Another sneak attack at summer

Greetings from what was a warm Friday at the end of April in Wisconsin.

Yesterday we got to the high 70's after a rough start to the day which brought out some gloomy skies, gusty winds, and a blustery cold shower. As the day progressed the yellow orb continued to share with us poor earthlings. I could feel the itch all day that it was time to plant some more.

Finished my work day and the call of the local garden center was loud and clear. The truck didn't want to go home, rather to see what new specimens were there waiting to go into the vegetable garden. Picked up 3 3-packs (Premium Crop broccoli, Early Snowball cauliflower, and Georgia collards. Had to hunt around a little bit to find just the ones I was looking for, you know the ones, good growth but not the older plants. The garden center guy reminded me that it really was too early to be planting as we might have snow yet. I just didn't have the heart to tell him that I was already ahead of him by almost a week.

The soil was cool, slightly damp but still very friable. Got all of the plants in, taking the time to make sure they sat a little deeper into the planting holes. This will allow for a more focused water effect and based on past results, a stronger plant as the roots go deeper. Moved the covered fencing on to the new plants. This should protect them from any hard rains that we would get.

A light cultivation for the plants we put in last week. More so to keep the crusty soil in check but also to smooth the planting bed a little.

Took a hard look at the greens and pea planting from 2 weeks ago. We have had some rather cool and damp weather in that time, even some measurable snow. Yes, we have lettuce, spinach and beets breaking the surface. I was a little concerned about the peas, but a little digging quickly sent me to covering the sprouted seeds back up. Trust, good soil not overworked, amended with the right amount of organic matter will deliver. Trust.

The planting continued. Given that we were at the two week planting window, it was time to put more greens and peas into the bed. So...... another row of spinach, beets, and lettuce and 2 double rows of peas. I did take the time to make sure I finger-poked the peas in rather than digging out a trench.

Curious was the nature of my mind. Was the asparagus growing? The answer was yes and no. Yes, I did find some of the nice white shoots started. However, they were buried under the leaf mulch and still very cool. Need to leave the mulch on for at least another 2 weeks. Then we'll make a decision to take off or just let asparagus push its way through.

My wonderful wife reminded me that it was Friday, it was the end of the work week and it was starting to get dark. Given that appropriate prodding, I grilled up some thick cut pork loin chops, fresh asparagus (from the store), and a sweet onion. I am so glad that spring/summer/not winter is here. The time spent outside makes the food that much better.

It's now Saturday morning and it is raining. You know, cold to the bone rain. It is supposed to last until Sunday night. No snow, but a good rain. We do need it, but it could be a little warmer.

Next weekend is set for a quick dash to Minnesota to deliver some furniture and household stuff for our college kids. Its also an off week on the planting schedule. Weather for the next week is predicted to be in the mid-50's for the highs with lows in high 30's. Hopefully we will be able to start drying out.

Sorry there weren't any pictures. Time got short.

Stay dry.
Bill

Can this really be spring?

Ok, this can't really be spring. Yesterday we worked the whole day in the mid 70's and today it is a balmy 44. At least we are starting to get some rain. My update today will be garden, politics, and education. First the important things.

The garden is quickly starting to move in the real part of the season. As you can see from the picture, a lot of brown dirt. But there is more. There is the first broccoli and brussel sprouts that are planted. Tried to purchase some on Friday but had a well meaning garden shop tell me that it was 2-3 weeks too early. He did not want to disappoint me. Seem that relationship should be the other way around, is the customer still right even when they are wrong? Thought long and hard about it Friday night over another wonderful meal at Vita Restaurant in Green Bay. Bottom line, a well placed phone call on Saturday could turn up an alternate source.

Turns out that I was able to find some plants. Put in three (3) Jade E Cross brussel sprouts plants and three (3) Premium Crop broccoli plants. Seems that Stein Garden Center in Bellevue was certainly keeping the customer in mind. Got there right about 8 am and the store was empty. The plants looked great, nice and fresh. The person doing the checkout said the truck dropped them on Friday night. Happy, happy, happy. If you looked under the 6 coverings in the picture, you would see the new arrivals all tucked in and beginning a new life in my garden.

The plantings from last week have still not shown their little heads. It was cool when we put them in and I actually had to water the spinach, lettuce and beets. Today we are getting a pretty steady drizzle, cool but not cold. We are predicted to get some warmer weather later in the week. That coupled with the new moisture will certainly push things along quickly.

As for the rest of the garden, the asparagus and raspberry beds are just starting to break dormancy. I expect that the rain along with some warmer temps will push things right along in the next few weeks. Soon, we will be eating fresh asparagus. I can't wait. I will make sure to put some good pictures in as we start to see some action.

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Political Commentary
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The stock market showed some modest upticks last week continuing for a sixth week to show signs of a "recovery". If you listen hard enough you might even believe the prognosticators and call it a recovery or just the visible part of a dead cat bounce. Don't know which one it is but I do know that we are still in for a lot of change.

I still am not of the opinion that President Obama has the firmest of grips on the plan that he can label as his. There continue to be a lot action being taken on a lots of fronts. The two that I still think bear the most watching are the stress tests that banks will have taken and the nationalized auto manufacturing industry. Both still have a lot of definitional content to be completed on them. Time will tell, but I am still hopeful for Ford to make it through the mess.

Will there be banks that fail? I think the answer has to be yes. Right now the government is stuck somewhere in the middle of the credibility field. All banks are not created equal. If they were, we would not be in the position that we are. This question also continues the debate around paying TARP money back. If DC is not going to actively nationalize the banks (I never think they intended that) then TARP money can, and should, be paid back. Move on, let the strong survive. Let the herd be thinned. We've done this once before, let's get it done.

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Education
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Now, for my little rant of the week.

The education system is broken and in dire need of repair. Funding priorities for k-12 in Wisconsin have become so convoluted that it takes someone a fair sight smarter than me to rationalize it on a going basis. At our present rate, we will have so many unfunded mandates that it will be impossible for even the financially strong districts to survive. Right now, Mr. Doyle is using the slight of hand to make the budget whole, but the reality is the cookie jars are all empty, the IOU's are getting old (and potentially worthless), and the loanshark that he used to shore up this year's budget (the Feds) have put a whole bunch of nasty restrictions on the money. Not a pleasant way to look at it.

Don't even get me started about the whole university game.


Well, it has taken me on and off most of the afternoon to get this finished. It will be a busy week, but I do expect that we will be able to get through it and look next week end in the face.

Hope you like, we'll be back soon.
Bill

Tilling the soil, a restaurant review, and planting

No ranting, at least not right now. Too many positive things about the garden.

Yesterday I actually got the chance to get the Mantis tiller fired up and ran it through the raised beds in the garden. Wow, I was surprised at how friable the soil was and the impact the shredded leaves made to it this year. All of the beds were tilled and raked smooth. There was not one bed that was too wet to work. Cold, you bet they were but the ground was ready to go. Also took a moment to manually fluff the leaf mulch on the asparagus and garlic. Nice to see those little shoots of green poking their arms up. It must be spring.

Saturday looks like a day for planting.

First though one needs to take in the proper nourishment to sustain ones soul, mind, and body. Off to VITA, a neat new experience in raw vegan. Yes, a lot cutting edge for Green Bay but in the thoughts of this rookie, a definite you must go back and hit it a second (and third...) time kind of place. Bianca White may be on to something here. Mary and I had the Thai Curry soup and other than a suggestion that the avocado could have been chopped instead of a slice, a certain thumbs up. We each had a different pizza, flatbread with nutbutter and other toppings. Fennel, onion, and cherry tomato along with spices made mine a wow. Mary had the Hawaiin with mango, tomato and sprouts and while sharing between us, I think she wanted to keep the whole thing. Each plate came with 3 large pieces and this card-carrying carnivore was pleasantly full.

We did get into the desert menu with Lemon Poppyseed cheesecake and lavendar ice cream. Yes, both were great, non-dairy and eye opening. Wonder what they could come up with in the spirit of a Key Lime pie?

Going back? You bet.

Now, back to our regular programming.

Saturday saw the first seeds go in the ground. Beets, spinach, lettuce, and two varieties of edible pod peas. Too cold, I really don't think so. Even if we get erratic germination, it will still result in edible greens by the middle of May. Planted about 1/2 of the bed which leaves another planting to be done around 4.24. Maybe by that time we are also getting ready for brassica.

Weather is supposed to stay fairly warm tomorrow (~50) so we should be seeing some additional soild warming. Monday is predicted for rain and it most likely will be cold. Welcome to Wisconsin.

Stay warm, stay dry, remember that spring is almost here. Until next week.

Bill

Local/State/Federal Accountability

RANT
Ok, its Sunday night and I am entitled to a little rant. Has anyone taken a good look at the news these days? Washington is standing tall and taking no personal accountability for helping to fix the mess we are in. Earmarks, once a hot topic of the election trail, are now the new pork fat. Even our neat little guy Steve Kagen has mastered the quest. President Obama, put an end to it, use your veto.

The mess in Madison is the newest game of smoke and mirrors. Take the pork from Washington, fill some holes so that they don't look so bad today, and keep looking for new sources of dollars that can be squandered. The tobacco money is gone, the transportation cookie jar has a useless IOU in it, and the state budget is still a mess. Governor Doyle, don't ask for more taxes, figure out how we can get by with less services.

Now I will get a little closer to home. The school budget process is broke. If you happen to live in a traditionally growing district in WI, you probably aren't in bad shape. However, if you are just holding your own or shrinking in overall enrollment then you had better hold on. Madison has used the Fed money to shore up the ugly mess they have made of the state budget. Only problem with that is (1) strings are attached and (2) it has a short life of usefullness. Some will get sucked into the bait and switch game of public finance, hopefully the list will be short.

Will it end? I don't know. I hope so.

There are a number of elections to vote on this week. Please, if you haven't gotten involved in a while, please vote. At least it will be your voice trying to be heard.

Have a great week. We didn't get the snow. Hopefully we can get this train back on the tracks by next week.

Bill

Is spring really here?

Today marks what might be considered the first day of spring. I know, spring started a number of days ago. I lost that count somewhere in the middle of the last snow storm we had. The winter has been long and hard and one really needs to understand that we here in northeast Wisconsin have gone back to back with 100" snowfall winters. Too long.

Today was nice, mid 40's and lots of sunshine. I can't hold out the hope for tomorrow being the same. I just check the weather at Intellicast and already see that the rain has crossed through Madison and is coming towards us. Temperature is predicted to be 34 and a call for 1-3" of snow. Remember, spring is here.

Hidden in those 12 raised beds is garlic (2) and asparagus (4). All organic and all waiting for a little more warmth. I did take the time to fluff the leaf mulch on top that we put on last fall. The Simplicity lawn vac did a great job of shredding the leaves and speeding the decomposition. I got all beds turned over last fall with the exception of one, but the hard winter does a great job of mellowing the soil.

One if the great things about organic gardening is the desire to want to stick your hand into the soil, cold though it may be just to feel the connection once again. Seeing that the worms are already active is a reminder that something is going right.

When we started with this soil almost 12 years ago, it was clay. Good Wisconsin red clay. Now you don't have to break your back to double dig the beds (always try to get 2 per year. Probably are at a place where we can start slowing down on the organic matter, but will stay very heavy on the compost.

A quick peak at the chives. If you look close, you will see that the new green is already starting to poke their heads through. I was tempted to take some of the old growth off, but I got burned a couple of years ago with a late freeze. I know we will get a few more shots at the cold, so I will hold off.

It will be time to start making up seed tapes. The link gives a great formula for the glue and pictures of the final outcome. I have used a process like this in the past, but the flour/water glue will help a bunch.

I did not start any plants inside this year. Work plans had called for some travel that would have prevented the attention required. Mary's schedule is heavy with work, class, and teaching Nia making a better choice the commercial purchase of plants. I would heartily recommend the plant sale at UWGB on 16May 2008, a Saturday. Great tomatoes and peppers (and more). The heirlooms are well worth the time and effort. Funds go to support the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity. A good community effort and good people at the sale.

Remember, the good word is spring is here, well kind of.

Be good. We're making a committment to be a lot more active here with gardening updates and random musings.

Bill