Good, Bad, Ugly

It was the best of times, it was the...well, you get the idea.  The weather has been fantastic, with no let down for the rest of the week.  Aside from heavy morning dew each day, the weather for growing or finishing crops has been extraordinary.  There is some cloudy weather and showers predicted for the end of the week, but the long range shows no frost through the middle of next week.  The political situation on the other hand is bad and about to get ugly.  The wrecking crew also known as the Republican party is throwing a tantrum because they cannot get their way with the Affordable Care Act.  It is now up to a handful of senior party members and mostly John Boehner to make sure the political system functions for the majority of Americans.  The previous week has provided a shameful chapter for future historians.  Regardless of those who lionize him now, Ted Cruz will go down as a latter day Joe McCarthy; a demagogue who plays on the fears of the credulous.  When will someone confront him with the classic line from Edward Murrow,  "At long last Sir, have you no shame".

I can see clearly

The rain is gone, at least for the next 10 days or so.  Continued dry and mild weather is really bringing on the fall crops, while keeping the warm weather lovers hanging on.  The beans and tomatoes are only a pale ghost of themselves when it comes to taste.  The night temps in the 30s and 40s have changed the flavor from August's ambrosia to a slightly stale September. The only heat lovers which improve in the fall are the peppers.  The change from green to red brings out the sweetness.  Carrots also improve with cooler temps and shorter days.  The last plantings of broccoli and cauliflower are showing  signs of heading now, and with the forecast for the next several weeks showing above normal it seems I will be able to harvest most everything before it is nipped.  The next several weeks will be devoted to harvest and cleanup and finally planting next year's garlic crop.  The fun never stops!

speculating armageddon

As the nation teeters toward the possibility of shutdown and then default, it behooves the people of this once great nation to look in the mirror and do a little soul searching.  Virtually no one wants to see either of the above scenarios take place, but a rather small minority of the nation's voters have enabled a fanatical caucus in the House of Representatives to take our country's full faith and credit hostage for an ideological phantasm.  These Gerrymandered jihadists are the creation of republican led legislatures which have removed accountability from the electoral equation.  This echo chamber of political purity drives these representatives in the opposite direction from a clear majority in the US which feels the government needs to continue to function, and the bills need to be paid.  The rest of us are now in the position of a motorist rubbernecking at a traffic backup.  Will we get to see the accident, or will it be cleared away before we reach the bottlenecek.  I guess we'll find out in the next three weeks.

Health Care Follies

To use a newly hackneyed phrase, I guess we are on Cruz Control for the next couple of days.  The senator from Texas has one notable achievement to show for his latest tantrum.  He has sparked a bi-partisan consensus that he is a pompous asshole with nothing substantive to contribute to the national dialogue.  Aside from fundraising among the rubes who believe the nonsense he is peddling, what possibly motivates the man?  He is a Harvard graduate, although he is rapidly diminishing that particular brand.  He knows that the template of Obamacare is the Massachusetts health care law, which has brought health care to 98% of that state's residents without unduly increasing costs.  When fully implemented, the federal law will enjoy similar success and the praise which will undoubtedly accrue to it.  The Democrats will have by that time locked up majorities of the women's, latino, Asian and youth vote for generations and the angry old white men who support Cruz will be a diminishing demographic which no one (except the makers of Depends) will mourn.  So what calculations can be whirling through the his head.  Frankly, I'm stumped. 

Frost

Looks like no frost and or rain for at least 10 days.  I guess mom nature is trying to make up for the horrific early season visited on farmers in the North Country.  I'm glad I planted a lot of late crops and gambled we would have a mild fall.  Although the last plantings of cauliflower and broccoli are barely showing heads, it looks like the weather will cooperate and I should be harvesting them by the middle/end of October. 

Falling toward October

Not quite waiting for Godot, but as the season progresses, there is less and less change in the garden.  I am referring to the pace of growth of most crops at this point.  The cukes and zukes are really slowing down now.  Kale and cauliflower seem to be speeding up and the tomatoes are cracking before they can ripen.  Even the weeds have slowed to a crawl except for the ubiquitous galinsoga which will only be stopped by a relatively hard freeze.  It looks like another week like last; a rain, followed by cooler weather and then a gradual warmup.  By this coming weekend we should be back in the 70s for highs.  No frost predicted in the longer range through the first of October, so we should be able to finish harvest of most crops before they are frozen.  There is some late cabbage that will need another 2-3 weeks of decent weather, but it looks like we may get it. 

Who are we kidding

As the pain caucus dumps a new load of worry on the American underclass with passage of the food stamp denial bill, it becomes more evident every day that the present economic distress has fueled the nascent racism this country has struggled with since 1619.  Owlsely county in Kentucky is 98% white and nearly 50% of the population uses food stamps yet Mitt Romney won 81% of the vote.  I rest my case.  The only conceivable reason to vote so diametrically opposed to your own interest is racism, pure and simple.  Yet, no one in the media has touched this third rail of hate.  Some of the left wing media will make a glancing reference to "southern strategies", but while this hate festers most in the old South, it is present throughout the country, especially among white males in lower socioeconomic classes.  With the ascendance of a black president, many of these unfortunates see their last visions of superiority stripped away.  How else to explain their embrace of all things anti Obama. 

Warm and wet

Looks like we'll peak with temps around 80 today before some rain and cooler weather hits in time for the weekend.  The lettuce and other cool season crops should kick back into growth with this heat.  For the summer crops like squash and cukes, it is too little, too late.  The long range forecast shows milder weather in October, so the gardening (and mowing) seasons will be extended.  I have lots of late broccoli and cauliflower, so I hope we grow until November.  There are three or four more farmer's markets to attend, but I'll have plenty of stuff to sell after the 15th of October if the weather remains fair.  I guess we'll see.  The only potential for mayhem in the garden is one local deer who has steadily developed a taste for beet greens and now carrot tops.  The local talk radio station is keeping him out of the late garden (I have a radio set in the middle of the garden), but he is coming within a 100 feet of the house to sample the carrots.  I don't think the Divine Mrs. M will appreciate talk radio at all hours of the night, so I'm covering the carrots with remay cloth.  The full moon certainly makes for good night vision for the deer.  At 5:30 this morning it was bright enough to read by.

More pain, no gain

The Washington D.C. chapter of the Marquis De Sade club, a.k.a. the Republican caucus has decided that not only do millions of Americans not deserve the chance for affordable health care, but many of the same people do not need to eat either.  Defund Obamacare before it can have any positive impact and deny food stamps to millions of working Americans who will have to choose between paying for food or rent or auto expenses.  It seems these insular millionaires are so divorced from the workday world of most of their constituents they don't realize the havoc these policies will create.  Didn't they see the recent "budget" Mickey D put out for their employees.  It assumes they are working at least two jobs and focuses on how to get as many government benefits as possible to supplement the meager wages they are being paid.  These idiots rail about "Socialism" and yet they underwrite the corporate profits of the major low wage paying corporations.  The average Walmart employee can't get by without major subsidies in the form of Medicaid, food stamps and other government programs.  If they defund these programs, perhaps we will have real labor unrest and a revival of the pitchfork unionism of the early 1900s.  Then we will see some real pain.

Modern foodlike substances

I bought a bag of kettle cooked "Tomato Parmesan" potato chips the other day.  Being somewhat ravenous, I ate most of the bag and liked the taste, to the amazement of the Divine Mrs. M.  I eventually bought another bag and was eating some last night when I decided to read the ingredients.  Big mistake.  I got as far as "tomato like flavors" and gave up.  I have no idea how the word parmesan was even allowed on the label, as there was no mention of real cheese on the label besides a fleeting reference to cheddar.  WTF!  Of course this was not some artisan chip maker, but Frito-Lay.  I should not have been surprised, but I did expect some real tomato and real parmesan to be involved in the production.  The labeling laws are obviously not working for consumers, unless you are willing to spend time reading the ingredients listed on the package; a somewhat time consuming experience. The modern American food experience has morphed into more or less continuous introductions of what one food writer refers to as "foodlike substances". This ersatz food makes up a larger and larger portion of what we eat on a daily basis.  The solution is to stay away from processed foods.  Unfortunately, unless you are willing to devote a much larger portion of your income and leisure time to this endeavor, it is a difficult proposition.  One thing for sure, Frito-Lay will not be selling me anytime soon.

Beware the Ides of September

Of course, it is raining again this morning.  Looks like we'll have to wait til tomorrow for the promised sunshine.  We'll also have to dodge a possible frost here on the NCR.  However, if we manage that, we look to be seasonably mild for the next 10 days.  The broccoli and cauliflower are really starting to mature.  The other cool season crops are also doing well if we can stay dry for a few days.  The weekend was schizophrenic with a damp drizzly Sat. followed by a brilliant Sunday morning and a decent afternoon.  The Divine Mrs. M attended the Battle of Plattsburgh events in her period finery to the edification of all and sundry.  The world continues to turn, despite the best efforts of some factions in this country to turn back the clock.  That's all the news and musings from this little corner of the world.

It's the temperatures, stupid

After the deluge, it looks like smooth sailing for the next 10 days.  We had a total of 2 inches of rain since Tuesday evening.  That has pretty well saturated the soils in the area.  Now we are being promised a succession of  sunny days with temps in the 70s during the day and 40s at night.  If this holds it will go a long way toward maturing many late planted crops.  Beets, carrots, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, kale, cauliflower and many others will thrive with ample moisture and clement temperatures.  Of course we are getting less light all the time, so that will slow things down, but the above normal temps will counterbalance the lack of light.  We just need to avoid more rain for the time being.  Big doings on the NCR this weekend.  The local re-enactors will celebrate the Battle of Plattsburgh which effectively ended the threat of British domination of New England at the end of the War of 1812.  While most Americans don't realize the significance of the land and sea engagement on Lake Champlain, most historians rate it as a pivotal moment in the war.  A rag tag army of irregulars and a makeshift navy defeated veterans of the Napoleonic wars and the British navy.  We always love the story of the plucky underdogs upsetting Goliath. 

Wet and wild

With 3/4 inch of rain last night and another inch or so predicted today, it is time to put away the hoses and start getting the garden ready for winter. There is still plenty of harvesting to do, but with frost predicted early next week, the tomatoes, squash and other summer veg are probably history by next Wednesday.  Of course the weather will probably change course after the frost and we'll get a couple of weeks of nice weather.  Hopefully all the late planted brassicas will fulfill their potential.  It seems like a fitting end to a thoroughly annoying season.  Cold and dry, cold and wet, hot and dry, now cold and wet again.  Many gardeners threw in the trowel in June.  For those of us that stuck it out, there have been a few pleasurable moments, but mostly frustration as with the best of intentions things continued to go awry.  I hope this is a one off year, but I'm trying to build fortitude for next year already.

What's a gardener to do

Whine about the weather of course.  Now we can expect 1-2 inches of rain, followed by a cool front.  So much for late maturing vegetables.  Now we have to hope the fall rains hold off and the temps don't get too cool, too fast.  The late broccoli and cauliflower look great, but need several weeks of clement conditions to mature.  Ditto for late carrots and beets.  Even the spinach and turnips need some warm weather.   Of course, being a gardener under these conditions still beats being president of the US right about now.  Mr. Obama lost me and I daresay most of my generation on the question of Syria.  Perhaps if his predecessor had not poisoned the well of humanist intervention to prevent further use of WMD, Obama might have gotten a different reception by his own nation and the world.  However, Shrub and his henchmen have forever tarnished our reputation in that respect.  Besides, if he really wanted to bomb Syria, he should have ruled it out.  The republicans in the House of Representatives probably would have passed a mandate ordering him to do it.  Anyway, I'm glad my biggest problem is the amount of precipitation I will have to deal with over the next couple of days.

Another wild ride

From 37 degrees on Monday morning to near 90 on Wed. afternoon and back to the 40s by the weekend.  It's Sept., but not your father's Sept.   We are getting weather from April to October and the month is not even half over.  At least the heat should start bringing on the broccoli and cauliflower which have stalled for the last couple of weeks.  There are quite a few items which would normally have matured by now, but persistently low night time temperatures have slowed them to a crawl.  Unfortunately, we are now starting to run out of time.  The long range forecast seems to indicate cooler and drier than normal which is usually a good thing.  But this year we have had successive waves of too much of a good thing, whether rain or heat and now cold and dry.  The basil has been a bright spot for most of the season, but this regime has caused mildew on most of the remaining plantings.  The cilantro and dill remain fine as well as parsley.  No more pesto this year.  I can only hope the remainder of the month and October get closer to normal than the last few weeks.  Probably not going to happen.

Very muted drumbeats

If Mitt Romney was president and told the nation we must punish Syria for its use of nerve gas on its own people, there would be a continuous outcry in the conservative media for that action.  We would be told our credibility was on the line and we couldn't as a great power allow this kind of atrocity.  Fox news personalities and the ever odious Limbaugh would be telling us we must follow the president's lead.  However, with Obama in the White House, this is a fund raising opportunity for Republicans who are demonstrating a new found reluctance to use the armed forces in this situation.  Even the "liberals" who supported Bush have found their mojo and are opposing military action.  Of course, Obama badly miscalculated the international will to oppose Assad, but he should have known he would be opposed at home by almost everyone but the true believers.  He has almost painted himself into a corner where he must use force unilaterally without Congressional approval.  That is sure to trigger howls for impeachment.  If he does nothing, the same dipwads will tell everyone he is weak and we obviously need a republican daddy to make the world more secure.  I can't say I feel sorry for the president at this point.  He is in a bubble of "Yes Sir" and seems to have lost touch with most of the American people.  I hope he finds his way out of the situation, but it doesn't look too good at this point.

Close, but no frosty cigar

We bottomed out at about 39 degrees on the NCR this morning, so nothing in the garden was hurt, although we will see the effects on the heat lovers for the next few days.  Temps will rebound, but no really warm weather is predicted through next week.  The cole crops and spinach should do well, and I have started to harvest some winter squash.  The tomatoes and peppers continue to surprise, while the lack of corn and potatoes still hurts my gardener's pride.  We have enough precipitation for the rest of the season, which of course means it will rain at every opportunity until November.

More stupidity

As usual, the teabaggers and their Republican allies are displaying the brute stupidity they are known for as the mechanisms for the distribution of Obamacare continue to roll out.  If the media had been as ubiquitous in the 1930s as it is today, I'm sure Social Security would have been under attack even more than it was.  The same idiots who gladly spend far more in benefits than they ever contributed in taxes want to deny younger Americans medical care because they can't pay for it.  These feckless, middle aged boomers benefitted from government largesse from the time they were born and will continue to collect until they die.  Cynical groups like "Americans for Prosperity", a Koch brothers' funded astro-turf organization are mobilizing the greedy geezers and wannabees to try and pull the rug from under the next generation's struggle to fix a broken health care system.  The Rube Goldberg monstrosity cobbled together under Obama is better than what it replaces and eventually will be improved, hopefully into a single payer system which includes all Americans.  It's a shame progress is being delayed by short sighted, amoral fools.

Frosty predictions

By tomorrow night, some mountain hollows in the North Country and far northern areas of Quebec may see the first frost of the season.  Here on the NCR, we should be in the mid 40s for lows, but it will be a big change from last week's heat and humidity.  The tomatoes and peppers will mature more slowly and even the cole crops will slow down, but with the good soil moisture now I'm pretty confident even the last plantings of broccoli and cauliflower will be harvested.  I picked quite a few tomatoes last night and sprayed for flea beetles and cabbage worms, so it was a productive evening. We had some minor hail damage in the bok choy and nappa cabbages, but it only affected the outer leaves.  So even the rain was a mixed blessing.  But I'm not complaining.

September mornings

Clear and cool after a good rain that broke the heat.  Ah, September.  After suffering through a week of hot, humid end of August weather, the 3/4 inch of rain on Sunday afternoon was welcome.  The last lettuce transplants will take off and seedings of broccoli rabe and turnips will come up with only minor (I hope) flea beetle pressure.  The fall cole crops like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kohlrabi should jump even with the cooler weather.  Soil temps are still warm.  With the exception of a couple more plantings of spinach and turnips I'm done with seeding and transplanting.  Weeding will continue for another couple of weeks, but for the most part that pressure is lessening.  A long mild fall is what I need.  What I get is probably another story.