Today, in the part of the United States known as the Greater Chicagoland area (and probably the rest of the Northern Hemisphere), we received thirty-three more seconds of sunlight. I don't know if each day from now to the solstice in June will have thirty three more seconds of light, but each extra second is precious.
I was surfing to find just how short our day is on the solstice, and this site says that their day is seven hours and fifty minutes, while this site says their day will be eight hours and fifteen minutes. Clearly, it matters what your latitude is, in determining just how little sunlight you get. It's interesting to note that we do not gain an equal number of seconds of light due to earlier sunrises and later sunsets.
As a gardener, I long for the time when I can get back out into my gardens in the Spring. I'll be pushing it in March, when I go out to pick up fallen branches, and pull up dead plants that escaped my attention this fall. Some of my gardening friends start plants from seed, just to have their fingers in the dirt.
A day or so before Christmas, I received my first plant catalog in the mail, so spring can't be too far behind!
Comments (9)
We are startng the down hill run girl!
Posted by Joe Smitherman | December 29, 2004 9:34 PM
Posted on December 29, 2004 21:34
Gee, Buffy, you should have been here today. While awaiting my ride to go to the gym (yes, I know how stupid that sounds!), I was out pulling scads of some weed that proliferates in the winter. Think it is in the mint family the way it invades everything. It carpets our wooded area, and I'm fairly certain that it isn't native to this area. Nothing native to this area would thrive so! Henbit is also a scourge around here.
Posted by Cop Car | December 30, 2004 12:10 AM
Posted on December 30, 2004 00:10
How disgusting that you were WEEDING in the WINTER! I have no idea what it is that is taking over your lawn, but it sure sounds as though it could be part of the mint family. We warn newcomers to the Herb list about corralling mints. Do you know that oregano is part of that family?
I suppose I should be complimenting you for going to the gym (as I know you do regularly), and also for weeding when you had the chance. That little bit of work probably saved you ten times the effort this coming spring.
Posted by Buffy | December 30, 2004 9:24 PM
Posted on December 30, 2004 21:24
Joe, I had to think about that one. Yes....it's going to get better and better, and easier and easier through June!
Posted by Buffy | December 30, 2004 9:25 PM
Posted on December 30, 2004 21:25
Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours putting down newspaper/gardening fabric/mulch in an area that I'm trying to rid of noxious plants, watering and mulching the roses, and running to the store for another car full of mulch (that's about 10 bags worth. I can get more in, but 10 bags easily fit into the trunk if I lay the back seats forward.) It was such a balmy day! I suspect that you are correct about oregano being part of my problem, Buffy; but, most of the stuff that I'm fighting (which, BTW, doesn't have a chance in the lawn--only in my planting areas and in the wooded area) doesn't smell like any herb that I can come up with. It isn't fragrant--just smells like weeds--LOL. I think that I semi-identified it from a book early last year as "creeping" or "running" something or other. I'll look it up again.
Posted by Cop Car | December 31, 2004 9:15 AM
Posted on December 31, 2004 09:15
No scent. How odd!
Cop Car, you HAVE to read "Lasagna Gardening," or "Lasagna Gardening with Herbs," by Pat Lanza. I think you'd adore her method of eradicating unwanted grass. I've adapted it to part of the long driveway garden, and even modified, it seems to be working for me! See if your library has it.
It's supposed to be a high of 59 here today, and I bet it's higher than that. I should have spent the day picking up wind blown trash, and pulling out spent verbena plants, but I feel too crumby to have my head down for any length of time. I'm going to sit here and enjoy the sunshine streaming through my windows, and I'll go for it the next time we have good weather.
Posted by Buffy | December 31, 2004 3:24 PM
Posted on December 31, 2004 15:24
Thanks for the book tip, Buffy. I'll check the library.
I used the additional 10 bags of mulch, yesterday, but never got around to going for more. I spaded a bit, today. It was in the low 70s yesterday and somewhere in the 60s today.
As I told you via e-mail, my noxious weed is Ground Ivy aka Creeping Charlie.
Posted by Cop Car | January 1, 2005 6:07 PM
Posted on January 1, 2005 18:07
I should have used our 56 degree weather to garden, but my cold has me feeling punk. My youngest sis and her entire family did yardwork all day in central Indiana. She said it was warm there, and even the girls enjoyed getting out to work on the lawn.
I don't think I've ever had a lawn where there wasn't at least a tiny patch of Creeping Charlie. It's an incredibly ubiquitous weed!
Posted by Buffy | January 1, 2005 7:15 PM
Posted on January 1, 2005 19:15
As I believe I've told you, HH is in charge of the lawn. He has no compunction against using herbicides and I suspect that he has our lawn service (owned by my Elegant Friend's younger son) do whatever is necessary to keep his lawn healthy and weed-free. Rather than weeds invading his lawn, his grass invades my planted areas--and I thought that Bermuda was the only grass to fear. I'll tell the world that short fescue (or whatever other grass may have been mixed in with it when they sodded) is invasive.
Posted by Cop Car | January 2, 2005 6:40 AM
Posted on January 2, 2005 06:40