Golden Globe Turnip Flowers
Realization Of The Day:
There is no holding pattern in the kitchen garden. If you do not harvest your bounty when it is ready, it will turn into something else (or rot). At least in this case, I traded my uneaten turnips for cheerful flowers dancing in the breeze and plenty of seeds for my next planting.
Out Of My Inbox:
Yesterday Laura Goldberg, Director Of Communications at AOL, alerted me to an AOL Research & Learn article she thought might be of interest. "It takes a look at 'green' gardening," she said. "Not the color green, necessarily - but 'green' as in environmentally sound, and 'green' as in saving money. One of the suggestions: renting goats to get rid of weeds and overgrowth." Okay, she got me with the goats.
The article, entitled "Green Yards: Go Natural And Save," discusses such things as using native plants in landscaping, mowing with solar power, incorporating Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and, yes, grooming your yard with rented goats. Plenty of helpful links, including six to "green" blogs, can help get you started. And the goat story is a riot.
But since you know I'm partial to sheep, I feel it only fair to mention the goats' competition. Obviously concerned that all the new lambs on my farm were not earning their keep (I believe her actual words were, "You can put those little guys to work!"), B'Gina at Stalking The Waiter recently told me about Wooly Weeders. Now how can you not love a company whose slogan is "Noxious Weeds Are Our Specialty?" Apparently these folks provide an "environmentally sensitive mowing service for vineyards and open lands." Hmmmm. I helped plant over 600 grapevines on the farm I lived on before I moved to this one. Perhaps I should contact the new owners and see if they'd like to rent my mowing/weeding/fertilizing woolies for a while. . .
I am not sure if the city where I live would allow the Wooly Weeders in my front or back yard but it sure would get the attention of those loud teenagers to see goats in my yard as they speed by with they blaring music. I have heard of businesses being hired by the road departments in different states to come and "mow" the side of the road. The shepherd has a portable fence and they graze inside the fence, they move, they graze, they move. Who babysits them on the side of the road everynight? Wonder if they pay overtime to the watcher??? I need a change of scenery....
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