gardens: grey, gay, green and urban
The Garden - an interesting documentary about activist gardeners. I want to see it at the E Street Cinemas soon.
White House Gardens - this bitter piece of satire written about gardening in this region actually has a few good tips sprinkled here and there. The people I sent it too all agreed that it was kind of pessimistic. Hostas always seem to grow well here, so there's one simple suggestion.
Greenback Gardens - how much money can you save by planting a garden? I don't think about what I consume or produce when I garden. To me it is therapy and an annual experiment in nurturing through climactic challenges.
Rising Sun Gardens - Japan solves some unemployment problems by sending city workers back to the land.
Grey Gardens - the history of how how the overgrown tangle in the Hamptons was tamed for modern-day living.
Gay Gardens - Metro Weekly article about local farmers' markets.
While I'm on the topic - if you've even uttered the words "Grey Gardens" in your life then you're definitely gay. Whether it was a mention about the documentary, musical, or upcoming HBO movie, you're totally gay if you've even thought about it. Gay, gay, GAY!
More reasons to distrust the weed killer Roundup. Can I suggest you just pull up the weeds by hand after a heavy rain? Roundup is bad, elbow grease is good.
Tea Party Nonsense - So a bunch of entitled white people bitter that Sarah Palin lost the VP race gathered yesterday across the nation to complain about a black man being the President. And something about overspending, and they wanted to pour tea in public fountains here in the District of Columbia. Hey, I'm all for gathering, protesting and marching, but people actually live here in DC - like as in residents who pay taxes and stuff like that. You're welcome to use our fair city to protest, but everyone needs a permit - even if you're rich, privileged and white. We'll even close off streets for you, but you don't just show up and dump shit in our fountains just because you're rich and white. I hate it when any protest group comes into the District, destroys things or otherwise poops within our city boundaries, then leave and think no one will mind.
Tonight I'm attending Metro Weekly Next Generation Awards which will recognize our community's future leaders, currently under the age of 30. I'll be sitting in the Troll section to the left of the Chickenhawk enclosure.
Ah yes, the tea-baggers. PLEASE tell me you've seen this;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/09/rachel-maddow-ana-marie-c_n_185445.html
Priceless. We had a tea-bagging demonstration here in Missoula. I did not attend as my tea-bags had to go to school with me, but I sent them a nice message on their Facebook page hoping their warm tea-bags bushed the faces of every tax mongering Obamite in the city, an act I'm sure will have the result they desired. I hope they showered first is all.
What little I saw of the protest here in Tucson, it seemed it was just a bunch of whiners who don't like paying taxes. While standing in a public park that is maintained by tax payer dollars.
You'll be glad to know that I am completely against the use of herbicides to kill "weeds." I have never understood why dandelions are considered a disgusting weed.
As someone who uses a fair bit of Roundup in ecological restoration situations, I'd like to come to its defense as a useful tool. It's non-persistent, it shows very low mobility in soil, it degrades quickly in the environment, and it has extremely low human toxicity (LD50 is lower than aspirin). On the other hand, the accelerated emergence of resistance as a result of the widespread use of "Roundup Ready" crops was entirely predictable, and is one of the reasons that I have always thought them to be a really, really stupid idea.
Permits good, high confusing taxes bad. Taxation without respresentation worse. That's all I'm gonna say.
The problem I have with Roundup is when in our close urban confines a neighbor will use it on a windy day and apply liberally. And ANYTHING downwind, including your garden gets affected. And I swear if you've used it near a shrub like a lilac, it never seems to be the same afterwards - with greying withered leaves the rest of its life. Plus most people could afford a good weeding workout vs. spraying.
I don't get the Tea baggers... unless they all make over a quarter mil a year, their taxes should have gone down last month as the new IRS withholding rates kicked in. Mine went down $20 a paycheck... so I am paying LESS in taxes under Obama.
Most people who bitch about taxes, in my opinion, have problems with their own household budgets. They want to blame their money woes on someone.
I've never uttered "grey gardens". Does that mean I shouldn't been been s**cking c**k a ll these years ... ???
So many rules ... someone should have told me.
Sorry, Jimbo, we just got back from the local pub for our Friday date night. Buzzed commenting should be illegal.
Did you read that the Mid America CropLife Association, a trade group for the biotech-agriculture industry, sent Michelle Obama a letter urging her to use "conventional" rather than organic methods in her garden? She's setting a bad example for the children!
http://www.lavidalocavore.org/showDiary.do?diaryId=1309