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Canoeing through the woods
Staycation 2010 rocks on. I have been doing a terrible amount of gardening. Most of the place has been cultivated, I planted all but one of my new wildflowers, and I got in three rows of okra. I am experimenting with putting them pretty close in a square foot garden approach. Yesterday I harvested half of my mixed greens. They were getting tough from the 90+ degree heat so i made wilted lettuce and it was quite delicious. I set aside some bacon grease for another round later this week, then no more backyard lettuce until fall. I was also able to host a little breakfast thing around the world cup which was fun and an exciting game with the usa coming back in the end to advance. I grilled a nice sirloin with paprika, dried aromatic basil, and garlic powder with some baked red potatoes from the springfield market (i suspect they were last years).
In the evening Jared came by and we drove out to Overton Bottoms and canoed around the flooded wildlife refuge. There was supposed to be a group but no one else showed. We offloaded the canoe and ran over to Woolverton for a six pack of Redstripe. Of course their was a client in the parking lot, that always happens on the rare occasion I buy alcohol. Coming back in I got the truck stuck parking off the side of the road. We got ‘er rocking and with Jared driving and me pushing out of the flooded ditch we got ‘er out. I was covered in mud but relieved not to have to call for rescue. Getting stuck makes beer taste good.
We canoed around, first through some brush and weeds and it felt very evergladey. We then moved through the woods which was pretty cool, i’ve never canoed in that kind of situation. We went down the flooded road and explored a parking lot to read the informational signs. Jared spotted a tree frog clinging to a lonely dry reed. I broke it off, loaded him on to the canoe and carried him to a large tree. He hopped off happily.
We were going to head to the river to see the transition from flood to river but the weather turned ominous. We instead had a mad dash back to the truck as lightning struck along the horizon. It was coming in a few large drops and not a minute after we had the boat strapped down it came down in buckets. A beautiful trip and the end to a really wonderful day.
home from springfield to start the staycation
In my last vacation update I left off Harry and I were staying in a cheap hotel in Springfield. We had seen a sign for the farmer’s market on the way to the show the night before and decided to check it out. It was tiny, with only a handful of vendors but still nice not to miss the market. I got a bar of handmade soap from the soap lady that is at least very pretty and purple, it was also pricey. There were also peaches which have been yummy and its nice they’re back. There was also a big vendor with stuff that was out of season and little plastic stickers so its not a producer’s market. I did get some good sized red potatoes and onions of size as well.
We hopped on Highway 44 but decided the interstate was not to our liking and cut off on route 5 and stopped by Bennett’s Spring. It was Hillbilly Days so very crowded with bass fisherpeople standing in the spring in waders which took away from the beauty of the third largest spring in Missouri. We went back to the little used hiking trails and attempted to hike the Savannah Trail. It was hot but I brought water and we weren’t going that far. There was also a natural bridge but it was a 7+ mile hike and it was too hot to do that enjoyably.
The hike was pretty close to a disaster. There were a lot of ticks and neither of us were really dressed for that. The trail was also poorly marked and we couldn’t make since of the markers and ultimately turned back in frustration after walking close to seven miles. We did find this little grotto where I took a moment to compose myself in the cool mists of the little waterfall and rinse the worst of the ticks off my legs. It seemed we were well above the cows so I drank a few handfuls of water just to feel more apart of the scene.
We drove North glad to be alive. We had definitely had an adventure and I like to remind folks they are not always fun. We hit some brief heavy rain which was followed by a cold front and it kind of got nice when we finished up our trip at the Missouri Wildflower Nursery in Brazito. I got some phlox and other wildflowers as well as a gallon sized paw paw tree.
I’ve been back for a couple of days and its been nice being on vacation and being at home. I’d had quite enough travel for a bit though I am hoping on going somewhere towards the end of this week. I did get to be back for Father’s Day and cooked the old man breakfast and went with him to the casino for a buffet. I also picked up a bench for the backyard so the popster can rest in the shade when we’re playing partners. I even put it together rather than trying to get him to do it.
Yesterday I caught Spain vs Honduras in the worldcup with Amy and her friend Belen from Spain. It was a lot of fun and Spain dominated. Belen is going to come over tomorrow for USA vs Algeria and Dad and i are laying out our brunch menu. Bacon & eggs or grilled sirloin? I’ve also done a fair amount of gardening in spite of the heat wave. Turned over some garden bed for Okra to go in later this morning and hope to get my wildflowers in today. I cleaned up the beds in front weeding and cultivating and cut some flowers that were leaning. I planted my paw paw tree, this time inside of the fence which will hopefully keep the deer from eating it like the last two. I also used the last of the stackable composter compost and am on to my batch from spring. Its not as done but looks pretty good except for some sizable eggshells. I need to run a strap around it to secure the bin so i can get in and turn it better. Nonetheless I am quite proud of the grounds, hardly looks like the place i moved into. The coreopsis and asters are a brilliant yellow and the shade bed is totally rehabilitated and flowering nicely with the added beauty of the spiderwort in the mornings. Come on by and check it out.
My vacation is off to a great start. I have such a love of travel, I’ve never had one come up where I didn’t try and go somewhere. But I only found out last Wednesday this was coming. My outfit expended pretty much the year’s allotment for substance abuse treatment so I get to take the rest of the fiscal year off. No work until July 1. Its funny, I busted it out Thursday and Friday to get caught up and everything running on its own and I wouldn’t be heading back to work for another two hours but just knowing I am on vacation made the weekend so much more fun. On Saturday I busted out the lawn. I got the front done before we went to the market and the back I took it easy on as I was getting it in the heat of the day. It was in the best shape to start with then it has been all year and it came out pretty. I still had a little energy f0r some other odds and ends and when the rain came I was glad I was done.
Yesterday I started my day with Church. My housemate Harry goes to the Nazarene Church and they have a Summer Sunday School class on science and the bible. It was OK. Very smart biologist dude teaches it but his premise is that science makes some a priori assumptions about the world and so does the bible and christians should go with bible assumptions. not very appealing. the service was heartfelt and sincere but didn’t speak to me and the music, altar call, and closing prayer i found all very nostalgic and when i reached out for the Spirit, of course it was there. Nonetheless if I had to sum it up in one word, as usual when i go to Church, I would choose irrelevant.
I got back on the yard stuff and finished off the tree trimming chores in the back and cleared some headroom and dead stuff and hauled all the sticks to the mulch pile. I also weeded the shade bed which was getting out of hand and some other miscellaneous projects. I tried to buy a tent but Dicks only had department store tents. I did get a rain jacket that fits at a nice price.
We are planning on going to Johnson’s Shut Ins, but put the trip off until tomorrow. Looks like the weather might be a bit better and it gives us more time to get ready. I still need to get to the store. Dad’s new gluten free diet has really made camp food more challenging. We have to forgo our usual processed this and canned that. I got some natural cold cuts (ham & turkey) but bread is problematic (he doesn’t like the $6 loaf i got him, crust is too hard). I think we are going to boil eggs, bring along fresh fruits, perhaps some oatmeal for breakfast. In general it has pushed us in a lot healthier direction regarding food. Checking labels and excluding anything with wheat fillers is an interesting exercise. Spending more but eating better stuff. If nothing else its stopped Dad from putting Hamburger Helper on the dinner table.
So today I might pick up and spread mulch. I might do some shopping. I found a $200 bed I might get, I still need that tent (mine finally crapped out after sustaining sever damage when it got blown a 1/4 mile in death valley, 2 Christmases ago), food for the trip, and perhaps paint for the living room. I might get some mulch and mulch out the little path I made, clean out the grass behind the back of the fence, cultivate stuff, and start in on putting in a small bed next to the horse radish for okra (its probably too wet to work the garden beds and time’s a wastin’).
In Praise of the Push Reel Mower
I am up early drinking coffee and looking for that balanced time when the dew has dried but the heat of the day has not kicked in. Today is the day I get to mow my lawn. When I bought my house a couple years ago and needed to get a mower it was a pretty easy selection. My biggest factor was my carbon footprint and the push reel mower rocks on that front. Two stroke engines are terribly polluting and the noise and the gas and oil and the space just made it not seem worth it. My yard is of some size so I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a chore at times. My 73 year old pappy rues the choice cuz he likes mowing lawn, likes doing his share, but the push reel is too tough. He also likes to point out that he’s done his share on the push reel back in his childhood and still remembers fondly when his parents upgraded to a motorized mower. Having seen the size of my grandma’s yard I can’t hardly blame him. But I figure I need the exercise. I don’t go to the gym which seems artificial and strange. There is so much physical work that needs to be done and by doing everything by hand I get the opportunity to work out. Mostly its biggest drawback is the time. Its a strange balancing act of matching weather, schedule and personal energy to get ‘er done. The trick to good push reel mowing is to stay ahead of it. When the grass gets tall or is too damp the mower just pushes it over. I also like to go back over it with a weed whip and hit the grass stalks and heavy stems. The end result looks as good as anyone’s. I’ve also come to enjoy the quiet. When Amee and I lived in Toledo I used to call the guy down the street using his leaf blower excessively “manscaping”. Why do by hand which you can do with noisy power tools seems to be the ethic. I am just the opposite. I dig my garden, double dig in fact, by hand, rake my leaves, push reel the lawn, for the quiet and the clean and it just feels more serene. Machines have always made me nervous. I was a natural Luddite and I organize my life to that effect. Sure I have my ’92 pick up but when the timing belt chews its way through the engine block I may not replace it. I enjoy not driving. I’ll bike more, stay closer to home, start walking to the store. Its where we all need to go if we believe in justice or enjoy living on the planet earth. Everyone can’t drive a combustion car and a living planet. We all can have a bike, a place to call home, the internet, and maybe even a push reel mower.
“Live in a Garden”
I can’t believe i haven’t posted this one its one of my favorites. I’ve finished posting all the stuff i’m gonna from “America” and am now putting up stuff from Atonal Musings which i put together in 2001. The first verse goes back to my manic break down and my first big flurry of poetry. I was stalled there for a couple of years when i got my break through by changing my imaginary audience to this three year old boy whose family i was working with. Writing for kids helped me wrap my mind around what i was trying to do and it brought in all the farm animals.
We could live in a garden
Watch the apple trees sway
In the gentle breeze
While the chipmunks play
We won’t have jobs or have bills to pay
We’ll live simple lives but it’ll be OK
Because we’ll live in a garden
We’ll have to milk the cow
Feed the chickens and ducks
And slop the old sow
We’ll ask some old people
When we don’t know how
There’ll be Sea Monkeys on Thursday
If you start them now
Because we live in a garden
We just don’t act that way
Trapped in buildings and cars
Almost every single day
If you only remember one thing I say
The world is a garden so treat it that way
strategic planning et al
I got back this afternoon from a strategic planning session of the Missouri Cadre for Co-Occurring Excellence. It was a really cool experience…. Right now its Elvis night in Texas and the Detroit Tigers are pitching to Elvis Andrus in the bottom of the 9th, tied bases loaded. Strike 1. Fouled one, strike 2. There’s 1 out. Earlier they had a bunch of Elvi’s on mini bikes eating jelly donuts. Fudge, base hit. ‘Elvis did it on Elvis day”. what are you gonna do? great game….
The conference was at Innsbrook this resort in Wentzville that was pretty neat. I stayed in a condo all by my lonesome, fireplace, sliding glass door looking out on a wooded lake, 1 1/2 baths, just really excessive. They were going for seasonal food too so spinach and asparagus in every meal. A lot of their meals though just fell a little flat, chewy risotto and salty overcooked couscous. but fancy, and largely good, i’m not complaining.
The strategic planning itself was pretty interesting and i think i caught the gist of what we did to do it myself in a pinch. We were organized on a focus question which we took out of our mission statement to make the systems of care more responsive to people with complex needs. So we first identified what we would like to do on it and just made lists. We then got in diads or triads and by consensus put up what we could agree on 1/2 sheets of paper in 3-7 word statements and stuck them on a “sticky wall”. We put them together by similarities and then identified commonalities in each group and wrote those in 3-7 words. That was our vision. Than we wrote our blocks in the same fashion, individual lists diads and triads on 3-7 word cards, clusters, underlying themes, these our are our underlying contradictions. We then problem solve those in the same way individual lists, diads and triads (we did a group with four and it wasn’t as cool), put on the board, condense by similarities, name those. Than we clustered those five things into two things. Those are our goals. finally we wrote down four quarters and split up our nine identified activities under our two goals. Very consensus based but focused and productive. Valerie our facilitator rocked.
It took all day though so couldn’t really utilize the resort. did walk by the lake and stroll through the woods in a fruitless search for morels. I did see lots of wildflowers most noticeably wild sweet william. Saw lots of others coming along, looks like they’re doing fire ecology and they’ve got a nice looking woods there at Innsbrook. I also saw a bluebird. Looked just like the license plate, thank you showme state.
When I got home i took straight to gardening. Turned my compost and scooped out a bushel. Planted my new strawberries. earlyglories? i think. extended the bed. Dad got the rhubarb in. in three years i’ll bake you a pie. It smelled really clean with the rain. the lettuces and such are coming in nice. i thinned the first round and we got some along with dandelions, wild onions, and oregano in our local greens salad for dinner.
The strawberries look like they’re really going to produce. lots of green berries. the herb garden really came in nice this year. the taragon is booming, as is the oregano and thyme as well. The chives are blooming very pretty, i’m hoping some of them go to seed and they increase. The sage has, i have a bunch of plants to dig up, if anyone wants one let me know. The bergamont also has spread nicely. Its looking sharp.
Bunnies have been a problem, took out a cabbage? and a kale. They might come back. I’m going to try and build a garden wall and plant some marigolds. There was also a stem cut off a tomato plant, but i couldn’t find a worm. So much to do. Got bulbs to plant and i have 6 horseradish i might plant up in the higher ground.
Gotta love spring and new beginnings.
got the back 40
Its was a busy weekend at Leslie Lane. Yesterday, started the day with coffee with sarah and harry then we went to the market. Got some good eats, plus some stuff to plant; horseradish, which i’m not really sure what to do with, some tomatoes including a purple one from the organic place, but we couldn’t find any green zebras that harry is into.
Later I went for a hike with Harry on the High Ridge Trail at Rock Bridge State Park. Its the best trail with the greatest variety of terrain. It was very pretty out with the red bud’s last hurrah, the wild sweet william, and violets. Very pretty and their was a hint of flowers in the air. We walked along a creek and through the woods and looked for morels. Saw lots of mayflowers an indicator species but no mushrooms. I was so bushed from hiking I lay down on the couch and pretty much stayed there until the next morning, except for getting up for bed. I forgot to pick up my tramadol at the pharmacy and i think i was going through a little withdrawal and i was sore.
Nonetheless once i got moving the soreness went away. I was itching to get some stuff done on the garden. But first because a complicated array of interrelated projects I had to knock the dirt out of the red bud stump in the front yard. Then i backed the truck up to it and dad, harry and i heaved it into the back of the truck. I collected sticks since I was going to the mulch place, but missed a pile i had raked up a couple weeks ago, grrr.
Since we were at the mulch site we hiked along Hinkson Creek at Capen Park. It was again very pretty, didn’t see any morel territory. Kept some energy for the yard. When we got home I planted the flowering dog wood and the little red bud i got at the arbor day giveaway. I put them next to each other in front of the stump. I will plant something in the stump someday. I mowed the front yard. Henry, the neighbor, showed me a flowering shrub with these little pink flowers he wasn’t sure what it was, i didn’t know either obviously. Then i watered stuff up front.
I raked the sawdust so it doesn’t cover the seedlings up from the wildflower mix out where the bush honey locust used to be. Yesterday dad cut down the wild looking stumps off at the ground. Harry had dug up the rest of the southerly bed and he planted another tomato. I ran some string and rope back and forth between two cages for a trellis and planted those asian pea pods.
Friday night i had stopped in to see Malavika and Isaiah and they had given me a couple variety of kale seedlings and a couple broccoli or cabbage plants. Harry and I planted a couple and the rest i split out into individual plants and transplanted them. I did the same thing with my last two hybrid tomatoes and the basil i bought at the market as well. After watering I was ready to call it a day.
Finished it off with dinner. Had local brats cooked with onions and Mickeys Malt Liquor. Also made rhubarb with peach preserves and Harry made a salad out of an array of local greens, local radish, and some red and yellow maters. For substance i made an annie’s mac-n-cheese with left over broccoli and cheese in it.
Future projects include the rhubarb bed, planting the basil, planting the 4 new varieties of strawberries I got, moving the lilies and getting in some rose bushes. I’ve also been filling the bird bath which has been a good draw for the wildlife. I plan to build a garden wall around the southernmost bed and i am going to include some cups to hold water and draw the birds so they’ll eat some bugs while they’re having a little drink or swim.
beautiful spring days
Thank god for beautiful spring days. sarah came over for coffee before we went to the market with harry. there was more of a crowd even early and everyone was loving the beautiful days. got eggs of course, the big bag of spinach, brats, goat cheese, everything else i still had from last week. sarah got flowers for amy’s bridal shower and i donated a tulip and a prettier than theirs daffodil. Sarah was impressed with how much stuff i had going when we did the grand tour.
I couldn’t turn up my proof of personal property tax so i went down town to see if i could get a copy and couldn’t. While i was downtown i grabbed some Kaldi’s beans. Got a relationship Brazilian light roast (excellent} and a sumatran. I tried the relationship Montserrat and it was good. Kaldis really knows how to roast a bean.
I also had gotten bacon at the market but it was frozen so i offered to get everyone breakfast at Midway Truckstop. Had the french toast, fair. Dad had the hamburger steak and eggs that i usually get but wasn’t hungry enough.
After breakfast we went out to the Overton Bottoms and checked on the trees we had planted (oaks, pecans, and other hard nut trees, with the idea over the next 3 or 4oo years the trees would mature and the nuts would wash downstream to propagate along the river banks. The Bottoms are a cool area that got protected after the big flood of ’93, thank you slick willy, and are going from pasture/farm land to wooded wetland. We checked on our trees, the switch grass wasn’t out yet so we couldn’t check in on that and then looked fruitlessly for morels. the dogs enjoyed meandering around the forest. Myrtle soaked in the Big Muddy but Oni wasn’t having any of that.
Since we were shroomless we filled our bags with garlic mustard. Its a pernicious problem there and I had volunteered on a pull last year. There was less of it but the seeds take two years so it was to be expected to be back in force, and it was.
Came home and dad watched the tigers beat the indians, harry finished digging up the spring bed and planted lettuces, mesculin mix, and arugula. I mowed the front yard. Yea. The push reel works with my impaired arm. i felt like i could have mowed the back but decided to be cautious and wait until tomorrow.
Instead i painted the black stripes on the rain barrels. They are closer to being done, on two of them we are going to run the pipe straight into them. One bush will have to be trimmed. On the southwest corner we need to do a flex pipe so we don’t have to move the garden gate. Dad thinks its going to be frost free. He started cutting on the red bud stump but it was thicker than the saw and it still stands. He wants to pull it over with a chain and his truck. We swung the axe at it some. Its fun i couldn’t cut my french toast with a fork but i can swing an axe. weird.
In between those last things i cooked some supper. I cooked up a good size batch of the mustard greens with some local bacon. I fried the bacon in small pieces, threw in red onion, and then the garlic mustard in the water that clung to it when i washed it. I added malt vinegar. When i tried it it was pretty bitter so i squeezed in the juice of a key lime and added some braggs, it turned out good but i wouldn’t want a steady diet of it. Harry is going to try some with ham bone and great northern beans. I also made a pack of the brats pulled in a third of a Mickeys with the rest of the red onion and some amy’s mac & cheese with garlic powder and basil.
We’re finishing up the evening with a little 2o12. Neutrinos shaking up the earths quest. doesn’t bold well with my perennials. I do like me some apocalyptic fiction though.
holy shit i can shovel
What a beautiful spring day to spend in the garden. I haven’t been doing much out there with the pinched nerve in my c-6 vertebra and all the rain there just hasn’t been much i could do if i had the time and energy. It has rained so much the ground is still saturated almost everywhere and some places water will still swell out of the ground if you walk across it. The grass is getting high and needs to be cut if I am going to stay on top of it with a push reel mower as I have been. Just having to consider buying a noisy 2 stroke earth killer has bummed me out. But besides the pain i can’t lift my arm and my bicep isn’t working in my right arm and I haven’t been optimistic i could manage the push reel when it gets dry enough.
Today though it was just to gorgeous. I walked around and looked at all the spring bulbs. The daffodils are pretty much done but the early tulips are holding up and getting joined by more and more each day. I wish i would have kept better track of what i planted in the fall but lots of bulbs are blooming. I do have one completely bare spot where the squirrels, tree rats as my brother calls them, ate them all. bastards. Stubby, this mostly tailless fat fucker who mostly lives in the front yard has a particular taste for bulbs, especially tulips.
The wildflowers have come back nice but none are blooming yet and the herb garden looks great, as do the strawberries. Thank God for perennials. But i don’t have to totally rely on them because when i tried shovel up the southern most garden bed i found i could do it pretty normally. It was also dry enough so all the organic material and sand i’ve been adding is paying off. I double dug it and put in about an inch of cotton waste compost. I plan on turning in another inch in the top layer tomorrow and planting lettuce, mescalin mix, and perhaps some spinach.
Dad just asked me to make a salad so i’m gonna wrap this up. I might take some time and get some dandelion greens in it. Or perhaps not as i dawdled enough bringing this to close that he asked harry to do it. In that case i will also mention i added the second coat of brown spray paint to the rain barrels. Next step is to paint the ribs black and i hope to have them up and ready this weekend. I’ll keep you posted.
Multiconstruct 
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