[1] FLAGS AND JIGS True hard-water heroes employ a strategic alliance of tip-ups and rods and reels. Consider the tip-up an “exploratory device.” Position them — sometimes as many as state law allows — both shallow and deep, in and out of the weeds, and with bait held tight to the bottom and midway through the water column. Once they’re set, you start jigging in precut, unoccupied holes, while scanning the field for triggered flags. Keep moving, as quietly as possible, from hole to hole, always checking for bites.

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[2] WEED COVER Find surviving weeds and you’ll encounter pike. The thicker, the better. The wise angler locates the outside weedline and pockets within the jungle. Avoid dead vegetation because it no longer produces oxygen or holds food. Dry hardstem bulrushes fly in the face of reason, however. Often protruding through the ice. bulrush stalks in mass offer ambush points for pike and shelter for baitfish. The best sprout in 4 to 7 feet of water.

[3] STRUCTURE Shallow weeded bays are the first to erupt with activity. Bigger pike tend to track along the outside weedline as it enters the bay. Pike of all sizes ransack inner weed flats. As first ice evolves into early winter, pike vacate the bays, heading for nearby points, which yield cruising opportunities and, hopefully, some rock and weeds and access to deep water.

[4] THE JIGGING ROD Select a 32- to 48-inch baitcasting rod. Spool a medium reel with 10- to 14-pound mono or fluorocarbon line. Attach a barrel swivel followed by 12 to 18 inches of 20- to 30-pound fluorocarbon leader. Rig a swimming jig. like a Lindy Flyer, paired with a live sucker or shiner, or dead smelt or herring.

[5] THE TIP-UP Spool it with 20- to 30-pound Teflon-coated nylon. Put on a 1/16- to 1 -ounce weight, and tie in a barrel swivel, followed by a 6- to 12-inch leader (20- to 40-pound fluorocarbon) fixed to a 4/0 or 5/0 circle hook. Finish it with a sucker or shiner.

By Noel Vick, Field & Stream, Dec2006/2007

Not every Dominican all-star is round on a baseball diamond. Golfers can still discover some on the Caribbean island, and a brand new heavy hitter has just been added to the lineup. Half of the holes at the Punta Espada Course at Cap Cana Resort edge the Caribbean Sea (and you can see it from every hole). The course is designer Jack Nicklaus’ equivalent of a bases-clearing blast to the upper deck. Located on the eastern tip of the island, the brand new, 37,000-acre resort and residential development will ultimately have three Nicklaus Signature courses, but the Bear is going to have to work hard to top his maiden effort, which opened this past summer.

The layout incorporates bluffs, beach and jungle in its 7,396 yards, and wildlife abounds throughout, from the iguana that lives in a rock outcropping near the first fairway to roosters that strut around the grounds. The ultimate camera moment comes at the 13th, a 249-yard home run that plays directly over the ocean. But don’t worry if you only have warning-track power: there’s a bailout area to the right.

Golf Magazine

Come to think of it, where are your seeds? No doubt they are resting somewhere; after all, seeds are plants enjoying their ultimate state of dormancy. But are they in a comfortable place, protected from heat, humidity and strong light? Did you put them in order before you forgot about them last fall? Maybe you should check on them, and take the first step toward actualizing your garden fantasies by tending to the needs of sleeping beans or tiny onion seeds.

Seeds deserve good care–a diverse collection is valuable property, both financially and personally. Should an enterprising mouse enjoy a midnight snack of the heirloom mahogany marigolds passed down from your great-grandmother, no amount of money could replace them. There’s no better time than now to organize your seed collection into secure containers.

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FIRST SORT YOUR SEEDS
Begin by setting aside seeds you collected last summer, which are probably floating around in a multitude of paper or plastic bags (we’ll get to those in a minute). Then divide the rest into categories that reflect each plant’s place in the garden. For example, you might start with three piles–veggies, herbs and flowers–and then divide each of those piles into cool-season and warm-season groups. As you sort, look at the packets and check them for dates. Toss seeds that are too old to germinate well, or those that you tried and didn’t like. Use the “How Long Will Seeds Keep?” list to take some of the confusion out of this step.

If you have a lot of seeds, you may want to further sort them into plant groups such as beans, salad crops or cucurbits (members of the cucumber family). The main thing is to come up with a plan that suits your garden. Next, make lists of what’s in each pile so you won’t have to dig through your collection before you put together a seed order or get ready to plant (big index cards are great for this). Once you make your lists, use rubber bands to keep seed packets together by category. I keep these lists–along with recent seed order invoices–in a file folder taped to the lid of my storage box.

SEED STORAGE STRATEGIES
Seeds store best when they are kept cool, dry and dark. Address the dryness issue first by finding an airtight container that will protect your seeds from changes in humidity. Glass jars with tight-fitting’ lids work well, or you can use a plastic storage bin with a tight-fitting, snap-on lid. Or, do both! After enduring years of disarray, I found that a plastic storage bin, outfitted with homemade cardboard partitions, is perfect for my needs. The partitions keep veggie, herb and flower seeds separate, plus there’s a fourth section for supplies. (See “Seven Seed Box Tips,” below.)

Carole B. Turner, author of Seed Sowing and Saving, emphasizes that seeds, being very much alive, do best when storage conditions are consistent. Fluctuations in temperature and moisture can cause the resting embryos inside the seeds to start growing and then stop again; with each surge and lull, the embryo may use up stored food meant to support germination.

The best place in my house to keep seeds is the basement, where winter temperatures hover around 60 degrees and summer temperatures rarely go above 75 degrees. To decide if your basement or another room will work to store seeds, consider the temperature and humidity levels. Combined, they should not equal more than 100. For example, since my storage temperatures are moderate (60 degrees to 75 degrees) I should try to keep humidity low (40 percent to 25 percent): Sixty degree temperature plus 40 percent humidity equals 100.

If I open the seed box often in damp weather, I place a container of silica gel (sold as closet dehumidifiers at department stores) in the box for a day or two.

If you can’t avoid fluctuating temperature or humidity levels at home, consider storing your seed box where you work, if it is air conditioned. Or you can refrigerate or freeze your seeds in airtight containers. Just be sure seeds are thoroughly dry before you freeze them; seeds that are not completely dry or have been exposed to high humidity levels can expand and burst when placed in a freezer. In humid summer weather, place seeds you plan to freeze in an airtight container with a packet of silica gel for two days before you freeze them. In winter, when indoor humidity levels are usually very low, air drying seeds for a day or two before freezing them is usually sufficient.

Some people freeze all of their seeds, but unless you need to extend their normal life span, this may be a waste of energy. If you do refrigerate or freeze your seeds, be sure to allow the containers to reach room temperature before you open them–a step that keeps condensation from forming inside the containers, which the dry seeds will absorb as excess moisture.

CLEANING HOME-GROWN SEEDS
When I tidy up my seed box in winter, I always encounter crumpled paper bags containing seeds I’ve saved from the garden that need cleaning–a fine agenda for a long, cold evening.

You can make or buy framed seed-sifting screens that have holes of various shapes and diameters, or you can try my homemade version that consists of embroidery hoops–purchased at a thrift store for 50 cents each–and several pieces of nylon net and tulle, which you can get at a fabric shop for less than a dollar. Stackable, washable and easy to store right in my seed box, the hoop screens make it possible to separate seeds from chaff quickly by placing a coarse, quarter-inch mesh nylon screen over a finer screen outfitted with one-eighth-inch tulle.В To accommodate small or oddly shaped seeds, it’s easy to double up with either fabric.

Next comes a crucial task–sorting through the collected seeds to remove the small and the weak. Just as pulling up slow or spindly seedlings while thinning a row favors the most vigorous plants, a second round of selection for the most robust seeds can make a huge difference in the quality of the next season’s crop. With large seeds you can do this visually, by picking out any seeds that are small, discolored or broken. But with smaller seeds, you will get faster results by placing them in a clear drinking glass or jar with a half cup or so of water. Swirl the seeds and water for 30 seconds, then pour off the excess water along with any floaters–weak seeds will float because of poorly filled embryos or damage from feeding insects.В Dump the heavy seeds from the bottom of the glass onto a drying screen, paper towel or, in the case of seeds that develop a sticky coating when wet (as most mustard family plants do), a baking pan with a nonstick coating. Let the seeds dry for a day or two before packing them up and storing them in paper envelopes, pill bottles or airtight glass jars. Label and date each seed container.

SEED SWAPPING SUGGESTIONS
Putting your seed box in order may take a few hours, but one immediate payoff is discovering that you need to get more seeds! There’s plenty of time to buy them through a mail-order company (where you are more likely to get high-quality seeds than from racks in stores), or you can swap seeds with other gardeners. Either way, you’ll want to balance various variety-related characteristics such as flavor, color, nutrition, weather readiness, disease resistance and productivity. We try to help with those decisions by suggesting outstanding varieties in every gardening article we publish, but you should not deny yourself the pleasure of drooling over the pages of your favorite seed catalogs.

Perhaps this will be the year you commit to helping preserve worthy heirloom varieties, or maybe you’re ready to start selecting and saving seeds from your favorite open-pollinated crops. Either process will go faster and be more fun if you network with an organization such as the Seed Savers Exchange (www.seedsavers.org). You also may be able to find a group based in your region. For example, the University of Georgia now hosts the Southern Seed Legacy program (www.uga.edu/ebl/ssl), which helps members share seeds of nearly 500 Southern heirloom varieties. Dozens of master gardener associations in the United States sponsor local seed swaps once or twice a year. In Canada, Seeds of Diversity (www.seeds.ca) sponsors more than 40 Seedy Saturday events that always include swapping opportunities. If you’re new to saving seeds, start with a crop that’s easy to grow in your climate, because excellent growing conditions contribute to the production of bigger, better seeds. For more about saving seeds, read “Grow Your Own Seeds,” at www.MotherEarthNews.com.

Your seeds need you to keep them safe and strong. Soon, the day will arrive when they’ll need you to do other things they cannot manage on their own, such as getting from your seed box to that cushy seed bed you’ve been dreaming about. Such partnerships between people and seeds have been going on for millennia, with each side serving the other to create a more productive and beautiful planet. Right now it’s your turn to act.

Seven Seed Box Tips
Gather up your seeds and get organized by using a storage box big enough to house your entire collection. Then consider these ideas and interior features:

• Install partitions, or use separate small boxes for various groups of seeds.

• Sort packets into categories, and keep like seeds together with rubber bands.

• Make color-coded paper packets from envelopes: here, green is used for veggias, yellow for flowers and lavender for herbs.

• Embroidery hoops outfitted with cloth netting make seed cleaning fast and easy.

• Store bulky seeds in small glass jars or pill bottles (baby food jars work great).

• Packets of silica gel can serve as desiccants.

• Make a written inventory of what you have, then stash your records in an envelope attached to the lid.

When to Skip Seeds and Buy Transplants
Some say it started with celery in the late 1970s. As the cost of hybrid seed increased, commercial growers in California found they could save time. money and water by transplanting seedlings rather than sowing seeds. Meanwhile, small-scale greenhouse growers in Ohio and Pennsylvania tapped into an exploding consumer demand for ready-to-plant flower seedlings, and Canadian government agencies mobilized to get their fledgling greenhouse industry off the ground.

It worked. By the 1990s, gardeners everywhere embraced the instant results they could get with bedding plants, and vegetables began to earn shelf space alongside petunias and begonias. Twenty years ago, you could buy tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and onions as seedlings. but industry experts assumed gardeners would not spend a dollar for a zucchini plant when they could get 20 times as many plants by sowing a packet of seeds, They were wrong. The majority of today’s gardeners don’t think twice about loading their trunks with container-grown cucumbers or cantaloupes, and there is even some horticultural research to support the plants-not-seeds approach.

Certainly there are risks involved. Transplanting can injure or traumatize roots, and plants that throw down delicate taproots as soon as they sprout (carrots and dill, for example) are difficult to handle as seedlings. With eager-beaver seedlings such as beans, squash and corn. messing with seedlings is worthwhile only if you’re growing a tightly managed intensive garden. It just makes sense to bypass containers, petting mix, grow lights and damping off worries by waiting for the right time to sow fast-growing peas, beans and beets, end difficult transplanters, such as dill and carrots, right in the garden.

With tomatoes, peppers and other slow-growing crops you do want to plant out as seedlings, there is a strong case for growing your own. You will have a huge selection of varieties to choose from, you’ll save lots of money, and you won’t be disappointed with poor performance from stressed-out seedlings that have been sitting on shelves weeks after they should have been put into the ground. You will enjoy the late winter companionship of your seedlings as they bask in the glow of a fluorescent light, and you’ll escape the mass*market loop dominated by seedlings raised on chemical diets in fumigated greenhouses, Besides, growing your own seedlings is just plain fun. The article “Seed Starting Basics” at www. MotherEarthNews.com will walk you through the process.

How Long Will Seeds Keep?
When stored in a cool, dark place with constant tow humidity, vegetable seeds typically remain viable for one to 10 years, depending on species. Freezing can triple the storage potential of most seeds, but this list reflects average seed longevity under good but non-frozen conditions.

1 TO 2 YEARS

corn
leeks
okra
onions
parsley
peppers

3 TO 4 YEARS

beans
beets
carrots
chard
lettuce
peas
squash
spinach

4 YEARS OR MORE

broccoli
Brussels sprouts
cabbage
cantaloupe
cauliflower
celery
Chinese cabbage
cucumber
eggplant
kale
kohlrabi
pumpkin
radish
tomato
turnip
watermelon

By Barbara Pleasant, Mother Earth News, Dec/Jan2007

You need time for the ancient fruit, which is in season from September through January.

Split open the purplish-red rind and you’ll find a mass of seeds embedded in a spongy white membrane. Only by bursting the tiny bubble of liquid around each seed with your teeth do you get a squirt of sweet-tart juice. Whether you spit out or swallow the seeds, it takes time to eat.

On the other hand, when you just want something to nosh on, a 100-calorie (potassium-rich) pomegranate that takes half an hour to munch through is a good thing. (If you don’t have time, check your supermarket’s produce section for small plastic tubs of fresh pomegranate seeds.)

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Of course, you can also sprinkle the seeds over your salad or mix them with couscous and dried fruit (apricots, raisins, currants) and nuts. Or team them up with chopped oranges, red onion, garlic, and lime juice to spice up your seafood.

It’s too early to know if pomegranate can reduce the risk of heart disease or cancer (see “Super Fruit,” Nov. 2006, p. 11). If it does, you might be better off with a glass of 100% pomegranate juice than the seeds in one fruit.

But if you just want something exquisite to keep your taste buds grinning, give a pomegranate a go.

http://www.pomegranates.org/

DOWN MARKET
“Hearty serving,” says the label on many of Boston Market’s new frozen Home Style Meals. They’re not kidding.

Boston’s Meatloaf with Homestyle Mashed Potatoes & Gravy and Salisbury Steak with Macaroni & Cheese have enough calories (some 700) to make a hearty contribution to your belly fund. And your ticker needs their day’s worth of bad fat (about 18 grams) and sodium (about 2,000 milligrams) like your salary needs a trim.

The Swedish Meatballs, “with freshly made buttered egg noodles,” will contribute 860 calories and 21 grams of bad fat to those freshly made fat depots under your belt and inside your artery walls.

Even the Home Style Meals that aren’t labeled “hearty” mount a stealth assault on your body parts. The Honey Boasted Chicken with Au Gratin Potatoes, for example, serves up 410 calories, 8 grams of bad fat, and 1,140 mg of sodium on an aluminum platter. The Lasagna with Meat Sauce is even worse.

A few of the company’s frozen meals keep the bad fat to around 3 grams, but the sodium will still pump up your blood pressure.

Boston has some of the greatest markets in the world. Boston Market isn’t one of them.

Boston Market: (800) 488-0050

TIP OF THE MONTH
Core an apple (try Rome or Gala), but don’t cut all the way through the bottom. Sprinkle with 1 Tbs. brown sugar plus a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg. Top with ВЅ tsp. no-trans-fat tub margarine. Microwave on high for 2 minutes (3 minutes for two apples), or until tender.

Nutrition Action Health Letter, Dec2006

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Time’s running out and you still haven’t filled your tag? Not to worry. Follow these tips to make the most of the best deer hunting of the season

20 HUNT BEFORE A STORM The rut is over, and so is the main crush of hunters in the woods, Though many big boys have gone nocturnal, they still have to eat and drink, As the weather grows colder and the number of hunters in the woods decreases, look for bucks to return to the familiarity–and safety–of their pre-rut home ranges. Was there a buck you scouted out before the season that seemed to go AWOL once the rut kicked in? Well, with a little luck, he survived the barrage of opening-week gunfire and will return to his old haunt. Look for deer to move on the front edge of storms as they detect the drop in barometric pressure and begin to feed heavily. The first two days behind a front can also be productive.

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19 FIND SOME FOOD As December rolls around, look for rut-weary bucks, thin and tired after several weeks of relentlessly chasing does, to suddenly focus their attention on eating, It’s crucial for whitetails to begin nourishing their posies for the hard winter ahead. Follow the deer’s lead and home in on food sources that provide sufficient cover nearby. Mature oaks bordering grown-up clear-cuts, overgrown apple orchards, tangles of honeysuckle and food plots with late-season plantings are good places to look. Leave your gun or bow behind for several days and scout out these spots to learn which are being used. Not only will you discover where the deer are, but with the boys beginning to re-form their old bachelor groups now that they’re no longer in competition, you might get your pick of the biggest buck still around.

18 FOCUS ON NUT TREES Hard mast, such as acorns and hickories, provides the best source of protein for deer trying to survive the cold, Check areas where trees were dropping nuts earlier in the season. If the ground is covered with snow, look for places where deer have pawed the earth in search of nuts. If your property has white oaks that produced early in the season, set up downwind from these trees first; they’re a whitetail’s favorite,

17 STALK IN NEW SNOW The best time to hit the woods is just after a new-fallen snow. But don’t waste time in a stand; cover some ground, The fresh snow will muffle the sound of your footfalls, allowing you to ease silently along. Because the snow is fresh, there will be no question that the tracks you cut are recent. And best of all, deer will stand out like a sore thumb.

16 KEY ON CROPS Crop fields are also a top spot to target late-season bucks. Because deer are reluctant to travel far for food, small fields where patches of standing corn or milo alternate with wide swaths of cut rows are the best, Deer will hide among the standing plants, where they can feed without being seen. They may also venture along the edges of the cut rows in search of remnant corn, beans or seeds that are softened by rain end easier to chew.

15 CHECK HIDEAWAYS When heavy snows descend, bucks head for the cover of large stands of evergreen or coniferous trees. The green, needle-covered limbs prevent much of the snowfall from reaching the ground, which makes it easier for deer to move about and find forbs or shoots to munch on. The trees also help deer to keep warm by blocking the wind.

14 WATCH FOR DROPOUTS During one post-Christmas deer drive, I was waiting along a power line that bisected a cedar stand when what I thought was a large doe came bounding straight for me. I took the deer from a mere 25 yards away, only to discover that it was a buck that had dropped its antlers early. From the look of the still-bloody bases, it had been a decent one to boot. The guy at the check station said it was the fourth one he had seen that week. If you or your hunt club practices quality management, don’t undercut your efforts by mistaking a buck that has prematurely dropped its headgear for a doe. Use binoculars to glass each deer before you shoot, particularly if you spot a doe that looks larger than usual.

13 DRAW DOWN Bowhunting Editor Todd Kuhn offers these tips to help keep your edge on stand:

• Muscles cramp easily in the cold, making it hard to draw a bow. Consider reducing your draw weight by a few pounds.

• Thick gloves are out when shooting a bow. Stow your hands in a muff with warmers inside to keep them toasty.

• Stand and draw your bow every half hour to stay warm.

12 FOOL THEIR EYES A buck’s eyes are always looking to detect movement. With trees barren of leaves, a ground blind may provide better cover. Set up off a trail where you can take aim as a deer passes your blind. Aim when it is looking away from you.

11 LAYER UP To keep warm, Gander Mountain’s Casey Weisser suggests layering clothes. Start with a sweat-wicking polyester base layer, followed by a bonded fleece garment to trap heat and a waterproof, insulated outer shell.

10 USE A DRAGLINE With most does no longer in estrus, this time of the year maybe the best to use a dragline doused with doe pee as you walk to your stand. A buck looking for one more dalliance might cut the trail and come your way.

9 TRY, TRY AGAIN While there are plenty of arguments over whether the second rut is of any strategic value to hunters, keep it in mind as you look to hit the woods in December. I agree with OL Whitetail Editor Michael Hanback that the second rut is overhyped [see Whitetails, page 50]. Don’t expect to catch big bucks charging recklessly about the woods. However, it is a biological fact that a doe that was not bred during the rut will come back into estrus 28 days later, usually between December 5 and 15 (though the start can vary by as much as a week on either side, depending on the region). This is a good time to hunt stand locations that you used when the rut began. Be sure to call, mixing doe bleats with tending grunts to mimic the sound of a buck harassing a doe. It just may trigger a big boy’s final jealous fit of the season.

8 BUST SOME ICE As creeks and ponds freeze, focus your attention on areas where drinking water is still available. Flowing creeks and deeper water that hasn’t iced up are natural choices, though don’t be afraid to bust thin ice with your boots or a heavy branch, just as a waterfowler would to clear a landing hole for ducks. Keep the hole cleared for several days, if possible, to give deer a chance to locate it. In ice-laced swamps, you can funnel deer past your stand by busting an open path through the frozen water between pinch points of land. Deer would rather cross in water than crack through thin ice.

7 WALK THIS WAY Sure, deer stand out great in the snow, but binoculars should be considered an essential piece of gear on late-winter hunts, particularly when you’re still-hunting. Guns have been going off for weeks by this point, and deer are edgy and ultra-paranoid. Big bucks are particularly reluctant to move, even as a wandering hunter comes close; most will sit tight, waiting for the danger to pass. When stalking, walk a few yards, stop next to a tree and carefully glass for several minutes before moving on and repeating. Watch for the horizontal lines of a deer’s brown back at odds with the dark vertical lines of standing trees. Keep your eyes peeled to catch any flicker of a tail or an ear.

6 HUNT DRIFTS Heavy snow kick-starts deer into moving for thicker cover; add high winds, and it can actually determine which way they’ll go to get there. To avoid deep snow that accumulates along the lee side of hills or against the downwind side of fields, deer will use the funnels that these drifts form.

5 SET UP ON TRAILS Snow-covered ground provides the perfect blueprint for a late-season hunt strategy. Identify the most heavily traveled trails and use the predominant direction of the tracks to determine whether deer are headed toward feeding or bedding areas. Trails that lead to feeding areas are good evening Spots, while bedding-bound paths should be hunted in the morning. To discover if a buck has been frequenting a trail, check for prints that press deeper into the snow than the others and that exceed 4 inches in length or particularly 3 1/2 inches in width.

4 BE PREPARED Snow-covered terrain under cloudy skies makes navigating even familiar areas a challenge. Combine that with numbing temperatures and you have a real recipe for potential disaster Should you become lost. For that reason, carry along a few extra items such as waterproof matches, liquid hand sanitizer (its alcohol content makes it a great starter fuel), an emergency space blanket, a lithium-powered tactical light (it’s brighter) and snacks and water to make a day (or night) of it if you need to. If you enter the woods without fear of being stranded, you’ll hunt with the confidence you need to fill your tag.

3 WINTERIZE YOUR GUN Winter temps can wreak havoc on a rifle’s performance. Mike Schoby, author of the soon-to-be-released Hunter’s Guide to Whitetail Rifles, offers these tips:

• Clean and degrease the action of your firearm. Use a solvent to remove the oil, which can congeal in extreme cold and actually hinder your gun’s performance. Coat parts with a graphite lubricant, which isn’t affected by cold.

• Wipe down the outside of the gun after each day afield, but not the inside. Stripping the muzzle of fouling can cause your first shots to be inaccurate.

2 SEEK THE SUN Bucks don’t always bed up in thick cover. Sometimes they’ll perch along slopes or in open woods, so they can see danger coming from afar. Look for south-facing slopes or small openings where there is more sunlight to keep deer warm.

1 MAKE A MINI-DRIVE The surest way to get bucks moving when they are reluctant to do so is to team up with a buddy and put on a drive. I like small tracts where you can focus on even smaller patches of cover. My friend Rob Copeland and I used to hunt a 70-acre property where we perfected the technique during the slow, final weeks of deer season. We divided the thickest coverts into four to five grids, most no larger than 100 yards by 50 yards, and worked each one individually. The stander would post downwind, while the driver zigzagged from the upwind side, making no more noise than an occasional whistle. Each drive seldom lasted more than five minutes, but the deer that exploded from the tight cover were frequently heavy-racked dudes that we hadn’t even realized were there.

Outdoor Life, Dec2006/Jan2007