Sturgeon: An Ancient Fish and a Moon

--Don't eat the sturgeon.

The August Full Moon, called the Full Sturgeon Moon, is August 5. Well, it ha some other names as well, but Sturgeon is the most common since this was the month when the prehistoric, large fish was more readily caught in the Great Lakes and other waters.

Two Sturgeon have been caught and released, they are endangered, in Lake Erie this summer. Sturgeon can live to be a hundred years old and are a fish which dates back to the Ice Age.

--The Ice Age in July

This past July has been like an ice age, cold and wet. It looks like in this region it will go down as the coldest and wettest on record. If not the number one spot, a damn close second place finish (there is one more day left to the month).

It has not been real good for home vegetable gardens so far. Although there is still hope for a recovery during August. I'm having pretty good luck with peppers, plenty of green tomatoes but small plants, beans are looking terrible ans so is the broccoli. But every year has it's ups and downs.

--Save Money Now

Hopefully, new gardeners get to understand that life issue and don't get disappointed. According to the National Gardening Association (NGA), there were 7 million new gardeners this year, an increase of 19 percent over last year.

Many had gardens to provide healthier food, better tasting food, and to save money during the current recession. In an NGA survey, the average USA home vegetable garden is 600 square feet. The average harvest should yield produced valued at $530 after expenses. Put in another perspective, that is about a $40 per week savings on groceries during the growing season here.

My example is lettuce. Salads are good and are a daily routine (besides there's always someone here around meal time.) My seed, I got the big package of mixed salad greens, cost $2.50, and I have been harvesting lettuce since May 1st. At the local supermarkets, the price is right about $3 and, when I was buying it, I usually purchased 2 packages. No matter what as soon as one is opened, everything automatically turns brown and awful looking. Expensive compost.

Just on salad lettuce, that means I saved about $70 and ate very healthy, nutritious greens. And the season is far from over for many crops. This is a good time to think about a fall garden and there are many vegetables, besides lettuce which can still be planted and harvested before the dreaded winter months.

--Plant a Fall Garden

Gamble now. Many bean varieties only take fifty days, same with broccoli, potatoes can mature quickly, spinach, peas, red beets, turnips and other greens are just a few late season crops which can be planted now. If long range weather predictions are correct for much of the mid-west and eastern USA, El Nino will be here meaning less cold, less snow and a milder winter.

--For the Heck of It:

August 3rd is National Watermelon Day: August 30th: National Toast a Marshmallow Day: August 22nd: National Tooth Fairy Day – but no one knows why, the designation was not made by Congress.

Some Great Blogs I follow and like to read:

Vincent di Fondi

On Your Way to the Top

New York's Southern Tier

Urban Veggie Garden

For some more reading check out some of my Helium articles by clicking the title, and some of my HubPage writings below. Thanks.

more »
HubPages