Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Jan. 25

Happy Saturday! There are still fires in California, with prospects of mudslides, but there is snow elsewhere, so we have a little content featuring snowmen today. Ready to go to work?

Or maybe not so much?

Think about the well-being of your snow people.

Edible Gardening

Finding anything interesting in those seed catalogs?

What I do like about the latest Johnny seed catalog for home gardeners is the categories of tomatoes... this is the paste tomatoes - climbing/ indeterminate page... that San marzano was always a favorite of mine a few years back for high yield and thick / juicy. pic.twitter.com/qkJhrmaT8x

— BrenHaas (@BrenHaas) January 3, 2025

If you have been considering making your own tequila:

Did you know?

Agave plants are used for making tequila, and their fibers are also used to make shoes.pic.twitter.com/iw1fY2ytb0

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) January 21, 2025

FIRE RESISTANCE

Okay, the categories here are from NPR, but the article is not bad. There's audio.

Some Los Angeles homes made it through the firestorm. Here's how

Steve Hawks is a forensic analyst, of sorts. Not for crime scenes, but for buildings.

In Pasadena, he walks up a narrow cul-de-sac with several homes destroyed in the Eaton Fire, which consumed or damaged more than 7,000 structures. Hawks is here with a team from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, a non-profit research group that studies how buildings burn, funded by the insurance industry. After major fires, the group deploys to study how buildings fare in such extreme conditions.

He squints at a building that was once a detached garage, now a heap of blacked debris with only fragments of walls still standing.

"With the winds that were pushing the fire that night, I'm sure this was pretty high-intensity," he says scanning the charred hills above.

But nearby, the house is standing, looking largely unscathed. Hawks' job is to try to figure out why.

#1 Clearing vegetation that connects to the house

California is drafting more rules . . .

#2 Putting space between buildings

I have read elsewhere that this was a big factor in the destruction in Malibu.

#3 Using fire-resistant building materials

I think cedar shake shingles have been losing popularity in California. The Mister is allergic to them. He used to roof.

There's quite a bit of detail in the article. Got any other ideas? Thinking about any changes to your yard or your house as a result of these fires?

Ah, Nature

Never ask a Saguaro for simple directions. Aric J. Monnin

Some Eucalyptus species bloom this time of year. This time lapse is beautiful.

Eucalyptus flowers have no petals, but instead decorate themselves with the many showy stamens and they are enclosed in a cap known as an operculum.

This is an Eucalyptus flower blooming.pic.twitter.com/sj81OCicUU

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) January 21, 2025

Puttering

Making snow roses

pic.twitter.com/QguZcCb95y

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) January 5, 2025

Gardens of The Horde

One of my croton shrubs at Maison de Bohunk is blooming now. It's a long heavy bloom that lays on the leaves of the shrub and has a small single red/pink petal at the base of the flower.

2025 gardening cheers, Dirk Bohunk

Cheers! Dramatic leaves and cute flowers! Great to see them this time of year.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

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Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Jan. 18

As a follow-up to last week's bird tracks, here are some chicken tracks. They look like primitive art to me.

Any thoughts or questions?

I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

posted by K.T. at 01:16 PM

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