Day: November 6, 2018

Garden Ideas for November

Submitted by Faye Mahaffey

OSUE Brown County Master Gardener Volunteer

As I walked around our 5 acres this weekend I realized that I was already making my “wish list” for next spring. My goal is to have a spark of fall color in a few more places. Trees, shrubs, perennials can all provide fall interest in your landscape.

I finally planted the rest of my small trees that had been sitting in pots in my staging area under the carport. Orange flags will hopefully protect them from the dreaded string-trimmer. What did I plant? Two small catalpa trees, Button bush, Elderberry, Hop tree, and Bladdernut. It took me a while to decide just where I wanted to plant them. I have to admit that when I purchased them, I had no clue where they were going. I just wanted to bring them home with me!

Ornamental grasses offer fall and winter color and movement in the landscape. I leave the seed heads for the birds to enjoy through the winter and cut all grasses back in early spring. Next spring  Japanese Blood grass is an easy way to add a splash of red to your wind garden. It is not aggressive (at least where I have it planted) and only reaches 12 to 14 inches in height. Pampas grass is a stretch for my zone, but mine seems to be thriving in its protected location. A suggested alternative for Pampas grass is Karl Foerster.  Don’t forget about our native grasses! I am slowly replacing the Miscanthus (considered invasive) with Big and Little Bluestem, Indian Grass, Prairie Dropseed and Switchgrass.

Autumn sedum and Joe Pye Weed are also beautiful in the fall and winter. The snow-covered seed heads also provide winter treats for the birds.

I have discovered a few books that will help me with my plans for more fall color in my landscape. 8 Months of Color written by Janet Macunovich provides the reader with an easy way to choose plants by week of peak bloom, color, and height. The plants listed are for USDA hardiness zones 4, 5, 6 and 7. Tracy Disabato-Aust has written a “must have” for all busy gardeners. Her book, 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants, proves that low-maintenance doesn’t mean low-interest.

Pam Bennett, co-author of Garden-Pedia: An A-To-Z Guide to Gardening Terms, and contributing writer for the magazine, Ohio Gardener, suggests some gardening tasks for November that include:

  1. Clean and sharpen tools and lawn mower 2)
  2. Plant amaryllis and paperwhites for holiday bloom
  3. Cut fresh greens from your evergreens to be used for holiday decorations and
  4. Consider purchasing a balled and burlapped living Christmas tree. If you do this, dig the hole for the tree before the ground freezes.

The Bald Cypress tree we planted close to the “deer path” has been surrounded with snow fence to keep rubbing bucks at bay. We have 3 Norway spruce that seem to be the victims each year as the deer travel through our property. Thankfully they haven’t started on any new trees…..yet!

We hope you will join us at our garden seminar on Thursday, November 15 at the Mt. Orab campus of Southern State Community College. Doug Dyer, OSUE Brown County Master Gardener Volunteer, will talk about Poison Hemlock and other invasive weeds. Remember that all seminars are free and open to the public and are held in Room 208 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Have you started making your list for next year? Look around and see what spots need more color!

Thanksgiving Turkey Traditions

Brooke Beam, PhD

Ohio State University Extension, Highland County

Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development Extension Educator

 

November 5, 2018

 

The holidays are rapidly approaching. Family gatherings, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with The Ohio State University Marching Band, and bountiful meals are scheduled on the calendar for Thanksgiving week. As with previous Thanksgivings, my mother, grandmother, and I plan who will be preparing what dish for our family’s holiday meal.

While every family has their own variation of the Thanksgiving meal, turkey is a predominant staple on many American tables. According to the University of Illinois Extension, 88 percent of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving, which equates to 46 million turkeys consumed on Thanksgiving annually. Although turkeys now are considered to many families as the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal, this was not always the case.

At the first Thanksgiving in 1621, turkey was likely not served on the table as the main source of meat. Venison, ducks, geese, and even swans were regularly consumed by colonists, according to the History Channel. Sarah Josepha Hale, the author of the children’s rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” also played a significant part to shape our Thanksgiving dinner table.

Hale served as an editor for Godey’s Lady’s Book, a women’s magazine in the 1830s. Through this publication, Hale championed for Thanksgiving to become a national holiday, according to the National Women’s History Museum. While President George Washington proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving in 1789, President Abraham Lincoln was the first president to select a date for Thanksgiving to be held in November.

While the tradition of Thanksgiving being held on the fourth Thursday of November has stayed consistent since the 1800s, the method of how we obtain our bountiful meal has not. With the development of grocery stores and restaurants, how many Americans source their meal has changed over time. Since turkeys are now raised on farms, the number and quality of the birds have increased to the point where turkey is a regular staple in many meals throughout the year. “In 1970, 50 percent of all turkey consumed was during the holidays, now just 29 percent of all turkey consumed is during the holidays as more turkey is eaten year-round,” according to the University of Illinois Extension.

For hunters who would rather hunt for their turkey in the wild rather than in the store, there are two wild turkey hunting seasons in Ohio. There is a wild turkey hunting season in the spring and fall. Spring wild turkey hunting season encompasses all counties in the State of Ohio. However, only a portion of the counties in Ohio allow for fall wild turkey hunting. Highland, Ross, Pike, Adams, Brown, and Clermont Counties allow fall wild turkey hunting, while Clinton and Fayette Counties do not. During the fall season, turkey hunters are allowed to harvest one wild turkey per hunter. The Fall Wild Turkey season runs from October 13 to November 25, 2018. More information on Ohio Hunting and Trapping Regulations can be found at http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/hunting-trapping-and-shooting-sports/hunting-trapping-regulations/season-dates-and-bag-limits. For more information related to agriculture and natural resource related questions, contact the Highland County Extension Office at 937-393-1918.

Do you and your family have any unique Thanksgiving traditions? Share your Thanksgiving traditions in the comment section below.

 

References:

History.com Editors. (2011). First Thanksgiving Meal. Retrieved from: https://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/first-thanksgiving-meal

Norwood, A. (2017). Sarah Josepha Hale. Retrieved from: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sarah-hale

University of Illinois Extension. (2018). Turkey for the Holidays. Retrieved from: http://extension.illinois.edu/turkey/turkey_facts.cfm

 

Upcoming Events:

The Global Climate Change Update with Dr. Thomas Blaine from The Ohio State University will be held on Tuesday, November 13, 2018, from 6: 30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. The program will be held at the Brown County Fairgrounds, Rhonemus Hall. The cost to attend is free, but registration is required. For more information or to register, contact James Morris at morris.1677@osu.eduor at the Brown County Extension Office at 937-378-6716.

The next Highland County Monthly Extension Program will be held on December 10, 2018, at 10:00 A.M. at the Ponderosa Steakhouse in Hillsboro, Ohio. More details will be coming soon, please save the date and plan to attend.