Hudson River Lanscape Photo Sells at Athens Cultural Center Members Show

This post is not about gardening per se' but it is about landscapes. In fact if it were not for this landscape in the photo American history would most certainly be different. A photo I took of a golden early sprig sunset was on exhibit this weekend at a Members how of the Athens Cultural Center in Athens, just north of Catskill. I am happy to say the photo sold to a lady who is a weekend resident of the village. More important she has a deep love of the area and the river. What I find interesting is that how many folks from the NYC area have more of an interest in the river than we do. Interesting but disappointing at the same time.

 

We have this great asset on our doorstep but it almost does not exist except when we cross the bridge and curse the toll collectors for the latest fare increase.

 

To see the photo, and others of the Hudson this summer, click on my face book page below

                        

                   http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=128070&id=717442181

 

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Box Store Spreads Tomato Blight

A story in the Albany Times Union had a story about late blight on tomatoes being spread throughout the northeast from plants sold by Home Depot.
The source: Bonnie Greenhouses with dozens of growing ranges in several states. The blight got into a 10 acre field and destroyed the entire crop.
One more reason to buy local....

Over the weekend I was jolted with a case of bronchitis that hit me out of the blue. In a matter of hours I went from helping customers with last minute plantings to asleep on the couch where I remained for almost four days.
A trip to the doc confirmed acute bronchitis. As a precaution due to something showing up on my X-ray I was given an antibiotic as well.

However before the antibiotic had a chance to kick in I went out to my herb garden and pulled some herbs for a tea in hopes of at least alleviating the cough and chest pressure. I then dried some Horehound, lemon catnip, lemon balm, gray sage and basil leaves.
In a hurry I used the microwave. The leaves were dried to crisp perfection in three minutes. I then boiled some water and poured it over the leafy mixture in the bottom of a tea pot. After four minutes of steeping the concoction was in a small coffee cup.

The results? At first, very bitter. However a little sugar and some honey sweetened the grog to I must say I felt almost immediate relief from the pressure in my chest and was breathing easier. Long term? I must say it helped. I feel the best part of the mixture was keeping it somewhat bitter to prevent consuming the tea like a soft drink, all at once.
In my opinion slowly drinking the hot herbal blend slowly has a lot to do with the success of my tea.

Where is Spring..........

Farmers markets are springing up all over the place already. And you know what?
The weather in New York once again stinks.

A word of advice about something else that stinks. Poor service from CSA's.
With the popularity of community supported agriculture growing think twice before joining one.
Ask for membership lists to garner comments from former members.

Just like health clubs have they over sold memberships diluting your potential take home? IS the price so low as to make your weekly trip worthless. Low prices often mean low quantity.

While many excellent CSA's abound watch out for the scammers.

Tasty Herbs Start Now From Cuttings

25 * wind from the north west. Once again the temp is ten degrees below normal. Seems par for the course for winter 08-09.

But March 1st is this coming Sunday and spring is somewhere. At least I can see it on my calendar. The next page of the calendar anyway.
March 1st means it is time to take cuttings on woody herbs you may have growing on your window sill. I managed to bring in and have survive a pot of rosemary. I almost forgot it was on my back deck! I did not bring it inside until the middle of November. I figured it was a goner since it had been below freezing for a few nights.
But that pot of rosemary has done very well. Just a few weeks ago new shoots began sprouting from the end of last years growth cycle. They have grown about three inches long and are ready to make new plants.
Any woody stemmed herb with newer growth can be cut now from the tips to make new plants. Early March is the perfect time since it is early enough in the season to allow the cuttings to set roots and be ready to go outside late April.
And with good luck you may get to take a second cutting in April just in case something happens to the March cuttings.
To take cuttings off of woody stemmed herbs choose soft new growth from the ends of the branches. Cutting should be about two to three inches and length although there is no set rule. The only rule is that the cuttings come from soft tissue. These root much easier.
After taking cuttings remove the leaves from the bottom inch or so of the stem. There should be no foliage below the soil surface. To expose more rooting tissue cut the bottom of the cut piece once more at a 45* angle. This exposes more surface area across the bottom of the cutting giving rooting success a much greater chance.
Insert the cuttings into well drained soil. Cover with a humidity dome used for seed flats or place into a small clear plastic bag. The idea here is to create a mini greenhouse environment. Light should be bright with little direct sun until rooting has taken place.
Your new cuttings are ready to transplant when you begin to feel a good deal of resistance when tugging on the cutting. Rosemary should take 3-5 weeks to set firm roots.

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Greg Draiss

Volunteers Need Not Apply

Hey the new prez says we should all volunteer right? Tell that to the gang at Capital District Community Gardens who despite five years of me asking to volunteer have gone out of their way to screw up the membership e-mail list, not return phone calls and go so far as to not give me directions to their site to sort seed packs.

I feel we need to make these so called volunteer do gooders remove themselves from office and let people who really want to create community gardens actually be able to.

Go to www.cdcg.org and look at all the claims of goody two shoe projects.

Then try and volunteer; Be prepared to be pushed aside, ignored along with the broken promises and fake apologies.

Then think hard about the new regime we elected in Washington and around your state, county and hometown. The pseudo Clintonites will ask for your time when all they want is your money.

Too many non profit organizations are there to self serve their board members. They are not community activists. People like the ilk at Capital District Community Gardens are elitists who want nothing of time just your sympathy.

Now get your community organized and start your own community garden.


Greg Draiss