Instability Showers

Say what?
We have so much different crap falling from the sky all the time that they have to start making up names for it. Instability showers? Ok, I'll believe it.
Hmmm...those must be instability weeds in my flowerbeds.
:)


*Holy cow, I just found out it's a real thing!

instability shower—See convective showers—convective showers—Episodes of convective precipitation falling in an area no more than about 10 km wide and for a time period of less than about one-half hour.

See, I really do learn something new every day.

Gardening Decline?

Nah, I don't think so. Though I do hear a lot of, "I can't be bothered," and, "I don't have time to fart with plants."

Bonnie Blodgett: "This may come as news to you, but gardening is on the decline nationally. Quite a surprise to the soothsayers who were predicting just the opposite only five years ago."

Her article: Spring Shortcuts
Can’t wait to get your hands in the dirt? You can rush the season.

Small Signs

.
It's suppose to hit 40 today, so yay!
I took a walk around the yard and cleaned up the perennials. Not much showing yet. What do I expect - the ground is still frozen solid and I was walking through patches of ice and snow!

Anyway, there are a few small, and I'm talking tiny, signs that spring can't be too far away.
I was cutting back the mums and chopping up the dead stems (I chop everything into really tiny pieces and leave it to do its thing rather than shluff it to the compost) and low and behold - new green growth! Wahoo!

Both the regular and variegated thyme are looking fantastic. Here and there I can see the dafs, tulips and hyacinths peeking up. The 'fire witch' dianthus got heaved like crazy this winter! But it's looking very healthy. I even had a gloriosa daisy make it through the winter!

The sweet williams look half mush, half nice and healthy. The allysum by the pond has spread like nuts. (definitely not a problem). I cut back the sedum and they're showing signs of waking up.

The rose campion looked good all winter (of course) and this should be the year I'll see blooms.

Obviously, there's no action in my wintersown containers yet, but I don't expect to see any until next month at the earliest.

I got the buddleia cut back. I'm not sure what to do with the cuttings. I don't want to chop them onto the compost pile or I'll end up with a million sprouts, sure as anything. It's really pissing me off that the ground is frozen like a rock and I can't pull all those freaking weeds. They're everywhere!

I have a real mess of labels spread all over the beds to pick up, but I'm sure I'll be wandering back out there this afternoon to do some more cleaning. Who can resist when it finally hits 40? God, it's been a long winter!

WTF Is She Thinking?!

And I thought Dottie White was bad.
From today's Blooming News article in the local Pennysaver:

The Ladybug Log

"Dry animal food such as rabbit, dog, cat food is excellent fertilizer for your garden.

Never toss old or leftover dry animal food in the garbage.

Save it to spread around your plants in the spring."

Excuse me? What is she thinking? Besides the fact that it will mold and stink faster than you can slurp your morning coffee, it will invite every critter (bugs included!) from here to China to your garden for the feast. Yeah, go ahead and spread it, just don't freak out when that skunk decides to clean up every crumb of leftover food, then cleans out your veg and expensive ornamentals. Oh, and that'll be just before he invites all his wildlife buddies to partake of your freely offered buffet.

Of course, what do I expect when in the same article she thinks $6.98 for one lousy tomato plant and $9.98 for ten onion (before tax and shipping charges) is cheap?! I don't care how *great* these ads claim these plants are, that's ridiculous, and so is she.

Rehashing Blog Thoughts

I was looking back on some of the things I pondered a long time ago about garden blogs and am not surprised that I still feel, pretty much, the same way.

October 2006: Garden Blogger Sickness/Addiction
Still sick/addicted - just with lots more!

November 2006: It's all about the bling, baby!
I still hate, hate, hate millions of pictures (ugh!), ads, buttons, widgets, changing text colors (do you know how hard those are to read, people?), videos, slide shows, huge headers, run-on paragraphs that never end, etc. I know for a fact that will never change. It sucks when someone has so much crap crammed on their blog that I can't even get it to load or it freezes and I get the dreaded 'error' message. And yes, there are tons of them that I wish I could read, but I'm not going to wait for 5 minutes for a page to load. Not gonna happen!

July 2007: Garden Blog = Garden Photos?
Oh, yes, without a doubt - still feel exactly the same as I did then! I don't need pics, I need info.

January 2007: Blognality
I still want to see that personality! Mr. Brown Thumb's comment to that post pretty much said it all: "If I want to read about an immaculate garden or how they've never lost a plant I can read Martha Stewart."

These are my own personal opinions and I certainly don't expect people to agree with me. (that seldom happens anyway) Honestly, I'm pretty proud that I've stuck to my guns on most of my opinions about garden blogs. I don't want to look at ads, won't wait for eons for a page to load (if I freeze I make a mental note of the blog title and never bother with it again) and won't return to blogs with ridiculous amounts of pictures and a blogger with nothing to say about those pics.

As for the commenting parts of blogs, well, I realize it isn't good etiquette for a blog owner not to respond to a comment I've left, but people do have lives. They're busy with jobs, kids, whatever (hopefully the whatever is something good, like gardening). I'll always cut some slack for that.
:)

I wonder how I'll feel a year from now...

Apparently, I'm Growing Drugs

And what are they going to do, arrest every gardener? Puhleezz! Do they even have a clue about the long list of plants and seeds that kids are subbing for other drugs they can't get their hands on?
Article: Is salvia the next marijuana?

"Eight states have already placed restrictions on salvia, and 16 others, including Florida, are considering a ban or have previously."

"Florida state Rep. Mary Brandenburg has introduced a bill to make possession of salvia a felony punishable by up to five years in prison."

"An ounce of salvia leaves sells for around $30 on the Internet. Called nicknames like Sally-D, Magic Mint and Diviner's Sage, salvia is a hallucinogen that gives users an out-of-body sense of traveling through time and space or merging with inanimate objects. "

Our tax dollars at work. These people better do some deeper research into the long-assed list of plants and seeds that can be used as hallucinogens.
On second thought, maybe we're better off that they're pretty much clueless. Ha, and I just wanted to grow one lousy pot plant simply because I'm told I can't. Shouldn't tell a gardener they aren't allowed to grow something - ever! lol.

Sneaky Rodent

The mouse we took on permanent vacation? He has a friend. Don't even think about making that plural - I'm happy living in my dream world of oneness when it comes to ... mouse.

His friend has a battle plan. He's a freaking spy. His name: 007. Mouse. James Mouse.

That sneaky little spy has cleaned the peanut butter off the 'trippy' thing on the live trap twice and not snapped it shut.

Doesn't it just give you the creepy-crawlies to think of that gross little tongue lapping up every trace of peanut butter while he sits there peeing all over my plant stand shelf? Yeah, glad I could make your morning so pleasant!
:)

Pollution Listed As A Sin

Yes,
the new list of sins now includes polluting and not recycling.
Is that not one of the best reasons you've ever heard to start the habit of being an organic gardener?
Boy, oh, boy - I know a few people that are gonna be in big trouble. Mmm-hmmm...

It's All About Your Cat

Yes, seriously...stop thinking like a human and give your cat something they want!
Geesh people, quit depriving your cats, move away from the keyboard (quit hogging - did you really think the Internet was meant for you?!) and let them on...

Cat Galaxy.

"Welcome to the official Web Site for Cat Galaxy. We are an Internet radio and TV station specifically for cats to listen to and also watch. On this Site you can receive all the need to know facts about Cat Galaxy and its live Internet radio shows like Morning Meows, Meow Mixing Monday, Tuesday Night Cat Club, Wednesday Night Cat Attack, Thursday Night Purr Party, and the Friday Night Feline Frenzy as well as some of the latest news involving the station. Cat Galaxy is based in Phoenix, AZ and broadcasts live 24/7 to a feline audience worldwide in 128k CD quality stereo.
Cat Galaxy is also the first station to play the Feline Freeform format approved by cats. "

Too funny!

Hypocrytical NY Politics

Ha!
Governor Spitzer involved in a prostitution ring.
Is anyone surprised?
Par for the course...

Rantapalooza!

This article Wake Up America! by Alan Bishop was reprinted by Robin (with permission) at Seasons Eatings Farm blog.

Holy crap! Nothing like slapping people in the face with your opinion.

I'd completely agree with everything he's said, except for one tiny problem: The economy is exactly why a lot of Americans (including me) shop the way they do. We simply can't afford that extra .25 cents per product. I can't imagine how much more my food bill would be every month if I only shopped the way he suggests. I certainly wouldn't be serving 7 dinners a week - I'd be lucky to afford 4. I'd LOVE to only support my local mom and pop or small farm and completely boycott Waldeath, but it isn't in my budget to do so unless they can match the prices of those 'other' places. Yup, I'll buy the cheap crap before I'll buy the expensive organic because I can get enough to feed my family that way.

Interesting. I'm completely sure that different classes of Americans have totally different view points on that article. And I'm also pretty sure different areas have different opinions. New York's economy and taxes aren't the only ones that are out of control (they are the highest in the nation) but it's difficult to live here and make ends meet. Ask a dairy farmer.

So, where's the happy medium?

What do you think?

Rainbow!?

It's March 10th, cold enough to freeze your (whatever) off, sweet sunshine cloaking the ground and just enough 'snow dust' in the air for a rainbow! How awesome is that?

I don't think I've ever seen one in March!
Think it's a sign?
OMG, I wish I had a camera.
Repeat after me - spring is coming, spring is coming, spring IS coming...


*It didn't last long.
:(

Featuring Worm Poop

This last weekend's Forecast Earth wasn't all that great, but it sure was controversial. (if you missed it, you can watch the show online)
The topic of 'what does God want us to do with the earth' can get pretty sticky! I agreed with a lot that was said, but had to disagree with much, too. I suppose that was the point, eh? When it comes to thinking about what He would want us to do with His creation, I assume the answer would be pretty obvious, but I certainly don't think that the people who are trashing and polluting it are destined to go to hell! What's up with that?

Next week, they'll be doing a piece on TerraCycle. Yeah, the Worm Poop people. The company has branched off into some pretty amazing stuff. If you get time, it might be worth a watch...

Airs SATURDAYS and SUNDAYS
Airing Times: 5 PM; 7 PM; 1 AM; 3 AM (Eastern)
(10 PM and Midnight on the West Coast)

One Down

We caught a mouse in the live trap Friday night.
Yeah, as he went out the door with the hubs, I told him exactly what I thought of his shenanigans!
I'm sure I heard him mumble something about 'friends and family' and that 'we'd be sorry'.
I don't doubt it. The trap will sit on the stand taking up valuable space for a while, because where there's one...

Hehehe, he did miss at least one moon flower seed, though. It started peeking through the soil last night.
:)
Yay!
I suppose I should cross my fingers and knock on wood.