"Billy" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Steve Peek" wrote:

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...
"Billy" wrote in message
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

When trying to get a message over it is folly to shout abuse in your
listener's face because that will ensure they never get the message.
You
defeat yourself without the opposition doing a thing. This is
religious
behaviour and not rational.

He wasn't a listener, he was an accuser. (snip)
If my perception of reality is offensive to you, I
think you should kill file me.

Why don't you think about using your own killfile rather than arguing
with
people who you find offensive or irritating?

This is after all a gardening group and unfortuantely there is less and
less gardening disussion every week. It's getting to the point where
it's
almost not worth reading these days.

I couldn't agree more. The current population of "political evangelists"
and
arrogant academics is quite disconcerting. We used to ask and answer
gardening questions in an attempt to help ourselves and others produce
food.
Today almost everyone wants to get up on their soapbox and preach their
new
religion or answer questions from a book (rather than actual experience).
This group is slowly dying, it's a real shame.
Steve

I agree, without this continuous piling-on we could have moved on to
gardening matters instead of turning mole hills into mountains, just so
someone else could voice THEIR opinion. It's a real pity.

Steve, what are you doing different this year in your garden? What
problems are you trying to fix. Fran, how did your garden do this year?
What did you learn? What will you do different next year?

It almost made me ill yesterday to be pulling potato plants out of the
bed in which they grew last year. I had no idea that potatoes could be
so invasive. They have been moved to another bed that is less ideal, but
that is where they will remain. Growing so many varieties of Solanaceae
(potatoes, tomatoes, peppers) that it's difficult to get any kind of
crop rotation going.

Our tomatoes have germinated, as have the squash (zukes and crooks), and
brocolli. Peas are in the ground and we're about to plant more to fill
in one trellis and start another. Some of the peas have died. Not sure
if it's lack of water, or insects, but most are fine. Had our first
serving of Swiss chard. I think I over did it with my attempts to gussy
it up with bacon and onion.

Need to do some weeding today. It's mostly henbit. I'm hoping to make a
salad from some of the kill, along with dandelion and stinging nettle.
My other weeds are also mint (spear & pepper). They make my tisanes
(hawthorn, yarrow) taste more drinkable as I don't use honey.

OK, who's next? Don't be bashful. We got a gardening group to run here,
right? ;O)




If you like weekends (8 hr./day & 40 hr./week), then thank a labor union.
They paid for it in blood. Real working class heros.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair

http://www.timeagan.com/MT/Deep%20Cover/
=
--
- Billy
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired
signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not
fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not
spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius
of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at
all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on
a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8559254-11yearold-takes-on-genetically-modified-food-producers-video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vN0--mHug

Well, let's see. The fall planted garlic is about 18 inches tall. I've never
grown hardneck garlic and am greatly looking forward to the scapes. The
Candy onions from Dixondale Farms are growing well. I planted 2 bunches.
There were supposed to be 60 plants per bunch & I ended up with 234 plants.
(if you grow sweet onions & don't deal with these folks you're messing up)
I've got a 40 foot row of spinach that's starting to get true leaves. I've
always had germination with spinach, but not this year! The beets are just
starting to show, no sign of the parsnips yet, Cabbage is growing well & I'm
still waiting on the mache to sprout. This is my first time ever for mache,
so I don't know quite what to expect.

I've got the prettiest row ever of sugar snap peas. They're only a couple of
inches tall, but I see a trellis in the near future. The tomatoes under the
grow light are just starting to show the first true leaf. Only a few peppers
have sprouted, I'll start more peppers and eggplant next week. I've got a
whole flat of bibb and romaine lettuce ready to go in, but it rained last
night and the ground is too wet.

I don't know if I've ever posted here, but I'm an advocate of eating your
weeds. Like Billy, I have henbit in the garden now along with chickweed,
upland cress and violets. I occasionally teach an edible plants class and am
always amazed at the number of people who would starve while sitting in a
patch of food.

I got a great buy on some thornless blackberry plant early this spring &
they are starting to grow. The apples are blooming, The bees are working
like mad, the blueberries are about a week out. I picked about 2 pounds of
morels yesterday and will go for some ramps (wild leeks) this week. Life is
good (if way too busy) this time of year!

Steve