Garden Report, Week Ending July 2, 2011

The garden is just a hot mess. Literally.

This is why I am not out there taking pictures so much. It's just hot, and the mosquitoes have begun to laugh at Deet. I mean it. You could put me in a tub of that stuff and turn me loose in the backyard, and I would still come inside covered in bites.

It is my sweet disposition, I know. It's a heavy burden to bear.

Saturday morning, though I took a little hike -- early -- and when I got back, here's what was waiting for me!

 

That basket holds okra, carrots, and an assortment of peas and or beans. (You know I can't ever seem to remember.)

But we were most excited about the tomatoes, and I don't even eat 'em. Well, I mean, as a rule I don't eat 'em. Unless the man I love grows them for me, then I'm pretty much all about the tomatoes.

Therefore, I am interested in those tomatoes.

And these, too. These are staying right there until after the 4th of July Food Fest.

Now, can we chat for just a minute about those carrots in that basket?

I realize they are teensy. We were so sad when we pulled the first big batch of them up. We felt obligated to eat one, though, just as a way of honoring root vegetables.

Well, let me tell you, these things may be little, but they pack an unbelievable punch. I just wash 'em off and toss 'em in whatever I'm cooking. They take no time to get done.

When I eat them cooked like that I think of my Grandmama, and how she loved cooked carrots, and what a kick she would get out of these little midgets.

She had a little sign in her garden about God being nearer to us in a garden than anywhere else on Earth. I think He puts a whole lot of love in the stuff He lets us grow out there, that's for sure.

Have I digressed again?

***

We need about a gazillion more of these out there. They enjoy eating mosquitoes.

They also think they hide well.

I'm keeping him.

I named him Gomer.

 

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This next bit has nothing to do with gardening.

Henry has fired up both smokers for the 4th of July.

Here are two pictures of one of them.

The other one didn't look this exciting.

It smells real fine out there right now.

 

***

This is a pretty dreadful picture of one of our sunflowers. Things were getting a little dark out there, and I was at the sort of angle that real photographers laugh behind your back when they see you doing it, but I don't care. There was just something about this I liked anyway.

You are free to disagree.

There are, however, no refunds.

By the way.... this is the little fun thing I put together last year about Henry and his smokin' butts.

This is exactly what the next couple nights here will look like.

Enjoy!

A Capitol Idea?

When I saw this headline my gut reaction was WHAT???   Then I stopped to think about it for a minute, and here's the thing: I don't think they should have been singing there, either. I don't care what they chose to sing, or how spontaneous it might have been, or how sincere they were in their patriotism -- the rotunda of the Capitol has got to be one place that is pretty high on the list for vulnerability to any manner of unpleasantly disruptive behaviors, and the Capitol police are sworn to protect not just the edifice but the visitors and those conducting the not unimportant business of running our country there. Look, I know these are nice kids. Nobody at the Capitol was suggesting otherwise, either. For Pete's sake, it's not like billy clubs came unholstered and handcuffs were slapped on. The officer didn't even interrupt -- he merely told them after their performance that they could not continue without a legally required permit. You want to teach a group of young folks how to be law-abiding citizens?  THEN OBEY THE LAW. And if you inadvertently break it and are gently reprimanded, then don't hit the airwaves coming off like you just got off a Greyhound bus and were beset by armed police officers, attack dogs, and water hoses.

I can guarantee you that WSFA news wasn't just hanging around the rotunda looking for a story. Somebody who represents this group contacted them and they ran with it -- for what purpose?

I am watching this thing go viral on Twitter and Facebook, and what astounds me are how many highly educated people are completely up in arms over this.

The group did something they likely were unaware was not allowed. They were permitted to complete the National Anthem, at which point an officer stepped in to ask them not to present an encore since to do so would violate a permit issue. They apparently later attained a permit to sing elsewhere (it must not be all that hard to do), and did so to what I'm certain were delighted tourists.

So, lesson learned?  Let's hope it's not the one that says that if you get your feelings hurt you have been harmed enough to notify the media.

That's the way I see it, anyway.

(Long Overdue) Garden Report

Because I am so far behind, I thought I'd do something a 

little different this time.

Enjoy!