Daffodils!

Daffodils are blooming now. So beautiful. And coming early in the year. At least in Grants Pass. I checked the weather in Platteville, Wisconsin and the high today is 34 degrees with the low being 18. Later in the week the high and low are forecast to be 22 and 2. Yes, that is 2 degrees. Daffodils can withstand cold weather but let's not be ridiculous. I grew up in Iowa and have vivid memories of the winters there. Spring and fall once they came were great but short. Spring was on Tuesday and Fall was on Thursday. The rest of the year was hot humid summer and cold winter.

You might also notice that the grass is green. And it is growing. In fact, I am going to need to mow my lawn soon. I haven't mowed it since October, but it has been green the whole time. To be fair, it is green throughout the fall (once it starts to rain), winter, and spring; however, in the summer, if you put no water on it, it will turn brown. Still in the Midwest unless there was snow in the fall and winter, the landscape was brown.

To be blunt I much prefer the climate here in Grants Pass. But then, I am biased.

A man was in New York and he went into a church and saw a red phone on the wall. When he asked the pastor what the phone was for, the pastor said, "That's a direct line to God." The man said, "Can I use it." Pastor said, "Oh, sure. The call costs $20,000."

The man traveled through many states always stopping in a church and seeing a red phone asking and getting the same answer, "Yes, direct line to God, $20,000."

Until one day he got to Southern Oregon and when he asked got the response, "Yes, direct line to God, 20 cents." Twenty Cents! How come? "Oh, this is Southern Oregon. It's a local call."

So long for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck

Daffodils are up! Is Spring far behind?

Daffodils are up! They started coming up in January and now have blossoms on them. It won't be long before they are blooming. Even though it is still winter, can spring be far behind?

Daffodils are great here in Grants Pass Real Estate. They are hardy. They are perennial, coming up year after year. They multiply. Plant a few and wait and you have more, then lots more. They don't have enemies. The deer won't eat them, they are poisonous to moles and gophers who also won't eat them. And they are beautiful.

In this photo you can see some of the daffodils. And the taller plants are garlic. Garlic also comes up by itself. These started in late October and will be up and ready to pick in the late spring or early summer. Or you can let them go and watch the beautiful blossoms and let them die down and come up again in the fall.

Here is another harbinger of spring. These crocus are up and lovely.

Even though it is still winter here in Grants Pass Real Estate we still have some nice weather and it is mild enough to have daffodils and crocus come up early.

So long from Grants Pass Real Estate for now.

chuck

Fall Treasures

This is a reblooming iris. It blooms in the spring like all the other iris. Then in the fall, Surprise here it comes again--more blooms that last past the first frost.

This is cabbage coming on well with the cool fall weather. This is actually from a few cabbages that we planted last year and they kept growing throughout the winter and hung on through the summer and now are forming heads again. The climate here in Grants Pass Real Estate is mild enough that cabbage and kale will go through the winter. Also you can plant spinach in the fall and when it gets a little warm in February, sometimes in January, the spinach starts growing again and you get the earliest, tenderest, tastiest spinach ever. Please eat it raw so that it tastes great, don't cook it into a mush.

This is our asparagus patch. I pulled the weeds and the grass out and put a mulch of compost all around it. The compost will keep the weeds down and feed the asparagus so that it will come up early and strong in the spring. This asparagus is a purple variety that is sweet to eat raw and turns green when steamed or stir fried. Don't cook it to death and make it mush so that kids hate it. Leave it crunchy and tasty.

God bless your day. So long from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck

Lettuce begin again.

Hello again. Sorry for the pun. I couldn't resist. Grants Pass real estate has been favored this year with relatively cool weather in a spring that has allowed cool weather crops like lettuce to last longer. I actually put these plants in late and they have done well without bolting. Spring has been delightful here. Makes me glad all over again that I live in Grants Pass and in Southern Oregon. The sign in Grants Pass says "It's the Climate" and this it true most of the time. Lovely spring and fall. Sunny summer. And an easy winter. I grew up in Iowa which had awful, cold winters that went on too long. Spring and fall were nice, but spring was on a Tuesday and then sultry summer came on with a vengence. Fall was on a Thursday and then the long winter began.

As a kid I didn't know any different. I thought all places had the same weather. When I grew up and went to a different climate I was amazed. Grants Pass real estate has the best climate I have lived in (I have lived in the Midwest, East Coast, South and now the West Coast).

Even roses grow easier here in Grants Pass real estate. The dry climate for the summer makes it hard for mildew and black spot to start or take hold on my roses. They just grow and bloom and look beautiful. Though I do have to put them behind a fence or the deer will eat them (thorns and all, ouch!).

So long for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck