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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Excellent Links / Sunday Morning Garden Chat: “Empire of Seeds”

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: “Empire of Seeds”

by Anne Laurie|  May 24, 20204:32 am| 142 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links, Garden Chats

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More people are growing fruits and vegetable at their homes while they practice social distancing pic.twitter.com/8W2xTn0ZvL

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 20, 2020

Many thanks to commentor The Mighty Trowel for a lovely Sunday essay on seeds and human connections. Ruby Tandoh, in Medium, on “The Life and Dreams of Esiah Levy”:

The seeds would arrive in envelopes, their names scrawled in ballpoint pen across the back. ‘Giant Hubbard,’ read one packet, the seeds for the heavy, dense-fleshed squash landing in Wiltshire in England’s rural south-west. A package of squash and corn seeds found its way to a village perched on Senegal’s coast, just south of the nation’s capital, Dakar. In Cypress, southern California, a similar parcel arrived. Inside the crumpled paper was a jumble of seeds for rhubarb and beautiful, mosaic-like glass gem corn, each kernel shimmering a different colour.

It was an operation as vast as it was ramshackle. Old envelopes that once delivered bank statements or utility bills were torn open, filled with seeds, taped back together and sent back out into the world, given new, green life. Sometimes seeds were carefully divided and labelled, keeping white zucchini separate from beetroot and scotch bonnet pepper. Other times, they were crammed into one packet, beans nestled alongside tiny lettuce seeds or dried corn kernels. One package to southern Germany contained eight varieties of squash alone. Hundreds of envelopes, containing thousands of seeds, were scattered across five continents, missing only those far reaches of Australia and the frozen expanse of Antarctica.

This empire of seeds tells an unlikely story. Trace its sprawling roots back to their source and you will find that they converge in Croydon, a town to the south of London, tucked just inside the capital’s roaring orbital motorway…

But plant roots can crack and buckle even concrete slabs. It was from one man’s ordinary family home in this much-maligned corner of London that those thousands of organic, homegrown, heirloom seeds were sent. The plants from which the seeds were harvested scrambled up garden fences, sprouted up from plastic grocery bags filled with soil and even grew in makeshift planters on the roof of an abandoned car park. They grew on the balcony of an apartment with no outdoor space. They grew in tiny plots of land in public allotment sites. From between the cracks, they sprung forth. And from these plants came a bounty of seeds that would migrate halfway across the world…

Esiah stacked makeshift trellises against the garden fence, up which squashes in all shapes, sizes and colours would clamber. There was a cherry tree, conference pears, jewel-like redcurrants and even potatoes sprouting in soil packed into a reusable shopping bag. Having researched “no-dig” styles of gardening, Esiah quickly became a devotee of the method, refusing to turn the soil, pull out old plants or buy fertiliser or compost. Instead, he turned the family kitchen into the locus of his experiments in homemade mulching materials. Banana peels, coffee grounds and eggshells would be dried out in the oven and layered with cardboard over the soil. Kealy complained of the smell that would linger in the oven, lamenting the oven tray all but lost to these experiments, but the results were undeniable. Weeds would struggle to pierce through the rich mulching layer. What’s more, as the material broke down, it would contribute valuable nutrients to the earth. Every scrap was repurposed, every precious inch of space made fertile, everything fodder for growth…

… Esiah insisted on sharing every part of the growing process online and with his sons. This is the beginning of Esiah’s origin story as he liked to tell it: a long story, a winding path, a seed that might have been sown all those years ago, but that only reached towards the sun because Esiah made it so.

… [T]he seed resistance is as multifaceted as the diversity it seeks to protect. To save a seed, the impulse might be to hold this tiny capsule static, keeping it in a state of suspended potential. But what happens when organisms are preserved not by being frozen in time but by being rooted in the here and now, by being planted? One seed creates a hundred more, each generation enacting a kind of living, in vivo, conservation, while continuing to evolve and adapt. This is the kind of seed sharing and saving that happens in growers’ networks, in public seed libraries and in the old-fashioned practice of setting aside this year’s seed for next year’s crops. These seeds are preserved by being planted and talked about, shared, germinated, cooked, eaten: kept alive not in isolation, but in conversation with the (agri)cultures of which they necessarily form a part. This is the central paradox of the seed: it is when a seed is abandoned to the soil, allowed to break free of its own neat form and transform into something very different, that it is most itself…

A bit longer than most of what gets linked here, but well worth reading the whole thing!

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142Comments

  1. 1.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 24, 2020 at 5:37 am

    The garden finally dried out enough for me to put the corn and beans in yesterday. And of course there is a 70-80% chance of rain every day this week. No doubt a bunch will just rot in the ground but the rain doesn’t appear to want to go elsewhere any time soon, so I just gotta take my chances.

  2. 2.

    raven

    May 24, 2020 at 6:06 am

    The red roses are all gone, a stand of white are hangin on. The butter beans came up and the maters look ok.

  3. 3.

    satby

    May 24, 2020 at 6:50 am

    That was a great article, I think someone had linked to it here earlier.

    Huge storms went through last night and dumped lots of rain we really didn’t need over areas already flooding. So there’s that. And today will be 86° and very humid, so limited gardening will be accomplished.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    May 24, 2020 at 6:54 am

    @satby: Same!   Loud roars of thunder rolled in about 1:30 am and if that didn’t wake me up, the dog would have.   ☹️

  5. 5.

    JPL

    May 24, 2020 at 6:54 am

    @raven: I love butter beans.

  6. 6.

    Jeffery

    May 24, 2020 at 6:56 am

    My neighbor was at the local small nursery to buy tomato plants. The owner had bought 298 plants to sell. He sold out and will be ordering more.

    I’ve taken everything started inside on window sills out to harden off and will start to get everything into the ground this week.

    I have over planted this year intentionally. Whatever I don’t use will go to neighbors or a food bank if I can find one near me who would pick up. 

  7. 7.

    satby

    May 24, 2020 at 7:02 am

    @JPL: I think it was worse in Chicago, where there were trees downed by the wind. It was still a bad storm when it got to us, but no tornado warning sirens like they had in the southern suburbs. That was about 7:30 last night, and a second storm came through in the wee hours.

  8. 8.

    satby

    May 24, 2020 at 7:10 am

    @Jeffery: after a great germination rate in my seeds, they were coming along, growing more leaves, looking good… then a majority of them started to drop leaves. I planted three early as a cold frame experiment and two survived but aren’t looking impressive. I have three more to plant but only one looks like it will thrive. I’m frustrated because I only grow heirlooms and you can’t find those in gardening stores to replace my sickly ones with. And I haven’t ever had any shrivel up that way before. So disappointed.

  9. 9.

    raven

    May 24, 2020 at 7:14 am

    @JPL: It’s a spiritual thing for her!

  10. 10.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 24, 2020 at 7:23 am

    @satby: Guano happens.

  11. 11.

    raven

    May 24, 2020 at 7:24 am

    Here’s the CSA we joined. He actually lives just up the street but the farm is in an adjoining county.

  12. 12.

    satby

    May 24, 2020 at 7:31 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I know but they were doing really great. Then I transplanted the peat plugs into peat pots with more soil because they were getting too big and they slowly went south on me. Almost all my new Baker Creek heirloom seeds ?

  13. 13.

    rikyrah

    May 24, 2020 at 7:35 am

    Good Morning, Everyone ???

  14. 14.

    Baud

    May 24, 2020 at 7:36 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

  15. 15.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 24, 2020 at 7:36 am

    @satby: ? indeed.

  16. 16.

    Anne Laurie

    May 24, 2020 at 7:38 am

    @satby: Then I transplanted the peat plugs into peat pots with more soil because they were getting too big and they slowly went south on me.

    Some kind of (fungus?) contamination in the new soil, maybe?  At least that’s what I’ve always been warned about when buying topsoil — and, for that matter, why we’re not supposed to plant tomatoes in the same soil, right?

    Can peat pots be contiminated?  I’d assume the companies sterilized them before shipping, but…

  17. 17.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    May 24, 2020 at 7:42 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning. ?

  18. 18.

    Immanentize

    May 24, 2020 at 7:54 am

    Hello All!

    I got the backing up truck beeping alarm at 6;30 today.  I would have slept later because it is cool (48°) and Sunday quiet.  Except for the neighbor’s delivery….

    My taters broke through and look real healthy.  String beans are pushing up the dirt, but not out yet. Cabbage got devastated by critters. Leaks and onions good. Maters haven’t taken off yet, but look OK….

    But my double white azaleas are fan-frickin-tastic. Some might recall I transplanted some that were pinned extras from the front to the back two years ago. Last year, nothing. This year, wow!

  19. 19.

    JPL

    May 24, 2020 at 7:55 am

    @satby: Evening storms are part of living in the south, although it does seem worse.   Tomorrow a son thought he’d stop by to do some grilling and eat outside, but there’s only a fifty percent chance of that happening.

  20. 20.

    Mel

    May 24, 2020 at 7:55 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning!

  21. 21.

    debbie

    May 24, 2020 at 8:07 am

    Odd that peonies have bloomed in a downtown neighborhood maybe 5 miles from me, while here there are just smallish buds.

  22. 22.

    debbie

    May 24, 2020 at 8:08 am

    @JPL:

    Are they the same as lima beans?

  23. 23.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 24, 2020 at 8:11 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The garden finally dried out enough for me to put the corn and beans in yesterday. 

    Alright.  The corn and beans are in.  When does the barbacoa and carnitas get planted?

  24. 24.

    JPL

    May 24, 2020 at 8:14 am

    @debbie:  Some think they are the same, but I find butter beans are often a bit bigger.     I buy then from a local farmer.

  25. 25.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 24, 2020 at 8:14 am

    @raven: Traitor! :)

  26. 26.

    satby

    May 24, 2020 at 8:16 am

    @Anne Laurie: I wondered about that too.

  27. 27.

    Immanentize

    May 24, 2020 at 8:17 am

    @mrmoshpotato: I’m smoking a brisket today….  Home made saurkraut is ready to eat.  Baked potatoes will join them.  Add a veggie — maybe.

  28. 28.

    satby

    May 24, 2020 at 8:17 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning rikyrah ?

  29. 29.

    debbie

    May 24, 2020 at 8:18 am

    @JPL:

    I don’t think I’ve ever seen either sold fresh here. I was raised on frozen and loved them.

     

    Not quite gardening related, but my suburbish town is having a reverse graduation today. They’ve blocked off a largish street, the graduates will stand on the southbound side (appropriately distanced from each other), and well-wishers will walk, bike, or drive (hopefully, very few) by to congratulate them. I don’t know why, but I find this so endearing.

  30. 30.

    debbie

    May 24, 2020 at 8:19 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    I once opened a bag of potting soil and found it chock full of little mushrooms.

  31. 31.

    Jeffery

    May 24, 2020 at 8:19 am

    @satby: It’s been a cool wet spring. When the heat arrives they may perk up.

    I started tithonia inside and they look the worst for wear shriveling up. Over the next month I will clear areas to plant their seeds directly into the ground. They grow fast enough. They may not flower until August but then the garden looks especially worn out by then and new flowering plants give it a revived look.

    I plant seeds up to the beginning of July to get flowers late into October.

     

    @satby:

     

    @satby:

  32. 32.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 24, 2020 at 8:20 am

    @satby:

    I think it was worse in Chicago 

    Oh it was!  I got all of my bones soaked about 9PM.

  33. 33.

    satby

    May 24, 2020 at 8:21 am

    @JPL: My grandmother used to make both butter beans and Lima beans. The butter beans were twice the size of the limas, and more tender too.  Wonder if Rancho Gordo has any in stock. Edit: out of stock on almost everything, but the large white limas are what I remember as butter beans.

  34. 34.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 24, 2020 at 8:22 am

    @Immanentize: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

    And since when are potatoes not vegetables?

  35. 35.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 24, 2020 at 8:23 am

    @satby: 773-202-beans

  36. 36.

    satby

    May 24, 2020 at 8:32 am

    @debbie: yeah, I wondered about the potting soil too. But one plant had no trouble at all. I may have to fill in with (shudder) regular plants from the nursery.

  37. 37.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 24, 2020 at 8:40 am

    @mrmoshpotato: Not sure something with eyes can be a vegetable.

    I just spent 20 hours installing a new hard disk on my computer*, it made Lightroom very happy.

    *No, it didn’t take me 20 hours to physically install the hard disk, it took 20 hours to copy the files from the old hard disks.

  38. 38.

    MomSense

    May 24, 2020 at 8:50 am

    I’m sitting outside on the deck enjoying my coffee and the quiet.  Took a trip out to Portersfield Cider to pick up some hard cider I ordered.  I walked through the orchard nibbling on some farm cheese and sipping a bit of cider.  All the trees were in bloom.  Amazing.  I was supposed to help at the heritage orchard in the spring but they hadn’t quite figured out how to coordinate volunteers and distancing.  Hopefully I’ll be able to help in the fall.
    Today I’m going to try to get some things in the ground and do a little clean up.  I feel so incredibly lazy and unmotivated, though.

  39. 39.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 24, 2020 at 8:53 am

    In homestead related news, the long dreaded day came 2 weeks ago when my widowed neighbor told me she was going to sell her place. We figured that in this economy it would take a while to sell and who knew how much she would get for it. The real estate agent came last wkend and took pictures. They settled on an asking price that was double what B and her husband paid 9 yrs ago. The first person came to look at it on Thursday. On Friday B received a plant with a card from this individual saying something like, “Thank you for making it possible for my dream to come true.” B signs the contract today.

    I can’t help thinking there is a Covid effect at play here as in, “RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY from the plague infested city.”

  40. 40.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    May 24, 2020 at 8:59 am

    @MomSense:

    It’s nice enough to sit on our balcony this morning too. It’s such a pleasure being outside without a mask.

  41. 41.

    MomSense

    May 24, 2020 at 9:00 am

    Sure enough the guy across the street decided to bring out loud equipment this morning.  Do you really need to run the wood chipper on a Sunday morning?

  42. 42.

    MomSense

    May 24, 2020 at 9:01 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    It really is.

  43. 43.

    satby

    May 24, 2020 at 9:06 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: there might be, in that people think they’ll bemore isolated in the country. But I’ve mentioned that the anti-mask farmers in my area are predominately from Berrien Co. MI, which yesterday had 1/2 the confirmed covid-19 cases of urbanized St. Joseph Co., IN (584 vs 1098), but more deaths (42 vs 38). If I get sick, I’m hightailling it back to my doctors in Chicago.

  44. 44.

    germy

    May 24, 2020 at 9:09 am

    Good morning, prancing chunks of stardust. Let’s see what new joys we can bring into being today.

    — Duchess Goldblatt (@duchessgoldblat) May 22, 2020

  45. 45.

    raven

    May 24, 2020 at 9:10 am

    @debbie:
    Fresh Shelled Butterbeans & Peas

  46. 46.

    debbie

    May 24, 2020 at 9:14 am

    @raven:

    Can’t find fresh peas either any more.? I can get a bag of shelled English peas at Trader Joes, but that’s really not what I remember shelling with my grandmother.

  47. 47.

    Immanentize

    May 24, 2020 at 9:15 am

    @satby: Did you see what’s happening in Montgomery, AL?  The city hospitals are being overwhelmed by people from the country coming in for care.  Because the rural hospitals all closed because profits.

    The Free Enterprise states are gonna get a lesson in Commonwealth value.

  48. 48.

    germy

    May 24, 2020 at 9:17 am

    Three years ago, my wife planted lilacs in front of our house.

    They’ve finally flowered!

    Every day, I see various people (usually older couples) stop and admire her landscaping.  Roses, lilacs, lilies, forget me nots, groundcover…   If she happens to be outside, they’ll ask for gardening advice.  Sometimes she even gives them cuttings.

    There’s a variety of lily right outside our front window.  I don’t know the variety, but it smells somewhat like burnt, sweet wood.  Like someone had some sort of sweet wood burning, and now it’s smoldering.  It’s very subtle, not an overpowering smell, but it triggers all sorts of pleasure centers in my brain.

    My wife thinks it’s a stargazer lily, but we’re not sure.

  49. 49.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 24, 2020 at 9:19 am

    @satby: I am wondering how badly reality will shred this persons dreams. I know they are from the STL area and probably high dollar because of their RE agent. If this individual hasn’t spent much time in Redville they could be in for a shock, especially about the lack of respect for Covid.

    And than again, maybe they have a pretty good idea after all. I just hope for another good neighbor.

  50. 50.

    PST

    May 24, 2020 at 9:20 am

    I’m not a gardener and am really out of my element in this thread, but I have a question for those with green thumbs. I live in a third floor apartment with a balcony that faces due south and gets direct sunlight all day long all summer long. The street is broad and runs due east-west, so the balcony sometimes gets high winds sweeping in from the west. I have five 18 x 6 inch window boxes on the balcony railing. My only objective is to create a huge splash of color that will be cheerful to passers by on a street with lots of pedestrian traffic. I’m completely over the ideas my wife advances about artistic mixing of plants. (I think she said something about fill, thrill, and spill.) I want gaudy continuous blooming with as little work as I can get away with. I planted petunias the last couple of years, but I didn’t pay much attention to varieties, and I think I put too many plants in each box, causing crowding and death. My thought this year is wave petunias and maybe only two pots to the box. It might look a little sparse at first but will fill up. Does anyone have advice for me? It’s high time I got to work.

  51. 51.

    germy

    May 24, 2020 at 9:22 am

    @MomSense:

    Sure enough the guy across the street decided to bring out loud equipment this morning.  Do you really need to run the wood chipper on a Sunday morning?

    What bothers me are the leaf blowers.  The noise is one thing, but the clouds of dust (a combination of yard clippings and dried dogshit) always float towards my windows.

    We lived in an exurb for about 20 years.  Large lots.  It would take me an hour to mow my lawn.  Now we live in a city, and my wife and I removed every last trace of lawn from our property.  All ground cover, flowers, vegetables, winding brick paths.  I haven’t touched a lawnmower in six years.

    Our neighbors’  lawn is about the size of an area rug.  But he is oldschool, he has the loudest, biggest lawncare equipment.  Big-ass mower, edge clipper and leaf blower.  It’s funny, because it takes him about ten minutes to do his entire property.  He literally could accomplish the same thing with a non-powered reel mower and a pair of scissors.

  52. 52.

    PST

    May 24, 2020 at 9:24 am

    @satby:

    If I get sick, I’m hightailling it back to my doctors in Chicago.

    Chicago’s ready for you. It is a hot spot, as would be expected in a big city with mass transit, but the healthcare facilities here really proved to be up to the task. I notice these days that normal appointments and procedures are going forward.

  53. 53.

    debbie

    May 24, 2020 at 9:32 am

    @germy:

    There were leaf blowers going literally all day yesterday. At about 8pm last night, the landscaper decided to mulch around the property. So we had the blowers going until about 9pm.

  54. 54.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 9:33 am

    @Immanentize: What’s a double white azalea compared to regular white azaleas?

  55. 55.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 9:39 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Crossing my fingers for you, Ozark.  As you surely know, neighbors can change everything.  I hope your new neighbors are exactly what you are looking for, whatever that is.

    On the plus side, that was a lovely note to send so hopefully the new neighbor will be great.

    Single person?  Married?  Family?  Kids?  Inquiring minds want to know!

  56. 56.

    O. Felix Culpa

    May 24, 2020 at 9:45 am

    @satby: Many of my tomato seedlings went agly too, after a great start. I planted them outside anyway and also ordered a few plants from this guy as backup. I’ve never ordered live tomato plants before and the shipping ain’t cheap, but I thought, what the heck. I’ll repurpose the funds from my travel budget that ain’t happening.

  57. 57.

    Barbara

    May 24, 2020 at 9:45 am

    It has been so cool here (relatively) that we tried to play catch up with a vegetable garden, secondary to getting a truck load of top soil so that we can reconfigure our yard.  That’s what we have been doing for the last two weekends. We were working with a landscaper but she was so slow we decided to execute the plan ourselves.  I have not turned on air conditioning yet this year, though having a whole house fan makes the decision easier.  All in all, a pretty nice spring so far.

  58. 58.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 9:46 am

    @PST: If you’re going with petunias, I recommend that you get the ‘night sky’ variety.  They vary with the amount of sun, etc, but the ones that are darker really do look like little stars against a night sky.

    Sunday Morning Garden Chat: "Empire of Seeds"

    I made this a big photo so you can get a good look, then I’ll make it  a bit smaller later.  So much more interesting than regular petunias, I think.

  59. 59.

    Barbara

    May 24, 2020 at 9:46 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: I used to get live plants from the farmer’s market.  I went by yesterday and there was a long line to get “in” to the market.  I just didn’t have the heart to wait what looked like it would be an hour or more, but I am glad they are getting a healthy turnout.

  60. 60.

    O. Felix Culpa

    May 24, 2020 at 9:48 am

    @Immanentize: Isn’t sauerkraut a veggie? Also too, I’m on my way over. Feasts are meant to be shared. ;)

  61. 61.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 9:51 am

    @PST:

    I’m completely over the ideas my wife advances about artistic mixing of plants.

    Well, if your wife isn’t completely over the idea of having an artistic mix, I would respectfully suggest that having the artistic mix is a nice way of bringing your wife happiness during what can be a very dark time.

    You can have your gaudy continuous blooms and something tucked in the corner that will trail.  There are lots of “spiller” plants that don’t take up much real estate in the flower box but will trail down so nicely.  I’m trying to think of the name of the one with small leaves that are a soft silver-green and would go with anything.  Silver falls!  Looks great with anything.

    Sunday Morning Garden Chat: "Empire of Seeds" 1 Sunday Morning Garden Chat: "Empire of Seeds" 2

    edit: the top picture gives a better sense of the color, but I thought the bigger picture might help you and your wife see what the leaf looks like.

  62. 62.

    MomSense

    May 24, 2020 at 9:52 am

    @germy:

    If I ruled the world, leaf blowers would be banned.  The woman across the street hires a landscaper who wears one like a jet pack.  He’ll use that thing to the last damned leaf.

  63. 63.

    O. Felix Culpa

    May 24, 2020 at 9:55 am

    @Barbara: The lines at our local nurseries have been insane. I went once to get some essential materials and haven’t been back since.

  64. 64.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 9:57 am

    @germy:

    It would take me an hour to mow my lawn.  Now we live in a city, and my wife and I removed every last trace of lawn from our property.  All ground cover, flowers, vegetables, winding brick paths.  I haven’t touched a lawnmower in six years.

    Why do we not have pictures of this as a garden chat or an On the Road post?  :-)

  65. 65.

    debbie

    May 24, 2020 at 9:58 am

    @MomSense:

    I’ve never understood the neighbors who use their leaf blowers to blow away a light coating of snow.

  66. 66.

    debbie

    May 24, 2020 at 9:59 am

    @WaterGirl:

    I believe petunias of the Wave variety are good because they’re so prolific.

  67. 67.

    MomSense

    May 24, 2020 at 10:02 am

    @debbie:

    Oh my!  Fortunately we don’t often experience a light coating of snow.

  68. 68.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 10:03 am

    Some of us talked about Allerton Park in last Sunday’s Garden Chat.

    Tomorrow morning at 9am, there is a 2-hour guided virtual hike along the Sangamon River at Allerton Park.

    Let Allerton’s Natural Areas Manager, Alex, guide you through a peaceful hike along the Sangamon River. Listen for the sounds of wildlife near the water and enjoy the views of the beautiful greenery.

    This virtual hike is free but donations are accepted to help support the Park and public programs! Donate here.

    Registration is not required, but is appreciated! Register here.

    HOW TO VIEW THE LIVE STREAM:
    Click the link below on Monday, May 25 at 9am to view this virtual event!
    https://www.facebook.com/AllertonPark/live/

  69. 69.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 10:05 am

    @debbie: They are!  But the are more interesting,  I think.  To each their own.

    My parents owned a local tavern in the city, and we lived in an apartment upstairs.  So we had no yard to play in.  Instead we played “on the roof” and our gardening consisted of lots of flower boxes of petunias.  So plain old petunias don’t do much for me, but I adore the night sky petunias.

    Wave petunias are available in kind of a pinwheel stripe that makes them more visually interesting, also, because of the white stripes in between the color.

  70. 70.

    jeffreyw

    May 24, 2020 at 10:10 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: We’ve had mixed luck with neighbors on the property line to our south. Started of with a guy I knew from work. This was the fellow who raised his shirt at work to show the whelps from the beating his wife gave him one evening. Sadly, he was the best one in a series that included one old woman who liked to set fires. Burned the house down, and later burned the trailer her son dragged in to replace the house. The set that lives there now are trash collectors and yard weed growers. We do not interact beyond nodding at chance encounters at the mailbox.

  71. 71.

    debbie

    May 24, 2020 at 10:19 am

    @WaterGirl:

    No, I think yours are amazing. I was thinking about the “fill, thrill, and spill” of profuse colors. It would look horrible in clothing, but I like the idea of your pinwheels combined with the night sky.

  72. 72.

    Raven

    May 24, 2020 at 10:21 am

    @jeffreyw: Punji pits

  73. 73.

    Kattails

    May 24, 2020 at 10:40 am

    @debbie: The other thing is they (Waves) don’t need continual deadheading like regular petunias do, which can be a tedious and sticky job.

    I tried working outside yesterday, mid-day, as it was supposed to be cool, low 70’s; but it felt like 90.  Came back in to cool off and then wandered out to the local organic garden/farm stand. Bless him, you could be outside & he was set up to take your $$, but if you wanted to go inside to shop (produce, local meats, dairy) a mask and gloves were required. (I bought a pack of 50 masks and 100 gloves, just leaving them in the car.)* Contrast with another small store with a decent deli, sign on door says masks are “appreciated” and one of the local blowhards came through, unmasked, mouthing off very deliberately; I was so pissed I walked away from the counter and down the other aisle fuming. Got home and weighed out the nice smoked turkey to freeze; deli guy gave me an extra 1/4 pound free.

    Gorgeous cool day today and tomorrow, will take advantage. Veggie beds need weeding and some manure. I’ve reconfigured them this year. There are 4 squares each about 10′, one has fruit; the other 3 I’m going to outline with 4 x 4’s if I can afford it, and then just vary how the centers are arranged according to need, trellises, scale of plants and whatnot.  Rake out paths, bit of bark mulch or hay, and then make patterns with the plants. Nice theory, anyway, hey it looked great in that magazine picture.

    I pulled a circular center bed that was done in rocks pulled from the beds, it never really worked out as a feature. So I’ll extend the beds a bit so there’s just a wide center aisle, and maybe put ups a twig trellis with climbers, have 3 varieties of sweet peas but gotta get cracking. Three weeks ago there was an inch of snow on the ground, now the leaves have exploded & I think I have robin babies duding from the activities.

    *does anyone need them? Becoming available locally, these were the blue surgical type masks, not quite $50 a box of 50.

  74. 74.

    NotMax

    May 24, 2020 at 10:48 am

    @O. Felix Culpa

    So, willing to risk it for brisket?

    :)

  75. 75.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 24, 2020 at 11:10 am

    @MomSense: my neighbor uses his leaf blower to clean his driveway… like, to blow the dust and leaves and twigs off of it. He has every gas-powered machine you (or at least I) can conceive of, and he loves to use them.

  76. 76.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    May 24, 2020 at 11:13 am

    Ha.  My wife bought a plug in leaf blower a few weeks ago.  After cleaning out our garage yesterday she finally decided to give it a whirl.  Loud as fuck and she had zero idea where to blow everything.  Good times.

  77. 77.

    Barbara

    May 24, 2020 at 11:24 am

    @PST: To come up with ideas for combinations, go to a website like White Flower Farms and look for “annual container designs.” They are sold out for this year, but you can find the plant combinations that they used, and find those plants or good alternatives at a local nursery or another online vendor.  Here is a link to an example: https://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/sweet-life-annual-collection

  78. 78.

    LuciaMia

    May 24, 2020 at 11:35 am

    one of the local blowhards came through, unmasked, mouthing off very deliberately;

    Why is it impossible to get it thru their thick skulls that the mask isnt to protect them but the other people around them? Well , then I guess they couldnt bloviate about their “rights”.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 11:37 am

    @Old Dan and Little Ann: It seemed like a good idea at the time.

  80. 80.

    catclub

    May 24, 2020 at 11:43 am

    @raven: CSA always make me think of the Confederate Army.

  81. 81.

    catclub

    May 24, 2020 at 11:45 am

    @LuciaMia: Well , then I guess they couldnt bloviate about their “rights”.

     

    all that stuff about your rights end at the tip of my nose is NOT mutual.

    My rights extend to infecting your lungs.

  82. 82.

    zhena gogolia

    May 24, 2020 at 11:45 am

    We’re about to have virtual Commencement. Should be sad.

    I tried having a reception for graduating seniors via Zoom yesterday. Not one of them showed up, only a couple of alumni (it was very nice to see them). I think the seniors are just demoralized and depressed, or else they’ve just definitively moved on.

  83. 83.

    catclub

    May 24, 2020 at 11:45 am

    @Old Dan and Little Ann: get earmuffs

  84. 84.

    Aleta

    May 24, 2020 at 11:52 am

    @PST: You might check out a hybrid of impatiens that likes full sun, is tough and colorful,  won’t mildew.    After you plant they just need water.  Has 3 varieties by name, sold lots of places.
    Compact Sunpatiens (14 to 32 inches in height and 14 to 24 inches in width)
    Spreading  Sunpatiens  (24 —  36 inches wide and 18 to 36 inches tall)   “Because they are spreaders, you can plant them a bit further apart (14 to 24 inches) ”  “mounding shape, fill in lots of space quickly with a mounding plant” “can also use for hanging baskets, ” Look for names like Spreading Shell Pink (an AAS winner), Spreading Clear White, and Spreading Corona.’

    SunPatiens Vigorous  (designed for landscaping)  “Their aggressive spreading nature allows you to plant further apart (14-24” spacing) and increase your coverage, compared to traditional annuals. This type of SunPatiens is ideal for hanging baskets or areas where you need quick “fill-in.”

  85. 85.

    raven

    May 24, 2020 at 11:56 am

    @catclub: Well, despite my Illinois roots I’m a direct ancestor of a Confederate soldier killed at the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864. Jason Figged was with the 11th Tennessee and I have decided he was buried in a common grave probably at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta just beneath the “Lion of the Confederacy”.

  86. 86.

    oldgold

    May 24, 2020 at 11:56 am

    My sulphuricalky scented neighbo, risen from a depth of hell not even Dante’ could have imagined, Dee Dee Plorable, uses a leaf blower to clean a small patio she uses to entertain her MAGA-capped boyfriend, Phil Anders, any time she sees me napping on my deck. So, almost every afternoon.

    One day, in a fit of pique, at being denied my required 12 hours of sleep, I screamed, over the screeching howl of her damnable machine, “Dee Dee, have you ever considered buying a dual purpose broom?”

    She snarled back, “Dual purpose?”

  87. 87.

    NotMax

    May 24, 2020 at 11:56 am

    @LuciaMia

    Everything old (1919) is new again.

  88. 88.

    JPL

    May 24, 2020 at 12:03 pm

    @raven:   A former neighbor’s dad fought in WWII.   The neighbor was from Austria and his father had no choice but fight or die in a concentration camp.

  89. 89.

    raven

    May 24, 2020 at 12:06 pm

    @JPL: Jason’s father fought for the Union.

  90. 90.

    NotMax

    May 24, 2020 at 12:10 pm

    @raven

    How’s the bride’s digital dilemma coming along?

  91. 91.

    debbie

    May 24, 2020 at 12:11 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    The reverse graduation has started here. There are hundreds of bikes and decorated cars waiting to congratulate the Bexley High Class of 2020. Balloons, huge photos of their kid, even vuvuzelas. I am going to cry.

  92. 92.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 12:11 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I don’t know if this could be true or not, but perhaps they feel like they had their graduation last week with Barack Obama and the big TV celebration?

    That would be a less discouraging way to think about it, if you think that could be true.

  93. 93.

    NotMax

    May 24, 2020 at 12:13 pm

    @debbie

    Pomp and by circumstance.

    ;)

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 12:15 pm

    @Aleta: @PST:

    That’s a good idea!  So you can see what the flowers look like.  Tons of colors.

    Sunday Morning Garden Chat: "Empire of Seeds" 3 Sunday Morning Garden Chat: "Empire of Seeds" 4 Sunday Morning Garden Chat: "Empire of Seeds" 5

  95. 95.

    raven

    May 24, 2020 at 12:18 pm

    @NotMax: She claims it isn’t bothering her that much. They put a metal splint on it and she just seems to be ticking away. thx

  96. 96.

    West of the Rockies

    May 24, 2020 at 12:33 pm

    @MomSense:

    Those leaf blowers are gross air polluters as well as being super irksome noise polluters.  I wish they were banned.  Buy a damn rake and exercise.

  97. 97.

    Quiltingfool

    May 24, 2020 at 12:44 pm

    @WaterGirl: We lucked out when we got neighbors on the acreage behind us.  They understand the importance of brush hogging pastures so they don’t get overrun with scrubby post oaks and blackberry brambles.  They put up good fences and as they raise sheep, I get to see adorable lambs in the spring!  Although they did have a fence problem early on – their sheep came over to my husband’s work garage, wandered around inside, while pooping, and then went back home!  The garage happened to be open as my husband was brush hogging that day…and the fence was improved after that.

  98. 98.

    NotMax

    May 24, 2020 at 12:46 pm

    @West of the Rockies

    Flashing back to seeing the neighbors on Long Island, living on the remnant of what once was a farm, dragging leaves bundled into 12 foot by 12 foot bundles (military surplus tents?) to a burn pile.

    We had a dedicated leaf burner, essentially a metal trash can with pre-punched holes in the sides, in which to dump and burn the leaves.

    Young’uns not experiencing the aroma of piles of burning leaves unaware of a sweet memory.

  99. 99.

    zhena gogolia

    May 24, 2020 at 1:00 pm

    Wow, just heard a kickass address by Rev. Barber.

  100. 100.

    zhena gogolia

    May 24, 2020 at 1:01 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I don’t think college kids paid much attention to that.

    It’s really sad, we have perfect weather today.

  101. 101.

    NotMax

    May 24, 2020 at 1:03 pm

    @NotMax

    bundled into 12 foot by 12 foot bundles

    Ugh. Self-flagellation in progress for that.

    Raked into 12 foot by 12 foot bundles.

  102. 102.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 1:07 pm

    @Quiltingfool: I bet there’s a story to that last line.  :-)

  103. 103.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 1:07 pm

    @zhena gogolia: He’s speaking at your graduation?

  104. 104.

    PST

    May 24, 2020 at 1:07 pm

    Thank you everyone who helped with window box suggestions while I was out trying to see how much grocery shopping I could do on a bicycle. I’m a little worried by an idea from @Aleta:

    Look for names like … Spreading Corona.

    I don’t want to scare the neighbors.

  105. 105.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 1:08 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Yep.  Lots of sad these days.  Maybe it’s a sign, though, that the kids who are graduating have accepted what is, and they aren’t trying to make the graduation be anything that it really can’t be anymore.

    Maybe it’s a sign of their resilience?

  106. 106.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 1:10 pm

    @PST: Just remove the tags that come with the plants.  :-)  Plus, who’s gonna be on your balcony to see it?

  107. 107.

    West of the Rockies

    May 24, 2020 at 1:12 pm

    Well, anyway, something there is that does not love leaf blowers.

  108. 108.

    NotMax

    May 24, 2020 at 1:13 pm

    @WaterGirl

    who’s gonna be on your balcony to see it?

    The squirrels gossip.

    ;)

  109. 109.

    Quiltingfool

    May 24, 2020 at 1:18 pm

    @WaterGirl: No, we didn’t complain about sheep poop – our neighbors would have been mortified!  They made the fence better because nobody wants their livestock roaming around.  Hasn’t been the first time livestock has been in our yard, though.  A herd of goats were hanging out in our yard (belonged to the neighbor across the road).  I was afraid they would get in the road and be hit by a car, so I got in the truck to go to the neighbor and tell him about it, and guess what!  I honked the horn, and the goats immediately raced home!  Easy peasy!  We also had a flock of guineas in the yard, but I was good with that because they eat ticks and chiggers, and our neighbor said the guineas patrol a wide area but they always end up at home.  I was kind of hoping they would make daily visits, but, no such luck.

  110. 110.

    zhena gogolia

    May 24, 2020 at 1:20 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    That’s an optimistic way to put it!

  111. 111.

    Immanentize

    May 24, 2020 at 1:30 pm

    @WaterGirl: Double azaleas have two blooms on the bud end.  Many (most?) Azaleas today are doubles, but not all.  This one is at least 50-60 years old.  I’ll send some pics….

  112. 112.

    satby

    May 24, 2020 at 1:42 pm

    Whad’I miss? Went out to see some market buddies selling at an outdoor market near the lake and picked up two substitute tomato plants. One is a Sungold cherry, the other is a mystery plant because the vendor’s little girl had pulled the name sticks out of about a dozen plants before her father stopped her ?. I got one, because who doesn’t love a mystery? Now it’s way too hot and humid to work outdoors, so after the sun gets a little lower I’ll plant them this evening.

  113. 113.

    Steeplejack

    May 24, 2020 at 1:43 pm

    @Barbara:

    The weather has been nice in the DMV. It’s 65° now over here in Threadkill Lane, slightly overcast. Pleasant. I’ve got the windows open to let in the fresh air. No highs over 82° predicted over the next 10 days. Anything that delays the infernal heat of summer is good. After Memorial Day anything under 90° is great. Anything under 95° is bearable.

    ETA: No air conditioning yet here either. I like the shoulder seasons when the HVAC system is silent for days at a time.

  114. 114.

    debbie

    May 24, 2020 at 1:53 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    We went from 50s to 80s in two to three days. This whole week will be near 90 and humid. I hate turning on the AC so soon, but since I’m here all the time now, it will be nothing but miserable if I don’t.

  115. 115.

    trollhattan

    May 24, 2020 at 1:54 pm

    Today, low 90s. The next four day forecast: 99, 103, 104, 104. Plants do not know this is coming.

    Some years it doesn’t hit 100 before July 4. I call those summers “nice.”

  116. 116.

    trollhattan

    May 24, 2020 at 1:58 pm

    Rules for thee, and not for me.

    Boris Johnson has backed his key adviser Dominic Cummings, amid a row over the aide’s travel during lockdown.
    The PM said he had concluded Mr Cummings had “no alternative” but to travel to the North East for childcare “when both he and his wife were about to be incapacitated by coronavirus”.

    “In every respect, he has acted responsibly, legally and with integrity,” Mr Johnson said.

    It follows calls from several Tory MPs for Mr Cummings’ resignation.

    Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Johnson’s decision to take no action against Mr Cummings was “an insult to sacrifices made by the British people”.

    Leaving Downing Street after about six hours in Number 10 on Sunday, Mr Cummings refused to answer questions.

    A Tory is just a Republican who learned proper English.

  117. 117.

    Cowgirl in the Sandi

    May 24, 2020 at 2:14 pm

    It’s Memorial Day weekend here in the East Bay (CA) which means zillions (and I do mean zillions) of carloads of folks will be coming from miles away to pick cherries and apricots.  The traffic jams are intense.  Those of us who live here know to go to the cherry orchards during the week and hunker down on the weekends to avoid the crowds.

    I made a cherry cake with the fresh cherries I got on Thursday and it was great.  Cherries are like jewels shimmering among the green leaves of the trees.  Such a lovely, fleeting time of year.

  118. 118.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 2:17 pm

    @NotMax: Let them say what they will!!!

  119. 119.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 2:18 pm

    @Quiltingfool:  I take it you live in the country!  What’s a guinea?  And where do you live?

  120. 120.

    Aleta

    May 24, 2020 at 2:19 pm

    @PST: yeah, such an unfortunate choice  … : )

  121. 121.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 2:20 pm

    @zhena gogolia:   We’ll never know for sure, I imagine.  Some days are so discouraging these days, it’s nice to have an optimistic one. :-)

  122. 122.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 2:22 pm

    @Immanentize: Saw the pics before I saw this reply.  So my theory of why “double” was way off the mark.  So beautiful, I have to share.

    Sunday Morning Garden Chat: "Empire of Seeds" 6

    edit: I was gonna include the pic with your kitty, but I think you should submit pics and stories for the weekly getting to know BJ pets series, instead.

    NotMax suggested Heavy Petting for the name, is that too risqué?

  123. 123.

    Amir Khalid

    May 24, 2020 at 2:24 pm

    @trollhattan:

    BoJo’s already been caught lying about this. His statements about Cummings’ activities don’t matchthe statements of the Durham Po;ice. Indeed, not long ago he was found by Britain’s highest court to have lied to the Queen in a serious matter of state. He’ll lie to anybody.

  124. 124.

    LuciaMia

    May 24, 2020 at 2:29 pm

    The weather has been nice in the DMV.

    You live at the Dept. of Motor Vehicles?  ;-)

  125. 125.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 2:30 pm

    @LuciaMia: I hear there’s temperature controlled climate at the DMV.

  126. 126.

    trollhattan

    May 24, 2020 at 2:30 pm

    @LuciaMia:

    You’re not a real car fan unless you’ve lived in a DMV. Science fact!

  127. 127.

    zhena gogolia

    May 24, 2020 at 2:30 pm

    @WaterGirl: Well, I just got this from a student (not a senior, admittedly) —

    “I am feeling a strange mix of emotions, but the overwhelming emotion is happiness.”

  128. 128.

    Tony Jay

    May 24, 2020 at 2:32 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Maybe some enterprising journalists might start connecting the dots between Flatulent Wordgust’s donor list of Russian and American oligarchs and Lucky Dom’s links to the alt-Right and foreign intelligence services? You never know, they might even find a story there that explains why Tubby Toff is so very, very unwilling to let his advisor/handler go.

    Why am I kidding? Investigate evidence of treason by members of the Tory Party? Not a chance.

    Countdown to some kind of baseless but extravagantly covered Labour ‘scandal’ starting in 10… 9…. 8….

  129. 129.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 2:33 pm

    @zhena gogolia: That’s so nice!  I kind of teared up when I read that.

    Maybe you can print that one out and put it somewhere where you’ll see it every day?

  130. 130.

    NotMax

    May 24, 2020 at 2:36 pm

    @zhena gogolia

    “Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.”
      – Eleanor Roosevelt
    .

  131. 131.

    MoCA Ace

    May 24, 2020 at 2:38 pm

    @Steeplejack:   @trollhattan:

    Damn glad I live up here at the 45th parallel!  I hate, hate, hate hot weather.  I’ll gladly trade four months of winter for (count’s on fingers) fewer than ten 90 degree days a year.

    Finished planting the garden on Friday.  Today I’m putting up my deer/chicken fence.

  132. 132.

    Baud

    May 24, 2020 at 2:41 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Kids love the weed.

  133. 133.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 2:51 pm

    @Baud: Are you coming to Medium Cool tonight?  Your name might or might not have been mentioned in the write-up.

  134. 134.

    zhena gogolia

    May 24, 2020 at 2:52 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    @zhena gogolia:

    @Baud: I was wrong, he is a senior! What a sweetie.

  135. 135.

    Amir Khalid

    May 24, 2020 at 2:57 pm

    And … one of Dominic Cummings’ excursions has been reported to the police. From The Guardian‘s liveblog:

    Dominic Cummings reported to police

    Dominic Cummings is facing a possible police investigation under health laws over a claim that he breached self-isolation rules in north-east England, after a weekend of mounting pressure on the prime minister to sack his chief adviser.

    Retired chemistry teacher Robin Lees has made a complaint to the police after reporting that he saw Cummings and his family on 12 April walking in the town of Barnard Castle before getting into a car, a joint investigation by the Guardian and Mirror can reveal.

  136. 136.

    Baud

    May 24, 2020 at 3:03 pm

    @WaterGirl: Uh oh.  When is it scheduled for? I won’t be around as much today.  Maybe for the best.

     

    @zhena gogolia: I’m happy for you.

  137. 137.

    Tony Jay

    May 24, 2020 at 3:21 pm

    @Amir Khalid: 

    Yup. This isn’t over. I’m amazed Flobalob has crawled out on this branch, but he has. Either Cummings resigns or a mass of Tory MPs scent the way this is going and demand Johnson sack him.

    Tory power-struggles are always such dramas. You can almost see the strings twitch as their respective billionaire owners make them dance about. Once again I am filled with such enormous gratitude to the many British journalists who worked so very hard to lie about the Labour Party in order to make the Tory Party seem less like a bunch of gibbering loons, and the millions of lazy, ignorant dickheads who voted them in last Decembet.

    Well done you pricks. This is all on you.

  138. 138.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 3:23 pm

    @Baud: 5pm blog time, as always!

  139. 139.

    WaterGirl

    May 24, 2020 at 3:35 pm

    @Baud: Nothing to worry about, just a bit of harmless razzing by BG.

  140. 140.

    SWMBO

    May 24, 2020 at 5:13 pm

    @Anne Laurie:

     

    @satby: Bit late now but have you tried baking the dirt in the oven before using it?  I used to start plants inside during the coldest part of the winter.  Baking the dirt gets rid of a lot of fungus and kills off weed seeds too.  I forget how long I used to bake it but you have to wait a couple of days to cool down before using it.  The house smells good while you’re baking it btw.  Store it in a metal bucket or wash tub.

  141. 141.

    satby

    May 24, 2020 at 6:42 pm

    @SWMBO: I debated doing that, but from now on I will.

  142. 142.

    Geminid

    May 24, 2020 at 6:52 pm

    @PST: your balcony sounds like a good spot for nasturtiums. Some varieties will trail 4-6′.

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