Spring is in the Air

I realize many people reading this post title are thinking I have lost my mind! They are looking out their windows to see snow covering the ground. There isn't a hint of spring to be seen.

Here in the deep south, we are seeing a much different sight. We did not have much of a winter this year. It was pretty mild, and this is the warmest January I can remember in years. January is normally one of the coldest months of the whole year in South Louisiana, but not this year. We are getting a day or two of cold weather, but then it warms back up to the 70's and flirting with the 80's! I have even had to run my air conditioner a few times already this month. That is really crazy!

The biggest sign of spring are the clover patches in my grass, and many trees are already blooming along with my azalea bushes. The picture above are blooms from one of my azalea bushes. They are so pretty. I usually do not see this sight until mid to late February. My husband actually had to cut the grass earlier this month. Again our grass is usually dead and no clover in the yard.

All of this spring like weather has gotten to me thinking about my spring garden. If you want to grow your own transplants of tomatoes or bell peppers, then in Zone 9 you would have started earlier this month. I decided to skip growing tomatoes as we do not really eat them. I simply do not have the time to make sauces. I am growing bell peppers, but I have my fil giving me some next month as I only need a few plants. I usually chop them up to freeze. The main plant I want to grow this year is cucumbers. I eat at least 2-3 weekly in my salads, but I want to make Refrigerator Sweet Pickle Chips again this year. It was a huge hit with everyone. I will also get some blackberry shoots from my fil as I love fresh berries. One year I plan to tackle growing strawberries. I think I will also grow some red potatoes as well. Nothing like harvesting fresh vegetables and fruits.

Are you seeing signs of spring in your area, or does old man winter look like he is staying? Are you planning your spring garden yet? If you are, then please share with me what you are growing. I love reading about what others are doing in different parts of the country and world.

My Spring Garden has Sprung

I didn't get any fall planting done last year since we had some unusually cold weather early in winter. Our last few winters have been very mild so I guess it was time for colder weather. Spring usually arrives in early February, but this year it waited until late March into early April. We got a late start on getting the garden tilled and amended. I also had to buy tomato and bell pepper transplants at my local nursery. We expanded the garden by several rows and planted new seeds this year. I finished planting all the April crops on Friday evening. Here is what we have planted this year: roma tomatoes, cucumbers, green/red/orange bell peppers, black beans, bush snap beans, zucchini, cow peas (similar to black eyed peas), sugar baby watermelons, and cantaloupe. I already see lots of cucumbers popping up. I also planted marigolds in between the tomato rows which helps to ward off caterpillars. I shall see how this does. I bought three more blueberry bushes which are all flowering. I will have lots of blackberries this year from all the buds and flowering on the bush. I'm very excited about my garden and very hopeful it will be plentiful. I included pictures below.

My Garden Update

I started my garden back in February planting cucumber and Roma tomatoes. Most of the Roma plants I started, I direct seeded them into the rows have withered. I pinched a couple of them back when they were still about 3-4" which was a mistake. It made the healthy ones I kept weak and they died off. We also have had lots of rain and high winds which didn't help plus a tornado at the end of March. This has also weakened a couple of my cucumber plants. The stems look frail and brittle at the base, but the vines are extremely healthy and growing. I have taken several pictures and would love any advice on what I should do about the stems. Do I leave them alone or try to give them more support in some way? Not really sure at this point since I'm still pretty new to vegetable gardening. I'm really impressed with most of my tomato plants they are already flowering. I find watching all this new life extremely exciting. We normally don't get this kind of severe weather during the spring so I am impressed with how well the plants are doing despite all the wind we have received the past month.



I noticed the other day that my raspberry plants are coming back. I planted them last year and they didn't make it after Gustav hit. I thought they were gone forever, but they fooled me. I see new shoots almost daily and they are looking very healthy. My friend at Storybook Cottage and Gardens mailed me runners that she grows. I can't wait until I can get my first harvest of berries. My blackberry bushes are also taking off. I even have one runner that is flowering with a couple of small berries. I didn't take a picture of my blueberry bush, but it's flowering and has several small berries. I have to get my watermelon and cantaloupe seeds planted this weekend. I think I will have my husband make me another row. I'm planting Sugarbaby seedless watermelon and an organic cantaloupe. I'm hoping to expand my garden by next year. I hope everyone enjoys the pictures.

A Frightening Experience

We have gotten a lot of severe weather late last week. On Thursday night, we were hit by a tornado! This is rare for South Louisiana unless it's associated with a hurricane or severe weather. It still doesn't happen that often with most thunderstorms. This was my first experience with a tornado and hoping my last. This was definitely one of the scariest things I've ever experienced. It's even scarier since we don't have basements or cellars, because of the sea level, and the ground is too soft to support one.

It was late Thursday night before it happened. We had a line that just passed, and I was watching the Weather Channel to get updates. I was waiting for the second line to pass, and they just dropped the warning for my area. Not even 10 minutes later, close to midnight, I got in my bed just waiting for the impending bad weather. Suddenly I could hear a whooshing sound outside the windows. It didn't sound like a train to me, but more like a strong rush of wind. I could tell it wasn't wind either and I had a bad feeling wash over me. I shook my husband awake frantically asking what was that noise. Of course he was trying to wake up and asking me what noise. I asked him again louder what's that noise and it sounds like a very loud gust of wind coming. I knew it wasn't wind in the normal sense but something else. As he listened, his eyes grew large and his face turned pale. I knew what it was when I saw his face. He commanded me to get in the hallway with our son. He was already in our room laying on a sleeping bag. I grabbed him and ran into the interior closet we have in our hallway. My husband grabbed the flashlight and braced the door from the outside. The house was shaking and you can feel the pressure being sucked out. It didn't last long and probably passed in less than a minute, but it seemed like it took much longer. Of course we lost electricity, and it took a few hours to get it restored since it hit right before the rain and lightening passed.

We had so much adrenaline pumping through our bodies, that we couldn't fall asleep until almost 3AM on Friday morning. We were very lucky that nothing serious happened and we are all safe. I won't lie in saying that I was very frightened, though I was trying to put on a brave face for my son. I am glad that I had all those drills at school when I was a kid. I knew what to do when faced with one. The yard was littered with metal from roofs, awning, and buildings from neighbors. None of it was for us since we don't have any metal structures. My porch took a beating with screens torn and some of the wooden slats were knocked down. My garage and shed also took a beating along with some shingles pulled off my roof. I didn't lose a single one after Gustav. It did a lot of isolated damage and more than any hurricane has ever done. I'm sure this was a small one so I can't even imagine how much damage a large one would cause. My neighbor received more damage than we did. Her neighbor lost their carport (metal) and it was thrown at her house. It mostly broke a window and pulled the window casing out, along with some roof damage, her house is intact. My house also has siding that was cracked from debris hitting the house. We also had metal hanging in our trees. My yard has large and deep gashes from debris hitting the ground. I have never seen that kind of damage done after a hurricane. I also had some damage done to our cars. I have pictures of the damage done, but again we are all safe.

My New Garden!

One of the things I love most about living in South Louisiana is the long growing season. Our spring starts as early as February. The clover is already growing in my yard, the buds are forming, and it's time to plant vegetables. I have had a vegetable garden before, but I never kept it up mostly due to time constraints or laziness on my part. This year I'm determined to keep it up more than a couple of months.

Many people try to start with too many rows or beds, or too many different types of vegetables or fruits. I'm starting out small this time. I have two long rows my husband tilled with a shovel. We have really great dirt in our yard. Then another complaint people have is either they don't have a green thumb or the space to put a garden. Well not everyone is fortunate enough to have an acre of land. Start out with container plants. Almost everyone has space for a container of tomatoes or even herbs.

Now I have killed a couple of plants, but most of what I plant does quite well. I first started out by just planting mostly perennials around my house. Then a couple of years later, I planted a couple of wild blackberry bushes which have done extremely well. I say start out slowly, but also make sure what you are growing will do well in your area. Where you plant makes a huge difference. Don't plant things that need full sun in mostly shady areas and vice versa. Make sure you know how much sun or shade that plant needs. Pretty much all vegetables need at least 6-8 hours of sun daily.

My husband tore down an extremely old shed last summer. It's a nice open dirt patch with the fig tree behind it. I need to prune that tree back before it blooms too much. I thought that patch was the perfect spot to start my garden. We only tilled part of it, but I can always add more rows in the future. Then I amended the soil with bagged manure, peat moss, and my inlaws gave me free bagasse. This is a sugarcane by-product which is great for gardening. He got me the kind that was a couple of years old and very crumbly. It really looks like a mulch. I also sprinkled a small amount of triple 13 fertilizer. I mixed it up in the soil very well and let it sit for a couple of weeks. My husband made the mounds for me this past week, and I planted cucumbers and Roma tomatoes. I usually use the fertilizer initially on new beds, but I never add more. I also put a small amount since I do have good soil, and I put lots of other additions to my soil. I have started a compost pile so in the future I will add this to my garden. Below are some pictures.




My inlaws also gave us several Roma tomatoes he started from seeds. I decided to just throw some seeds in the ground and see what happens. I have a friend who does this with great success but you have to pinch the excess. I think one of the great things about gardening is experimenting with different methods. Most gardeners swear by using tomato transplants only in the garden, but I wanted to experiment with just planting the seeds directly in the ground. I also plan to keep notes so I can refer back to them from year to year. I do have plans to plant more fruit trees and bushes in the coming years. I just planted two blueberry bushes which are already doing fabulous. I spent $7 on each bush at my local nursery for a year old plants. They already have lots of blooms plus I see several new shoots. I will post more about how my garden is doing, and I am very excited in seeing the new life.

TMR Frugal Living Tip #48

Today's thrifty tip is keep your thermostat lower to conserve heat. For each degree lower it will save you 2% on your heating bill according to most institutes. I don't run my heater as much during the winter since I live in sub-tropical weather. When I do have to run it, then I keep it set at 65 degrees during the day. It does get chilly in the house so I just wear warm clothing. At night I still keep it around 65 degrees. Many experts say you should turn the heat down to 55-60 degrees at night. My husband would never go for this. I am on natural gas so my bills aren't extremely high. There are many days we don't even turn on the heat like yesterday and today. My monthly average over the course of a year is right under $50/month. I pay $25 during the summer months for my gas water heater, dryer, and stove. I don't use the dryer that much either except during winter.

Investing in a programmable thermostat is another great way to keep your house energy efficient. If no one is in the house during the day, then you program it to keep the house cooler during the winter and warmer in summer. You can also program it to have it start warming the house up right before you wake up in the mornings. Have it get colder when it's time for bed. I need to invest in one for myself.

TMR Frugal Living Tip #40

Today's thrifty living tip is get your house prepared for winter. Some of you are already having winter weather. Take the time now to keep the heat in and the cold out. I have 22 windows in my house. I would love to replace them, but that's an investment we can't afford to make right now. Instead we are going to weather strip all the doors and windows. We also redid my front door this year by filling in the small cracks on the door and staining it. I no longer feel the air being pushed in. Here are some great suggestions to help you cut down on your heating bill.

1. Caulk your windows or doors or put the weather stripping
2. Clean your gutters removing all debris
3. Trim any trees that could fall and damage property
4. Wrap your exposed pipes and drain all garden hoses plus shut off water to outside plumbing
5. Clean or replace your heating filters and clean all vents
6. Clean your fireplace and chimney since creosote can build up

There are many other ways to prepare your house for winter. We don't have snow so many of these tips don't apply to me. I am sure I missed a few, but no matter how you heat your house, test it to make sure it's running properly. Also, clean it out and the vents so it will run better. We still don't have to run our heater for at least another month, but we are ready when we do. If you can afford it, then insulating your house is another great way to conserve energy. I will post some more great tips all winter to help you lower your bills.

Book a Cheap Cruise

I have never been on a cruise, and not sure if I ever plan on going on one. Many people do love them so I would suggest trying to go in the off season to get a better discount. I will say that be careful about going on Caribbean cruises during hurricane season which is June to November. The most active months are August and September. Happy sailing.

TMR Frugal Living Tip #32

I have really missed posting these daily tips. Today's thrifty tip is have a well stocked pantry. This helped me tremendously after Hurricane Gustav barreled through my area. I had close to 10 gallons of drinking water, canned goods, and many other basic staples like flour, sugar, rice, baking supplies, and such. I was able to feed my family well for several days. We did leave after four days since my mom had electricity at her house. Because I was prepared, we didn't have to panic about how we were going to eat since it took several days for grocery stores to reopen. There will always be a natural disaster anywhere you live from snow, earthquakes, hurricanes, or something else. It is always a good idea to have at least 1-2 week supply of food in your pantry.

We're Back!!!

First I have to thank everyone for their very kind words. It really meant a lot to me to see all the great comments that supported me, prayed for me, and wishes for our safety. I just can't thank you enough and it was wonderful to read them.

We came back last Thursday and have moved in with my mom. We were told that we wouldn't have electricity for up to 6 weeks. We got it back last night. YAY! But we won't have cable, phone, or internet for who knows how long. BOO! I'm very grateful we at least have our house, with no serious damage, and cold A/C again. I don't want anyone to think I've abandoned my readers, but it's going to take some time until I get back to a more normal life.

I am going to start pushing them pretty hard next week to get my services back. They love to give you the run around about why they can't come to send a technician to look at the line. At least I'm getting a credit for the weeks I haven't had any service so that does help. I hope to get it all back by next week. I'll be able to check in until we go back home this weekend. I just wanted to update that we are safe and sound.

Leaving for Hurricane Gustav!

I just wanted to let know everyone know that we are leaving for higher ground. We heading to Jackson, MS which will still feel some weather but not what I would feel here on the coast. I hope everyone stays safe. If you haven't left and live near the coast in Louisiana, then please do so tomorrow. At the very least get the house boarded up and hunker down. I hate to have a vacation this way, but sometimes you have to do what is necessary. Take care everyone. I am posting this all on four of my blogs.

How Did Hurricane Dolly Sneak In?

Maybe I need to pay more attention to the news but it seems that Hurricane Dolly sneaked through the backdoor. I heard it entered the Gulf on Monday, but then yesterday it was approaching South Texas and North Mexico as a hurricane. I was shocked that it had moved so quickly in such a short amount of time. Usually hurricanes can take days building in the Gulf. In a small way I'm glad it moved this quickly since it didn't have time to build into a more powerful Hurricane. In other ways I'm a little surprised by how little coverage it got from the media. I guess we should be glad since the gas prices seem to be holding steady. I just hope everyone in the path stayed safe and can rebuild quickly.