Soil Erosion

This makes me want to scream and cry, to wail and gnash teeth.

It does not (should not) matter your persuasion. You should care about productive farmland. Soil. Dirt. The origin of renewable wealth. The origin of your dinner. And NOBODY in power seems to care. You can't just order more soil from China, or Bangladesh, or Indonesia. There is only X amount and only X amount can be created yearly.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/12/soil-erosion-ewg-losing-ground-report_n_848096.html

Shocking Cost Increases!

Went to the local mega store yesterday because I saw the garden section start to fill in. I was APPALLED at the prices on edible seedlings. $2 to $3 for A cabbage seedling? $3 to $5 for A tomato seedling? Seedlings were averaging around $4 a plant. That would be hundreds of dollars for a garden the size of mine. That is pretty unbelievable.

Also, the potting soil prices. Wow. I have to find somewhere else to get this stuff. Almost $7 a bag for anything decent. Again, appalling. Maybe I need to go further out to the rural areas and get out of the suburbs. At least I have the compost going.

Late, As Always, It Would Seem

I still have to start some of my seedlings. I may ending up buying plants again. It just crushes my sense of thrift. It limits what I can get. It means some favorites will have to wait until next year again. Urgh.

But looking at food prices, the sooner the better. I am shocked at some of the increases lately, and I don't see it turning around soon.

Back to LIFE!

The Blog will be coming back to life with regular postings in the next week. HAPPY HAPPY!

Hmmm....What Do I Want To Do In the Garden In 2011?

Setting here absorbing the Epic Joys of seed catalogs.

The first to arrive is my nostalgic favorite, Burpee. This is a difficult thing. When I was growing up (occasionally) helping my dad in the garden, developing a secret love for the hobby (is it really just a "hobby"?) I remember Burpee seeds. I remember them with a disproportionate clarity. They are not totally dedicated to the same ethos I am steadily becoming part of. No GMO. Heritage. With that said, they do offer organic and heirloom varieties. I am willing to bet that Burpee may have one of the deepest collections of seed anywhere in the private sector. I hope they dig into them and let us at them!

So, naturally, who shows up next?

Baker Creek. Its lovely. Its interesting. Its informative. Its an amazing variety. Its dedicated to No GMO. Its dedicated to Heritage. But... It lacks Zone info or guidance. For a gardener of greater prowess or knowledge this is probably not a problem. For me, its a little intimidating. But the variety, the history, its almost intoxicating. It makes you want to garden NOW.

Then comes my favorite. Seed Savers. I love everything about them. If you haven't heard of them, you need to visit the website. Read about them. Research them. They are the real deal. There has been some controversy regarding their leadership, but I disagree with the (almost singular) naysayers. They deserve our support.

Anyways, as I work through the wishlist I will add posts.

Definitely want some fruit trees this year, and I will have to figure out pots for some of them.

Last Harvests (So Far)

For Thanksgiving we finally had the last of the Crookneck Squash in some great soup and we had some herbs (Sage and Rosemary) on some roasted carrots (mix of Chantenay and Danvers Half Longs) from the garden. It was nice to harvest some crops so late. Here I am in December harvesting carrots. You can see the few as the green tufts in the image above in beds 3 and 4. They have survived the cold surprisingly well. I will be roasting the remander of the Chantenay carrots today and left some of the Danvers. I had to turn the beds over (also nice to be able to do in December) because I had toyed with no till gardening.

I put down layers of grass clippings and shredded leaves on all the beds (excepting the area where the asparagus and the Danvers carrots are)and thought that maybe they would compost like I have seen on some blogs, but they weren't. In fact the grass formed an almost inpenetrable layer and wasn't breaking down at all. In fact, it was still green. So I broke out the poachers shovel and turned them all. Of course the sudden rush is the first brutal cold and the first serious snow of the year. Was out well after dark finishing (hence no pics)but got it done before the snow started. We got 4 to 5 inches that night.

I did not get to turn the side beds or the squash beds turned though. Didn't get the raspberries any extra mulch. Didn't get the strawberries pulled. Got the asparagus under cover though.

Pulled in over 400 pounds this year from the garden. Not bad.

Saving An Invaluable Resource

Check this out. Please sign. If you are one of the few followers, please post to your blog.

I do this EXTrEMELY rarely, but when you read this:

http://www.change.org/petitions/view/tell_the_president_of_russia_to_stop_the_destruction_of_the_future_of_food

I think you will see why.

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