December Ramblings....

With the weather turning much colder and my garden being pretty much done for the this season, I am a little lax about blogging but even worse, I convince myself that since I have nothing growing , I don't need to post. To have this not be the case, so starts the rambling...

For Halloween, Jack and Charlotte were Great "Mommy and Daddy" Horned Owls. Keeping with the theme, in early November, Jen and I took them to the Raptor Trust in the Great Swamp. It is as quick self guided tour that takes about 30-45 minutes and as you can see from the pictures, you can walk right up to the enclosures and see most of the birds (raptors) they are rehabbing. Jack and Charlotte still talk about Great Horned Owls and I seem to have a liking for them as well.

I am now in my third month of the Master Gardener program through Rutgers Cooperative Extension. Although I am very excited and I am learning, my thirst is not being satisfied. They touch topics at a surface level and I want to go much, much deeper. I struggle because I am excited for the program and what it does but I want more. With that being the only negative point I can think of, there is a lot that is good about the program as well. Much more on the pros later. Our overall class is 30 people, mostly retired or stay-at-home moms. I am among the youngest and based on the 80 people that attended the Holiday Party, I would venture to say I am by far the youngest overall. The classes themselves are not timed in such a way to make it conducive to young professionals participating.

As for the Holiday Party, it was up to the new class to throw the party. We worked on a theme of "For Ever Green" emphasizing the green aspect to the party. We purchased disposable tableware from World Centric and although it was a little more expensive that standard plastics, it was 100% plant based and will completely biodegrade in a compost pile within 1 year. I donated 80 packets of seeds that I have saved, traded and collected. I folded tiny Origami envelops to put he seeds in and it seemed to be a hit. Overall the party was a great success albeit a little cheesy.

My apple addiction has subsided as the season is over for apple-picking. At its peak, I HAD to have one....and preferable an outstanding one for after dinner. It was so bad at one point that I would hide my favorites from the kids so I could have them all to myself. In the height of this, I was eating 4-5 apples a night. In trying to find out what I liked and didn't, I absolutely had to try every variety of apple I could get my hands on. This went as far as buying bags of single apples and asking the checkout clerks for pen and paper so I could label what was in what bag. For the most part, I have a definitive set of favorites and a set of apples I will never try again but in the spirit of the list that I started here earlier, I am continuing it. I am up to 15 different varieties

1. Honey Crisp
2. Cameo
3. Jonagored
4. Winesap
5. Pink Lady
6. Fuji
7. Pinova
8. Golden Delicious
9. Braeburn
10. Gala
11. Granny Smith (slightly tart)
12. Red Delicious
13. Ida Red
14. Rome (Red)
15. Macintosh

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
None

Seeds Saved:
Chaste Tree

Preserved/Cooked:
Snickerdoodle Cookies

Things to Remember:
Too Much