Lots of stuff coming up! Hosta peeking out. Bluebells blooming. Daffodills fading. Cherry tree starting to blossom. Can’t wait to get my hands dirty later today! Mornin’ all!

Not out in the cold frame yet (we had snow yesterday and I’m not sure what the temperature of the soil is anyway), but the seeds are up and my daughter and I are holding a “dirty party” to transplant tomorrow. Here, you are taking your life in your hands if you put tomatoes and peppers out before Memorial Day, but we should be able to get some greens in next month if I can get one of the beds dug and covered with plastic to warm up.

Hey, all!

Lights Out Tonight! Join in Earth Hour 2008 (8 p.m. local time, March 29)

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

http://www3.earthhourus.org/

Spread the word.

Well, now…my favorite topic for this time of year. So far, i have the following in the ground:

2 kinds of lettuce, broccoli, brussels sprouts, collards, red cabbage, corn and bush beans, onion sets, peanuts, 18 bell pepper plants (don’t ask), 7 tomato plants (with more on the way).

Today, I’m planting squash (3 types), watermelon, canteloupes, and some more corn.

hey everybody

Was a great, perfect mornin’ in sunny central flori-duh but the clouds are starting to come in and that can’t be good. wishy i had been out more when it was nicer but my dog has diahrea and it was quite a cleanup.

I don’t really know nuthin’ about this stuff. But one of the palm trees inm fronyt of my house looked p[retty crummy last week and I was asking around about what to do about crummy looking palm trees. It’s turning green and commin’ alive. There’s a little bush under the mauilbox at the street. nobody else has one. i think I’ll pull it up.

Hey, i was just watching bush’s speech from thursday on c-span. i uisually just laugh at the clown anymore but this one got me pissed for some reason.

nobody else has one. i think I’ll pull it up

Don’t pull it up! That’s the perfect reason to leave it.

It’s spring, or almost spring, and even though we still have snow on the ground where I live

There is a rumour here that spring will come eventually but after another 6″ of snow yesterday that promise look remote.

I have lots and lots of seed packets just waiting to be opened. I am determined to start the rototiller next week and damn the weather.

where’s that?

Love fresh tomatoes, but haven’t had much luck with them lately–trees have grown and now it’s too shady. But can’t part with my trees!

Nampshire

here’s the line from that speech that really cuaght my attentiion. i think for a change bush wrote something himself. he knows all about this (BTW, he’s desribing the Iraqi’s attitude.)

We can’t stand the thought of people who murder the innocent to achieve political objectives and we intend to do something about it… .

Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you, Bush.
Sorry to intrude upon the gardening stuff.

NJ had great tomatoes. Everybody in NJ planted tomatoes. i miss NJ.

You must be in my zone. My hostas seem to be growing before my eyes. Some azaleas are in full bloom; others are on the way. Dogwood will be flowering soon. Roses and hydrangeas are putting out new growth like mad. This morning, in the rain, I planted 3 new hostas, 3 columbine and 3 bloody dock. I am obsessed.

My friend in Cleveland can’t believe my daffs are done. She still has snow on the ground and hasn’t seen a crocus yet.

A Not-so-silly little thot:

If you have a sunny spot elsewhere, declare it your tomato garden & prep accordingly. To save space, train the plants up a 2X4″ mesh welded wire fence tied to a couple of stakes.

Enjoy trees AND tomatoes. Lest the neighbors think you’ve lost yer sense of propriety, plop a little marigold plant in next to the tomato, just for meanness. Then smile a lot. Gawleeeeeee! (at least that has worked for me)

I’m in GA. I’ve got 100 bareroot hosta to plant in the next week. I’m trying to do about 10/day. Lots of buds on the azaleas and new leaves on the hydrangeas.

Where in NC are you? I grew up in Boone and went to NC State.

If you have a sunny spot elsewhere, declare it your tomato garden & prep accordingly. To save space, train the plants up a 2X4″ mesh welded wire fence tied to a couple of stakes.

Years ago when we were living in an apartment we “co-opted” some space on a flat roof next door that we got to through our bathroom window. We built a box and had fresh salad stuff, tommies and squash all summer. We still think fondly of our “secret/stolen” garden.

Whoa! What kinds of hostas? I just planted Great Expectations. Last month I planted a bareroot Sum & Substance (which looks to be thriving) and a bareroot Krossa Regal (can’t find any foliage under my pine needles yet — I hope it’s just a little late).

I’m in Winston-Salem. My son is a junior at App and loves Boone. He may never leave. Daughter is at UNC. (Go Heels!)

That’s just fine with me. It’s on all our minds… Gotta let a little steam outta the pressure gauge once in awhile or blow sky-high.

Speaking of which, biologists I know are in a dreadful snit over Ben Stein’s latest “venture”. Brace yourselves and look it up (link below) when you have time and inclination, folks. It might be best to wait till you’re in a mood to be angry. Apologies for bringing it to this thread…
http://phosnorkapages.blogspot…..html#links

If you have a sunny spot elsewhere, declare it your tomato garden & prep accordingly. To save space, train the plants up a 2X4″ mesh welded wire fence tied to a couple of stakes.

Actually the best tomato garden I’ve had was when we tacked 2×4 mesh to the fence along the driveway. Unfortunately I can’t do that anymore (part of it belonged to a neighbor who is no longer friendly). The very best tomatoes were when I had rabbits–absolutely the world’s best fertilizer! And I always plant marigolds; may or may not discourage bugs, but love their cheerfulness!

basil, tomatoes, bell & jalapeno peppers, eggplant and beans, for the most part, as well as some other herbs and flowers all went in last weekend

I’m chomping at the bit to start tilling as well. No summer job for me last year has really put a crimp in our budget, and there won’t be one again this year, so we’re growing our own veggies and extra for sale. I’m overwhelmed with tomatoes right now: carbon, black cherry, ananas noir, big rainbow, and st. pierre.

Looks like the pepper plants are starting to sprout now too… too many of those to list.

Sweet peas are growing all over the place too – my life loves them.

Gilbert H Wild has 100 mixed bareroot hosta for $100. We got 50 about 3 years ago, and most of them have done very well. My Krossa Reagl isn’t showing up yet, either. Planted it several years ago. That one and several others seem to be late risers. I have a few of one unnamed variety that don’t come up until mid- to late-April.

Glad your son likes Boone. I try to get back when I can. Too bad about your daughter. I grew out of that phase. :)

Totally OT

I just got back from Jane’s panel at EschaCon ‘08. It was a lively discussion and Jane looks great with her dynamic new hair style.

I didn’t stay trying to get over this cold. Get this, there was no Wifi because the venue where it was it wanted $350.00 per computer.

was that in nyc?

mm, you’re in nj, right? I just gave a plug for jersey tomatoes.

Just gotta say I _loooove_ sun sugars. I eat them like candy and they grow like mad!

Give your nasty neighbor a fresh ripe tomato or 3. No. In a NICE way, silly. It works wonders.

I once semi-tamed a crank next door by handing her sweet, friendly little kid a tomato (right in front of mommydearest) and suggested to the little girl that she take it to her mom, which she promptly and happily did.

Diplomacy is a great sport. Everyone wins….

The neighbor’s still a &#*!, but doesn’t seem to have the inclination to make our lives miserable any more. I guess that’s progress of a sort.

I’m in Northern California, and OMG, even though it happens every year, I’m always whirling about with bloomtastic delight. Everything is lit up and flowering and blooming. Yesterday and today have been chilly and a little rainy, but the trees and plants here expect that and they cannot be stopped.

I live in a teeny apartment and I’m gone a lot (house-sitting) so I don’t have my own garden, but I just worked on someone’s deck herb garden, and added a pot of borage and one of golden thyme. But oh the trees and daffys and wildflowers. It maketh me drunk. Some of it causeth me to sneeze, but oh so beautiful.

i was already angry, so i checked it out. this has been making the rounds for yearts and years and years – the liberals control education and don’t let people who disagree with them into the system. bogus. one eof ann coulter’s favorite thememes. used to be anyway. i honestlt hadn’t heward about this. thanks for the link.

Our garden is under two feet of snow. It’s minus 8 celsius and the wind is blowing powdered snow all over. It’s like mid-January out there, except for the light, which is a spring light. It’s so cold even the sap isn’t running, and this was supposed to be a banner sirop day. Very unusual for the last 25 years. It’s an old-fashioned winter.

We’re staying home and making bouillebaisse from stock confected from old lobster shells, crabs and a few frozen fish-heads. Looking forward to Spring, but doubtful as to when it will actually arrive.

I’ve never heard of Gilbert H Wild. Just went to their website. Gorgeous.

Glad to hear Krossa Regal might just be late. My 2 Sun Powers aren’t showing yet either.

I really hope the Pack has a good recruiting class. I’ve been disappointed in NC b’ball the past few years.

spurious at 9

if you have a place that has sun where you can hang a 5 gallon bucket, you can try ’upside-down’ gardening.

you grow the plant out of the bottom and it hangs down. works for peppers and tomatoes. all kinds of things.

works great, know a few people who have done it. one of them had a homemade irrigation system made from short lengths of hose, where he hooked up the watering hose to another hose that went to the bucket, cuz the bucket was too high to reach.

lots of info about it on the web.

No it was Philly.

Speaking of Jersey Tomatoes

Some say they are the best tasting tomatoes around.

Here’s a link to the last tomato packing plant in NJ.

The Scalfini brand is very tasty.

Knut, you must be in my zone. I’d love to be thinking about gardening, but we still have feet upon feet of snow. Brilliant cold and blowy here today. I did order many great veggie seeds, which I’m getting ready to start inside. Nothing but peas and lettuce can go out before Memorial Day. I do a pretty big vegetable garden, focusing increasingly on subsistence crops – potatoes, squash, carrots, beans, beets, cabbabe, food our ancestors survived on. And then once that’s going I reward myself with couple flower gardens – a sunny one, a shady one and one by the kitchen door.

Wow, they must be going crazy without wifi!

Hiya PW, great idea for a thread this morning! We’ve got wildflowers in pots, just poking their little heads outta the dirt, from free packets at the flower show earlier this month. Also, a five-year old Easter lily has about five stems, ranging from five inches tall to over a foot. Probably, it’ll bloom in August — it’s later and later every year. But when it blooms, it is glorious, with over two dozen blooms last year.

Daylilies are in pots and starting to thrive too.

As far as I know, this is a new version, fresh out of the -um- can, as it were. We heard via e-mail from a very savvy friend of ours who keeps up with the news, especially the creationist-rabble sort; he’s an evolutionary biologist by trade, so knows tit from tat & all that. When he calls it serious, it truly is. oh sigh…

i admire your spunk in sticking with the metric situation. when i was a kid, we were sup;posed to learn all that buut we never did. lemme see.
-8 celsius equals……. lemme see. 32F equals 0 celsius, so minus 8 celsius equals……, um, i’m doin’ this in my head …… pretty cold. i dunno. 20-something?

a month or so ago the dep’t of education in FL was going to adopt a curriculum where evolution was taught. this would have been the first time. the JFs shrieked and packed public hearings and a “compromise” was adopted. i just don’t see how educators can “compromise” truth. they aren’t tyhe real educators though – they’re not actually in the classroom. so i guess it was easier for the DOE people.

Thanks Adie, but this has gone beyond that (lawsuit which he lost, but was expensive). Nice idea, though.

From snowy (yes, it snowed here yesterday!) Seattle.

The bank behind our community garden (p-patch) has daffodils nodding and pink tulips gradually (very gradually) unfolding. Rhubarb in my plot is sending forth new green and red stalks.

Despite the cold, I have planted potatoes, dug up dahlia tubers that survived nicely to transplant, and harvested the last of the winter leeks for potato and leek soup tonight. Mulch is spread and waiting to be dug in. Seed packages on hand: lettuce, onions, beets, beans…

i know i say that. without doubt. alot of people think nj is all toxic and don’t think of it as an agricultural state. their loss. (and i haven’t even mentioned sweet corn yet.)

what was the topic for jane’s panel?

Hey folks. It’s just plain too cold and sodden to touch our clay soil today, except to sneak a few onion sets into my little raised-bed sneakypatch.

But it’s beautiful and sunny. So me and my honey, well, we’re gonna go garden a different way. N.E. OH, springtime. Ice just off the lakes & ponds. We’re gonna grab the binocs & a warm coat and see if we can find some waterfowl migrants.

Back in a bit!

Thanks for all the good conversating. ;->

last summer,on saturday morning threads, several firepups (forgive me for not remember which ones) inspired me to to freeze tomato sauce. in the end i got over 30lbs of extra tomatoes from the organic farm (CSA) where i have a share (this was at their peak of flavor and they were only $1/lb). in the end i froze about 2.5 gal of tomatoes and 1.5 gal of ratatouille (also made with veggies from the farm). the ratatouille is long gone, but i still have some of the tomatoes left – it has been such a treat to experience the taste of summer in the dead of winter.

many thanks to all who encouraged me to make the attempt – it is definitely something i will want to repeat.

hmmm, seems as though I have heard of that; might be a good year to try it. Thanks for the reminder!

It is a nice catalog. If you like politics (and who on this blog doesn’t) check out the catalog covers of Plant Delights (www.plantdelights.com). They’re just outside of Raleigh.

I know what you mean about NC BBall. I used to look foreward to it. Now… not so much. Davidson is doing really well, though.

Just gotta say I _loooove_ sun sugars. I eat them like candy and they grow like mad!

Will have to look for those. My favorite grazing tomatoes are the yellow pears. :~)

Just ran upstairs and found out our tomatillos are sprouting now today too! Got all the fixings for some homemade salsa ready to go!

Now I need to figure out what we’re going to put in our mothers’ upside down baskets for Mother’s Day.

Understood.

We’ve got some of that next door also, so we tread as lightly as possible, & try not to look vulnerable OR aggravate a particular young tough who’s constantly threatening, harassing &/or trying to incite (and proven dangerous to boot – in & out of jail too many times to count).

We wish you well.

That it! Sooooo good and love that shape. Thank for the name, I’m bad at that :)

We’ve always planted marigolds along the border of our veggie garden to keep pests out. We made the mistake of trying a new kind last year and they wound up turning into a 3′ tall bush that was bigger than anything else! Loved the smell though.

Speaking of neighbors, heard Garden Talk yesterday talking about Creeping Charlie (something I fight every year). Seems the caller wanted advice how to fight it because his neighbor had planted it in his flowerbed and it had crossed the property line and taken over a 20′ section of yard.

I don’t think a tomato plant could smooth that relationship over.

Here in Denver, Spring is trying to get started, but Winter will not give up. We had an inch of snow last week, but most days this week were in the 60’s. Of course, cold and rain/snow are in the Sunday forecast.

My Violets are flowering like crazy. Walking to the garage, the fragrance fills the air — which is the best part of Violet season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_violet

My rose bushes are starting to bud out — the Austrian Copper always blooms first, but it’s at least a month away.

http://home-and-garden.webshot…..7840gYHlZH

In the meantime, I keep putting out bird seed — doves and sparrows and flickers and finches are still coming around. The chickadees seem to have left — they winter down here, and summer in the mountains; those are some tough little birds.

OT, but April 7-11 is the 60th Annual Conference on World Affairs in Boulder CO — anyone who lives nearby should check out the schedule, to see if any of the forums sound interesting.

http://www.colorado.edu/cwa/information.html

hi spurious!

I love plantdelights.com, have gotten some fantastic canna lilies from them.

The Davidson game last night was fun to watch — hope they can hold their own against Kansas. I’d love to see them in the FF.

Where I live in SW Washington state, we had unusual hail and snow yesterday, but it didn’t stick. Anna’s Hummingbirds winter over in our fairly mild yard, because I keep up a feeder but I also grow winter-blooming plants that they like. Things like winter jasmine, camelia sasquana, oregon grape flowers, red-flowering currant. They will even eat from grape hyacinth’s tiny bell-shaped flowers. They start to get a little used to you, which always surprises me. A couple of days ago I was checking a suet feeder near a patch of raspberries that I haven’t pruned back yet. A male Anna’s flew in and sat on one of the tiny raspberry branches, so close I could have reached out and touched him. I talked to him and he stayed there, bouncing back and forth from stem to stem. Eventually he flew off. Just call me the Hummingbird Whisperer.

I have lots of bulbs in bloom, and I grow salad greens under plastic all winter, so I still have some for spring salads. I’ve got lots of seeds started inside under lights. Today my first coleus and Pacific Giant delphiniums germinated. I’ve got tiny eggplant, tomatoes, and basil started already.

you’re making me hungry!

Good morning from the Sierra Nevada foothills!

It is a spring rain. Yesterday and this morning the clean smell of the earth came through so I opened all my windows. I love the crystal raindrops interlaced with the fresh green leaves.

My herb’s are thriving. I snip fresh herbs every day for salad or veggie dishes or a crusted bread. Delicious!

My potted tomatoes are looking healthy. I complemented them with basil, mint and red marigolds. I also have two blue lake vine beans.

The lemon tree is loaded with blossom buds ready to burst. Outside my bedroom window are two planter boxes with lovely Spanish lavender. The red oleander trees are bursting with new growth and buds.

Both my vines are filled with buds and the first flowers are opening.

I have a small patio but I can get a lot out of this space. On clear days Molly (six pounder doggie with Gray Wolf attitude) and I have tea on the patio. To what do I owe this peace and delight? I know others in the world want noting more than what I have to nourish my soul but instead have horror and turmoil. Let me never forget my good fortune and contribute my time to those who have been denied this simplicity.

hi Teddy!

Any other time I too would root for Davidson. They are great to watch. Unfortunately, I teach at Kansas University, so my inclination for tomorrow’s game are elsewhere. Wish Davidson was in another bracket.

Gilbert H Wild and Bluestone Perennials, my two absolute favorite from which to order. Bluestone is a wonderful place, they sell year-old plants so they’re small, but you can get a lot *g* and so i’m willing to gamble on things that might or might not make it here in zone 4. (like many up here i suffer from severe zone envy)

My tulips are just poking thru areas where the snow melted off in the last few days, hurrah!

I am contemplating working on turning the backyard into a small prairie plot, i will be ordering plants and seeds from Prairie Nursery, their catalog is inspiring.

I plant all kinds of marigolds–love their exuberance! No creeping charlie here as far as I know (except in pots), but wild blackberries will attack given half a chance.

Are you near Paradise? That’s where my inlaws are. When the kids were young, we often went there for spring break. The flowers were so lovely.

But nothing beats spring in Seattle. The rich floral scent, mixed with the salt smell of the water is so very heady. And spring lingers on and on. (Did someone report snow there yesterday?)

Thanks for your involvement in keeping track, and doing what you can in your neck of the woods. This whole creationism mess is a moving target that is not going away soon. REAL scientists, and those who understand, must stay vigilent.

2 excellent resources understandable to the non-scientist:

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11876

AND

Wilson, D. S. (2007). Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin’s Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.

many thanks to all who encouraged me to make the attempt – it is definitely something i will want to repeat.

We used to can until a number of years ago it became too cumbersome so we now freeze everything we can. We bake tommies (40 mins in a 9X13pan covered ) we take out the stem end and drizzle with good olive oil and put plenty of Basil sprigs in. After cooling it is easy and fun to de-skin.(squishing fingers in tommies is great fun for younger folks) We then put in quart freezer bags for flat storing. We still have plenty from last year as we make enough to go from season to season.

PS We are having brussell sprouts from last year this evening.

thanks for that,

hey selise. long time no see.

I have grow those tomatoes many times, here in Cali they are called Sun Gold and boy they are great. As of now I am picking my sugar peas from my last fall planting.. sweet and crispy… put my second planting of them and they are already 10 ” tall. I will be planting my tomatoes very soon, we just love everything out of the garden. We also have lemon and a seedless orange tree and both are full of fruit at this time. The oranges last until late summer and get sweeter by the day.
Looking forward to this seasons goodies from the garden.

I’m getting hungry too!

My local farmer’s market opens next weekend and there’s several vendors that sell beautiful vegetable plants. That means this week I have to get the gaden ready. At least 6 tomato plants and a few others that catch my fancy.

I am in Placer County in Roseville. My family also has a home near Mt. Rose on the Nevada side just southwest of Reno. Spring arrives much later there so I get to enjoy it twice.

I am one of those people who enjoys the scent of Seattle rain and mist. It is beautiful, invigorating and makes me hungry.

Whoever wins, it will be an exciting game. This has been one of the best tourneys I can remember. But I wish Louisville were in another bracket. UNC’s going to have a tough time with them tonight.

I really like the orange varieties. We’re still in the freeze/thaw cycle here in PA. Should be able to start planting in a month.

Where are you? My farmer’s market doesn’t open until May 1. I envy you.

And speaking of the Lights Out event tonight, check out google’s home page. They’re participating too.

That sounds wonderful. I tried one of the tomato tips I got here at the Lake about putting tomatoes in the crock pot and cooking them down. Then give them a whirl in the food processor and freeze them. Wonderful for winter marinaras and pizza sauces.

I grow a lot of flowers, but over the last few years I’ve gotten more into vegetable gardening. I learned of a way to grow a lot of potatoes in a small space. Potato cages: You get a piece of wire fencing with holes big enough to stick your hand in–4-5 foot tall sheep fencing works well for this–and you make a ring of it about 3-4 feet wide. Wrap each of the ends around a 6 foot piece of rebar, so you can stick it into the ground and it will hold a circular shape. Then you put compost in the bottom, and plant your seed potatoes in the middle. Cover them with a bit more compost or dirt, and keep them well watered–very important, and they start to grow. As they grow, put more compost and dirt on them so you cover the stems and just leave a few leaves sticking out of the top. Eventually they grow to the top of the cage, flower, and produce potatoes. The cage gets filled with potatoes, and all you have to do in the fall is to open up the cage and harvest the potatoes–no digging. Of course, if you can’t wait until fall, you can stick your hand into one of the big holes and pull out some new potatoes.

My sister used to grow bunches & bunches of cherry tomatoes, and wonder how to save them all at season’s end. One year she simply froze them as is, no prep, no squashing them up. She said they were incredible just dropped into a stew toward the end of cooking, just so they had time to defrost in the stew.

A few yrs ago, I read another good idea and tried it. It WORKS!!! (We had fresh homegrown tomatoes for Christmas dinner!) Before fall temperatures get too cold and ruin the texture of your outside tomatoes, cut whole BRANCHES of them from the main plant, and simply set the branches on a flat surface gently, where it won’t get too cold. I don’t think it even makes any difference if it’s light or dark in the area. The tomatoes on those branches, if not bruised in the process, will gradually ripen on that vine – even the really green ones. We were astounded at how well it worked. The flavor wasn’t quite as good as those ripened outdoors, but they were much better than store-bought.

There. May I please be excused to go look for a loon and a swan, and maybe even a crane? Bye bye guys. You saved my mood for today. Bless you all!

SW Washington. The crazy thing is, it snowed here yesterday. Guess I’ll need to set up the Walls of Water, or whatever those things are called. They’re green plastic tubes you fill with water and stand around your plants to keep them from freezing. The sun warms the water and protects the plants at night. It sounds weird but they really work.

Great topic. I was inspired by last years garden talk. I bought the Square Foot Gardening book and read it over the winter. I bought the materials yesterday and will put them together in the next few days.

The SFG web page has some interesting things for sale. I’m thinking of getting some of the waterfall things which are designed to help earlier plantings. I am just west of the Delaware Water Gap and it is still cole here. I like the idea of the special mix instead of soil. I won’t have to do any work on making it ready for growing season.

I am going to start slow but it sounds easy. Then for the fun of picking out things to grow.

I also know where to come for ideas for preserving stuff for the winter. I love the tomatoe suggestions. Thanks all.

howdy BFL!

nomolos – you did more work than i did. i just washed them well, chopped them fine, skin and all, threw them in a big pot with olive oil, bay leaves,garlic (also from the CSA), a pinch of salt and some pepper. covered the pot and put on a med-low flame until they came to a simmer. i let that go for about 5-10 min and then turned the heat off, let it cool and then froze it, as you did, flat in freezer bags.

they’re really barely cooked, with a ton of flavor. and since the tomatoes i got where a mixture of normal red, dark red, orange, yellow and some green – i can still see a bit of the color variation in the sauce. lots of easy fun and very yummy. the only thing i plan on doing differently this year is cleaning out my freezer first so there’s room for doing more.

Speaking of Lights Out…

My honey doesn’t even know yet, but we’ll be participating also.
Is it o.k. to cuddle on the couch, with 2 cats, sigh…?
(They don’t let anyone cuddle alone in this house, heh)

Great idea!

Glad we live here in the Bay Area farmers markets are open all year long and they always have good selections of veggies…. :>)

I learned of a way to grow a lot of potatoes in a small space. Potato cages:

Now that sounds neat! We were remarking the other evevning that we needed to grow more spuds this year and your idea might vvery well solve the space problem. I will be trying it this year without doubt.. I even have some 4″ fence wiring left over from last year. It is 36″ high. that should be enough height?

Cuddling with the lights out sounds like a wonderful way to spend that hour. Snuggle away, the more the merrier. I’m referring to pets, of course. ;)

Votus 33. Sorry I meant to say thank you. oops

Speaking of vegetables, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has come out with his proposals for revamping financial markets.

While the plan could expose Wall Street investment banks and hedge funds to greater scrutiny, it carefully avoids a call for tighter regulation.

The plan would not rein in practices that have been linked to the housing and mortgage crisis, like packaging risky subprime mortgages into securities carrying the highest ratings.

The plan would give the Fed some authority over Wall Street firms, but only when an investment bank’s practices threatened the entire financial system.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03…..ref=slogin

This sounds like total horseshit to me. Excuse my language. If hedge funds and derivative trading are not severely restricted, we will have more bubbles. In fact, we are seeing one now in commodities pricing.

And what does it mean a threat to the entire financial system? It seems to me if you wait around until something is big enough to be a threat to the entire financial system what you have is what we have now. For an Administration that is so for pre-emption on the foreign affairs scene even when it involves only their own paranoid fantasies, they are taking a very different approach to financial markets where you actually can see real threats clearly in advance. But then what can we expect from this packaged assortment of idiots?

selise, you know, Obama wrote that speech himsel….. . Never mind.

707!!!

lol :)

Oh sure. You can recycle whatever fencing you might have hanging around–it’ll work fine. The big tricks are to water the cages a lot, and plant the seed potatoes in the center of the cage. I failed to do that last year, and what happens is that long stems will grow and reach for the light, but if they’re not in contact with the soil and compost they don’t set any potatoes. The other trick is to fill the cage, as the plants grow, with compost and soil. You can use compost materials that aren’t finished compost, but it’s best to use straight compost. I tried using straw last year to grow them in and it didn’t work well.

I special ordered some wonderful seed potatoes from Territorial Seed Company, so I’ll have some potatoes ready early, mid and late season. I’m going to do 5 cages this year.

And you are welcomed!

I have to go–I love the gardening threads and cooking threads–I always learn a lot!

Have a great day!

And what does it mean a threat to the entire financial system?

i think i can translate this one for you:

so long as my buddies are making a ton of money, the financial system is in good shape. but when my buddies bets don’t come through for them… why, that’s a threat to the entire financial system and we must, sadly, use taxpayer money to bail them out.

how’d i do?

When I lived in SF I purchased all my produce from the open markets. I worked in the Financial District. Was I spoiled. Now I have to drive thirty minutes away to get to a year-round open market. I have stores here that have wonderful local produce but I really love going to open market.

Driving: I take my car out for a spin thice a week. I am protesting not just the high cost of gasoline but the harm it does.

I remember when my car took me out for a spin now the role has reversed :)

How ’bout a little Garrison Keillor:

“Here we are, ignorant peasants in our mud huts at the base of the volcano of finance, begging the gods to spare us as the ground shakes beneath our feet and economists examine the entrails of pigeons and the shamans of the Federal Reserve fling handfuls of sacred powder into the steaming crater. We live with a system rejiggered by Republicans — freedom from regulation, but when the manure hits the ventilator, the Feds step in with a few hundred billion to rescue the players — and nobody can tell us ignorant savages how rough the upheaval might be. Nobody knows…”

I special ordered some wonderful seed potatoes from Territorial Seed Company, so I’ll have some potatoes ready early, mid and late season. I’m going to do 5 cages this year.

Thanks for the info.. I see they have Kentucky Blues… the best bean there is according my wonderful spouse. How many pounds do you expect from each cage? (obviously depending on variety)

how’d i do?

Dana Perino better watch out

Good morning PW!

I read somewhere that one of the heritage seed companies was selling twice as many seeds this year as last, I like to think fdl folks are partly responsible :)

It was sobering to learn that the newer hybrids don’t produce very many seeds for future plantings. We might need that capability some day.

how’d i do?

That’s about it. It’s the old “profits are privatized, losses are socialized” mantra.

BobbyG, I’m hoping we ignorant peasants are getting restive this time.

votus at 78

i’ve done the potato cages, works great. way easier than digging them up in the fall. but digging them up is fun, too.

you can also use tires. just add a tire and dirt as the plant grows.

Garrison really gets it! That’s about right.

That entire article is really funny.

As for driving the the Grey Ghost(87 jeep Cherokee 270k + miles)I keep it so I don’t have to fill up but every other month, it has been a loyal steed for 10 + years and has seen much of the west coast up to Hell’s caynon on the Idaho border. I do use it to get all my chores done including firewood, I can get 1/4 cord of wood inside it. It has been one of my best investments in years!!

DAD!!!!

Okay. Try this idea too, if you’re adventurous.

A few yrs ago I got particularly cranky over the rising price of those cute little envelopes of seed from the garden companies.

Ever since, I have been saving my own seed for quite a number of crops. Carrying on into really silly territory, I discovered the past 2 yrs that even though the hoity toity store-bought seed for choy detests “normal” OH weather fluctuations, it works particularly well to allow a choy plant or several just to go on to seed itself. We gobbled delicious crisp mild & juicy choy to our hearts’ content the last 2 seasons, from plants that came up wherever they wanted to, all over the silly garden. Rows? Schmoes! We just made our walking paths follow where the plants said we should, and we all got along just fine.

Second not-so-crazy idea: if you find it hard or expensive to deal with the garden store, just trot on past it to your local whole-foods organic market and check out their bulk seeds. I figured – correctly, as it turned out – that their seeds are not only cheaper, and presumably pesticide-free, and most of them readily sprout. Ta Dah! Just because lots of organic foods enthusiasts like to sprout a lot of things for their whole-grain etc. sandwiches and salads et al., that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t grab a bunch of the same seed and throw it in the garden to make more.
And I’ll bet their progeny’s progeny will sprout too. Sorry Monsanto Cargill inc. I’ll see ya and raise a bunch in spite of yer frankenseeds!

Just red it. Was reely funny.

I’ll go up the volcano too if Bush goes. Long as I get to go behind him. And give him a good swift kick in the loin cloth when we get to the top.

I have not experienced this type of yield, but I’ve read that a potato cage that’s about 4 feet wide and about 5 feet tall, by the end of the season of being well taken care of, can yield 400 pounds of spuds.

yield 400 pounds of spuds.

Holy Potato!

That’s cool. I would only be maybe a little cautious with the tires around food–I don’t know if they leach out any bad stuff into the food and/or soil in which they’re growing. But I haven’t tried it with tires so I don’t know for sure.

‘Nother idea. How to make a politician keep on giving:

Save the candidate’s sign so you can put it up again if you like the critter.

In the meantime, grow yer pole beans & peas, and tomatoes & what-all, up a 2X4″ grid welded-wire fence about 4 – 5′ tall, set out along those big tough metal fence posts. When your crop starts outgrowing the fence – and it will, as you train and fan-out and tie the branches to the fence, just before the plants reach the top. Extend the height of the fence by threading those nice handy little heavy-weight metal wire political sign frames into the top square or 2 of the garden fence. Voila! 7-8′ fence. Stiffen the whole contraption by tying together whatever cross-over points and corner-meetings you need to.

When the critter decides to run fer office agin, dismantle the garden contraption, since it’s probably done all it’s going to anyway by that time, and use the same little metal frame to advertise the wonderous critter who wants so badly to serve his/her community….

My local critters have given and given and given, year round, via this system. I thank them all, heh.

Additionally, I’d be MORE than a little cautious and NOT EVER use landscape timbers to box in an edible garden area. Nasty nasty chemicals in those things that WILL leach out.

I went to bed last night as a spring thunderstorm moved in.. leaving this link/song for the morning crowd..

In The Garden – Van Morrison

I wake up to have coffee, catch up on the threads and listen to Van the man..and it looks like it may be the best FDL theme song this morning..)

I forgot to mention–In a 4 foot wide and 5 foot tall cage, you’d want to plant about 5 seed potatoes in the center. That will fill it up nicely. If you are using a smaller cage, that’s fine–just put in fewer seed potatoes. Depending on the variety of potato, 5 seed potatoes is about 1 pound. Fingerling seed potatoes are smaller, so more than 5 equals about a pound of seed potatoes.

That’s a great idea!

This sounds like total horseshit to me. Excuse my language. If hedge funds and derivative trading are not severely restricted, we will have more bubbles. In fact, we are seeing one now in commodities pricing.

And what does it mean a threat to the entire financial system? It seems to me if you wait around until something is big enough to be a threat to the entire financial system what you have is what we have now. For an Administration a bunch of crooks that is so for pre-emption on the foreign affairs scene even when it involves only their own paranoid fantasies, they are taking a very different approach to financial markets where you actually can see real threats clearly in advance. But then what can we expect from this packaged assortment of idiots?

Yeah! (With a very minor but necessary adjustment.)

I’m getting a garden started this year. Our house has a overgrown woodland-style garden, so I’m going to try to keep to that feel.

The house got a new roof last fall, and there are tiny bits of shingles in the beds. Any idea on how much of it I need to get out? Some of it is tiny and mixed in with the soil. Ugh. I want to plant herbs there.

The whole Ben Stein liberal-hater thing means that I get very pissed off whenever those Alaksa Salmon ads come on. So, Alaska salmon people, do YOU have scientists studying the wild species and their genetic diversity, or do you just pray about it?

how’d i do?

PERFECT!!

Votus. Thank you. I’d given up on growing potatoes because they were taking up so much space. But they taste so incredibly good fresh from the garden – much much better than store-bought. So we really miss them.

You have given me new resolve to try again. As we have aged, our veg. garden has shrunk in size, but I swear it’s grown in productivity. Through little and big tricks, fussing with the plants’ ‘microclimate’, et al. It’s our great luxury. I can’t wait to start this season, adding your new (to me) tricks.

My sister used to cope with small space by “fooling” her potatoes – mounding the patch up, and sneaking out a few at a time without hurting the main plant(s).

Adie–

How did things turn out with your difficult neighbor?

Hey FDL folks! You can use the EARTHDUSTER to apply all garden dusts. Especially Diatomaceous Earth, which is the only natural and effective bug killer. Shameless plug, I know. But on-topic:)Wishing you all a healthy, happy, and heavy-yielding spring!

http://www.earthduster.com

One year I had my Anthropology 1 Students survey hundreds of Scientists at a variety of universities and colleges to obtain their views on the evolution vs. creation issue. I created a survey designed to show my students whether or not there was, indeed, consensus on this issue. Over 300 scientists at both public and private (including some religious institutions like SMU, TCU, etc.) were surveyed. 100% of those teaching biological sciences and 97% of those teaching the Physical Sciences agreed that evolution was central to understanding the diversification and adaptation of living organisms. 95% felt that students in any field associated with biology (medicine, genetics, pharmaceutical research, etc.) should have a firm grasp of evolutionary principles.

None could cite a single peer-reviewed article in any Scientific journal that supported a Creationist interpretation of scientific data. Conversely, they said that most of the articles in peer-reviewed journals in Biological or adjunct sciences were either supportive of, or utterly dependent upon, an evolutionary model. Even a few cosmologists and chemists said that this was increasingly true in their fields.

Many commented that they feared that policy makers (or doctors or farmers) who didn’t understand evolution would not have the skills capable of understanding how drug resistance occurs in diseases or pesticide resistance in insects. Some felt that patients who didn’t understand how drug resistance evolves may have simply stopped taking antibiotics or other medicines when they stopped being symptomatic. One commented the failure to understand evolution was not limited merely to conservative Christians, but sometimes was found in very liberal “new age” types who didn’t understand the proximity of traits by phylogenetic relationship. Many of these folks opposed any animal research simply because, as they (the new-agers cited by the scientist) said “humans have too much difference with animals”. They didn’t, as the researcher pointed out, have any conception of the greater similarities between humans and non-human Primates (which, as she pointed out, raised additional ethical concerns, as well). Instead they both denied and wholeheartedly accepted anthropomorphic features such as different animals and even plants having human personalities.

The only scientist that expressed an issue with biological evolution was from a Community College in Arkansas who taught Physics. He cited the mathematical improbability argument (ignoring the fact that natural selection is a non-random and incremental process with multiple potential adaptive outcomes, not a random shuffling of a whole deck of cards (nucleotides) that has a single, full-blown outcome.

One student found a non-scientist “Professor” at a major university who was apparently a post-modernist who stated that she felt that the current Scientific opinion was based purely on a Victorian-era Western Cultural “reading” no better or worse than the literalist reading of the Biblical text. It appears that the creationists do have some allies.

Finally two students (who themselves were fundamentalist) approached “Scientists” at the Discovery Institute. They actually didn’t answer my questions but sent a set of oblique criticisms of my survey. They then listed off a series of “evidences” against evolution, which in fact, were simply misinterpretations of what evolution was about…and easily critiqued by referring the students to the required reading.

I have since dropped this assignment since some scientists felt that there was some sort of creationist agenda to my project. I spent more time doing follow up and assuaging fears that I was undertaking some sort of McCarthyite effort rather than demonstrating to students that no real working Scientists believe that there is debate about evolution. Furthermore, some Scientists were downright snotty about students asking them about it. They spent more time being abusive of creationists, or the students, than actually answering the multiple choice questions would ever have taken.

Spring???

we’re planting a veg garden and have ordered a few dwarf lemon and orange trees.

As far as flowers and plants go, we’re aiming for a drought resistant garden (in so. calif). Have found some wonderful flowers (I forget the name) from Brasil that are perfect for zone 10, very fragrant and attract birdies and butterflies. I’m still reading up on pair planting to protect insect prone plants using basil calendula etc.so as to avoid insecticides

Quite simple. Paulson and Bernanke (and Bush) don’t want to rescind the awful Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

more than you wanted to know, but you’re sweet to ask:

2 visits to the pokey (that we know about).

Daily doses of hearing his yelling, bragging/threatening nonsense (”gonna shoot all the songbirds in the woods, have a dead cardinal right here…” etc.); suspiciously on & off hyper behavior as if ‘on’ something; bragging about drug-use; attempted harassment/intimidation whenever he sees us in the yard; bonfires in their driveway turnaround close-by lge trees & house(s) a nightly event in decent weather – even in high winds; teenager girlfriend-mom-apparent mom-to-be who seems to think he’s hilarious; daily games of pellet-gun peek-a-boo nonsense (which seems to have ceased for the last few months) in the [conservation-protected]woods; we saw multiple sheriffs’ cars pull him over w/ lights flashing recently, right in “his” driveway – but no follow-thru (seems typical – he must be ‘crafty’ most of the time); not his house – he just ‘camping out there’ because the girlfriend’s enabler-mom apparently lets him & seems totally cowed, tho friendly with us – when she looks up…… & on & on & on.

with police non-involvement/befuddlement in how to deal with him, we go about our business, keep a quiet eye on the fires and the illegal looting of wood for his fires (thankfully slow, since he apparently has never heard of sharpened sawblades), try not to aggravate or look vulnerable; but we do plan to alert the local conservancy when they make their annual visit.

otherwise, not much goin’ on here, sigh. Seriously, thanks for asking. We’re o.k., honest. and we suppose the po-lice are doing what they can at the moment. weird.

Interesting study! Thank you for sharing this!

Would it be all right with you if a copy of what you have written here at #118 were shared with my husband’s university colleagues. We are sure they would be very interested. We would be happy to keep it anonymous, even to the point of not having your blog name or the blog identity attached. It is possible some might like to contact you to find out more about your study. If so, we’d let you know.

Thanks. – Adie

I invite everyone here to visit and view my:

‘Cymbidiums of Consensus.’

Enjoy….

In about an hour here in Denver….
Lights Out..for earth hour…
Our soil don’t need no artificial light.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T16A9m250vU

Snowdrops are drooping. Crocuses are blooming. First dwarf iris is up.

Planted tomatoes, peas, and basil under one solar cloche over a week ago and another solar cloche with pole beans and zucchini on Monday when I planted one bed with sugarsnap peas, spinach, and tatsoi. Raspberry canes cut and I should do another bed of peas and early greens next week.

Directions for a recycled solar cloche at http://solarray.blogspot.com/2…..solar.html

Lindy, you must have a garden out in a ranch somewhere. That does not
count. You must plant in your home garden..Just kidding, good luck

Beerfart Liberal, the reason Bush makes these stupid remarks
about “we cannt stand the thought of people who murder, etc,etc,”
is because it the Rove doctrine defense.
Remember when Rove advised Republican criminals that the only way
to respond to critics about Iraq, “was to counter with how successful
and honky dorey things were in Iraq. The same shit about the criminal
activities of his goons there. Just what the fuck is Bush doing? Isn`t
he engaged in the same shit he “CANNOT STAND”???