New Year's Traditions

In many countries, New Year’s celebrations begin on the evening of December 31—New Year’s Eve—and continue into the early hours of January 1. Revelers often enjoy meals and snacks thought to bestow good luck for the coming year. In Spain and several other Spanish-speaking countries, people bolt down a dozen grapes-symbolizing their hopes for the months ahead-right before midnight. In many parts of the world, traditional New Year’s dishes feature legumes, which are thought to resemble coins and herald future financial success; examples include lentils in Italy and black-eyed peas in the southern United States. Because pigs represent progress and prosperity in some cultures, pork appears on the New Year’s Eve table in Cuba, Austria, Hungary, Portugal and other countries. Ring-shaped cakes and pastries, a sign that the year has come full circle, round out the feast in the Netherlands, Mexico, Greece and elsewhere. In Sweden and Norway, meanwhile, rice pudding with an almond hidden inside is served on New Year’s Eve; it is said that whoever finds the nut can expect 12 months of good fortune.

Other customs that are common worldwide include watching fireworks and singing songs to welcome the New Year, including the ever-popular "Auld Lang Syne" in many English-speaking countries. The practice of making resolutions for the New Year is thought to have first caught on among the ancient Babylonians, who made promises in order to earn the favor of the gods and start the year off on the right foot. (They would reportedly vow to pay off debts and return borrowed farm equipment.)

In the United States, the most iconic New Year’s tradition is the dropping of a giant ball in New York City's Times Square at the stroke of midnight. Millions of people around the world watch the event, which has taken place almost every year since 1907. Over time, the ball itself has ballooned from a 700-pound iron-and-wood orb to a brightly patterned sphere 12 feet in diameter and weighing in at nearly 12,000 pounds. Various towns and cities across America have developed their own versions of the Times Square ritual, organizing public drops of items ranging from pickles (Dillsburg, Pennsylvania) to possums (Tallapoosa, Georgia) at midnight on New Year’s Eve.

 

Mistletoe

I'll never forget my first encounter with mistletoe. One crisp December morning in grade school I distinctly remember walking through a hallway that our teachers had painstakingly decorated for the holidays. There were poinsettias, wreaths and a profusion of color and twinkling lights hugging the corridor. But one thoughtful instructor had collected a plant from a tree in her front lawn and hung it where it would cause us boys a great deal of grief that day.  Hanging mistletoe over the threshold of a doorway is a holiday tradition that has its origins in Europe.

On that cool morning I saw a suspicious looking girl standing in the doorway of Mrs. Saxon's sixth grade math class. She was obviously waiting for something. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with her body language and I tried to shuffle past her without being noticed. That was a big mistake. Once my foot crossed the threshold, her arms shot up and blocked my way. Then she planted a kiss on my right cheek. I was in shock.

 Mistletoe is an ectophyte, meaning it's obligated to grow as a parasite drawing some part of its nutrition from a host organism. You're already familiar with other ectophytes such as ticks and lice and you've probably seen mistletoe growing in trees. The most commonly observed mistletoe species in Texas is the American mistletoe. Every part of this plant is known to be poisonous; therefore it should be kept away from children.

The tacky jelly-like mistletoe seeds are spread by birds that seem to be immune to the toxins. The seeds adhere to bark and sprout a root known as a haustorium. Haustoria penetrate tiny openings and grow in the vascular system of the tree. Although mistletoe leaves have chlorophyll and can manufacture their own food, they need to draw water and minerals from the tree to use as building blocks in their photosynthesis.

This pest is usually more of a nuisance than a serious health risk for trees. However, heavy infestations of mistletoe will kill branches and the loss of several branches can weaken a drought-stressed tree. Mistletoe is one more stressor in the urban decline of West Texas trees. Some long-term control can be achieved by pruning infected branches at least 18 inches below the parasite. Research hasn't yet provided an effective tool for conclusively removing mistletoe. Maintaining healthy trees seems to be the best option.

Holiday Safety Tips for Children

      Trouble-Free Toys

• Before buying a toy or allowing your child to play with a toy that he has received as a gift, read the instructions carefully. If the toy is appropriate for your child, show him how to use it properly.
• Follow recommended age ranges on toy packages. Toys that are too advanced could pose a safety hazard for younger children.
• To prevent both burns and electrical shocks, don’t give young children (under age ten) a toy that must be plugged into an electrical outlet. Instead, buy toys that are battery-operated.
• Children under age three can choke on small parts contained in toys or games. Government regulations specify that toys for children under age three cannot have parts less than 1 1/4 inches in diameter and 2 1/4 inches long.
• Children under age 8 can choke or suffocate on un-inflated or broken balloons. Remove strings and ribbons from toys before giving them to young children.
• Watch for pull toys with strings that are more than 12 inches in length. They could be a strangulation hazard for babies.

Outdoor Play
• Make sure your child’s gloves and shoes stay dry. If either becomes wet, change your child into a dry pair.
• Sledding on or into the roadway should be prohibited. Look for shallow slopes that are free of obstacles, such as trees and fences.
• Most skiing and skating injuries involve twists, sprains and strains. Prevent injuries by providing your child with competent instruction, proper equipment and appropriate supervision. 

 
      Happy Visiting

• Clean up immediately after a holiday party. A toddler could rise early and choke on leftover food or come in contact with alcohol or tobacco.
• Remember that the homes you visit may not be childproofed. Keep an eye out for danger spots.
• Keep a laminated list with all of the important phone numbers you or a baby-sitter are likely to need in case of an emergency. Include the police and fire department, your pediatrician and the national Poison Help Line, 1-800-222-1222.
• Traveling, visiting family members, getting presents, shopping, etc., can all increase your child’s stress levels. Trying to stick to your child’s usual routines, including sleep schedules and timing of naps, can help you and your child enjoy the holidays and reduce stress. 

 
       Food Safety

• Bacteria are often present in raw foods. Fully cook meats and poultry, and thoroughly wash raw vegetables and fruits.
• Be sure to keep hot liquids and foods away from the edges of counters and tables, where they can be easily knocked over by a young child’s exploring hands.
• Wash your hands frequently, and make sure your children do the same.
• Never put a spoon used to taste food back into food without washing it.
• Always keep raw foods and cooked foods separate, and use separate utensils when preparing them.
• Always thaw meat in the refrigerator, never on the countertop.
• Foods that require refrigeration should never be left at room temperature for more than two hours.

Poinsettia, the Christmas Flower

You know it's the Christmas season when you see poinsettias everywhere.  To many the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is the Christmas flower. More than 70 million poinsettia plants are sold each year, making it the number one plant sold in the USA.

 Native to Mexico the poinsettia is a tropical plant and comes in red, pink, peach, creamy white, yellow, marbled or speckled. The "Winter Rose Series" has blooms with several layers of curly petals (resembling a wild rose) and it is said to be about a large apple size.  The colors are a deep rose, rich crimson, white and marbled with a yellow center.  

   Since poinsettias are tropical plants they require warmth and protection from drafts and heat vents.  They require at least six hours of bright light but not direct sunlight. Poinsettias prefer a moist soil and can dry out quite quickly in a warm house.   Putting the pot in a sink of warm water and then allowing it to drain is the best way to water.  When the plant absorbs the water thru the roots you can easily determine from the top that it has received ample water.  After flowering the plants should be cut back part way and kept dry and in a temperature of 50-55 degrees for several weeks.  When the outside temperatures warm up the plant can be pruned to 6-8 inches of the soil line and started into growth again by watering.  New shoots (4 inches long) can be propagated with 65-70 degrees temperature.  Weekly fertilizing with a diluted fertilizer should be started when the plant is well rooted.

 Poinsettias seem to prefer an average temperature of 60 degrees, resent drafts and are easily damaged by spraying with insecticides.  They need short days and long nights to bloom.  Light at night prevents flowering and the formation of bracts.  Since the flower, with proper care, has been known to hold for many months you might be lucky enough to enjoy your plant for most of the winter.  If you have the smaller Mexican poinsettia that readily reseeds in your yard, you'll have an added bonus for the long, hot summer.

Use Newspaper as Mulch

We’ve all experienced it. One day the garden is looking just fine and all the weeds are under control, and the next day, you turn around and your neat rows of vegetables or flowers are suddenly crowded with big, hulking weeds. You get the garden off to a good start, but in the heat of summer, after a long day at work, you just don’t want to break your back trying to pull or hoe all those weeds.

Fear not. Here’s a way you can knock those weeds down and keep them down. This method doesn’t involve chemicals that might harm your produce, damage your plants, or cause health problems for your family. It’s also cheap and easy. In fact, you don’t even have to dig out the weeds.

What you need are a lot of large newspapers (national papers like The New York Times or The Washington Post work great), as well as some organic mulching materials like grass clippings, pine bark, chopped-up leaves, straw, etc. If you don’t have any newspapers, go to your local library and ask for any large newspapers they have in their recycle bin. They’ll load you up.

If the weeds are really tall, walk over them to lay them down against the ground. Then open up a section of the newspaper and place it right on top of the weeds. Each large rectangle of newspaper should be about 10 pages thick. Place newspapers over all the weeds, overlapping the edges so that light (and weeds) can’t get through. As you do this, throw some mulch down to keep the newspapers from blowing around, especially on windy days.

If your garden is crowded with crops, leave the papers folded. You also can tear the newspapers to slide them around the stems of your plants (and this is actually helpful in keeping cutworms at bay). Don’t use glossy pages in the garden, though — they are slow to break down and the ink may contain some mild toxins.

When the ground is covered with newspapers, add a nice, thick layer of mulch — about three
inches — over the papers so the next windstorm won’t pull the pages up.
That’s it! You’re done.

This job will take approximately one to several hours, depending on the size of your garden. The really nice thing about newspaper mulching is that when all the newspapers are down with the mulch on top, the garden looks incredibly tidy and clean — and it will stay that way for months.

Occasionally a tough perennial weed might poke through the mulch, but if and when that happens, move some papers out of the way just a little bit, dig out the weed, cover up the space with an extra square of newspaper, and cover with mulch again.

The newspaper mulch will not only keep the weeds down, it will also fertilize the soil, cool the roots of the plants in the summer heat, add organic material to the soil, and save water. Earthworms will be active underneath the mulch, tilling the ground for you and adding worm castings, which is pure gold for plants.

Newspaper mulch is great for the garden — and for the gardener.

Fun Turkey Facts

The average weight of a turkey purchased at Thanksgiving is 15 pounds.

The heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog.

A 15 pound turkey usually has about 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat.

The five most popular ways to serve leftover turkey is as a sandwich, in stew,
chili or soup, casseroles and as a burger.

Turkey has more protein than chicken or beef.

Turkeys will have 3,500 feathers at maturity.

Male turkeys gobble. Hens do not. They make a clucking noise.

Commercially raised turkeys cannot fly.

Turkeys have heart attacks. The United States Air Force was doing test runs and breaking the sound barrier. Nearby turkeys dropped dead with heart attacks.

A large group of turkeys is called a flock.

Turkeys have poor night vision.

It takes 75-80 pounds of feed to raise a 30 pound tom turkey.

A 16-week-old turkey is called a fryer. A five to seven month old turkey is called a young roaster.

Preparing for Winter

When do my doors need weatherstripping?

Let’s look at an example. If you have a pair of 6' 8" exterior doors in your home that don’t have weatherstripping, you can easily have an opening of ¼" all along the edge where the doors meet. This ¼" gap adds up to a 20-square-inch opening to the outside. If you saw a hole this big in your wall, wouldn’t you want it fixed?

Weatherstripping around exterior doors can be checked with a flashlight. Outside the closed door, move the flashlight slowly around the door edge. If a helper inside the house can see light shining in, weatherstripping is needed.

Use quality weatherstripping that will last multiple years and that can be securely attached. Weatherstripping comes in various thicknesses, widths, and materials. Examples of materials and forms include spring or V metal, tubular gasket, foam-edge wood strips. Sponge and foam tape or felt are generally not as durable as silicone, metal, or vinyl weatherstripping.

Can I seal a gap under my door without replacing the door?

Yes. Door sweeps, thresholds, and door shoes are good ways to seal gaps under exterior doors. A door sweep (a strip of metal often with a flexible rubber or plastic edge), can be used on a door with no threshold. The sweep is connected to the door bottom, either inside or outside, depending on how the door moves. A gasket threshold replaces an existing threshold and can be attached to the floor directly under the door. This type of gasket wears quickly in high traffic areas. Door shoes have rubber or plastic gaskets set into a metal bracket. This shoe is affixed to the door bottom, and can be used with any threshold not worn in the middle. In addition, a draft stopper can be made out of fabric and sand into long tube to place in front of the door to stop drafts