Daylight and Other Things

  

UGH!  Daylight Savings Time starts tonight at midnight. 

I am probably one of the few people that does not like DST.  I want it to be light at 6am when I get up!  Here, during July, August, September, and at least ½ of October, it’s still too hot and humid (and usually mosquito-ey) to go outside to do yard-type stuff during that extra hour of hotness at the end of a hot day.  And, I never am able to change my internal clock.  Ugh!

I have, over the past several weeks, been working outside.  We had a late freeze in February – sure to be the last one – so I started moving everything outside on March 1.  Over the winter all my container plants (of which there are too many) lived in the shed thus making sure I could not get to anything in there, in my middle bedroom (also my craft room, guest room, and misc storage room), again making sure I could not get to anything in there and in my sisters shop building where the plumerias lived in darkness, without water or encouragement (that’s fine – they didn’t care). 

And so, I moved everything outside and then moved big heavy containers around many times while I tracked the sun.  Arranged and rearranged everything on the back porch until all was good.

I finished the work on the herb garden.  Brought in 5 more bags of dirt and 2 bags of mulch.  Then, planted four herbs (oregano, lemon verbena, Mexican mint marigold, winter savory) I’ve had in containers for a year and started planning what all I want for the garden.  Basil – several different types, sage, parsley, borage, marjoram, catnip, chives, dill, nasturtium – hmmmm how much space do I have???? 

I did go on and plant dill seeds and nasturtium seeds.

Pretty edible plants that attract pollinators.  Flowers and leaves are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants that are associated with improving eye and skin health.  In the past they were made into a tisane for the treatment of sore throat and colds.  Flowers and leaves taste a bit peppery and make a nice addition to salads.  They grow in any kind of soil with minimum care. 

Several trees were starting to put out a few new green buds as were many shrubs.  Wildflowers were coming up in the yard (we did talk about wildflowers, aka weeds to some, in an earlier post).  Temps in the upper 70’s.  Ahhhhh spring.

yeah – ok – nothing actually looked like that but it was coming 

The Demon Duo were thrilled to be able to go out on the porch to play and/or sleep.  All was going smoothly and then . . . . . . 

okay, again, probably not exactly like the above photo but close.

Forecasters were predicting heavy wind and a freeze – in the MIDDLE OF MARCH. At least two nights of freezing temperatures (depending on which weather station you look at, possibly 3 nights).  Aarrgghh

And, I moved everything back in.

On the last day before this deep freeze occurred, I went to a local nursery to look at plants.  The owner was anticipating the freeze and still had most things in the greenhouses but I was there to look at several herbs and some tomatoes.  And, I came home with a bay tree, a Cherokee purple tomato, a Juliet tomato and a moringa tree. 

A fast growing, drought resistant tree, it is native to the Indian subcontinent.  It is also called a drumstick tree, horseradish tree, and benzolive tree.  All parts of this tree are edible and the historical uses go back to 150 BC.  Moringa leaves, seeds, bark, roots, sap, and flowers are commonly used in the traditional medicine of various countries around the world, and the leaves and immature seed pods are used as a food product. Various parts of the plant are decocted in water and taken as a tea. The bark, flowers, and leaves can be pulverized and applied topically for the treatment of various skin disorders.  It has been used for the treatment of infectious, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, hepatic, and various other ailments, including various types of cancer.  Plus, I like to grow unusual things.

Bobby went with me to pick out the tomatoes and I had him chose the plants and send them positive GROW/PRODUCE vibes.  His farmer genes are stronger than mine so I’m hopeful for a good production year. 

Of course, those things are living in the house right now until we are having spring again (maybe Sunday or Monday).

After that, I don’t know much exciting or interesting.  The news stays scary.

So, I shall close for now and leave you with this . . . .

You never know when you will want to impress someone with a new (old) word.

12 Mar 2022