Category Archives: Columnists

Legal News You Can Use: Construction Worker’s Death Illustrates Dangers Within Industry

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Almost 20 percent of deaths of US workers, who died on the job in 2019, occurred in the construction industry. Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash.

The January death of a Connecticut construction worker exemplifies the risks, hazards and dangers faced by people employed within this industry. Serious and fatal injuries are not uncommon among construction workers.

According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 5,333 U.S. workers who died on the job in 2019, nearly 20 percent of the deaths – 1,061 – occurred in the construction industry.

‘Focus Four Hazards’

In the recent case, the 63-year-old construction worker died at a hospital after sustaining serious injuries in an afternoon fall on Jan. 26. The man reportedly fell roughly 10 ft. into a foundation hole at a home construction site where a crew was working on a basement. (And, as an aside, workers 55 and older accounted for 38 percent of workplace deaths in 2019.)

Annually, construction’s “Focus Four Hazards” – as dubbed by the Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) – comprised roughly 60 percent of the industry’s fatalities. They include:

  • Falls:
    Elevated falls from scaffolding, ladders, structures and falls into holes are among these hazards that can lead to death and debilitating injuries.
  • “Caught-in or in-between” accidents:
    These situations may include the collapses of trenches as well as equipment rollovers.
  • “Struck-by” accidents:
    These may include being struck by construction vehicles or equipment as well as falling objects from a construction site.
  • Electrocution hazards:
    Construction workers are nearly four times more likely to face electrocution than workers in all other industries combined. Powerlines often prove fatal.

Looking to the Future

The construction industry’s focus on safety must continue to take priority among employers. Construction companies must provide the proper training and protective gear to their employees.

Reduction of serious injuries and fatalities within the industry is critical. The lives of working people are in the balance.

This is a sponsored post by 

Editor’s Notes: i) Suisman Shapiro is located at 75 State Street, New London, CT 06320. Their mailing address is 2 Union Plaza, P.O. Box 1591 New London, CT 06320. Visit their website or call 800-499-0145 — lines are open 24 hours a day.

ii) If you are involved in a construction accident, the attorneys at Suisman Shapiro can assist you. Attorney James Berryman of Old Lyme specializes in Workers’ Compensation and can be reached at the number above or at this link.

 

A View from My Porch: The Marquis, Groucho, Sam … and Me

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There are several events in American history for which I will always recall where I was, and what I was doing, on those dates. I just added the Jan. 6, 2021 violent attack on the Capitol by domestic terrorists, provoked by a defeated president at the end of his term, to my personal list of infamous events.

Given the above, I decided to reconfirm my values; and so I am looking inward in this essay, which is a tribute to a unique small town. Please bear with me as I share my nostalgia. 

I grew up in Fredonia, N.Y., a college town that sits in the midst of New York’ s western lakes district (my own geographic description). My hometown is less than an hour from three lakes, each of which contributed to my developing world view and sense of history.

Three Lakes

Chautauqua Lake, N.Y. Photo from the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau website.

The first, Chautauqua Lake gave rise, late in the 19th century, to the “Chautauqua Movement”, which became a national forum for discussion of public issues, international relations, literature, and science. William Jennings Bryan, Booker T. Washington, Susan B. Anthony, and Amelia Earhart have all spoken there. 

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his historic “I hate war” speech at Chautauqua on Aug. 14, 1936: “I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men coughing out their gassed lungs. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war”.

The second, Cassadaga Lake, was home to the Lily Dale Assembly, which was a camp and meeting place for Spiritualists and “Freethinkers”. The purpose of the Assembly was to further the science, philosophy, and religion of Spiritualism.

Finally, the third, Lake Erie, produced a generation of environmentalists and ecologists. My experience on its shores began with kayaks, small sailboats, and water skiing. However, in my last summers before leaving for University, the lake was declared “dead” and inaccessible for recreational use. 

Erie was surrounded by agriculture and dairy herds. Its waters became overloaded with nutrients from fertilizer runoff, cattle manure, and poorly managed waste water. Its warm waters became a breeding ground for bacteria that contaminated drinking water and created oxygen-deprived “dead zones” that destroyed the fresh water fishing industry. 

This disaster, coupled with several other similar disasters across the United States, like the June, 1969 oil slick fire on the surface of Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River; and the hyper-polluted Charles River in Boston, (featured in the hit song, “Dirty Water”, by the Standells); finally ended with the creation of the EPA in 1970, and the passage of the Clean Water Act, and the joint Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement with Canada, in 1972; all of which resulted in strict regulations on pollutants, sewage treatment, and fertilizer.

These laws also led to eliminating phosphates in laundry detergents and phosphorous in fertilizers.

There has since been some discernible improvement in Lake Erie’s water quality, but, unfortunately, full recovery to a less-spoiled state will still require decades of careful management.

The Marquis:  

The Marquis de Lafayette by Gilbert du Motier. Public Domain.

One could not be a regular patron of Fredonia’s public library without gaining an appreciation for the Marquis de Lafayette’s role in our War of Independence, which included command of American troops at the battle of Yorktown. 

In 1824, at the invitation of President Monroe, he began a farewell tour of the then 24 states, of the United States, travelling by horse-drawn coach and steamboat. 

He arrived in Fredonia on June 4, 1825 to a hero’s welcome.  On his arrival, the Leverett Barker mansion, which eventually became the community’s library, was lighted with several candles at each window. A window sash was scorched. Never repaired or re-painted, a brass marker still commemorates Lafayette’s visit. Ironically, the visit coincided with the ceremonial re-lighting of a gaslight connected to America’s first natural gas well. 

The restored house remains much as it was in 1825, and the library has expanded via a large attached contemporary wing. 

From Fredonia, Lafayette proceeded to Buffalo, via a steamboat on Lake Erie, and he was greeted by a large crowd in the public square that now bears his name; and then, to Boston, where he participated in the 50th anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill.

Groucho: 

The Marx Brothers made the movie ″Duck Soup″ in 1933, which was set in the mythical kingdom of Freedonia (note the spelling); and the then Fredonia Mayor, Harry B. Hickey, complained to Paramount Pictures: “it is my duty as mayor to question your intentions in using the name of our city in your picture”. 

Groucho Marx in ‘Copacabana (1947).’ Public Domain.

The Marx Brothers quickly and eloquently replied: ″Our advice is that you change the name of your town. It is hurting our picture. What makes you think you are mayor of Fredonia? Do you wear a black moustache, play the harp, speak with an Italian accent or chase girls, like Harpo? We are certain you do not. Therefore, we must be the mayor of Fredonia, not you″. Thus, an historic connection was formed between them and my home town. 

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini also had concerns with the movie, and banned the film in Italy.  Indeed, the Brothers had intended the film to be a farcical representation of fascist regimes, like Mussolini’s.

In 1987, the annual “Freedonia Marxonia: Marx Brothers Film Festival and Symposium” began at The State University of New York at Fredonia.  Each year, in the fall, and near Groucho’s October 2nd birthday, activities are held to honor the Marx Brothers and their relationship to local, national, and film history. The two-day event includes presentations by film historians, “re-interpretation” of movie scenes and locally produced short films by members of the performing arts departments; and the movie themselves, in the restored 1891 Fredonia Opera House. Freedonia Marxonia 2020 was a virtual event.

Sam:

Mark Twain by AF Bradley. Public Domain.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) was part owner and editor of the “Buffalo Express” newspaper from 1869 to 1871. Twain fell in love with Fredonia as an invited speaker in January,1870 at the Normal School. After that lecture, he initiated a move to Fredonia for his mother, sister and niece.

He told his sister “I went in there by night and was out by night, so I saw none of it, but I had an intelligent, attractive audience” for my lecture, “Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands”; and so, his decision to move his family was based entirely on how that audience had responded to his lecture. 

His family moved to Fredonia in the spring of 1870, and Twain and his wife were frequent visitors. Twain’s sister, Pamelia was one of the first women to join the Woman’s Christian Association in Fredonia, and worked to open the WCA Home for Aged women in 1892. Today, the home still operates as an assisted living facility. 

Unfortunately, Twain’s memories of life in Fredonia weren’t all positive. Charles L. Webster, of Fredonia, was his business manager, and was eventually named the head of Twain’s publishing company, Charles L. Webster and Co. of New York. It was with Webster and the bankrupting of their shared publishing company that his relationship with Fredonia went awry. 

Scholars believe that the village became the setting for Twain’s novella, “The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg”, which was written in 1898. “Hadleyburg enjoys the reputation of being an “incorruptible” town known for its responsible, honest people that are trained to avoid temptation. However, at some point the people of Hadleyburg manage to offend a passing stranger, and he vows to get his revenge by corrupting the town”.

Author’s Closing Thoughts:

My sources for this essay were The Darwin R. Barker Library and Historical Museum, and the archives of the Dunkirk Evening Observer, where, as a twelve-year-old, working in distribution, my interest in journalism first began to develop. If I was maudlin in the above, you can also review another treatise on the subject at John Mellencamp – Small Town Lyrics – Bing. 

And now, returning to reality, it is my opinion that “The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body” can no longer hold claim to that distinction. Sadly, some members of Congress have been censured for “voting their conscience.” And finally, there are others, who need to search their souls, and then determine whether they helped fuel this siege on the Capitol by perpetuating the notion of a fraudulent election.

God save the United States of America.

This is the opinion of Thomas D. Gotowka.

Tom Gotowka

About the author: Tom Gotowka’s entire adult career has been in healthcare. He’ will sit on the Navy side at the Army/Navy football game. He always sit on the crimson side at any Harvard/Yale contest. He enjoys reading historic speeches and considers himself a scholar of the period from FDR through JFK.

A child of AM Radio, he probably knows the lyrics of every rock and roll or folk song published since 1960. He hopes these experiences give readers a sense of what he believes “qualify” him to write this column.

A la Carte: A Duo of Delicious Desserts for Dreary Days

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Lee White

As promised, as part of February’s Black History Month, I get a chance to make two recipes for this column.

The banana pudding with vanilla wafers has been a favorite for a very long time. As a matter of fact, some years ago I went to a slumber party at Ginger Smiley’s house and we were asked to make our favorite-ever dessert. Mine was a banana pudding. (Ginger, never to be outvoted, blew out the jelly of jelly donuts, added peanut butter cups and shared them warm. Never tasted anything that good before or since).

So, here is a gorgeous dessert—and if you don’t have a trifle bowl, it is just as good layered in a Pyrex pan.

The other, a spiced sweet potato pie, I had never made before, although I have made pumpkin pies a lot. This recipe is beyond delicious. I did not parbake the pie shell, since I never do with a pumpkin pie.  

Sweet potato pie. Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Civil Rights Spiced Sweet Potato Pie
From Yankee magazine, January/February 2021
Yield: 8 servings

2 medium sweet potatoes, roasted, peeled and mashed
¾ cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
4 tablespoons salted butter, mashed
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 9-inch pastry shell, parbaked (parbaking optional)
Whipped cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, using a standing or handheld mixer, beat mashed sweet potatoes together with brown sugar, condensed milk, butter, flour, spices, salt, eggs and vanilla until well blended and smooth. 

Poor filling into pie shell. It will be full but should not spill over the sides, although I decided to put the pie atop a big piece of aluminum foil. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degree and bake until top is puffed and browned, 20 to 30 minutes more. Cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours. Serve with whipped cream.

The Best Banana Pudding
From AllRecipes.com
Yield: serves 20

1 5-pounce package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups cold milk
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 2-ounce container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 16-ounce package vanilla wafers (I always use Nilla Wafers)
14 bananas, sliced

In a large mixing bowl, beat pudding mix and milk 2 minutes. Blend in condensed milk until smooth. Stir in vanilla and fold in whipped topping. Layer wafers, banana and pudding mixture in a glass serving bowl (also called a trifle bowl).  Chill until serving.

About the author: Lee White has been writing about restaurants and cooking since 1976 and has been extensively published in the Worcester (Mass.) Magazine, The Day, Norwich Bulletin, and Hartford Courant. She currently writes Nibbles and a cooking column called A La Carte for LymeLine.com and the Shore Publishing and the Times newspapers, both of which are owned by The Day. She was a resident of Old Lyme for many years, but now lives in Groton, Conn.

A la Carte: Celebrate Black History Month by Making ‘Peace Through (Puerto Rican-Style Shepherd’s) Pie,’

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Lee White

Even though I was born in New York State, and went to college there, too, I have always considered myself a New England girl. My husband and I met in New York City and we lived in New Jersey for a few years, but as soon as we could, we moved to New England, first to Massachusetts and then to our home in Connecticut.

I have always had a subscription to Yankee magazine and we liked two- or three-day weekends much more than going somewhere for a whole week. On those weekends we would drive to Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Two days at a hotel in Boston was divine. As for Rhode Island: we would have dinner at Al Forno or, sometimes, just drive to Providence for dinner on Federal Hill.

These days, with a pandemic and with fewer friends to drive with, I often snuggled into bed with Yankee magazine and dream about the places we had been, or wished we’d visited. 

A few nights ago, after two hours of Longmire on television, I went to bed with the January/February issue of Yankee. It was all about pies.  In a wonderful article by Nadine Nelson about Common Ground, a New Haven, Conn., high school, urban farm and environmental education center, she wrote about Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the Peace Through Pie project, a national nonprofit and communities fundraising movement, in February — Black History Month. 

The article was great, but which pie to make? Samosa-style potpies, root vegetable cheese tart, pear-cranberry cheddar pie with hazelnut crumble, or how about a casserole-like pastelon, a Puerto Rican dish that includes plantains, which are now available in most of our shoreline supermarkets.

Next week another pie: Civil Rights Spiced Sweet Potato Pie, also for Black History Month.

Puerto Rican-Style Shepherd’s Pie

 

From Yankee magazine, January/February 2021

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 ripe plantains (yellow with black spots), peeled and halved crosswise
3 tablespoons salted butter, plus more for the pan (unsalted butter is fine)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon adobo seasoning*
1 medium onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon paprika ( preferably smoked)
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup pimento-stuffed green olives, sliced
2 teaspoons capers (optional)
2 large eggs, beaten
1 ¼ cups shredded Monterey Jack, mozzarella or cheddar cheese

Season a medium pot of water with salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Add plantains and simmer until tender, 15 minutes. Transfer plantains to a bowl and mash with 3 tablespoons butter until smooth. Set mixture aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a medium baking dish; set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and adobo seasoning and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until it is browned. Remove beef from pan and transfer to a bowl. Reduce heat to medium and add onions, pepper, cumin, paprika and oregano; cook stirring until translucent, about 6 minutes. Return beef to skillet and add tomato sauce, olives and capers and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates. Remove from heat.

To assemble casserole, spread meat mixture in the bottom, Pour eggs over meat mixture, then spread plantains over that. Top with cheese. Bake, uncovered, until cheese is golden brown, 30 minutes.

*I did not have adobo seasoning, but I did have chipotle in adobo, so I used a teaspoon of that instead.

About the author: Lee White has been writing about restaurants and cooking since 1976 and has been extensively published in the Worcester (Mass.) Magazine, The Day, Norwich Bulletin, and Hartford Courant. She currently writes Nibbles and a cooking column called A La Carte for LymeLine.com and the Shore Publishing and the Times newspapers, both of which are owned by The Day. She was a resident of Old Lyme for many years but now lives in Groton, Conn.

Gardening Tips for February from ‘The English Lady’: So Much to Decide, So Much to Do This Month

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Photo by Masaaki Komori on Unsplash.

This winter, as in other winters, when I need a blossom boost, I have enjoyed the fragrance of paper white narcissus that I planted in tall glass vases.

I surrounded the bulbs with seashells from White Sand Beach here in Old Lyme and kept them in a dark cool area keeping them moist as the roots developed.  When the bulb foliage reached about six inches, I introduced the bulbs to indirect light.

The fragrance of this plant is so inviting and each morning on entering my lounge I inhaled their fragrance – so refreshing and uplifting. I keep extra bulbs in a brown paper bag in the vegetable keeper in the refrigerator and these bulbs, I am about to plant as the first blooms have gone by. With this method, I have a succession of bloom and fragrance in my home well into spring.

The Groundhog told us the other day that we have six more weeks of winter and there is much to decide and plan for in our gardens. The warmer refreshing breath of Spring will be here before you know it and we are filled with the anticipation that lives within all gardeners of getting outdoors and hands into the soil.

Lots to look forward to and I am asking respectfully that you garden organically.

In this country and around the world, one can clearly the results of pollution and climate change. And for gardeners, what this crisis is doing to Mother Nature and your own health in the form of poisonous pesticides and herbicides. The main producers of these poisons are Monsanto and other biological monsters who have been decimating our world for profit together with pollution and neglect that is destroying our planet.

We have been able to observe a result of the global warming in the colossal melting of the glaciers and how that has affected polar bears, causing their demise in great numbers through starvation and disease.

Bees, were killed in the millions when the EPA  sprayed over 14 million acres of land during the Trump administration, with these poisonous chemicals. Bees pollinate 70 percent of the world’s food and their demise is our demise. I feel confident that the new  administration will make changes to these practices to keep alive all living creatures on the planet.

Photo by Jenna Lee on Unsplash.

Last year was recorded as the hottest year on record for our planet.  In this country, the drought in the west, that resulted in dry tinder conditions, caused devastating fires that brought death and destruction to many in California, Oregon and Colorado. Extreme weather patterns also caused tornadoes, deadly hurricanes, earthquakes and recorded below zero temperatures this winter, together with heavy snow.

As gardeners our diligence is essential to help counteract these negative changes by using only organic methods of gardening on your own plot of land; what we do is in our garden is an important element in the quest to heal the planet. Through 20 years on my radio show WRCH 100.5 FM and through my Garden Earth lectures, I have received commitments from numerous people to discard all poisonous herbicides and pesticides, and to garden organically. The response had been tremendously positive towards producing healthy gardens grown in healthy soil.

It begins by what you put into the soil for the growth of the plants,  accomplished by adding liberal doses of my favorite stuff –aged manure. Manure either from the farm or in bags from the garden center.

In 1937 Franklin D Roosevelt said that ‘the nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.’

America has not heeded that warning. Precious soils in this country and around the world are being destroyed by dangerous practices in industrialized agriculture and poisonous chemicals, which completely disrupts our eco system and poisoning all living things.

In your own garden you can build and retain a rich growing environment by building the Humus component – we are all carbon-based creatures as is all life on earth. Not only humans but also our soil microbes need carbon to flourish. And to attract carbon from the atmosphere into your soil you need to build the humus component. 

HOW TO BUILD THE HUMUS COMPONENT

Step One:

Do not till soil – tilling breaks up soil structure. Add composted manure three times – beginning in spring when the soil has reached a temperature of 50 degrees.  If the soil has not reached that temperature, the soil organisms are not able to work with the bacteria in the manure to produce nutrients for the roots of the plants.  Purchase a soil thermometer to check the soil’s temperature. 

This year, as we have not experienced deep frost therefore the soil temperature may reach 45 degrees by the end of April to early May.  Add the manure again in July to continue to nourish your growing plants and again in October to protect and nourish your plants through the winter.  Manure is not a fertilizer; it builds soil structure and works with all the soil animals to keep a healthy disease-free growing environment.  

Step Two:

Add wood chips in the form of brown fine bark mulch or wood chips that you produce from your garden of aged wood chips with a combo of leaves, twigs and branches. 

These two major steps build the humus component. If you do this in your garden – not only will you helping to heal the planet but also produce the healthiest of gardens. 

A question I am often asked is, ‘Can I put manure over mulch for example in my July garden?’ The answer is ‘yes’ – the manure together with nature’s moisture and your own irrigation enables the manure to find its way easily into the soil and the roots of your plants.     

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

WHAT EXACTLY DOES HUMUS DO?

Humus acts like a sponge and can hold 90 percent of its weight in water.

Because of its negative charge – plant nutrients stick to humus for nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus and others, which prevents these from washing away – it acts as nature’s slow-release fertilizer throughout the year.

Humus improves soil structure making it loose and friable, which helps plant root in this soil environment better access to nutrients, water and oxygen.

Humus also helps ‘filter’ toxic chemicals from the soil, much like carbon-based water filtration systems filter toxins from your water. 

We cannot control industrialized agricultural practices but in your own garden you can make a difference. Feed the soil and it will feed the plants. 

PLANTING SEEDS

This week I spoke with my friend Ann, who lives in Cheshire, in England, which is next door to my home county of Shropshire. Ann is an avid gardener and she told me that her daffodils are well above the soil and a week ago she started seeds in the greenhouse.

Feb. 20 to March 20 is the time for serious indoor seed planting here. I suggest that you check which garden centers are stocking organic seeds, or go online for the seeds  – one company that I use is “Botanical Interests.”  Do not go overboard when buying packs of seeds as there are about 500 seeds in each packet.

If you do purchase too many, have a remote seed-sharing party with gardening friends and ask them to receive or drop off seeds at your homes while keeping a social distance.

Equipment to have on hand when prepping for seeding

Cheap envelopes, fresh sterilized potting soil mix, and sphagnum moss. Also seed trays, or egg cartons also cardboard milk containers that are cut down work well.  All containers must be scrupulously clean.

Sphagnum moss works well as a planting medium; the moss can prevent a soil-borne fungus that causes “damping off,” which causes seeds to rot before germination.  I have, together with many gardening friends, used this method for years and have lost no seeds due to “damping off.”

For tiny seeds, I use the moss as the planting mix and for larger seeds, I install a topsoil base and a layer of the moss on top of the soil. I mix fine seeds with sand before I sow; this method helps to loosen them up. Soak the seeds overnight before planting and just before planting spray them with warm water, never cold as cold water can delay germination. When they have germinated, water gently.

The best method of watering seedlings is to water from the bottom. But, if you feel you must top water, just mist with a fine sprayer, otherwise you will drown the delicate seeds, washing them out of the planting mix.

Use new sterilized soil when seeding and do not save any leftover soil, add it to houseplants or put it in the garden. Left-over soil from the previous year can develop disease, which can ruin future seedling crops.  If you are growing seedlings on a windowsill, place them on a south- or west-facing sill; seedlings need light and not heat to thrive.

WINTER CARE OF HOUSEPLANTS

Photo by Alena Ganzhela on Unsplash.

My houseplants lift my spirits, even more so in winter when the landscape is rather monochromatic. I talk to my plants enjoying the blooming variety and the different foliage varieties and thank them for cleaning the air in a stuffy home environment.

Keep your houseplants away from draughts and direct heat. If you are able, have humidifiers and air purifiers in the rooms, which will benefit not only the plants but also your own health. Place pebble trays under the plants and keep the pebbles moist for additional humidity.

Spray houseplants every few days with lukewarm water and once every couple of weeks, put the plants in a sink or bathtub and allow water to run freely over the plant to remove dust from the leaves and clean salt residue from the soil. The exception to the spray or soak rule is African violets; violets do not like wet leaves.

Aphids and white fly thrive indoors in winter and an organic sulphur solution called Safer works well to clean the soil of the insect eggs and from the foliage. Perhaps you are fortunate like me to have ladybugs in your home in winter; if so, allow these useful creatures to roam freely; the ladybug menu is aphids and white flies.

The best time to repot houseplants is from April through June but if a plant has become root bound with no visible soil, then you can repot them in February. Water the plant to loosen the roots from the soil, turn it sideways on a newspaper and gently slide it from the pot.

Cut away any dead roots and repot in fresh potting soil in a clean pot that is only two inches larger than the original.  With the plant firmly in place and the soil one inch from the rim, water it gently and do not fertilize with an organic fertilizer until April.  Plants need this dormant period to recharge.

A few suggestions for trouble-free foliage plants in the home are: Rubber plants, Spider plants, Ivy, Philodendron, Monstera and Spaphyllum. If you have a sunny window Aloes, Succulents and Cacti do great and offer enjoyable variety.

Blooming plants sitting side by side with foliage plants, enjoying one another’s company, give one an impression of a miniature garden.

A few suggestions of bloomers are Cyclamen, African Violets, Kalanchoe, Primulas and Paper white narcissus. To prevent pets from chewing on the plants, add some cayenne pepper to the water when watering.  I enjoy using my herbal plants, which sit in a sunny window. My favorites are Rosemary, Basil and Parsley which are great additions to any dish.

POWER TOOLS

Check any power tools that require maintenance or repair. February or March is the time to get them into the repair shop, because as soon as the weather breaks the shops get busy and you may not get your lawn mower back until August.

Check all tools and implements in the garage or shed. If you did not clean them off at the end of last season, plunge the shovels and spades into a bucket of sand; sand is an abrasive and will clean off any leftover soil and manure residue.

Oil the wooden handles of tools with Linseed oil or some inexpensive vegetable oil; oil feeds the wood and keeps the handles splinter free. At the same time, check your hoses and fittings that may have sprung leaks since last year.

Make a shopping list of new tools that are needed – there are lots of sales in late winter for you to get a good deal.  However, I suggest that you buy only quality tools and hoses; the old adage always applies, “You get what you pay for.” Also check that there is enough twine, bamboo rods, and wire ties or nails, bags of manure and peat on hand.

BUYING MANURE

In March or early April when soil and manure are available, purchase bags of composted manure from the garden center or if you have a farm close by that will sell you aged manure, use a small  truck and get a load.  If you decide on that route, ask the farmer for manure from the bottom of the pile – aged stuff.  Manure needs to be at least six months old, as fresh manure will burn your plants.

PAINTING FENCES & MORE

Photo by duong chung on Unsplash.

Check the paintwork on your wooden fences, arbors, decks and any other outdoor wooden structures. Then purchase, paint supplies so that on a dry day in March when you are able to paint, everything will be on hand.

Don’t forget to put paintbrushes on your list – I have a feeling you forgot to clean your old brushes last season, which means they are ‘stiff as a poker’, that being said, remember sandpaper, brush cleaner and whenever possible buy eco-conscious paint.  If you are painting benches and garden seats on a dry day, put them under cover before sundown.

White walls in the greenhouse reflect light so any areas that need retouching, paint with white paint. It’s a great feeling to see how much lighter and brighter the greenhouse is after a touch of paint and the glass cleaned.

However meticulously clean and tidy your greenhouse, you may find that white fly, greenfly and scale insects have found their way inside the greenhouse for warmth, therefore it will be necessary to spray with an organic spray. I mix an organic spray of orange peels in white vinegar and allow it to sit for two weeks before spraying – this works well and is very economical.

TAKE A WALK AROUND THE GARDEN

Walking around a garden that looks good and feels good in mid-winter is a real pick-me-up. Patterns emerge created by paths, walls and hedges. As you walk, enjoy the shapes of shrubs, the shadows of evergreens and the strong silhouettes of tree trunks, enjoying their shape and bark without foliage.

FEED THE BIRDS … AND SQUIRRELS!

Photo by elvis bueno on Unsplash.

Keep the bird feeders full; I love to watch the birds in their quick flights across the garden to alight on the feeders, and their sudden bursts of song when the sun peaks through. It is so much fun to watch the “pecking” order and see the blue jays, who are apt to be bullies and the red cardinals, who, like the blue jays, can be rather territorial, leading the pack. Bring up the rear come the finches and house sparrows. Sometimes a bird appears arrives that I do not recognize and out comes my binoculars and Peterson bird book.

If you notice squirrels swarming the bird feeders, add some cayenne pepper to the birdseed and if that happens, do not be concerned as the heat from the cayenne does not affect birds.  Choose a spot away from the feeders to sprinkle cayenne-free birdseed on the ground so the squirrels can also enjoy a meal.

THE SCENTS OF WINTER

Winter has its own distinctive fragrance, the fog, in the morning when the air is very heavy, thick and damp – a damp even more bone chilling than rain.  I can deal with that now and know in about six weeks I will be inhaling the healthy nose-clearing fragrance of the soil, rich and brown, well-manured or covered with wood mulch, shredded leaves or salt hay.

Winter’s smells are a potpourri, one moment sharp and cold like the north wind, and spring’s flavors are light and sweet.

If you find you have spent year after year throwing good money after bad, it may be time to get a professional design. If that is so, don’t hesitate; if you want work to begin in the spring, a design takes time to complete. You may want to contact my son Ian, whose company LandscapesByIan.com show his creations and who will work with you and your budget.

Have a great month and I’ll see you in your garden in March.

If you have any gardening questions, feel free to email me at MaureenHaseleyJones@gmail.com

About the author: Maureen Haseley-Jones, pictured left, is a member of a family of renowned horticultural artisans, whose landscaping heritage dates back to the 17th century. She is one of the founders, together with her son Ian, of, ‘The English Lady Landscape and Home Company.’ Maureen and Ian are landscape designers and garden experts, who believe that everyone deserves to live in an eco-conscious environment and enjoy the pleasure that it brings. Maureen learned her design skills from both her mother and grandmother, and honed her horticultural and construction skills while working in the family nursery and landscape business in the U.K. Her formal horticultural training was undertaken at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in Surrey.
Contact Maureen at maureenhaseleyjones@gmail.com