Vegetable/Herb Garden has been Planted

As of 12:00 today the plants are in. Most plants were organized and arranged to complement growth and nutrients when planted together i.e. basil with tomatoes and the native American planting: corn, beans and squash.

Front Far Left:
Lavender "Hidcote" Ht:12"
From gilbertiesherbs.com
"Lavender branches were burned on St. John's Eve at mid-summer to drive away evil spirits. This slow growing variety is the most popular of the English lavender with its dark purple blooms. All lavenders require well-drained sweet soil with a pH above 7.8 so add lime. The essential oil is an insect repellent."
Sage Painted Ht: 24"
From gilbertiesherbs.com
"Once used to flavor wine by the Greeks and Romans, painted sage is grown for its beauty today. Heart shaped leaves rise to rose, purple pink or green bracts adding stunning effect to herb garden. Requires full sun and good drainage; do not over winter."
Aloe Vera Tender perennial Herb Ht: 1'-3'
"Aloe is an African native with a long medicinal history. Yellow/orange flowers are borne on a spike above the foliage. New plants are produced at the base. Currently valued for the juice of its leaves which soothe and heal sunburn, insect bites and minor skin irritations.



Center 3 rows:

Early girl Tomato Ht: 24-36" Matures early 52-54 days

Big Boy Ht: 24-36" Matures in 78 days x 2 plants

Basil Sweet Bush (annual herb) Ht: 24" x 8 plants
according to Gilbertiesherbs.com
"Sweet bush basil was considered a royal herb by the Greeks and venerated as sacred by the Hindus and basil is still one of the most popular herbs today. All basils require full sun, consistent moisture and warm temperatures to thrive. Do not plant outside until nighttime temperatures do not go below 50 degrees F. This is the traditional sweet basil."

Sweet Pepper Bell - planted in between tomato and basil stakes
Matures in 60-70 days

Far Back rows includes 6 mounds of the native American planting: Three sisters

Each mound contains three corn, one blue lake pole bean in center and one butternut squash.
Sweet Corn - Bicolor Maturity 70-85 days
Plant in full sun 4-6" apart

Blue Lake Pole Beans (Plant three plants to a pole) we are using the corn stalks as the poles
Tender, plump, top-quality beans on tall growing plants

Early Butternut squash hybrid (tray of six) - matures in 70 says (fruit size 10-12")

We are not planting the perennial/annual flowers/shrubs until the main water line to the house is finished. In the meantime, I couldn't help put purchase two beautiful rhododendrums of the most unusual color and they will only get 3' high called Rhodo Percy Wiseman #2
Dense compact, rounded evergreen shrub with dark green foliage, multicolored flowers of peach, pink & cream age to white with a yellow throat. Late mid season bloom. Unusual color. Ht 3'

Trash Test - failed miserably

Well done is better than well said. -Benjamin Franklin

Today I’ve decided to keep track of every thing I throw away at home, the office, at the baseball field…anywhere.

Cut up watermelon for son’s school picnic and almost threw out the rinds. Will place in the garden with the loose, seeped tea leaves this evening.

One piece of white office paper – placed in shredder

Youngest school picnic. Threw out paper plates and over 23 plastic sports and water container also three plastic sheets to cover the picnic tables...I gave up counting items

Cancer Survivor Says He'll Hide Chemo-Ditching 13-Year-Old

Cancer Survivor Says He'd Hide Chemo-Ditching 13-Year-Old - Children's Health - FOXNews.com

Check out http://www.billybest.net/

WOW! This is a tough one. As parents I'm certain most of us would go to extreme measures to do what we believe is in the best interest of our child, we would weigh the pros and cons of our options and do whatever it takes to save our child's life without ever intending to harm them in the process. It is not the natural order of things to lose a child. At the age of 37, I was diagnosed and treated for Stage I breast cancer and faced the question of whether I should receive chemotherapy after six weeks of radiation. I likened it to taking a machine gun to kill an ant. I wanted to know what possible link could exist that caused my cancer and what would prevent a recurrence. I didn't want to make my body any sicker and believed that there were other options.

Thankfully my doctor's agreed and encouraged me to weigh the various options (yes, there is more than one option) by obtaining a second and third opinion. At the same time, I came across a book called Your Life in Your Hands by Jane Plant. The basic premise of the book is that 1 in 100,000 women in China will experience breast cancer during their lifetime and the number is 1 in 8 in the U.S. What's the difference...dairy in the diet. For over eight years I have not consumed dairy, and I'll discuss the details under a separate blog. In the meantime, the link to Billy Best's web page is interesting. He too does not consume dairy.

Hopefully this young boy's health will be restored and the medical community will acknowledge that most types of cancer can be treated and prevented by diet.

For additional information and links to those organizations that are currently studying diet and disease...take a look at the survey questions on the right hand side of the blog as well as the links.

First attempt at Vegetable Garden - Updated May 21st

Well done is better than well said.
-Benjamin Franklin

This morning at 7:00AM we had three yards of screened loam dumped in the yard for top soil. It is so much more economical that buying and transporting the bags from a giant home gardening center plus we're supporting a local business. The cost was $124 delivered! No wasted plastic bags (although I would have cut them open to use as a weed screen). This weekend we'll plant. Need to finalize the garden plot so I don't over buy and know exactly were everything will be placed.

My husband said it best, "are we investing $400 in manure and plants to gain about $30 worth of tomatoes?" Probably! Thankfully I have many Italian friends who have already provided soil recommendations as well as time tested plant varieties and the "pipes" to stake the tomatoes. I've planted and tended perennial gardens for years but this is different. If a plant doesn't come back the next year no one else will even notice. You plant a vegetable garden and nothing grows...



Intend to plant in 10 x 20 space in full sun in Boston climate:

Two staggered rows of the "native American" three sister plantings i.e. corn stalk with squash and climbing beans. Seven hills in total.

Row of tomatoes: http://ezinearticles.com/?Which-of-the-Hundreds-of-Tomato-Varieties-Should-I-Plant?&id=191656

Four zucchini plants on edges to train over the border.

Left and right front corners: herbs, including: basil, lavender, rosemary, oregano

This weekend is dedicated to turning in manure and other organic matter to prepare the soil.

Let me know those plant varieties that worked best for you. Check back for weekly updates including unaltered or airbrushed photos of the garden as it grows.

There are lazy Minds as well as lazy Bodies. - Ben Franklin

Happy Mother's Day? The Gift of Time

I rank Mother's Day up there with Valentine's Day...way over hyped...way over rated and way over priced. The only people that win are hallmark cards, florists and restaurants. It was originally intended to unite mother's against war and has just became another way to set unrealistic expectations on everyone. Now, before you go in to a panic...my philosophy is simple...you better be nice to me 364 days a year too and not just pick one day to go out of your way. And, for the record, we call Labor Day and Memorial Day weekends in our house, "amateur weekends." Those who enjoy traveling and travel often, stay home on long weekends. Valentine's Day is a great way to highlight those that belong to the lonely hearts club.

Yes, I want my kids to agonize over the right word to use in their hand written poems, to make a mess in the kitchen while they prepare me breakfast and pick me fresh flowers (hopefully not from the neighbor's yard). I'm not my husband's mother, and I don't expect him to orchestrate the "Special day." Now, I may be a tad jaded because my first Mother's Day over 15 years ago my husband was in Ireland visiting friends and family. He lost his mother five years later and he used to call her on most Sundays and tell her how much he loved her. Don't wait for Mother's Day to be good to your mother or Valentine's Day to share a special meal with loved ones.

This past weekend was a very special Mother's Day because it was also our daughter's 14th brithday. As a family we went to church and had lunch with her God "mother". We spent the afternoon enjoying the sunshine, people watching and laughing at political buttons in Harvard Square. Spending time with my family...priceless... epecially since a friend's family couldn't celebrate mother's day with her because they had lost her to cancer a few months earlier at the age of 45. Time is the most under rated, underhyped and under priced gift we have.

So...I'm not certain who the author of the following poem is but it was sent by my close friend for Mother's Day:

To A Beautiful Woman

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord
My shape to keep.

Please no wrinkles
Please no bags
And please lift my butt
Before it sags.

Please no age spots
Please no gray
And as for my belly,
Please take it away.

Please keep me healthy
Please keep me young,
And thank you Dear Lord
For all that you've done.

Time to...

This blog is coming to you from the local library. It's the only place I can work (for the most part) uninterrupted by family members looking for misplaced wallets, book reports or disappearing cleats. I still don't understand how one can come in to the house with a shoe on each foot and then exactly 12 hours later not be able to locate either one of them. I'm flattered my family thinks I am the godess of lost items, but I always fall back on the same mantra my mother used to preach, "I don't wear them so I don't know where they are."

NOT...the kid's just found me in the library and they are looking for money! It cost me $7 to have them get lost for a half hour.

I digress...

Several books that sit by the bedside include:

Anticancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber

John Adams by David McCullough (Finished but kept for frequent reference and inspiration.) McCullough's chapter of Adam's experience in Shrewsbury where he overhears the farmers concern over the blockade at Boston Harbour was riveting..."the people are ready for revolution." It's how I feel with all the celebrities with milk moustaches. We're paying with our lives and they are being paid by the dairy council.

Brilliant Color: Painting Vibrant Outdoor Scenes - I haven't touched a paint brush in three months and am very disappointed in myself for lack of focus. Need to carve out a few hours a week and have always found taking a class helps. Just can't fit it in to the Spring schedule with all the school, work, church and sports commitments. The Open Studio is happening in two weeks, and I am not participating again this year. My goal is to have eight paintings from Tuscany available next year.

Next posting will be journal entries from Tuscany trip (Spring '08) where I was able to paint for six days without looking for cleats or paying off the kids...it was heaven!

p.s. The painting at the top of the blog is a small study of a Tuscan photograph. It is a gift to a dear colleague.