Dakota Growing Ep. 47 - Winter Arrangements, Pumpkins, and Birds

Kelsey Deckert & Tom Kalb talk about growing in the winter time in North Dakota.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Welcome to Decode Growing. I'm Kelsey Deckert, your host here
in Burley County, the horticulture Agent, and I'm joining the
radio access studio by my co host Tom Cobb NDSU
Extension Horticulture.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
This.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
How's it going today?

Speaker 2 (00:37):
It's okay, it's okay, it's okay. You know, it's kind
of interesting. It's wintery, blustery. Well, because I always hope
winter can just not show up, you know, skip it.
Can we just skip winter? Almost get to last year,
But it's it's back now. And but here in bizmarck
Man Dan, we're only going to get about an inch.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
So yeah, by Canada where it sounds like.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
It real bad. Oh wow, that's a hard place to
live up well, this is such a hard place to live.
But up in the northern North Dakota, that's tough. They're
probably gonna get like what a foot of snow or
something or eight inches, I don't know, it's gonna be crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
The worst will be the wind though. I mean, if
you start getting that light snow and then the wind
comes in, there'll be in a little snow globe up there.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah, it's called a blizzard. It's called yes, Yeah, that's right.
I didn't know before is that. I always thought it
was just this amount of snow made it a blizzard,
like a lot of snow, But actually it's more like
the wind. It's really a problem. Like you can have
a blizzard just a couple of inches of snow and

(01:49):
it can be white out and right turn dangerous. But
in the thirties right now, temperature wise, so as long
as it stays in the thirties, we're gonna be okay.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Thanksgiving next week. Look at the positives.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Positive Thanksgiving, Okay, that's good. Yep.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Time to be thankful, grateful, sit around the dinner table
with family friends.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, sounds great. But it'll be I don't know, do
you have like all the in laws common everybody you
got a big I don't.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
I don't have a big enough house. But we'll go
to in laws and then my family, so it'll be good.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Well, my in laws they're all in Vietnam, so that's
a long drive, so I'm not going to be making
it to see them, and they don't speak English. That's
another problem on the Thanksgiving table. But it's okay. But
uh yeah, the rest of my family, they're all Minnesotans,
so kind.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Of will just be my immediate family.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
That's my immediate family, my wife and and yeah, hopefully
my college kids can make it here. Hopefully the snow
stays away. It'll be good the rest of the winter.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Hopefully it'll be good.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, it's good. So what is this festive thing you
got going on here? Now? Let's spectacular?

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Say looks spectacular?

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, I just say, man, you went to hobby Lobbying.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
Is that right?

Speaker 1 (03:24):
That's right. I want to hobby lobby, great store. Yeah,
you know what I figured. We're getting on that festive season.
So why not talk about creating some winter arrangements. And
I'm going to focus on today using like live branches.
Obviously this is not live, but it's just demonstration for
today and everything. So just kind of talk about the

(03:46):
process and what you need to do to.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Care for those you can make it as a gift.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
That's right, That's right. Does that sound good?

Speaker 2 (03:54):
Sounds great? Okay, tell me how you do it.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
Let's get into creating some winter arrangements. So just because
my image went out, okay, actually, cash Men's is like
lit up like a Christmas tree right now. Yeah, drove

(04:19):
by that when it was kind of like dark or whatever,
and I was like, whoa, they put the Christmas lights
all over over there. Even going by your like development
at night, I've noticed you got some eager neighbors. Okay, okay,
So we're gonna talk about creating some winter arrangements. And

(04:42):
today I'm gonna start by talking about creating like a
winter pot or porch arrangement. And so some excellent plants
that work really well for that winter decor are gonna
be obviously you're evergreen, so spruce, juniper, pine or bity.
I know, if you want a little pop of color,

(05:04):
that red twig dogwood is going to be really good.
A lot of people like to add in white, so
some paper birch would be good winter winterbury, red winterberry,
and then even adding in some ornamental grasses all work
really well. So have you ever created a winter arrangement?

Speaker 2 (05:25):
I have to say maybe when I was in grade
school I had to do.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
It hostedy one in Wisconsin when you were a county agent.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
Winter arrangements.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, with live plaids.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
No, I never did that. That's uh, come on, you know,
I'm like a vegetable and fruit guy, Like I don't.
I don't care about this. This is okay. I don't
want to say about it's kind of like feminine stuff
and not really not that I'm not that it's wrong
for a man to do it, but that's just not
my style, right. My wife likes that kind of stuff,

(06:02):
so that's good. So that's ship. Let her do that
stuff and I'll just sit on a college and watch football.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
That's I've done a couple of workshops over the years,
and it's always a popular hit. And yes, I don't
think I've ever seen any male in the room, but men, right,
But see, women do love it something fun, especially those
who want to, you know, not be grinches and just

(06:29):
have Christmas starts.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
Like Christmas hallowey. I love Christmas. It's I love Christmas. Yeah,
you know, to be honest, I haven't even taken down
my Christmas tree the whole year. How about that? Can
you believe that?

Speaker 1 (06:42):
Put the bag over it.

Speaker 2 (06:43):
I just take the organs off and then it's there
in the corner. It's like an artificial plant.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
Do you put different ones on seasons?

Speaker 2 (06:52):
Maybe next year? Yeah? But I love Christmas, I really do,
especially when you got kids. You just it's just tremendous
it's the best time of the year. It really is.
So that early December getting ready for the and ten
days we have the ten days of Christmas. In my family,
I give a gift every day for ten days before Christmas,
a little tiny, you know, one dollar gift. So I

(07:14):
love Christmas. So, but winter arrangements just not my not
your forte that's okay, but so please carry.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
On, okay. So some other items, floral decorations, ornaments, lights,
you know, these days with the lights, I will have
to say, they have, you know, all the little battery
operated to throw in their garland all of that. So
I think it's really easy. And then of course not

(07:44):
where I live, because I've had to put in my
own trees. But a lot of people have some trees
in their yards already that they can easily just go
and prune some of this stuff outt it, you know,
So it's good.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
So it's easy. Make sure you're prune. How do you
do that? Yeah, where there's where, so it won't look
like you're missing a branch, right, And don't don't cott
the top of the tree.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
No, don't be top of them, don't do that. No,
So I would say, just kind of the steps to
create that outdoor you know I have on there. Just
make sure that you are conditioning your greenery ahead of time.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
So yeah, what does that mean?

Speaker 1 (08:23):
What does that mean if you're making those fresh cuts that, yeah,
do like an angle cut on those branches. And then
a lot of places suggest like when I when I've
researched this, to put them in a bucket of water
for a few hours. Yeah, well, not where they're you know,
covered in water, but where those branches can take up

(08:45):
some of that moisture keep them from real lasting. So
I would say, first and foremost, just create a container
of interest, you know, or and talk about this one later,
but an outdoor porch container. A lot of times even
people will have some that are permanent that okay, now

(09:07):
they are done with their summer ones, right, so now
they can just go in and throw in some branches
to do it. Fill with soil. That soil is really
going to serve as stability. And so if you're doing
this from the start, it's really you don't really have
to worry about your quality of soil so much. So
I would just say, right now, if you can find

(09:28):
like a really cheap bag of potting soil that'll be
perfect enough for this. And then when you're doing your
outdoor arrangement, adding some of those bare branches or taller
branches to kind of create the height of your arrangement.
And so a lot of times, I know we've talked
about it before. Many people know if you've done any arrangements,
if you think like thriller, filler and spillers, so something

(09:52):
your thriller is going to be your focal point. Filler
is going to fill in all that empty space, whether
that's with you know, additional brand branches or even embellishments,
and then spiller just to kind of overlay the container
again to fill it in. So you'll add in those
extra branches, any embellishments that you want. And then what

(10:13):
I would say is go ahead and water that container thoroughly,
and especially right now, you know we're gonna get a
good freeze, so that soil will hold everything in place
really good. So this is from a few years ago,
probably several years ago now, but just some ones that
you can see that are really simple. Added a couple ornaments,

(10:33):
pine cones. There was some red twig dog dogwood in
there as well. So easy enough can easy sand to Yeah,
it's heavy. Well, depends on if you're going to go
somewhere and then you want to carry that container to
your car or not, or is this.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
Going to stay indoors or outdoors?

Speaker 1 (10:56):
Well, this one that I talked about is outdoor at
the bow Away. Yeah, an area that's not going to
be windy.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
Right, that's another idea.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
Yeah, okay, how about let's create a winter wreath right now?
If you don't want to go and support the boy
Scouts right there, usually ones.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
I'll tell you a hobby lobby January.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
Actually just right after Christmas.

Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah, it's like you know, in the back of the store. Man,
it's like go hog wild.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
Then you'll be ready and I'll actually.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
Go just saying just say it. And also there's many
other fine stores just just that go want to say
only one store, but right, yeah, we've got to have
a wreath to welcome your visitors at the door and
show that you've got the Christmas spirit.

Speaker 1 (11:49):
That's right. So again, if you want to look at
the different greenery to use, like spruce, pine, juniper fur,
those are all going to be really good for that.
And then some other items and tools to use. You're
gonna need to get a wire wreath frame and I
put farm sory for that typeo there. But you can
find those at the dollar store. So again you want

(12:10):
to be on a budget, you can find those at
the dollar store.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
I want the dollar fifty.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
Dollar twenty five, right, Yeah, you can find them there.
You're gonna want some floral wire and again a little
bit thicker gauge just to hold those branches in place.
Pruning shears, a wirecutter. Cardboard is going to be suggested
as you get working, especially again with some of those
fresher cuts, just with the sap, and then any type

(12:38):
of embellishment and one thing I didn't include on here,
but I would recommend, depending on the branches you're using,
probably want a good pair of gloves and some long
sleeves when you're doing this, just so you're not poking yourself. Okay,
so steps to create a wreath. Let's go ahead and
get that cardboard out on the table or if you have,

(12:58):
you know, a craft table, that's great, but get something
where Again, you're probably gonna get some sap on there,
so something you can cover it up and get your
wire wreath frame and then you're gonna wrap the end
of the wire around the frame to kind of firmly
attach it. And you'll start with whatever kind of greens
you have, cut them into anywhere from four to eight

(13:19):
inch sections, and you're gonna start to layer those and
wrap them, wrap the wire around, and you're gonna go
in that circular shape. So you're gonna continue this process
just around the whole wreath and kind of fill in
any of those bear areas that wire you're not gonna
see any of it, and then finally go ahead decorate

(13:42):
it and attach whatever kind of hangar you want. So
here's some examples. Beautiful, right, easy enough, pine cones work great,
dried fruit, any of that. So just some tips for you,
is you do want to use fresh green, you know,
any older branches or things that you have in condition,

(14:04):
they are going to dry out a little bit faster.
Think about using different greens for texture in those wreaths.
You want to keep them in the same size. A
lot of times people will get working and they'll get
smaller or larger, and then you have a lopsided wreath
and then any spaces or areas that you see maybe
some of the brown branches, just use those decorations as

(14:27):
far as care. If this is going to be hung outside,
avoid any windy locations. If it's indoor, it's only going
to last about seven to ten days. So maybe think
about when you have somebody coming around, if you're hosting
family holidays and stuff, when to get one up. And
then you also want to keep it out of the

(14:47):
direct sunlight. And you can use an anti descant as well,
just to kind of help keep that freshness going. So
you can do it. Anybody could do this.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Easy enough, right, good project or.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
Yeah, good project.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
I just I just use a It's like I have
to say, I just use plastic. It's just a plastic
ref you know, like.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
You don't have to worry about it drying out.

Speaker 2 (15:15):
It's forever green, artificial Christmas, that's right.

Speaker 1 (15:19):
Use it year after year, don't. Maybe you want some
of that fresh.

Speaker 2 (15:25):
I feel like a grin today. I don't know why.

Speaker 1 (15:28):
Maybe you want fresh you don't ever green spell at
your house?

Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah, but you can get glade for the artificial fresh.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
That's true. Maybe we just got to take you out
of the camera for this set for a while, right, Okay,
last one and then I'll let the Grinch go.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yours is an original custom nothing else like it. It's
right special it is that's important.

Speaker 1 (15:58):
Something to do with your gall pals. I guess a
girl's nights or whatever. Okay, so hobba. Let's finally wrap
it up with creating a table arrangement, which I did
bring one in today. And so again, what do you need.
You're gonna need those greens. You want a decorative waterproof

(16:18):
dish wet floral foam, So there is a difference. You
want a wet one that's gonna be able to absorb
that moisture in water, or if you don't want to
use floral foam. One thing that works really good if
you are using like a decorative box is you can
use glass jars and fill them with water to insert
the branches. Any type of bear branches again, whether you

(16:40):
want like paper birch that has white or again the
red twig dog wood, those work really good embellishments. If
you are gonna use any candles in these, I would
recommend using like a battery operated just again we don't
want any accidental fires going on. So the steps here

(17:01):
is you need to cut that foam to fit into
the box or add those glass jars that are gonna
be shorter than the box throughout. And again, like I said,
you'll add water, decide what your center focus will be,
whether it's candles, a tree topper, you know, really whatever
your heart desire is. And then you're gonna prep that
greenery by removing lower needles and cutting off at an angle.

(17:25):
Those lower needles are gonna help you insert it into
the foam a lot easier. So like this one that
I did yesterday, again this is fake because we want
it to last and look beautiful for the show. But
I just started out that's right, I'll just bring it
out over here. I just started with the bottom on

(17:45):
this one. And you know, a lot of places I'm
not an artist, but a lot of places suggested doing
like a diamond shape with the box and everything. So
I started with the lower branches. I cut my foam
and I started inserting those, and then I went to
my taller branches that were going to be my center
focus in there.

Speaker 2 (18:07):
That's the thriller.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
That's the thriller. Yep, so my white and then I
added in the pine and the spruce, and after that
I just kind of added in any of my embellishment
and anything that I wanted to pop with that. And
then last but lot not least it's harder to see.
This was probably the hardest part was just creating the
actual bow on here as well. So it's easy if

(18:33):
you look at you know, again, continuing kind of the
photos I showed, you know, just showing you how you
arrange that greenery, either by sticking it into that foam
or into the jars. Add those embellishments. You can see
a little ornament pine cone, and then last but not least,
consider putting some ribbon around the box. So easy enough.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yeah, I like that. Like you talked about different evergreens
for different textures. Yeah, and the red you got here
is you know, like I could see a red twig
dog wood haven not as glittery, but a natural red color.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
I could see weary painted.

Speaker 2 (19:15):
Are natural theme here. We're going my way now.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
If you want green, if you want that pop right.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
Yeah, yeah, and ornamental grasses he talked about that naturally too.
It'd be easy, it can be done, can.

Speaker 1 (19:31):
Be done, and with a table arrangement again, because it
has the wet floral foam or the jars. Probably gonna
see that around that close to a two week period
of it lasting and not drying out too bad. So
you want to put something on the Thanksgiving table. Here's
a project over our next couple blustery days. So before

(19:53):
I turn it over, one thing, I just want to
invite anybody who is listening. Uh, Burley County Extension is
gonna host a holiday open house on Monday, December ninth,
two to six pm at our office and we just
invite anybody in the public who wants to come learn
more about Extension what we do. I hear Santa's going

(20:14):
to be there, so possible, It's impossible.

Speaker 2 (20:18):
Is any busy right now?

Speaker 1 (20:20):
He's taking time out of his schedule?

Speaker 2 (20:22):
Big event? What come all the way from the North Pole?

Speaker 1 (20:26):
That's right. We want to here with Christmas. I don't
think any Rudolph, no, dear no.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
But how's it going to get down here? I don't
know the magic of Santa.

Speaker 1 (20:37):
The magic of Santa. We'll have some giveaway door prizes,
including my lovely arrangement I put together today and yeah,
just some light snacks and everything. We just want people
to come out and learn a little bit more about
what each of us agents do and programs and see
if there's any needs from the community we're missing out there.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
So sounds good.

Speaker 1 (21:02):
All right, I'm gonna turn it over.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
See how about that? Okay, thank you.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
You're gonna talk about how your heart shrinks being a Grinch.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
It's already shrunk. Okay, you have to start singing the song.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (21:24):
Are you ready? Bah bah yeah bah who bao bao?
And then my heart all of a sudden explodes open three.

Speaker 1 (21:33):
Times times the size, and.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
Then my pet dog who is my reindeer, Maxie Max.
It's great, but since you're talking about the Grinch, can't
beat Charlie Brown and Peanuts Christmas. That's the best show
on TV of history, like nineteen sixty five, right before
you were around, But I remember watching that every year.

(22:00):
That was a beautiful Charles Schultz from Minnesota. Okay, so
that's the best show. I recommend everybody to see the
Christmas Charlie Brown, Peanuts and Linus at the end. Okay, yeah,
we're gonna thought. We're gonna keep the holiday theme going,
and we're gonna start by talking a little bit about
Dakota pumpkins and squash. All right.

Speaker 1 (22:23):
You know this was that the Thanksgiving table there you
are the first Thanksgiving and you know what that was
like about four hundred years ago.

Speaker 2 (22:33):
That's a long time man, four hundred years wow. Right,
And uh, those are simple times and squash or pumpkins
were a very important part of how the pilgrim survived.
Here's a little palm that they made that a pilgrim made.

(22:54):
We have pumpkins that morning and pumpkins at noon. If
it were not for pumpkins, we should be undoon. They
survived off pumpkins. They were very thankful for pumpkins. They
were thankful that they finally found land after they traveled
across the ocean. I'm sure they said, thank god, we

(23:14):
found some land. And then the Native Americans, I'm sure
taught them how to grow pumpkins and share their pumpkins
with them, because pumpkins is it is not a European crop.
Pumpkins is a it's a Native American crop or what
do you call it. It's a new World crop. But
speaking of Native Americans, let's head to Dakotas and this is, uh,

(23:38):
I think the most famous gardener in the history of
North Dakota. This is Buffalo bird Woman. And if anybody's
interested in learning about how the Native tribes of North
Dakota Garden. She's got the Buffalo bird Woman, she's got
her chronicles and actually there it's a great book. I
have it, and also it's available online for free. You

(24:00):
can just you can just read it online. And she
was interviewed by like an archaeologist about one hundred years ago,
and she'd be very in depth description on how they
grew their crops and then include like the Three Sisters
garden that a lot of us are familiar with, and
squash was an important element of it. The squash with

(24:21):
the beans and the maize. The squash was one of
the sisters and it served as a living mault to
conserve moisture and choke out weeds. And also you can
see here there's like a border fence there and squash
is being grown along the border as a way to
repel deer and wildlife and the neighbor there. You go.

Speaker 1 (24:44):
Sounds like she was ahead of her time.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
Yeah, definitely. Of course their life depended on it. They had,
you know, there was you couldn't just goof off and
go to the grocery store if you have a bad crop.
It all had to do with survival and squash is
a very important element of it. So they group squashes
very important, and they would slice it up and then
they will dry it out and they would protect it,

(25:07):
dry it and then they would consume it over winter.
You know. The nice thing about that Three Sisters garden
is that they don't they didn't just compliment each other
as a crop, but they compliment each other in the diet.
You know, legumes and squash and the main they all
complimented each other. So squash is a very important part
of our history here in North Dakota. And if you'd

(25:29):
like to grow I would say the most the most
popular Dakota squash is called La Kota and nowadays it's
main I mean, it's very beautiful. It's almost as beautiful
as this winter arrangement you have here. Maybe you could
even add it to this part of your winter Thanksgiving.
But the quota you can get these seats. Go online,

(25:51):
you can find these seats. And you know, it's an
old variety, so it's not especially productive and uh, you know,
it's susceptible to diseases. It's got to be a smart grower.
But the fruits them salts are just beautiful, you know.
And this is a true Lakota squash. So it's edible, nutritious,
So I think it's one of the most beautiful squashes

(26:12):
there is just.

Speaker 1 (26:13):
Naturally has a green and atah.

Speaker 2 (26:15):
Yeah, all kinds. Every squash is a little bit different.
And another important squash of North Dakota is buttercup squash.
And you know, we're very proud that in nineteen thirty
the North Dakota ad College introduced this squash to the world.
So buttercup squash is from North Dakota's it's from us

(26:38):
and it's revered around the world for its flesh quality
and taste. So butter cup squash very important in our
North Dakota history. And this looks like the variety burgess,
which is an early ripe. You gotta find early ripening squash.
Anything that's more than one hundred days is a little

(26:59):
bit risk in North Dkota. But birdes squash is probably
the most popular variety across the United States. And it's early,
but it's a long vine. If you have a short vine,
then this is rty called bond bond. It has a
compact bush type and it's done very well in our
North Dakota trials. That's a that's a modern Friday there,

(27:21):
so you can grow your own butter cup squash. And
then as far as pumpkins, you know, we're all so
pop we all love our piece of pumpkin pie. And
you see the corner there on the upper right corner
that Libby's pumpkin, right, Libby's pure pumpkin, pure pumpkin. That's
you know, it's one hundred percent pure pumpkin. But actually,

(27:43):
to be honest, it has no pumpkin and it's more
like it's a butternut squash. It's using I'll show you
what it looks like. This is what they use. It's
called and you can buy this seat. It's called Dickinson
Dickinson Dickinson's nut squashed. That's what Libby's grows ache. You know,
one hundreds of acres of you like Indiana, and so

(28:07):
that's what they use for their pumpkin pie filling. And
the FDA lets them get off by count it pumpkin
because they're closer related and they have a golden flesh inside.
And so but we've had we've grown Dickinson squash. It
just it's it's it's not the special strain that Libby's has.
But but it's a good it's a good pie making.

(28:29):
It's a little bit later than what I like, so
I would recommend that you get Well, here's if he
slices it open, it looks like this. I think, again
getting back to the North Dakota theme again, that Dickinson
squash is a butternut squash, and I and uh, and
again we have butter cup squashes also, And I think

(28:50):
the best pump the best squash pie is is uh
from a variety also developed in North Dakota called Uncle
David's Coda Dessert squash. Uncle David's Dakota Dessert squash.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
To be a pie a dessert, that's.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
Right, it's made for it's made for a dessert. That's right,
and it's it's uh. The thing about buttercup and butternut
squashes is that they'll they'll be more flavorful if you
store them for a couple of months in the basement
and they develop richer flavor that way. But people always
ask me, what's the best pumpkin pie, what's the best

(29:29):
pumpkin variety to grow to make a pie? And I
always say, you just don't grow a pumpkin. You should
be growing a butternut or buttercup squash, and that Uncle
David's is a good one. Okay. One other crop to
talk to you about Thanksgiving, and that would be what's
this kelsey?

Speaker 1 (29:45):
Looks like cranberry's?

Speaker 2 (29:47):
How is your cranberry crop.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
This non existence?

Speaker 2 (29:53):
That's right, that's right. That's because cranberries don't can't grow
in North Kota very well, well, because it's our soil's
not right. It's they're not made to be grown on
the prairie. They're made to be grown like in swamps
and balls. They have to have acid soil, and our
soils are alkaline. So I would hazard to guess in

(30:15):
North Dakota, out of our fifty states, ranks number fifty
in cranberry production. So don't even bother. But here's an
intro I thought i'd share this. How do you ever
get the name cranberry? And you know what the cran
it gets from crane? The flowers look like a crane's see,
like it's got like a like a beak sticking out

(30:38):
there in the curved neck. So that's something you can
talk with if you don't know what to talk about
the Thanksgiving table next week, you can say by the way,
did you ever know how they got the name cranberry?
And tell them about the flowers are in the shape
of a crane's head. There you go.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
I think it's pretty cool though, Like I've seen videos
and image of like harvesting cranberries. There you go, I'm
jumping ahead of you. They do that in Wisconsin though, right.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
That's right. I used to. I've led a tour of
cran I didn't do anything about winter arrangements as a
county agent. The tour of cranberry farms.

Speaker 1 (31:19):
Don't sound probably far borage.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
It was fascinating. And they don't grow in water, Okay.
What they do is they add the water for the harvest,
and then what happens is the berries will float.

Speaker 1 (31:32):
They flood the area.

Speaker 2 (31:33):
They flood the area right before the harvest, and then
the berries on the ground will float up to the
top and they're easier to harvest that way.

Speaker 1 (31:42):
That would be neat, very neat.

Speaker 2 (31:44):
That's cool. That's cool.

Speaker 1 (31:46):
And so they use the yellow to like basically contain
it and make it easier to harvest. How long does
it take? Like I mean, when you went on that tour,
do you remember when they say harvesting is its flooded
to it.

Speaker 2 (32:04):
It's a few days. Yeah, yeah, but it's you know,
this is a picture a lot of it's mechanized so
and actually you don't have you don't have to flood it.
You can you can't harvest it with all flooding. There's
machines that will harvest dryly and harvesting, but the flooding
is it makes it a lot easier. Yeah, it takes

(32:24):
a few days, but it's all you know, it's a
it's a family business. It's you know, it's it's a
generation on generation thing. You know, like you don't you
don't just start that with these These cranberry farms have
been going on for generations and they have the equipment,
They got the system down and it's communities that share equipment.
And you know, Ocean Spray is the dominant company. And

(32:48):
uh they work in collaboration with the growers. It's kind
of cool. We can't grow cranberries, but here's something that
we can grow. And this also ripens red this time
here and that's a cranberry bush, American cranberry bush vi Burnham.
It tastes sour, it's very sour. But if maybe you

(33:11):
could use this as a decoration too in your winter arrangement.
But you can't grow cranberries in North Dkota. Don't even
try it. Don't be tempted by the seed catalogs cranberries
and blueberries. Forget about it. Okay, But one thing about
this cranberry bush vi Burnham. It reminds me of attracting birds.
It's a favorite food of birds. So I'm going to

(33:31):
just talk for a few minutes here and talk about
attracting birds to the yard.

Speaker 1 (33:37):
I've been seeing some owls in the morning. It's always
fun for me.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
Do you have a mouse problem in the house, Not
like on.

Speaker 1 (33:44):
My drive to town. They're always on the you know,
the highline poles and stuff. They're out there. And then
occasionally in the winter time we see snow owls too.
Those are fun.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
Yeah. Cool. Nature's cool, isn't it?

Speaker 1 (34:01):
Is?

Speaker 2 (34:01):
It is? But I bet you never put up a
bird feeder. Huh.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
I don't have a spot for a bird a bird feeder.
I mean, I guess I could put on a post,
but yeah, have to do.

Speaker 2 (34:13):
No, that's the best, that's the best way. Yeah, you
got to leave room for your winter arrangement though.

Speaker 1 (34:19):
That's that's right.

Speaker 2 (34:22):
Well, my family we used to we had a big
bird feeding station by our dinner table and uh, like
whenever we were eating, it's so fun watching the birds
flying and out grabbing a seed, going back to their nesk,
flying back at a seed, and like, here's like some
cardinals flying around and just a beautiful movements and the

(34:45):
colors that like there's bright colors like this goldfinch and
uh and you can see their their motions are kind
of heres like a little sharing. Some seeds are courting,
you know. So that's kind of a lot of fun
things going on. And fighting for seeds too, a lot
of bird fights going on, squirrel proms.

Speaker 1 (35:06):
You can do bird bengal. That's something I've heard people
bird bingo.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
Yeah, like they say, okay, what's what kind of bird's
gonna go into the feed er?

Speaker 1 (35:14):
Neet, you put together a car.

Speaker 2 (35:15):
I got birds finch.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
When they come to your place, you exit up and
then you can do bird bingo with friends.

Speaker 2 (35:25):
While you're making them inter rangements. You've got it all
in line here. Well, here's that picture that viburnam you. Now,
one thing I about if you want to track birds,
you gotta provide everything every critter on earth needs like
three things. They gotta have food, and they got to
have water, and they got to have sanctuary, you know, shelter.

(35:47):
So when you want to track birds, you gotta provide
food all year round. And it's like the nice thing
about this viburnum. It's red now, but it's kind of
very sour. But it's so sour that the birds will
eat other stuff now and they will lead the viburnum
berries there. And this adds beauty to our winter landscape,
nice splashes of red color while the rest of the

(36:08):
landscapes all gray and drab. So viburnams beautiful. Not viburnam
will grow well. In North Dakota, there's lots of vibrants.
Arrowwood has blueberries. This is the cranberry bush viburnum, and
the American type is good for birds and easy to
grow and they grow about about depends on that. It

(36:29):
can grow four to ten feet tall, depending on the
variety you get. But and beautiful white flowers and a
nice red fog color. And then these beautiful berries in
the wintertime that the berries after the winter goes through,
they will ferment to mellow out and then the birds
will start gobbling them up in early spring a late winter,

(36:50):
early spring when their natural food sources are really scarce.
And I here's the rob. And this was a rob
that came to town too early and it could you know,
there's no bugs or anything to eat yet, and so
it's eating these crab apples. And so I always look,
if I buy a crab apple tree, I want to
buy a variety that has persistent fruits, fruits that hang

(37:12):
on the tree. These are like small pea sized fruits
that will hang on the tree all winter long. And
again some red color in summer. Cherries are beautiful. You know.
Cherries are birds of a battle of birds every year
my cherry tree versus the fruits. And here's a cedar
wax wing on a mountain ash tree and that's a

(37:36):
nice source of fall food for the birds. They love that.
So some basics as far as feeding birds, in winter
is the key time because the natural food sources are
not there. You can have if you want to have
lots of different birds, you got to have different feeders
because each bird has its own special type of feeder

(37:57):
it likes. It's like it's like, you know, it's its
own special restaurant that it wants to go to. So
like you say, like you can stick out a wooden
box with a roof on a post, that's the best
one that the most kinds of birds will be most
attracted to that. And then but there's also nylon covered
wire cages and tube feeders. So like here's a picture

(38:20):
of the Again, if it's sturdy, you know, if you
put it on a post, that will attract both big
birds like this northern flicker there and smaller birds too.
And also the seed is kind of sheltered so it
won't blow out, you know, compared to here when it's hanging,
it's not as sturdy. And like today, man, there'd be

(38:41):
no seeds left on after one day. They'd all be
having the eating on the ground here. But it's really
only the smaller birds that are comfortable here. Like you
won't get a flicker on this, for example, it's just
too unsteady for it. And then here's like wood packers
love these suits in a nylon wire cages. So it's

(39:02):
a pilated woodpecker there like a vicious building.

Speaker 1 (39:06):
I was gonna say, he looks kind of he's looking
for the trees.

Speaker 2 (39:11):
He's looking for No, he's looking at emerald ashboard that
he's going after. He's our friend. We're all gotta learn
how to live together. Kelsey thought, don't judge a bird
by its look.

Speaker 1 (39:26):
You know, he does look evil.

Speaker 2 (39:28):
Do you think woody woodpeckers evil? No, he's kind of funny.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
He's kind of funny. Funny.

Speaker 2 (39:33):
See, you know, he just he just has a he's
got a special look. You know, if you're a female,
woodpeckers be very attracted today, think of it that way.
And these tube feeders are very attracted to by these
smaller birds. Again, so a multiple feeders do the good job.
Often for this is sunflower seeds, which is the most

(39:56):
popular seed mixed the black oil type because they're loaded
with calories and birds need calories to stay warm in winter.
But niger thistle is a very popular seed in tube
feeders because like finches really like that stuff and they're
the ones that are going to go to the tube feeds. Okay,

(40:18):
And so the bird feeding basics, you get quality seed,
not cheap seed. You know, the cheap seed that has
like peanut holes and just low quality sea. It's gonna
stay away from that. You want oil types on flour
and white prosal millet. Those are probably the two most
valuable types of quality seeds that will attract the most birds.

(40:43):
And again some birds like sweet, like that beautiful pilated
woodpecker who's underappreciated for beauty, and also like chickadees, they
really like that. And then niger thistle, that niger thistle
is very expensive seeds, so just you know, but that's
like a special treat. So different seeds, different feeders will

(41:05):
attract more birds. So there you go, sun those a
black seed. Now we're you gonna stick your bird feeder.
I always thought it was dangerous putting your feet or
near the window because I think we're the birds would
crash and burning and get you know, knock their heads
on the window. But actually studies have shown that it's
it's okay to put the feeder of around around three

(41:28):
feet for your window because they can never build up
enough steam or speed when they accidentally hit the window.
So keep it near your favorite window. Like in my house,
it was right on the kitchen table window so we
could all watch it right there. And you got to
keep it away from the wind, and then you got
to have cover within five feet so the cover is

(41:50):
important because well, and I'll take about in a second,
and then you want it five feet off the ground.
So you gotta have cover within fight feet and get
it at least five feet above. And that's because there's
a lot of enemies out there, you know what we
I think we just don't appreciate how nature is, like
like it's such a dangerous place, Like there's no I

(42:11):
can't hire a bird feeding police person out at my
feet or you know, the birds come at their own risk,
and they won't come if it's a risky place. So
it's nice to have like some evergreens nearby so if
they see if there's any danger, they can just scoot,
you know, fly to the feeder and then grab a
seat and fly back to the evergreen. So they're minimize

(42:33):
their exposure to danger. And that's why we got to
get it off the ground because those cats and squirrels
can be pesky too, so so get it off the ground,
like put on the sturdy posts as best if you can,
and have some sanctuary nearby, you know, like five feet's nice,
five to ten feet. Also, you want to make sure
that the wildlife can't jump from the sanctuary onto the

(42:56):
bird feeder. So like no launching pads, squirrels can use
to jump on the feeder.

Speaker 1 (43:03):
Could climb I guess if they really wanted.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
Yeah, well you know we got you can use like
baffel cones. You know, baffle cones. Baffle cones, you put
that on the put that below the feeder and put
the feeder here. And there's also baffle cones you can
put on top of it and then they'll just that
will squirrel will just slide off or the cat will
just slide off the baffl cone. So there's different ways

(43:26):
that we can use them. And like there's a squirrel
proof feeders that are they'll have a weight mechanism so
that if anything heavy lands on the perch, it would
it will come down and close the feeder so the
squirrel can't get any food then. So there's a lot
of fancy gimmicks. Of course, my old secretary, she she

(43:48):
she had her own way to battle squirrels. She electrified
her bird feeder and every time she had a squirrel
she would turn it on and buzz that squirrel.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
She was serious about her bird things.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
She enjoyed that, she enjoyed that she was She was
a funny person. I loved her. She was a great person.
And yeah, but that's the way she handled squirrels electricity,
But I don't recommend that. There's there's you can use
bath cones and height and baffoot cones and that's and

(44:23):
weight and wait mechanisms. And also you can always have
a squirrel feeder. Put the squirrel feeder on the other
side of the yard with some cob corn, you know
that works too. And then also the last thing about
like what we can also help with sanctuary by the
type of trees you plant, Like this is a hawthorn.
Here's a chickadee on a hawthorn. Hawthorn is a great

(44:44):
tree because it's got thorns and that makes this trees
cat with no cat's gonna mess around in a hawthorn,
or like a Russian olive or a silverberry, those kind
of trees with thorns on them. Or here's a little
chickeny in a rose, and like a REGOs ro with
those storms sticking out, that's you know, that's important sanctuary
for those birds. So think about when you landscape, try

(45:06):
to find plants that can serve as nesting spots as
well as provide food. And when I said, of course,
you gotta have a you gotta have evergreens stop the wind.
And those prickly spruce needles can provide sanctuary for birds too,
So I encourage everybody to you bring wildlife tree yard

(45:27):
and you know, set up a bird feeder and you
can have a nice time watching the birds this winter.
We've got nothing else to do.

Speaker 1 (45:35):
Sounds like a great plan.

Speaker 2 (45:37):
That's all I got this time.

Speaker 1 (45:40):
That's good. So we'll have our annual holiday episode coming up? Right?

Speaker 2 (45:47):
Of course? Can I just get through this one first?
And you're already I'm just man, I just got done. Okay,
when's the next episode? Let's go to go top.

Speaker 1 (46:01):
We gotta do our annual holiday episode.

Speaker 2 (46:03):
Yeah, I've got yeah, we can talk about Christmas stuff. Huh.

Speaker 1 (46:07):
That's right. He said, it's your favorite season, so you
should be.

Speaker 2 (46:10):
Excited if you no doubt about it. That is the
It's just wonderful. It's just we have the all family
and kids are it's so great with kids and wow,
they're opening up presents on Christmas. It's a joy, pure
joy yow. Let's just and let's hope it's a brown Christmas.
That's what I hope or just like maybe get into
just know on Christmas.

Speaker 1 (46:31):
Eve, just a light dustings, right.

Speaker 2 (46:33):
Just like we're getting today. That's right, yeah, Okay, Well.

Speaker 1 (46:37):
I just want to thank everybody for joining us today
on Dakota Growing, and as always, we hope that you
will listen to us on podcasts and join us on
future episodes and with that we will see you guys
in December. Dakota Growing is a gardening show brought to
you by Dakota Media Access and ENDSU Extension. We discuss

(46:59):
a variety of timely topics pertaining to your landscape, along
with giving you tips and advice for your lawn, garden
and trees. If you have questions, call seven oh one
two two one six eight sixty five or email NDSU
dot Burley dot Extension at NDSU dot com. Dakota Growing
airs on Radio Access one O two point five FM,

(47:20):
Community Access Channel twelve or six twelve HD, or online
at free tv dot org