By: Eliza Osborn

Sometimes, we focus so much on the flowers in our garden, we forget to notice the foliage. The variety of shapes, sizes and colors that leaves come in, is amazing. If you plan it right, you can have a very beautiful and colorful garden using plants that have no, or insignificant, blooms.

The foliage has always been important as a backdrop for the flowers. Can you picture a garden with just stems and flowers and no leaves? Leaves have always played an important part in the design of the garden, but I’m just saying that they don’t have to be just in the background.
By placing plants with contrasting leaves, whether is size, texture or color, near each other, it creates interest. In some shady gardens, it is really hard to get light and color in with blossoms, but some plants, such as coleus, can add color to the shady garden, and by using the light colored coleus, can add light to a darkened area. Coleus do bloom, but the blooms are incidental and usually pinched off to help the plant.

Thanks and Happy Planting!

One of the tasks assigned to your fire company is the annual inspection of fire hydrants in your district. All the hydrants that you have tested are dry-barrel hydrants. You replace all the hydrant caps except one. As you are closing the stem on one hydrant, you shut it completely, open it a quarter turn, and place the palm of your hand over an open discharge. You feel a slight suction on your hand. You close the hydrant stem completely, replace the discharge cap, and complete the inspection.
What is the purpose of dry-barrel hydrants?
Answer: Dry-barrel hydrants are used in areas that experience prolonged periods of subfreezing weather. The control valve is located below the frost line underground and prevents water from entering the hydrant barrel and freezing, making the hydrant inoperable.
What causes the slight suction on your hand?
Answer: It is an indication that the water is draining out of the dry barrel through the drain hole at the bottom of the hydrant.
What conditions should you look for during a hydrant inspection?
Among the items listed in the text, you should inspect the hydrants for:
Obstructions, such as sign posts, utility poles, weeds, bushes, or fences that might interfere with pumper-to-hydrant connections or with opening the hydrant valve.
Outlets that face the wrong direction for pumper-to-hydrant connections.
Insufficient clearance between outlets and the ground.
Damage to the hydrant.
Rusting or corrosion.
Outlet caps missing or stuck in place with paint.
Stem nut that cannot be turned or turns feely with no visible result.
Obstructions (bottles, cans, rocks) inside the hydrant outlets.
Damp ground surrounding the hydrant or erosion indicating a drain valve leak.
Hydrants painted by property owners (caps adhered to threads by paint).

By Rob Rosovich, Fire Protection Engineer

By: Eliza Osborn

I’ve recently heard about a new concept in fertilizing and it sounds exciting. There is a company making liquid fertilizer that contains some rich substance which is rare and found in very few places. This substance, leonardia… or something like that. It works inside the plants and helps them to take up nutrients faster and more efficiently.That means less fertilizer is needed, which is great, because fertilizers can get expensive.

Anyway, I’m excited about all I’ve heard and wish I could try some. Unfortunately, it isn’t sold retail and is only sold in huge quantities to the agricultural community, here and in other countries. I’ve heard there are amazing results from it though. I’ve used fertilizers before and not only does it take a lot for all of our plants, but I worry about how much to use and am I burning the plants, not to mention the residue left in the soil.

I’m checking further into it because I want my plants to be as healthy and robust as possible. I want them to thrive!

Thanks and happy planting!

Your company responds to a fire in a one story, single family residential structure. It is a ranch style structure. The time is 6:00 am on a Sunday morning. While responding, you hear the first arriving officer report that there is fire coming from a bedroom window on the B-C corner of the house with smoke also coming from the open front door.
When you arrive, the incident commander directs your officer to perform a primary search of the structure. Other companies have been directed to ventilate the structure and to do an interior attack on the fire.
What other operations, if any, must be coordinated with your primary search?
Answer: There are several other operations that must be conducted nearly simultaneously with the beginning of the primary search. Of course, it may be necessary to force entry into the structure. In this case it appears the front door is open and that is the most appropriate point to enter the structure. Also, ventilation must occur prior to entering the structure to reduce the heat and improve visibility. Finally, fire attack will also begin immediately following ventilation. Your search team may actually follow the attack team into the structure.
What fire conditions can be expected inside the structure?
Answer: It is apparent from the conditions observed outside of the structure that at least the bedroom is involved in fire. Smoke is moving throughout the structure as evidenced by the smoke coming from the open front door. The quantity of fire and smoke indicates that the fire is intense which means it is going to be hot. Also, the fire may have extended to other rooms and areas. In this type of scenario it is crucial that you maintain situational awareness - both individually and as a team. Even after ventilation has been completed fire conditions may remain extreme until the fire is extinguished. Flashover may be possible in other rooms until the hot smoke and gases have been ventilated and the fire is extinguished.
How should the primary search be conducted?
Answer: The primary search is a rapid but thorough search of the house. The search should begin in an area most likely to have someone needing rescue. At this time of day that would be the bedroom area. The search would start with the bedrooms closest to the room of origin and then work away from the fire area. If the fire is controlled quickly, the primary search may actually begin in that room. During the search common hiding places should be checked. As a room is searched the door should be marked indicating the primary search has been completed. When the primary search has been completed the officer will give an 'All Clear' to the incident commander.

 

By Rob Rosovich, Fire Protection Engineer

By: Eliza Osborn

When the freezes of the last few nights were predicted, I (even though I was sick at the time), knew I’d better get the tomatoes that were left in the garden in to safety. While I was out there I realized I hadn’t gotten the last of the green beans and the basil. I found quite a few more grapes hiding under the vines and dying leaves as well. While picking the grapes, I saw the beets looking so beautiful, and even though they would have been fine left out in the cold, I decided to go ahead and bring them in. I had been feeling better and thought that the next day I would be up to doing something with all of this produce.

It was getting late as I worked, and then it began to rain, but I couldn’t quit because the freeze was imminent, and all would be lost. So I kept working till I had gathered every green tomato that was of any size at all, and picked all the beans and basil and beets.

Well, the cold and the rain was a double punch and I was down for the count. Here I was, with a kitchen full of produce, and I’m sick in bed. Yesterday I got the beans washed and snapped and the beets cooked but not canned. Oh my goodness they smell like dirt when they’re cooking. And today I was finally able to get them pickled and canned. Never done that before, so we’ll see how they turn out. We both love pickled beets, so I’m sure they’ll get eaten even if they’re less than perfect.

The tomatoes are still waiting. Maybe I’ll make the Green Tomato Raspberry Jam and Green Tomato Salsa tomorrow.

The end of the growing season is so sad…but it’s here, and it is a very long time till next May, when we can plant again here in zone 6.

Thanks and happy planting!

By: Eliza Osborn

Rhubarb is a beautiful vigorous plant that comes up faithfully every spring and gets bigger and bigger each year. It will send up a huge stalk with a not very pretty bloom on it but you shouldn’t let Rhubarb bloom. Cut back the blossom stalks to the ground to keep the plant vigorous and producing. Also, the leaves contain high levels of oxalic acid and are considered toxic. So when you cut the stalk to eat be sure to cut the leaf off immediately since the poison will travel into the stalk once cut. Actually the leaves can be simmered in hot water to make an insecticide.

The stalks are delicious in pies and you can dip the raw stalks in sugar and eat like celery. This is really good and kids love it. It is high in Vitamin C and Calcium.

Rhubarb is one of the most carefree plants to grow. It does best where the winter temperature goes below 40′ and the summer highs average around 75-80. Don’t harvest any stalks the first year and only a few the second year. But after that you can harvest up to 1/2 the plant. Stop harvesting though when the stalks become thinner because it means the roots are getting weaker.

Since we really enjoy more tropical settings than we are able to have where we live, it’s fun to use some plants that look tropical, like the rhubarb with its big, leathery leaves. We are even trying to grow some palm trees, but I think that is pretty optimistic of us. Maybe some of them will make it though, if we can have a few milder winters until they can get established.

Thanks and happy planting!

By: Eliza Osborn

Isn’t one of the greatest things about summer having fresh, delicious tomatoes right out of your own garden? Well, here in the “Klondike” of the Rocky Mountains, we don’t get tomatoes till the very end of the summer and this year with our cold, wet spring we didn’t get them until September. We’d had a few cherry tomatoes get ripe but the big, slicing tomatoes took a very long time. That means, at least for us, there will probably be a freeze long before all of our tomatoes have ripened. That can be very frustrating. Fortunately there are some things you can do to keep from losing a lot of green tomatoes.

There are 3 tricks that I’ve heard of to save tomatoes, 2 of which we’ve tried and had success. The other we just recently learned of and are looking forward to trying this year.

If you have green tomatoes late into the season and you’re pretty sure they won’t have time to ripen before the cold hits them, you can bend the stalks over at the ground and it will trigger the tomatoes to go ahead and ripen.

Or if you have green tomatoes on the vine and freezing weather is imminent, you can carefully pull up the vines and hang them upside down in a protected area, like a garage. The tomatoes will ripen and won’t be wasted.

We’ve just heard of a way to save the plant for a head start in the spring. Cut the vines back and carefully lift the root ball. Place it in a container of sand and put it in a protected area that doesn’t freeze and doesn’t get too warm. Keep it moist but not wet. In the spring, when the ground has warmed up enough,just set it out in your garden. As I said, we haven’t tried this yet but will this fall. If anyone has tried this last trick we’d like to hear how it worked out for you.

If you live, like we do, where the growing season is so short you’ll do just about anything to extend your harvest.

Hey FireIce Bloggers!  Check out todays question and answer below:

Describe this operation. How must the blower be placed at the open entry point?

ANSWER:

Positive Pressure Ventilation or PPV is defined as: “A method of ventilating a confined space by mechanically blowing fresh air into the space in sufficient volume to create a slight positive pressure within and thereby forcing the contaminated out the exit opening”.

The fan or blower is placed 4’ to 10’ from the entry point you must ensure the fan cone completely covers the entry point. An exit point MUST be created opposite the entry point to push the smoke out of the exit opening.  This exit opening should be the same size or slightly smaller than the entry opening.  The entire goal is to create postive pressure an it is important that no other exterior doors or windows are opened during this operation.

By: Eliza Osborn                                              

When you eat an orange or tangerine or even a kumquat the seeds are a nuisance. But they can become beautiful plants.

The seeds are easy to germinate by just poking them about 1/2″ into potting mix in a pot and keeping them moist. After they sprout, just water every 4-6 days. They make beautiful house plants and as the little “tree” grows you can move it into larger pots. In the warmer seasons they will be happy on the deck or patio or even in the ground if you live in Zone 8 or higher. If you’re growing them inside they’ll need to be by a sunny window or at the very least, by some bright light bulbs.

Emerging from the ground, the sprouted seed quickly presents a stand of shiny, green, fragrant leaves a surprisingly sturdy, stem with every intention of becoming the hardwood trunk of an evergreen tree. Yet these seedlings can be pruned so that they remain at whatever sizes you want. Try several seedlings started in a larger pot to make a fuller planting.

Since citruses readily cross their species lines, (which have already been manually crossed and recrossed), the fruits are varied and many. So don’t plant a tangerine seed expecting to get tangerines. Maybe these should be called surprise plants. If all the conditions are right and the plant is happy and grows to maturity, then it will be fun to see what kind of fruit it will produce.  Happy Planting!

 

 

Hey FireIce Blog Readers!! It appears this past month has been busy for many departments around the world and with that being said the LODD list grew as did firefighter injuries… Our job is hard enough and we take many risks, but most injuries are preventable!

Make everyday a training day So Everyone Goes Home… Stay Safe!

 

By Rob Rosovich, Fire Protection Engineer