A Common Life
Welcome to A Common Life where Morgan and Taylor offer month-by-month gardening advice to help your garden thrive. We also share our personal journey in seasonal living, aiming to foster a deeper connection with others, nature, and our Creator. Our hope is to encourage and equip others who are on a similar journey and to provide a space for community around these ideals.
A Common Life
Looking ahead to February: Citrus Treat, Garden Tending, and Staying Cozy
"Join our cozy conversation as we eagerly await the onset of spring in the heart of Alabama. We're stirring up the quiet of February with talks of garden preparations, tempting your palate with a step-by-step guide to crafting candied orange peels—a sweet herald of brighter days to come. As we tiptoe away from winter's hearty fare, we'll share with you the joys and challenges of the season's transition, both in the garden and in our kitchens.
Our episode brims with the anticipation of seed starting and the invaluable steps of hardening off your tender sprouts, ensuring they thrive once they hit the open soil. Tune in for a treasure trove of tips from our newsletter and a sneak peek at the resources budding on our website. We'll delve into compost enrichment, the importance of pruners' and loppers' sharpness, and the art of perfecting your family's breakfast with a twist on cream of wheat. Whether you're a green thumb or a culinary enthusiast, our conversation is a promise of inspiration for the February gardener and beyond."
Special thanks to Jenkins, our AI Assistant, for the hearty pod description!
Discussed in the show:
Candied Orange Peel
acommonlife.substack.com
Hula Hoe / Stirrup Hoe
Homemade Cream of Wheat
Find us Elsewhere:
Instagram - @_ACommonLife - Morgan
Community Newsletter - The Common
Twitter (X) - @_ACommonLife
Twitter - @Taylor__Myers - Taylor
LinkedIn - Taylor Myers
DM us on the Socials or email us at Taylor@acommonlife.co
Music on the podcast was composed by Kevin Dailey. The artist is Garden Friend. The track is the instrumental version of “On a Cloud”
Hello everybody, welcome to a common life podcast. I'm your host, morgan Myers, and I'm here with my husband, taylor. Hey everybody, we are at the end of January.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And we're recording on my birthday. Here we are. Happy birthday, Morgan, Thank you. Well, in this episode we are looking forward to February and what we have getting ready to go into the garden and all the lovely things about February.
Speaker 2:Yeah, february can be really dreary here in Alabama. It's kind of a tease because it sometimes it'll warm up and then it'll get cold and it's rainy and it's usually overcast and it does stay cold and it's like okay we are ready for spring. What are we doing here? And then the other thing is there's like this excitement and anticipation building, because if you're starting your own transplants, then you got them going on and inside and you're just like itching.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that it's the stir crazy month here. I think a lot of people can still cozy up in other places around the country, you know, like February is still like super cozy and snowy and but maybe everyone feels the same way about February because, yeah, you know, we have Valentine's Day, presidents Day, is that January?
Speaker 2:I don't know. It's just there's just not a whole lot going on in February, and so it's a bit of a bummer, but we're not going to stay there. No, we're going to pick it up, we're going to look forward to February, and there are some fun things that we'll be doing. Oh, I'm excited about the recipe we're going to share and us actually doing it.
Speaker 1:Okay, this reminds me of okay Taylor wants to do candied orange peels. Is that what you're okay?
Speaker 2:Because here's the reason why I went there. I was like, all right when I'm thinking of like what's in the kitchen, seasonal stuff, you know, I'm like bone broth yeah, I'm about tired of bone broth and I'm about tired of like roast and potatoes and carrots. That's seasonal.
Speaker 2:I mean but but like I need something good, Like so fruit citrus. It's a little late for citrus now, but they're still pretty fresh, so it's in November, December and maybe some in January. I'm honestly not a hundred percent sure, I just know December is kind of the month.
Speaker 1:Well, and we're trying to get vitamin C. We eat a lot of oranges at home.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we do. And do you remember those candied orange slices? It was like candy like gummy orange.
Speaker 1:No, what you're reminding me of when you say this is pickled watermelon rinds. I'm down for that too, no, I am so not down for that. I feel like we tried that once and it was a Not good, not good, and I'm afraid this is going to go the same way.
Speaker 2:No, no, this isn't going to go the same. We've never done this, but we're going to do it. How do you do it? Okay so I looked up a couple of recipes and it's pretty simple. So, basically, you're going to take your orange rinds, leave the white stuff on. There's a technical name for it, but you know what I'm talking about the white stuff.
Speaker 1:The stuff that's really good. If you have varicose veins, you're supposed to eat that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's lots of really good stuff in that white stuff.
Speaker 2:Somebody's out there and they're like, they're naming it, they're saying it yeah, let me see if I can channel it. No, the white stuff. So you're going to leave all that on there and then you're going to cut it up into slices and then you're going to put it in boiling water and you're going to boil it for like 15 minutes and that helps get the bitterness out and you're going to pull it out and you're going to drain it and then rinse it and then you're going to make like a one to one simple syrup.
Speaker 2:So one cup of sugar, one cup of water. You're going to make it simple syrup and then you're going to put those orange peels in that and you're going to cook it and stir for, like I don't know, 10 minutes or so. Well, how'd the exact recipe?
Speaker 2:But yeah, you're gonna do that, and then, after that happens, you're gonna take them out, you're gonna drain them and you're gonna put them in a bag of sugar and shake them up and they're gonna get covered in sugar and then you're gonna leave them out overnight for 24 hours. You like, lay them flat on a baking sheet or something, and then they get dry and then you have candied orange rind. So it's gonna be like that citrus sweet treat.
Speaker 1:I hope so, because our kids would eat that up, eat it up.
Speaker 2:I hope it's a big thing. Nobody does that. But imagine if you were the couple or the family that brought legit homemade candied orange rinds to the parties.
Speaker 1:I'm starting to think there's a reason nobody does this.
Speaker 2:Well, we will see. Let me see if I put I don't think. I let me see. I don't want to own it since we're talking about it. Ew, I don't see the exact recipe here in my notes. Pause, Okay, so literally I just Googled candied orange peels, so we'll put the recipe in the show notes, that the link that we saw. I mean I have two that I'm like, yeah, they're pretty similar and I'll probably follow these two. But if you have another one or you want to find another one to look around out there, go for it. But this is generally what the recipe calls for. So everything I just said stands. Basically, you're going to cut up the peel. So you're going to cook peels in a large pot of boiling water. After 15 minutes You're going to drain, rins and then drain again and then bring three cups of sugar, three cups of water to a boil and a medium saucepan stirring to dissolve sugar, Add peels, reduce heat and simmer until very soft 40 to 45 minutes.
Speaker 2:Then you're going to drain them. Toss peels with remaining one cup sugar on a rimmed baking sheet to coat. Transfer peels to a large sheet of foil and let sit until dry one to two days, and then you can freeze it for like up to two months, or you can put them in an airtight container at room temperature for a month. That's cool. So, hopefully we're going to do that and it's going to be great and we'll have some sweetness in our life.
Speaker 1:If you do that in February and you like it or it's a bust, tag us anyways, and tell us, because we would love to see.
Speaker 2:At a common life.
Speaker 1:If anybody else does it. Great idea, great idea.
Speaker 2:Okay, jinx, what you want to talk about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I am just trying to remember to keep it cozy because, yes, we're getting stir crazy, but then in March we're going to be moving and shaking and going and so trying to soak up those last few cozy things. We're still hooking.
Speaker 2:Hooking and it up. Yes, it is still hooking season.
Speaker 1:Got a new candle. You did my birthday Very nice, and I'm really trying here for February. Okay.
Speaker 2:We should have some firsts.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's what I was going to say Start looking or continue to look for firsts for your calendar of firsts, because things could start budding especially late February.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so I think I have been noticing now that the buds on trees are starting to swell and inevitably we're going to get some early trees bud now in February. Mark those on your calendars and then we're going to have a good killing frost or something. Come in and just wipe them out. Maybe not, but ideally we have a good cold February that stays cold, that doesn't warm up, and if that happens and we can keep the temperatures, you know no more.
Speaker 1:Baby, it's 65 degrees today.
Speaker 2:I know, I know. Yeah, it needs to stay cold, it doesn't need to warm up, because that's when it throws everything off and the peach trees and the blueberries bushes bloom and then inevitably we have that lake cold frost that kills everything, and then it's a sad day when you want to go get blueberries in June yeah. Yeah, so that's going to be happening. Trees are going to be budding out. Look for that. And then what are some other firsts that could be happening in February? Oh, daffodils, bulbs.
Speaker 1:Bulbs should start emerging in February, for sure, yeah, those are always a delight to the eyes on the dreary.
Speaker 2:And as long as, again, it doesn't get super warm, we can have a really good bulb season. We just needed to stay cold.
Speaker 1:Okay. So, Still looking through seed catalogs in February.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, definitely. So, okay, this is where we are. I went to the local store to get some seeds, yes, and we are going to be planting some local seeds, but we're going to get some more of our summer crops from the seed catalogs. So if you're like, oh, shoot, I still haven't done that, is it too late? No, it's not too late.
Speaker 2:You are going to be planting indoors in February. I'm sorry. You're going to be seeding indoors your tomatoes, peppers, basil, eggplants. You're going to be doing Swiss chard. You're going to be starting all those things indoors, okay, so if you don't have those seeds yet, yeah, it's time, yeah, you need to get those Now. You're going to be, if you have a garden, okay, and you've been paying attention to I'm pretty sure I've said this, but hopefully it's really well mulched and it's not a mess. But if it's nice and mulched, that soil underneath will very likely be nice and soft and supple, and you're going to be seeding in mid-February potatoes, peas, radishes, parsley, carrots. So we're going to be seeding in the garden in February. It's really exciting, yeah, and then in late February early March is you can plant some onion bulbs.
Speaker 1:So you plant your carrots in mid-February? Yes, when do you harvest your carrots? So?
Speaker 2:I'm never good at this I'm not good at this, I cannot I always underestimate how long it takes, and I think if you have full sun, then things go a little quicker and our little backyard, our little garden, it doesn't get a ton of sun. You're going to be getting carrots If you do it in mid-February. You're going to be getting it in late April, may, which is great.
Speaker 2:It's going to be great. You don't want to get into June and then they'll get hot. The weather will get hot and they won't be as sweet. You want to be harvesting in April, may, so hopefully they'll get there by then.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So if you missed the window to plant carrots in February, I wouldn't do it. I would wait until the fall or late summer, because their carrots are much better, much sweeter, when they're harvested in it's not 90 degrees outside.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So same thing with potatoes, the potatoes, peas, radishes and parsley. Well, parsley is going to grow forever. It's never going to stop growing, but you're going to be harvesting those things in April May.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Okay, All right, let's move on. Let's move on. So well, let me go back real quick to tomatoes, basil peppers, eggplant, swiss-charge. You're going to be seeding those indoors and you're going to be growing those indoors until April, because all of those things are frost tender.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, you don't want to be putting your tomatoes outside until.
Speaker 2:April, because that should typically where when the frosts are going to end. Now, if you're listening to this in Montana, what's up, montana? You are not going to be planting yours out in the garden in April, okay. Also to all our listeners in Germany you guys aren't either. Good luck, hit me up on the direct messages and I'll see if I can help you. Okay, and then the other thing is In late February you're gonna begin to harden off the transplants that were seeded in January for planting in early to mid-March, okay, so if you remember, I just say talking about all these months, and listen.
Speaker 2:That's why you gotta subscribe to the newsletter.
Speaker 1:That's what I'm saying. If you it's not sinking in, go to the newsletter that. What's it called? What's the newsletter of this last one called? Because you talk all about hardening off and it's so easy.
Speaker 2:Uh-huh, Uh-huh. Well, that was the seedling one but it was we did mmm. No, I told him how to seed in general. I didn't tell him any specific things. So the, so this. This is like the version of like we're looking ahead for February.
Speaker 2:If you want to find the looking ahead for January, that tells you when we seeded our kale and cabbage and like what you're doing in the month of January, you'll find it Just go to a common life dot sub stack dot com. That's where our newsletter is. Yes, and a little birdie told me that our website a A common life dot co is up and because y'all are all our podcast listeners and you listen, you can go peek around and poke and look At it. It's not complete. We're still working on the copy in between four kids and all the other Responsibilities we have, I do so, but but the the architecture and design, it's up and it's really beautiful.
Speaker 2:So we're slowly adding to it, but we haven't like we're not pushing it or pumping it right now, just because it's it's a work in progress chipping away. So, yeah, it is a lot of information that I'm going over here and we might be losing people right now, but we are seeding. Check out the newsletter. You are gonna want to harden off those plants in late February that you planted last month. If you did, don't forget to do that. And it's a good time to add compost to your garden right now, yeah, february so if you're like what do I do in February?
Speaker 2:You're gonna be seeding some things in the garden. Check out the newsletter and you need to be adding some compost. Get ready for those that spring, Springtime.
Speaker 1:Alright, okay.
Speaker 2:Flowers. We're gonna blast them with flowers. So okay, here's the deal Flowers, I have Nigella poppy and lock spur, lark spur, dude. I've never planted any of those flowers. I got all that information off offline. I'm not trying to be a poser, but that's the information I have. We really got to get Terry Luke, terry woods in here, which got some exciting news coming up about that. We'll have to. We'll have to hold on to that little teaser there a little teaser.
Speaker 2:So, nigella poppy and lark spur, you want to get those in the ground so they have a few weeks of cold air to aid in their germination right in February.
Speaker 1:Time to sharpen those tools, that's right, baby.
Speaker 2:That's right, we got. Sharpen those tools because they're about to be used. So if you have loppers, you have pruners. Or if you have a hula ho, a stirrup ho, which, by the way, I highly recommend it, I'll put a link in the show notes. That's the way to weed or just mulch. I can't remember the last time I use my hula ho, but if you're all about some weed and you don't want to mulch and you like to till, you need to get a hula ho. You sharpen it. February, the other thing is February is a great time to start pruning. That's when I'll prune it back. Our trees, our fruit trees, the Japanese maple, that's the time you want to do it, when they're still dormant, before they Come out of dormancy and that spring growth begins. Yeah, what else you got, baby?
Speaker 1:I I don't. That's it. Snow, moon. Do you want to talk about?
Speaker 2:snow, no oatmeal oatmeal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I said I Put oatmeal because I just wanted to say I wish we were an oatmeal family, like I wish I could make a huge pot of just like steel cut oats and then everybody adds their toppings and everyone's happy and like that's breakfast. But no one in our family likes oatmeal, except for me and and yeah, I hear you.
Speaker 2:Hey, what was that thing that you? That sounded really good that Shay was talking about. Oh cream of wheat. The cream of wheat thing that got me excited.
Speaker 1:Can you link that? Because yeah, I'll link it. That looks really good Describe it.
Speaker 2:what was it she was talking about? Do you grind up your?
Speaker 1:iron corn. Yeah, you grind up your own iron corn flour and I mean it's basically like. It's basically like cream of wheat that people used to eat. I didn't grow up on cream of wheat, did you?
Speaker 2:I mean Campbell's soup is the only thing I've ever seen cream of wheat.
Speaker 1:No, it's like, no, it's like a slurry oatmeal. And then she added Cream of chicken on toast.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, Dude, that was my go-to. I loved it. I still do. I would crush some cream of chicken on toast.
Speaker 1:No, this is slurry oatmeal, basically, with we have these bags of strawberries, y'all that we have saved from the spring that we need to eat.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we are. We're good ones too.
Speaker 1:And so she warms that up and then you can scoop that in there, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and it's just this like thin, it's like porridge kind of yeah, that sounds delicious.
Speaker 2:I'll link it in the show notes.
Speaker 1:But I don't know how good it would be if you weren't using fresh, fresh flour. Oh for sure, yeah, that's part of it, that's part of it.
Speaker 2:You need that she uses acorn berries and then she grinds it up and makes it like homemade cream of wheat, not some store-bought. Yeah, that sounds delicious, full of protein too Full of protein. But if we're not an oatmeal family, will we be a cream of wheat family? Babe, if we put some of that strawberries in your oatmeal and you simmered it and you put enough maple syrup and strawberries in it, the kids will crush it Okay, maybe we should experiment.
Speaker 2:Maybe we should. We got the snow moon. That is the full moon in February. It is gonna be in the sky on February 24th, the snow moon, typically the coldest month of the year and also one of the driest months of the year. Actually, I'm almost positive, yeah.
Speaker 1:I thought this year was supposed to be really wet, generally speaking, on average, february is really dry.
Speaker 2:Okay, yes, yes, yes, okay, that's looking ahead to February. This is all gonna be a little more organized. I feel like we're discombobulated right now. We're tired, we are man, but we're here, yes, and we made it through no tears.
Speaker 1:We're back on track. We made it through, we're happy, we love each other.
Speaker 2:I'm glad you're back too. It's not the same during the podcast without you. Thank you. Thanks, babe. All right, well, until next time, everybody.
Speaker 1:Happy gardening, happy gardening tofu.