Happy New Year's

Happy New Year's garden friends! 

Remember:

"A garden is never so good as it will be next year."  By: Thomas Cooper, American scientist and patriot, 1759-1839

Mon Petit Chou

Mon Petit Chou is a phrase of affection used by the French meaning: "My little cabbage."

Growing cabbage in the garden is not all that popular anymore.  Eating cabbage isn't all that popular anymore. I'm guessing there's a generation that doesn't realize the slaw they get with their chicken tenders is made from cabbage.

The approaching New Year's Day prompts this little cabbage article.  Cabbage has long been considered "good luck" if it's consumed on New Year's Day.  It may go back to the belief that cabbage leaves are a sign of prosperity, representing paper currency. 

The Irish consider eating corned beef and cabbage on New Year's Day insurance for a coming year of good luck and prosperity.  Cabbage has been farmed from as far back as 400 BC and the wild version used for thousands of years BC.  It was credited with saving many lives during the Irish potato famine.

The Germans traditionally have a roast pork with sauerkraut on New Year's Day.  They don't mention good luck; perhaps it's just a favorite tradition.  Again, I suspect there's a generation that not only doesn't know sauerkraut is cabbage, but, would not let it touch their lips on a bet.

As with most holiday food traditions, many came from superstition and a specific legend.  They're often specific to nationality, race or religion.

As you get ready to feed a bevy of Rose Bowl fans or simply fix a Sunday meal, consider the cabbage.  Cook (most boil) with a flavorful meat, add potatoes and carrots (maybe a few onions) and feel the warmth of good cooking.  Some cook with black eyed peas, others in cabbage rolls, stir fry, au gratin and soup.

Come spring, add a few cabbage plants to your garden or flower beds.  They take very little room and attention and are rather pretty.   Plant where no other related plant has grown the previous year: such as brussel sprouts, cauliflower, etc.  They don't like full sun and are perfect for tucking around other plants.  They thrive on compost and about 6 inches of mulch.  They need adequate moisture but the soil should drain.  Put a collar of newspaper around the plant when setting in the ground if you have cut worms.  Use fine meshed fencing around them if you have rabbits.

Cabbage is a good source of riboflavin, vitamin C, glutamine, indol-3-carbinol, and is low calorie.  It is fairly easy to preserve, keeps long in the refrigerator and may be left in the garden until right before it freezes.  Some like the flavor better after a frost. 

Cabbage production is a big industry in other countries with the US being the nineth in production.  If you like US grown and regulated foodstuffs, check the labels and know what US companies sell imported products - or - grown your own. 

You may purchase seeds or starter plant sets at most full service nurseries and on line. 

There are quite a few varieties, including red and curly leaf.  Try a few this year and treat yourself to this delicious vegetable.  Introduce it to your children and grandchildren.  Learn to cook with it.

And here's a couple of cabbage quotes: 

"Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education"  Mark Twain
"I want death to find me planting my cabbage" Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) 

The top photo is from the University of Illinois web site and it also has a lot of good "cabbage growing" information.  The other two photos are from my early cabbage sets prior to the heads being fully formed.      

Capture the Fire

One of the reasons I enjoy living in the Midwest, in the country and on a hill is the beautiful cloud formations.  Combine those with a sunset and photo opportunities abound.

I tend to take many photos when there's a sky like the one in these recent pictures.  Not only do the different areas of the sky have different views (is that a duh thing on my part), but, as the sun sets, the colors play off the clouds in different ways and colors. 

The above photo is directly west.  Because the sun is shielded by the clouds, there isn't a huge fire ball making reflections in my camera lens.

This photo is southwest and captures some of the wind turbines.  Allowing structures, such as trees, buildings, and these turbines adds depth and perspective.    

As the sun sets over the horizon, the sky pulls in shades of purple, pinks and yellows.

If the sunset is your primary focus, it's important to use hardscapes as frames.  If you're not someone who has artistic visualization skills, it's important to take many different examples.  Discard those that just don't work and keep the ones that are "wow" moments.    

Although the entire photo has branches in the foreground, the sunset is the primary focus.  The colors and intensity of the sun far outweighs the black branches. 

If you're not adept at arranging the subject matter in real time, consider purchasing a photo editor package for the computer.  AND take loads of pictures.  I'm always amazed when a quick click results in a stellar view.  Enjoy the clouds, they not only bring rain and snow, they bring lovely photos to be cherished.   

Christmas Is Coming

Christmas is coming,
The geese are getting fat,
Please put a penny
In the old man's hat.

If you haven't got a penny,
A ha'penny will do,
If you haven't got a ha'penny,
Then God bless you.

The music to Christmas is Coming was composed by Edith Nesbit Bland in the late nineteenth century.

The author of the lyrics is unknown but the popularity of this traditional Christmas song

 is handed down from generation to generation in the form of a nursery rhyme.

Christmas not only came - it went for 2011.  Our Christmas was busy, but, in a good way.  We had one group of family for supper on Christmas Eve and another for Christmas Dinner.  Some were in other states, but, we did get to talk to most.  Eight children, 14 grandchildren, and 2 on the way.  Add to that spouses, etc., and we add another eight more. 
 
My best laid plan of writing this little wish was pushed aside by cooking and celebrating.  Not a bad way to get side tracked.  As the above little poem/song indicates:  If you can't do it all, then downsize until you can do what your situation allows and "Then God bless you!"   

Waste Note - Want Not

Do you remember looking through Grandma's things and wondering why she kept so many old things? Why were there half-used bottles of condensed strong smelling perfume? Why the many tubes of blood red lipstick - all worn down to the nub? Why were there twenty-three tins of various brands of talc, all open with no smell left? Why was there a drawer full of hand crafted starched and ironed hankies? Why were there five satin bed jackets - all pink and embroidered?

It's because our grandparents (perhaps even our parents) were raised in the era of "waste not - want not". You just never knew when that luxury item would be your last. In an era of soup lines and respectable hard working people losing their life savings - tomorrow was uncertain.

My folks saved the foil wrappers from gum and string from packaging. Every kitchen had a ball of both. They were not only saving for their own use, they were saving to help others. Aluminum foil was donated to the war effort. I have no idea what the millions of balls of string were used for - perhaps it made a great baseball in lean times.

When Gram and Gramps passed, those things got thrown away or went on the hay wagon. I think that might have been when the expression, "Grandpa would turn over in his grave if he saw that." was first quoted.

Much of that era's need to save "for a rainy day” was subconsciously passed on to my generation. We, too, had that embedded fear that tomorrow was not certain and the economy might falter making luxury items impossible to buy.

While that might be true, I had an awakening many years ago when I read an Erma Bombeck article about how she wished she had used those things and enjoyed them before they got all icky from years of waiting for the right moment. I believe Ms. Bombeck was in ill health when she pinned this.

And although I had a college professor make fun of my using Erma Bombeck as quote worthy, she certainly knew human nature.

Even though retired, I use my perfume every day at home. I wear that pretty blouse to the grocery. I put the fragile knickknack on the table. I use grandma's china for Christmas dinner. I pick flowers and have them in a vase in most every room in the house. I don't kill the violets growing in the grass. I use the bubble bath given to me by my grandchild.

“Waste not - want not” is simply using what is available at the time. The unused perfume becomes too strong to ever use. The never used china doesn’t give your own children/grandchildren a lasting memory. Killing violets deprives us of one of the most beautiful fragrant flowers. Saving the hunk of expensive cheese gives you a hunk of mold. And it goes on. Saving precious consumables doesn't save for bad times, it wastes. It wastes the money someone spent on the item, it wastes the potential enjoyment, and it wastes a memory.

What it does not do is help you store up for an emergency. By the time an emergency comes, consumables are past consuming. And that's the difference. Save the foil gum wrappers for recycling if you want, but chew that gum before it becomes so hard it will break your tooth. Erma Bombeck was right.

W is for Wicked

I featured one of Amy Stewart's other books, "Wicked Plants" and the "Wicked Bugs - The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects" has just been released. 

Ms. Stewart's book is not for the squeamish or the Entomophobia sufferer.  It could almost make you lock yourself indoors after thoroughly fumigating the structure.

From creepy to crawly - destructive to deadly - biting to burrowing - let's just say it's really interesting and slightly frightening.  Should you not have a good imagination, the etchings and drawings (by Briony Morrow-Cribbs) will put you right over the top.

I find it interesting to read how certain insects plagued the world in by-gone days.  What ones are still out there bothering parts of the world.  How many threats have been eliminated thanks to heightened cleanliness, medicines or better farming methods.  

Need a little curl-up-on-a-cold-winter-night reading?  Pick up a copy of this little thriller and let me know if you think of any of these the next time you are down on all fours gardening next summer.

Wind Turbines

This is a photo of the first portion of two windmills going in behind our property.  The blades are already attached to the gear housing.

This is the crane holding the gear housing and blades as they are attached to the tower.

This is another location about a mile away from our house.  I liked the contrast of the old and new.

Wind turbines (or windmills as they used to be called) are the topic of conversation by neighbors and those afar.  The wind farm will have hundreds of turbines and our area will encompass the first phase. 

Whether residents are proponents of the wind turbines and wind generated energy, most admit it's been an awesome thing to watch how efficiently this project has unfolded.  Dedicated crews are used for each step, they work long hours and they have been careful to create a minimal amount of problems for residents.

Unless we are in a hurry, many residents have sat and marvelled at the equipment being trucked onto farm land.  The size of each blade, the housing and the towers have surprised those of us who have viewed them up close.  The number of cement trucks used during the foundation phase, the amount of gravel put down to secure sturdy roads, and the speed of the project is pretty amazing.

To date, my vote is still out on whether it will be a plus for the area.  Tax moneys, landowner leases, gifts to area towns, workers patronizing local business, clean energy are some of the pluses.  Complaints have often been centered around speculation, the looks on the landscape, and gripes and grudges. 

Maybe it's my utility - energy background, but, I'm enjoying the process.  As those babies start turning and producing, I'll be more informed.  Today they are awesome!