by angela@diggingbliss | Apr 22, 2006 | Uncategorized
President Bush is in Sacramento today to help celebrate Earth Day by visiting the California Fuel Cell Partnership demonstration facility in West Sacramento.
In addition to his expected praise for alternative fuel sources (ahem), the Texas oilman (ahem, ahem) strongly feels “… the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.” So do I, Mr. President. So do I. Well, probably not salmon, trout or tuna, but definitely other species. Someday. Maybe. One can only hope. You’re such an optimist, Mr. President, I’ll bet you can envision a world in which, one day, cars are powered by the renewable fin power of peaceful fish. Peaceful fish that are paid a living wage and whose children attend better schools. Better schools for schools of fish! Dare we dream this American dream?
President Bush also makes the bold ecological statement that “It isn’t pollution that’s harming the environment. It’s the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.” Really gives you pause, doesn’t it?
Happy Earth Day.
😉
by angela@diggingbliss | Apr 22, 2006 | Uncategorized
I agree. Here’s her timely blog post.
Are you celebrating Earth Day every day? Sometimes it’s hard to do it every day and in every way, but we can all take little steps that will have a lasting effect. Earth Day’s a great day to buy a worm bin or start a backyard compost pile, plant a tree, sign up for a creek clean-up, or send a donation to an environmental organization.
Nature Conservancy
Sierra Club
Sacramento Valley Conservancy
California Oak Foundation
California Native Plant Society
When I was a kid growing up in Sacramento, I remember playing in the field next to my grandparents’ house in the Arden area. The field had a creek, tall grasses, ladybugs, polliwogs, frogs, turtles and snakes. Then came the Alta Arden Expressway. The creek was dammed. Then came the developers. The field of my childhood, where I learned about bugs and flowers, cardboard forts and first kisses, is now a parking lot and more homes.
The other day I visited the Sacramento Valley Conservancy’s Deer Creek Hills Project near the Rancho Murieta gated housing community, country club and golf course. I was very startled to see a turtle at Deer Creek Hills. Was it alive? Yes! Was it a real turtle just like the ones in my old field? Yes… only Deer Creek Hills is teeming with much more wildlife and unspoiled beauty than my nostalgia-blessed suburban field. Is this turtle safe? Probably, because it’s living on protected land. Are developers itching to build new homes all around it? Is the pope Catholic?
by angela@diggingbliss | Apr 20, 2006 | Uncategorized
Date: Saturday, April 22nd
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Birds and Wildflowers of Dry Creek Hills Hike
“Hikers should meet at Latrobe and Stone House Roads (north of Highway 16 or Jackson Rd. and west of Rancho Murieta). Both roads can be accessed off of Jackson Rd. Carpooling is strongly encouraged since parking is limited, and all vehicles should park on the dirt portion of Latrobe Rd. Weather is unpredictable, so please bring layers of clothing for all weather types. Water, light snacks and a hat for warmth and shade are also suggested. There is active cattle grazing at Deer Creek Hills, and the conditions of hiking routes vary and may include stream or fence crossings and uneven terrain. Heavy rain and/or wind cancel hike/ride. Please RSVP at 916 216-2178 – tour size is limited for your enjoyment.”
Don’t miss this beautiful and informative walk led by local birder Ed Pandolfino and other naturalists. Just minutes from Sacramento!
Brought to you by the Sacramento Valley Conservancy
birds from top to bottom: Western Kingbird, Lawrence’s Goldfinch, Western Kingbird and Barn Swallow
by angela@diggingbliss | Apr 20, 2006 | Uncategorized
I’ve been asking myself lately, “Why do I garden blog? Why do other gardeners blog?” and I have come to the conclusion that we do it primarily because we’ve been given the opportunity to show what magazines and newspapers don’t– real gardens. I read a lot of garden blogs and see more popping up every day and what keeps me coming back are the daily triumphs and tribulations of people doing their own gardening. I have learned so much from other garden bloggers and the more I read, the more excited I become about gardening (if that’s even possible).
I often have the uncomfortable suspicion that gardens celebrated in magazines, on TV and to a lesser extent in newspapers are not maintained by the people who own them. There’s just something missing. There’s a unique joy in personal garden blogs you don’t see anywhere else, not to mention the fact that blogging beats all news media in terms of freshness.
Your first rose of the season is blooming this morning? Blog it in real time. Snails are eating your prized dahia? Blog it in real time. We share your pain and we might even be able to pass on a snail-proofing tip you can implement mere minutes after you discover the little buggers munching away. You just made your first salad from greens and edible flowers you grew yourself? Blog it and thanks for the vicarious thrill. Salad for two, but enjoyed by hundreds and immortalized forever on the web.
Garden blogs are welcoming. They’re a way of saying, “Howdy, neighbor! Come have a peek over my fence and see what we’re growing here.” They’re a way of sharing your love of gardening with “neighbors” all over the world who also happen to be avid gardeners. Not all neighbors are. Most of mine cut a monthly check to landscapers, so I rarely have an invitation… or reason… to peek over their fences. Garden blogs help gardeners connect. I suspect most of us have more dirt in our keyboards than your average blogger. I suspect most of us have more plant tags on our desks than your average blogger.
I also garden blog to help me remember what I planted, when I planted it, and what it looked like in bloom. Even more exciting, I can show you what it looked like when it was ready to eat! I’m growin’ my own dang food here… you’ve got to see this! This is my public blog, but it’s also my personal diary. And because there’s so much going on locally in the way of gardening events, it’s hard not to want to make note, and as long as you’re making note, you might as well share with other gardeners… of all thumb colors.
I still can’t get over the fact that Blogger hosts my blog for free and allows me to upload as many photos as I want. Thank you, Blogger. Blog on, gardeners!
by angela@diggingbliss | Apr 18, 2006 | Uncategorized
To fill in the front of this border, today I planted some greenhouse-raised annuals– ‘Apricot Chiffon’ California poppy and Salvia ‘Blue Denim’. I had first seen ‘Apricot Chiffon’ poppies blooming at Annie’s Annuals. But at $5.95 a pop, I’m glad to have found a seed source. Just this little section required 23 plants. That’s $136.85 in Annie’s currency. Seeds were $2.35 from Territorial Seed Company. Now normally I simply broadcast California poppy seeds in autumn, but hybrids like ‘Apricot Chiffon’ never come up (for me) while regular old Eschscholzia
californica always does. Go figure. Anyway, these hybrids are a spectacular pinky peach color and are stunning combined with something blue like ‘Blue Denim’ Salvia from Select Seeds. I’ll try to post an updated photo once these babies fill in. I’ll be on snail patrol
tonight. I can apply Sluggo, but my dogs like to eat it. Even if I sprinkle it when they’re not around, they make a beeline for it as soon as I let them out. Little rascals.
With the break in the weather, I’ve been trying to fill in some gaps in the garden. The fence is an eyesore I’m hoping my princess flower shrubs will cover, but they defoliated after we had a few winter frosts. Still, they’ve grown to about four feet tall from the little 4″ inch babies they were when I plunked them in my shopping cart at Whole Foods last summer. On impulse, of course. Despite their frost-induced nudity, those purple flowers and fuzzy green leaves make P.F. shrubs worth the wait.
My “heuchera/columbine bed” has grown rapidly in the last few days.
I’m cuckoo for heuchera…
Late afternoon light illuminates reddish grasses and grasslike plants like Stipa arundinacea and New Zealand flax.
I had to flip my Smith & Hawken firepit over so it wouldn’t collect rainwater. With the change in weather, I might be able to flip it back over soon. Woo hoo! It doubles as an outdoor grill.
