Friday, July 25, 2008

In Which I Hyperlink Way Too Much

I think, tonight, I would like to talk about anything but refrigerators. And Germans. Not that there is anything wrong with either of them. I just need a change.

First, a reminder that if you would like a chance to win a copy of Fifty Acres and a Poodle by Jeanne Marie Laskas, please leave a comment on this post by Saturday evening. I may even mail out all these books I've promised to people, one of these days. I'd hate to be accused of blog fraud. That would dash my last hope of Amazon ever giving me a Kindle.

David convinced me to visit our garden plot this evening. It was a disheartening sight. We bushwhacked our way in there and found one dead zucchini plant (our last), flowering basil, flowering cilantro, 5 tomato plants doing surprisingly well, and some struggling cukes.

The box full of strawberry plants is thriving, though I don't know how. I also don't know what to do with all the runners they are putting out (I type coyly, knowing that at least 16 people will volunteer the proper information)(please?). The marigold plants I threw in the corners of 2 of the boxes are also looking splendid. So, I'm not a total failure.

Still, any day now we may receive an eviction notice from the horticulture Nazis who run the community gardening association. From the way people there look at me, you'd think I had built a shantytown on my little plot. I can't imagine what's bugging them, unless it's the piles of old newspapers I put down as a weed barrier. Or the weeds themselves that still cover over a third of the plot. Or perhaps it's the full-length window lying in the middle of the weeds and the newspapers, the one I had meant to make into a cold-frame for my winter crops.

People are so picky, aren't they?

You know, I was just now going to go off on an amusing tangent about how half the bugs in the world must live in my 400-square-foot plot; and in an effort to garner hard statistics (I'm not an amateur, you know), I Googled "bug population."

My friends, do not try this at home. Now I'm itchy. And I can go to bed worrying that Global Warming Could Trigger Insect Population Boom.

Like, there isn't one already?

25 comments:

  1. Our tomato plants are thriving too. No tomatoes just yet though. I don't want to think about all the bugs in our garden, ick!

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  2. I have nothing for you on the strawberries. I have a couple of healthy basil plants, some freaked out parsley, and seven carrots that pretty much need to be pulled out since they are growing to close together but my son will be disappointed so i'm ignoring the problem garden....

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  3. Hmmm...first comment...not bad.

    I'll put in dibs on the book. I should note, however, that I have already added it to my list of books to order from the library. This is necessary in order to leave for two weeks of vacation with one or possibly, two, full book bags. (Can I get it by August 9th???) I make a list all year long, and then do a reading rampage in the summer.

    Granted, my kids are all older now, so I don't have to watch them at the lake. And I assign teams of two to split up all the chores, like dishes and such. I basically cook the meals, let someone else cook the meals, and READ FOR TWO SOLID WEEKS!!! It couldn't get any better.

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  4. If you think about how many bugs there are in the world, your head might explode.

    Why is the font on your comments so big today? And why is the comment window different? What the hell did Blogger do overnight NOW?!?!

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  5. It looks normal on my end. I mean, aside from the embedded comment window. I like it, because then you don't have to do that extra click to leave a comment. I'm all about convenience.

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  6. AnonymousJuly 25, 2008

    Thanks, now I'm itchy too. I think tomato and marigold salad sounds lovely. Can you can marigolds? Hmmm...
    Mow your strawberries down, compost & mulch. The runners will plant themselves and if you're anal (I'm going out on a limb here and guessing you're not) you can pull them into straight rows alongside the existing plants so you have a more orderly patch.
    I do want the book--pretty pretty please.

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  7. Ewwww- embedded comments. COOL!

    My tomato plant looks good, too, if only I could find a HINT of a tomato on the darn thing...

    As far as bugs go... did you know the honey bee population is disappearing globally. Experts have not really been able to figure out what has happened to them.. but it is serious. Bees affect a lot of agriculture, I guess, as far as cross polination and such... That is your Cliff Claven fun fact for the day... Now you can go to bed worrying about that instead.

    KEEP BELIEVING

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  8. Isn't that a bummer? The one bug I don't mind in the least....

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  9. Strawberry plants have runners? Oh, crap. I thought those were kudzu with immature leaves and yanked 'em all out of the ground to be burned.

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  10. At least you can grow plants (even without trying). I try and everything dies!

    And I think more than half of the fly poplutation lives in my back yard. I don't know why but here in VA there seems to be 10 times more than at our house in MD.

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  11. I didn't even try this year. Damn blog!

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  12. Snort. Horticulture Nazis. People have too much time on their hands if a little newspaper gets them in lather.

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  13. Picky, picky people. My garden plot would look exactly like that, but with more weeds.

    That bug article gave me a shiver. Ew. It better not apply to scorpions.

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  14. AnonymousJuly 25, 2008

    When I read "struggling cukes" I pictured to goofy guys gasping for breath. What is wrong with my brain?

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  15. Yeha, cool comment window! and YES the font is huge for me too....strange.

    Umm, don't hate me cuz I have neon green fingers (not just thumbs) the strawberries: mow only if they are June bearing, otherwise let them have atter. If they are the Everbearing type let the runners have the run of the place OR snap them off and put them where you want em, you will have mondo loads of berries next year. :) As for the rest of it kudo's on the live stuff and add some poop to the dying stuff.

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  16. I'll definitely remember this! :)

    I appreciate you taking the time to visit my blog when I was featured on SITS. I look forward to many more visits. Off to read more.

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  17. Bugs? No way am I looking. You make me itch.

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  18. I want the book. Keep the bugs.

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  19. AnonymousJuly 25, 2008

    I don't want the book, unless you are willing to pay shipping to Africa. (Are you?)
    Just cuz we notice and chuckle at your clever post titles doesn't mean we need to BRAG about it...sheesh! ;)
    I hope you get a Kindle and I hope that you enjoy your strawberries and tomatoes guilt-free!

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  20. My gardening routine consists of buying some seeds, throwing them in some dirt (either way too early or way too late in the season) and hoping for the best. I've never really gotten anything out of it. Oh, wait- I'm lying. We may have gotten one green bean last year... I think. I'm not really sure why I still bother.

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  21. AnonymousJuly 26, 2008

    alright, i did it and posted pictures of my (my mom's) fridge. in case you want to have a peek ;-)

    other than that i noticed that there is a demand for cultural issues so i started a new category and my first post is on american toilet stalls. you sure don't want to miss that!!!

    thanks for linking and highlighting and more links :-)

    best,
    franzi

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  22. Thank God for marigolds. Anyone can grow them. (I have been blaming the frequent rain for my lack of time in the garden. And for the bugs.)

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  23. I should send you a picture of my garden to make you feel better. Much, much better.

    Yeah bugs. Hate them. Except the good ones. Even then I don't really want to touch them.

    Strawberry runners. Just looked up a bunch of links. Here's the one I'm going to use for mine. http://www.growingedge.com/community/archive/read.php3?c=PR&q=987 (I'm not that good at embedding links.)

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  24. My damn blog has killed my garden. The only thing that is taking off are the tomatoes. And no one in my house, except for me, like tomatoes.

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  25. Photos are needed! Didn't you just say...? I'd love to see your garden. The fact that you managed to kill a zucchini is amazing to me. Those suckers are TOUGH!

    Should I tell you what I do with my strawberry runners?

    Umm...nothing. I just let them wander where they will. I could be all scientific about it, but really, who cares enough to do that? If I can't even manage to tie up my danged tomato plants, I'm not likely to do anything useful to strawberry runners. : ) Strawberries taste just fine no matter what you do with the runners.

    I'm waiting for my box of peaches to come in. Maybe I'll make preserves this year. I know for certain I'll make cobbler. Yum!

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