The last show

           Oprah is having her last show today.  I have been watching her more this season-her shows have bumped up in quality from the last few years.  The young producers, I think, had been going to a younger audience and lost my interest.   Watching the last two days I realized I'm living in a raciest country because I noticed black faces that turned out for this farewell special....I should not notice that, but yet, I do.   As the museum director one told me, she was an archaeologist. "we all like our own tribe".  I remembered that while watching the show yesterday.

              Even at that--few people have had so much influence in this nation on attitudes about women's rights, sexual abuse/parental abuse, forgiveness, importance of education and reading.   Oprah, from Mississippi, the lowest of the backward states (if you have ever been there, it is like a foreign country) she changed and influence these topics.  The thing I always liked about her, she called us to be our best selves and told us we have the power to do it. 

              Few morals, I can think of, match her achievements in this time and place. 

              It will be interesting to see her next chapter.

Family of crows

I tend to walk with my morning coffee with my head focused down in the garden.  Each morning now the family of crows that have taken up residence near the yard call out about my presence.  They fly from one tall fir tree to another with their loud calls discussing my walk.  I learn all this from a professor that is doing research in Seattle.  He as gone so far as to understand the difference sounds they make and proven that they recognize people.  That was a very clever project by have people tagging the birds wear certain masks and when these people appear again the following year, the crows call in very loud frighten manners.  The crows recognized the masks. The family of crows has my deep respect after hearing how complex, intelligence and caring the family unit is.  After my garden is up and growing better, I think I will bring my binoculars out and see if I can start to identify the difference flying neighbors of mine.

This year of weather has been matching or breaking records for rain and cold.  Understand that we hit 70 last week for a couple hours and if that did not happen, it would be the longest ever wait, for that temperature, in the spring.  So far, we are not going to hit it again this week, partly cloudy and occasionally showers and sun.

I have made two tepees this year for beans.  Partly, I like the structures and partly I like the flowers and beans.  The hoop house are working if you consider that some of my tomatoes are looking healthy and have blossoms.  I have inherited so much liquid and dry fertilizer from my brother, Phil that weekly I could treat my garden to the magic for the next three season.  Of course, the secret to not to over do it or you get green shop of horrors--as the play was all about. 

I get the feeling that I have done about one week's worth of catching up, that is encouraging, now I am working on the other five weeks I am behind.

My gardening, this missing spring, has been a challenge.  Add to that, the responsibility of caring for my brother's estate the few sunny days have been occupied by holding garage sales or loading and hauling items to the resale shop or used bookstore.  I now see an end in sight and how this job will be over by end of May.

Two hours here and there of garden work has my hoop houses built over two raised beds, there will insure some of my own tomatoes this year.  A few plants of brassica including cauliflower, a couple violet ones, Brussels sprouts and broccoli are doing well.  This year I have left a floating cloth over them for the cold and the usual egg laying pests that are out at this time of the year.  The thing I forget is the name of the white 'butterfly' but I know that is the one that leaves the eggs that produce the caterpillars that eat my brassica.  I rejoice when I am walking to the chicken coop and I see the flight of these one or two white beauties and see my cloth is in place. 

About 3/4 of my potatoes seedlings are in the ground.  I am learning about growing potatoes.  I am Irish enough to know that I must move the site to plant potatoes each years but I search each spring for a site and at the same time want to increase my space to this crop.  This year, I am going to invade the front yard.  I have had this floating idea for a couple years but there is a place sunny close to the house, good watering system there and some bare area ready for my hoe.  I need the day with the hoe and soon!

 Quinoa and soup beans are in my sights to get in the ground.  The trick is a juggling act if ones wants to raise ones own food, it  is to grow greens for the summer and enough out of the garden for that winter that can be stored easily.  My kale beds and supply of lettuce is doing fine, frankly, with more time I would clean out one of my current herbs beds and use that space for more root crops.  Back to the quinoa, I have started some seed on a heating pad in the house but it have been slow to develop.  I will plant most starts and a packet of this seed in the ground as soon as the temperature permits or by June first.   I read with interest that in the RESILIENT  GARDENER, Depp has given up on quinoa.  It is the best protein in the world so I am not there yet but this maybe the test year.  I would love to have a bumper crop enough for two season and grow it every other year. 

Winter is the season for soup making and I can see, taste and know that home grown beans are better than the store bought ones that are so old.  I read with interest people that have settled on a few soup beans that become their absolute favorite.  I am not there so I grown about six different varities.

Book Reveiw

Joan Dye Gussow is a woman that recently turned eighty so time has given her life experiences to write about, plus being well educated she is a pioneer in the field of sounding the alarm about our food.  She says people call her a pessimist often but she calls herself  a realist.

The book GROWING, OLDER is a wonderful book to read for a woman my age.  Gussow writes about her marriage in a reflective way that few women I have read have had the ability to do.  Parts of what she says about the relationship rings so true to my own marriage but I have never had the words to express them.  There were whole parts of their daily life she was in charge of because her husband did not like to deal with reality, make the hard decisions.  The constant need for companionship and occupying the same space is another aspect that she discusses very well.

There a couple other chapters that are particular favorites of mine, Zucchini and A Fate Worse than Death.  As most long term gardeners know, zucchini is a boring vegetable to deal with and chicken feed for some.  Since Gussow lives off of what she grows in her garden she has made it a point to be an interesting cook.  I copied the pages of the book out that include her recipes for zucchini!  I have already got one of those Costata Romanesca growing this year in my garden.

The fate she fear more than death is being put in the hands of doctors before her death.  She was a pre-med student so she has a strong understand of biology and chemistry.  That chapter should be read by all people over the age of 50.

I read this book from the library but it deserves a copy on my bookshelf, I am getting my own copy to reread and reread.