The outside temperature is 58°F (only 3° cooler than my dungeon), the sun is shining, and the greenhouse is holding steady at 78°F. There is evidence of growth in one of the Jimmy Nardelo pepper cells, yet it is too early to tell if it is a pepper plant or some errant grass seed. The weather forecast is for an even nicer day tomorrow, so I adjusted my schedule a bit and worked on getting more seeds into soil instead of digging up plants for transplanting. I’ll do the latter tomorrow, along with weeding our garlic.
It became very clear to me today that I am going to need more soil sooner than I thought. I have used all of the 6-pack trays I filled when I first began this project, and I am down to a half-bag of soil, this after filling 32 additional 6-pack trays, and filling other assorted trays and pots today. I have also run out of 6-packs and trays, yet I have a bunch of 4-packs leftover from previous years, so I’ll use them next and just buy some more trays. I want to keep our costs as low as I can, and if we’re lucky, when all is said and done, we just might make some money.
Today’s plantings:
Comfrey - 18, 4-inch pots
Chamomile - 1 open-seeded tray of 500 incredibly tiny seeds
Lemon Balm - 1 open-seeded tray of 100 seeds
Lovage - 1 open-seeded tray of 100 seeds
Chervil - 1 open-seeded tray of 100 seeds
Detroit Dark Red Beets – 4 trays of 6-packs (72 cells) and 1 open-seeded tray for home
De Cicco Broccoli – 4 trays of 6-packs
Red Express Cabbage – 3 trays of 6-packs
Franklin Hybrid Brussels Sprouts – 2 trays of 6-packs
It has occurred to me that some readers may not be familiar with some of the plants I mention, particularly herbs. I have been anticipating questions, yet to my relief, none have come. For one thing, I don’t know much about herbs. That is the DW’s realm. I just look at the list, figure the best way to plant them, and care for them, and that’s about it. However, I have found that Wikipedia does provide a bit of information about each plant if one is inclined to look. I know a little bit more about the veggies, yet again, mostly about propagation, care and harvesting. Nuts and bolts, about which I am happy to share my experiences.
I mention the above only because I believe the time we find ourselves in will encourage people to try growing vegetables in order to cut costs. If anyone needs advice on how to proceed, again, I’d be happy to help answer any questions I can.
Misc:
I listened to a blues program on KBOO FM while working.
Our one rhubarb plant is showing growth.
One of our ducks has a bum leg.
The Violet-Green Swallows were feasting on a bug hatch.
Our OCD neighbors burned yard debris today and the smoke blew right toward our house. I wish I could return the favor, yet the prevailing winds won’t cooperate.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Ever have one of those days?
A couple days ago I posted two photos I labeled as "art." I'm working on a new series, of which they are part. I first had an idea about this type of project well over a year ago, and it involved a number of self-portraits. I found this new direction, turning the camera away from the bucolic and toward to "holic" uncomfortable, to say the least. I asked myself over and over how best to approach the subject matter. I believe the answer is to do so with a little bit of humor. The above photo is titled, "Today I will cut myself while shaving."
More plantings (Less poker)
Another day of changeable weather, yet a tad bit more sun than yesterday. The greenhouse thermometer read just shy of 70°F when I last checked.
As boring as it may seem to some, farmers talk about the weather so much because so much depends on it. For instance, it has been ten days since I started planting and have yet to get any seedlings popping up through the soil. I’m getting a bit worried that the temperature in the greenhouse has not been consistently warm enough for germination, even with the space heater. Like your veggies? Then allow us our indulgence in amateur meteorology.
The hippies from whom I ordered my herb seeds finally got their shit together. I picked up the box at the post office this morning, about 50 seeds packets in all. That may not seem like a lot, but when one considers that there are anywhere from 100 to 200 seeds in a pack, that’s a lot of plants. It’s a bit daunting. Adding to the dilemma is the size of some seeds. To plant one seed per cell would be a nearly impossible task. My fingers are too big and chubby to grab a single seed, and the light in the barn is not sufficient, even with a new bifocal prescription.
Besides, planting 6-packs with hundreds of seeds would take an eternity and a ton of soil. Instead, I open-seeded several herbs into trays and will transplant them into 4-inch pots at a later date. Provided these things grow, I’m going to have many more plants than I will need. Here’s the list:
Basil, Sweet Lettuce Leaf
Basil, Genovese
Sage, Garden
Savory, Winter – A perennial
Savory, Summer – An annual
Sweet Marjoram
I planted one tray of each. The sage packet contained 100 seeds. All of the others had 200 seeds. I will transplant the seedlings into 4-inch pots when they are about four inches tall. (Time to get more potting soil.)
Not all of the seeds are so incredibly small. Part of our buyer’s order is for Echinacea purpurea (Purple Cornflower) and Calendula. In that I can readily pick up a single seed, these went into 6-packs. I planted 4 trays of Echinacea and 3 of the Calendula.
The Purple Cornflower ranks right up there with my favorite flowers. Here's an interesting fact: the flowers are hermaphrodotic.
Calendulas are a source for a variety of herbal remedies, yet most gardeners plant them as an insect repellant.
(Both above photos courtesy of Wikipedia, the unsourceable source of choice.)
In yesterday’s post I wrote that I would be transplanting tarragon from our herb patch. Tarragon is an odd bird in that it doesn’t readily grow from seed (which begs the question of how it ever got started in the first place). The plant sends out runners, and these become your starts. We bought six small plants a few years ago, and now we have more than we know what to do with, so I had plenty of new little plants to harvest… or so I thought. The root systems for these runners are very sparse as the runners seem to rely more on the parent plant for nutrients. I did better with what would have been runners from two years ago. Even though they had stalks of dead old growth attached, they had plenty of new growth as well, and more importantly, had established their own root systems. We’ll see how these do. Fortunately, the buyer doesn’t want too many of these plants, as tarragon is not used very much in cooking. Why that is, I’ll never know, because it has a fabulous flavor.
A plant that has no trouble reseeding is parsley. We grow the Italian Flat Leaf variety, and if left to go to seed, the following year will find a lot of little parsleys growing around the parent plant. (Parsley is a perennial in this region.) I took advantage of this and dug up enough little babies to fill 54, 4-inch pots and an additional tray of 6-packs (36 cells). Like the chives I transplanted yesterday, if I need more, I know where I can get them.
Tomorrow: more seeds, and transplanting of Greek Oregano and French Sorrel. R moved his home game from Fridays to Saturdays, so there might be two posts by the time I go to bed tomorrow night.
As boring as it may seem to some, farmers talk about the weather so much because so much depends on it. For instance, it has been ten days since I started planting and have yet to get any seedlings popping up through the soil. I’m getting a bit worried that the temperature in the greenhouse has not been consistently warm enough for germination, even with the space heater. Like your veggies? Then allow us our indulgence in amateur meteorology.
The hippies from whom I ordered my herb seeds finally got their shit together. I picked up the box at the post office this morning, about 50 seeds packets in all. That may not seem like a lot, but when one considers that there are anywhere from 100 to 200 seeds in a pack, that’s a lot of plants. It’s a bit daunting. Adding to the dilemma is the size of some seeds. To plant one seed per cell would be a nearly impossible task. My fingers are too big and chubby to grab a single seed, and the light in the barn is not sufficient, even with a new bifocal prescription.
Besides, planting 6-packs with hundreds of seeds would take an eternity and a ton of soil. Instead, I open-seeded several herbs into trays and will transplant them into 4-inch pots at a later date. Provided these things grow, I’m going to have many more plants than I will need. Here’s the list:
Basil, Sweet Lettuce Leaf
Basil, Genovese
Sage, Garden
Savory, Winter – A perennial
Savory, Summer – An annual
Sweet Marjoram
I planted one tray of each. The sage packet contained 100 seeds. All of the others had 200 seeds. I will transplant the seedlings into 4-inch pots when they are about four inches tall. (Time to get more potting soil.)
Not all of the seeds are so incredibly small. Part of our buyer’s order is for Echinacea purpurea (Purple Cornflower) and Calendula. In that I can readily pick up a single seed, these went into 6-packs. I planted 4 trays of Echinacea and 3 of the Calendula.
The Purple Cornflower ranks right up there with my favorite flowers. Here's an interesting fact: the flowers are hermaphrodotic.
Calendulas are a source for a variety of herbal remedies, yet most gardeners plant them as an insect repellant.
(Both above photos courtesy of Wikipedia, the unsourceable source of choice.)
In yesterday’s post I wrote that I would be transplanting tarragon from our herb patch. Tarragon is an odd bird in that it doesn’t readily grow from seed (which begs the question of how it ever got started in the first place). The plant sends out runners, and these become your starts. We bought six small plants a few years ago, and now we have more than we know what to do with, so I had plenty of new little plants to harvest… or so I thought. The root systems for these runners are very sparse as the runners seem to rely more on the parent plant for nutrients. I did better with what would have been runners from two years ago. Even though they had stalks of dead old growth attached, they had plenty of new growth as well, and more importantly, had established their own root systems. We’ll see how these do. Fortunately, the buyer doesn’t want too many of these plants, as tarragon is not used very much in cooking. Why that is, I’ll never know, because it has a fabulous flavor.
A plant that has no trouble reseeding is parsley. We grow the Italian Flat Leaf variety, and if left to go to seed, the following year will find a lot of little parsleys growing around the parent plant. (Parsley is a perennial in this region.) I took advantage of this and dug up enough little babies to fill 54, 4-inch pots and an additional tray of 6-packs (36 cells). Like the chives I transplanted yesterday, if I need more, I know where I can get them.
Tomorrow: more seeds, and transplanting of Greek Oregano and French Sorrel. R moved his home game from Fridays to Saturdays, so there might be two posts by the time I go to bed tomorrow night.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Another day of temperamental weather with an occasional deluge that had us checking the basement for seepage (none found). The sun did manage to come out for about 15 minutes, which gave a little kick to the temperature in the greenhouse and provided me some clearance to take care of the birds and dig up some mature garlic chives for transplanting. Our client emailed us last night that he was in desperate need of that plant as starts. We have tons. Yet, I didn’t have the gumption to take the next step and do the actual transplanting. It’s cold, wet work made more miserable with a wind blowing through the barn. Besides, I had some work to take care of in the house, so I didn’t need much encouragement to stay warm and dry in my dungeon.
I’m working on a cover letter and updating my CV with the hopes that since the writing jobs have dried up, I might be able to muster up a visiting artist or adjunct professor position at one of the several area colleges and universities. The CV is easy; the cover letter is a bit more daunting, first impressions and whatnot. The DW and I have been brainstorming ideas as to the best way to approach the letter, and I have even gone so far as to contact a former professor of mine for tips. I think we have a plan.
After a few hours of writing and researching the art programs, I needed a little break, ate a late lunch, and in that it was close to 3 o’clock, thought I’d see if I could take advantage of some tired and/or drunk Europeans on Stars. Well, the dealer must have figured I had kicked his dog or something along those lines, for I was pretty much card dead, and when I did have a hand that had some promise, the flop proved fickle. Limp or call and fold. I could feel a mood coming on, so I closed it down and opted to revisit the chives. A little fresh air, even if it is a bit on the cool side, always helps.
Two plants were enough for 36 transplants, plus a little left over for us to move into an new herb garden in a raised bed. When I dug these plants up I also brought up a lot of earthworms, a testament to the health and nutrient content of our soil. Several of these worms remained in the root ball and therefore now inhabit some of the pots that will be for sale. Note the little milking heater in the background: a feeble attempt to keep my hands from getting achy from the wet and cold. Yet, I'm glad to have this project done, for tomorrow I will dig up and transplant Tarragon.
I’m working on a cover letter and updating my CV with the hopes that since the writing jobs have dried up, I might be able to muster up a visiting artist or adjunct professor position at one of the several area colleges and universities. The CV is easy; the cover letter is a bit more daunting, first impressions and whatnot. The DW and I have been brainstorming ideas as to the best way to approach the letter, and I have even gone so far as to contact a former professor of mine for tips. I think we have a plan.
After a few hours of writing and researching the art programs, I needed a little break, ate a late lunch, and in that it was close to 3 o’clock, thought I’d see if I could take advantage of some tired and/or drunk Europeans on Stars. Well, the dealer must have figured I had kicked his dog or something along those lines, for I was pretty much card dead, and when I did have a hand that had some promise, the flop proved fickle. Limp or call and fold. I could feel a mood coming on, so I closed it down and opted to revisit the chives. A little fresh air, even if it is a bit on the cool side, always helps.
Two plants were enough for 36 transplants, plus a little left over for us to move into an new herb garden in a raised bed. When I dug these plants up I also brought up a lot of earthworms, a testament to the health and nutrient content of our soil. Several of these worms remained in the root ball and therefore now inhabit some of the pots that will be for sale. Note the little milking heater in the background: a feeble attempt to keep my hands from getting achy from the wet and cold. Yet, I'm glad to have this project done, for tomorrow I will dig up and transplant Tarragon.
A couple hands
Like a moth to a flame, I'm back to the PLO games, playing my usual $10 and $25 table, one of each. The $10 table is a piece of cake as I have position on the player who may be the most experienced, and I'm besting him to where he alone has doubled me up. Sometimes it looks easier than it is only because of the cards.
The $25 table is a bit tougher. I have position on a LAG regular, and immediately to my right is the gentleman with whom I had the conversation the other evening. I will deal with them in hand #2 of this post.
I had an opportunity to play a type of hand that I have seen other make money on, but one I have not: two pairs in the hole.
PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.25 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($10.20)
SB ($3.55)
BB ($86.30)
UTG ($5.20)
UTG+1 ($34.05)
Hero (MP1) ($28)
MP2 ($28.90)
CO ($11.70)
Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 6
, 6
, J, J
2 folds, Hero calls $0.25, 1 fold, CO calls $0.25, Button calls $0.25, SB calls $0.15, BB checks
Hwang says that one should be looking for a set; yet he also cautions against playing pairs lower than 7s because of straight potential for other players when the set hits. Case in point:
Flop: ($1.25) 6, 9, 4 (5 players)
I have middle set, which is not pretty, so I'm not going to get too excited. I want to control the size of the pot yet also find out where I am. Is there a set of nines out there?
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.75, CO calls $0.75, 2 folds, BB calls $0.75
Apparently not, as a raise would have been forthcoming. We're looking at draws.
Turn: ($3.50) 2 (3 players)
Not the prettiest card because it makes one of those idiot straights that seem to happen with too much frequency for my taste. Some dip comes in with a mini wrap like A- 2-3-5, which plays only two ways if the Ace is suited, and gets crushed by medium wraps. Nevertheless, this card also gives me flush draw, so I'm not too disappointed.
BB checks, Hero checks, CO bets $3.35, 1 fold, Hero calls $3.35
I may have made a -EV move here, but he's made his straight, and I'm not seeing this as a freeroll situation for some reason. I'm looking for a 6, the board to pair or a heart. Hell, that's a lot of outs!
River: ($10.20) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $3.25, CO calls $3.25
Total pot: $16.70 | Rake: $0.80
Results:
Hero had 6, 6, J, J (flush, Jack high).
CO mucked 4, K, 3, 5
(straight, six high).
Outcome: Hero won $15.90
This second hand I may have overplayed. I'm not quite sure, given whom I'm up against. the initial raiser and big stack is the LAG. I've played him twenty times or more now, and I have learned the hard way that I must have position on him to play effectively.
PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.25 BB (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB ($14.45)
UTG ($33.20)
MP1 ($66.20)
MP2 ($5.65)
CO ($36.05)
Hero (Button) ($36.90)
SB ($7.30)
Preflop: Hero is Button with J, A, A, 10. The only thing that would improve this hand is if the J was a spade.
1 fold, MP1 bets $0.75, 1 fold, CO calls $0.75, Hero raises to $3.35, 2 folds, MP1 calls $2.60, CO calls $2.60
I am actually happy to see the LAG open with a raise. The CO is the gentleman with the bluffed straight and river Ace from the other night. I have now played with him enough to know that he is a pretty tight player when leading out, yet readily calls preflop raises with big pocket pairs with not much else to go with them. I thought about smooth calling but thought better of it. After all, I had position.
Now, before we go any further, I suppose I should spend a little time on what the other players might think of my play. I think it's pretty basic, actually. The only time I raise is either with Aces or I have position holding a hand with a lot of potential, like a double-suited Broadway wrap or a suited wrap with a pair larger than 9s. I'm sure this does not go un-noticed. In fact, I know that the LAG counts on it as he has used it to his advantage against me. (With this said, I am just as likely to limp with a similar hand when out of position.)
Flop: ($10.40) J, A, 6 (3 players)
MP1 checks, CO checks, Hero bets $9.90, 2 folds
OK, aside from that thing with clubs (you know what I'm talking about), I'm mostly concerned with the ranges of the other players. I am vulnerable to Broadway wraps and I'm not a fan of giving anyone a free or even discounted card. Does the adage of "Got it-pot it" apply here? I am still unclear as to how to disquise one's hand strength in PLO postflop, not that I have that fully mastered in NLHE either. Yet, in Omaha it seems that unless one flops the stone-cold, advertising exactly what you hold may be the only way to shoo the flies. The downside, of course, is when you actually improve to the invulnerable, no one is interested in going any further with their hand no matter how cheap you make it. But I digress...
Total pot: $10.40 | Rake: $0.50
Results:
Hero didn't show J, A, A, 10 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $9.90
The $25 table is a bit tougher. I have position on a LAG regular, and immediately to my right is the gentleman with whom I had the conversation the other evening. I will deal with them in hand #2 of this post.
I had an opportunity to play a type of hand that I have seen other make money on, but one I have not: two pairs in the hole.
PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.25 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($10.20)
SB ($3.55)
BB ($86.30)
UTG ($5.20)
UTG+1 ($34.05)
Hero (MP1) ($28)
MP2 ($28.90)
CO ($11.70)
Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 6
, 6, J, J2 folds, Hero calls $0.25, 1 fold, CO calls $0.25, Button calls $0.25, SB calls $0.15, BB checks
Hwang says that one should be looking for a set; yet he also cautions against playing pairs lower than 7s because of straight potential for other players when the set hits. Case in point:
Flop: ($1.25) 6
, 9, 4 (5 players)I have middle set, which is not pretty, so I'm not going to get too excited. I want to control the size of the pot yet also find out where I am. Is there a set of nines out there?
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.75, CO calls $0.75, 2 folds, BB calls $0.75
Apparently not, as a raise would have been forthcoming. We're looking at draws.
Turn: ($3.50) 2
(3 players)Not the prettiest card because it makes one of those idiot straights that seem to happen with too much frequency for my taste. Some dip comes in with a mini wrap like A- 2-3-5, which plays only two ways if the Ace is suited, and gets crushed by medium wraps. Nevertheless, this card also gives me flush draw, so I'm not too disappointed.
BB checks, Hero checks, CO bets $3.35, 1 fold, Hero calls $3.35
I may have made a -EV move here, but he's made his straight, and I'm not seeing this as a freeroll situation for some reason. I'm looking for a 6, the board to pair or a heart. Hell, that's a lot of outs!
River: ($10.20) 3
(2 players)Hero bets $3.25, CO calls $3.25
Total pot: $16.70 | Rake: $0.80
Results:
Hero had 6
, 6, J, J (flush, Jack high).CO mucked 4
, K, 3, 5 (straight, six high).Outcome: Hero won $15.90
This second hand I may have overplayed. I'm not quite sure, given whom I'm up against. the initial raiser and big stack is the LAG. I've played him twenty times or more now, and I have learned the hard way that I must have position on him to play effectively.
PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.25 BB (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB ($14.45)
UTG ($33.20)
MP1 ($66.20)
MP2 ($5.65)
CO ($36.05)
Hero (Button) ($36.90)
SB ($7.30)
Preflop: Hero is Button with J
, A, A, 10. The only thing that would improve this hand is if the J was a spade.1 fold, MP1 bets $0.75, 1 fold, CO calls $0.75, Hero raises to $3.35, 2 folds, MP1 calls $2.60, CO calls $2.60
I am actually happy to see the LAG open with a raise. The CO is the gentleman with the bluffed straight and river Ace from the other night. I have now played with him enough to know that he is a pretty tight player when leading out, yet readily calls preflop raises with big pocket pairs with not much else to go with them. I thought about smooth calling but thought better of it. After all, I had position.
Now, before we go any further, I suppose I should spend a little time on what the other players might think of my play. I think it's pretty basic, actually. The only time I raise is either with Aces or I have position holding a hand with a lot of potential, like a double-suited Broadway wrap or a suited wrap with a pair larger than 9s. I'm sure this does not go un-noticed. In fact, I know that the LAG counts on it as he has used it to his advantage against me. (With this said, I am just as likely to limp with a similar hand when out of position.)
Flop: ($10.40) J
, A, 6 (3 players)MP1 checks, CO checks, Hero bets $9.90, 2 folds
OK, aside from that thing with clubs (you know what I'm talking about), I'm mostly concerned with the ranges of the other players. I am vulnerable to Broadway wraps and I'm not a fan of giving anyone a free or even discounted card. Does the adage of "Got it-pot it" apply here? I am still unclear as to how to disquise one's hand strength in PLO postflop, not that I have that fully mastered in NLHE either. Yet, in Omaha it seems that unless one flops the stone-cold, advertising exactly what you hold may be the only way to shoo the flies. The downside, of course, is when you actually improve to the invulnerable, no one is interested in going any further with their hand no matter how cheap you make it. But I digress...
Total pot: $10.40 | Rake: $0.50
Results:
Hero didn't show J
, A, A, 10 (nothing).Outcome: Hero won $9.90
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Soil & Greens
Get it? The old science fiction flick?
The weather is some kind of crappy today, rainy and cool. The prognosticators suspect we will have a couple more days of this until we see the sun again. Wonderful.
I normally wouldn’t sweat the forecast, but I’ve got a greenhouse half-filled with seeds trying to make something of themselves. And, as we all learned in our very first science lesson in school, plants need sunshine to grow. The best thing I can say right now is that at least the small heater is keeping the greenhouse at a steady 60°F.
I emailed our buyer a few days ago to ask about early plant sales, and he finally wrote me back yesterday. Yes, they will start getting plants in next weeks and will take early-season starts like kale and mustards from us. So, guess what I planted today, sun or no sun.
All of the below were planted into 6-packs, three trays each (36 cells total). These plants, as most others, don’t like to be root bound. They grow quickly and if they don’t have room to spread out, they become stunted, and they will go to seed with little provocation. Once that happens, they are worthless. (The same goes for lettuce and spinach.) Therefore, I am going to stagger plantings, repeating the process every two or three weeks.
I love mustard greens, especially raw. When we grew them for market, I always ate as I picked. If you’ve never eaten mustards before, imagine a mild horseradish flavor. Once cooked, they tend to lose much of this heat. I planted all of my favorites:
Tatsoi
Bau Sin
Osaka Purple
Giant Red
Mizuna
We eat a fair amount of kale. I must admit I’m not wild about it, yet the DW is, so you know how that goes. Yet, when steamed with grilled onions and balsamic vinegar is drizzled on the two, then I’ll eat my share. Hell, what doesn’t taste good with grilled onions or balsamic vinegar?
Our buyer asked for a red variety, so were growing Russian Red Kale.
This is Dinosaur (Lacinato Blue) Kale. It is huge, which to my mind is a good thing. So much of the kale leaf is nearly inedible as the veins can be quite large, numerous and fibrous. We always strip as much of the leafy goodness away and cook it. Therefore, the larger the leaf, the greater amount of each blade there is to enjoy.
Also on today’s schedule were arugula and moss curled parsley. You know, folks are just crazy about arugula. We’ve grown is before but found it to be just too much bother as the leaves are small, and it bolts if you look at it sideways. And everyone is familiar with curly parsley. Looks pretty, sure, but give me Italian Flat leaf Parsley any time over the curled stuff. (I’m still waiting for the damn hippies to send the rest of my herb order, which contains Flat Leaf. Supposedly the shipment went out today, ten days after I placed my order. I’ll believe it when I see it. Damn hippies!)
(Photos are from Seeds of Change and Kitazawa Seed Catalogues.)
The weather is some kind of crappy today, rainy and cool. The prognosticators suspect we will have a couple more days of this until we see the sun again. Wonderful.
I normally wouldn’t sweat the forecast, but I’ve got a greenhouse half-filled with seeds trying to make something of themselves. And, as we all learned in our very first science lesson in school, plants need sunshine to grow. The best thing I can say right now is that at least the small heater is keeping the greenhouse at a steady 60°F.
I emailed our buyer a few days ago to ask about early plant sales, and he finally wrote me back yesterday. Yes, they will start getting plants in next weeks and will take early-season starts like kale and mustards from us. So, guess what I planted today, sun or no sun.
All of the below were planted into 6-packs, three trays each (36 cells total). These plants, as most others, don’t like to be root bound. They grow quickly and if they don’t have room to spread out, they become stunted, and they will go to seed with little provocation. Once that happens, they are worthless. (The same goes for lettuce and spinach.) Therefore, I am going to stagger plantings, repeating the process every two or three weeks.
I love mustard greens, especially raw. When we grew them for market, I always ate as I picked. If you’ve never eaten mustards before, imagine a mild horseradish flavor. Once cooked, they tend to lose much of this heat. I planted all of my favorites:
Tatsoi
Bau Sin
Osaka Purple
Giant Red
Mizuna
We eat a fair amount of kale. I must admit I’m not wild about it, yet the DW is, so you know how that goes. Yet, when steamed with grilled onions and balsamic vinegar is drizzled on the two, then I’ll eat my share. Hell, what doesn’t taste good with grilled onions or balsamic vinegar?
Our buyer asked for a red variety, so were growing Russian Red Kale.
This is Dinosaur (Lacinato Blue) Kale. It is huge, which to my mind is a good thing. So much of the kale leaf is nearly inedible as the veins can be quite large, numerous and fibrous. We always strip as much of the leafy goodness away and cook it. Therefore, the larger the leaf, the greater amount of each blade there is to enjoy.
Also on today’s schedule were arugula and moss curled parsley. You know, folks are just crazy about arugula. We’ve grown is before but found it to be just too much bother as the leaves are small, and it bolts if you look at it sideways. And everyone is familiar with curly parsley. Looks pretty, sure, but give me Italian Flat leaf Parsley any time over the curled stuff. (I’m still waiting for the damn hippies to send the rest of my herb order, which contains Flat Leaf. Supposedly the shipment went out today, ten days after I placed my order. I’ll believe it when I see it. Damn hippies!)
(Photos are from Seeds of Change and Kitazawa Seed Catalogues.)
This humble little blog
291 posts since last July. If today is like most days, I will get my usual 17 to 20 readers and thereby pass the 4,000-hits mark, a paltry number when compared to some of the blogs that I follow.
Am I complaining? Yes and no. While I had hoped to go viral at some point, I realize that perhaps there is nothing in the archives that merit such attention, either in style or content. What motivates such a desire? Certainly not vainglory. In fact, pragmatics play a large role. Sometimes blogging leads to networking, and with those connections, opportunities to monetize the writing process. It hasn’t happened yet.
As longtime readers will remember (more about you folks later), and will perhaps agree, writing well does not come easy to me. Even though I have been putting thoughts to the page for most of my life, the words still do not flow with the ready intelligence and eloquence of someone like my Dear Sis, Cardgrrl. My syntax is sometimes disjointed; grammatical errors abound; and, even decisions about punctuation become overly complicated, as if I am writing a translation of Husserl into English. And Lord knows, my poker insights can be shallow or just dead wrong. Yet, with each post, I discover something about the writing process. I learn, and this in itself makes the endeavor worthwhile.
“Mr. bastin, get thee a blog.” A couple years ago, Gumpo wrote these words on the Poker Academy forum. I was encouraged, even though it took quite some time for me to get this thing going. And bless his heart, Gump reads this thing every time there is a new entry. So does Memphis Mojo, Crash, Opinh Bombay, Akileos, joxum, Loki9, Matt Tagg and Cardgrrl. There is also someone from Arizona, I believe someone from Poker Academy, who logs in daily, and recently, someone with an ISP of xo.net spent hours reading this thing. I know this because of Sitemeter. Well, maybe not all are daily readers, and in fact, some folks have pretty much stopped checking in, but that’s not the point. I’d just like to thank you all.
Sitemeter stats can be entertaining as well as informative, especially when the entry point to my site comes from google. Until I learned how to use poker hand converters, I would post hand histories complete with the nicks of my opponents. Occasionally one of the players would google their nick, for who knows what reason, and they would find my blog. Not so much anymore; yet one player, a Supernova on Stars, has returned to my blog a number of times, not because he is a loyal reader but because he apparently googles his nick on a regular basis. Hmmmm.
As one might suspect, not all googles are poker-related. I get hits from folks looking for information on Indian Runner ducks, Guinea fowl, and now, certain vegetable varieties I have planted, and even a couple art-related topics. Yet, these folks move on, never to read the blog again.
Time is precious, even for those of us who seem to have a lot of it on our hands. How many blogs can one read each day? A couple months ago I had to do research for a client that included reading upwards of twenty blogs a day. It was exhausting, and ultimately, boring as hell. Yet, not every blog I looked at was dull. Some were downright entertaining and extremely creative. These I bookmarked with the intention of returning for my own edification. Well, I have not looked at them since. I already spend more time on the computer than I should.
So, again Dear Readers, thank you for sticking with me. Your generosity is often reason enough to continue with this blog.
Am I complaining? Yes and no. While I had hoped to go viral at some point, I realize that perhaps there is nothing in the archives that merit such attention, either in style or content. What motivates such a desire? Certainly not vainglory. In fact, pragmatics play a large role. Sometimes blogging leads to networking, and with those connections, opportunities to monetize the writing process. It hasn’t happened yet.
As longtime readers will remember (more about you folks later), and will perhaps agree, writing well does not come easy to me. Even though I have been putting thoughts to the page for most of my life, the words still do not flow with the ready intelligence and eloquence of someone like my Dear Sis, Cardgrrl. My syntax is sometimes disjointed; grammatical errors abound; and, even decisions about punctuation become overly complicated, as if I am writing a translation of Husserl into English. And Lord knows, my poker insights can be shallow or just dead wrong. Yet, with each post, I discover something about the writing process. I learn, and this in itself makes the endeavor worthwhile.
“Mr. bastin, get thee a blog.” A couple years ago, Gumpo wrote these words on the Poker Academy forum. I was encouraged, even though it took quite some time for me to get this thing going. And bless his heart, Gump reads this thing every time there is a new entry. So does Memphis Mojo, Crash, Opinh Bombay, Akileos, joxum, Loki9, Matt Tagg and Cardgrrl. There is also someone from Arizona, I believe someone from Poker Academy, who logs in daily, and recently, someone with an ISP of xo.net spent hours reading this thing. I know this because of Sitemeter. Well, maybe not all are daily readers, and in fact, some folks have pretty much stopped checking in, but that’s not the point. I’d just like to thank you all.
Sitemeter stats can be entertaining as well as informative, especially when the entry point to my site comes from google. Until I learned how to use poker hand converters, I would post hand histories complete with the nicks of my opponents. Occasionally one of the players would google their nick, for who knows what reason, and they would find my blog. Not so much anymore; yet one player, a Supernova on Stars, has returned to my blog a number of times, not because he is a loyal reader but because he apparently googles his nick on a regular basis. Hmmmm.
As one might suspect, not all googles are poker-related. I get hits from folks looking for information on Indian Runner ducks, Guinea fowl, and now, certain vegetable varieties I have planted, and even a couple art-related topics. Yet, these folks move on, never to read the blog again.
Time is precious, even for those of us who seem to have a lot of it on our hands. How many blogs can one read each day? A couple months ago I had to do research for a client that included reading upwards of twenty blogs a day. It was exhausting, and ultimately, boring as hell. Yet, not every blog I looked at was dull. Some were downright entertaining and extremely creative. These I bookmarked with the intention of returning for my own edification. Well, I have not looked at them since. I already spend more time on the computer than I should.
So, again Dear Readers, thank you for sticking with me. Your generosity is often reason enough to continue with this blog.
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