tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21095687300730587592024-02-18T23:46:19.346-05:00Gardening From the Ground UpAmusing and informative natterings on gardening by a professional.Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.comBlogger144125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-3837893609156944352013-03-07T12:48:00.000-05:002013-03-07T12:49:32.879-05:00TURN THE PAGE<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IGHbKo2Ih74/UTjRMVBfTMI/AAAAAAAAGWg/tLZRgFdA-dQ/s1600/harper+lee%252C+guardian+article.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IGHbKo2Ih74/UTjRMVBfTMI/AAAAAAAAGWg/tLZRgFdA-dQ/s200/harper+lee%252C+guardian+article.JPG" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Harper Lee (courtesy of The Guardian)</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
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Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about Harper Lee. When
asked why she never published a second novel after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird</i>, she’d say something like, “I guess I didn’t
have anything else I wanted to say.” </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As the weeks
slide past and my muse apparently has taken herself off on an extended vacation,
it occurs to me that perhaps I don’t have anything left I want to say either. About
gardening, I mean. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Knowing
when to quit is an inexact science—just look at Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies” and
the chunky-breasted bathers of Renoir’s last years, the post-Ludlum Bourne
books and that pathetic “sequel” to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gone
with the Wind</i> Alexandra Somebody foisted on us, or string theory. As a
believer in the law of diminishing returns, I feel it’s time to put “Gardening
from the Ground Up” out to pasture. Long may she graze in cyber-space, in 18-to-29-second
hits. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To Billie,
and Julie, and Chuck, and Yvonne and Karen and Margaret: you know where to find
me if you want. I so appreciate your support and the comments and conversations.
Just so you know: that part doesn’t have to end.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4ZV6jkQivz8/UTjRMMb9oUI/AAAAAAAAGWY/S9q5PEqRMtA/s1600/kathy+at+work.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4ZV6jkQivz8/UTjRMMb9oUI/AAAAAAAAGWY/S9q5PEqRMtA/s200/kathy+at+work.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The old writer</i></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To
paraphrase Douglas MacArthur (that self-promoting SOB), old writers never
die. They just turn the page.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One last
time, thanks for dropping by.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span>Kathy</div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-90459615502630484372013-01-26T13:16:00.000-05:002013-01-26T13:16:48.846-05:00ALL MUCH OF A MUCHNESS<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sorry
about the hiatus. It’s been cold-ish here the past two weeks and, except for
gainful activity, I retreated inside to spend a good bit of time with my loom. While
warmly warping and wefting, it occurred to me there are many similarities
between weaving and gardening.
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>With
both crafts, it helps a lot to have a plan before leaping into action. If what
you want to accomplish is simple and straightforward—such as one-note
containers or single-color plain weave—sometimes winging it works: more often
it doesn’t. Because of a certain, ahem, predisposition on my part to preciseness
(I’m anal as hell), I prefer designing every project in two dimensions, to
scale if at all possible. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bX3UY0BWw5g/UQQB9LjvLTI/AAAAAAAAGUk/8TZLukMoH_Q/s1600/balance+practice+3+nov+2012+horizontal+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bX3UY0BWw5g/UQQB9LjvLTI/AAAAAAAAGUk/8TZLukMoH_Q/s320/balance+practice+3+nov+2012+horizontal+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A simple one-color, balanced weave project...</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DZwB69hSw7w/UQQB5TxwzdI/AAAAAAAAGUU/DrIGoEN8bgk/s1600/sempervivum+collection%252C+porch+17+jun+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DZwB69hSw7w/UQQB5TxwzdI/AAAAAAAAGUU/DrIGoEN8bgk/s320/sempervivum+collection%252C+porch+17+jun+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>...or plopping a bunch of hens-&-chicks in a pot doesn't require a lot of advance planning.</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-es_5fZDkG-o/UQQB7UgFjUI/AAAAAAAAGUc/XARtFMnKSMA/s1600/blendings+needle+case+open+front+19+jan+2013+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-es_5fZDkG-o/UQQB7UgFjUI/AAAAAAAAGUc/XARtFMnKSMA/s320/blendings+needle+case+open+front+19+jan+2013+%25282%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>But some simple-seeming weavings...</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL5D2EH4BJWf75fTzP8moKLsh8HdxceoERZ8Biu0emMB-zASEzYlYeflYXD_iQKnX0Sqn-RrzZ5tItNXC3dPrSqd9reBW_TpiFGr2HkZMOyeju7Akr7Jl8KSbAdsaEE-OBPwDsKLeQETrY/s1600/novaks+violas+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL5D2EH4BJWf75fTzP8moKLsh8HdxceoERZ8Biu0emMB-zASEzYlYeflYXD_iQKnX0Sqn-RrzZ5tItNXC3dPrSqd9reBW_TpiFGr2HkZMOyeju7Akr7Jl8KSbAdsaEE-OBPwDsKLeQETrY/s320/novaks+violas+3.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>...or color-blocked pots of violas benefit from some prior thought</i>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Not that
a lovely drawing ensures success on the loom/ground. Landscapers who slavishly
follow beautiful, curvy, landscape-architect-rendered drawings often find
themselves in plant-replacement nightmares punctuated by increasingly menacing
phone calls from unhappy clients. Back in the day when Tim and I took on
new-construction installations, we learned early on that any paper plan is
purely advisory. In the real world, things evolve. In the real world, the grand
design emerges over time. Still, it helps to have some idea of where you’re
going before you rev the engine and back out of the driveway.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QgHUCWXGiWk/UQQBvhfOQ7I/AAAAAAAAGVY/BT04ir8UIx0/s1600/solomon+back+garden+first+phase.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QgHUCWXGiWk/UQQBvhfOQ7I/AAAAAAAAGVY/BT04ir8UIx0/s320/solomon+back+garden+first+phase.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Garden plans evolve from establishing the "bones" of a space...</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QNWKQ11ObgU/UQQBxOzQW5I/AAAAAAAAGV8/e2fHmWzKjVM/s1600/solomon+back+garden+phase+two.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QNWKQ11ObgU/UQQBxOzQW5I/AAAAAAAAGV8/e2fHmWzKjVM/s320/solomon+back+garden+phase+two.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>...to filling in the details.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Both
weaving and gardening require an openness to rearranging elements on the fly. Translating
some approximation of your mind’s two-dimensional conception into
three-dimensions pleasing to the eye determines the ultimate success or failure
of any design. Trust your instincts while you’re working. They’re never wrong.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wf7ICRmIlwI/UQQSTVO6toI/AAAAAAAAGV4/f1T7VY6awQo/s1600/plan+-+blue+jay+color+weave%252C+take+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wf7ICRmIlwI/UQQSTVO6toI/AAAAAAAAGV4/f1T7VY6awQo/s320/plan+-+blue+jay+color+weave%252C+take+1.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Weaving plans also evolve. Observe Take 1... </i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iC1FBKXXtKI/UQQCCUoOueI/AAAAAAAAGVs/oOkqA-wTC04/s1600/plan+-+blue+jay+color+weave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iC1FBKXXtKI/UQQCCUoOueI/AAAAAAAAGVs/oOkqA-wTC04/s320/plan+-+blue+jay+color+weave.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>...and Take 2 for the same piece.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In some
ways, though, weaving feels more intense than gardening. Lose concentration for
a few passes on the loom, and the pattern and/or selvages show it. Not that
gardening is mindless, of course. Even weeding requires a modicum of attention
if you want to be sure you haven’t plucked out all your dad’s asparagus plants
about 43 minutes before they bear. For the first time. Since he’d planted them
three years previously. (See November 11, 2011’s <a href="http://www.gardeningfromthegroundup.blogspot.com/2011/11/looking-back.html"><span style="color: red;">“Looking Back”</span></a> for the whole sad story.) </div>
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</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The
ultimate goal of any endeavor—weaving, gardening, painting, golf—is a result. If
at first you don’t succeed, figure out what went wrong, and try, try again. Screw-ups
just mean you’ve had an opportunity to learn something. Tim has taken as his
mantra an adage that says an individual has to paint a mile of canvas before he
starts to get really good at it. The number grows to 20 miles of yarn when
applied to weaving. We’ve killed thousands of plants over the years figuring
out how to garden in North Carolina. So stick with it, whatever “it” is for
you. At the risk of sounding unbearably sanctimonious, if you love to do it, it’s
worth doing until you do it well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-amJECe_L-2Y/UQQB3RQe1uI/AAAAAAAAGUM/d0xi2CpyuVo/s1600/solomons+fence+garden+from+left+27+jun+2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-amJECe_L-2Y/UQQB3RQe1uI/AAAAAAAAGUM/d0xi2CpyuVo/s320/solomons+fence+garden+from+left+27+jun+2011.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This is how the garden turned out...</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PTseMI-rGKI/UQQB-10CkpI/AAAAAAAAGUs/Nsvlu3D_l1I/s1600/blue-jay+color+weave+dark+end+25+jan+2013+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PTseMI-rGKI/UQQB-10CkpI/AAAAAAAAGUs/Nsvlu3D_l1I/s320/blue-jay+color+weave+dark+end+25+jan+2013+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>...and here's the final incarnation of that weaving</i>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span> </div>
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Three “it”s
in one sentence! Must be near time to plug in the pictures and thank y’all for
dropping by.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thanks for
dropping by, y’all.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span>Kathy
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-59855484861031761242013-01-12T15:39:00.001-05:002013-01-13T11:00:49.157-05:00ASPHODEL<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By way
of backstory: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Poetry</i> magazine just
ended its year-long celebration of 100 years in print. In conjunction with this
milestone, they published <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/open-door"><span style="color: red;">The Open Door: 100 Poems, 100 Years of Poetry</span></a>, </i>a
copy of which I duly procured.
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Fkka7G10Y8/UPG_ivea3gI/AAAAAAAAGTM/9Wb3sIAyarY/s1600/open+door+%2528poetry%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Fkka7G10Y8/UPG_ivea3gI/AAAAAAAAGTM/9Wb3sIAyarY/s320/open+door+%2528poetry%2529.JPG" width="197" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>[Note to poetry fans: it’s a good collection, spanning the ins and outs of the genre
over the last century. The thumbnail biographies, although annoyingly freighted
with prizes, awards, and past or present teaching positions, are particularly
fascinating. Almost a third of the poets represented either committed suicide
or died in bizarre circumstances. For example, Frank O’Hara was struck and
killed by a dune buggy on Fire Island. Weldon Kees is presumed to have leapt
from the Golden Gate Bridge. Randall Jarrell stepped into the path of a oncoming car in
Chapel Hill, NC. Hart Crane jumped off a steamship into the Gulf of Mexico. Craig Arnold disappeared while clambering
around volcanoes in Japan. And we all know how Sylvia Plath ended up.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>See how
these digressions proliferate? Keep reading—it gets worse.]</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Anyway. Ray
Bradbury said writers must read poetry every day, so I do. This morning <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Open Door</i> opened to the William Carlos
Williams snippet, “Of asphodel, that greeny flower,” from the fifth volume of his epic dense and largely unintelligible <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Paterson. </i>It goes like this:</div>
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<br /></div>
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“Of asphodel, that greeny flower, the least,</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>that
is a simple flower</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>like
a buttercup upon its</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
branching stem, save</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>that
it’s green and wooden</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>We’ve
had a long life</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
and many things have happened in it.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>There
are flowers also</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>in
hell. So today I’ve come</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
to talk to you about them, among</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>other
things, of flowers</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>that
we both love, even</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
of the poor, colorless</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>thing
which no one living</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>prizes
but the dead see</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
and ask among themselves,</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>What
do we remember that was shaped</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>as
this thing</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
is shaped? as their eyes</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>fill</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>with
tears. By which</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
and by the weak wash of crimson</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>colors
it, the rose</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>is
predicated.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZmTcFpzjbA/UPG_fKz_UEI/AAAAAAAAGSs/hUGp4fxjLgc/s1600/asphodelus+racemosa+-branched+asphodel+%2528magicofnature.weebly.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZmTcFpzjbA/UPG_fKz_UEI/AAAAAAAAGSs/hUGp4fxjLgc/s320/asphodelus+racemosa+-branched+asphodel+%2528magicofnature.weebly.com%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Asphodelus ramosus, <i>branched asphodel</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>All new-to-me-plant sensors aquiver, I lumbered into the kitchen for coffee and to type “asphodel” in
the Google search bar. Ninety minutes later, I knew that there are 17 species
of tuberous <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asphodelus,</i> and as many,
if not more, genera with the common name “false asphodel.” Taxonomists, apparently
bored now that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aster</i> has been
successfully rechristened <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Symphyotrichum, </i>recently moved asphodel from the lily family,
Liliaceae, to the much harder to pronounce Xanthorrhoeaceae (zan-thor-REE-uh-cee-ee,
I’m guessing, from the Greek for yellow—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">xanthos</i>—and
flow—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rheo</i>—referring to the resin the
plants may or may not excrete), which also contains the daylily and the
single-species Australian grasstree sub-families. All of them originate in Mediterranean-like
environments.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>[For a
graphic look at how those wacky taxonomists operate, check out the phylogenic
tree in Wikipedia’s <a href="http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanthorrhoeaceae"><span style="color: red;">Xanthorrhoeaceae</span></a> entry.]<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0J9bBeR7pz8/UPG_eshyFAI/AAAAAAAAGSk/npwqXd7JZPA/s1600/asphodelus+not+%2528urbanartwallpapers.blogspot.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0J9bBeR7pz8/UPG_eshyFAI/AAAAAAAAGSk/npwqXd7JZPA/s320/asphodelus+not+%2528urbanartwallpapers.blogspot.com%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>When is an asphodel not an asphodel? When it's a </i>de affodil<i>.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
interesting lexicographic wrinkle is that the word “daffodil” may have come
from a corruption of asphodel, “affodil”; specifically, from the bulb-loving Dutch
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">de affodil.</i> This in turn might explain why the blog <a href="http://www.urbanartwallpaper.blogspot.com/2010/12/asphodel-close-up-wallpaper.html"><span style="color: red;">UrbanArt Wallpapers</span></a> offers a picture of a mini-daff to
beautify your computer screen and calls it asphodel. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zPEDi2HZ5ME/UPG_hqa81vI/AAAAAAAAGTE/SL_5aSkmhIs/s1600/asphodelus+tubers+%2528sciencedirect.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zPEDi2HZ5ME/UPG_hqa81vI/AAAAAAAAGTE/SL_5aSkmhIs/s320/asphodelus+tubers+%2528sciencedirect.com%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Asphodel tubers, yummy when boiled</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
Asphodels
have an impressive recorded history. As Williams tells us, they are the flowers
of Hades. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Odyssey</i>, Homer
blankets the Elysian fields of the Isles of the Blessed with them. Ancient
Greeks believed they were the favorite food of the dead, and planted them near
graves. This belief was reinforced by the fact that poor Greeks boiled and ate
the tubers. In case you’re interested (or hungry), most parts of the plant are
edible when cooked.<br />
<br /></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBCyuj8Kfj7rnFxP9jDtcEfs9-DsMpqd5ePgjY6UuD7rTP6f25qzvOL7ykaDDg9HppFAYvSXBsK30VR6HlDfFMiquOWpg5kMg7vfuJKX86SuXnIktUMaWDUs0XY4zBjLJggueG1HfQ9nO/s1600/asphodelus+aestivus+-+common+asphodel+%2528biolib.cz%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBCyuj8Kfj7rnFxP9jDtcEfs9-DsMpqd5ePgjY6UuD7rTP6f25qzvOL7ykaDDg9HppFAYvSXBsK30VR6HlDfFMiquOWpg5kMg7vfuJKX86SuXnIktUMaWDUs0XY4zBjLJggueG1HfQ9nO/s320/asphodelus+aestivus+-+common+asphodel+%2528biolib.cz%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Asphodelus aestivus/ramosus/microcarpus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
My research leads me to believe Williams’<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>“greeny flower”<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>refers to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asphodelus
ramosus, </i>or branched asphodel, pictured above. In yet another example of
taxonomic love of confusion, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A. ramosus
</i>(“branching”)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>is synonymous with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A. aestivus </i>(“of summer”) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A. microcarpus </i>(“small fruit”),
depending on which Linnaean descendant you personally rely upon.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
This is how I’ve blown a
perfectly lovely mild and sunny January Saturday. I am in good hopes that further
cyber-digging will bring me to a source for asphodels—the real ones, not the fakes—to
plant in my yard. Should I ever turn off the computer and go out to dig in the yard instead. I’ll let you know how that works out.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Thanks for dropping by.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>Kathy</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJb05mnitguwQ_8OIBo6bzBHlfz5i-BnnoGLnPLo0bE4IUZAo6FFgA54kh0WZdcjHTVugFwmqvw3Olypuipa3lJp36EyHFCl3tm0OOijGapgK2oy0O83tusqkyydx83dnxSGUkhrjKfyL/s1600/prunus+mume+%2527peggy+clarke%2527+-+1st+bloom+12+jan+2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJb05mnitguwQ_8OIBo6bzBHlfz5i-BnnoGLnPLo0bE4IUZAo6FFgA54kh0WZdcjHTVugFwmqvw3Olypuipa3lJp36EyHFCl3tm0OOijGapgK2oy0O83tusqkyydx83dnxSGUkhrjKfyL/s320/prunus+mume+%2527peggy+clarke%2527+-+1st+bloom+12+jan+2013.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prunus mume <i>'Peggy Clarke'</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
P.S. -- Look what was blooming on our deck this morning! Why, it's spicy-scented 'Peggy Clarke' ornamental apricot!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-43363345421516298662013-01-07T14:27:00.000-05:002013-01-07T14:27:03.226-05:00WHAT'S UP?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Lots of
neat things happen over our heads in the depths of winter. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Like what?</i> you ask. Well, for starters, Earth reached its annual perihelion
with the sun on New Year’s Day, when the center of our planet cozied up to
within a mere 91.4 million miles of Old Sol. Did’ja notice how unseasonably
warm it was? No, probably not here in the Northern Hemisphere. Aphelion, or the
greatest distance between star and planet, occurs on July 5<sup>th</sup>, when
the wobble in Earth’s orbit makes us 94.5 million miles distant. Save the date!
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Also
under the rubric of “You’ve Already Missed It,” the annual Quadrantid meteor
shower reached its peak in the wee hours of the third. Didn’t know about meteor
showers other than the Perseids in August? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gracious, there are six others besides the two
mentioned above over the course of the year: the Lyrids in April; the Eta
Aquarids in May; the Southern Delta Aquarids in July; the Orionids in October;
the Leonids in November; and the Geminids in December. Except for the
Quadrantids, meteors emanate from a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">radiant</i>,
or a specific area of the sky, named for a constellation—Lyra, Aquarius, Perseus,
Orion, Leo, and Gemini. The Quadrantids’ radiant is Bootes. Perhaps astronomy’s
equivalent of taxonomists couldn’t quite stretch to the inane sounding “Bootids.”
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Moving
right along to events that are not entirely past, The Globe at Night light-pollution
tracking project is calling for citizen-scientist observations of Orion January
3 to 12. This is the first of five opportunities this winter and spring to add
your bit to charting where starlight can still be enjoyed. Go to <a href="http://globeatnight.org/"><span style="color: red;">The Globe at Night</span></a>’s website for information on
collecting and submitting data. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K78W804j6GE/UOsaj1cmu4I/AAAAAAAAGRo/ZbWdYQMUhZs/s320/orion+from+oki+19+jan+2012%252C%252C+10+pm.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>What Orion looked like from my front yard last January</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Winter’s
cold and clear nighttime skies provide great opportunities for well-bundled-up
star watchers. At this time of year, nine of the 25 brightest stars in the sky are
visible within or on the perimeter of the asterism known as The Great Winter
Circle. Using Orion’s belt as a starting point, it’s easy to find them all. Going
out around 10 pm, draw an imaginary line southeast through the three belt stars
to the brightest star in the sky, the Dog Star, or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sirius</b>. At a distance of only slightly more than eight light-years
from Earth, proximity accounts for his brightness to our eyes. His distinctive
blue color indicates that he is hotter than our Sun. <span id="goog_380676586"></span><span id="goog_380676587"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
If you lengthen your imaginary
line clockwise from Sirius, the next bright object you’ll intersect is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Procyon</b>, Sirius’s little brother in
Canis Minor. Another near neighbor of Earth, he lies only 11 light-years away. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZONi7Y6e_Vs/UOsalINg9vI/AAAAAAAAGSA/IupBiR_br2k/s1600/the+great+winter+circle+%2528suite101.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZONi7Y6e_Vs/UOsalINg9vI/AAAAAAAAGSA/IupBiR_br2k/s1600/the+great+winter+circle+%2528suite101.com%2529.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The Great Winter Circle (or Hexagon), as presented on Suite 101</i></div>
<i>(Betelgeuse is over the "n" in "Orion")</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Continuing the clockwise arc,
you run into <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pollux and Castor, </b>the
Twin Stars of Gemini. Sitting at the northernmost point of the circle is golden
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Capella</b>, the constellation Auriga’s
brightest star. Swooshing down and around to the southwest brings you past <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jupiter</b> to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Aldebaran</b>, the fiery red "eye" of Taurus, the Bull, Orion's prey. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Closing the circle is brilliant
blue <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rigel</b>, marking one of Orion’s
knees (or his right foot, depending on the source). Although from our vantage point Rigel looks a lot
like Sirius, the two stars are very different. Rigel, a blue supergiant, is
more than 100 times farther away than the Dog Star: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>its luminosity is greater than 50,000 of our
Suns. In other words, were Rigel as close to Earth as Sirius, it would appear
as big as a full moon, and scare us all silly. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Betelgeuse</b>, the ruddy star marking Orion’s shoulder, sits at the
center of this "Great Winter Circle.” A red supergiant that has consumed
all of the hydrogen at its center, Betelgeuse is nearing the end of his life…
but he’ll still outlast all of us.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I find looking up to be a grounding
activity. My petty problems and woes shrink away to nearly nothing in the
presence of the silence and majesty of the cosmos. Digging in the dirt and
staring at the stars brings balance to a life. And, if you’re in a pickle over
something and can’t do one, you can do the other until you regain perspective.
Works for me, anyway.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Thanks for dropping by.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span>Kathy</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
P.S.—Want to learn more? These three websites will get
you on your way: <a href="http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2013.html"><span style="color: red;">Sea and Sky</span></a>; <a href="http://www.suite101.com/article/the-great-winter-circle-a179445"><span style="color: red;">Suite 101</span></a>; and the U.S. Naval Observatory’s SkyGuy’s
up-to-the-minute posts on <a href="http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/tours-events/sky-this-week"><span style="color: red;">The Sky This Week</span></a>.</div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-90865924948481984142012-12-31T13:20:00.000-05:002013-01-19T09:32:01.573-05:00PROMISES TO KEEP<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></b>I just spent two irretrievable
hours of my life wearing one of Tim’s hard white art erasers (not
to mention my thumb) down to frass removing the first three months of journal entries from my
second-decade weather observation book. Seemed like a good idea back in 2010,
making brief daily jottings on the goings-on in the yard in a ten-years-at-a-glance
context. When all interest in continuing evaporated that same May—about the
time when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">being</i> in the garden was ’way
more appealing than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">writing</i> about the
garden—I shelved the idea and the book, resolving to deal with the latter
before 2013.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ioFsuK7kqTI/UOHTj6swDFI/AAAAAAAAGOE/fF6VK0BSyS0/s1600/weather+books+31+dec+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ioFsuK7kqTI/UOHTj6swDFI/AAAAAAAAGOE/fF6VK0BSyS0/s400/weather+books+31+dec+2012.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Guess
what arrives tomorrow? </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Guess
what arrived today? A New Year’s resolution I know I can keep: after 50 years
in the trenches, I’m swearing off formal journaling. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Obsessive
journaling is really a sort of masturbation. It’s why the blogosphere thrives.
There’s the titillation of others reading, perhaps commenting on, your
revelations. There’s also the possibility of the odd 15 minutes of fame, such
as the kvetching blogging mom who declared her own kid would be the next Adam
Lantz, garnering herself appearances on the morning talk shows. I mean, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i>. No wonder the kid has problems.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
realization dawned that I’m no Samuel Pepys (pronounced PEEPS, not PEP-is). The
realization also dawned that I turn 60 in 2013. Over the past several years, I’ve
been moving steadily toward the place where it’s a lot more important to be out
living life rather than just writing about it. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Does
that mean GFTGU has finished its run? No. At least not yet. Playing in the dirt
is a life-long love affair, and the best education, and the best therapy ever. But,
to steal from Robert Frost,<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>I
have promises to keep</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>And
miles to go before I sleep,</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>And
miles to go before I sleep.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Happy New
Year, y’all. And thanks for dropping by.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span>Kathy</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
P.S. – Wanna know the most profound thing I erased this
morning? On March 2, 2010, I wrote: “Met Allan Armitage [at the Davidson
College Gardening Symposium]. He’s a jerk.”</div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-62140027101949522072012-12-10T17:39:00.000-05:002012-12-23T10:24:57.823-05:00AND NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS<div style="text-align: left;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> "The Avant Gardener" carries good news briefs as well, such as the following:</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">NOT JUST FOR HEADACHES ANY MORE</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e0K2X-bE534/UMZa3IzVNSI/AAAAAAAAGMc/siwrl7J3rjQ/s1600/aspirin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e0K2X-bE534/UMZa3IzVNSI/AAAAAAAAGMc/siwrl7J3rjQ/s200/aspirin.JPG" width="116" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Does an aspirin
drench</b> really enhance a plant’s natural defenses to promote growth, reduce
stress, and ward off disease and insects? Replying to a reader letter to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fine Gardening,</i> University of Rhode
Island Professor Rebecca Brown says yes. One component of aspirin is salicytic
acid, a chemical naturally present in all flora. Its name derives from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Salix</i>, because willows produce the
compound in high concentrations. Dissolve one or two aspirin per gallon of
water, and apply generously around the roots of your plants. Dr. Brown
recommends a douse every two weeks during the growing season. Seedlings and new
transplants benefit from aspirin-water spritzes too. Or you can feed them a tea
made of willow twigs steeped in water. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <b> </b> </span>Except<b> </b>using aspirin’s easier.</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ql25FmKYf0Y/UMZa1m6VPmI/AAAAAAAAGMM/vUeZSv5G6rU/s1600/lavendula+%2527phenomenon%2527+%2528from+avant+gardener+nov+2012%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ql25FmKYf0Y/UMZa1m6VPmI/AAAAAAAAGMM/vUeZSv5G6rU/s200/lavendula+%2527phenomenon%2527+%2528from+avant+gardener+nov+2012%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>In the 'Phenomenal' field</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Know what else is
good for headache?</b> Aromatherapy with home-grown lavender. For those of us
living in climes somewhat dissimilar to those of the English countryside or
Provence, Peace Tree Farms of Pennsylvania has developed a super-hardy cultivar
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lavendula </i>they dubbed
‘Phenomenal.’ Bred for American Horticultural Society’s (AHS) Zones 4 to 8, the
silver-foliaged densely branched plant grows to about 36” high and wide, and
produces “deep-blue” (hort-speak for “purple”) bloom clusters. Go to <a href="http://www.peacetreefarm.com/"><span style="color: red;">Peace Tree Farm’s</span></a> website for more information.</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JU5isDczdKs/UMZa2HQ43TI/AAAAAAAAGMU/fR7rnVXHvdo/s1600/honeycrisp+apples+%2528from+avant+gardener+nov+2012%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JU5isDczdKs/UMZa2HQ43TI/AAAAAAAAGMU/fR7rnVXHvdo/s200/honeycrisp+apples+%2528from+avant+gardener+nov+2012%2529.JPG" width="132" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Honeycrisp apples</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Are you hungry?</b> How about a nice apple?
U.S. growers produce zillions of them (more or less) every year. Our own USDA
expended considerable time and taxpayer dollars to rank our favorite varieties
by volume. And the winners are: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Gala, Granny
Smith, Fuji and Braeburn. But keep an eye out for newcomer Honeycrisp. This
yellow and red marbled-fleshed University of Minnesota introduction is on its
way to the top.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O7ddRGRzlW8/UMZa0rCzogI/AAAAAAAAGME/qhLisyRWaBA/s1600/blueberry+%2527pink+lemonade%2527+%2528avant+gardener+nov+2012%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O7ddRGRzlW8/UMZa0rCzogI/AAAAAAAAGME/qhLisyRWaBA/s200/blueberry+%2527pink+lemonade%2527+%2528avant+gardener+nov+2012%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Blueberry 'Pink Lemonade'</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The busy boys at the USDA’s Agricultural
Research Service </b>have released two new blueberry hybrids. Early fruiting
‘Sweetheart’ “… not only holds its sweet flavor longer than other blueberries,
it produces a small repeat crop in the fall” after the main run in June,
according to “The Avant Gardener.” She’s hardy to AHS Zone 5. In keeping with
the American fascination with all things pink, the second AHS entry is ‘Pink
Lemonade,’ a blueberry whose fruit is, um, pink. (Why don’t they call it
“pinkberry”? No one knows.)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Only a
moderate producer and hardy only to AHS Zone 6, “this novel blueberry gained a
‘best new shrub’ award at the Far West Horticultural Show.” High praise indeed. I guess.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Both apples and blueberry provide consumers
with lots of fiber</b>, which, as we all know, promotes happy and healthy
colons. But listen to this, girls: out of 20,000 women participating in a
study, those who got the most fiber from their diets had a 25% lower chance of
developing heart disease than their processed-food loving counterparts.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MoI7eWd511Uc9BFCfvPfGdWypG8_hUP0Oj5uMDw0qUqIMrtS-sW8k0YljYaHUKfCozck3vT5DPPxJMKXUwHQUVqFBAQ31fKEBsG7A-kXtD_7AeKstW15GAqNBgJGYq83xcBdxSAhNFQs/s1600/raisins.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MoI7eWd511Uc9BFCfvPfGdWypG8_hUP0Oj5uMDw0qUqIMrtS-sW8k0YljYaHUKfCozck3vT5DPPxJMKXUwHQUVqFBAQ31fKEBsG7A-kXtD_7AeKstW15GAqNBgJGYq83xcBdxSAhNFQs/s200/raisins.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Calm down! Have some raisins. </i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Got raisins? </b>Swedish researchers found
that hypertensives eating a handful of raisins a day appreciably reduced their
blood pressures. No one knows why, exactly, but then, it doesn’t really matter,
does it?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
*****<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b>One last dollop of good-ish news</b>. Today
marks the last of the earliest sunsets here in the Southport area. Starting November
28 and continuing through this evening, the sun’s gone down at 5:03 EST.
Tomorrow, we gain a minute as it waits until 5:04 to slip below the horizon. On
the other end of the day, however, sunrise gets incrementally later until January 3<sup>rd</sup>,
when it claws its way into the morning sky at 7:17 EST. There it levels off
through the 13<sup>th</sup>. After that, it’s all good with earlier sunrises
and later sunsets until the summer solstice in June, when the slow slide kicks
back in.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iFxfyysP_LU/UMZgA94WOFI/AAAAAAAAGNY/I75W2PVmRZI/s1600/those+wacky+druids--life+photo+from+google.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="136" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iFxfyysP_LU/UMZgA94WOFI/AAAAAAAAGNY/I75W2PVmRZI/s200/those+wacky+druids--life+photo+from+google.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Those wacky druids at Stonehenge</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
actual shortest day(s) of the year fall around the imminent winter solstice, on
December 21 this year. Locally, that plays out to 15 days of 14-hour-6-minute nights.
For more insight on the long and short of daylengths, check out my December 10,
2010 post, <a href="http://www.gardeningfromthegroundup.blogspot.com/2010/12/moon-sun-shortest-day.html"><span style="color: red;">“The Moon, the Sun, and the Shortest Day.”</span></a>
It’s illuminating (haha).</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Okay, that’s it for me for 2012.
There’s a visit to Momma in Williamsburg coming up this weekend, and seasonal
shopping to cram in before the trip; our ever-patient clients would really, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i> like their winter containers
filled; I would really, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really </i>like
to find homes for all the plants in our driveway; a stack of Christmas cards waits
on my desk to be addressed and schlepped to the mailbox; six pounds of
cranberries languish in the fridge, hoping to become sauce and chutney; there's a
weaving sampler I can’t wait to get off the loom because it’s produced so damn
many “teachable moments”; and a sweater I've been struggling with since first looping yarn around needle requires ripping out all together as I
discovered last night I forgot to make any of the sleeve increases. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That's life as
usual <i>chez</i> Fitz. We wish you the least stressful of holidays and are looking forward to
catching up after the furor dies down. Sleep in heavenly peace, if you can. And if
not, an occasional Ativan helps smooth out those rough edges.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thanks
so much for dropping by. It means a lot to me. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span>Kathy</div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-28208920640306296182012-12-05T10:23:00.000-05:002012-12-05T10:34:43.551-05:00FIRST THE BAD NEWS<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--> Is it just me, or does time
compress between Thanksgiving and New Years? I’ve taken to setting the stove’s
timer to keep me from taking more than an hour to make and record the first
weather observation of the day, change the cats’ water, clear the dish drainer,
shift whatever laundry’s going to the next phase, answer important emails and
delete the junk, and down my two cups of joe. I can never quite believe it when
the series of triple beeps start. This morning, for instance, I thought it was
the dryer and let it continue for five minutes.<br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the
interest of not having to think too much, this post will consist of some bits
and bobs gleaned from the November issue of <a href="http://www.avantgardener.info/"><span style="color: red;">“The Avant Gardener”</span></a> newsletter. A
subscription to this excellent publication would make a dandy stocking stuffer
for the computer-literate dirt-monkey in your life: since the venerable Tom
Powell retired, Derek Fell has taken the digest online. But it is still soooo
worthwhile.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PAUSE FOR THOUGHT</b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_HdZokEytys/UL9ics0h9xI/AAAAAAAAGLw/UWPuFXe3UHY/s1600/neonicotinoid+pesticides+%2528wired+.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_HdZokEytys/UL9ics0h9xI/AAAAAAAAGLw/UWPuFXe3UHY/s200/neonicotinoid+pesticides+%2528wired+.com%2529.JPG" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A shelf full of neonicotinoids</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hooray for Europe.</b> Light-years ahead of
the U.S. when it comes to sustainable agriculture, Germany, France and Italy
have banned neonicotinoid pesticides, according to an article by Shelley
Stonebrook in the August/September <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mother
Earth News. </i>A growing body of evidence implicates synthetic neonicotinoids
(pronounced “knee-oh-knee-COT-in-oydz,” so called because their chemical makeup
resembles that of nicotine), a particularly virulent class of systemic insecticides,
in the ongoing malaise of European honeybees. Systemic pesticides work by
insinuating themselves into every cell of treated plants, from roots to shoots
to fruits, and their residual presence is truly impressive. One study cited by
Stonebrook found the harvested fruits and vegetables from plants treated with the stuff retained a scary 12% residue. Another study, published in 2012 in Japan,
found a correlation between neonicotinoid residues and brain damage in mammals.
Beekeepers on this side of the pond want the EPA to get them off the shelves pronto. So
far, no dice.<br />
<br />
No big surprise there. Can you say "chemical industry lobby"? </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r5qsIJ55p94/UL9ia6JCfsI/AAAAAAAAGLg/y1gIrIIKnpY/s1600/syngenta+logo+%2528from+avant+gardener+nov+2012%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r5qsIJ55p94/UL9ia6JCfsI/AAAAAAAAGLg/y1gIrIIKnpY/s200/syngenta+logo+%2528from+avant+gardener+nov+2012%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Swiss member of the Big Three</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta </b>are the
largest food-crop seed producers in the world. The main business of all three
is synthetic chemical production with heavy investment in biotechnology (i.e.,
genetically modified organisms, or GMOs) to make their patented plants weed- and
pest-resistant. Anybody else see a conflict of interest here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avant
Gardener </i>says, “… who wants to eat a food that has its own built-in insect
control even if it is considered biologically safe, or a food that can
withstand spraying with a weed-killer? In a nutshell, that is what the
controversy over GMO seed is all about, and why some countries of Europe have
enforced labeling of GMO food crops, and why similar consumer groups in the U.S.
are agitating for GMO labeling laws.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Nutshell,
indeed. Should be nut<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">house, </i>don’t you
think?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ovQwZmvN3wo/UL9ibkr0xBI/AAAAAAAAGLo/tHndkKJcyB8/s1600/deer+tick+%2528dogs-n-more.blogspot.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="131" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ovQwZmvN3wo/UL9ibkr0xBI/AAAAAAAAGLo/tHndkKJcyB8/s200/deer+tick+%2528dogs-n-more.blogspot.com%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Your basic female deer tick</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Here’s a bulletin for you:</b> gardeners
have a higher-than-average chance of contracting Lyme disease because they,
along with hikers, have a higher-than-average chance of attracting deer ticks.
Wait! There’s more! Successful treatment of the disease depends on early
diagnosis, but: 1) the alleged characteristic bull’s-eye pattern around the
bite site often fails to materialize; 2) symptoms—which include fatigue,
congestion, headache and joint pain—mimic about 3000 other malaises, like flu,
hay fever, arthritis and aging; and 3) the currently available tests for the
disease are unreliable. What to do? The “perfectly safe” crowd advocates
wearing biohazard suits at all times and hermetically sealing one’s living
quarters against mice, who also host the tiny arachnids. Sane people merely
maintain routine watchfulness when showering (helps if you have a shower-buddy)
and occasionally remind themselves of how few actual victims of the disease they personally
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<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Well,
this didn’t turn into the easy-peasy piece I’d anticipated. I forgot how hard
it is to avoid plagiarism when excerpting from a text. Bugger.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Stay tuned for a perkier piece next
time. And thanks for dropping by.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>Kathy</div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-39620313710362009082012-11-22T10:48:00.000-05:002012-11-22T10:53:00.428-05:00FALLOW<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“November
is the most disagreeable month of the year,” says Jo March in Louisa May
Alcott’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Little Women.</i> Jo obviously
didn’t live in southeastern North
Carolina. Shivery mornings warming to open-window
afternoons, nights when you seriously consider turning on the heat, the oblique
angle of the light—all these combine to reinvigorate the summer-weary, plants
and people alike. A fragment from Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Day in Autumn” comes to
mind:
<br />
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</span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>After
the summer’s yield, Lord, it is time</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>to
let your shadow lengthen on the sundials</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>and
in the pastures let the rough winds fly.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>As
for the final fruits, coax them to roundness.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Direct
on them two days of warmer light</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>to
hale them golden toward their term, and harry</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>the
last few drops of sweetness through the wine.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">translated by
Mary Kinzie)</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Rilke
would not have been impressed if he could see me this chilly morning, huddled
on the screened porch, wrapped in baggy pajamas, ratty cardigan and ancient
wool socks, cradling my hands around that first life-renewing cup of coffee.
I’m looking out at the weed-choked, heat-exhausted, wind-tattered remnants of
my garden. It’s been lackluster all season, in performance as well as
appearance. I know why, of course: the bustle and brio of spring gave way too
soon to the stultification of high summer. The heat got to me, draining away
all ambition. I neglected the garden, cultivating only air-conditioned spaces,
lying fallow.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My
thoughts turn to the virtues of fallowness. It was common practice in
old-fashioned sustainable agriculture, before the advent of agri-business
conglomerates and faster-living-through-chemistry lifestyles. Wise stewards of the land fallowed one-third of their fields each year, honoring the benefits of
regular extended periods when no marketable product is expected, letting the
land lie quietly, recharging. Up north, rock-solid frozen ground and snow cover
enforce the rest period: here where the ground never freezes, we have to
consciously think about the value of fallow.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Okay,
I decide. I had my respite this summer—now it’s the garden’s turn.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
plan is this: I’ll finally clean up the vegetable garden and cut down the
obstreperous whips of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gomphrena</i>
‘Fireworks,’ neaten up the new bed, empty summer’s containers and compost the
lot. When the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tabula</i> is almost <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rasa</i>, I will blanket it with at least
three inches of composted manure I never got around to using earlier in the
year, finish off with a generous helping of kelp meal, sow red clover and
onions in the raised beds. I’ll toss in whatever bulbs I couldn’t resist
ordering more of. Then I wait, leaving it alone until March.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDwpiFJZkzQmrkH0cdOUrxGQx56o5LLQb_6BEU15JDR1rgxfaSwFM3-KaLPjVmUQ97UJb4S0xTbUGkA63xGR4jCFEjRR_MJy4tkYEDiaR6GGvkHyZrS8YTyICa3KQB4PWeB-8vnSReFQ1S/s1600/2012+22+nov+fallow+from+SE+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDwpiFJZkzQmrkH0cdOUrxGQx56o5LLQb_6BEU15JDR1rgxfaSwFM3-KaLPjVmUQ97UJb4S0xTbUGkA63xGR4jCFEjRR_MJy4tkYEDiaR6GGvkHyZrS8YTyICa3KQB4PWeB-8vnSReFQ1S/s320/2012+22+nov+fallow+from+SE+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Toadflax Farm, fallow</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<br />
All the
perennials I brought home from Christine’s (grower <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">extraordinaire</i>) this season that somehow never made it into the
ground are cut down and arrayed against the walls of the house for that little
extra warmth. While the garden rests, I’ll arrange them on paper for early
spring planting. Maybe I’ll undertake some hedge control, as an excuse for
messing about outside on sunny days, re-energized by my own fallow season. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-align: center;">
* *
*</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -2.85pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>November’s a good time to begin
topdressing your plants with composted manure. (“Topdressing” is a
horticultural term for “putting stuff on top of the soil instead of digging it
in.”) The work seems easier when you’re not blinded by sweat or swatting at biting
insects all the damn time. Besides, if you start now, you’ll avoid the February
rush on Black Kow at Lowe’s. Your azaleas, Japanese camellias, loropetalums and
other late-winter/early spring blooming shrubs appreciate a dollop of
Holly-Tone or rock phosphate now to help improve the flower show later. Remove
the spent stalks from your lilies and irises, but leave the foliage intact.
Don’t cut back your herbaceous plants unless you absolutely can’t stand the
admittedly unmanicured sight: the seedheads feed finches and other small birds,
and the dead leaves provide winter cover. (Canna lilies are an exception to
this rule—their foliage goes all slimy and disgusting once frost hits.) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -2.85pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -2.85pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>As for winter color, I’ll stick
with the tried-and-true if ubiquitous pansies, violas, snapdragons and sweet
william. Professional note: smaller-flowered violas bloom more prolifically and
seem cold-hardier, plus they don’t require deadheading. If it’s
less work, I’m all for it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -2.85pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -2.85pt; text-align: center;">
*
* *</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -2.85pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -2.85pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>In the current worrisome political
and economic climate, working in the garden serves as a calming and grounding
activity, reminding us there is still much to be grateful for. Happy
Thanksgiving, everyone.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -2.85pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -2.85pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>And thanks for dropping by.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -2.85pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -2.85pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span>Kathy</div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-71513277379307711542012-11-18T12:56:00.000-05:002012-11-18T12:59:17.559-05:00RECLUSE, WYOMING<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Tim,
bless his darlin’ heart, spent considerable energy this sodden and blustery week
perusing weaving websites on my behalf. He researched harness looms (haven’t
mastered the rigid heddle yet), raw wool (spinning and dyeing my own yarn is still
a ways down the road), and organic yarn sources. He sent me several links
featuring beautiful traditional and modern rugs and tapestries. One could—and does!—lose
a lot of time clicking from one to the next, and the next, and the next. Not to
be outdone, I connected with Yarn Barn of (Lawrence) Kansas; Stitch ‘n’ Frame
out of Urbandale, Iowa; The Woolery in Frankfort, Kentucky; and the used-book
site Alibris to find a must-have out-of-print volume entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Finishes in the Ethnic Tradition</i> by
Suzanne Baizerman and Karen Searle. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No
wonder many of our gardening clients and neighbors think we’ve left town, died,
or both.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The link
in my inbox Saturday morning opened to <a href="http://navajoweavingsupplies.com/"><span style="color: red;">Crazy Woman’s Navajo Weaving Supplies</span></a>. I admire Navajo rugs and blankets, but what
resonated in my heart was the contact address. She lives on Hidden Hollow Road
in Recluse, Wyoming. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nVRkl_t9nH4/UKkeQHqrKZI/AAAAAAAAGK0/RbYDLOFiLoo/s1600/recluse%252C+wyoming+%2528googlemaps%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nVRkl_t9nH4/UKkeQHqrKZI/AAAAAAAAGK0/RbYDLOFiLoo/s320/recluse%252C+wyoming+%2528googlemaps%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Recluse, Wyoming (courtesy GoogleMaps)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
glommed onto the idea of Recluse. I visualized a small log cabin on
its own private track, called Go Away Gulch Lane, or some such. A cloistered
existence has always sung siren songs to me—as long as it’s plumbed,
electrified, near a large body of water, not subject to harsh winters, and
fully funded. I do have a <i>few</i> standards, after all.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>GoogleMaps’
satellite pictures injected a dose of unwelcome reality into my cozy
imaginings. Tucked into the otherwise empty northeast corner of the state, Recluse
looks to be a cluster of about 12 buildings in a wide-ish spot on Recluse Road,
unceremoniously plunked down in a taupe ocean of raked-gravel-like harvested
fields. A precious few algae-green patches erupt into the brown, but I bet they’re
densely populated (relatively speaking, of course) with zealously guarded
borders. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Extremely
well named, Recluse lies about 200 miles north-northeast of Casper; 200 miles
northwest of Rapid City, South Dakota; 225 miles southeast of Billings,
Montana; and around 150 miles from the eastern edge of Yellowstone National
Park—the part lacking access roads.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then memories
of the time Tim and I drove through eastern Wyoming on our way to Mount
Rushmore poured in. We stopped along the absolutely featureless stretch of I-25
between Cheyenne and Casper to look at some big-horn sheep and the still-visible
ruts etched into the stony ground by covered wagons filled with hopeful
settlers on their tortuous way to Oregon in the 19<sup>th</sup> century. I read
Willa Cather: stories of pioneer women driven insane by horizon-to-horizon
treelessness and incessant wind sprang to mind. I would have joined the
sisterhood of Looney Lucys for sure. I started to cry.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That
evening, in Casper, Tim and I had our one and only serious fight.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Because
everything goes faster these days, Lucy was creeping in after only seven hours.
No wonder Cate Loetscher, proprietor of Navajo Weaving Supplies, calls herself
Crazy Woman. She’s certainly made of sterner stuff than I am.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PgAxv_gIIOQ/UKkePa5EIiI/AAAAAAAAGKs/NAlZErxghsQ/s1600/oak+island%252C+nc+%2528google+maps%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PgAxv_gIIOQ/UKkePa5EIiI/AAAAAAAAGKs/NAlZErxghsQ/s320/oak+island%252C+nc+%2528google+maps%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Oak Island, NC (courtesy GoogleMaps)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Looking
at the blessedly blue and green GoogleMap of Oak Island made me think maybe
things aren’t really so awful here. It’s certainly a textbook example of being
careful what one wishes for, with a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">soup</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ç</span>on
</i>of the devil one knows is better, yadayada. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Take a
minute from frenetic preparations for the holiday season to be truly grateful
for all you already have and are. It may not offer all the delights of Recluse,
Wyoming, but grace and happiness reside there nonetheless.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thanks
for dropping by.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span>Kathy</div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-79333072741053395012012-11-12T14:29:00.000-05:002012-11-13T12:40:04.486-05:00END-OF-SEASON CLEANUP<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Tim and I gave a talk to Southport’s Woodbine Garden Club
this morning. The hall contains no projector for PowerPoint slides, so Tim
spent a couple hours Sunday evening converting them to DVD format for showing
on TV. While the disc worked fine at home, we didn’t think to bring the
converter box for our antediluvian, non-digital unit with us to the Jaycees Building.
Bugger. Back to square one. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Then circumstances turned in our
favor. The meeting date had changed a few times, so turnout was light. “Wonderful!”
I told president Heather. “We’ll pull the chairs into a circle.” “Oh,” Miss
Heather replied. “Like a garden intervention!”</div>
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<br /></div>
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Well, something like that. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Anyway, we had a blast. I promised
I’d post the pictures they didn’t get to see on my blog (which we mentioned
about 800 times) upon arriving back home. So Woodbine ladies, here's the PowerPoint presentation you've been waiting for.
You can click on the pictures to make them bigger. And thank you all for a really good time.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Everybody else, thanks for dropping by. Hope you enjoy the show.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Kathy </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
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Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-891478770505950332012-11-04T17:06:00.001-05:002012-11-04T17:07:44.715-05:00THE FUNGUS AMONGUS<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Today is a day of deadlines.
Have an 800-word article due for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Carolina
Gardener</i>, and a 500-worder for the St. James Plantation monthly glossy, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CatTales</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i>(St. James, the golf-course
community where Tim and I do most of our gardening work, is not now nor ever
has been a plantation. Old Brunswick County maps label the area “Ash Swamp.”
Nonetheless, we’ve met many lovely people there who have kept us in food and
utilities for many years, and we’re grateful to them.) It is also past time for
a GFTGU post. As my posterior has had about all it can stand of sitting (ha-ha:
I grow punchy), I propose to repurpose one of those other articles for the
blogosphere<i>.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
How come Miss Last-Minute
procrastinated more than usual? Yesterday, Tim and I adopted a beautiful little
part-Siamese rescue kitten at PetSmart. Cats have always been part of my life,
but many moons have passed since there was an honest-to-Pete kitten in the
house. I forgot how totally entrancing, energetic and exhausting the tiny
fur-balls can be. I wish I could cat-nap as effectively as Phil.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Tim named him Phil. I don’t know
why.<br />
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hZGaJv_ByxU/UJbirkf_-xI/AAAAAAAAGA0/SVEZbWqPPos/s1600/phil%252C+day+1+3+nov+2012+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hZGaJv_ByxU/UJbirkf_-xI/AAAAAAAAGA0/SVEZbWqPPos/s200/phil%252C+day+1+3+nov+2012+%25285%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Phil, charming Dad</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Anyway, here’s a picture of baby
Phil (I’d include one of feline matriarch Three and doofy ol’ Fred, but they’re
both too busy glowering and growling to pose), and a short piece about the genesis
of the crop of toadstools ornamenting local lawns as our unusually (pre-global
warming) wet autumn meanders along. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
****</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
During the incessant rains of last
August, I had a letter from my mom in Williamsburg, VA, asking what she could
do about the rash of mushrooms and toadstools dotting her lawn. Her yardman
refused to mow them down for fear of spreading the spores. When I called to
reassure her that the growths would disappear on their own, she told me they
already had.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
We super-sanitary,
anti-microbial Americans have visceral reactions to anything fungal, lumping
them all into the same category with Frito toenails, moldy food and mildewed
shower curtains. As usual, we misunderstand the natural world.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Uy0H-i-5Pbg/UJbisStvRdI/AAAAAAAAGA8/gVKDFNCdvUI/s1600/lycoperdon+mycelium+%2528drpinna.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Uy0H-i-5Pbg/UJbisStvRdI/AAAAAAAAGA8/gVKDFNCdvUI/s200/lycoperdon+mycelium+%2528drpinna.com%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Hyphae on rotting log</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Soil fungi are absolutely
critical to life on this planet. Mostly, their business of decomposing organic
matter goes on unseen except for the occasional sighting of white thread-like
structures, or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">hyphae</b>, on the
undersides of wood bark chips, firewood, and lumber left outside too long.
Hyphae make up the vegetative part of a fungus, called the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">mycelium</b>, which can expand outward indefinitely from a single spore
as long as there is something for it to eat. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Before you start imagining a
real-life “Day of the Triffids,” let me hasten to add the purpose of mycelial
activity is to turn solid organic matter—tree stumps, logs, buried wooden
construction debris—into nutrients plant roots can readily use. No fungus, no
plants.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcTLQnt0wEf_dVMv895NOtP-4SowOM3bfzbohzqyB8NbCGLok8LMsfqtnUofuj3PIckbRofXoo9sXzEiIMz3D1f-TeS7bgScV6JH9hGK57v2RaVMIL9ShaaCThGsf2IE1r7BXktIrE0UT/s1600/fairy+ring+fungus%2528landscape.online.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcTLQnt0wEf_dVMv895NOtP-4SowOM3bfzbohzqyB8NbCGLok8LMsfqtnUofuj3PIckbRofXoo9sXzEiIMz3D1f-TeS7bgScV6JH9hGK57v2RaVMIL9ShaaCThGsf2IE1r7BXktIrE0UT/s200/fairy+ring+fungus%2528landscape.online.com%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Fairy ring: Wanna dance, Oberon?</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Most of us live blissfully
unaware of this necessary symbiosis until the mushrooms/toadstools appear in
the lawn. (The terms are technically synonymous, referring to any—wait for
it—basidiomycetous fungi; in popular usage, toadstools are poisonous mushrooms.
Unless you’re an experienced mycologist, don’t be harvesting any of them for
dinner.) Often, the mushrooms form arcs or rings in the grass called fairy
rings or pixie circles, based on magical woodland lore of Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Swnlrd3PVdE/UJbilHnB9rI/AAAAAAAAGAU/x2GD8ThOtIE/s1600/toadstools+on+stump+closer+yet+oct+2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Swnlrd3PVdE/UJbilHnB9rI/AAAAAAAAGAU/x2GD8ThOtIE/s200/toadstools+on+stump+closer+yet+oct+2011.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The fruiting bodies of</i><br />
Marasmius oreades<i> </i><br />
<i>on a tree stump </i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
These growths are actually
fungal fruiting bodies, analogous to flowers. When a couple of dry days follows
a rainy period, they sprout up, literally overnight, marking the active feeding
edge of any of 50 or so species of fungi common to turf areas. Although many
people consider them unsightly, they are generally harmless and soon disappear
without human intervention.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But what if I</i> want <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to
intervene?</i> you ask.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Trust me, you don’t. And even if
you did, the process—involving widespread fumigation with chemicals far more
unpleasant than fungi and/or massive soil removal, replacement and resodding—is
labor-intensive, expensive… and, in all likelihood, ineffective. You can knock
down or pull up the mushrooms if you like. The fungi will continue anyway. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Thank goodness. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Thanks for dropping by.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>Kathy</div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-23256575144035155162012-10-25T10:37:00.001-04:002012-10-25T10:37:21.644-04:00FILLED WITH COLOR<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Tim and
I got some hard news this week. A very dear friend and long-time client
received a diagnosis of Stage 4 lung cancer. It somehow feels appropriate—if “appropriate”
is even close to the right word—that this body-slam should come in the fall,
when a transitioning world puts on its gayest and gaudiest dress before fading
into grey.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
southeastern North Carolina, the deciduous trees don’t put on much of a show most
years. Except for the maples, reds are muted, browned. Tulip poplar and
sycamore leaves turn bright yellow for about ten minutes before their edges go
crispy, and they’re on the ground. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Occasionally
the sweet gums spark multi-hued, but dull purple is much more common.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This is
not to say the landscape’s gone bland. You just have to take the time to look. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I did, I found shards of rainbow all over
the place.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn4KtkPWlFhcPyD-5UnTgN5TB2FOhTz892s0mslKxUukrTHEw6gBqF1JMW1TN3V8wVd1tCirxfQPtqqrJQJPDNvhpbhA4jB6Vv2OrkZ1lpQtUZBfrBxJJTMJ_cUWFptkYJROBH7hi3YcKS/s1600/red+-+pentas+20+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn4KtkPWlFhcPyD-5UnTgN5TB2FOhTz892s0mslKxUukrTHEw6gBqF1JMW1TN3V8wVd1tCirxfQPtqqrJQJPDNvhpbhA4jB6Vv2OrkZ1lpQtUZBfrBxJJTMJ_cUWFptkYJROBH7hi3YcKS/s200/red+-+pentas+20+oct+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Red pentas
blazing in a windowbox.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TEcVyAFx0R4/UIlA0YZjH4I/AAAAAAAAF-o/4OHgx5mDm_I/s1600/orange+-+sweet+pepper+23+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TEcVyAFx0R4/UIlA0YZjH4I/AAAAAAAAF-o/4OHgx5mDm_I/s200/orange+-+sweet+pepper+23+oct+2012.JPG" width="150" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>An orange
sweet pepper, possibly the last of the season.</div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FnzDZXnV3v4/UIlA5NC8VxI/AAAAAAAAF_Q/ehNfwe4JAWM/s1600/yellow+-+rudbeckia+hirta+23+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FnzDZXnV3v4/UIlA5NC8VxI/AAAAAAAAF_Q/ehNfwe4JAWM/s200/yellow+-+rudbeckia+hirta+23+oct+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A yellow-yellow
black-eyed susan petal, still hanging on.</div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hC2N2FKl9wo/UIlA78EFL5I/AAAAAAAAF_o/6BsGBFuphLo/s1600/yellow+-+tarragon+23+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hC2N2FKl9wo/UIlA78EFL5I/AAAAAAAAF_o/6BsGBFuphLo/s200/yellow+-+tarragon+23+oct+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a> </div>
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Yellow-orange tarragon flowers
dug from a friend’s house last Saturday.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXyhurkqC17nGpMZS2u7VO-GzIsobgaokQZadgf6xOqSZLzPGMNLGoYWFmSJBrjW8OvqHDGh3jiuUGRipFJ9nIbvXCQyb8uJC4KnEagsZD6vU4fLd4zuDi1bNKgVBVh1hVcGq1idGKhodg/s1600/chartreuse+-+coleus+%2527alabama+sunset%2527+23+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXyhurkqC17nGpMZS2u7VO-GzIsobgaokQZadgf6xOqSZLzPGMNLGoYWFmSJBrjW8OvqHDGh3jiuUGRipFJ9nIbvXCQyb8uJC4KnEagsZD6vU4fLd4zuDi1bNKgVBVh1hVcGq1idGKhodg/s200/chartreuse+-+coleus+%2527alabama+sunset%2527+23+oct+2012.JPG" width="150" /></a> </div>
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</div>
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Chartreuse new growth on ‘Alabama
Sunset’ coleus.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5F12JI2-vlw/UIlA1ZgZZfI/AAAAAAAAF-w/9wT4qzYeAuY/s1600/green+-+iceberg+lettuce+23+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5F12JI2-vlw/UIlA1ZgZZfI/AAAAAAAAF-w/9wT4qzYeAuY/s200/green+-+iceberg+lettuce+23+oct+2012.JPG" width="150" /></a> </div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
New green baby iceberg lettuce
leaves.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aCErE2DcKjo/UIlAzku7HEI/AAAAAAAAF-g/tOvRTxOu-fw/s1600/blue+-+viburnum+tinus+20+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aCErE2DcKjo/UIlAzku7HEI/AAAAAAAAF-g/tOvRTxOu-fw/s200/blue+-+viburnum+tinus+20+oct+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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Metallic blue <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Viburnum tinus</i> berries.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5DY0XrFWlf0/UIlA3rIgsuI/AAAAAAAAF_A/DRpNsRQyVds/s1600/blue+-salvia+farinacea+23+oct+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5DY0XrFWlf0/UIlA3rIgsuI/AAAAAAAAF_A/DRpNsRQyVds/s200/blue+-salvia+farinacea+23+oct+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a> </div>
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</div>
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True-blue mealycup sage, one of
my favorite flowers.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HhkKmdttLPA/UIlA8hnBDwI/AAAAAAAAF_w/SQ1xIWiGaHE/s1600/lavender+-+aster+laevis+23+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HhkKmdttLPA/UIlA8hnBDwI/AAAAAAAAF_w/SQ1xIWiGaHE/s200/lavender+-+aster+laevis+23+oct+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Yellow-eyed lavender asters
hugging the ground.</div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kjkdXJAF2EI/UIlA4UreuBI/AAAAAAAAF_I/94OajaAVgak/s1600/purple+-+salvia+leucantha+23+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kjkdXJAF2EI/UIlA4UreuBI/AAAAAAAAF_I/94OajaAVgak/s200/purple+-+salvia+leucantha+23+oct+2012.JPG" width="150" /></a> </div>
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Velvety violet Mexican bush
sage.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7IPKdos1aUE/UIlA6L65CGI/AAAAAAAAF_Y/jtPKzy3-npg/s1600/magenta+-+coleus+%2527alabama+sunset%2527+23+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7IPKdos1aUE/UIlA6L65CGI/AAAAAAAAF_Y/jtPKzy3-npg/s200/magenta+-+coleus+%2527alabama+sunset%2527+23+oct+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The magnificent magenta of an ‘Alabama
Sunset’ leaf.</div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Even if you live where sugar
maples blaze all October long or where bougainvillea blooms year-round, comfort—and
joy—can be found in nature’s saturated colors, even when the world dips into
shadow.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Gratitude for what we have is so important. Thanks for dropping by.</div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>Kathy</div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-53630506257521331022012-10-17T19:51:00.000-04:002012-10-29T10:09:38.061-04:00JUST DO IT<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sorry
for the long hiatus. Put it down to changes in attitudes, if not latitudes.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o4xH96CUBEk/UH89-XTBJjI/AAAAAAAAF98/7ZF6HiLAvGI/s1600/kathy%2527s+workspace+messy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o4xH96CUBEk/UH89-XTBJjI/AAAAAAAAF98/7ZF6HiLAvGI/s200/kathy%2527s+workspace+messy.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kathy's messy work space, circa 2011</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For
example: yesterday I spent time with my weaving teacher, Kathleen, who I
suspect is actually myself in some parallel universe. As usual, aware of how I
learn best from words (as opposed to pictures, which is how both she and Tim
think), she gave me reams of handouts with terminology; technique diagrams;
sample cartoons, or drawings of what you want the weaving to look like that you
can pin to the warp threads as a guide; loom, materials, and resource information; and
several weaving-related articles, including a short piece on John Mercer of
Mercerizing fame. She also loaned me five—count ‘em!—five books to peruse. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Arriving home in an inspired but
somewhat brain-overloaded state, I piled the stack of printed materials on top
of the other stacks of printed materials on the conveniently located flat
surface I call my desk. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ9yXb3bgbyIKwVrHKBKMf1qbjX3Rw629Lhm50UnD5lu37KqADDmnHg1_yYczOgCNT3-MlyW1nHFDJzdC6SUxfskZ1Kmqr0GE37nqrEZ9v5tVvCKiuIAUh4adii0pO7cCVslyeay5BjUu2/s1600/kathy%2527s+workspace+neat+17+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ9yXb3bgbyIKwVrHKBKMf1qbjX3Rw629Lhm50UnD5lu37KqADDmnHg1_yYczOgCNT3-MlyW1nHFDJzdC6SUxfskZ1Kmqr0GE37nqrEZ9v5tVvCKiuIAUh4adii0pO7cCVslyeay5BjUu2/s200/kathy%2527s+workspace+neat+17+oct+2012.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kathy's neat desk, circa today</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
That teetering heap of paper
assaulted my eyes this morning, so I decided something must be done about it. I
sat down to make a list of how to organize the mess when it occurred to me: don’t
<i>plan</i> to do it, just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do </i>it. So I did.
My weaving stuff is now divided among five folders—Articles, Cartoons &
Designs; Techniques & Terms; Tools & Resources; and Warps &
Wefts—collected in an uber-folder. The rest of the stacks got doled out either to
existing folders (Election, Letters, Down-the-Hall Filing, etc.), or found
their way into new ones, or were actually cleared away with a few phone calls. Now the
desktop is clear except for the poetry collection I’m preparing for submission
to a contest, neatly contained in a manila envelope.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I just did it.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kj0BFi4YfqU/UH8939rRa6I/AAAAAAAAF9c/REY3eH6tcEg/s1600/bushel+of+apples+transformed+15+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kj0BFi4YfqU/UH8939rRa6I/AAAAAAAAF9c/REY3eH6tcEg/s200/bushel+of+apples+transformed+15+oct+2012.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A half-bushel of apples, transformed</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It’s the same with my unabated
canning illness. In early October, Tim and I took off five days to visit The
Cousins in Maryland, who took us to the Berkeley Springs, West-By-God-Virginia,
Apple Butter Festival. Naturally, I came home with a half-bushel (25 pounds) of
apples. Adding to the bounty the following Wednesday, I scored a respectable bundle
of cucumbers and a couple of pounds of okra for pickling at Wilmington’s Poplar
Grove Farmers Market. The enormity of what I’d done hit me as I recovered over
a cheese-and-tomato sandwich from my Saturday morning stint of weeding-for-hire.
Produce covered every inch of counterspace.<br />
<br />
Instead of looking the other way
and burying myself in the Saturday Sudoku, I put water and jars in the canner
and got to work. By six o’clock, nine pints of bread-and-butter pickles, four
pints of pickled okra, and a single pint of pickled peppers straight out of the
front yard (to use up the rest of the vinegar solution) cooled on top of the
chest freezer. Tackled the apples the next day.
Peeled, cored, quartered, boiled, and strained 64 apples, ending up with about
three gallons of applesauce, apple pie filling and apple butter.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I just did it.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
After finishing my raglan-sleeve
sweater, I started knitting Tim a vest, hoping the third try would prove the
Goldilocks moment: the first one I made him was too short, the second one waaay
too big all over. (We both could fit in it. At the same time.) With a decent
fit in mind, I knitted and measured against his back; ripped out, reknitted,
remeasured; ripped a little bit more, remeasured. At bedtime last night, only five
rows remained for the the back, so I sat up and finished it.</div>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpWE5-sJb4Lq9Zai4PreEQE5Pq2o3EjMLVVAbVtixLTDnXd_Jqs60chxUNcQnkNh4N4g2OUx9_wb62AxOaFUt-wHg-szZbJxYDmOOEMcSP6BftZ7LkC0WnNJHwLFjKXTTeg3rcq0WYJyaI/s1600/raglan-sleeve+sweater+completed+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpWE5-sJb4Lq9Zai4PreEQE5Pq2o3EjMLVVAbVtixLTDnXd_Jqs60chxUNcQnkNh4N4g2OUx9_wb62AxOaFUt-wHg-szZbJxYDmOOEMcSP6BftZ7LkC0WnNJHwLFjKXTTeg3rcq0WYJyaI/s200/raglan-sleeve+sweater+completed+oct+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Raglan-sleeve sweater, completed</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y9dzH6ULmL4/UH898pzdxFI/AAAAAAAAF-A/f1qPu3xpSXc/s1600/tim%2527s+vest+back%252C+right+size+17+oct+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y9dzH6ULmL4/UH898pzdxFI/AAAAAAAAF-A/f1qPu3xpSXc/s200/tim%2527s+vest+back%252C+right+size+17+oct+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tim's vest back, </i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>completed AND right size</i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I just did it.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Then I remembered I hadn’t
posted a blog entry in over two weeks. Today, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>after clearing up the desk disaster and making
those phone calls, I sat down at the computer and started to type. This is what
resulted.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
It may not be much, but at least
I did it.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
More garden-themed posts will begin
flowing soon—the paper mountain hid lots of post-it-noted ideas that made their
ways into the appropriate notebook this morning. All I have to do is write them
out. And get pictures, of course. But I’m guessing the present little bagatelle
will buy me another week or so.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
There’s a lot to be said for
just doing stuff, no matter what the stuff is.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Thanks for just dropping by. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>Kathy</div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-55680505159610761662012-09-28T12:40:00.000-04:002012-09-28T21:58:04.336-04:00PICKLES AND APPLESAUCE<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>With the
blessing of his cardiologist, ten days ago Tim stopped taking an extremely toxic medication
meant to control his afibrillation: now, for the first time in over a year,
he feels, well, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">well.</i> As a result assuming responsibility of his own health
(nobody knows a body like its owner), Fitzgeralds Gardening put in its first
full work-week since July.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We labored for 15 hours over 5 days pruning, weeding, bagging debris, dumping debris,
edging beds and mulching one of our regulars’ property. Doesn’t sound
particularly taxing, but I suggest most of you probably could not achieve the
same manicured results in as little time. For two geezers straddling 60 it was
a triumphant (if exhausting) re-entry to the world of gardening-for-hire. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
addition to the regular job, I’ve contracted to weed a friend's
overgrown spread for two hours every Saturday morning with the aim of
independently financing my various money-pit hobbies—weaving (lessons, yarns,
looms, books), knitting (needles, lots and lots and lots of yarns, books),
canning (canning pots, jars, lids, specialized utensils, all the local produce
I can find, books), and reading (more books). Most of the writing I do—blog, newsletter
columns, the poetry collection I’m whipping into shape—only eats up time,
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money. Except in my case, apparently.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>With the
advent of our return to gainful activity, however, my above-mentioned hobbies
threaten to overwhelm me. I cancelled my weaving lesson last week because I
hadn’t done my homework. (“Did the dog eat it?” teased Kathleen, my teacher.) I
have three little projects in the works on two looms at the moment, one
incomplete, two not even started.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-32RBm6Cw96U/UGXGcXgNtnI/AAAAAAAAF8c/gwyRZz_PNN4/s1600/lap+loom+strung+with+2+different+warp+hefts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-32RBm6Cw96U/UGXGcXgNtnI/AAAAAAAAF8c/gwyRZz_PNN4/s200/lap+loom+strung+with+2+different+warp+hefts.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Work not in progress</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wo2E-f3tIJA/UGXGaK8FRCI/AAAAAAAAF8U/ml9KBwuPl9U/s1600/close+warp+weaving+28+sep+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wo2E-f3tIJA/UGXGaK8FRCI/AAAAAAAAF8U/ml9KBwuPl9U/s200/close+warp+weaving+28+sep+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Work in progress</i></td></tr>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NMDmyql8PpU/UGXGYl3kJFI/AAAAAAAAF8M/B4O4NJ9m3BY/s1600/raglan-sleeve+sweater%252C+almost+finished+28+sep+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NMDmyql8PpU/UGXGYl3kJFI/AAAAAAAAF8M/B4O4NJ9m3BY/s200/raglan-sleeve+sweater%252C+almost+finished+28+sep+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Almost there!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Meanwhile, on the knitting
front, my first-ever raglan-sleeve sweater project lacks only two-thirds of a
sleeve, neckline detailing, and blocking. The nearness of the finish line is a
goad to my flesh. Plus, on our most recent visit to the yarn shop, I got wool
for a new sweater for Tim because I love to start new projects and I’m an idiot.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Out in the garden, I pulled out
most of the remaining looper-and-pickleworm-devastated melons (will try again
next spring) and sowed lettuces, onions, rutabagas and turnips in the
Grow-Bags. What’s hilarious about that is almost every bag has at least one potato
sprout that I carefully hilled and planted around. The rest of the yard I
continue to ignore.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r-XR_m6bewA/UGXGfIndCSI/AAAAAAAAF8k/elCaMGGgQi0/s1600/2012+28+sep+g-b+with+volunteer+potato+and+new-sown+lettuce+%2526+onion+seeds.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r-XR_m6bewA/UGXGfIndCSI/AAAAAAAAF8k/elCaMGGgQi0/s200/2012+28+sep+g-b+with+volunteer+potato+and+new-sown+lettuce+%2526+onion+seeds.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Hope springs...</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NmDk83awKrA/UGXGiNc66-I/AAAAAAAAF8s/sZZyWqbcOSY/s1600/2012+28+sep+former+melon+patch+sown+with+lettuce%252C+onions%252C+turnips+and+rutabagas.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NmDk83awKrA/UGXGiNc66-I/AAAAAAAAF8s/sZZyWqbcOSY/s200/2012+28+sep+former+melon+patch+sown+with+lettuce%252C+onions%252C+turnips+and+rutabagas.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The former melon patch</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On our
way to work Monday, Tim and I stopped by Oak Island’s farmers market, where we
cleaned out two stalls’ remaining pickling cucumbers and apples, and picked up
some persimmons and three cool-looking yellow zucchini for good measure.
Tuesday morning, Tim had his actinic keratoses drug-trial check-up in Wilmington,
so we took advantage of proximity to Whole Foods and Carolina Farmin’ stores to
buy even more cukes and apples. Arriving home at 2 o’clock, we set about making
pickles and applesauce.<br />
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OGaLMZwCfrQ/UGXGk3xvVoI/AAAAAAAAF88/en3ZlhzMpfY/s1600/2012+25+sep+b+read-%2526-butter+pickles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OGaLMZwCfrQ/UGXGk3xvVoI/AAAAAAAAF88/en3ZlhzMpfY/s200/2012+25+sep+b+read-%2526-butter+pickles.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Eleven pints of </i></div>
<i>bread-&-butter pickles</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Working
together on projects reveals new and fascinating things about your partner.
Tim, for example, is a champion apple-peeler, a fact that had heretofore escaped
my notice. He skinned 14 pounds of apples faster than I could core and
quarter them. Absolutely amazing. And he’s also a whiz at packing jars with cucumber
slices and strips. (“I watched a Mister Rogers once where he visited
a pickle factory, and the ladies there really crammed them in,” he explained as
I gazed at him with wonder and watery eyes over a saucepan of gently boiling vinegar and
spices.) </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uE9InG7FCVE/UGXGmNs_baI/AAAAAAAAF9E/CLdQL0kEY40/s1600/2012+sep+25+applesauce.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uE9InG7FCVE/UGXGmNs_baI/AAAAAAAAF9E/CLdQL0kEY40/s200/2012+sep+25+applesauce.JPG" width="161" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Eight pints of applesauce, </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>minus the quart jar </i></div>
<i>we already opened</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In a little over three hours, we
reduced 23 pounds of produce to 24 pints of preserves. It was at this point,
obviously in some sort of fugue state, I volunteered—hold on to your hats—to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cook dinner</i>. No, really, I did. I
whipped up one of my two specialties (the other one is baked ziti), a shepherds
pie made with North Carolina-raised grass-fed beef from the Greenlands Farm Store
on Midway Road and sweet onions grown in Brunswick County, topped with
mashed potatoes from our very own Toadflax Farm. With all those local
ingredients, even such a pathetic excuse for a chef as myself couldn’t mess up
too badly. It came out okay, I guess: we very nearly polished off the whole
thing at one sitting, although we immediately wished we hadn’t.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ah7HsgttewE/UGXGWXDiuzI/AAAAAAAAF8E/TM0rBAXFy6A/s1600/2012+25+sep+yellow+zucchini+pickles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ah7HsgttewE/UGXGWXDiuzI/AAAAAAAAF8E/TM0rBAXFy6A/s200/2012+25+sep+yellow+zucchini+pickles.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Two pints pickled yellow zucchini</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Later, the dishes air-drying in
the drainer, Alex Trebek running the Jeopardy! board with his usual aplomb, knitting
in hand, I remembered I hadn’t turned out a blog post for this week. So here it
is now. As with all things, I get around to it. Eventually.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Thanks for dropping by.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>Kathy</div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-39667165429998007392012-09-20T09:20:00.001-04:002012-09-20T09:26:57.594-04:00IT'S NEVER AS EASY AS YOU THINK IT OUGHTA BE<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PQN7mdLADKE/UFj72PbvQOI/AAAAAAAAF7M/va3ozTK03bY/s1600/the+lazy+gardener+by+mara+grey.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PQN7mdLADKE/UFj72PbvQOI/AAAAAAAAF7M/va3ozTK03bY/s200/the+lazy+gardener+by+mara+grey.JPG" width="136" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span> For a
long time, I toyed with the idea of penning a volume entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lazy Gardener</i>. It seemed a perfect
fit because I garden and I’m lazy. Too lazy, I guess: Mara Grey beat me to the
punch, before I’d even worked up enough energy to think about the project. (Disclosure:
I haven’t read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lazy Gardener</i>, but
I did peruse the front and back dust-jacket flaps and the back cover courtesy
of Amazon Books. I’d’ve scanned the first pages, too, but, well, you know.
Lazy. But I did put it on my wish list, because it looks like a good read.)</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
trundled out into the front yard Monday afternoon, with a view to preparing the
raised beds for fall root crops. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How hard
can it be?</i> I asked myself. Mix up some Black Kow, Garden-Tone and kelp meal
in the wheelbarrow, fluff it into soil, plant the seeds. About an hour into it,
however, the only seeds being sown were the ones for this post, along with several
alternative titles, such as IT ALWAYS TAKES MORE TIME THAN YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD
and NO LAZY GARDENER GOES UNPUNISHED.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w6SYCBGUMj8/UFj739NFlWI/AAAAAAAAF7U/Ahz52xDc41k/s1600/2012+18+sep+remains+of+pumpkin+patch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w6SYCBGUMj8/UFj739NFlWI/AAAAAAAAF7U/Ahz52xDc41k/s200/2012+18+sep+remains+of+pumpkin+patch.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bye-bye, pumpkins</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
first distraction came from the melon patch, where pickleworms have joined the
cabbage loopers in a stem-and-fruit-invading, leaf-chewing, poopilific
free-for-all. Despite fairly assiduous caterpillar-crushing sessions every
other day or so, I lost every single pumpkin and ‘Honey Rock’ melon plant, and
my first baby ‘Sakata Sweet’ melon. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Well,
huh</i>, I thought, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so planting late in
the season doesn’t necessarily ensure success.</i> Taking uncharacteristic
pleasure in the act, I squished every looper I could find against the sides of
the Grow-Bags and cut the melon-drilling pickleworm into three pieces with my
Joyce Chens.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-85ynpEV3-U8/UFj75EzAh5I/AAAAAAAAF7w/SeJ1ql78_6U/s1600/2012+18+sep+melon+destroyed+by+cabbage+loopers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-85ynpEV3-U8/UFj75EzAh5I/AAAAAAAAF7w/SeJ1ql78_6U/s200/2012+18+sep+melon+destroyed+by+cabbage+loopers.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Melon plant destroyed by cabbage loopers</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As a further
consolation measure, I moved the (dead) tomato trellises to support the
(temporarily) remaining melons, a brilliant idea that required locating wire
cutters to disentangle said trellises from irrigation lines. Sigh. That chore
done—although it reminded me I should use the wire cutters to clip a few openings in the tomato cages I’d fashioned out of
fencing fabric that would actually allow a hand holding a tomato to pass through them, a thought filed under “Later”—I moved on to the main event. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMkBOyXjSh2aZwQvs_JIqKjErjnzur3l-qBlYgY8UGCZAaAxDXlEqW3SQldGebWgJnBaB0s0tU3aFfiO2BnYF12hi55pYmagINp02GRiRBOy4flafH9twBxIHpdGvZV50jrstaJIbqxks/s1600/kelp%252C+kow+%2526+garden-tone.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMkBOyXjSh2aZwQvs_JIqKjErjnzur3l-qBlYgY8UGCZAaAxDXlEqW3SQldGebWgJnBaB0s0tU3aFfiO2BnYF12hi55pYmagINp02GRiRBOy4flafH9twBxIHpdGvZV50jrstaJIbqxks/s200/kelp%252C+kow+%2526+garden-tone.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kelp meal, Garden-Tone & Black Kow</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mixing
up 50 pounds of Kow/Tone/kelp in the wheelbarrow very nearly went as planned. I
could only find one glove (the left-hand one), so incorporating the fertilizers
into the Kow was messier than it absolutely needed to be. About halfway through
the process, it occurred to me I should document my progress with the camera…
which was, naturally, inside the house. I retrieved it, leaving a trail of soil amendments
across the living room carpet that would have to be dealt with at some point. Then I had to pose the shot, meaning the
man-handling of yet another sopping wet 50-pound bag of Kow off the ground and
into the ’barrow. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M6PAyEWGTPs/UFj76ry2hJI/AAAAAAAAF7k/fzpX2vX_YCI/s1600/wheelbarrow+oops.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M6PAyEWGTPs/UFj76ry2hJI/AAAAAAAAF7k/fzpX2vX_YCI/s200/wheelbarrow+oops.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Wheelbarrow boo-boo</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It was at about
this time I realized the wheelbarrow wouldn’t fit through the garden’s gate. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Well, piffle, </i>I thought (or something
close to “piffle”; it had an "f" in it). Back to rummaging in the work truck for joint-compound
buckets. Search successful, I filled one and entered the garden. I’d
yanked out the tomatoes a week or so ago, so now, in theory, all I had to do
was toss the Kow mix on the bed, ruffle it in, and go get the seeds.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Garden-activity
theories have much in common with the dismal science of economics: they only
work if you first assume away the real world. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_CGZClUYTKI/UFj70SyJiYI/AAAAAAAAF68/uE2igXoWQaQ/s1600/bucket+o%2527+roots+from+RB+8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_CGZClUYTKI/UFj70SyJiYI/AAAAAAAAF68/uE2igXoWQaQ/s200/bucket+o%2527+roots+from+RB+8.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bucket o' roots</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hopes of
smooth seeding evaporated as soon as I tried the first ruffle. Root crops
naturally produce best in easily penetrated ground. Seven millimeters below the
surface of the former tomato patch lurked a tangle of tough tomato, crabapple
and centipedegrass roots that simply had to go. Heavy sigh.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The good
news? I found my right-hand glove while scrabbling in the truck for buckets.
The bad news? There was a hole in the index fingertip, my prime root-hook. I tried to work around it for a while, continually wriggling my finger back inside the glove. Finally I remembered a little trick learned back when Tim and I regularly laid sod—I reversed the gloves so the hole moved to the top of my left index
finger, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">where it was less annoying.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmhYVqh2v2dFJgf103L5ctIKwEcX3lgd_SyciqtcpcR0ZuY0IlDqKUB4CG8iBeSVfwqPraE9m7AEEV4f3PbYstWkztpRVran7TrV9yIBRvVxxg2VZl3q1r6WOJDxXmXXyZDucozPpGO51/s1600/2012+17+sep+RB+8+ready+for+fall+crop.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmhYVqh2v2dFJgf103L5ctIKwEcX3lgd_SyciqtcpcR0ZuY0IlDqKUB4CG8iBeSVfwqPraE9m7AEEV4f3PbYstWkztpRVran7TrV9yIBRvVxxg2VZl3q1r6WOJDxXmXXyZDucozPpGO51/s200/2012+17+sep+RB+8+ready+for+fall+crop.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Root-crop-ready at last</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Some
folks advocate using machines to make short work of root-infested soil. Others
suggest tools like trowels and claws. Not me. I’m a hands-on kind of person. So
a quart of water in, two quarts of sweat out and one hour later, most of that
four-by-eight area was root-crop-ready. Except that by the time I’d rested long enough for my heart-rate to return to normal and tidied up the area, I was too tired to
plant the seeds.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--6njn8t3Phs/UFj78eJ5m0I/AAAAAAAAF7s/OqlrkefnQEc/s1600/2012+18+sep+unplanted+root+crop+seeds.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--6njn8t3Phs/UFj78eJ5m0I/AAAAAAAAF7s/OqlrkefnQEc/s200/2012+18+sep+unplanted+root+crop+seeds.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Unplanted seeds</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The Lazy
Gardener? Once you’re out there in the trenches, there’s no such thing. You
either love it, or you don’t. As the late Henry Mitchell trenchantly observed in <i>The Essential Earthman</i>: "There are only gardeners and non-gardeners. Gardeners are the ones who ruin after ruin get on with the high defiance of nature herself, creating in the face of chaos and tornado, the bower of roses and the pride of irises. It sounds very well to garden in a 'natural way.' You may see the natural way in any desert, any swamp, any leech-filled dell. Defiance, on the other hand, is what makes a gardener."<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">*****</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> Saturday, September 22, is big doin's, astronomically. In the morning, the autumnal equinox occurs at 10:49 a.m., officially kicking off fall with dramatically converging sunrises and sets. If you haven't already noticed the days getting shorter, you'll have to be sequestered in a basement or cave to miss it now. Saturday evening has been designated the official (whatever <i>that</i> means) <a href="http://observethemoonnight.org/">International Observe the Moon Night</a>. SkyGuy at the Naval Observatory urges us to go out and give the moon a wink in memory of Neil Armstrong.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">***** </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Meanwhile, back on Earth... All you defiant dirt monkeys out there, I salute you. And thanks
for dropping by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span>Kathy</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O3wCOHEWQNQ/UFj71nmTzpI/AAAAAAAAF7E/STTq7U7iL_8/s1600/that%2527s+it+for+the+day.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O3wCOHEWQNQ/UFj71nmTzpI/AAAAAAAAF7E/STTq7U7iL_8/s200/that%2527s+it+for+the+day.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The lazy gardener, done for the day</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-90878146738068968542012-09-13T23:16:00.001-04:002012-12-22T10:53:10.800-05:00THE SUNSHINE OF OUR LIVES<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></b> </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sTLWao3hPJI/UFJbOuPhz6I/AAAAAAAAF6Y/09nJUgo-Xc0/s1600/carolina+blue+sky+13+sep+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sTLWao3hPJI/UFJbOuPhz6I/AAAAAAAAF6Y/09nJUgo-Xc0/s200/carolina+blue+sky+13+sep+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Carolina blue sky with cirrus clouds </i></td></tr>
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The fall season’s first burst of
open-window weather arrived Monday morning, with a pleasant north-northeasterly
breeze. Oh, it won’t last, but it’s made for a welcome change from 137%
humidities. The clear air sparkles with the first hints of autumn coming, the
light visibly slanting as the sun lines up with the equator. Yellowed poplar
leaves above browning bracken ferns hug the ditches along Rt. 133, hinting at imminent change. Closer to home, working in the garden transforms from a
sweaty chore to purest joy.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-coyyg-WxjU8/UFI6vUqvf6I/AAAAAAAAF6I/93SSkCr_X5U/s1600/equinox+graphic+%2528windows2universe.org%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="183" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-coyyg-WxjU8/UFI6vUqvf6I/AAAAAAAAF6I/93SSkCr_X5U/s200/equinox+graphic+%2528windows2universe.org%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>How the sun appears to travel</i><br />
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<i>across the sky during the </i></div>
<i>autumnal equinox</i></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Once the
initial thrill of turning off the air-conditioner for whole days at a time
subsides, however, the melancholy side of my nature whispers that the sunlit
hours begin to decrease in earnest as we move inexorably toward autumnal
equinox. Since I find intellectual activity soothing, I did some research to
pin down the sine wave that day-lengths follow over the course of a year on Oak
Island. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sunrise
to sunset, our seven longest days in June run 14 hours and 25 minutes long.
Winter solstice, on December 21 this year, logs only nine hours and 53 minutes of
sunshine; the five days on either side of solstice clock in one minute longer.
The graph below depicts day-lengths on the winter and summer solstices, vernal
and autumnal equinoxes, and the four cross-quarter days of Imbolc, Beltane,
Lughnasadh and Samhain, pronounced “sou(as in south)-EEN.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GJ7h11sydos/UFI6vCJ12JI/AAAAAAAAF6A/yOdaZDpRkJI/s1600/day-length+curve+oki.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GJ7h11sydos/UFI6vCJ12JI/AAAAAAAAF6A/yOdaZDpRkJI/s400/day-length+curve+oki.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Please click on this to make it readable</i></td></tr>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Why
mention the cross-quarters? (Don't know what a cross-quarter is? See the <a href="http://www.gardeningfromthegroundup.blogspot.com/2011/08/things-are-looking-up.html"><span style="color: red;">"Things Are Looking Up"</span></a> post from August 13, 2011.) Despite their medieval, New-Age, wiccan and pagan
associations, those dates have real as well as symbolic meaning for Northern
hemisphere gardeners, celebrating key transition points in the cycle of
cultivation: </div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QYHNmDLdohM/UFI6qSFsaNI/AAAAAAAAF5I/E9gpTzwOHlA/s1600/imbolc+graphic+%2528thegic.org%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QYHNmDLdohM/UFI6qSFsaNI/AAAAAAAAF5I/E9gpTzwOHlA/s200/imbolc+graphic+%2528thegic.org%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a> </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
the first stirrings of new life; </div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uQK0vo75pB8/UFI6qi_iPwI/AAAAAAAAF5U/ZmJUJwylA1k/s1600/beltane+graphic+%2528thegic%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uQK0vo75pB8/UFI6qi_iPwI/AAAAAAAAF5U/ZmJUJwylA1k/s200/beltane+graphic+%2528thegic%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Beltane</i></td></tr>
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planting crops; </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hXgcpWnzxbc/UFI6r5aPDWI/AAAAAAAAF5g/QaElaSQ_Blo/s1600/lughnasadh+graphic+%2528cedarlightgrove.org%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="113" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hXgcpWnzxbc/UFI6r5aPDWI/AAAAAAAAF5g/QaElaSQ_Blo/s200/lughnasadh+graphic+%2528cedarlightgrove.org%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
first harvest; </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4TD4Ef-uA7M/UFI6rXA8u6I/AAAAAAAAF5c/Z3ia7WEq9n4/s1600/samhain+graphic+%2528paganpages.org%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4TD4Ef-uA7M/UFI6rXA8u6I/AAAAAAAAF5c/Z3ia7WEq9n4/s200/samhain+graphic+%2528paganpages.org%2529.JPG" width="147" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
and final harvest. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Still
feeling a little blue, I moved on to the <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/doc/RS_OneYear.php">U.S. Naval Observatory’s sunrise/sunset chart</a>.</span> The next graph resulted from plotting
day-lengths from another angle.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cRC0FU4YLNo/UFI6uOuWl6I/AAAAAAAAF54/fSFq003Fugs/s1600/earliest+%2526+latest+sunrises+%2526+sunsets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cRC0FU4YLNo/UFI6uOuWl6I/AAAAAAAAF54/fSFq003Fugs/s400/earliest+%2526+latest+sunrises+%2526+sunsets.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Again, click for readability (if not legibility: see below)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Okay, we’re done with graphs. Those colored
inks don’t erase as well as pencil does. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Plus I feel better now. Sure, the
amount of sunlight we get each day is shrinking now, but it’ll stretch out
again soon. Soon? You bet. Labor Day’s gone, so that means Halloween lurks
around the corner (as a visit to any store will attest); Thanksgiving and
Christmas won’t be far behind. After winter solstice, we start the sunlight
upswing again. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N_X5ooI06EQ/UFI6s8DZ3GI/AAAAAAAAF5w/YAJMNncujBI/s1600/summer+solstice+graphic+%2528bycommonconsent.files.wordpress.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N_X5ooI06EQ/UFI6s8DZ3GI/AAAAAAAAF5w/YAJMNncujBI/s200/summer+solstice+graphic+%2528bycommonconsent.files.wordpress.com%2529.JPG" width="135" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Summer solstice graphic</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oxk_Ryx83Uk/UFI6sZVIo5I/AAAAAAAAF5o/y1sAd1H5LW8/s1600/winter+solstice+graphic+2011+%2528eilight.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oxk_Ryx83Uk/UFI6sZVIo5I/AAAAAAAAF5o/y1sAd1H5LW8/s200/winter+solstice+graphic+2011+%2528eilight.com%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Winter solstice graphic</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
There's no good reason for the above graphics. I just think they're pretty.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Ah, reassuring cycles. </div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Now for
something completely different.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At the top of my bedside reading
stack is Simon Garfield's </span>fascinating <i>Just My Type: A Book about Fonts</i>.
You may think the shapes of letters rank far down on the list of influential
factors in your life, but you'd be wrong. Readability versus legibility issues
aside, fonts make texts feel purposeful or playful, emotional or detached,
scholarly or goofy, formal or informal, quaint or modern, with-it or stuffy,
straightforward or fussy, serious or inane, even male or female. Take a minute
to really look at the nine examples below. Which one appeals most to your eye?
Are you a serif or sans serif aficionado? Have any clue as to why or why
not? Or why a movement exists to ban breezy and conversational-looking <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">Comic Sans</span>? </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TIMES NEW ROMAN</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The fall
season’s first burst of open-window weather arrived Monday morning. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ARIAL</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The fall season’s first burst of
open-window weather arrived Monday morning. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">BOOKMAN
OLD STYLE</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The fall season’s first burst of open-window
weather arrived Monday morning.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">CALIBRI</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The fall season’s
first burst of open-window weather arrived Monday morning.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">CENTURY
GOTHIC</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
fall season’s first burst of open-window weather arrived Monday morning.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span>
<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">COMIC SANS</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The fall season’s first
burst of open-window weather arrived Monday morning. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">GARAMOND</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The fall season’s first
burst of open-window weather arrived Monday morning.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">TAHOMA</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The fall season’s first burst of
open-window weather arrived Monday morning.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">TREBUCHET</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
fall season’s first burst of open-window weather arrived Monday morning.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As one striving for publication, I
stick primarily to Times New Roman for the work I send out into the world. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Just My Type </i>may move me to branch out
and forge some new neural pathways, which is always a good thing, if it doesn't
require further graph manufacture.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thanks for dropping by.
(Whaddya think?)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Kathy</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span></span></div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-78673334854464534362012-09-05T16:25:00.001-04:002012-09-05T16:33:28.812-04:00FLUTTERBYS<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As late
summer mercifully rolls toward autumn here in southeastern North Carolina, we
experience a butterfly boom. They’re flitting about everywhere these days,
singly and in pairs. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jwDxRlTWZk4/UEeRWOc1U4I/AAAAAAAAF4g/qrQr4ue9a1o/s1600/cabbage+looper+caterpillar+-+trichoplusia+ni+%2528wikipedia%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="107" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jwDxRlTWZk4/UEeRWOc1U4I/AAAAAAAAF4g/qrQr4ue9a1o/s200/cabbage+looper+caterpillar+-+trichoplusia+ni+%2528wikipedia%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i>Cabbage looper branching out</i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i>from cabbage to melons</i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
When I went out around eight this
morning, I noticed the adjacent zinnia patch teeming with airy nectar-sippers,
intent on breakfast and/or romance. My mission to douse the cabbage loopers
(<i>Trichoplusia ni</i>) chewing on the late-season melon plants with insecticidal soap completed, I slipped
back inside to snag the camera. Since any motion causes alarm in members of
the Lepidoptera clan, I stood very still until they resumed their fitful feeding.
Snapped 35 pictures in all: got many lovely shots of zinnias, some stupid ones
of fuzzy trees and blank walls; 12 of the images actually contained butterflies;
six captured recognizable species (which is why this Luddite loves her digital
camera). </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Butterflies
delight and charm us with their delicate ephemeral beauty, but all that enchanting
airy-fairyness comes with a cost, and its name is caterpillar. After winnowing
out the 29 useless photos, I hit the Wikipedia trail to find images of the,
well, less lovely predecessors of the winged wonders I’d managed to fix in pixels.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why?</i> you ask. Because, my dear, we
don’t get butterflies if we run around squishing all their earlier
incarnations.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So here’s
who was fluttering around the garden this morning juxtaposed with images of them
going through that awkward stage.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Cloudless
sulphurs (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phoebis sennae</i>) herald fall’s
approach locally: when they show up, you know summer’s rounding third. I’ve
never seen either the caterpillar or a single chrysalis, but the adults arrive <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">en masse</i> around the end of August every
year. As for the name, I’ve no idea where the “cloudless” part comes from; “sulphur”
is iffy too, as their wings are more of a lemon yellow. Females sport greeny-brownish
eyespots on their upper wings that males lack, should a specimen sit still long
enough for you to determine its sex. The literature says the caterpillars’ favored
host plants belong to the pea family (Fabaceae). The grown-ups in our yard can
be seen sipping from the flowers of spider lilies (<i>Lycoris radiata</i>), black-eyed Susan vine (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thunbergia alata</i>), rock rose (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pavonia
lasiopetala</i>), and various asters and daisies.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp1lDw8BI9zgtl8IxD07PH5bbQMtdw79TmZWjUJF47RbgEHaKhmHBfKZgvK8u1Vih2t5dzltMoA_orX8dzOG8b3Hh3hn7FchGXyvClCr5md63IQDCphlx3JapVW_7uymEWf4XZ3ykXqDIg/s1600/cloudless+sulfur+on+lycoris+radiata+3+sep+2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp1lDw8BI9zgtl8IxD07PH5bbQMtdw79TmZWjUJF47RbgEHaKhmHBfKZgvK8u1Vih2t5dzltMoA_orX8dzOG8b3Hh3hn7FchGXyvClCr5md63IQDCphlx3JapVW_7uymEWf4XZ3ykXqDIg/s200/cloudless+sulfur+on+lycoris+radiata+3+sep+2011.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Male cloudless sulphur on </i>Lycoris radiata</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JSMqltT3Qz4/UEeG2sh3gdI/AAAAAAAAF4A/VUTOfnZcr7E/s1600/cloudless+sulphur+caterpillar+-+phoebis+sennae+%2528bugguide.net%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="139" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JSMqltT3Qz4/UEeG2sh3gdI/AAAAAAAAF4A/VUTOfnZcr7E/s200/cloudless+sulphur+caterpillar+-+phoebis+sennae+%2528bugguide.net%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cloudless sulphur caterpillar</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7vpbqTUUb4U/UEd2xO9RehI/AAAAAAAAF3I/HNfT07wheRY/s1600/eastern+tiger+swallowtail+male+%2528botany.wisc.edu%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="147" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7vpbqTUUb4U/UEd2xO9RehI/AAAAAAAAF3I/HNfT07wheRY/s200/eastern+tiger+swallowtail+male+%2528botany.wisc.edu%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Male Eastern tiger swallowtail</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DVEINPMMSRM/UEd2xoACaRI/AAAAAAAAF3Q/AR2aXJFbOWg/s1600/eastern+tiger+swallowtail+female+-+papilio+glaucus+%2528botany.wisc.edu%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DVEINPMMSRM/UEd2xoACaRI/AAAAAAAAF3Q/AR2aXJFbOWg/s200/eastern+tiger+swallowtail+female+-+papilio+glaucus+%2528botany.wisc.edu%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Female Eastern tiger swallowtail</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Wikipedia
and other websites taught me bunches about the swallowtails common to our area.
We have two major species—the Eastern black swallowtail (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Papilio polyxenes</i>) and the Eastern tiger swallowtail (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Papilio glaucus</i>). I used to think that
the adult tigers were predominantly yellow and the blacks were, um, black.
Well, yes and no: turns out some female tigers turn out dark, too, cunningly
called “dark form.” Still, it’s easy to tell the difference once you compare
pictures. Again, there are subtle gender differences in wing patterning in adults of
both species, which came as news to me. But there’s absolutely no doubt about
whose babies got all the good looks. I put parsley and fennel in my garden
every year for the blacks’ caterpillars, who I find beautiful. The tigers
apparently go for the same sorts of plants as the sulphurs. I’ve never come
across a tiger caterpillar, though. From the picture, I think that’s a good
thing.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbdALaA2jB40TdnhSSyf8VQtyBomq6Qm1zsRStF_xqaRaIJlckfkq4e7NtsBkGPSGkh7O-mmimc4YKkqedH2qna2IRRdTyKqn_mDXIq7P_EN8ZgLmY0Lmm7mQm58yYDmiVY0PLXxW1xySF/s1600/black+swallowtail+butterfly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbdALaA2jB40TdnhSSyf8VQtyBomq6Qm1zsRStF_xqaRaIJlckfkq4e7NtsBkGPSGkh7O-mmimc4YKkqedH2qna2IRRdTyKqn_mDXIq7P_EN8ZgLmY0Lmm7mQm58yYDmiVY0PLXxW1xySF/s200/black+swallowtail+butterfly.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Female Eastern black swallowtail</i><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>(note double row of white dots </i></div>
<i>on lower wing edges)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gsrN53bxaqg/UEd2yd76OqI/AAAAAAAAF3Y/SJgxpo40yvM/s1600/eastern+tiger+swallowtail+dark+form+female+%2528wisconsinbutterflies.org%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gsrN53bxaqg/UEd2yd76OqI/AAAAAAAAF3Y/SJgxpo40yvM/s200/eastern+tiger+swallowtail+dark+form+female+%2528wisconsinbutterflies.org%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Female Eastern tiger swallowtail, dark form</i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>(note single row of white dots </i></div>
<i>on lower wing edge</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gkc8qoH304U/UEeG3N7ENEI/AAAAAAAAF4I/Y4vRJ6BRJ44/s1600/eastern+tiger+swallowtail+caterpillar+preparing+to+pupate+%2528wikipedia%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="143" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gkc8qoH304U/UEeG3N7ENEI/AAAAAAAAF4I/Y4vRJ6BRJ44/s200/eastern+tiger+swallowtail+caterpillar+preparing+to+pupate+%2528wikipedia%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Eastern tiger swallowtail caterpillar</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3Q44vCmCphYlGwza1Ti2JJuwN1YQ96PjK-pKqszY_IyKB3UVVwOO6jMrNc8U8Vl-860j_sOpgCxFtxlHijSXSKpIWp0zNOzFWekVJwhE19VUNZFHUeBq-_BqEw6FHWWS7yzgb6z4tu34/s1600/eastern+black+swallowtail+%2528papilio+polyxenes%2529+preparing+to+pupate+9+jun+2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3Q44vCmCphYlGwza1Ti2JJuwN1YQ96PjK-pKqszY_IyKB3UVVwOO6jMrNc8U8Vl-860j_sOpgCxFtxlHijSXSKpIWp0zNOzFWekVJwhE19VUNZFHUeBq-_BqEw6FHWWS7yzgb6z4tu34/s200/eastern+black+swallowtail+%2528papilio+polyxenes%2529+preparing+to+pupate+9+jun+2011.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Eastern black swallowtail caterpillar</i></td></tr>
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Here’s
our old maypop friend, the gulf fritillary (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Agraulis
vanilae</i>). The ugly caterpillars only eat various species of passionflower:
if you plant it, they will come. I noticed that we’ve had two broods this
season, so the frits have been flitting around our yard all summer. I put this
phenomenon down to our very mild winter. The adults love zinnia nectar—there’s
always an orange crowd on them.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0z0E5xsdN5dxhIbYNLuSAnVKrWoEfREPCBaNobqI_Uuu35EOdVhHRzi9H-sttaeRTmS-QsaK-5jBUBBorj89baTXSldYJeEagp3xCzT02cETP6UHeL52TKTxpUe5T3TW36YihaZQtKZoM/s1600/gulf+fritillary+on+zinnia+5+sep+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0z0E5xsdN5dxhIbYNLuSAnVKrWoEfREPCBaNobqI_Uuu35EOdVhHRzi9H-sttaeRTmS-QsaK-5jBUBBorj89baTXSldYJeEagp3xCzT02cETP6UHeL52TKTxpUe5T3TW36YihaZQtKZoM/s200/gulf+fritillary+on+zinnia+5+sep+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gulf fritillary on zinnias</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jC8f02gTmaU/UEeG1jvQ3TI/AAAAAAAAF3w/JchMsBmEvoI/s1600/gulf+fritillary+caterpillar+%2528agraulis+vanilae%2529+24+jun+2010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jC8f02gTmaU/UEeG1jvQ3TI/AAAAAAAAF3w/JchMsBmEvoI/s200/gulf+fritillary+caterpillar+%2528agraulis+vanilae%2529+24+jun+2010.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gulf fritillary caterpillar on maypop</i></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Part of
the aforementioned orange crowd consists of painted ladies (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vanessa cardui</i>). Smaller and usually more
raggedy-looking than the frits, the adult ladies also enjoy the zinnias.
Wikipedia’s article on these butterflies was not exactly a fountain of
information beyond listing four painted lady species. (Should you check it out,
please note that the specimen I photographed is just a plain ol’ painted lady,
and not an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American </i>painted lady. My girl's upper wings have three white spots blending into one elongated
splotch, whereas the wing-dot on the American is a single. The devil in the
butterfly identification gig definitely resides in the details.) Further clicking revealed thistles are the ladies’ host
plant of preference. Again, I’m personally unfamiliar with any stage but the
adult.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aGYWoMJD528/UEeG3fKkWLI/AAAAAAAAF4Q/oB_JGYBjKh4/s1600/painted+lady+caterpillar+-+vanessa+cardui+%2528ed101.bu.edu%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="134" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aGYWoMJD528/UEeG3fKkWLI/AAAAAAAAF4Q/oB_JGYBjKh4/s200/painted+lady+caterpillar+-+vanessa+cardui+%2528ed101.bu.edu%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Painted lady caterpillar</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MEGRq5uUfHw/UEd2s01NEqI/AAAAAAAAF2o/OZC8Drt4Z4s/s1600/painted+lady+%2528vanessa+cardui%2529+on+zinnia+5+sep+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MEGRq5uUfHw/UEd2s01NEqI/AAAAAAAAF2o/OZC8Drt4Z4s/s200/painted+lady+%2528vanessa+cardui%2529+on+zinnia+5+sep+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Painted lady on zinnia</i></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vanessa </i>genus, the red admiral
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">V. atalanta, </i>after the athletic
young lady of Greek myth, not the misspelled capital of Georgia), is one I’ve
spotted only rarely, even in its adult form. I hope that’s because I pay
insufficient attention. Preferred host plants are from the nettle family (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Urticaceae</i>), local examples of which I’m
unable to come up with off the top of my head. Maybe an underabundance of
nettles explains the relative rarity of red admirals <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chez </i>Fitz. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jEt8V828Lgo/UEeG14odLPI/AAAAAAAAF34/JFRTrBOgm34/s1600/red+admiral+caterpillar+-+vanessa+atalanta+%2528butterfliesandmoths.org%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jEt8V828Lgo/UEeG14odLPI/AAAAAAAAF34/JFRTrBOgm34/s200/red+admiral+caterpillar+-+vanessa+atalanta+%2528butterfliesandmoths.org%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Never-seen (by me) red admiral caterpillar </i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-s-PPjKkEk4N_Y_T7LnSN6CHcw6Pju4mZToAJxHvfg9IXCCH0aKw3O7-zgW_5C49uU3AruR6Lr_s5KIiDrtxB6Qbo-6RDD5OpP6bezURMCgEyL_V2F365kp7XR1DeNTLLxpIkNtXyzCo/s1600/red+admiral+%2528vanessa+atalanta%2529+at+tolans+1+jun+2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-s-PPjKkEk4N_Y_T7LnSN6CHcw6Pju4mZToAJxHvfg9IXCCH0aKw3O7-zgW_5C49uU3AruR6Lr_s5KIiDrtxB6Qbo-6RDD5OpP6bezURMCgEyL_V2F365kp7XR1DeNTLLxpIkNtXyzCo/s200/red+admiral+%2528vanessa+atalanta%2529+at+tolans+1+jun+2011.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Seldom-seen red admiral</i></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Six
species of butterfly in one small yard before coffee, followed by education
during coffee. Not too shabby for a Wednesday morning, eh?</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thanks
for dropping by.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span>Kathy </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMmTh4kTMgceXDb2A5tnyhBaibf0pK3owjff1HPx88gef13x8n1UlJEaql16inA3k68WbPvtSuZqN0uves6KG1iLjG8XgVlU6f1Ht2cFUeNglLeGeS5sWKUpcuBx_eW_QiT3cvqBfIEjr_/s1600/cabbage+looper+moth+-+trichoplusia+ni+%2528wikipedia%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMmTh4kTMgceXDb2A5tnyhBaibf0pK3owjff1HPx88gef13x8n1UlJEaql16inA3k68WbPvtSuZqN0uves6KG1iLjG8XgVlU6f1Ht2cFUeNglLeGeS5sWKUpcuBx_eW_QiT3cvqBfIEjr_/s200/cabbage+looper+moth+-+trichoplusia+ni+%2528wikipedia%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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P.S. -- In case you were wondering, this is what an adult cabbage looper moth looks like. </div>
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Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-24224836197788937172012-08-29T19:32:00.000-04:002012-08-30T11:32:23.725-04:00DOG DAY DOLDRUMS<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kVx-1XAFd1c/UD6jvNFK5QI/AAAAAAAAF10/iG9r9T-e4FA/s1600/oki+rain+icon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kVx-1XAFd1c/UD6jvNFK5QI/AAAAAAAAF10/iG9r9T-e4FA/s1600/oki+rain+icon.JPG" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Oak Island’s
August has been an exceptionally wet one, overflowing the rain gauge with 15.5 inches
to date, compounded by a 70% chance of heavy rain tonight, and a 40% chance of showers
tomorrow, depending on what Hurricane Isaac chooses to do. Out of 29 days, only
13 came and went without measurable precipitation. Even those “dry” days were
damp and steamy, not conducive to gainful labor for Fitzgeralds Gardening. If
it wouldn’t add insult to injury, I’d weep. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNAfYqK2m_h3xA10m_JU9iY8jj6v8y6MgnMq5AP8YSBob-Hrbtj6VWywA73Jf0mZ5br94jFF95_y9mTGfySS0mo0hnDFXTVatqlwCeWvicxyjB3YiAfFWfYjeIpzSf2Zy7lhXO7fGSvlv/s1600/2012+29+aug+in-ground+tomato+plants%252C+looking+dead.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNAfYqK2m_h3xA10m_JU9iY8jj6v8y6MgnMq5AP8YSBob-Hrbtj6VWywA73Jf0mZ5br94jFF95_y9mTGfySS0mo0hnDFXTVatqlwCeWvicxyjB3YiAfFWfYjeIpzSf2Zy7lhXO7fGSvlv/s200/2012+29+aug+in-ground+tomato+plants%252C+looking+dead.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tomatoes finito</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Toadflax
Farm looks as disconsolate as I feel. Already stressed by the merciless heat of
July, the garden hasn’t handled August’s incessant rain so well. Harvests have been
small and less than gorgeous. Split, leaffooted bug-speckled tomatoes and
brown-spotted peppers dribbled in. While the tomatoes planted in the ground
have pretty much tanked, I’m hopeful for a second spurt from the ones in
containers. The peppers may revive, too. The cucumbers gave up all together and
died outright weeks ago. The eggplants, probably because neither Tim nor I eat
them, remain unblemished of foliage and fruitful in the extreme.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Eu4uJNo8n9Q/UD6jt07VRaI/AAAAAAAAF1k/DYLzJPy6MOU/s1600/2012+29+aug+RB7+fireworks+gomphrena%252C+peanuts%252C+zinnias.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Eu4uJNo8n9Q/UD6jt07VRaI/AAAAAAAAF1k/DYLzJPy6MOU/s200/2012+29+aug+RB7+fireworks+gomphrena%252C+peanuts%252C+zinnias.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i>'Fireworks' globe flowers & zinnias</i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i>flank peanuts' new growth</i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The big surprise has been the
peanuts. When I pulled the zinnias off them this afternoon, I discovered they’d
put on a ton on new top growth and even bloomed again. Does that mean a
redoubled harvest? Don’t have a clue, because I know bupkis about peanuts. I’ll
keep you posted.</div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
During various breaks from downpours
early in the month, I planted seeds for late-summer/fall crops: three varieties
of pole beans, one row of which lost its competition with the aforementioned
zinnias; seven heirloom varieties of melon; a hybrid mini-pumpkin; more cukes,
in the ground instead of container this time; carrots; and beets. The beans are
well up, and the melons and pumpkins put up sturdy sprouts. The cukes seem to
lack enthusiasm. Only ‘Cosmic Purple’ came up out of the four cultivars of
carrots sown, but, in their defense (like they care), those seeds were several
seasons old. The beets—also from old seed—never showed at all. Perhaps they
drowned.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yjcYZCJrbV8/UD6jhdwt1uI/AAAAAAAAF0s/wdzPdrb4cZI/s1600/2012+29+aug+RB5+bean+patch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yjcYZCJrbV8/UD6jhdwt1uI/AAAAAAAAF0s/wdzPdrb4cZI/s200/2012+29+aug+RB5+bean+patch.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The beans patch</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nZWcLBGFhXs/UD6joBznpsI/AAAAAAAAF1M/AcvWwPcNWq4/s1600/2012+29+aug+melon+%2526+mini-pumpkin+starts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nZWcLBGFhXs/UD6joBznpsI/AAAAAAAAF1M/AcvWwPcNWq4/s200/2012+29+aug+melon+%2526+mini-pumpkin+starts.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Melons and pumpkins</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i> </i> <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7APTDLYpah_JiTxwd_P0xkXQZKyqADHhvy4kwGOMmPyaIFTynHUDAkx9LUpitjrkI4B8HnKZX9eAxgbeNDIOkAAgEDV7OVUXe4EzdUVd-lD5hS4M10jdqz_QkFOEDPD-ixRXGn7kJYXD3/s1600/southern+exposure+seed+exchange.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7APTDLYpah_JiTxwd_P0xkXQZKyqADHhvy4kwGOMmPyaIFTynHUDAkx9LUpitjrkI4B8HnKZX9eAxgbeNDIOkAAgEDV7OVUXe4EzdUVd-lD5hS4M10jdqz_QkFOEDPD-ixRXGn7kJYXD3/s200/southern+exposure+seed+exchange.JPG" width="160" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ah, well,
out with the old, in with the new. For Fitzes’ autumnal vegetable experimentation,
hope will arrive in our mailbox in the form of a manila envelope from Southern
Exposure Seed Exchange. A week ago, I ordered 14 packets of seeds packaged for
2012 with names to inspire the soppiest gardener: ‘Chioggia,’ ‘Crosby Egyptian,’
‘Detroit Dark Red’ and ‘Lutz Winter Keeper’ beets; ‘Danvers 125,’ ‘Chantenay
Red Core’ and ‘Scarlet Nantes’ carrots; ‘Australian Brown,’ ‘Granax’ (allegedly
one of the best for the South) and ‘Yellow of Parma’ onions; ‘American Purple
Top’ rutabaga; ‘Amber Globe’ and ‘Purple Top White Globe’ turnips; and ‘Seven
Top’ turnip greens. I’ll compost the dead and non-producers and start over with
root vegetables and lettuce.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Take <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that, </i>August.</div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDOxcdiosddWxtYAoNDmbNWw2fSWNDfgCoW_gC63P6w3aCup3Yv4VMgOT-bJbYhEJtDcAcpTsQoCX4UbDYqW8dpUUx3T5A4ZhMzna4WdeVkCATzcX658kpxRP3sXHSSCIJCrytewKRlbCr/s1600/loom+%2526+yarn+29+aug+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDOxcdiosddWxtYAoNDmbNWw2fSWNDfgCoW_gC63P6w3aCup3Yv4VMgOT-bJbYhEJtDcAcpTsQoCX4UbDYqW8dpUUx3T5A4ZhMzna4WdeVkCATzcX658kpxRP3sXHSSCIJCrytewKRlbCr/s200/loom+%2526+yarn+29+aug+2012.JPG" width="164" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>First attempt at weaving</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To stave
off the psychic doldrums, I took my first weaving lesson yesterday. I’m
convinced my teacher is actually myself from a parallel universe. We met
serendipitously at Joann’s Fabrics in May and clicked instantly over color
choices in yarns. Turns out she’s a weaver. Turns out learning to weave is on
my bucket list. It’s all so familiar and comfortable. Isn’t it lovely how
kindred spirits find each other? </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
Friday's full moon is a blue one, in case you've
been waiting for something for a long time. The phrases "Once in a blue
moon" and "Only when the moon is blue" have basis in astronomical fact.
The Naval Observatory's Sky Guy--back from his annual August sojourn on
Fishers Island--says we only get seven of them every 19 years. Nit-picking astronomers cavil over whether the term refers to the fourth full moon in a normally three-moon cycle or to the occurrence of two full moons in a single calendar month. Either way, step outside Friday evening and enjoy it. If it's not raining.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thanks
for dropping by. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span>Kathy</div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-6214821967973257792012-08-21T00:24:00.000-04:002012-08-21T11:53:42.882-04:00IN PRAISE OF VINEGAR<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We’ll get
to the vinegar in a minute. I’m feeling quite vinegary myself at the moment
because Tim just cyber-sent me a news clip that I find so astounding and at the
same time so depressingly political business-as-usual that I have to share and
comment.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rW8i3RywitI/UDMF-qbgEBI/AAAAAAAAFxQ/rUskLR5Z8CQ/s1600/missouri+representative+todd+akin+%2528legitimate+rape%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rW8i3RywitI/UDMF-qbgEBI/AAAAAAAAFxQ/rUskLR5Z8CQ/s200/missouri+representative+todd+akin+%2528legitimate+rape%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Would you trust </i>anything<i> this man says?</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Good
news, ladies! According to the medical men Missouri congressman Todd Akin
hobnobs with, we girls have the ability to shut down our ovaries during
legitimate rapes. Not the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">illegitimate</i>
ones, mind you, so don’t go getting too excited. </div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Pity we can’t exercise this
amazing ovary-control ability all the time—the abortion card, as played by the
ignoramuses masquerading as our leaders, would just fall off the table. I wish Rep. Akin’s (and friends’) mothers had known. Think of the embarrassments they’d
have been spared over the years.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Alas, Mr. Akin is far from alone
in his educated witlessness. How about the angry numb-nuts who shot up a bunch
of Sikhs because he thought they were Muslims? My dentist’s 30-something partner
admits he’s never heard of Chairman Mao. And here’s another
your-tax-dollars-at-work idiocy: the Brunswick County School Board recently decreed
every school must hire a “literacy coach.” Putting aside for the moment the
whole ridiculous “coaching” trend-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">du-jour,
</i>wouldn’t you think<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> teachers</i> already
fill that bill? Well, no, not according to administrators who apparently can’t
distinguish between a child and a bag of elbows. The local elementary school
has hired—after last year’s slashing of teacher and teacher-aide positions—a
girl with about 35 seconds of classroom (not to mention life) experience to “coach”
people who have spent a quarter-century teaching. The phrase “like a fish needs
a bicycle” comes to mind.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay. Having indicated that I am full of piss
and vinegar myself, let’s away to the topic at hand.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzEFdaTiW8rOW_ha-W74o-VjUs9NhqkxcnfwavEp5p02_TF9naDIq_oundDvz4PAyqS9ZMSbwHMsPV1mYSeq0KPnfl2Mx1vKeOkoitGYuoSeLtxg4AYqPWDh_2ITWwHBD8_K41j4_aVcFN/s1600/white+vinegar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzEFdaTiW8rOW_ha-W74o-VjUs9NhqkxcnfwavEp5p02_TF9naDIq_oundDvz4PAyqS9ZMSbwHMsPV1mYSeq0KPnfl2Mx1vKeOkoitGYuoSeLtxg4AYqPWDh_2ITWwHBD8_K41j4_aVcFN/s200/white+vinegar.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pricey white vinegar</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Bizarro-World Suzy-Homemaker thing that’s
assumed control of my brain hit a high note this past weekend. For the first
time in three (maybe more, but who’s counting?) years, every mini-blind and all
but two windows in our house are sparkly clean. Layers of greasy dust, cat
nose-prints, mystery finger marks, salt build-up—all gone. Both blinds and windows rank second only to ironing on
the loathed chores list, especially blinds. I’ll tell you true, there is no
easy way to remove the accumulated crap of years from those bendy, rattly,
difficult-to-balance window coverings. (Blinds are all we’ve got between us and
prying eyes: I gave curtains the heave-ho a decade ago. See anti-ironing
comment above.) </span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CiB3cdx5T9Y/UDMGAx3O9KI/AAAAAAAAFxs/DlFwPhRdgLA/s1600/mini-blinds+%2526+windows.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CiB3cdx5T9Y/UDMGAx3O9KI/AAAAAAAAFxs/DlFwPhRdgLA/s200/mini-blinds+%2526+windows.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Squeaky clean blinds & windows</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Before
the astonished silence turns to thundering kudos, I should probably mention our
little house only has three double and two single windows, so the whole endeavor
took just three hours, from take down to put back up. Nonetheless. What gave me
the impetus to undertake the nasty task? The understated power of vinegar.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWhK9KxvYJJOwQIKh44JRWI56WiMsjpDuYoooii5nOKSCCDYNVvDAcRIuSEzLyhkBaZaA07IG2e66Tqe291iAKT8xc9imFv3NxtcKHyW4r7O04tN2vCc5prWO0i7Wk828uWa7EyaFpTMgs/s1600/pickles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWhK9KxvYJJOwQIKh44JRWI56WiMsjpDuYoooii5nOKSCCDYNVvDAcRIuSEzLyhkBaZaA07IG2e66Tqe291iAKT8xc9imFv3NxtcKHyW4r7O04tN2vCc5prWO0i7Wk828uWa7EyaFpTMgs/s200/pickles.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pickles made with less pricey vinegar</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I’ve always
liked vinegar, the way it smells, the way it tastes. It’s my first choice for
salad dressing. Time spent in British Commonwealth countries led me to prefer
it over ketchup when it comes to chips/French fries. Vinegar is a key
ingredient in pickles, some of my favorite foods to make as well as eat. Heating
up pots of vinegar to boiling will clear anyone’s sinuses: I dimly recall Momma
splashing some into the ubiquitous vaporizers of my childhood.</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oY4StzWJMyc/UDMF_s0RVAI/AAAAAAAAFyM/SqJ5kckTnM4/s1600/mop+in+bathroom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oY4StzWJMyc/UDMF_s0RVAI/AAAAAAAAFyM/SqJ5kckTnM4/s200/mop+in+bathroom.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><i>The cats' bathroom floor</i></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><i>gets a vinegar treatment</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Yes, plain
ol’ white vinegar is good for spiffing up stuff around the house. Pour one cup into a
gallon of water and you’ve made the cheapest and best cleaner ever. Vinyl floors,
windows, bathroom fixtures, countertops, appliances, the stove’s exhaust fan
all benefit. And there’s no cloying scent remaining after it dries. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><i> </i> </span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6H2j8fTEcC6pFVlJYLAyojeShjvSGpWEMwEBoqBTsw3KLGQXFqj52pKG8GDJGTZqwmX9MgpL4wtyCwO0IlYNlf0sEPqf6QLYlz4ZySa-EMQ0cP_U9lHVFSZMclluVqhKB3MEFDqg0xFdT/s1600/sink+drains.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6H2j8fTEcC6pFVlJYLAyojeShjvSGpWEMwEBoqBTsw3KLGQXFqj52pKG8GDJGTZqwmX9MgpL4wtyCwO0IlYNlf0sEPqf6QLYlz4ZySa-EMQ0cP_U9lHVFSZMclluVqhKB3MEFDqg0xFdT/s200/sink+drains.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ooh, </i>that <i>smells like... nothing</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Tim maintains that the
sink drain in my bathroom emanates unpleasant odors because I use mostly cold
water. He says that, instead of melting away into Oak Island’s ticking
time-bomb of a sewer system, the soap and toothpaste harden on the pipe above
the elbow and rot. Not to worry—a dollop of vinegar straight out of the bottle
kills the smell for a more than a month.</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OqK96H9nGh4/UDMGCbkDc7I/AAAAAAAAFxo/Xavvlz-ouyU/s1600/fabric+softener.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OqK96H9nGh4/UDMGCbkDc7I/AAAAAAAAFxo/Xavvlz-ouyU/s200/fabric+softener.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Better'n Downy</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Vinegar is
also a lovely alternative to commercial fabric softeners. A quarter-cup of vinegar
per load works just as well, while saving money and packaging waste and without
additives, artificial colors and perfumes.</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uZwMHLQROss/UDMF-DpjFlI/AAAAAAAAFxE/wWoJmfHAyMM/s1600/white+vinegar+and+two-spotted+spurge.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uZwMHLQROss/UDMF-DpjFlI/AAAAAAAAFxE/wWoJmfHAyMM/s200/white+vinegar+and+two-spotted+spurge.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Vinegar for driveway weed control</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I thought this blog was supposed to be about
gardening,</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> I hear you
thinking. Guess what? Vinegar serves multiple purposes outside, too. Got
weeds in the cracks of your sidewalk or driveway? Instead of spraying Roundup,
douse them with full-strength white vinegar. It’s just as effective, ’way less
expensive and environmentally toxic, and doesn’t do anything to benefit the maleficent overlords at Monsanto.</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jg5ZZZQcXb8/UDMGE4BrW8I/AAAAAAAAFyI/wpEPwEf70wc/s1600/disinfect+pruners.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jg5ZZZQcXb8/UDMGE4BrW8I/AAAAAAAAFyI/wpEPwEf70wc/s200/disinfect+pruners.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Vinegar disinfects pruners</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> When
cutting away diseased or insect-infested parts of plants, clean your pruners
with a one-to-ten mixture of vinegar and water to prevent whatever from
spreading around the garden. </span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Been bitten
by mosquitoes, chiggers, horseflies or fire ants, or stung by a bee or wasp?
Pour undiluted vinegar on the injury as soon as possible after it happens to
decrease the itch. The pruner-cleaning bottle Tim and I keep in the truck also serves this purpose. (F.Y.I.: ammonia works well as an anti-itch agent, too.)</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WjaoL6RSmNs/UDMGDKzi11I/AAAAAAAAFx0/b26n7vuvr60/s1600/mosquito+repellant.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WjaoL6RSmNs/UDMGDKzi11I/AAAAAAAAFx0/b26n7vuvr60/s200/mosquito+repellant.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A non-toxic mosquito repellant?</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> The wonders
of vinegar never cease. To de-grime our mini-blinds, I hung them on the north wall
of our outdoor shower to sponge them down. This luxuriantly grassed (the only place in the yard where the turf gets lots of water), shady area is well-beloved by mosquitoes,
especially by late afternoon. As I managed to drench myself as well as the
blinds with vinegar and water, I noticed the whining menaces gave me a wide
berth. Is it possible that vinegar is an insect repellant as well? I’ve poured
some in a spray bottle, and mean to test my theory at the next opportunity.</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
</div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Want to
explore more uses for nature’s miracle liquid? Check out the website<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_768047756"> </a><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.vinegartips.com/Scripts">“1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar.”</a> </span>You’ll be
amazed. And cleaner. And less smelly. And not so itchy.</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Thanks for
dropping by.</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>Kathy</span></div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-19313233055330078522012-08-10T17:28:00.001-04:002012-08-11T23:21:41.099-04:00WATER WOES<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Our
newspaper recently ran an article about a prominent former climate-change
skeptic who has changed his mind about man-made global warming, and published a
study of lots of other studies supporting his converted views. (Your tax
dollars at work.) Mankind <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">must</i> be the
reason the world’s heating up, he says: look at the temperature changes since
1950!!!</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To
instill just a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">soup</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ç</span>on
</i>of sanity to the rather inane discussion of Who Caused Global Warming, I
would like to point out that: </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>By definition, climate is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always </i>changing;</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>137 years of even the most scrupulous
record-keeping doesn’t amount to a hill of beans, as Bogey might say, because…</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>137 years
do not a geologic age make; and</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>It doesn’t matter who or what is at fault—the task
now is to assess and adjust. That’s what humans do best. Theoretically. Although
we’re also excellent at the blame-laying thing, too.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I’m just sayin’.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
And now government hydrologists
warn us a hefty proportion of the nation’s farmland is suffering from severe to
extreme drought. Who caused <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i>
debacle? </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Here in
southeastern North Carolina, we’re not so dry. In fact, since the 17<sup>th</sup>
of July, Oak Island has totted up 12.75-plus inches of rain (it’s raining as I
write this), which leaves us only ten or so inches below Wilmington’s “normal”
(average!) for the year so far. Based on my own ten-years-worth of weather
observations, I posit that Oak Island generally racks up less rainfall than the
Big City to our north anyway, due to sea breezes that push moisture-laden
clouds inland before they dump their loads.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Be that
as it may, the availability of fresh water for the seven-billion-and-counting
people on this planet is becoming increasingly problematic. Ergo, at the micro
level, it behooves all of us who have automatic irrigation systems to tune them
up so what we waste is whittled to the barest minimum.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Bite the
bullet and pay an irrigation guy to pop over at least once a season to check
your spray heads for coverage (no point sprinkling the street or the house) and
proper operation (sand eventually clogs nozzles and wears down rotational
gears); and to ascertain the good working order of the electrics and pipes
(solenoids, valves, pumps and clocks go bad, wires get cut, pipes shatter,
crack and clog). </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Tim and I shut down our overhead
sprayers for good last year, when the price of water sinking into the ground became
onerous on Oak Island. Of our five-zone system, only the two drip zones see any
action these days. The most efficient, targeted and cost-effective aspect of
automatic irrigation, driplines put water directly where it’s needed, as opposed
to flinging it into the air to be evaporated and wind-blown. (Surprisingly,
dragging hoses around is the least wasteful of all landscape water-delivery
methods, if you don’t factor in your labor and aggravation. Which I do as
summer temperatures ramp up.) </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Trouble-shooting your own drip system
is easy. Checking for malfunctioning emitters and breached, pinched and/or
clogged lines doesn’t require a degree in hydrology. Besides, with sufficient pressure,
careful zone-run timing and a few readily available supplies, a single drip
zone can be extended indefinitely, a definite boon to plantaholics.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Because a picture is worth a
thousand words, I shall show rather than tell you how to become your own
irrigation guy, in 22,000 words or less.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SdPn8oo-fh8/UCVr2QrcGcI/AAAAAAAAFu0/6EQH3xdFicU/s1600/1+dripline%252C+straight+%2526+T+connectors%252C+emitters%252C+oops+plugs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SdPn8oo-fh8/UCVr2QrcGcI/AAAAAAAAFu0/6EQH3xdFicU/s200/1+dripline%252C+straight+%2526+T+connectors%252C+emitters%252C+oops+plugs.JPG" width="200" /></a>Here are your basic materials:
half-inch-diameter dripline; straight and tee connectors; emitters (these control
how much water comes out per hour, usually one or two gallons); and the
descriptively named oops plugs, for the odd emitter-placement boo-boo.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mzp_JUi_kPw/UCVrm0WTwdI/AAAAAAAAFts/E7dkCukxMgc/s1600/2+running+dripline.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mzp_JUi_kPw/UCVrm0WTwdI/AAAAAAAAFts/E7dkCukxMgc/s200/2+running+dripline.JPG" width="200" /></a> </div>
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First you place the dripline where
you want it to go…</div>
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…and secure it to the ground,
using less-expensive-but-more-work insulation hangers (sold in boxes of 100 or
600 in the, er, insulation aisle of your home-improvement emporium). Tim demonstrates
how in three easy steps: click on the pictures because the darn things are hard to see...</div>
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</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRTA0jNHZn70JMvGrgbGJg99Ooe3cKHfmejQn99gnu_H8TfVGjw8w0ZVMfTkt6SsteXtmP5zkFupbXAbDRFbNp74yelWIC6pQj0TBD3l_BAfgU_lEgC0m9slPODATl4rOIlEFc4rcG-69/s1600/4+insulation+hanger+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRTA0jNHZn70JMvGrgbGJg99Ooe3cKHfmejQn99gnu_H8TfVGjw8w0ZVMfTkt6SsteXtmP5zkFupbXAbDRFbNp74yelWIC6pQj0TBD3l_BAfgU_lEgC0m9slPODATl4rOIlEFc4rcG-69/s200/4+insulation+hanger+1.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Step1: Hold</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wh_wwFgSWPM/UCVrqbl98II/AAAAAAAAFt8/UuvrVE0yVGI/s1600/5+insulation+hanger+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wh_wwFgSWPM/UCVrqbl98II/AAAAAAAAFt8/UuvrVE0yVGI/s200/5+insulation+hanger+2.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Step 2: Fold</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DWK_Np20Xh0/UCVrswf-AhI/AAAAAAAAFuE/ILmxJ6CrhtM/s1600/6+insulation+hanger+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DWK_Np20Xh0/UCVrswf-AhI/AAAAAAAAFuE/ILmxJ6CrhtM/s200/6+insulation+hanger+3.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Step 3: Push down</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xmt-nY7rkr8/UCVsC91uQGI/AAAAAAAAFv8/Afg1-_uxhA8/s1600/7+sod+staples.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xmt-nY7rkr8/UCVsC91uQGI/AAAAAAAAFv8/Afg1-_uxhA8/s200/7+sod+staples.JPG" width="150" /></a> </div>
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…or opt for the more-expensive-but-less-work
sod staples.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnC6lbPUyW7uMi_WcLvYm1a6LvJ1M99h0pIarGBCDyp6xKDEWnHKSC15lPA6ZfiCDs2INptD6AKuDVvmp-1eYcFNO1_HusjB_Yt3xjwB2IWMTUAtg8W4_Yel20TJZFlkJbobph9Nd65qsf/s1600/8+cable+tie+pinches+dripline+closed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnC6lbPUyW7uMi_WcLvYm1a6LvJ1M99h0pIarGBCDyp6xKDEWnHKSC15lPA6ZfiCDs2INptD6AKuDVvmp-1eYcFNO1_HusjB_Yt3xjwB2IWMTUAtg8W4_Yel20TJZFlkJbobph9Nd65qsf/s200/8+cable+tie+pinches+dripline+closed.JPG" width="200" /></a>You will also need to pinch off
the end of the line, for obvious reasons. Tim and I use electrical cable ties,
also known as Israeli handcuffs, as shown here. Because ultraviolet light
breaks down all plastics, check these closures every year or so and replace as
necessary. If you have a shallow well, the inevitable dirt the pump sucks up
will eventually clog the line. We suggest uncrimping the ends once a year or so
when the zone is on, blowing out any gooey obstructions. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXSfu1IPzJM7fR1PUWy7wY95cOJ3mH8laYML-ZQaPou_MydHT9XJaOoo6knnuXFWx0cMxLNDjTqV6cla2z54e6WPwZJSkLUGjcGks3gPZihj72OXbpwLSlajQW9kl3d3zYV5_R-whHRKQx/s1600/3+dripline+T+%2526+straight+connections.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXSfu1IPzJM7fR1PUWy7wY95cOJ3mH8laYML-ZQaPou_MydHT9XJaOoo6knnuXFWx0cMxLNDjTqV6cla2z54e6WPwZJSkLUGjcGks3gPZihj72OXbpwLSlajQW9kl3d3zYV5_R-whHRKQx/s200/3+dripline+T+%2526+straight+connections.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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This is how the connectors work, connecting pieces of pipe in straight lines or branching off a new line from another.<br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2cynZLvIcsQ/UCVryR7-6tI/AAAAAAAAFuc/VU8tCe0FjmU/s1600/9+emitters+%2526+emitter+tool.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2cynZLvIcsQ/UCVryR7-6tI/AAAAAAAAFuc/VU8tCe0FjmU/s200/9+emitters+%2526+emitter+tool.JPG" width="150" /></a> On to the nitty-gritty. You can’t
just poke holes in the dripline—you need to maintain pressure in the line all
the way to the end, which is why the irrigation gods invented emitters. You also
can’t use any old sharp thing to make the holes emitters go into: size matters
here. This is why we have emitter tools, available wherever fine emitters are
found. (Emitters come in various shapes and colors; the ones pictured here are just two I had laying around.) </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aAXHaDXzzA0/UCVr67wkMTI/AAAAAAAAFvM/I_RKIo8hjb8/s1600/10+emitter+tool+in+use.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aAXHaDXzzA0/UCVr67wkMTI/AAAAAAAAFvM/I_RKIo8hjb8/s200/10+emitter+tool+in+use.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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Insert the emitter tool into the
dripline thus. Listen for the snapping sound that means you’ve fully penetrated
the line. If you don’t hear it, you may not have broken all the way through,
meaning the emitter won’t go in.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RCo8Gd2CQuI/UCVrux6bC-I/AAAAAAAAFuM/9OErAjKzrcw/s1600/11+emitters+in+dripline.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RCo8Gd2CQuI/UCVrux6bC-I/AAAAAAAAFuM/9OErAjKzrcw/s200/11+emitters+in+dripline.JPG" width="200" /></a> </div>
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Remove the tool and push in the
emitter. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rAZUy8KxQ_0/UCVsAD6wyQI/AAAAAAAAFvs/cXmZIB_I7Z4/s1600/12+emitter+%2526+oops+plug+close+up.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rAZUy8KxQ_0/UCVsAD6wyQI/AAAAAAAAFvs/cXmZIB_I7Z4/s200/12+emitter+%2526+oops+plug+close+up.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Emitter on left, oops plug on right</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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If you put a hole in the wrong
place, or if a plant dies or gets moved, you can stop watering a
spot that no longer needs it by exchanging the emitter for an oops plug, using
brute force.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6suRQiG6jl4/UCVr33x4EgI/AAAAAAAAFu8/qoPW-s4vwZQ/s1600/13+spaghetti+line+with+pruners%252C+connectors%252C+emitter+%2526+emitter+tool.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6suRQiG6jl4/UCVr33x4EgI/AAAAAAAAFu8/qoPW-s4vwZQ/s200/13+spaghetti+line+with+pruners%252C+connectors%252C+emitter+%2526+emitter+tool.JPG" width="200" /></a> With your new skills, you can
run water to your potted plants as well (no more imposing on neighbors when you go
away). A length of aptly named spaghetti line (three to four millimeters in
diameter) and some tiny straight and tee connectors are all the additional
materials you’ll need.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2OEIyfL-KeX7qXj3Msu_LTsGjx-c_KHscBEzEYwwAkN4xfRHPHULlS7YQyZ5g4t7Pz5b46CO4aag9X7FplaauLkPFpRzxsHYYLdes7hvl_auSbjUuU8kOPjl4gzzFGE7JRWxIDl8Ubm2/s1600/14+spaghetti+line+with+T+%2526+straight+connections.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2OEIyfL-KeX7qXj3Msu_LTsGjx-c_KHscBEzEYwwAkN4xfRHPHULlS7YQyZ5g4t7Pz5b46CO4aag9X7FplaauLkPFpRzxsHYYLdes7hvl_auSbjUuU8kOPjl4gzzFGE7JRWxIDl8Ubm2/s200/14+spaghetti+line+with+T+%2526+straight+connections.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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Here’s how the line looks with
the connectors in place…</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBo5ouAcHZo7Q4QvE7d5jcmBS_WqsiPBmvQDn5VLpK69j6t3ZKeGGm325hXHb5v705wIhBVBpwK14n8dpvZU928lMtJ-8HwACCzVIlSL7lK-GHjy1KAEgWnl4rEc3mfyOy_MFNI0mer4M/s1600/15+spaghetti+line+attaching+to+dripline.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBo5ouAcHZo7Q4QvE7d5jcmBS_WqsiPBmvQDn5VLpK69j6t3ZKeGGm325hXHb5v705wIhBVBpwK14n8dpvZU928lMtJ-8HwACCzVIlSL7lK-GHjy1KAEgWnl4rEc3mfyOy_MFNI0mer4M/s200/15+spaghetti+line+attaching+to+dripline.JPG" width="200" /></a> </div>
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…and how it attaches to the
regular dripline.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7C1TCu09h8M/UCVr-w9bBuI/AAAAAAAAFvk/9PrNW2bSY2g/s1600/16+spaghetti+line%252C+T+connection+%2526+emitters.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7C1TCu09h8M/UCVr-w9bBuI/AAAAAAAAFvk/9PrNW2bSY2g/s200/16+spaghetti+line%252C+T+connection+%2526+emitters.JPG" width="150" /></a> </div>
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Put an emitter (or two, if your
plants needs more than one, by using a tee) onto the business end of the
spaghetti…</div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vImxaj0vmlw/UCVsI1M2oVI/AAAAAAAAFwU/k-WVilLcE38/s1600/17+spaghetti+line+running+into+pot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vImxaj0vmlw/UCVsI1M2oVI/AAAAAAAAFwU/k-WVilLcE38/s200/17+spaghetti+line+running+into+pot.JPG" width="150" /></a> </div>
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…run it into the pot, and secure
it to the medium. Voil<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">à</span>!</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fi4Ma1FV0V0/UCVsBmPAyHI/AAAAAAAAFv0/twKazRTV8Wo/s1600/18+cable+tie+pinches+spaghetti+end+closed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fi4Ma1FV0V0/UCVsBmPAyHI/AAAAAAAAFv0/twKazRTV8Wo/s200/18+cable+tie+pinches+spaghetti+end+closed.JPG" width="200" /></a> </div>
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If the pot no longer needs
watering, you simply remove the entire spaghetti assembly and insert an oops
plug into the hole in the big dripline. If it’s a pot you plant only
seasonally, just pinch off the spaghetti line with a cable tie, leaving it
ready to flow again next year. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jr6YPKXQAK0/UCVsEU8NH2I/AAAAAAAAFwE/0YYia2E0PJM/s1600/19+dripline+pinched+closed+by+growing+trunk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jr6YPKXQAK0/UCVsEU8NH2I/AAAAAAAAFwE/0YYia2E0PJM/s200/19+dripline+pinched+closed+by+growing+trunk.JPG" width="200" /></a> Now let’s look at some common
dripline problems. First is the pinched line, where a plant’s stem or trunk
grows so large as to close off the flow of water. (This picture was staged. Due
to correct placement at the outset, we don’t have any pinched lines in our
yard.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hb86qMlQjwk/UCVsF-0aFlI/AAAAAAAAFwM/N7ptONVZk3o/s1600/20+dripline+partially+buried.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hb86qMlQjwk/UCVsF-0aFlI/AAAAAAAAFwM/N7ptONVZk3o/s200/20+dripline+partially+buried.JPG" width="200" /></a>Driplines need to be visible for
inspections, additions and repairs. If your contractor buried the dripline on
purpose, throw a major hissy-fit and get him to reposition it on the surface
posthaste. Over time though, driplines tend to disappear from view on their own,
covered by blown-in sand or dirt, soil amendments and broken-down leaf-litter
and mulch. Roots grow over them, sometimes compromising function (see “pinched
line” above). When this happens, you must raise them back to the surface. Here’s
a line, originally laid a decade ago and neglected since, that I’m in the
process of unearthing. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8TqaIg8va3SLlUEPsquLXS3Wxdy8o_AyoAYl-VCexlxZT3Ll1WGTsMTF14FTNomnYGaEMq2rI8bfjLOZ6xsLveWDMBFVSAk4ER0CEFmz0u63MRo-rpHteB62kBpgbS0btHSM-aUFYWjhN/s1600/21+dripline+unburied.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8TqaIg8va3SLlUEPsquLXS3Wxdy8o_AyoAYl-VCexlxZT3Ll1WGTsMTF14FTNomnYGaEMq2rI8bfjLOZ6xsLveWDMBFVSAk4ER0CEFmz0u63MRo-rpHteB62kBpgbS0btHSM-aUFYWjhN/s200/21+dripline+unburied.JPG" width="150" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
If you don’t like the look of
hoses running free through the shrubbery, mulch over ’em. Just don’t forget to
check every other year or so that they haven’t started to vanish.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MEHE7lmAL_8/UCVr1F64CyI/AAAAAAAAFus/KY_uhGzvChE/s1600/22+squirrel-gnawed+mend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MEHE7lmAL_8/UCVr1F64CyI/AAAAAAAAFus/KY_uhGzvChE/s200/22+squirrel-gnawed+mend.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Look carefully, and you'll see the teeth marks</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
A third problem, especially
prevalent during dry spells, is pet- or wildlife-caused breaches. The animals
hear the water, and paw and gnaw away until they reach it. Squirrels routinely
chew holes in our dripline, including the spaghetti line that fills the
birdbath. (Go figure.) If your drip zone runs at a civilized hour, stroll
through your garden when it’s on once in a while, looking and listening for
spewing where there shouldn’t be any. If your system comes on unconscionably
early, turn it on at a more convenient hour to scout for anomalies. A related
issue is the occasional emitter that pops off. Don’t bother searching for the
old one: they can travel astonishing distances. Just go get a new one to
replace the one that’s gone. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
If I can add and repair
driplines—and I can—so can you. Like most of successful gardening, irrigation
boils down to paying attention, learning a few techniques, and having the right
tools. And that’s really all there is to it.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Thanks for dropping by.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>Kathy</div>Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-75568318586215184142012-07-23T14:24:00.001-04:002012-07-25T10:43:06.079-04:00SOMETHING'S HAPPENING HERE<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">There’s something happening here</b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What is ain’t exactly clear</b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">There’s a man with a gun over there</b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Telling me I got to beware</b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I think it’s time to stop, children, what’s
that sound</b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Everybody look what’s going down</b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For What It’s Worth</i> by Stephen Stills</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It’s not
good. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIYnKQcALXpzjFQVFeDB_ZVtBjns8dTYB0ggz-8OQWdsy2pw7P5cJpDOA64_5jLQoKK4hIV_1G7NT8XagE7eanGZ4kcKDJqnLr6XkyU10MB4zIctTPLwjDuUDK-58-XKMWzkDMEBif3GM/s1600/no+guns+logo+%2528evidencebasedliving.human.cornell.edu%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIYnKQcALXpzjFQVFeDB_ZVtBjns8dTYB0ggz-8OQWdsy2pw7P5cJpDOA64_5jLQoKK4hIV_1G7NT8XagE7eanGZ4kcKDJqnLr6XkyU10MB4zIctTPLwjDuUDK-58-XKMWzkDMEBif3GM/s200/no+guns+logo+%2528evidencebasedliving.human.cornell.edu%2529.JPG" width="193" /></a> Media’s
unrelenting onslaught of “reality” TV programming and the fascination <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">du jour </i>with vampires, zombies, comic-book
superheroes, and bow-wielding young ladies—they’re all bad enough. Throw in the
insularity caused by machine-filtered quotidian human interactions, the NRA’s
rantings that what this country really needs is a citizenry armed to the teeth
and prepared to stand its ground (can you say “George Zimmerman”?), and a
baleful sense of one’s rightful place at the center of the universe being
denied, and what do you get? Mayhem. This time at a movie theatre.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
A
character in an episode of the BBC series “Lewis” says, “All fantasy is
infantile until it turns sinister, which it does if you don’t outgrow it.
Arrested development is a dangerous thing. Nasty and dangerous.” </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Even Al Franken—not someone I
usually turn to for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bon mots</i> of
wisdom—said, “When anything goes, everything goes.” </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-momCdFDmROk/UA66TbftFZI/AAAAAAAAFtc/uoJ7pqFZUqE/s1600/edmund+burke+%2528robinphillips.blogspot.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-momCdFDmROk/UA66TbftFZI/AAAAAAAAFtc/uoJ7pqFZUqE/s200/edmund+burke+%2528robinphillips.blogspot.com%2529.JPG" width="138" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />The Right Honourable Edmund Burke</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_273542670"> </a><a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Edmund_Burke"><span style="color: red;">Edmund Burke</span></a> tells us, “Those who don’t know history are
destined to repeat it.” He also notes that "Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites." And chew on this, you NRA
types: “The use of force alone is but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">temporary</i>.
It may subdue for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing
again.” Too bad Burke’s not required reading, especially for politicos and
firearms aficionados. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
A student of history, I have
long maintained that the United States is but the latest in a long line of
reruns of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. The demise of integrity in our
leaders; the overweening thirst for money and power at the uppermost echelons; the contracting
of the middle class; and the mob's slack-jawed, insatiable, prurient hunger for
spectacle echoes that of ancient Rome around 385 AD. “Barbarians”
overran the citadel in 421. Right about now, I can’t wait for our comeuppance:
in fact, I’m thinking it might be a good idea to learn some rudimentary
Chinese.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
For what it’s worth, it took us
several hundred years less to blow through our nation’s time at the global center
stage than Rome did. Let’s hear it for the lickety-split lifestyle. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
*****</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
No, I haven’t moved into a
survivalist camp yet. It wouldn’t be a good fit anyway because I’m afraid of
guns, and the people who love them. What did ol’ Charlton Heston say? “Guns
don’t kill people; people do”? Yeah, that may be so, but I imagine it’s a lot
harder to kill somebody with a knife or Aunt Millie’s brass candlestick or your
bare hands than with a bullet. Seems like the former methods require some thought, however
skewed. Not to mention that up-close-and-personal contact. Sorry, cowboys.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pb5xtXDrZSg/UAy8o8Cn91I/AAAAAAAAFtA/E_hFGqZpeug/s1600/dust+bowl+1937+%2528britannica.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="174" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pb5xtXDrZSg/UAy8o8Cn91I/AAAAAAAAFtA/E_hFGqZpeug/s200/dust+bowl+1937+%2528britannica.com%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Click on picture to read caption) </i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
It can’t be denied that we live
in a worrisome era. Last night, PBS started promoting Ken Burns’ latest
documentary, “The Dust Bowl” (airing in September on your local PBS station:
talk about must-see TV!). What with so much of the country’s farmland suffering
severe drought, all those acres of genetically modified crops sown in
chemical-drenched soils withering away, I wonder if we aren’t setting up for
another one.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Really, it’s not good.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0u876oG00AI/UAy8gBGxXlI/AAAAAAAAFr4/7ROkDcfA8FU/s1600/tomatoes+on+sill+21+jul+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0u876oG00AI/UAy8gBGxXlI/AAAAAAAAFr4/7ROkDcfA8FU/s200/tomatoes+on+sill+21+jul+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tomatoes galore!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
In reaction to this spate of
scary news, I turn to my garden for solace. Nothing unusual with that, of course.
Toadflax Farm is producing away—no home-grown tomato shortage <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chez </i>Fitz this year! I spend so much
time cosseting the front yard, the remodeling of the rear garden has received
short shrift. The plants wait in their pots on the south side for me to get
around to putting them in the ground. I’ve taken to using the north side to
traverse between front and back to avoid the guilt pangs the sight of them
engenders. Between the heat and other projects, time is at such a premium these
days.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
It’s those “other projects” that
are the actual subject of this post, now that I’ve vented (some of) my spleen.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ulO2CrvN9cI/UAy8hCq95xI/AAAAAAAAFsA/bNUnla17iug/s1600/water-bath+canner%252C+jars+%2526+salsa.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ulO2CrvN9cI/UAy8hCq95xI/AAAAAAAAFsA/bNUnla17iug/s200/water-bath+canner%252C+jars+%2526+salsa.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Water-bath canner & equipment</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
People who know me express
astonishment at the latest bizarre turn my personality is manifesting. Long famous
for avoiding kitchen-related activities of any sort, I am currently obsessively
turning out canned and frozen jams, salsas, pickles and sauces. I scour the grocery
ads for locally grown produce and haul bags of it home to process with my new
water-bath canner and Victorio food strainer. I’m also baking bread again,
after a 30-year hiatus. Merciful heavens, what happened?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I think it may a control thing.
I don’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">want</i> to ingest genetically
modified organisms any more. Monsanto and the industrial-ag boys’ lobby has
pressed long and hard to not have their Frankenfood ingredients labeled as such
on the processed things they predominate in. What? You didn’t know that for the
past decade or so your breakfast cereal contains GMO corn and that the sweetness in your sodas
and cookies comes from genetically engineered high fructose corn syrup? And if that four-pound bag of sugar
doesn’t say “pure cane sugar” prominently on the package, it’s likely from GMO beets? Even your
tofu’s not safe—commercial soybeans have been GMO for a long while now. (Need
to know more? Go to <a href="http://www.truthinlabelingcoalition.org/GM-Crops-just-the-science.pdf"><span style="color: red;">LabelGMO</span></a>’s website, linked
here, and click on “Just the Science” on the left menu.) </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PYjweiOj02U/UA1zSXDSB0I/AAAAAAAAFtM/ALsoNva-8Ro/s1600/gm+crops--just+the+science+header.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="77" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PYjweiOj02U/UA1zSXDSB0I/AAAAAAAAFtM/ALsoNva-8Ro/s320/gm+crops--just+the+science+header.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0kB2KqIS_IM/UAy8m3uqyQI/AAAAAAAAFso/OOeeIknRh5c/s1600/freezer+jams.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0kB2KqIS_IM/UAy8m3uqyQI/AAAAAAAAFso/OOeeIknRh5c/s200/freezer+jams.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Homemade freezer jams</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Anyway, I’m taking active steps
to reduce my exposure. Preserving food, I’ve learned, doesn’t have to be the
horrible ordeal I remember from childhood. (See “<a href="http://www.gardeningfromthegroundup.blogspot.com/2011/04/raising-cain-and-beds.html"><span style="color: red;">Raising Cain… and Beds</span></a>.”) Jams can be made by stirring together crushed fruit, sugar
and instant pectin for three minutes, decanting into jars and popping in the
freezer. Who knew? Small-batch water-bath canning isn’t such an ordeal either,
I’ve learned: Having the right tools (especially air-conditioning) makes all
the difference.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GRuLy2qo0M0/UAy8oFCY6WI/AAAAAAAAFs0/SEDK5Ra3fa8/s1600/bread-%2526-butter+pickles%252C+1st+batch+22+jul+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GRuLy2qo0M0/UAy8oFCY6WI/AAAAAAAAFs0/SEDK5Ra3fa8/s200/bread-%2526-butter+pickles%252C+1st+batch+22+jul+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pickles, pickles, pickles!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
There’s a picture of my home-grown
salsa above, and here are the bread-and-butter
pickles I put up yesterday afternoon.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jU8znSlLZzQ/UAy8j_HvyzI/AAAAAAAAFsQ/3awEWETuU6I/s1600/ball+instant+pectin%252C+salsa+%2526+bread-%2526-butter+pickle+mix.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jU8znSlLZzQ/UAy8j_HvyzI/AAAAAAAAFsQ/3awEWETuU6I/s200/ball+instant+pectin%252C+salsa+%2526+bread-%2526-butter+pickle+mix.JPG" width="115" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> Ball's instant pectin & mixes</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
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These endeavors were streamlined
by the Ball Company’s line of salsa and pickle mixes, which I don't consider cheating. (But then, I wouldn't.)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AULCxR7YLlM/UAy8lsnfFZI/AAAAAAAAFsg/J-bsJ4Jn6Lc/s1600/victorio+food+strainer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AULCxR7YLlM/UAy8lsnfFZI/AAAAAAAAFsg/J-bsJ4Jn6Lc/s200/victorio+food+strainer.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The labor-saving Victorio strainer</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Today—maybe tomorrow—will see
the inaugural run of the strainer as I teach myself how to put up spaghetti
sauce without the necessity of first peeling, coring and seeding 30 pounds of
tomatoes. I am soooo psyched.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KDGatw1JmLg/UAy8ipdEhDI/AAAAAAAAFsI/fT_GvHFlsus/s1600/bread+%2526+preserving+books.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KDGatw1JmLg/UAy8ipdEhDI/AAAAAAAAFsI/fT_GvHFlsus/s200/bread+%2526+preserving+books.JPG" width="124" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kitchen DIY guides</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Intrigued? Check out these
books: Ball’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Complete Book of Home
Preserving</i>, edited by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine; and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The
Discovery that Revolutionizes Home Baking</i> by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François. The latter was a
real eye-opener for one who invested the time and energy of youth baking her
own breads for a year or so, back in the day before children and regular gainful
employment put the kibosh on lazy days spent proofing yeast and kneading. I plan to suggest to Tim
we make the six-hour drive to the <a href="http://www.wncmagazine.com/wineandfood/about/"><span style="color: red;">Asheville Food and Wine Fest</span></a> in late August
for the sole purpose of obtaining a stash of locally sourced and milled Carolina
Grown flours. </div>
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In case you’re interested just how far I plan to immerse
myself in self-sufficiency, I’ve also signed up for weaving lessons. I want to
learn how to make my own denim. It’s gonna be a trip.</div>
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Oh, and I’m seriously considering
returning to weekly yoga classes too. It’s like a very healthy sickness.</div>
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Thanks for dropping by. Ommm…</div>
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Kathy</div>Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-73712766415679873362012-07-15T18:23:00.000-04:002013-04-24T10:12:15.984-04:00ON AND OFF THE ROAD<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vs4wQPDB1H4/UAMMCJ6eugI/AAAAAAAAFpQ/NM2GXwEtUDE/s1600/preston+on+book+cover+jul+2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vs4wQPDB1H4/UAMMCJ6eugI/AAAAAAAAFpQ/NM2GXwEtUDE/s200/preston+on+book+cover+jul+2012.jpg" width="156" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My famous brother-in-law,<br />Preston Jones</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background-color: white;"> Sorry
about the hiatus. The Fitzes hit the road on July 5 to visit relatives in
Maryland and Virginia, having grand times with my Boonsboro cousins, and mom,
sister Donna and her husband Preston in Williamsburg. Preston’s the number two
craftsman at the silver shop in the restored area, by the way; if you’re
planning a visit to the vicinity, stop by and say hey. He’s waiting patiently
for the big job as master silversmith. My brother-in-law’s also famous as the
cover-guy for National Geographic’s </span><i style="background-color: white;">1776:
A New Look at Revolutionary Williamsburg</i><span style="background-color: white;"> by K.M. Kostyal. He wears colonial
garb well, doesn't he?</span></div>
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<br /> Anyway. Surviving the trip back down
always-harrowing I-95, Tim and I got home the middle of last week, kissed the
cats and the carpet (after a quick pass with the vacuum cleaner), hugged our
pillows, and settled onto the world’s most comfortable mattress for an extended
lie-in. Since then, we’ve only moved to go to the kitchen for periodic
infusions of Tim’s <i>really good </i>coffee.
I’ve ventured outside three or four times to perform absolutely mandatory
gardening chores. (Hooray for irrigation systems!) I harvested another phase of our bumper crop of ripe tomatoes, trellised the pole beans, and spot-watered any particularly
wilted specimens, but that's all. I can’t even imagine having to get up and go to work for the
foreseeable future. (Hooray for self-employment!) <br />
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<br />
Yup, it’s official. Needing two
weeks to recover from a six-day vacation makes it impossible to deny: Tim and I
are Old Farts.</div>
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While motoring around in the stultifying July heat, I couldn’t help noticing the number and variety of
wildflowers edging our route, especially along the back roads. Thanks to Tim’s
infinite good humor and situational awareness, we didn’t get killed any of the
times I screeched, “Back up! Back up! Isn’t that purple fleabane?” (It wasn’t.)
He also handled traffic control and first aid as I scrambled barefoot up hillsides
and down into ditches, or crouched in the breakdown lane or on the verges of
medians to capture the perfect shot.</div>
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And here’s what we got for all
our (actually Tim's, if I'm completely honest) pains. I call your attention to the high-summer denizens of Mother Nature’s
hell-strips in the country surrounding Boonsboro, Hagerstown, Funkstown and
Sharpsburg, MD and Martinsburg, WV. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4PjGuJGYDjg/UAMMDAVnQrI/AAAAAAAAFpY/hKwskojV2No/s1600/hedge+bindweed+%2528calystegia+sepium%2529+hagerstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4PjGuJGYDjg/UAMMDAVnQrI/AAAAAAAAFpY/hKwskojV2No/s200/hedge+bindweed+%2528calystegia+sepium%2529+hagerstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Hedge bindweed</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;">Our first photo is of hedge
bindweed (</span><i style="background-color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;">Calystegia sepium</i><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;">). It’s a morning-glory-like
wildflower of cultivation, only living where people do. We found this
particular specimen in the hedge of Carissa hollies bordering a McDonald’s just
east of Hagerstown.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dDTYCel5Kb4/UAMMhLBxlLI/AAAAAAAAFrE/neExENqZSyA/s1600/black-eyed+susan+%2528rudbeckia+hirta%2529+%2526+milkweed+%2528ascpepias+syriaca%2529%252C+antietam+battlefield+8+jul+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dDTYCel5Kb4/UAMMhLBxlLI/AAAAAAAAFrE/neExENqZSyA/s200/black-eyed+susan+%2528rudbeckia+hirta%2529+%2526+milkweed+%2528ascpepias+syriaca%2529%252C+antietam+battlefield+8+jul+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Maryland's state flower</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The wild black-eyed Susan, plain
ol’ species <i>Rudbeckia hirta,</i> is
Maryland’s state flower for good reason: it grows everywhere. This particular
batch adorned the byway above Burnside’s Bridge on Antietam National Battlefield Park.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIlb-FsbcwQeSGOkAL8LEpBI6fm1ksrZw7wbu107ikHw6ej1Eb4G0cdIRDAn9Ek-0XiGwWY7dlc3mvvO-PNv6mKEKWwVP5ApcXxSA5JwPv23qSa1rAo_i6MPmJL7_qWmpm8A_X8BZh4k_C/s1600/chicory+%2528chicorium+intybus%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIlb-FsbcwQeSGOkAL8LEpBI6fm1ksrZw7wbu107ikHw6ej1Eb4G0cdIRDAn9Ek-0XiGwWY7dlc3mvvO-PNv6mKEKWwVP5ApcXxSA5JwPv23qSa1rAo_i6MPmJL7_qWmpm8A_X8BZh4k_C/s200/chicory+%2528chicorium+intybus%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cerulean blue chicory</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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One of the things I miss about
upstate New York is chicory (the flower, not the poor-man’s coffee substitute),
probably because of my thing for blue blooms. I tried growing it from seeds I
brought to North Carolina with me, but they wouldn't grow. I think <i>Chicorium intybus </i>is more of an upland plant. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5NIRDsVdoho/UAMML-Baa0I/AAAAAAAAFp4/J0aNLzpQGsU/s1600/queen+anne%2527s+lace+%2528daucus+carota%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5NIRDsVdoho/UAMML-Baa0I/AAAAAAAAFp4/J0aNLzpQGsU/s200/queen+anne%2527s+lace+%2528daucus+carota%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Queen Anne's lace</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;">Wherever there’s chicory, there’s
Queen Anne’s lace (</span><i style="background-color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;">Daucus carota</i><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;">), blooming
at the same time and nearby. The flowers are frequently confused with those of bishop’s
weed (</span><i style="background-color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;">Aegopodium podogrania</i><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;">), but
Queen Anne’s foliage looks like ferny carrot tops where the bishop has trifoliate
broad leaves.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Voy3JF0mtzM/UAMMOumOVrI/AAAAAAAAFqA/2fhgriZksFw/s1600/chicory+%2528chicoium+intybus%2529+%2526+queen+anne%2527s+lace+%2528daucus+carota%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Voy3JF0mtzM/UAMMOumOVrI/AAAAAAAAFqA/2fhgriZksFw/s200/chicory+%2528chicoium+intybus%2529+%2526+queen+anne%2527s+lace+%2528daucus+carota%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Blue & white border,</i><br />
au naturel</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Looking for garden design help?
Take a page from Mother Nature’s book of companion plantings, like this one of white Queen Anne's lace punctuated by blue, blue chicory.</span></div>
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Adding a touch of yellow to the
blue and white composition, common mullein (<i>Verbascum
thapsus</i>) blends right in in its shorter incarnations, or towers above the
crowd.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uW7EGiyjRUw/UAMMF7rMElI/AAAAAAAAFpg/DvD7wdgT9HQ/s1600/mullein+%2528verbascum+thapsus%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uW7EGiyjRUw/UAMMF7rMElI/AAAAAAAAFpg/DvD7wdgT9HQ/s200/mullein+%2528verbascum+thapsus%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />...& statuesque mullein</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dH55Nn4jYY4/UAMMT9vFWZI/AAAAAAAAFqQ/AFFVkUqgvKs/s1600/mullein+%2528verbascum+thapsus%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dH55Nn4jYY4/UAMMT9vFWZI/AAAAAAAAFqQ/AFFVkUqgvKs/s200/mullein+%2528verbascum+thapsus%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25283%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Stubby mullein...</i></td></tr>
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The scent of clover (<i>Trifolium spp.</i>) revives childhood summers
for me. I grew up next door to an old dairy farm, and my dad didn’t suffer from
the epidemic of perfect-lawn-itis many of his generation of new-to-the-suburbs
men did. Killing stands of clover in the yard is a mistake, as it turns out: clovers are leguminous, fixing nitrogen in the
soil to the benefit of everything else growing in it.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGz0fs-2hFiO6XDba6-lYeF8SmNQ-eLqb0fYbiwGOQvgmt9BTHrxaxEF9UHieLTPYAGz186KXVnTSA3LCZ-reGFD1spbF3-pRkSQGXd8SBrdBv6JM8GFqV0CGpX9uzWil_aAhMaNvNknJJ/s1600/white+clover+%2528trifolium+repens%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGz0fs-2hFiO6XDba6-lYeF8SmNQ-eLqb0fYbiwGOQvgmt9BTHrxaxEF9UHieLTPYAGz186KXVnTSA3LCZ-reGFD1spbF3-pRkSQGXd8SBrdBv6JM8GFqV0CGpX9uzWil_aAhMaNvNknJJ/s200/white+clover+%2528trifolium+repens%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>White clover (</i>Trifolium repens<i>)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggYfUN_jHLypRRhlJD9IZNlTTcJ4xRPBjT5dnVOiCoQpUuV5_yHoInc5CKDhEELK0lbG6jO3N4dsDWLL0bZ7P_KmFiMX2828k58MWir6n52nqCYqM7hUUDLPr1yHgNhCu-2-VUoHDZJAoc/s1600/red+clover+%2528trifolium+pratense%2529%252C+boonsboro%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggYfUN_jHLypRRhlJD9IZNlTTcJ4xRPBjT5dnVOiCoQpUuV5_yHoInc5CKDhEELK0lbG6jO3N4dsDWLL0bZ7P_KmFiMX2828k58MWir6n52nqCYqM7hUUDLPr1yHgNhCu-2-VUoHDZJAoc/s200/red+clover+%2528trifolium+pratense%2529%252C+boonsboro%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Red clover (</i>Trifolium pratense<i>)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NcdTQKiZThM/UAMMHViQ9oI/AAAAAAAAFpo/8leGa_vNQ-c/s1600/spearmint+%2528mentha+spicata%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NcdTQKiZThM/UAMMHViQ9oI/AAAAAAAAFpo/8leGa_vNQ-c/s200/spearmint+%2528mentha+spicata%2529%252C+funkstown%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Wild spearmint</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Another blast-from-the-past
field flower is spicy-smelling and –tasting wild spearmint (<i>Mentha spicata</i>), or horsemint, as we
called it back in the day. Chewing a leaf refreshed the palate after a lengthy
foray into the blackberry bramble patch. Dontcha feel sorry for kids today,
whose memories will feature cold, textureless, scentless electronica and summer
days spent inside pecking at tiny keyboards below LCD displays?</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--6VbhcLmlz8/UAMMWmlWusI/AAAAAAAAFqg/Ndde5Aei58Y/s1600/erigeron+annuus+%2528white+eastern+daisy+fleabane%2529+boonsboro%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--6VbhcLmlz8/UAMMWmlWusI/AAAAAAAAFqg/Ndde5Aei58Y/s200/erigeron+annuus+%2528white+eastern+daisy+fleabane%2529+boonsboro%252C+md+8+jul+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a><o:p> </o:p></div>
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Never did find the purple
variety, but white Eastern daisy fleabane (<i>Erigeron
annuus</i>) abounded on roadsides and in wildflower meadows, there as here.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">I've</span> always loved thistle
flowers—if not their prickly stems and leaves—probably another legacy of being
a kid playing in cow pastures. There are at least three genera and about a
gazillion species of them (thistles, not kids in cow pastures) out there. This
particular one is a bull thistle (<i>Cirsium
vulgare</i>), photographed behind a couple of the monuments scattered over the
killing fields of Antietam.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DFrHNc2QcSo/UAMMb8hT_JI/AAAAAAAAFqw/dPy0nq3UYfc/s1600/bull+thistle+%2528cirsium+vulgare%2529%252C+antietam+battlefield+8+jul+2012+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DFrHNc2QcSo/UAMMb8hT_JI/AAAAAAAAFqw/dPy0nq3UYfc/s200/bull+thistle+%2528cirsium+vulgare%2529%252C+antietam+battlefield+8+jul+2012+%25284%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>...but, ooh, those prickers</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oYAls4GMsw4/UAMMZmvlZjI/AAAAAAAAFqo/EsYEwv80F5Y/s1600/bull+thistle+%2528cirsium+vulgare%2529%252C+antietam+battlefield+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oYAls4GMsw4/UAMMZmvlZjI/AAAAAAAAFqo/EsYEwv80F5Y/s200/bull+thistle+%2528cirsium+vulgare%2529%252C+antietam+battlefield+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Lovely thistle flowers...</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tq6PS3JwAPQ/UAMMeOEN8JI/AAAAAAAAFq4/AON_yacDkMc/s1600/teasel+%2528dipsacus+sylvestris%2529%252C+antietam+battlefield%252C+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tq6PS3JwAPQ/UAMMeOEN8JI/AAAAAAAAFq4/AON_yacDkMc/s200/teasel+%2528dipsacus+sylvestris%2529%252C+antietam+battlefield%252C+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cool-looking teasel</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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A resident of low places, teasel (<i>Dipsacus sylvestris</i>)
resembles thistles on steroids; but teasel leaves are kinder and gentler, even
if their stems and calyxes are not.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--CcrbCSHKDc/UAMMjchYyKI/AAAAAAAAFrM/OkYh5NYxiKU/s1600/milkweed+%2528asclepias+syriacus%2529%252C+antietam+battlefield%252C+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--CcrbCSHKDc/UAMMjchYyKI/AAAAAAAAFrM/OkYh5NYxiKU/s200/milkweed+%2528asclepias+syriacus%2529%252C+antietam+battlefield%252C+8+jul+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Common milkweed</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Got milkweed? Host plant to monarch
butterfly larvae, it’s another wildflower that grows, well, wild in uplands but
gives coastal North Carolina a pass. We can grow lots of the other butterfly
weeds—<i>Asclepias </i>(pronounced as-CLEE-pee-us)
<i>incarnata, A. tuberosa, A. curassavica</i>—but
not <i>Asclepias syriaca. </i></div>
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You wouldn’t guess it from the
war I used wage on the common vetch that invaded our lawn (back when we had a
lawn), but I adore the sight of the banks of Interstate drainage ditches covered
with blooming crown vetch (<i>Coronilla
varia</i>), sown to prevent erosion of said banks. Great stretches of large
(for vetches) globose flowers atop dainty compound foliage make for a welcome
distraction from the blinkered idiot vehicle operators who seem to set the tone
on our nation’s highways.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7aiHauJplTIz94DDaVt5QGGJn-4fs8eiBQoDe8I5kqBsYDvbGKOpuCEzfICOfU-4Eu_UwMwUI4gxw3a3FTIjSCVVyi61A7UQf7FYz3mkwQDmcHZihMTyfRYMqzuGk-HTlv4MRq7vCFzqU/s1600/crown+vetch+%2528coronilla+varia%2529%252C+martinsburg%252C+wv+9+jul+2012+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7aiHauJplTIz94DDaVt5QGGJn-4fs8eiBQoDe8I5kqBsYDvbGKOpuCEzfICOfU-4Eu_UwMwUI4gxw3a3FTIjSCVVyi61A7UQf7FYz3mkwQDmcHZihMTyfRYMqzuGk-HTlv4MRq7vCFzqU/s200/crown+vetch+%2528coronilla+varia%2529%252C+martinsburg%252C+wv+9+jul+2012+%25284%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A swath of crown vetch</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-acL0aHDA3rE/UAMMk9_AKLI/AAAAAAAAFrU/faaBapiANgs/s1600/crown+vetch+%2528coronilla+varia%2529%252C+martinsburg%252C+wv+9+jul+2012+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-acL0aHDA3rE/UAMMk9_AKLI/AAAAAAAAFrU/faaBapiANgs/s200/crown+vetch+%2528coronilla+varia%2529%252C+martinsburg%252C+wv+9+jul+2012+%25283%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Crown vetch, close up</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<o:p></o:p>It’s good to be home. Thanks for
dropping by.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Kathy
</div>
Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-17743860694568882322012-07-03T14:03:00.000-04:002012-07-04T11:54:46.441-04:00GARDENING OBSESSIONS<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ4yFjiS-Grcnp5JxxcLEbwEzKkNrLXXL5Ec08QPWlBCWPpRdFI99soshHBQCGhG1gid6kzDys0DAFkrvo-_DQGOstcKJtSXOtclbONyhf_hTz1CaTS0jak2vpMvPYWlTjdqG4QDhMrIjv/s1600/weather+observations+journal.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ4yFjiS-Grcnp5JxxcLEbwEzKkNrLXXL5Ec08QPWlBCWPpRdFI99soshHBQCGhG1gid6kzDys0DAFkrvo-_DQGOstcKJtSXOtclbONyhf_hTz1CaTS0jak2vpMvPYWlTjdqG4QDhMrIjv/s200/weather+observations+journal.JPG" width="156" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Big Green Weather <br />Observations Book</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">I admit
to having obsessive/compulsive tendencies in some areas of my life. At least
three weather observations a day (four is better) must be duly noted in the Big
Green Weather Book, for example. Towels must be folded in thirds, for another.
We flip or rotate the mattress the first weekend of every other month. The sink
must be empty by bedtime, the dish drainer before morning coffee. Tim regales
audiences at informal gatherings with stories about my list-making, which
extends to making lists of the various lists I have running at any given time.</span></div>
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Okay.
Maybe I suffer from more than mild OCD. Whatever gets you through the day,
right?</div>
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While grooming the nasturtium baskets this morning—which will soon be only nasturtium, since pickleworms have
discovered the cucumbers I’d interplanted with them—I realized I’d snipped off
some seed heads before they’d ripened. <i>Oh,
bugger, </i>I thought. <i>Blew that seed-saving
opportunity. </i>(My OCD manifests when it comes to saving seeds. Our
refrigerator’s vegetable crisper teems with them. The disorder does not extend to <i>planting</i> the saved seeds, however.) The
oversight inspired me to take a really close look at the flowers, though. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v5522U8rfgk/T_MsNJStIFI/AAAAAAAAFoM/CuiUL7eZqLI/s1600/tropaeolum+blooms+3+jul+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v5522U8rfgk/T_MsNJStIFI/AAAAAAAAFoM/CuiUL7eZqLI/s200/tropaeolum+blooms+3+jul+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Monoecious </b>nasturtium flowers</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Seems nasturtium (<i>Tropaeolum spp.</i>) are <b>monoecious, </b>a botanical term deriving
from the Greek for “one house”; it refers to both male and female flowers being
borne on the same plant. The female blooms evolve into seedcases while the males
just die. (Other species, like hollies, are <b>dioecious—</b>Greek for “two houses”—with male flowers on one plant and
female on another. Male hollies never produce babies/berries. Neither do females
if there is no male within cross-pollination distance. While we’re on the
subject, the quality of dioeciousness applies to pampas grass as well. If yours
never erupts into spectacular bloom, you’ve got yourself a boy plant.) </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Ncb5qzd8Lx5jfM5n4PTQjHgioWe2Afry85LyLY0X4zUXpw-OE2v1ndPvlyy8iEimAfikg48hTbDGKhni5213m4aReA9ExSpgcZbjLNCWU7J8tG0qXYSF19CN2T3Fn53m9ZR1e6ug0CLY/s1600/gregor+mendel+%2528wikipedia%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Ncb5qzd8Lx5jfM5n4PTQjHgioWe2Afry85LyLY0X4zUXpw-OE2v1ndPvlyy8iEimAfikg48hTbDGKhni5213m4aReA9ExSpgcZbjLNCWU7J8tG0qXYSF19CN2T3Fn53m9ZR1e6ug0CLY/s200/gregor+mendel+%2528wikipedia%2529.JPG" width="185" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gregor Mendel</i></td></tr>
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I find the secret lives of flora
endlessly fascinating, and as I pulled off dead leaves and (male) flowers, I
found myself thinking about Gregor Mendel, the Austrian Augustinian monk whose
obsession with peas in his monastery’s garden resulted in the science of
genetics.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xkXWjkgUIaE/T_MsLRRrMdI/AAAAAAAAFn0/OVZYg0i2ef8/s1600/george+washington+carver+%2528wikipedia%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xkXWjkgUIaE/T_MsLRRrMdI/AAAAAAAAFn0/OVZYg0i2ef8/s200/george+washington+carver+%2528wikipedia%2529.JPG" width="166" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>George Washington Carver<br />(photo taken by Frances<br />Benjamin Johnston in 1906)</i></td></tr>
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Gardening obsessions are quite
common. Take George Washington Carver. He saw small farmers struggling to make
their livings growing cotton, which not only depletes the soil but doesn't fill the family's stomachs either. He promoted diversification into marketable crops
that also offer nutritional value, such as soybeans, sweet potatoes, and
peanuts. Over a long career at Tuskegee Institute, he wrote dozens of farm
bulletins containing some 105 recipes using peanuts. He also developed more than
300 products for farm and home use from the lowly goober, including cosmetics,
dyes, gasoline (biofuel!), nitroglycerin, paints and plastics. When it comes to
obsessive/compulsiveness, Carver makes me look like a rank amateur. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zamJBLVCjYc/T_MsPMh27AI/AAAAAAAAFo8/rGJanC9g5qg/s1600/otherwise+normal+people+by+aurelia+c.+scott.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zamJBLVCjYc/T_MsPMh27AI/AAAAAAAAFo8/rGJanC9g5qg/s200/otherwise+normal+people+by+aurelia+c.+scott.JPG" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Other siren-like plants send
people into the clutches of a persistent notion that defies rationality. The
rosarians are one such group. Even the word “rosarian” conjures up religion. In
</span><i>Otherwise Normal People: Inside the
Thorny World of Competitive Rose Gardening, </i><span style="background-color: white;">Aurelia C. Scott captures the
insanity overtaking seekers of the title “Queen of Show” at the biannual
National Rose Show. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtVL1TXGdoL__nnuplCNJ4_6mCnfrgfxLCsDhKWiczLkR_HGNHORpFpDfCF2BLjjJs2JFmRJ0bx-RrFcGYUVvHuK5bAnUf2Auf5GEEvkAQ4qUXOkkt7xxS6PJjtTY5v5JjjyCj6lkuobj/s1600/the+orchid+thief+by+susan+orlean+%2528amazon.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtVL1TXGdoL__nnuplCNJ4_6mCnfrgfxLCsDhKWiczLkR_HGNHORpFpDfCF2BLjjJs2JFmRJ0bx-RrFcGYUVvHuK5bAnUf2Auf5GEEvkAQ4qUXOkkt7xxS6PJjtTY5v5JjjyCj6lkuobj/s200/the+orchid+thief+by+susan+orlean+%2528amazon.com%2529.JPG" width="120" /></a> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Orchid-fanciers
suffer from similar obsessive/compulsions, a condition the Victorians called “orchedelirium.”
So compelling is this particular form of plantmania, Spike Jonze adapted Susan
Orlean’s </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession </i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">–the story
of the discovery and break-up of a Florida orchid-smuggling ring—into the 2002
movie “Adaptation,” starring Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep. Not bad for an
epiphyte.</span><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZzWQ89V5_hgpGmcuedjPaOkcEgLxaVrRO6eVrJYhVRwACz2SDRFTczPu7nwKE_oVAFj8QAeMzCwhKFvzemGwdxmeVDXhwyilnQQCcxHIRiJI7OX-Xuc86GdO6D9l9A2Ho0yBlJ2rEQyhh/s1600/backyard+giants+by+susan+warren.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZzWQ89V5_hgpGmcuedjPaOkcEgLxaVrRO6eVrJYhVRwACz2SDRFTczPu7nwKE_oVAFj8QAeMzCwhKFvzemGwdxmeVDXhwyilnQQCcxHIRiJI7OX-Xuc86GdO6D9l9A2Ho0yBlJ2rEQyhh/s200/backyard+giants+by+susan+warren.JPG" width="133" /></a></div>
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More mundane but just as all-consuming to aficionados, pumpkins claim their own coterie of the unbalanced.
The subtitle of Susan Warren’s 2007 book, <i>Backyard
Giants: The Passionate, Heartbreaking, and Glorious Quest to Grow the Biggest
Pumpkin Ever, </i>pretty much says it all.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBNLbrHCT5Mm5Kb5xarpGnmfU3Sqt1OIt6PKJaJYHbHFiiZDyjwqgIlEHP8a-ICBBFKrWYxjHaLBfHP2gi_VLGch-xdb2GZ_7Undr4Svz06h86C47xciqQ_uheSgbC6qLIXsC6exLctCdE/s1600/the+64-dollar+tomato+by+william+alexander+%2528npr.org%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBNLbrHCT5Mm5Kb5xarpGnmfU3Sqt1OIt6PKJaJYHbHFiiZDyjwqgIlEHP8a-ICBBFKrWYxjHaLBfHP2gi_VLGch-xdb2GZ_7Undr4Svz06h86C47xciqQ_uheSgbC6qLIXsC6exLctCdE/s200/the+64-dollar+tomato+by+william+alexander+%2528npr.org%2529.JPG" width="120" /></a></div>
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Growing edibles inspires others
to craziness, a sickness I can empathize with. If you struggle with your
vegetable plot; if your significant other occasionally remarks that you could
have purchased <i>bushels</i> of whatever
with the money, resources and time you lavish on your garden; if you wonder if
you’re all alone in this unequal struggle against nature, you <i>must</i> read <i>The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune,
and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden </i>by William
Alexander. You’ll feel better about yourself when you finish it.</div>
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Of course, Mr. Alexander’s $64
tomato pales in comparison to my own $200 potato patch. After three seasons of dismal
yields, this year’s test harvest looked promising. The 12 pounds of four
species of seed tubers I planted may actually produce at least that weight in
edible spuds, for a happy change. Tomorrow’s the day I’m hauling them in, so
fingers crossed, y’all. As a sort of voodoo insurance, I haven’t yet cleared out
the closet where I propose to store the bounty until the weather cools down.
Just in case. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimPRWw4e2xqDdT0Xg5CeikKMZ8ioDNOvIdkz1mK6Mr7xfcUBlDLXEqeB6lbfvai3Vuv7deK-Gq-SzJrTxPTCzAmjvcm5vC_Zany7_pCHffo4gvcRh12SZb8G8FRhb7oNrdUMS6UjLecEhD/s1600/2012+potato+%2527purple+majesty%2527+GB+harvest+3+lbs.+19+jun.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimPRWw4e2xqDdT0Xg5CeikKMZ8ioDNOvIdkz1mK6Mr7xfcUBlDLXEqeB6lbfvai3Vuv7deK-Gq-SzJrTxPTCzAmjvcm5vC_Zany7_pCHffo4gvcRh12SZb8G8FRhb7oNrdUMS6UjLecEhD/s200/2012+potato+%2527purple+majesty%2527+GB+harvest+3+lbs.+19+jun.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Test harvest of 'Purple Majesty'<br />weighed three whole pounds!!</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijcDke3YC_QLhvpbHXYbajE1xYlvVJiIVWUepgloAMoqo-HdMkbT3la9Nh5W3GTM6RgfUGXB3XthJ-8koDWK7hRpNtS9JlcEWoAiDjUxRhet09Aw4Gkzfi3fK_wAFCkLbFk4VfbbSRVcKx/s1600/2012+potato+%2527red+caribe%2527+GB+harvest+2.5+lbs+19+jun.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijcDke3YC_QLhvpbHXYbajE1xYlvVJiIVWUepgloAMoqo-HdMkbT3la9Nh5W3GTM6RgfUGXB3XthJ-8koDWK7hRpNtS9JlcEWoAiDjUxRhet09Aw4Gkzfi3fK_wAFCkLbFk4VfbbSRVcKx/s200/2012+potato+%2527red+caribe%2527+GB+harvest+2.5+lbs+19+jun.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Test harvest of 'Red Caribe'<br />weighed two-and-a-half pounds!!</i></td></tr>
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Whether for beauty, rareness,
usefulness, and/or nutritional value, the quest for that perfect plant is an
obsession that lurks in all dedicated gardeners, whether we express it to the
point of madness or not. A little bit of
OCD might be all that’s needed to push a weekend putterer into nutcase
territory. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.</div>
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Thanks for dropping by.</div>
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Kathy</div>Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-21742925842286533442012-06-24T13:49:00.001-04:002012-06-25T09:44:21.189-04:00LOVE BUGS<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VPqgEGo90KI/T-dFKQ_cTfI/AAAAAAAAFnQ/DxpwO9SUGQY/s1600/sex+on+six+legs+-+marlene+zuk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VPqgEGo90KI/T-dFKQ_cTfI/AAAAAAAAFnQ/DxpwO9SUGQY/s200/sex+on+six+legs+-+marlene+zuk.JPG" width="137" /></a><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">In her
fascinating book, </span><i style="background-color: white;">Sex on Six Legs:
Lessons on Life, Love and Language from the Insect World</i><span style="background-color: white;">, entomologist
Marlene Zuk posits that humans have trouble relating to insects because they’re
so difficult for us to anthropomorphize. Mammals are easy to love, even </span><i style="background-color: white;">de facto </i><span style="background-color: white;">nasty ones like pandas and
koala bears. We can even stretch our affections to reptiles and amphibians,
demonstrated by that adorable GEICO gekko, the teenage mutant ninja turtles, Majolica
Palissy ware, and the explosion of frog-themed garden ornaments. That third
pair of legs, however, apparently cancels out any hope of potential cuddliness.
(Snakes elicit the same emotional disconnect because they lack “hands” or
“feet” all together.) Zuk cites a 1973 survey that puts bugs at number
three—tied with “financial problems” and “deep water”—on a list of things
people fear most. “Public speaking” and “heights” beat out the six-legged
("death" came in sixth, in case you were wondering), but she says if spiders had
been lumped in with insects, they may have soared to the number one spot. </span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></div>
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The more
contemplative yogic disciplines emphasize opening ourselves to the beauty and
harmony in all things, a practice I have a lot of trouble with when it comes to
people-in-general and politicians-and-bureaucrats-in-particular. Bugs, not so
much. Entomologists have found evidence that insects can communicate, learn,
teach, and manipulate their environments. Some species make very good parents,
a finding that more daring scientists think may indicate personality and
emotions. On the other hand, people who love sci-fi films that depict evil,
alien creatures as insectile would appreciate the more grisly aspects of
reality in Bug-World: sexual deviancy and cannibalism, despotism, chemical mind-control,
slavery, live sacrifice. Hey, bugs are sounding more human all the time!</div>
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Like
most gardeners, I have only a nodding acquaintance with most of the bugs passing
through my yard. We wave, but don’t know each other’s names. A comprehensive
reference work with photographs—either print or online, <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://bugguide.net/">Bug Guide</a></span> notwithstanding—doesn’t exist yet. The undertaking is too
massive. Insects account for more than 80% of known species on Earth. They were
here long before us and will be here long after. Naturalist E.O. Wilson said, “If all mankind
were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of
equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the
environment would collapse into chaos.”</div>
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Kind of
rips a huge hole <i>Homo sapiens</i>’<i> </i>carefully cultivated superiority
balloon, doesn’t it? </div>
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Read
Zuk’s book. She’s a decent writer with a flip sense of humor, and her subject
will broaden your mind.</div>
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Meanwhile,
crawling around in my own yard, I make an effort to notice bugs. I take
pictures of the ones I don’t recognize, and send them off through the ether to
the entomologists manning the Plant Disease and Insect
Clinic (PDIC) at North Carolina State University in Raleigh for
identification. The Extension specialists there also offer control solutions,
if any are necessary. Me, I just want names. (See my posts <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.gardeningfromthegroundup.blogspot.com/2011/01/bugged.html">Bugged</a></span> and <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.gardeningfromthegroundup.blogspot.com/2011/05/bugs-good.html">Bugs, the Good</a></span>
for more information on PDIC.) I encourage all enquiring gardeners to do the
same, because once you know who they are and their place in the scheme of
things, six- and eight-legged creatures become less threatening, less, well, <i>other</i>. No, really, they do. </div>
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Here are
some of the beautiful animals to whom PDIC has formally introduced me this
season.</div>
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Two
caterpillars, and the moths they metamorphose into:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JJUdyZgXJ64/T-X7BFgMoiI/AAAAAAAAFm8/ek3_1bVL-UY/s1600/13248+8-spotted+forester+caterpillar+%2528alypia+octomaculata%2529+found+at+base+of+grapevine+21+apr+2012+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JJUdyZgXJ64/T-X7BFgMoiI/AAAAAAAAFm8/ek3_1bVL-UY/s200/13248+8-spotted+forester+caterpillar+%2528alypia+octomaculata%2529+found+at+base+of+grapevine+21+apr+2012+%25284%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Eight-spotted forester caterpillar</i><br />
(Alypia octomaculata)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ghP3fJlraQo/T-X7HzL9cZI/AAAAAAAAFmE/w_rKXRSGSv8/s1600/8-spotted+forester+moth+adult+%2528network54.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="155" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ghP3fJlraQo/T-X7HzL9cZI/AAAAAAAAFmE/w_rKXRSGSv8/s200/8-spotted+forester+moth+adult+%2528network54.com%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Eight-spotted forester moth</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9lUlvbRBebc/T-X7CiDHgKI/AAAAAAAAFlU/86krvfxmFTI/s1600/13482+saltmarsh+caterpillar+dorsal+view++%2528estigmene+acrea%2529+found+on+mildewed+pea+plant+10+may+2012+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9lUlvbRBebc/T-X7CiDHgKI/AAAAAAAAFlU/86krvfxmFTI/s200/13482+saltmarsh+caterpillar+dorsal+view++%2528estigmene+acrea%2529+found+on+mildewed+pea+plant+10+may+2012+%25284%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Saltmarsh caterpillar</i><br />
(Estigmene acrea)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mTOsMQMccqM/T-X7DyztMWI/AAAAAAAAFlk/5VSyqiO5B5k/s1600/saltmarsh+caterpillar+%2528estigmene+acrea%2529+adult+%2528bugguide.net.%2529JPG.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mTOsMQMccqM/T-X7DyztMWI/AAAAAAAAFlk/5VSyqiO5B5k/s200/saltmarsh+caterpillar+%2528estigmene+acrea%2529+adult+%2528bugguide.net.%2529JPG.JPG" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Saltmarsh caterpillar moth</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Two
larvae, and the adults they become:<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PZ_K4Cnwj_Y/T-X7Bn48IlI/AAAAAAAAFlM/gxa6la4LqhA/s1600/13283+wheel+bug+%2528assassin+bug+nymph%252C+arilus+cristatus%2529+%25281%2529+9+may+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="145" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PZ_K4Cnwj_Y/T-X7Bn48IlI/AAAAAAAAFlM/gxa6la4LqhA/s200/13283+wheel+bug+%2528assassin+bug+nymph%252C+arilus+cristatus%2529+%25281%2529+9+may+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Wheel bug (an assassin bug larva)</i><br />
(Arilus cristatus)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zivCQ0vFsF0/T-X7DaTcQwI/AAAAAAAAFlc/8_bQukBYGFA/s1600/wheel+bug+%2528Arilus+cristatus%2529+adult+assassin+bug+%2528bugguide.net%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zivCQ0vFsF0/T-X7DaTcQwI/AAAAAAAAFlc/8_bQukBYGFA/s200/wheel+bug+%2528Arilus+cristatus%2529+adult+assassin+bug+%2528bugguide.net%2529.JPG" width="146" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> Wheel bug (assassin bug) adult</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VfoxYefUA0k/T-X7HTQodcI/AAAAAAAAFl8/YTu_BKGSRnk/s1600/13792+spiky+eggplant+bug+-+euphorbia+bug+%2528chariesterus+antennator+-coreid%2529+4+jun+2012+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VfoxYefUA0k/T-X7HTQodcI/AAAAAAAAFl8/YTu_BKGSRnk/s200/13792+spiky+eggplant+bug+-+euphorbia+bug+%2528chariesterus+antennator+-coreid%2529+4+jun+2012+%25283%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Euphorbia bug larva</i><br />
(Chariesterus antennator)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8Hh42lrnGgM/T-X7IY5v7UI/AAAAAAAAFmM/YY2TQMsJ6qA/s1600/euphorbia+bug+adult+%2528pbase.com%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="154" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8Hh42lrnGgM/T-X7IY5v7UI/AAAAAAAAFmM/YY2TQMsJ6qA/s200/euphorbia+bug+adult+%2528pbase.com%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Euphorbia bug adult</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XMXG4oR-xoM/T-X7GfO6UWI/AAAAAAAAFl0/TDicOcPZb2A/s1600/13753+green+stinkbug+%2528banasa+dimidata%2529+ovipositing+%25281%2529+31+may+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XMXG4oR-xoM/T-X7GfO6UWI/AAAAAAAAFl0/TDicOcPZb2A/s200/13753+green+stinkbug+%2528banasa+dimidata%2529+ovipositing+%25281%2529+31+may+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Green stinkbug, ovipositing</i><br />
(Banasa dimidata)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"> An
egg-laying (</span><i style="background-color: white;">ovipositing</i><span style="background-color: white;"> is the
technical term) stinkbug (an alert anole ate all the hatchlings, though):</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQarRqaUirnbw-EyCxtnXUWlDP3klKRVCwKrjIMAUytYLI4lnWjRq3ZPkkFZwIEhfX2YaABVgzTJ39SbukSErjMlu33VWV-o4fw2xe08yYD8fdAKo8iWZ_e_O8pEsB3O6kE7FIkJ-Cq5R1/s1600/13250+black-%2526-white+bee+-+leaf-cutter+bee%252C+Megachilidae+family+19+apr+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQarRqaUirnbw-EyCxtnXUWlDP3klKRVCwKrjIMAUytYLI4lnWjRq3ZPkkFZwIEhfX2YaABVgzTJ39SbukSErjMlu33VWV-o4fw2xe08yYD8fdAKo8iWZ_e_O8pEsB3O6kE7FIkJ-Cq5R1/s200/13250+black-%2526-white+bee+-+leaf-cutter+bee%252C+Megachilidae+family+19+apr+2012+%25281%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Leaf-cutter bee</i><br />
<i>(Megachilidae family)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<br />
A
leaf-cutter bee:</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z82YTrfVtRs/T-X6-gRF62I/AAAAAAAAFk0/b7A34TkY83U/s1600/13249+narwhal+bee+-+bombylius+sp+%2528bee+fly%2529+%25286%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z82YTrfVtRs/T-X6-gRF62I/AAAAAAAAFk0/b7A34TkY83U/s200/13249+narwhal+bee+-+bombylius+sp+%2528bee+fly%2529+%25286%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Narwhal-nosed bee fly<br />(Dave didn't know what species)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<br />
<br />
A narwhal-nosed
bee fly:</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhauU8TnFUgP3SgX6_4Z6b1HZNQPCQzQufAnTex4MOLxHSFxuIFykJM03VELwt3bbuSc2qVcE7e61B4U7tSJIS-tBjHehdXvIQ5I5ClXR3_VhM4zDttSHDIwsWNpY-5W2qDpVVHyWCDkJQ/s1600/13760+green-%2526-orange+spider+-+basilica+orb+weaver+%2528mecynogea+lemniscata%2529+may+2012+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhauU8TnFUgP3SgX6_4Z6b1HZNQPCQzQufAnTex4MOLxHSFxuIFykJM03VELwt3bbuSc2qVcE7e61B4U7tSJIS-tBjHehdXvIQ5I5ClXR3_VhM4zDttSHDIwsWNpY-5W2qDpVVHyWCDkJQ/s200/13760+green-%2526-orange+spider+-+basilica+orb+weaver+%2528mecynogea+lemniscata%2529+may+2012+%25284%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Basilica orb weaver</i><br />
(Mecynogea lemniscata) </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; text-indent: 0.5in;"> Two spiders, the first very
common in my back yard, the other seldom seen:</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4ntEOWAjzFQ/T-X69Shwc9I/AAAAAAAAFnA/0wILNRQQvDo/s1600/13761+crab+spider+-+spinybacked+orb+weaver+%2528gasteracantha+cancriformis%2529+jun+2011+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="129" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4ntEOWAjzFQ/T-X69Shwc9I/AAAAAAAAFnA/0wILNRQQvDo/s200/13761+crab+spider+-+spinybacked+orb+weaver+%2528gasteracantha+cancriformis%2529+jun+2011+%25282%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Spiny-backed orb weaver</i><br />
(Gasteracanthus cancriformis)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwhyphenhyphen_2g_SsHpwgQuYpi2oXRd6tr3czhJoI0XaQovtOm9JKXWh6w3AZrUQfZj3QNmtGnTTzyZ2n2wRrwC209A8qGVcXY-ZAoxkSrLiUz6TZIO8oPQn-LcPBG1Mytw9yf82DTIh8VjR_-1VK/s1600/black-%2526-white+wasp+20+jun+2012%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwhyphenhyphen_2g_SsHpwgQuYpi2oXRd6tr3czhJoI0XaQovtOm9JKXWh6w3AZrUQfZj3QNmtGnTTzyZ2n2wRrwC209A8qGVcXY-ZAoxkSrLiUz6TZIO8oPQn-LcPBG1Mytw9yf82DTIh8VjR_-1VK/s200/black-%2526-white+wasp+20+jun+2012%25284%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>What's your name?</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
And the latest, not-yet-identified submission, a
black-and-white wasp-like creature:</div>
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None of these guys require controlling: only the stinkbug and euphorbia bug have even the potential to hurt my plants, and neither is likely to be present in sufficient numbers for any damage to be significant. And isn't that nice to know?<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vCUOg6NqvkE/T-cxP3axhPI/AAAAAAAAFmk/J8FVFQqweAw/s1600/bee+fly%252C+xenox+tigrinus+29+jun+2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vCUOg6NqvkE/T-cxP3axhPI/AAAAAAAAFmk/J8FVFQqweAw/s200/bee+fly%252C+xenox+tigrinus+29+jun+2011.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tiger bee fly<br /> </i>(Xenox tigrinus)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A note about bee flies, a
category of insects I’d never heard of before NCSU’s entomologist <i>extraordinaire </i>Dave Stephan clued me in
to the identity of this impressive screen-sitter last summer. Members of the
family Bombyliidae (pronounced bom-bi-LIE-ih-dee), stingless bee flies eat nectar
and pollen, making them important pollinators. Their larvae are parasitoids of
other insects (what’s “parasitoid"? See <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.gardeningfromthegroundup.blogspot.com/2012/05/chatter-from-og.html">Chatter from OG</a></span>).
That uncanny resemblance to bees may be a defense mechanism, to throw predators
off track. Not a whole lot is known about this group, because they are not seen in great numbers. Keep your eyes peeled, you citizen-scientists, and you can
help increase mankind’s knowledge of the world around us before we do ourselves
in. </div>
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Not to worry: the insects will
clean up the mess we leave.</div>
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Thanks for dropping by.</div>
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Kathy</div>Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2109568730073058759.post-32782888651392255952012-06-18T18:28:00.001-04:002012-06-23T10:07:41.338-04:00SNAPSHOT OF MONDAY<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">It’s a
beautiful day here in southeastern North Carolina—sunny, warm but not too hot,
not too humid, a steady southwesterly breeze. It’s too nice a day to sit at the
computer, even if one does have a blog entry to post. So I wandered outside
with my camera and took a picture (or 12: what did we do before digital
photography?) of every plant that has flowers on it in my yard. Now, with a
minimum of commentary, I’ll share them with you.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t7VJ08lpKCA/T9-K8bD63UI/AAAAAAAAFh0/ZJkijjg8tCI/s1600/agastache+forniculum+%2527blue+fortune%252718+jun+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t7VJ08lpKCA/T9-K8bD63UI/AAAAAAAAFh0/ZJkijjg8tCI/s200/agastache+forniculum+%2527blue+fortune%252718+jun+2012.JPG" width="150" /></a><o:p> </o:p></div>
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<br />
I like
blue (and blue-ish) flowers best of all, so I have lots. This is false hyssop, <i>Agastache foeniculum </i>‘Blue Fortune.’
Bees and butterflies love it, deer disdain it because of its anise-scented
foliage. It’s not reliably perennial for me, but I don’t care because Christine
grows some every year.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-js19tyUGZcU/T9-LGeI-pAI/AAAAAAAAFkY/716rxf-pAL8/s1600/nepeta+x+faassenii+%2527walkers+low%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-js19tyUGZcU/T9-LGeI-pAI/AAAAAAAAFkY/716rxf-pAL8/s200/nepeta+x+faassenii+%2527walkers+low%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a> Our cat
Fred thinks catmint—<i>Nepeta x faassenii </i>‘Walkers
Low’—might actually be catnip. He’s wrong, of course, although it’s aromatic
enough that deer don’t bother it. While “Walkers Low” refers not to the height
of the plant but to an English garden, Fred keeps ours well below the 30 inches
gardeners without 18-pound pets can expect.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7CK4EP4aZq0/T9-Lbfb5KGI/AAAAAAAAFjU/sXSXrQ88Nuc/s1600/passiflora+incarnata+18+jun+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7CK4EP4aZq0/T9-Lbfb5KGI/AAAAAAAAFjU/sXSXrQ88Nuc/s200/passiflora+incarnata+18+jun+2012.JPG" width="150" /></a><o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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The
passionflowers I observe for the <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://usanpn.org/">National PhenologyNetwork’s Nature’s Notebook</a> </span><span style="background-color: white;">bloomed early this year due to the mild
winter. Which is nice.</span></div>
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This
blue-themed pot contains annual <i>Phlox
intensia </i>‘Blueberry’ and a selection of summer snapdragons, <i>Angelonia angustifolia</i>-Serena series. </div>
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My poor
aster. Not only is it stuck with a nasty botanical name—<i>Symphyotrichum laevis</i>—but deer uncharacteristically grazed it
nearly down to the ground earlier in the season in a fit of pique over our
fencing of the tomatoes. So now it’s blooming. Be interesting to see what
happens this fall.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eno549ZlF2c/T9-gy1QrUMI/AAAAAAAAFkc/3hLaAicEzBk/s1600/petunia+integrifolia+18+jun+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eno549ZlF2c/T9-gy1QrUMI/AAAAAAAAFkc/3hLaAicEzBk/s200/petunia+integrifolia+18+jun+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a> My next
favorite flower colors are the pinks, purples and magentas, so I have lots of
those, too. Here is a clump of perennial petunias, <i>Petunia integrifolia integrifolia. </i>I have no idea why the specific
epithet is repeated. One year I planted these free-flowering magenta<i> </i>beauties in a raised bed with
chartreuse sweet-potato vine (<i>Ipomoea
batatas </i>‘Margarita’): the effect was stunning. Also not reliably perennial,
it survived this year’s mild winter handily, never even dying back all the way.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-60EqRNQiIns/T9-K5bhQ6UI/AAAAAAAAFkk/P7qJ4sSUKQw/s1600/phlox+paniculata+%2527bright+eyes%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-60EqRNQiIns/T9-K5bhQ6UI/AAAAAAAAFkk/P7qJ4sSUKQw/s200/phlox+paniculata+%2527bright+eyes%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a> <br />
One of
the mildew-resistant garden phloxes, <i>Phlox
paniculata </i>‘Bright Eyes,’ keeps large pink panicles coming for most of the
season. ‘Laura’ is another cultivar I like, with blooms more on the purple side
of pink, but she’s not blooming yet.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggAHgQJYIvjbYlLhdvjkWBdybkPercCdX2WlE7AYdR-dFHjDFBV2MmS5oPxYpn28h3hV41gwF4yWI_2kkQis7MmaKu_ZMJ-BvCJORTgNnkWS-GfuyeUrNg8ZSLEfpaL4nZv-wKUiK-Vg4o/s1600/liatris+spicata+18+jun+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggAHgQJYIvjbYlLhdvjkWBdybkPercCdX2WlE7AYdR-dFHjDFBV2MmS5oPxYpn28h3hV41gwF4yWI_2kkQis7MmaKu_ZMJ-BvCJORTgNnkWS-GfuyeUrNg8ZSLEfpaL4nZv-wKUiK-Vg4o/s200/liatris+spicata+18+jun+2012.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
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This <i>Liatris spicata</i>, saddled with the dopey
common name “blazing star,” is a specimen of the straight species, lankier and
earlier than the stocky cultivar ‘Kobold’ that grows on the other side of the
garden.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rzsXjvgBbIs/T9-gv9Q4eeI/AAAAAAAAFkI/N7MeGhVSIJE/s1600/serissa+foetida+close+up+18+jun+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rzsXjvgBbIs/T9-gv9Q4eeI/AAAAAAAAFkI/N7MeGhVSIJE/s200/serissa+foetida+close+up+18+jun+2012.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
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My
specimen of evergreen <i>Serissa foetida </i>started
life as a tiny bonsai I rescued from the Philadelphia Flower Show in 2005. It
certainly wouldn’t fit back into the two-inch-wide pot it came in anymore.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">This is
rock rose, </span><i style="background-color: white;">Pavonia lasiopetala. </i><span style="background-color: white;">A
shrubby little thing, it produces its cheerful cerise cup-shaped flowers
steadily—if not prolifically—all summer.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tAJcQlOh7Wc/T9-LZ69FwUI/AAAAAAAAFjM/UDYqqnq8Ico/s1600/kostyletzkya+viginica+18+jun+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tAJcQlOh7Wc/T9-LZ69FwUI/AAAAAAAAFjM/UDYqqnq8Ico/s200/kostyletzkya+viginica+18+jun+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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Another
trouble-free sub-shrub that enjoyed the warm winter was my swamp mallow (<i>Kosteletzkya virginica</i>—see “Field Notes
for the Weary” post of September 28, 2011). Its first bloom appeared ten days
ago, weeks ahead of schedule.</div>
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Christine
spoiled plain ol’ squatty <i>Gomphrena
globosa</i> by introducing me to <i>G.
haageana </i>‘Fireworks.’ The cerise flowers with yellow “sparks” certainly
live up to their name, and keep coming from mid-spring into October.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PNknGk3mXjQ/T9-LRiO3TjI/AAAAAAAAFi0/aa-dTrV_WxM/s1600/gomphrena+%2527fireworks%2527+close+up+18+jun+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PNknGk3mXjQ/T9-LRiO3TjI/AAAAAAAAFi0/aa-dTrV_WxM/s200/gomphrena+%2527fireworks%2527+close+up+18+jun+2012+%25282%2529.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5dT5XdmUCHA/T9-LJErAHPI/AAAAAAAAFiU/60PTffQns-M/s1600/zinnia+elegans+%2527cut+%2526+come+again%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5dT5XdmUCHA/T9-LJErAHPI/AAAAAAAAFiU/60PTffQns-M/s200/zinnia+elegans+%2527cut+%2526+come+again%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" width="150" /></a> <br />
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And how
can any one have a garden without classic <i>Zinnia
elegans</i>? This cultivar is called ‘Cut and Come Again’ for good reason.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VKGwwJTiv5o/T9-K3sPb-MI/AAAAAAAAFhk/2smc_dc8OAI/s1600/rudbeckia+hirta+%2527indian+summer%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VKGwwJTiv5o/T9-K3sPb-MI/AAAAAAAAFhk/2smc_dc8OAI/s200/rudbeckia+hirta+%2527indian+summer%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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I depend
on the black-eyed Susans for yellows in my gardens. Perennial <i>Rudbeckia fulgida </i>subspecies and
cultivars provide the color in fall, but wonderful annual (but freely seeding) <i>R. hirta </i>‘Indian Summer’ carries the
torch until then.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAaoHsT_7UShrscl-rA1XnRl9zWxr_CuhPaXxRxkSNwLqiGzDQCkULc0X_IL2x4V9Cay1V-d4rnDGlaiGb15Dg2Yy9A42E5G-oFOfaAmvp6F9VOy9QV6PuC_tVhBGxiiFJW-04x6POCq_e/s1600/helianthus+annuus+%2527van+gogh%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAaoHsT_7UShrscl-rA1XnRl9zWxr_CuhPaXxRxkSNwLqiGzDQCkULc0X_IL2x4V9Cay1V-d4rnDGlaiGb15Dg2Yy9A42E5G-oFOfaAmvp6F9VOy9QV6PuC_tVhBGxiiFJW-04x6POCq_e/s200/helianthus+annuus+%2527van+gogh%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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The
sunflowers are blooming! The sunflowers are blooming! These are <i>Helianthus annuus </i>‘Van Gogh.’ </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gjxvklmuTwY/T9-Lj7xC-aI/AAAAAAAAFj0/52IPrPq-IkI/s1600/tropaeolum+majus+%2527spitfire%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gjxvklmuTwY/T9-Lj7xC-aI/AAAAAAAAFj0/52IPrPq-IkI/s200/tropaeolum+majus+%2527spitfire%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"> When I
lived up North, I loved nasturtiums. Over a season they’d grow into huge frothy
mounds of neatly round foliage dotted with orange, yellow or red flowers. Not
so in North Carolina, where the heat takes a toll. Regardless, I plant some
every spring and enjoy them until they inevitably crash.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V7F_q9Jc0I0/T9-K_9sNJ0I/AAAAAAAAFh8/IsoPKXS4G48/s1600/solanum+tuberosum+%2527nakotah%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V7F_q9Jc0I0/T9-K_9sNJ0I/AAAAAAAAFh8/IsoPKXS4G48/s200/solanum+tuberosum+%2527nakotah%2527+18+jun+2012.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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I don’t
have a lot of summertime whites in my garden, so for now, I’m grateful for the
dainty blooms of my potato crop, <i>Solanum
tuberosum.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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So
that’s what’s providing color out in my yard today. And that’s all I have to
say, until next time.</div>
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Thanks
for dropping by.</div>
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Kathy</div>Kathy Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145577877807197103noreply@blogger.com0