The Accurate Account

I remember I was a junior in high school, history class with Mr. Douaihy , when I learned about the Great Depression. My public high school text books were nothing to brag about. Maybe it really was the quality of the photos in the books that made the people in them look that much more desperate, that much more gray-er. I thought then how awful it must be to one minute have a job, and the next, to be huddled on a heat vent with children, just tying to stay warm. What will future children read about these times? A news report yesterday said that NYC is offering one-way free flights for the homeless. The unemployment rates are near 11%. The most popular vacation is the stay-cation, or homation . Basically, we're not going anywhere this summer kids, have fun on your Wii we charged for you 2 years ago. As we enter into the school year, more uniform swap gatherings are popping up everywhere. Last spring during prom season, I can remember many of our seniors going to Cinderella's C...

These very pretty, striped or spotted beetles have become my nemesis this summer! Beware of these awful little creatures. I have not come across too many solutions to removing them. Apparently , waking up very early in the morning while they are feeding, then plucking them from cucumbers and squashes, is the most effective way to ridding oneself of them. I decided to write a poem as a tribute to these little buggers. Cucumber Beetles LiftLift under there? pick lift pick pick cucumber beetle cucumber beetle squish, squish lift damnit!!! my flower!!!! squish lift cuCumbeRrr -- beeTle DAMNIT! CUUUUUUUUUUUUU CUMMMMMMM BER BEEEETLE STAY OOOOOOF my CUUUUUUUU CUUUMMMMM BERRRRRS! ska wissh!

Why in the world do we need some scientific research to tell us that by putting more chemicals in our bodies, that we are going to have negative side effects?? I understand why some farmers and food manufacturers will add these preservatives, food additives and pesticides to their products...money, money, money. The time is now, people, to go back to basics. Sure, a completely organic and whole food diet can be challenging. I am struggling myself. In this economy, when we are just barely making ends meet, we are charged MORE money for eating FEWER chemicals and preservatives!! As an example, a lb of organic baby cut carrot is nearly a whole dollar more than non-organic. Just to let you know, I am very proud of my backyard garden. I have 23 tomato plants, 8 string less bean plants, 6 cucumber plants, 4 butternut squash plants, garlic, chives, basil, carrots, and corn (which usually doesn't yield anything but looks cool). It really takes up only a portion of my yard (15x15) and littl...

Yes, I am very new to this blogging thing. I am sure that years from now, when I am a successful blogger, I will look back at my first blog and say, "What were you thinking?" But right now, I feel it is very important to discuss t he simple pleasure of garlic. Once used to scare away vampires and scorpions, to treat infections and dog bites, this staple from the onion family swept me off my feet today. To fully understand, we need to go back in time a bit. Last summer, while shopping for my latest order, I picked up one of those 5-garlic-in-a-net things. At the end of the summer, with a full garlic left over, (and having heard roomers at the farmer's market of how easy it is to grow) I planted the garlic cloves on the southern edge of my garden. This spring, sometime around April, a strange thing happened. I forgot that I planted garlic, and these tall thin shoots popped up, even before my crocuses and daffodils. It wasn't very long before I realized what they were, a...