So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

MrsB

• Two of the 6 avocado seeds rooting in water have started roots.
• Christmas cactus growing.
• The two spider plants flourishing.
• The two Aechmea Blanchetiana bromeliads still have bright yellow tops.

Aechmea Blanchetiana

A. Non

Update to Garden in H-Town

IMPORTANT UPDATE on previous UPDATE

The company left early and we almost HAD to go to the nursery... but we were ultimately saved by the evening news just coming on, and we all decided to wait for a more propitious time!

End of Update

KimB

It's harvest time: 2 strawberries and 1 tomato. Allen and I are so excited we are actually starting to get some production from our potted veggies.

We collected another 2 strawberries and we did a coin toss to see who got which one: Allen got first choice and his was "tart", I got the other one and it was "sweet as sugar". There are lots more on the plants so I think we will be having enough for cereal or ice cream topping soon.

Our first tomato

We also got our first tomato and it was DELISH! We have a lot more but on one of the plants some have "blossom rot", which can be caused by inconsistent watering. I wasn't really paying attention and that plant got less water than the other because the drip line had a clog in it. It's now been cleared and I hope the rest of the fruit will be fine.

The Purple Lady and Her Housekeeper by KimB

[Editor's note: This story was written by KimB]

My mom had a residential care home for a while and we had many elderly but active people come to stay with us. Sometimes they only stayed for a short while until they could return home, particularly if they had been ill and needed some recuperation time.

We had one lovely woman who came to stay with us while recuperating. We called her MrsD. She always wore purple and was known as The Purple Lady. Everything she had was dyed in various shades purple. The decor of her house was purple: purple couches and carpets. Dresses, socks, even undies were dyed shades of purple.

She had a wonderful sense of humor and was great to talk with. She traveled all over the world and had been to almost every place on the globe. She would tell stories of her travels and she could always surprise you with a new twist.

After a particularly lovely meal, as we sat at the dinner table, she told us the following story:

Many many years earlier, MrsD had had a housekeeper who did a wonderful job. She kept the home nice and cooked wonderful dinners.

As a surprise and thank you for all of her work and effort, MrsD decided to fix a meal by herself and invite the housekeeper to eat the meal with the family. The family would wait on her for a change.

In due course, a wonderful meal was prepared and everyone had a wonderful time. Everyone ate as much as they wanted and then some. The meal was a success.

At last, the housekeeper pushed herself away from the table and announced,

"I have eaten prodigiously and feel connetified."

Now, whenever we have a particularly good meal, we all remember the story of MrsD and her housekeeper. There is no higher praise for a meal than to hear "I have eaten prodigiously and feel connetified" from someone at the table.

Purple Colors

Mahjong Solitaire

My sister, Esther, plays Mahjong Solitaire. She was introduced to the game back in the '80s while learning the scope of what one could do on a computer, When ownership of a computer was a new adventure; games like Free Cell and Spider Solitaire were included in the software that came with the purchase. It didn't take long for gaming companies to realize they had found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and games of every description appeared on the Internet.

I had never played a Mahjong Solitaire game, believing it was like the table game of strategy, skill and chance, much like Chess, but after a conversation with Esther about her Mahjong Solitaire games, I Googled for one and discovered thousands of them available with versions to suit any player. My first game was a trial and error experiment, but I soon got the hang of it. Now I enjoy playing the various layouts and often surprise myself by winning a game.

One is dumbfounded when reading that Mahjong Solitaire, called, Turtle,was invented by Brodie Lockard in 1981 on PLATO, a group of mainframe computers at the University of Illinois. The American gaming company, Activision developed the game and called it Mahjong Solitaire,, also known as Shanghai, in 1986 and sold over 10 million copies world wide in all versions including Mac, Dos, Commodore etc.

Differing from the table game which is an ancient Chinese, 4 handed, competitive game, the computer randomly creates board layouts which differ in pattern, size and height. There are hundreds of different layouts, some with time implementation. The object of the game is to get rid all the tiles by removing pairs of matching tiles. A full game has 144 tiles, but the number may vary depending on the version.

The games come with hints and choices to reshuffle, and sometimes, when I can't see a pair to remove, I ask for a hint, only to discover the matching tiles are right in front of my eyes. There are games that play with over a thousand tiles but I have enough trouble with the number of tiles on the easy games I choose to play.

Thanks to my sister, Esther. I have found that playing Mahjong is a fun and relaxing entertainment.

Mahjong Solitaire Turtle Layout

So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

A. Non

FLASH FLASH FLASH

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT GARDEN UPDTATE

We almost went to the nursery to get some plants, soil and gardening implements! Thank heaven some unexpected company showed up and kept us from having to go! Whew! Close call!

END of Update

KimB


We have a HARVEST! We have a HARVEST! WOOTS! WOOTS!

Well, actually it was 1 (one) strawberry. But still.... The flash tape must have worked because it was bright red and had no peck marks on it! I had thought to take a picture of it but it “got eaten” so you will just have to imagine a smallish, bright red strawberry.

Tater after being knocked over

We also had some high winds and one of the tater plants got pushed over. The others were fine. By the time I got out the next day, the plant had already switched it's growth orientation to the new position. I was amazed that the plant could shift 8 inches of its top most growth to be 90 degrees from the base which is laying against the side of the pot.

Upcoming concern: We are having very hot weather: 106 degrees (41.1 Celsius) yesterday and today. I will be watching how the plants do in this heat. Gee... I sound like a farmer!

Flamenco

On the few occasions that I have watched flamenco dancers perform, I marveled at their ability to maintain and change rhythms so spectacularly. Flamenco music and dance did not play a big part in the culture in which I was raised, so the history of the guitar music and steps of the dance are foreign to me.

The other evening I watched the movie, Around The World In 80 Days (1956_film), a plot of trials and tribulations endured as characters in the story try to win a bet based on the novel by Jules Verne Around_the_World_in_80_Days (book). One of the many adventures the characters experience happens in Spain, in a Café Cantante. There is a choreographed scene of flamenco dancers,with José Greco. The famous actor, Cantinflas, in the role of Passepartout, gives a delightful dance exhibition.

After watching the movie, I googled for history of flamenco music and dance, and was surprised to find lessons on 'how to' as well. One can become mesmerized watching the many videos. The following is the dance scene from Around The World In 80 Days.

Communication

My sister and I text each other and also chat on our computers using Instant Message, (IM). It's a wonderful way to keep in touch and we enjoy sharing our activities with each other in this non vocal way.

Last night I began thinking of the various ways one can communicate without actually speaking. Here is few of the many possibilities.

• Bell Ringing: school recess, church services, town crier, etc.
• Body Language: Clothing and dress, pointing, slouching, bowing, clapping hands, back slapping, shaking hands, shushing, gesturing to come, go and stop, etc,
• Color: danger, traffic stop and go, etc
• Drawing:
• Drums: cadence, rhythm, etc.
• Facial Expressions:
• Flags: Raising and lowering, semaphore, country identification, etc.
• Hieroglyphics
• Mime:
• Morse Code:
• Music: instrumentals, anthems, etc
• Pictographs
• Reading And Writing: Books, newspapers, Braille, instructions for recipes, knitting patterns, chess notation, music, mail, measurements for quantity and temperature, schematic and architecture diagrams, prescriptions, arithmetic, typing, texting, traffic signs and directions, etc.
• Sirens: fire, ambulance
• Smoke: choosing a Pope
• Touching:
• Whistles: train, sports

And the list goes on.....

So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

A. Non

Garden Update

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!

The following is a vital "Our Garden" update

This important update should be inserted in the Garden Guide between pages 27 ... superseding previous update AN 101a. Of a previous date.

The update is as follows : NO NEW UPDATES – SO FAR - TO DATE!

Please destroy all previous outdated updates, and refer to the manual for further instructions.

END OF VITAL GARDEN UPDATE!

KimB

The strawberries are looking very good and some serious thought had to be put into “What to do – about the birds?” At first, I had planned an elaborate netting structure. Bird-netting would be draped over several PVC pipes cut and connected to form a “house” over the strawberries.

Flash Tape and Strawberries

This looked quite feasible during the initial growth of the garden but the tomato plants had other ideas about space usage: they want it all to themselves! There is no space for such a structure.

After a bit of thinking and reviewing what I had seen the farmers using in their fields around Hollister (our previous home), I remembered Flash Tape. This is a shiny tinsel type ribbon that twists in the wind and in theory, discourages birds and other critters.

So, I have put up some flash tape and we shall see what happens.

Colors by KimB

Children Bathing The Birds by Esther

[Editor's note: This story was written by Esther]

It was a hot sunny day. The temperature was in the low 90’s and the four children were playing out side in the back yard. Jerry was living next door and the two oldest children and my three girls were in school. That left the three youngest of Jerry’s children home with me to keep till he and his first wife got home from work. They both worked at the university and it was easy to keep the children. They were good to mind me and never gave a problem. They were really lovely children. Always wanted to help and would do any thing I asked.

My son, Vernon Jr. and Jerry’s two daughters, Alise and Denise were about five years old, and Jerry’s son, Jerry Jr. was four. Very smart and they all were super active. They never walked, they ran here or there and Alise is the one who could climb the tree to the smallest limb and not fall.

It was the day for washing the bed clothes and between hanging them up to dry on the clothes line or bring them in to fold, I kept an eye on the children often to see they were doing OK.

We had a bird house to keep the parakeets I was raising. Vernon built it for me when I started to raise them to sell. He made it so I had to go through two doors to get to the main room just a small area to I could get in and close the first door and then was safe to go through the next door in to the nesting area. I had quite a few nesting pairs and it required a lot of time to clean and feed them every day.

It was close to noon time and I fixed the children a sandwich and some chips with a glass of cool aid. Was almost ready to call them when I looked out the window, and what I saw was the children holding the garden hose and was going in to the bird house and hosing them down.

I gathered them up got the doors closed and looked at the children. They had bird dropping from the top of their heads to their shoes, along with seed hulls and feathers clinging to their clothes.

Alise told me they just wanted to bath them. It broke my heart to see how many I lost. I did get a couple back by putting a cage out with water and seed in it. One even came to sit on my shoulder.

I bathed them and got them all clean up. Then we had lunch. Then it was off to take a nap. They were really beautiful gentle children. So happy and ready to go run where there was something to do.

They did make some wonderful memories we can laugh about now.

Empty Cage

So, How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

MrsB

The avocado seeds are still rooting in paper cups of water.

X-mas cactus is growning nicely.

A. Non

Farm and Market update for the Emperors' phantom garden...

Just a quick update to our previous updates... insert in section 3, para 4, subsection 6

We have some extremely lovely tomato plants and cucumbers and peas ... still not yet purchased from the nursery... but waiting I'm sure for our appearance.

The very clever gravity watering system that has been designed to avoid standing in the brutal summer sun, is still in parts in the bags purchased from the hardware store 2 years ago... apparently we forgot to get the 'self-assembling' version !?

We are in the midst of a terrible drought – we are 22 inches below our normal waterfall... with little hope of any rain yet ... this is the longest drought in Texas since the 30's !!

Because of the dire drought we have been reluctant to actually get a garden started ... notwithstanding our laziness to actually 'follow thru' ! Frankly we are drinking what water is actually still available!

Stay tuned for further updates on the Emperors' phantom garden!

KimB



Strawberry Flowers

We have strawberry flowers! 6 lovely flowers have popped up so far. I shall now have to give some serious thought to setting up my bird-netting system which means YATTTS (yet another trip to the store).

We have tomatoes on both plants now and they are starting to get respectable in size.



Tater Plants

Hilled up one of the potatoes and need to do the other pot. They are growing really fast! A long time ago, another gardener friend had told me that if you give too much fertilizer to potato plants, they don't produce many potatoes just plant. I used this advice for years: skimping on the plant food and getting teeny tiny marbles for potatoes. It became sort of a joke with Allen that we couldn't grow potatoes at all. This time I am changing things up. I have reversed the plan and given the taters lots of TLC in the form of organic fertilizer. Even if we don't get taters, the plants look happy - well ecstatic is more like it.

Miniaturization

As a child during the great depression, I bought Big Little Books that were sold in the dime stores. There were about 3 or 4 inches square and about 2 inches thick and sold for 10 cents. Some of the stories were about Dick Tracy, Popeye, Red Ryder, Charlie Chan, and Tarzan. They were extremely popular during those hardship years and many children learned to read from them.

Big Little Books

As years passed, 'paperbacks' came on the market. They are less expensive than 'hard back' books and easier to stuff in a pocket or purse to have handy to read at any odd moment. Electronic readers are becoming popular. They too can be carried on ones person for a quick read. They are light weight and the font can be changed to suit the reader. They can download and store hundreds of volumes resulting in fewer trips to book stores or library.

Automobiles have a mixed history when it comes to size. After going thru a period of conspicuous consumption while touting comfort and speed, the old gas guzzlers are giving way to smaller, functional modes of transportation. The German Beetle pointed the way to mass produced smaller vehicles.

Our need, (and sometimes, fetish) to create smaller things has attracted people to the unfortunate fad of owning a 'tea cup' puppy. There isn't any such thing as a tea cup dog but unscrupulous breeders sell premature puppies as a Tea Cup breed. In reality the breeder has carefully timed the conception and delivery of a litter so that some of the puppies in a litter are premature. These cute, tiny puppies are weeks premature and sold as Tea Cup, but they have extensive health problems and frequently die within a few days, the buyers unaware they were scammed.

Vegetables are not immune to miniaturization either. With the exception of true dwarf varieties, baby or midget vegetables are immature specimens and used by gourmet restaurants. Baby corn is harvested just as the silk emerges from the husk and used in stir fry recipes, pickled or used in salads. Beets, carrots, onions, potatoes, egg plant, lettuce, squash and watermelons can be found in baby sizes, each being harvested in a stage of development to look like mature specimens.

For centuries people had been attempting to create miniature horses and today, the American Miniature Horse is a true breed. Mini horses are not ponies. They are real horses. Breeders around the world continue to breed for traits and colors most admired in the type of horse they are raising, either the stock horse like Quarter horses or the more refined horses with an Arabian head. The American Miniature Horse Association, which started in 1978, keeps track of mini horses around the world.

Miniature Horse

Hobbyists have indulged in making mini architectural structures, some of which are truly outstanding. Doll houses are universal in their appeal to children and hobbyist alike. No limitation exists in designing and equipping doll houses. There is a thriving market for miniature furnishings, although many are created from scratch using found materials and imagination.

A famous miniature created by John and Jan Zweifel in 1962 is the replica of the White House. It is constructed on a scale of 1 inch to 1 foot, and features all the rooms including both east and west rooms and the oval office. The richness of the detail is found in tiny working televisions, hand carved decorations on chairs and tables, crystal chandeliers, portraits in miniature like those gracing the walls of the White House and miniature carpets duplicating the originals stitch by stitch.

Miniature White House

How Our Summers Are Spent by Loretta

[Editor's note: This story was written by Loretta]

Marion has asked how our summer is going. Well, mine have become lazy days. Our garden is going to be a late one because of the weather, between the winds and cold days we are raising it in pots as of yet.

Every time the trees come out of hibernation and start to blossom, we get cold winds and snow so there goes my fruit blossoms. First the peaches, then apricots, nectarines, cherries, and finally the pears hit the dust. The only thing still hanging on are the apples. We have wine sap, yellow delicious, Melrose and red delicious. The brae burns lost their blossoms also.

The flowers are looking very good in pots, we have a lot of color. The only thing is, they’re annuals and won’t be coming back next year. The jasmine and the honeysuckle are looking and smelling good . My wisteria bushes or trees, I’m not sure which its called, came back this year. They're just starting their leaves now.

We saved seeds of the marigolds last year and planted them; they seem to be doing good. The tomato bushes that were in the house are growing cherry and small size tomatoes, which we are eating on hamburgers and bacon burgers and salads. Last week the soil was tilled and the garden is ready for planting. So, its back to the stores to buy our plants and whoopee, we have a garden.

Last year, we started composting. It’s a slow process, so this year I’m buying one that tumbles. Costco is selling them, so I don’t have to buy on line. I also bought a Rockwell Blade Runner; it replaces jigsaws, tile cutters and many other machines. I’m determined to be more productive this year.

I also head to Laughlin once a month, spend the night, relax and play Keno, feel renewed and head back. I’m still on the money I started with the first of the year.

As I drive long distances instead of listening to music, I listen to audio books. My favorites are James Patterson mysteries. Its hard to find audio books at used book stores, but the Love’s gas stations are selling them pretty cheap. I guess the Truckers must listen to them as well.

Rockwell Blade Runner

So, How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

MrsB

• My two pots of dead Chrysanthemums were trashed.
• Of the 8 avocado seeds rooting in paper cups of water, 2 are showing roots
• The dozen mango seeds I planned to root using wet paper towels molded.
• The X-mas cactus is healthy and growing stems to replace the ones the cat broke off.

Loretta



Loretta's 2011 Garden

 Well, we went shopping for plants and they're pretty picked over. Found only one cilantro in all the stores. It's not the prettiest but hopefully that will change. Found a stripped yellow tomato plant, never had one of those before. Bought more hot chili pepper plants, green, red, yellow bells, Acorn squash, Rosemary, basil. Watermelon, cantaloupe, Asian , Armenian, regular cucumbers. Guess I’ll have to check out more local stores, maybe we’ll have better luck.

Our mint plants are growing wild outside my bedroom window and down in the garden. Found a beefsteak tomato plant or so it says I haven’t seen one growing in a long time; they always turn out to be something other than that. My grape plants are just starting to leaf out now doubt if we’ll have any this year. Red raspberries are just leafing as well. Bought strawberry plants for the pots.

Over the weekend Billy, April's husband planted the garden. I still need to buy more plants.

God willing we'll have a good garden this year.

KimB



THE 3/4-1/2 connector

  Finished re-running new drip irrigation lines to all the pots. The old lines were leaking so it was time to replace them. Of course, it required more than one trip to Orchard Supply to get all the bits and bobs needed. As, I had some experience running these lines in our former home in Hollister where I had a large "farm" in our backyard, I had some idea of what was needed. But, in Hollister, I went to the farmer's irrigation supply store in town and they knew exactly what was needed to connect "this to that". OSH on the other hand... well, its strictly figure it out for yourself. Took me better part of an hour just to find the 3/4-1/2 pipe connector [I sound like a pro but I didn't have a clue what it was called].

Potato Plant

Our tomatoes are going gang busters, we have 6 or more on one plant but only flowers on the other. The strawberry plants look happy but I think it's too soon for flowers for them. The great news is: the taters have sprung up! I have 3 in one pot and 1 in another. Of course I forgot which pot has the red and which has the white one taters. The pot with the single tater plant is growing so fast I will have to start "hilling" it in the next day or so.