you don't talk about fight club. Good thing gardening is not fight club*. I just "bagged" my first convert yesterday. 1 Down 4 to go per my previous declaration.
Although I seem to remember a scene in the movie where some of the "space monkeys" were tending to a garden.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
ho humm
We've had a spat of bitter cold nights (mid teens) that slowed down any progress I might have made outside.
Inside however.
lettuce is up and running, broccoli, beets, spinach, are poking through in greater numbers now, and two of the leeks have come up.
in the flower side, the cosmos are out in force, a couple petunias have sprouted their tiny leaves, the hollyhock is up and some of the globe amaranth are starting to show. Notice the pots are still empty, tree company refuses to ship yet.
I planted a flat of nantes carrots last night, I have terrible luck getting them to grow in situ, the only carrots that have grown with any degree of success were transplanted so, against my promise to myself that I would not do it again this year...
I can fit 4 flats on the table in the front window, I thought that would be sufficient, but by my calculations I probably will need another 4, but where to put them?
Inside however.
lettuce is up and running, broccoli, beets, spinach, are poking through in greater numbers now, and two of the leeks have come up.
in the flower side, the cosmos are out in force, a couple petunias have sprouted their tiny leaves, the hollyhock is up and some of the globe amaranth are starting to show. Notice the pots are still empty, tree company refuses to ship yet.
I planted a flat of nantes carrots last night, I have terrible luck getting them to grow in situ, the only carrots that have grown with any degree of success were transplanted so, against my promise to myself that I would not do it again this year...
I can fit 4 flats on the table in the front window, I thought that would be sufficient, but by my calculations I probably will need another 4, but where to put them?
Friday, March 20, 2009
Everyone has been telling me...
What I already knew...victory gardens are coming back. And despite my best attempt to be cynical, I can't help but jump for joy. Especially when I read this...
...A White House carpenter who is a beekeeper will tend two hives for honey.
...Ladybugs and praying mantises will help control harmful bugs.
“First of all,” Mrs. Obama said, “there’s nothing really cooler than coming to the White House and harvesting some of the vegetables and being in the kitchen with Cris and Sam and Bill, and cutting and cooking and actually experiencing the joys of your work.”
“I wanted to be able to bring what I learned to a broader base of people. And what better way to do it than to plant a vegetable garden in the South Lawn of the White House.”
I couldn't agree more. In fact my new mission for the season is to get 5 friends to start a garden. Also from the looks of the layout that was posted, they are putting in some of my go-to flowers in border areas. Lets hear it for beneficials! Check out the article here. Now to convince the Obamas to join FreedomGardens and start blogging!
and by the way...the first of the lettuce seedlings just popped up to say hi
...A White House carpenter who is a beekeeper will tend two hives for honey.
...Ladybugs and praying mantises will help control harmful bugs.
“First of all,” Mrs. Obama said, “there’s nothing really cooler than coming to the White House and harvesting some of the vegetables and being in the kitchen with Cris and Sam and Bill, and cutting and cooking and actually experiencing the joys of your work.”
“I wanted to be able to bring what I learned to a broader base of people. And what better way to do it than to plant a vegetable garden in the South Lawn of the White House.”
I couldn't agree more. In fact my new mission for the season is to get 5 friends to start a garden. Also from the looks of the layout that was posted, they are putting in some of my go-to flowers in border areas. Lets hear it for beneficials! Check out the article here. Now to convince the Obamas to join FreedomGardens and start blogging!
and by the way...the first of the lettuce seedlings just popped up to say hi
Thursday, March 19, 2009
better late than never
since having lent the cable I use to connect my phone to my computer, I've had to deprive you all of the grainy blurry images that pass for photography around here.
Payback.
mmmm delicious.
I discovered I am capable of working with electricity and neither zapping myself nor burning down the house...go figure.
Anticip...
ation.
Payback.
mmmm delicious.
I discovered I am capable of working with electricity and neither zapping myself nor burning down the house...go figure.
Anticip...
ation.
boooyah!
They're going to do it! Vegetable gardens are coming back to the whitehouse. And from the sounds of it, for all the right reasons.
Michelle Obama: We want to use it as a point of education, to talk about health and how delicious it is to eat fresh food, and how you can take that food and make it part of a healthy diet. You know, the tomato that's from your garden tastes very different from one that isn't. And peas - what is it like to eat peas in season? So we want the White House to be a place of education and awareness. And hopefully kids will be interested because there are kids living here
The unanswered question is, will it be organic? But given the first family's noted predilection for eating organic wherever possible, serving organic wine at official dinners...I think its pretty much a given.
Michelle Obama: We want to use it as a point of education, to talk about health and how delicious it is to eat fresh food, and how you can take that food and make it part of a healthy diet. You know, the tomato that's from your garden tastes very different from one that isn't. And peas - what is it like to eat peas in season? So we want the White House to be a place of education and awareness. And hopefully kids will be interested because there are kids living here
The unanswered question is, will it be organic? But given the first family's noted predilection for eating organic wherever possible, serving organic wine at official dinners...I think its pretty much a given.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Dirt under my nails
something weird happened. On st. Patrick's day (when the weather normally is so cold I question my desire to go to the parade) it was 68 degrees downtown. Beautiful and sunny.
So I took the plunge and planted peas. If my math is right, they are in early enough to come out in mid may, which is corn planting time. Thats the challenge this year, can I grow a spring crop before a successful corn crop. Last year was a failure, but this time the conditions might be right. I'm really wishing I started the rest of the spring crops earlier too, since most of the forecasts have it being mid 40's for at least a week. The spot with peas previously had sunflowers, which did a great job of breaking up the hard soil.
It looks like rain, but if it holds off I might plant a few podding radishes in another warm corner elsewhere, who knows they might take off!
I started cleaning up the winter dieback in the perennial area, I'm already seeing the garlic chives pushing their way up, and the wormwood is starting back up again. In spots that were mulched by fallen leaves (or under a dense mat of its own growth) the creeping thyme is flourishing. In fact, not as much had died back as I had hoped. It was getting pretty rampant near the pathways in some areas.
Anywho, thats about it, still no sight of any seedlings but its early yet.
So I took the plunge and planted peas. If my math is right, they are in early enough to come out in mid may, which is corn planting time. Thats the challenge this year, can I grow a spring crop before a successful corn crop. Last year was a failure, but this time the conditions might be right. I'm really wishing I started the rest of the spring crops earlier too, since most of the forecasts have it being mid 40's for at least a week. The spot with peas previously had sunflowers, which did a great job of breaking up the hard soil.
It looks like rain, but if it holds off I might plant a few podding radishes in another warm corner elsewhere, who knows they might take off!
I started cleaning up the winter dieback in the perennial area, I'm already seeing the garlic chives pushing their way up, and the wormwood is starting back up again. In spots that were mulched by fallen leaves (or under a dense mat of its own growth) the creeping thyme is flourishing. In fact, not as much had died back as I had hoped. It was getting pretty rampant near the pathways in some areas.
Anywho, thats about it, still no sight of any seedlings but its early yet.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
I bleed green
In several (metaphorical) senses of the term.
I thought I would revisit a little "family" history on today's occasion. What does the Irish Diaspora have to do with gardening and sustainability? Turns out, quite a bit. First a little background.
By 1845 most of the tennant holdings (the majority of irish did not actually own the land they worked on) were less than five acres for 24% and less than 15 for 40%. With much of the land devoted to raising crops simply to pay the rent, the farmers and their families had to feed themselves on what little space remained. (Corned beef was out, not enough pasture land.) Potatoes were caloric and nutritionally dense and space efficient. The inherent cruelty was brought about by a taste for beef that was growing next door in England. Quite simply, to make room for English ranchers, the locals were pushed out of the best grazing and farming areas.
The "great famine" was not the first time that potatoes had failed in ireland, in fact, due to other diseases, there were significant crop losses 24 times between, 1728 and 1844. The potato was far from reliable, but when faces with something unreliable, or watching your family starve, well, you roll the dice.
And in 1845 the dice came up snake eyes. Phytophthora infestans or late blight first manifested in the Americas but due to expanding trade, travel, and lax agricultural inspection, found its way into Europe where it also struck in belgium, but in Ireland, wiped out from what reports estimate a third to a half of the potato crops. The following year was even worse, as losses hit 3/4ths of the crop. Losses receded the following year, but because of the devastation, much of the seed potato stock had been eaten, and fewer fields could be planted.
Early efforts to provide relief from the British were successful, but Prime Minister Robert Peel's efforts raised the ire from laissez faire factions. Peel's successor John Russel created then later abandoned a set of unproductive public works efforts, and parliamentary law basically left the starving tenants the responsibility of the landlords, who in turn evicted them. Aid and relief rules dictated that nothing be distributed to families who held more than a quarter acre. So in effect, if you could grow enough to pay the rent, you had to starve. But if you fed yourself with the crops grown on your meager plot, you got the boot.
When the previously mentioned potato failure occurred in the 1780s, Ireland closed her ports to export, and the other crops that had been grown (to pay the rent) were kept on the island. Food prices dropped during this abundance and famine was averted. However, the landlords and merchants, who would have otherwise sold those commodities at a higher profit applied the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rules. The lobbied parliment to ensure that this sort of thing didn't happen again. Their success meant that during the majority of the 1840's famine, starving families loaded grain onto wagons bound for the eastern shores, and shipped it off to England. The market had decided, and the Irish were expendable.
Once again history teaches that often, famine comes about not because of a lack of available food, but a lack of ability to pay. So lets all learn from this lesson folks, rotate and diversify your seed stocks, and buy only fairly traded imports.
Our modern taste for cheap coffee is a direct analog to the British desire for cheap beef and Irish grains. You do the math.
On another note, I started the spring crops in the greenhouse..er...sunroom sunday evening. more to follow later.
(a special thanks to the hordes of anonymous contributors at wikipedia for helping me track down some dates and statistics I could not immediately recall)
I thought I would revisit a little "family" history on today's occasion. What does the Irish Diaspora have to do with gardening and sustainability? Turns out, quite a bit. First a little background.
By 1845 most of the tennant holdings (the majority of irish did not actually own the land they worked on) were less than five acres for 24% and less than 15 for 40%. With much of the land devoted to raising crops simply to pay the rent, the farmers and their families had to feed themselves on what little space remained. (Corned beef was out, not enough pasture land.) Potatoes were caloric and nutritionally dense and space efficient. The inherent cruelty was brought about by a taste for beef that was growing next door in England. Quite simply, to make room for English ranchers, the locals were pushed out of the best grazing and farming areas.
The "great famine" was not the first time that potatoes had failed in ireland, in fact, due to other diseases, there were significant crop losses 24 times between, 1728 and 1844. The potato was far from reliable, but when faces with something unreliable, or watching your family starve, well, you roll the dice.
And in 1845 the dice came up snake eyes. Phytophthora infestans or late blight first manifested in the Americas but due to expanding trade, travel, and lax agricultural inspection, found its way into Europe where it also struck in belgium, but in Ireland, wiped out from what reports estimate a third to a half of the potato crops. The following year was even worse, as losses hit 3/4ths of the crop. Losses receded the following year, but because of the devastation, much of the seed potato stock had been eaten, and fewer fields could be planted.
Early efforts to provide relief from the British were successful, but Prime Minister Robert Peel's efforts raised the ire from laissez faire factions. Peel's successor John Russel created then later abandoned a set of unproductive public works efforts, and parliamentary law basically left the starving tenants the responsibility of the landlords, who in turn evicted them. Aid and relief rules dictated that nothing be distributed to families who held more than a quarter acre. So in effect, if you could grow enough to pay the rent, you had to starve. But if you fed yourself with the crops grown on your meager plot, you got the boot.
When the previously mentioned potato failure occurred in the 1780s, Ireland closed her ports to export, and the other crops that had been grown (to pay the rent) were kept on the island. Food prices dropped during this abundance and famine was averted. However, the landlords and merchants, who would have otherwise sold those commodities at a higher profit applied the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rules. The lobbied parliment to ensure that this sort of thing didn't happen again. Their success meant that during the majority of the 1840's famine, starving families loaded grain onto wagons bound for the eastern shores, and shipped it off to England. The market had decided, and the Irish were expendable.
Once again history teaches that often, famine comes about not because of a lack of available food, but a lack of ability to pay. So lets all learn from this lesson folks, rotate and diversify your seed stocks, and buy only fairly traded imports.
Our modern taste for cheap coffee is a direct analog to the British desire for cheap beef and Irish grains. You do the math.
On another note, I started the spring crops in the greenhouse..er...sunroom sunday evening. more to follow later.
(a special thanks to the hordes of anonymous contributors at wikipedia for helping me track down some dates and statistics I could not immediately recall)
Monday, March 16, 2009
I had been waiting since the night I saw it...
to post this. Stephen Colbert draws a line in the sand against the idea creeping into society that as long as we can bootstrap ourselves out of this mess, so can the guy next to us. The best way to root out evil? mockery.
we're in this together, so consider yourselves "on notice"
we're in this together, so consider yourselves "on notice"
powering down: sea change?
powering down: sea change?
I wanted to include this today because "Powering Down" hits the nail right on the head. Growth model economics is what pointed this bus at the cliff. As long as we measure heath in terms of a limited index of gain we ignore the costs.
And the Stewart deserves a Peabody this year.
I wanted to include this today because "Powering Down" hits the nail right on the head. Growth model economics is what pointed this bus at the cliff. As long as we measure heath in terms of a limited index of gain we ignore the costs.
And the Stewart deserves a Peabody this year.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
clinical trials
ok, maybe not that official.
YesterdayI started coming down with the flu. How do I know its the flu? I've been sick enough times with it that I can see it coming from a mile away. The pain the the lower back, achy and sensitive skin, low grade fever, chills...general malaise. You get the picture. Anyway, I absolutely could not have picked a worse time to get sick. Tomorrow I go in for LASIK surgery. Given that the flu is a virus, you pretty much have to let your body do the fighting (not like a bacterial infection where you might actually need antibiotics). I have been rather hesitant to try home remedies or herbals I guess for no other reason other than I am a walking granola stereotype as is, and I just figured that would be the last straw. Granted I had tried echinacea in one case, as a preventative, though its hard to say if it was effective. I didn't get sick, but then again I might not have anyway.
But desperate as I was, I did a little research and found a combination that seemed to be recommended for flu. So after work I stopped by the local "hippie shop" as my wife calls it and picked up a bottle of echinacea extract and a bottle of elder extract. Took a dose of each as soon as I got home, and made myself a cup of chamomile tea (which I didn't realize until reading this morning was also medicinally relevant, I just like the taste). I've been taking additional doses at the recommended intervals and I have to admit, I feel about 70% better in less than 24 hours. Well enough in fact that despite going to bed thinking I was dying, I felt I could go to work today. For me that is unheard of. When I get the flu, I am out for days.
Sure this is entirely anecdotal, but it made a believer out of this guy
YesterdayI started coming down with the flu. How do I know its the flu? I've been sick enough times with it that I can see it coming from a mile away. The pain the the lower back, achy and sensitive skin, low grade fever, chills...general malaise. You get the picture. Anyway, I absolutely could not have picked a worse time to get sick. Tomorrow I go in for LASIK surgery. Given that the flu is a virus, you pretty much have to let your body do the fighting (not like a bacterial infection where you might actually need antibiotics). I have been rather hesitant to try home remedies or herbals I guess for no other reason other than I am a walking granola stereotype as is, and I just figured that would be the last straw. Granted I had tried echinacea in one case, as a preventative, though its hard to say if it was effective. I didn't get sick, but then again I might not have anyway.
But desperate as I was, I did a little research and found a combination that seemed to be recommended for flu. So after work I stopped by the local "hippie shop" as my wife calls it and picked up a bottle of echinacea extract and a bottle of elder extract. Took a dose of each as soon as I got home, and made myself a cup of chamomile tea (which I didn't realize until reading this morning was also medicinally relevant, I just like the taste). I've been taking additional doses at the recommended intervals and I have to admit, I feel about 70% better in less than 24 hours. Well enough in fact that despite going to bed thinking I was dying, I felt I could go to work today. For me that is unheard of. When I get the flu, I am out for days.
Sure this is entirely anecdotal, but it made a believer out of this guy
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
re-use re-use re-use
Well we finally replaced the windows with a nice sliding glass door so I can get into the sunroom without gymnastics. I started the fiasco around 8:00, my dad showed up at about 11: and we finished at 8:00 pm. Needless to say it was a challenging affair. In fact, hanging the door was the easy part. The frame where the two windows used to sit was a mere two inches too narrow, so we had to widen the opening, which meant a new header, into a load bearing wall. A load bearing wall that now also supports the roof of the sunroom. So bracing and replacing was a long tedious affair. I have a tendency to overbuild, but I'd just assume be on the safe side. But its done. Its not insulated around the edges yet and wouldn't you know we are expecting -15F weather tonight, so guess what I will be doing when I get home.
Dad took some great photos with his nikon d-200 but I haven't got any to share yet.
Anywho, we managed to get the old windows out without breaking any glass, which is astonishing if you have seen our past deconstruction efforts. So now I have 4 24"x24" double glazed window sections that I need to make use of. Shortly after setting them gently on the floor my Dad remarked "ya know you could make a nice cold frame out of those." I smirked, my wife rolled her eyes. "Don't encourage him."
Encourage? heck I already had a plan before they even came out.
Dad took some great photos with his nikon d-200 but I haven't got any to share yet.
Anywho, we managed to get the old windows out without breaking any glass, which is astonishing if you have seen our past deconstruction efforts. So now I have 4 24"x24" double glazed window sections that I need to make use of. Shortly after setting them gently on the floor my Dad remarked "ya know you could make a nice cold frame out of those." I smirked, my wife rolled her eyes. "Don't encourage him."
Encourage? heck I already had a plan before they even came out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
