Foods and comfort

I was finally able to plant the 100 strawberry plants which have been languishing in the refrigerator for the last 2 weeks.  The soil was dry enough to work and with the threat of heavy rain for the next couple of days, the incentive was great.  Along with the 100 I planted last spring, I'm well on my way to being the strawberry king of  Lapham Mills Rd.  The revised forecast for the weekend promises more dry weather, so perhaps I'll be able to catch up on garden and yard chores.  
An interesting piece in the NYT by Marc Bittman draws on his recollection of the comfort food of his youth and cravings for such undistinguished foods as bagels, cream cheese and lox.  In my own youth, I can't recall a single food which triggers a nostalgic longing.  Rather it is a recollection of the totality of my mother's cooking which makes me remember those days.  For my own girls, I think the yearly ritual of tomato sauce preparation in August and September and the mid-winter spaghetti dinners this engendered which will be their lasting culinary link to the past.  Bittman laments the foodlike substances which many children of today will come to crave as the comfort foods of their youth.   Dunkin Donuts and Big Macs....ugh!

the billionaires and the rest of us

Everyone is outraged that the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers is a racist.  People are also somewhat disappointed that Warren Buffet did not vote his 400 million shares of Coke stock against the latest ridiculous executive compensation plan advanced by the companies board.  Two different rich men behaving badly, or just rich men behaving like rich men.  Either way, the only thing they will probably respond to is the moral indignation generated by the rest of us.  It seems the ultra rich crave the adulation or at least the approval of the masses, although in Donald Sterling's case probably not so much.  At least the NBA has a process to perhaps hold him accountable for his speech and actions.   Buffet, and many others in the moneyed classes feel the rest of us should approve of whatever actions they take, even as in his case, his refusal to vote against the Coke compensation plans is a contradiction of his own stance.  For my own part, if I never drink another Coke, I won't lose any sleep.  I hope a few other of the hoi polloi feel the same way.

In the land of the 1%

After a weekend in NYC with the Divine Mrs. M, I salute the ordinary people who live and work in that vibrant place.   The cultural and dining options are multitudinous and enchanting, but the giant sucking sound you hear from your back pocket is your wallet emptying at warp speed.   From the cost of living, dining to moving from place to place ($2.50 for a subway ticket) there is a constant drain on resources.  Granted, we were in it for a semi-hedonistic weekend, but even the mundane costs of existence like groceries are astronomical.  I can certainly sympathize with a service worker making $9-$10. per hour.  They are living on the edge without much of a safety net.  For a once a year lark, the costs can be justified, but living in the City is hard to imagine.

Bundy and the real tea party

Now that anyone with a shred of dignity or dreams of a national constituency has distanced themselves from deadbeat racist rancher Cliven Bundy it is worth considering who is left to support him and where the country as a whole is going from here.  After spouting the white supremacist line about "the negro", it is apparent Bundy buys into the posse commitatus movement.  This southern inspired nonsense was spawned after the civil war to get the government to move its troops out of the occupied south.  It is the legislation which prohibits the US armed forces from operating inside the country.  Supposedly the county sheriff in each county is the highest authority in that county.  Of course non of this BS would stand up in a court of law.  That is one reason everyone from Hannity to Ted Cruz quickly lost Bundy's number.   Unfortunately, the dog whistles he has been blowing will continue to attract the pond scum of America and there will probably be blood on the ground at some point.  The leaders of the Republican party and its various mouthpieces should do a little research into the zeitgeist of the movement they seem so eager to use.  Going all the way back to the Whiskey Rebellion there has been an anti government, anti tax movement which attracts the losers in society.  This is a volatile mix which could go off in their faces as it did yesterday.  Next time it could be much worse.

Glacial Progress

I'm thinking of renaming my gardening venture.  For years, it has been known as "Almena Gardens".  It is a combination of the first two letters of my three daughters' most used names (Alicia, Merry and Natalie).  Very cute, but maybe not as memorable as one might like.  After seeing an article in today's NYT about the rebranding of company names, I think a change might be in order.  A breakfast cereal maker in Canada changed the name of their high fiber concoction from something named after an Egyptian river god to the more in your face, "Holy Crap".  A high rise building contractor is now called "Mammoth Erection".   I know I can't top those, but in honor of the slow start to the gardening season, I'm thinking maybe "Glacial Progress".  Maybe someone can come up with something better.  I'm open to suggestion, but "Bobby's Folly" or "Waste of Time" are definitely out of the running.  Just Sayin.....

Institutions failing the people

In today's NYT, Marc Bittman shouts out that the Supreme Court is failing to protect the rights of individuals without the clout of millions of dollars.  He of course, is writing in his capacity of food gadfly, but the point he makes crosses all lines in our society.   He is critical of the latest food bill.  The large food corporations are in line for most of the government subsidies contained in the bill, while organic proponents and local food advocates are allotted a pittance.  This is understandable when the relative resources these adversaries can bring to bear on our elected representatives.  As my mentor, Jerry Shulman was fond of saying, "Money talks, and B.S. walks".  Evidently, the fertilizing capacity of the agribusiness giants is much greater than that of organic growers.  Thanks to many recent rulings by the Robert's court, we are getting further and further from the one man, one vote ideal.   If that was ever an ideal in this country.  The founding fathers were the elite of their time, and they assumed their political descendants would likely be the same.   Despite the gains of women, people of color and the poor in the political arena, rich white men still hold most of the power.  While Bittman doesn't despair because of this situation, his prescription for remediation requires the bold and considered action of millions of ordinary people.  This is idealistic to say the least.  Most of us go to work each day and keep our heads down, trying to make it through to the end.   There is scant time to work for political change.  We need to do better.

Wishful thinking

According to the American Association of Cancer Research, the old apple a day thing is so old school.   So is the protective effects of most fruits and vegetables on most cancers.  After telling us in 1997 that a diet rich in fiber and fruits and veggies would protect us from many cancers and heart disease, the scientists are taking it all back.  Those Big Macs are not bad for you after all!  NOT.  Of course, the methodology now says that some of the earlier studies were skewed by people who eat lots of vegetables.  These "health nuts" are probably thinner and healthier than the average and less prone to disease.   It would be interesting to follow cohorts whose average income was substantially higher and lower than the median and monitor their health outcomes.   Is a diet rich in fresh foods an indicator of higher income which also confers better health care?  Obesity has been proven to be a fertile ground for all sorts of health problems and fat people eat less fruits and vegetables than their thinner counterparts.   I guess you can argue endlessly about causation, but I think I will continue to pound the fruits and veggies and hope for the best.

Easter Rising

As I have for the past 30 plus years, I celebrated Easter by planting in the garden.   This year's additions included beets (Red Ace), green onions and kale.  I planted the kale in close row spacing to try for baby kale, which is the hottest green on the market.  Of course, by my friendly neighborhood flea beetles will be checking out any sprouting brassicas as soon as they make an above ground appearance, so I covered the bed with reemay and will get out my organic fleabeetle spray in readiness to do battle.  I am seeing some sporadic germination of my first spinach planting and the garlic is above ground, so we may be late, but things are getting started outside.

Earth Day, 44 years on

With the economy still somewhat in the tank, it looks like Earth Day, or Earth Week as it is now called, will take a back seat to more mundane concerns.   The first time people gathered on a mild day in April to voice concerns for the environment, we had a Republican president who signed the legislation to institute the EPA, that scourge of the latter day GOP.   In 1970, there were still good jobs to be had with a high school education and the only mention of China in the news media was to document the Mao Zedong's failed cultural revolution.  Today, the muted celebration of our interdependence with spaceship earth is basically ignored by the media, jobs are in short supply and we are in a new gilded age with the barons of finance telling us to be thankful for the crumbs which fall from their tables.   A new story asserts that 20% of China's rapidly depleting farmland is polluted, which is inspiring the leaders to invest in farms around the world to feed its billion strong population.  This investment is going on sub rosa and we will wake up one morning to find nations which should be able to feed themselves importing food even as their own production flows to China.  Aside from grade school programs celebrating Earth Day, their seems to be precious little going on to deal with the increasing harm we are inflicting on the environment.

The Three Horsemen

According to Paul Krugman, the only thing standing between us and climate salvation by using renewable resources are ignorance, vested interests and prejudice.  As he ruefully admits, that is probably more than enough to derail the solar train.   The tremendous decline in the cost of generating solar power, over 75% since 2008 is what may make coal fired generating plants obsolete.  But try telling that to senators or  representatives from coal states like West Virginia or Wyoming.  It is really a no-brainer.  Installing high efficiency, low cost solar power would create hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.  Who could possibly be against that. Oh, wait.....

Echos of a Cold War

As any baby boomer in their late 50s or early 60s can tell you, the 1950s were a scary time.  Although most of us were barely aware of it, from the time of the Berlin airlift through the Cuban missile crisis we could have been radioactive toast at any time.  We all knew where the fallout shelters were located in our schools and we practice huddling under our desks in case of nuclear attack.  What a hoot.   My parents either ignored the situation or chose not to discuss it in front of the children.  Some more proactive people with more money or time built and stocked backyard fallout shelters for their families.  Invitations to take refuge in these homemade shelters were at a premium and friendships and family relationships were fractured because of them.  It is hard to remember these days, but the latest round of saber rattling over the situation in Ukraine is bringing back uncomfortable memories.  Some of the idiots in Congress who probably couldn't find the country on a map are ardent Ukrainians now.  Regardless of the fact the present government is arguably illegal and overthrew a legitimately elected government.  The Russians are concerned because many armament factories their military depends on are located in eastern Ukraine.  Should the country fall into the western orbit these factories would be at risk.  The Russians have skin in the game.  We have nothing but John McCain's hurt fee fees.  I really don't feel like risking a nuclear summer to defend an ambiguous situation in which the Russians are willing to go all out.  I hope cooler heads prevail.

The Weather gods are crazy

19 degrees and sunny this morning as I look out on a winter wonderland.  Despite torrential rain and temps in the 60s yesterday, it started to snow last night and the grass is covered, while unsalted roads are a thin sheet of ice.  Having changed to summer tires last week, the roads were a challenge, even with AWD.  As far as the garden is concerned, we will be set back for at least a week.  Soil temps are probably in the upper 30s below the frozen crust and we can expect another couple of nights in the 20s before the next warm up.  The surface of the soil will be slick and wet each day when melting begins.  The soil is saturated, so the strawberry plants which arrived yesterday will be residing in the fridge for the forseeable future.  I hope I remember this when we are at 90 degrees and haven't had a drop of moisture for 3 weeks...

Feeling the burn

As in freezer burn later today.   The weather service is predicting temps in the low 20s with snow tonight and highs in the 30s tomorrow.   Many of my cold frame plantings are just starting to germinate and are at high risk for freeze damage.  I covered them with a double layer of remay cloth and will keep my fingers crossed.  Last year, my onion crop looked good after planting in the main garden only to drown in subsequent rains.  This year they might not make it out of the cold frame.  This season is not starting on an optimistic note.  It looks like the weather will not settle down until we get into May.  To the casual gardener that doesn't sound too bad, but for the fanatic, it represents nearly a month of wasted effort.  Early plantings that didn't germinate, wet, cold soil holding back transplants, etc.  Every season is different, and every one has challenges.  The trick is to roll with whatever Mother Nature has to throw at you and stay flexible.  At least that is what I tell myself at times like this.

Another Death Panel

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued another report, mixing dire forecasts with Pollyanna like faith in humanity doing the right thing.  I'm sure the Koch brothers ads will be advocating solar power and renewable energy sources at the expense of the fossil fuel industry.  Not....  Unless governments around the world step in and make climate change a priority, we are liable to limp along down the road of least resistance.  Drill, baby, drill!   Meanwhile on the NCR, global warming is a punchline.  We had  nice weather this weekend which allowed me to get carrots, parsley and spinach planted, but 10 to 12 inches below the surface the soil is still frozen.  We have a small snowstorm predicted for Tuesday and the long range forecast is for plenty of rain for the next two  weeks.  We are getting the April showers, but it is too cold to plant for May flowers.

The New Death Panels

Sorry about today's post.  Somehow, the blog moved the body of my post about half way down the page where the rest of the week's posts were also.  To summarize my thought today,  it seems the new death panels are composed of Republican governors and legislators in Red States who are denying health care to millions of poor and middle class constituents by refusing the federal government's offer to extend Medicaid.  It has been estimated this refusal will cost the lives of 7- 17,000 people who would have been helped by Medicaid.  They say their intent is to save money, but ironically, most of the states who have refused the federal funding consistently get more from the feds than they send to Washington.  The real reason of course is the typical ploy of today's republican party;  deny any credit to President Obama, no matter if it hurts their own constituents.  They are playing to their base, and it is at its heart a racist message which will gin up support from a minority of bigoted white men who will rapidly age out of the system.  I hope they enjoy the bitter fruits they are sowing now.

April cruelty

Looks like another warming day here on the NCR.  With the prospect of only slightly soggy golf courses and gardens beckoning for the weekend, perhaps spring is finally here.  For commercial growers in this area, the clock is ticking.  Many crops should either be in the ground or about to be.  Each week that goes  by without planting can not be made up.  Many will plant extra as soon as they can, but while it may look satisfying, except for commodity crops like corn and soybeans, planting extra invariably leads to low markets.  Planting 40 acres of spinach when the demand is for 10 is a recipe for heartbreak.  Even my small plantings for the farmer's market are subject to the limited demand. 

Shared responsibility

One columnist in the NYT today estimated infrastructure spending in NYC, just to replace the pipes which carry water, electricity and gas under the city at about 3 billion per year.  If you break that down to the number of workers in Manhattan every day, it works out to about the cost of a cappuccino per person each day.  (at $3.00 a pop)  However, no one is proposing a bold plan to repair or replace the aging infrastructure because the collective will is not there.  Thanks in part to the Republicans' effort to delegitimize government by mocking it  and the services it provides, people don't want to "waste" their money by "giving" it toward commonwealth projects which benefit everyone.  What is democracy but a pact by the people to fund a government with which to secure the well being of the participants.   That means we all have a stake in making government work for us.  there are legitimate debates as to the size and scope of what government should do, but that is not what Republicans are willing to do.   They want to destroy the social safety net, but in so doing, they call all functions, including policing, firefighting and infrastructure maintenance into question.  When we wake up one morning to the realization our roads are crumbling along with other essential services will we take on this libertarian nightmare and reassert our devotion to a real commonwealth.  Sometimes I despair.

Turkey time

No, it's Easter, not Thanksgiving you say.   Not if you are a turkey in the North Country.  After a long, cold and cruel winter, the gobblers are mating like Easter bunnies.  Every morning when I walk out the door I am treated to the local Toms' mating calls.  There will be plenty of poults strutting their stuff come June this year.  At least that is what the resident coyotes are hoping.   Meanwhile, the ground continues to thaw and with sunny skies predicted for at least part of the weekend, one of the local golf courses has sent out its siren call to the golf starved multitudes up here.  Having seen the fairways from the road and the half dead greens, I think I'll pass on that invitation.  If I want to slog through mud, I can play in the garden.  It's less frustrating.

Obsessions

No obsessing about the weather today.   The liberals kicked butt in the Quebec elections yesterday.  They obliterated the Party Quebecois by up to 90% in some districts.  So much for an independent Quebec.  The separatists would stand a better chance if they contacted Vladimir Putin and asked for a referendum to join Russia!  I can only wish my fellow countrymen would smell the same coffee and banish the Republicans to the same political backwater this November.  If I was running the Democratic National Committee, I would offer one way tickets to Russia to every Republican and pundit who heaped praise on Putin after the Crimea annexation.  I'm sure if these same idiots were treated to a ride in Mr.Peabody's way-back machine to the 1930s they would praise the firm hand and decisive nature of Germany's chancellor at the time.  I'm talking to you Sarah Palin.

Late Start

I probably forced things on Sunday morning, but I was determined to get the first spinach planted.  The bed I prepared last fall was bare of snow (the rest of the garden was still covered) and slightly frozen from overnight temps in the 20s.  I laid the seed in the furrows and waited for the ground to thaw and tamped the seed in.  It looked like a muddy mess, so we'll see.  I also started my tomato crop in the basement and the onions in cold frames, so we are off and running.  Rain and warmer temperatures are predicted for the week, so there should be some major thawing as we get toward the weekend.   We are getting off to a late start this season, but as the saying goes, every season is different. 

Health Care Follies

With 7 million enrollees and  counting, the ACA, AKA Obamacare looks like it will survive the relentless Republican attacks since its inception.  For most Americans, myself included, the whole fight has been numbingly boring.  I am covered with good insurance and the only difference Obamacare has made is the ability to cover the offspring until their 26th birthdays.  For them, the new system is a big deal as it will enable them to get reasonably priced insurance if they are not covered by their employers.  Of course, the real deal would have been Medicare for all, but that is not politically feasible at this time.  My generation will have to be gone for that to happen.  Meanwhile, as with Social Security and Medicare, the Republicans will fight a losing battle against the creeping socialism they see embodied in these welfare state programs.   In the long run, the fight will be just as futile as Americans see the benefits of health care for everyone.  The system will eventually be streamlined and at some point we will have the benefit of cradle to grave healthcare.  I hope everyone realizes who is fighting for what as the process plays out.

America's Love affair with guns

Last night, the pundits on nearly every channel spent hours covering the latest mass shooting at Ft. Hood in Texas.   To an outside observer it would have seemed like this must be an aberration in an otherwise peaceful country.  To anyone paying attention it was only 20 more casualties to add to the nearly 40,000 deaths and injuries due to gunfire since the Sandy Hook school shootings last April. More deaths are caused by shootings than by automobiles.  In a sane world, there would be a counter on every TV screen, newspaper and internet site shouting out the news to all.  I guess our 2nd amendment "rights" don't include the right to know what the gun lobby, the NRA and the credulous gun nuts among us have wrought in our society.   America, I love this place!

Vegetable consumption blues

Prices for vegetables this winter have in general been below the cost of production in most cases.  Lettuce at $6.00 FOB Yuma, Az.  Works out to about $.50 per head delivered to NY.  Of course, after markups, consumers seldom pay less than $1.99 for that head of lettuce, so despite the horrendous losses being racked up by growers, consumers still have not benefitted from the bloodbath.  Had growers actually been making money, I doubt salad lovers would have wanted to shell out $4.00 for that same head of lettuce.   Which brings me to the question posed by the lack of  fresh vegetable consumption:  have we reached the saturation point?   Although prices for canned and frozen veg have also risen, they are still priced well below their fresh counterparts.  Stagnating wages for most Americans have led to sticker shock in the produce section.  If fresh veg becomes a luxury only the rich can afford, there will be some drastic downsizing of  the industry.

Climate Roulette

The US House of Representatives is taking up a bill to limit the ability of the government to study climate change and its effects.  I can't believe I just wrote that sentence.  The same idiots who think nothing of spending 35 million taxpayer dollars per copy of a fighter plane that can barely fly, now want us to stick our heads in the sand until it is too late to do anything about climate change.  Of course admitting the reality of said change is poison to most Republicans, so why not gag the prophets of doom and gloom.  After all, most of us who are now alive will not have to deal with the worst of what's coming.  If there is a hell, most of our descendants will probably be hoping this generation is there.  As blizzards rage over the Midwest, drought stalks California and spring seems like a vague promise in the East, the craziness of weather events around the world should be grabbing our attention, not diverting it.  Thankfully, the Senate and White House will ensure this idiotic bill will never be more than a talking point.   May the Flying Spaghetti Monster help us if the Republicans ever control all three branches of government.   I don't think Monty Python could do justice to the comedic disaster that would ensue.