Archive for March, 2015
Grow Your Own: The End of an Era
by John Weckerle
As Spring progresses, we find our interests turning toward vegetables once again – this time, wanting more, and sooner. Our shorter growing seasons here means not planting many things until nearly the end of May, and saying goodbye to some of our favorites in early September. With that in mind, we experimented with putting a high grade greenhouse plastic on the hoop house, with the idea of getting cool-weather crops year round and getting the drop on Spring, possibly planting tomatoes and other goodies in early to mid-April.
The system responded by flattening itself upon receiving its first inch of snow. While it rebounded to about its original configuration when the snow was brushed off, and did so for somewhat deeper accumulations, this did not bode well for the future occupants of the garden. Subsequently, wind became a problem; we tried several methods of attaching the plastic, but none seemed to work. Finally, the velcro we used for the door gave up the ghost, and we gave up on the experiment, removing the plastic for some future use.
Last weekend, we deconstructed the hoop house, having ordered a tube-steel framed, plastic-covered 12 x 24 Shelterlogic greenhouse from tractorsupply.com. The greenhouse has large doors and screened vents at each end, and the sides can be rolled up, and possibly removed (we’ll see) during warm weather). We’ll be assembling this over the next couple of weekends (we hope; the instructions are all pictures with no narrative) with the hope of picking up our first plants from Parker’s in April rather than late May. We may have to make some minor adjustments in the name of rabbit/squirrel control, but what we see in the hieroglyphics gives us cause for optimism on that count. With luck, we’ll be able to extend the tomato/pepper/eggplant season by a month or two in each direction, and the steel tubing construction should stand up to most elements (at least we hope so). With more luck, we’ll be able to grow greens, beans, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, and other tasty edibles through the winter, with our next challenge being water delivery during freezing weather. We’ll have coverage of the assembly, installation, and subsequent activities in the coming weeks!
Proof Positive: There Is Life After Death
by John Weckerle
Or something to that effect.
On January 4, 2013, the East Mountain Tea Party announced its dissolution. No doubt some were relieved, and others disappointed (not the least of whom were those of us who enjoyed commenting on their commentary). As it turns out, the East Mountain Tea Party is back, and may never really have gone anywhere in the first place.
A recent Internet search led us to a Facebook page* upon which the first post, written on April 4, 2010, provides convincing (to us, at least) evidence that the owners of this Facebook account are likely the same people responsible for the posts that gave us all so much to discuss some years ago. The fact that the cell phone number associated with the page (505-269-5617) is the same as that used for the previous web site perhaps supports that conclusion. The commentary continued at a reduced pace, with a meager nine posts in 2013 and just one in 2014. Now, however, we see two posts less than a week apart in March 2015, and one of them contains an all-too-familiar combination of religious intolerance and inaccuracy, referring to President Barack Obama as a “Marxist, Muslim man-boy,” all of which is clearly intended to be derogatory. And of course, there is the signature anonymity – no name, just the pseudonym “East Mountain Tea Party.”
Is the East Mountain Tea Party back, or are these just a couple of posts before the page goes silent again? We’ll see – because we’ll be watching!
* We’re not providing them with a link, but if you search Facebook for “East Mountain Tea Party,” you’ll find them right away.
Ladies and Gentlemen…
The President of Ireland.
Editor’s note: As recent life events have turned your editor’s thoughts toward, well, expressing them, we took a little time to look through some old drafts and came upon this one, from April 6, 2012. We were surprised to discover that we apparently never posted it. While it is approaching three years since we found the video, it nevertheless seems to retain a certain relevance.