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sweetiepie
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Re: Brrrr

We are having a record winter for snow fall. Usually January and February are our snow months but we have already reached 57 inches of snow. They keep saying we are to get out of this deep freeze but we are still -19 below and -49 with windchill. Would like the animals to have a break from the cold. But more snow today. Oh, well the snowmobilers are happy.

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applestar
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Oh wow, that must be hard for you when taking care of the animals. I can't even imagine what you'd need to wear bundling up for those kinds of temps. I imagine you'd have to remove them once in the barn, etc. where it is warmer as well as for better movement.

Do you walk on top of all that snow or have you been shoveling -- are you walking in a trough/canyon path between buildings? Riding a vehicle?

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digitS'
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We didn't have an ice storm locally altho the sleet was falling not all that far south.

Snow is piled beside my driveway higher than my 3' picket fence and finding places to put it is becoming a little bit of a problem. Fortunately, I was up to (like, on a ladder) getting the snow off the porch roofs, yesterday. There was about 14" to pull off on the north side so now, I don't have to worry so much about the weight.

Maybe 5 inches of snow has fallen over the last 24 hours and it is now 30°f, the warmest it's been this month. A couple more afternoons like this then it will be back in the single ..

. digitS', one side or the other of zero :)

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sweetiepie
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Um... I don't like coveralls or snowpants. So I just go out in chill chasers (long johns) and jeans, a t-shirt with a sweatshirt and usually just a fleece flannel shirt over the sweatshirt so I don't get my sweatshirt full of hay and stuff. Of course muck boots and a hood and scarf, warm gloves. Yes to getting to over heated even outside while throwing hay, I water chickens by bucket of water from pump shed to chicken coop and every so many days I have to bucket grain from bin to barn. It doesn't take much for your face to be very cold but the rest of you to be over heating. If I have to spend more than a half hour outside or am going to stand around, I have to put snowpants on and a real coat.

I do not like to snowmobile but my husband and kids do and they usually are good at packing down a path to where I need to go. Sometimes the wind blows the snow over your path and you can't see it and you walk off the hard packed path and find yourself waist deep or better in the snow because you have sunk that far. The dog does not like falling off the path either, his first winter with the snow this deep. Otherwise we plow snow out of the driveway and to the wood shed and to give bales of hay to the cows with the backhoe, our tractor has decided to take the winter off. HaHa.

My garden and orchard have 5 and 6 ft fences and they are covered over enough that they are snowmobiling over the fences and across my garden. Right now I have a 12 ft snow drift in front of my barn doors and I have to walk all the way around to the back to get into the barn. So the snow is pretty awesome this year.

gumbo2176
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Sweetiepie, I can't even begin to wrap my head around living like that. You northern folk are sturdy stock to put up with that in the winter. It got down to 28 two nights ago and you'd have thought it was sub zero Arctic weather the way some folks were acting.

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jal_ut
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My garden plot this morning:

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jal_ut
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My home is at 5000 ft elevation. I live in a mountain valley. The valley is 30 miles long and 7 miles wide. The main population of the valley is at a bit lower elevation. Now about the thing we call inversion. It is a high pressure situation where there is no breezes moving through and the smoke and gasses from fires and exhaust pipes is just held in the air. As you can see in the picture the junk in the air was thick enough you can hardly see the mountain. Wx man says about another 4 days of this coming. It will take a good storm to get things moving.

jasonvanorder
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We are having another fairly mild winter. Last year between Christmas and New year I was out tilling the garden. This year we had a brutal cold snap a couple weeks ago but we are going to be in the 40s and 50s the next couple weeks. So far we have had more rain this winter than snow

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jal_ut
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Can't wait for the day..........

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digitS'
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I think of those Balsamroot Arrowleaf Sunflowers as defining our common growing area, James.

(I also think that name is a kick. We should have some description of the stems and seeds in it :D !)

The air pollution in your remote Utah valley and in the valley where I live ... I wish it wasn't joining countless other gases and particles and just going somewhere else and somewhere else and somewhere else ...

Steve

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jal_ut
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"Balsamroot Arrowleaf Sunflowers "

Dad called them Docks. There was a lot of them up on the mountain pasture, interspersed with the Mountain Bluebell.

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applestar
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With a memorable name like that, I thought it might be an useful herb... It has a high edibility rating -- look at some of the excerpts:
Balsamorhiza sagittata Oregon Sunflower, Arrowleaf balsamroot PFAF Plant Database
https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinNa ... +sagittata


Edible Parts: Leaves; Root; Seed; Stem.
Edible Uses: Coffee.

Root - raw or cooked[46, 61, 106, 161, 257]. The root has a thick crown that is edible raw[213]. Roots have a sweet taste when cooked[2, 183].
…the Flathead Indians would bake them in a fire pit for at least 3 days[183]. The roots are resinous and woody with a taste like balsam[212].
…Young shoots - raw or cooked[161, 257]. Added to salads or used as a potherb[183].
…When eaten in large quantities they act like sleeping pills to cause sleepiness[257].


A highly prized source of food[257]. It can be roasted, ground into a powder and used with cereals when making bread[183, 257]. The raw seed can also be ground into a powder then formed into cakes and eaten without cooking[257]. The seed is rich in oil[213]. Oil. The seed was a prized source of oil for many native North Americans[257]. The roasted root is a coffee substitute[177, 183].
Another fun fact --
The large hairy leaves are used as an insulation in shoes to keep the feet warm[99].

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digitS'
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Burrpollen

Zucchiniseed

Celerystem

Arrowleaf

Balsamroot

Sunflower

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jal_ut
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Never ate "Docks". Dad had cows and chickens, so we always had milk, eggs, and chicken. At times he would keep a pig. The folks who owned the land West of ours kept sheep and at times the ewe would die at birthing, so there was a bum lamb. The sheepherders would give us a lamb, knowing we had milk to feed it. In the fall Dad would always shoulder his rifle and go get a deer. So we had a variety of things to eat, from farm and garden. We never went hungry. It might be milk gravy and spuds, but we ate.

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jal_ut
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Tuesday January 17 at 2:54 PM its sunny and the temp has went clear up to 14 degrees F.

Taiji
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With a snowpack like you've had this year James, does that delay your spring planting? I mean, you have to wait for the snow to melt, then wait for the ground to dry out. Moisture in the southwest though, is always welcome!

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jal_ut
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"With a snowpack like you've had this year James, does that delay your spring planting?"

It is the usual thing here to have snow cover for 3 to 4 months of the winter season. Most generally though it has moved back by mid April to allow some early spring planting. May 5 is my target date for corn, beans and other warm weather things. June 1 for cucumbers. The seasons vary, to tell the truth I have seen snow every month of the year here at this location. One year it snowed and froze on July 5 after being 90 for the 4th of July Parade. We just plant in good faith and hope. Today 11 degrees F and a foot of snow on the garden. Won't be doing any planting today. This snow up on the mountains will fill the reservoir from which I get my irrigation water. Yes, moisture is always welcome here too Taiji.

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jal_ut
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This is a picture of the reservoir from which I get my irrigation water. The water comes from the snow that falls on the land that drains into the canyon above. Yes, I really am dependent on the snow for my summer irrigation water.

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jal_ut
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"With a snowpack like you've had this year James, does that delay your spring planting? I mean, you have to wait for the snow to melt, then wait for the ground to dry out."

You can always go shoot that seed in with a Shotgun! :wink:

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Gary350
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Wow, I think I need to mow my yard grass looks green and getting taller. It has been 65 degrees all week, 69 tomorrow, 72 next day, 74 Saturday. Typical crazy TN weather it will probably snow next week. LOL. It was 4 degrees 10 days ago.

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pomerinke
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It's a perfect 70 here, partly cloudy. I've got the veranda doors open with a nice breeze blowing through. 83% humidity and a very pleasant breeze. I'm about to go for a nice afternoon run.
I woke in the middle of the night last night to a heavy rainstorm which was completely unexpected.

I also checked my okra and found 6 more sprouts this morning. Add that to the sprouts I started indoors which are about 2-3 in tall, and I'm on my way to my target of 15-20. I'm going to cram them into a long box, and hope they don't crowd each other to death.

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jal_ut
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Today sunshine and cold. A foot of snow on the ground. Tonight 28 degrees F and calm. The only thing growing around here is ice.

jasonvanorder
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We are supposed to be in the 50's this weekend if we didnt get rain all week I would think about getting out the tiller but right now that would just end in a muddy mess

Taiji
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jal_ut wrote:"With a snowpack like you've had this year James, does that delay your spring planting? I mean, you have to wait for the snow to melt, then wait for the ground to dry out."

You can always go shoot that seed in with a Shotgun! :wink:
Reminds me of Quaker Puffed Wheat and Quaker Puffed Rice. "It's shot from guns"! That dates me. I wonder if it really was shot from guns in some strange way! Maybe some kind of giant grain popper.

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jal_ut
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This mornings sunrise sky.

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jal_ut
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You would have had a good laugh if you had seen me out this morning to grab that shot. House coat, rubber boots, and camera sloshing out through 2 feet of snow go get a good vantage point.

imafan26
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No matter what the season you have a magnificent view.

It is 66 degrees now, but it feels colder. I think the weather service anemometer must be stuck. It says the wind is calm and it is howling outside and I can hear things blowing around.

High winds and high surf are the usualy thing for this time of the year. The sun still doesn't come up till 7:15 and it will set at 6:11 so a little shy of 11 hours of sunlight.

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pomerinke
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jal_ut, maybe we could trade houses for a week. Hahaha. Think of it like a time share! I'd sure love to see some snow.

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jal_ut
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This morning a foot of fresh snow on top of what we already had. I started the John Deere tractor and moved the snow off the driveway. Took the snow shovel to the walks. That got me to panting.

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jal_ut
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This is what greeted me on the patio this morning:

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applestar
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Wow. That much snow like that would be a rare sight here. Lots of steady rain and gusts today -- it would have been "funner" (as my kids would say) if only the temps had been cold enough to be snow rather than rain.

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jal_ut
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At present 37 degrees F. I just hope that when this decides to move on that it doesn't get really cold. The forecast has this stormy situation going into Friday. Its when the storm moves on that the temperatures usually drop. I took a cup (gallon) of seed out to the bird feeder. There are about 150 of those Eu Doves coming to the feeder. Whoever turned those things loose in this country sure did the local birds a dis-service. So with the garden covered with about 30 inches of snow, I sit here on my butt and play on the computer.

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digitS'
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This is Day 6 for some daytime hours with above freezing. There was even 1 night that stayed above freezing. Still, there is plenty of snow around.

My shoveled paths on the lawn are mud. My paths on concrete this afternoon are puddles of water - they all will be ice by tomorrow morning.

The thermometer has been in the 30's F for nearly 24 hours with continuous overcast and fog :roll: . ... may as well live on the coast :wink: . I suppose I shouldn't hope too hard for change. One never knows what the "change" might be ..!

Steve
expecting that the WS is right and there will be cooler temperatures and snow on several days this week

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jal_ut
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Picture of my garden plot today. At present its 33 degrees F and snowing.

jasonvanorder
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We have had more rain than snow this winter. Hit 60 on saturday. Went out to check on the garlic since it was nice out and it was a good thing I did too. In my rush to get it in planted in the new barrels I got I forgot to put some drain holes in and both barrels were full to the brim with water. Hopefully the garlic will be alright but will have to wait to know for sure

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jal_ut
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Another 6 inches of snow came overnight.

Taiji
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I'm afraid it is going to be cold behind this group of storms. Our lowest prediction for this week is 13 degrees, but that's up from the original forecast of 11. Probably colder up Utah way!

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jal_ut
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Well so far we have not had any of that sub zero stuff. Today at 9:50 AM it is 21 degrees. Getting a bit of sunshine. Been having snow. If it clears up, that is when the temperature drops. I am sitting right at 5000 ft elevation here. I am in a mountain valley that is about 30 miles long and 7 miles wide. When we get an inversion, that cold is locked down in the valley and we don't even have a breeze to move the smoke. It can get nasty.

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jal_ut
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Friday February 3, 11:25 AM the temperature is 32 degrees F There is a bit of fog in the air, but the sun can come through a bit.

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pomerinke
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Superbowl Monday morning. I walked down to a local bar today for the superbowl. They had free beer and half price wings. The weather was pretty warm. I didn't check the temperature before I left, but I ended up carrying my jacket after half way and didn't even put it on on the way back. It was pretty overcast as well. Once I got home, I turned on the AC. Only for about an hour, but still had it going.



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