I'm reposting and updating this from last year, for the top of the gardening season for most folks.

Our good friend MadSat, is still in Iraq, and still safe, and thankfully, he still has access to blogs.

MadSat is a rather remarkable beekeeper and bee remover (among a host of other amazing skills and talents). He sent along a great recipe to encourage and feed bees in a very healthful way.

It was so good ( posted my experiences with it last year), I want to share it here, with better measurements from MadSat:

The situation as it stands:
Wall Street had been holding its breath, pricing in, and "banking" (betting) on an effective Stimulus Plan, and a new and sensible Bank Rescue Plan. Well, neither are happening, and now we've continued with our regulary-scheduled collapse.

Geithner is a total fucking schmuck, clearly unwilling to properly confront the real problems of his Banker-Buddies' greed, their unwillingness to be honest about the shittiness of their piece of the Big Shitpile, and unwillingness help their borrowers, and those others on the hook in order to help themselves (see Banker's Greed). So many better candidates for the roll, and it's too damned early in the Obama Administration to replace the pinch-faced piece of shit, dammit.

OK. Don't Worry. I have a solid plan to fix Geithner's epic failure.

I'm looking out on my eight garden beds in the back yard. The strawberry and asparagus bed is wintering-over just fine. I cut the asparagus ferns down a week ago, when they finally turned brown, and fell over. Now, they are ready for sending up new stalks, which I will be able to harvest this year. This past year, each crown sent up at least twelve stalks, so, I expect this year to be a real good year for them. I just pulled and started dehydrating the parsley that I had growing with the asparagus. The strawberries seem to not realize that it is winter. I picked a good, hardy variety, and they are green, and still sending out new shoots, which I need to snip back every few weeks.

WOW.

What America has just done in such a gigantic way.

Just. WOW!!! I keep getting repeatedly teary.

Just deliver, Mr. Obama. That's all we want, now.

We NEED a NEW New Deal.

The GOP tears.... They are delicious.

I will save them up tonight, and make coffee from them in the morning... EXTRA bitter!

nomnomnomnomnomnom.

Dear Senator Barack Obama,

The Gross GDP of the World-- GWP-- Is $65 Trillion.

There is no way in hell, even if every individual, company, institution, corporation and nation emptied their savings and piggy banks, that we can possibly make up the difference between the GWP and the real problem of $681 Trillion Worth Of Derivatives Based On Shitty Debts.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to not try to bail out a mess that cannot be bailed out with all the money in the world, but rather, to plot out a new NEW DEAL. In the lines of FDR, but brought modern, and certainly incorporating much of what you already want to see happen during your Presidency, which is nearly guaranteed if you don't allow this Bailout to pass in any form close to what was foisted on us on 29 September.

We have crumbling infrastructure that needs repaired and/or modernized, we have solar and wind, and tidal, and thermal energy projects just waiting to be launched. We have fiber optic communication and energy transmission lines struggling to be laid. We have depleted land that needs to be restored. Barren wastes to be replanted.

We have inventors with new transportation plans that are begging to be recognized and supported. We have Supertrains chomping at the bit to be freed to carry Americans to work, and to their families.

We have millions of people desperate for health care that they can rely on, that is guaranteed-- hoping for a health plan like YOUR FEHB, or even Tri-Care, or VA Care. If only they could get out from under the tyranny of this existing carnivorous Health Care Scheme, they could live on their feet again, and pay their mortgage and bills without fear of hunger and illness.

I wonder when George is going to get around to ordering the Flag to half-mast for Representative Tubbs-Jones?

Does he only do that for white male Republicans, now?

... "Give em BACK!!!" --George W. Bush

Boy-- just IMAGINE the hot and tasty US DoD goodies that the Russians are finding as ground score behind the Georgian Army... "Slightly used, dropped once."

via AFP

CRAWFORD, Texas (AFP) — The White House on Tuesday demanded that Moscow return any US equipment its forces seized in Georgia, amid reports Russian troops grabbed some US military vehicles.

"If the Russians have it, it needs to be returned immediately," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said as US President George W. Bush followed the Georgia crisis from his ranch near this tiny Texas town.

"But there's conflicting reports on it right now. We'd certainly expect that the Russians would return any equipment that is US equipment and return it quickly, if, in fact, they do have it," Johndroe told reporters.

"There's some, also, indications that they've made that assurance. If they've made that assurance, they need to honor that commitment, as well," he said, describing the reports as "too sketchy" as to the material's location.

Russian forces in Georgia seized five Humvees (High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) that either belong or had belonged to the US military from the port of Poti, witnesses said.

Give 'em BACK!

HAW!!!

No. George is honestly NOT worried one damned bit about some HumVees. We just gave over a shitload of super serious toys, and DARPA
Happy Fun Balls (Google Video Link) to the Russians, and you can imagine, to the entire NotWest.

Give 'em BACK!!!

Oh, hell that is one of George's bestest yet.

Oh, gods almighty we are so FUCT.

The peck that I picked and froze earlier this week diced down to about seven fat quart bags. I added fresh-picked and dried basil (I have a large screen on sawhorses up in the unfinished attic, where it gets really hot and dry) to all of them, and to three of those bags, I added chopped bell and hot peppers.

Today, I picked and froze up another four quarts with basil and to two of them, I added some red wine. We'll see how that works out.

Today's batch is especially pretty, as I used a lot of little, yellow pear tomatoes.

I've got enough Roma Tomatoes left over to make a lasagna for this evening.

I've got a peck of beautiful Roma Tomatoes from the garden tonight, and I am going to dice and freeze them.

Here's The Safe And Easy Way To Do It.

It's really simple-- you don't even need to skin them.

There is a post down page, discussing ways to stay warm and fed this winter, as heating oil, natgas and electricity costs are all on a wild rise. Here's one small way to help lower your heating bills on the cheap.

via Mother Earth News

Some of the climatologists are predicting that the coming winter could well be colder than the last one. But even if that forecast comes true, you'll be a lot warmer during the clear-but-below-zero sieges ahead than you were during the frigid weather of last January and February, if your house or apartment has one or more unshaded southfacing windows and if you outfit those windows with the Heat Grabber. (See the bottom of the article and the Image Gallery to the right for Heat Grabber construction details and an explanation of the unit's operation.)

Believe it or not, this simple and effective "window box" solar collector can be fabricated in just under an hour by an experienced home craftsman (or in less than two hours by the more fumble-fingered among us) for the astonishingly low price of $32.18 (see materials breakdown on next page, prices are from 1977). And once constructed, this sturdy unit should give years of dependable service.

The secret of the Heat Grabber's quick assembly and low cost is a new rigid foam insulation board manufactured by Celotex. This board, trade-named "Thermax TF-610," is impregnated with glass fibers for strength, faced on both sides with heavy aluminum foil, and available in thicknesses ranging from 3/8" to 1-7/8". Celotex actually markets the material as a replacement for the pressed fiber sheathing or "blackboard" now used by contractors in the construction of wood framed houses and does not recommend it for any other purpose. Mother Earth News researchers, however, have run heat and other tests on the insulation board and found it near-ideal for use in quick, easy and low-cost solar collectors such as the Heat Grabber.

HOW IT WORKS...

Feds have seized, closed, and frozen all of its assets. Depositors will have access to ATMs ONLY.
via Bloomberg

July 11 (Bloomberg) -- IndyMac Bancorp Inc. became the second-biggest federally insured financial company to fail today after a run by depositors left the California mortgage lender short on cash.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will run a successor institution, IndyMac Federal Bank, starting next week, the Office of Thrift Supervision said in an e-mail today. Customers will have access to funds this weekend via automated teller machines.

 Read more…

From time to time, I'm going to try and provide some advice and fixes for common garden problems for you. Stuff that I have encountered and battled with, and other problems that I might be currently experiencing and want to help you avoid.

Have you ever had a Squash, Pepper or Tomato plant growing wonderfully, setting lots of fruits, and suddenly one day, discover the blossom ends of the fruit starting to go black and rot?

Problem is BLOSSOM END ROT! Pretty aptly named, eh?

It seems terrible to look at-- worse yet when it strikes your beautiful Tomatoes! OH NOES!!!

But, fear not, this is an easy problem to fix, and the fix is cheap, as well.

I had one last garden box left to prepare, and I figured that it would make a great tutorial. This method of gardening is foolproof, and hugely productive. Here Is A Quick And Easy Step-By-Step Guide With Pictures.

I have no idea how to post pictures to this blog, so I can only link to my place. Sorry Lambert, I'm honestly not trying to push up my traffic.

Every garden needs European Honey Bees to pollinate the flowers to produce fruits and veggies.

I was having a very tough time attracting the l'il fellers to my yard, even though I've seeded the entire yard with Dutch White Clover to attract them, and crowd out this damned Bermuda Grass that refuses to die.

A good friend of mine, a Beekeeper, gave me this recipe to attract them:

In a Mason jar, to a bit more than half a quart of hot water, add 1/8 tsp of lecithin. Add seven drops of oil of lemongrass, seven drops of oil of spearmint and fill with sugar (I used two cups). Shake until all the sugar is dissolved. The lecithin emulsifies the oils, so they spread evenly.

 Read more…

In response to requests for pictures and more information in FeralLib's most recent gardening post, I've posted a bunch of pics to my place. You can find them HERE.

Every vining plant that you can grow vertically will save you at least a square yard, of space that you can use to plant something else, AND you're simplifying the process of caring for those plants. Squash Beetles are VERY easy to catch and kill, and you don't have to worry about treading on foliage to harvest. No ground rot, no missing that one Cuke that goes to seed, and ends the vine's setting fruit early.

I'm shocked, awed, and overwhelmed tonight!



At least a HUNDRED blogs from every aspect of the political spectrum have taken part in this swarm of goodness. I want to take a moment to thank Chuck Adkins, a blogger at the Town Hall Blog Community and other places for picking up my plea, and spreading it far and wide through the Conservative 'sphere. He's right-- this isn't about politics, but I had to start somewhere.



It will be days before I get everyone thanked properly. But, I'm starting right now, and every day, I will post another set of Thank Yous, until either my fingers fall off and my eyes go blind, or I get to the end of the list. Let's hope for the latter.

OK. Let's toss around some numbers:



2,600 people visited this place over the last two days. I average ~90 on a normal day.



If 1/2 of those visitors donated $10 to the Mid-South Red Cross or the Mid-South United Way, we raised $13,000 from this site alone. TODAY.



If everyone came to make a $10 donation, we raised $26,000.


If everyone who came by made an average donation of $15, we raised $39,000.



If everyone came by and gave $20, then we raised $52,000.




--NOW.--



I'm still trying to sift out repeats in the Technorati site, perhaps others who use Technorati more than I do, can help me get down to the actual number of unique participants, I sure would be thankful.



Wandering around, I have noticed that many of the posts look sorta like this (Blogger's abstract interpretation):

Monkeyfister lives in Memphis, says the storms were terrible. Here's where to donate:



American Red Cross

Mid-South Chapter

1400 Central Avenue

Memphis, TN 38104

901-726-1690




And:

United Way of the Mid-South phone in a donation at (901) 433-4300.

I'm going to make an assumption, and figure at least another 2,000 people (considering the readership numbers of some of the bigger blogs that linked in, and the sheer volume of small-bloggers) hit those links directly from those pages, instead of coming here to do that. I noticed the storm coverage was pretty heavy on CNN, today, and that many people understand the situation enough, now. Applying the same formula as above, we get:



2,000 x 10= $20,000

2,000 x 15= $$30,000

2,000 x 20= $40,000

For thumbnail totals of:



$39,000

$46,000

$69,000

$92,000

That is one hell of a spread.

In my heart, I think that these are safe minimums. All I can say is this far exceeds my humble expectations, and I'm calling this a smashing success.



You statistics geeks might want to put the calipers on my assumptions, but I think that I may be low-balling that 2,000. Digby's 26,000 readers, C&L's 62,000 readers, The Raw Story's readership... Even IF every single person who made a donation actually came to this blog to make their donation(s), and the first set of numbers are it, it's still a fat sack of cash getting out to people in need. I'm not even counting in that percentage that might have donated more than $20. I think that I am definitely in the ballpark.



I am completely in love with every single one of you right now. I asked-- you answered. Many dollars were raised. Many PEOPLE are getting help. BRAVO ZULU If there is ANYTHING that I can do to help you in a similar stead, I'm here to be tapped.



THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.



It's time for me to get down to linking, and Blogrolling.

Tragic. I pray that peace, kindness and hope can find each and every one of those touched families.

I've been looking around for some local centralized relief group/agency... Someplace.

Right now, in the meantime, I recommend the:

American Red Cross
Mid-South Chapter
1400 Central Avenue
Memphis, TN 38104
901-726-1690

And:
United Way of the Mid-South phone in a donation at (901) 433-4300.

Well, Jonah Loadpants has yet another person to whom he needs to explain his very serious book...

Chris Hedges, reporter, 2002 Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges explores the rise of the Christian right in America, drawing parallels with the rise of fascism in Europe prior to the Second World War. How does the vision of the United States as a Christian nation relate to our Bill of Rights? Why does Hedges identify the increasing political power of Christian fundamentalism as a war against America?

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.

Watch The Google Video Here

More Like This At The WGBH Forum Network. (Lambert, you'll really like this link.)