Friday, August 14, 2009

Woodstock, Mystery Garden and the Buckwheat






Woodstock Anniversary Weekend - Have a Happy!

Backyard Buckwheat

The buckwheat was planted today in the first garlic bed that was harvested this week. The weather is forecast to be warm and sunny for a change so expect the buckwheat will germinate by Monday. It is the first fall garden crop to be planted. Jimmy Hendrix and his Woodstock Star Spangled Banner played. (Glad there are no close neighbors.)

Buckwheat is a rapid grower and is a good plant for soil management since it helps to add nitrogen to the soil and will suppress weeds. I covered the broadcast seed lightly with grass clippings hoping to fool the birds. With luck, the buckwheat will be ready to harvest by mid-October and the bed can then be re-planted in garlic for next year. I am thinking the bees will appreciate the crop. Never really tried to harvest the buckwheat seed but I'm going to try this year.

A second buckwheat planting, in a still yet to be harvested garlic bed, is planned for the weekend. Maybe I'll listen to some Woodstock Arlo Guthrie. This morning, after the buckwheat planting, a fall garden bed of lettuce was planted to Joe Cocker, another musician of Woodstock.

I added a row of swiss chard and a row of radicchio (some extra seed from last year I discovered), rossa di treviso precoce, This garden should rock by next week.

The fall garden peas are next on the agenda. And if you have the time, check an article about fall vegetable gardens here.

Mystery Vegetable Garden

This spring I moved the compost bin to another area. It was located in a corner area and with the rain and cold weather sort of forgotten. Over the last couple of weeks, I noticed large, blooming tomato plants growing in the old spot, along with some blooming melon vines and kale. The plants have nice sized green, unblemished and not cracked tomatoes. No sign of any blight on these wild plants and I only plant heirlooms. These could be Permisson tomatoes but I'll have to wait and see. The seasons not over yet but this wild, mystery vegetable garden could be an unexpected fall harvest.

Politics
Enough is enough with the health care nonsense. By nonsense, I mean these extremist groups who are fear mongering and twisting the facts and the truth. I have heard such crazy and undefined things as “socialism” - whatever that is; death panels – a basic fairy tale story a step or two beneath the tooth fairy story and “welfare” – the thing we call bail-outs for Wall Street and mega banks. And my favorite is free health care for illegal immigrants.
What happened to Christian values of truth telling? What happened to American values of freedom of truthful and accurate information?
Boycott those who peddle the lies, be it media, insurance, or health groups. Our health is too important to make decisions based on lies. The bottom line for these groups is the almighty dollar even as they try to quote scripture.
Let's get back to a sensible and intelligent debate or a Woodstock like affair and stop the nonsense.

For the Heck of It

Have a good Woodstock weekend. It was a weekend that really changed a lot of things for the better.
“The New York State Thruway is closed., man. Isn't that far out.” Arlo Guthrie at Woodstock.

August 26th National Dog Day.

Fall Vegetable Gardens, let me know what you think, comments.

Blogs I like to read and recommend:

Vincent di Fondi- Vincent just published his first novel, Blessed Abduction, available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Check his blog to learn more about the novel and his new home in Costa Rica.

On Your Way to the Top – Kathleen always has good insights

New York's Southern Tier – A travel destination in nearby New York by Richardson

Urban Veggie Blog – Dan is located in nearby Ontario and is a good gardener.

Other articles I have written for Helium can be found by clicking the title; others can be found below in the box at HubPages.

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1 comment:

  1. Hope the mystery garden works out. Love those unexpected, good surprises. Didn't attend Woodstock, but those were the days. It seems to me that the people that are against the healthcare reform are those that already have insurance or those that are on Medicare. If the bill doesn't pass I think America deserves what it gets.

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