Monday, March 26, 2012

A delicate situation...


  ...around these parts.  People do not want to believe that Monsanto is as bad as everyone is making them out to be. On two separate days, in two separate places, I was asking about the seed potatoes and no one knows anything. Now, I don't even know if they've been fooling around with potatoes or not, but I'm suspicious. And at the second place, where we have often bought seed in the past, I asked about where they get their vegetable seeds. They told me about some seed place in Missouri that gets their seed from different places.  Asked me why I was asking and I said that I was making sure I didn't buy anything that came from the Monsanto Corporation. And that I knew that seed that came from a company called  Seminis was owned by Monsanto.  The proprietor told me that they weren't doing anything to garden seed..just farm crop seed.  I said I wasn't so sure about that, and he laughed at me. "More conspiracy theory stuff" he said.  "Maybe" I said, and whistled my way out the front door.

  Here's the thing. I do not trust any money grubbing corporation with my health. None of them. That includes (often) pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and giant medical corporations. It's just how I roll...

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   It has been absolutely gorgeous here.  Even the rain was nice, and afterwards everything just went over the moon.  The fruit trees are all 'abloom...the peaches are even leafing out now, with only faint wisps of the beautiful pink blossoms peeking through.  The Japanese maple in the front yard that I brought from my house in North Carolina is full and red and looks to have grown another foot.  The irises and the lilies are all getting big and beautifully green, the lilacs at the end of the driveway are blooming--I cut a small bouquet yesterday to bring into the house..they smell so wonderful.  We have redbuds, dogwoods, and another tree I don't know the name of--all blooming and coloring up the landscape and hillsides. The myriad shades of greens and golds are stunning. I do love spring...

  And beautiful in a different way are my garden beds, all topped with luscious dark brown composted manure. The grass needs mowing and I thought about getting out there to see if I can get the mower started...but I haven't done it yet.  And it's already 2:30 in the afternoon. Almost time to start supper.  Well--there's always tomorrow !

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  I'm thinking about making adzuki beans and rice for supper.  That's a nice dish to make because there are a lot of different things you can do with the leftovers...like burritos. The big question is: do I go into town for buttermilk and make cornbread to go with ??  mmmmm....I love to throw a little chopped carrot and celery and garlic into the beans when they cook, and then right before they're done, throw in some ribboned kale too. It adds a sweetness and a lot of nutrition to the pot. And looks pretty (prettier with white beans, but, pretty enough with the little red beans too!)

  We are planting some Christmas Limas (a pole bean) this year, and are making teepees of branches for them to climb. It's a really fun and very efficient use of space when you're planting.  We'll dry them right on the vines, so they'll be a low maintenance crop. I adore lima beans...next year maybe we'll plant pintos, as they do well here too. But I have a lot of pintos in my pantry this year, so--limas it is !

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  The baby chicks are growing like weeds. I put some greens into their pen yesterday and they've eaten every bite. lol   They're getting big enough to look a little gangly now--taller and more active. They are not, however being very cooperative about letting me hold them....grrr..

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  Guess I'll get out and do something.  I'm feeling lazy and sleepy, after eating a baked potato and a pint of home canned green beans for lunch. lol  Yes, my dears...I ate the beans RIGHT OUT OF THE JAR..  Didn't heat them or anything, and man--were they good.  This is one of those days when I am reminding myself of the old woman who shall wear purple...remember her??


         


When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other peoples' gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickles for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purpl
e.


~Jenny Joseph (1932 - )
Visit Jenny's WebsiteGet Jenny's Book at Amazon: "Warning: When I Am an Old Woman"


  Oh, yeah.  That's what I'M talking about.....


Have a grand Monday my dears!!!


Namaste.

9 comments:

Rita said...

I love that poem!! :):)

And I don't trust the corporations, either. Not any farther than I can throw'em!!

Hey--love to see me some gangly chicks! Pictures, please? ;)

Morgana Blacksmyth said...

Everything sounds just absolutely lovely. You are truly so fortunate to be able to live where you do.

And you know how I feel about the corporations, lady. I was just telling my father-in-law earlier today about how my friend Annie cured my recurrent sinus infections (never healed by antibiotics), by recommending a neti pot.

And that poem is just awesome. Not quite to 40 yet, but I can already relate. :)

LindaM said...

Did you see Food Inc. Annie? I live in farmland...I know the corn farmers...GMO and proud. I was at a party when a woman arrived after a long day of weeding her garden apparently. she announced, " I can't wait for them to put out roundup ready garden seeds!" the seed salesmen come around in late winter and have the event catered.....everybody goes to eat and order seeds and catch up....it's a new tradition.

I am blabbing...but this is one of my passions....I agree...obviously:)

I also love Lima beans btw....hungry again. You are the cure for no appetite. Thank you!

Rubye Jack said...

I was just thinking about how I don't trust any corporation any longer. I've been going back and forth with my last electric company trying to get my deposit back, to no avail so far. The Internet carrier charged double what they said they would for the modem and it doesn't even work. Walmart keeps raising their prices and loading the shelves with their own brand. I could go on and on. Once not so long ago you could trust these people. Not so today. And so this is why we need to be buying all the non-GMO seeds we can get before they are completely eliminated.

Meanwhile, it's a beautiful day.

Beth said...

I think that poem was referring to me. lol

I love lima beans too. Jim and I grew pole lima beans (the green ones). We both loved them and I filled the freezer with the green lima beans.

the wild magnolia said...

you give us tons of stories, your life, and i enjoy it so much.

enjoy your spring landscape and garden. a luscious lunch indeed.

good for you, doing the healthy "thing".

and too, i agree about Monsanto, and there are so many more companies as you pointed out, we need to pay attention.

have a wonderful evening.

DJan said...

What a great post! I am sure that eating those beans right out of the jar would be heaven. You canned them, after all. And those chicks! Growing like little adolescents, it seems! :-)

Jess Mistress of Mischief said...

I love that poem too! :)

CiCi said...

I am in total agreement with your trust issue regarding corporations and the generic modifications.
I stopped eating grains, all grains, six months ago. The wheat sold in markets today is not the same as the wheat I grew up on. My body tells me that.

I would add banks to your list.