Demand Better

The damn oil leak in the Gulf will eventually impact all of us, not just the unfortunate residents of the coast. The damage is significant. We are all going to pay a hefty price. And as this story continues to unravel, I suspect the idiocy in the lack of preparation, the greed for money and lack of environmental concern will become more pronounced.
Eleven workers lost their lives, the real human tragedy often overlooked in the aftermath, when the first explosion on Deepwater Horizon rig rumbled at 9:56 pm on April 20th. It was the first of three explosions and 11 workers lost their lives, their bodies never recovered. The workers were from small towns in the region, many had families. Lives have been forever shattered.
May they rest in peace: Donald Clark, Newellton, LA; Stephen Curtis, Georgetown, LA; Blair Manuel, Eunice, LA; Gordon James, Baton Rogue, LA; Roy Wyatt Kemp, Jonesville, LA; Karl Kleppinger, Jr., Natchez, MS; Dewey Revette, State Line, MS; Aaron Dale Burheen, Philadelphia, MS; Adam Weise, Yorktown, Texas; and Jason Anderson, Bay City, Texas.

Fossil fuels are dangerous and an environmental hazard waiting to blow up in our faces. None of us are immune. Recently, on June 3rd a Marcellus Shale gas well malfunctioned near Clearfield, Pennsylvania, sending a plume of polluted water and natural gas spewing into the atmosphere for 16 hours before the well was controlled.
The Marcellus Gas Shale deposit are rich and cover a large area of the eastern United States, including Pennsylvania and New York. The rich deposits promise to bring economic good news to many of the small communities, similar to the small Gulf communities. But at what cost?
It is not the first time a Marcellus Gas well threatened the fragile environment and there have been previous fish kills and polluted waters in the drilling process. In the Clearfield incident, initial investigations indicate blowoff relief valves malfunctioned, similar to the Deepwater Horizon incident.
The company drilling the Clearfied well was EOG of Houston, Texas. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources has suspended and restricted the company from drilling anymore wells in Pennsylvania. No one was injured in the incident and allegedly no environmental damage was discovered. But the danger remains as other companies continue to drill for gas.


June 19 is listed as national SolarDay, a day set aside to promote clean solar energy. Governments and fossil fuel energy companies will not act effectively until homeowners and citizens begin to learn and about and use solar energy a renewable, non-polluting energy source. Money talks, everything else walks. The technology is here and will get better, learn more, take action to help the environment, the fossil fuel binge needs to end. No customers, no money no drilling; go green for the children's sake.
For more information, check out the link above for SolarDay. Many states now have programs and rebates to become involved with solar power. The time has come to retire the old fossil fuels. Enough is enough.

Brandywine Tomato
early May:


This heirloom variety is respected for being one of the best tasting. They are also hardy. This past week, I started to plant mine. The seeds were sown in an old flower box and covered with an old clear plastic garbage bag and left outside. It snowed and on several occasions the temps dropped to 25 degree F. It didn't seem to phase the seedlings.
Brandywines are a potato leaf variety and are beginning to ripen in mid-August. I'm not exactly sure who first gave me the seeds; it has been a number of years ago and every year I save a new batch.
Last week:


The Dirty Dozen non-organic Vegetables:

Celery is number one for ranking on the list of vegetables which contains hazardous pesticide residue. To learn more, read this article with links. Eat healthy this summer and learn about the celery substitute.

More Outdoor and Garden Updates:


Got a late spring start with the vegetable garden? July and August can be a good time to plant a fall garden and still get a good harvest.

Aphids being a problem? Read some natural controls to aphids.

Slugs and Snails? There's been a lot of rain and the critters are all over. Here are some actions.

Grasshoppers bugging your garden? Read about these natural controls.

Need a good plant for a shady and moist area? Here is a suggestion and it will be Christmas year round.
Or how about this woodland favorite?

Darn Mosquitoes? Natural Controls


Good Blogs to Read

On Your Way to the Top

Urban veggie Garden

New York's Southern Tier

Simply Snickers

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

May all the readers, both old and new, have a great and happy Christmas! I would also like to express my thanks to the many readers who have contributed to Koyote Hill over the past year. I know I have made many new friends and have received a lot of support from old friends.
The picture is an old wren's nest, I think. It was discovered during the just past Pennsylvania deer season (rifle). Some little creature, a chipmunk or maybe a squirrel, stored several acorns in the abandoned nest. We'll be watching to see if they hatch! That be a real Christmas miracle!

On the Subject of Miracles:

A nice whitetail from this past season shot by a good friend and neighbor. Some people have all the luck! Thanks for sharing Al and have a great Christmas. I know there'll be some good meals.

Christmas Storm Approaches:

Be careful driving over the upcoming weekend. Already some readers are living through a pretty good winter storm. The Christmas is expected in northwestern Pennsylvania over the next several days. It is Christmas Eve night and already the winds are starting to howl here.
In case your snowed in,and the weather is ugly outside, here is some reading you might want to do. I write for Associated Content here and also write a blog for our local newspaper at GoCrawford. I have been following the bankruptcy story of Penn Traffic which operates Quality Market stores found in many small towns in western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.

I also appreciate your comments, suggestions and insights, feel free to get in touch or comment.

Pumpkin Shortage

For weeks now, people have commented about how hard it is to find pumpkin pie filling for holiday pies. It seems that Morton, Ill., the proclaimed pumpkin capital of the world, suffered through a real rainy season and most of the pumpkin crop was destroyed. Learn more, here.
Pumpkins are relatively easy to grow and worth considering in next year's garden if you have the space. They do like to sprawl.
We'll pick back up on tomatoes and the blight next post.

Wildlife Photos These photos are from a very good friend who lives in Calgary and I thought I would share them with all. They were taken within the last several months about an hour away from that great city.
Thanks to Saskatoon Phil!




Gifts
There has been a lot of writing about last minute Christmas shopping ideas. Even I wrote one, here. But then I got to thinking, we buy gifts all the time regardless of the season and these ideas can be used throughout the year. Check it out.

The Blogs

I wanted to thank the folks who also write blogs which I recommend on this site. A special Christmas wish to Vincent, Kathleen, Linda, and Dan. Scroll down to the next post for their links.

more »
HubPages

Again, Merry Christmas!

Growing Season 2010

Growing Season 2010

Plants are part of the Christmas season just as much as the yule tree. Holly is one which comes to mind almost immediately, so does the Christmas cactus and the poinsettia.
Poinsettia plants have a lot of nostalgia but have a bad reputation as being poisonous; in reality though, that attribute is a big myth. Not even the family cat is going to croak after nibbling on a few leaves.
Mistletoe, however, is sort of an odd plant to use as a Christmas decoration. It is usually hung in doorways or from the ceiling. According to long held traditions, a person standing under it, can be freely kissed.
But the plant is a vampire of sorts, a parasite. It sucks the blood out of trees and shrubs. Granted it might be a good looking plant with pretty berries with an ancient history steeped in folklore, but it is a parasite.
Then there is the native Christmas Fern found in woodlands throughout much of northern North America. Perhaps, because they are not tropical or colorful, the Christmas Fern is often overlooked and forgotten today. Except for moss, the ferns are the only remaining green-ery in a woods in December and throughout the rest of winter.
Some ferns are still collected today and used for Christmas decorations; it was much more common, however in the early 1900's. So many plants were harvested from the woods back then that concerns were raised about over harvesting.
Today, the plants are readily available online, in many garden centers and nurseries. There are many landscaping possibilities around the home for the Christmas Fern because they are hardy (zones four through nine), evergreen and enjoy shady. moist areas. Additionally, for the most part, they are generally disease and pest free and are not eaten by deer or other wildlife.
Go native and plant a living Christmas decoration for the 2010 growing season.

A Plant with More Publicity for Growing 2010

The International Herb Association named Dill as the Herb of the Year for 2010. Dill is a nice garden plant and has more uses than just for pickles. It can be used in dips, salads, a seasoning for fish, lamb and breads.
Dill is attractive, somewhat ornamental and draws the attention of many beneficial insects. It is rather hardy, easy to direct sow and grow and is generally trouble free. Dill is a good choice for the 2010 growing season.
Dill attracts many good insects, like honeybees and other pollinators, to the garden. Dill can help the declining numbers of our pollinators which are in decline and necessary for food production. It is also a rich food source for the swallowtail caterpillar.
Dill is a good companion plant for onions and potatoes; however, it is not overly friendly with either carrots or tomatoes. There are smaller somewhat dwarf type plants which can be used in patio container gardens.
Next year (2011), the selected herb will be horseradish. Last year was bay laurel. Herbs, according to the Web site for the organization are chosen for their medicinal and culinary or decorative uses.



Looking for Ideas
See some of the ads for Christmas gifts at the end of this post for some ideas. Most are from local farms and organizations and there is no commissions or whatever. Just good items. The final ad is from Graden-Plantings. They contacted me about placing a link, since it is Christmas, I did. Thanks.


Tomatoes – 2010 Growing Season



Late Blight made for a troublesome year for tomatoes in the backyard. The fungal disease is fatal to both tomatoes and potatoes as way too many backyard gardeners discovered in rainy and cold 2009.
The good news is that late blight doesn't survive the winter; it needs living tissue to live. However, it can survive if the potatoes left in the ground were blighted or if infected plant material was added to the compost pile where it can stay warm.
If volunteer potatoes sprout during the 2010 spring weather get rid of them quickly. The late blight can spread rapidly from neighborhood to neighborhood.
Consider starting your own tomato plants this year or find a reputable grower in your area. Tomatoes are easy to start from seed as long as they have plenty of light and warm temperatures. Infected tomatoes from a large grower in 2009 were shipped north to many big box stores and were then purchased by many backyard growers. The infected plants and the cold and rainy weather in many areas created perfect conditions for the blight to spread rapidly.
If seeds were saved from 2009, they will not carry the blight. Your safe.
Some of the seed catalogs are already appearing in the mailbox. The five which have arrived so far did not contain any information regarding steps which can be taken to control not only the late blight, but also two other common blights which can diminish a tomato crop. There are actions that can be taken by home gardeners to control and manage next year's tomato garden. Those simple and inexpensive steps will be posted in the next several posts.
The 2010 growing season does not have to be a repeat.

Blogs:

Vincent di Fondi

On Your Way to the Top

New York's Southern Tier

Urban Veggie

Simply Snickers

more »
HubPages

Gift Ideas

Gift baskets from farms in the northwestern Pennsylvania can be purchased. These unique gifts are filled with all locally produced and crafted items. For more information, hunterfarm@yahoo.com
Two local brand new cookbooks are also available. One, The Meadville Marketplace Cookbook, features local recipes with historical footnotes and photographs. The proceeds go to the old Market House.
The other was produced the Col Drake Chapter of the DAR and the proceeds go to a scholarship fund. The Heritage Cookbook is another great source for recipes and historical insights. Some of the recipes included in the 150 page book include pumpkin fudge and red pickles. There is also a recipe for homemade gingerale which I listed in another blog I write for GoErie in the GoCrawford section found here. For more information, email cchsresearch@zoominternet.net at the Crawford County Historical Society. They also have other unique gifts including a great calendar.
One more gift ad:
Garden Fountains



Pictured are the gift baskets available from Hunter Farm