.
Yeah, I'd guess that's enough 0's?
The number of reasons to grow your own this coming summer just keeps getting longer:
California drought may raise vegetable prices
Like they aren't high enough already?
More than $300 Million in crop losses due to drought
And I'm betting it isn't going to get better any time soon.
If you're one of those people who are still on the fence about starting a veg garden, here's hoping you tumble gently when you finally tip to the happy side.
:)
You know how I know?
I saw it. I actually saw it with my own eyes.
Not in a good way.
We have a half-dead maple tree in the front yard that I've been refusing to cut down. I've left it as a snag for the Red-headed Woodpeckers, and it worked. Every spring, when they've finished emptying the matted mess of leaves the squirrels have packed the holes with all winter, we get to watch (and listen) to them situate the place to suit them.
Yesterday was a shock.
While I was out messing with the front flowerbed edging, I kept hearing something that sounded like a waterfall, but I knew it couldn't be ours as we haven't started up the pond one yet. I have ear problems, and most of the time I only have partial hearing out of one ear or the other, and lately my right ear has been plugged up completely, so I figured it was just an echo from the creek as all the snow melt and rain have turned it into the rapids.
But, even an echo from running water wouldn't sound like falling water! I walked a few yards away and didn't hear it anymore, shrugged and went back to the edging.
There was that sound again! Honestly, I thought I was losing my mind.
Then this dummy finally looked up.
Sap waterfalling, and I DO mean really waterfalling from one of the holes in the tree! There were gallons and gallons pooled at the bottom of the opposite side of the tree I was working around.
I have never seen anything like this in my life! Yeah, droplets rolling down bark, or drips from small winter wounds, but this was as if someone had turned on a bathtub faucet. It was so unreal! I swear it had to be at least (at the very least!) a gallon a minute! A true waterfall of sap.
Man, oh, man, I wish I had a freaking camera. I figured the hubs would never believe it. The flow had slowed down by at least 3/4 by the time he got home, but he could still see the big puddle at the base of the tree.
It was the strangest thing I've seen in a long, long time. I think the poor thing is a total goner this year. Bummer.
And no - I didn't think to grab some buckets. ~sigh~
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...
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?
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...
It's one of those days - post ice, gloomy, rainy, dreary and all around depressing.
And then Dave Neads has to go and add to my misery. He has a very excellent blog called Chilton Ark. He built his own home by hand, lives in the middle of nowhere, is worried about (and quite in tune with) what's happening to the environment, and I envy his lifestyle. He doesn't post often, but when he does it's always a worthwhile, excellent and informative read.
I mean, what is one gardener to do? Yes, there are millions of us all trying to do our part, but I still get the feeling that no matter what we do, it'll never be enough. The majority still refuse to see the 'big picture'. So does what I do on my tiny speck of the earth really matter? Some days I know it does and some days I want to throw up my hands and just announce (to no one in particular) that it doesn't matter what I do with my speck if everyone else really doesn't care that their actions are null and voiding mine.
Two small sentences on Dave's blog really crushed my organic gardener side today:
"Even if we were to level off emissions today, there is enough CO2 and other gasses in the atmosphere to cause a rise of nearly 2 degrees C by 2040.
It is unavoidable."
That is what we're leaving to our children and our grandchildren, no matter what we do. The damage is already done. And that scares me.
So, on dreary, low garden morale days like today, I pull up my bootstraps, straighten my spine, grab a pack of seeds and say, "Yes, damn it, the actions I take on my speck most certainly DO matter!"
Even the smallest ant helps sustain the colony.
Plan to 'flush' Grand Canyon stirs concerns
Los Angeles Times
"Federal flood control managers plan to unleash millions of cubic feet of water from behind Glen Canyon Dam to "flush" the huge canyon bottom with a simulated springtime flood this week, but National Park Service officials who oversee the natural wonder are worried.
Water releases meant to renew the river's bottom are ill-timed and serve hydropower firms, park officials say."
Personally, I don't think they've gathered enough data from the first 3 to know if it's doing more harm than good.
Wow, I've seen tons of posts about the Svalbard International Seed Vault today. I posted some thoughts about it way back on January 17, 2007!!
Why the sudden interest? What finally got people talking?
All this interest isn't a bad thing, I'm just curious.
Well, then. How depressing is it that the only time I'd be useful is if we had a national or world crisis?
This article: I Cannot Yet Skin A Deer, was published in July of 2005 by Mark Morford in the San Francisco Chronicle. He almost got the price of oil right (his prediction was half right) - or he may yet.
90% of the stuff in that article are things I really can do, and most were learned out of necessity.
Who says there is a down side to living in the country and being low income?
Wow, we really have become a nation of instant gratification. "I want it, I want more of it, I don't want to work for it and I want it now!"
Along with the rest of us, Colleen is experiencing a bout of cabin fever, but she made a great point in her recent post. As gardeners, I think we possess a lot more patience than the general population.
We wait...
We wait for spring.
We wait for fall harvest.
We wait for seed germination.
We wait for first bloom.
We wait for first fruit.
We wait for rain.
We wait for sun.
We wait for that first scrumptious taste of that first tomato.
We do a hell of a lot of waiting! And it teaches us that there really is no such thing as 'instant gratification' in nature. She takes her time, does it right. And hopefully, we learn to do it her way and do it right. What's wrong with those instant garden makeovers? They suck! They don't stay that way if the person caring for them doesn't have a clue and doesn't have patience.
Yes, gardeners may have more patience than others, but damnit all, we get tired of waiting, too!
So, Colleen, nope, you are so not alone.
This is an odd occurrence this year that we just became aware of.
Isn't it funny when it sometimes takes your consciousness a while to catch up to the fact that some pattern has changed? You'd think it would be pretty obvious.
We've seen no deer in our yard this winter. Absolutely none.
There is a deer trail that runs along the edge of our lawn, across the road and into the neighbors woods. We usually see deer on it every day. If not the deer themselves either tracks or deer beds. (one used to make a bed under our pear tree every night.)
At least once a week we hear the screech of tires as people slam on the brakes to avoid one crossing the road. (do people really think they can do 80 just because it's a back road? Yes!) Of course, those are the rules - you stand stupidly at the edge of the road wondering if you should cross now. How about now? Road clear...how about now? Oh! Car coming! Yes, cross now!
Every now and then we'd hear a joyful 'kill' cry from the pack of coy dogs who have taken up residence in dens in the bank a quarter mile or so behind our house. Not so this year. I think we've heard them maybe twice all winter.
We've sighted deer in the surrounding fields now and then, or peaking through a thin line of trees down the road. I've noticed tracks across the road up the hill and bedding evidence here and there.
But, what happened with our yard trail? The more than occasional 'kill' cries of the coy dogs? The screeching of breaks at 3 am? Bedding down under the pear tree? Tracks flowing gracefully through the snow in our yard?
Hmmmm....The pattern has taken a turn.
I forgot to add this moon/planting chart with my post the other day:
Outdoor Planting Table For 2008
(Be sure to change it to your own location)
I think I might give it a try this year. And then again, maybe not. I'll probably just plant things as the mood strikes me, as always. I really detest rules in gardening.
And speaking of the moon-
Another 'new' old fad is coming back into fashion.
Ask an oldtimer - they'll tell you it works. Well, if Mother Nature decides to work with you, anyway.
The earth isn't really round, it's sort of oblongish. Yeah, I know - sounds like I've hit a crazy moment, but it's true.
The pull of the moon is pretty forceful. That force can pull an entire continent upwards by 3 feet as the moon passes it. Think about that. Pretty impressive, huh?
So, as the moon passes across the earth it pulls that part of the earth up by 3 feet all the way around. Yup, oblong! Thought I was telling tales, didn't you?
So, what happens to the groundwater during the moons passage? Yup, it goes up. So, this means that as the moon passes over your garden, the soil stays more moist.
Would you try tilling your soil at a full moon? You could do it, but the water table will be higher at that time and you're more likely to have muddy soil (except those people who are currently dealing with drought). You'll probably have better luck waiting to do dig tasks until the last quarter of the moon.
This would also be a good time to plant (or harvest) root crops and bulbs, and to prune trees and shrubs as there is less sap flow at a waning moon.
The waxing moon is a good time to plant trees and shrubs and to start seeds of crops that grow above ground.
These are only a few basic tips about planting by the moon, there are tons more. Why not try a crop of something both ways (supposed wrong and right times) and see for yourself? I bet you'll be surprised!
I don't really do gardening tasks by the moon, I'm more likely to just do them when they need to be done. (although, my hibiscus seed sure reacted as did my zinnia and cosmos in spring) .
But, I can tell, without fail or even looking up, every May/June what faze the moon is at when I see the neighbor on his tractor in the corn field across the road planting seed.
By the way, it's probably a good idea to mow your lawn during a waning moon. ;)
I wonder if Carol has heard that already? Probably!
Yup, tomorrow night, (Feb 20) starting at 10:01pm, there will be a total lunar eclipse.
"A total eclipse of the Moon occurs during the night of Wednesday, February 20/21, 2008. The entire event is visible from South America and most of North America (on Feb. 20) as well as Western Europe, Africa, and western Asia (on Feb. 21). During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon's disk can take on a dramatically colorful appearance from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and (rarely) very dark gray."
You can look up a diagram of the eclipse for your time zone at the NASA site.
Ki, who blogs at MucknMire, is asking everyone who has a blog to do a little write up and share the info about Project BudBurst.
From theBudBurst site:
"Join us in collecting important climate change data on the timing of leafing and flowering in your area through Project BudBurst! This national field campaign targets native tree and flower species across the country. With your help, we will be compiling valuable environmental and climate change information around the United States."
It started February 15th this year, (they collected data last year) and I'll bet all you lower zoners (yeah, I'm envious!) already have some of that 'BudBurst'. Isn't that a cool word?
Why not pop over to Ki's blog and give her post about it a quick read?
I know there was something along these lines that I participated in last year, but for the life of me, I can't remember what, or where, it was.
