You'll be happy to hear that nearly all of the snow is now gone in Austin.
Heard a robin singing this morning. Probably two to three weeks away before
the garden will be dry enough to start cleaning up and getting ready for the
new season. I have penstemon, snaps, clematis, columbine, larkspur, bachelor
button seedlings that I need to repot into individual pots and put out in
the cold frame. Today or tomorrow I start impatiens, petunia, and about 3
varieties of marigolds. Some basil and cherry tomato also. (I have three
sets of shop lights in the basement so I am indoor gardening from about
December.

Outdoor planting's frost free date is May 15th.
With the snow gone, I see that moles have been busy all winter just
under the snow but above the ground - I have declared war on them, but
victory is not yet in sight. This summer I am surging up my efforts. They
are handy in the garden as they churn the soil without hurting the plants.
In the lawn - evil thoughts of death and torture come to mind. I didn't
have any lily blooms last year because of either rabbits or deer or both. A
gardening acquaintance said to get a pellet gun. That's surging too much. I
am thinking - fencing as in perimeter fence. I suppose I could call the
fenced in area the "green zone. "

Scott in Austin ... Minnesota

What "Austin" are you talking about? We rarely have snow and our last
average frost date is March 15, not May.

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 09:39:34 -0600, "Scott Richardson"
wrote:

You'll be happy to hear that nearly all of the snow is now gone in Austin.
Heard a robin singing this morning. Probably two to three weeks away before
the garden will be dry enough to start cleaning up and getting ready for the
new season. I have penstemon, snaps, clematis, columbine, larkspur, bachelor
button seedlings that I need to repot into individual pots and put out in
the cold frame. Today or tomorrow I start impatiens, petunia, and about 3
varieties of marigolds. Some basil and cherry tomato also. (I have three
sets of shop lights in the basement so I am indoor gardening from about
December.

Outdoor planting's frost free date is May 15th.
With the snow gone, I see that moles have been busy all winter just
under the snow but above the ground - I have declared war on them, but
victory is not yet in sight. This summer I am surging up my efforts. They
are handy in the garden as they churn the soil without hurting the plants.
In the lawn - evil thoughts of death and torture come to mind. I didn't
have any lily blooms last year because of either rabbits or deer or both. A
gardening acquaintance said to get a pellet gun. That's surging too much. I
am thinking - fencing as in perimeter fence. I suppose I could call the
fenced in area the "green zone. "

Scott in Austin ... Minnesota

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:12:38 -0600, Omelet
wrote:

In article ,
Jangchub wrote:

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 09:39:34 -0600, "Scott Richardson"
wrote:

You'll be happy to hear that nearly all of the snow is now gone in Austin.
Heard a robin singing this morning. Probably two to three weeks away before
the garden will be dry enough to start cleaning up and getting ready for the
new season. I have penstemon, snaps, clematis, columbine, larkspur, bachelor
button seedlings that I need to repot into individual pots and put out in
the cold frame. Today or tomorrow I start impatiens, petunia, and about 3
varieties of marigolds. Some basil and cherry tomato also. (I have three
sets of shop lights in the basement so I am indoor gardening from about
December.

Outdoor planting's frost free date is May 15th.
With the snow gone, I see that moles have been busy all winter just
under the snow but above the ground - I have declared war on them, but
victory is not yet in sight. This summer I am surging up my efforts. They
are handy in the garden as they churn the soil without hurting the plants.
In the lawn - evil thoughts of death and torture come to mind. I didn't
have any lily blooms last year because of either rabbits or deer or both. A
gardening acquaintance said to get a pellet gun. That's surging too much. I
am thinking - fencing as in perimeter fence. I suppose I could call the
fenced in area the "green zone. "

Scott in Austin ... Minnesota

What "Austin" are you talking about? We rarely have snow and our last
average frost date is March 15, not May.


Um, they said Austin Minnesota dear.

Do you really read ALL of the post before you reply? ;-D

It's okay, I do that from time to time too, and it's embarassing.

I'm not embarrassed at all. And no, I couldn't bear to read on,
sorry.

In article ,
Jangchub wrote:

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 09:39:34 -0600, "Scott Richardson"
wrote:

You'll be happy to hear that nearly all of the snow is now gone in Austin.
Heard a robin singing this morning. Probably two to three weeks away before
the garden will be dry enough to start cleaning up and getting ready for the
new season. I have penstemon, snaps, clematis, columbine, larkspur, bachelor
button seedlings that I need to repot into individual pots and put out in
the cold frame. Today or tomorrow I start impatiens, petunia, and about 3
varieties of marigolds. Some basil and cherry tomato also. (I have three
sets of shop lights in the basement so I am indoor gardening from about
December.

Outdoor planting's frost free date is May 15th.
With the snow gone, I see that moles have been busy all winter just
under the snow but above the ground - I have declared war on them, but
victory is not yet in sight. This summer I am surging up my efforts. They
are handy in the garden as they churn the soil without hurting the plants.
In the lawn - evil thoughts of death and torture come to mind. I didn't
have any lily blooms last year because of either rabbits or deer or both. A
gardening acquaintance said to get a pellet gun. That's surging too much. I
am thinking - fencing as in perimeter fence. I suppose I could call the
fenced in area the "green zone. "

Scott in Austin ... Minnesota

What "Austin" are you talking about? We rarely have snow and our last
average frost date is March 15, not May.


Um, they said Austin Minnesota dear.

Do you really read ALL of the post before you reply? ;-D

It's okay, I do that from time to time too, and it's embarassing.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

"Scott Richardson" wrote in message
...
You'll be happy to hear that nearly all of the snow is now gone in Austin.
Heard a robin singing this morning. Probably two to three weeks away
before Scott in Austin ... Minnesota
I love me some Hormel Chili!

Austin, Texas or Austin, Minnesota, its warmer every place. Move the marker
to the left on the calendar for last anticipated frost date.

Goodbye maples for Vermont I saw on TV in near future. Reason being the
same. Just getting too warm.
--
Noncompliant

Money don't wag the dog's tail.

"Scott Richardson" wrote in message
...
You'll be happy to hear that nearly all of the snow is now gone in Austin.
Heard a robin singing this morning. Probably two to three weeks away
before the garden will be dry enough to start cleaning up and getting
ready for the new season. I have penstemon, snaps, clematis, columbine,
larkspur, bachelor button seedlings that I need to repot into individual
pots and put out in the cold frame. Today or tomorrow I start impatiens,
petunia, and about 3 varieties of marigolds. Some basil and cherry tomato
also. (I have three sets of shop lights in the basement so I am indoor
gardening from about December.

Outdoor planting's frost free date is May 15th.
With the snow gone, I see that moles have been busy all winter just
under the snow but above the ground - I have declared war on them, but
victory is not yet in sight. This summer I am surging up my efforts. They
are handy in the garden as they churn the soil without hurting the plants.
In the lawn - evil thoughts of death and torture come to mind. I didn't
have any lily blooms last year because of either rabbits or deer or both.
A gardening acquaintance said to get a pellet gun. That's surging too
much. I am thinking - fencing as in perimeter fence. I suppose I could
call the fenced in area the "green zone. "

Scott in Austin ... Minnesota

Used to be the deserts of Arabia and the Horn of Africa were the world's
breadbasket. What did we do 15,000 years ago to mess that one up?


"Noncompliant" wrote in message
thlink.net...
Austin, Texas or Austin, Minnesota, its warmer every place. Move the
marker to the left on the calendar for last anticipated frost date.

Goodbye maples for Vermont I saw on TV in near future. Reason being the
same. Just getting too warm.
--
Noncompliant

Money don't wag the dog's tail.

"Scott Richardson" wrote in message
...
You'll be happy to hear that nearly all of the snow is now gone in
Austin. Heard a robin singing this morning. Probably two to three weeks
away before the garden will be dry enough to start cleaning up and
getting ready for the new season. I have penstemon, snaps, clematis,
columbine, larkspur, bachelor button seedlings that I need to repot into
individual pots and put out in the cold frame. Today or tomorrow I start
impatiens, petunia, and about 3 varieties of marigolds. Some basil and
cherry tomato also. (I have three sets of shop lights in the basement so
I am indoor gardening from about December.

Outdoor planting's frost free date is May 15th.
With the snow gone, I see that moles have been busy all winter just
under the snow but above the ground - I have declared war on them, but
victory is not yet in sight. This summer I am surging up my efforts. They
are handy in the garden as they churn the soil without hurting the
plants. In the lawn - evil thoughts of death and torture come to mind. I
didn't have any lily blooms last year because of either rabbits or deer
or both. A gardening acquaintance said to get a pellet gun. That's
surging too much. I am thinking - fencing as in perimeter fence. I
suppose I could call the fenced in area the "green zone. "

Scott in Austin ... Minnesota

In article ,
"Justin Wilson" wrote:

Used to be the deserts of Arabia and the Horn of Africa were the world's
breadbasket. What did we do 15,000 years ago to mess that one up?

Too many goat herds?

I've herd that anyway. ;-)

Right now, Mexico is a good candidate for being the world's bread
basket, providing they practice good soil management and crop rotation.

Let's hope they do!
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 02:30:36 GMT, "Justin Wilson" wrote:

Used to be the deserts of Arabia and the Horn of Africa were the world's
breadbasket. What did we do 15,000 years ago to mess that one up?

The point is; it didn't happen over a period of 50 years, with
scientific evidence to prove its happening Did you see "An
Inconvenient Truth" before you said what you just said?

On Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:23:42 -0600, Omelet
wrote:

In article ,
"Justin Wilson" wrote:

Used to be the deserts of Arabia and the Horn of Africa were the world's
breadbasket. What did we do 15,000 years ago to mess that one up?

Too many goat herds?

I've herd that anyway. ;-)

Right now, Mexico is a good candidate for being the world's bread
basket, providing they practice good soil management and crop rotation.

Let's hope they do!

They won't. Mexicans are all working their way up into the United
States, dying in the desert before they can get here and we do nothing
to assist them. They are treated like criminals and deported back.
They also build 80% of all houses, lay rugs, do tile, build fences,
shovel shit and every other thing.

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more. (To coin a
phrase.)

In article ,
Jangchub wrote:

On Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:23:42 -0600, Omelet
wrote:

In article ,
"Justin Wilson" wrote:

Used to be the deserts of Arabia and the Horn of Africa were the world's
breadbasket. What did we do 15,000 years ago to mess that one up?

Too many goat herds?

I've herd that anyway. ;-)

Right now, Mexico is a good candidate for being the world's bread
basket, providing they practice good soil management and crop rotation.

Let's hope they do!

They won't. Mexicans are all working their way up into the United
States, dying in the desert before they can get here and we do nothing
to assist them. They are treated like criminals and deported back.
They also build 80% of all houses, lay rugs, do tile, build fences,
shovel shit and every other thing.

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more. (To coin a
phrase.)

Calm down... Not all of us dislike mexican labor.
For many of us, it's all we can afford and they do a helluva good job
for the most part.

My only gripe is is that I have to learn more Spanish if I hire even the
ones with green cards. ;-)
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:11:08 -0600, Omelet
wrote:

Calm down... Not all of us dislike mexican labor.
For many of us, it's all we can afford and they do a helluva good job
for the most part.

My only gripe is is that I have to learn more Spanish if I hire even the
ones with green cards. ;-)

When we first moved to Austin from Dallas, from New York; I was not
prepared for how many Mexican men and women worked here. I was
actually pleased because I come from and grew up in NYC, Brooklyn
actually, and I missed the cultural diversity. Dallas is like being
dropped into a white bread loaf!

Anyway, we had our pool put in the very first thing we did and the men
worked out in the heat, never complained, never said anything mean or
disparaging. I do speak a certain amount of Spanish from having
Puerto Rican men working in the greenhouses up on Long Island. I
don't have conversational knowledge. I fast learned that I could go
to any number of translators online and type what I wanted them to do
in English and would print it out in Spanish. Not all of them could
read, so I didn't want to embarrass them, so I'd just hold it up and
whoever walked over to read it, did so.

At the end I gave them all a big tip and they couldn't believe it.
Coming from New York, where tipping is absolutely demanded, was a nice
change. They were actually thankful!

I tried to read Tortilla Curtain by Boyle but it was too depressing. Story
about a young Mexican couple who snuck into California.
We have had a huge (about 3,000) influx of Mexican/Hispanic descent into
our town of 20,000 (Austin MN) all within the last 4 or 5 years. Many and
probably most are hard working, clean dressing and very family oriented.
Don't know if Hormel could get the Spam out without that workforce. The
kids pick up the English quickly.
But, I haven't noticed that they are interested in gardening.
Adios', Amigos.
Scott in Austin MN
"Jangchub" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:23:42 -0600, Omelet
wrote:

In article ,
"Justin Wilson" wrote:

Used to be the deserts of Arabia and the Horn of Africa were the world's
breadbasket. What did we do 15,000 years ago to mess that one up?

Too many goat herds?

I've herd that anyway. ;-)

Right now, Mexico is a good candidate for being the world's bread
basket, providing they practice good soil management and crop rotation.

Let's hope they do!

They won't. Mexicans are all working their way up into the United
States, dying in the desert before they can get here and we do nothing
to assist them. They are treated like criminals and deported back.
They also build 80% of all houses, lay rugs, do tile, build fences,
shovel shit and every other thing.

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more. (To coin a
phrase.)

In article ,
Jangchub wrote:

On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:11:08 -0600, Omelet
wrote:

Calm down... Not all of us dislike mexican labor.
For many of us, it's all we can afford and they do a helluva good job
for the most part.

My only gripe is is that I have to learn more Spanish if I hire even the
ones with green cards. ;-)

When we first moved to Austin from Dallas, from New York; I was not
prepared for how many Mexican men and women worked here. I was
actually pleased because I come from and grew up in NYC, Brooklyn
actually, and I missed the cultural diversity. Dallas is like being
dropped into a white bread loaf!

Anyway, we had our pool put in the very first thing we did and the men
worked out in the heat, never complained, never said anything mean or
disparaging. I do speak a certain amount of Spanish from having
Puerto Rican men working in the greenhouses up on Long Island. I
don't have conversational knowledge. I fast learned that I could go
to any number of translators online and type what I wanted them to do
in English and would print it out in Spanish. Not all of them could
read, so I didn't want to embarrass them, so I'd just hold it up and
whoever walked over to read it, did so.

At the end I gave them all a big tip and they couldn't believe it.
Coming from New York, where tipping is absolutely demanded, was a nice
change. They were actually thankful!

The man I had build my retaining wall and privacy fence thought I was
over-paying him and almost wanted to refuse the money... I paid him what
I could afford which was about 1/5th of what a local masonry contractor
wanted.

This was the first time I'd used Mexican labor.
It was almost scary...
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 05:47:12 -0600, Omelet
wrote:


The man I had build my retaining wall and privacy fence thought I was
over-paying him and almost wanted to refuse the money... I paid him what
I could afford which was about 1/5th of what a local masonry contractor
wanted.

This was the first time I'd used Mexican labor.
It was almost scary...

Indeed. They are very hard working men and women. There is a
documentary about how Mexican's are moving up to Long Island and how
the locals are all freaking out about it. It got pretty brutal.
Netflix has the documentary:

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Farming...=453647114_0_0

I'm so sad for what our country used to stand for. It no longer
exists.