Cold weather comes to Michigan - can snow be far behind?

Hopefully this recent cold spell will begin to help out Michigan's beleaguered winter dependent businesses. Ski hills are making snow around the clock to make up for the lack of the natural variety. Of course, snowmobilers and cross country skiers still need the snow and so do the businesses that depend on raising revenue from those winter activities. Swiss Valley here in southwest Michigan has been making snow around the clock this week. Check out some of the photos from their man-made snowstorm here.

Weather Underground has a fairly comprehensive listing of Michigan ski resorts and their current conditions if you are interested.

News of a decent sized snowstorm possible hitting Michigan this Sunday/Monday has a lot of folks who make their living from our winter weather in good spirits. You can view snowmobile trail reports at www.michiweb.com. They have a very extensive listing for conditions all across the northern lower peninsula in addition to the U.P.

Find a Michigan Christmas Tree Farm near you

Find a Michigan Christmas Tree Farm near you using Captain Jack's Christmas Tree Farm Network website. You have to scroll down to search for any tree farms near you. I would have liked to see a built-in search function available. However, if you press the CTRL and the F key it will bring up a search box in your browser. From there just type in your town or nearby towns and see what you can find.

We'll be getting our Christmas tree from Butler Tree Farm near Dowagiac again this year. It has become a family tradition for us that we look forward to every year. Read my review of Butler Tree Farm from last December. With the weekend weather forecast looking balmy this might be the first year in a long time that there won't be snow on the ground (or the tree) when we go Christmas tree shopping (or is it chopping?).

Once Christmas is over you should look into recycling your Christmas tree. Head over to Michigan.earth911.org and use their search function to find a tree recycling drop-off site near you.

I like to set our tree in the fence row behind our house and let our neighborhood cardinals have a warm home for the winter. After winter, I add the dried branches to our campfires for a special "north woods" scent. It also creates quite a snap, crackle, and pop effect.

Part of the trunk is sliced into thin pieces that we make Christmas ornaments out of for the following Christmas. Whatever is left gets burned in the last campfire of the season which usually coincides with when I put up the Christmas lights on our house over Thanksgiving weekend.

Make some special memories this Christmas and cut down your own Christmas tree this year!

Mild Michigan weather is going to blow out of here by the weekend

We had measurable snowfall in October. November was rainy and downright balmy. December is lurking just around the corner and with it some winter weather. The Mining Journal showed a picture of a man surfing (yes surfing) yesterday in Lake Superior near Marquette. Alas, all of this is simply a mirage for those of us familiar with Michigan weather. You know there is that saying that only in Michigan will you have to run the air conditioner and furnace in the course of one day.

Over here on the western side of the state they are calling for a 70% chance of snow on Friday and temperatures in the 30s with more chances of snow over the weekend.

I need to wrap up one last outdoor project on the house today before the weather turns. This will most likely be the last warm day we'll see for a long while. Better enjoy it!

Peaceful views of Michigan's fall color display

I found this two-minute video on YouTube that was shot at the West Lake Nature Preserve in Portage, Michigan. Don't you just love the wonderful display of a myriad of colors across Michigan in the fall? At the end of last week we took a wonderful (but short) trip up to the Straits. If you get up that way this weekend or next week you have to take County Road 81. It parallels U.S. 31 to the east and passes through such burgs as Bliss, Heils Corner, and Pleasant View. The view is most definitely "pleasant" and the drive is relaxing.

If the video player does not display you can view it at YouTube right here.

Get your fall color fix in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Want to get a jump on the fall color season? Head on up to Michigan's U.P. and take in the explosion of color that has its peak around the first week of October in the central and western portions of the Upper Peninsula. An article in The Mining Journal today suggests the last week of September and the first couple weeks of October as the "prime viewing season" for fall foliage in our Upper Peninsula.

My wife and I went to the U.P. around the last week of September once and the colors were spectacular. We stayed at the Big Bay Point Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast and were in awe of the wonderful fall colors and the deep blue backdrop of Lake Superior.

We took a day trip up in the Yellow Dog Falls area and up to a hill (I doubt it is considered a mountain) called, I believe, Gobblers' Nob or something of the sort. Just simply amazing blends of color contrasted with the deep green of the pine trees.

So, fill up on some of that cheaper gas, grab your camera and binoculars, bring some cash so you can stuff your face with pasties, and Go North.

Websites of interest: Official Directory of Michigan Fall Color Tours

Fall Color Tour information via www.NewsUpNorth.com

Top 10 Fall gardening tasks

Well, kids have gone back to school and the air is decidedly cooler. Hints of color are appearing in the tops of trees and our garden's production is slowing down once more. About the only plants still producing in our garden are our zucchini plant and tomato plants. The garden was, like summer, fun while it lasted. Now the fall cleanup and maintenance must begin to ensure another great gardening season for next year.

With that in mind, I have compiled a Top 10 list of things you should do for your garden this fall.

1. Now is a good time to start planting perennials and spring bulbs.
2. If you do not have a compost pile, get one started with the leaves you rake out of your yard. I do this every fall and then add coffee grounds and other vegetable waste throughout the year for a wonderful loamy soil that can then be added to our raised beds.
3. Till up your soil and mulch it for the winter (again, another good use of leaves).
4. Now is the time of year to divide your perennials and move them if you so desire.
5. Have your soil tested and perform whatever recommendations are made.
6. Add compost (if you have already been composting all summer) to your various beds.
7. Encourage your existing pumpkins, melons, and gourds to ripen up before frost by pinching off existing blossoms and the ends of vines.
8. When the daily temperature no longer makes it up to 65 it is time to pick your green tomatoes, wrap them in newspaper, and let them ripen indoors.
9. Pull up your no longer producing vegetable plants. This helps prevent disease and insects.
10. Put your strawberries to bed for the winter in November by mulching them with straw. The best time for this is after a few hard frosts have caused the leaves of the berry plants to lie flat.

There you have it. With all of the maintenance you need to do in your garden this fall, you will be gardening well into November.