Original Tip No. 3 Berries and wild plants

3. Plants with fruit and edible berries can be made into recipes. Same with vegetable and herb plants. You can plant an entire victory garden, or make a container garden. Garbage cans for planting tomatoes are popular. Gourds and pumpkins do well in sunny soil and come up more than one year. There is a lot of satisfaction in using gourds, pinecones and holly from your own yard to decorate. Pinecones or gourds in a nice basket make a very nice gift for someone, and pumpkins are great in recipes, especially pumpkin soup, on a cold autumn day. As I look out this year in 2013, I note my wild blackberries have grown rampant. I replanted tomatoes in pots along with green peppers yesterday. We'll see. So far, our rabbits and wildlife have not eaten everything. On a happy note, our baby rabbits seem to have survived, and will live to grow and eat my garden another day. The misery of my Master Gardener Grandpa's planting experience was that the mulberry trees were at the mercy of the local birds. He scarecely got any berries. Same was true of our wild cherry trees; way too high up to harvest, and not a cherry picker in sight. Of course, the crows would have fought us for them, I'm sure. Good sources for more: Any books or articles by the alte Euell Gibbons. Any books or articles by Michael Pollan. Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Various articles, shows, clips by Martha Stewart and The Victory Garden on PBS. Logees catalog Recipes.com Your local garden shop for tips. Joanna Fluke's Hannah Swensen bake shop mysteries; she always has great recipes for pies and cobblers. For gourds and pumpkins, try any of The Moosewood cookbooks.

Doll Museum: History and Chronology Continued: Paper Dolls and ...

Doll Museum: History and Chronology Continued: Paper Dolls and ...: Before I start, let me note that this is the best site I've found for paper dolls and their history, plus it has lavish illustrations; T...

Miss Charlotte Bronte meets Miss Barbara Pym: Ch 6 of my Book on Pym- A Few Green Leaves

Miss Charlotte Bronte meets Miss Barbara Pym: Ch 6 of my Book on Pym- A Few Green Leaves: Ellen Tsagaris Page 1 10/10/12 The Subversion of Romance in the Novels of Barbara Pym The Popular Press, 1998 ISBN: 0-87972-763-2 Chapt...

Original Tip No. 2 Wintering Plants

2. Some annuals, like begonias, poinsettias, some violas, can be brought inside, or have cuttings taken, or coaxed into going dormant to come up again the next year. Luther Burbank I'm not, yet I have gernaniums and one poinsettia that have done very well this way. I bring in a pot or two every year, and put them in my kitchen sink; I have double sink and don't need both of them. The geraniums thrive this way. My mother had a begonia this way for so long, its teracotta plot rotted under it. She replanted it in the ground in the spring, and took it out again. She was dedicated, though she had me and her house and taught seven sections of Spanish and ran the foreign language dpeartment at our high school. She always looked good, too. Don't know how she did it. I have luck with volunteer plants, too, violas in particular. Pumpkins and gourds occasionally replant this way; I leave them on the ground in our flower bed, even after Halloween. I like to fead the rest to our local animals. By the way, we saved a nest of newborn bunnies this week. Their mother and two other rabbits were guarding them. We set up a homemade hutch of a childs chair flanked by two school band signs. In the center were two overturned metal containers, like a child's bucket only wider. Tis the season. Cuttings are another good way to winterize; umbrella plants and coral bells do very wedll this way. Enjoy the horticulture experiments. There are breat books and sites for these topics, and also your local nursery can help. Bring Plants in; The New York Times. http://www.nwitimes.com/lifestyles/home-and-garden/bring-plants-in-for-winter-but-leave-bugs-outside/article_e75b6596-7784-52ad-899f-d0acf5cafb12.html Bringing Houseplants In for the Winter - 10 Tips for Preparing House Plants for Healthy Winter Living. http://sallystrove.hubpages.com/hub/Bringing-Houseplants-Indoors-for-the-Winter-10-Tips-for-Preparing-Indoor-Plants-for-Healthy-Winter-Living

The Slow Food Movement and Weta

On Ocean Mysteries today, a feature on the weta, a very large cricket that lives in New Zealnd and has inhabited the earth tens of millions of years. I must tell my friend Doc V, a wonderful companion, mother, and entymologist. The weta is about 9 inches long or so, one of the largest insects in the world. He was amazing, and another living fossil. These are the "antique" animals and plants that still live and breathe their stories. Would they could talk our language. Then there are those species that can exist for centuries at a time. If we could be Dr. Who and time travel with them, what would they tell us? What did they think when we humans burst on the scene? Could they settle the dispute over evolution? What were Neanderthals really like? When did war start? Where their dragons and vampires; are zombies possible? I always thought we were simply the authors of our own apocalypse. Along with these musings, I watched Rick Steves on Tuscany and the Slow Food Movement, which simply means it takes a long but expensively worthwhile time to make the food eaten in the region. Cheese begins with raising the right sheep and goats, milking them, heating the milk, curdling it by hand, skimming the curds and whey, pressing them all into molds and aging them naturally. Wine is made in a similar slow fashion, and food is cooked slowly in brick ovens and over open fires. He features the artichoke festival in this episode. One host was an octogenarian vintner who looked sixty. Hmmm? Stress and chemicals anyone? Their take on the truffle snuffing hogs were dogs, and all cattle was free range. Pork and prosciutto came from the native wild boar. Talk about eating local! Our skies are clearing here, the clouds and tornadic winds less menacing. We were all gathered Monday in the center of our building, as tornadoes and storms raged over our area. Once again, we were spared, and old wives' tale or not, I bless the river. We were all lucky this time; our power did not go out. Emma cat is still ailing, but more alert. I have hope this thyroid condition will be under conrol, but my fierce little Contessa Bathory is no super quiet and too compliant. She doesn't want to play with her cat toys and dolls, not even Marionette Toinette Mouse or Mme. Pomplemousse, the string puppet cat toys. They are her favorites. We have done our share of burying young friends and classmates, taken suddenly, or by violence, while still too young. One was only 25, and she was shot by a man she feared for a long time. He claimed it was an accident. She was a veteran, Navy, and was buried, at least with full honors. Seeing her lying in a coffin made life seem very random and futile. I thought of Boethius and his Consolation of Philisophy. I recommend it at times like this. On a happier note, The Creative Writing Primer by the MWWC, our local writers group, is now 2nd in its type on Amazon. Our Kindle giveaway was yesterday. When it is sold, proceeds go to MWWC. I was a guest blogger yesterday on the MWWC Blog. Will post a link later.

Midwest Writing Center: Happy birthday MWC Creative Writing Primer!

Midwest Writing Center: Happy birthday MWC Creative Writing Primer!:   June 15 is the first anniversary of the release of the MWC Creative Writing Primer , the first ebook MWC Press (2012) released by...

A Kids' Health Mart from The Strong National Museum of Play

Come celebrate the grand reopening of the newly renovated Wegmans Super Kids Market exhibit on Saturday, June 29, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Help yourself to a generous serving of health-related crafts and family activities throughout the day. Pose for pictures with Bruiser, the Wegmans canine mascot; say hello to some friendly strolling veggies; enjoy health-themed family activities; and enter a raffle to win a gift basket of organic and nutritional health products courtesy of Wegmans. Opening day celebration activities are included with general museum admission fees. Wegmans Super Kids Market is generously sponsored by Wegmans Food Markets