Wednesday, August 13, 2008
oh by the way
I made the prediction here that I had 3 more pounds of spuds in the ground. Try 4.5lbs bringing my total to 36! I might make fifty yet!
odds and ends...
That stack is 5 high so...you do the math
hey remember that basil I started in the aerogarden back in december?
I've got three bottle gourd vines and so far only one has made a female flower....grrr.
I don't have an ID on this little white bugger who was climbing up the potted cucumber, anyone got a guess?
What do you do with an abundance of summer squash, potatoes and pizza dough?
I threw on some rosemary and basil (from the garden of course) and voila!
It tastes just like it smells...delicious!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
One man's Trash
Is another man's brick walkway....
File this one under my ongoing campaign to be rid of the need for a mower. My neighbors up the street have apparently done away with a rather large brick paved patio. The remains of which were unceremoniously dumped curbside. While a good 50 percent were smashed or degraded beyond usefulness, I did manage to score about 2 loads worth in the back of our Saturn Vue. I didn't count, and I forgot to take a picture this morning since I was hauling well after sundown, but I would guess its somewhere on the order of 250 ish red zigzag paver bricks.
So now we at least have a great start on the walkway through the middle of the backyard to the garden.
price...free
File this one under my ongoing campaign to be rid of the need for a mower. My neighbors up the street have apparently done away with a rather large brick paved patio. The remains of which were unceremoniously dumped curbside. While a good 50 percent were smashed or degraded beyond usefulness, I did manage to score about 2 loads worth in the back of our Saturn Vue. I didn't count, and I forgot to take a picture this morning since I was hauling well after sundown, but I would guess its somewhere on the order of 250 ish red zigzag paver bricks.
So now we at least have a great start on the walkway through the middle of the backyard to the garden.
price...free
Book Review: Lessons In Nature
First of all a thanks is due to Gardening in Converse for his prior review of this book which enticed me to read. I will attempt to offer my own thoughts without duplicating his.
Malcom Beck (the author) has lived at the forefront of the organic movement for most of his life. This book is as much a memoir of trial and error as it is a series of short vignettes on a variety of garden oriented subjects. In that regard it bears similarity to another work "The One Straw Revolution" by Masanobu Fukuoka. The similarity does not end there, in fact barring a likely language barrier I think the two men might find decades of common ground on which to discuss. I would even go so far as to say that as Fukuoka is to Buddhist farming, Beck is to "western faith" gardening. While Beck makes no mention of the specifics of his particular faith, evident in some of his axioms are the need for trust in the providence of and thanks for the blessings of God. I would safely assume that he probably speaks from a Christian perspective given some other clues.
At the risk of venturing into rarely walked territory in the sustainability arena I'd like for a moment to explore perhaps how where I believe his faith has informed his technique. His respect for (though begrudging at time) pests from both the plant and animal kingdom resonates clearly the idea expressed in the Genesis account that all of creation is good and there for to some degree necessary. "bad bugs" seemed predisposed to select and feed upon weak plants. Disease, infestation and weeds while detrimental to the short term goal of this season's harvest are necessary to the long term survival of the plant species. Certain weeds prefer and even correct certain soils. Insect pests exist to such that when their numbers are kept in check by other natural factors, they are only capable of suppressing plants which are ill suited to pass on their genes to the next generation. As was made famous in the song there is a time for every purpose. Beck displays a rare patience when discussing the notion of cover crops, if I'm not mistaken growing green manures for seven seasons to improve deficient soil before planting a single carrot.
And just as Fukuoka and Beck might come from different backgrounds and different perspectives, their conclusions are nearly identical. Both have observed over many years that the system which closest duplicates natural conditions is the system which shines brightest. Corrections to any system should only be aimed a restoring a balance rather and completely eliminating or creating an abundance of certain factors. Corrections to the system should be as closest to natural conditions as possible, i.e. using rock phosphate instead of refined "super-phosphate" or adding a large number of predatory insects to correct for a large number of pest insects rather than spraying a pesticide.
Beck advises and I'm sure Fukuoka would agree that when intervention is required as in the case of applying acetic acid to prevent root suckers in a vineyard, that the proposed solution have a very specific intended effect, be composed of simple and organic components, and should not incur a long term effect on the system. Long term solutions to any problem for both men lie almost exclusively in the improvement of the soil.
In summary this is not a book full of "new information" Anyone interested in the subject by now knows that compost is necessary, that organic methods are intrinsically more successful in the long term, that patience and careful observation are what truly builds great gardens. We have all learned this by now, but after reading "Lessons in Nature" I feel I now understand it.
I can definitely without caveat recommend this book, there are a few tips and trick, but the real value lies in the message. Borrow it or buy it, either way...read it.
Malcom Beck (the author) has lived at the forefront of the organic movement for most of his life. This book is as much a memoir of trial and error as it is a series of short vignettes on a variety of garden oriented subjects. In that regard it bears similarity to another work "The One Straw Revolution" by Masanobu Fukuoka. The similarity does not end there, in fact barring a likely language barrier I think the two men might find decades of common ground on which to discuss. I would even go so far as to say that as Fukuoka is to Buddhist farming, Beck is to "western faith" gardening. While Beck makes no mention of the specifics of his particular faith, evident in some of his axioms are the need for trust in the providence of and thanks for the blessings of God. I would safely assume that he probably speaks from a Christian perspective given some other clues.
At the risk of venturing into rarely walked territory in the sustainability arena I'd like for a moment to explore perhaps how where I believe his faith has informed his technique. His respect for (though begrudging at time) pests from both the plant and animal kingdom resonates clearly the idea expressed in the Genesis account that all of creation is good and there for to some degree necessary. "bad bugs" seemed predisposed to select and feed upon weak plants. Disease, infestation and weeds while detrimental to the short term goal of this season's harvest are necessary to the long term survival of the plant species. Certain weeds prefer and even correct certain soils. Insect pests exist to such that when their numbers are kept in check by other natural factors, they are only capable of suppressing plants which are ill suited to pass on their genes to the next generation. As was made famous in the song there is a time for every purpose. Beck displays a rare patience when discussing the notion of cover crops, if I'm not mistaken growing green manures for seven seasons to improve deficient soil before planting a single carrot.
And just as Fukuoka and Beck might come from different backgrounds and different perspectives, their conclusions are nearly identical. Both have observed over many years that the system which closest duplicates natural conditions is the system which shines brightest. Corrections to any system should only be aimed a restoring a balance rather and completely eliminating or creating an abundance of certain factors. Corrections to the system should be as closest to natural conditions as possible, i.e. using rock phosphate instead of refined "super-phosphate" or adding a large number of predatory insects to correct for a large number of pest insects rather than spraying a pesticide.
Beck advises and I'm sure Fukuoka would agree that when intervention is required as in the case of applying acetic acid to prevent root suckers in a vineyard, that the proposed solution have a very specific intended effect, be composed of simple and organic components, and should not incur a long term effect on the system. Long term solutions to any problem for both men lie almost exclusively in the improvement of the soil.
In summary this is not a book full of "new information" Anyone interested in the subject by now knows that compost is necessary, that organic methods are intrinsically more successful in the long term, that patience and careful observation are what truly builds great gardens. We have all learned this by now, but after reading "Lessons in Nature" I feel I now understand it.
I can definitely without caveat recommend this book, there are a few tips and trick, but the real value lies in the message. Borrow it or buy it, either way...read it.
Call to action
Today is going to be a big posting day, but I thought I should get this out there as soon as possible.
Surprise, the current administration is looking to gut protection for endangered species.
Call your senators, congressmen, media, everyone.
Surprise, the current administration is looking to gut protection for endangered species.
Call your senators, congressmen, media, everyone.
Monday, August 11, 2008
More props
At the risk of becoming some kind of advertisement I feel it necessary to pat another company on the back. Miller Nurseries, find their site here. The person who answered the phone was not some untrained receptionist but was actually quite familiar with the problem I have been having with my male kiwi vine, and even though I did not have any sales receipt or my customer number on hand, she was able to find my information and verify that the vine was in fact purchased this spring so its still guaranteed, no further questions asked, their shipping another dormant vine next spring.
The pawpaw trees I got from them and the female vine are doing well by the way, so I have no problems whatsoever feeling confident that when its time to start the fruit orchard next spring, I will be calling them.
The pawpaw trees I got from them and the female vine are doing well by the way, so I have no problems whatsoever feeling confident that when its time to start the fruit orchard next spring, I will be calling them.
Where credit is due
If any of my readers are in the upstate NY area you are probably familiar with the megagrocery store Wegmans. I have several friends who have worked there for a number of years, and I know that unlike other grocery chains, they treat their employees well. I normally am quite cynical when it comes to giving the thumbs up to big businesses like this but well...they really get it, or at least it seems like they do. The organic produce section is almost a full third of the total and seems to get bigger each week at my location (dewitt). Some veggies you can only get organic. When you walk through the front door the local crops are right in front of you (and you cant get anywhere else in the store without walking past the local veggie racks). They have a huge chart on the wall with what vegetables are in season, and they post pictures of the farms they buy from right above the vegetables.
If I were better at planning and had more time I wouldn't need grocery stores, but lets face it, I'm not. So when I have to pick up a green pepper and some celery to complete an otherwise homegrown potato salad...I'm happy to report that its still local.
even the cherry tomato (the first of the season) Yesterday two more ripened (which my friend loved...but still no brandywines.)
Look what happens when your mammoth sunflowers are grown to close to your lemon queens, next year you get this.
Glamor shot, another 7 ounces of the most gorgeous cuke I have ever seen. I will be a shame to eat this one...no it wont, I've got three more on the way.
And on saturday I was a participant in a crop swap, and I didn't know it before hand. Some friends of my wife who live in CT met us at a halfway point (Albany) for a picnic. They (who has noticed similar problems with tomatoes being slow to ripen) had what he thought was a mix of zucchini and summer squash seedlings given to him. Turns out they were all yellow summer squash! He is swimming in them, so he cut about 10 lbs from his garden and gave them to me.
Desperate to start chipping at the mountain of yellow on the counter I pulled together this experiment, which I'm happy to say was great!
I worked in aMom&Pop pizza operation all through high school and college, so I consider myself fairly adept at the art. This one was a combination of one side just shrooms (for my wife who was not willing to be part of the experiment) and the other side with the rest of the green pepper, a little bit of our backyard onions, some rosemary and chunks of yellow squash.
It was fantastic, I've got some leftover dough and I'm cursing the brandywines right now because there is nothing better than pizza with slices of fresh tomato on top. Oh well.
If anyone has any favorite vegetarian recipes that use summer squash, please hit me up! I still have a mountain of it and so far only a few people at work have volunteered to take some. Abundance is killer isnt it.
Speaking of killer, the aforementioned killer in the previous post is a potato berry. Full to the brim of solanum, the thing that puts the deadly in deadly nightshade. In other words, eat the spud, not the bud.
If I were better at planning and had more time I wouldn't need grocery stores, but lets face it, I'm not. So when I have to pick up a green pepper and some celery to complete an otherwise homegrown potato salad...I'm happy to report that its still local.
even the cherry tomato (the first of the season) Yesterday two more ripened (which my friend loved...but still no brandywines.)
Look what happens when your mammoth sunflowers are grown to close to your lemon queens, next year you get this.
Glamor shot, another 7 ounces of the most gorgeous cuke I have ever seen. I will be a shame to eat this one...no it wont, I've got three more on the way.
And on saturday I was a participant in a crop swap, and I didn't know it before hand. Some friends of my wife who live in CT met us at a halfway point (Albany) for a picnic. They (who has noticed similar problems with tomatoes being slow to ripen) had what he thought was a mix of zucchini and summer squash seedlings given to him. Turns out they were all yellow summer squash! He is swimming in them, so he cut about 10 lbs from his garden and gave them to me.
Desperate to start chipping at the mountain of yellow on the counter I pulled together this experiment, which I'm happy to say was great!
I worked in aMom&Pop pizza operation all through high school and college, so I consider myself fairly adept at the art. This one was a combination of one side just shrooms (for my wife who was not willing to be part of the experiment) and the other side with the rest of the green pepper, a little bit of our backyard onions, some rosemary and chunks of yellow squash.
It was fantastic, I've got some leftover dough and I'm cursing the brandywines right now because there is nothing better than pizza with slices of fresh tomato on top. Oh well.
If anyone has any favorite vegetarian recipes that use summer squash, please hit me up! I still have a mountain of it and so far only a few people at work have volunteered to take some. Abundance is killer isnt it.
Speaking of killer, the aforementioned killer in the previous post is a potato berry. Full to the brim of solanum, the thing that puts the deadly in deadly nightshade. In other words, eat the spud, not the bud.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
