Garden Crop Report for 2009

Beans that were picked a few days ago, when I did the seasons last 'big' harvest.

Well, everything is done in the garden, accept for some lettuce, nasturtiums, and the plants I am leaving for seed.

I thought that this was a spiffy way to not only announce how the crops did in the garden, but also to keep track for myself. I got the idea from Gumboot Goddess at her awesome blog. The system that she used was a rating of 1 through 5 {1 being lowest and 5 being highest}.

The garden ended up having various varieties for much of the veggie and herb crops, which is helpful for me to note how each did, but I will spare you all from reading the boring details. ;)

Basil

4. Considering the season and the earwigs, it held its own very well.

Beans (Bush & Pole)

5. These guys rarely disappoint me.

Beets

3. Got nice greens off them but piddly roots for the most part. The soil was pretty rich and well-aerated by the time I got done with it. There maybe a boron problem, methinks.

Carrots

2. Same issue as the beets. Got some dinky carrots.

Catmint

4. It will be even better next year.

Chard

5. If we had some deer, there may have been problems, otherwise this crop is pretty much bombproof.

Chives

5. If you got sun, you can't go wrong with these guys.

Cilantro

5. It grew like a weed.

Dill

1. By the time it started sprouting some feathered critter dined on the sprouts, after the two times I planted it. It was replaced with cilantro.

Lemon Balm

5. Another one that grew like a weed.

Lettuce

4. Would have been a 5 if it wasn't so well loved by the local earwigs and crows.

Marjoram

5. Got lots out of the few plants we have.

Mint

5. This might just take over next year!

Nasturtiums

5. These guys are everywhere!

Onions

4. The birds liked these, too.

Oregano

4. Would have done better if we had an amicable summer.

Parsley

3. It didn't do as well as I thought it would.

Peas

5. Another that rarely disappoints me.

Radish

3. Again, piddly little roots.

Rosemary

5. I got little plants for uber cheap, because they weren't so happy when I got them. They ended perking up come August.

Sage

5. Very happy how all these guys turned out.

Spinach

3. Birds got to it, and there was bolting (!!!).

Squash

4. Not bad for being planted last minute, in containers.

Tomatoes

5. These ended up being my pride and joy for this season! After all the rain and cold weather, we still got plenty..and just a few days ago the heirloom cherries were still flowering! :D

Thyme

5. This is another one that might try and take over next year!

The last of the tomato harvest.

Altogether we got somewhere between 450 to 500 lbs of food (herbs and veggies included) grown for Amelia Rising. Not bad I suppose for a crappy growing season, and a newly established tiny garden that got a late start.

So how did all of your gardens do?

Sláinte!

Laurel

Samhain/Hallowe'en Blog Makeover

Yes, I know, I am bad. I really can't help myself though. And it was over two weeks ago since I did the last one! ;)

Our deer friend has finally gone off to join the Autumn rut and to get ready for the Wild Hunt festivities.

Both the background and banner were done on Scrapblog and the background was tinkered with a bit on Photoshop CS2.





Sláinte!

Laurel

Luverly of the Week: Bourbon Red Turkey

Bourbon Red Tom from Matt Billings

Admittedly, I never had an appreciation for turkeys until I met the better half. He used to have turkeys when he was growing up, and filled me in on their appealing qualities.

I always thought the hens were cute, it was the toms that creeped me out with their over sized snoods and caruncles {see, even the names are creepy!}. But the lady turkeys seems to love them, so who am I to judge?

This particular tom is a Bourbon Red, which is a heritage breed that harks back to the late 1800's, and was created in Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

To learn about the Bourbon Red and other heritage turkey breeds, go check out Feathersite.

Sláinte!

Laurel

Straw Men and the Art of Scaring Crows

Photo from Notafly

Once I said to a scarecrow, 'You must be tired of standing in this lonely field,'
And he said, 'The joy of scaring is a deep and lasting one, and I never tire of it.'
Said I, after a minute of thought, 'It is true; for I too have known that joy.'
Said he, 'Only those who are stuffed with straw can know it.'
Then I left him, not knowing whether he had complimented or belittled me.
A year passed, during which the scarecrow turned philosopher.
And when I passed by him again I saw two crows building a nest under his hat.
~ The Scarecrow by Khalil Gibran

I've always wanted a scarecrow. Not that I want to scare away my Corvid friends {more the merrier I say!}, but it is probably just another symptom of my pseudo-farmerism.

Whether they actually get the job done in scaring the crows from the fields is up for debate, but they sure do tend to creep many of us human folks out! That is probably why they are often a symbol of Hallowe'en, and how it got the nick Dead Man of the Field.

Of course, you do have the odd cute and cuddly scarecrow, like the one from The Wizard of Oz and the ones people have hanging around that look like a straw version of Raggedy Anne.

Dorothy and the Scarecrow, 1900.

After doing a little bit of poking around, I was somewhat surprised to find that the historical use of the scarecrow can be found across various cultures, including Native American tribes, Japan, and of course Europe.

In her article The Great Scarecrow In Days Long Ago, Juliette Wood takes a look at some of the other names given to scarecrows and their origins; titles such as 'tattie-doolie', 'mommet', and 'bogle'.

The most widely known English term for these figures is scarecrow, but other, more regional terms, such as 'bogle', 'doolie' and occasionally 'mommet'or 'mawhini' are used to describe such figures. Most of the citations in the Oxford English Dictionary date to the sixteenth century and later, but there can be little doubt that scarecrows were in use much earlier. The terminology reflects both the function and nature of these effigies.

The term ‘scarecrow’ reflects its role exactly and could be applied to a person who was employed to perform the task of keeping birds and other predators out of the fields as well as the figure. The same is true for 'doolie', if one takes this to be a variant of dole (marker). The rare Berkshire dialect word, 'hodmedod', refers to a silly person, while 'mommet' reflects the construction, something made of rags like a mop.

'Bogle' is the only term with even a suspicion of the supernatural about it. The exact origin of the word is unclear, both 'bwg' (Welsh for ghost) and German 'boggel mann' are possible suggestions. 'Bwgan' is a common word for scarecrow in Welsh(Davies 2000) as is 'bodach' in Scots Gaelic (MacFhionghuin 1951), but this does really explain why a word with apparent supernatural overtones should be applied to the field figure.

These names usual refer to the straw men image that we tend to see the scarecrow as today, although they were sometimes made from different materials.

In ancient Greece the well-endowed Priapus had the honours of having his image carved out of wood for the purpose of keeping not only birds and predators away, but also thieves and other pesky intruders {The Royal Museum at Naples by Colonel Fanin}.

According to Lafcadio Hearn in Japan, an Attempt at Interpretation, the Shinto God Sohodo-no-Kami is the protector of the fields and the lord of scarecrows. In the book Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan by Asiatic Society of Japan it is said of Sohodo-no-Kami:

Sohodo no Kami, also called Kaye-biko, is the scarecrow placed in the fields to frighten away birds and animals, and though it is a very ugly and miserable creature, the divine books says of it 'this is a god that knows everything in the empire, although his legs are unable to walk.'

As the spirits of all the gods have recourse to it, and perform wonders, it is a very dreadful deity, and therefore an image of it should be placed before the door of the shrine for the spirits of the gods who are bidden thither to rest upon.

Often scarecrows of Sohodo-no-Kami would be made from sticks and rags and placed in the rice fields.

The Zuñi people of the American southwest would make scarecrows from long cedar poles with animal furs and feathers hanging off them {Corn Raising: The Decay of the Seed}.

The Scarecrow from Anchise Picchi

Some of the earliest references to scarecrows comes out of Egypt, where they weren't effigies stuffed with straw, but actual people who would guard the fields, and throw sticks and rocks at critters who trespassed.

In England, young lads who had the same job description were often called 'tattie-doolies' and 'Jack O'Kent'. They would often make noise by jingling bells, banging together sticks, or using wood clappers to scare off the crows {Country Living Gardener A Blessing of Toads: A Gardener's Guide to Living by Susan Lovejoy}.
After the black plague, straw men became a more common appearance, since so many of the children died off. Farmers would often cloth the scarecrows in rags, and put gourds or turnips on their head {perhaps the birth of the scarecrow from Sleepy Hollow?}.

A growing trend seems to be fairs featuring scarecrow making contests. Pumpkinrot is one of those people who have been making scarecrows and entering them into contests, and they are some of the most beautiful {in a skeery way!} scarecrows I have ever seen! I especially love Bog Man and Cryptzoology.
You can head on over to the webby to see galleries of the scarecrows, as well as inspiring Hallowe'en decorations.

And I now leave you a video of Bog Man

Sláinte!

Laurel

Food, Inc. is Screening in North Bay!

If you are a person in Northern Ontario that is concerned about food and farming, you definitely won't want to miss this!

Food, Inc. is going to be screening in North Bay's Galaxy Cinema on Wednesday October 21st, 2009 at 7:30 pm. The show is being hosted by North Bay Film {go check out their webby for other awesome movies coming to town!}.

This blurb is from North Bay Films info page about Food, Inc.

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

And here is a trailer:



Sláinte!

Laurel