Rivermantic

Organic vs. Certified Naturally Grown

2010-01-31T20:19:00.000-05:00

You've seen the word organic plastered all over all sorts of products at the supermarket these days -- just about everywhere but at farmers markets and food co-ops that sell a lot of locally grown produce -- the very places that used to be the sole providers of organic, while the big boys were sneering at the concept.

What happened? Well, agribusinesses saw how popular organically grown food was becoming and decided to hop on. At that point, the USDA became involved and set up a certification program that works fine for big farmers who grow large amounts of just a few crops; a soybean farmer, or a wheat farmer. Not so good for the little market farmer who grows a wide variety of crops sells locally either directly to home and restaurant cooks or to local cooperatives and health food stores.

The local farmers have responded with the designation certified naturally grown.
Read the following excerpt from the Victory Seeds

When the National Organic Program was implemented in 2002, farmers like us that once proudly referred to ourselves as "organic" were no longer allowed to do so unless we became "certified" by a USDA sanctioned agency.

Certification through the National Organic Program (NOP) requires an enormous amount of record keeping. Literally a paper trail of every type of thing you are growing, from seed to sale. This may be feasible for large commodity farms that grow a few types of vegetables (monocrop plantings) and market under contract to chain stores or big processing plants, but time is a short commodity to small growers of diverse crops with a few family members available to complete all tasks.

Read the rest

2009-11-02T09:42:00.001-05:00

...People talk of getting their “dopamine rush” from chocolate, music, the stock market, the BlackBerry buzz on the thigh — anything that imparts a small, pleasurable thrill. Familiar agents of vice like cocaine, methamphetamine, alcohol and nicotine are known to stimulate the brain’s dopamine circuits, as do increasingly popular stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin....
In the emerging view, discussed in part at the Society for Neuroscience meeting last week in Chicago, dopamine is less about pleasure and reward than about drive and motivation, about figuring out what you have to do to survive and then doing it....
Dopamine is also part of the brain’s salience filter, its get-a-load-of-this device. “You can’t pay attention to everything, but you want to be adept as an organism at recognizing things that are novel,” Dr. Volkow said. “You might not notice a fly in the room, but if that fly was fluorescent, your dopamine cells would fire.”

Sounds like the potential for boredom is hardwired. Always need something new...

Tropical plants

2009-09-26T12:59:00.002-04:00

Now that it's getting cooler, it is a good time to give some thought to house plants.

A friend and I visited Logee's Greenhouses in Danielson, CT this morning. They do a brisk mail order business in tropical plants and others that are suitable house plants for cool climates, and most of which are happy outside in the summer, in pots. You can order a catalog from their website.

If you find yourself in the vicinty of Danielson, in northeast Connecticut, it's worth a visit. Outside you will see banana trees, bougainvillea vines and various other southern plants. A few of them manage to overwinter out doors, perhaps nestled against the warmth of a heated greenhouse, but most are in pots -- some in really huge pots-- and are taken in when it gets too cold for them.

On the way home we stopped at the Farmer's Market in Danielson, near the library. Lots of fresh, good looking food! Naturally we bought some!

Outdoors in Connecticut

2009-06-07T09:13:00.005-04:00

The Hartford Courant today has a list of State Parks divided by region of the state (none is very far from anywhere in the state!) in the paper and online. The information here is condensed from its review.
[ State's Parks An Alternative To Adventures Afar ]

West

Lake Waramaug State Park, Kent

The 98-acre park has a clear lake with a small sandy beach suitable for young children. There are outdoor grills available for visitors, including non-campers. The 77-site campground provides affordable lodging in an area of upscale bed and breakfasts, wineries and farmland.

Cost: Seasonal parking fees are $7 weekends, no charge weekdays

Phone number: 860-868-2592 (maintenance office); 860-868-0220 (camping)

Mount Tom State Park, Litchfield

Swim in the 60-acre Mount Tom Pond, gather for picnics, fish and hike. Pets allowed in picnic areas and on trails but not on the beach.

Cost: Seasonal parking fees are $7 weekends, $5 weekdays

Phone number: 860-424-3200

Central

Devil's Hopyard, East Haddam

The Eight Mile River plunges 60 feet in a wooded area at Chapman Falls. The site gets its name from the deep, round potholes up to 6 feet in diameter. There is hiking around Mitchell Pond, fishing at Deep Hole and camping at the 22-site campground. The park is good for bird-watching.

Cost: No parking fees.

Phone number: 860-873-8566

Gillette Castle, East Haddam

Perched along the Connecticut River on a hill known as the Seventh Sister, Gillette Castle, built between 1914 and 1919, has unusual stonework, secret passages and tales of actor William Gillette, who played the part of Sherlock Holmes 1,300 times over 33 years. Much of the woodwork was fashioned by boat-builders, who designed unusual locks and latches.

Cost: Castle tours (Memorial Day to Columbus Day) are $5 for ages 13 and older; $2 ages 6 to 12.

Phone number: 860-526-2336

East

Rocky Neck State Park, East Lyme

The 710-acre park is fine for swimming or a hike. See Tony's Nose, a rocky ledge overlooking the Fourmile River. Rocky Neck was a popular fishing spot for Colonists and Indians; today families enjoy fishing on the big stone pier.

Cost: Seasonal parking fees are $10 weekends; $5 after 4 p.m.; $7 weekdays; $5 after 4 p.m.

Phone number: 860-739-5471

Harkness Memorial State Park, Waterford

The 230-acre park on Long Island Sound includes a 42-room Italianate mansion, Eolia and gardens designed by Beatrix Farrand. The estate has abundant grassy acres overlooking the ocean and gorgeous gardens.

Cost: Seasonal parking fees are $7 weekends, $5 after 4 p.m.; $5 weekdays

Phone number: 860-443-5725

You can borrow a state parks pass from the main branch of your local library. Parking fees are waived when you use the pass.

WalkCT Family Rambles

2009-06-07T08:53:00.004-04:00

Take a Hike

The Connecticut Forest and Park Association lists Family Rambles (short, easy hikes suitable for non-athletic hikers) on their website. These have guides to assist the inexperienced walker.

Take a break from the daily grind and join us for a refreshing adventure. WalkCT Family Rambles bring families, fun, and the outdoors together. Led by trained WalkCT Family Guides, these engaging outings are offered at trails around the state on the last weekend of every month, January through December. Because these adventures are geared specifically for families, kids and their caregivers will delight in this outdoor quest for fun together.

For instance there's a bird-watching hike in Hebron that aims at folks not accustomed to bird watching (and it helps to start with a guide rather than a guidebook)

In addition, there is a listing of other walking routes to follow on your own or with a few friends or family members.

Gorgeous May day

2009-05-31T19:40:00.002-04:00

I wrote to my daughter the following garden update:

The garden here looks really nice just now. Three kinds of Iris are blooming, dark purple with white center; palest lavender-blue; and the variegated grape iris planted by the wire fence by the driveway. (I have also planted a few red cabbage plants there.)
In addition, the dark purple Salvia is blooming, along with two clumps of purpley-blue flowers of catmint. Coming along soon will be the light yellow Coreopsis 'moonbeam' that flowers for several months. I recently purchased one little hollyhock plant to see how it would do here, and so far it seems fine. It's quite small - I assume it will grow taller, now only about 6-7 inches - but it is blooming already.

2009-05-17T17:37:00.002-04:00

I am thinking of a trip to Whately Mass. to see the New England Wildflower Society plant propagation farm.

....(It) opens its 2009 Spring Season Thursday, April 16 and will remain open Thursdays through Sundays until June 14. The Society’s nursery propagates and features over 450 native plant species for sale

They have quite a number of New England plants for sale there, and their website provides a list with prices

Guerilla Gardeners

2009-02-15T09:30:00.002-05:00

With the paving over of American, sale of public lands to resource extrating companies, and the ownership of much of the commercial garden products by one or two chemical companies (that of course have a vested interest in plants that require chemical fertilizers and insecticides to survive) --- some people are fighting back. They are adding food production to the land in unlikely pieces of land, mostly public spaces that are underused.
Take a look at the guerilla gardening site called "Primal Seeds."

An urban adventure at the threshold of nature and culture, taking back our own time and space, transforming the urban desert, into a provider of food and a space where people meet face to face to discuss and participate directly in the remaking of their own towns and cities.

Victory Seed Co. ++

2009-02-15T09:04:00.004-05:00

Are you planning your own victory garden to produce food for your family?

This morning I came upon the Victory Seed Company website which sells seeds that are worth having.
Their mission statement - and they like a few other companies, ARE on a mission not just maximizing profits -- explains:

The primary reason for our existence as an organization is to help protect open-pollinated and heirloom seed varieties during a time when the diversity of plant life on our planet is quickly shrinking.

Regions of the planet that provided much of the genetic material for our domesticated crop plants is rapidly being destroyed or irreversibly damaged. Additionally, in the past few years there has been a growing trend of mergers and consolidations among the seed industry. With responsibility to shareholders as a motive, less profitable and similar seed varieties are being dropped from the seed lines of the combined companies. In many cases, these plants are forever lost to us all.

As we witness the elimination of old varieties from other company's offerings, the emphasis of commercial unstable hybrids, and the proliferation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), we feel an urgency in our mission.

Among other useful treasures, their website has an excellent glossary of terms I keep seeing in seed catalogs and have only a rough idea of what they mean, and the distinctions between words that are similar or overlapping. I looked up "open-pollinated" plants, because I was unsure what that entailed.

Back to the land

2008-11-22T08:01:00.004-05:00

Taken from the land, many of us are happy about it, but many others miss it. My grandmother and my mother were both gardeners to some extent. I lived in an apartment for many years where gardening potential was minimal. In my early 60s I went out and bought a house almost enterely because I wanted to garden on my own turf.

Here's a story from Garden Rant about a German lady who migrated to Canada in middle age in order to farm.

...her younger brother got the farm, and she started a heating and plumbing business with her husband and was very successful. Then in middle age, as often happens in middle age, she suddenly no longer had any patience for anything that kept her from the life she'd always wanted. She couldn't stay where she was. Land in Germany is so expensive, there was no way to assemble a farm if you didn't inherit one. So Marl sold everything and got ready to drag her two small children and her husband out of their home, their country, and their culture and head for Canada to become a dairy farmer. ...
She told me, "I was about to leave Germany when I ran into someone I went to grade school with. I told him I was going to Canada to farm, and he said, 'Oh, that's the kind of thing young people do, not people our age.'

"'No,' I said, 'I am going to Canada.' So he said jokingly, 'Maybe I'll move to Canada, too.'

"'No,' I said, 'you're too old. You've been an old man since kindergarten.'"
[read the rest]

Rain again

2008-09-27T13:36:00.002-04:00

It is warm and rainy today. Yesterday it was cool and rainy. While hurricanes blow in the South, we get mostly moderate rain. I like this rain -- it is gentle and easily absorbed into the earth.

Birds don't mind it. They have clustered at one of the hanging feeders - house sparrows and house finches, both common in our garden. Also, an occasional mourning dove or blue jay, a family of cardinals, and a gang of chickadees.

Hippy Shopper

2007-02-17T13:24:00.000-05:00

Solar Powered Gardeing Features

Thought you might like to think just a tad about spring, what with the warm 30 degrees we are seeing this fine day in February! (Almost time for snow drops to bloom!)

--Kate

Hippy Shopper
Solar powered water cascade - look, no wires!

TerwatFancy a water feature in your garden, but can't face the faff? How about this mosaic terracota water cascade? The pump is solar-powered so free to run, and it is stand-alone, requiring no complicated installation at all.

The disappointing rose

2007-01-19T17:01:00.000-05:00

A writer at Garden Rant describes failing with roses, in a way that makes me quake. My idea of a good garden is one that likes wht it finds in your dirt and spreads nicely, offering up fresh growth for second, third and fourth plants each year.

.... I haven't lost faith. Too many gorgeous varieties to choose from, and some day I'll find the perfect match of rose and spot, and it will actually grow like normal shrub, getting bigger and better each year, instead of growing like a rose... which, in my experience is nothing much in year one, promising in year two, possibly spectacular in year three, and then by year four, beginning either a slow or a fast process of wasting away....

Edwards takes lead on energy crisis

2007-01-19T16:34:00.000-05:00

It's time to ask Americans to be patriotic about something other than war. Join One Corps members in all 50 states who are taking action on January 27th to conserve energy in their communities and fight global warming. Read More »

January 27, 2007- National Day of Energy Action

For our first National Day of Action, Senator John Edwards has asked all One Corps chapters to get together and take action to help conserve energy and fight global warming. Energy and global warming are huge problems, but the solutions often involve small changes – and they add up to great things when we all do them together.

CT NOFA - Cultivating an Organic Connecticut

2006-12-13T06:47:00.000-05:00

CT NOFA - Cultivating an Organic Connecticut:

To build truly sustainable communities and lighten the footprint humans are making on the earth requires a new way of thinking about design, recycling, conservation, and renewable energy. Taking our cues from long-existing ecosystems on our planet we can create successful local food systems and virtually eliminate pollution, providing a healthier environment and better quality of life for everyone.

Cultivating and Organic Connecticut Conference - Windsor, CT Sat. March 10, 2007, 8:30 a.m.-4:34 p.m.
Over 30 workshops, A potluck lunch and Organic Marketplace

Steve Reich @ 70

2006-11-12T18:49:00.000-05:00

Steve Reich

Steve Reich [b.3 October 1936, New York]was recently called '...America's greatest living composer.' (The Village VOICE), '...the most original musical thinker of our time' (The New Yorker) and '...among the great composers of the century' (The New York Times). From his early taped speech pieces It's Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966) to his and video artist Beryl Korot's digital video opera Three Tales (2002), Mr. Reich's path has embraced not only aspects of Western Classical music, but the structures, harmonies, and rhythms of non-Western and American vernacular music, particularly jazz. 'There's just a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history and Steve Reich is one of them,' states The Guardian (London).

Born in New York and raised there and in California, Mr. Reich graduated with honors in philosophy from Cornell University in 1957. For the next two years, he studied composition with Hall Overton, and from 1958 to 1961 he studied at the Juilliard School of Music with William Bergsma and Vincent Persichetti. Mr. Reich received his M.A. in Music from Mills College in 1963, where he worked with Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud.

I think I'm pretty far out of the loop ... This world-famous composer is one I've never heard of. But he sounds interesting! Philosophy, ethics, history all rolled into a video-opera. Hmmmm

Natureworks

2006-11-12T10:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we made a field trip to a little garden center, Naturework, which is a little northeast of New Haven, for a free workshop on houseplants given by Nancy DuBrule-Clemente, who is also known as "the Garden Lady" on "Open Air New England," among other things.

It's interesting visiting garden places out of season - you get to see the bones of a place and some behind-the-scenes work.

After the talk, I bought three plant food items, including an $8 jug of fish emulsion organic plant food. You mix one Tbsp to a gallon of water, so it goes quite a ways. But listen...

Last night I discovered that our cat Gavia, in jumping from where she's not allowed to be where she is allowed(or vice-versa -- I wasn't there when it happened ) kicked my new bottle of fish emulsion fertilizer onto the floor. The plastic cap broke and a gooey tan liquid rolled out on the floor.

That stuff was about $8 a bottle! Eek! I began laboriously scooping it up into a blue plastic mushroom container I had lying around. I got about a cup of it before I quit, and poured it into a small pasta sauce jar I had saved.

What remained on the floor I wiped up with newspapers, then put the newspaper in the compost pile.

The stuff is quite thick, and some remained in the blue plastic container after I poured it out. So I added water, rinsed and poured it into a half-gallon milk jug -- see, I knew these saved items cluttering my ktchen things would find a use! -- and watered all my houseplants with it. (There turned out to be enough for a full gallon.)

I wonder if lichen or mold will grown on the floor, even though I washed it after wiping.

Garden for Sale: Here's looking at happiness

2006-11-11T20:26:00.000-05:00

Garden for Sale: Here's looking at happiness

Here's a garden that is so easily envisioned right in Rivermantic!

OAEC Programs | Occidental Arts & Ecology Center

2006-11-04T10:15:00.000-05:00

OAEC Programs | Occidental Arts & Ecology Center: "OAEC Site-Based Programs:

1. Permaculture Program
2. Intentional Communities Program
3. Arts Program
4. Mother Garden Biodiversity Program
5. Wildlands Biodiversity Program

OAEC Community-Centered Programs:

1. Ecological Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems Program
2. WATER Institute (Watershed Advocacy, Training, Education and Research)
3. School Garden Program"

The East Coast Greenway

2006-11-04T09:36:00.000-05:00

The East Coast Greenway
A piece of the "urban appalachian trail" was recently completed in Willimantic, and is ready for hiking and biking.

2006-10-31T13:03:00.000-05:00

Autumn vista - I like this composition. This maple, oak, and shed abutt my property...

The unmown sojourn

2006-09-23T13:35:00.000-04:00

The weather has cooled down to very pleasant in the daytime and chilly but not freezing at night. We've had a lot of rain.

I haven't spent much time outside lately and the grass is still growing, but the violets that have all summer covered the unmown parts are now collapsing.

I've been able to walk down into the furthest southeast corner of my property without fear of inadvertently stepping on a snake (I saw an 18-inch garter snake there last summer one day near the big maple tree, and it has made me cautious about walking in high-growth areas.)

I heard unfamiliar birdsong this morning. One song made me think of orioles, which I have not seen at this location, or perhaps it is a different call of cardinals.

A pair of cardinals showed up in our yard shortly after I first put out a feeder last year, and raised some young here, whom I've also seen at the feeders.

The cardinals generally sit atop a shepherd's crook from which two feeders hang. They announce themselves with a taunting Chit! Chit! Chit! to our cat, who sits inside watching through the side window and thinking of lunch... cardinal croquettes...? sparrow soufflé...? or perhaps titmouse tartare.

I have never before seen juvenile cardinals, and was at first unsure of them. Though my initial thought at first sight was "cardinal," there was no visible crest, the beak was grayish, and the only red was a slight tinge on the wings.

I am right to be unsure, though I thought I was familiar with most of the birds in my part of Connecticut, at least the suburban ones. Last winter, however, I met for the first time a Carolina wren, and had never heard of it before, so I was not certain this cardinal-like bird was not some unknown finch. The birdbook confirmed for me that it was a juvenile cardinal, however. Nice to see.

Over a period of just a few days, one juvie seemed to get redder, enough so that I could identify it as a male. I didn't get a good look at the other one, but suspect it's female. When do they leave their parents and set up their own territory?

Mourning doves have also begun congregating on the grass beneath my feeders to clean up. I haven't seen them here all summer. (The cat went wild when the first dove alighted on the ground. I imagine they are tasty.)

September Morn -- almost :)

2006-08-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

This September birth flower, the morning glory, recently volunteered in my garden. I thought it was the latest birdseed mix I purchsed, until my neighbor The Magnificent Garfner told me he planted both morning glories and beans. Did I mention a bean of some sort volunteered right next to it? My whole garden was covered in vines! --Kate, Windsor, © 2006

Myth of the Week 2003

2006-08-24T16:23:00.000-04:00

The Renegade Gardener

...Big news rolled out of the University of Minnesota two years back. After checking over 500 potted trees randomly selected from wholesale and retail nursery yards, University researchers discovered a great many that were potted too deep, with, on average, six to eight inches of soil packed above the first set of lateral roots (or 'shoulder' roots). The same situation has been found in trees dug and sold with the root ball wrapped in burlap.

If homeowners plant a tree at the same level as the soil in the pot, but don't check to see if excess dirt has been packed over the top of the shoulder roots when the tree was dug and prepared for sale, they could be planting the tree too deep. Planting a tree even six inches too deep can cause root girdling, as the roots, sensing they're too far below the surface, tend to grow up, then in, circling the trunk. The tree dies in five years, or goes down in a storm in twenty, or lives a long, sickly, bitter life.

Garden Rant

2006-08-24T15:34:00.000-04:00

Garden Rant: "John Woo's Gardening Tips

What if John Woo, director of Mission Impossible II, had a gardening show?"

Hilarious home video... well, it's hilarious for a gardener ;-)

Night visitor

2006-08-19T04:47:00.000-04:00

We've had things kind of opened up at our house during hot weather. Sometimes there is a ground-floor, unscreened window left open for our cat, or the back door propped open.

The past few days, I have noted some curious occurences and then evidence of a visitor.

Our cat's appetite increased, and she began finishing her food off.
The cat seems reluctant to walk on the floor, preferring to sit on the dining table and travel from table to chair, to newspaper stack, to hassock, etc. instead of jumping down. She seems a bit edgy. Fleas?
Someone or something got into the bag of sunflower seeds on the porch, poking holes in the bag, and apparently spitting out or regurgitating clumps of seeds. Mouse? (Cat brings them in) Squirrel??
On top of a group of kitchen roasting pans too big to fit in our cupboards, I yesterday found a fresh turd. It was a bit larger than our cat typiclly produces.skunk? Dog? not up off the floor like that. Very strange!

I have seen three skunks in the side yard chowing down on bird seed. Skunks, however, do not seem very inclined to climb or jump, and any animal entering our house would have had either to jump up about 3-4 feet to enter the open window (easy for a cat), or go up a set of four wooden steps onto the deck. I expect a skunk could do that, but they really don't seem very inclined to.

So naturally, I thought of the large neighborhood cat that comes into our yard fairly often and another cat which once came inside and was trapped on the back porch - what a panic leaping against the porch windows, until I opened the back door for it!

This morning I was awakened before dawn by a slight noise at my (second-floor) bedroom window, a spot where our cat sometimes sits to watch bird and squirrel doings in the side yard. My radio was on; the cat turns it on inadvertently by stepping on the ON button as she crosses from my desk to the windowsill.

It was nearly 4 a.m., so I got up, went downstairs and put on a pot of coffee, thinking to read the Hartford Courant and await daybreak. The paper wasn't here yet, so I began looking at yesterday's, which had only a cursory read-through before work on Friday.

The cat was sitting in the kitchen on a stool, doing her daily ablutions. I heard a noise on the floor, and looked up to see an oppossum entering the room from the direction of the stairs. It saw me at the same moment and had that "oh, shit" look on it's face that I've seen on the big black cat that comes around our yard when no one (it thinks) is looking.

I was glad it wasn't a skunk, as it seemed it would be less risky to get it outside. I did NOT want to have a skunk explosion indoors- outside a window would have been bad enough.

So, the first thing I did was open the front door WIDE. The 'possum ran to the third step of the stairs, which go around a corner on step three. It kept very still ("playing possum"?). I walked over to look at it and it keep quite still, except I noted a very slight turn of its head as it followed my movements. I did not want to chase it upstairs!

I went to the kitchen to get a broom, thinking to block it from going further up; I pulled a hassock over to stand on, so as to avoid having it run over my feet. I stood on the hassock and looked over the railing -- it was gone!

Just to be sure, I checked upstairs and saw no sign of it, so I went back down and shut the front door.

With animal intruders, as with enemies, it helps to leave them an out.

Connecticut Outdoors - Parks, Rivers, Camping, Outdoors from ctnow.com - OUTDOORS

2006-07-05T20:11:00.000-04:00

Connecticut Outdoors - Parks, Rivers, Camping, Outdoors from ctnow.com - OUTDOORS: "Connecticut has the highest number of horses per capita in the nation."

CitySeed | Nourishing a Sustainable Food Community

2006-06-10T15:32:00.000-04:00

New Haven

CitySeed | Nourishing a Sustainable Food Community: "MISSION

To engage the community in growing an equitable, local food system that promotes economic development, community development and sustainable agriculture.

VISION

To create a sustainable model of local economy, urban community, regional agriculture, environmental stewardship, and well-being through food."

Marigold truths

2006-06-03T21:51:00.001-04:00

Gardener thinks big thoughts

I have a gardening book I bought at the Willimantic Food Co-op where I do most of my food shopping and some household shopping too.

The book is Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch. I spent much of last winter reading it. Toward spring, I began carefully re-reading some of the entries on varieties of vegetables and making a rough diagram of what I wanted to plant, and when -- and where.

I do not have a big area that gets all-day sun. So I am planting here and there and starting small. I hope each year to expand my work.

The Garden Primer is excellent, expecially for a relative beginner like me. I am not as much a beginner now, however, as I was last year, before reading this book!

For example, the other day I was looking over some plants at the grocery store-- they were arrayed outside on little bleachers, a vantage point from which they could observe the parking lot games people play.

A woman nearby asked me if I could identify a plant she was looking at, and I could. Then looking at some marigolds, she casually began to explain that her son had brought her a little marigold plant he had started at school, which refused to grow, so she was going to buy at big one at the store and kid him with "Oh, look how your plant has grown!"

Without stopping to think that it was really none of my business, I said: "Oh, wait, dont do that! You could talk to him about the fact that it hasn't grown and think how to fix it. It could be an excellent lesson. You could discuss what it might need, water, sun, fertile soil, and so on. Does it get enough sun? Has it been warm enough?"

Marigolds, I told her, seem to like hot, sunny weather, and it hasn't really been all that hot here lately. Maybe his little plant will do better when it warms up.

I told her a little story about the peas I planted this year; they say to plant them in March, and mine weren't in the ground until late April. They stuck up their elbows and just sat like that a while, a small nudge of stem. Then they grew about 3 inches high... and again just sat. Then suddenly it was summer and they shot up! So I don't know whose idea it was to go out in a snowstorm on St. Patrick's day to plant peas.

I told her another little story about the year I planted marigolds- tall yellow ones-- along with some other flowers. It was a dry summer and my garden did not get watered. Everything but the marigolds died.

I have had some gardening experiences, myself, but having read Garden Prier cover to cover, I can fit them into a theoretical framework and speak with more confidence. (This is not really the goal of her book I expect, that the reader should be able to advise others in parking lots! But still...)

The woman seemed a little surprised by my remarks, but nodded thoughtfully. She asked me a couple of other questions, and then left -- without buying the plant.

I hate the idea of lying to kids. I did enough of it when my children were small, creating fantasy Christmases for them, producing 'proof' of the tooth fairy and what not. Well, I am not quite sure those were lies, exactly. Illusions, perhaps, fostered by me, sort of in fun. In time, I learned to foster their confidence in their own judgment.

Parents should not, I believe, get in the habit of trying to protect their kids from unpleasant truths. Intead, we should help our children come to grips with reality and think about what we can do to help a situation -- or if nothing, to accept it.

If you get in the habit of protecting your kids from potential little hurts (I am not talking about actual harms, but knowlede of unpleasant or sad things), soon you will be covering up unpleasant facts about yourself and will forget it is them you are trying to protect. (We see this happen in government on a regular basis, where hiding starts to protect the nation, or the people, but ends up as a way to conveniently mask the failings of leaders.)

Soon you no longer have the basis for a trusting relationship and the next thing you know, your kids won't listen to you, and they go out and experiment with drugs. You don't want that do you?

So come clean about the marigold, ok?

Weather report

2006-06-03T21:51:00.000-04:00

From my garden blog
It's been raining for a few days -- nice soft rain followed by more rain; but not the pounding sort of rain that dislodges young plants and batters down those in bloom. We had a number of quite warm days, so I finally had to dig around through some storage piles to see what I did with my summer clothes. I am still quite disorganized after our move of over a year ago.

My first summer in this house, I plunked down some anuals in the little front beds and put a few containers of annuals on the porch -- nust so people would know someone was living here, after the house had been vacant for months.

Since then, I have been trying to build compost, a slow business in that my only material was a superabundance of dry maaple leaves. This summer, I will have lots of green garden waste to add. The wild fall asters that are about 2 feet tall with a lot of rather coarse leaves and tiny flowers (aka weeds) and the buttercups and violets need to be cut back. I love the violets, but they cover most of the yard and are tall enough to give nice cover to a snake. I've seen one snake about 2.5 feet long and the cat has found a couple of shorter ones. I like them, and would not like to setp on onelurking in the grass. My plan is to leave swaths of the violets as ground cover, but to cut pathways through them from the compost and brush pile area to the bird feeder area, for instance.

'Olfactory heaven'

2006-05-18T22:20:00.001-04:00

An Iowa Garden

... In the garden itself, clouds of crabapple blooms, and grape-heavy clusters of lilacs add to the sensory delight (lilac 'Sensation' is pictured above). I am in olfactory heaven. As the garden year progresses, I could tell you the week by sniffing, for mid-May brings the deciduous azaleas, then come the roses and the trumpet lilies, then the Orienpets, and finally, in sultry late summer, the glory of the giant Oriental lilies; their musky perfume flows downhill in the still air, and lies in sweet blankets in the low spots in the garden

The IowaGarden blog has delightful writing about what must be a delightful garden!

Directions to Tower Hill Botanic Garden

2006-05-18T10:48:00.000-04:00

Venture Away from Rivermantic for a Few Hours

Directions to Tower Hill Botanic Garden: "GARDEN ADMISSION

$8.00 Adults,
$5.00 Seniors aged 65 and Youth aged 6-18

Free to members
and children under 6

Open Wednesday evenings
5-8pm, May through August

Garden tour every Sunday at 2pm from May through mid October

Twigs Cafe: Open 11am-3pm
Shop: Open 10am-5pm
Library: Open 10am-5pm,
Tues., Thur. and Sat"

CT DEP: Gift Giving

2006-05-17T19:01:00.000-04:00

CT Wildlife books

The DEP offers two booklets suggested for giving as gifts; but I think I want them for myself!

Enhancing Your Backyard for Wildlife

This 28-page booklet, with 19 outstanding color photographs, discusses methods of assessing wildlife habitat on your property and provides information on how to attract wildlife to your backyard. To order, send a check or money order for $3 (payable to the DEP Urban Wildlife program) to: Urban Wildlife Program, P.O. Box 1550, Burlington, CT 06103-1550.

Discover Wildlife in Connecticut’s Backyard

This 40-page guide for making backyards more attractive to wildlife is an unusual value. Containing information on landscaping and nest boxes, as well as recommendations fro winter foods and feeding strategies for many backyard wildlife species, the guide is a companion piece to a colorful poster entitled, 'Winter Picnics are for the Birds.' This set, which also includes a checklist of Connecticut’s 429 wildlife species, is available for only $5.00. Order by sending a check or money order (payable to CT DEP Nonharvested Wildlife Fund) to: Discover Connecticut’s Wildlife, P.O. Box 1550, Burlington, CT 06013-1550.

Rain

2006-05-16T06:47:00.000-04:00

It's been raining every day for 10 days or so (I dont keep as close a watch on the weather as I ought, for a would-be gardener). Reports indicate that there is flooding everywhere - but not here.

I'm still in the "we really need it" mode. Last summer it was very dry; water seemed to disappear soon after it touched the powdery earth. And, being new here and somewhat strapped for cash, I didnt have enough mulch to hold in the little we had. I am busily creating leaf mould to use as compost or mulch. There has been very little green to add to my compost piles until this rain hit. Now, of course, it's too wet to mow. Although it hasn't been raining constantly, it has not dried up at all between rainfalls.

A map at the Accu Weather Community Weather Blog shows that my part of Connecticut had 3-5 inches of rain last week. That's a lot of rain for one week. In the Boston and southeastern corner of New Hamshire, they had up to 12 inches!

I usually rely on the federal NOAA reports for my weekly weather forecasts, as they can be localized quite well -- just type in your zip code. But they do not provide one thing I've been looking for: a nice, easy to read series of charts showing rainfall and temperature history.

Well one good thing about this rain: my peas have finally begun to grow. For some time, they just sat there in the ground, occasionally rising up out of it to look around. It's nearly time to place a support for them -- but it's raining to much! Hm, may have to work put there in the rain! (copied from my garden blog)

Hope springs... in springtime

2006-03-19T19:10:00.000-05:00

Spring in a new place is exciting, but can also be a little disappointing. Last spring we had just moved in here and saw a few daffodils coming up.

That filled us with hope for other plants, but what appeared was cheery as far as it went, but all in all a little disappointing.

An attractive, flourishing dogwood-like shrub with square (4-petalled) white flowers
Two small forsythias
A couple of rather meager lilacs
One hosta way at the back by the stone wall
A straggly bit of rose beside the front porch with something of the pea family intertwined in it
Out front, a perfectly symmetrical pair of round evergreen bushes two large for their location
A huge bleeding heart that threatened the evergreen next to it -- I removed it when it finished blooming
a daylily clump at the corner of the garage that did well and another on the south wall of the house that was meager and bloomed not at all

It was surprising, for we had heard that a prior owner (but not the two immediately prior owners) had been a wonderful gardener and the place looked wonderful when she lived here. It appears the garden suffered some neglect in the 4-6 years of her absence and the two intervening owners.

What was lacking ? Flower beds. There was no sign of a flower bed anywhere but the two little squares out front with the round evergreens in them. These evergreens, being artless and surrounded by an orange woodchip mulch that clashed with the pale lavender-white they had painted the house must have been the work of the more recent, non-gardening owner.

Perhpas it was the Home Handyman owner, who thought a southwest theme would work well in this 1930s cottage-style house. So he removed all the old woodwork from around the doors and windows, replacing them with dark brown-painted unsanded 1x3 trim ("barnboards"); added fake stucco to the ceilings along with dark brown "beams" (also 1x3s); and hung a cowboy style wagon wheel "chandelier" in the dining area. In addition to being impossible to clean with that rough texture, it was, to my eye, really ugly.

This guy was busy in the basement, too -- my electrician nearly fainted when he saw all the wires running into one junction. But, I digress!

While there are no flower beds, there are many young maple trees circling the property -- and shading it -- so the one thing that grows the best and covers the lawn, is violets. They are everywhere. Luckily I like violets, though this seems a bit much. I guess it is indicative of the slight amount of full sun the lawn area gets. It does get quite a bit of dappled sun and full sun in nearly every spot for a few hours a day.

Part of my lack of sun is due to the neighbors on the south side following that typical advice to plant everygreens on the northside to protect the house from cold winter winds. They have gotten very tall and "protect" my house from the warm winter sun!

The place that has the most sun: the driveway on the north side of the house. We are thinking of tearing it out and planting vegetables there. But I doubt I will actually do that; I am loath to make big changes.

6-8 weeks before last frost

2006-03-18T08:14:00.000-05:00

How do I find out the last frost date for my area (Windham, CT)

I began searching the web for local information and it's surprisingly hard to find this. I turned up something at a couple of sites, see below:

Last frost dates, selected cities
Garden Web

Number after the state is days of growing season

Selected city	Days	Last frost	First frost
Hartford, CT	167	Apr. 25	Oct. 10
Worcester, MA	172	Apr. 27	Oct. 17
Albany, NY	144	May 7	Sept. 29
Syracuse, NY	170	Apr. 28	Oct. 16
Newark, NJ	219	Apr. 4	Nov. 10

First/Last frost, by zone, according to P Allen Smith (TV landscaper)
Avg. last frost

USDA Zone	Avg. first frost
Zone 4	1 May / 30 May	1 Sep / 30 Sep
Zone 5	30 Mar / 30 Apr	30 Sep / 30 Oct
Zone 6	30 Mar / 30 Apr	30 Sep / 30 Oct

Garden Club of Windham

2006-03-11T13:29:00.000-05:00

Garden Club of Windham: "Garden Club of Windham"

Over the river and through the woods

2005-11-23T07:33:00.000-05:00

7-Day Forecast:

Tonight: Snow likely, mainly after 3am. .... New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Thanksgiving Day: Periods of snow before 9am, then periods of rain. ... New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible....

Thursday Night: A chance of snow showers, mainly before 9pm....

The childhood song about the sleighride through the woods to Grandmother's house was sung just before Thanksgiving. It reflected a reality foreign to me. My grandmother lived in a city, and people travelled either on foot, or bicycle, or by automotive power (car, bus). Horse-drawn sleighs were a thing of the past. I grew up in an area of New York State where winter snow was copious and frequent, with typically 2- to 4-foot snowbanks lining sidewalks most of the winter.

Nevertheless,I do not recall any snow by Thanksgiving time in late November deep enough to accommodate a sleigh, or even a child's sled. Certainly not the "deep and drifted snow" of the song. A flurry, perhaps, one year in five. But we waited breathlessly, most years, for the first snow fall around Christmastime in late December.

when I moved to Connecticut in the 1970s, the winters seemed mild compared to those in New York, and also Maine where I had lived several years. Yet, lifers spoke of the horrid winters of years past.

I guess we are coming back to that. The big argument is whether this is due to global warming, or merely an ordinary cyclical change. It is primarily not a scientific argument, but a political one.

People wonder why, with global warming, our winters would be getting colder and snowier. In my mind, the artic is the ice cube in our temperate cocktail. As the ice melts, the drink gets colder.

Curry Leaf - Murraya koenigii

2005-11-07T15:23:00.000-05:00

Curry Leaf - Murraya koenigii:

The yellow 'curry powder' that is common in Western countries is actually not curry at all, but a mix of spices intended to mimic the true curry flavor.

That's something I've been wondering about!

2005-11-01T23:36:00.001-05:00

river? pond? lake? stream?

2005-10-22T19:20:00.000-04:00

If I were a river...what mood would I be in?

Rain, rain

2005-10-09T14:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a rainy day!! I had forgotten what they are like. It rained more during the night and again in the morning, and off and on during today. It is supposed to rain again tomorrow, and every day this week!

We really could have used some of that rain during the summer. See, this is an argument against "intelligent design."

Still, I am glad to have some rain (we have a serious deficit of water).

However, not being accustomed to it, I made the mistake of leaving outdoors the bag of dry food that belongs to Morris the outside cat. A light sprinkle did the bag no harm. A rain did the bag no harm, so I just left it there. But the NEXT time I lifted it to pour some in his dish--- whoosh! the bottom opened and it spilled all over the ground.

Whoo-hoo! Free catfood! Morris said, and tucked into it. Then a dog walked by on the street, and Morris scooted under the car and would not go back to the food. I had hoped he and/or the skunk that visits some evenings would devour it shortly.

This morning it was spread -- whether by skunk or by wind and water, I know not -- in an ugly gross yellowish smear along the driveway and well into the crabgrass. Nasty business, cleaning that up. Made my day! ;-|

Lately Morris has been acting like everything is a punishment directed at him. His range of activities is narrowing. He has refused to enter the house for over a month, which was okay when it was very warm indoors. But now the nights are getting quite chilly. Rain he does not like much, and looks bedraggled. But he still will NOT come inside.

Comments? suggestions?

I think he may have become supertitious.

Improve winter hardiness for tender perennials

2005-10-09T12:21:00.000-04:00

Mulberry Creek Herb Farm has a good short article on improving the chances of some tender perennials making it through the winter in areas where -- according to theUSDA zone they should not be able to.

They offer several tips to improve a plant's chances, for example:

Protection from the wind ... is critical for evergreen type plants such as rosemary or lavender. The lavender behind the greenhouses which are fully exposed to all of winter’s nastiness, were badly burnt and had few or terribly late flowers. However, those plants that were protected around the greenhouse and the house came through just fine. Snow fence for a bed or Saran Wrap™ around 4 posts (leave the top open) for individual evergreen specimens, are easy temperary solutions. Remember where your prevailing winds come from; ours is from the west south/west.

thoughts about god

2005-10-08T15:54:00.000-04:00

I posted some thoughts about god at a different blogthe alternate patriot:

though christians seem quite willing to take from the world whatever they want in order to get rich the natural world - the one 'created' by their god -- in some ways seems to terrify them. Gosh, sex! Gosh, homosexual lovers!
But more than that, the world seems to be disposable. Use and toss is the way they like to live. Plow on through like an ill-mannered child.

I hope they will learn to stop and smell the roses... before it's too late and the roses are gone.

Your comments are appreciated!

Fall colors

2005-10-05T02:17:00.000-04:00

All the Way to Bangor, Maine USA Letters from Mamabear: "Wow! Do I see COLORS!"

It's TIME! Get on the road headed north by this weekend or you are sure to miss the famous Maine Leaf Peeping Tradition!!!!

Listening in the night

2005-10-03T21:30:00.000-04:00

After dinner, and after I had finished cleaning up, I made a cup of orange spice tea, put on my heavy green flannel shirt, and went outdoors. The temperature had dropped, I think, to around 59-60 F, actually a little warmer than I had thought it would be , but I did not feel inclined to take the warm shirt off until I came back inside, later.

Our young tuxedo cat, Gavia (gavia is the Latin name for the Great Northern Diver, aka the common loon, a black and white bird with an elegant profile) came running toward me and darted into the house as I stood with the door open.

I stepped outside and stood still a moment, letting my eyes adjust to the dark, then went down the steps and walked slowly toward the front of the house.

I looked up toward the stars, but light from neighbors' houses made them seem not very bright. Then I walked around to the front and up a couple of steps to the front porch.

There I sat, in a comfortable old rocking chair, drinking my tea and listening. I heard a fairly loud and varied sound that may have been insects, or perhaps tree frogs. I dont know them apart well enough to say. What I did NOT hear - for a change! - was the barky dog who lives one house south of mine, nor motorcycles, nor four-wheel all-terrain recreation vehicles, nor lawnmowers, nor chain saws. Nor the loud radio or stereo, or CD player, of the hyoung neighbors who live around the corner.

Where was everyone? My best guess is that they were watching television. That's what the vast majority of Americans do in the evening. Years ago, it was knitting, reading, hobbies, or listening to the radio.

I am happy to say I have no functioning television at this point.

I therefore get to hear things and think things I otherwise would not have heard nor thought.

What was I thinking? I was thinking about God and AA. But that's a topic for another day! [note: see entry for 10-8-05 ]

Naled to be aerial sprayed in New Orleans

2005-09-12T06:19:00.000-04:00

Naled:

Naled is moderately to highly toxic by ingestion, inhalation and dermal adsorption. Here's what it cando to you:

Vapors or fumes of naled are corrosive to the mucous membranes lining the mouth, throat and lungs, and inhalation may cause severe irritation . A sensation of tightness in the chest and coughing are commonly experienced after inhalation.

As with all organophosphates, naled is readily absorbed through the skin. Skin which has come in contact with this material should be washed immediately with soap and water and all contaminated clothing should be removed.

Persons with respiratory ailments, recent exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors, impaired cholinesterase production, or with liver malfunction may be at increased risk from exposure to naled.

High environmental temperatures or exposure of naled to visible or UV light may enhance its toxicity.

The organophosphate insecticides are cholinesterase inhibitors. They are highly toxic by all routes of exposure. When inhaled, the first effects are usually respiratory and may include bloody or runny nose, coughing, chest discomfort, difficult or short breath, and wheezing due to constriction or excess fluid in the bronchial tubes.

Skin contact with organophosphates may cause localized sweating and involuntary muscle contractions. Eye contact will cause pain, bleeding, tears, pupil constriction, and blurred vision.

Following exposure by any route, other systemic effects may begin within a few minutes or be delayed for up to 12 hours. These may include pallor, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headache, dizziness, eye pain, blurred vision, constriction or dilation of the eye pupils, tears, salivation, sweating, and confusion.

Severe poisoning will affect the central nervous system, producing incoordination, slurred speech, loss of reflexes, weakness, fatigue, involuntary muscle contractions, twitching, tremors of the tongue or eyelids, and eventually paralysis of the body extremities.

Organic Gardening is the Way to Go

2005-08-27T16:49:00.000-04:00

Upon reading a great post by Palema regarding organic gardening, I remembered an interesting, and possibly related topic of discussion with a patron at my local vet today. Our pets were in for maintenance shots, but while we were sitting there, a couple brought in a very old and shaky, yet utmost happy Irish setter. It was clear it would be the dog's last visit to the vet! :(

This motivated a conversation about pets we love and have put to sleep, and the causes of illness. I propose organic gardening and pest maintenance.

The man told me he and his wife explored a mysterious kidney disease his dog had that was about to end it's life, or at least life quality. The man hypothesized that this mystery disease might have somehow (I'm not really sure how) been related to the known over-use of chemical sprayers on the gypsy moth caterpillars that year.

Thinking back to my two cats with cancer, that I adopted from the very same clinic as his, I remembered pondering why of all the cats I have had (only about 5 now in adult life, and this man knew of at least 2 others, even so, a small sampling) both adopted from that clinic had been diagnosed with cancer. One had an obvious lump on its back, removed once and returned. I watched this cat breath it's last breaths. The second cat, in an eerily timely fashion, picked up an equally eerie cough that set off an alarm bell. While it could have been inhaled bubblegum-flavored antibiotics (why oh why?) for a swollen lymph node, it likely was due to the large mass found on XRay throughout the lungs and heart area.

Back to my point - the cats both had issues. i got them from the same neighborhood, the same week. This was the same year the dog owner reported not only his dog unexpectedly getting ill, but other dogs as well. It was 1992, and the town was West Hartford, CT. It saddens me a bit, because I was VERY lucky to live across the hall from one talented Dr. Kristen Polci who managed to save my neighbor's cat after a bad car accident. I admired and respected her and come to the conclusion it was not the vet clinic, but rather some other element of that town or neighborhood.

Tell me, has any research shown that gypsy moth insecticides cause liver disease or cancer???

Obviously one would have to do clear cut research, and samples of more than 30 can be more accurate predictors, but I am swayed. Organic gardening is the way to go.

Biking to work

2005-08-24T20:32:00.000-04:00

Failure Magazine carries a review of Bicycle: The History by David Herlihy, a book that expounds on the loss of a mode of transportation that was once liberating to the masses and more particularly, to women. How far has fallen the noble bicycle!

In 21st-century America, bicycles are generally considered to be the province of kids, bike messengers, and lycra-clad Lance Armstrong wannabes. The once-King of the Road has been marginalized, pushed to the road shoulder—figuratively and sometimes literally.

Bicyle commuting would be a good idea - at the least, in fair weather.

I went through a period of riding my bike a distance of about one and a half miles to work in an office, and it was okay as long as I wasn't in too much of a hurry and the weather was agreeable. One does not want to arrive at the office dripping wet from rain or from sweat.

There were so many days when it was too hot, too cold, or too wet, that I ultimately abandoned the bicyle to the dust kittens in the downstairs hall, where it remained with a flat tire and a padlock whose combination I had long since forgotten, until we moved.

That bike, a ladies three-speed, had one advantage only, a seat ample enough to be comfortable. I got it second-hand for a little under $100. My husband at the time was influential in my getting it and I am sure I disappointed him in failing to take up biking with enthusiasm. Rather, it was a grinding chore for me.

Nevertheless, I think using a bike as transportation is an excellent idea, and I recommend it to everyone else. People ought to drive less; they ought to live closer to where they work and use a bike or walk to work. And they should definitely walk or bike to where they exercise.

Years ago I noted the irony that the downtown YMCA gym was failing to attract new people due to a lack of parking space There was a parking lot less than a block away, but people apparently did not want to walk half a block to exercise -- they wanted to park directly in front of the door.

The author of the above mentioned bicycle review likewise states:

Americans drive their SUV's to the gym, fight for parking spaces, then stand on line for Spin classes led by instructors who don't even own bicycles.

The thing is, biking is not just for exercise. It's for usingless gasoline, keeping the air cleaner and ourselves richer both in cash and conciousness. You can mediate while you bike;but think while driving at your peril.

Thanks to The Rev. Dr. Peter Gomes of Harvard,for the reference to Failure Magazine.

Happy birthday, bro'

2005-08-20T18:21:00.000-04:00

Today is my brother's birthday!

We haven't spoken much lately, but I am thinking of him.

In lieu of a card, I hereby wish him many happy returns of the day. May this year and the many to come be joyful ones :-)

Preserve your lake shore

2005-08-19T19:34:00.000-04:00

In the accompanying image, turtles bask comfortably on fallen timber at the restored lakefront of a summer home.

Some Minnsota residents have begun to realize that manicured lawns and the golf course look can kill a lake if all the shoreline residents adopt it. The same chemicals that kill the lawn weeds kill off the useful plants at the water's edge, and the same fertilizer that greens the grass, ripens the lake with a superabundance of algae, turning once sparkling waters to a murky green.

That's because of the loss of the lake's "kidneys," the wildflowers and bog life at the margin.

To read more about the problem -- and the solution -- see Kim Palmer's 8/18/05 article Lakeshores Go Wild in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Minneapolis, being the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, appreciates these things. Her article was reprinted tonight in my local paper, the Willimantic Chronicle (I wont bother with a link to it, because its online paper is quite unsatisfying).

Something you may find interesting in the article is the lesson offered on how a small number of people can teach and inspire others to likewise preseve their shoreline property.

Natureworks in southern Connecticut

2005-08-18T06:47:00.000-04:00

Natureworks landscape, garden, flower and educational center:

Our shop is in a 100-year-old house and is filled to overflowing with unique gifts and gardening accessories in every season. The plant benches in our yard are packed with an amazing variety of fascinating plants, from old-fashioned flowers to the latest cutting-edge introductions. But the best part of visiting Natureworks are the gardens. Our demonstration gardens surround the store and the retail sales yard. They contain most of the plants that we sell, growing in a style marked with wild abandon. They are a place to stroll and relax as well as a living classroom.

I am dying to visit this place, which appears to be located somewhere between North Haven and North Brandford, CT -- about 1.5 hours drive from where I live. For that, it would have to be very good!

The plants they sell are grown in the ground, which seems good to me, as it means they are not delecate hothouse items that will wither under a CT noonday sun or instantly rot following a couple of days of rain (we should be so lucky as to have a couple of rainy days!).

If and when I make this voyage, I will report in this space my review.

Gardeners' tips

2005-08-16T21:37:00.000-04:00

Help from gardener to gardener is the kind of help I like.

I've noticed sometimes that the horticulture columns in our newspaper rely heavily on insecticides and fertilizers. Some may not mind it, but I do NOT want to be out there spraying stuff on my plants all the time!

And really, it is better for the garden and the gardener and all the wildlife from your pets down to beneficial insects like bees, and the neighbors, and the water supply, not to use poisons, nor to over-fertilize.

Some of the seed catalogs have very useful websites. Park Seeds has, for instance, the Park Garden Notebook. I do not see a link to this on their website; I got it via their email, which I signed up for a while back. I like getting the seed company emails because they often provide information on topics I need, but didnt know I needed!

Another good site I found is Garden Guides, which has many helpful articles and a discussion forum where you can ask questions -- and if you have some gardening experience, share your expertise with the newcomers.

Grow your own nutrition

2005-08-16T06:36:00.000-04:00

I am looking forward so much to growing my own fruits and vegetables! I doubt I will be able to feed myself on this small plot of land (much of it shaded by maple trees that ring the perimeter). But any contribution of fresh, tasty food will be a welcome addition to the supermarket blahs.

The Burpee Seed folks have a nice listing of the nutritional benefits of various fruits and vegetables. Some of this will apply to store stuff, but anything that has been trucked across the country is bound to lose freshness; what's more, foodstuffs grown for export are selected for staying power over other values.

To the greatest extent possible, I buy locally grown vegetables and fruits. I urge others to do so also, because without our support, local farmers will wither and blow away like topsoil in a drought.

I feel very fortunate to live in a city that has a food cooperative dedicated to selling locally grown produce, the Willimantic Food Coop and aseasonal farmer's market.
The Farmer's Market has no website, but is listed in numerous other sources.
*Willimantic Farmers' Market
Corner of Jackson & Union Streets
Tuesdays, 1:30pm-5pm
Saturdays, 7:30am-12noon
June 15 thru October

A great source for finding local farms is at the site Local Harvest where you can click the map or enter your zip code to find farms, organic food stores, and restaurants that serve locally grown foods.

Summer Days in Rivermantic

2005-08-13T13:29:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite Connecticut visits is to Mom's house in "Rivermantic." Like her old apartment, her new house is not far from the river and this invokes visions of shady lanes, occasional cool breezes, and the gurgling of the river. Even on the warmest, most humid dog days of summer, the images of trees along the rapid river invoke cool moments of peace. Is she is like me with the pond (or I like her) then no doubt she envisions listening to the river to bring her peace and coolness wherever she is!

Steps to an Ecological Garden

2005-08-12T15:38:00.000-04:00

Steps to an Ecological Garden:

Step 1: Stop using chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides. These kill or drive away soil organisms and deprive beneficial insects and animals of habitat and food, taking away their welcome mat.

This Florida gardener has read up on organic or ecological gardening and distills his knowledge here, in nine steps to an ecological garden. Heppily, taking thse steps, creates a more productive garden that takes less work and will nearly run itself after a few years.

PathtoFreedom.com

2005-06-08T07:28:00.000-04:00

About Us & This Site :: PathtoFreedom.com :::

We have attempted to grow as much of our own food as possible in the city {See: FACTS & STATS }. In our society growing food yourself has become the most radical of acts. It is truly the only effective protest, one that can--and will--overturn the corporate powers that be. By the process of directly working in harmony with nature, we do the one thing most essential to change the world--we change ourselves.

We use a variety of agricultural methods, such as permaculture, bio-intensive farming, plus our own unique gardening system developed over time by trial and error.

Everything is grown as organically as possible, and no harmful chemicals or insecticides are used on our garden. We also try to follow agrarian principles outlined in the Bible and tithe ten percent of our increase.

This is what I want to do-- increase my self reliance and to the greatest extent possibloe, feed myself. i am getting a late start, and have found that my yard has too much shade for manay vegetables, so it will be an interesting journey. I shall see what I can do.

Poison Ivy - Honey Connection?

2005-06-04T10:53:00.000-04:00

I've been looking to see if there are any organic ways to get rid of poison ivy. There is a huge, healthy crop of it sprouting from a vine on a neighbor's tree into my yard.

It appears to be seeking sunshine.

While we could most likely avoid touching it, I am afraid the cats will get it on their fur, and from them to us.

Then I saw this suggestion on how to minimize its effects:

Poison Ivy - Honey Connection?:

... So, once again, I had honey continuously on the table.

That was when the poison ivy reaction disappeared, and it has never returned. I think the effect is from the poison ivy pollen, just as an allergist injects a tiny amount of the allergen to help your body learn to deal with it correctly.

Why not try it? It's a pleasant experiment, safe unless you are diabetic, and not costly at all, compared to other medical treatments.

But be sure that your honey does have the pollen. Supermarket honey is ultrafiltered to remove all pollen, then it is also cooked to prevent it from crystallizing on the shelf.

You need to get what is called 'raw' honey

We have no beekeepers in the neighbohood that I know of, but I expect I can get raw (local!) honey at the local food coop.

Over the river and through the woods

2004-11-16T05:51:00.000-05:00

Two days ago, about 3 inches of snow fell overnight. The fallen leaves, raked and left at the curb, had just been picked up on Friday morning, so the streets were clear. the snow made everything look clean. Th next day, the temperature rose above freezing and all the travelled parts lost their snow to the sun. It felt like late January.

It's not unheard of, but rare, for us to get snow this early. Often the first snow comes mid December and then hardly any more til January. I recall a few years ago everyone in my neighborhood had raked their leaves out to the curb for pickup by the town (no one uses leaves for mulch around here - not much gardening goes on),and before the leaves were taken away it snowed, then thawe and refroze, leaving an awful mess on the roadsides. Im not sur they ever did take those leaves awaythat winter.

Weather watch

2004-10-04T15:14:00.002-04:00

A friend from the second-smallest independent state in Europe writes:

It is still 77 degrees F at 7 or 8 in the evening here. Humidity : High. October. Lot of people coughing, taking antibiotics and so on. The Autumn change-over Season is always not good here. It appears to me that it is somewhat more distrubing, healthwise, than is usual. Temps vary from half to double during 24 hours. Humidity remains constantly Very High.

Frankly, this bodes not well. Folk need to recover from the brutal heat
of the Summer (with High Humidity) - & we had it relatively easy this Summer.
They need lower temperatures & some winds to chase away pollution & humidity. What is called, simply, "Freshness". We are not getting that.

Big M.

Me, a smarty-pants, replied he should so as the rich do and go skiing in the Alps.

Warmer winter?

2004-09-24T06:02:00.000-04:00

I read in the paper yesterday that meteorologists anticipate the months of December, January and February to be somewhat warmer than usual in the Northeast, due to the effcts of El Niño (not due to global warming, which is another problem altogether).

For me a slightly warmer winter would be welcome.

Fall events in eastern Connecticut and Massachusetts

2004-09-22T16:51:00.000-04:00

Walking weekends Oct. 8-11, and 15-17, 2004. for further information, see the Heritage Corridor web site.

They have a link to an Adobe Acrobat document with all the details. Unfortunately, such documents are not, as far as I know, open to users who rely on screen readers. Select the link to the printable version and pull up a word document with much the same information, but not images - including no map. For those who are familiar with eastern connecticutk, however, a map is not much needed to find the start areas.

There are dozens of walks with a variety focuses (ok, ok, foci -- but I speak English, not Latin!) for instance a leisurely walk through a bird sanctuary in Pomfret, an easy 1-hour walk with the City historian of Norwich; a visit to a dairy herd in Preston and a trek through a nearby corn maze (that would be the amazing 'maize' maze).

More than a half dozen of the walks are accessible to wheelchairs. On a few of them, well-behaved, leashed dogs (with well-behaved owners!) are permitted.

Riding the rails

2004-09-22T16:13:00.000-04:00

Hey, for you railway buffs, there will be a fall railway excursion through eastern Connecticut on Oct. 2, 2004. It's sponsored by the Connecticut Eastern RailRoad Museum in Willimantic. I hope tickets aren't alreay sold out - seats are limited. Tickets are $50 per person, a little less for kids and senior citizens. There is a link to an order form on the website.

Downpour

2004-09-20T20:58:00.000-04:00

Saturday the weather prediction was a 50 percent liklihood of rain showers.

Instead, we had horrendous downpours interspersed with thunder and lightning. It rained hard most of the day, which is very unusual -- generally an all-day rain is mostly a light rain with an occasional hard rain. But, of course, it's hurricane season.

Often we get a rain and windstorm as a spinoff from southern hurricanes, but rarely do they do much damage. It's a way of clearing out the dead wood-- some tree branches fall, an ocasional power line goes down and some houses are without electricity for a while.

Actually, other than the hard rains, that's about all we had here. I never have lost power in my present location, though others in this city do now and then. Losing power seems to be more common in the countryside. A friend who lives in the outskirts of town lost power for a while.

I remember summers I used to spend at a lake in rural Maine, where frequently there would be a late summer thunder storm and we would lose power for an hour or so. Often I was preparing dinner at the time, so I was glad we had a gas range. I liked watching those storms-- you could see them coming down the lake, the dark clouds and the roiled water, making their way toward us. There was time to run inside, or to snatch the washing off the line before the rain began pelting down.

Too misty, and too much in love...

2004-09-06T13:57:00.000-04:00

I love living near the Willimantic River on days like this. The days have been clear and sharp at midday, but misty in the early morning. My street runs downhill to a bridge across the river. Friday, about 10 a.m., I looked out the window and could see mist drifting up the street.

Historical accounts published by the local newspaper at the city's 100th aniversary recounted the complaints of a "miasma" wafting up from the banks of the river, sickening many who lived too close to its waters. But of course in those days, the banks were lined with factories up and down the river going through town, and they freely dumped untreated sewage and chemicals into the river.

Today in the mist, you can catch the aroma of fabric softener and detergent, which I suspect comes from a local laundromat possibly dumping into the river. But mostly, it's clean and rather lovely.

The mist rising from a body of water is mysterious and calls out from some forgotten past. My daughter has a lovely photograph of mist on a pond in Maine that I downloaded to my desktop. It's really nice.

Wilting when wet

2004-08-28T08:42:00.000-04:00

A correspondent writes:

> My plants are a disaster, all the soft-leaved ones :
> I have observed that a
> symptom, at the very least, of their problems is
> that they seem unable to
> absorb their drinking water : their water-reservoirs
> remain Full when they
> should rightly be Empty !! ??
--Big M.

Answer:

M, I googled "unable to absorb water" and found a possibly helpful page with assorted causes of plant stress, including OVER-WATERING:

"Plants exposed to excess moisture show the same symptoms as plants under drought stress. The primary symptom of excess moisture is wilting or yellowing of lower and inner leaves."

That happened to the geranium pot that I put out on the front step a while ago -- the blossoms gradually died and the leaves began to yellow. I moved it back where the rain water could not reach it, allowing the soil to dry out a little, and now it is covered with buds once more!

The page I found is put out by the University of Maryland

Take a look and see if you find anything matching your plants' situation(s).

Weather

2004-08-21T08:43:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we had our third day this season in which the temperature rose to 90 degrees F (the others took place before summer officially began). Many days it has been in the low- or mid-80s which is not bad, though it has also been very damp and humid. Sometimes it has been so humid you can't really tell if it's raining. The trees are hanging down and the grass is tall.

Over in Europe, the weather is much worse than here in New England.

Our correspondent from the second-smallest country in the world (the smallest is the Vatican) reports the horrid effect of the weather on this year's plantings.

Plants here, currently, are a Disaster. Not Normal. My belief is that when vegetation goes seriously awry, over a period of time, say, 2 or 3 years, there is something seriously Wrong. I am one of those old-fashioned folk who believes there is a difference between Right & Wrong. As a very simple illustration : there are Wrong Notes & Chords on the Piano. They are simply "Wrong", that's all. It is quite evident. Same goes for the Vegetation. And all the Rest. Here, currently, Wrong Season, we have Great Heat & Hot Winds - Not right for this period of the Year, at all. This is normally the period when the heat slacks off, we have blue & beautiful limpid cool skies. At the moment, it is hotter than it has been all Summer. Plus these strange winds. I was a sailor. I pay attention to this kind of stuff. :-)
-- Big Mike

Climatologists and environmentalists are deeply worried by the effects of global warming. Here's an excerpt of an Aug. 19, 2004 news report on the European environment Agency

COPENHAGEN - Rising sea levels, disappearing glaciers in the Alps and more deadly heatwaves are coming for Europeans because of global warming, Europe's environmental agency has warned.

The European Environment Agency said much more needs to be done - and fast. Climate change "will considerably affect our societies and environments for decades and centuries to come," the agency said in 107-page report released on Wednesday.

It said rising temperatures could eliminate three-quarters of the Alpine glaciers by 2050 and bring repeats of Europe's mammoth floods two years ago and the heatwave that killed thousands and burned up crops last summer. The rise in sea levels along Europe's coasts is likely to accelerate, it added.

... The European Union has been a leader in pushing for implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, a United Nations pact drawn up in 1997 to combat climate change by reducing carbon-dioxide emissions worldwide in 2010 to eight percent below 1990 levels.

So far 123 countries, including all 25 European Union members, have ratified the pact, but it isn't in effect because it hasn't reached the required level of nations accounting for 55 percent of the industrialised world's emissions. The United States, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, has refused to ratify, arguing the agreement would hurt its economy, and Russia also hasn't signed.
-- IOL.co.za

President Bush seems more short-sighted than any president in recent memory, or really, sociopathic in his flagrant unconcern for anyone but himself and his cronies.

Events

2004-08-20T07:44:00.000-04:00

WINDHAM ARTS CENTER, 866 Main St., Willimantic. Work from the artists and teachers behind UCONN's Community School of the Arts will be on display through Aug. 29. The works include watercolor and oil paintings, prints, photography, textile and ceramics, sculpture and photography. Gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. Call 450-1794 for information.

SWIFT WATERS ARTISANS' COOPERATIVE, will be open for sales from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays in August in the Willimantic Victorian Neighborhood Association (WVNA) building on the corner of Main and Walnut Streets. The Cooperative makes available the handcrafted work or numerous talented local artisans, including jewelry, pottery, fabric arts, painting, photography and much more.

Around town

2004-08-20T05:30:00.000-04:00

The other day I spent a little time on Main Street with my camera, noticing plantings that have sprung up lately. Outside the police-fire dispatch center is a bed of purple daisy-like echinacea and something else, possibly milkweed. Milkweed used to be a common roadside weed that emits a sticky white fluid when a stem is broken.
The flowers, which range from whitish to purpleish, have a surprisingly strong aroma which is generally lost to us in the wide open spaces, but not if you find a milkweed palnt in a smaller, somewhat enclosed space.

The seeds form in large pods and have silky white sails attached that carry them on the wind after the pod bursts. Milkweed is home to the Monarch butterfly.

Milkweed does not seem as common as it once did, perhaps because in this state, at least, the road crews determinedly mow down all roadside growth, perhaps in the interests of visibility.

The Windham Garden Club has been sprucing up various sites around town with the addition of attractive window boxes and tubs of flowers. It's a good undertaking, that increases the comfort level downtown. This photo shows a tub of mixed plants tucked in an alley way.

Two more photos

Why we should grow vegetables

2004-08-17T19:38:00.000-04:00

We must dine and enjoy each mouthful of food, also the sight and aroma of the food. Furthermore, we should take pleasure in the preparation of the food, enjoying the look of crisp firmness in each vegetable we wash, peel and slice or chop. Making a salad of fresh vegetables is an aesthetic pleasure and can even be a spiritual experience if we follow the buddhist way of appreciating each moment of life.

Intentional eating is "feeding yourself", feeding your soul and creating strength. It serves us far better than cramming food in thoughtlessly. A Buddhist writer, Halé Sofia Schatz, says:

While all clichés contain a grain of truth, "you are what you eat" focuses only on the after-effects of food in your body. In working with food and consciousness, I've discovered a subtle nuance to this familiar expression; that is, people eat what they are. If you're stressed out all the time, chances are you're feeding yourself stressed-out, quick-grab foods with little vital nourishment. When we shift our way of thinking from "you are what you eat" to "you eat what you are," we see that the latter involves awareness. It makes us stop and question who we really are. If we believe that we are spiritual beings, then we're more likely to seek out the nourishing foods that feed the shining life force that already exists within us. Use this simple statement as a gentle reminded to feed yourself life-affirming foods, because you are life.

--Halé Sofia Schatz, What Do I Need to Feed Myself: Eating can be a spiritual practice, a way to nourish your body and soul See the rest of the excerpt at Beliefnet

Wonders of fertilizer

2004-08-10T18:22:00.000-04:00

Earlier this summer, I spent very little time outdoors, because road construction was going on under our noses from the beginning of May through the end of June (maybe more).

So, my "garden" consisted mainly of

a few sorry houseplants I took outside for "summer camp,"
the hanging basket of petunias referred to in the prior post as avian hospital;
a couple of planters filled with pansies that I put out when it was still too cool for much else, and
some tubs out back with herbs and flowers planted in them.

The petunias were stunning when I brought them home from the store (gardening? moi?) but gradually got more and more dishevelled, as did a potted geranium I had purchased.

Yesterday, I offered water with commercial plant food in it, and already today the petunia has perked up a little and shot out some new blooms. The pansies are still blooming like mad.

Cat vs. Bird

2004-08-08T13:35:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I found our young cat tormenting a bird it had caught (or, more charitably, maybe found). The bird, though terrorized into speechlessness, still lived, and I was able to pick it up during an interlude in which the cat stood back admiring her work. I placed the bird out of harm's way, in a pot of petunias hanging from a metal post in the ground.

I could not immediately identify what sort of bird it was. It was grayish, about the size of a tufted titmouse, and with a bit of crest atop its head. Yet, unlike the titmouse, it had a black mask with a white eyebrow, and light brown streaking on its breast.

Enter the wizard of Bridge Street, Sanderson, who identified it as an immature cedar waxwing, a bird I am unfamiliar with and would not have thought of.

I recently acquired a new field guide, Birds of Connecticut by Stan Tekiela, that shows the cedar waxwing as a distinctly brown bird, while my older Roger Tory Peterson guide shows it as a grayish brown. My bird was more of a gray with brown parts. Funny how different books can be, and thus can lead one astray. Also, the Peterson book shows a mostly white mask with a thin black strip through the eye, while the Tekiela book shows a mostly black mask with a narrow white eyebrow. My bird looked as if it were wearing white-rimmed sunglasses. I wonder if these differences reflect perception, or actual bird-to-bird variations?

Field guides aside, I must report that this tale had a sad ending. Later, I was sitting inside working on the computer when our older gray cat came in with a bird in her mouth. It was the same bird! And it was much the worse for wear, with feathers missing from the top of its head and most of the tail feathers gone.

I gently retreived it from under a chair where the cat left it, and carried it outside, placing it once again amongst the petunias. I could see the telltale yellow patch on the tip of the remaining tailfeathers. The bird's right eye appeared damaged, as it sat on a petunia branch, shaking and shifting its weight uncomfortably, probably in shock. An hour or so later when I checked on it, it had keeled over dead. I felt so helpless and anguished at the death of this bird, it surprised me. Though I wish harm on no living thing, this young waxwing and its early demise touched me deeply.

New rivermantic blog

2004-08-07T14:16:00.000-04:00

Setting up new Rivermantic blog