Why Choose Disease Resistance?

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Pretty, right? Yum.


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Oh wow! I can grow something that pretty?


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Oh my! How did that happen? That's not what I wanted and it doesn't look like the photo! That isn't so pretty!

This is something I call Play dough Syndrome. Do you remember being little and getting so excited by play dough because the photo on the box made you think "Wow! This box holds everything I need to be able to make that?!"

This is why purchasing and researching Disease Resistant plants is important. Esp. for the "first time gardener." In some ways it is good to not buy Disease Resistant varieties/cultivars because you will learn about all the bugs and diseases out there, how they behave, what they look like, what chemicals or natural remedies do or don't work for you.

I am focusing on Disease Resistant right now while trying to plan my gardens. I am terrified of Squash Borers (didn't have any last year :S ) and I despise Cucumber Beetles even though they are "pretty."

GrowVeg Review

About 2 months ago I went in search of Garden Software, something that would help me keep data on my garden(s) and help me plan them. I stumbled across GrowVeg. Last night I decided to register for their 30 Day Free Trial. I actually really like the program. How can you not like a computer gadget that uses our basic 2 year old need for pretty pictures, I mean icons?

The Pros:

• No Software download, decrease Spyware paranoia
• Able to enter both Metric & Imperial for Garden measurements
• Text and "Feature" availability
• Print Plan & Planting Dates
• Tabs, Spreadsheet style
• SFG Friendly
• Colored coded icon for families
• Provides an approximate shadow of plant size
• Tells you how many plants per type

The Cons (as I see them):

• Companion plants? Not really
• Difficult to control
• Unable to make curves
• Flowers, only Flower category
• No Database to update information
• Does not use common Computer Shortcuts
• Scrolling does not loop

I am sure there are more Pros and Cons than I am noticing but those are the few that immediately jumped out at me.

(images "edited" with Picasa)

My First Plan Test, for Spring.


The "difficult to control" idea. As you can see, I am planning to plant Melons diagonally. The program does not release the previously selected item or pick up the new item selected very well. You can see in this screencap the shadow sizing provided by the program, I very much like this feature.



As you can see with these two different plants, Broad/Fava Bean & Beet, the Companion Planting help offered is extremely slim. This is a major point for me, I LOVE Companion Planting. These images also show their colored coded "i" that tells you the families you are planting.


I think there are a couple things that could be done to help this. 1)Have a database the program can use to update the plant information. 2)Use, perhaps, the color red to warn Gardeners that their current Garden Plan is not Companion Planted.


This is about as good as it gets with the program offering any direction as far as Companion Planting goes.



The 4 Flower options, there is no way to create your own database of flowers you want to plant with names, planting information, etc.



Click to view completely, shows the 3 size variations available but again, you can not enter imforation for the plants. You can also see in this image, the program list some less common plants such as; Lettuce Miners, Mache, and Mizuna.

Damn Food

I have an idea ... people able to freely move around and choose their homestead based on a country's culture including food! Woow zap. See? This, these ideas are why I can not exist among other humans.

My sister and I went to see Julia & Julie while I was on vacay and while I didn't like the movie I a) Adore Julia Child and b) Meryl Streep rocked. There was something that was said in the movie that I COMPLETELY related to. Someone, I think her husband (J.C's) said something about her loving to cook, and she responded no, I like to eat.

That is my case. I learn to garden because I like to eat. I learn to cook because I love to eat. Ambiance is a BIG deal when I go out to pay for a meal. But you add good food and good service well, I will definitely come back again and rec your restaurant to everyone else. Otherwise, I will learn to make it myself. For one thing, it is probably cheaper and another it will probably taste better. Even baked goods, which I am terrible with/at. I have yet to find a Bakery that equals the deliciousness I experienced while visiting London (a long time ago) or the bakery in Asheville. I have standards for Christ sakes. I feel that most Americans do not. That is why companies make sure we continue to buy their products. Why labeling is REALLY important and they protest. Why "Farmer's" Markets are chic in the USA and it isn't just Market the way it has been for ages and continues to be in Europe and just about every other portion of the Globe. /rant

love you guys.
Donna

"Foodie"

I hate that term.

Ten Top-Earning Celebrity Chefs

Bourdain 1.5 Million
Rachel Ray 18 Million

Tonight I found Foodie Blog Roll

And I thought I would participate but:

# Your blog must have at least 5 entries - and these entries must be specifically food related - recipes, reviews, how-to s, food related product reviews and the like.


# Your blog must be at least one month old. If your blog is older than one month, then it must have been regularly updated in the past month.


# Your overall blog content must be 80% food related.

I could have just started a blog, well it has to be a month old but only have 5 entries and as long as every one of those entries was about food I could enter to win prizes?

Also found Foodista, looks interesting.

Visited Food Buzz about a month ago, that site is pretty darn awesome.

Those sites found through A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa

This was my response to someone when they asked about how to find different food to feed their family.

"I use Family Fun's Meal Planner occasionally and Hy-Vee's flyers have a weekly meal planner on one of the pages, that can be useful as well. Some of the other things I do, because I get sooooo bored with food, go to Flickr and look for food groups then search through the images. I go to food blogs a lot, read Wikipedia about cuisines, Google Image Search things you would normally eat like tacos, pizza, etc then click on the image and most of the time it will take you to a recipe listing (sometimes a really great blog). If the link does not take you to a recipe listing at least now you have an idea about the ingredients from the photo or can use the name of the entree to find a recipe."

Although, from my experience, people who take really great photos of food ... do not necessarily "know" how to cook or what good food is ... nice photos yes cooking not so much. Just be warned, you know TV stars aren't always as tall as you think they are?

Do you think the "blogosphere" is clique-ish?

Remember Remember the 5th of November!

Tonight. I met the man.



That's right ladies and gents, Anthony Bourdain. Now, I did not "met and greet" for one, I did not see that option available on the Ticketmaster website and for another I think I would have been not in awe ...

I really liked what he spoke about, much of it I had either already heard him say or knew. Poor guy had bright lights glaring down on him.

My husband said he would rather listen to Andrew Zimmer. While I have liked Mr. Zimmer I prefer Mr. Bourdain. Husband says, well he's a misogynist. And yes, I think you are right. I think it is in men's blood to be that and Mr. Bourdain is old-er. But there are little glimpses of Andrew that have made me believe/think he isn't as genuine as he would have us believe.

If nothing else, what I got from listening to Bourdain was a return of my love for food and cooking it just right. And one thing I am not looking forward to is all those schmucks with hairdressers that attended finding the Asian Market ... yeah, he pointed that out. Damnit. I drank the rest of the wine when I returned home. :)

Oh and Old Man has learned to appreciate comics, or someone informed him that it was the "cool thing" to do.

Superjail! Yes, I Like It

Twitching

I think I should have taken a Childhood Education Course before using the internet.