Gardening Question of the Day for Saturday, January 5, 2008
(Via Gardening Question of the Day (from the Old Farmer's Almanac))
I plan to can pickles when they're ready for harvesting and would like to grow my own pickling spices. What would you suggest? (answer).
I plan to can pickles when they're ready for harvesting and would like to grow my own pickling spices. What would you suggest? (answer).
From The Old Farmer's Almanac.
Our Garden Pergola is complete
(Via Gardening Tips 'n' Ideas)
More than 12 months after starting this project (some of my long term readers would remember when we commenced construction) our garden pergola is now finally complete - well...almost! There are still a few little things to fix but nothing of major importance.
More than 12 months after starting this project (some of my long term readers would remember when we commenced construction) our garden pergola is now finally complete - well...almost! There are still a few little things to fix but nothing of major importance.
Did it actually take 12 months to build this feature? No. If I added up all the time we actually spent ('we' being a few friends that offered help over the course of time) then we could have completed it over a long weekend. However, with so many other commitments tearing at my free-time, and money not always being readily available the project stalled for more than 9 months. The rest was a culmination of an hour here, or an hour scraped from there, to get certain parts achieved.
Was it worth it? Of course it was worth it. Most of our summer has been spent sitting under its shade allowing the gentle breeze to keep us from baking in 35°+C days. Deb spends most of the day reading while I gaze over the garden considering which plants are likely to stay and which will go.
Planning a garden pergola
Before starting our garden pergola there were a few issues that needed to be sort through. I wanted an open pergola that would accommodate a grape vine with summer fruit dangling through the rafters. Deb didn't want
the bees. I wanted rustic and old-world charm whereas Deb was more geometric shapes and lines.
In the end, we opted for a gabled, covered roof and I got my bush poles.
But that's not where the planning ended. At every turn we were given a few more options and the pergola that we ended with was certainly not what we had initially planned. It was, in fact, far better.
I guess this is one of the blessings of building your pergola yourself. If you had signed off on a contract with a builder making changes along the way can become very costly. Doing it ourselves made it a 'work-in-progress' and it took its shape over time.
The pergola roof
The roof is always the most contentious issue when building a garden pergola. Should it be covered? With what? Should it be gabled, flat, leaning or convex? Should it remain open? There are just so many considerations for the most important part of this construction.
One of our issues is that Busselton receives a considerable amount of rainfall. It's said that it rains for 9 months of the year and drips off the trees for the other three and sometimes it certainly feels like that. So, to keep our pergola open meant that the area would rarely be used.
Also, our backyard faces east so it cops the morning sun - albeit mostly hidden behind the towering peppermints. We didn't want to lose this aspect of our climate so we chose to cover the east facing roof side with tinted polycarbonate sheeting. This allows the sun to still shine through and warm the living areas in the house and gives us uninterrupted views of the tree canopy above.
However, the west side is a different story. On most summer days the sun would penetrate the patio and render it unusable between 12 and 5 pm. With this side we covered it completely with Colorbond™ sheeting. Now the whole roof keeps out the elements but we don't feel like we're cocooned within an indoor space.
It's really the best of both worlds.
A Tale Of Two Robins
(Via Snappy's Gardens Blog)
Two birds with the same common name. They are both called Robin. The top photo is the American Robin that Lisa mentioned in a comment..
The lower photo is one of my garden birds, the Common European Robin. They both have red breasts though.
The American Robin is a Song Thrush and state bird of Conneticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Robin
Apparently three of the birds have even found their way across the Atlantic Ocean to the UK! They must have been blown over by the trade winds.
The American Robin also made it into the musical Mary Poppins, as a film error building a nest outside their window.
The European Robin is my friend the garden bird who sits on my fence post every day looking into the garden and guarding his territory.
In the UK robins take a starring role every year on traditional Christmas cards. The Rspb loves robins in snowy garden photos. They have been part of the culture since the middle ages, as Robin Redbreast..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Robin
I thought they might have been related, but they are totally different species. A tale of two Robins.
Two birds with the same common name. They are both called Robin. The top photo is the American Robin that Lisa mentioned in a comment..The lower photo is one of my garden birds, the Common European Robin. They both have red breasts though.
The American Robin is a Song Thrush and state bird of Conneticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Robin
Apparently three of the birds have even found their way across the Atlantic Ocean to the UK! They must have been blown over by the trade winds.
The American Robin also made it into the musical Mary Poppins, as a film error building a nest outside their window.
The European Robin is my friend the garden bird who sits on my fence post every day looking into the garden and guarding his territory.
In the UK robins take a starring role every year on traditional Christmas cards. The Rspb loves robins in snowy garden photos. They have been part of the culture since the middle ages, as Robin Redbreast..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Robin
I thought they might have been related, but they are totally different species. A tale of two Robins.
Between a Rock and Another Rock
(Via grow this)
"Disorder is inherent in stability, Civilized man doesn’t understand stability. He’s confused it with rigidity. Our political and economic and social leaders drool about stability constantly. It’s their favorite word, next to ‘power.’ Gotta stabilize oil production and consumption, gotta stabilize student opposition to the government and so forth. Stabilization to them means order, uniformity, control. And that’s a half-witted and potentially genocidal misconception. No matter how thoroughly they control a system, disorder invariably leaks into it. Then the managers panic, rush to plug the leak and endeavor to tighten the controls.
“Therefore, totalitarianism grows in viciousness and scope. And the blind pity is, rigidity isn’t the same as stability at all. True stability results when presumed order and presumed disorder are balanced. A truly stable system expects the unexpected, is prepared to be disrupted, waits to be transformed…
"Wouldn’t you say that a stable individual accepts the inevitability of his death? Likewise, a stable culture, government or institution has built into it its own demise. It is open to change, open even to being overthrown. It is open, period. Gracefully open. That’s stability. That’s alive.”
-Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, 1976
My black pine is a 10 year old one gallon plant that I have been envisioning for years as a life-sized bonsai from a Japanese courtyard garden. Here it is being pulled by an old hose wrapped around waterfall filter pipes and some clothesline. Beneath it struggles a bougainvillea that is deep purple, although it's been too thirsty to bloom for years. It too, is about 10 years old. This bougainvillea is less hardy and slower growing than its bright red sibling, "San Diego Red".
Part of being a gardener is trying to plant trees to make shade for the next generation to sit beneath. Attempting to attain Disorder, the pine snagged by the hoses and ropes of Stability. Pine and vine, both living things destined to die, caught between two rocks symbolizing a sort of chronological immortal existence.
"Disorder is inherent in stability, Civilized man doesn’t understand stability. He’s confused it with rigidity. Our political and economic and social leaders drool about stability constantly. It’s their favorite word, next to ‘power.’ Gotta stabilize oil production and consumption, gotta stabilize student opposition to the government and so forth. Stabilization to them means order, uniformity, control. And that’s a half-witted and potentially genocidal misconception. No matter how thoroughly they control a system, disorder invariably leaks into it. Then the managers panic, rush to plug the leak and endeavor to tighten the controls.“Therefore, totalitarianism grows in viciousness and scope. And the blind pity is, rigidity isn’t the same as stability at all. True stability results when presumed order and presumed disorder are balanced. A truly stable system expects the unexpected, is prepared to be disrupted, waits to be transformed…
"Wouldn’t you say that a stable individual accepts the inevitability of his death? Likewise, a stable culture, government or institution has built into it its own demise. It is open to change, open even to being overthrown. It is open, period. Gracefully open. That’s stability. That’s alive.”
-Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, 1976
My black pine is a 10 year old one gallon plant that I have been envisioning for years as a life-sized bonsai from a Japanese courtyard garden. Here it is being pulled by an old hose wrapped around waterfall filter pipes and some clothesline. Beneath it struggles a bougainvillea that is deep purple, although it's been too thirsty to bloom for years. It too, is about 10 years old. This bougainvillea is less hardy and slower growing than its bright red sibling, "San Diego Red".
Part of being a gardener is trying to plant trees to make shade for the next generation to sit beneath. Attempting to attain Disorder, the pine snagged by the hoses and ropes of Stability. Pine and vine, both living things destined to die, caught between two rocks symbolizing a sort of chronological immortal existence.
Primula Sieboldii… The Perfect Primrose?
(Via An Iowa Garden)
Could Primula sieboldii be the perfect primrose? Well, if I look at the genus through my Iowa-tinted glasses, it comes about as close as we're going to get. If I lived in Seattle, I'm sure I would have a whole bushel of contenders... here on the plains I have a handful of candidates, and a box of old, plastic plant labels that aren't needed anymore. With Primula sieboldii, it's not like I went home from the party alone, though; it is a primrose that incites deep passion even in the Japanese, who have lots to choose from. Sieboldii is called Sakurasoh in Japan meaning, I've been told, "cherry blossom- plant". There is a Sakurasoh festival every year in Urawa a ward of the city of Saitama, northwest of Tokyo.In fact, sieboldii, in its myriad variety of flowers is collected fanatically all over Japan, often at nose-bleed prices for special named plants. There also is supposedly an American Sakurasoh Association here in this country, but it seems to have disappeared... perhaps it's gone dormant like its namesake.
Primuls sieboldii's native territory tells a lot about this plant; eastern Siberia down through Manchuria and North Korea to Japan... so much for concerns about its winter hardiness. Then it has this additional advantage for us midwesterners; it goes completely dormant in hot weather. There are lots of primroses that can tolerate cold winters (at least if there is good snow cover), but these species mostly melt like the snow when July in Iowa hits, with its hot winds and sauna nights filled with frog song. Sieboldii then, is almost uniquely equipped to handle our climate.
If further convincing is needed, consider: it breaks dormancy, and blooms towards the end of the primrose spring (blooming in late April here), so it tends to miss a lot of the ravages of late freezes. Also, the primroses that don't really go dormant here, in inclement years tend to have foliage that looks like its been beaten up with a stick... not a soothing complement to the delicate flowers. Contrast this to sieboldii, with its crisp-as-a new-dollar-bill foliage that only comes up when spring has come to stay. Add to these attributes, the enormous variety of fairly large, delicate snowflake flowers in a spectrum from white to pink to deep purple, and add in the tendency of sieboldii to steadily spread into large, though loose patches, and you've got yourself a pretty nice primula. It doesn't like being pushed off the porch too much, but it will tolerate growing around the edges of other woodland plants; it kind of weaves its way through and around other plants in the garden. I'm getting some pretty nice colonies under some of the Japanese maples. It is the one and only primrose that I've never lost, and that gets better every year. It may not be the absolute belle of the ball, but it's a primrose to take home to Mom.
Primuls sieboldii's native territory tells a lot about this plant; eastern Siberia down through Manchuria and North Korea to Japan... so much for concerns about its winter hardiness. Then it has this additional advantage for us midwesterners; it goes completely dormant in hot weather. There are lots of primroses that can tolerate cold winters (at least if there is good snow cover), but these species mostly melt like the snow when July in Iowa hits, with its hot winds and sauna nights filled with frog song. Sieboldii then, is almost uniquely equipped to handle our climate.
If further convincing is needed, consider: it breaks dormancy, and blooms towards the end of the primrose spring (blooming in late April here), so it tends to miss a lot of the ravages of late freezes. Also, the primroses that don't really go dormant here, in inclement years tend to have foliage that looks like its been beaten up with a stick... not a soothing complement to the delicate flowers. Contrast this to sieboldii, with its crisp-as-a new-dollar-bill foliage that only comes up when spring has come to stay. Add to these attributes, the enormous variety of fairly large, delicate snowflake flowers in a spectrum from white to pink to deep purple, and add in the tendency of sieboldii to steadily spread into large, though loose patches, and you've got yourself a pretty nice primula. It doesn't like being pushed off the porch too much, but it will tolerate growing around the edges of other woodland plants; it kind of weaves its way through and around other plants in the garden. I'm getting some pretty nice colonies under some of the Japanese maples. It is the one and only primrose that I've never lost, and that gets better every year. It may not be the absolute belle of the ball, but it's a primrose to take home to Mom.
Play
(Via Heronswood Voice)
Like popular music, at its core a form of theater, blogs and websites are little “plays in a box”. For example, the internet’s threat to television is likely what terrifies the PRC’s totalitarian government. China could literally disintegrate into democratic regions—an outcome greatly wished. Apparently, Iran has a huge and increasing number of blogs and websites; their development is hastening the slippage of the religious death-grip its government has on Iranian society. Seeing these events play out makes one wish he were thirty years younger. Autocratic regimes have always feared widespread literacy, and the web promises a great future for the dissemination of not only knowledge but culture generally, especially in the form of story, comedy and drama. The internet promises great social and cultural exposition and interaction.
Aside from certain avant-garde symphonic and chamber works, virtually all music is based on either dance or theater. Its origins are religious—the “big theater”—and with the decline of religion in the modern world, music has moved into prominence as a surrogate for telling stories and conveying a sense of alternative realities, much as religions used to do, especially for the young. This subject came up recently in a conversation with Bob Koester, the founder of Delmark Records and a legend in the music business. He produces jazz and blues records, mainly in the Chicago area. Business has been a bit shaky lately, so I floated the idea that he branch into folk music of England, Ireland and Scotland. He calmly replied, “Oh, no, that’s not the same as jazz or blues—it’s theater music.” Startled, I discussed with him the pros and cons of his assertion. But he convinced me that African American, slavery-based music is a unique art form, quite distinct from other forms of ethnic and folk music. He also pointed out that virtually all other popular music—from easy listening to rock ‘n’ roll—is derived entirely from either theater or movies, and I was stunned to realize that he was correct. Even the serious classical music of Europe had long ago originated from the tunes and melodies of theater, festivals and musical shows and plays. He also pointed out that much white teenage music derives from marching bands and nursery rhymes.
In the 1800s, theater buildings in American cities and towns became music halls. In poor neighborhoods, saloons and dance halls would have a small stage that existed primarily for the musical plays, whose songs would be excerpts to which patrons would dance into the early hours of Saturday night. When people stopped dancing, they sat and watched the stage, which is what nearly everyone does now, except the most adventuresome youth. Thus, the internet seems like a little theater-in-a-box.
I walked away from this conversation with my old music mentor a changed man. I hadn’t noticed before that I rarely play the guitar or piano by myself (unless practicing chords and scales). Even an audience of one is sufficient, and I play not only songs, but also stories, and even a few tunes put together in a theatrical “stage” theme.
Indeed, music is theater. And the overwhelming majority of popular music is based on children’s theater. I shall never forget the first time I traveled through the cities of Central America, and stopped into “record stores”. Invariably, they were small sections of neighborhood toy stores. No adult took recorded music seriously, unless it was for an after-work dance party.
Later, when my parents became ill, I returned to playing and singing Baptist hymns for them, and singing in church to clean out my pipes. I realized what I’d never been taught—that when I play music, I’m creating a sort of “love story” in rhythm and melody. These insights over the last few years have resulted in a strengthening of my perception of music in all its forms. I understand the stories, theatrical performances, “shows”, “audiences”, and “players”. And that’s all the internet is.
Here are some gardenesque blogs:
In addition to the great ones I mentioned last week
Cincinnati Cape Cod – Although infrequent “CCC” offers a sidelong glance at Kasmira and her goofy world.
Country Doctor’s Wife – Rural families are very misunderstood. This blog is a small step toward a cure.
Old Garden Roses and Beyond – Contains an excellent, concise overview of rose breeding by Ralph S. Moore.
Renegade Gardener – Takes staunch positions with a charming and folksy manner. I wish he’d blog more frequently.
Seedhead – Well written, cultivar-oriented blog.
What tha. . .? – An amusing horticulturist from Oregon. Also called, “Fer Crying Out Loud“.
Food Blogs
Unless the author writes well, he can ruin the last meal on earth. However, I’ve found a few folks so enthusiastic that they make up for content or style shortcomings.
Deep End Dining – As opposed to “high end” . . . oddball food blog.
Food On the Brain – Gourmet home cooking.
Fortune Cookie Chronicles – Hot and spicy Chinese food related.
A Guy In New York – Couple of urban foodies.
Southern Foodway Alliance – Home of the “Tennessee hog killing”, and a whole archive on gravy.
Tommy: eats – “New Jersey-centric thoughts and opinions on food, wine, dining and cooking.” Tommy is great – a candid, tasteful style.
Miscellaneous Blogs
Meet Me In Ataxia, Baby – Curious journal about photography and the travails of a library scholar.
New Rambler – Another fascinating library science scholar blog.
The Other Side of the Ocean – Nothing works my stuff like a Polish immigrant’s sensibility.
Photowalking.org – New hobby, which I needed.
How Organic Products Can Help Your Family
(Via Home and Family: Gardening Articles from EzineArticles.com)
You may be shocked at how much of the produce at your local supermarket has been genetically modified with chemicals and pesticides. While there is no strong evidence that chemically modified foods are instantly harmful to your health, there have been no long term studies done either. Here is a quote from The Environmental Protection Agency "Pesticides are designed to kill pests.
You may be shocked at how much of the produce at your local supermarket has been genetically modified with chemicals and pesticides. While there is no strong evidence that chemically modified foods are instantly harmful to your health, there have been no long term studies done either. Here is a quote from The Environmental Protection Agency "Pesticides are designed to kill pests.
My favorite catalogs
(Via OregonLive.com: Dig in with Kym)
It's that most wonderful time of year. No, not Christmas, though that's wonderful, too, especially if you get some garden-related gifts. I mean catalog season. The time when glossy, colorful, plump volumes come pouring in, tempting us to buy, buy,...
It's that most wonderful time of year. No, not Christmas, though that's wonderful, too, especially if you get some garden-related gifts. I mean catalog season. The time when glossy, colorful, plump volumes come pouring in, tempting us to buy, buy,...
Garden Pests
(Via Home and Family: Gardening Articles from EzineArticles.com)
If we could garden without any interference from the pests which attack plants, then indeed gardening would be a simple matter. But all the time we must watch out for these little foes little in size, but tremendous in the havoc they make.
If we could garden without any interference from the pests which attack plants, then indeed gardening would be a simple matter. But all the time we must watch out for these little foes little in size, but tremendous in the havoc they make.
