Ushering in Spring
I don’t know what is considered the first sign of spring where you are, but here in Ohio it’s the sunny yellow blossoms of the forsythia bushes.
They are such lovely bushes with their cascades of yellow blossoms so early in the year. I love their weeping nature, I’ve always thought about getting a start and training it as a standard.
I got my forsythia from my mom, she has a huge hedge of them (50 feet long by 6-10 feet wide). They spread easily, so there’s really no point in buying plants if you know someone that already has one. I’m hoping to get a few more this summer to plant around our property, you just can’t beat this lovely plant when you need a tough hedge.
What’s the first sign of spring in your area?
Share this:
Quote of the Day
“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.”
My parents are avid gardeners, so I grew up in the garden. However, I’ve heard many people my age and younger, wishing their parents had taught them how to garden and grow veggies. It seems like growing plants, particularly food should be a skill that every child learns. Perhaps the skill will never be used, but at least if a need arises they have the knowledge.
Do you think we as a society have forgotten ourselves because many of us no longer garden? Do you feel like you’re more connected with your roots because you garden?
Share this:
FDA’s new “Focus on the Positive” Campaign
Yesterday morning I read this article on Civil Eats. I just had to share because I was completely blown away when I read about the FDA’s new “Focus on the Positive” campaign.
Newly appointed Food and Drug Administration chief Joshua Sharfstein announced this afternoon that in the wake of this week’s pistachio scandal, the agency would launch a new Safest Food Awareness Bureau in early 2010. “We live in such a ‘bad news’ world,” said Sharfstein, “this new approach will focus on the positive news.” Instead of announcing when food is contaminated, the new agency will be tasked with issuing a daily announcement of non-contaminated American foods, slowly phasing out the current policy of announcing food recalls directly to the public.
“This new program addresses the issue of an upswing in the number of food safety challenges, a shift that we do not see swinging back down in the next few decades,” Sharfstein stated at today’s press conference. This may be good news for consumers – instead of focusing on the increasing number of things we cannot eat, we can celebrate the few things we can. Sharfstein announced that the FDA will begin a 9-month shift towards the new approach this month, with a campaign entitled “Focus on the Positive.” Under the new guidelines, announcements about food contamination will be “focused on proactive statements, for example: ‘Try eating almonds and lettuce today, but stay away from spinach’”, said Sharfstein. The new agency plans on announcing its interim commissioner at the end of May 2009.
UPDATE: Evidently this was an April Fools joke, so I apologize for putting it on my blog. I in no way wanted to participate in April Fools (even 3 days later). I know it’s just a joke on one day, but I don’t believe it belongs in a professional environment. It’s one thing to joke with your friends & family, it’s entirely something different to deceive the people who rely on you for a source of credible information. In my opinion, websites that strive to be a source of reliable & credible information should not participate in April Fools. I have always used Civil Eats as a source of information for what’s going on in the world of food, I now will read the articles they publish with an even bigger grain of salt. If they feel comfortable deceiving their readers on April Fools they probably feel comfortable bending the truth at other times to make their point. Perhaps my opinion is too strong on this matter, but I do believe that when you think something is OK in one instance no matter how trivial, it often spills into other areas of your life. In an era where it seems like many things coming from the government agencies (particularly the FDA) sound like April Fools jokes, it’s not particularly entertaining to joke about things like food contamination that actually cause deaths. I hope none of the families of people who died from the peanut contamination read this article as I’m sure it would have been particularly disturbing for them.
Share this:
Dress Up 2 Cure Today
Today is the dress up to cure event for Brooklyn Butler. We have 19 photos uploaded to our Flickr Pool, you still have time to join (see below). Here are a few of our participants, head over to Flickr to see all of the great photos.
All you have to do to participate is: add a photo to our Flickr Pool or post it on your blog and send me a link, so send me a photo. I’ll donate $10 in your name for the Dress Up 2 Cure event. If you don’t want to dress up your kids or your pet, dress up some veggies like Dan (you’ll have to head over there to see this photo, it’s too funny!).
Why not join us for a worthy cause.
Share this:
Playing in the Dirt
Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up
until your back gets used to it.
~Author Unknown
This past week I’ve been putting in a new flowerbed in the front yard. I’m liberating about 100 square feet of lawn along with part of the woods on the side of the property. This bed is going to be about 8-10 feet wide by about 30 feet long. It’s going to be a beneficial border of native plants and flowers for the bees and humming birds. I’m also hoping to have a few spots to tuck in some herbs and veggies.
It sure is hard work digging up sapplings and tree roots along the edge of the woods. I don’t mind though, one of the things I like most about gardening is the manual labor. I like that I don’t have to worry about going to the gym to get my exercise, I get it in the front yard while doing something constructive. It feels good knowing that all of my hard work will have a beautiful reward later this summer.
Do you like the manual labor of gardening? Or do you prefer the easier tasks?
