What do you think of winter in Michigan?

The goal of this week's poll question is to seek out who loves and who loathes winter in Michigan. I don't always enjoy the cold, but I really enjoy hiking, sledding with the kids, and other outdoor activities in the winter. It's also a great excuse to warm up with a big mug of hot cocoa and a book. [poll id="10"]

Also, if you enjoy winter camping there are 10 Michigan State Parks that are open all winter long.

Here they are:

• Mitchell (bonus - heated restrooms!)
• Traverse City (bonus - heated restrooms!)
• Algonac
• Bay City State Park
• Fort Custer
• Ludington
• North Higgins Lake State Park
• Rifle River Recreation Area
• Tahquamenon Falls
• Waterloo Recreation Area-Portage campground

Head over to Michigan.gov/dnr for a list of the current events going on at state parks and recreation areas.

New snow removal system cuts costs for cities

There's a bit of a chill to the air today. In fact, the weatherman said we could see some sn, sn, snow (there! I said it) this evening. With that in mind my thoughts quickly turn to shoveling snow, driving in snow, and getting stuck in the snow. The Free Press is featuring an article on a snow removal system from Denmark called EPOKE that reduces the amount of salt required to keep the roads free of snow and ice. With salt prices increasing around 30% this year it has become a priority to not use as much salt, but keep the roads safe too.

Basically the EPOKE system is an add-on to the traditional salt trucks. A grinder crushes the rock salt into a fine powder. Then, brine from the on-board brine tank is added to the salt powder as it exits the spreader. This mixture creates a paste that sticks to the icy road and melts the ice faster.

Sounds interesting. This system has been around for over 30 years in Europe and it is already used at airports across the U.S. We're just now seeing it adopted by municipalities here because the cost of road salt has finally reached the point where it is cost effective to purchase the EPOKE system.

Michigan fall colors are quickly fading

10-23-2008 AAA Michigan's weekly report on the fall color here in Michigan states that the peaking colors are now in southern and southwest Michigan. We've been enjoying some of the most vibrant colors in quite sometime here in southwest Michigan. I've got trees bursting with bright yellows and reds that normally just turn a dull yellow, wither, and fall to the lawn to be raked up.

It's just been gorgeous this fall here in Michigan. Beautiful weather and an excellent color show.

The weather report this morning said we could see some s-n-o-w showers or flurries on Monday and my son couldn't be more excited. I can wait a while for the snow.

Until then, check out wonderful videos of Michigan's fall colors as well as a plethora of pictures at Michigan Fall Colors.

Have you enjoyed the fall in Michigan yet?

Just wondering if folks have been enjoying the fall here in Michigan. It has been an absolutely gorgeous fall so far. We're getting more color here in southwest Michigan now that we've had some cooler nights. Take a quick second and answer our current poll question. If you don't see an option you like, feel free to mention it in the comments for this post.

[poll id="3"]

Chance of frost tonight across Michigan

The chance of frost across Michigan tonight means that you better cover up any flowers or plants in your garden that you don't want to see turn brown just yet. I'll be covering up our tomatoes as we finally have a decent crop producing. Ironic now that summer is over and the days are much shorter. Oh well, I'll take what I can get out of my garden in Michigan during October. I'll be putting up the onions and potatoes this weekend. I meant to have an onion and potato bin built by now, but that hasn't happened. Just too busy.

So, save your gardens tonight with a sheet or something in case we get the predicted frost.

Have a Great Weekend!

Michigan DEQ recommends not burning your leaves

Well, duh. Common sense recommends that too. I compost my leaves every year and by the end of summer I have a wonderful pile of nutrient-rich dirt to add to my raised beds. Folks, that is free (and environmentally friendly) fertilizer you're missing out on when you burn leaves. Anyway, leaves will be falling soon all across Michigan (due to the summer heat and lack of rain mine aren't even turning color - they're just dropping) and it's much better all around for the environment to compost those leaves than to burn them. Granted, there is something about the smell of smoldering piles of leaves on a crisp autumn day that take me back, but it's just not a sound practice. I'm not turning hippie here, I just happen to agree with the Michigan DEQ and think that a sounder solution is to compost those leaves.

If you don't know much about composting you can feel free to visit a page I made entitled, A Lazy Man's Guide to Compost. You don't need a lot of space (which you'll see at my guide) to compost. I use a 4' x 4' enclosure for my main composting and in the fall I just dump my leaves in a pile next to the compost bin. Come springtime the heavy winter snows have compacted my pile of leaves and I can transfer them to the compost bin.