Sunday Wrapup--September 6, 2015
We picked the first watermelon today. It was a Crimson Sweet and weighed 24.5 lbs. This variety was bred at Kansas State University in 1964. Wikipedia says it is no longer grown to any great extent. I don't think Wikipedia knows anything about Kansas watermelon growing. In my experience it's by far the most popular variety among local gardeners and consumers--at least the people who haven't become unduly enthralled with seedless watermelons.
This is the very first time I have had any confidence that I'm picking a watermelon at the right stage. I've never actually grown many watermelons, often needing to focus on less space-hungry or more marketable or preservable crops.
I've been watching the first watermelon with eagle eyes, checking it at least once a day to see if the curl closest to the watermelon was dead yet. It stayed stubbornly green--until yesterday, when I first saw that the curled tendril had a "pinched" brown spot along its straight portion. This evening it was totally dead-looking. I came in for my pruner and invited Hiromi to participate in the celebratory harvest. I was, of course, also hoping he might carry it in. He did. It's cooling in the refrigerator. This will take a while since the temperature today reached the century mark.
This past week our garden also produced one of the most exquisitely-flavored cantaloupe(s?) I've ever tasted. One other melon from the garden was almost equally good, and many others were so-so.
***************
My galley-style kitchen has so much garden produce on the floor (mostly in buckets) that walking through it requires some navigation skills. There's Hiromi's pickle bucket--a 5-gallon bucket of thick-sliced cucumbers submerged by a heavy weight in salt water. Next he'll press all the liquid out in small batches in his Japanese pickle-maker, and then mix it with chopped gingerroot and soy sauce and press it some more. Finally, the finished pickles will go into jars in the refrigerator and be eaten as an accompaniment to any meal that includes rice.
A very large basket (3/4 bushel?) contains various kinds and colors of soft-skinned summer squash, including green and yellow zucchini, white scalloped (patty pan), and yellow crookneck. I'm taking them to the Labor Day picnic as giveaways. The big squash "clubs" that were missed in previous harvests are piled on top of the mulch in the vine-crop patch, along with the bloated-submarine-shaped cucumbers that lurked too long in hidden places.
A 2-gallon bucket is piled high with "special" tomatoes. None of the Great Whites are ready yet, but I've picked Super Sioux, Bella Rosa (both red), Chef's Choice Orange, Lemon Boy (clear, icy yellow), a large red cherry variety, and Aunt Ruby's German Green. The Green and the Super Sioux are the clear winners in the taste category.
Super Sioux is an improved variety of Sioux, a tomato released in 1944 by the University of Nebraska. It's open-pollinated. The plant is semi-determinate, and the fruits are medium-sized, with the ability to produce well even in hot, dry weather. I think this variety is one I will plant regularly from now on.
The white, green, and yellow varieties are destined for a special purpose--mixing with the green juice I imbibe in large quantities during the winter. I plan to can the tomatoes. Kale and spinach are the major ingredients of my fresh green juice. Red tomato juice mixed with this results in an unappetizing brown color, although it does good things for the flavor. The white, pale yellow, and green juices will only brighten the green juice and make it look as appealing as it tastes.
One more juicing trick I'm trying this year is to blend cucumbers into a liquid, and then freeze the liquid in ice cubes to add to raw vegetable juice. I always add salt and like my green juice just fine.
Three other buckets on my kitchen floor are full of "regular" tomatoes. One five-gallon bucket is about 3/4 filled, mostly with Butternut squash and about four more scalloped (patty pan) squash.
Two neck pumpkins (think "ginormous" long-necked Butternut squash) are also taking up floor space in the kitchen.
Three grocery bags of cucumbers have been stuffed into the refrigerator. Cool Beans (restaurant) is still buying them.
*****************
Tonight on my garden stroll I saw butterflies from the Whites and Sulphurs group, and some from the True Brushfoot group. I think these were likely an American Lady and a Painted Lady. One was distinctly larger than the other. I've been seeing Blues and Hairstreaks too, of late.
****************
I'm not sure what it says about us, but tonight my sisters Lois, Linda, and I all separately made our way to a place where we could watch the setting sun in its molten-lava-colored glory. Brilliant color surrounded it, and nearby clouds were all edged in gold and silver light. Every time I go to the effort of walking to the end of the drive in order to see the sunset unobstructed by the windbreak trees on the west edge of our property, I feel the satiation of a hunger that comes from somewhere deep inside. I can't ever leave till the sun is out of sight.
***************
The Dyck Arboretum native plants fall sale is this week, starting on Thursday (for members) and going through Sunday. I hope to purchase some plants for the Pocket Prairie that's being created on the Pilgrim School grounds. A generous donor has designated money for this project. Many of the plants, however, will need to come from more cost-effective sources. Digging them up where they are abundant in native vegetation or growing them from seed might be two possibilities.
**************
This week I begin Master Gardener classes offered through our state extension service. In exchange for about 40 hours of training from professionals in the horticulture field (both food gardening and landscaping) and a giant notebook of reference materials, I am paying a $110.00 fee to cover costs, and I'm agreeing to invest 40 hours of community service in the horticulture field. Some of the hours will be spent working in the demonstration garden at Hutchinson Community College and helping with next summer's garden tour in Hutchinson, but the majority of the hours can be invested right here in the Pleasantview area, in a format that has not yet been determined. Let me know if you have input. I'm open to teaching classes for interested adults, etc. I will attend classes every Thursday through December 10, so any classes I teach would need to happen after that--presumably after the New Year. I was a little disappointed to find that the classes are conducted in Newton--not in Hutchinson, as I had hoped, but it makes sense that several counties are collaborating for these classes, and Newton is the central location for this group of counties. Transportation is provided.
**************
I've heard good things about the first "expotition" at the grade school. It was a very warm day, but little creatures apparently abounded around the Stutzman pond and in the area en route to the pond. While butterflies was the main emphasis, captures and inspections of other interesting things included quite an assortment. Some students were quick enough to capture a lizard and flying grasshoppers. They saw dragonflies and damselflies--and a tomato worm wearing eggs from a parasitic insect. That would have been the one that prompted an Ewwwww! response from me. They also saw a dragonfly devouring a white butterfly.
Some of the first and second graders' drawings and sentences about the experience were absolutely charming. They each had a little notebook in which to record what caught their interest. Older students too have nature notebooks in which to keep records.
I hear lots of buzz from students who are looking for interesting things at home to take to school. Simply creating a classroom environment where such things are welcome is a huge step forward in creating interest in and appreciation of the natural world. I myself took a cicada killer over there on Tuesday for the students to see. It's quite a scary-looking giant wasp-like creature. I'm not sure what its fate was, but I'm sure that at least initially the jar it was in joined other insect-home jars collecting on the counters in the classrooms.
"Science" was the quick answer my sister Linda overheard when someone asked a student what was her favorite thing at school "today."
An out-of-state visitor to the community told me that in one local home they visited they saw jars containing living things, ready for the children to take to school. This might be the first time those children are sorry that Monday is not a school day.
*****************
Can you believe I read part of a Leonard Pitts column in Sunday School class today? It was about the faith of Jimmy Carter, written after Carter announced publicly that he has cancer in various places in his body. The story fit perfectly with the first part of Romans 5--our lesson for today, which elaborates on "Righteousness by Faith." The column can be read here. I noted that in his column in today's paper, he was back to his always-liberal and sometimes slightly-disdainful-of-religion tone. When a person observes carefully as he does, feels deeply, and writes truthfully, however, some of the writer's God-image will shine through and occasionally glitter with inspiration and beauty. Such was the case in the Jimmy Carter column.
****************
I've been engaged recently in a rather exhausting Facebook conversation mostly about Christians' participation in government. Several local young men participated, but I don't know the two other young men who made many of the comments. It all began quite innocuously with Hans Mast posting a link to a nice little clip of Ben Carson answering a question from a ten-year-old. If you look it up, be advised that you'll have to click numerous times on "See more" and "View replies" in order to read it all. If you're not on Facebook and really want more information about the conversation, email me. I have probably never before stated my view of this matter in a venue as public as Facebook. Shudder.
***************
"Things are getting worse [regarding the practice of homosexuality] and I think our current administration has a lot to do with that." That was what I heard from a very nice man who, with his wife, had just told me about the terrible things that happened to members of their plain Mennonite group who were witnessing in a North American city. A woman approached members of the group and asked provocative questions about their view of homosexuality. Despite their best efforts to be cautious and kind or to simply decline from discussing it, the woman spoke hatefully and then literally battered and slapped in the face the people she interacted with. She tore at the coverings of the ladies she attacked. After leaving briefly to change clothes, she returned, carrying a knife with which she stabbed the group leader in the back as he spoke to the team about the plans for dispersing and then gathering again the following day. Mercifully, the injury did not prove fatal.
Later, I thought more about the conversation. My first thought was that the people I had been talking to had some really tragic life experiences involving homosexual individuals--perhaps more so than anyone else I know personally. Not a trace of bitterness about those experiences came through, however, in their speech. I admire them for that. They live exemplary Christian lives, and have reached out to bless many hurting children, for which I love and respect them.
Later still, I thought of something else. One, the incident involving the Christian witnessing group actually took place in Canada, and I'm not sure how "our current administration" could be held responsible for what happened there. Two, the opening of the floodgates for legalizing same-sex marriage was an act of five supreme court justices, only two of which were appointed by the current president. It's true that Obama, in his second term, has supported same-sex marriage. It's also true, however, that, no matter his opinion, he could not have opened these floodgates by himself. Blaming the president for the same-sex ruling is not quite fair, and is too simplistic.
**************
I had a big Sunday School class today. I didn't see anyone that I want to do without, but I do know that there will be at least two more people there in the future, who were not there today, and that will make the group even bigger. The location of the class makes it appealing for women with mobility issues--something I'm not sure the superintendents considered when dividing the classes initially. I've privately called that class the "mommy" class for that reason (I've been part of this class at various times, so it wasn't a pejorative label). I think I'll check in with the superintendents and let them make any necessary decisions. They might find it stressful, but not as much as I would.
**************
I've noticed a recent trend that departs from a long-standing seating tradition in church. "Sitting up front" has been a growing-up rite-of-passage that occurred around the age of 12. Of late, I see girls a number of years on the older side of twelve opting to sit with their mothers. I haven't asked anyone why. In the meantime I've comprised a speculative list of possible reasons:
A. They were observed misbehaving and have to sit with their mothers as a punishment.
B. They enjoy the diversions provided by watching people (not many can be discreetly watched from the front)
C. They have a recently-developed fondness for being in close proximity to their mother.
D. They're bored up front.
E. They are helping care for children during church.
F. They need a shoulder on which to rest their head because of weariness or ill health.
G. Other reasons unknown to me.
I don't think the front bench is usually crowded--unlike the back benches--sometimes, at least.
**************
The Week had a two-page article by Oliver Sacks about his impending death. He is a gay secular Jewish author. When I began reading the story "The Seventh Day of Life" I thought immediately of how principles of observing the Sabbath can help us deal with all kinds of stresses in life. I've usually thought of Sabbath-keeping as rightfully including rest, worship, and fellowship. What struck me this morning was that during every day of the week, those elements of Sabbath-keeping can be incorporated in sample amounts. The idea of doing so has relevance for what I talked about in my devotions at the sewing--finding ways to live well, even in challenging circumstances. It involves observing checkpoints, at which time one quits "working," because the work is "done," and rest and refreshment is appropriate. The work is never really done, of course, but it can safely be put aside for a brief time, so that strength can be renewed for taking it up again after the Sabbath is over.
From his Orthodox Jewish childhood, Sacks remembers painstaking preparations for the Sabbath--preparing food, cleaning the house, and putting on clean clothes. When Friday evening arrived, they lit candles and ate together, various activities punctuated by prayers and chants. The next day they gathered with relatives and other families at their synagogue service, and visited outside afterward. After a cold lunch at home, families often visited each others' homes for tea. Sacks looks at the end of life similarly--preparing by living a "good" life, and then, in good conscience, resting.
I find it disturbing that Sacks apparently has no cognizance of the need to prepare for what follows physical death. Nevertheless, he's onto something good in pointing to lessons from observing the Sabbath, and applying truths we learn there to how we live life or how we die.
This is the very first time I have had any confidence that I'm picking a watermelon at the right stage. I've never actually grown many watermelons, often needing to focus on less space-hungry or more marketable or preservable crops.
I've been watching the first watermelon with eagle eyes, checking it at least once a day to see if the curl closest to the watermelon was dead yet. It stayed stubbornly green--until yesterday, when I first saw that the curled tendril had a "pinched" brown spot along its straight portion. This evening it was totally dead-looking. I came in for my pruner and invited Hiromi to participate in the celebratory harvest. I was, of course, also hoping he might carry it in. He did. It's cooling in the refrigerator. This will take a while since the temperature today reached the century mark.
This past week our garden also produced one of the most exquisitely-flavored cantaloupe(s?) I've ever tasted. One other melon from the garden was almost equally good, and many others were so-so.
***************
My galley-style kitchen has so much garden produce on the floor (mostly in buckets) that walking through it requires some navigation skills. There's Hiromi's pickle bucket--a 5-gallon bucket of thick-sliced cucumbers submerged by a heavy weight in salt water. Next he'll press all the liquid out in small batches in his Japanese pickle-maker, and then mix it with chopped gingerroot and soy sauce and press it some more. Finally, the finished pickles will go into jars in the refrigerator and be eaten as an accompaniment to any meal that includes rice.
A very large basket (3/4 bushel?) contains various kinds and colors of soft-skinned summer squash, including green and yellow zucchini, white scalloped (patty pan), and yellow crookneck. I'm taking them to the Labor Day picnic as giveaways. The big squash "clubs" that were missed in previous harvests are piled on top of the mulch in the vine-crop patch, along with the bloated-submarine-shaped cucumbers that lurked too long in hidden places.
A 2-gallon bucket is piled high with "special" tomatoes. None of the Great Whites are ready yet, but I've picked Super Sioux, Bella Rosa (both red), Chef's Choice Orange, Lemon Boy (clear, icy yellow), a large red cherry variety, and Aunt Ruby's German Green. The Green and the Super Sioux are the clear winners in the taste category.
Super Sioux is an improved variety of Sioux, a tomato released in 1944 by the University of Nebraska. It's open-pollinated. The plant is semi-determinate, and the fruits are medium-sized, with the ability to produce well even in hot, dry weather. I think this variety is one I will plant regularly from now on.
The white, green, and yellow varieties are destined for a special purpose--mixing with the green juice I imbibe in large quantities during the winter. I plan to can the tomatoes. Kale and spinach are the major ingredients of my fresh green juice. Red tomato juice mixed with this results in an unappetizing brown color, although it does good things for the flavor. The white, pale yellow, and green juices will only brighten the green juice and make it look as appealing as it tastes.
One more juicing trick I'm trying this year is to blend cucumbers into a liquid, and then freeze the liquid in ice cubes to add to raw vegetable juice. I always add salt and like my green juice just fine.
Three other buckets on my kitchen floor are full of "regular" tomatoes. One five-gallon bucket is about 3/4 filled, mostly with Butternut squash and about four more scalloped (patty pan) squash.
Two neck pumpkins (think "ginormous" long-necked Butternut squash) are also taking up floor space in the kitchen.
Three grocery bags of cucumbers have been stuffed into the refrigerator. Cool Beans (restaurant) is still buying them.
*****************
Tonight on my garden stroll I saw butterflies from the Whites and Sulphurs group, and some from the True Brushfoot group. I think these were likely an American Lady and a Painted Lady. One was distinctly larger than the other. I've been seeing Blues and Hairstreaks too, of late.
****************
I'm not sure what it says about us, but tonight my sisters Lois, Linda, and I all separately made our way to a place where we could watch the setting sun in its molten-lava-colored glory. Brilliant color surrounded it, and nearby clouds were all edged in gold and silver light. Every time I go to the effort of walking to the end of the drive in order to see the sunset unobstructed by the windbreak trees on the west edge of our property, I feel the satiation of a hunger that comes from somewhere deep inside. I can't ever leave till the sun is out of sight.
***************
The Dyck Arboretum native plants fall sale is this week, starting on Thursday (for members) and going through Sunday. I hope to purchase some plants for the Pocket Prairie that's being created on the Pilgrim School grounds. A generous donor has designated money for this project. Many of the plants, however, will need to come from more cost-effective sources. Digging them up where they are abundant in native vegetation or growing them from seed might be two possibilities.
**************
This week I begin Master Gardener classes offered through our state extension service. In exchange for about 40 hours of training from professionals in the horticulture field (both food gardening and landscaping) and a giant notebook of reference materials, I am paying a $110.00 fee to cover costs, and I'm agreeing to invest 40 hours of community service in the horticulture field. Some of the hours will be spent working in the demonstration garden at Hutchinson Community College and helping with next summer's garden tour in Hutchinson, but the majority of the hours can be invested right here in the Pleasantview area, in a format that has not yet been determined. Let me know if you have input. I'm open to teaching classes for interested adults, etc. I will attend classes every Thursday through December 10, so any classes I teach would need to happen after that--presumably after the New Year. I was a little disappointed to find that the classes are conducted in Newton--not in Hutchinson, as I had hoped, but it makes sense that several counties are collaborating for these classes, and Newton is the central location for this group of counties. Transportation is provided.
**************
I've heard good things about the first "expotition" at the grade school. It was a very warm day, but little creatures apparently abounded around the Stutzman pond and in the area en route to the pond. While butterflies was the main emphasis, captures and inspections of other interesting things included quite an assortment. Some students were quick enough to capture a lizard and flying grasshoppers. They saw dragonflies and damselflies--and a tomato worm wearing eggs from a parasitic insect. That would have been the one that prompted an Ewwwww! response from me. They also saw a dragonfly devouring a white butterfly.
Some of the first and second graders' drawings and sentences about the experience were absolutely charming. They each had a little notebook in which to record what caught their interest. Older students too have nature notebooks in which to keep records.
I hear lots of buzz from students who are looking for interesting things at home to take to school. Simply creating a classroom environment where such things are welcome is a huge step forward in creating interest in and appreciation of the natural world. I myself took a cicada killer over there on Tuesday for the students to see. It's quite a scary-looking giant wasp-like creature. I'm not sure what its fate was, but I'm sure that at least initially the jar it was in joined other insect-home jars collecting on the counters in the classrooms.
"Science" was the quick answer my sister Linda overheard when someone asked a student what was her favorite thing at school "today."
An out-of-state visitor to the community told me that in one local home they visited they saw jars containing living things, ready for the children to take to school. This might be the first time those children are sorry that Monday is not a school day.
*****************
Can you believe I read part of a Leonard Pitts column in Sunday School class today? It was about the faith of Jimmy Carter, written after Carter announced publicly that he has cancer in various places in his body. The story fit perfectly with the first part of Romans 5--our lesson for today, which elaborates on "Righteousness by Faith." The column can be read here. I noted that in his column in today's paper, he was back to his always-liberal and sometimes slightly-disdainful-of-religion tone. When a person observes carefully as he does, feels deeply, and writes truthfully, however, some of the writer's God-image will shine through and occasionally glitter with inspiration and beauty. Such was the case in the Jimmy Carter column.
****************
I've been engaged recently in a rather exhausting Facebook conversation mostly about Christians' participation in government. Several local young men participated, but I don't know the two other young men who made many of the comments. It all began quite innocuously with Hans Mast posting a link to a nice little clip of Ben Carson answering a question from a ten-year-old. If you look it up, be advised that you'll have to click numerous times on "See more" and "View replies" in order to read it all. If you're not on Facebook and really want more information about the conversation, email me. I have probably never before stated my view of this matter in a venue as public as Facebook. Shudder.
***************
"Things are getting worse [regarding the practice of homosexuality] and I think our current administration has a lot to do with that." That was what I heard from a very nice man who, with his wife, had just told me about the terrible things that happened to members of their plain Mennonite group who were witnessing in a North American city. A woman approached members of the group and asked provocative questions about their view of homosexuality. Despite their best efforts to be cautious and kind or to simply decline from discussing it, the woman spoke hatefully and then literally battered and slapped in the face the people she interacted with. She tore at the coverings of the ladies she attacked. After leaving briefly to change clothes, she returned, carrying a knife with which she stabbed the group leader in the back as he spoke to the team about the plans for dispersing and then gathering again the following day. Mercifully, the injury did not prove fatal.
Later, I thought more about the conversation. My first thought was that the people I had been talking to had some really tragic life experiences involving homosexual individuals--perhaps more so than anyone else I know personally. Not a trace of bitterness about those experiences came through, however, in their speech. I admire them for that. They live exemplary Christian lives, and have reached out to bless many hurting children, for which I love and respect them.
Later still, I thought of something else. One, the incident involving the Christian witnessing group actually took place in Canada, and I'm not sure how "our current administration" could be held responsible for what happened there. Two, the opening of the floodgates for legalizing same-sex marriage was an act of five supreme court justices, only two of which were appointed by the current president. It's true that Obama, in his second term, has supported same-sex marriage. It's also true, however, that, no matter his opinion, he could not have opened these floodgates by himself. Blaming the president for the same-sex ruling is not quite fair, and is too simplistic.
**************
I had a big Sunday School class today. I didn't see anyone that I want to do without, but I do know that there will be at least two more people there in the future, who were not there today, and that will make the group even bigger. The location of the class makes it appealing for women with mobility issues--something I'm not sure the superintendents considered when dividing the classes initially. I've privately called that class the "mommy" class for that reason (I've been part of this class at various times, so it wasn't a pejorative label). I think I'll check in with the superintendents and let them make any necessary decisions. They might find it stressful, but not as much as I would.
**************
I've noticed a recent trend that departs from a long-standing seating tradition in church. "Sitting up front" has been a growing-up rite-of-passage that occurred around the age of 12. Of late, I see girls a number of years on the older side of twelve opting to sit with their mothers. I haven't asked anyone why. In the meantime I've comprised a speculative list of possible reasons:
A. They were observed misbehaving and have to sit with their mothers as a punishment.
B. They enjoy the diversions provided by watching people (not many can be discreetly watched from the front)
C. They have a recently-developed fondness for being in close proximity to their mother.
D. They're bored up front.
E. They are helping care for children during church.
F. They need a shoulder on which to rest their head because of weariness or ill health.
G. Other reasons unknown to me.
I don't think the front bench is usually crowded--unlike the back benches--sometimes, at least.
**************
The Week had a two-page article by Oliver Sacks about his impending death. He is a gay secular Jewish author. When I began reading the story "The Seventh Day of Life" I thought immediately of how principles of observing the Sabbath can help us deal with all kinds of stresses in life. I've usually thought of Sabbath-keeping as rightfully including rest, worship, and fellowship. What struck me this morning was that during every day of the week, those elements of Sabbath-keeping can be incorporated in sample amounts. The idea of doing so has relevance for what I talked about in my devotions at the sewing--finding ways to live well, even in challenging circumstances. It involves observing checkpoints, at which time one quits "working," because the work is "done," and rest and refreshment is appropriate. The work is never really done, of course, but it can safely be put aside for a brief time, so that strength can be renewed for taking it up again after the Sabbath is over.
From his Orthodox Jewish childhood, Sacks remembers painstaking preparations for the Sabbath--preparing food, cleaning the house, and putting on clean clothes. When Friday evening arrived, they lit candles and ate together, various activities punctuated by prayers and chants. The next day they gathered with relatives and other families at their synagogue service, and visited outside afterward. After a cold lunch at home, families often visited each others' homes for tea. Sacks looks at the end of life similarly--preparing by living a "good" life, and then, in good conscience, resting.
I find it disturbing that Sacks apparently has no cognizance of the need to prepare for what follows physical death. Nevertheless, he's onto something good in pointing to lessons from observing the Sabbath, and applying truths we learn there to how we live life or how we die.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
10:56 PM
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