The To-Do In the Dirt List October

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I did this list making task in May. Now it’s October, and the weather’s been lovely, so I’m out in the dirt after school or after supper before the sun goes down.

Let’s see: Done or Ta-Dah! 

  • containers emptied (mostly) of soil and dying plants
  • excess potting soil in new homes such as atop rhubarb patch
  • dill harvested, dried, and put away for seasoning
  • rhubarb final picked, washed, diced, and frozen
  • strawberry plant moved to new home, hopefully to rejuvenate next spring

And to do:

  • Bring in the best rocks from the rock garden
  • Find and plant garlic bulbs!
  • Decide on a location for the two stray straw bales
  • Stir compost. Spread any compost that’s ready!
  • Drain rain barrels. Tip rain barrels for winter. Sob. Winter.

And I suppose there is a list I could call keep on doing: 

  • pick tomatoes
  • eat tomatoes
  • cook tomatoes
  • can tomatoes
  • harvest jalapeno and yellow banana peppers
  • freeze, pickle, or cook peppers

Got it? I think so. Good.

 

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The Mane Attraction: Encore, updated

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It’s happening again, dear readers. A coworker and close friend starts radiation today to treat breast cancer. She’s a very strong woman, and the entire office is throwing our moral support her way.

Remember the Lions of the Valley project? More than a few years have passed since The Lion King made its appearance in our fair city. Here is one example of creativity and caring. Another friend and coworker teamed up with another artist friend to decorate this fiberglass lion. The lion’s title is lengthy, but straight to the point: Breast Cancer Survivors: Not an Endangered Species.”

It’s now several years later, and the lion is still pink, I think. It’s been moved from its former sponsor to a hospital’s entrance, and the pictures have been painted over. I’m a little sad about that. It was the humanity of the design that made it work for me. But in any case, the lion still lives, and so do many multitudes of those who had breast cancer. Had. Past tense.

Did I mention that I know four of the women pictured on the lion? Eat your heart out, Jeff Probst — these women are the real survivors.

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Busy Season!

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Folks, believe me, there will be updates. Today we switched roles; I worked in the kitchen all day and my dear darling husband, a.k.a. “Chuck,” worked in the garden. I made pizza from scratch, watched the Packers beat the Lions, and went to a furniture shop at halftime. Meanwhile, Chuck got out his tools and built a new garden area out of repurposed boards. Photos to follow, folks.

It’s getting cool at night. I am gradually clearing out those plants that are no longer thriving. The dill met its end last weekend. Next? The herbs may need to come inside for the winter. The tomatoes and peppers are still producing, so I’ll leave them alone until there is threat of a killing frost.

Meanwhile, I made more pear sauce tonight and canned it in my newly found 12 oz. jars. Yum!

And one more meanwhile – It’s off to the neurologist Monday afternoon for me. This is the first appointment in six months. I hope she’ll pronounce me healed, mostly. I have very few symptoms, almost none, and I’m quite a bit stronger than I was last time I saw her.

So, my faithful friendly readers, all is well at the O.K. Chorale. Photos of the garden expansion are still on my camera. You’ll be the first, or almost the first, to see.

So meanwhile, leave a comment and let me know what you’re doing!

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You might be a teacher…

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Even a virtual teacher knows when the weather changes, so does behavior.

Even a teacher of online classes knows that storms stimulate craziness.

And on this crazy Friday, not a 13th of anything, not adjoining a vacation or even close to a full moon, either, we had a Teacher Friday. It started with a surprise for a coworker who heads into radiation for breast cancer next week. We all wore custom pink tee-shirts in her honor. Even the manliest of men on the staff bought and wore the bright pink with pride. And yes, readers, she wiped away a tear when she realized what we’d done.

It ended with teachers getting punchy and sharing quotes by building email. People, we couldn’t make this stuff up if we tried.

From teacher of 2nd and 3rd grade:

I just had a parent email me whose child is being benchmarked by Ms. W right now.  She referred to Ms. W. as “The Reading Assessor.”

I wonder if that’s like a tax assessor? As long as she’s not a tax collector, we should be okay.

From a middle school teacher trying to help a student navigate the resources of the virtual school system:

Teacher: You can’t find the rubrics?

KID: What are rubicks?

Teacher: Go into the section message board.

KID: Aaaahhh, ummmm

Teacher: Do you know which icon to click on?

KID: Yeah. The pushpin thumbtack like thing.

ME: Great! Click on that.

KID: Ok.

ME: Are you in the section message boards?

KID: No, I’m at home.

 

Honestly, people we can’t make this up. Happy Friday, have a great weekend, and may the rain help your garden grow for a little bit longer. Monday will be here all too soon.

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Eating the Opponent – Detroit

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Amigo is a news junkie and a very creative young man. We’ve put him in charge of most of the research needed for our Eating the Opponent Packers Series. The other North Central Division teams make this a challenge because the Packers play them twice a year. I should have said AT LEAST twice a year, that is, because there’s always the possibility of a grudge match meeting in the wild card games.

Well, back to the question. Green Bay plays Detroit on Sunday. Amigo suggested we bounce off of the topic of Detroit’s bankruptcy and serve pork and beans, Depression style. Hm. Must think on this. It could work. Maybe.

I’ll let you know.

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Ah, the harvest.

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I’m bringing in tomatoes and peppers every day, but I’m still watering the plants left behind because they’re still producing (quite a bit of) fruit.

I’m pruning the tomato plants so the water and sun can go into the leaves and stems that are still growing and still producing. Meanwhile, I’m searching for a source that will sell me garlic bulbs to plant now. Now, I tell you. Not next May. And since no one in town seems to carry garlic for planting, I’m reduced to ordering online.

I’m also cleaning up some of the container gardening. The flowers are gone to that great compost bin, the potting soil is piled in a corner of the plot behind the garage, and the empty drawers that played host to impatiens all summer now sit under the mock cherry tree. If the drawers survive the winter, I’ll plant in them again. If they rot, they’ll go in the garbage.

We’re giving thought to getting a sunlamp for the herbs that winter indoors. There’s never enough sun, even though the shelves sit in a window bay with Southern exposure. The thyme and oregano struggle through the season until it’s time to put them out again in spring. Last year the thyme and rosemary didn’t make it; basil was hopeless. If we provide artificial lighting, we’ll have fresh herbs for cooking all winter and strong plants to move outside in the spring. Worthwhile, we think.

The office slash guest room is taking shape. We can almost use La Petite’s old closet as our own, thanks to purging for the August garage sale. We found a daybed at a reasonable price, and we may buy it later this week.

As long as the weather holds, I will keep at the garden tasks one week at a time. When the first true killing frost shows up in the forecast, any tomatoes large enough to ripen will come indoors. Now that, my friends, will be a picture to behold.

Readers, let me know. How are you handling the autumn season? Any plans for next spring, or is it too early?

 

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Food Reality Shows vs. Kitchen Reality

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Actual (almost) conversation while watching a cooking show

Daisy: those are really random ingredients for the mystery box. It’s almost like real life. It’s almost like  — a pantry raid!

Chuck: That’s it! The real working mom’s Mystery Box is the refrigerator!

We discussed the funny options on a true to life reality show. The chief cook and bottle washer comes home from work, has an hour to make supper, and in the refrigerator he or she finds… what?

I’d look to the table, which is so covered with tomatoes that we have to clear space in order to set out the plates. Peek into the meat drawer, check out the bread rack – yes! BLTs!

But what about sides? There’s a half-empty jar of tart applesauce. And those carrots – no, we still have a rabbit to feed. Ah-ha! I pulled a banana bread out of the refrigerator last night to make room for some frozen corn. BLT, applesauce, and banana bread. And at the risk of overdoing the tasty fall harvest theme, rhubarb-apple crisp for dessert.

I skipped the applesauce. I’d already had some for lunch.

And then, just because I could, I made a batch of sourdough bread in the bread machine. Yum.

Eat your hearts out, Food Network. Don’t get too jealous, but my kitchen is where the real Master Chefs hang out, and we know our mystery boxes.

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Stormy weather

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Overheard:

“We’ve had a lot more severe weather than usual.”

“These storms have people in my neighborhood talking.”

“I’m planning on getting more self sufficient, little by little, until we’re off grid completely.”

“Every time we get one of these lengthy power outages, I want to put up more food and prepare for the worst.”

“Climate change? What climate change? It’s just environmental jihad.”

With the exception of the last one, all of these people were noticing climate change.  None are my own quotes, no matter how much they sound like me. Most were my coworkers, in fact. We’ve all noticed the changing climate, and we’ve also noticed how the major events are changing people.

None of us are survivalists, radicals, preppers, or the so-called Environmental Jihad. Ahem, maybe we do resemble the last one. But seriously, peoples. One teacher talked about her neighborhood having a block party, the first in years – maybe the first ever. During the August storm, neighbors talked to neighbors and realized they didn’t spend enough time socializing with those who lived nearby. Her neighborhood decided to do something about it.

I, too, was reminded how much I like my neighbors. Despite the huge tree leaning on their house, they were turning on their camp stove and calling me over for coffee. I don’t think we’re up for a block party yet, though. Feelings still run high about the Lorax and her influence on the Powers That Be.

So while we’re on the subject, folks, take a look at the book Life As We Knew It. Apocalyptic rather than dystopian, it did put me in the survivalist frame of mind. How would we cope if suddenly the world changed?

On a positive note, I’ve been busy bartering. Yep, good old fashioned barter. I swapped dill seed for zucchini (yeah, yeah, I know she would have given away the zucchini no matter what) and in a similar vein, I swapped a handful of rhubarb for a bucket of pears.

Maybe you’re reading this ramble and asking, Daisy, what’s your point? I’ll toss it back to you: what changes have you made in your life and what changes have you noticed in others? If you wrote the “overheard” section at the top of the page, what have you overheard about climate change? And finally, how would you react?

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Locavore Menus

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I was searching for an appropriate encore post, and instead I found one paragraph that struck a chord with me.

Part of the locavore menu involves eating what’s ripe and in season. By the time it’s our of season, we’ll be tired of it and ready to move on to something else. About the time my family rebels and shouts out “No More Rhubarb, Mom!” strawberries will be coming into their prime. Then I can mix strawberry-rhubarb pie, strawberry-rhubarb crisp, strawberry-rhubarb dump cake — bwahahahaha! Just kidding, family. I’ll be more creative than that. Maybe.

That was a spring post from May 2011.

More recently, the family has complained about some of my overuse – well, they’ve warned me not to go there. I stocked up on squash at the last farmers’ market. 6 squash for $5! How could I go wrong? Oh. Wait. Never ask a question unless I really want to know the answer, right? I learned that years ago while substitute teaching.

The family, a.k.a. Da Boyz, a.k.a. Chuck and Amigo, cautioned me not to feed them squash every day – like I’d served too much asparagus last June. 

Oops. I guess I’d better turn to the freezer and the hot water bath canner instead of feeding them the same in-season vegetables over and over.

Oh, dear, and I just planted an asparagus bed. It’ll be ready to harvest in a couple of years, and then we’ll have lots of asparagus. Lots.

Honey, maybe we need a new freezer. Honey?

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To Book It or Not To Book It?

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I can’t help it. I’ve been skeptical ever since I heard Alfie Kohn, author of Punished by Rewards, say that the main result of Pizza Hut’s Book It program is a bunch of fat kids who don’t like to read.

Intrinsic or extrinsic motivation? It’s true that reading more builds reading skills and stamina, which in turn improves reading ability. But does the pizza reward for reading really encourage reading for its own sake? I doubt it. I sincerely doubt it.

But today I investigated their expanded website to see what I can offer my students’ parents (a.k.a. learning coaches). There is a lot of wisdom, and a lot of it is in vocabulary many parents can understand.

So… how do I share this with “my” families? That is, how do I share this resource with those parents with whom I teach?  If I’m honest with myself (which isn’t always the best policy, really), I’m actually asking this: How do I share this resource with families without giving in to marketing and handing out little pizza certificates? 

Sigh. It’s such a complicated world.

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