Open Thread: It’s Gardening & Farmer’s Market Season!
By Linda Kellen Biegel
I spent a lovely morning at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday, sizing and pricing some of the plants I will be putting in my garden this weekend. (No seeds this year, I’m planting too late.) In Anchorage, during the first part of the summer at the various markets they sell a wide variety of starts…vegetables, flowers, herbs. I was especially impressed with the already large organic tomatoes sold by a couple who didn’t recognize me, but we used to go on the same “woo-woo” camping trips together. Heh…the spiritual search in early sobriety…but I digress…
I decided to add another picture of my rhubarb doing something I’d never seen before…flowering.
I figured I’d show the picture before I cut off the flowers tomorrow. My understanding is that they will weaken the plant if you don’t. Does anyone know why this happens?
Talk amongst yourselves…
Maybe everybody has heard about this…but its pretty rich. or poor. i can’t decide which!
http://www.politicususa.com/en/sarah-palin-lemonade-stand
Call me an alarmist but when I read this report about Hitler’s antisemitism it instantly reminded me of many on the far right who demonize Islam:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=hitlers-first-known-stance-on-jewish-removal-2011-06-08
Hey, Alaskans. Here’s the letter I sent to Captain Zero, I mean SP 2.0 not long ago:
“You stated that you would never trade one resource for another, yet that’s exactly what a coal mine in Chuitna would do — exchange salmon for coal. PacRim says they can reclaim the salmon stream, but it has NEVER been done, and the science says otherwise.
What horrifies me most about this is the loss of the salmon stream. What also horrifies me is that this is such lousy coal: it’s sub-lignite. At least the stuff for which Appalachian mountains lose 500′ of their tops for is top quality anthracite.
Please do the right thing by the Chuitna community, who needs salmon to survive.
(Zyxomma)”
and here’s the response I got today (on emailed letterhead):
“Dear (Zyxomma):
Thank you for your email to Governor Sean Parnell regarding the proposed Chuitna Coal Mine.
As of this date, the State of Alaska has not yet received any development permit applications from PacRim Coal, LLC. For the most recent information on PacRim’s exploratory permits and other project information please visit http://dnr.alaska.gov/mlw/mining/largemine/chuitna/index.htm
The proposed Chuitna Coal Project and associated facilities will require extensive review and numerous State and federal authorizations. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Division of Habitat, is responsible for coordinating ADF&G’s review of proposed mining projects. This includes working with partners in Division of Wildlife Conservation, Sport fish, Commercial fisheries, and Subsistence, as well as the Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to evaluate mining permits.
Alaska has a strong permitting process, and it is utilized so that development proposals go through sound scientific evaluation and extensive public review. It is important to allow the law to work as it is intended instead of leaving development of our resources to the opinion of one Governor or Commissioner.
We appreciate and share your commitment to protecting Alaska’s salmon resources. Governor Parnell recognizes that fisheries, and the jobs they provide, are important to all Alaskans and must be protected. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our office at 907-269-7450.
Sincerely,
Racel Bylsma
Constituent Relations Specialist”
The Mat Valley meeting is TONIGHT, my northern friends. I posted the info on yesterday’s open thread. Please attend if you possibly can.
I’m off to watch my cousin dance!
News about Gabby Giffords:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/06/09/20110609gabrielle-giffords-health-issues-revealed.html
I read that earlier today. She has a long, hard road ahead of her. The poor woman. Life will never again be the same for her.
Being a Physical Therapist, and having dealt with many patients with traumatic brain injuries, I can definitely say that her life will never be the same. I have been holding off on commenting on her recovery because it truely is an unknown and it takes a very long time. The brain is an amazing thing but the older you are, the less plastic it is and the longer recovery can take. I have seen people who recovered the ability to walk and talk rapidly but who had ongoing (and sometimes severe) behavioral disorders for the rest of their lives. They appear very normal on the surface but can be inappropriate because they have lost their inhibitory abilities. Gun shot wounds are very different from blows to the head or car accidents (which may involve more shearing). Nevertheless, I feel great sympathy for her and her family as not being able to communicate is horrendous. I keep her and the people working with her in my thoughts every day. The press can make these things so much harder because they oversimplify both victories and defeats in the recovery process.
{{{{{LMD and Physical Therapists everywhere}}}}}
Someone may have posted this yesterday, but in case no one did or you miss it:
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/06/08/sarah_palin_history
Two historians give Sarah an “F” for her tangled and incorrect answer on Paul Revere – plus they provide solid info on it and their opinions of Sarah’s basic problem (as regards intellect).
Linda, I love your gardening pictures, and I would love to see more.
The Spenard Farmer’s Market is also in full swing. We got some very healthy plants last week. They open at 9 am every Sat in the lot right next to Chilkoot Charlies’. For a good reference go to the AK Rhubarb bog: http://akrhubarb.blogspot.com/ ,or search for her on facebook.
LKB- according to Doug’s Greenspace? flowering,excessive flowering is a sign of stress. He was talking about fertilizing rubarb. Don’t use commercial fert.,use compost,not fresh manure. I checked Wiki and their section on rubarb was that Sarah Palin was right about Paul Revere and she is gonna be right about Mitt Romney because she is never wrong. Can you hear the thunder from way up that way?
Surprise – no, not really, Bush tax cuts didn’t do what he said they’d do.
http://www.slate.com/id/2296578/
Let’s all keep this in mind when they are up for renewal – again. Trickle down doesn’t work,
what might work is to tax the higher profits which might force the higher profit makers to invest those profits back into the businesses instead of paying tax on it.
“KETCHIKAN, ALASKA (2011-06-08) Some of the highest concentrations of paralytic shellfish toxins ever recorded have been found in recent scientific samples collected around Ketchikan. The findings come as state health officials investigate a recent spike in probable paralytic shellfish poisoning cases in Metlakatla.”
Audio interview: http://krbd.org/modules/local_news/index.php?op=centerBlock&ID=554
What exactly are you dealing with? Shellfish and shellfish toxins is pretty Greek to me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralytic_shellfish_poisoning
It means that those of us here in the Panhandle are seriously S.O.L. when it comes to harvesting mussels, scallops, cockles, or clams.
Legend has it that Vitus Bering’s expedition to Sitka suffered over a thousand deaths of his Aleut kayakers when they ate the local mussels.
Still, PSP levels thousands of times over the baseline limit is an alarming phenomenon, and one wonders what’s causing it.
I remember hearing about “red-tide” effecting shellfish in the east. It did not kill the shellfish but made them poison to humans. Is this a similar phenomena?
Does anyone here know anyone in state government? If so are they nervous at all about the emails or have they cleansed them of everything but some conjunctions and punctuation?
“Bill Moyers Discusses Independent Media and Fighting Back Against Unbridled Corporate Greed and Power” By Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez
“Legendary journalist Bill Moyers discusses the transformation of democracy from a citizens’ to a consumer society and the importance of non-corporate media.”
http://www.alternet.org/media/151253/bill_moyers_discusses_independent_media_and_fighting_back_against_unbridled_corporate_greed_and_power_/?page=entire
Thanks for sharing this link! Excellent interview.
From the Washington Post:
Help Analyze the Palin Emails
Over 24,000 e-mail messages to and from former Alaska governor Sarah Palin during her tenure as Alaska’s governor will be released Friday. That’s a lot of email for us to review so we’re looking for some help from Fix readers to analyze, contextualize, and research those emails right alongside Post reporters over the days following the release.
We are limiting this to just 100 spots for people who will work collaboratively in small teams to surface the most important information from the emails.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/help-analyze-the-palin-emails/2011/06/08/AGZAaHNH_blog.html
Parnell (Palin’s lapdog) has been pressured into releasing the 24,000 emails to our State Legislators offices – via the specific influence of Dennis Egan (Juneau). The Anchorage Daily News wrote a scathing piece about Parnell’s not releasing the emails to the Governor’s Office in Anchorage for the public to view (he’d only keep them in Juneau). The threat of moving the capitol reared it’s ugly head again and Parnell acquiesced. There are SO many reasons why this guy should NEVER be reelected.
No offense,but what kind of first impression did he make to get elected to begin with. I can’t think of a reason in the world to vote for higher officwe,anyone with an R attatched to their name. He had to persuade a number of people to vote for him.
He never made a ‘first’ impression with me. I didn’t vote for him. Don’t forget that Alaska is a Republican state and some of my friends are avid Republicans and think he is the cats meow. I just keep shaking my head!
I’m still in disbelief that people(who seem to be having buyer’s remorse)voted these politicians in. They are robbing the poor to assuage the egos of the rich. It is not just for today,they are stealing our children and grandchildren’s futures for taxcuts for people who have no idea how much they have and only want it all.
“Fire In The Sky – The Aurora Borealis, You Might See It In DC.” (at Daily Kos)
“One of the all time most amazing things to see in the night sky is the Aurora Borealis, sheets of blue-green or red and yellow fire waving silently in the night sky. I clearly remember all four times I’ve been able to see it and I bet that if you’ve ever seen the Aurora you remember it too.
“Well good news kiddies! There was a massive solar flare yesterday. It blasted tons of matter off of our local star, in the form of highly charged plasma. After midnight tonight it is going to start hitting the Earths magnetic field and will push the places that you can view the Aurora way, way south of where it is normally seen. How far south? Try Washington D.C.” snip
Nice!
Too bad it’s light around the clock in most Alaska latitudes this time of year. It would have been a good show.
I will certainly stay up for that one! I’ve never been able to see it before.
The aurora is best experienced by escaping as much city light pollution as possible: darkness and clear skies are mandatory. A reclining lawn chair helps to avoid neck fatigue. 😉 enjoy!
bottle of wine and a bendy straw, also, too
😉
Or an outdoor hot tub, with margaritas.
Have deckchair, wine and bendy straw….but can I see it from Ireland?
Enough of that wine and bendy straw and you’ll be guaranteed to see some funny lights in the sky! 😉
Ok….AK residents in th know…what is this about a Palin lawsuit being moved from state to federal court? Googled it and not really anything on it.
Just saw a news blurb and have heard nothing of this in the past.
Has to do with the complaint about traffic around the Gov’s mansion when SP was there.
I tried to research this for you, but it was overwhelming. The Palin clan has so many court records, it takes a while to go through them all. It appears none of them are too big on following the law. Todd, Bristol, Sarah, and even Willow have had a hard time following traffic laws.
The extended family gets in on the act as well. They are no strangers to the Wasilla law enforcement. No wonder they hate the Alaska State Troopers.
Oh, that poor man! (The Juneau neighbor who complained about the ‘Come See Sarah’s Unused Mansion’ tourist buses’ noise, congestion & emissions, whom Sarah vilified to her followers as a meany hating on Piper’s lemonade stand and trampoline.)
I always wondered if what she did was actionable as libel. Maybe that’s it?
There is a small piece in the Anchorage Daily News this morning.
Today’s Immoral Minority has a good article about it.
http://www.newsminer.com/view/full_story/13982530/article-Palin-lawsuit-concerning-Alaska-activist-moved-to-federal-court-?instance=home_news_window_left_bullets
Ahhhhh….big signs coming from this part of AK!!! No Farmer’s Markets I can get to this year but there are two percolating in nearby communities that are looking promising.
So far I am just happy to see/hear more catching the gardening bug in the bay, and more rural areas of AK.
Keep the updates on that garden coming…is a nice stress reliever for many of us!!
Enjoyed the post and the comments, but I have one question: is AKM okay? I note she hasn’t posted for several days.
Yes, I’m fine! Back from a boating trip and will be posting about it soon. No worries! AKM
Gee…I wonder if she’s campaigning?
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/06/hathos-alert-2.html
DH Happy found these yesterday.
The first fits right in with yesterday’s education post, eh?
$399.00 high school diplomas, eight days – just like high school but without all that pesky education stuff: http://tinyurl.com/3bkzooa
Oy, vey! After a long, frustrating, rather disappointing school year, I’m so grateful for some time off to process it all. I Will figure out how to make next year better, with 10 grant proposals percolating on the back burner. I can mitigate some of the impact on my library and my school, but Florida is in the very thick of one hot mess. Meh.
On a happier quasi-gardening note, I found 2 small kiwifruits on the vines. 🙂 Nothing like last year’s bumper crop of hundreds of fruits, but with this drought we haven’t see many flowers this year. We may prune the other runners way back, see if we can stress them enough to bloom and set fruit again, though it’s a month past Mother’s Day.
This one goes out to the mountains of my childhood, of blessed memory, now flat-topped and clear-cut, and to the trout streams now choked and filled with rubble…
John Prine~~Paradise
(with Bonus song: Donald and Lydia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNAuDEUcHvU&feature=related
“But dreaming just comes natural
Like the first breath from a baby,
Like sunshine feeding daisies,
Like the love hidden deep in your heart.”
Off to take care of a few chores before it gets beastly hot.
L’Shalom,
thatcrowwoman
Good morning, Crow Woman, and best wishes on your kiwi vines. As teachers, we can both commiserate about the current right-wing anti-science anti-knowledge attack on education. I think that the dumbing down of America is the only way the Rethuglicans think they can increase their ranks.
From the $399 diploma story:
“There’s no telling how many of Florida’s 1,713 private schools — which educate a third of a million students — are run like InterAmerican. Even as Gov. Rick Scott leads a charge to privatize education on a historic scale, our state’s private schools are among the least regulated in the nation. “If a school like that exists,” Cheryl Etters of the Florida Department of Education said when asked about InterAmerican and its lax standards, “we might know about it, but we can’t really do anything.”
The first red flag — besides the lack of a classroom — hinting that InterAmerican provides a less-than-traditional education is the selection of books lining its walls: Don’t Eat This Book; James Herriot’s Dog Stories; Vegetarian; San Francisco; Lee Iacocca’s autobiography. Not the stuff of a typical high school library.
The academy is actually four small rooms on the third floor of a smoke-stained pink building on Doral’s truck-clogged NW 36th Street. (InterAmerican has another “campus” in a Kendall office.) Romero Britto butterfly prints hang on the walls, as do the school’s credentials: its registration with the Florida Department of Education — which means only that it filed minimal start-up paperwork with the state — and its certificate from Transworld Accrediting Commission International.”
—————————————-
Good luck with the kiwis. I guess that after waiting 20 years for them to bear fruit, one year off isn’t going to hurt them. It’s beastly hot in NYC today, too (supposed to feel like 100 later), and I have to go out later.
But that’s a good thing! I’m going to the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center to see “The Bright Stream,” with music by Shostakovich and choreography by Ratmansky. It was the only ballet on their roster that I was interested in, and I emailed my cousin last week and found out her son has a solo tonight. I first saw him dance on my birthday last year, and his part got more applause than those of the ballerinas. I also attended his choreographic debut, and brought my sisters. Best part (besides seeing a new, comedic ballet) is that I get to meet one of his brothers (he’s a triplet) tonight. I’ll dress lightly and bring water.
OK I got you now-TCW. John Prine’s song Paradise was the last song played in the movie Fire Down Below starring Steven Segal and Marg Helgenberger. Levon Helm starred as a minister,so I assumed the song was performed by “The Band” Nope,it was performed by John Prine and I really liked it I had to look up the lyrics to understand what Mr Peabodie’s coal train was up to. Got some ugly looking clouds and thunder sounds like someone trying to bulldoze my house. Am trying to turn thr rain clouds and send them to you,post haste too still yet.
Has absolutely been raining cats and dogs. Visibility less than 50 yards. Looks like pasture creek might be flooded. We don’t need this small hail either. Crops look good so far. Hope you get rain when you need it.
New CBS poll: Most Republicans do not want Palin to run:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20070206-503544.html?tag=cbsnewsLeadStoriesAreaMain
Makes me sad, I was hoping for more ditsy comments and an easy win for Obama. I would have settled for a greater understanding of US history as I slept through the Paul Revere class. But, maybe they’ll elect Michell Bachmann and my dream can still come true, and a cat fight too.
I have to disagree with you on this. There have been too many cases of voting machines recording the wrong votes and ballots going mysteriously lost and found (Wisconsin anyone?) for me to hope for a candidate as crazy as either one.
Sadly, I have too much faith in the ability of the right wing, the SCOTUS, the Koch brothers and their ilk being able to manipulate the machines and change the outcome of elections to trust the system to spit out the likes of Palin and Bachmann. While I feel at this point that Obama has a good chance of a major win, I don’t want to see any Republican candidate run that I can’t live with if absolutely necessary. It may make for a smaller margin of victory for Obama, but it will save us all from disaster just in case they manage to fix the election.
However, having said that, I would LOVE the chance to see Obama debate Princess Wind Between Her Ears. He has the intelligence and charm to be able to utterly destroy her while being the ultimate in politeness and gentlemanliness. She’d end up thanking him for the experience before she even realized she’d been pwned!
It is a wonderful time of year.
Here’s a post from The Guardian (UK) that takes on Rush Limbaugh’s insane defense of Palin (don’t you wish the US media didn’t kowtow to them):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/wintour-and-watt/2011/jun/09/sarahpalin-margaretthatcher
You beat me to it again. Just how early do you get up? 🙂
I loved this bit from the link.
“Members of the Thatcher circle are highly protective of the former prime minister, 86, who has suffered from dementia for some years. They ration her appearances with great care and are careful to ensure that she is not used by unsuitable politicians. This is why they feel so strongly that Thatcher should not meet Palin: they believe it would be beneath the dignity of the Iron Lady to meet such a lightweight figure who would use the meeting to burnish her credentials as the keeper of the Reagan flame.”
The article is absolutely delicious and it skewers Palin. You’ve gotta love the British….they still have a media!
Ok, I just have to post this comment from the above article which is in response to people defending Palin.
“To all the rightwing American nutjobs on this blog.
It is entirely reasonable and logical that someone close to Margaret Thatcher would call Sarah Palin nuts. I would be surprised if you found anyone in the British political establishment, or indeed in the country as a whole, who doesn’t think she is self-serving, ill-informed lunatic.
You criticise the British for not understanding your country. This is entirely reasonable, for how could an outsider understand a place that sees reform of healthcare that might benefit the poor and responds ‘let poor people die if they can’t pay their way’, that has gun laws that allow concealed weapons and believes that will cut crime (!) and elects a wackjob like Palin?
However, in this case it is you lacking the understanding. The British, and, I suspect, most of Europe, sees you as the outlier. We view you with a mixture of contempt and confusion – how could so powerful a country make such an almighty cock up of everything?
So if you get vexed as to why we think Sarah Palin, the nuttiest in a nutty nation, is not well received, perhaps you should compare the US and the rest of the rich world. If you can see the differences, you’ll understand. If not, you’re as nutty as Palin.”
I would love to post this “you know where”….but alas I am banned. 😉
{{{{{Irishgirl}}}}}
*sudden urge to tell the Hans Christian Andersen tale “The Emperer Has No Clothes.”*
but here’s a link to the late Robert Byrd’s take on the tale for our times:
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1018-01.htm
I’ve felt as if the country has been caught in the live version of this tale since 2006. Why is everyone afraid to tell Sarah that she is naked? (Metaphorically speaking of course)
Wow! He had that so right. The most chilling, though, is the last quote from an interview with Goering, in regard to the United States being protected from being led to war by the leaders:
“Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”
Even if you could post it they would scrub it before anyone could read it.
Who warned the British “La Palin is coming”? Did he have bells? guns?
lol
“Massie was highly critical of Palin’s attempts to meet Thatcher:
There is something loathsome about this attempt to use a frail 86-year-old stroke victim (who has largely retired from public life) as fodder to enhance your own domestic political agenda. It is vulgar and it is vainglorious and therefore entirely typical of Palin’s political style.”
Vulgar
and Vainglorious.
That says it all, eh?
That article was excellent as well. Somehow, I feel the media are waking up to this vainglorious nutter.
The flower steals too many nutrients. Cut off the flower, and there is more for the stalk. Time for some Rhubarb-Strawberry pie. (of course you have to buy the berries this time of year)
spoken like a true gardener GoI3ig 🙂
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/rhubarbflowers.html
Oh and I’m jealous, Linda, of your Farmer’s Market!
Can’t get excited about most of what others have but access to Farmer’s Markets, local farms and produce, gardens prettier and/or more productive than mine really do bring that green-eyed envy thingy in me 🙂
We have some dedicated folks here in my town trying to get one going. It’s tough in a lot of ways because of our general mindset about what is possible as regards what we can grow/produce but I’m excited to see the Market grow a bit every year.