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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!   And just like that, Thanksgiving Week is here.  Please make sure that you take time to give thanks, and to spend time with the family.  Now, let's move ahead with our traditional Thanksgiving Turkey Trivia and all kinds of stuffing newsletter.

(How 'bout those Buckeyes knocking off that team from up north!  GO BUCKS!   And  how 'bout those Bearcats knocking off Rutgers!  Go Bearcats!  And how 'bout those Bengals!  It was a glorious weekend for local football!)

-Although the first Thanksgiving dinner was served in 1621 (according to most experts), it wasn't until 1863 that President Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday, and was to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November.  In 1939, President Roosevelt moved it one week forward, as it is presently celebrated.  It was Benjamin Franklin who proposed the 'turkey' to be the official United States bird, and was truly upset when the eagle was chosen instead.  Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented the President with 3 turkeys for Thanksgiving.  One live, and 2 dressed.  This ceremony has become the unofficial beginning of the holiday season.  By the way, the President pardons the live turkey, and it  is sent to live at a historical farm for the rest of its years.

[A large group of turkeys is called a flock.  The male turkey is a tom, the female a hen.  Baby turkeys are poults, under sixteen weeks old is a fryer, and the young roaster is five to seven months old, and a yearling is one year old.  By the way, it is only the male turkey that "gobbles".  The hens make a clicking noise.]

*Whether it's the weather - Looks like cold nights but warmer days this week.  Nice all week, so great one to make sure you're up to date with those fall gardening chores.  Fall is for planting so still plenty of time (and good weather) to plant.  Make sure you're still watering on a regular basis, especially those newly planted plants, and those evergreens.

[Domesticated turkeys can't fly, but wild turkeys can, at speeds up to 55 mph!  And they're not too slow on foot, running as fast as 20-25 mph!]

*What's bugging you? - Besides the fact that the Bearcats did not get enough coverage from the media about their big upset, and the fact that for some reason, they can't seem to fill the stadium, Nothing!  Anyway, I have a couple suggestions for you.  Why not "COME ENJOY OUR HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES!":

"Natorp's Holiday Open House" - MASON STORE - Saturday, Nov. 25, 9:30 to 6:00pm.  Free in-store holiday demonstrations, plus a Fall Clean-up Seminar at 4:30 with Pat Greeson.  Other events including a fire truck display with the Deerfield Township Fire Dept / Sheriff's Crime Prevention from 10am to 2pm, Cincinnati SPCA from 12-4pm, Tri-Weh Duct cleaning experts on hand all day.  Enjoy a Bake Sale (proceeds benefit the SPCA).  Kids get a small present from Santa's bag while mom and dad shop.  Mason H.S. Band members will be providing holiday sounds!  BE THERE NOV.25th!

"Natorp's Winterfest"- FLORENCE STORE - Saturday, Dec. 2nd, 9:30 to 6:00pm.  Come see Santa and have your picture taken with the jolly old Elf.  See Mr. Cowpie's Party Animals from 2:30 - 5:00pm.  Attend one of the morning holiday decorating demonstrations ($5 per class, materials included, please sign up ahead of time) with a door prize given away at each session.  Learn to "winterize your landscape" from 2-3:00pm.  And enjoy treats, refreshments and a little Natorp Holiday Cheer.  BE THERE DEC. 2!

TAKE THE WORRY OUT OF CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR – Don’t let Christmas get you upset and frustrated.  Since 1916, Natorp’s has been a family holiday tradition with our fresh (and artificial) wreaths and greens, live and cut Christmas trees, custom decorations (Yes, decorations made specifically to your wants and needs!), custom made Holiday Planters, perfect for the table, on the porch, or wherever you need Holiday decorations, Cemetery vase arrangements, and of course, our Natorp grown holiday poinsettias.   And, if you’re not sure what to buy your favorite gardener this year, why not buy a Natorp’s Gift Card?  Available in any amount, and can be purchased at the stores or on our web site www.natorp.com. Come see us this holiday season!

[The cornucopia is actually one of the most popular images for Thanksgiving, commonly called "The Horn of Plenty".  In ancient Greece, it was a sign meaning abundance.  The original cornucopia was a curved goat's horn overflowing with fruit and grain.]

*Question mark and the Mysterians - Here are a few gardening questions from this weeks emailed news bag:

“Is it too late to plant spring flowering bulbs?”  -Absolutely not!  Yes, try to get them planted as soon as you can to give them time to root in a bit before the ground freezes, but you still have plenty of time.  Don’t forget to plant a few in pots as well, so you can bring that spring color indoors as well!

“When is it too late to trap moles in my yard?”   -It’s never too late, as they are active year round!  Granted frozen soils make it tough to trap, but if the soil is workable and the moles have active search tunnels, you can trap!

"Is it too late to plant liriope?  I need to put in several."   -Nope, still time to plant.  If the pots are small, watch for any heaving over the winter.  And of course, keep them watered until the ground freezes.

"I planted 600 different spring bulbs this October, and am now seeing several of them coming up!  What should I do?"   -Not a thing.  They'll be fine.  As the temps cool down, they'll slow down.  And they'll be fine for next spring.  Do not cover them with mulch for protection.  Just leave them alone.

This week's Success Tip for your garden - GO AHEAD AND EAT / WE’LL BURN OFF THOSE CALORIES LATER! - This is Thanksgiving weekend, and if you’re like me, there’s a real good chance you’ll wind up eating way more than you could have ever imagined!  But don’t worry.  You’ve got a whole yard out there waiting to help you get rid of those extra calories.  That’s right; working in the yard is a great way to burn those extra Thanksgiving calories.  Of course, before you start, do a little warm up and stretching.  We don’t want you to be a couch potato because of a few pulled muscles!  So, what can you do to burn those calories this time of the year?  -Mow the grass one last time, and use a push mower, not a rider or self propelled.  This burns about 490 calories an hour.  -Pull those remaining weeds, and hoe those beds.  This can burn about 320 calories per hour.  -Plant that extra tree you’ve always wanted, or that flowering shrub, or even spring flowering bulbs.  Or put a new edge on those beds.  Digging and planting will burn well over 360 calories per hour.  -Check the gutter for leaves, and when you move the ladder, only move it a few feet.  That forces you to go up and down more, burning even more calories.  -And my favorite burner, rake those leaves!  By cleaning up those late leaves, not only do you help the grass, but you can burn as many as 340 calories per hour.  -And if by chance we get an early snow fall, get out the snow shovel and burn over 500 - 600 calories an hour!  Man, this is making me hungry.  Is that turkey I smell?

[If a pack of gum says that each piece has 10 calories, is that just chewing the gum, or do have to swallow it?]

*From the Garden to the Kitchen / Hey Rita, what's cooking? - Yardboy, I wanted to share something for a side dish that’s a bit different, along with a classic pecan pie. The good thing about both of these recipes is, yes, they can be done a day or two ahead, and kept refrigerated. Once again, Happy Thanksgiving to you, Yardboy, your family and to each and every one of our readers. Remember, it’s not just about the food, but who shares it with you.

Cranberry applesauce - Different and good. The only apple I don’t use is Red Delicious. Just about any other apple works well, especially a combo of Granny Smith and McIntosh or your favorite.  Here's what you'll need:  3 pounds apples, peeled if desired, seeded and chunked up, 1/2 to 1  bag cranberries, depending upon how much you like cranberries and how tart you want the sauce to be, 1 cup light brown sugar plus more to taste, 1 cup water, Cinnamon to taste.   Spray a crockpot and add everything.  Cook on low for 3-5 hours or high about 2 or so, until apples are tender. Serve hot, room temperature, or chilled.

Really good pecan pie - Use light or dark corn syrup. Dark gives a richer flavor.  Here's what you'll need: Pastry for 9” crust, 3 large eggs, lightly beaten, 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened, 1 cup dark corn syrup, Couple dashes salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 to 1 cup pecans, chopped or in halves. Preheat oven to 350. Combine everything well. Pour into crust. Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist particles clinging to it.  

-Rita Nader Heikenfeld, CCP / Macy’s Regional Culinary Professional / Herbalist / Author / Local TV and Radio Cooking Expert / Adjunct Professor U.C. Clermont College / Community Press Papers /  [life@communitypress.com attn: Rita or www.abouteating.com]

[Hey Rita - As best our records can tell us, the original Thanksgiving menu included venison, fowl (probably not turkey), fish, seafood, grains (including corn which was used for making cornmeal and fried bread), fruits (which included boiled pumpkins), vegetables, nuts, and herbs and seasonings.  This is much different from today’s traditional menu which includes turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, cranberry sauce, and of course, Pumpkin or your famous Pecan pie.]

*Yardboy's plant to ponder - I can't help it. I have to mention a plant that's been in this segment more than any other plant.  And the reason it's here today, is because after all that its given us this year, it is still giving.  "As Eddie says on Christmas Vacation, " Clarke, it's the gift that just keeps on giving."  Take a look around and see what flowering shrub is still flowering.  Not many left, but still flowering.  It's the Knockout rose!  What a true gem for the landscape.  Low maintenance, doesn't ask for much, yet provides the landscape with wonderful flowers all season long, from beginning to end.  And for the most part, they're still giving.  Last year, I have flowers until early December.  What more could you ask for? 

[How many different weeds did the Indians smoke before they discovered tobacco?]

A little bit of this and a little bit of that - TURKEY WEEKEND CHECKLIST – There’s still plenty of time to keep working towards finishing those fall gardening chores.  Here’s our checklist for you to follow, just in case you forgot what to do:
__ Continue to remove all dead foliage from perennials and clean up left over annuals and veggie plants.  Cut them off and leave the roots.  They break down and add organic matter back to the soil.
__ Still time to till the garden; exposed soils freeze and thaw over the winter.  Don’t be hesitant to add a layer of compost or finely ground leaves and grass clippings before tilling the garden.
__ Still time to feed the trees.  Vertical mulching or soil injection with a Ross Root Feeder works great.  It’s also a great way to water if the trees are dry (especially those evergreens).
__ Still time to plant spring flowering bulbs like tulips, daffodils, crocus, and hyacinths, anemones, alliums
and lychoris (who flower in late summer).  Plant a few in pots for bringing indoors next spring.
__ At this point, keep those leaves from accumulating on the lawn, especially newly seeded lawns. 
__ Keep mowing the lawn on a regular basis (change directions each time you mow) until the lawn has completely stopped growing.  For the last couple mowings, feel free to lower the mower 1/2 inch, total.  This isn't totally necessary for the Cincy area, but really helps if you're in an area where snow mold is a lawn problem.  Once the lawn has stopped growing, the time has come for the last feeding with a high N fertilizer, so feed the lawn - and then take the mower in for servicing.
__ If we aren’t getting 1 inch of rainfall every 10 days or so, you still need to water.  Do not let your plants go into the winter under a drought stress.  Check the moisture levels for the soil behind foundation plants, or under larger trees or evergreens.
__ Clean, oil and properly store all garden tools when the season is over.
__ Drain and coil hoses / store where they won’t freeze.  Keep one handy for any winter watering that needs to be done.
__ Properly store all liquid chemicals and protect them from freezing.
__ Brighten your holidays by planting amaryllis and paperwhite bulbs.  Buy extras and plant on staggered times to enjoy their flowers all winter long.
__ Empty or properly store containers and planters to prevent freezing and damages to the pots.
__ Cover water gardens with nylon mesh or netting to keep leaves and other debris out.
__ Make sure you protect your evergreens from winter damages by providing good soil moisture, mulching their roots, spraying with an anti-desiccant such and ‘Wilt Stop’ by Bonide, and in severe cases, build burlap screens to reduce wind and salt spray.
__ Pot up small containers of herbs for growing indoors over the winter.
__ Feed the birds.  Clean your feeders if you haven’t already, and do make sure your birds have a source of water over the winter.

Ohio Agriculture Department Urges Hunters Not to Move Firewood

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (Nov. 15, 2006) – With Ohio’s hunting season getting under way, the Ohio Department of Agriculture is asking outdoor enthusiasts to help prevent the spread of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), an ash tree-killing insect that is harbored, and spread through firewood. The department is urging citizens to leave their firewood at home and instead, use local sources of firewood this season. Currently, quarantines make it illegal to move all hardwood firewood and ash tree materials out of 25 counties in Ohio. Firewood can move within the following counties and between contiguously quarantined counties, but cannot leave the following quarantined areas. Violators of Ohio’s quarantine face fines up to $4,000. Federal fines are much steeper.  • Cuyahoga, Defiance, Delaware, Erie, Fulton, Hardin, Henry, Logan, Lorain, Lucas, Marion, Medina, Mercer, Miami, Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca, Warren, Williams, Wood, and Wyandot counties  • Hancock County: Allen, Cass, Pleasant, Portage, and Washington townships  • Huron County: Bronson, Clarksfield, Hartland, Lyme, Norwalk, Peru, Ridgefield, Sherman, Townsend, and Wakeman townships  • Auglaize County: Duchouquet Township  • Franklin County: The area within the borders of I-71 to I-70 to the Licking and Delaware County lines  Parts of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Maryland also are federally quarantined to aid in halting the spread of this devastating pest. EAB, a serious threat to the ash species, kills ash trees within three to five years of infestation.  The adult beetles are dark metallic green, one-half inch in length and one-eighth inch wide, and fly only from early May until September. Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees and, when they emerge as adults, leave behind small, D-shaped exit holes. Adults can emerge out of ash tree firewood that was infested before the tree was cut.  For more information or for a map of Ohio’s quarantined areas, call 1-888-OHIO-EAB or go to www.ohioagriculture.gov/eab. For information on surrounding states and the federal quarantine go to, www.emeraldashborer.info. 

[I used to be indecisive, but now, I'm not for sure.]

Classes, Seminars, and upcoming Special Events -

Kinkead Ridge Holiday Schedule
Last chances to visit the winery until May 2007!
11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday, November 25: Annual Barrel Tasting
Saturday, December 2
Saturday, December 9: Ripley's River Village Christmas celebration
Saturday, December 16: Last chance to pick up Kinkead Ridge wines for the holidays.
904 Hamburg Street, Ripley, Ohio
Three blocks behind the McDonalds, east of downtown Ripley. Overflow parking at the large white building across the street.  (937) 392-6077 or see www.KinkeadRidge.com for information.
(American Wine Society International Commercial Competition, Nov. 2006, Baltimore, MD - Kinkead Ridge entered four wines, and we received four medals.)

November 30.  Silk Scarf Painting at the Civic Garden Center, 6-8pm Instructor:  Kathy Mills, of Silk Wings.  Maybe you have noticed the flags hanging in our lobby – they were hand-painted by community gardeners to celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of the Neighborhood Gardens Program.  We are offering another class for everyone to learn silk painting techniques on scarf-sized pieces. Make one for yourself and one as a gift! Cost:  $25 (covers two scarves) Registration required and size is limited, 513/221-0981, Ext. 18.

Master Gardener Winter Program 2007 (Kenton County Cooperative Extension Service) -  The Northern Kentucky Master Gardener Program begins January 11 and runs thru April 19th, from 12:30 - 4:30pm at the Extension Office.  For more information, call (859) 356-3155. 

Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum presents its first annual Second Sunday Salon Series (dates include 12/10, 1/14/07, 2/11/07).  $5 per lecture / held at the Norman Chapel, 4521 Spring Grove Ave, at the cemetery.  For more information call 681-6680 or visit www.springgrove.org.

[Both my sisters remind me that my sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.]

Okay that's it for this week.  Please make sure to take the time to gives thanks, and to spend time with the family.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!  Oh yeah, and make sure you go out and have the best weekend of your life.  See ya.  RW, the Yardboy.

[Catch Natorp's own grown yardboy Ron Wilson during the week:  -55KRC The Talk Station 'In the Garden with Ron Wilson' every Saturday from 6-9am  - Satellite Radio / XM TalkRadio 165 every Saturday from 6-9am  -610 WTVN (Columbus) every Saturday from 10-12pm    -Thursday and Saturday mornings on Local 12 News (WKRC) Homeworx Team   -Garden expert for 'HomewoRx' with Gary Sullivan on Local 12, Sunday at 11:30am.  Be sure to listen to 55KRC The Talk Station for the best in talk radio! (Home of programming director Tony 'Big Dog' Bender, and executive producer Joe 'the original Joe Pro, who without Joe, the show just wouldn't go' Strecker.)

[It’s not a good thing to take a turkey to church, especially because they use such fowl language! - Big Dog's Point to Ponder.  Be sure to read Big Dog's Thanksgiving Poem further along in this newsletter.]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM ALL OF US AT NATORP’S!

[The American Poultry Association recognizes 8 types of turkeys – the bronze, Narragansett, bourbon red, black, slate, royal palm, Beltsville small white, and white Holland, which by the way, is the most commonly raised turkey.] 

[North Carolina produces the most turkeys each year, with Minnesota and Arkansas right behind them.  Californians eat the most turkey in the country each year, eating 3 pounds more than the average American consumer.  More than 46 million turkeys are cooked each Thanksgiving (average weight of about 15 pounds), and the most popular way of eating turkey, is the good old turkey sandwich.  By the way, June is National Turkey Lover’s Month.  Go figure.] 

BIG DOG'S  THANKSGIVING POEM

Twas the night of Thanksgiving, but I just couldn't sleep
I tried counting backwards, I tried counting sheep.

The leftovers beckoned - the dark meat and white
but I fought the temptation with all of my might.

Tossing and turning with anticipation
The thought of a snack became infatuation.

So, I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door
and gazed at the fridge, full of goodies galore.

Gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,
pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.

I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
'Til all of a sudden, I rose off the ground.

I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the sky
with a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie.

But, I managed to yell as I soared past the trees....
Happy eating to all - pass the cranberries, please!