Transplant Day

Today is Transplant Day! The tomatoes and zucchini have moved out onto the porch. First the planters had to be rearranged. The garlic containers are on either side of the walkway to make it easier to get things in and out given that the other containers have cages on them.

The Golden Rave and Beaverlodge tomatoes went in first.
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After the tomatoes were in it was time for the Tromboncino zucchini. The first one is in the container with the chives. The other two have a container of their own.
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With the plants in their new containers we added Kozy Coats to the tomatoes. Well, three of them because that’s how many came in the package. One poor plant is going to have to manage without a coat. Silver mulch went around the zucchini.
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The Top Hat blueberry was also transplanted into a new container. And the strawberries are already blooming.
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Our other plants are doing well. A bunch of marigolds are up and nasturtiums are coming up. Peas and lettuce are growing in the side container. With better weather forecast for the next week hopefully everything will be doing even better.

75° F equals Cooking!

Yesterday was the first really nice sunny day we’ve had this spring. 75° F and mostly clear skies. Such a nice combination that I had to break out a solar oven to cook lunch. But what to cook? I decided to make a recipe on the spot.

Sun-Cooked Tortilla Pizza

  • 1 tortilla
  • assorted cheeses and other toppings
  • sauce

    • Lightly oil a cast-iron pan and preheat the pan in your sun oven. I didn’t preheat it all that much, to about 150° F but I’d recommend waiting until about 250° F. The cast-iron takes awhile to heat up.
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    Get your toppings ready. I used mozzarella, parmesan, fresh chives from our Earthbox, turkey pepperoni, and minced garlic from last summer’s porch garden.
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    Once the oven is hot slide the prepared tortilla pizza from a plate into the hot pan. Close the lid and wait for it to be done.
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    When it’s ready take out the pan — be sure to be careful. The oven got up to almost 300° F! Enjoy!
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First Farmer’s Market Trip 2008

The Olympia Farmer’s Market started it’s new season last week. We weren’t able to go on opening day but on Saturday we took our first trip to the market for this year. Because of the cold weather we’ve been having this spring and the flooding we had in December there aren’t as many farm booths up. Hopefully more will appear as the season goes on. We were still able to get 2 bags full of veggies, eggs, and a lovely bouquet of daffodils.

We also picked up a ball of sun roasted tomato and basil chevre, which Ryan put to good use as the filling for a batch of ravioli. Here, Ryan is making the sheets of pasta.
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Adding the goat cheese filling.
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The cut ravioli is waiting to be boiled.
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The final product, a plate of delicious ravioli with sautéed mushrooms and leeks (also from the Farmer’s Market).
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Do you have a Farmer’s Market near you? Search for one at Local Harvest.

Tomatoes & Zucchini

Time for another gardening post. Our tomatoes and zucchini have come up!
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We have Golden Rave Tomatoes, Beaverlodge Tomatoes and Trombancino Zucchini.

Outside the other plants are doing well. Lots of new lettuce is up. The chives are growing well. The kale is taking off towards blooming before long. The garlic continues to do well as do the strawberries. We’ve had freezing temperatures at night lately. It’s 31° F now on the porch. Colder than the average lows by a few degrees. Later in the month and then in May it should start staying above 40° F at night.

Oil execs asked to justify huge profits

Oil execs asked to justify huge profits at Congressional hearing

Lawmakers took them to task for making enormous profits but investing next to nothing in renewable sources of energy. They were also called to justify why they got $18 billion in tax breaks last year when their profits had hit $123 billion and oil prices had reached runaway highs.

No more oil

At Oil Change International they have a new tool that shows the relationship between the candidates and oil money. I sent the following message to Barack Obama.

I just went to priceofoil.org and saw that they listed that your campaign has accepted contributions from the oil industry. Granted it is much less than the other folks running for office but anything is too much.

It’s time that this nation realizes that lifestyle changes need to be made. We can’t keep doing things the same way as oil production peaks and global warming impacts are happening at a faster rate than predicted.

You’re running for the Presidency. Take a leadership stance now and return the contributions from the oil industry. Refuse to accept any additional funds from that source.

You’ll have my vote either way. But it’s the right thing to do.

Sincerely,
Ryan M. Williams

Also note that Obama claims he doesn’t take money from oil companies. The contributions come from citizens who happen to work for oil companies. Legally the corporations can’t contribute money directly to federal candidates — but their executives can contribute. So claiming you don’t take money from those corporations when legally they can’t contribute isn’t saying much. Such double-talk is common for politicians and disappointing from Obama. On the other hand the others all have received much more money.

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