Monkeyfister

Well. Warm weather is finally on the way, here in West Tennessee, and I could not keep out of the gardens today!

I decided that it is time to start doubling the depth of the remaining beds that are still only 6" deep. I started with the 4'x8' bed, originally started as a bean bed. I made another 4'x8'x6" frame, and toenailed it to the existing frame. I filled it up with my own composts, as well as a truckload of composted cow poop from Neola Farms, around the corner, I added some bagged mushroom compost, and some locally produced cotton hull compost. I topped it all off with two inches of a special blend of soils and vermiculite made for germinating seeds. The plants will sprout in the "Metro mix," and send their roots down into the good stuff, below.

Let me tell you-- dirt is no longer "dirt cheap." The 3 2"x6"x8' boards, and the various soil ingredients cost about $80.

Here's what I planted in there:

80 "Oregon Giant" Snow Peas on the west long edge
6 Savoy Cabbage Plants
80 White Onions planted around the cabbages and the Peas
20 Cilantro plants
100 Emu Slow-Bolt Spinach (a new F1 I thought I try. I have a sick friend who LOVES Spinach. I'm growing it for her.)
27 Green Curled Ruffec Endive
24 Boston Bibb Lettuce
52 Detroit Red Beets

Just two weeks ago, I paid $9 for a Savoy Cabbage at Kroger. It wasn't huge-- just regular size... I was stunned at the price. Well-- at that price, the Cabbages alone will nearly pay for the improvements to the bed. Bibb Lettuce is running ~$2 a head, Cilantro is `$2 a bunch, Beets-- $3.50 per bunch. I think this bed will pay for itself by Memorial Day, when most everything planted now will be done, and Late Crops can be planted in.

--I'm going to eat some of the Beet greens, and then pickle the Beets, and some of the Onions.
-- A friend gave me a 2-gallon Pennsylvania Dutch ceramic crock. Some of that Savoy cabbage is going to become some really fun Sauerkraut.
-- Another friend, and her daughter really likes Cilantro, so I am growing some extra.
-- It'll be stir-fry time once those Peas start producing... I'll be looking for recipes to post around then.

All-round, I think this will be a well-used first garden bed of the year.

Mel Bartholomew's "Square Foot Gardening" method makes interplanting/catch-cropping, Companion Planting, and Crop Rotation a breeze. Last Spring, I had Cabbages in this bed, opposite side of the bed. That space was refilled with composts and manure, and some homemade Fish Tea. I replanted with Peppers, Garlic and Carrots. That area is now six inches down, under lots of still-composting layers, and soon will be being processed by the worms and fungi, once they decide to wake up.

Those of you in Zones 7 and 8 get out there and start planting! Zones 6 and 5-- start getting those seedlings going, and your garden beds cleaned up and ready. Zone 4-- Best have those seeds purchased-- not to early to start some seeds.


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Labels: Early Spring Garden, Gardening

I knew it all along...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Today's date is the only date in the calendar that is a verb phrase.

Happy birthday to my old friend Jeffrey Brenner, wherever you are.


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Labels: Oddities

If Late Blight rears its ugly head again this year, perhaps these observations and suggested treatment(s) might prove useful. Neem Oil is perfectly harmless for humans, and seems to be proving itself a cure for an ever-widening field of pests.

via LATOC Gardening Forum

The real problem with the Irish potato blight [Late Blight], is that it can and does affect all members of the nightshade family, with the apparent exception of pepper plants. Nightshades include potatoes, tomatoes, egg plant, capsicum peppers, tobacco, and mandrigoras or mandrake. The blight has affected my potatoes worst of all but also to some extent my eggplants and tomatoes have also been affected. Not a single pepper plant has been attacked, even those that are sitting next to blight infected plants, sometimes touching them.
Reason: capsicum has anti-fungal properties among other near miraculous medicinal uses, and the blight cannot tolerate the small amount of capsicum that's even in the leaves and stems of pepper plants.

Treatment: Neem oil; I sprayed a 15ml/L solution of it all over my garden a few days ago and the blight is already starting to recede, especially on the eggplants. Only problem is that you must spray neem oil on the plants weekly for 3-4 weeks. Given the above reasoning about capsicum, it seems possible that hot pepper wax spray might also be useful against potato blight, with the added advantage that it wards off many, but not all insects.
This new blight problem underscores the fact that gardening is not easy at all and is a major intellectual and physical challenge. It seems that I am fighting a new foe every few weeks: whitefly aphids, slugs, Japanese bettles, and now Potato blight. God only knows what's next. However......
Just remember, back yard gardening is the ultimate revolutionary act in a bureaucratic fascist society that is running out of energy and therefore food !!!!, so GARDEN On !!!!

Wardoc

More at the link.


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Labels: Gardening, Late Blight

HBO says yes to Game of Thrones series.

via SciFi Wire

It's official: HBO has given a green light to a 10-episode series based on George R.R. Martin's fantasy series Game of Thrones and released the first image from the show, which you can view below. Production begins in June; no premiere date was announced.

Cast members include Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister, a woman of royal blood, Peter Dinklage as Cersei's brother Tyrion, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Cersei's twin, Jaime, Sean Bean as aristocrat Ned Stark, Jennifer Ehle as his wife, Catelyn Stark, and Mark Addy as King Robert.

GAME OF THRONES SERIES PICK UP

HBO Entertainment

Series commitment is pilot plus nine episodes

Production is set to begin in Belfast, Northern Ireland in June 2010

LOG LINE:
Based on the series of books by George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones is an epic struggle for power set in a vast and violent fantasy kingdom.

PILOT CREDITS:
David Benioff Executive Producer
D.B. Weiss Executive Producer
Tom McCarthy Director
Carolyn Strauss Co-Executive Producer
Guymon Casady Co-Executive Producer
Vince Gerardis Co-Executive Producer
Ralph Vicinanza Co-Executive Producer
George R.R. Martin Co-Executive Producer
Joanna Burn Producer
Mark Huffam Producer
Frank Doelger Producer

PILOT SCRIPT:
Written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
Based on the series of books "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin

IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER PILOT CAST SERIES REGULARS:
Mark Addy as Robert Baratheon
Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy
Sean Bean as Eddard Stark
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jamie Lannister
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
Jennifer Ehle as Catelyn Stark
Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon
Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont
Kit Harrington as Jon Snow
Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister
Harry Lloyd as Viserys Targaryen
Richard Madden as Rob Stark
Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane
Tamzin Merchant as Daenerys Targaryen
Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
Isaac Hempstead Wright as Bran Stark

ALSO FEATURING:
Ron Donachie as Ser Rodrik Cassel
Jason Momoa as Khal Drogo
Donald Sumpter as Maester Luwin

More at the link.

What a cast and crew. WOW! If you've not started reading the series-- you are truly missing out on some fantastic reading.

This just might get me to buy a TV and cable for at least the run of the series. Unless, of course, iTunes picks it up.


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Labels: Worthwhile TV

Fantastic piece on "All Things Considered," today. This is precisely what I've been working toward. (Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approx. 7:00 p.m. ET)

via NPR

Ethnobotanist James Wong believes there is no reason to always use conventional medicines when you can find relief from the plants in your garden. Wong, who wrote Grow Your Own Drugs, says that herbal medicines can be a useful complement to conventional drugs.

More at the link.


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Labels: Medicinal Herbs Gardening

I didn't realize that it has become so heavily used.




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The incredible world of seizure disorders. This is a truly fascinating interview. Hustvedt describes the nature of the onset of a seizure better than I've ever heard, and certainly better than I have ever been able to explain it.


via Fresh Air

After Hustvedt suffered several unexplainable seizure-like episodes that defied conventional medical diagnoses, she decided to chart her experiences — and the murky intersection between mind, brain and body — in a new book, The Shaking Woman or A History of My Nerves.

More at the link.


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Labels: Epilepsy

Click the link for an excellent list of ways to help Chile via Live Journal

If you are in the U.S. you can text the following organizations:

SMS text “CHILE” to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross

SMS text “CHILE” to 25383 to donate $10 to Habitat for Humanity

SMS text “CHILE” to 20222 to donate $10 to World Vision

SMS text “REBUILD” to 50555 to donate $10 to Operation USA

SMS text “CHILE” to 52000 to donate $10 to the Salvation Army

SMS text “YOUTH” to 20222 to donate $10 to UNICEF

More at the link.


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