Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Gardening Again


Last Friday was the vernal equinox and thus Spring is here and has begun. Optimistically, I have taken this to mean that we are finished with frosts and snow and I have gone ahead with my spring planting in the garden. This also meant that we could finally move the herbs that I was able to save over the winter (rosemary and mint) back into the yard. They wintered in our spare bathroom, on shelves in the bathtub. Right now we've planted spinach, lettuce blend, carrots, beans, peas and some flowers. We're also trying to start some peppers inside. We're hoping to have better luck this year with peppers, squash and eggplants. Last year we did get a few good, large eggplants, our bell peppers and squash never really came out.

In addition to planting we've been putting a lot of work into the facilities. We got some give-a-way wood from someone on Craigslist and build a new third bed. So, we're hoping to improve our output by 50% at least. Then we added mulch that TJ provided for us around all the beds. And finally we built a more substantial fence with a gate to keep Mali out. Before we could finish it she moved some of the spinach seeds around but I think everything will still come up ok. We may have to alter the fence as the summer progresses if we find that animals are getting at the plants, but it should be easy to add some wire mesh along the fence. Our next concern is soil for the new bed and perhaps more water. It seems this is almost the only thing I blog about so I'm sure you'll hear more throughout the summer.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Fiddlin' John Carson

You probably didn't notice it over the weekend. No, you didn't notice, but there was a celebration for Fiddlin' John Carson's 141st birthday. Complete with two live jam sessions. The first was held in Cabbagetown on the same streets (repaved and signalized) where John used to play. The other was held just down the street from us at the Historic Sylvester Cemetery where they played music on his grave (not sure if he was dancin' in it).

The flier for the event proclaimed him the "Father of Commercial Country Music" and said he was Fiddler King for 55 years. Not sure who grants that title but it's cool to live down the block from Royalty. Since we've been in the neighborhood we've always heard rumors of the country music legend buried down the street (nothing scary about that) and we've seen his plot get a couple makeovers. His family painted it white and added a rock that says his name on it (not a headstone though...?). Most recently they renamed the path leading into the cemetery Fiddlin' John Carson Way. If you get a chance to drive by it I recommend seeing it.

The cemetery as a whole is really cool. It's full of huge trees which makes it feel like a forgotten site in the woods somewhere but it's right in the neighborhood. The foundation that share the cemetery's name has done a great job of working on the grounds and the sites themselves. They right-ed headstones, picked up trash and flowered every plot. They are out there every weekend it seems and now it's a nice place to walk dogs or just to take a walk yourself. This is a huge turn around, as I've been told that a few years ago the site was 'the place in Atlanta to take a stolen car and set it on fire'. Today it's a great addition to our neighborhood and once a year the site of a country/gospel jam.

Fiddlin' John Carson's Wikipedia Page - I love how he has his own "aftermath"

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Wedding Weekend

I have been MIA for a month now. I went to Phoenix for a bachelor party, helped turn in a grant application, have been catching up on work over Spring Break and will soon be watching Michigan play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 11 years. This past weekend was the wedding of Matt and Priya. Here's some of the details.



more photos