And they did it all, somehow, without being sneering, contemptuous
asstards. I’m sure they’re looking down on you from Valhalla right now,
wondering why your parents failed to raise you with anything resembling respect
for those who work so hard to provide everything you snap up weekly at your
local Whole Foods. Think all that just falls out of a gigantic horn of
plenty, do you?Check out the comments as well, especially the one about newbie gardeners somehow threatening the oldsters. Really, we're not trying to steal any of your 'dirt cred'. We thought you wanted everyone to do this, right?
Friday, April 24, 2009
Elitism is a Stinky Cologne
I liked this via Liberty Girl:
Journal April 23
Another beautiful day. Made a trip to Lowe's for new hooks, bird food, some marigolds for a bare spot, a couple of natives, mulch and potting soil.
Put together the new bed frame for the NP and moved the bench out. It needs tightening up, so will stay on the porch until then.
Ro came out and got interested in finally uprooting the old enormous rosemary, or what was left of it. She also helped me move the new bed into place.
Watered, tidied up weedings, weeded in NP.
Put together the new bed frame for the NP and moved the bench out. It needs tightening up, so will stay on the porch until then.
Ro came out and got interested in finally uprooting the old enormous rosemary, or what was left of it. She also helped me move the new bed into place.
Watered, tidied up weedings, weeded in NP.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Journal April 21-22
Tuesday
Beautiful weather. Lots of work.
Cut and attached brace to tool rack and re-stained it.
Bundled up rose trimmings, put old chair out for the curb pick-up.
Picked up porch in general. It looks lovely uncluttered.
Re-seeded zucchini, beans and lettuce.
Dilemma: tomatoes and peppers are struggling back and I do love persistence. BUT I already purchased a new batch of replacement plants that have to go somewhere. I think I'll knock together a bed for the NP and put them there, to use up the last of the dirt. It was going to be sunflowers, but I'll tuck them in elsewhere.
Weeded and watered. Put up rain gauge on side fence.
Okra is coming up.
Cut broccoli for dinner. And greed onions for black beans.
Wednesday
Washed back porch, and windows. Moved green rocker to garage to go to storage.
Pulled up sod in back corner, put down weedblock and mulch.
Mulched pumpkins, added mulch to paths.
Cut boards for new bed in NP. Moved tool rack into place, replaced trunk. Tool rack needs hooks for: kid's shovel, the fork/hoe, possible the pruner.
The only things I want to keep permanently on porch: tool rack, trunk, caddy, bird food can, galvanized bucket, white litter container with kid's tools. Everything else in garage!
Jasmine is blooming. Wondered why it smelled odd, then realized I'd just pruned the cilantro without gloves, so was smelling that on my hands.
A few peas have set.
Beautiful weather. Lots of work.
Cut and attached brace to tool rack and re-stained it.
Bundled up rose trimmings, put old chair out for the curb pick-up.
Picked up porch in general. It looks lovely uncluttered.
Re-seeded zucchini, beans and lettuce.
Dilemma: tomatoes and peppers are struggling back and I do love persistence. BUT I already purchased a new batch of replacement plants that have to go somewhere. I think I'll knock together a bed for the NP and put them there, to use up the last of the dirt. It was going to be sunflowers, but I'll tuck them in elsewhere.
Weeded and watered. Put up rain gauge on side fence.
Okra is coming up.
Cut broccoli for dinner. And greed onions for black beans.
Wednesday
Washed back porch, and windows. Moved green rocker to garage to go to storage.
Pulled up sod in back corner, put down weedblock and mulch.
Mulched pumpkins, added mulch to paths.
Cut boards for new bed in NP. Moved tool rack into place, replaced trunk. Tool rack needs hooks for: kid's shovel, the fork/hoe, possible the pruner.
The only things I want to keep permanently on porch: tool rack, trunk, caddy, bird food can, galvanized bucket, white litter container with kid's tools. Everything else in garage!
Jasmine is blooming. Wondered why it smelled odd, then realized I'd just pruned the cilantro without gloves, so was smelling that on my hands.
A few peas have set.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Journal April 15
After the cold killed so many seedlings, I determined not to re-plant 'til after Easter.
It has gotten warm enough for various flower seeds, the pumpkins and the cowpeas to sprout.
Today is the first day in almost two weeks that there was anything really to do, or nice enough weather to work in.
Weeded beds, re-set pavers in Bird Area, which will be known as the Nature Preserve (NP) from now on, weeded in NP. Harvested lettuce.
V. has almost completed the tool rack- I assured him I could finish it while he was at the coast. I'm thinking of staining it a rust color, to blend in with the house brick.
Leaves are so compacted in the compost bins that it may be a good idea to turn them. A two-person job that might need a captive daughter.
To do:
Buy, TP peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, basil.
Re-plant squash, beans, cukes
Buy 1x2's to brace tool rack. Finish rack. Stain?
Mulch weeded areas in NP
Move dirt, plant sunflowers in NP.
Birdola, suet, seeds.
It has gotten warm enough for various flower seeds, the pumpkins and the cowpeas to sprout.
Today is the first day in almost two weeks that there was anything really to do, or nice enough weather to work in.
Weeded beds, re-set pavers in Bird Area, which will be known as the Nature Preserve (NP) from now on, weeded in NP. Harvested lettuce.
V. has almost completed the tool rack- I assured him I could finish it while he was at the coast. I'm thinking of staining it a rust color, to blend in with the house brick.
Leaves are so compacted in the compost bins that it may be a good idea to turn them. A two-person job that might need a captive daughter.
To do:
Buy, TP peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, basil.
Re-plant squash, beans, cukes
Buy 1x2's to brace tool rack. Finish rack. Stain?
Mulch weeded areas in NP
Move dirt, plant sunflowers in NP.
Birdola, suet, seeds.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Journal April 4
Put together Bed 6. Shaved sides off the dug bed until the frame was close enough to plumb for government work. Raked the soil smooth, laid down the newspapers and filled the bed.
When the bed was finished, I rolled out the weed-block on the rest of the paths and mulched.
The grass/leaf bags were from different houses, so the contents were varied- it makes a nice, patchwork effect.
Also mulched the Butterfly Barrow.
Decided to devote Bed 6 to okra and more cowpeas, and to plant only corn in Bed 3. Seeded all of those. Moved the pumpkin planter to the end of 6, added more soil and re-planted it. It wasn't getting enough sun against the fence, next to the compost heap.
Watered all areas.
And that's enough for one day...
When the bed was finished, I rolled out the weed-block on the rest of the paths and mulched.
The grass/leaf bags were from different houses, so the contents were varied- it makes a nice, patchwork effect.
Also mulched the Butterfly Barrow.
Decided to devote Bed 6 to okra and more cowpeas, and to plant only corn in Bed 3. Seeded all of those. Moved the pumpkin planter to the end of 6, added more soil and re-planted it. It wasn't getting enough sun against the fence, next to the compost heap.
Watered all areas.
And that's enough for one day...
Journal April 3
Temps still below normal for spring: only 71 today.
Finished digging up Bed 6 and since it is on the higher side of the yard, cut a deep trench
along the high side, to level it.
I notice that the bed I didn't dig out (being a lazy man in a hurry), but only loosened the sod and covered with several layers of newspaper before adding the topsoil, is completely weed-free.
The other two have problems. So, will cover 6 with paper as well.
Mulched the path between Beds 1 and 3 and the herb bed. One of the leaf bags had quite a few twigs mixed in, but I think they will break up when walked on.
One brave cowpea has sprouted. No okra yet- soil temp too cold still, I think.
TP the cherry tomato. The Big Boy shows signs of recovering, so I will leave it for now and save the new plant.
Moonflowers are up, two anyway. My very favorite annual vine.
NB: READ LABELS. I think the broccolli is actually brocolli rabe. This makes no difference when steamed and tossed with a nice lemon-garlic vinaigrette, but it would have been useful to know.
I was letting the 'heads' almost flower, waiting for them to form the big bunches.
V. bought the lumber for the tool rack he's making for me. I look forward to not having them lying about the porch. Because of the bank of windows that look out over the porch, he's constucting it horizontally, instear of vertically. Think of a car gun-rack, but with two sides.
Finished digging up Bed 6 and since it is on the higher side of the yard, cut a deep trench
along the high side, to level it.
I notice that the bed I didn't dig out (being a lazy man in a hurry), but only loosened the sod and covered with several layers of newspaper before adding the topsoil, is completely weed-free.
The other two have problems. So, will cover 6 with paper as well.
Mulched the path between Beds 1 and 3 and the herb bed. One of the leaf bags had quite a few twigs mixed in, but I think they will break up when walked on.
One brave cowpea has sprouted. No okra yet- soil temp too cold still, I think.
TP the cherry tomato. The Big Boy shows signs of recovering, so I will leave it for now and save the new plant.
Moonflowers are up, two anyway. My very favorite annual vine.
NB: READ LABELS. I think the broccolli is actually brocolli rabe. This makes no difference when steamed and tossed with a nice lemon-garlic vinaigrette, but it would have been useful to know.
I was letting the 'heads' almost flower, waiting for them to form the big bunches.
V. bought the lumber for the tool rack he's making for me. I look forward to not having them lying about the porch. Because of the bank of windows that look out over the porch, he's constucting it horizontally, instear of vertically. Think of a car gun-rack, but with two sides.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Learning From the Land: In the School of Saint Benedict
From the newsletter of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek Monastery:
As we enter the Lenten season- leaving behind the splendors of Christmas and looking forward now to that other pole of the liturgical year which is Easter- we discover that the greater simplicity and sobriety of this time of year lends itself well to a meditation on man's proper place in the universe as caretaker of creation.
For many years now ecology has aroused much interest, not only in regard to the immediate practical decisions that must be made by governments and businesses, but also as a topic of discussion in the broader cultural context. Our contemporaries seem to experience an ever increasing alienation from nature and a need to somehow "re-connect" with the earth, while scientists continue to point to signs that the ecological balance of the natural world is being seriously compromised by the excesses of our technology.
The Church too has participated in the discussion. The Holy Father recently alluded to these questions in an address to the members of the Roman Curia (December 22, 2008):
What does the great monastic tradition issuing from Saint Benedict have to say about this essential relationship with creation?
In fact, for men and women living in Saint Benedict's day, the question would have had little meaning. The vast majority of human beings lived in rural areas then and for them life was intimately and necessarily connected to the rhythm of nature. The day's activities were programmed according to the hours of sunlight. The year was punctuated by the various seasons in which planting, harvesting and every important task found its appointed time. In such a world, excepting the case of a few very rich people in large cities, it was scarcely possible to become disconnected from the rhythm of creation.
Nonetheless there is much in the wisdom of Saint Benedict that speaks to our present needs in terms of returning to a wiser way of life, a life closer to the land.
( to be continued)
As we enter the Lenten season- leaving behind the splendors of Christmas and looking forward now to that other pole of the liturgical year which is Easter- we discover that the greater simplicity and sobriety of this time of year lends itself well to a meditation on man's proper place in the universe as caretaker of creation.
For many years now ecology has aroused much interest, not only in regard to the immediate practical decisions that must be made by governments and businesses, but also as a topic of discussion in the broader cultural context. Our contemporaries seem to experience an ever increasing alienation from nature and a need to somehow "re-connect" with the earth, while scientists continue to point to signs that the ecological balance of the natural world is being seriously compromised by the excesses of our technology.
The Church too has participated in the discussion. The Holy Father recently alluded to these questions in an address to the members of the Roman Curia (December 22, 2008):
Since faith in the Creator is an essential part of the Christian creed, the
Church cannot and must not limit herself to passing on to the faithful the
message of salvation alone. She has a responsibility towards creation, and must
also publicly assert this responsibility. In so doing, she must not only defend
earth, water and air as gifts of creation belonging to all. She must also
protect man from self-destruction.
What does the great monastic tradition issuing from Saint Benedict have to say about this essential relationship with creation?
In fact, for men and women living in Saint Benedict's day, the question would have had little meaning. The vast majority of human beings lived in rural areas then and for them life was intimately and necessarily connected to the rhythm of nature. The day's activities were programmed according to the hours of sunlight. The year was punctuated by the various seasons in which planting, harvesting and every important task found its appointed time. In such a world, excepting the case of a few very rich people in large cities, it was scarcely possible to become disconnected from the rhythm of creation.
Nonetheless there is much in the wisdom of Saint Benedict that speaks to our present needs in terms of returning to a wiser way of life, a life closer to the land.
( to be continued)
Journal April 2
Note to self: enter something daily, please. Or you forget.
Noticed a few other things cold-killed: squash and bean seedlings. Need to re-plant.
Built another trellis.
Staked out and began to dig out Bed VI. And I'm dropping the Roman numerals.
Laid down some weed blocker and covered the path between 1 and 2 and 4 and 5 with some grass bags. I will try proper mulch in other places to see which works better.
Once I get Bed 6 in place, I can cover all paths.
It has actually been too windy to work today- gusts of up to 45 mph.
Morning glories and Liliput zinnias are up.
Bought some more weed-block, some replacement tomatoes and a RAIN GAUGE at H-D.
Noticed a few other things cold-killed: squash and bean seedlings. Need to re-plant.
Built another trellis.
Staked out and began to dig out Bed VI. And I'm dropping the Roman numerals.
Laid down some weed blocker and covered the path between 1 and 2 and 4 and 5 with some grass bags. I will try proper mulch in other places to see which works better.
Once I get Bed 6 in place, I can cover all paths.
It has actually been too windy to work today- gusts of up to 45 mph.
Morning glories and Liliput zinnias are up.
Bought some more weed-block, some replacement tomatoes and a RAIN GAUGE at H-D.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)