Snow is in the forecast for tonight and I couldn’t be more EXCITED! We were supposed to drive to Stockbridge, Massachusetts today to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum and about 6 other things on my list but the HH said he didn’t want to go and risk the chance of getting stuck in the snow on the drive home.
I just rolled my eyes because I knew we’d be home before the first flake was scheduled to fall. But whatever. I figure it will take a couple of big snow days for him to get over venturing out {like normal people do here} on the PLOWED HIGHWAYS. Back when we lived in Western Washington, if it snowed even an inch…. people would freak out and there would be a mad rush for groceries.
I wonder what the snowfall threshold for stocking up on supplies is here in New England. A foot of snow? Two feet? It wouldn’t matter how much snow was predicted, people would just live off beans and weenies? I don’t know, but I guess we will find out sooner or later.
On one of his many runs to The Home Depot last week, the HH picked up a sack up tulip bulbs that were half off {wasn’t that sweet!}. If you still haven’t planted your spring bulbs yet, I bet if there are any left in the stores, you can get a sweet deal on them right about now.
We planted a few bulbs by the mail box and the rest of them out in front of the potting shed.
With the freezing temps on the horizon I decided it was now of never if I was going to get garlic planted in the garden. Instead of ordering bulbs online this year I purchased a nice bouquet of organic garlic at local farmer’s market back in September. The bulbs weren’t as big as the mail order ones I’ve planted in the past, but I think they’ll do.
This will probably be the last picture of the garden without snow until next April. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Check it out!!! A squirrels nest. Did you know squirrels build nests? I guess I never thought about it before but we have a HUGE on out back by the chicken coop.
“A 2013 German hidden-camera study of a red squirrel filmed a nest being built in work periods totaling more than three and a half hours over three days. The squirrel carried material to the site with its mouth and front paws; bent stiffer twigs with its head and face; pushed other material into place with its legs; shredded lining components by holding them with the front paws and chewing; and shaped the inner cavity by lying in it and turning around.” ~The New York Times
Can we talk about firewood for a minute?
Or rather our dwindling supply of firewood?
We started off the season with 4 1/2 cords of firewood. By my best estimates we have about 3, maybe 3 1/2 cords left. I wanted to order 2 more cords of wood back in September to be on the safe side…. But the HH was like, Nah, we have PLENTY. ARE YOU CRAZY? We don’t need anymore wood!
He now thinks we will be out of firewood by the end of January.
Yep.
Big Martha says HELLO. 🙂
And last but not least, does anyone know what the name of this orangish-red berried plant is? I clipped a few branches to bring inside and put in one of my hanging baskets I have on the wall. Everlasting berry bush sounds familiar but I’m, not sure if that is right. Anyone know for sure?
Ahhh winter…. it’s finally here. 🙂
Bundle up!
~Mavis
Laura Z. says
That looks like bittersweet. It is beautiful in wreaths and arrangements. What a nice find! Keep warm!
Cindy Brick says
I agree — I think that’s bittersweet.
There’s a lovely mention of it in the novel JOY IN THE MORNING. One of my favorite books…
Pam says
I just finished reading Joy in the Morning last night…for the umpteenth time!
Cait says
Yeah…..I’d order more wood STAT 🙂
Kathy says
Should have ordered double of what you thought you’d need in regards to firewood. That’s what we did when I had a wood burner. Told my HH, who grew up in the southwest, better safe than sorry. At the end of our first winter in NE Ohio and using said wood burner 85%, the rest was heating with fuel, we had maybe 2 cords left of the 10 originally ordered.
Mary3M says
At this point I would order 3 more cords of wood. Whatever you don’t use you can save for next year. The first year at anyplace is always hard – from estimating weather to fuel oil to firewood. We live in the mid Atlantic area and some people here have more wood stacked than you do – and our winters are generally milder than yours. And since this is your primary source of heat better to err on too much than not enough. Believe me in late January and early February you will be happy to have enough wood so you don’t worry and don’t have to crank up your furnace. You will be u sing more wood then than you are now!! BTW – I bought one of those cutie Hedgehogs. So cute!! Let us know what you decide to do!!
Natalie says
You can never have too much wood. Better to have too much than too little. Good luck with the tulips, around here, the deer think they are chocolate. Deer love roses and tulips. They will not touch daffodils and day lilies. Maybe that’s why you had so many!
Diane says
One year I had a large patch of day lilies with probably 300 buds almost ready to bloom. I checked it one morning and every bud was gone! Just had all the naked stalks. I didn’t see it happen but I’m sure it was the deer that come in my yard. I joke that the buds must have been like lollipops on the end of the stalks. And my hostas are the salad bar.
Katherine says
Squirrels love tulip bulbs. Plant daffodils with them, they are toxic to squirrels.
Libby says
I heard someone describe tulip bulbs as macadamia nuts for deer!
Mavis Butterfield says
Maybe that’s why I didn’t see a single tulip on our street last spring. Just daffodils. Oops.
E in Upstate NY says
I’ve been successful in tulip bloom by planting them close to the house, just off the regular walking path. This, even while living in squirrel overload area. Have two neighbors who weekly feed them huge bags of peanuts. By their location on this side of a flower garden, have also kept the deer from eating them. Deer path is the other side of the flower garden. Now crocus, it’s a different story. To not be touched, they have to be planted way lower or even under other bulbs. Those that I’ve not done this way, have been dug and nibbled.
Lisa says
I planted 300 bulbs. The squirrels got to them after bloomed
Teresa says
Yep, the berries look like bittersweet. For some reason we can’t buy it here in North Carolina anymore. It looks great in a large glass or copper container. Wish I had some now! Enjoy 🙂
Linda M says
Yep….bittersweet it is! Here in IN we use it in fall decor. Brings a pretty penny at fallcraft bazaars. Maybe next fall you can harvest and sell some at your roadside stand??
We used to heat with wood….thinking you will come up short if you have already used that much….winter is hardly started.
Deb says
Bittersweet it is! Pretty to look at but VERY invasive! It will take over and climb and kill trees and shrubs. I think poison ivy roots travel along with bittersweet because I get terrible poison ivy when I pull this stuff up. Birds eat the berries, then poop them out and then you’ve got this crap everywhere!! That is my biggest and never-ending garden chore!!
Connie says
Yes, it’s definitely bittersweet! It’s often used in fall decorations on wreaths or displayed in a large vase.
Delores H. says
I am just going to say: that is a very similar conversation to many I have had with my husband! Order more if you can. It might be ready by the time you need it this winter. And it won’t go to waste anyway.
Also, I like the polka dot glasses. 🙂 And the blue bubble hat!
Connie says
Yes, it’s definitely bittersweet. It’s often found on wreaths or displayed in a large vase with other fall-type flowers. I actually prefer it displayed alone in a large vase.
Sue R. says
Yes, bittersweet–just don’t let Lucy or anyone eat the berries….
Cheryl says
Like your garden this first year with firewood will be a learning curve.
Shelley Briley says
Your bush is called Bittersweet. Grows all over in NE.
Vicky says
One reason you could be using so much firewood could be the size of your wood. It appears to be mainly quartered pieces. Using halves (and even some rounds) once you have the stove burning well would give you a longer more productive burn time. We have had wood heat for many years, first a wood stove and now a wood cook stove. A lot of how much you burn is due to size of wood and knowing how and when to damp the stove down. You want a good hot fire but not a raging burn. We let our fire burn down to coals before piling on more wood – it is very easy to add too much wood – that stove can only put out so much heat. It takes time to learn the fine art of managing a wood stove for sure!
Linda says
I couldn’t agree more with Vicky’s comment. Most of our wood is bigger than yours. My HH cuts some kindling, and you need pieces like you have for warmer days, but for cold days and overnights the logs we use are about 8″ around and 20″ long. The damping is really important, too. Once the fire is burning well we close the dampers down to almost closed (our dampers are two knobs on the front of the stove.) Leaving the damper open too much and the extra oxygen to the fire will make your wood disappear like magic. Experiment now while it is warmer, but DEFINITELY order more wood. It does take a while to get the hang of a wood stove, but even now, after 20 years, we use more than 4 1/2 cords in southern Ohio.
Leslie says
I make sure I have enough groceries for 2-3 anytime there is 12″+ and for longer if there will be more than that, especially if it’s a Nor’easter.
Hope you can get a few more cords of wood!
Diana says
I too am realizing I didn’t get enough wood ready for this winter…and it’s not even officially winter yet! Better order more wood. :/
Maxine says
I’ve been told the higher the squirrels build their nest the worse the winter. Yours don’t look that high. But I’m more a woolly worm prognosticator, and with a snow day here in Maryland in November and solid black woolly worms, you’re gonna need way more wood.
Mrs. C. says
We go through 2-2.5 cords per winter, and ours are mild compared to yours. So, we have 4 cords on hand, but this winter is supposed to be a doozy, so we are going to get two more, just in case.
I don’t know what I was thinking, but I ordered 2,000 bulbs. They were shipped a tad late, I thought, and now it is snowing and the ground is freezing. Sigh.
Mavis Butterfield says
2,000 bulbs. That is going to take you a while.
Mavis Butterfield says
How often do you remove the ashes from your stove?
Debby says
If you can’t plant those tulip bulbs before the ground freezes, you can keep them in the freezer till spring. Prep your soil and plant right from the freezer, still frozen. They will probably bloom later than normal but the next season they will sprout and bloom when they are suppose to. I got a great deal on bulbs one year and did this and had great success.
Diana says
What s great tip. Thank you Debby
Shelley Briley says
Daily. Make sure all the embers are out first. If you let the ashes build up it will inhibit the air flow and decrease the stoves ability to heat.
Mrs. C. says
OUr stove is very effiient, so about once a week.
Mrs. C. says
Translation: we have very few ahses.
Linda says
It depends on the time of year and the size of the fire box, as well as what wood you are burning. Ours is deep and fairly wide. It will hold 22″ long logs if placed cross-wise, but we generally cut them 20″. I think yours looks smaller than that, In the fall we aren’t emptying ash very often, and though we started burning nights in early October, we haven’t emptied it yet. In mid winter we are emptying it every 2-3 weeks, but we burn a lot of ash because it is plentiful here, and since the ash borer has killed thousands of trees my HH has cut many down, so it has been free. Ash produces a LOT of ash.
Other woods don’t seem to leave as much. A bed of ask will allow the coals to stay burning underneath, so if we aren’t right there when the fire gets almost out (like in the morning) it is easy to restart the fire with some kindling.
We let the ashes build until they start to impede us from getting the wood in, and when we empty it we get about 1 and 1/2 pails full. But you need to have oxygen to let your fire stay burning well. We use the fireplace tools to open a channel under the wood so there is space for combustion.
Between this and my earlier post I hope this isn’t TMI.
Nancy D says
Mrs C…I just watched a video by “Garden Answer” on tulip bulb planting of 600 bulbs as a two person process using a cordless drill with a long drill bit! Amazing!
Kara says
In WNY where I used to live, 1-2 feet of snow never stopped us from going anywhere. It is a very common occurrence there and after awhile you just can’t stand to stay inside one more second. I’m so glad we moved south last March but you have fun! 😉
Katie says
Tulips are my favorite! I fell in love with them at Butchart Gardens in Victoria. I can’t wait to see pictures of yours blooming.
pat says
You need 9 cords of wood , that’s to start !
Lana says
We have learned to gauge the weather by the squirrels nests. They also add to them if it is going to get colder so you can often see them get larger as the winter goes on. Our silly squirrels stuff their mouths with leaves and they look like they have big beards as they run across the yard. For years I wondered what the bundles of twigs were at the base of trees and then I realized that they push the old nests out of the trees. Our acre and a half of woods are full of nests back behind our house but a few years ago we had a lot of coyotes living in the woods and they built their nests in the front yard and back yard up near the house. We can also tell when it will get cold in the Fall based on when they strip all the hickory nuts out of the trees. This year they were weeks late and of course it was a month late before we had our first freeze. They are destructive little boogers but we enjoy watching them anyway. BTW, strips of orange peels will keep them out of your flower pots. It is the only thing I have found that works after 25 years of battling them. We gave up on feeding the birds because they figured out even the squirrel proof feeders.
Carrie C says
Thanks for the orange peel tip! The squirrels dig in my potted plants all the time and ruin veggie sprouts. I wonder if its a big enough deterrent to keep them from my strawberries. 😉
Dianna says
As everyone has already mentioned, those areindeed bittersweet. Keep a look out for winterberry bushes too! You can find them growing along the road in many locations. Use clippers to gather an armload and they are perfect to decorate perfect both indoors and out!
At our Market Basket here in MA, it gets crazy busy as soon as snow is in the forecast! Ever seen this YouTube video? It’s pretty accurate! https://youtu.be/i6zaVYWLTkU
Kay says
It is called Bittersweet here in NC.
It is considerd a noxious week also.
I agree that is makes a beautiful wreath.
Kay says
Sorry..not week…the word is weed.
Sue says
I hope you enjoy all the snow you’re going to get, right now it’s 34 degrees and feels like 27. We had a light dusting of snow and sheet this morning in central Alabama.
Don’t think I could handle that much cold, I like it warm.
Earlene says
I work at the only local grocery store and if there’s a forecast of snow , people will “panic” buy , one year on Halloween we got 31 inches of snow. So there you go
Mimly says
In my experience, tHe only time you can’t get out to get groceries is if you’re iced in or have a tree across your driveway that prevents you from going anywhere. No matter how high the snow, the plows will have the roads cleared. (You will learn to love those road crews! They work crazy hours to keep us New Englanders moving) So it’s just a matter of getting out of your driveway; once you do that, short of ice storms, you can go on as always.
The one thing I do when a big storm is coming is to fill kettles with water in case there’s a power outage. But I think you said you bought a generator, so that may not be a concern for you…
Now, as for wanting to snuggle in when the snow flies, that’s another story! If you don’t have to be anywhere — like work — no reason at all not to hunker down and get cozy for the duration.
Not sure what’s going on with your wood supply. We heat a 3600 sq ft house with 3 cords of wood, with the stove going October through April. One thing that may be causing you to burn more wood is if you’re cleaning your stove everyday. You need to let a bed of coals build up to burn efficiently. It may not be aesthetically pleasing to have ashes in the stove all the time, but it will make a huge difference in your wood consumption. We only empty the ashes every couple months, and even then, I make sure to leave a thin bed in there.
Never knew squirrels built nests. I learned something new! Thanks!
Mavis Butterfield says
I have been removing the coals once a week! I thought you were supposed to remove the ashes when the ask pan on the bottom of the stove were full.
AmyWW says
I wonder if you can look at your owner’s manual or ask the manufacturer? I know absolutely nothing about wood stoves but it seems like the place you bought it from ought to be able to tell you exactly how to run it at peak performance.
Mimly says
You can remove what’s in the ash pan, but IMO, that doesn’t mean completely cleaning the stove out. Truthfully, I ignore the ash pan; they never used to exist and it seems like a silly thing to me.
All I know is that we put a couple large pieces in when we go to bed, shut it down, and then when we come down in the morning, we have a bed of coals that allows us to throw a log in there and have it instantly burn. No need for kindling or laying a fire to heat up a cold stove, both of which cause you to use more wood and take more time getting the stove up to a temperature that throws off steady heat.
Talk to the old timers. They’re the best source of information.
P.S. snowblowing the whole driveway? Is he nuts? Get a plow blade for that tractor pronto! Snowblowers are for walkways and short suburban driveways.
Mavis Butterfield says
It was his first time using one so I think he was having fun with it. He pulled the tractor out a little later. 🙂
Lynda Kling says
Bittersweet..it’s poisonous, so don’t put it where the dog can get it!
Laura says
Bittersweet, yes. And believe it or not, the threshold is low for the runs on milk and bread. Could tell you a couple of nightmares, but that’s one of the reasons we moved out to the New Mexican high desert. Enjoy!
Graniteware Gal says
Yes, beautiful bittersweet! I grow it here in northern IL. It’s easiest to pick it a little before the outer covering opens to reveal the inner orange berries – otherwise the outer petals get knocked off too easily. You can clip long vines & keep the leaves on them and let them dry naturally (they’ll become very brittle, so put the vines where you want them and leave them there until you’re ready to change to your Christmas decorations.) Or you can pull off the leaves, bunch several stems together & wrap a rubber band around them multiple times to form nice little bunches. The berries are poisonous to animals, but I’ve never had any trouble with my dogs or cats bothering them in my decor. I think they can sense that they’re poisonous. However, if some of the berries fall on the floor, I pick them up right away.
Just a thought for other people out there: I have always found it very annoying that people seem to think that bittersweet growing on farmers’ fences is “fair game” to be taken. Farmer’s pay taxes all the way to the middle of the road and what’s on their fences or along their fence row (such as wild asparagus) is their property. Sure there are some farmers who would care less, but always give them the benefit of the doubt and the benefit of courtesy. PLEASE ASK before you pick. Anything else would be stealing. I grow my bittersweet in a hedgerow well inside my yard to avoid someone taking it. (It requires male & female plants to get the berries.)
Mavis – enjoy your new find!! People pay $10 a bunch here in my area! To me, bittersweet IS the look of fall!
Barbara Alward says
Hi Mavis,
I have followed and loved your blog for several years now. I think it’s great that you have taken off for new adventures in the Northeast. However, as someone who grew up in and spent most of my life in bitter cold and snow, shoveling and getting stuck in drifts, and sliding around on frightening streets filled with other cars sliding around … I had had enough. It was with great joy that we discovered the Northwest, where there are still four beautiful seasons, but summers aren’t insufferably hot and filled with mosquitos, and winters aren’t filled with freezing blizzards and dirty snow. We live in a beautiful rural area in the shadow of the Olympic Mountains with the sparkling ocean in sight. We have chickens and raised vegetable beds and incredibly caring neighbors, farmer’s markets and crafters. Yes we get a fair amount of rain, but that results in the gorgeous year-round greenery and the brilliant color in our summer gardens.
I just wanted to put in a good word for our part of the world too :). HOA’s are a pox on the earth everywhere, but rural living and good neighbors are everywhere too. Blessings to you and your family on your new adventure!
Keralee says
Holy cats… Gaah. Thats a lot of wood! Have you guys never heard of Rocket Mass Heaters/Stoves or at least a Masonry Stove? You can heat a big house with less than 2 cords a winter, this is not fantasy: People are doing this right now in places with serious winters. Most of your heat/$$ is going right up the chimney, if you dont move that heated air through a thermal mass and store it. My mind is boggling, how come people don’t know about this?
Toni says
Hi Mavis –
Yes, bittersweet, but here’s something that you might not know yet: There are male plants and female plants. You need both in order to get flowers/berries. Pioneers used the branches for decoration.
Good luck with the wood! Life……..it’s an education!
Best wishes for a warm and toasty winter!
Nancy from mass says
That is bittersweet. It will kill anything it grows on and winds around. I’ve lost two Lilac bushes, three Rose of Sharon and I’ve been ripping it off my other rose of Sharon bushes. It also killed an oak and maple tree that were in my backyard. It is a pain in the butt to get rid of. Beautiful, yes, but a pain in the ass. The roots are very deep and hard and you can’t just cut the branches you are actually have to get at the root to kill it
Nancy from mass says
And I don’t think you can burn the branches either,,
Karin C says
Looking forward to this winters blog posts hopefully your wood will last , we would have 8-10 cords for each winter , we don’t have a wood stove anymore we have put in a pellet stove and use 1 ton a season with a mix of natural gas for our heat, there was an explosion in one of the pipes up north and we
( Fortis Gas customers most of BC Canada) to reduce our gas requirements and wash in cold and keep temperatures at 18-20 in the house when home and below 17 when sleeping or not at home so I am glad we will have our pellet stove and will probably go through 2 tons which is $190 per ton .
Cass says
Bittersweet is exactly that; bitter sweet. It is an invasive vine that will climb your trees, without regard to whether you WANT the tree or not, and strangle it to death. Cut it down to the ground when you harvest it on your property to keep it in check. I agree with others, you can cut it and sell it at your stand for a few extra bucks, cuz while many/most have some growing in their area they don’t want to bother to go out and cut it down.
To the woman that said it was necessary/nice to ask if it is ok to harvest along roadside: In NY the right of way for the road is owned by the public, which is why farmers put their fences at least 3 feet from the road, so the municipality doesn’t come along and rip them up when doing construction along the roadside. So I guess it depends on your state regarding harvesting roadside. (But if you are harvesting AT the fence are you are trespassing)
Brenda says
Today, it is just smart to stay off any major road during a snow. Why risk life and limb to drive in snow. It is not like the old days when it was FUN to do it. Drivers are crazy, and imagine losing control and ending up in a ditch only to DIE! Sorry to be gloom and doom, but as a MA transplant in NC I avoid all driving when snow is predicted. Not out of fear of the weather but out of the jerks on the road. One major storm here and I saw cars that could not navigate an inch of snow..because of rear wheel drive and NO snow tires, hazard for all those around those fools! And the punks who think they are invincible and drive on EMPTY and run out of gas in the middle of a highway! Up north the truckers who are A holes who think that they own the road, stay off the road out of their way. It’s like the putting yourself and the emergency responders in jeopardy to save you from your own stupidity.
Deborah says
Last time you mentioned this I think I mentioned a pbs reality show, Pioneer House from a number of years back. The contestants didn’t have a enough wood
In their woodpiles- they would have froze in real life
Good thing you can just order wood, lol.
Mavis Butterfield says
I loved that show. Firewood guy is bring more wood next week! 🙂
Mary A Howe says
Its bittersweet, If this is growing in your back yard , you are lucky !!! I have to drive the country roads searching fences for it !! i love decorating with bittersweet
Janelle says
Hi Mavis,
I know that HH is hesitant to leave the house in case there might be snow. I would suggest if you don’t already have them, you should invest in a good set of snow tires for your car. I live in Canada and basically nothing shuts down even when the weather is terrible. I have driven cars without snow tires before and I will never go back. They make such a difference in the winter.
Indio says
I’m sure squirrels serve some purpose in nature’s web, but they mostly raid my veg garden and fruit trees. When I see the tree nests, I realize I will need to add more fencing to my garden next year. Was lucky to get three peaches off of a tree this year. Had to fully fence in and cover the top of veg beds to keep squirrels out. With access to the whole foods buffet in my garden, the population has exploded. Not enough predators to keep the birth rate manageable. May need to get my own puggle to help in the fight.
Lynn Y says
Squirrels don’t just build nests in trees. That screen on top of your chimney is not just for fighting the sparks; it is to keep critters out such as birds and squirrels as they like to build nests in the chimney, on top of the damper. As you can imagine, if you don’t know they are in there and you light the first fire of the season, the squirrel won’t be the only one in for a big surprise.