a pamphleteer of The Write Gardener

The "F" Word

2012-01-09T13:25:00.001-05:00

There's a lot of controversy surrounding the process of fracturing rock for natural gas from underground deposits of shale. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are combined in a process used to break open shale rock, the rock then releases natural gas which is harvested for us to use. Drilling depths range between 10 and 13 thousand feet.

I'm no expert on the matter, but in using a little common sense I come to the conclusion that a weak fault line just might be vulnerable to some of this drilling. You'd think I announced the end of the world when I express my views to some family members and a few friends. They claim that it has no effect on earthquake activity, they say we've been doing it for years and everything is just fine, they say it's a natural resource right here in our own country and we need it.

They say my common sense approach has no merit. They don't seem to understand that "doing it for years" is but a fraction of a second on the geologic time scale. Our generation might not be affected by all the drilling, but what about future generations? What will they think if we continue to drill with no regard to what it might be doing to the environment?

(I watched a video here: http://www.energyfromshale.org/shale-extraction-process which makes the process look quite harmless. But other than the pleasing acoustic guitar and mandolin music in the background, I wasn't completely sold on the procedure.)

Defining art

2011-12-27T21:21:00.000-05:00

What are the arts? Music, writing, painting and/or drawing, creating, is gardening an art? I'm sure the list is quite larger than this.

What about the lost arts, what are some of those? Is listening a lost art? Is it even considered to be one? Is silence an art? Is art an art?

I like Dictionary.com's definition: "the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance." I added the bold because I'm curious to know more about aesthetic principles and how they come into being.

When art talks to me, I know it's art. It has its own sound, and can be interpreted to have more than one meaning. So, "according to aesthetic principles" formed from that which was spoken to me by art, I give you one example. ...

"It Just Comes Naturally"

I am often inspired by the work of others, thanks Ms. Marcia.

Marcia Furman's art has spoken, and I listen.

Her blog.

A review of Duane Campbell's Best of Green Space

2011-12-08T17:34:00.001-05:00

I really should read more. At one time I was a regular reader of Stephen King, but that was before I became a writer myself. I started writing about gardening, not horror. I'll admit that sometimes my gardening can be a little horrific, but I surely hope that my writing about it never is.

I should try to read more gardening books like this one by Duane Campbell: "Best of Green Space: 30 Years of Composted Columns." It's a collection of Duane's gardening articles. I self-published a book similar to Duane's, but I have only about 7 years of composted stuff.

Duane's composted stuff is composted just right. It's entertaining, extremely so because of his wonderful sense of humor, he hasn't skimped on pertinent gardening info either. Excluding the contents and index, there's about 200 pages. Duane separates his seasonal wisdom and humor into articles relating to each of the twelve months beginning with January. Subtitles are used, for example January has "Resolutions" and Duane says "It's time for the dismal chore of making New Year's resolutions. The positive slant is that this is a new beginning. The truth is that we are making a list of all those things that we habitually screw up." Indeed! That's why I rarely make new, old, or any other type of yearly, monthly, weekly, or daily resolution. I can think of only one that was successful - I resolved in July of 2003 to quit smoking and I haven't had a cigarette since!

Duane's book is not full of color photos so don't expect to see micro shots of your favorite rose or tulip. Instead you'll get tons of down home gardening advice, tips, tricks, anecdotes, and all of it an easy read. I like the fact that I can open his book anywhere and start reading, I don't have to start at the beginning, in January - brrrr!!

B.B. Mackey carries Duane's book and lots of other titles by award winning authors.
Their address:

B. B. Mackey Books
P. O. Box 475
Wayne, PA 19087
Email: bbmackey@prodigy.net

The end is near

2011-09-05T17:44:00.000-04:00

I have a problem with the end of summer: It's too long. It stretches right on into winter, and then without any warning, BRRRR!!! it's cold and snowy! Why can't the summer season last at least until spring? I'm not saying that we couldn't have a rest period of no gardening; I'm most surely ready for a rest from gardening come September. But to have to suffer through almost six months of freezing weather before anything green is seen again is absolute torture.

What sustains me from November through March? Houseplants. I can't remember a time when I didn't have at least three or four pots of something or other. And that's the thing with my houseplant gardening - sometimes I don't know what the something or other is, and I don't really care. It's green and that's all that matters to me.

I do know what a few of my favorites are, and I might suggest that you find a few favorites too. It gets stuffy in my house during winter, and houseplants do a great job of filtering the air. My rubber tree (Ficus elastica) rates high as one of the best air filtering houseplants. It's also one of the easiest to care for, I have mine in a large diameter (15" inside diameter) plastic pot, and when it's outside it sits on the back porch in a corner, out of direct sunlight. Before I bring it in, I set it out in the yard, hose it down with a gentle spray, let it dry, bring it in and set in a corner of the living room out of direct sunlight, but next to a large south-facing window. I've had it over 20 years and to me it's an old rubbery friend that helps me pull through these god-awful northeast winters.

A word of caution about watering houseplants: don't overdo it. I let mine get almost dry before watering. Use the finger test to see when it's time to water: stick your finger into the potting soil about an inch or two, if soil sticks to your finger when you pull it out, don't water.

Ficus elastica, or rubber tree, and easy care air-filtering houseplant.

Crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia) in a 10-inch pot will never flower in my garden, but it stays green indoors all winter.

Mother gave me a sucker from a crepe myrtle growing in her Kentucky garden, I keep it as a houseplant.

This pretty rex begonia makes a nice houseplant (it needs repotting).

Inside out

2011-08-12T15:27:00.007-04:00

You know what? I'm kinda tired of hearin about "outdoor rooms" in the garden. When I'm outside I want to feel like I'm outside, and when I'm inside I want to feel like I'm inside. I think the term "outdoor living space" has outworn its usefulness.

I don't know, it just seems odd that you'd want "hallways" in your garden instead of grassy paths leading from one flowerbed to the next. I've seen garden "rooms" with free-standing glass windows and have a hard time understanding the concept of looking outside while standing outside.

I never really got into the "outdoor room" craze that a lot of landscape designers and home gardeners had, and still have. Some of these "rooms" don't look like a garden at all, what's the point? I mean there's what looks like real furniture in some of these "rooms."

But I reckon since we're all unique we each have our own idiosyncrasies. Several years ago I saw a garden down in Louisiana (or was it Mississippi?) that featured a tree with bicycles hangin from it. Makes you wonder about some folks don't it?

I share my outdoor "rooms" with groundhogs

My thanks to the folks at Designers on Design and Vanessa Gardner Nagel for inspiring this post.

Social Media: mayhem, madness, or just plain crazy?

2011-07-27T11:26:00.006-04:00

I'm not sure if I've gotten the hang of the social media craze yet. For some reason I've been thinking all along that it'll provide me with more money. Money from writing jobs that I thought it would generate when folks saw what great content I posted to sites like Facebook, Twitter (say more with less), LinkedIn, this blog, and this one, my website, and now Google+.

What I'm referring to by social media is all the stuff you interact with online. The outside existence of it is for sure a real thing, but it's much more personal. You live and breath an offline social media existence whether you interact with it or not. You can also choose not to interact online, but that's no fun.

Is there a specific definition for social media online interaction? Probably more than the few that come immediately to mind: email, chat, web cams, instant messaging, and so on. My dilemma in trying to figure out the "media craze" has everything to do with how I can find a method to use online interaction as a way to garner income before I reach the other side.

New Blogger?

2011-03-28T09:32:00.003-04:00

There's a rumor going around about Google redesigning Blogger. If they do, and if I like the changes, I'm seriously considering merging my WordPress blog back into my blog here on Blogger. I could keep two blogs but that would take up too much time. So, I'll wait to see the Blogger redesign, if it's coming, and make the decision afterward on whether or not to close my WordPress blog and start back on Blogger again.

Do you hear what I hear?

2010-12-05T13:57:00.000-05:00

It's snowing! Hear it?

Double Blogging

2010-10-28T17:00:00.000-04:00

It seems this blog might be getting just as much attention as my WordPress blog. Which makes me wonder if I should try to become a double blogger.

I'd use this one for the sole purpose of shamelessly self-promoting The Write Gardener and use the WordPress blog for everything else.

I wish there were more of me!

Two for one?

2010-01-11T10:33:00.005-05:00

Keeping this Blogger blog blogging,
feels like I'm taking a flogging.
Should I quit it or stop it or completely drop it?
I'm getting flummoxed by all of this flopping!

The end draws near

2009-12-20T13:19:00.004-05:00

The title of this blog post sounds gloomy doesn't it? I will be deleting this blog soon so that's why the end is drawing near. In my attempt to change a few things, career wise, I'm switching from using Blogger to WordPress for a new blog. The move is still ongoing but I'm hoping for an end-of-year completion date. I'm learning new stuff, and unlearning old stuff, mostly via my own mistakes and discoveries.

Inserting an image into a WordPress blog post was recently attempted, successfully, but with some minor difficulties. They give you a few more options to work with compared to Blogger. That's the only minor difficulty I had, if you can call it a difficulty - learning the image posting options. I'm now familiarizing myself with and getting the hang of WordPress' widget feature, which is basically the same thing as adding a gadget on a Blogger blog.

I'll be adding a new "Blogroll" on my WordPress blog too, that's the same thing as Blogger's "Configure Blog List" option. So, all of my "followers" here will be added there.

And now you've been properly updated.

Peace.

And for goodness sakes, be careful out there!

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-12-11T23:59:00.001-05:00

I'm not sayin much, so please click here.

Movers (and Shakers?)

2009-12-09T13:14:00.002-05:00

In preparation for a move to WordPress, you can view my latest post by clicking here.

(I'm shaking in my shoes thinking about the move!)

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-12-05T10:22:00.003-05:00

The Christmas Garden/Dissed Below the Fold

2009-12-01T19:59:00.004-05:00

I set out an amaryllis last spring after cutting the nearly three foot stalk down to almost nothing. I then forgot about it until about a week ago when I dug it up, stuffed (yes, stuffed, amaryllis like stuffy quarters) it in a four-inch pot and set it in a sunny window where it's now growing a new stalk that will produce another gorgeous bloom. It probably won't flower till after Christmas, but I don't care, I'm sure I'll appreciate the eye candy more even then. This lone flower, plus a poinsettia or two will be my indoor Christmas garden. I've got a few houseplants, but they're just that - houseplants. I'm sorry if it sounds as if I'm dissing my indoor container plants, I'm not.

Speakin of bein dissed....

The paper I write for hired another columnist. I'm happy that our local newspaper can afford to do this; we've all heard the doomsday reports about newsprint goin extinct, and havin a new columnist means the paper I write for isn't in dire straits just yet. But I wanted to be the one writing the new column. I mentioned this fact several months ago and was told then to go ahead with it, I should've, but didn't. The gist of the new piece has to do with love, Christianity, family, all that feel good stuff that a lot of folks like to hear. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the columnist is a bad writer, she's not, it's just that I had a very different set of ideas and topics I wanted to address in a much more critical manner.

The new piece has been runnin above the fold in the past two issues. The spot where my gardening column used to appear. Above the fold is a nice spot, you open right up to the article and you don't have to look down to read.

I fee like I'm bein dissed.

Green River, Greensburg, Kentucky

Giving Thanks in Kentucky

2009-11-23T16:50:00.012-05:00

It's been some time since I spent a holiday with my family down in Kentucky. And when I say "holiday," I'm referring to either of the two major ones - Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. Of course this is subjective and others might have two completely different "major" holidays. But I think most of you would agree that the two I've mentioned are probably the most family oriented out of all the others. I'm sure there are many of you that have moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandmas and grandpas living a great distance from where you call home. Such is the case with me and it's been like that for the past 21 years.

It used to be relatively easy to make the almost 500 mile trip from here to there. 53 minus 20 equals 33, and at 33 I still had lots of energy and the long drive wasn't long at all. Over the years I've racked up at least 15,000 miles traveling to and from My Old Kentucky Home in Greensburg, Kentucky. My body is less energy efficient, has less shock absorption capability, and what used to take around 7 hours to drive, now takes about 9, sometimes 10 hours. It's not that I don't enjoy myself, it's the plain and simple fact that my body doesn't enjoy its self.

During the late 80s, 90s, and into the early years of this decade, I tried my best to alternate the holidays I'd spend in Kentucky with my folks. One year it'd be Christmas, the next it'd be Thanksgiving. Whatever holiday I didn't spend in Kentucky, would be the one we'd share with my wife's family here. (I had never before heard the words "ethnic food" until I began having holiday dinners with my wife's family.)

Things change. Time doesn't slow down, there's really no fountain of youth, and aging certainly occurs with or without any help from us. What I was thankful for yesterday, might just be something I'm unthankful for today (if you've ever found money and then had to give it back you know what I'm talking about). But it doesn't mean I should stop giving thanks, and I haven't.

So thank you for coming here. I hope what you read causes you to do a little extra thinking. And if I've wasted your time, I apologize. But please don't let it stop you from coming back. I might eventually say something you can relate to. Or not.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-11-21T00:01:00.000-05:00

Closing the business (or the business of closing)

2009-11-15T14:55:00.009-05:00

I hear it every year at about this same time. Not only do I hear it, but I kind of partake in it. Closing the garden. It can also be called winterizing. You folks livin in the northeast know what I'm talkin about. It entails a little or a lot of the following: cutting back (or pulling) spent perennials, weeding, wrapping and draining hoses, shoveling mulch, maybe some transplanting, tool and mower cleaning, and if you live in the snow belt (an area known around here as "North of I-80") winterizing might also involve attaching a snow plow blade to your riding mower or lawn tractor.

I don't like this winterizing and closing business one bit. I know what you're gonna say: "A dormant season with cold temperatures is necessary for some plants." Okay, I'll give you that, but it's not a necessity for humans. As a matter of fact, a dormant season wouldn't be necessary at all if you used annuals instead of perennial flowers. Of course it's not as easy as changing the type of flowers you grow if you want to do away with winter.

I suppose there's a chance I might be sadly affected even more than I am during winter should there ever come a time when winters would be no more. After all, the kid in me says Santa still lives and gives toys to all the good boys and girls. And I like to think that I'm a good boy.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-11-07T00:01:00.001-05:00

Naked or nude?

2009-11-02T10:51:00.004-05:00

I remember a discussion in one of my Women's Studies classes from college. We were talking about the objectification of women in art and viewed a sampling of various paintings by famous, and not so famous, artists. The paintings were mostly of women; but we hit a snag when it came to what type of painting - was the female body in the painting nude or naked? Does objectification come into play when one says that females (or males for that matter) are naked when they don't have any clothes on? Or are they just nude? What's the difference? A critical analysis of both the noun nude and the adjective naked and their usage might suggest both negative and positive connotations when used to describe the unclothed human body; especially if the body being depicted is animate. When you look at a naked body, male or female, what do you see? Art, as in a sculpture or painting of a nude human figure; or something that's defenseless, unprotected and exposed (naked)?

In "The Male Body," Susan Bordo writes: "For just as the beautiful bodies subject us women to (generally) unrealizable models of the kind of female we must become in order to be worthy of attention and love, they also subject men and boys to (generally) unrealizable models of the kind of female they must win- with equally destructive consequences."

It's odd how a writer's mind works sometimes. You might be wondering what caused me to come up with the topic for this post.

Naked or nude?

Say Nothin' on a Halloween Saturday!

2009-10-31T18:14:00.002-04:00

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-10-24T00:00:00.000-04:00

An autumn tale: Fall. The end.

2009-10-17T09:44:00.011-04:00

I say "the end" meaning it's the end of my gardening season. Many of you do the fall gardening thing, which is to say you put in a fall vegetable garden. But not me. I get very lazy after leaf drop and once it's over, I'm pretty much inclined to indoor activities.

This year's outdoor fall show was enhanced greatly by the summer weather patterns. And I use the word "summer" loosely; we barely had two weeks of what might be called summer. Most of the time it was below normal temperatures and it seemed a lot wetter than past summers.

I heard the adjective "spectacular" used to describe the display of colors that our trees are giving us right now. But I know it only lasts a little while. Unless you have it in pictures. (Click each picture for a larger, and hopefully more spectacular, view.)

Mercer County Seat, Mercer, Pennsylvania

(The following pictures were taken using my cell phone camera.)

I stopped the bus to take this country lane picture. As I pulled away two deer lazily crossed the road directly in front of me. (I had just disabled the camera function.)

This is the intersection where I turn right and head to the school bus parking garage. Directly ahead you see what I think is spectacular fall colors. (I believe that dark little circle in the sky might be a speck on the windshield of the bus. But then again, it might not be.)

(The photos below were taken from locations close by and you're seeing mostly sugar maple trees.)

I think this photograph captures the essence of fall quite nicely.

If you'd care to tour the color show in other parts of the land, Dave, over at The Home Garden, has compiled a good selection of sites to see. Click the image below for the details.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-10-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

A trip back in time

2009-10-02T13:52:00.003-04:00

We're taking a mini-vacation this weekend. I'll tell y'all about it shortly after we get back.

Click here if you're wondering where we're going.

An error occurred...

2009-09-28T08:46:00.007-04:00

I had scheduled a "Say Nothin' Saturday" post for this past Saturday but for some reason Blogger didn't post it. So, without sayin much more, here's what I had for ya:

Mandolins, guitars, and banjos

2009-09-15T13:35:00.013-04:00

A very good friend of mine received a special gift in the mail recently. An unusual gift, one that holds a couple generations of memories - Mountain Memories. Close friend and fellow Kentuckian, Phillip Hartsock was the recipient of a vintage Epiphone Strand Mandolin, handed down to him from his 2nd cousin, Merrell Boggs. And seein how Phillip and I have bluegrass music runnin through our veins, the instruments used in the production of this genre of music are only slightly less important than our wives and children.

Take my guitar for instance. Several years ago, during a rush to get to a family picnic, I backed over it in a van we used to have. Severed the neck, a clean break, but one that also broke my heart. It took many years for me to finally decide to have it repaired. I just couldn't come to the realization that I had been so careless. After years of beating myself up over it, I had it repaired by a licensed luthier from the Martin Guitar Company. I had my doubts about it sounding the same as it did before the accident, but my doubts were erased when I played it once surgery was complete.

Music is such an important part of my being. And that of Phillip's also. We both have much in common. It's fate that we finally made contact. His past and mine met when we both realized our roots ran close together deep in the hills and hollers of Kentucky, where bluegrass music got its start. Phillip's Mother, may she rest in peace, loved bluegrass music. She played guitar and sang with members of her family. Phillip has a cassette tape (remember those?) of her and some of her relatives pickin and singin that's as good as anything you'll hear from today's top bluegrass stars.

Mother listened to Flatt and Scruggs, and Bill Monroe quite often, and we came to realize the same love of bluegrass music that she had, and still has. I know very little about my maternal and paternal grandparents like or dislike of the genre, but I do remember a banjo my dad got from his dad, I'd like to know what happened to that old instrument.

Merrell Boggs with his banjo

This discussion could get even lengthier than it already is, and since I'd hate to think y'all might get bored, I reckon I'll end my little essay with Linefork playin "Linefork" by Merrell Boggs.

(For more info on the history of bluegrass music, click here.)

Bluegrass by LINEFORK

2009-09-12T08:44:00.004-04:00

(i.e., Foggy Mountain Breakdown)

Too much goldenrod

2009-09-09T13:40:00.012-04:00

PA's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) offers a "guideline to some of the most troublesome species that degrade native plant communities in Pennsylvania." Also known as invasives, the list includes a rather nasty noxious nefarious plant that goes by the common name of Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). Here's a plant you DO NOT want anything to do with. Click the link, scroll down a little, and you'll see why.

Giant Hogweed

Luckily, we've yet to see this invasive monster anywhere close to our place. But it has been sighted, and appropriately dealt with, in the next county over.

I'm surprised that goldenrod (Solidago altissima) hasn't been placed on the list. It's everywhere you look at this time of the year. It's Kentucky's state flower so I hate to say anything bad about it, but geesh! why does it have to take over entire fields??

It's up and down along roadsides from here to yonder!

Someone should discover a use for this stuff! I wonder if you can make eco-fuel from the roots or something?

120 cassette

2009-09-06T09:54:00.003-04:00

120 cassette

beginnings end
on slopes of pain
taken from the next refrain
of the songs we sang
the chords we played
the night you stayed

3 am or 4
silence makes
a lonely sound
that never found
a way around
the falling down

acoustic shadows
sang harmony
a symphony
of memories
and movements
with tragedies

lessen the pain
of the last refrain
with words that contain
all the remains
from this life mundane
that it is the ending’s the same

A PARENT'S PLEA

2009-09-04T07:15:00.006-04:00

I have a special request for all the genius inventors out there: Please invent something that you can implant into the brain of a little girl so that it would be impossible for her to have thoughts about boys. You parents of pre-teens, tweens, and teen girls can get with me on this.

It would be a simple little device that would block and prevent all signals sent and received by the organ that stimulates that part of the brain that triggers sexual attraction, urges, thoughts, and desires. The Psycho-preventative Pleasure Device (PPD) would be implanted at a predetermined age, begin blocking, and then when the female reaches "the age of reason," around 35, the PPD dissolves, releasing an antidote that reverses the blocking effect.

And just so you know I'm not being sexist, a similar PPD would be available for boys.

Drivin the bus

2009-08-26T21:36:00.007-04:00

Gettin up at 5:30 AM has its advantages. I'm sure everyone knows about the early bird gettin the worm (and how that phrase is such a cliche [what does the late bird get?]), and how it's said you can catch quite a picture-perfect sunrise at times and how neat it is to watch the day "wake up." Those of you who roll out of bed at an early hour know all about such pleasures.

I have a new job as a school bus driver and if you are old (or young) enough to remember when you rode a bus to school, perhaps the driver of your bus made an impression on your young (or old) mind. I'm hoping it was a positive experience. I only rode the bus my junior year of high school, just long enough to be impressed by two unique bus drivers who showed me how a sense of humor can help get you through a bad day. Those two bus drivers were a pleasure to know.

So far, I've not had any bad days as a new driver (unless you count forgetting to pick up a kid on the first day), but I know they're coming. I think I learned a new lesson about "bad days" this gardening season - that there will be bad times in the garden, and that even though you might lose most of one vegetable to blight or bugs, it usually evens out that another vegetable will do more than you expect. And so it was this year "in the garden." (To borrow an expression from Ms. Tina.)

Bad - Late Blight of Tomato

Good - Golden Zinnia

Good - Monarch Butterfly (Male)

Lesson: Two goods outweigh one bad.

A Near Miss

2009-08-19T08:25:00.003-04:00

I could've been in heaven (or purgatory, or, oh my! surely not there!) the other day, how I avoided a head-on collision is quite miraculous, thanks in large part to oncoming traffic knowing what to do, and there being room for them to drive on the shoulder of the road!

It all started quite innocently when I decided to pass another vehicle on a three lane section of road that allows passing only in the two right hand lanes (depending on your direction of travel of course). The other driver was in a full size pick-up truck, I was in my wife's 2007 Chevy Malibu (recently purchased). When I accelerated to go around the truck, he sped up and I had to fall in behind him again. The road narrows back into two lanes with other passing opportunities further ahead. I waited for one and when it came, guess what the truck driver did? Yes, he sped up again when I tried to pass him! Two oncoming cars were able to avoid hitting me head on!

I was finally able to squeeze back into my lane of traffic, between the truck and a little white car. Further up the road, at a stop light, the driver in front of me got out of his little white car and the truck driver got out of his car, and they both walked up to my car, wanting a confrontation. I politely told the truck driver had he not sped up while I was trying to pass him, the terrifying (to me) incident would never have happened. I rolled my window up, proceeded around the little white car, and drove off into the sunset.

The sun really wasn't setting but I like dramatic endings. Although it couldn't have ended much more dramatically than it did. Why do you suppose the driver of that truck wanted me to have a head on collision? I was not speeding (except when trying to pass him after he sped up, he was actually driving under the speed limit when I was following him, that's why I wanted to pass him in the first place, plus the fact that I was in a little bit of a hurry because I was on my way to a drug screening test and I had to pee!), or driving recklessly.

Oh well. I guess it's just one of those things. One of those things that never happened to me before now. C'est la vie.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-08-15T09:52:00.004-04:00

Update: I discovered late blight in my garden yesterday, 8-16-2009. I'll harvest as many heirlooms and cherries as possible. I was inundated with phone calls this morning, 8-17, from folks wanting to know what they could do about late blight in their garden. Unfortunately, this late in the game, there's not much anyone can do.

Or say a little.

Late blight is causing severe problems here in the northeast, especially late blight of tomato. Luckily, it's not found its way into my garden. Which doesn't mean I'm not completely immune. Millions of wind-borne spores could show up at any time between now and when the rest of my tomatoes ripen. We've only picked four heirlooms and are still waiting for many more to ripen, hopefully the remaining winds of summer will be kind and carry any and all nasty spores far away from my garden! And yours!!

This gorgeous pass-along plant was a gift. I embedded a large size photo just to show off its beauty. Thanks Ms. Tina, it finally bloomed!

I'll say no more.

Sun + Flower = Sunflower (Or Pretty Things)

2009-08-07T21:59:00.009-04:00

Yeah, it's been a while. But it's not that I was bein lazy; I told a good friend it had something to do with not feelin very "bloggy" lately. I suppose some of y'all know that feelin as well. Have you ever experienced a summer season that didn't quite feel like summertime? I don't know what happened to our summertime weather. I'm not sure if we've even had a 90 degree day yet. And it's August already!

I like pretty things. Pretty things besides flowers. I think women have a much wider selection of prettier things to adorn themselves with. If folks wouldn't stare and think I'm weird, I'd paint my nails, including those on my toes. The bracelet I'm wearing was made by a crafty acquaintance I met on the Web, Ms. Jean May, owner and proprietor of Jean May Originals, she knows how to make pretty things for men.

This is a pretty bug. Can you identify it?

Tiger Eyes® Cutleaf Staghorn (Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger') is pretty.

Cosmic beauty?

Evening music can sound pretty, and look pretty too.

There are a couple of pretty things in this picture.
Can you see them?

Weeds of Summer

2009-07-28T21:04:00.009-04:00

I always start with a relatively weed-free garden, then as the season progresses and things are up and growing, the weeds make a strong comeback. I read about a gardener who doesn't bother much with weeding once her plants are knee-high or taller. Her reasoning is sound - tall plants prevent sunlight from reaching the weeds below and a bunch of tall plants crowd out any chance of weeds taking over - but the reality of it happening is flawed.

Weeds have a magnificent way of surviving no matter what we do to them. I think purslane (Portulaca oleracea) would survive a nuclear blast. Common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) loves rich soil so much that it doesn't need an invitation to sprout in every new flower bed and vegetable patch I prepare. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), a common perennial weed, with its underground creeping stems doesn't care in the least about what it's creeping up on. Let Canadian thistle (Cirsium arvense) get established and you might have to dig 20 feet down to find its taproot. What will you dig that out with, eh?

It's all a part of growing stuff isn't it? You could stop gardening altogether and let the weeds take over. I have three hosta beds that I've neglected all summer, I had plans of transplanting everything to a new home, but then I'd just have to worry about weeding that area too. It seems to me that when left to their own accord, both weeds and what we grow as ornamentals get along together just fine. We're the ones who don't like their living arrangements.

Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) is considered an invasive weed in Pennsylvania. This particular clump is managed as ornamental grass in my wife's herb garden.

This strand of bindweed is havin a lot of fun vining up a large clump of zebra grass. I haven't noticed any bud formation so I'm not sure if it's wild morning glory, or some other member of the flowering convolvulus family. Weed lady and author Nancy Gift ("A Weed By Any Other Name") allows this perennial vine to climb on its own personal trellis.

The weeds of summer are green, and that color alone makes them an important part of my total gardening experience. Someone said "weed it and reap" and that's what I do.

About a week ago, Felder Rushing paid us a quick visit.

This is his idea of a traveling garden. Pretty cool ain't it?
(Click on the photos for a larger view.)

Double Eights

2009-07-16T14:32:00.012-04:00

It's finally starting to feel like summer here in western Pennsylvania. It never does until temps reach the high 80s (it was 88 today) and humidity levels hang around 60% or so. Not quite as bad as summers in Mississippi or Kentucky where July and August bring "humidity so thick you can lick it."

The veggie garden is shaping up to be one of the best we've had in years. It was more work this year, what with having to replace a bunch of pest infected topsoil (overwintering cucumber beetles). We rotate, and it helps, but it don't necessarily keep a veggie garden pest and/or disease resistant. Even buying "disease resistant" varieties is often no guarantee.

I roll with the punches. For instance, the Japanese beetles are having their way with some of my hollyhocks and roses, but at least we got to see most of the blooms on both and for the most part, the beetles are stayin out of the garden (Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! patrol). It's a compromise I decided I'd live with when I chose to quit using chemicals (this is my fourth chemical-free season).

I think we're beginning to see healthier soil since we stopped using pesticides and herbicides. And that's well and good, and as it should be. We just pile on composted leaves and add a small truck load of mushroom compost every other year or so, Nature does the rest.

I hope y'all's gardens are producing as you hoped. Enjoy your harvest, and if you have extra, share it with someone less fortunate.

Pear

Sweet Pickles (you're the best cook and canner in the land hon!)

Pepper

Cabbage

Ripening 'Sun Gold' cherry tomatoes.

Fruit or flower?

Can you identify this bug?

So, you want to be a school bus driver?

(Graphic artist: Mort Drucker)

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-07-11T08:26:00.005-04:00

Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!

"A fanciful or fantastic device, object, or creation especially in writing or art." (Or gardening.)

2009-07-08T16:02:00.008-04:00

Ain't it funny how sometimes what you're thinkin of doin was just recently done by somebody else at about the same time you were goin to do it? I've been meaning to post about whimsy in the garden for some time because it's so much of my identity as a gardener. I would probably feel lost and out of place in a formal garden. Although I admire their form and function, such gardens bring to mind a monarchy, and I don't garden by such an authority.

I was ridiculed once many years ago for putting a brug in a tire planter. It didn't seem to mind its whimsical home and bloomed beautifully. The one in the above photo is a pass-along plant from Tennessee Gardening Coach and fellow garden blogger Tina Ramsey. Its home is a little more classy, but still whimsical.

Pictured above, whimsy is easily seen in a fake poinsettia. Some readers might recognize it as the plant I wrote about some time ago. (A certain master gardener bought it and mistook it as genuine.) It's hanging on a fun rustic trellis I made out of weed trees. Click on the picture and you'll notice a fake vine too.

Whimsy on steroids at last year's Philly Flower Show.

This last photo was taken a few days ago. I think someone, or some thing, was tryin to make off with my whimsical flower pot podium.

Richie Havens, Freedom, (Woodstock)

2009-07-04T13:00:00.001-04:00

Dave Alvin - Live From Austin Texas

2009-07-04T10:21:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday America!

Weak

2009-06-28T21:56:00.009-04:00

Weak *

watch it leave, feel it exit
catch the sight of something tragic
floating in a cardboard box
lightning flashes, crosses talk
shapes and shadows floating by
wrenching tears from cloudless skies
hearing soft senses, piercing glimpses
wondering ever meant never knowing
now the sad part, now the sad part
dying too was once in fashion
laid bare upon the dreams of passion
cut the heart out, gaping hole
lifeless body, bleeding soul

*Or how I felt after the death of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, David Carridine and Billy Mays

You're entitled to

2009-06-23T16:18:00.007-04:00

Important Update: First Japanese beetle sighting. Where: Herb Garden (rose). When: 12:20 PM, June 26, 2009. Action taken: Squashed between thumb and index finger. Alert Status: High.

An explanation about my absence. Three words: back to school.

School bus driver school that is. I'm busy with 14 hours of book learnin, and six hours of school bus driver training. After this, comes the testing. Four written tests, and then the actual school bus driver test.

I'm not sure if I'll get a job drivin a school bus when it's over, but chances are good that I will. The decision to do this was based on a couple of things; I need the extra income, the hours are conducive for writing and gardening (summers off), I like kids (yes, I know what to expect from a bus full), and it's something I can do until my "dream job" materializes.

It's rare, but I feel the need

2009-06-16T11:29:00.005-04:00

I'm quite upset. And I know I'll feel better after writing about it. Whether you stick around for the rant or not really doesn't matter, but I hope you do. If you'd rather not, scroll on down to the photos.

I've been a member of the Garden Writers Association for five years, and will probably continue as one for many years to come (the yearly membership fee is $85, sound steep? I agree. More such figures to come). Lately though, I've been asking myself if I'm really getting anything out of it. That is, has it brought me any new writing and/or photography opportunities? Here's the real question: Has it contributed in any way to the cash flow in my checking account? Unfortunately, my answer is no. If it has, I've yet to receive the deposit slip.

Some might say, "You can't be sure because you have no way of knowing what the future holds and you could develop a connection via GWA that could provide a financial gain." I admire those who might be content waiting for a dollar to come their way in the year 2525. I don't have that much time. If I had concrete evidence of something the GWA has supplied that has brought me income, I wouldn't be voicing my frustrations as I am now.

I love writing about gardening, all aspects, all levels, everything and anything about it is a topic of interest to me as a garden communicator. And I try most ardently with what I write to transfer a smidgen of my knowledge to anyone willing to use it. I also know that I'm not perfect and will mess up from time to time, and you have every right to let me know when that happens. (Even if I'm apt to get cross about it, like most writers I know, I don't take criticism very well.)

Another thing I love about my profession is the networking opportunities, and the chance to meet a lot of like-minded folks who do what I do. And the regional GWA meetings are a great way to network and meet new friends. This is a good thing, and probably the only reason I can justify why I will continue to pay my yearly dues.

I don't have to remind anyone about the economic situation we're seeing all over the country. Layoffs, workers taking time off without pay so they can keep the job they have, folks working from home, some working for less pay, hiring freezes, company closings and layoffs, the news is bleak (unemployment in my county of residence is over 10% right now). Add to that the housing crisis with a lot of folks losing their homes, and it's enough to make even a stoic feel some degree of apprehension.

But $85 is quite expensive for a phone book (i.e., the GWA Membership Directory), and I still have to pay to attend regional meetings. The cost, usually around $35, for those meetings isn't bad, and my wife and I are attending a Region II gathering at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh in a couple of weeks. So, although I do feel a smidgen of pride being a GWA member, it's the cost of their annual symposiums that are baffling me right now.

This year's Annual Symposium is being held in Raleigh, North Carolina. And at 5 days in length it has a tremendous amount to offer. But for someone like me who's struggling financially, the cost of attending the gala seems to be astronomical. For me to attend the entire event, the cost would be $986.96, and that's not including transportation or the cost of an optional Social Media Workshop ($95), or one of either two garden tours ($60 for one, $40 for the other). Should I decide to "rob Peter to pay Paul" (stop tempting me Satan!) the cost of attendance for the five days would be well over $1,000, probably closer to $1,500.

You might be wondering if they have cheaper options. Yes, you can attend one day's worth for $175, but with so much going on the other four days, one day's worth of activities for that price would feel like a rip off, plus for me, driving (or catching a flight) that far for only one day would be silly. (Wouldn't it? Stop tempting me Satan!)

I network on Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn, and via blogging, with other GWA members. Most of them seem unaffected by the high cost, but I have no way of knowing. I can say I've not seen but one other witty remark regarding the cost. One twitterer, cityslipper, said "I CAN afford GWA! I'll just help a dude at the International Credit Bank make a $5.5 mil funds transfer (I get 40%)!"

I hope cityslipper gets the chance to attend, it sure looks like I'll not be going. But here's a contrasting thought: If I had a full time job, and made a decent salary, I'm pretty sure I'd already be registered without giving much thought to what it cost. Does that make everything I said before irrelevant? Or does it just add to the complications of life, and both the joy and sadness of trying to figure out what it all means?

I promised pictures for those wanting to skip my lengthy rant, I hope they're a little more worthy of your attention.

$85 Phone Book

What I drive around with

Multiflora rose, an invasive species in many states, including Pennsylvania.

She gets like this when it's her time to mow.

The life I live.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-06-13T00:00:00.000-04:00

Lost but not found

2009-06-08T10:59:00.004-04:00

I have to relate a turtle story; Long ago, on a trip to the country to see our "Little Granny," Dad stopped the car so we kids could pick up a stranded roadside turtle. We kept it as a pet for a while before it was lost. One day while we were at school, our little sister took the turtle outside to play, she was only four or five and not in school yet. When we came home anxious to see our turtle friend, we discovered it had somehow crawled away from sis, finding its freedom somewhere in the concrete jungle of a city neighborhood. Teasingly, we still sometimes refer to our little sister as "Lose the Turtle Girl." Bless her heart.

"Lose the Turtle Girl" with one of her big brothers. (Love ya sis!)

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-06-06T09:26:00.004-04:00

About a day

2009-06-03T08:27:00.006-04:00

I was out of town recently for a little refueling. A transfusion of the bluegrass blood if you will.

That's my bandmate Jim Helmetzi on the left, dear friend and fellow Kentuckian Phillip Hartsock in the middle, and bluegrass recording artist, Merrell Boggs on the right. (Merrell and Phillip are second cousins. Phillip invited me and Jim to join him for the visit for obvious reasons.)

And of course there was a backyard garden.

With hardscape features.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-05-30T10:28:00.006-04:00

(Sorry, but I just had to say a little somethin about one of my Viburnum Leaf Beetle photographs bein used by About.com Insect Guide Debbie Hadley. She's also plannin on doin a full article about the VLB in the future that will include more of my photos. Visit Debbie's About.com Insect Guide site, she knows bugs. )

As young as you don't feel

2009-05-26T13:33:00.008-04:00

It's gotten harder, and I know why: 53. That's why. I don't like to talk about it, because there's a certainty that will come and then it'll be over. Most of us don't know when it'll happen, but it will. Do you think it's morbid to talk about dying? We see it in the garden all the time, but out of the garden we don't like to talk about it.

It's happening here and now with a viburnum. I didn't notice until it was too late to do anything about it. (Which is probably how I'll go.) The culprit: Viburnum Leaf Beetle. They overwintered as eggs on the twigs of my plant and I had no clue. The larvae in the photo are feasting on one of the leaves. Early spring gardening which at times seems so hectic, kept me from noticing the lack of foliage on the bottom half of the viburnum. Over the next three days it was completely defoliated and skeletonized.

The above photo was taken May 22. There were still a few remaining leaves located on the tip of the shrub. But over the next two days, every leaf was devoured.

5/25

5/26

Research says that if the VLB attacks your plant like this for 3 consecutive seasons, the shrub is a goner. An "Entomological Notes" fact sheet I have from Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences says that "many of the viburnums affected are species native to the United States." It also mentions "less susceptible" varieties but we all know there's no guarantees.

dark
empty
alabaster
tomb
holds

bones
eroding
crumbling
old
man
ever
sleeps

meaningless
eternity

Shadow Play

2009-05-23T00:01:00.001-04:00

Peace

Eyes

One-armed raker

The blues (in the sky)

2009-05-15T09:51:00.004-04:00

How do you juggle writing jobs and gardening? Especially now that the growing season is upon us? It's been over a week since I've posted a new entry. But I was asking myself why worry about blogging when it doesn't generate income? "But you have ads here," you might ask. Yes, and so far someone has pocketed about $20. At that rate of return, I don't know when I'll ever collect a dime, it has to reach $100 before anything happens. Do I blame myself for not providing interesting content often enough, or you for not visiting and clicking on those ads regardless of content?

Right/Write now, I'm working on four articles (five if you count this one): my regular weekly gardening column; an article about a unique new material recovered from acid mine drainage that is used in pottery glazes (for the montly "Going Green" page in the same paper my gardening column runs in); a second article for "Life & Times, a Magazine with Senior Flair" (published by The Herald, the sister paper of Allied News, both papers carry my column); and a story about a local Boy Scout troop receiving a $5,000 donation from one of our State Representatives.

And there's blue skys and warmth calling me out to the garden! So, how do you juggle your careers and find time to answer the call of your gardens?

My camera also begs of my time.

Pear

Apple

In the meantime...

2009-05-07T08:38:00.005-04:00

I'm not sure if it was negligence on my part, laziness, or forgetfulness that caused me to over winter two of my yard machines with gasoline still in them; a small 14" chain saw, and weed eater. The saw finally took to the treatment, started, and is now in good working condition. But the weed eater is still mad at me. I think its fuel filter is all gummed up (I'd be mad too) and I don't see how to replace it without removing the gas tank. I'm hoping a day or two of sunny warm weather will prompt it to de-gum itself before I result to drastic measures.

In the meantime, there's other gardening chores that need my attention. My wife covered two areas of sod with old newspapers, some cardboard and leaves last fall and those spots need tilled in with amendments. I think she said something about growing specific flowers that dry well for use in wreaths and what not.

I also want to move a bunch of hostas into containers. It's going on four years now since I started a new hosta garden in the front yard, under three very tall blue spruce trees. I've waited for those hostas, and a few other companion plants, to fill in but I've come to the conclusion that they're not getting enough water. Kerry Meyer, over at Proven Winners, suggested I put them in containers until I find the right spot. "I had some leftover hostas after moving, and divided some that were here when we bought our house. I put them in a pot to 'hold' them until I decided where to put them. Two years later and they are still in the pot and looking great." That's from an email Kerry sent. I think that's a great idea, but first I'll have to mix up a sizable amount of potting soil and gather enough pots.

I never have to worry about draining the gas in my mower and storing it over the winter because it's in use pretty much year round. It's almost 20 years old and still runs good. Mowing has begun here, and I'm sure most of y'all are all too familiar with how often you have to do that in early spring. I mentioned being negligent earlier; last fall I didn't clean the decks or sharpen the blades on the mowers, which caused me to get behind on mowing. As fast as the grass is growing now, I don't like getting behind on that chore.

Some folks have suggested (and I've often pondered the idea myself) that I do away with my lawn altogether so I wouldn't have to worry about mowing. That's not practical in my case, and I really do love my lawn. It makes for a great pitching green and I need all the golf practice I can get. There's other benefits of having a lawn that George Ball talks about in his essay "Lawn Love." I think Mr. Ball is a great writer; he reminds me of those critical theorists we talked about in college (Walk2Write in Florida and other English majors are probably familiar with literary criticism) who discuss such things as structuralism and semiotics, deconstruction and formalism. (I was urged by an English professor to attend graduate school in their lit crit program and probably should have taken him up on the offer.)

As y'all might have noticed, I write about more than just gardening here. I hope it's not too distracting. But you never know, I might decide to discuss the famous Deconstructionist Jacques Derrida and his "There is nothing outside the text" theory in the future.

And now, a few photos:

Common bugleweed
This pretty little wildflower gets a bad rap.

Ladybug

Field of ... grapes? (Dandelion wine)

Drastic measures?

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-05-02T08:18:00.003-04:00

Plectrum (thanks for the title AJ)

2009-04-28T21:29:00.012-04:00

While in Kentucky several weeks ago, my oldest son showed my youngest son a very strange lookin guitar pick. I'm sure you can pick which one I'm referring to in the above photo. I was intrigued and decided to contact the maker of these oddball picks to see if I might be allowed to sample a few and compare them to the more traditional picks I use.

I've been almost completely oblivious to any other shape over the 40 or more years that I've been playin and pickin acoustic guitar. I've fashioned a quick pick from various objects when the need arose: some plastic lids can be carved into nice pointy picks; one of the thicker pointy tines from a plastic comb will do in a pinch; old style pull tabs from aluminum cans were used as emergency plectrums (losing a pick in grass during a new moon at midnight constitutes an emergency to some pickers); remember paper matches? I've used the empty packet, folded a few times; wooden match sticks, gently plucked, will pick; a flat, smooth, ultra thin rock, and many other forgotten picks made from whatever was on hand have all been picks to this picker.

But I've never used a fully rounded pick, 360 degrees of round, until about a week ago when I received a sampling from the folks at Pointless Picks/Completely Oblivious. Doug and Beverly Larson and John Pallister - thanks for the samples.

My sampling included three different guages of thickness. I don't know the exact measurements so I'll use thick, medium, and thin. I use mostly medium guage picks for acoustic guitar, and thin for electric, which I rarely play. The heavier guage thick picks were never to my liking, although I've heard they were one of Stevie Ray Vaughan's most used guages (I think he also used heavy guage guitar strings as well).

As a bluegrass guitar picker, the round, pointless picks didn't give me the same "feel" or sound I was used to getting from the pointier picks, especially when doing what is called flatpickin. Tony Rice can show you what I mean by that, so can Doc Watson (Doc played a large role in popularizing the flatpickin guitar style used by many top name bluegrass guitar pickers). I make no claims as being anywhere near as good as the two pickers I just mentioned, but I've been at it long enough to know when I'm using an appropriate pick for my style.

Unfortunately for the folks at Pointless Picks, I didn't find their discoid plectrum a suitable match for my method of pickin. Which isn't to say Pointless Picks are pointless. If you're a picker who mostly strums, using a pointless pick might be to your liking. I found it somewhat likelier that I would use such a pick for strumming or playin rhythm guitar. I think it has something to do with the dynamics of sound made from a pointy object plucking a string, as compared to a curved, or mostly rounded object. There's a certain distinction of clarity I felt and heard when doing my comparison picking.

However, you should note that many musicians and gobs of gardeners tend to give subjective reviews when blogging about any particular plants or picks they might be considering for their gardens or pockets. And since Pointless Picks was voted "Best in Show" at last summer's NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) trade show, it's obvious objectivism still exists.

Peace.

Two Pickers

Perhaps another poem

2009-04-27T08:39:00.003-04:00

Weedless Hook

Senseless order
invented by Dionysus
and Apollo
became the weeds
in my garden.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-04-25T08:37:00.003-04:00

Writer's Block

2009-04-20T10:09:00.004-04:00

I've never been afflicted with the condition myself. Thank the good Lord! It seems I'm getting more opportunities to write now than in times past, and "That's a good thing" (one of my favorite Martha Stewart quotes). I think compensation for my words blocks writer's block. I used to hear "we can't offer pay right now, but it's a good way to get your name out there" a lot! Please know this: I don't want my name out there if it's not helping pay a few bills around the old homestead. And lately I've had truck maintenance that's racked up a rather hefty debt. So if any of the folks I've sent resumes to are reading this, if you want me to write something for you for free, well, I just can't afford to.

Now that you know I'll be busy "working" for the next several days, you'll understand why I can't write about our trip to Kentucky right now. But isn't it very considerate of me to provide you with an explanation, and a few more pictures from my hometown down along the banks of the Green River? I guess I should also tell you that my wife planted peas, onions, lettuce, radishes, spinach, parsly, cilantro (tastes like soap!), larkspur, and dill this past weekend. What was I doing while she was laboring in the garden? Pickin and grinnin with The Doghouse Three at practice. (We're on the stage again this Saturday night.)

Here's those pictures:

Japanese quince must be great for underpasses. This was along I-65 South in Kentucky and we passed numerous large clumps like this one on both sides of underpasses. Why do you suppose it's utilized in this way?

No trip to Kentucky would be complete without a stop at one of my favorite greasy spoons! What's great about it (if you can call eating "belly bombers" great) is that my Yankee family loves them too!

Too loud??

Do any of y'all recognize this yard game? We had a blast playing it the day before we left Kentucky.

Peace babies!

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-04-18T00:28:00.005-04:00

Short

2009-04-15T07:43:00.005-04:00

Long traffic jams, I'm talkin seven miles, are not conducive to enjoyable drives.

I-71, lookin north

I-71 lookin south

By the time we got to the point of cause, traffic was speeding up and I wasn't able to take a photo of the obstruction. I think if I had slowed down to take a photo, I might have been attacked. I'm not sure what the object was but it was situated on two long trailers that spanned the width of almost both lanes. Half of the trailers were on the shoulder and the other halves were in the right hand lane, blocking that lane of traffic. It was a short 50 yards or so that caused a 7 mile jam of traffic! (Click on each picture for a larger, more defined view.)

I have a 512 MB flash card full of pictures that I've yet to download.

(I used my cell phone to take the above photos, it's my excuse for the lack of quality. We were on the return trip back to PA from KY.)

Instructional

2009-04-11T00:01:00.001-04:00

How to Read a Poem: Beginner's Manual
by Pamela Spiro Wagner

First, forget everything you have learned,
that poetry is difficult,
that it cannot be appreciated by the likes of you,
with your high school equivalency diploma,
your steel-tipped boots,
or your white-collar misunderstandings.

Do not assume meanings hidden from you:
the best poems mean what they say and say it.

To read poetry requires only courage
enough to leap from the edge
and trust.

Treat a poem like dirt,
humus rich and heavy from the garden.
Later it will become the fat tomatoes
and golden squash piled high upon your kitchen table.

Poetry demands surrender,
language saying what is true,
doing holy things to the ordinary.

Read just one poem a day.
Someday a book of poems may open in your hands
like a daffodil offering its cup
to the sun.

When you can name five poets
without including Bob Dylan,
when you exceed your quota
and don't even notice,
close this manual.

Hiatus

2009-04-06T11:15:00.007-04:00

The four of us will be taking a short vacation to Kentucky over the Easter weekend.

I'm not sure if I'll be posting again before we leave. If I don't, I'll probably give a short update sometime after we arrive at our final destination in The Bluegrass State.

April's weather is not to my liking most of the time. So, I think it's appropriate to try and run away from it. We've ran from April before with hopes of finding true spring south of here. It's always there much sooner than it is here. Even after 21 years, I've still not adjusted to zone 5 gardening. I never will.

I always look forward to these treks south - not only do I get to reconnect with my family, I also get to re-energize and strengthen my south-central Kentucky accent.

On April 6, 1991 I married the lady who: has helped me endure 18 zone 5 winters, given me two beautiful children, cooks and cleans after working 8 hours a day, buys the food, does the finances and laundry, takes the kids shopping for new clothes, tells me when I need new jeans, goes to bluegrass concerts with me, ignores me when I'm being unruly and ambivalent, weeds, tends, and plants the herb garden, puts up with my master gardening attitude, and lastly, is the only woman I would die for.

Happy Easter!

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-04-04T00:01:00.000-04:00

April, Spring, and Poetry

2009-04-01T10:26:00.004-04:00

"Had to read that crap in school. Didn't like it then and don't like it now."
(A neighbor.)

Many folks don't like poetry, for whatever reason. I, on the other hand, do. And if you've been a reader here for any length of time, you might recollect one or two poems I've posted. I'm not a reader of poetry myself, but I don't need to read it in order to write it. At least that's what I think. And if you think different, and would like to offer a critical analysis of any of my poems throughout the next several days (April is National Poetry Month) please feel free to comment as much or as little as you like.

Words can say whatever you want, or need, them to say. I feel the need, usually in April, in spring, to express myself in poetry. Whether it be one of mine, yours, or from any number of poets, writers, bloggers, school students, politicians (a poet politician??), or whomever.

With the above disclaimer out of the way, I'd like to share with you, during the month of April, an occasional poem that I think is relevant to life, in and out of the garden. We'll start it off with an original.

Self Sown

Another season,
another seed,
another flower,
another bee,
another gardener
on hands and knees,
another lesson,
in humility.

TC

Ubiquitous

2009-03-30T16:53:00.003-04:00

"Going Green," "Energy Revolution," "Off the Grid," "Community Supported [insert your favorite acitivity or cause]," "Top Ten Ways You Can Go Green," "Give Beets a Chance" (in response to President Obama's dislike of this root vegetable), "Start Your Very Own Victory Garden," and increasing interest in; organic gardening, fresh and local produce, chickens in the front yard, solar arrays on roofs for photovoltaic energy for homes, rooftop gardening, the list goes on and on, this new awareness of all things green and foody is definitely ubiquitous.

But is it for real? Are some just in it for the notoriety and public awareness it might bring to their business? Are you going green just to collect some green? I think I need a specialist in greenspeak just to help me interpret all the neologisms.

My good friends over at The Organic Gardeners might be having a little fun with their new campaign, but what about all those other claims? I've found that most of those tips you hear about going green are just plain common sense. It seems to me there's an air of oversimplification being associated with a very difficult and real environmental emergency. I'll let you decide what to believe, but don't take it lightly folks, we've not been very good stewards of the land, and you don't have to know anything about "going green" to realize that fact, just take a look around.

One last request: Dear God,

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-03-28T00:01:00.000-04:00

Perimenopause: A Natural Nuisance

2009-03-25T17:34:00.007-04:00

I guess we'll just have to accept the fact that the Google ads for this post will probably be a little gauche. When I decided to do the ad thing, I really didn't give much thought to what they would show, until I learned they were content related (although I've never figured out what wrinkled skin has to do with gardening). I've had to put several sites into the "blocked" list so they don't appear, but none of those were too bad, more ignorant than anything, at least they were to me. But I digress. . . .

I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about women. Now I know that there's way too much stuff to talk about when one talks about women, so I've decided to narrow my topic a bit. If you read the title of this post (and how could you not?), you already know what's about to be discussed. But don't worry ladies, and men, I'm even going to narrow it down more than that. Basically, what I want to talk about is: Hot.

No, I'm not talking about the adjective hot used to describe attractive women and/or men and other things, I'm talking about a physiological condition a lot of perimenopausal women know as hot flashes. And guys, let me tell you, they're really hot. I know. It's like being next to a human heater. Sometimes I think my wife is combustible.

Writing in the March 2009 issue of RDH, dental hygienist Kelli Swanson Jaecks gives us a vivid description of what she endured one night: "Sweat soaked sheets. Sweat beading on my brow and breasts. Sweat running in rivers through the valleys of my flesh. I woke, drenched in sweat and hotter than hell." I'll never complain about male pattern baldness again!

Even though you might think you've been "educated" on a particular subject (my minor was Women's Studies) something will invariably serve as a reminder that it's just been an exercise in sciolism. And I ultimately surrender to the notion that I'll never understand the arcana of women.

But I'm wondering if I should keep a fire extinguisher close to the bed, just in case one of those hot flahes gets a little too hot.

Hot

Water, water. Everywhere?

2009-03-23T12:43:00.003-04:00

UPDATE: Unfortunately, my interview with the geologist fell through. She called while I was waiting for her to show up and explained that she had been in an area without cell phone towers and had been trying to call me to let me know. I will reschedule the interview. Thanks to all of you for the great input on this important topic.

Where does it come from? How does it get from there to here (i.e., my faucet)? What's a water table? A watershed? Ever hear of stream restoration? What's the difference between city water and well water and why the difference in taste? If you live in the country and have a well, does the water you use for watering lawns and gardens trickle back down through the earth and back into the water table? If so, why should those with well water worry about water conservation?

If you have a natural pond on your property that's been there for years, who really owns it? Is it considered a natural wetland? Why are swamps/wetlands protected in some areas, aren't they just mud pits and mosquito breeding grounds? How much water is used by gardeners and farmers? Who's responsible for water pollution from chemical runoff? What are you telling someone when you say: "It flows downstream"? How often should you have your water tested if you drink well water?

These are questions that I hope will be answered after I research my article "Water, water. Everywhere?" One of my sources is a geologist with Stream Restoration Incorporated and The Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition, I'll be interviewing her for the article.

Flavored water?

Firsts, or seconds

2009-03-20T09:02:00.007-04:00

Ahhh! the first day of spring, finally. But my horoscope says, "Although the birds and buds know that spring means it's time to come out and be seen, you are somewhat more tentative." I am? Maybe.

Have you ever felt like your head was so full of stuff you wanted to say that you just didn't know where to begin? That's how I'm feeling right now:

Unwarranted alarmist bloggings about the proposed Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, H.R. 875.
Sod busting today at the White House for Mrs. Obama's new veggie garden.
The first day of spring, and it's 28 degrees??
Number 2 son's 16th birthday.
A buggy bug talk with no Power Point projector.

So, how do I fit all that into one compact little blog post? If I ended it now it'd be nice and compact wouldn't it? But then I'd feel like I hadn't given you your money's worth (Arrgh! I just compared myself to AIG!).

First, let's get this H.R. 875 jazz out of the way. I don't claim to know a lot about politics, but I do know the basic workings of the legislative process. A similar bill was proposed in 2007 and it failed, I give the new one the same chance. But this isn't to say we shouldn't be aware of what's goin on. However, let's not be obtuse about the situation because then you risk being seen as ultracrepidarian.

Secondly, some folks (my lovely wife included) are having a great deal of difficulty picturing Michele Obama actually workin in a garden. My wife says the First Lady may get out a time or two for a photo op, but probably won't do a lot of weeding herself. I suppose if I had someone to do weeding for me (Dale Haney is the White House gardener, I've not Googled him yet but give me a few minutes, there.) I doubt if I'd bend over backwards to get it done. So, maybe she won't, but then again, maybe she will. I have no trouble picturing Ms. Michele in an old pair of jeans and a short sleeved shirt (and I'm not saying anything about her biceps) hoeing a garden.

Third, spring has sprung is how the sayin goes. But I'm a realist when it comes to zone 5 western PA gardening. Here, unless you have a greenhouse or live in a microclimate, it just doesn't stay warm long enough in March to do anything in the garden. Plus, it's usually a mud pit anyway. So, we try to schedule a little trip south to Kentucky at this time of year so we can experience the true arrival of spring.

Fourth (and why am I counting these things off??), I have four children. Of those, three have birthdays this month. Do you remember your 16th birthday? I can tell you what I remember about mine in two words: drivers license. The other day I stopped in at the Drivers License Center and picked up a copy of the drivers manual for my son. I had just downed a lukewarm cup of coffee before I left the house and knew that I'd be needing to pee pretty soon. I also knew there'd be a public restroom at the DLC. Ladies, when you're using a public restroom please lock the door behind you so that the unexpected doesn't happen at a most inopportune time, like when your panties are down around your ankles!

Lastly, I am looking forward to my "The Good, The Bad, and The Bugly" bug presentation tomorrow. I gave this talk last July at the public libary and it went over quite well. My wife asked if I'd be interested in giving the presentation to the ladies in the Herb Thymers herb club. How could I refuse? But I'll have to do without a Power Point projector since I don't own one. I guess I'll just have to rely on my skills as an educated orator (read: fake it).

Here's one of the pictures I'm using to get the Herb Thymers attention:

Have a great weekend and with March Madness in full swing I may not be around till Monday! Happy first day of spring!

Trees

2009-03-17T16:23:00.013-04:00

I didn't know a lot about my grandparents. I guess you could say I've never been bitten by the genealogical bug that drives some to go back hundreds of years in search of family history. I think it's called finding your family tree. I do know that at some point during my paternal grandfather's life, he worked as a lumberjack, which is probably how my father learned how to identify trees. Unfortunately, I'm not very adept at tree identification. I can tell a maple from an oak, and a pear from an apple, but we all know there's hundreds more varieties.

So, when I heard about the Arbor Day Foundation coming out with a compact little tree identification book, I was intrigued. About a week later, I received an advanced copy of the little book and I now offer my review.

A sort of disclaimer first though, there's no leaves on the trees yet here in zone 5 western PA, but that really don't alter my critique of this little book. The first thing I do with any new book is hold it to my nose, fan through the pages, and inhale deeply; I just love the smell of a new book. You avid readers know what I mean. The second thing I noticed was the book's water-resistant cover, which feels really rugged and would prevent some water damage should you encounter a rain shower while using the book. However, the book's inside pages are not waterproof. But I wouldn't think many folks would be out tryin to ID trees in the rain anyway.

There's flaps on the front and back of the book. The front one unfolds to show "Words to Know" and gives simple definitions of 26 words relating to parts of a tree. There's a couple of small, nicely done drawings, one shows three different types of samara (winged fruit), some maples have what I call "helicopter" samara; the other has a couple of leaves with identifying features named, there's also a small drawing of a stem showing a "bud scar." These are all what I would consider to be very helpful tree identification facts. Inside the back flap is Arbor Day Foundation information along with an edge ruler (in cm), and on the outside is info about the book and an edge ruler in inches (handy for general purpose measuring).

So, how do you use the book to identify a tree? It's really easy. All you have to do is answer a series of "yes" and "or" questions which direct you to another identifying feature, or gives you the name of the tree. The illustrations by Karina I. Helm are very well done with just the right amount of detail.

Included in the little book is the "Arbor Day Hardiness Zones" map and several blank pages at the end for "Field Notes" and "Field Sketches," and an Index. I give the "What Tree Is That?" tree identification guide a positive review and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about what trees might be growing in their neck of the woods. Its compact size, great drawings, and ample listing of trees make it a valuable addition to the garden bookshelf.

You can order "What Tree Is That?" online now. The book will also be available everywhere else April 1st.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-03-14T00:01:00.000-04:00

It gets too complicated

2009-03-09T08:18:00.004-04:00

When Googled:
Organically grown - "Results 1 - 10 of about 1,270,000"
Environmentally friendly -"Results 1 - 10 of about 1,270,000"
Fresh and local - "Results 1 - 10 of about 110,000,000"
Certified natural - "Results 1 - 10 of about 12,000,000"

Have you been able to decipher all the different certifications yet? Good for you! I've not, even after attending a two hour presentation that was supposed to enlighten and educate. I used to think the main difference, and most important one, had to do with the non use of chemicals. But when you dig further into what's defined as "chemical," things get a little foggy.

I suppose there's really no simple method of determining whether or not your lettuce was rinsed with clean water, or whether that apple you just bit into was sprayed with some type of chemical pesticide or fungicide (it probably was), or what that cow or pig ate just before it was slaughtered and used in the hamburger we had for supper the other evenin and the bacon we ate with our pancakes Sunday mornin.

The ONLY sure method I know of is if you grow it and/or process it yourself. Can you know your local farmer well enough to have confidence that they're using safe and healthy production methods? Is the peer review system some farmers abide by based on accuracy and unbiased inspections?

After the presentation, I told one of the panelists, whose farm was USDA Certified Organic, that I was just as confused about all the different certifications as I was before I sat down. Here's what he said: "So am I."

When we're at the table, can we slow down enough to take a closer look at what's on the end of that fork, where it came from, and how it got there? Sometimes I wonder whether there's a sure method of doin that.

Spring in Kentucky

Woe is me (and you?)

2009-03-06T08:09:00.004-05:00

Michele Owen over at Garden Rant wrote a very nice little piece about why she Belongs To the Wrong Generation and it got me to thinkin. I'm four years older than Michele and we're both in the Baby Boomer generation of gardeners. And like Michele, I too think I was born at the wrong time. If I were my son or daughter's age, and had two garden loving parents like they have, I would know exactly what my career field would be. Of course this is taking into consideration that a young 15-year old Terry had a love for gardening like he does now. Given the chance, I think Terry would have graduated from some top notch horticultural/agricultural/floracultural educational institution, and would probably own a garden center or nursery or garden book publishing company.

But, with woe, I unhappily accept the fact that I'm where I'm at right now for reasons not quite visible. Now don't go thinking I'm layin around all day complainin and whinin about why bad things happen to good people; I have enough sense to know that I'm not the only one struggling and that there are millions more in worse shape than I.

Spring is a cliche for all things new. There's just no other way to say it. So, having not said it, I'll ready the garden beds again like I've been doing for the past 25 years and wait.

Fast Food Gardening?

2009-03-04T09:48:00.003-05:00

About a year ago, I signed up to receive a trade industry publication called GARDENCHIC inspired retailing for independents. I did so in order to have another tool I could use that might provide me with a few ideas for future columns and blog posts. This is one of those times.

On Page 3 ("You Can Be GARDENCHIC") of the March, 2009 issue, I read the following ("Solutions, Solutions"): "Today's young gardener wants ready-made solutions, and it's your job to deliver them." An image of fast food joint drive-thru gardening immediately came to mind. That rather odd image (picture a McGarden's center with large green vining arches on the roof) was made even more bold when I continued reading: "Think of it as the Rachael Ray style of gardening. Ingredients 1-2-3, here's the sheet of directions. Get out your credit card, and pow - you're out of here!"

At the McGarden's drive-thru, there's a large menu where you can order Double Deluxe Dahlias, Zany Zesty Zinnias, and there'd be things besides plants: Six-Pax-Pots, GroMaculous MilkShake, you get the idea. What are we coming to folks? Or perhaps the question is what have we bred into our kids?

In one section of the trade publication - "Garden Chic Life: Adventures in IGC Entrepreneurial Retailing," Dave Bosco, Vice President of Bosco's Garden Center in Vermont, is profiled. Mr. Bosco said in the piece, "If you're not on the ball and coming up with new ideas and new products, customers get bored. They want something new." If new means fast food gardening at McGarden's, then I'm opting out.

The author goes on to say, "They [Generation X and Y homeowners] come in with their iPhones loaded with photos of their yards, along with measurements, and the staff lays it all out, suggesting what to plant where." Mr. Bosco reiterates this when he says, "They don't want to trim it, they don't really want to take care of it - they just want to be able to enjoy it."

I suppose all of this ties in with the declining do-it-yourself crowd - what's emerging now is a you-do-it-for-me populace. Which, when you come to think about it, is conducive to capitalism. I wonder if I can get a small business loan for my McGarden's idea?

Lastly, and in a slight nod of approval for GARDENCHIC, they have good writers that offer advice to regular gardeners like you and me. Amy Stewart did a very informative article about Integrated Pest Management (IPM) which is what Penn State Master Gardeners are required to suggest to consumers when asked about pesticide use. Maureen Gilmore wrote a piece on using native plants that is worthy of any major gardening publication (and we all should use more native plants). So, even though GARDENCHIC is geared toward young, sexy, independent retail garden center owners and seems to ignore those owned by my generation, their staff would be welcome at my McGarden's.

And now for your listening pleasure, a recent practice session at Phil's Woodshed, featuring The Doghouse Three.

What have I done??

2009-03-02T09:45:00.000-05:00

As is quite evident, I've switched templates. Much like starting a brand new garden, things will be dirty around here until I get all the plants arranged like I want them. I'm not even sure this landscape design will be my final choice.

Nevertheless, right now I need to post something related to gardening so there's no ignorant ads.

On my Facebook status for yesterday I wrote: "Extra food miles driven just to buy organic negates the overall benefit." This brought a bevy of replies, which was good. Without goin into it too much, simply because it's my article for Wednesday's paper, it has to do with the choices we make and how organic gardening/farming sometimes appears to be used as a status symbol.

So, I pose the question to you: When you must drive an extra 20 miles or so (or do most of your organic supply shopping online) in order to purchase organic gardening products, does the added cost of gasoline (CO2 emissions, etc.) and shipping and handling fees (trucking and/or flying miles), cancell out the benefits of environmentally sound (i.e., organic) gardening/farming practices? And please justify your answer with sound reasoning and do provide examples from personal experience.

Also, don't forget to add a tip or two or three about where to put this or that perennial or annual, or tree or shrub, here in the new landscape. Thanks!

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-02-28T00:01:00.000-05:00

Some Stats

2009-02-26T07:18:00.000-05:00

I usually don't take as long to update my blog and when I wait this long, I feel obligated to provide some sort of excuse. The excuse: Laziness. There, I'm glad I got it out, I feel much better. In defense of myself though, some of the delay can be attributed to The Doghouse 3's recent increase in popularity; we've been playin local pubs and other venues most every weekend.

Yesterday afternoon I listened in on a Web seminar hosted by The Garden Writers Association Foundation (GWAF) and The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. The topic: "The Impact of Home and Community Gardening in America." Here's a few interesting stats:

19% increase in food gardening
34% increase in spending on fruits and vegetables
32% increase in purchase of vegetable plants

It sounds to me like what we've all been hearing about an increased interest in growing your own food is definitely a happening. Y'all will probably be hearing more about this in the coming months as a new growing season gets underway.

How 'bout the 2009 perennial plant of the year? At the time I posted about ornamental grasses I had no clue the Perennial Plant Association had selected an ornamental grass, Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' (Golden hakone grass) as their Perennial of the Year. I have almost made up my mind to start using more ornamental grasses in my landscape. I have the luxury (only if I don't mow all of it) of having a huge yard so I'm not limited by space concerns when deciding on larger varieties of ornamental grasses.

I'd like to use golden hakone grass as an edging because of its size; a foot or so tall, and a couple of feet wide make it nice for what I have in mind. If you visit PPA's Web site you can download a PDF of 'Aureola' and if you look at the picture at the bottom of page 2 you'll see what I mean. For me, the appeal is its draping effect more so than the coloring on the blades. It doesn't need to do anything but flop and droop in order to look stunning.

I'm still workin on the new blog template and hope to have it implemented sometime this weekend. I expect lots of input. Another kind and gracious blogger, Ms. Kylee, has also offered her expert advice on the transition. Thanks again, Ms. Kylee, Dave, and Ms. Jennifer for all your help. Please keep Jennifer's daughter in your thoughts as she recovers from surgery. Although considered minor surgery, the procedure required putting the youngster under general anesthesia, and to a Mom and Dad, and little girl, that can be mighty scary.

I snapped this during a recent snowfall. Thanks to my son for alerting me to its presence, I was able to get a few nice pictures from about 25 yards, with my Sony DSC-H1, 12x optical zoom. This has been a really good camera, but it's beginning to show some wear and tear.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-02-21T09:45:00.000-05:00

Scary move

2009-02-19T16:18:00.000-05:00

Once a year Martha Stewart publishes her finest issue of Living. Before you start ridiculing me for saying that (I was lambasted some time ago when I posted about Felder Rushing because someone thought I was promoting him) go pick up a copy of this year’s gardening issue (March, 2009) and see for yourself. On Page 128 is Douglas Brenner’s article “a new hampshire haven” with photos by Eric Piasecki. I was immediately impressed and longed to be in the beautiful garden of Marney Bean, who is featured in this piece. As most of us know, gardening is a work in progress and Bean’s garden is one that has developed over a 30-year span.

My garden is nowhere near as beautiful as Bean’s, nor is it as beautiful as ones I see on most of the garden blogs I visit. I look back on the time when after we first moved here, we cleared a junkyard to put in our very first vegetable and flower garden. Had I looked further ahead back then, the garden today would probably encompass most of our 4 acre lot. Our garden is still quite a ways from being complete, and that’s okay because as I said, gardens are a work in progress, a never ending work in progress, and I doubt our garden will ever be complete (at least not in the sense of something being finished or done).

And perhaps I might say the same thing about my blog. I seem to be constantly working on it, trying to fertilize (even, heaven forbid, using chemicals), cultivate, propagate, and instigate new growth, hoping to impart a little terroir when it's all said and done. I’m looking at a possible repotting, i.e., new template, at the present time. I’m still learning, and as I go, new and old friends Dave and Jennifer have been kind enough to offer their help. Jen is a Web developer, and Dave knows more than I do about blog templates and what not. But it's goin to be a scary move. I uploaded and previewed a new three column template and was alerted to the fact that I would lose all of my widgets, including Google's AdSense (adding it was a little bit more involved than others). But Dave says "it helps to trim out the stuff you don't want anymore." I'm still workin up the courage to make the switch, so it'll not happen yet. (But it won't be long.)

I'm thinkin it was about five or six years ago when I first noticed what we're all seein taking place within our food system right now. Folks have begun to wise up about what they eat, where it comes from, and a lot of us are growing our own. Community supported agriculture seems to be pickin up speed across the nation, and that's a good thing. Here's what a local farm charges for their weekly produce baskets and a description of their program.

Basic Share: Cost $490; Weekly Pickup
Half Share: Cost $295; Semi-weekly Pickup

The Half Share gets the Basic Share amount of produce, but only every other week. The weeks that the half share subscribers come for produce are based upon starting either the first or second week of the season. The subscriber comes every other week. The first pickup is assigned by Meadow Rock Farm.

Our average season is about 21 weeks so for a full share it averages out to $23.00/week.
Payment Terms: ($50 deposit is required to reserve your membership)
1) Pay in full, cash or check, by May 1, 2009. ($10 savings discount off total)
2) Two payments, May 1st and June 1st. (No savings discount)

Leo Hickman, Guardian reporter, interviewed Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini who said, "We're all full of gastronomy, recipes etc. Turn on a TV anywhere in the world and you will see an idiot with a spoon. And every newspaper and magazine has recipes and a photo of the dish taken from above like a cadaver. It's a form of onanism and is masturbatory. We must normalise food rather than put it on a pedestal far out of reach."

And I’m hearing from pundits that the middle class is disappearing; is it any coincidence then that I feel very very transparent in the garden?

Fun decisions

2009-02-15T12:49:00.000-05:00

Some of you might know that I write a weekly gardening column for a small town newspaper. I was told its readership is around 5,000 but I'm not really sure if that means 5,000 total, or 5,000 who receive the paper in the mail, plus those that buy the paper at stands throughout the county. Sometimes when I'm talkin across the garden gate I'll ask the other person if they read my column in the paper and more times than I care to admit they'll say something like, "No, I only get the [insert name of bigger city paper(s) here], or "What paper do you write for?" or "No, but is it online?" And on and on. Over the years I've come to accept such answers, reluctantly, but I suppose it's part of what's happening with reading the printed word vs. reading online, vs. reading period.

I have to decide on a week to week basis what I'll write about, and rarely will I turn to past articles I've written for topic ideas. I assume that my choice of material will be interesting to my audience and I also assume that it has been interesting or else I'd probably be receiving negative feedback. I've been doing this going on six years now and surely by now someone would've said something to me if I were writing boring stuff.

This week's topic is ornamental grasses, and there couldn't be a much more easier thing for you to grow in your garden. They don't require much more than a once a year trimming once they're established, are rarely, if ever, bothered by pests or diseases, and the best part - look marvelous in the landscape. I'd tell you more but that might cause those of you locals reading this not to buy the paper! One thing I will do though is post a couple of interesting pictures that I'll be using alongside my article in the paper.

They're kind of like before and after shots, but I will be trimming back to six inches or so above the ground, some folks trim all the way to ground level, and that's okay too.

Can it survive?

I think so.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-02-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

The cost of things

2009-02-10T14:47:00.000-05:00

I'm considering allowing ads. Especially after hearing from a friend who pockets a hundred bucks every now and then from the ads on her site. I visit other blogs with ads, most are not the flashy animated ones like you see on popular retail Web sites so I'm not put off. A couple of y'all have ads on your blogs and if what you're sayin is holdin my interest, the ads are invisible. Since I'm not workin full time, any and all extra income helps.

In order to save a little, we've cut back on a few things. I was reluctant to reduce my internet service from high speed down to 55 mph, but it's not that much of a difference. And we canceled our home phone and are now using strictly cell phones. I've also canceled plans to attend the Granddaddy of all Flower Shows this year, which was a tough decision, but necessary we think.

I hope y'all don't think I'm whining, but some of you might. I think a few of my in-laws have changed their view of me since before the election when they found out that I was voting for Obama. Some seem to believe that no one is worse off than they are, and if you think you've got it bad, just walk a mile or two in their shoes and you'll see otherwise. Do you know someone who thinks your problems or worries or financial difficulties are not legitimate because they don't match the level of struggling that they go through? I do.

I've not made the decision to allow ads just yet. I'll read up on it some and make my decision soon. Just be forewarned and please don't stop visiting, that'd really hurt my feelins.

Having said all that, I've also been doin some contemplating about a few other things regarding ... oh ... I don't know what to call it without it sounding cliche. Everyone's heard all the terms and most of y'all are fed up with them. So I'll try to explain it the best I can without using those other words. Here goes:

I'm on a steering committee for a commercial kitchen incubator project development plan. And we've just began distributing surveys (which are a type of feasibility study) to see if local farmers or market gardeners might be interested in using such a facility. Just click Regional Food Venture at Munnell Run Farm to read more about the kitchen incubator. I've had interest in this project for about the past five years or so and now I'd like to try and integrate its use into other areas besides farms and food entrepreneurs. I think our local schools and their lunch programs need revamped and I know this is a concern on the national level as well.

What will it take for such a facility to become viable in an economically depressed area of rural Pennsylvania? How might the President's stimulus package have sway with local conservative politicians who're seeing the small farms of their constituents being auctioned off left and right?

How does talk of growing your own food measure up against talk of a trillion dollar national deficit? I might not be able to answer questions like that, but I do know this: we all have to eat!

Say Nothin' Saturday (With one exception)

2009-02-07T08:55:00.000-05:00

Sonnet for Spring

New growth in spring brings to my heart a song,
of birds and bees, of trees and every plant.
I listen as it sings that winter's gone.
Aromas waft like Gregorian chant.

A seedling poking through to bright sunshine
is stretching forth with two new leaves of green.
I conclude that this new life is sublime,
transcending what I know of earthly schemes.

A gentle rain is washing memories
From the backroads of my mind into view.
I see early blooming lords-and-ladies
Covered with a blanket of morning dew.
A robin chatters from the arbor gate,
Flying down to devour slender ground bait.

Old is new again

2009-02-04T10:11:00.000-05:00

Someone recently told me to "put a new blog up today - the snow pics are old!" Which caused me to do some rethinking of my priorities. And then after I rethunk things, it hit me...and became almost as clear as the sunlight in that photo: I must write! Not only about gardening, but about other stuff. And not only do I need to write about things, I also need to get out and become more active in the community gardening realm. When I say community gardening, I'm not specifically referring to a community plot where folks rent a section of dirt and do their thing there, I'm also talkin about the backyard and frontyard gardens of friends and neighbors. So, I'd like to thank Shawna for the jolt of realism at a time when I needed it.

Who knows, I might even take a trip out west to Renee's Garden. I get a media packet about this time each year and I don't think I've ever seen a more informational seed packet than what Renee does her seeds up in. Each is printed with all the information about the plant that you'd find in a full size catalog. They're too lovely to toss so I laminate them use them as plant markers. And even though we've still got at least a foot of snow, I can dream about sunny California and how Renee might like havin an old Kentucky boy visit her garden.

These seed packets have all the info you need printed right on the packet itself. There's not a more attractive way of doing this, at least not one that I've seen.

It might be a little early to blog about Valentines Day, but I'm going to anyway. I have a favorite picture of my two youngest kids taken when they were little. My sister arranged them on a stump that's along the edge of her yard in Kentucky. I'm guessin my little sweetie pie was five, and her brother was seven. I want you to pay particular attention to her curly hair. Mine was very much like that when I was her age, I've seen the photo and if I don't forget, I'll ask Mom for it when we visit in April. April is nice in Kentucky, my wife says it's great seeing spring at a time when you expect it, instead of like here when spring shows up only when it's damn sure winter is through! Pardon my French, but sometimes we don't get spring weather till late June. My son, AJ, and his sister Meghan look like two valentines in the photo. And they both are the sweetest of sweethearts who've given me more joy than they'll ever realize.

Winter Blahs

2009-01-29T20:40:00.000-05:00

I blame my absence from the blogosphere on these northeast winters. I blame a lot of things on them. Here's a list of things I blame on northeast winters:

1) Increase in body fat.
2) Aching joints.
3)
4) Seasonal Affective Disorder.
5) Short tempers.
6) (Too much snow.)
7) Rod Blagojevich.
8) Cheesy inventions.
9) Frost heave.
10) (Weird gardening seminar speakers.)

Peace.

"Pot" party?

2009-01-23T10:54:00.000-05:00

There was a note in the church bulletin a couple weeks ago inviting folks to a "pot"ing party. A nice little witty invite for folks to come and help re-pot some houseplants (or should they be called churchplants?). I showed up on the scheduled day only to find one other volunteer, and there were quite a few plants to tend to.

My assistant had to leave after about an hour, and I was left all alone. It didn't seem like it took as long as it did, but after about four hours the task was complete and the churchplants looked much happier.

Zone 5 winter

Can you help me identify this plant? My wonderful editor at the paper says it's a petunia tree. She got it from her mother who lives in Texas.

Here's a close-up of one of the leaves.

Talk of...

2009-01-20T07:53:00.000-05:00

It's said never to discuss politics or religion with friends and family. But I often ignore the warning. Having said that, you can leave now if you've already heard enough about the historical significance of today's presidential inauguration.

Thousands of people are gathered in Washington waiting for the noontime swearing in of our country's next president. What do you think is on everyone's mind? Will this moment in time be remembered as the beginning of real change or mere hyperbole? In other words, are you a pessimist or an optimist?

Some kids from a public high school in the Bronx wrote poems for Barack Obama asking him about his promise of change. Listening to them, I'm not sure if it's pessimism I'm hearing, or uncertainty. Probably the latter.

And yet, I often feel cynical at times: A vendor was selling $30 hoodies on the mall in Washington this morning; the inauguration ceremony itself is costing us millions of dollars more than other inaugurations; the world is "hot, flat, and crowded."

Personally, I prefer to have a positive outlook, but do find it hard to maintain. I'm well aware that you can't change a leopard's spots, but I'm also aware of selective breeding. We do it all the time; think of all the hybrid varieties of flowers we have to choose from.

Spring will come, and with it, new growth.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-01-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

Does "organic" infer "costly to buy?"

2009-01-16T10:35:00.000-05:00

I've been busy this week. The kind of busy that I like; lots of writing about gardening and related stuff. Some of these writings can be less than a hundred words, which is more or less the word count you'll usually find in many of my blog posts.

If you would allow me the courtesy to direct your attention away from this blog for just a few minutes, I'd like to get your opinion about organic gardening, but first you need to read my post in another forum: Click here. Don't worry, it's not a long drawn out thing, but I will say it's longer than a hundred words. Read the comments from others to help you form your own opinion (and the title of my post).

The creators of The Organic Gardeners forum are friends of mine and I've known Doug Oster and Jessica Walliser for several years. Both have inspired me to become more attentive to the organic side of things in the garden. But I think more needs to be done to dispel the quandary that some associate with organic gardening/farming/living or organic anything. I'm considering buying Jeff Gillman's book, The Truth About Organic Gardening, but realize it would be only one of many tools I could use to help me glean a better understanding of what it means to be an organic gardener. Whether you realize it or not dear readers, you too are included in my tool chest.

My article for next week's newspaper column will touch on the above dilemma. And If I can get a few of your thoughts about it, I'd love to include them in what I say. Don't feel rushed, but I'd like to have your view on the matter as soon as possible, say, by Sunday?

And of course, if all you prefer to do is read my post, or not read it and just look at the pictures, that's fine too. Commenting is always optional.

Peace.

(Please do me a favor and in your comments, tell me if you like/dislike/are neutral about my music player, and whether or not you like the comment box as a pop-up window, full page, or embedded below the post. Thanks!)

Fully open

Severe weather warning loudspeakers?

Should this snow be removed from the shrubs?

Untitled

2009-01-11T12:49:00.000-05:00

We've got a lot of snow since Friday, 8 or 9 inches I'd guess. It's accumulated to the point where I can't get to the outhouse. And as you can clearly see, that's a good thing because I can't imagine what would happen to my butt cheeks should I sit on something as cold as what's pictured!

My paternal grandparents had a three-seater; two adult sized openings, and one for little tykes and tots (I bravely sat on the adult sized seat once) . I have vivid memories of not wanting to use the outhouse, but having no other options, forced myself and overcame the fear of red wasps and mud daubers who found it the ideal summer nesting site.

I have no memories of "Little Granny's" garden, mostly due to the fact that my interest and love of gardening didn't kick in until I was in my late 20's and early 30's. By then, I was mostly on my own, out and away from family and their gardens.

Winters here in the northeast are always a struggle for me. I struggle to find a pleasing and different method of photographing snow scenes; I struggle to find beauty in the photos of other bloggers' snow scenes; I stuggle to get some semblance of spring when temperatures are in the teens and snow is knee deep, and on and on, blah blah blah.

It appears that I've become obsessed
with the progress of this amaryllis.

This is how it looks today.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-01-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

New Year Rant

2009-01-07T20:57:00.000-05:00

I just listened to one of Joe Lamp'l's podcasts and in it he "shares his insights into the many virtues of seed catalogs," plus there's an interview with Susan Harris from the Garden Rant blog.

I thought Joe brought up some good points regarding seed catalogs, and if you've been getting your share of them in the mail, you should click on the podcast link in the first sentence and listen to what Joe has to say.

After Joe's nice little spiel, he interviews Ms. Susan about her "successful" blog which prompted me to post the following comment:

What constitutes a “successful” blog? Success at what in particular? Having lots of comments? I see a type of clique among bloggers, not sure if it’s good or bad. I’ve commented on GR numerous times, not because I expect anyone from GR to visit my blog and leave a comment, but just because I felt prompted to comment about what was posted. I’ve yet to have any of the four “ranters” comment on one of my posts, again, not that I expect it, but it’d be right courteous of one of them to do so. I’ve scolded Felder Rushing numerous times for just this reason. He says he’s just too busy and doesn’t have time, or that there’s just too many others he’d have to comment on if he were to comment on mine. C’mon Felder! and others who say they don’t have time; how long does it take to type “thanks for the good words,” or “interesting post,” or some other short greeting?

Now, I’ll get down off this soap box and open up my latest catalog!

I can hardly wait for spring! I'm gettin mouthy from bein cooped up too long already!

Can you name this flower?
(It's 28" tall!)

Good Times

2009-01-04T19:46:00.000-05:00

They must come to an end, in order that there be a beginning to future ones I suppose.

My oldest son, Benjamin, had a safe trip back to Kentucky and now I'm readjusting to the emptiness he left behind. My two youngest are quickly filling the void, as they have in the past and will continue to do in the future when this happens again, that is until our nest is completely empty (something I don't care to think about). Is it selfish of me to want my children to remain with me forever? Is it any more or less selfish if a gardener wants the growing season to last 365 days a year?

Gardening catalogs make it all the more difficult during winter. So far I've received the following spring 2009 catalogs: Bluestone Perennials, Johnny's Selected Seeds, Burpee Gardening, Plant Delights Nursery (the "MAD" magazine of gardening catalogs), and Jung Seeds & Plants. These are only the beginning of the deluge.

What helps you make it through sad times? Or perhaps you're the type that isn't bothered by such frailties of the human spirit. I think I've gotten a little more thick-skinned over the years, and yet just thinking about my children leaving home causes a feeling of gloom. Maybe I've not hardened all that much after all. (Surviving zone 5 winters is just as gloomy, if not more so.)

I wore something out of the ordinary the other night when The Doghouse Three gave a little mini-concert at a local coffee shop. Well, out of the ordinary for me anyway; a light green sweater-vest over a long-sleeved white shirt. I could've swore my wife told me it made me look 10 years younger; she denied saying that. Oh well, it felt good to imagine it for a while anyway.

Here's an aside: guess what flower and/or tree is pictured.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2009-01-03T08:52:00.000-05:00

Quckly

2009-01-01T21:04:00.000-05:00

I felt obliged to show y'all another picture.
(Ignore my lame attempt at red eye correction)

Special Company

2008-12-30T09:39:00.000-05:00

My oldest son is on his way up from Kentucky. We last saw him, and most of my family, back in April. My parents, brothers, sisters, and most all other relatives live in states south of here so I don't get to see The Conners as much as I'd like. Unfortunately, and oddly, we don't seem to "get out" all that much anymore. Except for my son, Benjamin, who seems to be on the go a lot. At 28, he's still a young man with energy to spare, and loves to travel when he can.

Benjamin
(Bonus points if you can name the fish.)

The start of 2009 will be mighty special!

The dogwood pictured in my previous post was photographed in downtown Pittsburgh. I don't know the variety name. What's striking, for me anyway, is its natural beauty in comparison to the man-made beauty of the "concrete jungle."

Say Nothin' Saturday

2008-12-27T17:13:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve

2008-12-23T22:01:00.000-05:00

I was prompted by Ms. Tina to post a rather revealing piece of poetry I wrote several years ago. I say revealing not because I'm a cryptic poet wishing to be understood by a cruel world of uncaring non-poetic illiterates, but because I try to keep my humility by a somewhat self-deprecating lifestyle.

My 'Twas A Poinsettia for Christmas tale is a short narrative based on an actual event. An event that now stands as one of the most embarrassing moments a master gardener could ever endure. But if you look closely at the photo, you'll see how one can be easily fooled by the modern marvels of synthetic engineering. Try if you will, to choose which of those three poinsettias is but a simulacrum.

It is my Christmas wish that all of you have a most happy and memorable holiday season. May joy fill your spirits, and may you always keep the child-like wonder this season brings; the wonder of unexpected things, the wonder of what love means, the wonder of life's endings and beginnings.

'Twas a Poinsettia for Christmas by TC Conner

It was a week before Christmas, two years ago I think,
We had no poinsettias and I was feeling quite pink.
A house without poinsettias at this time of year
Is not very conducive to holiday cheer.
We usually have two or more for shelves and on floors,
But had not purchased even one yet and the house looked a bore.
I don't grow tall paperwhites as lots of folks do,
They get floppy and their odor is, well, just plain P U!
I used to grow amaryllis, their blooms are pretty and big,
But they got just as leggy as paperwhites did.
I needed poinsettias to make Christmas right,
Poinsettias in red and poinsettias in white.
So I planned to buy some and buy them real quick
For Christmas was coming, and with it Saint Nick.
I knew where to go, whom to see, what to pay,
But worried they'd all be sold out on that day.
Oh how elated I was when I saw hundreds lined up
In pots and on end caps in the aisles towards the front.
I rushed to the flowers and eyed them with glee
I picked out the prettiest one I could see.
Gently now, gently I set it in the cart,
And slowly rolled towards the checkout part.
This was the most beautiful poinsettia I had ever seen,
And I carried it home oh so carefully.
I knew just where to put my new beautiful flower,
On the mantle next to the miniature angel choir.
This poinsettia topped all the rest,
It glowed as none other had glowed in the past.
I watered it well taking care not to drown it,
Then I went to my chair and sat down for a moment.
My wife was due home, I was excited and proud,
"I love poinsettias!" she'd often say very loud.
She came through the door and stopped at the mantle,
For a moment I thought she looked a bit rattled.
And then she sang out as if in an operetta,
"Hey Hon, where'd you get the fake Poinsettia?"
"Fake??!" I shouted and ran to the flower,
My hands were shaking, my mouth turned sour.
"Yes, it's silk," my wife said with a chuckle,
and when I touched a fake leaf my knees almost buckled.
I couldn't believe I had thought it was real,
I even watered the thing, how dumb I did feel.
So now when I see poinsettias out,
I'm warmly reminded of my very real doubt
That Santa will ever let me forget
Of the time I watered a very fake plant.

Say Nothin' Saturday

2008-12-20T09:03:00.000-05:00

Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima)

2008-12-17T11:28:00.000-05:00

I often wish it were possible to hybridize them into trees so I could have a poinsettia Christmas tree instead of the same old fir, spruce, or pine we usually put up. Poinsettias take me into the Christmas spirit more than any other thing I can think of. Back in the day, it was my toddlers with their wide-eyed amazement and wonder leading up to Christmas morning (they're teens now, who seem almost lethargic with it all, but that's fodder for another post).

I'm sure most of you know that the bright red, white, or pinkish leaves on poinsettias are actually specialized bracts, colored so beautifully for attracting pollinators (humans do that for us out of season, so there's really no need for the leaves to be so dramatic). The flowers are located down in among the bracts, almost hidden, and resemble little olives; the tighter the "olive," or bud, the longer you'll have colorful bracts.

The tightness of these buds says the colorful bracts will last a good while, if all other needs are met. A primary concern is overwatering; do that and you'll ensure a quick death from root rot.

I wish for a red poinsettia Christmas tree.

Or perhaps a 'Marble' poinsettia Christmas tree.

You may have heard that poinsettias are poisonous, this isn't all that factual. You'd have to eat something like a thousand bracts or so before you'd even get a tummy ache. When cut, stems seep a milky white sap that might irritate sensitive skin. The kitty in the above photo is around them a lot and seems not to mind, my guess is pets are not bothered by them either.

Perhaps you've noticed that I've not posted much about gardening lately. There's a couple of reasons; one is that I write a weekly column for a local paper and like to mix it up here, the other you can find in the sentence under "The Write Gardener" in my header - "life in and out of the garden."

It's the Christmas season, I know you don't need a reminder to (always) treat others with kindness, be happy with who you are, love your family, and your God, with all your heart, and if you ever hear of someone hybridizing a poinsettia tree, please let me know.