I am finishing my participation in the green blogathon 2006. I appreciate the support I received in various fashion from all those involved. It was an interesting experience and I am happy to have been a part of it. If you like what you’ve read here please check out these guys and girls and all they had to say this weekend as they spent their time writing in support specific charities. Good people doing good work will always make a difference.
Thank you for reading.
This is our sink. Guests probably don't look at it and consider us especially sensitive to energy issues and the environmental movement. Looks can be deceiving. Starting on the far right you see a shimmering pitcher of water, no bottled stuff here. Next notice the right hand basin and the tub of used water. This was used to catch rinse water will be poured out onto the garden. The drying rack is apparent as we don't have dishwasher but choose to clean our dishes ourselves limiting the amount of water we use and recycling much of that that is needed. You can barely see the small potato plant growing in the windowsill. This side of the house gets the most light and I often use this window to root cutting of herbs and even experiment with ideas like growing indoor potatoes. Lastly out of view is the florescent bulb above the sink that allows for low energy light to eliminate this space. The bulb has lasted more than 4 years and puts out a considerable amount of light. Simplicity is in the details.
Three years ago I was worried about being able to legally water my garden because of restriction placed the public in light of a years-long drought in central
She told me it’s quite simple. She cooked carrots and peas and chicken and such and then pushed it through this uncomplicated device. She often froze the results for faster feeding in a pinch but told of never having bought commercial baby food. Wow. The jars, the preservatives, the expense- all unnecessary. She was speaking from experience and not preaching about what I should do. I imagine that my baby will see some store bought food, but I was happy to have become acquainted with not only the idea that babies can be fed through a simple process that doesn’t rely on agrobusiness processing but also to have an actual artifact accustomed to the task- the one I was feed with no less. I will at very least give it a whirl.
I have just gotten accustom to the ritual of taking them in with me to the grocery store, using them to bag my groceries, driving home to unloading the bags and then remembering to take them next time I go to shop. This afternoon though as I was checking out with my groceries when the woman helping me offered me a “bag credit”. She refunded $0.05 from my bill for each of my own bags I used. This is not an enormous amount of money but I was surprised by the event. This had never happened before. This program is not advertised. The bags are not for sale at the grocery store, but apparently if you get them yourself you will earn a rebate each time you buy food. I am happy about this but still puzzled by how much more straight forward the Dutch system works. Either way I wanted you to know about it.
Koda is guarding the internet connection.
Spunky does most of my editing.
Ubie and the girls provided breakfast.
Inspiration given in part by lettuce-to-be currently growing under make-shift coldframes created from discarded old windows. I'm working up to a longer post for the future cnocerning ways to extend the growing season. For starters try Greenhouse Gardener's Companion: Growing Food and Flowers in Your Greenhouse or Sunspace
Last fall I visited the Westwood Community in 
Canadian breweries divert 1 million tonnes of waste from the landfill each year by using refillable beer bottles. Read more here. 
An odd thing happened when I began to investigate the environmental benefits of cloth diapers versus disposable diapers. Many friends whom I considered eco-aware if not eco-friendly volunteered their opinions that cloth diapers are no better for the environment than disposable diapers. It seemed improbable to me that using 30 or 40 cloth diapers was no better for the environment than using 8,000 disposable diapers during a baby’s early years. Further consideration has turned up what I might have suspected- propaganda. In the early 1990’s as some states considered banning the use of disposables (the third largest source of solid waste in landfills and remember what is in them) Proctor and Gamble, the largest manufacturer of disposables, commissioned a study. Miraculously this study found cloth no better for the environment than disposable. Never mind that the study was later found misleading by
The truth is that the environmental impact of a diaper of any type depends upon what is used to produce it, how many times it is used, how long it takes to decay (some disposables taking 500 years to break down) and many other factors. Is the cotton for the cloth grown using pesticides? It’s like a game of chess, any move completely changes the match. For me I’m going with common sense. Washing 30 or 40 diapers as two loads of laundry per week seems a bit less wasteful than throwing away 8,000 diapers that may take up to 500 years to decompose. This doesn’t even address the fact that cloth diapers are better for the health of the baby because the waste isn’t concealed as well and therefore doesn’t stay against the skin for as long. The chemicals that hold the urine in the diaper are also questionable. Plus what would you rather have against your skin, plastic and non-woven fabric or cotton? And we’re not talking diaper pins any longer. The new cloth diapers are Velcro and have elastic.
My wife and I will use disposable diapers some times, especially when we’re traveling or asking others to look after our child. I am not going to be hardnosed about this subject. I think future conditions will necessitate a return to cloth for all of us. I am not however going to automatically buy into the easy idea that disposable diapers are not bad for the environment. Please offer me evidence for or against.
Read more here.
True freedom is not the ability to do what you want but the ability to do what you should. I thought I'd take this opportunity to make sure you the reader are aware of Dervaes Family. Taking responsibility for your life and its affect on others begins at home. This group is living it.
Path to Freedom
Each day something happens. I get up and go about the business of the day and I check in on the state of the world. I listen to world views on events and the shape of things to come. It is so interesting to me to see people being to understand the dependency of the modern culture of man on oil. As people become more fully aware of the fact that our lifestyle is predicated on cheap and easy oil their perspective on life changes. They begin to see the world in a different way. Not a better way. Not a worse way. Just a different way. One of the side effects of this understanding can be a hypersensitivity to global issues regarding oil. There is a debate among peak oil understanders as to whether our civilization will crash quickly or sink slowly in response to a reduced amount of fossil fuels available to the human race. I bet even those who believe we will see a slow and steady decline think fearfully for at least a second when they here about attacks on a Saudi oil field. Oil prices jumped 2 bucks a barrel.
Something happens to me each day. Most days I hear about events and I am hopeful about our future. Occasionally though I hear about events that make me feel fearful. I am beginning to believe that hope is the opposite of fear; or at least the only weapon we have against it.
Over the past 30 years, most economic studies of the impact of oil supply disruptions assumed that the interruptions were temporary and that each situation would shortly return to “normal.” Thus, the major focus of most studies was determination of the appropriate fiscal and monetary policies required to minimize negative economic impacts and the development of policies to help the economy and labor market adjust until the disruption ended. Few economists considered a situation where the oil supply shortfall may be long-lived (a decade or more).
This afternoon I helped host the third screening of The End of Suburbia here in downtown
It turns out that this very night,
(It’s
Initial notes: The point of this post is not to fairly balance the pros and cons of cell phone use. Also, I understand that cell phones are tools and that humans decide how to use tools. I believe the coming global peak in oil production will not necessarily knock out mobile communication. In fact I can envision a world of the future where people talk to each other on cellular phones not from their cars but from on horseback. I was endangered just this past week by someone who thought safely merging onto a highway was less important than making a call. I would not have felt nearly as threatened had this man been riding a horse. Relocalization is coming whether we like it or not. Relocalization is all about scale. The ultimate in local is to do it yourself. Cellular technology fosters behavior contrary to this practice. Having said that here is the revision of a thought I have had once or twice
The widespread use of mobile communication devices has negatively affected the human race in three distinct ways. It has further destroyed the present tense by decreasing time spent in the moment, it has systematically reduced self-reliance, and has decreased efficient in the area of time management.
All spaces can be categorized as either destination spaces or circulation spaces. Destination spaces are defined as places where actives of human interest occur. Circulation spaces are the areas in between destination spaces that serve as transit corridors between them. Your kitchen where you cook and your bedroom where you sleep are destination spaces. The hall that connects them is a circulation space. Circulation can be enjoyed but the point is always to get somewhere you are not. The goal is to be somewhere else in the future. Cell phone use further removes the focus of the present from our ever-increasing amount of time spent circulating. The effect of cellular phones on destination spaces is even more dramatic as it removes the person from their intended task, be it cooking or sleeping, and transports them to an alternative reality if only for a brief time. Repeated transports diminish the capacity for the individual to focus and enjoy the task at hand. As I once listened to my mother on her cell phone chatter on about something my sister could have told her later that night at dinner, I realized she was missing a beautiful sunset as well as the opportunity to talk to her son in person.
Large emergencies are often mitigated by someone’s ability to call for help. Cell phones increase the ability of an individual to call louder and further for assistance. Smaller cries however are often the tools by which we learn to negotiate the unpredictable world in which we live. Without exposure to these trials, people lose the opportunities they need to learn skills that will come in handy in the future when other problems arise. Reliance on moblie phones therefore can lead to a reduction in general competence in an ever increasing population of specialists. Our world is still far too random to rely too heavily on others for everything. A peak in oil production will increase volatility and further necessitate the ability to think fast and solve problems in person. Someone once told me I wouldn’t feel this way if I had ever called the authorities from the scene of an emergency. I responded that I once suppressed a neighbor’s apartment fire with only an extinguisher. There were plenty of people with cell phones calling for assistance. What was equally important though was the knowledge of what to do and the willingness to do in the moment.
The idea that cell phones increase time efficiently is a myth perpetuated by specific situations that do not parallel an individual's overall use of time. In certain circumstances, time is saved by the ability to call for directions or add to a grocery list but what is left unexamined is the overall effect this ability has on the time management skills of those who rely heavily on this capability. People dependent on cell phones begin to give less consideration to those details that allow them to operate in a smooth and efficient manner. The ability to talk with virtually anyone at virtually any time causes individuals not to consider prudent planning. This leads to more delays that would have been eliminated through thoughtful planning. The occasional delay that taught someone to be prudent with his or her use of time is eliminated. Time lost to subsequent delays caused by reliance on this ability occurs in small increments but when totaled up, exceeds the amount of time saved by cell phones. Net loss of time occurs.
Cellular technology has reduced overall focus on life in the moment. It has diluted our ability to do for ourselves and has replaced effective time management with constant, chaotic communication.
On a personal note, I will get a cell phone. I am waiting for one that can call, photography, video, broadcast radio, play recorded music, access the internet, allow me to send and receive emails and has a range of more than 95% of my daily geography. An alarm, sweet ring tones and the ability to make a mean omelet should go without saying.
I will be writing tonight in support of Trees for Life. I would very much appreciate any donation you are willing to make to this wonderful international organization. Please comment to any post or send an email to let me know that you have made a pledge. I have happily received the first pledge already. Thank you.
Here we go…
Trees for Life empowers people by demonstrating that in helping each other, we can unleash extraordinary power that impacts our lives.
We do this by helping people plant fruit trees in developing countries. Each tree protects the environment and provides a low-cost, self-renewing source of food for a large number of people.
Our activities include three elements: education, health and environment.
Since our inception in 1984, more than 2.5 million people have participated in our programs and more than 30 million trees have been planted in developing countries.
Thank you for reading and thank you for your support.
The End of Suburbia
Friday, February 24, 2006 7:30pm
Saturday, February 25, 2006 3:00pm
Two Leaves and A Bud Teashop
11 Union Street South Suite 100
Concord, NC 28025
704/788.8327 (call if you need directions)
Much thanks to the Reese sisters for allowing me to show this documentary in their tea shop. Please join us.
Can you spot the compost container here at my office?
While I believe it's important to fully understand the failure of leadership in this country with regards to energy issues, posts like my last one really get me down. So this morning I'm following up with a quick bit about energy responsibility here at my place of business. The photo above shows the counter space where we keep our food and make our coffee. My compost container is the green Folgers jar in the middle. I bring it to work each Monday morning, fill it with coffee grinds, banana peels and stale brownies etc. during the work week and take it home on Friday to empty into my compost pile. The jar keeps in any smells. In fact you wouldn't know it was a compost container unless you opened it.
Included in this photo are two other ways I save energy and resources here at work. One of them is the introduction of compact florescent light bulbs into the office. They last between 6 and 10 times longer than conventional bulbs, and they use considerably less energy. The cost of these bulbs has come down and over the life of the bulb I save my employer money. How could he object?
The other item in the photo is our water pitcher. Instead of drinking bottled water throughout the day I fill a glass with water from the pitcher. This simple act eliminates the use and disposal of hundreds of plastic bottles per year. It also doesn't require the water to be bottled, shipped and then purchased by my employer again saving him money and reducing the overall amount of resources I use.
First some facts about the UAE:
The UAE has been a key transfer point for illegal shipments of nuclear components to
According to the FBI, money was transferred to the 9/11 hijackers through the UAE banking system.
(Read more about the above in this article)
"Bush held a rare news conference on Air Force One to say the [Port] deal should go forward despite lawmakers' concerns and insisted he would veto legislation aimed at stopping it. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, 'You have to take into account the broader foreign policy implications,' he said. 'We should be working to broaden our partnership in the broader war on terrorism.'" Reuters – February 22, 2006
Are we to believe that this administration has finally come to understand the need for cooperation concerning the difficult issues of the day? Hardly. The following was written by The American Thinker and explains the geopolitical importance of the
"In March of 1992,
"Abu Musa island is located in the
"Both the UAE and
I added some emphasis again. Globalsecurity.org further bolsters the increasing international importance of this waterway with the following facts:
"The
Now the talk about “broad partnerships” and the UAE seaport operations deal both begin to make sense. I bet
But the
This means the
It all makes sense when you look at it through the barrel.
I prepared an overview of the topic of peak oil including a PowerPoint presentation. This was for me as much as for the students. What a wonderful exercise to create a comprehensive description of peak oil, its history and its possible implications on our culture. I've read or listened to many such descriptions authored by others but to make one myself was enriching. We covered Dr. M. King Hubbert and his curve, the state of production in various countries (the class already knew the
I enjoyed the experience of sharing information with young people about what I believe will be the most influential issue of our time. I was happy to see pertinent topics being discussed by young adults even before they graduate high school. I am deeply concerned about how the
I appreciate Steven Lagavulin at deconsumption for bringing to my attention the recent work of Carolyn Baker and introducing me to adaptation.
In her piece, Navigating the collapse of civilization: a spiritual map she writes,
“Some people tell me that they would rather not know what’s going on because they prefer to live their lives from day to day doing the best they can to make a better world, enjoy their loved ones, and earn their bread. I certainly understand their desire to protect themselves from the pain of awareness, but I also know that they are exchanging long-term preparedness for temporary comfort and that the pain of awareness in present time is far less than the pain they will incur as a result of ignoring it.”
I recommend a read. It's an uplifting piece and quite a bit more fun than tracking media coverage of the vice president.
My friend’s skepticism is built around the notion that traditional, mainstream media is some how more reliable and forthcoming with the facts and that they are seldom if ever censored or manipulated by other groups. I offer this example in response to that idea.
Here’s a story from MSNBC giving more information about Vice President Dick Cheney’s recent hunting accident. [UPDATE 2.16.2006 Link has changed again!] This is how the story originally appeared. Note the text in the red box. It says, Armstrong also told NBC News that she does not believe alcohol was involved in the accident. She says she believes no one that day was drinking, although she says there may have been beer available during a picnic lunch that preceded the incident. “There may be a beer or two in there,” she said, “but remember not everyone in the party was shooting.”
And below is how it appeared later this morning when I visited MSNBC. It had been wiped clean of the paragraph I quoted above.
If you click a link[UPDATE 2.16.2006 Link has changed again!] to the story you will see the updated version wiped clean of any mention of alcohol. I am not suggesting the Vice President was drunk. The whole incident was most probably an accident. In truth I don't really care. My point is that I find it interesting a major online mainstream media source like MSNBC would revisit an article like this and remove what appears to be a harmless comment.
If you believe bloggers are a shifty bunch out to skew public perception concerning the issues of the day and that mainstream media is the only credible source of information you ought to consider just how easy it would be for someone to mold your mind and shape the way you see the world. A paradigm shift will undoubtedly occur as the world peaks in oil production. There will be many with much to loose. It would be in their best interest to convince the general public that there is nothing wrong for as long as possible. I am not suggesting anything sinister or that the world is going to run out of oil tomorrow. Let me just say that those who get their information from the people in power will hear what the people in power want them to know; nothing more, nothing less. As for me, I'll continue to inform myself about my world in as many varied ways as possible. That seems only reasonable.
[UPDATE Link has changed again! Everything that follows has been added to this post 2.16.2006] Some of the original information concerning alcohol has been added back to the MSNBC story as well as new information concerning alcohol including the admission of Cheney that he had a beer at lunch.
‘No comment’ on blood test
At a news conference Wednesday outside Whittington’s hospital in Corpus Christi, reporters asked hospital officials whether Whittington’s blood-alcohol level had been tested. The officials responded with a "no comment."
In a recorded, on-the-record phone call with NBC News, Armstrong said that beer may have been available at lunch that day. "If someone wants to help themselves to a beer," she said, "they may, but I did not see anyone do that," Armstrong says. She says she was not sure if there were beers in the coolers but wasn't ready to rule it out: "There may be a beer or two in there, but remember not everyone in the party was shooting," she told NBC News.
Armstrong added that she did not believe that Cheney or anyone else shooting in the hunting party had alcohol on Saturday before the hunting accident.
NBC News called the vice president’s office for comment four times Tuesday and Wednesday and asked whether the vice president or anyone in the hunting party had consumed any alcohol on Saturday prior to the accident. In an e-mail statement Wednesday to NBC News, the vice president’s press secretary referred NBC News to the Kenedy County Sheriff’s Department report on the incident. Later in the day on Fox News, Brit Hume stated that Cheney told him during a taped interview that he had had "a beer at lunch" before the hunting incident.
My big question is why did MSNBC remove the alcohol section in the first place and why did it take the outcry of observant citizens to get the facts replaced and reexamined in this newz publication?
This weekend I painted the crib and planted the early crops for the garden. It rained and snowed a bit so I didn’t work the soil but planted instead in the greenhouse in which my mother has agreed to share space with me. Here near I am going to have to do both this year. I am going to have to grow food for us and help raise the baby. I am planning to get help from my wife but an interesting fact has emerged from our current conversations on gardening. So much of farming, or gardening or whatever you call growing you own food comes out of intensely personal experiences. I live with this woman. She has watched me work in the garden and yet she is a stranger to the idea of growing her own food. You would think my daily deliberations with her or even my out loud discussions on gardening problems, issues, concerns, conflicts, and achievements would be enough to instruct her on the basic principles of growing one’s own food. Not so. “No learning takes place until it happens in the muscles”, my mother used to say. She was right. I can explain with these words, with these keystrokes, what it looks like when the soil is too wet to work but only experience can accurately describe the phenomenon. A major separation from the soil spells disaster for any society, eventually.
Earlier today I listed the vegetables I am going to grow this coming season. I wrote five pages with varying degrees of detail about what’s coming up in my garden this year. I realized through that exercise what a waste it is to sit and consider writing about a grand thought or idea. I have been discussing this blog with a friend and have become self-critical about what I write almost overnight. How silly that seemed until I sat down to do my next post. It seems difficult if not impossible to simply stop and write an extremely altering piece of journalism. What I found remarkable though was the fact that after troubling over this truth, when I tried to just write the most mundane facts about what I will plant and how it will grow, my mind wandered out onto other trails where I found direction and the overview that had previously eluded me. It was in the act of simply listing that the inspirations came. From this revelation came a better understand, in a new way, of something that was written on a poster my mother put up when I was young. The caption read, “The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention.” I have an even better understanding of that poster today. I would like to have written a great post today about how you might plant what will support you and your family in terms of the food you need and its possible scarcity sometime in the future. The truth is that today was better spent planting my own food and thinking about how to do it and writing it down. Not because I don’t care about how well you will do with your own garden this year. I do care. The point though is that only through action comes the ability to share.
I am going to grow quite a bit of food this coming season. I am going to weigh it. I have several strategies I would like to share with others interested in doing the same or something similar. I will copy, at the end of this email, the previously mentioned list of vegetables I am going to grow. I am however going to continue to try and convey more than the facts concerning the coming peak in global production of oil. There will be plenty from others about how to cope and the logistics of how to meet human needs in the upcoming upheaval. There will be more about gardening and soil temperatures and seed start dates but not with the idea that a paradigm shift has happened. I will write about how to raise a child with the idea of place within nature restored and not merely a recalling of daily events in the interest of documenting the end of oil and the coincidence that my child was born as global production peaked. Even if I wanted to I don’t believe I could sit down each evening and just spit out daily events in the face of a change. It would bore me to tears. What I can do, what I’d like to do, what apparently I must do is detail the overall effect these changes have on me and in so doing reflect the effects they are having on many of us. Perhaps I can affect change in the understanding of our behavior while affecting change in our behavior itself. I think that might be key. Perhaps the only way to affect change is to change and then maybe to point to it as an example. Gandhi said, “Be the change you see in the world.” I will follow that and I will write about it not that you the reader should feel compelled to do as I have or think as I do, but that you will think for yourself and figure out in your own way what might make sense to do in response to the coming change in our way of life. I appreciate your willingness to let me work this out in public and your interest in this issue.
[Update] I just realized I forgot to mention what a beautiful person my wife is and how hard she is working right now to grow our baby. I also thought I'd mention that while gardening isn't her speciality she is a talented vocalist and a gifted teacher and coach. Come to think of it I'm not sure how she would even have time to begin to garden. I am supremely grateful for her however and am thankful especially for her willingness to let me follow my heart; even when it takes me out into the yard and back inside with muddy shoes. I didn't want this post to give a false impression of her.Garden plans.
I thought I would share my preparations for this year’s vegetable garden.
Beats –
Broccoli – I have never had great success with broccoli. This year I’m trying De Cicco. Our problem here in
Cabbage - Undecided
Carrots – I am again growing Nantes Half Long. They work for me. This year I’m going to try and save seeds from my own. Any suggestions would be welcomed as I still have some of last year’s crop in the ground. They never flowered.
Celery – This goes into the experimental category. I’m going to try growing Tendercrisp from seed.
Collards – Undecided
Corn – This year I am growing Golden Bantam and Ashworth Corn. I may add a third variety. More on the Corn/Bean/Squash combination later.
Cucumbers – I am growing Japanese Climbing Cucumber and maybe another. I have had repeated troubles with boring grubs and am trying two strategies this year to combat them. First I am growing climbing Cucumbers. Hopefully the lack of ground contact (not to mention the space I’ll save) will help prevent the little buggers from getting in the vines. Secondly I’m using beneficial nematodes to kill the borers. I might try pickling this year. Again any suggestions welcomed.
Eggplant – I love growing eggplants. They are so easy and tasty, especially fried. I learned a lesson last year- do not start them too early. The plants might survive so you‘ll think you’ve gotten a jump on the season but the plants will be slow to produce if they produce at all. Wait until it’s warm. This year I’ll grow Black Beauty and Ping Tung, maybe another.
Garlic – I am not sure the variety I am growing. I have been growing one hard neck and one soft neck variety for several years, using my own stock for planting in the fall. We have had a mild winter and both have put on quite a bit of foliage. I never seem to plant enough.
Lettuce – Last year was a break out year for me and lettuce. I stopped focusing on head lettuce. Hear in the south the short and wet springs couples with slugs always seem to work against head lettuce. Then one day I realized something. I like leaf lettuce better anyway. So I grew a few heads of Iceberg to prove to myself I could and now I’m on to leaf lettuces and loose head lettuces. Last year we had a cool spring and I got great lettuce. This year I am growing: Amish Deer Tongue, Key Lime, Paris White Cos (our staple), Black Seeded Simpson, Buttercrunch, Slobolt and…. Bronze Arrow. The last is a lettuce I have heard great things about for years.
Melons – I have a few seeds from last year’s melon and a few given as gifts. I’ll have to see how much room I have later in the season. I also might try growing melons vertically this year.
Okra – I’ll stick with Clemson Spineless; 5 plants this year.
Onions – I have quite a few white and red bulb onions in the ground from a fall planting. Our mild winter has given them a great head start. Looks like I’ll be cooking with more onions this year.! I also received some bunching onions from my sister-in-law. Her family grows all sorts of food in the
Peas – Last year was a great year for peas. I like the taller-growing varieties. This year I’m growing Homesteader and Amish Snap Peas. I might also grow Black-eyed Beans (peas) and maybe chick peas.
Peppers – I am planning on growing a couple of sweet peppers and a few hot peppers: cayenne, habanera, etc. I always seem to plant too many peppers. It only takes a few to spice up a dish or to use in a salad. They are fun and easy to grow though.
Potatoes – As I focus more on calorie production this year I will be growing potatoes. I have yet to procure my seed potatoes so I’m not sure what I’ll be going. I will be growing them both in the ground as they are traditional grown and using the tire method that worked well last year. Instead of planting them in the ground this second method places them in a tire full of compost. As the potatoes grew I stacked on tires and fill with compost, leaves, soil, etc. Harvesting is easy. I just tipped over the tires. Also the black tires held heat and helped me grow potatoes early.
Sweet Potatoes – How fun. Last year I bought seed potatoes from a gentleman selling them from the back of his pickup truck on a visit to Charleston SC. You have to grow sprouts from the sweet potatoes and then root the sprouts (called slips) and then plant them in the garden. They are a vine and will run all over and shade out weeds and provide wonderful sweet potatoes for you. I’ll be using them to soak up unused space later in the season.
Pumpkins – Maybe in the corn area. They take up so much room.
Radishes – I will grow Cherry Belle again where ever I have bit of space. They liven up a salad.
Spinach – Another favorite of mine. I will be growing Bloomsdale Long Standing and maybe another variety of traditional spinach but also New Zealand Spinach. This is more of a bush type plant used by Captain John Cook to prevent scurvy. It is suppose to endure heat and produce lots of edible leaves. It may even perennialize (come back each year) in the
Squash – I’ll be growing crocked neck yellow squash and zucchini if I can take care of the borer problem; maybe more vertical produce.
Watermelon – If I have space.
Yacon – This staple from the
Those are the vegetables. I am also going to experiment with Millet, Hard Red Spring Wheat, Flax, and Rice. I’ll use the organic material for composting and will get to see what growing these grains is like. I will also be growing peanuts, sunflowers and maybe alfalfa and mung beans in small amounts for experimentation. In the herb category I am growing basil, oregano, thyme, sorrel, arugal, chives, lemon balm, lemon verbena (a must for anyone who likes tea!) parsley, rosemary, and several types of mint. Plenty of marigold again this year to help with the pests and to add coulour to salads.
The peach tree will probably produce and I’ll get to see if the apples and the pears produce. The grape vine is a few years off I bet. This is the most boring list of gardening I have ever read.
