Filed under: garden, last green valley | Tags: arugula, asparagus, broccoli, fall creek farm, Farmers Market, garden, Pomfret, putnam, weather
Photographed above is the arugula and asparagus I purchased from the Putnam Farmers’ Market last week. A woman from Fall Creek Farm told me that the asparagus was the last of the season! I made asparagus parmigiano a couple of times and I am looking forward to doing so again next year.
The flowers are picked from my own garden but are, unfortunetly, not a sign of my ability to grow flowers. They are a sign that I am unable to grow broccoli. A combination of early heat and recent rain made half of my broccoli bloom and the other half not develop at all.
Filed under: college, garden, last green valley | Tags: Bennington College, bolting, border patrol, broccoli, class, deer, Farmers Market, gardens, grass, green thumb, hardiness, hemlock, houseplants, invasive species, mock orange, parenting, patents, peas, perennials, poison ivy, politics, racism, sexism, sibling rivalry, sun, supertramp, the logical song, weather
Soundtrack includes The Logical Song by Supertramp.
Every time I plant something I learn why I should not have planted it. Sometimes I do not have the resources or skills to successfully grow it. Other times I have been informed that certain species or garden techniques go against some sort of moral decree. Below I have outlined some of the major problems.
POLITICAL ISSUES
With roses, one must decide between disease or brevity, class or caste.
I have been indoctrinated into believing in invasive species, and, until recently, have never thought to consider opposing views.
I do not support sexism. or racism. or excessive rivalry between siblings.
I don’t want to support plant patenting.
Is it better to keep off the grass or to rethink grass?
PRACTICAL ISSUES
I am unable to grow anything that absolutely needs full sun, because I do not have it.
A borderless garden, for one previously explained reason.
Any plant requiring warm, tropical temperatures.
I do not have the money for many desired perennials.
I am constantly wondering whether the plants that I do feel are worth purchasing are not impostors.
Local farmers’ markets are now convenient. The nearest is a five minute drive after work and opens when I am released.
PERSONAL ISSUES
The weather never cooporates and my leafy greens have difficulty germinating. Those that germinate bolt.
The west plot of the garden has been left undisturbed in order to protect a hemlock in the final years of its demise.
Houseplants can not be expected to survive in my parents’ care.
I have become entirely too familiar with certain species.
The Bennington curriculum!
Filed under: college, garden, last green valley | Tags: Bennington College, boston, bulls, cheever, Connecticut, deer, fruit, garden, hunting, lee reich, Michael Pollan, New York Times, pear, Pomfret, suburbia, summer, The Omnivore's Dilemma, uconn, vegan, vegetables, wall street, yellowstone
Ten years ago it was not necessary for our family to protect any of our plants. Now, however, no plant is safe. The hosta on the east side of the house has not survived a single season in five years, the holly gets a yearly pruning in winter, and the vegetable garden now requires a six-foot fortress. Perhaps our property has been established as a (Good Grazing Ground (GGG) by the Association of Hungry Deer (AHD).
The article above was published in the New York Times in September of 1905. The previous day an article was published on the impact of deer on Pomfret’s farms.
Vegan gardening. in order to make this Frittata? or possibly to grow lesser-known fruits?
The New York Times has an article on students and recent graduates who are performing internships at farms. The article did not mention any of the Bennington students who have interned at farms (Bennington once had its own farm), but the article did mention that the interns came armed with a Bennington graduate’s book.
Cheever living in CT.
Filed under: last green valley | Tags: connecticut route 169, google, google glitch, google maps, national scenic byway, Pomfret, pomfret public library, pomfret street, putnam, route 169, route 44, street view
Google has added street level photographs of Route 44 in Pomfret. Although Route 169, a National Scenic Byway, has not yet been added the stretch of road that shares the road bed with Route 44 has been. Based on the construction taking place along the route, the photographs were taken last summer. The camera car path line (the yellow line) is slightly misplaced along the route, often going off of the road. The view above is at the Pomfret Public Library looking South. I have found one big camera glitch, or possibly a temporary installation for your viewing. It would be exciting to see the rest of the town’s roads in street view.
Filed under: art | Tags: art, coat hangers, design, food, installation, tea, teapot, to22, toast, toaster
This beautiful installation was made by a design collaborative known as to22. Their work cosists of ideas. This wire coat hanger installation was designed to make “something from nothing.”
Please also view this beautiful toaster. and this cool but stupid toaster. and this very, very stupid toaster.
Please view my favorite recipes and food related stories on TasteSpotting! The link to my favorites has been added to my “Virtually Frequented Sites” section to the left. It is easy to register and save your favorites. It is also easy to spend hours on this site.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: fear, journalism, playboy, torture, waterboarding
A Playboy journalist attempts to endure 15 seconds of waterboarding. He was able to withstand 5-6 seconds. It isn’t torture.
Filed under: garden | Tags: arugula, asparagus, broccoli, chives, Connecticut, garden, lemon balm, lettuce, lovage, onion, parsley, peas, Pomfret, spinach
arugula, asparagus,* broccoli, chives,* lemon balm,* lettuce, lovage,* onions, parsley, peas, spinach
* denotes perennials planted prior to this year
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: abbott spring farm, alcohol, book sale, bottle bill, brayman hollow road, bread, Connecticut, connecticut route 244, dunkin donuts, garbage, garden, litter, long weekend, peas, Pomfret, ragged hill farm, redeemables, vineyard valley, vineyard valley golf course, water bottles, yogurt
It is long weekend. I am in Connecticut, at home. I have been cleaning up my yard, and I will soon be working in my garden. I planted peas the last weekend in March as I thought it was time to plant them, but I do not think that it was. Not a single pea has peaked above ground. Perhaps this was an especially cold March? Maybe they are taking their time. I don’t know.
I picked up litter on 6/10ths of a mile on my road. I did this six months ago as well. I collected:
Redeemables (67)
32 alcohol cans
18 alcohol bottles
9 non-alcohol cans
8 non-alcohol bottles
Things that were redeemable before their barcodes became unreadable (32)
22 alcohol containers
10 non-alcohol containers
Non-redeemables (46)
13 alcohol containers
19 water bottles
5 iced tea containers
4 juice containers
2 coffee containers
2 milk containers
1 tin can
Garbage (one medium-sized trash bag)
30 or so plastic and Styrofoam cups (most from Dunkin Donuts)
1 portable fan
If this rate is consistent along Route 244’s 3.6 miles in Pomfret (which it likely is; there are no major roads that intersect with 244 besides at its ends), there are 1740 recyclable containers thrown out of car windows onto my road every year. There are 28 houses on my street, one golf course, and two large farms. There are 56 containers for each of these! Every week an average of twenty alcohol containers are thrown out car windows onto this one stretch of road.
Because the expanded bottle bill passed fewer water containers will be thrown out of car windows as they have been given value. I am sad that the bottle bill did not include other possible additions such as coffee and tea containers. While the bill was being drawn up there was also talk of increasing deposits to 10 cents. There is other incentive to throw alcohol containers out of car windows. I don’t know how to solve that problem.
The town of Pomfret, Connecticut will be having a town-wide roadside clean up tomorrow, Saturday, April 18th. I will be participating!
There will be two book sales, a rummage sale and an auction on Saturday, May 2nd. I believe that both public libraries are currently accepting book donations at specific times.
I am starting to dream up my summer, and I decided that I am going to make non-stop yogurt and bread. OM NOM NOM
Filed under: college | Tags: Bennington, Bennington College, california, gay, gay marriage, Iowa, Jim Douglas, New York Times, proposition 8, rainbow, same-sex marriage, Vermont
Yesterday evening there was a rainbow in the skies above Bennington’s campus. No doubt the rainbow was a sign that same-sex marriage would be made legal in the state of Vermont the following day! While the governor, Jim Douglas, vetoed the bill, the Vermont legislature mustered exactly enough votes to allow their initial decision to remain. I am very proud to be a student in Vermont. California and Vermont would have been the only states to legalize gay marriage outside of the courtroom had Proposition 8 not passed in California.
This happened only four days after same-sex marriage was made legal by the court in Iowa.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: april fools day, commercial, energy, energy wasting day, New York Times
Tomorrow is Energy Wasting Day! Above is the commercial from last year.
