A C C O U N T A B I L I T Y !!!

Good morning, lhp :)

Scotts’ turf war: Miracle-Gro brand sues tiny startup over packaging, eco assertions. LINK

yes, Good Morning LHP,

thanks for joining us and thanks for helping out – knowing there was to be a move this summer, we had to pass on this year’s garden – mr. cbl was smart and sweet enough to set up a windowbox herb garden just so I had something to tend to in the interim :)

I’m moving at the end of the month, and my sister has tomato plants in pots for me to put in the ground when I get there. She says she needs to start pinching back the blooms or they’ll be making tomatoes soon. I told her to leave them.

I’m planting beans, a couple of hills of squash, some green peppers and MAYBE a couple of rows of corn. I also want to do a small raised bed of herbs. Flowers, shrubs and blooming trees are already there.

Last year, for the first time, we planted tomatoes. No special garden, we just plunked them down on the side of the house(against basement wall) in a spot usually reserved for flowers. Well, having your own vegetable garden is transforming. So, this year we’re debating on expanding-and we also need to move fast. Tomatoes and herbs are definites. After that I don’t know yet

Lots of organic herbs in pots for cooking. Wish I could do some heirloom tomatos but not in the cards this year.

Lindy,
We just moved, so I understand some of the work you’re going through. We haven’t even found time to do any tilling to get the new garden established, but we do have an amazing amount of flower beds from the previous owners. They did a great job! We’re stuck in a wait and see mode until we know where things are coming up and what spaces are open. Gotta love zone 4-5!

Jane,
We’ve been looking long and hard at heirlooms as well. Anything you’ve grown in the past you would recommend?

I had never heard of aconite – per the wiki, it was Medea’s answer to divorce :)

I hate to break the spirit of the thread, but here’s CNN breaking news:

Five U.S. soldiers have been killed and three others are missing after an attack 12 miles west of Mahmoudiya, Iraq, the U.S. military says.

Be glad you don’t live in sunny FLA: Historic water restrictions hit South Florida

After being away for over a year, I’m facing gardens that are overgrown and a total mess (the college kids that lived here barely managed to mow). So yesterday, I spent three hours trying to dig out volunteer trees coming up in the middle of bushes and all that sort of stuff. I’m taking it a bit slowly.

I have two big pots with pyramid sort of trellises in them that are near the front door. Earlier this week, I planted seeds? beans? for purple hyacinth bean (a climber with beautiful purple flowers, if I’m remembering clearly). I planted eight seeds (four in each) and I saw the pale green stem of one arching out of the soil in the morning (about four days earlier than I expected). As I came and went all day, I saw three more pop up, and two of them unfurled their tops, lifting the split bean and letting the primary leaf emerge. I never saw movement, but each time I returned, there was something new to see.

My absolute favorite is the scent of peonies and irises. I especially associate irises with my mother, who died on Christmas Day, when I was still in New Zealand. I didn’t make it back for her funeral, but wanted to sense her spirit as I smelled the irises, so I was scheduled myself to be back in plenty of time.

It was in the 80’s in March apparently and spring took off with great exuberance. I got back on April 8. But on April 7, it was 15 degrees and now, I have two irises stems only, out of all my iris beds, and most of the peony buds froze. But I have my two stems of irises and there are a few here and there about the neighborhood. I walk the neighborhood, sticking my nose in each one that is close enough to the sidewalk. And yes, I smell that incredible scent and feel my mother’s presence.

cbl @ 4

yes, Good Morning LHP,

thanks for joining us and thanks for helping out – knowing there was to be a move this summer, we had to pass on this year’s garden – mr. cbl was smart and sweet enough to set up a windowbox herb garden just so I had something to tend to in the interim :)

I’m pretty good at designing gardens and have done so for family and friends. I’m OK at actually growing them outdoors (not the most reliable with the watering can sad to say). But for the life of me I cannot grow things indoors.

This is particularly galling since the current house has a greenhouse/solarium thingy extended onthe kitchen. You name the houseplant or otted herb and I have killed it trying to grow it indoors.

Noonan @ 11

I hate to break the spirit of the thread, but here’s CNN breaking news:
Five U.S. soldiers have been killed and three others are missing after an attack 12 miles west of Mahmoudiya, Iraq, the U.S. military says.

5 GIs dead, 3 missing after Iraq attack

lhp….I want to add my thanks for all the insightful commentary you provide, but to know that you are doing this fine intellectual work, raising little lhp to be an intelligent and thoughtful being, and gardening after injury and during a challenging recovery, just adds to my admiration. May your garden add to your continued recovery, despite the accompanying aches and pains.

looseheadprop @ 14

You name the houseplant or otted herb and I have killed it trying to grow it indoors.

You could always try growing dandelions… They do have cooking applications, or wine.

ot–can anyone finish or modify these lyrics-to puff the magic dragon

Rush, the Magic Slimeball
Lived by the sea
And sucked on big cigars all day
And Oxcontin-B

Little George W Bush
Loved that Magic Rush
And sent him

looseheadprop @ 14

cbl @ 4

yes, Good Morning LHP,

thanks for joining us and thanks for helping out – knowing there was to be a move this summer, we had to pass on this year’s garden – mr. cbl was smart and sweet enough to set up a windowbox herb garden just so I had something to tend to in the interim :)

I’m pretty good at designing gardens and have done so for family and friends. I’m OK at actually growing them outdoors (not the most reliable with the watering can sad to say). But for the life of me I cannot grow things indoors.

This is particularly galling since the current house has a greenhouse/solarium thingy extended onthe kitchen. You name the houseplant or otted herb and I have killed it trying to grow it indoors.

You could be overwatering. My rule of thumb is every three days during the warmer months and once a week or less for the winter.

Jane Hamsher @ 7

Lots of organic herbs in pots for cooking. Wish I could do some heirloom tomatos but not in the cards this year.

You know what I love right in my front yard by the path tot the front door? Little cherry or grape tomatos. Just regular seedlings from Home Depot or Lowes, nuthi’ fancy.

But come home from worrk on a summer evening and eat them for a first course right there on the path (I never use bug spray on or near food) all warn from the sun and just a little pollen dusted.
Perfect.

Like the rasberries, they rarely last long enough to make it into the house. Everybody eats them as they pass the plant, even the UPS delivery guy!

Not doing too much planting this year, just bed rehab. My wife has done a pretty good job with the perennials, but we haven’t been able to mulch in the last few years. I’m currently busting down on 10 yahds sitting in my driveway. Here’s a great tip given to me by the guy who dumped it: Fill up one of those huge garbage totes and use that to move it. It will go much faster!

cbl @ 10

I had never heard of aconite – per the wiki, it was Medea’s answer to divorce :)

It’s got a pretty dark green leaf shaped the the “frog” in a horse’s hoof and a shiney broad petteled yellow flower.
It grows as a wildflower here in LI, my ister treats it like a weed and pulls it out of her perfect lawn. I transplant it into beds. When there is a big swath of it in bloom, it looks like sunlight captured.
There is also a domesticated version that comes in pinks and blues, sold commercially as Greek windflower. Let me see if I can find a pix link

You asked for recommendations: I’m a sucker for the perennial iris and peony, as mentioned above. I do recommend the purple hyacinth bean, which is lovely on the small trellises. I also have lots and lots of nasturtiums. Can’t quite get enough of their colorful cheer. I often pot them up with dark purple petunias, as I like the color contrasts. I also put in lots of snapdragons, as I love seeing bees go down into them and then back out. I put in a lot of zinnias, as they can stand the Kansas heat (and are also another reminder of Mother’s garden). I also enjoy Heavenly Blue Morning Glories, as they are the purest blue of any flower. I keep meaning to get the autumnal clematis, a smaller white flower that has a nice fragrance too.

I’m not growing any vegetables this year. I have an area where several huge pine trees died and had to be pulled out. It will work well for vegetables, but I can’t get the trees and vines that grew up there while I was away cleared in time for a decent garden. Unless I hire someone, but that isn’t in the budget. I guess I should clear a bit of a spot out of the jungle chaos and get some tomatoes in, shouldn’t I?

It seems every time we try tomatoes they get devoured by bugs.

Noonan @ 9

Jane,
We’ve been looking long and hard at heirlooms as well. Anything you’ve grown in the past you would recommend?

Cherokee Purples are my favorites.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northerni…..conite.jpg

Picture of a British variety blooming in the snow. The leaf is a little different than the kind we get here, but you get the idea from this picture.
Aconite and Snowdrops are usually the first flowers we get here. They come in Late Feb, aerly March and are so welcome at that dreary end of winter. They just give you hope.

We grow herbs for cooking in this thing. Works great.

I’ve heard some people grow herbs for smoking in it, with great success, but we haven’t done that.

Pachacutec @ 27

We grow herbs for cooking in this thing. Works great.

I’ve heard some people grow herbs for smoking in it, with great success, but we haven’t done that.

You had me, until I saw the price tag!

I don’t have a garden per se, we just throw some things in the landscaping around my house. I know almost nothing about gardening. The only perennials are forget-me-nots (my fave) and a dark pink clematis. But come the middle of summer no perennials are in bloom. I’d like to plant something that blooms in July. Any ideas?

lhp-

How about a nice row of sunflowers in one of the L’s. I bought a couple varieties and mixed the seeds up. There’s a whole bunch sprouting right now, and in July it’s going to great to see which ones are blooming. (I can’t wait).

I also put in the Mamouth variety (8ft tall) along the front of my porch. I planted some sweet peas a couple weeks later so they could climb up the sunflowers.

Heirloom tomatoes-Cherokee purples are very flavorful and very productive. Also if you can find Orange Oxhearts, they are very large tomatoes with very little seed and all meaty inside. This year I’m growing White Tomesols, I’ve never had luck with other white tomato varieties, and I hope this one does well.

I also planted some Black Krims, Sweet Persimmon (orange) and Italian Costoluto seeds. I have never grown these varieties before.

And don’t fertilize your tomatoes for 2 weeks after you plant them. If you fertilize in the first 2 weeks, you get a healthy plant and no fruit.

The best tomatoes I ever grew – back when I had a yard – were a variety from Czechoslovakia called “Stupice”. Semi-determinate, didn’t get too tall or need heavy staking, small delicious fruit and early early early. They were wonderful for my short-season garden – I had tomatoes in July which is pretty much unheard of in zone 3. And they stayed healthy when other varieties like “Manitoba” got blossom-end rot. Can’t remember where I ordered the seeds from.

Last week I dug up all my perennials (Iris, daylily, painted dasiy, hosta, tulips, sedum) so that landscapers could put in a ‘proper’ boarder, dig out the socalled clay soil (it was hard as concrete in a couple of places and they cursed it), rebuild a window well, and put in real dirt. It took me 3 days to clean up all the plants. Because of the clay soil most of the plant were seriousl root bound. Today, I’m replanting. Despite it being not exactly the right time of the year to do this, I think that they’ll be just fine. I’ve started pawning off extra iris to friends and neighbors.

NZ Expat

My absolute favorite is the scent of peonies and irises

That was a lovely story about your memeory of you mother linked to the sent of irisies. What a wonderful way to remember her. My mother is and always has been a very avid gardener, they two flowers I will always assoicte with her ar roses (she gets them to bloom year round, outdoors on Long Island–I have no clue how she does it) and sweet woodruff. She often puts little fairy roses in tiney vases mixed with woodruff. The combination fragragance is so special.

I have some peonies, but it is always my luck that just as they bloom, it rains and causes the bloom to rust and rot. Every damn year.
But
Irises! You are a genius! One of my raised beds has become very shady since I built it (trees keep growing if you’re not careful *g*)
and Irises will take some shade. Also, good for BOTH cutting and and viewing in the bed.

I love irises and did not realize until just now that I don’t have any at this house (I have always had them before)

I planted some Nasturtium seeds and they are now coming up. I’m really excited since I love how they look. I agree with the others about iris- I moved last summer and the new house has lots of iris, with the peonies about to open. When I walk my dog, I stop and smell all the irises- the neighbors probably think I’m nuts. Just went to the farmer’s market with my son- we’ve already eaten most of the strawberries! Isn’t spring wonderful?

Old fashioned flowers for cutting — zinnias, sea-shell cosmos, Victoria Blue salvia. Plenty of parsley and basil. Pumpkins for fun and jack o lanterns. Heirloom tomato “Brandywine” which, however, matures late – a problem in the Hudson Valley especially since our garden has been overtaken by shade. Some neighbors grow their tomotoes in pots in wheelbarrows and wheel them about seeking the best sun in the course of the season.

Unfortunately this year it’s mostly armchair gardening. Move the Bay tree, the Meyer lemon, agapanthus and jasmine to the front porch and plop myself into the chaise lounge with the laptop.

For flowers I also prize my heirloom rose Gloire de Dijon.

NZ Expat, now in KS @ 16

lhp….I want to add my thanks for all the insightful commentary you provide, but to know that you are doing this fine intellectual work, raising little lhp to be an intelligent and thoughtful being, and gardening after injury and during a challenging recovery, just adds to my admiration. May your garden add to your continued recovery, despite the accompanying aches and pains.

The good thing about the aches and pains is how very very good it makes the hot bath afterwards seem.

Delicious

Good morning, pups. It’s Dr. Gawande and Bob Herbert in the NYT today.

http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/

I’m a complete newbie to gardening, so I’ll be looking to pick up some tips here! Last year I had Sweet 100 tomatoes in containers and they did very well, so I’ve got them again this year. I’m trying “Wando” peas, which claim they’re heat resistant, with my fingers crossed.

Millineryman @ 30

And don’t fertilize your tomatoes for 2 weeks after you plant them. If you fertilize in the first 2 weeks, you get a healthy plant and no fruit.

We normally take the kids fishing. We get bullheads this time of year that give the kids a good fight and make great natural fertilizer.

It sounds you like you live in a tasty house, lhp.

In this day of the BushCo FDA/USDA, I urge you to grow veggies in your raised beds this year. Otherwise you just don’t know where your vegetables have been.

Noonan @ 17

looseheadprop @ 14

You name the houseplant or otted herb and I have killed it trying to grow it indoors.

You could always try growing dandelions… They do have cooking applications, or wine.

Actually, I leave them unmolested when they crop up in the paths between my raised beds.
If you pick the greens really, really young they are nice to add to salad, A littel older and they can be used like spinach (I like them with garlic, bacon and bound togehter with an egg)

My grandpa used to make really good dandilion wine, but it took a huge abount of blooms, all summer to ferment, and tones of work.

The result though tasted remarkably like a slightly two sweet reisling. Made a very lovley spritzer.

solai @ 29

I don’t have a garden per se, we just throw some things in the landscaping around my house. I know almost nothing about gardening. The only perennials are forget-me-nots (my fave) and a dark pink clematis. But come the middle of summer no perennials are in bloom. I’d like to plant something that blooms in July. Any ideas?

Daylilies. They are generally very hardy and difficult to mess up. They will bloom anywhere from late May to late September, depending upon which variety you get. They survive very, very well in east central Iowa.

Noonan @ 38

Millineryman @ 30

And don’t fertilize your tomatoes for 2 weeks after you plant them. If you fertilize in the first 2 weeks, you get a healthy plant and no fruit.

We normally take the kids fishing. We get bullheads this time of year that give the kids a good fight and make great natural fertilizer.

Fish emulsion is the best fertilizer around. I mix a batch and spray my plants every couple weeks.

Pach — I have one of those “things.” It was a gift I haven’t used. Does it work?

LHP — Thanks for the reminder. Time to trim the raspberries. How do you prop them up later in the season?

I’m just getting ready to go out in the yard and garden right now. How nice to read a thread on gardening!

Morning Everyone – thanks lhp,

We moved recently too, and though I was planning a small vegetable garden this spring, we have to focus on a dog run for our two crazy canines instead.

But if I had raised beds to spare, and no cutting garden yet, I would plant zinnias, bachelor buttons, bupleurum, snapdragons, and veronica.
I’d also have a variety of sunflowers – mexican are my favorite. And borage, hyssop, bee balm, calendula, and nepeta, would be doing their very best to take over the rest of the yard. And nasturtiums, echinacia, and … somewhere there would be an abundance of nictiana, lamb’s ears, eryngium, lady’s mantle, and a sage that I can’t for the bloody life of me remember right now (menopause moment), but it’s about three feet high and wide, little purple buds all along it’s stems, silvery foliage, and it’s one of my favorites nad I can’t remember the name – someone help!

Millineryman @ 42

Noonan @ 38

Millineryman @ 30

And don’t fertilize your tomatoes for 2 weeks after you plant them. If you fertilize in the first 2 weeks, you get a healthy plant and no fruit.

We normally take the kids fishing. We get bullheads this time of year that give the kids a good fight and make great natural fertilizer.

Fish emulsion is the best fertilizer around. I mix a batch and spray my plants every couple weeks.

We just dig holes around the plants and put the fish in whole.

WB may vote no confidence in Wolfowitz
Senior bank officials tells of plans to try to end his tenure next week

OT-2 thoughts on this:
-They don’t understand Neocons yet. They don’t have any honor so don’t do the honorable thing. Resign just cuz it’s been revealed that you’re incompetent or a crook? Not these guys. They’ll burn the house down before giving up power.
-I wonder if there’s even more thievery that Wolfowitz is afraid may be discovered if he leaves.

Twisted Martini @ 24

It seems every time we try tomatoes they get devoured by bugs.

You have to plant marigolds all around them at the base. NAtural bug (espailly tomato worm) repellant.

And you get prett flowers.

Martha Stewart once wrote that one shouldn’t say “I’m going to work in the garden”, but rather, “I’m going to garden.” Does it make a difference? Maybe in attitude and approach.

Damn…do you have any idea how hard it is to find political news about gardening? Miricle-Gro lawsuit and SoFla water restrictions…

Noonan @ 38

Millineryman @ 30

And don’t fertilize your tomatoes for 2 weeks after you plant them. If you fertilize in the first 2 weeks, you get a healthy plant and no fruit.

We normally take the kids fishing. We get bullheads this time of year that give the kids a good fight and make great natural fertilizer.

Noonan, do you just put the fish in the ground or do you process in some way?

What Miracle gro lawsuit? Is there a linky?

solai @ 29

I don’t have a garden per se, we just throw some things in the landscaping around my house. I know almost nothing about gardening. The only perennials are forget-me-nots (my fave) and a dark pink clematis. But come the middle of summer no perennials are in bloom. I’d like to plant something that blooms in July. Any ideas?

My standby is impatients. They come a bazzlion colors, grow in sun or shade and are nearly impossible to kill.

If you have sun I love cosmos, especially if you plant them where they will be tickled by a breeze, from a distance it lookes like bright colors butterflies, the efect always brings a smile.

Honey suckle smells heavenly and you can literally suck a drop of necter out of the back of the picked bloom.

I always have Hydrangea. Many varieties, many colors. I love them.

Lindy @ 51

Noonan @ 38

Millineryman @ 30

And don’t fertilize your tomatoes for 2 weeks after you plant them. If you fertilize in the first 2 weeks, you get a healthy plant and no fruit.

We normally take the kids fishing. We get bullheads this time of year that give the kids a good fight and make great natural fertilizer.

Noonan, do you just put the fish in the ground or do you process in some way?

Just dig a hole and drop in one whole fish per hole. The trick is to get them deep enough to avoid flies, cats and our dogs getting to them.

I am involved in a Native American seed saving workshop today. Interesting stuff it is and I will be planting Hopi corn this weekend.

programming reminder
at 12:00 today on CSPAN 2 aka BookTV:

Marcy Wheeler, Anatomy of Deceit: How the Bush Administration Used the Media to Sell the Iraq War and Out a Spy

Twisted Martini @ 52

What Miracle gro lawsuit? Is there a linky?

Look up-thread for my name at #3.

What a soothing thread!
I just read the NYT article on Monica and need some soothing.
Here in East TN most everything grows. We are eating spinach,lettuce and my favorite asparagus.
What a plant, easy to grow and comes back year after year. Grilled with asiago cheese…yum.
We lost a lot in the terrible freeze but even the fig is coming back…slowly.
I wish you all could see the gardens and even with less rain than usual, things are doing well

Noonan-I’d do the same if I had the available fish. The Native Americans fertilized their plants that way.
Daylilies order here

Darryl Apps is a well know breeder, and this is his nursery. He’s retiring this year so it may be the last year you can order from here. The Daylily Dazzle is a amazing show of 10 acres of daylilies in full bloom.

Some photos from last year’s dazzle

I believe I’ll be buying me some of that worm poop.

Have grown many heirloom tomatoes here in Oklahoma, my favorite is “Caspian Pink.” For many heirlooms the plants are low in production so plant several.

KyCole @ 34

I planted some Nasturtium seeds and they are now coming up. I’m really excited since I love how they look. I agree with the others about iris- I moved last summer and the new house has lots of iris, with the peonies about to open. When I walk my dog, I stop and smell all the irises- the neighbors probably think I’m nuts. Just went to the farmer’s market with my son- we’ve already eaten most of the strawberries! Isn’t spring wonderful?

FYI the leaves and flowers of nastursium are edible if you don’t bug spray them. They tast like blaco peper and are reat in salads.

The green seeds can be brined in salt and vinegar and used as an excellent substitute for capers. We always have nastursiums inthe herb borders

Well, I’ve been up since 5 Central. Now I have to get ready to go shake hands at a tourist center opening. Can’t start campaigning too early it seems this campaign cycle. Thanks for starting my day off on such a positive note Pups!

Lou Costello @ 50

Damn…do you have any idea how hard it is to find political news about gardening? Miricle-Gro lawsuit and SoFla water restrictions…

Michael Pollan writes great books about food and gardening, and Barbara Kingsolver’s latest book has come highly recommended, but I haven’t read it yet

lhp – thanks for the aconite info – am always on the lookout for winter blooms

Pachacutec – yeah, does it work ? am thinking it may be a means to finally harvest the baby lettuces the critters eat every year

Christine – ah yes to the hardiness of day lillies – the bubba ride along gang has mowed over them three times and they continue to thrive :)

OT – looseheadprop:

I assume you’ve seen this dump of a bad Monica story in today’s Times? Guess they felt it wasn’t newsworthy enough to cover in the Sunday Times.

AZ Matt @ 55

I am involved in a Native American seed saving workshop today. Interesting stuff it is and I will be planting Hopi corn this weekend.

Are you familiar with this organization?Organic Seed Alliance

A newbie question — There are two of us. Can anyone give me some guidance on how many plants of various veggies will produce enough to feed us both? I’m thinking bell peppers, squash, green beans and the like. (I think I deserve some sort of award for managing to kill 2 zucchini plants last year. I still don’t know how I did it…)

solai @ 29

I don’t have a garden per se, we just throw some things in the landscaping around my house. I know almost nothing about gardening. The only perennials are forget-me-nots (my fave) and a dark pink clematis. But come the middle of summer no perennials are in bloom. I’d like to plant something that blooms in July. Any ideas?

I once had the loveliest hillside garden blooming at the end of June with (single) hollyhocks from seeds, delphiniums from gallon containers from the nursery, and Queen Anne’s Lace that I didn’t weed out.

christine @ 41

solai @ 29

I don’t have a garden per se, we just throw some things in the landscaping around my house. I know almost nothing about gardening. The only perennials are forget-me-nots (my fave) and a dark pink clematis. But come the middle of summer no perennials are in bloom. I’d like to plant something that blooms in July. Any ideas?

Daylilies. They are generally very hardy and difficult to mess up. They will bloom anywhere from late May to late September, depending upon which variety you get. They survive very, very well in east central Iowa.

And they will spread. Also if you can find bulbs for something called “Woodland Hyacinth” they flower heads have fewer blooms than the more common hybrid hyacinth, but they will grow right nest to the roots of trees and under the shade canopy ( a tough place for blooming things) and they spread all by themselves, so each year you have more and more with no effort

Thanks Lou, talk about ridiculous! As a color printing specialist, I know how crazy some companies can get about their colors, but that is the stupidest thing i have ever heard. Frivolous lawsuits!

Marion in Savannah @ 68

A newbie question — There are two of us. Can anyone give me some guidance on how many plants of various veggies will produce enough to feed us both? I’m thinking bell peppers, squash, green beans and the like. (I think I deserve some sort of award for managing to kill 2 zucchini plants last year. I still don’t know how I did it…)

Another option would be finding a CSA close to you.

Elliott @ 56

programming reminder
at 12:00 today on CSPAN 2 aka BookTV:

Marcy Wheeler, Anatomy of Deceit: How the Bush Administration Used the Media to Sell the Iraq War and Out a Spy

Thanks Elliot. I forwarded this to my media group.

Jane Hamsher @ 7

Lots of organic herbs in pots for cooking. Wish I could do some heirloom tomatos but not in the cards this year.

I went looking for ‘heirloom tomatoes’ and wound up with ‘crotchless pantaloons‘ via Jesus General ~ Go figure…707

A friend just phoned and reminded me of the name of the plant I was forgetting – Perovskia or Russian sage – it’s wonderful. The tiny buds are delicious mashed with butter and spread on toast.

inmymind’seye @ 74

A friend just phoned and reminded me of the name of the plant I was forgetting – Perovskia or Russian sage – it’s wonderful. The tiny buds are delicious mashed with butter and spread on toast.

Really edible? I grow russian sage and it blooms all summer

JML @ 43

Pach — I have one of those “things.” It was a gift I haven’t used. Does it work?

LHP — Thanks for the reminder. Time to trim the raspberries. How do you prop them up later in the season?

I have pretty metal trellises in the outside corners of two of the “L” shaped beds. That’s where I have the canes. So I train them up. They keep wanting to make that fountain shape and so when they reach the top of the trellis–about 4 1/2 5 feet high, they droop over. it makes them much easier to pick. I also have another patch sor tof esplanared on a fence in the backyard, but I don’t keep it up well enough and now it is tangled with some honeysuckle vines and recently they conspired to attach my poor Lilac bush.

I love the berries, but the canes really do seem to harbor criminal intent

snowbird42 @ 76

inmymind’seye @ 74

A friend just phoned and reminded me of the name of the plant I was forgetting – Perovskia or Russian sage – it’s wonderful. The tiny buds are delicious mashed with butter and spread on toast.

Really edible? I grow russian sage and it blooms all summer

Honestly, when my kids were little it was a favorite summertime snack. Also great with poultry or fish.

inmymind’seye @ 45

Morning Everyone – thanks lhp,

We moved recently too, and though I was planning a small vegetable garden this spring, we have to focus on a dog run for our two crazy canines instead.

But if I had raised beds to spare, and no cutting garden yet, I would plant zinnias, bachelor buttons, bupleurum, snapdragons, and veronica.
I’d also have a variety of sunflowers – mexican are my favorite. And borage, hyssop, bee balm, calendula, and nepeta, would be doing their very best to take over the rest of the yard. And nasturtiums, echinacia, and … somewhere there would be an abundance of nictiana, lamb’s ears, eryngium, lady’s mantle, and a sage that I can’t for the bloody life of me remember right now (menopause moment), but it’s about three feet high and wide, little purple buds all along it’s stems, silvery foliage, and it’s one of my favorites nad I can’t remember the name – someone help!

I have a pinapple sage that tastes wonderful in iced tea, but I think maybe youar thinking of Siberiean Sage, which has no taste and is grown for its prolifict flowers and realy gorgeous foliage.

Elliott @ 56

programming reminder
at 12:00 today on CSPAN 2 aka BookTV:

Marcy Wheeler, Anatomy of Deceit: How the Bush Administration Used the Media to Sell the Iraq War and Out a Spy

Thanks for the reminder, Elliot. I’ll put something up to remind folks in a bit.

solai @ 47

WB may vote no confidence in Wolfowitz
Senior bank officials tells of plans to try to end his tenure next week

OT-2 thoughts on this:
-They don’t understand Neocons yet. They don’t have any honor so don’t do the honorable thing. Resign just cuz it’s been revealed that you’re incompetent or a crook? Not these guys. They’ll burn the house down before giving up power.
-I wonder if there’s even more thievery that Wolfowitz is afraid may be discovered if he leaves.

You have a wonderfully suspicious mind!

I wish I had your embarrassment of riches! My garden consists of two 36″x6″ windowsills on the front of a NYC tenement. I’ve got chives, rosemary, tarragon, new basil seedlings, thyme, a bay laurel tree-ette, two dwarf purple iris from Thomas Jefferson’s garden (it says in the catalogue), and a volunteer oak seedling donated by a neighborhood squirrel (he commutes up four stories of fire escape just to hide acorns for later).

So, my big garden plans this year are to beautify the neighborhood by getting a couple of capacious window boxes instead of the multicolored, trashy-looking pots that are the urban equivalent of a broken-down refrigerator on the front porch.

If I had YOUR setup, I’d put in either asparagus or strawberries. Boom, just like that; don’t even have to think about it. Asparagus or strawberries. Both of which, grown in one’s own garden, are sublime.

Millineryman @ 67

AZ Matt @ 55

I am involved in a Native American seed saving workshop today. Interesting stuff it is and I will be planting Hopi corn this weekend.

Are you familiar with this organization?Organic Seed Alliance

Thanks for that link, I will bookmark it.

Native Seeds/Search in Tucson carries Southwestern NA and northern Mexico seeds.

Native Seeds/SEARCH

Noonan @ 63

Well, I’ve been up since 5 Central. Now I have to get ready to go shake hands at a tourist center opening. Can’t start campaigning too early it seems this campaign cycle. Thanks for starting my day off on such a positive note Pups!

What are you running for? Or will that “out” you?

looseheadprop @ 77

I love the berries, but the canes really do seem to harbor criminal intent

LOL, that is very funny – I have to forward this to my sister who in the summer is always kevetching about the canes.

You name the houseplant or otted herb and I have killed it trying to grow it indoors.

My family finally gave up on me and just started giving me cactus plants.

I have thus now reached my level of gardening competence.

Try the pineapple sage in fruit salad lhp. I love the flowers on that it produces. I just picked that up last night, along with clary sage, and painted sage.

Hosta also are very hardy and difficult to mess up. They grow well in the shade and will have small flowers in Sept and/or October. They will also spread and need dividing every few years or so.

Daylilies grow wild up here. Particularly Tiger Lily. They’re found in almost every rural ditch and you just can’t kill them off!! Tiger lilies will bloom in mid June.

You’re welcome AZMatt, sound like fun what your doing this weekend.

Thanks for that link that you posted. I know some friends who will be interested in those wild chilies that are on the site picked by the women’s cooperative in Mexico.

Noonan, thanks for the link. Alas, the closest to me seems to be 200 miles away and both of us loathe driving.

OT ~ TRex from last night’s Ditto-Idiot (Limpbaugh) thread:

“Even reading things that Limbaugh says makes me feel like I need a Karen Silkwood-style decontamination shower.”

Looks like even that wouldn’t help: Thousands of Nuclear Arms Workers See Cancer Claims Denied or Delayed

“They couldn’t scrub the radiation off my skin — even after four showers,” McKenzie, 52, recalled of his most terrifying day at the Savannah River nuclear weapons plant near Aiken, S.C. “They took my clothes, my watch and even my ring, and sent me home in rubber slippers and a jumpsuit.”

Later, when doctors discovered the first of 19 malignant tumors on his bladder, McKenzie followed the same torturous path as thousands of nuclear weapons workers with cancer: He filed a claim for federal compensation. It was denied.

looseheadprop @ 84

What are you running for? Or will that “out” you?

Check my link. The website hasn’t been updated for this cycle, but donations are always welcome :)

Howie did fundraiser for me right before the election that really helped a ton. We lost by 1300 votes, but I got swiftboated. Long story, we’ve learned from what happened last time and we’re reloading for a new round.

Elliott @ 56

programming reminder
at 12:00 today on CSPAN 2 aka BookTV:

Marcy Wheeler, Anatomy of Deceit: How the Bush Administration Used the Media to Sell the Iraq War and Out a Spy

Damn, drat, and double damn. My neice will be making her First Communion at noon. I can’t believe I’m going to miss this.

You guys report back on a thread will ya? I’llbe stuck in a back pew at St. DOminic’s Church.

Lou Costello,

Go figure…707

tell me about it – one minute I’m reading about oil smuggling, next thing I know, I’m buying Dick Cheney an IPod!

Gov. Blanco unloads on Bush and the Rethuglicans

…
The experience of securing that funding and trying to get access to it has not been pleasant. “I absolutely hated the idea of having to go to Washington, D.C., to deal with the last Congress, because their attitude was brutal,” she said. “The old Congress made us feel like we were pretty stupid for standing in the way of the hurricane and that we were asking for far too much assistance.

“They ignored the fact that it wasn’t the hurricane, per se, that caused our damage,” Blanco explained in a forceful, yet measured, tone. “It was the failure, an engineering failure, of the federal levees that caused our enormous grief. If we had not had levee failures, people would have walked home, and today we would not even be sitting here talking about it.” She did say the new Congress was “definitely more interested in trying to help us.”

…

LINK

jayt @ 86

You name the houseplant or otted herb and I have killed it trying to grow it indoors.

My family finally gave up on me and just started giving me cactus plants.

I have thus now reached my level of gardening competence.

I can’t grow anything from seed

looseheadprop @ 93

Elliott @ 56

programming reminder
at 12:00 today on CSPAN 2 aka BookTV:

Marcy Wheeler, Anatomy of Deceit: How the Bush Administration Used the Media to Sell the Iraq War and Out a Spy

Damn, drat, and double damn. My neice will be making her First Communion at noon. I can’t believe I’m going to miss this.

You guys report back on a thread will ya? I’llbe stuck in a back pew at St. DOminic’s Church.

I will be busy too. Don’t they usually rerun these?

lhp at 76 –

Thanks, I ‘ll give the trellis & fountain method a try.

Lou Costello @ 74

Jane Hamsher @ 7

Lots of organic herbs in pots for cooking. Wish I could do some heirloom tomatos but not in the cards this year.

I went looking for ‘heirloom tomatoes’ and wound up with ‘crotchless pantaloons‘ via Jesus General ~ Go figure…707

“Loving wife spanking in a Chistian marriage” ????????? WTF???

Laughing very hard right now

looseheadprop @ 99

Lou Costello @ 74

Jane Hamsher @ 7

Lots of organic herbs in pots for cooking. Wish I could do some heirloom tomatos but not in the cards this year.

I went looking for ‘heirloom tomatoes’ and wound up with ‘crotchless pantaloons‘ via Jesus General ~ Go figure…707

“Loving wife spanking in a Chistian marriage” ????????? WTF???

Laughing very hard right now

That was rather unbelievable! Christian Domestic Discpline, hummm…, don’t think it will fly around here.

Good morning from L.A.

Since moving back to Santa Monica into a house w/large wraparound garden, we’ve planted nearly every side of it in roses. Herb garden in pots on the back porch- basil, thyme, parsley, cilantro, jalepenos.

I miss the lilac tree/rose bush combo garden of my childhood. Lilacs don’t do well here in SoCal- what a pity, they’re so fragrant & lovely. Our star jasmine bushes are blooming though, & smell divine.

Up until a few years back we had an ancient “seed man” in Carlsbad, CA. He simply had a small sign in his front yard that had the word seed.

But man, go inside and he had every seed you could think of in square tin boxes with a picture of the plant on the outside. He used a balance scale for measuring them and would put them in a small envelope for us. He would hand-write the name of the seed on the envelope. It was so cool, so old fashioned. It felt like being in the 1800’s. He also carried bulbs of every type, and everything was so reasonably priced.

Alas, he died, and the business ended. His family sold the property for millions. It was right across the street from Tamarack beach, a surfing hang-out.

looseheadprop @ 93

Elliott @ 56

programming reminder
at 12:00 today on CSPAN 2 aka BookTV:

Marcy Wheeler, Anatomy of Deceit: How the Bush Administration Used the Media to Sell the Iraq War and Out a Spy

Damn, drat, and double damn. My neice will be making her First Communion at noon. I can’t believe I’m going to miss this.

You guys report back on a thread will ya? I’llbe stuck in a back pew at St. DOminic’s Church.

It’ll be available for online viewing thru CSPAN later, type Marcy Wheeler in the search engine here and it should come up.

near as I can tell, this is the only time all weekend it’ll be broadcast.

Anatomy of Deceit: How the Bush Administration Used the Media to Sell the Iraq War and Out a Spy
from May 12, 2007
In “Anatomy of Deceit” blogger Marcy Wheeler condemns the Bush administration, saying the Vice President’s office deliberately “outed” CIA agent Valerie Plame, wife of former ambassador Joe Wilson. Further, she criticizes the mainstream media for their complicity in promoting the administration’s rationale for war in Iraq — that Iraq was on the verge of acquiring weapons of mass destruction. “The Anatomy of Deceit” is the first book published by Vaster Books, a joint venture of DailyKos and FireDog Lake.

“Loving wife spanking in a Chistian marriage” ????????? WTF???

Laughing very hard right now

That was rather unbelievable! Christian Domestic Discpline, hummm…, don’t think it will fly around here.

Boy, Jane or TRex could have a field day with that site. So many snark opportunities, so little time.

OT — or, as ye sow, so shall ye reap — there is enough in this NYT front page story on the Justice Department to impeach Gonzales: “We have a Monica problem.”

1,514 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..

Citizen looseheadprop and the Firepup Patriots:

Wonderful Spring mornin’ ta all the firepups…our yard is explodin’, the pungent smell of the Lilacs and the sound of the birds in the Amer Maple around the secret garden make it worth growin’ old enough ta sit on the deck and forget about tomorrow.

BUT…please pass it up the food chain that the “Blogads” and “Categories” scroll need trimmin’, they are growin’ into the right margin of the text and drivin me batsh*t crazy tryin’ ta decipher the missin words er syllables.

Our “baby” comes home today from her freshman year at “the U”, what a kick…

KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION AND DON’T LET THE BASTARDS INTO YER YARD!!

Scarecrow @ 105

OT — or, as ye sow, so shall ye reap — there is enough in this NYT front page story on the Justice Department to impeach Gonzales: “We have a Monica problem.”

I get a certain satisfaction delight knowing that the Republicans have a “Monica problem”

OT -

But, at least tangential in that Tester is a farmer:
http://www.clarkforkchronicle……0213716502

Dear Attorney General Gonzales:

I write to express the serious concerns of the people of Montana regarding the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act. Acting on these reservations, the Montana state legislature enacted S.J. Res. 19, a resolution requesting that the State of Montana obtain information about various actions taken under the PATRIOT Act in Montana. I request that you provide the State with the information requested in S.J. Res. 19.

I am under no illusions about the serious threat posed to the United States by terrorist organizations and individuals who actively identify with those groups. The men and women of the Department of Justice are on the front lines of protecting the American people from these threats, and the vast majority of them do a superb job. This responsibility, however, comes with an obligation to also protect the Constitutional rights of the American people. Unfortunately, when legislation such as the PATRIOT Act is abused, the Justice Department undermines the faith of the American people in the Department to protect us or our liberties.

[snip]

Tester is gettin’ testy, eh?

Loo Hoo @ 102

Up until a few years back we had an ancient “seed man” in Carlsbad, CA. He simply had a small sign in his front yard that had the word seed.

But man, go inside and he had every seed you could think of in square tin boxes with a picture of the plant on the outside. He used a balance scale for measuring them and would put them in a small envelope for us. He would hand-write the name of the seed on the envelope. It was so cool, so old fashioned. It felt like being in the 1800’s. He also carried bulbs of every type, and everything was so reasonably priced.

Alas, he died, and the business ended. His family sold the property for millions. It was right across the street from Tamarack beach, a surfing hang-out.

Don’t you hate it when precious things like that fade? There used to be a woman up on Conn. Named Adelma Simmons had the most wonderful herbfarm called Caprilands. She would do these tours/lectures on the grwoing of herbs, the uses of herbs, the history of herbs (and other related flowers nand plants such as roses, etc) and you could by seeds and bulbs and cuttings and seedlings and books and things made from herbs (like teas, and seasonings and pot pourri)
You could saty and have lunch or tea depending on the day and time of year. It broke my heart when she died. So much knowledge and a graceful view toward living died with her.

Scarecrow @ 105

OT — or, as ye sow, so shall ye reap — there is enough in this NYT front page story on the Justice Department to impeach Gonzales: “We have a Monica problem.”

I commented last night on that story that the DoJ needs alot of little Dutch boys to plug their leaking dike. When the rank and file start singing like this the politicos are in big trouble.

cbl @ 94

Lou Costello,

Go figure…707

tell me about it – one minute I’m reading about oil smuggling, next thing I know, I’m buying Dick Cheney an IPod!

Looks like Apple has already thought of that: The I-Fibrillator!

Blank Kludge @ 108

OT -

But, at least tangential in that Tester is a farmer:
http://www.clarkforkchronicle……0213716502

Dear Attorney General Gonzales:

I write to express the serious concerns of the people of Montana regarding the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act. Acting on these reservations, the Montana state legislature enacted S.J. Res. 19, a resolution requesting that the State of Montana obtain information about various actions taken under the PATRIOT Act in Montana. I request that you provide the State with the information requested in S.J. Res. 19.

I am under no illusions about the serious threat posed to the United States by terrorist organizations and individuals who actively identify with those groups. The men and women of the Department of Justice are on the front lines of protecting the American people from these threats, and the vast majority of them do a superb job. This responsibility, however, comes with an obligation to also protect the Constitutional rights of the American people. Unfortunately, when legislation such as the PATRIOT Act is abused, the Justice Department undermines the faith of the American people in the Department to protect us or our liberties.

[snip]

Tester is gettin’ testy, eh?

Time to put him on the Judiciary Committee?

cbl @ 94

Lou Costello,

Go figure…707

tell me about it – one minute I’m reading about oil smuggling, next thing I know, I’m buying Dick Cheney an IPod!

Didn’t Cheney’s own kids give him an ipod?

Scarecrow @ 105

OT — or, as ye sow, so shall ye reap — there is enough in this NYT front page story on the Justice Department to impeach Gonzales: “We have a Monica problem.”

I read that and got sick to my stomach. Comey is so right, there is no window where DOJ can go to get it’s reputation back.

I am glad to see the line about 8 more DOJ employees deciding to blow the whistle. It is a sad commentary on Congress though, that even with Congressional investigations going on, these folks are so convinced that they will suffer job reprisals, that they have to do so anonymously to the NYTimes and by anonymous letter to Congress instead of in person.

Hertling must be a very busy bee indeed these days.

I have a mango and a kumquat seedling. And an avocado. It will be years, if ever, until there is anything edible from that. Does that count?
And there’s a pot with some basil and a pot with some chives.

“We have a Monica problem.”

There’s been enough to impeach for awhile. We keep being sucked in to believing that these guys will resign when confronted w/ the evidence of their wrong doings. They won’t. The poor showing in the polls is, imho, a reflection of the pace of actually getting results. Oversight is wonderful, but there have been no results yet. I think America applauds the work of our dems investigating the WH, but nothing has changed yet and I, for one, am getting frustrated.

NorskeFlamethrower @ 106

1,514 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..

Citizen looseheadprop and the Firepup Patriots:

Wonderful Spring mornin’ ta all the firepups…our yard is explodin’, the pungent smell of the Lilacs and the sound of the birds in the Amer Maple around the secret garden make it worth growin’ old enough ta sit on the deck and forget about tomorrow.

BUT…please pass it up the food chain that the “Blogads” and “Categories” scroll need trimmin’, they are growin’ into the right margin of the text and drivin me batsh*t crazy tryin’ ta decipher the missin words er syllables.

Our “baby” comes home today from her freshman year at “the U”, what a kick…

KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION AND DON’T LET THE BASTARDS INTO YER YARD!!

I thought that was just some glitch with MY computer. You see it too?

Blank Kludge @ 108

OT -

But, at least tangential in that Tester is a farmer:
http://www.clarkforkchronicle……0213716502

Dear Attorney General Gonzales:

I write to express the serious concerns of the people of Montana regarding the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act. Acting on these reservations, the Montana state legislature enacted S.J. Res. 19, a resolution requesting that the State of Montana obtain information about various actions taken under the PATRIOT Act in Montana. I request that you provide the State with the information requested in S.J. Res. 19.

I am under no illusions about the serious threat posed to the United States by terrorist organizations and individuals who actively identify with those groups. The men and women of the Department of Justice are on the front lines of protecting the American people from these threats, and the vast majority of them do a superb job. This responsibility, however, comes with an obligation to also protect the Constitutional rights of the American people. Unfortunately, when legislation such as the PATRIOT Act is abused, the Justice Department undermines the faith of the American people in the Department to protect us or our liberties.

[snip]

Tester is gettin’ testy, eh?

NICE!

Loo Hoo-There was a nursery around here that had a seed room. The walls had these cabinets similar to a card catalogue with a slot in front that displayed the seed packet. There were bins of seed that you coudl buy by the pound, a wide plank floor that creeked when you walked over it, and there were always farmers there that you could talk to who loved sharing their knowledge.

It’s gone now, along with a lot of the farms. I’m fortunate that I had the opportunity to gain some knowledge and walk through a door to the past.

Elliott @ 107

Scarecrow @ 105

OT — or, as ye sow, so shall ye reap — there is enough in this NYT front page story on the Justice Department to impeach Gonzales: “We have a Monica problem.”

I get a certain satisfaction delight knowing that the Republicans have a “Monica problem”

Yeah, when I’m ready to write my last comment/post and go into hiding, I know exactly the photoshop I want of Ms. Goodling. Where is darkblack?

On topic: at my new apartment, my landlady has a fabulous “wild” garden, and everything is either blooming, just bloomed or about to bloom. Azaleas out the front window; ferns out around the larger fish pond.

AZ Matt @ 110

Scarecrow @ 105

OT — or, as ye sow, so shall ye reap — there is enough in this NYT front page story on the Justice Department to impeach Gonzales: “We have a Monica problem.”

I commented last night on that story that the DoJ needs alot of little Dutch boys to plug their leaking dike. When the rank and file start singing like this the politicos are in big trouble.

I don’t think Monica is gay. ;)

solai @ 116

“We have a Monica problem.”

There’s been enough to impeach for awhile. We keep being sucked in to believing that these guys will resign when confronted w/ the evidence of their wrong doings. They won’t. The poor showing in the polls is, imho, a reflection of the pace of actually getting results. Oversight is wonderful, but there have been no results yet. I think America applauds the work of our dems investigating the WH, but nothing has changed yet and I, for one, am getting frustrated.

We need to target the Republicans inthe Senate and persuade them that they no longer want to be a firewall for GWB. Unless we have some realistic belief that the “jury” in the Senate will vote to convict, there is no point to impeachment when the investigations will expose so much more because they can be open ended and farther ranging.

It’s the vote in the Senate that matters.

OT ~ The guy is a PLANT…is that good enough threadwise?

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), recently appointed to the House Appropriations
Committee Caught In The Act With Prostitute, Lied, Attempted To Run From Police.

Marie Roget — The lilacs are blooming now. The scent is heavenly. Hmm… 4 (seems like 8) months of ice & snow and, finally, lilacs vs. warmth and sunshine year round. It’s a difficult call.

looseheadprop @ 114

Scarecrow @ 105

OT — or, as ye sow, so shall ye reap — there is enough in this NYT front page story on the Justice Department to impeach Gonzales: “We have a Monica problem.”

I read that and got sick to my stomach. Comey is so right, there is no window where DOJ can go to get it’s reputation back.

I am glad to see the line about 8 more DOJ employees deciding to blow the whistle. It is a sad commentary on Congress though, that even with Congressional investigations going on, these folks are so convinced that they will suffer job reprisals, that they have to do so anonymously to the NYTimes and by anonymous letter to Congress instead of in person.

Hertling must be a very busy bee indeed these days.

What startles me is they keep looking for some smoking gun memo in which Karl tells Monica to fire Iglesias to subvert the Constitution; in the meantime, there’s a mushroom cloud over the Justice Department; the evidence is such that we have no reason to trust any personnel or prosecutorial decision with any political significant that has been made in the last several years — and these guys think that’s okay.

An immediate impeachment is warranted, based on what’s in this story alone; and the Senate trial could be used to subpoena Rove et al. Let them argue executive privilege on that playing field.

Millineryman @ 119

Loo Hoo-There was a nursery around here that had a seed room. The walls had these cabinets similar to a card catalogue with a slot in front that displayed the seed packet. There were bins of seed that you coudl buy by the pound, a wide plank floor that creeked when you walked over it, and there were always farmers there that you could talk to who loved sharing their knowledge.

It’s gone now, along with a lot of the farms. I’m fortunate that I had the opportunity to gain some knowledge and walk through a door to the past.

we had the seed store in town on ninth street. The couple sold everything you could grow around here, seed or tuber — no plant stock. And in bulk quantity. And the bins to the ceilings and the wide plank creakin’ floor. I always left with lotsa little brown paper bags, but since I can’t start anything from seed, it was an annual exercise in futility ritual of hope.

looseheadprop@122
We need to target the Republicans inthe Senate and persuade them that they no longer want to be a firewall for GWB. Unless we have some realistic belief that the “jury” in the Senate will vote to convict, there is no point to impeachment when the investigations will expose so much more because they can be open ended and farther ranging.

It’s the vote in the Senate that matters.

I respectfully disagree. We need serious members of congress to start bandying the I word about. Start the House impeachment hearings, and let the support build. Don’t wait to start the process until there is a guaranteed conviction vote in the Senate. You build the vote through the process, you don’t start the process with the guaranteed vote count. There weren’t enough votes to convict Nixon at the beginning. But there were at the end. If we’d waited for the votes to be there, we never would have gotten rid of Nixon.

Lou Costello @ 123

OT ~ The guy is a PLANT…is that good enough threadwise?

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), recently appointed to the House Appropriations
Committee Caught In The Act With Prostitute, Lied, Attempted To Run From Police.

Republics are relieved that the prostitute was female. Lying is Republic SOP.

Scarecrow @ 120

Yeah, when I’m ready to write my last comment/post and go into hiding, I know exactly the photoshop I want of Ms. Goodling. Where is darkblack?

put me on the notification list for that one, I don’t want to miss it!

The Aerogarden really works great. It really does. It’s worth the investment in what it pays back in organic produce.

JML @ 124

Marie Roget — The lilacs are blooming now. The scent is heavenly. Hmm… 4 (seems like 8) months of ice & snow and, finally, lilacs vs. warmth and sunshine year round. It’s a difficult call.

;0)

Still, JML, when I was up in Montreal a little bit ago, that heady lilac smell in my aunt’s garden did give me pause…

Scarecrow @ 121

AZ Matt @ 110

Scarecrow @ 105

OT — or, as ye sow, so shall ye reap — there is enough in this NYT front page story on the Justice Department to impeach Gonzales: “We have a Monica problem.”

I commented last night on that story that the DoJ needs alot of little Dutch boys to plug their leaking dike. When the rank and file start singing like this the politicos are in big trouble.

I don’t think Monica is gay. ;)

ROTFLMAO!!! That was snarky!!

Millineryman @ 87

Try the pineapple sage in fruit salad lhp. I love the flowers on that it produces. I just picked that up last night, along with clary sage, and painted sage.

The essential oil of clary sage is magnificent and is particularly recommended for women. What do the flowers look like?

Elliot 126

I see we’re blessed with same ability not to sprout seeds. This year thought I got sunflowers to sprout which is a start. I just loved going there, and when I was a kid it really inspired me to want to garden.

It was from talking to these farmers that my dad got a lot knowledge about organic gardening in the 60’s, which was passed along to me.

Scarecrow @ 120

On topic: at my new apartment, my landlady has a fabulous “wild” garden, and everything is either blooming, just bloomed or about to bloom. Azaleas out the front window; ferns out around the larger fish pond.

I love the overgrown garden, there’s always a surprise somewhere

Lou Costello @ 91

OT ~ TRex from last night’s Ditto-Idiot (Limpbaugh) thread:

“Even reading things that Limbaugh says makes me feel like I need a Karen Silkwood-style decontamination shower.”

Looks like even that wouldn’t help: Thousands of Nuclear Arms Workers See Cancer Claims Denied or Delayed

“They couldn’t scrub the radiation off my skin — even after four showers,” McKenzie, 52, recalled of his most terrifying day at the Savannah River nuclear weapons plant near Aiken, S.C. “They took my clothes, my watch and even my ring, and sent me home in rubber slippers and a jumpsuit.”

Later, when doctors discovered the first of 19 malignant tumors on his bladder, McKenzie followed the same torturous path as thousands of nuclear weapons workers with cancer: He filed a claim for federal compensation. It was denied.

yes, I read that earlier. Just when I thought it was safe to pick up a newpaper without finding yet another category of decent citizens trampled into the dirt by the Bush administration.

cleter @ 115

I have a mango and a kumquat seedling. And an avocado. It will be years, if ever, until there is anything edible from that. Does that count?
And there’s a pot with some basil and a pot with some chives.

That avocado has to be grafted before it will produce. I don’t know which species you have, but you want to mix a deep root type with a flavor you like.

cleter @ 127

looseheadprop@122
We need to target the Republicans inthe Senate and persuade them that they no longer want to be a firewall for GWB. Unless we have some realistic belief that the “jury” in the Senate will vote to convict, there is no point to impeachment when the investigations will expose so much more because they can be open ended and farther ranging.

It’s the vote in the Senate that matters.

I respectfully disagree. We need serious members of congress to start bandying the I word about. Start the House impeachment hearings, and let the support build. Don’t wait to start the process until there is a guaranteed conviction vote in the Senate. You build the vote through the process, you don’t start the process with the guaranteed vote count. There weren’t enough votes to convict Nixon at the beginning. But there were at the end. If we’d waited for the votes to be there, we never would have gotten rid of Nixon.

No, No, No. I ‘m not suggesting we wait until their is a guarenteed conviction vote. Not at all.
I’m suggesting we want to start persuading those republicans in the Senate who might be reachable.

I did a post about it a couple weeks ago called “priming the pump”.

My point is exactly the opposite of what you suppose. Not that we should wait, instead that we should be paving the way for an actual conviction in the event of an impeachment trial.

Sort of a “build it (the conviction vote) and they will come (the bill of impeachment)” kinda thing. We should get started building the Seante vote because that will encourage the House to get cracking on the Bill of Impeachment. You gotta work both ends of the equation

Loo Hoo @ 137

That avocado has to be grafted before it will produce. I don’t know which species you have, but you want to mix a deep root type with a flavor you like.

How do you graft an avocado branch on to a beer can?

inmymind’seye @ 133

Millineryman @ 87

Try the pineapple sage in fruit salad lhp. I love the flowers on that it produces. I just picked that up last night, along with clary sage, and painted sage.

The essential oil of clary sage is magnificent and is particularly recommended for women. What do the flowers look like?

I LOVE the essential oil.Mix it with some geranium oil and it’s pure bliss for me. This is the first time I’ve ever seen the plant in a nursery. (I was so excited, like a little kid at a candy store.) I googled it last night and found this.

Clary Sage Plants

Oh. Sorry LHP. We were thinking the same thing.

Millineryman @ 140

inmymind’seye @ 133

Millineryman @ 87

Try the pineapple sage in fruit salad lhp. I love the flowers on that it produces. I just picked that up last night, along with clary sage, and painted sage.

The essential oil of clary sage is magnificent and is particularly recommended for women. What do the flowers look like?

I LOVE the essential oil.Mix it with some geranium oil and it’s pure bliss for me. This is the first time I’ve ever seen the plant in a nursery. (I was so excited, like a little kid at a candy store.) I googled it last night and found this.

Clary Sage Plants

Do you wear it as a scent? Or eat it as a supplement?

Millineryman @ 134

Elliot 126

I see we’re blessed with same ability not to sprout seeds. This year thought I got sunflowers to sprout which is a start. I just loved going there, and when I was a kid it really inspired me to want to garden.

It was from talking to these farmers that my dad got a lot knowledge about organic gardening in the 60’s, which was passed along to me.

lucky you! on both counts
a) getting sunflower sprouts and b) reaping the benefit of your dad’s knowledge, of course, you wrote it down ;)

A favorite garden I remember seeing was a simple border bed alongside a house but planted with every make and model of sunflower available on the market today. It was a riotous display and all one basic flower with a very simple color scheme.

twolf1 @ 139

Loo Hoo @ 137

That avocado has to be grafted before it will produce. I don’t know which species you have, but you want to mix a deep root type with a flavor you like.

How do you graft an avocado branch on to a beer can?

with gloves on

‘Morning, FirePups! looseheadprop, nice to see you at bat this morning! Would have dropped in earlier but my mom called from the great white north, still too cold there to do any gardening in the Upper Peninsula (although the grass is getting long-ish).

Can’t do any gardening this week, will start next week by putting in a kitchen garden with (3) raised 4′x6′ beds. Not anywhere near as much garden as I’m used to having; had a 20′x40′ bed at my old house. But it’ll do for now, keep us in herbs, salad greens and tomatoes. Hope I can make these beds using some leftover Trex-type material, excess from building our deck. I really don’t want the bother and expense of treated lumber if I don’t need to. Anybody used this Trex-type stuff in a similar application?

Jane — see if Pach will put some heirlooms in a pot for you until you can take over their care and feeding. Tomatoes are far too good for you not to find a way to weasel around your schedule. Else we’ll have to find a way to ship some to you. Guess that means I’ll have to put some Brandywines in the garden bed and send them with Marcy. ;-)

I give my sister a “cheater tomato” plant every year for Mother’s Day. She’s too busy as a working single mom to mess with the hassle of planting a garden, but she can manage to keep a pot on her deck and water it. The local greenhouse’s “cheater tomatoes” are usually in 15″ pots, already fitted with a tomato cage, plant already blooming and with small fruits set, so that my sister can have tomatoes inside the next month and enjoy them all summer. (If I could ship one to you, Jane, I would.) I stick a basil plant and some chives in the pot as well, so that she’s got fixings for a nice bruscetta or salad in the same pot. Add some fresh mozzarella and bread and she has a quick dinner on the deck. Yum.

Millineryman @ 119

Loo Hoo-There was a nursery around here that had a seed room. The walls had these cabinets similar to a card catalogue with a slot in front that displayed the seed packet. There were bins of seed that you coudl buy by the pound, a wide plank floor that creeked when you walked over it, and there were always farmers there that you could talk to who loved sharing their knowledge.

It’s gone now, along with a lot of the farms. I’m fortunate that I had the opportunity to gain some knowledge and walk through a door to the past.

Isn’t it cool how plant people love to share?

Rayne @ 145

‘Morning, FirePups! looseheadprop, nice to see you at bat this morning! Would have dropped in earlier but my mom called from the great white north, still too cold there to do any gardening in the Upper Peninsula (although the grass is getting long-ish).

Can’t do any gardening this week, will start next week by putting in a kitchen garden with (3) raised 4′x6′ beds. Not anywhere near as much garden as I’m used to having; had a 20′x40′ bed at my old house. But it’ll do for now, keep us in herbs, salad greens and tomatoes. Hope I can make these beds using some leftover Trex-type material, excess from building our deck. I really don’t want the bother and expense of treated lumber if I don’t need to. Anybody used this Trex-type stuff in a similar application?

Jane — see if Pach will put some heirlooms in a pot for you until you can take over their care and feeding. Tomatoes are far too good for you not to find a way to weasel around your schedule. Else we’ll have to find a way to ship some to you. Guess that means I’ll have to put some Brandywines in the garden bed and send them with Marcy. ;-)

I give my sister a “cheater tomato” plant every year for Mother’s Day. She’s too busy as a working single mom to mess with the hassle of planting a garden, but she can manage to keep a pot on her deck and water it. The local greenhouse’s “cheater tomatoes” are usually in 15″ pots, already fitted with a tomato cage, plant already blooming and with small fruits set, so that my sister can have tomatoes inside the next month and enjoy them all summer. (If I could ship one to you, Jane, I would.) I stick a basil plant and some chives in the pot as well, so that she’s got fixings for a nice bruscetta or salad in the same pot. Add some fresh mozzarella and bread and she has a quick dinner on the deck. Yum.

Yeah but those mozzeralla seedlings are hard to grow to fruit (tee hee)

LHP — nice post. I always come here first on Saturday mornings, coffee in hand, for Christy’s posts and the comments to them. They never disappoint. And neither did you. I don’t garden but I really enjoy the tips and enthusiasm of those who do. And the personal stories that shine through.

Millineryman @ 140
inmymind’seye @ 133
Millineryman @ 87
Try the pineapple sage in fruit salad lhp. I love the flowers on that it produces. I just picked that up last night, along with clary sage, and painted sage.

The essential oil of clary sage is magnificent and is particularly recommended for women. What do the flowers look like?

I LOVE the essential oil.Mix it with some geranium oil and it’s pure bliss for me. This is the first time I’ve ever seen the plant in a nursery. (I was so excited, like a little kid at a candy store.) I googled it last night and found this.

Clary Sage Plants

I just like looking into the picture.

A whole garden bed full of all the salvia/sages would be pretty.

twolf1 @ 139

Loo Hoo @ 137

That avocado has to be grafted before it will produce. I don’t know which species you have, but you want to mix a deep root type with a flavor you like.

How do you graft an avocado branch on to a beer can?

So true, I’d suggest a bottle. Corona.

LHP..spent many years at a farmers market saling mixed greens. Absolutely love gardening! The amount of annuals you bought and put in, hard on the back.

Have arugala, mixed greens, radish, beets etc coming up. I no longer have dogs to keep the deer out, so using combinations of moth balls, deer off, and human piss to keep the multitude of deer out of my garden.

The woods in southeatern Ohio have gone wild! Black and blue cohosh, trout lillies, trillium, violets, may apple, redbud, jack in the pulpit, dutchman britches!

The woods and gardening are therapeutic!

Maybe if we plant this seed…it will grow: Bush Resigns!

TalkLeft @ 148

LHP — nice post. I always come here first on Saturday mornings, coffee in hand, for Christy’s posts and the comments to them. They never disappoint. And neither did you. I don’t garden but I really enjoy the tips and enthusiasm of those who do. And the personal stories that shine through.

I tell you, it is hard to try to fill in for Christy on any post, but especailly this one because it is so very much “her’s”.

We have the most horrific surge of foxtail this year. I have filled and filled the garbage dumpster with them, and still pulling.

Also a hefty crop of dandelion, which is ugly as anything. I understand that dandelion is actually a good plant. . .but I am not on that boat yet. I have been planning to poison them, poison being anathema to my general bent. But I am rethinking that after talking to the garden folks last week.

I love the spring, summer is just too hot. I have lettuce ready for picking, my tomatoes have recovered from their initial transplanting. Sunflowers–have been thinning like crazy from the volunteers.

I have compost and lotta stuff grows from that. Been lucky with fruit trees from the compost–peaches, nectarines and apples.

Our roses are going nuts right now.

Love the garden. In spring anyway.

looseheadprop @ 147

Yeah but those mozzeralla seedlings are hard to grow to fruit (tee hee)

Now you tell me…at least the bread fruit is coming along nicely. Heh.

Kathleen @ 151

LHP..spent many years at a farmers market saling mixed greens. Absolutely love gardening! The amount of annuals you bought and put in, hard on the back.

Have arugala, mixed greens, radish, beets etc coming up. I no longer have dogs to keep the deer out, so using combinations of moth balls, deer off, and human piss to keep the multitude of deer out of my garden.

The woods in southeatern Ohio have gone wild! Black and blue cohosh, trout lillies, trillium, violets, may apple, redbud, jack in the pulpit, dutchman britches!

The woods and gardening are therapeutic!

just sitting here thinking about it, with the birds chip-chirping in the trees in the background… *soothing sigh*

lhp_ I diffuse it (with a diffuser or a small pot with water on the stove), or I mix it with jobba oil (generally 2 drops of oil per tbls of carrier oil) and rub it on my hands and face.

Elliot- No I didn’t write it down, that would make sense:). I did something similiar this year with sunflowers. I bought a bunch of seeds and mixed them up. It going to be great to see who survived the thinning out process.

Loo Hoo-Yes it is great about how plant people share. I love storytelling, and it’s a long and proud tradition how nature and storytelling go hand in hand.

Lou Costello @ 152

Maybe if we plant this seed…it will grow: Bush Resigns!

And there is so much FERTILIZER to help it along…..

Now you guys are making me get moving. Going to the farmer’s market one town over. They have Everything imaginable including many flavors of honey!

Native American prophecy predicts the appearance of a white buffalo during the end of times.

What is the harbinger for the rightwing lizard brains?

Perhaps a white alligator?

-GSD

Millineryman @ 157

lhp_ I diffuse it and I mix it with jobba oil (generally 2 drops of oil per tbls of carrier oil) and rub it on my hands and face.

Elliot- No I didn’t write it down, that would make sense:). I did something similiar this year with sunflowers. I bought a bunch of seeds and mixed them up. It going to be great to see who survived the thinning out process.

Loo Hoo-Yes it is great about how plant people share. I love storytelling, and it’s a long and proud tradition how nature and storytelling go hand in hand.

ooo I hope you send in a picture when it gets going!

OT again, but Seattle P-I follows up with McKay/Iglesias:

McKay: Attorney General Gonzales must go
2 fired prosecutors talk of ‘dark cloud’ over Justice Dept.

By COLIN McDONALD
P-I REPORTER

The only way to restore the public’s faith in the Justice Department and boost the flagging morale of federal prosecutors nationwide is for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to step down, John McKay, former U.S. attorney for Western Washington, said Thursday.

“The only solution I see coming is for a new attorney general who has the instant respect of the Senate Judiciary Committee,” he said. “I think what people fear is another political battle and another Bushie coming in.”

McKay and David Iglesias, former U.S. attorney of New Mexico, shared their views with the P-I editorial board. Both said the abrupt, unexplained firings of eight U.S. attorneys — McKay and Iglesias included — have put a “dark cloud” over the Justice Department and it’s up to President Bush to clear the air.

“The problem is that loyalty to the presidency was allowed to be the principal driver at the Justice Department,” McKay said. “What I am seeing are the beginnings of a criminal investigation case.”

Iglesias agreed, saying he’s confident investigations into the firings will result in obstruction of justice charges. Both will be giving statements to Justice’s Office of the Inspector General in the coming month.
-snip-

They’ve included a link to a podcast of McKay/Iglesias comments.

And have developed a considered Editorial Board statement:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/…..ttyed.html

Politics Of Prosecution: Restoring Justice

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

As the proud faade of justice becomes more besmirched by actions that were his responsibility, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is more ensconced than ever. It’s a pity for the country Gonzales professes to serve, if not the president to whom Gonzales effectively gives his highest loyalty.
-snip-

They ain’t perfect with the rest, like getting Sessions confirmed after the fall…

But still a strong piece.

Elliot- I’m going to do that with the sages I bought last night and with the angelic blue salvia I already have.

I’ll send some photos of the sunflowers and the sage/salvia garden this summer.

Just read the NYT about Monica, and it is indeed sickening.

You know, even if it were not for the monumental perversion of justice that this is on a large scale…..the spectacle of this clueless little fundie twit, with a fifth-rate education and ZERO experience, passing judgment on smart, hard working lawyers who could easily show her up for the mental midget she is, is an outrage on a purely human level.

Unlike anything Bush and Monica and their ilk ever did, being a good lawyer IS hard work.

Morning gang!

lhp, you’re terrific! Your energy is amazing, given all you’ve been through in the past year or so. Puts me to shame.
Just listen to those aches & take care, ‘kay?

I have a different sort of seeds to ask about, if you guys can indulge me.

This past week was the 1st time I’ve tried to “spotlight” an article.
(Don’t get me wrong. I’ve recommended and linked -ahem- liberally; just never used the “spotlight” thingie)
After the mandatory dry runs before I discovered I had to enable “cookies”, I gott-er done.
But I was kinda disappointed with the results.
At least from what I could see on my machine initially (pc using Mozilla), and what was subsequently sent back to me as my copy of the mailed article, virtually all of the formatting was gone, & the text sorta readable, but barely that.
Is that normal? Any chance I pestered Lou Dobbs & a bunch-a others with a “punchier” looking copy than what I was presented with??
If not, I’m gonna revert to my old system, sadder but wiser….

I’d appreciate any comments on how to use the function more effectively, including how to see actual addresses for these people if I choose to contact them but NOT use the “spotlight” gadget.

Thanks all!

oh, for the morbidly curious, i was sending out Christy’s fine article about justice, & the lack of same, from yestidie – the one headed by the nice flag pic.

You can find me in the garden at 10 pm, digging and planting by flood lamps. Night before last, I stuck some grocery store ginger root out back against the fireplace. It’s a lot cheaper at HEB than at the nursery and it will grow.

Want to share my new found natural mosquito repellent… vanilla! I rinsed out a 1 quart Windex spray bottle and added 3 or 4 ga-lugs of McCormick real vanilla. I think 3 or 4 ga-lugs is about a third of cup. Keep it in the fridge, so refreshing to spray on when you’re hot and sweaty from gardening. Safe right in four face and on your hands. I don’t know if it stains or not, which doesn’t matter since I garden in my painting clothes.

Today is excavation, I need to move some dirt around to this one spot in the front so the rain will drain away from the house. And set stones out behind the shed to make a mud-free floor where I’ll put the compost bins and the potting bench (which I intend to have a sink in, plumbed with garden hose and a real faucet).

We are renters. Lots of herbs in long skinny flower pots (window boxes mostly) at the edge of the bushes. MUCH rain this Spring in Central Texas, and everything’s doing beautifully.

What a lovely thread. I’m off to the farmers’ market, but here are a few of my faves. This year I’m putting in African Queen trumpet lilies. I love bulb lilies in any form, and they are magnificent, uncomplaining fragrant plants that come back year after year. If you plant different varieties–asiatic, trumpet, oriental–you get a couple of months of bloom. Another old favorite is the Lilium Rubrum “Black Beauty.” I love Chinese tree peonies for their incredible flowers and beautiful leafy forms. (Have to mulch them here in north-central Iowa.) I have lots of daylilies, which are tough as nails. Of all roses, David Austin’s yellow “Graham Thomas” is the one I would have if I could only have one. Here in Iowa, I bury the crown on roses, and mulch heavily in winter. I plant a few vegetables, but flowers are why I get my hands dirty.

OT from the You-Cant-Make-This-Crap-Up Dept. – Calvert Caught In The Act With Prostitute, Lied, Attempted To Run From Police

…As the male subject covered up crotch area with his left hand and shirt, he started his vehicle and placed it into drive and proceeded to leave. I ordered him three times to turn off the vehicle, and he finally stopped and complied…The male identified himself as Kenneth Stanton Calvert…

I copied this from a Kos diary. These are some of the questions on applications for jobs in the DOJ. Read them & weep (or, as I did, laugh at their arrogant stupidity):

“Which Supreme Court justice do you most admire and why?”

I’m sure “quack, quack” would be an appropriate answer here.

“Which legislator do you most admire and why?”

I wonder if she was interested in hearing people say the much persecuted and crucified bug-man.

“Have you ever cheated on your wife?”

WTF?

And my personal favorite as she gets “this close” to channeling Stephen Colbert

“And which president do you most admire and why?”

looseheadprop @ 114

Scarecrow @ 105

OT — or, as ye sow, so shall ye reap — there is enough in this NYT front page story on the Justice Department to impeach Gonzales: “We have a Monica problem.”

I read that and got sick to my stomach. Comey is so right, there is no window where DOJ can go to get it’s reputation back.

I am glad to see the line about 8 more DOJ employees deciding to blow the whistle. It is a sad commentary on Congress though, that even with Congressional investigations going on, these folks are so convinced that they will suffer job reprisals, that they have to do so anonymously to the NYTimes and by anonymous letter to Congress instead of in person.

Hertling must be a very busy bee indeed these days.

For my whine, I guess timing is everything as I posted this earlier (#66) and no one responded. :}(

The question I had then still stands however, why did the Times dump it today and not save it for the Sunday edition?

For Suzanne. I recall you in the garden. You are gone from us all. I remember your strawberries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFDynsY9_tQ

twolf1 169

seeds of destruction?

Jane Hamsher @ 7

Lots of organic herbs in pots for cooking. Wish I could do some heirloom tomatos but not in the cards this year.

I second this. Got my rosemary, thyme, dill and cilantro at the farmers’ market last Thursday; I’d have grabbed some tomato plants but I was taking the bus home that day.

dakine01 @ 171

looseheadprop @ 114

Scarecrow @ 105

OT — or, as ye sow, so shall ye reap — there is enough in this NYT front page story on the Justice Department to impeach Gonzales: “We have a Monica problem.”

I read that and got sick to my stomach. Comey is so right, there is no window where DOJ can go to get it’s reputation back.

I am glad to see the line about 8 more DOJ employees deciding to blow the whistle. It is a sad commentary on Congress though, that even with Congressional investigations going on, these folks are so convinced that they will suffer job reprisals, that they have to do so anonymously to the NYTimes and by anonymous letter to Congress instead of in person.

Hertling must be a very busy bee indeed these days.

For my whine, I guess timing is everything as I posted this earlier (#66) and no one responded. :}(

The question I had then still stands however, why did the Times dump it today and not save it for the Sunday edition?

Well, I don’t know. But, Hogan went with immunity just a few hours before presstime/deadline.

This is a lot of research. They’ve had it ready for a while.

Millineryman @ 163

Elliot- I’m going to do that with the sages I bought last night and with the angelic blue salvia I already have.

I’ll send some photos of the sunflowers and the sage/salvia garden this summer.

yay! thanks

twolf1 @ 169
OT from the You-Cant-Make-This-Crap-Up Dept. – Calvert Caught In The Act With Prostitute, Lied, Attempted To Run From Police
…As the male subject covered up crotch area with his left hand and shirt, he started his vehicle and placed it into drive and proceeded to leave. I ordered him three times to turn off the vehicle, and he finally stopped and complied…The male identified himself as Kenneth Stanton Calvert…

———————

Lemme guess: Another Family Values Republican, right?

The question I had then still stands however, why did the Times dump it today and not save it for the Sunday edition?

I am guessing this may be big enough to get into tomorrow’s paper as well.

dakine01 at 171

hint: don’t just whine to us & yourself in the mirror. you surely do have a legitimate gripe, as do we all, re: this kind of news-burying tactic.

complain to NYTimes directly, rinse, repeat….

…signed, the friendly neighborhood pest

(cometothinkofit: we all should do that, eh?)

For my whine, I guess timing is everything as I posted this earlier (#66) and no one responded. :}(

dakine, I saw it dude! Had to go read the article.
I never would have dared to pipe up in this lovely gardening thread had you not introduced the topic. I know less than nothing about gardening. Used to have a bunch of houseplants that did pretty well…..but now with 2 kids and 2 dogs, I’m maxed out on nurturing.

ah yes, complaining…..

in re: my #165

any hints for improvement are welcome. please???

we are in up state NY close to the Canadian border.
The other day it was 86 to night it will be in the 30’s. Too cold to plant, we don’t usually put annuals in till Memorial Day Weekend although the last couple of years we’ve been able to plant a week or so early.

Since you still have some problems from the accident go slow this year. Plant what you can handle so you are not overwhelmed and frustrated. This is actually great advice for everyone!
What about a kitchen garden?
This is a garden with veggies and flowers interspersed? It gives great color and is healthy. You can get some great book to show you how.
Or if you are into vegetables for Canning or freezing, raised beds are great for intensive gardens. I love to grow lots of tomatoes forsalsa and spaghetti sauce. Or a formal herb garden Or a cutting garden or just a perennial bed.
Really the choices are endless.
I am disabled but love to garden
But what I have found is that if I do(plant) too much, I can’t keep up and I get frustrated and then my garden is not the source of pleasure it should be.
Also USE MULCH!!!!
It will cut down on the watering and weeding and if you use bark mulch for flowers it looks nice!!!

Here, in upstate NY, spring has arrived (finally). My windows are open and someone in the neighborhood is playing music. Everyone is outside mowing or gardening or washing their car. You see neighbors you haven’t seen since November. It’s really a magical time. So, I will see you all later. Going to go find the music lovers and I’m betting that within the hour there will be a gathering of people enjoying the sunshine.

solai @ 183

Here, in upstate NY, spring has arrived (finally). My windows are open and someone in the neighborhood is playing music. Everyone is outside mowing or gardening or washing their car. You see neighbors you haven’t seen since November. It’s really a magical time. So, I will see you all later. Going to go find the music lovers and I’m betting that within the hour there will be a gathering of people enjoying the sunshine.

Enjoy! I am feeling ill again and back in bed for now. Sunshine in the window.

dakine01 @ 171

looseheadprop @ 114

Scarecrow @ 105

OT — or, as ye sow, so shall ye reap — there is enough in this NYT front page story on the Justice Department to impeach Gonzales: “We have a Monica problem.”

I read that and got sick to my stomach. Comey is so right, there is no window where DOJ can go to get it’s reputation back.

I am glad to see the line about 8 more DOJ employees deciding to blow the whistle. It is a sad commentary on Congress though, that even with Congressional investigations going on, these folks are so convinced that they will suffer job reprisals, that they have to do so anonymously to the NYTimes and by anonymous letter to Congress instead of in person.

Hertling must be a very busy bee indeed these days.

For my whine, I guess timing is everything as I posted this earlier (#66) and no one responded. :}(

The question I had then still stands however, why did the Times dump it today and not save it for the Sunday edition?

Today it got front page above the fold. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and lots of folks will be out to brunch instead fo reading the paper.

maybe it is better today?

Adie @ 179

dakine01 at 171

hint: don’t just whine to us & yourself in the mirror. you surely do have a legitimate gripe, as do we all, re: this kind of news-burying tactic.

complain to NYTimes directly, rinse, repeat….

…signed, the friendly neighborhood pest

(cometothinkofit: we all should do that, eh?)

The e-mail address is nytnews at nytimes daht com.

I asked them (politely of course) what they were thinking about publishing such an incredibly important, substantiated story on the attempted subversion of the constitution on the slowest news day of the week.

Then I forgot myself and asked if they were cowards or idiots. Hope others can ask the quesitons with a bit more discreetion thatn I showed.

Morning everyone!

Jane – only semi-OT, have you heard of the cookbook One Bite at a Time? My sister and brother-in-law were introduced to it when they went to a retreat for people with cancer – very tasty and healthy stuff, geared to boost the immune sytem, and, did I mention very tasty?

Hope all is well with the visiting therapod.

Morning TexBetsy – hope you feel better soon.

Lumber treated with chromated copper arsinate (green) is a hazard. Organic gardeners should use…

woods such as cedar and redwood and non-wood alternatives such as metals and plastics

Or if you are into vegetables for Canning or freezing, raised beds are great for intensive gardens. I love to grow lots of tomatoes for salsa and spaghetti sauce. Or a formal herb garden Or a cutting garden or just a perennial bed.

Wow, diane, great childhood memories there, too, with Mom & my aunts planting rhubarb, cukes, & a huge variety of other veggies to put up in the fall. Jars & jars of preserves, corn relish, rhubarb-strawberry jam, a relish they called pickalilly, man, it was endless…

Thanks for evoking happy memories- after reading the NYT article on the disgusting antics of Moronica Goodling, I needed a boost :)

Millineryman @ 140

inmymind’seye @ 133

Millineryman @ 87

Try the pineapple sage in fruit salad lhp. I love the flowers on that it produces. I just picked that up last night, along with clary sage, and painted sage.

The essential oil of clary sage is magnificent and is particularly recommended for women. What do the flowers look like?

I LOVE the essential oil.Mix it with some geranium oil and it’s pure bliss for me. This is the first time I’ve ever seen the plant in a nursery. (I was so excited, like a little kid at a candy store.) I googled it last night and found this.

Clary Sage Plants

Thanks for turning me on to moosey’s country garden

I’m going to grow clary sage.

Mutant Poodle @ 188

Morning TexBetsy – hope you feel better soon.

thanx

okay…

gardening…
hmmmm…..

we planted edible soybeans and enjoyed them “green” from the pods for years, until Martha Stewart trumpeted that she invented the practice of eating them that way, as “edimame”.

perhaps I’m being too harsh on the gal.
but… well… the name gives her away…
she didn’t invent. the Japanese did.

Anyone who wants to grow them: they’re nice strong-growing plants, but you should give them more room than regular bush beans. Pick the pods, the whole plant-full, all at once when they’re big enough to suit you, but still bright green in the pods. Might as well pull up the plant at that time too – it’s done.

Better yet, mow &/or till the old plant under while it’s still green – it’s loaded with goodies to improve your garden soil ;->

Hint: before eating or freezing, cook pods briefly (3 – 5 min) in boiling waterto make shelling easier. They can be frozen in the pods. (N.B. soybeans cannot be digested well unless they are cooked).
Scrumptious! We use them instead of limas. They never get starchy-tasting.

back to the Japanese: NO! You don’t need to eat edimame loaded with salt, the Japanese way. Think of delicious, tender, non-starchy limas, & eat ‘em any way you want. YUM!

Marie Roget @ 101

Good morning from L.A.

Since moving back to Santa Monica into a house w/large wraparound garden, we’ve planted nearly every side of it in roses. Herb garden in pots on the back porch- basil, thyme, parsley, cilantro, jalepenos.

I miss the lilac tree/rose bush combo garden of my childhood. Lilacs don’t do well here in SoCal- what a pity, they’re so fragrant & lovely. Our star jasmine bushes are blooming though, & smell divine.

The lilacs are going berzerk right now up here in the Twin Cities, Marie. We had a latish start to spring (complicated by a string of warm days in late March that teased a lot of plants, followed immediately by some hard freezes in early April), and just like with LHP, the plants are going nuts to make up for it.

looseheadprop @ 185 says:

Today it got front page above the fold. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and lots of folks will be out to brunch instead fo reading the paper.

maybe it is better today?

Good point that I had not thought of, especially since my mother died twenty years ago last Saturday. But still , the NYTimes is still close to being the premier (now that Judy moved on) news org in the country. I would think a Sunday publication, even on Mother’s Day, would get it out into the start of the week news cycle much better than burying it on Saturday.

dakine01 @ 195

looseheadprop @ 185 says:

Today it got front page above the fold. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and lots of folks will be out to brunch instead fo reading the paper.

maybe it is better today?

Good point that I had not thought of, especially since my mother died twenty years ago last Saturday. But still , the NYTimes is still close to being the premier (now that Judy moved on) news org in the country. I would think a Sunday publication, even on Mother’s Day, would get it out into the start of the week news cycle much better than burying it on Saturday.

Which is more likely to get the sunday puppets chatting on TV?

New thread upstairs…

Phoenix Woman @ 194

Marie Roget @ 101

Good morning from L.A.

Since moving back to Santa Monica into a house w/large wraparound garden, we’ve planted nearly every side of it in roses. Herb garden in pots on the back porch- basil, thyme, parsley, cilantro, jalepenos.

I miss the lilac tree/rose bush combo garden of my childhood. Lilacs don’t do well here in SoCal- what a pity, they’re so fragrant & lovely. Our star jasmine bushes are blooming though, & smell divine.

The lilacs are going berzerk right now up here in the Twin Cities, Marie. We had a latish start to spring (complicated by a string of warm days in late March that teased a lot of plants, followed immediately by some hard freezes in early April), and just like with LHP, the plants are going nuts to make up for it.

When I lived in Minneapolis it was near Dinkytown, and we rented a house with a small back-yard garden. There was a lilac bush that was clearly ingesting banned substances, and every spring the lilac scent would permeate the area. My mother once spent most of an afternoon crawling around inside it pruning.

Out here in LA, the jasmine have been quite aromatic recently…

dakine01 @ 186

Adie @ 179

dakine01 at 171

hint: don’t just whine to us & yourself in the mirror. you surely do have a legitimate gripe, as do we all, re: this kind of news-burying tactic.

complain to NYTimes directly, rinse, repeat….

…signed, the friendly neighborhood pest

(cometothinkofit: we all should do that, eh?)

The e-mail address is nytnews at nytimes daht com.

I asked them (politely of course) what they were thinking about publishing such an incredibly important, substantiated story on the attempted subversion of the constitution on the slowest news day of the week.

Then I forgot myself and asked if they were cowards or idiots. Hope others can ask the quesitons with a bit more discreetion thatn I showed.

LOL!

Similar problem is why I don’t phone these days. On school board years ago, I got to the point that I had 2 gears: mute & shout. I gave it up, but still use e-mail liberally, ahem, after editing 2-3 times. ;->

dakine01 @ 186

Adie @ 179

dakine01 at 171

hint: don’t just whine to us & yourself in the mirror. you surely do have a legitimate gripe, as do we all, re: this kind of news-burying tactic.

complain to NYTimes directly, rinse, repeat….

…signed, the friendly neighborhood pest

(cometothinkofit: we all should do that, eh?)

The e-mail address is nytnews at nytimes daht com.

I asked them (politely of course) what they were thinking about publishing such an incredibly important, substantiated story on the attempted subversion of the constitution on the slowest news day of the week.

Then I forgot myself and asked if they were cowards or idiots. Hope others can ask the quesitons with a bit more discreetion thatn I showed.

it can be SO hard to maintain that “polite and professional” tone when the outrage is so great….though I recognize the importance.

Next we will see what the fine folks at the WaPoop have for us tomorrow.

Diane at 182, We’re going for a kitchen garden. I ordered seeds of lettuces, radish, four kinds of tomatoes, winter squashes, french green beans, cucumbers, herbs, broccoli, kale, swiss chard, leeks and fingerling potatoes. We also grow flowers.

We have an old farmhouse with a very old glass greenhouse which does its job. Today, I’m installing an 18 inch wire fence with just enough electricity to tell the rabbits and woodchucks to go around. We bought it from McGreggor Fence in Sandwich, MA and I’ll report if it works.

This year our big experiment is French Chantarel melons and small watermelons. I got the seeds from Johhny’s Seeds in Maine because they specialize in Northeast growing season.

There’s a great website kitchengardeners.org which is an inspiration.

NZ Expat, now in KS @ 13

After being away for over a year, I’m facing gardens that are overgrown and a total mess (the college kids that lived here barely managed to mow). So yesterday, I spent three hours trying to dig out volunteer trees coming up in the middle of bushes and all that sort of stuff. I’m taking it a bit slowly.

I have two big pots with pyramid sort of trellises in them that are near the front door. Earlier this week, I planted seeds? beans? for purple hyacinth bean (a climber with beautiful purple flowers, if I’m remembering clearly). I planted eight seeds (four in each) and I saw the pale green stem of one arching out of the soil in the morning (about four days earlier than I expected). As I came and went all day, I saw three more pop up, and two of them unfurled their tops, lifting the split bean and letting the primary leaf emerge. I never saw movement, but each time I returned, there was something new to see.

My absolute favorite is the scent of peonies and irises. I especially associate irises with my mother, who died on Christmas Day, when I was still in New Zealand. I didn’t make it back for her funeral, but wanted to sense her spirit as I smelled the irises, so I was scheduled myself to be back in plenty of time.

It was in the 80’s in March apparently and spring took off with great exuberance. I got back on April 8. But on April 7, it was 15 degrees and now, I have two irises stems only, out of all my iris beds, and most of the peony buds froze. But I have my two stems of irises and there are a few here and there about the neighborhood. I walk the neighborhood, sticking my nose in each one that is close enough to the sidewalk. And yes, I smell that incredible scent and feel my mother’s presence.

my next door neighbor has some beautiful irises right now, I know what you mean about the evocative scent.

neokneme @ 189

Lumber treated with chromated copper arsinate (green) is a hazard. Organic gardeners should use…

woods such as cedar and redwood and non-wood alternatives such as metals and plastics

I STRONGLY SECOND the caution against planting anything edible anywhere near treated wood!

Now an extra thot or 2 from someone who hates hard work but loves to garden:

You can ix-nay the whole wood-border idea by simply raking & hoe-ing creatively, creating little semi-raised beds, and even dikes & channels — thus using the concept of raised beds very effectively, yet avoiding all the hard work of lugging around timbers. This way, you also leave the soil open for further tilling and working in subsequent seasons, if your soil isn’t yet “perfect”. (Our OH clay has received TLC & 35 yrs of added compost et al, & still benefits from a bit of tilling sometimes. We’re glad we didn’t hamper that access by adding timbers….

One last thot: in creating your planting beds, make sure they’re not too wide to reach across, for weeding & thinning, etc. Other than that caution, there’s no particular need to plant in strict rows. If an errant but healthy lettuce plant pops up amidst the carrots, let it grow till it’s ready for the salad bowl – no harm no foul. ;->

For flowers, I couldn’t go a year without morning glories, portulaca and zinnias. Some years, our zinnias even make it to restaurant tables in town. This year we will grow a big roadside bed of cosmos (think Color Purple). We’re also trying a mix of flowers which are good for pots and hanging plants.

In EPU, but relevant to this thread. I’m contacting Miracle Gro to tell them they’re losing a customer of 12 years unless they withdraw this lawsuit. It is frivolous and makes them undeserving of my business. Everyone on my street will also stop buying their products and you know how these things have a way of catching on …

Remember to plant some mallows and milkweeds for the butterflies. Once they get established they are quite hardy. I also like vinca (periwinkle).

And get your compost going. Many municipalities offer free composting containers. Much better than that Miracle gro /Ortho nitrate crap that just ends up upsetting natural balances.

I’m off to buy a hummingbird feeder today.

Here’s my suggestions for the last little plot you have:
backing up things, like along a sunny wall, either some lovage (multi-year/perennial, looks like and tastes like celery, but more peppery, grows about 3 feet high with beautiful celery-like foliage) or just some celery
In front, sorrel – another one that will give you leaves in spring and in fall, then overwinter and come back at least one more year. Hard to find in the market at a decent price, but really nice to add to a salad, or to a fish sauce.

Get a pack of a salad mix- I prefer the French varieties, so you’ll get some chervil and mache in the mix

Alternatively, get some seeds for (or just save them from a nice greenmarket specimen this summer) for melon Charentais – French canteloupes. I have some started now, and they’ll be ready to transplant in a week or so. Hint – if you let them go in a good sunny spot like my dad did a couple years back, they’ll get bigger than a basketball and still be as good.

Another good one for the back, if you are up to dealing with a somewhat invasive self-seeding plant, is anise hyssop. This one has a strong licorice flavor throughout, and all parts of the plant are edible – leaves, flowers (the stems are woody, but fun to chew on). Better still, bees go absolutely bonkers happy over the flowers, and there will always be at least one bee on each plant during all daylight hours – one bite of a flower will tell you why. The flowers come in small finger-shaped clusters of tiny purple blooms, and are sweeter than pure sugar, with a pleasant but not overpowering anise taste. The plant will get about 4 feet high if you let it. You can use the leaves (and flowers) in salads or to infuse tea, and there are recipes for ice cream using just the leaves for flavor.
But, the best part is you’re being a friend of the bees.

Right now, I’m looking forward to my roses….

Boston1775 @ 201

D

There’s a great website kitchengardeners.org which is an inspiration.

Wow! Thanks for this link!

Who owns the garden pictured at the top of this post?

It appears the boards surrounding it are pressure treated lumber, or should I say poison treated lumber. I wouldn’t eat anything out of that garden. Pressure treated lumber is toxic!

Gardening is one of my favorite activities. I am moving into a rental that has a wonderful back yard. My son built raised beds for me and mesclun & lettuce are ready to use, broccoli is beautiful, peas are about to bloom, thinned beets and carrots this week, and I just put in tomatoes that I started from seed. They are in water walls because nights are cool in Oregon.

I’ve made a few new flower beds. One of my favorite cut flowers is fragrant lilies and I put in a dozen. But there are more flower varieties because cut flowers must always be indoors at my house. Best wishes to you.

morphosequence @ 209

Who owns the garden pictured at the top of this post?

It appears the boards surrounding it are pressure treated lumber, or should I say poison treated lumber. I wouldn’t eat anything out of that garden. Pressure treated lumber is toxic!

If they were treated, the boards would not be gray. Treated wood maintains its color for several years.

Please plant some veggies. It helps with global warming. (No oil, etc. used to truck plants to us from wherever.)

Since you asked….

Here’s something weird I just recently came across: Grow tomatoes upside down!! You get a 5 gallon bucket (like a paint bucket), make a 2″ hole in the bottom of the bucket. Hang the bucket up on something secure. Place a coffee filter over the hole in the bottom of the bucket. Then cut a slit in the coffee filter that is covering the hole. Place a tomato plant upside down, through the hole/slit, leaving most of the plant (the more the better, because extra roots will spring from the stem too, as well as the existing roots) inside the bucket. Carefully fill in potting soil all the way to the top of the bucket (leave an inch). Water carefully. Place a coffee filter in the middle, on top of the soil. Take the lid, make a 2″ hole in the middle of it. Place the lid on (with the coffee filter under the hole. Hang the plant in the sun on something secure and at least several feet off the ground. Grow as usual. It produces more tomatoes with less bruising, diseases, and bugs. The plant gets really big and hangs down under the bucket. Voila!!!

Marion in Savannah @ 208

Boston1775 @ 201

D

There’s a great website kitchengardeners.org which is an inspiration.

Wow! Thanks for this link!

No, Marion, thank you for being there every morning.

An awful winter here in Seattle–the worst on record, in terms of low temperatures (which killed a lot of plant that are usually perenials here), rain, snow and wind–made it hard to get started this year, especially with my balcony container garden. I had to buy and replant lots of plants that had made it through the past few winters (herbs, fuschia, trailing geraniums, mini roses).

Nothing special I’m planting this year, just the boring old usual favorites–cherry and grape tomatoes, lettuce, jalapenos, dill, cilantro, sweet basil, radishes, carrots, beets, parsley, snap peas, sweat peas, calendulas, marigolds, impatiens, petunias, nasturtiums, violets, verbena, allysum, lilies, nicotiana, daylilies, and various perenial herbs.

This spring and summer better be hot and sunny to make up for all the lost time!

For flowers: have you ever tried geranium Rozanne? Mine went from, say, July until frost, with little need for supplemental watering; just kept putting out those flowers.

I envy you: Long Island has a terrific climate. You’re zone 7, right? Wish I were there instead of here (PA sucks). Good luck!

Here’s a tip to keep bugs away from tomato plants; my gramma who was a great gardener gave this suggestion to me. Plant little marigold plants
around each tomato plant; bugs loathe the marigold plant and
so you suddenly have a slugfree bugfree set of tomato plants growing up happily.