How does my garden grow

Well, right now, pretty damn poorly.  However, it is December, after all, plus we’ve had very dry weather, snow and temperatures from 85° to 30° over the past 6 weeks.  That mixed in with THE GREAT FLOOD OF 2017 - well, I’m just amazed anything is growing in it at all.  OK,  so said, I thought I mention a few things that are growing and have grown in the garden.

Monday –

According to the ancient Greeks, Daphne, rather than give herself to Apollo, pleaded with her father, the river god Peneus, to transform her and was changed into the slender Bay Laurel moments before her capture. Apollo was so astounded by the tree's beauty that he claimed the laurel as his own and dedicated it to reward the highest achievements of Greek civilization.

Bay Laurel is an evergreen tree growing has tall as 60 feet.  It is, however, a slow grower, so have patience.  In general, it likes a well-drained soil with a sunny exposure.  It grows best with regular watering and young (that’s anything 10 years or less) or potted plants don’t like to have dry roots at all.  These trees can put out several trunks making you think it’s really a rowdy shrub - it’s not – it’s a tree.  And, it’s a tree that can deal with a lot of pruning and shaping. 

While you can plant bay laurel seeds, germination can be a hard, slow process.  Try propagating from cuttings.  Chose a semi-hardwood stem (that’s a green stem that snaps rather than bends), 5-6 inches long and remove all but the top two or three leaves.  Dip the end in a root hormone and plant in a good potting soil mixture.  I usually place my potted cuttings in a ziplock bag and leave them alone for several weeks to several months.  When my cuttings start producing new leaves, I will move them into larger pots.  And, when they get to be 12-15 inches tall, I’ll plant them in the ground.  This tree is frost tender, so if you live someplace with winter, you might keep it as a potted plant.  And, by the way, bay trees do bloom although the tree needs to be mature –

10-15 years old.

Certainly, bay is a wonderful culinary plant.  Add bay leaves to slow cooking foods like soups, stews, pasta sauce, marinades.  You do want to remove the bay leaf before eating as it is not easily digested and has sharpish edges.

What else – well, place a leaf or two in your pantry to discourage weevils and other pests.  According to herbalists, as a poultice, bay laurel will help ease arthritis, and taken in a tea, it will help control high blood pressure.

Bay is also said to help soothe anxiety symptoms.  Burn a dry bay leaf in an ashtray, then leave the room for several minutes. When you come back, you will notice a positive energy flow present in the room. Relax and take deep breaths allowing the aroma to calm your soul and body.

Bay is a strong protection herb.  Sorcerers and poisoners can not harm the person who carries it. It

was believed that lightning would not strike where bay was planted. Witches and devils are supposedly rendered helpless by it.  And, during the waxing moon, wishes can be written on the leaves then burned on the Full Moon to empower the wish

Remember – you just never know ……

Take care.

wild iris

Learned things

When I think back to my growing up years, there are a lot of rather odd sayings and facts and general nonsense that I was told or learned that still affects me today in one way or another.  Like -

From my father:

If you posed a question to him in the form of a statement (I have a question..), his response would be:

Shoot luke, I’ve got you faded.

I have no idea where this came from – “got you faded” = got you covered.  I do still hear him say it in my memories though.

Hells bells and little fishes

I suspect, this expression of irritation or annoyance was a more acceptable option in front of young children than many others.  I do know where that phrase came from.  First written usage was found in “Captain Scraggs or the Green Pea Pirates”

by Peter B. Kyne, copyright, 1919.  I’m assuming my dad read those books in the 1930’s (which makes sense to me as I read the Nancy Drew books written in 1930 in the late 1950’s – date written doesn’t usually have anything to do with date read) and the phrase stayed with him.

Home again home again jiggity jump

This was something I remember my dad saying when we (as in the five of us) got home from a drive.  I expect it came from a nursery rhyme although why its “jump” rather than “jig or jog”, I have no idea.  I used to say it when my children were young.

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.

To market, to market, to buy a fat hog,

Home again, home again, jiggety-jog.

To market, to market, to buy a plum bun,

Home again, home again, market is done

Now, I don’t know or remember the episode wherein this piece of wisdom was given me.  But I do clearly remember being told –

Frogs give you warts

Lesson Learned – Don’t touch frogs.

OK I know better.  Warts are caused by viruses.  Frogs have nothing to do with warts.  However, somewhere in the hidden recesses of my mind, is the fact that, my father – the doctor, said it was true.  I don’t touch frogs, they give you warts.

So when I was a youngish child, it was popular amongst us neighborhood kids to catch an Anole

lizard, tie a piece of thread around a leg and safety pin the other end of the thread to our shirt.  Then, we had a little living pin.  This was cool, until the day my Anole bit my finger.  Of course, it didn’t hurt but it didn’t let go either so I went to my father, the fixer of all things, with tears in my eyes and held out a trembling hand with a lizard hanging from a finger.  Help!  And, my father in his wise way looked at the problem and said

Guess we’ll have to wait until sundown for it to fall off.

Lesson learned??  Don’t touch lizards – they bite.

Now, once again, as an adult, I know better.  It’s a defense mechanism and put the lizard next to a ledge or branch, it will happily let go and run away.  However, I still do not touch lizards – they bite.

This one may be surprising since he was a doctor, but he told me this a number of times when I’d ask about a particular medical situation.

Doctors don’t know.  They are guessing based on current available research. 
It’s called “practice” for a reason. (as in a medical practice)

Yes, I do believe that still today. 

And, this one I still believe and incorporate into my life actions – in regard to illness and many other things -

Control your mind

Control your mind and you can control your body.

More another day.

Take care

Oh the weather outside is frightful ….

OK – I live in Wharton which is on the Gulf Coastal Plains.  Where the weather is truly unpredictable.  We had a tornado in February.  A dry spring and summer.  A hurricane and the GREAT FLOOD OF 2017 in September.  But mostly, it’s hot.  Hot and humid and hot.  Earlier this week it was in the 80’s and hot.  I had to mow less than a week ago because it’s been unseasonably hot. 

Last night, it snowed.  Just too weird …

In my life time of living in Houston, Galveston, Wharton, I have seen snow – like real snow that stuck to the ground – maybe 4 or 5 times.  (Yeah, yeah the occasional flurry that melted as it hit the ground but that doesn’t count.)  One year it snowed on Christmas Eve (and that was pretty cool) but usually it happens in January/early February.   And, NEVER have I seen snow in early December!

Morgan has refused to go outside. 

Actually, I don’t blame her too much. It is pretty – as long as I am inside looking out.  Though, I may put on my boots and walk around the neighborhood shortly - maybe, maybe not.

think my plants may be unhappy

Take care.

Wolfpfirsich

So, this will be the very last entry about tomatoes and it’s more of a “Did you Know?” than anything else.

OK – Did you Know ………..

The Latin botanical name, Lycopersicon esculentum, translates to “wolfpeach”.  Named by French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort because of the peach-like shape and the fact it was poisonous - a reference to the third century writings of Galen concerning “a poison in a palatable package which was used to destroy wolves”.

According to Germanic folk tales, wolfpfirsich (wolfpeach) was used to call up werewolves.  I’m not sure exactly why you’d want to call up a werewolf though. 

Tomatoes, a native of Central and South America, were discovered by the conquistador, Cortez, growing in Montezuma’s gardens.  He brought seeds back to Spain in 1519 (along with chocolate and turkeys).

Belladonna

They are a member of the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, the most deadly plant being Belladonna.  However, not only tomatoes are a part of this family, so are potatoes, eggplant, peppers, and tobacco.  Only the eggplant was familiar to 16^th century Europe.  The rest came from the New World and were suspect.

The English word tomato comes from the Spanish word, tomate, derived Nahuatl (Aztec language) word, tomatl.

Originally, in Europe and later Colonial America, they were planted as ornamental curiosities, but not eaten.

The French referred to the tomato as pommes d'amour, or love apples, as they thought them to have stimulating aphrodisiacal properties.

“Just to seal the tomato’s fate, all parts of the plant, with the exception of its fruit, actually are poisonous.”  Something I’ve never heard so I did some research. 

“…While it’s true that tomatoes are members of the nightshade family, they actually produce a slightly different alkaloid called tomatine. Tomatine is also toxic but less so. It is highest in concentration in the leaves, stems and unripe fruit; ripe red tomatoes have very low doses of tomatine. Leaves and green fruit ingested in extremely large doses may cause gastrointestinal problems. This doesn’t mean that you should avoid fried green tomatoes as it would take a cart load amount of tomatine to make a person ill.”

Today, tomatoes are touted as extremely healthy food sources in large part due to their high concentration of lycopene, an antioxidant that has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and macular degeneration.

Now, I’ve always been told tomatoes are bad for dogs.  Research again …

“As far as the toxicity of tomatoes with regards to dogs, again, very large amounts need to be ingested. Tomato leaves have a distinct, pungent aroma and are also covered with prickly hairs which make them less than palatable to most dogs.” 

Of course, the tomatoes themselves are very appealing to a variety of other critters – squirrels, raccoons, possums and birds. 

Take care

Much pleasure doth thou bring me! O Christmas tree

 

fish bowls and
popcorn magic

When I was growing up, putting up the Christmas tree was a really big deal.  As a family, the five of us went to the corner tree lot to examine and finally chose the biggest and best shaped tree.  When we got home, my father put the tree in a bucket of sugar water and left it to stand in the garage for a week.  Seems to me, the tree went up long about the second week-end or so of December. 

As small children we were allowed to put ornaments on the tree – except for the oldest and most fragile ones.  Those we carried from Mother, as she unpacked them, to Dad who hung them high up on the tree.  As we grew older, putting up the tree became a party of sorts with friends coming over and then later, grandchildren helping to decorate.

you can never have too many lights!

                 remembering

and friends

 

friends

mother will probably haunt me
for this

Take care.

Christmas Moon, Snow Moon, Peach Moon, Cold …….

Did did you go outside to see the Super Moon last night.  I did.  It lit up my backyard.  The Moon is, in fact, going to treat us to several special occurrences over the next eight weeks – A Super Moon on January 1 and another Super Moon on January 31 which will also be a Blue Moon.  Plus, the January 31 moon will take place during a total lunar eclipse which will be visible from western North America.  Very cool.  Mark your calendar. 

I wonder sometimes when our moon, which is a very old soul, started being called just The Moon.  And, why it never got a super cool name like Ananke (Juipter) or Jarnsaxa (Saturn) or Charon (Pluto).  Probably because we only have one, while those others have a bunch.   Still ....... 

The Moon has many a legend too –

Full moons make you crazy.  Probably not – at least not any crazier that you are the rest of the time.  However, in 18th-century England, people on trial for murder could campaign for a lighter sentence on grounds of lunacy if the crime occurred under a full moon.

Aliens inhabit the moon.  Doubtful.  Although the 1820 Bavarian astronomer, Franz von Paula Gruithuisen claimed to have glimpsed entire cities on the moon with his telescope. He wrote that the “lunarians” who lived there had built sophisticated buildings, roads and forts.  Who knows, maybe he saw things no one else did or has.

The moon is a hollow spacecraft.  Perhaps, though probably only in the imagination of science fiction writers, including H.G. Wells and his book “The First Men in the Moon,” which takes place inside a hollow moon inhabited by aliens.

A rabbit dwells on the moon.  Maybe.  Seems there are legends from different cultures, including Buddhism and Native American folklore, that recount the tale of a rabbit that lives on the moon.

A halo around the moon means bad weather is coming.  Probably.  Halos are a sign of high cirrus clouds drifting 20,000 or so feet above us. The halos are caused by refraction (splitting of light) and reflection (glints of light) from the ice crystals within the clouds.

I like this one -- The first time you see a crescent moon for the month, take all your spare coins out of your pocket, and put them in the other pocket. This will ensure good luck for the next month.  You just never know what works!

Take care

Moon Flower

Deck the Halls

So, what were you doing this fine DECEMBER 2 morning?  Hanging up boughs of holly – fa, la, la, la, la?  Looking out your windows at a crisp fall morning? 

Not me.

At 8am, I was outside ----- mowing.  And, I hate to mow.

Our weather has been so warm over the past several weeks that the grass and more importantly, the weeds have grown from short and few to alarming and lots.  I will say, I did not mow the entire yard.  Just hit the worst weedy spots which were large enough, thank you very much. 

Annnnddd, I was all sweaty after mowing.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. 
Having to mow is bad enough.  Mowing and sweaty in December – unacceptable!

I hate to mow.

By the way – Happy National Safety Razor Day!

The world's first disposable razor blade was invented in 1901. Until that time, men used weapons of mass destruction.

And, just in case you need to know –

   National Dice Day is Monday, December 4, 2017

   National Communicate with Your Kids Day is Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Oh – and December is Bingo Month.

The Italians invented Bingo (Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia) in the 1770’s.  From there it went to France – “Le Lotto”.  Didn’t get to the US until the 1930’s and was played at carnivals and called Beano because beans were used to mark the squares.  According to stories, a player miss-yelled the name on a winning card as BINGO and it stuck.

Take care