Kiki Out of Action



As the hardening off process reaches its peak, painstakingly hauling seedlings out into the sun, then painstakingly hauling the somewhat dried out little buggers back in, Kiki has had a bit of foot surgery. It'll be Tom doing most of the planting out this year. If the nights would get just a few degrees warmer, this chore could be over. Another week, it's predicted.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reality and the “AI” Hype Machine

Image
  Toho's Mechagodzilla While the cluster of technologies captured under the marketing term “ artificial intelligence ” has positive, legitimate uses, it is vitally important that we also consider its limitations and the - in many cases - unacceptable consequences of its proliferation into every aspect of our lives. Today, “AI” is in desperate need of regulation to contain its toxic effects on the environment - including energy use, carbon emissions and water use - the spread of misinformation, its vulnerability to censorship, and the ways in which it damages human intelligence (which are just now coming to light). This is not a Luddite tract claiming that the technology needs to be completely eliminated. It is an argument for getting beyond the hype about its supposed capabilities, and for creating reasonable rules around its use. Terminology: “Artificial Intelligence” is an umbrella term for a series of technologies that automate decision making, classification, recommendation, t...
Read more

Deploy the Nematodes. Livin' off the Fat of the Land

Image
It is harvest time. One thing the illustration above does not show is the large number of football-sized zucchini that are making their appearance. While I love a purple pole bean, I won't exactly be heartbroken when they slow down. This week's harvest newcomers are tomatoes. We've just pulled in the first few. The vines are laden with many more to come.  This has necessitated some innovations on the "how will we eat all of this" front. Made a double batch of zucchini bread yesterday. Made more refrigerator pickles. Gave away more cucumbers. Vacuum-sealed more pole beans and tossed them in the freezer. It is time consuming. But this is what it is all about. All that work raising the seedlings, the planting, the weeding. Time to reap what was sown. And we are getting some delicious stuff. The weather has been wet, hot, and humid. Over the past few days we've had about three inches of rain, and more storms are on their way tonight. It doesn't really rain, so...
Read more

Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast

Image
 It's hard to believe that only a month or so ago we were talking raspberries. The garden really is a bit too much to handle right now. As Airbourne, the Greta Van Fleet of AC/DC put it, " Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast ."  They are done now, and the canes that produced this year need to be cut back. A couple of vacations happened (Pictured Rocks Nat'l Park & Charlevoix, Michigan for the marathon & the Boundary Waters). And the garden exploded. The purple beans are popping. The snow peas are just about done. The zucchini have spawned. The tomatoes are there, but green. The cucumbers are producing. The carrots & beets are pretty much ready. The tiny, sad bit of lettuce has produced. The kale has been devoured by Asian beetles. The pumpkins & squash are blossoming and climbing the trellis. The sunflowers are blooming.  Love summer.
Read more