Twelve roses (at least) off one main stem!
There's nothing else to say. Just look at the picture. Awesome!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Growing Potatoes
This April, I attended the Seattle Green Festival. One of the presentations I attended was "Building the Green Economy" by Jason Mark, organic farmer and editor of Earth Island Journal. Mark discussed the need to move away from an economy based on exploiting nature to one based on restoring nature. At the beginning of his presentation, he showed pictures of different crops such as potatoes, broccoli and apple trees. With each picture, he asked the audience to raise their hand if they could identify the plant. He also showed a picture of some famous corporate logos such as the Nike swish and the Apple Computer apple and asked who could identify those. This illicited a knowing laugh from the audience.
His point, of course, was to show how much more attuned we are with corporate images than with the actual food that sustains us. For myself, I recognized the broccoli and the apple tree, but not the potato. The sad irony here is that my great-grandparents were Irish farmers who were forced to leave Ireland during the Potato Famine, and their great-granddaughter couldn't even recognize the crop that so profoundly impacted their lives.
In tribute to my heritage (and because I had some potatoes in my pantry that started growing eyes), I am growing potatoes for the first time in my raised bed vegetable garden. My daughter, Thalia, is also growing potatoes in a little pot in the front yard. At this point, all of the potatoes are doing well, but my daughter's are about twice the size of mine. (Due perhaps to the better potting soil in her pot?)
Below are pictures of both her potato plants and mine. The broadleafed plants by them are a mystery squash that came up in my not-quite-fully-cooked compost.
His point, of course, was to show how much more attuned we are with corporate images than with the actual food that sustains us. For myself, I recognized the broccoli and the apple tree, but not the potato. The sad irony here is that my great-grandparents were Irish farmers who were forced to leave Ireland during the Potato Famine, and their great-granddaughter couldn't even recognize the crop that so profoundly impacted their lives.
In tribute to my heritage (and because I had some potatoes in my pantry that started growing eyes), I am growing potatoes for the first time in my raised bed vegetable garden. My daughter, Thalia, is also growing potatoes in a little pot in the front yard. At this point, all of the potatoes are doing well, but my daughter's are about twice the size of mine. (Due perhaps to the better potting soil in her pot?)
Below are pictures of both her potato plants and mine. The broadleafed plants by them are a mystery squash that came up in my not-quite-fully-cooked compost.
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