Organized or Disorganized

As many readers of this blog probably know, my wife loves to organize stuff, which you can read about here.   Now that we are both retired she has organized, and even reorganized what she previously organized.  One day, this month, when I was at a long meeting, she even went so far as to organize my basement workbench and related area.  One would think that organization would make items easier to find.  But, that may not be the case, due to the human mind and long entrenched patterns, or habits.

Organization is simply a matter of placing an object in a specific place, but it is more complicated since it requires cognition and recall of the item in that place.  If an area is reorganized, you may recall the PRIOR place the item was located and not the new reorganized place.  So, in effect, the reorganization may make the item more difficult to locate.  Your memory had it in one location, but you moved it to another and the synapses of the brain failed to pick up the change.  This is akin to grabbing your car keys and placing them somewhere, but not recalling where.  If one organizes fast, as I think my wife does, she moves the items quickly.  She reorganized pots and pans and baking items, and in changing the location of some bowls and baking racks it took a while to become accustomed to the new location.  One time she could not locate an item, and sure enough it was something that had been just reorganized.  I think it involved a product needed to make cookies, so obviously it was of major importance.

I know that when I am working on a project I sometimes place a tool down to attend to another matter on or off the project.  I then may forget the specific location of the item I had set down, and then set out on a search.  For example, trimming the rose bushes in late April I had my clippers, but saw some weeds that needed to be pulled, so I set the clipper down in the mulch to grab the weeds.  Well, I noticed other weeds to pull so I continued for another minute and then I went to grab the clipper, but could not find it.  What occurred is that I had moved a further down the bed than I thought, and the clipper being in mulch was somewhat obscured, so it took me a second to figure out that I had placed it further down the bed.  Finding a tool, or an item can distract you from the work or chore that needs to be accomplished.

Luna Moths mating next to our basement window. June 2019
Author photo

Think about it, if you are making cookies and you can't find the vanilla, it would make for some uninteresting cookies.  What about cooking, and you cannot find that certain ingredient to get into the pot in a time sensitive manner?  This shows the need to make sure you have what you need on the counter before you start baking or cooking, unless you are sure you know where an item is.

I am sure we all have such experiences.  Last year I was doing some repair to an outdoor electric outlet in my flower garden.  I used my needle nosed pliers for the project, but a few weeks later when I needed the needle nose pliers once again, I could not locate it.  A year later, I still don't know what happened to it.  The new one I bought has bright blue handles so hopefully it will be easier to find.  Perhaps tools should come with a lime green handles so they are as noticeable as construction workers.

Add caption

I have tools and other items hanging up on peg board above the work bench, and luckily my wife, when reorganizing around my work bench kept the same system I had in place, just simply organized some things better.  That is good for me because otherwise I would start looking all over the many feet of pegboard to find the item I required. One knows she has run out of things to organize and reorganize when she decides to tackle my workbench.  We also put some small shelves near the garage door for commonly used summer items, such as diatomaceous earth, blood meal and bone meal, fertilizers and some other products for use around the yard and flower beds.  These items moved from shelves in front of the car to the side of the large garage door.  I need to get used to the new location, since I sometimes find myself going to the front of the garage to obtain the item.  My oldest brother once told me it takes 30 days to form a habit, which makes me wonder how long it takes to break a habit.  One item I placed on the shelf that I regularly use are my work gloves,   but I still find myself going to the front to get them; halfway there I realize they are in a new location.  They were in the same place for about 29 years, so that instinctive habit is not easy to break.

Sometimes I wonder if my wife is reorganizing too much.  Although she would disagree.
Memory recall, it seems, takes time to change.  Human body, I think, forms habits of where something has often longed been placed, and changing that location can make a big difference.   Not unlike my body wanting to go to the front of the garage to get the work gloves which require a break in a 29 year habit.   I suggested back in April, when she could not locate the ingredient for the cookies that perhaps she had reorganized too much.  She did not agree with my comment. 


Images by author at Olbrich Gardens on June 23, 2019.  They really have nothing to do with organizing.

Frontenac

This past Friday my wife and I made a trip with our new camper to Frontenac State Park in Minnesota.  We had been invited by our son and daughter in law to join them on Father's Day weekend, so we took them up on the offer.  When offered, and when we reserved a site, we had no idea we would be owning a camper.  There are some interesting differences between Minnesota and Wisconsin, although culturally they seem similar.  Marshall Eriksen on the former television show "How I met your Mother" once said that the only difference between Minnesota and Wisconsin is the politeness in Minnesota.

Rock Formation at Frontenac State Park, MN

Minnesotans being polite is thought by some with whom I have talked, a false belief.  Some say it hides the passive aggressive nature and how that "politeness" is actually manifested in ways much more sinister.  There are other differences of course, but one shocker was that Minnesota State Parks do not allow alcohol consumption.  My goodness, if Wisconsin had, and would enforce that type of rule, the use of the state parks would probably decline by 75% or greater.  It seems that it should be a rite of camping to be able to enjoy a cold beer while eating dinner, or sitting by a campfire.  I suspect, it is not highly enforced in Minnesota and is another citation to provide if one is noisy or disorderly. 

Looking westerly from Ridge at Frontenac State Park

Noise could certainly be an issue at Frontenac as the campsites are very close to each other.  We had a camper perhaps 11' from our camper.  On the other hand, that means water and toilets are not that far from the campsite.  The sites may be somewhat limited by the extreme drop off to the east side down to the Mississippi River (Lake Pepin), and other topographic issues.  It seems to compare best to Wyalusing State Park in Wisconsin which is on the east side of the Mississippi near Prairie du Chien.  One can get some great views of the land to the west from Frontenac, and I was a bit surprised that it did not have a tower to get above tree level to better view the Mississippi Valley, and the views to the west.  The nice thing was the park rangers made regular patrols through the campgrounds, particularly in the early evening.  Some patrols were in  park vehicle, others, which seemed most common, were by walking.  They actually checked to make sure vehicles had their admission sticker.  Unlike in Wisconsin where the sticker is only good for the calendar year, in Minnesota the sticker is good for  12 months from month of purchase.  In Wisconsin, when we camped at Lake Kegonsa State Park earlier this month, we saw no ranger patrolling the campground, although we camped during the week, not the weekend. 

Campsite at Frontenac, the rainfly came in handy

When you choose to camp can make a difference when travelling.  Travelling with a camper poses issues, besides gas mileage.  First, the vehicle manual says that when towing you should travel the first 500 miles with the trailer at 50 mph or less.  Thus, instead of driving the interstate to LaCrosse and then up Highway 61 in Minnesota, we took USH 14 to Hwy 61.  It was a long trip of over 220 miles one way, and was made longer by road construction in Minnesota on parts of 61.  It took us a little over 5 hours to get to Frontenac and 5 hours home on Monday.  Sunday afternoon the park cleared out and our loop had only us and a couple camping next door.  Although we woke up to find two other campsites set up, which we did not recall when we went to bed on Sunday night.  The nice thing about travelling Hwy 14 was the view from the ridges and the small towns that broke up the ride.  Although it took awhile to get through Richland Center.  Many of these small towns are in decline, but yet some seem to possess some vibrancy.  I saw some villages and cities I had never before been, such as Coon Valley and Westby.  The nice thing about the long trip, was that, combined with other added mileage, we are now only eight miles from our 500 mile maximum speed of 50 mph. 

Car show in downtown Red Wing, MN
The one time the sun came out on Sunday was when
we were in Red Wing

Due to weather the four of us made a trip to two wineries in Minnesota and one cidery/winery in Wisconsin.  I think we have become more impressed with the quality of locally produced wines.  The Maiden Rock Cidery (Stockholm, WI)  also sells mead and wines produced elsewhere in Wisconsin.  We all found their Honeycrisp cider delicious.  Maiden Rock, we heard from the Flower Valley owner (who uses mainly grapes grown onsite, although some types are produced with CA grapes), is now for sale, due to the owners wanting to retire.  Maiden Rock, we were told was a pioneer in hard cider. production and assisted others in developing that product.  The Minnesota vintner commented to me how much better the Wisconsin laws for production of alcohol are over those in Minnesota.  Although, one could not tell by the number of quality craft breweries in Minnesota.  The 45th Parallel distillery is located in Wisconsin and not Minnesota in large part due to the differences in laws.  The problem is that the laws cannot overcome the climate.  Apple growers have been hit by late frosts which significantly effect production, and the bottom line. 

Plaza adjoining Red Wing Shoe Company.

Frontenac was a nice state park possessing some good hiking trails through woods and/or meadow.  The campground sits high on the ridge and depending upon your campsite you may have a view of Lake Pepin.  I am not sure, however, that I find the Minnesotans any more polite than people in Wisconsin, so perhaps Marshal Eriksen was not correct in his statement of the differences between Minnesota and Wisconsin.  One thing is sure on the difference, and that is Wisconsin is more lenient when it comes to alcohol. 

Camping Re-imagined

It was over twenty years ago when my wife had a suggestion that we should camp as a family.  So we went and bought a tent, which we promptly returned to Gander Mountain as it was missing parts.  We then bought a tent from REI, which we were using as of last year. Our camping trips have provided some great stories. The one constant through out our varied camping trips can be summed up in perhaps one word:  Rain. We have had short, but intense rains, all day rains and then there was our first major trip to Pattison State Park which presaged the storms to come:  6" in 3 hours on our first evening.   We had rain on most trips, some major storms in which there were tents in the campground that had collapsed, others left the campsite flooded which had us depart for home, and other times it was just so wet we left for home too.   Rain in itself is not bad, but heavy storms and all day rains of cold temperatures certainly put a damper on the camping experience. This past week my wife and I made a change to our method of camping accommodations.  We bought a small recreational vehicle. Our first shake down camping trip with two young boys was a September weekend over twenty years ago to Lake Kegonsa State Park, and going back to the past, our first shake down trip of our new RV was to this same park.  Having the RV begins a journey for us in which camping is re-imagined.

T@B 320S Boondock Lite
Day of purchase, June 4, 2019

The recreational vehicle we purchased is a small RV whose inside is smaller than the family tent we used when the kids were young, and which over the past three years my wife and I migrated back to due to head room, and space for the blow up mattress we started using about four years ago.  We thought having a blow up mattress was glamping.  It was two years ago, or there about, when  my wife and I had our first discussions about purchasing a camper about the time we retired. The idea being to go and enjoy the wonders this country has to offer.  At that time we knew we would need a new vehicle with which to tow, as the minivan was over 20 years in age.  We went to Jerry's Camping Center to get an idea of vehicle weight, and hitch weight, and all other oddities which I really don't understand.  The advice we received was:  Get at least 35% more tow capacity than what you think you will need as out west you lose about 2% of tow capacity for each 1,000 feet in elevation gain.  We also knew we wanted a vehicle that would store our current tent camping gear.  That led us to the Jeep Grand Cherokee with factory tow, which we purchased in July of last year.  I had the mantra, that I would prefer close to a 50% tow capacity.  With camping you can add toys:  kayaks, bikes, etc which all count to gross vehicle weight.  Hence, it is better to not have to worry about overload, and have sufficient capacity.

Solar panel and bike rack

Beyond visiting Jerry's a number of times over the past two years, we also went to the RV show in February at the Dane County Exposition Center.  My wife was wondering if I would ever pull the trigger on purchasing a camper.  I had joined some camper forum's and quite frankly, some of what I read made me wonder if I should buy one.  Yet, in April we visited Jerry's to look once again at Campers, including the Little Guy Mini Max, the T@B 400, and the Luna Sol, but also once again examined the T@B 320S.  We spent some time questioning the sales consultant about our needs and desires.  For example, I have never towed, and we are going from a tent situation where most of our camping is done in rustic campgrounds.  With no electric hookup, the camper would be dependent upon battery and/or propane.  The T@B 320S seemed to best fit the our needs.  We waited a couple weeks for a new shipment to arrive, and so on a cold and rainy Saturday  in mid-May we once again made our trip four miles to Jerry's to see the new arrivals.  In the show room was a 320S (S stands for shower and toilet) Boondock lite version, which provides 15" tires and higher ground clearance than the standard T@B 320's.  Being off grid in camper lingo is called boondocking, whether in a national forest dispersed camping (in the wilderness with out any services), or in a Walmart parking lot.  The order time frame which was 6 weeks in April was now four months.  Thus, I decided to buy the white with black trim that was in the showroom after having just arrived.   (I would have preferred the white with red.)  What made up my mind, quite frankly, was the cold wet spring this year which showed that Hovel camping weather will not go away. The camper is not a small investment, and additions of bike rack, solar panel, sway control bar, rear camera on the trailer, and brake controller were not insignificant.

All day rain, and mid 50 degree temps (high) at Pattison State Park, Aug 2017
Screen tent with home made rain-fly cobbled from old tents we bought cheap

Jerry's sold over 180 T@B units last year and is on pace for over 200 this year.  They had already sold two the day we  picked ours out.  While promised in two weeks, it took a few days more.  So it was on Tuesday, June 4 that we picked up our camper and promptly went to Lake Kegonsa State Park not far from our home or from Jerry's.  While we enjoyed our three night camping trip, we really did not put much to the test.  We did not add water or use the inside shower or toilet, nor cook inside. We used very little electricity.  With long days and pleasant nights we did not need the heat, although if we had an electric site and hooked to shore power we may have used the air conditioning to cool the unit down the first night.  One reason we chose the 320 is that at its size it is designed to get you outside.  Outside is the reason one camps.  We plan to still do our cooking, and cleaning of dishes outside and use the camp toilets.  The thunder storm on our first night this past Tuesday was not unexpected--it was after all a Hovel camping trip.  I have long thought to solve drought, people could send us camping.

Our Camp site in NE Wisconsin, August 2018
Yes, we had rain on that trip too

What the camper will provide is an ability to provide some heat when nights get cold, or a place to have some warmth and stay dry at those times when it rains all day and the temperatures struggle to get to the low 50's.  For example, our September trip last year the low got to about or below 40 degrees. It was cold even in 30 degree sleeping bags, with a wool blanket on top, and bundled in long underwear.  The days warmed sufficiently for me to swim, and there were only about ten other campers in the campground during that week.  With those not uncommon cold and rainy days we will no longer need to shiver in our screen tent playing Yatzee.  We can now play games in our T@B on those cold and wet days, and if adventurous we can turn on the heat.  As we grow more comfortable with the camper, I can see us using the inside shower when we are in a rustic campground.

Our T@B and Jeep Grand Cherokee
June 7, 2019

For two years we had been looking at campers.  T@B's (tear drops) and A frame pop ups were at the top of our list.   For two years, after first seeing the T@B at the dealer, we have never seen one on the road, nor in a campground.  But, that changed on Wednesday.  As I exited our campsite Wednesday late afternoon I saw a vehicle pulling a gray 320S.  After dinner that night we tracked them down, and it was a couple who bought a used 2018 from Jerry's last year and were on a shake out trip as their first trip this year.  They too live in the McFarland postal code area.  Of this first camping trip with the RV, the most amazing thing is I was able to back it in the camp site, although it took  more than a few attempts. To get it better positioned, we simply unhooked and moved it a little bit.  I am sure we will still have our adventures and stories to tell of camping in this small RV, after all our sleeping quarters have changed, not our desire for the outdoors and the adventures it brings. On second thought, our camping trips will now be beyond re-imagined, they will be a reality using the small camper.  We have yet to name the camper, but stay tuned for further adventures.

Images by author

Overlord

This week, on June 6, the United States along with certain other Allied Powers from World War II will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.  It was probably the most anticipated event in the first half of the twentieth century.  The name itself is rather redundant since the D stands for Day.  Military time, to some degree would be based on the day of the invasion.  For example, If one entered battle in the European Theater on 9 June 1944, it would be referred to as D+3.

Eisenhower Statement of Invasion
Source:  National Archives

The invasion, to reclaim Europe from Nazi tyranny, was to have occurred earlier, but weather postponed the invasion date.  In the morning of June 5, with the idea that there would be a break in the weather the following day, General Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander Allied Expeditionary Force would give the order in the morning of June 5.  The ships and planes would be loaded with men and material.  It is estimated 11,590 aircraft, and about 6,000 ships would be used in the invasion.  Over 175,000 military personnel would be involved in the Normandy invasion in its first 24 hours.  Security was intense, and few knew of the landing points.  A ruse was in place with balloon tanks and other material, under the direction of General Patton, in order to make the Germans think the invasion would be at another location.

Roy Hovel
Source: Hovel Family archives

While not part of the original invasion force, my father had some impact on the invasion.  As a member of the Army Counter Intelligence Corps he was part of a group providing security for the Operation Overlord invasion force.  He arrived in England on April 17, after an 11 day journey from the shores of the United States.  Yet, his most significant impact is what he found after the invasion force had departed from his location.  On orders to search the barracks for items that may be of interest he came across a large binder headed "Operation Overlord" he was not exactly sure what it was, but certainly had an idea.  The binder contained the plan of the invasion and subsequent plans.  My Dad, T Sgt, Roy Hovel took the binder to his commanding officer where it was then passed up the chain of command.  The person who left the binder behind was a general whose ship had sailed and was out to sea.  One man of many on 6000 vessels moving across the sea.  Arrangements were made for the General to be immediately returned to shore.  He was then sent back to the United States.

CIC Duties in Theater of Operations, p. 1
Source:  Papers of Roy Hovel

We know, from  a letter dated June 11, 1944 that he was fairly busy, and that life "is a lot different than the previous 7 weeks but it is a lot more pleasant."  Two days later, in a letter home his duties must have become much more calm. Showing the oddities of war, in his June 13 letter  he wrote about having gotten to an English porcelain factory (probably Minton), and even though underwhelmed, by their system, he did say "I never saw such beautiful pieces before some costing 5 pounds ($20) for a plate."  He would order some china for his parents, eight place settings.  He would write home again on June 14, but the next letter would have to wait until June 30.  By my estimation he entered Normandy on or about D+13.

CIC Duties in Theater of Operations, p. 2
Source:  Papers of Roy Hovel

The invasion would be costly in terms of human life, but successful.  The Allied war machine would take almost another year (Germany's unconditional surrender was accepted 7 May 1945, and took effect at midnight on 8 May) to bring about the defeat of Nazi Germany, so the full attention of the US and its allies could be turned to the war in the Pacific, the poor stepchild of WWII.  The Europe first policy of the Roosevelt Administration would have been questioned if the operation had failed.  In case of failure of the invasion, Eisenhower had a second letter accepting blame for the operation.  Secrecy was the key to success, and the invasion may not have been a secret but for the work of the CIC agents behind the scenes in providing the necessary operational security.  The invasion changed the face of Europe and the world.

Fluttering Around Flowers

My prior post dealt with part time work at an area greenhouse that specializes in annual flowers.  Well, needless to say an aspect of that post did not sit well with the chief member of the household.  My comments that the customer service representatives saunter around the greenhouse did not explain the other duties that the customer service personnel have to perform.  The customer service representatives first job is to assist customers.  To a degree that may be why they saunter, or flutter around the flowers.  When not fluttering or sauntering, however, they have some specific tasks in which they engage.

One specific task is to do checker boarding.  This technique involves rearranging flats where plants have been taken out by doing a checkerboard pattern.  After returning some carts to the cart area last week I looked into the greenhouse and saw my wife checker boarding a couple trays of plants.  her hands and arms were moving fast as she rearranged the plants.  If I had a camera I would have taken a photo of her in action, although a video would probably have been best to catch the action.  As I go by and see her down an aisle I wave, but she tends not to see me--so concentrated is she on her job duties. 

Auction 

Plants are living organisms and they grow, that is why we plant them.  Well, they grow in the greenhouses too, and a second job the customer service reps have is to cut back some of the plants.   Cutting back can promote bushier plants and more flower heads.  In late May, some baskets get a pretty severe trimming.  I suppose petunias are a regular candidate for cutting back.  They always seem to get too leggy.

Auction of Planters

Petunias and other flowers also require dead heading.  For the greenhouse I suppose this is of particular importance as they want to present the flower in top condition.  I suppose dead heading can easily be accomplished as one gingerly walks through a greenhouse to look for dead flowers to be pulled off a plant.  If regularly accomplished the dead headed flowers should pose little issue, but if you get behind, it could be time consuming.   

Honor Flight Facebook page Recognizing Kopke's

As plants are purchased and the checker boarding flats near empty the production staff haul in new flats of plants.  The old flats are removed by customer service and they usually haul them outside to a specified area.  My wife noted one day she herself hauled out about 120 empty flats, and she being one of many customer service reps on that day.  This way the empty flat is out of the way for when the stock is replenished.  One problem a customer service person may have is that if not having worked a few days plants may be in a different locations, and some plants totally sold out, and different stock in its place.

Last week Thursday, the customer service personnel had to sweep under the plant tables to get the greenhouse in tip top shape for an upcoming auction. (News flash: apparently there was a lot of dirt.)   The greenhouse has a number of planters planted with different arranged flowers that are not for retail sale, but instead are auctioned off on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.  They have brats, and polka too, so how much more Wisconsin can they get?  Proceeds from the auction, and donations for the brats, are donated to the Badger Honor Flight program. The Honor Flight program reported that the auction and brat donations yielded $6,100 in 42 minutes.   In the end, I hope the reader understands that the customer service personnel at the greenhouse have more to do than simply flutter around the flowers. They tend to the flowers for the greater benefit of the customer, and the auctioned planters.

 Images from Kopke's and Badger Honor Flight Facebook pages

Flowers

This spring I started a part time job working at a greenhouse that primarily grows flowers.  While open from mid-April to October, most of its business is within a 4 or 5 week period.  People want their flowers planted by early June, if not before. Flowers are more a want than a need, but they also speak to the human desire for beauty.  While the greenhouse at which I work specializes in annual flowers, they carry perennials, vegetable plants (and seeds), some shrubs, garden ornaments, bagged soils, and mulches, along with other items.  It is not a full fledged garden center, as say Jung Seeds but their annual flowers, in my opinion, well outdo places like Jung Seed.  I work in outdoor service, and my wife works in the two main greenhouses in customer service.

Outdoor service involves helping persons off load their carts of flowers, loading bag of soil, compost, potting mix, mulches, and straw bales; moving carts used by patrons to the cart area, and a variety of other odd jobs.  For example, they had run out of boxes used for placing plants; you know the type of box: about one to two inch high sides, like what used to hold pop cans.  I had to fold boxes on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  My hands ached and the thumbs were almost raw.  I should have worn gloves.  It makes sense that they needed boxes since Mother's Day weekend had just passed, and that weekend historically makes up their peak sale time.  When I worked before Mother's Day, it was quite busy with people wanting to get in before the poor weather set in, for yes, the weekend.  I heard from a neighbor that the Friday before Mother's Day, which had pleasant weather, was very busy.  My wife, who worked Mother's Day said it was steady, but not overwhelming.  The not overwhelming Mother's Day may have been due to the cold (the high for the day was more than 10 degrees below normal) and cloudy weather.  A greenhouse is a very weather dependent business.  Up until the week of May 13, I was called off of work for as many days as I had worked.  One day, in the week before Mother's Day, I spent a great deal of time moving carts.  I do get my steps in.  I put on over 23,000 steps that day at work.  To show the difference, the two days I had to do boxes (which was generally in the morning) I put on about 17,000 while at work.  I think it helps that I have a bit of gardening experience, as people ask questions of potting soil types, mulches to use and other such things.

Due to other commitments, my work schedule has generally been on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  The week after Mother's Day, my wife worked, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday.  I worked Tuesday and Wednesday.  Which meant Friday, May 17, was the first day we were together at home in a week.  Customer service shifts, where my spouse is assigned, are about 5 to 6 hours, my outdoor service shift is a full day from 8:30 to 4:00.  The customer service shifts are shorter due to them being on their feet all day.  Well, being in outdoor service, I too am on my feet all day.  Although, the customer service personnel do seem to like to saunter around the greenhouses.

Those who do the planting also do the stocking and my wife is amazed at their ability to carry in flats of plants and the speed at which they move. When I see them, they are generally on an electric stand-up cart zooming around hauling carts of plants to the sales/display areas, or moving empty carts back to the growing greenhouse areas.  Persons have their specific duties, and the growers are constantly hauling in plants from the twenty some growing greenhouses, to the two display/sales greenhouses.  The stock needs to be kept up, and that is their job.  Unlike some greenhouses, this greenhouse limits the public to the two greenhouses, and they use a great deal of personnel to haul from the outer growing greenhouses.  This makes sense to me since it limits the public to a certain area, and allows better control over growing conditions of the plants, and keeping the public out of areas where some pesticides are used.

Yes, they use pesticides/herbicides, and while they have been working to eliminate the use of chemicals, they are also realistic recognizing times that they are needed.  They do take appropriate precautions.  To limit the use of chemicals they use beneficial bugs and at times even resort to hand picking the pests off the plants.  Of course, some veggies are organic which requires greater tending and use of natural methods to control disease and bad bugs.  In fact, this week some aphids showed up on a shipment of plants after being placed in the two main sale greenhouses and the usually sauntering customer service reps had to hand search and pull off the aphids, and look to see that these small bugs did not jump to other plants.  A labor intensive process, but it had been a rainy morning so the greenhouse was not as busy.

With its twenty some growing greenhouses, planting of plugs or seeds (although most flowers are started from plugs) begins in February.  They do need to bring in shipments of some flowers grown elsewhere as they currently lack the full capacity to grow all their own stock.  The buyer, however, only goes to places in which he can handpick the flowers.  They need, from what I understand, about four or five more greenhouses to better grow more of their own stock, but they that means more personnel, so it is a balancing issue.

The thing that has set this greenhouse apart from other greenhouse operations I have seen is its customer service.  They have sufficient sauntering staff on hand in the greenhouse to assist in finding you that right plant.  Since I haul carts to near the front entry on my way in and out I see customers entering and am often subjected to questions as to where a particular plant can be located.  At that point, I find a sauntering service rep in the greenhouse to come to their aid.   That is usually not that difficult since their are (A) so many of them and (B) they like to saunter around the greenhouse.  (I guess really cannot blame them, who would not want to walk (saunter or stroll) around flats and pots of flowers.)  Outdoor service personnel need to be all over the place, however.  The main objective is to keep an eye on the people near the soils and mulches to provide the necessary assistance.  Sometimes you need to make a choice, such as being told to load a car, move carts out of the entry to the corral and load plants for a person, for example, who just had surgery, into her car.  Being beyond my prime, I cannot lift as much, or move as fast as those in the teens and twenties.  That sometimes brings some sympathy from other boomers, who realize I get my work out for the day.

But being in outdoor service I am not around flowers for a five or six hour shift as is the group that likes to saunter, instead I am outside with bags of dirt and mulches.  Yet, there are some benefits to outdoor service.  You get a good work out.  Yet, when the weather is nice, being outside is a big plus.  Being right across from the main exit I can see what is bought and hear the comments. One couple arrived as I was hauling some carts in and I asked if they could use a cart (the carts vary in size and shape and limiting an ability to haul to two carts) I only had some smaller carts and his wife said they would need a larger one.  I noted I would get one for them, but asked if they would like one with three shelves or two.  Her husband quickly jumped in and said, just two, and then explained: "A third shelf gives her an excuse to purchase more plants."  Or, there was the time one husband was loading plants in his car and an arriving patron said how nice the plants looked, to which he responded it was not going to look nice on his credit card bill.  What strikes me is the volume I sometimes see.  I helped a person who had the full Chevrolet Suburban, except the driver seat, loaded with plants.  It was her second trip.  I wonder how long it would take for them to be planted. Then there was the couple who had a great number of plants, and I noted to them to to enjoy planting.  The husband responded that their deal is he buys, she plants.

Given the widely variable weather in Wisconsin, it makes sense that people clamber for plants and color after a long arduous winter.  It brings joy, in a different way than does Marie Kondo's cleaning.  Do we need flowers?  They are likely not a need, but a want.  Then again if it can brighten your spirits it may be a wise investment.

Images courtesy of Antoinette M Hovel

Weather

I think it safe to say, and most would agree, that the spring weather for 2019 has been rather unpleasant.  There may be one day of nice weather, but it is followed by several days of unseasonably cool weather.  Today was probably the first almost fully sunny day in a week or more.  The whole past week the daily high temperatures were below normal and for all but one day this applied to the daily lows.  One thing is for certain, weather is variable.

Currently, the normal high temperature in Madison for May 13 is 67 degrees, and the normal low temperature is 45 degrees.  A couple things got me thinking about the weather:  my part time work at a greenhouse, and an article in Sunday's paper for the garden calendar for the week of May 12.

My home made green house was planted last month, the row cover
area planted today

With my part time job at the greenhouse, I am in outdoor service, thus, I help people load mulch, potting soil, compost, straw bales, peat moss, etc into their vehicles.  I also help load plants into cars, and move the carts that people use.  So far, I have been called off work the same number of days that I have worked.  They do not expect much business in cool, let me say cold, weather.  The plants may fly out, but when it is cold and wet, most people are not purchasing potting soil.  This week I work two full days, and I doubt that I will be called off. 

My raised bed was planted about one month ago

But, it was the garden calendar that really got me thinking.  In regard to vegetables it said:  "It is usually safe to put tomato and pepper transplants out after May in in the Madison area, but outlying areas such as Blue Mounds and Oregon, etc, may not be warm enough yet."  As an urban planner, I am well aware of the urban heat island effect, but I never thought it would be reported as such in a local news garden calendar.  But, what we really struck me was the next sentence:  "Air temperatures should not go lower than 55 degrees or higher."  It then goes on to recognize that frosts may be possible in the Madison area, or even a freeze after May 15, so be prepared to cover the plants.

This struck me because the past several days the temperatures struggled to get to 55 degrees, and that is for the high.  The forecasted low for this morning was to be 37 degrees, but it was down to 33 degrees. Awfully close to a frost. So, we are one day into the weekly garden calendar, and I am glad that I had not put in my tomato plants this weekend. The main reason is I tend to wait until about May 15, but the soil was too wet to work.  Breaking my general theory of waiting, I put in my cold tolerant and even my tomato plants this afternoon.  I did place a row cover over the young plants, taht should provide some protection, although being white in color it will not do much to increase soil temperature.  One other problem is that the weather has been so bad that the plants have not been out as long as usual to "harden" off.  Soil temperatures are probably lower than normal, and I perhaps should have waited for the tomato plants, but with all the rain we have had, and the paper's five day forecast for rain on Tuesday PM, and Thursday, who knows when the garden soil would again be workable.

The garden calendar is also interesting for reporting the need for temperatures in the mid fifties, but  the normal low for today is 45 degrees, or ten degrees below what they wish. I guess they tend toward the optimistic and a heat wave.  The month of  May can warm up fast, but the normal low does not get to about 55 degrees until the end of the month.

Avg  Temps for Madison, WI in May

If one thing we know about the weather in Wisconsin, is wait a few minutes and it will change.  The variability of the weather puts the populace on edge, and the first five months of this year have been challenging for us in our need to weather the weather.  It was not that long ago when experts were concerned about how low the water level in Lake Michigan was, now they are concerned about how high the water level is at this point in time. Back to temperature, how cool is it?  Well, the newspaper has shifted from reporting heating degree days to cooling degree days.  The year to date for cooling degrees days, if you have not guessed, is Zero.  They did not report how many heating degree days were required yesterday with a high of 55 and blustery winds.