Halloween and frost on the pumpkins
Halloween is here and we have already had several frost on the pumpkins and they have covered gardens, lawns, and roofs. These hefty frost have turned many lawns tan and brown and dotted the landscape with leaves. Pumpkins are tough and enjoy a long shelf life so frost will not affect them very much. Halloween is here, so use common sense and caution tonight and keep your eyes out for parents and children. Keep porch and carport lights on to let kids and parents know your home is kid friendly. Serve only treats that are safe and securely wrapped.
A pumpkin pudding to celebrate Halloween
This pumpkin pudding will melt in your mouth and fill your kitchen with a spicy aroma on Halloween. It is simple to prepare with easily available ingredients. You will need one can of Libby’s pumpkin or one pint of canned pumpkin, one three -ounce box of Jello instant pumpkin pudding or vanilla pudding mix, two large eggs, half cup brown sugar, half cup granulated sugar, one tablespoon pumpkin pie spices, one teaspoon vanilla flavoring, one stick melted light margarine, one can evaporated milk, one teaspoon orange flavoring, and four hot dog buns. Run the hot dog buns through the blender in grate mode, mix all other ingredients and pour into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish or pan sprayed with Pam baking spray. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until pudding is firm. Top with Cool Whip or French vanilla ice cream. You can also use a can of Duncan Hines cream cheese frosting to frost the pudding.
Benefits of Indian summer
As October comes to an end today, we are enjoying low humidity, Carolina blue skies, leaves gracefully falling from the oaks, poplars, hickories, and maples, as well as colorful sunsets painted in pink that matches well with the hues of the leaves of autumn. These pleasant afternoons provide opportunity to clean up the garden plot by removing vines, stalks, residue, tomato cages and stakes, harvesting leaves and preparing compost bins and piles.
Enjoying the aroma of autumn on All Hallow’s Eve
The sunsets early on the night of Halloween greeted by the smell of burning oak wood wispy smoke from chimneys of neighborhood homes as the scent kisses the air of the last evening of the month of October. This is the night of voices of excited kids as they move from door to door trick or treating. You can make their evening safe and enjoyable by keeping porch and carport lights on as well as having treats ready and wrapped for them as they arrive at the door. Keep treats in a bowl or dish so they can handle and choose their own treats. It would be nice to give the loving parents a treat too.
Celebrating all Saint’s Day tomorrow
All Saint’s Day is always celebrated on the first day of November which is the day after All Hallows Eve, also known as Halloween. This day is also known as Hallowmass.
An extra boost for roses
You can promote rose growth during the cold of winter by applying a layer of bone meal around the base of the roses and mix it into the soil and also a handful of blood meal. Both are organic products that will produce root growth during winter. Feed roses before cold weather arrives with an application of Rose-Tone organic rose food. Trim back long canes from roses to prevent damage from ice and snow.
Searching limbs for an empty bird nest
The leaves are falling from the trees leaving exposed empty limbs. On the trees that have low hanging branches, an empty bird’s nest should be easy to spot and carefully removed without disturbing its construction. You can prepare a sturdy bird’s nest and make an unusual Christmas ornament that will last for many years. After removing the nest, spray a couple of coats of clear varnish on the nest and allow to dry. Place nest on several sheets of newspaper before spraying the varnish. After nest dries, place nest in a small box lined with toilet tissue or paper napkins. At Christmas, you can find bird ornaments or a few miniature eggs and add them to the nest.
A sauce or gravy made from turnips
My Northampton County grandma always made “pot likker” when the purple top turnips were harvested from her cold weather garden. She would boil the diced turnips in water, fatback meat, pepper, and salt. It was a concoction served in a bowl with crackling cornbread on cool autumn nights (defiantly not recommended by any cardiologist!) We have discovered a better method to prepare this “pot likker” concoction and make it a sauce or gravy to pour over the purple top turnips, sort of like mashed potatoes and gravy. This method is to peel five or six turnips and dice them into half an inch cubes, cover with water, add salt and pepper, a few drops of Texas Pete and a stick of light margarine. Boil the turnips until tender. Drain the liquid and add one cup milk to the liquid and bring to a boil on medium heat. In a glass half full of cold water add three tablespoon corn starch until it is completely dissolved in the cold water. Pour a little at a time into the gently boiling turnip liquid until it gets as thick as you desire. Add a little sugar to flavor the gravy and add a few slices of fried or boiled crumbled bacon. Pour gravy over boiled turnips.
Checking out the stored green tomatoes
The cool weather garden plot is not only green, but productive with the growth of broccoli, cabbage, collards, Siberian kale, curly mustards, turnips, onion sets, as well as mixed greens. Keep the cool weather vegetables fed with Miracle Gro liquid plant food and Alaska liquid fish emulsion once a month. Keep the vegetables covered with a blanket of crushed leaves. Thin turnips so they can develop into larger turnips.
Protecting outside faucets from freezing
Hard freezes are not too far away with killing frost already in progress. Keep pipes from freezing during winter months by investing in a protective cover or two for your outside faucets. An isolated cover for outside faucets cost about$12 to $15. You can purchase them at Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Lowe’s Home Improvement and at most hardwares. They are easy to install and bring piece of mind from freezing pipes. Always remember to remove hoses from outside faucets during winter months and store hoses in winter to prolong their useful life. Replace faucet covers after using water during the winter.
Shaping up evergreens for fall and winter
The end of October and the beginning of November is a great time to trim evergreens and azaleas to protect then from ice and snow and promote all around better appearance. It will certainly make them look better as we approach the up and coming Christmas decorating season. The weather in late October may carry over into early November and this will be an opportune time to accomplish this chore before freezing weather.
Celebrating season of All Saint’s Rest
We have already mentioned that tomorrow is All Saint’s Day, but the whole week that follows All Saint’s Day is known as All Saint’s Rest. It is a tradition that started in the 19th century in America. During this time of the year, they took a break from the harvest. It was like an early Thanksgiving and a reflecting on the blessings of the harvest, not just for a day, but for a whole week. It was the time before cold, ice, and snow or freezing temperatures. In the upcoming winter, life in America would become more difficult. They felt like this was an opportune time to be thankful for their blessings and not to take anything for granted. What an example these Swiss immigrants set back in the 19th century. In 21st century America, we can’t celebrate even one day without watching football, gorging ourselves, Christmas shopping, and feasting. Why can’t we take time to rest in the blessings and goodness of God and forget about ourselves for a whole day like these Swiss immigrants did for a week? We need to remember that when we become unthankful, we also become unholy, too.
The hard freeze warnings
The temperatures can get below freezing during the nights of November. Protect cool weather vegetables with crushed leaves. Keep a few rags and towels handy to cover flowers and containers on the porch.
Hoe hoe hoedown
“Do it yourself lunch!”Bill: “Oh no, not again. A peanut butter sandwich. I cant stand them. Day in and day out it’s a peanut butter sandwich. This is just too much.” Will: “What’s the trouble, all you have to do is tell your wife to fix you something different.” Bill: “I can’t do that.” Will: “Why not?” Bill: “Because I fix my own lunch.”
“Wrong tree.” Single man: “Listen sweetheart, you’ve got to admit that men like me don’t grow on trees.” Young chick: “Sure, I know that very well, they swing from trees.”
“Wild doctors.” Louie: “Did you know that Daniel Boone’s brothers were all doctors?” Dewey: “How do you know this is true?” Louie: “Yes, haven’t you ever heard of the “Boone docs?”