No wonder the people in Congress (who get LIFE TIME pensions and free health care from serving just ONE term) can, with no detectable empathy, propose deep cuts in social services to the citizenry they wrest taxes from "to help cut the deficit" while expanding the already obscene military "defense" budget that expands Empire vs. actually defending our nation. Check out the link below about our "public servants" in Congress and the family budgets they struggle to live within.
They make these proposals as millions of Americans do their best to be frugal, including gardening at home and joining community gardens to try to insure their families eat in these very difficult times. Since this is no longer a democratic republic but an oligarchy that has no moral qualms about sending our children off to their wars of choice for profit (while steadfastly avoiding the military service for them and theirs that they tell us is an "honor") while robbing and imprisoning us ( the "Land of The Free" has just 5% of the world's population but 25% of the prison population) perhaps it is time to take note of the "Arab Spring" and get their undivided attention.
I bet they'd take note if next spring ALL middle class and lower class Americans "forget" to file their tax returns, or if we all withdrew all our funds from our bank accounts and stashed the cash safely, or if we discouraged our children from joining the military services that have VERY little to do with "protecting our freedoms" and that instead create vast numbers of "terrorists" around the world by making unprovoked land grabbing invasions and regime change possible.....George Bush did not personally invade Iraq.....hundreds of thousands of obedient US soldiers did. The shockingly amoral criminals of the Bush regime, instead of facing trials at home and abroad and justice and possible prison time WITH that 25%, instead got even richer plus book deals and taxpayer-provided lifetime pensions and "socialist" health care plans none of us could ever dream of. But heaven help the American caught enjoying the simple safe pleasures of the cannabis plant that our Founding Fathers enjoyed. (yup, Google it and read their personal letters).
I can only imagine how Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and Ben Franklin and more would be heartbroken if they could see how their brave dream has become a nightmare for hundreds of millions of people around the world, including here at home. More and more it seems to me that the time has come to emulate the non-violent social actions of Gandhi, Lennon and King before we lose our nation forever to a soulless, conscienceless, and incredibly spoiled plutocracy that seems virtually psychopathic in its lack of empathy for the people they govern and affect around Planet Earth.
I recently saw a quote I love although I forget who said it.....
"Garden as if your life depended on it, because it does".
John
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28432.htm
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
A Recipe for Egyptian Molokhiya Soup
The last three summers I've grown very fond of this very tall growing heat-and-moisture loving annual from North Africa whose stem is the source of jute fiber.....I love to nibble the leaves raw right from the plant, or add them to salads, sandwiches and omelets. In Egypt it has been used for centuries in rabbit and chicken stews plus as a soup in its own right. I was looking at a soup recipe yesterday that required I spend some time and money on the pricey Greek spice 'mastic', the dried sap of a sub-shrub. But this African recipe looks easier in a few regards. I have planted two more 15 gallon Water Wise Container Gardens with molokhiya seedlings, plus will sow some seeds directly into a third as it will take a LOT of the mild tender leaves to make a good sized pot of this delicious-sounding soup. The botanical name of the plant is Corchorus olitorius if you wish to research it.
John
http://www.congocookbook.com/soup_and_stew_recipes/molokhia.html
John
http://www.congocookbook.com/soup_and_stew_recipes/molokhia.html
Monday, June 27, 2011
Home Made Botargo
I learned of this savory seasoning (spelled differently in each region) last year on the great show 'Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern' shot on coastal Italy. It is VERY expensive but I made mine for next to free. It is raw fish roe sacks fermented and dried for months packed in salt. It is shaved onto hot pasta and other dishes where it lends a flavor like anchovy but less sharp and not all all oily....more like a very dry Parmesan. Last Thanksgiving my friend Pat's fishing buddy Paul gave me two BIG pregnant mullets he'd just caught as he and his wife don't like mullet. I removed the roe sacks, cooked and ate the mullets, then did the following.
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I lined a clay orchid pot with a paper towel (to keep the salt from spilling out the holes) poured in about 2 inches of fine sea salt and coarse ice cream salt, laid two roe sacks atop that, buried them in more salt, added the last two roe sacks, more salt until it was slightly higher than the rim of the pot, laid a coffee saucer atop that, then set a 10 lb. weight on the saucer for the needed compression. This assembly was on my dead dryer in my unheated uncooled laundry room where it remained until a month ago. It was exciting to take the roe sacks out of the salt, now shrunken and VERY hard, like a super dense block of Romano cheese, exuding a rich savory smell. Guess who cooked up a batch of spaghetti noodles added to onions and garlic and arugula sauteed in olive oil, then topped it all with freshly ground botargo and romano cheese?! Like I always joke, some sweet guy with awesome pecs should marry me for my cooking and insatiable sex drive!
I hope to strike an arrangement with a commercial mullet fisherman as they discard the roe, and make botargo in bulk in a large wooden box packed with salt like I saw on Andrew's show that night. Yummy!
John
I hope to strike an arrangement with a commercial mullet fisherman as they discard the roe, and make botargo in bulk in a large wooden box packed with salt like I saw on Andrew's show that night. Yummy!
John
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Wet Relief!
It looks like I got about 1.5 inches of rain this last 36 hours or so! So very nice to see puddles on streets and my mulch layers DAMP for a change. Tampa can thank me for this rain.....I had JUST finished a giant load of laundry that was ready for the clothesline when it arrived.
I am focusing more on growing fruit this year....after attending a presentation on bananas at the last Rare Fruit Council meeting I am making it a point to build up DEEP layers of litter and mulch around the few bananas that have survived nearly 6 years of drought. I am planting the super dwarf Cavendish that Jon and Debbie Butz gave me in a buried 55 gallon Water Wise Container Garden, and have planted my long-lusted-after Jamaican Cherry (Muntingia calabura) in a buried 7 gallon Water Wise Container. I will soon begin dumping soil and mulch into my Golden Apple Snail pond to turn it into a bog garden and plant my newly purchased Guava tree and my long-suffering Jaboticaba in there...I will use my machete to stab the sides of the pond liner about 2 feet down from the top to allow drainage and thus make it be a GIANT Water Wise Container Garden.
Today I picked my first semi-ripe bunch of "Gracie's Grape".....excellent flavor. And moments ago I picked one of two "Cactus Apples" from my Stovepipe cactus (Cereus peruvianus) and am chilling it in the fridge. I also planted 4 papaya seedlings in the bed out front that once was CONSUMED by the giant rose 'Mermaid' and that I am now repopulating with roses in buried 5 gallon Water Wise Container Gardens plus various perennials and annuals in the deeply mulched soil. Once I clear out the bed that once was home to a lovely own root 'Abraham Darby' rose for years I will plant in it a loquat I got for free at the last Rare Fruit Council meeting as I am growing very fond of the "Food Forest" concept. The papayas will give me both fruit and the garden beds some relief from searing full sun as the roses and other plants take hold. Someday, the loquat will provide both fruit and shade for the nearby garden swing.
The 'Cape Gooseberry' plants I am growing in 15 gallon Water Wise Container Gardens in the kitchen garden along with eggplants and molokhiya have taken off BIG time since I began giving them more kitchen gray water and remembered to pee on their soil more often...their resemblance to tomato plants is uncanny. I love the fruits...they are closely related to tomatoes, tomatillas and ground cherries (they are in fact a Physallis species) and the fruits are like bigger, improved ground cherries. The best flavor comparison I've thought of is a mix of kiwi and strawberry, with maybe a faint touch of pineapple.
"Gray Street Grape" is burgeoning with many thousands of green grapes and I look forward to a huge harvest...since seeds don't bother me (plus grape seeds are good for us) I may try my hand this year at making home made raisins, and maybe even my first batch of homemade wine since I was 19 in Albuquerque.
Life is good....this rain, plus Dad's health has SO dramatically improved in the rehab center after a 4th doctor at Raulerson Hospital in Okeechobee intervened and ordered the SIMPLE lung culture test Dad's three drug-oriented, short-sighted doctors (whom over the years have each made a FORTUNE from Dad's TriCare policy) failed to do that confirmed their MIS-diagnosis of infectious pneumonia not the B.O.O.P he has that has responded EXTREMELY quickly to low oral doses of prednisone, he may be going home by Wednesday. Now if Dad will just stay healthy at 80 long enough to match his Dad's 93 (he had NO decline, just dropped dead one morning while shaving in the home he built by HAND in his 80s on Big Pine Key) and IF Florida can have a WET WET summer and fall to recharge our poor soil and lakes and aquifer, and IF the Bush Regime finally faces justice for their staggering crimes against this country and humanity, I will be ONE happy camper in 2011!
John
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Cactus Apples
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Cape Gooseberries
I am focusing more on growing fruit this year....after attending a presentation on bananas at the last Rare Fruit Council meeting I am making it a point to build up DEEP layers of litter and mulch around the few bananas that have survived nearly 6 years of drought. I am planting the super dwarf Cavendish that Jon and Debbie Butz gave me in a buried 55 gallon Water Wise Container Garden, and have planted my long-lusted-after Jamaican Cherry (Muntingia calabura) in a buried 7 gallon Water Wise Container. I will soon begin dumping soil and mulch into my Golden Apple Snail pond to turn it into a bog garden and plant my newly purchased Guava tree and my long-suffering Jaboticaba in there...I will use my machete to stab the sides of the pond liner about 2 feet down from the top to allow drainage and thus make it be a GIANT Water Wise Container Garden.
Today I picked my first semi-ripe bunch of "Gracie's Grape".....excellent flavor. And moments ago I picked one of two "Cactus Apples" from my Stovepipe cactus (Cereus peruvianus) and am chilling it in the fridge. I also planted 4 papaya seedlings in the bed out front that once was CONSUMED by the giant rose 'Mermaid' and that I am now repopulating with roses in buried 5 gallon Water Wise Container Gardens plus various perennials and annuals in the deeply mulched soil. Once I clear out the bed that once was home to a lovely own root 'Abraham Darby' rose for years I will plant in it a loquat I got for free at the last Rare Fruit Council meeting as I am growing very fond of the "Food Forest" concept. The papayas will give me both fruit and the garden beds some relief from searing full sun as the roses and other plants take hold. Someday, the loquat will provide both fruit and shade for the nearby garden swing.
The 'Cape Gooseberry' plants I am growing in 15 gallon Water Wise Container Gardens in the kitchen garden along with eggplants and molokhiya have taken off BIG time since I began giving them more kitchen gray water and remembered to pee on their soil more often...their resemblance to tomato plants is uncanny. I love the fruits...they are closely related to tomatoes, tomatillas and ground cherries (they are in fact a Physallis species) and the fruits are like bigger, improved ground cherries. The best flavor comparison I've thought of is a mix of kiwi and strawberry, with maybe a faint touch of pineapple.
"Gray Street Grape" is burgeoning with many thousands of green grapes and I look forward to a huge harvest...since seeds don't bother me (plus grape seeds are good for us) I may try my hand this year at making home made raisins, and maybe even my first batch of homemade wine since I was 19 in Albuquerque.
Life is good....this rain, plus Dad's health has SO dramatically improved in the rehab center after a 4th doctor at Raulerson Hospital in Okeechobee intervened and ordered the SIMPLE lung culture test Dad's three drug-oriented, short-sighted doctors (whom over the years have each made a FORTUNE from Dad's TriCare policy) failed to do that confirmed their MIS-diagnosis of infectious pneumonia not the B.O.O.P he has that has responded EXTREMELY quickly to low oral doses of prednisone, he may be going home by Wednesday. Now if Dad will just stay healthy at 80 long enough to match his Dad's 93 (he had NO decline, just dropped dead one morning while shaving in the home he built by HAND in his 80s on Big Pine Key) and IF Florida can have a WET WET summer and fall to recharge our poor soil and lakes and aquifer, and IF the Bush Regime finally faces justice for their staggering crimes against this country and humanity, I will be ONE happy camper in 2011!
John
Cactus Apples
Saturday, June 25, 2011
My Muscovy Ducks
The growth rate of the hatchlings has been incredible these three months.....all are now the size of Momma Duck or bigger. Soon I will go into their pen, clip their wings, then transfer them into my west bed out back to tidy up THAT bed of weeds for me, something they excel at. Plus it seems that the other Momma Duck (who days ago laid another clutch of eggs) and Poppa Duck convinced me they are TOO MEAN to be killed by a predator, hence their status as a vermin bird in the wild in Florida, though she lost ALL her last newly-hatched babies to a predator (a cat I am sure) in a few days. So yesterday I placed a barricade between Poppa Duck and me (he went after me last year when still free range like a freakin' Velociraptor in Jurassic Park...and I was just picking Vigna pods!) and I moved the new eggs onto a bed of pine needles in the giant dog carrier cage I used to shoo all three into each night before I realized racoons are afraid of them) so when they hatch in 30 days I can place these new ducklings in the very spacious duck pen for their safety.
This growth rate has been the result of their being fed restaurant scraps, weeds, bugs, left overs and seashell grit, with a few drops of iodine in their water now and then. As an urban farmer I have so far killed and eaten seven roosters, so I now need to "man up" and slaughter ducks too as the flock grows. I've only eaten duck meat a few times, and then the usual White Pekin, but I've read and been told that Muscovy Duck meat is VERY similar to cow meat.....dark and rich...plus I've seen frozen male Muscovy Duck breasts being sold on line for $68 EACH plus shipping....a new source of income for me perhaps?
One of the things that amuses me about my Muscovy Ducks...they LOVE to swim in whatever mini-pond I create for them, but when it rains, they run for cover!
As a man who long ago learned the hard way that he is not healthy when vegan or vegetarian, but who is trying to wean himself from factory farm sources of meat, these ducks and the roosters that hatch here could well make buying meat from the store a thing of my past. I have the soul of a vegan...killing these birds is so very intense for me. But it feels necessary, honest, and authentic to me as a man seeking ethical self sufficiency and moral responsibility in a country and culture where factory farming, Monsanto, and wars of choice for profit, such as Iraq and Afghanistan and now Libya, are the norm.
John
This growth rate has been the result of their being fed restaurant scraps, weeds, bugs, left overs and seashell grit, with a few drops of iodine in their water now and then. As an urban farmer I have so far killed and eaten seven roosters, so I now need to "man up" and slaughter ducks too as the flock grows. I've only eaten duck meat a few times, and then the usual White Pekin, but I've read and been told that Muscovy Duck meat is VERY similar to cow meat.....dark and rich...plus I've seen frozen male Muscovy Duck breasts being sold on line for $68 EACH plus shipping....a new source of income for me perhaps?
One of the things that amuses me about my Muscovy Ducks...they LOVE to swim in whatever mini-pond I create for them, but when it rains, they run for cover!
As a man who long ago learned the hard way that he is not healthy when vegan or vegetarian, but who is trying to wean himself from factory farm sources of meat, these ducks and the roosters that hatch here could well make buying meat from the store a thing of my past. I have the soul of a vegan...killing these birds is so very intense for me. But it feels necessary, honest, and authentic to me as a man seeking ethical self sufficiency and moral responsibility in a country and culture where factory farming, Monsanto, and wars of choice for profit, such as Iraq and Afghanistan and now Libya, are the norm.
John
Friday, June 24, 2011
Thanks!
....to that mysterious person who left a hefty bag of FRESH lychees hanging on my front screen door knob when I was in Okeechobee helping out my Dad! I'm inhaling them plus enjoying sharing them with friends who've never experienced their decadence. I savor the ritual of peeling and eating them. Total food sex.
And thanks Planet Earth for this sudden rain that arrived moments ago as my yard can surely use every drop...the next few days look hopeful indeed due to activity in the Gulf of Mexico.
I look forward to teaching my "Cooking What You Grow" class tomorrow based largely on the output of my gardens and my passion for ethnic cooking.....I will show how strategic use of spices can make it easy to turn vegetables and meats from your urban farm and grocery store into delicious examples of Thai, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, Turkish, Ethiopian, and Italian cuisines. Today I dug up a Caribbean Yam next to a banana plant by my south fence to show why this hassle-free species (Dioscorea) is a staple in tropical regions the world over....slimy when sliced raw but as good as any Idaho potato when boiled, fried or baked.
Dad is doing MUCH better and is getting what hopefully will be 2 weeks of physical therapy in the less-than-stellar 'Okeechobee Health Care Facility' before going home to either be back to his old self, or receive assistance from home health care, me and his friends and relatives.
I have a nice mix of tropical food crops for sale in 1 gallon pots on my front porch Honor System plant sales tables out front where folks just slip their cash through the dryer vent in my red office door, including Holy Basil, Molokhiya, Ube Purple Yam, Blue Pea Vine, Velvet Bean, African Jack Bean and Cape Gooseberry, all marked and priced on strips of recycled mini-blinds.
Thank you. John
And thanks Planet Earth for this sudden rain that arrived moments ago as my yard can surely use every drop...the next few days look hopeful indeed due to activity in the Gulf of Mexico.
I look forward to teaching my "Cooking What You Grow" class tomorrow based largely on the output of my gardens and my passion for ethnic cooking.....I will show how strategic use of spices can make it easy to turn vegetables and meats from your urban farm and grocery store into delicious examples of Thai, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, Turkish, Ethiopian, and Italian cuisines. Today I dug up a Caribbean Yam next to a banana plant by my south fence to show why this hassle-free species (Dioscorea) is a staple in tropical regions the world over....slimy when sliced raw but as good as any Idaho potato when boiled, fried or baked.
Dad is doing MUCH better and is getting what hopefully will be 2 weeks of physical therapy in the less-than-stellar 'Okeechobee Health Care Facility' before going home to either be back to his old self, or receive assistance from home health care, me and his friends and relatives.
I have a nice mix of tropical food crops for sale in 1 gallon pots on my front porch Honor System plant sales tables out front where folks just slip their cash through the dryer vent in my red office door, including Holy Basil, Molokhiya, Ube Purple Yam, Blue Pea Vine, Velvet Bean, African Jack Bean and Cape Gooseberry, all marked and priced on strips of recycled mini-blinds.
Thank you. John
Friday, June 17, 2011
Down on The Farm....and Dad
93% of Florida is now in severe drought, and theTampa Bay area is the 7% considered NOT in drought due to a technicality in rainfall amounts...but based on soil moisture levels after this drought having persisted since 2006 we TOO are in drought. Brutal. I noticed today that our neighborhood lake/pond on Leila Avenue a few blocks from here is lower than I have EVER seen it since I bought my house in the fall of 1998...the water has dropped SO low there is now a rudimentary beach. It all blows my mind as a Florida native who remembers how we were often TOO wet in the 60s and 70s. So guess who got a new load of mulch to try to trap what little moisture there is in my soil? Today, once again, the desiccating winds continued.
Yesterday I paid my first visit to TNS Nursery on west Hillsborough Avenue here in Tampa, right next to the airport runways after Mary Jo and Tim helped me find it as some weeks prior Peggy had stumbled on it but was not sure where it was...plus it did not show up on Google. Very nice mix of plants (though unfortunately many had no prices) with some prices quite good. I got me a 5 trunked braided guava that is 5 1/2 feet tall counting the three gallon pot for $20, and a 3' X 3' mystery rose that I think is 'Belinda' in a 3 gallon pot for $7....the rose goes into the front bed formerly ravaged by 'Mermaid', and today I stepped up the guava into a 5 gallon pot and set it in the camper shell that Pat gave that can hold about 5 inches of water as guavas are THIRSTY. This drought nuked a guava I had in the ground in the SW corner of the backyard for a long time...years ago Dad propagated it for me and it did well when we were getting all those hurricanes. But it died two years ago. Put it this way....guavas SO love water they colonize canal banks in south Florida AT THE WATER LINE, which is where Dad's original came from via his brother Bud. If you live in Tampa, TNS Nursery could be a good stop.
Today I dug up a jaboticaba that has struggled harshly ever since this drought began, planted it in a large pot, and also set it in that camper shell in 5 inches of standing water. In a future posting I will share a strategy I have devised to insure lush growth for it AND the guava as in view of OBVIOUS climate change here in Florida a whole new paradigm is needed.
One of my hens is finally going broody long term so I took Pat's advice and closed the door to the small cage she had chosen and am giving her bowls of water and food daily. I have yet to have a hen hatch eggs here and have always relied on my incubator as the broody hens would only PARTIALLY sit on the eggs, which eventually rotted. Now that she can't leave she IS staying on the nest....I'd love it if I could break my dependence on that incubator.
The "baby ducks" are now as big as Mom with near-adult plumage, so I will make my first attempt at catching them in their pen, clipping their wings, then moving them all plus Momma and the other Momma and Daddy Duck over to my west bed for them to eat down hellacious summer weeds now emerging in the heat. I will dump the very rich water inn the dinghy boat onto a Persian Lime in the east bed occupied the last few months by Daddy and Momma Duck 2, then move it to the west bed and fill it with precious water from the hose...it is a wonderful "portable duck pond" I scavenged curbside a few years back...fiberglass construction and the ducks LOVE diving in it.
Cracker has made clear as my "new" dog that he has no interest in hurting the chickens....but he DOES love a few brief chases each day as he dashes to the back gate to hang out in my neighbor Theresa's spacious backyard where he LOVES to chase squirrels up the pine trees plus play fetch with a plastic ball I found atop the henhouse...he is my first dog ever to play fetch. But friends remind me he is a miniature Australian Shepherd who is by instinct both a herder and a dog who needs chores so we play fetch a few times daily in Theresa's yard plus he "helps" me put the chickens to bed each day at sundown. I love him big time....awesome dog!
My Water Wise Container Gardens of varying sizes and constructions are allowing me nice harvests of molokhiya, eggplant, Lesbos basil and Thai hot peppers plus some lovely Old Roses despite this drought I am starting to take personally...after all those 15 years trapped in icy alien Colorado by a very upside down mortgage, I finally escape in November 2002 and come home, only to find that drought is the new norm here. But I will take this ANYDAY over an impossibly short growing season, endless months of snow and ice and a brown landscape, not to mention 20 degrees below fucking zero! Once again I will put on my Universe Wish List that we have a WET LUSH summer and fall...two tropical storms a month would be nice, thank you!
I used this week to propagate more plants for sale via my Honor System plant sales tables out front, and to set up for the classes I am offering this weekend. I am SURE my next water bill will be higher as I have indulged in a few selective deep waterings. I would love it if my soil gets DEEPLY saturated this summer from tropical storms so that I can then obsessively DEEP mulch all the beds this late summer and fall to trap it.
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Dad is doing MUCH better and there is FINALLY a diagnosis after the docs did the sputum culture I requested at the outset three weeks ago....this whole experience has been SO very rough on Dad, and has deepened big time my admiration for over-worked nurses, and my contempt and suspicion of VERY high paid doctors (one billed TriCare $70,000 for a 30 minute procedure!) who display a STUNNING ignorance of the crucial role of nutrition in human health, plus the mind's role....one very snottily poo-pooed the notion that Dad's reduced appetite and malaise the last couple of months before he fell ill might have been depression due to his wife of 57 years dying last May 28...despite this "doctor" not having a CLUE about the value of IV Vitamin C to address health crises, three days ago, after 4 days of my being persistent, I saw to it that Dad is now getting a meager 100 mg a day IV. I pushed this unrelentingly due to his very poor appetite for weeks and the CRUCIAL role of Vitamin C in building and sustaining healthy tissue and fighting infection. Simply incredible and maddening that I should have to inform them of widely available data from respected studies and therapies. Dad sounds so strong I hope he is home with his beloved dogs Buffy and Mindy in a few days.
Lastly, the watermelons that Dad was SO passionately growing this year have found their ways into several households in Okeechobee and Tampa. And my cousin Mike has brought in two for Dad and the staff to share.
Please wish Dad a speedy recovery, and Florida a WET SOGGY 2011!
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Dad, at 80, is on the right, next to his instant buddy John,
at Archie and Vicki's 30th annual Christmas party last year...
he had a blast.
John
Yesterday I paid my first visit to TNS Nursery on west Hillsborough Avenue here in Tampa, right next to the airport runways after Mary Jo and Tim helped me find it as some weeks prior Peggy had stumbled on it but was not sure where it was...plus it did not show up on Google. Very nice mix of plants (though unfortunately many had no prices) with some prices quite good. I got me a 5 trunked braided guava that is 5 1/2 feet tall counting the three gallon pot for $20, and a 3' X 3' mystery rose that I think is 'Belinda' in a 3 gallon pot for $7....the rose goes into the front bed formerly ravaged by 'Mermaid', and today I stepped up the guava into a 5 gallon pot and set it in the camper shell that Pat gave that can hold about 5 inches of water as guavas are THIRSTY. This drought nuked a guava I had in the ground in the SW corner of the backyard for a long time...years ago Dad propagated it for me and it did well when we were getting all those hurricanes. But it died two years ago. Put it this way....guavas SO love water they colonize canal banks in south Florida AT THE WATER LINE, which is where Dad's original came from via his brother Bud. If you live in Tampa, TNS Nursery could be a good stop.
Today I dug up a jaboticaba that has struggled harshly ever since this drought began, planted it in a large pot, and also set it in that camper shell in 5 inches of standing water. In a future posting I will share a strategy I have devised to insure lush growth for it AND the guava as in view of OBVIOUS climate change here in Florida a whole new paradigm is needed.
One of my hens is finally going broody long term so I took Pat's advice and closed the door to the small cage she had chosen and am giving her bowls of water and food daily. I have yet to have a hen hatch eggs here and have always relied on my incubator as the broody hens would only PARTIALLY sit on the eggs, which eventually rotted. Now that she can't leave she IS staying on the nest....I'd love it if I could break my dependence on that incubator.
The "baby ducks" are now as big as Mom with near-adult plumage, so I will make my first attempt at catching them in their pen, clipping their wings, then moving them all plus Momma and the other Momma and Daddy Duck over to my west bed for them to eat down hellacious summer weeds now emerging in the heat. I will dump the very rich water inn the dinghy boat onto a Persian Lime in the east bed occupied the last few months by Daddy and Momma Duck 2, then move it to the west bed and fill it with precious water from the hose...it is a wonderful "portable duck pond" I scavenged curbside a few years back...fiberglass construction and the ducks LOVE diving in it.
Cracker has made clear as my "new" dog that he has no interest in hurting the chickens....but he DOES love a few brief chases each day as he dashes to the back gate to hang out in my neighbor Theresa's spacious backyard where he LOVES to chase squirrels up the pine trees plus play fetch with a plastic ball I found atop the henhouse...he is my first dog ever to play fetch. But friends remind me he is a miniature Australian Shepherd who is by instinct both a herder and a dog who needs chores so we play fetch a few times daily in Theresa's yard plus he "helps" me put the chickens to bed each day at sundown. I love him big time....awesome dog!
My Water Wise Container Gardens of varying sizes and constructions are allowing me nice harvests of molokhiya, eggplant, Lesbos basil and Thai hot peppers plus some lovely Old Roses despite this drought I am starting to take personally...after all those 15 years trapped in icy alien Colorado by a very upside down mortgage, I finally escape in November 2002 and come home, only to find that drought is the new norm here. But I will take this ANYDAY over an impossibly short growing season, endless months of snow and ice and a brown landscape, not to mention 20 degrees below fucking zero! Once again I will put on my Universe Wish List that we have a WET LUSH summer and fall...two tropical storms a month would be nice, thank you!
I used this week to propagate more plants for sale via my Honor System plant sales tables out front, and to set up for the classes I am offering this weekend. I am SURE my next water bill will be higher as I have indulged in a few selective deep waterings. I would love it if my soil gets DEEPLY saturated this summer from tropical storms so that I can then obsessively DEEP mulch all the beds this late summer and fall to trap it.
Lastly, the watermelons that Dad was SO passionately growing this year have found their ways into several households in Okeechobee and Tampa. And my cousin Mike has brought in two for Dad and the staff to share.
Please wish Dad a speedy recovery, and Florida a WET SOGGY 2011!
at Archie and Vicki's 30th annual Christmas party last year...
he had a blast.
John
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