Don't worry, my list is not long. Coming originally from California, I never learned about many midwestern winter skills and traditions; like driving in snow, removing your shoes when visiting, and that hot dish is a dinner entree, not a plate straight from the sani-temp cycle of the dishwasher.
I remember being mildly astonished on one of those first Thanksgivings in Illinois when my in-laws put the drinks outside when the fridge got full. It simply never occurred to me that the great outdoors was a default Fridgidaire. As long as it was above freezing and not above 40, you were good to go. Hmmm.
"Illinois Wine Cellar"
My first winter here in Minnesota I saw signs advertising spruce tips; green bundles of what look liked tiny Christmas trees. It wasn't like I hadn't seen holiday greenery ever before. Down south, and that means anywhere south of here, tree lots sold fresh garlands and wreaths. They were usually half-dead before they hit your doorstep and crispy by Christmas. So between the shock of the latest move and the memory of dying greens I didn't bite.
My other thought was where did all the spruce bottoms go? After some research I was relieved to find out that these spruce tips are harvested in a sustainable manner in boggy areas of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin; the image of all those topless trees now banished from my mind.
I even found that there is such a thing as spruce beer. Kind of like birch beer?
Then it finally dawned on me what all the fuss was about. All over town one sees artistic arrangements of spruce tips with red dogwood, winterberry, juniper, pine boughs and my favorite, birch branches. Well, what do you know, when it's cold enough, the greenery stays green.
So I decided to try my talent for this wintry version of container gardening. It didn't hurt that our seasons were confused and the last days of November were not freezing and finger-numbing. It's important to use a pot that doesn't crack in cold; metal, resin, plastic or wood works best. Then you water the greens until the soil freezes. You can use one of those sprays that stops winter wilt if your container is in a windy location. Then you just sit back and enjoy. And it felt so good to play outside in the dirt, I didn't mind the pine sap stuck in my hair.
"My first spruce tip creations" The Garden Buzz
Oh, and another good thing about living in the frigid north. You don't have to use that fake snow or flock your decorations. Mother Nature provides it free of charge.
