what the heck is this?

it's growing in our front yard next to the cherry tree (so it's deliberate and not a weed), but i have no clue what the heck it is.

any clue?

july garden update

the garden is coming along nicely, with a few hiccups:

- only 2 of my entire pack of cucumber seeds came up. what a bummer, since we easily eat a cucumber a day.
- none (that's right, not a single one) of my honeydews came up. lame.
- something (i think it's a rabbit) ate off the tops of two of my roma plants. good news is some of the others have flowers on them now. hopefully those don't get eaten too.

on a good note...
- green beans are going nuts and green peppers have flowers on them
- carrots still look good and now that the holes in the fence are patched, the rabbit shouldn't be eating them anymore
- corn is definitely on track since it's past knee high already
- the honeydew stinks but we have about 12-14 watermelon plants that made it
- we've got some baby zucchinis coming already too

gardening nerd project

so it's been a while. ok, more than a while, but i'm busy. a little more than 4 months til the wedding and two weeks in the house. i've got a great little summer nerd project going.

i planted vegetables and herbs in both gardens and some random pots in the back. i'm curious to see how much $$ i can really save by growing my own produce, so here's how the costs broke down:

$3.25 6pack basil plants
$3.48 oregano plant
$3.48 lemon basil plant
$3.48 lemon balm plant
$8.63 rosemary bush
$3.25 6pack green pepper plants
$3.48 9pack silver queen corn plants
$3.50 6pack zucchini plants
$1.00 organic green bean seeds
$1.50 corn seeds
$1.19 organic watermelon seeds
$1.19 honeydew seeds
$1.49 carrott seeds
$1.50 organic cucumber seeds
$2.00 6pack roma tomato plants
$8.47 potting soil (lemon balm, oregano, and lemon basil are in pots)
$29.94 2 plastic pots
$14.97 rake
$95.37 2 hoses with nozzles
$14.00 4 tomato cages
Total = $205.17
Total plants & seeds only = $50.89

no, i am not adding the cost of labor, water, and fertilizer. i didn't use any fertilizer this year (i'm sure in subsequent years i'll need it and will add the cost into it then) and plan on using most of the water my basement dehumidifier (that would normally get poured down the drain).

i'm keeping track of how much grows and we harvest. we've already got parsley, peppermint, spearmint, and chives growing outside, so i'll keep track of those too. i'll post the summary at the end of the summer. it'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

massena in the news...and not the public record

i've had some damn good pancake breakfasts growing up...

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/11/chris_smith_on_hillary_paterso.html?f=most-commente

who doesn't love a good book?

i'll keep the list updated as i start/finish books.

09.12.08-09.12.08 A: "veronika decides to die" by paulo coelho
09.09.08-09.12.08 A: "not just a pretty face: the ugly side of the beauty industry" by stacy malkan
09.13.08-09.16.08 A+: "the world without us" by alan weisman
08.19.08-08.27.08 A+ : "in defense of food: an eater's manifesto" by michael pollan
08.09.08-08.18.08 B: "lullaby" by chuck palahniuk
07.28.08-07.31.08 A+: "the witch of portobello" by paulo coelho
07.15.08-08.15.08 C+: "the politically incorrect guide to global warming and the environment"

green tp

yes, that's right...tp that's from 100% recycled paper and bleached without chlorine. and it was the cheapest (besides wegmans brand) in wegmans. seriously.

pear trees in ny?

who knew...