MaryE's blog: 2022 #79 New year, same winter

After debating about how to number blogs in the new year, it seemed less confusing to just keep going, so this is the first entry for the new year.

Winters in our part of Oregon are very different from the more well known western side of the state where they get a lot of rain. If they get snow it pretty much shuts down everything. Here on the eastern side of the Cascade mountains we usually have snowy winters, all winter. At this time we have 4-6 inches of mostly old snow which partially melted and then refroze. New snow fell on that, then the wind made drifts and filled our driveway. The blowing snow comes from miles away. My Hubby went out to use the snow blower which is about 6 ft wide and mounted on the rear of our tractor. The tractor started but would not go into gear. A neighbor cleared our driveway so the service tech from the tractor repair shop could repair it. Problem solved for now but this is the second time so we hope to not repeat it. Some little worn part had slipped out of place. It takes an hour's work just to get into the right place, a few seconds to fix it, another hour to put everything back together. The bill was over $400. Ouch! Hopefully it will not malfunction again before the replacement parts can be installed. They'll need to be ordered. Meanwhile, we need to use the tractor. Yesterday's weather brought wind, some rain, then more snow. Wind overnight has moved the loose snow around, forming new drifts and blocking the driveway again.

A few days ago I filled pots and started onion seeds. They haven't sprouted yet. Onions are slow. I have the trays on a heat mat and covered with plastic. I check them daily. My salad garden in a raised bed along the south wall of the greenhouse is doing well. I had trouble getting lettuce to germinate so I bought a head of romaine to go with the beets, chard, kale, spinach and other green stuff when I make salads. More lettuce seeds were planted and will take time to produce anything to eat.

One of my jade plants is in full bloom so I carried it from the greenhouse into the house so we can enjoy it. The blooms resemble clusters of tiny pale pink stars.

Our huge Christmas cactus has been continuously blooming for the past 6-7 weeks. New buds keep forming so the show will continue for at least another month. It spends June-September on the porch and the rest of the year on a table by the living room window. Apparently it likes that routine.

Recently I watched another video about propagating elderberries. This method uses those peat discs plus rooting hormone and wrapping each soaked planted disc in plastic. I need to buy some peat discs and take cuttings from my formerly wild plants. This will be my third attempt at starting new plants but the first using anything but water. Previous attempts involved an old coffee can and water. None of the cuttings sprouted a root and they just sat there and turned black. Ugly! Yes, I know, daily water changes might have made that experiment a success. I need new plants to extend the windbreak on the north side of the garden.

Another greenhouse task is cutting back the old geranium plants and restarting them to grow into nice, green bushy plants for next summer. I always start a bunch of new ones from the cuttings and discard some of the really old plants. Heat and drought really took a toll on some of them last summer. I may not have enough potting soil. Good thing the farm store will be thinking about gardening season and have a good stock of them soon if not already.

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