Garden Post - July 2014

I'm sitting here typing in the middle of July.  My schedule has unexpectedly cleared.  I've declared a sick day because of a child diagnosed with walking pneumonia.  Fortunately, swimming lessons have also been cancelled because...get this...it's too cold!

Has my calendar malfunctioned?

It is currently 61 degrees outside and starting to sprinkle.  Heavenly.

It seems like a good day to provide a garden update.

The first big event of the season was the harvesting of the cabbage.  This is my son's entry into the Bonnie 3rd Grade Cabbage Program.  His isn't as big as some of the monsters they feature on their site, but we went ahead and picked his because we thought it would start suffering in the Oklahoma heat.  Who knew how mild this summer would be?

Our other big harvest was the onions.  Onions continue to be our most successful crop.  We've already eaten a significant amount of these, so this picture reflects a depleted supply.

The tomatoes are starting to come on strong.  We eat several daily and I've canned four pints (which I know is paltry to big-time gardeners).

Our okra is also starting to produce.  Of all the vegetables in the world, okra is the only one my kids eat enthusiastically.  It's hard for our three little plants to keep up with the demand.

After we pulled the onions in late June, my husband planted purple hull pea seed in their place.  This was somewhat of an experiment because it past the typical planting season.  The plants seem to be doing fine so far.

The other vegetables growing in our garden are lettuce (also a little late for that, but it looks good), asparagus, jalapeno peppers and anaheim peppers.

Besides providing us with delicious, fresh food, this little suburban plot of ours brings us a lot of joy.

I also want to feature some of our flowers.

Last year, my mother-in-law gave us sunflower seeds.  I realized that the sunflower is the happiest flower of them all. I loved it in full bloom, and the birds enjoyed its seeds in the winter.  This year, I ordered a different variety that produces more than one blossom per plant.  The blooms are smaller, but I love the multiple blooms and variegated petals.

My mom gave me a sackful of gladiola bulbs this spring.  They are starting to bloom.  This gorgeous flower is on my short-list of favorites.

Finally, one of the kid's violin instructors gave me some milkweed seed.  Milkweed is the host plant for the Monarch butterfly.  I'm keeping a close eye on these to see if we are attracting any butterflies.  They are just starting to bloom.

Thanks for taking this tour of our gardens.

The Month I Went Gluten Free

I'm very thankful that I'm healthy, but I still can find reason to complain.  My three health 'problems':  constant lower back pain, constant fatigue, and a constant need to lose weight.

To see if I could alleviate any of these problems, I decided to jump on the bandwagon that has been circling for quite some time and go gluten free for a month.

On June 1, armed with a library copy of America's Test Kitchen How Can it Be Gluten Free Cookbook and a bag of Udi's bread, I took the plunge.

I thought it would be hard.  For the most part it was not.  Even though I generally eat plenty of bread and pizza and pastry deserts, I did not feel deprived because I could occasionally binge on other bad-girl favorites like chips and soda.

I did have two slip-ups.  One day I ate oatmeal that may have been cross-contaminated, and I had a complete gluten relapse during our two-night getaway to Arkansas.

Otherwise, I was oh so good.

I never finished the bag of Udi's (it was too dry), and I only made one recipe from the cookbook (there were too many expensive ingredients).  I mostly relied on eating unprocessed foods except for the aforementioned chips and soda.

I'm happy to report, the lower back pain, my constant companion, went away!

The fatigue and the extra weight did not.  There may have been a small up-tick in my energy level, but I cannot be sure.  And, sadly, I only lost one pound.  One pound:  not the result I was looking for.

But, I'll take that one benefit I received.

Everyone knows that food affects health.  There is a barrier, though, between knowledge and acceptance.  This little experiment may have helped me over that barrier.

I've not given up hope.  For July, I'm on to a new challenge.

Presidential Biography: Jefferson

While sitting under a canopy of trees in Arkansas, I finished Jon Meacham's biography of our third president entitled Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power.

After reading the biographies of Washington and Adams, I was left pondering: Who was the real Jefferson?  Was he Ellison's 'snake in the grass' or was he Ferling's benign politician.

Well, although Meacham never referred to Jefferson in such negative terms, he did explore Jefferson's duality.  He was probably both.

There were definitely two sides to the man.  One the idealist and the other the pragmatist.  He was the declarer of independence who enslaved others.  He was the great republican who willingly wielded executive power.  In that, he's like the rest of us who do not always act in accordance with our more noble impulses.

Whatever his faults, his talent and greatness stand with the talent and greatness of Washington and Adams.  Plus, he is infinitely more interesting.  I would love to have dined at Monticello on French food amongst the art and the books and the distinguished guests and experienced some of the Jefferson charm.

Meacham's book was my favorite presidential biography to date (including those I've read in previous years).  It was a fascinating book about a fascinating man.

The Natural State

Last week, we packed up the family sedan and headed east to Arkansas.  Our destination was Devil's Den State Park.

The park was built in the late thirties by the Civilian Conservation Corp (the CCC).  We felt their presence throughout our three-day stay.

We stayed in this quaint cabin perched on a hill.  It was one of two in the park built by the CCC.  It had been modernized with air-conditioning and satellite TV, but it retained its historical vibe.

I spent hour upon hour on the little deck, catching up on my reading amidst the hickories and the oaks.  It was so cool under the leaf canopy.  Maybe it was the bat population from the den, but I was never bothered with mosquitoes even in the twilight hours.

One way the park commemorates its CCC history is with a daily four o'clock softball game.  Reportedly, the guys played baseball everyday after building dams, cabins and the like, and the park rangers organize a family softball game to maintain the tradition.  Excuse me, they're not 'rangers' anymore, they're Park Interpreters.  What?  I'm sure there is a good reason for changing a perfectly good job title, but I'm not sure what it is.

The park was full of hiking trails that provided a wonderful mix of scenery including caves, waterfalls, creeks and timber.

Besides all the natural beauties, there were manmade amenities as well,

to which we gave an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Reading Warriors

As good parents, we encourage our kids to find their own path, their passion, that thing they love.  But, all along, we're hoping that that thing will just so happen to be the same thing we love.

For me that thing is reading and that's one of the passions I'm rooting for for my kids.

Although he'll listen to books all day, my son has always leaned a little towards the reluctant end of the reading spectrum.  He reads quite a bit, but mostly because I require it.  He does it more dutifully than enthusiastically.

There have been bursts of enthusiasm over certain books, mostly those in a series.  I remember Dav Pilkey's Ricky Ricotta books as being the first series he requested over and over

He later showed some inclination toward The Magic Treehouse series

and The Secrets of Droon.

He read these with more eagerness than usual, but those tell-tale sign of a reader in love were not there...the reading into the night, the toting of books to places books don't belong (e.g. baseball practice), the suspension of all other interests.

But this year his cousin recommended the Erin Hunter's Warriors series to him, and I began to see book-wormish signs.  From the first book, he began clamoring, begging, and wheedling for these books and was devouring them in short order.

What?  You want another Warriors book so soon???  Sure, son, I'm happy to comply, you chip off the old block.

Jeopardy!

I've been obsessing a little about Jeopardy! lately (I'm going to dispense with the exclamation point now).

First, there was the Battle of the Decades pitting the best against the best from the last 30 years.  For the May finals, I mostly cheered for the guys from the end of the third decade.   As a johnny-come-lately fan of the show, my personal favorites, Stephanie Jass, Keith Whitener and Kristen Morgan, were all from the 2012 season.

None of them made it to the finals, which left me cheering for the newer guys who were left--the guys I formerly loved to hate, Colby Burnett and Roger Craig.  Colby Burnett won me over when he told that he bought his mom a house with his winnings and Roger Craig won me over with his fool-hardy gutsy wagering in the finals.  Although Ken Jennings was before my time, I cheered for him most of all.  I found his Opie Taylor looks and lisp endearing.  And, of course, he has the brains.  One cannot forget the brains.

We all know how it turned out.  None of my guys won.  It was that Brad Rutter.  Ugh.  Still.  So fun to watch!

Then there was Julia Collins, the one with the second longest winning streak after Jennings, who ended her run yesterday.  It was fun to see history (Jeopardy history anyway) being made.  I watched 20 of her 21 episodes.  As the shows progressed, she didn't really make that strong of an impression because her style is rather low-key.  She's sharp but shy.  Reportedly, she was too tongue-tied to pass the auditions in a previous attempt to be a contestant.  Shy girls unite!

I'm somewhat inspired to invest in a crew neck sweater in every color in her honor (maybe a few nice necklaces too).  I was so sorry to see her streak end.  Now I have to wait for her Tournament of Champions appearance, which will hopefully end in a show-down with the other 2014 standout, the infamous Arthur Chu.

Presidential Biographies: Washington and Adams

I have half a mind to read a biography of all the U.S. Presidents.  Knowing myself, I expect to accomplish much of the goal, but since, to me, reading biographies is something of a chore, it's not likely I'll finish.  I have, however, recently read two:  His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis and John Adams: A Life by John Ferling.

His Excellency: George Washinton

The Ellis book focused on the inner Washington.  It was more of a character study than a comprehensive story of his life.   Ellis expounded on Washington's bravery, self-possession and innate ability to lead leaving no doubt Washington was a man born for his time.  It would seem he was the ideal individual to lead the Continental Army and to serve as the first president of a fragile, new nation.

John Adams: A Life 

Ferling's book was much more thorough.  As I read the Adam's biography, I was struck by both the contrasts and similarities between Washington and Adams.   There were, of course, physical differences--Washington was tall and muscular while Adams was short and rotund.  While relatively uneducated, Washington rose to his position because of the competency he demonstrated in leading and fighting during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War.  Adams, on the other hand, was highly educated and earned his place in history primarily by sheer brain power.  As a statesman but never a soldier, Adams' weapon was his tongue.

There were many similarities as well.  Neither were instigators of revolution.  They were a little slow to come around to the idea of independence from Britain.  However, once they embraced it, both sacrificed the majority of their adult lives to the cause.  Although both ambitious, they were also men of principle who put the nation's best interests ahead of their own.


Of all I read, what leaves me pondering the most are the peripheral players in the Washington and Adams' sagas:  Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.  These two are treated differently by Ellis and Ferling.  Ellis describes Thomas Jefferson as the 'original snake in the grass' (I don't have the benefit of having the book anymore, but I'm fairly certain he used those words).  He was the forerunner of today's conniving politicians using underhanded means to promote his own interests.  Ellis' treatment of Hamilton was more favorable.  He did describe him as smart, ambitious and powerful, as the key advisor to Washington, but he didn't cast him in a negative light.

Ferling, on the other hand, makes Jefferson a comparatively benign political player.  Certainly he was mentioned as John Adam's opposition in the 1800 election, and their idealogical differences were explored.  However, Thomas Jefferson was NOT portrayed as the villain by Ferling.  To Ferling, Hamilton was the villain.  He was Washington's puppet-master, he was an unprincipled blackguard, he was the reason Adams lost the second election.

The difference in treatment helps me to see that these biographies are subject to interpretation and bias.

Incidentally, David McCullough's biography of John Adams did treat Jefferson as a treacherous individual.  Although it's been several years since I read McCullough's book, I don't recall similar descriptions of Hamilton.

My interest in both Jefferson and Hamilton is definitely piqued.