© By Deborah S. Tukua
www.hollycreekbooks.com

It varies depending on where you live in the U.S., but late winter is typically the best time to prune grapevines. If you don’t have grapes growing but would love to plant a few, there is a way to learn how to prune grapevines from a professional and get free clippings in the process. If you live within driving distance of a local vineyard, give them a call. Some vineyards announce their pruning dates in advance to solicit volunteer help. Call the nearest vineyard and ask to be put on the vineyard’s mailing list. Key Springs Winery here in Tennessee will be pruning their vineyard now through the weekend and welcome volunteer help. If you don’t know of a vineyard in your area call your local county extension office or state office of agriculture for a listing.

If the vineyard allows you to take cuttings home bring storage bags along. Dampen the cuttings you wish to keep and place in a plastic Ziploc bag. If you obtain cuttings from more than one variety of grapes be sure to separate and mark the variety name on the bag. Store the sealed bags in the refrigerator. The cuttings can be kept in the refrigerator until all danger of frost is past. Then the cuttings can be planted safely outdoors.

While you may not want to get into the business of making wine, it is easy to can your own grape juice. If you’ve never tried grape pie, which I call Mock Cherry pie because of its taste, you’re really missing a delicious, homemade treat.

To learn how easy it is to make your own grape juice from fresh grapes, directions are in Deborah’s book, Pearls of Kitchen Wisdom. To acquire her recipes for making Glazed Grape pie and Mock Cherry pie, both made from fresh grapes, you’ll find them in Pearl’s of Garden Wisdom. Both books by Deborah Tukua are on sale now at the FATV shop.

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by Farmers Almanac Staff
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By Deborah S. Tukua
www.hollycreekbooks.com

With sleet falling and the temperatures dropping we notice more wild birds in our outdoor feeder than usual. The presence of lovely birds livens up the bleak landscape. The brilliant red feathers of the male cardinal stand out gorgeously against his snowy surroundings. We count six cardinals in the yard near the feeder. Wild birds seem to eat more when it’s colder outside. There are things that we can do to keep the wild birds in our yard healthy through winter when it’s a little harder for them to find food.

Wild birds have favorite foods. A variety of bird feed will enable you to feed more bird species. If you’d like to attract a particular species of bird to your feeder it helps to know what that bird eats.

Black oil sunflower seeds attract cardinals, chickadees, finches, grosbeaks, nuthatches, tufted titmice, and scrub jays.

Cracked corn attracts blackbirds, buntings, blue jays, cardinals, crows, grackles, mourning doves, purple finches, sparrows, and woodpeckers. Although this is an inexpensive bird food option when purchased in bulk from a farm feed store, cracked corn doesn’t stay fresh long once wet.

Orange, fresh, halved attracts northern orioles.

Peanuts, unsalted and halved attract chickadees and scrub jays.

Suet attracts blue jays, Carolina wrens, chickadees, nuthatches, northern orioles, starlings, thrushes, and warblers.

Thistles placed in a hanging tube feeder will attract goldfinches, purple finches, sparrows, chickadees, titmice and pine siskins.

White Proso millet attracts mourning doves, red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, and towhees.

Although dog food is on the list of things not to offer, there is the persistent wren in the dog dish. Using his long pointed beak, the wren pushes hard dog food out of his way, first to the left, then to the right and onto the porch, making a real mess for such a tiny creature. The wren finally settles on a piece of hard dog food. Since it’s too large to swallow, he pecks at it on the porch until chiseling a small enough portion for himself. We excuse the mess on the porch for the opportunity to watch this cute little creature through the window.

Remember to change the water every couple of days in the birdbath, especially after a freeze. In colder regions, empty the birdbath at night and refill on days above freezing.

©Deborah Tukua, author of Pearls of Garden Wisdom. This hardbound book yields a great wealth of ideas for planning and planting a lovely garden to attract wild birds and butterflies. It’s on sale now at the FATV shop.

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by Farmers Almanac Staff
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By Deborah S. Tukua
www.hollycreekbooks.com

Keys to Cut Flower Care:

1. When placing a bouquet of flowers in your own vase or container, make sure you start out with a clean vase. Clean vases with diluted bleach water and rinse thoroughly before using.
2. Remove all leaves and foliage from the portion of the stems that will rest beneath the water. Unless you cut fresh roses from the bush in your backyard like my dad did yesterday for his bride of 50 years, re-cut the stems at an angle with a sharp knife, being careful not to crush the stems. This will ensure better water absorption.
3. Put a floral preservative in the vase of very, warm water, around 100 degrees. (If you did not receive a preservative packet with your bouquet, add 1 T. vinegar and a ½ t. of sugar to warm water and let it dissolve.) Place flowers in warm water. Flowers draw up warm water more readily than cold.
4. Cut flowers are best placed in cooler conditions, less than 75 degrees preferably. Don’t set a vase of cut flowers near a heat source such as a radiator, fireplace, stove, or directly under an air vent.
5. Check the water level daily. Change the water every few days and re-cut the stems at the same time. Always add warm water, not cold to the vase.
6. When you are away from home or at night, you may store your roses or other cut flowers in the refrigerator to keep them fresh longer. But, do not store flowers near fruit. Apples release ethylene gas that will cause your flowers to wilt quickly.
7. Remove dying flowers and foliage as it appears.

A little tender loving care will prolong the life and beauty of your cut flower bouquet.

©Deborah S. Tukua, coauthor of Pearls of Garden Wisdom: Time-Saving Tips and Techniques from a Country Home. Gain a string of gardening know-how with this two-green-thumps-up book of more than 500 tips, recipes, secrets and project ideas.

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by Farmers Almanac Staff
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By Deborah S. Tukua
www.hollycreekbooks.com

Win the hearts of all the sweethearts in your house by serving heart themed foods this Valentine’s Day. Like some simple ways to express your love to your family? Since the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, we’ve been told, we’ll start with some creative food suggestions. With a small and a large heart shaped cookie cutter, you’ll be able to serve up these tasty hearts.

· Using a large heart cookie cutter cut heart shapes from pancakes or crepes. Serve topped with thick, red raspberry, black cherry or strawberry syrup.
· At lunch, cut large heart shaped sandwiches.
· Bake a cake using heart shaped cake pans. Or, top an iced cake with cherries or strawberries forming a heart. Fill the center with syrup.
· Muffins and Cupcakes can be suited for sweethearts by cutting a small heart indention in the tops with a tiny heart cookie cutter. Pipe red jelly or jam around the border. Place jelly in a sandwich bag, seal and snip one corner to pipe a line of jelly easily. Or, spoon out the inside of the heart pressed into the muffin top and fill the slightly, recessed area with lemon curd or your favorite jam.
· Heart shaped cookies can be made using your family’s favorite cookie recipe.
· Melt a bag of semi-sweet chocolate morsels over very low heat, stirring constantly. Cover a tray with waxed paper. Lay heart shaped cookie cutters on the waxed paper. Spoon enough melted chocolate to fill the heart and repeat until you have the number of hearts needed. Allow the chocolate to cool on the wax paper before lifting and you’ll have homemade chocolate hearts to top cups of cappuccino, cupcakes, and pies at your heart’s desire!

Children can also join in the fun of preparing these heart treats. Empty nest? Invite the grandchildren or a few friends over and start a new tradition. Have an idea for making your family feel special this Valentine’s Day, share your delicious plan with us!

©Deborah S. Tukua is the author of Pearls of Kitchen Wisdom. If you too enjoy little helping hands in the kitchen, this book features a Children’s Cooking section filled with fun recipes, as well as a glossary of cooking terms and table etiquette. It is on sale now at the FATV shop. Pack a few heart treats into one of FATV’s lovely picnic baskets and have a romantic picnic in front of your fireplace.

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by Farmers Almanac Staff
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By Deborah S. Tukua,
www.hollycreekbooks.com

Back when the seasons were realized indoors and out, before houses were so well insulated and furnished with central heat, people counted on the foods they ate to generate heat and warm the body. Ever wondered why you have less of an appetite when it’s really hot outside and more of one when it’s cold out? A lower body temperature stimulates the appetite. If you plan to spend time outdoors on a cold day, you’ll want to prepare foods that release energy during digestion, thus having a warming effect on your body.

An easy way to introduce foods with warming qualities is to add “warming spices” to the foods you prepare. Look for recipes that feature the following spices. Adding any of these spices when cooking will heat things up a bit.

Warming Spices include: Allspice, Cayenne, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cumin, Garlic, Ginger, Mustard, Nutmeg, Pumpkin Pie Spice, and Turmeric.

For more great cooking tips and recipes, we highly recommend Deborah’s book, Pearls of Kitchen Wisdom, available here, on sale now, at the FATV shop.

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by Farmers Almanac Staff
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