrel!  Yesterday we went out for a walk in the drippy weather.  Usually I take the children out by myself in the mornings, and that's Will time to get something done at home.  This week he's been going with us more, and it's so much fun!  As we were going through a wooded part of the park, he was telling Jaan and Raia about "the dangerous wild animals that live there."  Then every time they would look away, he'd throw something through the trees to make noises.  Jaan, Raia and I sneaked away to explore a little area very thickly planted with young pine trees.  Right away we saw a squirrel!  And at the same time, Will randomly threw a huge stick and almost hit it.  We were very upset with him!  But the squirrel didn't seem to mind.  We followed it around and watched it for a while.  I went back out onto the path to where Asya was waiting in the stroller, and Will went off to try and get pictures of the squirrel.  He ended up chasing it right out in front of us.  Asya was thrilled.  It wasn't very afraid and hopped around in front of us for a while, before wandering off.  What a wonderful adventure to brighten up a grey day!

And then gardening. . . in Russia, when we got to weather like this, I would be itching to start planting something.  Here, I felt like there was hardly any winter, and even through the weather feels like spring should be coming, I hadn't been feeling like it was time to plant yet.  But now I do!  There's a fun site that gives lists of what should be planted each week.  I don't know what our official frost dates are, but I've heard that the weather here is about like Ohio, so I randomly chose a zip code in Ohio (45211), with frost dates of April 29 and October 13, and I've checked with those a few times.  Today I got my first list of what to start this week: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, head lettuce, onion seed, parsley.  Now I'm excited. I definitely want to grow some of those!  According to this nice chart, it's still a little early to plant, but I think we'll try anyway.

About the climate: in Kovrov, our weather was almost exactly the same as what my aunt in Vermont observed.  Who has the same weather as us now?  Has anyone been comparing?  I've been thinking that I could go back through the Wunderground.com temps and figure out my own last frost dates, but I haven't had time yet.  (If I had a child old enough, I'd assign him the job. )

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want to grow tomatoes and cilantro and maybe a few herbs. Any recommendation on what type of tomato and what my frost dates are?

Anonymous said...

How exciting to "hear" you talking about gardening! Although I have not checked your frost dates, I had been of the impression your weather fairly closely matched Tennessee and North Carolina; I guess I was too far south. Are the seeds you want readily available?

I just finished planting the blue sage and red salvia we had bought last weekend to have something for hungry butterflies to nectar on. Since we have had freezing weather this week, the plants have been indoors, but I decided I can cover them if the cold returns.

We love each of you.

Baba Julie said...

Hi, Phyllis! Today, our high is supposed to be 62 and it will be 68 tomorrow!! So, I think we are definitely approaching Spring! I've already seen Daffodils up, but I doubt they'll survive the cold we had this past week. Have fun and keep us posted on how the gardening goes! Love, Julie

Agape said...

That's really interesting and exciting, Phyllis. I can't wait to see what you produce. For the record I grew up in Ohio- 45231. : )

Barb said...

Hi Phyllis,

I love your entry and your enthusiasm for gardening! I wanted to pop over to thank you for your comment on the Handbook of Nature Study blog today. Please feel free to jump in with the OH Challenges whenever you feel like it.

This entry would be great for the squirrel challenge and please add any other entries where you that talk about what your family does for nature study.

I have always loved your blog. :)

Thanks for leaving a comment.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Stephanie in AR said...

Thank you for that link! The ice storm & power loss has put us behind in starting seeds but this site should help us get back on track.

Anonymous said...

I remember what I was doing 8 years ago today. Happy Anniversary, Phyllis and Will. It seems like just yesterday that I was eating my own delicious sour cream whole wheat pound cake and devouring Bernie's home made, very hot, salsa. What strange things to bring to a wedding reception!

May you have many more wonderful years of marriage. I doubt if you will still be around when your mother and I celebrate our 126th, but if you are, I'll bake another pound cake. That will be the year I get to execute our prenuptial agreement.

Love,
Your strange-visitor-from-another-planet (not Krypton) Dad

Lindy Johnson said...

Wow, 8 years! Congratulations and may you enjoy many more years together with more pound cake and salsa! Love, Aunt Lindy

Anonymous said...

So I think I'll go home and make a new batch of salsa in honor of your 8th, since I've been out of it for a couple weeks, an unbelievably long time, even in another-planet (not Krypton) time. Only wish I could share it face to face with ya'll and the Grandchilluns, and with Grandda and his pound cake and Baba Kathy and Baba Julie, and Aunts Anna, Abby and Leetra, and...guess I'll stop there! Cheers to the Ukrainian Hunsuckers!

D/B/G

P.S. Guess what my 'leave your comment' word verification was? "unmac" kinda weird, huh!

Phyllis said...

Julie, I assume you mean windowsill/balcony gardening? If so, it doesn't matter what your frost date is. Although, it might be better to wait until you have a little more sunshine. Just try whatever variety you can get. I have found that the huge kinds don't grow very big indoors, but they still ripen.