Category Archives: Garden

I’ve been pretty good about weeding out the garden, while preserving volunteers for replanting around the beds. I’ve got three volunteer tomato plants and several peppers. I have no idea what specific variety of either is likely to result … but yummy is as yummy does. Here’s the garden in progress, from a couple of days ago:

Garden on 30 May 2013

As I write this, the wind is up, lightning all around, and rain the size of small hatchbacks is falling. The good news is that the garden is young. Big wind when the plants are large tends to blow things over, or even out of the raised beds altogether. The rain is good, though – the lawns are thirsty.

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 Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

• Spc. Christopher R. Drake, 20, of Tickfaw, Louisiana, died May 26, in Bagram, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when his vehicle was attacked with a rocket propelled grenade.
• Staff Sgt. Joe A. Nunezrodriguez, 29, of Pasadena, Texas, died May 30, in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.

While yesterday was the astronomically first day of Fall, it was warmer than most of the prior week. But that was the peak, and temps are dropping again. I harvested a bunch of pain from the garden today:

A sink-full of pain – mostly serrano and habañero peppers.

I’m just preparing to rinse the harvest in the sink – it’s mostly serrano and habañero peppers, plus a few jalapeño, a couple of tomatoes, and a tiny bell pepper. I ground up perhaps a quarter of that harvest to preserve here. The rest is going to the office tomorrow. Pain is best shared! I also roasted a pound of Sumatra Lake Toba 19+ Ulos, did the weekly shopping, finished up the in-class work for the week (after turning in a 1350 word essay yesterday), and cooked meals for both of us for the week to come. A good day.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

• Sgt. Sapuro B. Nena, 25, of Honolulu, Hawaii, died Sept. 16 in Zabul province, Afghanistan of injuries suffered when his position was attacked with small arms fire.
• Spc. Joshua N. Nelson, 22, Greenville, North Carolina, died Sept. 16 in Zabul province, Afghanistan of injuries suffered when his position was attacked with small arms fire.
• Pfc. Genaro Bedoy, 20, of Amarillo, Texas, died Sept. 16 in Zabul province, Afghanistan of injuries suffered when his position was attacked with small arms fire.
• Pfc. Jon R. Townsend, 19, Claremore, Oklahoma, died Sept. 16 in Zabul province, Afghanistan of injuries suffered when his position was attacked with small arms fire.
• Sgt. Jason M. Swindle, 24, of Cabot, Arkansas, died Sept. 20, in Panjwa’l, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when he was attacked by a rocket propelled grenade while on mounted patrol.

Today I pulled another batch of tomatoes out of the garden. How many? A gallon of salsa, and another lobster pot of red sauce, that’s how many. I also dug up all the rest of the potatoes, about 30# worth. Today started with the shopping, then I was mowing from 1030 to 1200, and then gardening and cooking until 1930 – a full day’s work. The garden is pretty sad, in truth. Between school and spending two weeks partially under the weather, the garden truly hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. The worst sin: Tomatoes have gone bad on the vine, sigh. I hold out hope for next summer, ’cause this one’s almost gone.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

• Capt. Matthew P. Manoukian, 29, of Los Altos Hills, California, died Aug. 10 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
• Gunnery Sgt. Ryan Jeschke, 31, of Herndon, Virginia, died Aug. 10 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
• Staff Sgt. Sky R. Mote, 27, of El Dorado, California, died Aug. 10 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
• Staff Sgt. Scott E. Dickinson, 29, of San Diego, California, died Aug. 10 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
• Cpl. Richard A. Rivera Jr., 20 of Ventura, California, died Aug. 10 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
• Lance Cpl. Gregory T. Buckley, 21, of Oceanside, New York, died Aug. 10 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
• Pfc. Andrew J. Keller, 22, of Tigard, Oregon, died Aug. 15, in Charkh, Afghanistan when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire.
• Staff Sgt. Eric S. Holman, 39, of Evans City, Pennsylvania, died Aug. 15, in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he encountered an enemy improvised explosive device.
• Pfc. Michael R. Demarsico II, of North Adams, Massachusetts, died Aug. 16 in Panjwa’l, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he encountered an enemy improvised device.
• Spc.  James A. Justice, 21, of Grover, North Carolina, died Aug. 17 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany from injuries suffered on Aug. 14 from enemy small-arms fire in Wardak province, Afghanistan.