browns to greens

BROWNS TO GREENS
im the leaf buster
my old black truck is always ready to go
all you have to do is call
and
ill come running

yesterday thats what i did
got a call
hey doc my neighbor just scalped and raked his lawn
do you want the bags of stuff he collected
its full of dried dead grass leaves twigs and other debris

yes i said
ill be there tomorrow

so off i went in my trusty old black truck
knowing that this would be a load of stuff
i knew exactly where it would go
those country n chicken they gonna love this stuff

so drove up to this house
there they were
15 bags of ecstasy for those hens
i could see eggs and more eggs
veggies and more veggies
in my dreams

i loaded them up after briefly inspecting them
then off i went
on the trip back home
all i could think of was those hens are gonna be happy

ill put them here
this is the spot the chickens like the most
between the fence and the 3 ft horse panels
heck at the bottom of that pile i have old paperwork
that will compost down with all the other stuff
i throw in

this is also where we throw our kitchen scraps
the chickens attack it like sharks after chum

when its all over with and we grow stuff
it all turns green

like this crockpot of greens i cooked last week
pot liquor was good
if you dont know what that is then you aint from the south
its not alcohol
but its better

i also recently trimmed my asparagus bed down to the ground
since all the fronds i guess thats what you call them
had frozen to the ground
then i added my compost from my compost pile that the
chickens prepared for me
then i covered it with leaves mostly live oaks that i
obtained from many of you last year
it acts as a mulch to keep the beds warm and moist
now we need to wait a couple months


and those asparagus spears will start popping out of
the ground
more greens
from the browns

my version of garden artistry

the organicgreen doctor

asparagus

ASPARAGUS 
now i have eaten asparagus for years
from the grocery store
they tasted alright
but never did i feel real enthusiastic about eating
asparagus
sort of plain tasting
like bitter cardboard

so one day i was listening to the garden show on klbj590
on a weekend morning
when they talked about planting asparagus
they said its easy to do
the secret they said was good initial soil preparation
which here at the country n means
you better make your own soil or bring in some
good garden soil from a local nursery
get it planted
then you can have asparagus for 25 years
some even for 100 years
hum my legacy
a long 30 ft row of asparagus

since i have two sons
i would give the first 15 ft to my oldest son
and
the second 15 ft to my youngest son
so my will will so specify

so here is how i did it
first i looked for a spot that i didnt mind tying up
for 100 years
i found one along my garden chicken run chicken
coop area
it had a run of about 30+ feet
i like ive told you before
covered it with newspaper
went and got me some hill country garden soil from the
natural gardener
and
made me a raised bed
i initially planted some asparagus and oregano
and mexican oregano and leeks along that long
row
but when i was listening recently to the gardening
show again
i thought i just want a long row of homestead aspargus
so
i dug up the mexcian oregano and all those leeks

i went here to the natural gardener
and
skipped getting the green asparagus plants in the 4 in pots
since i tried those before and they didnt do so well

instead i got the bare root kind
a rubberband batch has 5 in each bundle
to me they look like an octopus

i then dug a 12 inch trench down the middle of the bed
after i had added 3 inches of my country chicken compost
organic fertilizer was added also
i used the ladybug 8-2-4

then i built some hills about 8 inches high down the middle
of the trench

i gently laid down those spidery octopus looking asparagus
dry root thingymajigs on top of the hills letting the tentacles
flow down the side of the hills
i also had added some earthworm castings over the hill before
laying the plants to rest

i covered the plants up to the top of the little bitty top tip
watered it in well with seaweed to stimulate the roots to
grow

as the plant grows higher i will cover it up with dirt
until it reaches the level of the bed

then i will cover it with a layer of mulch for the winter
probably leaves that many of you have given me

these asparagus will produce the second year ie 2016
we wont pick them though until 2017
but if we are lucky
or
i should say our ancestors are lucky they will be still picking
them in the year 2115

this is what a handful of these look like
just plucked from the garden

yes
i confess
i ate them all before they made it inside

like a lot of our tomatoes and strawberries they
never make it out of the garden

until you have picked a fresh organic asparagus
right from the garden
you really cant appreciate the full taste of this vegetable
it has a sweet delicious taste

i call it the heirloom or homestead asparagus
try it
the vegetable that keeps on giving and giving

the organicgreen doctor

i have a dream, w4ad5, asparagus, 10 signs #1, shower water, bday

I HAVE A DREAM
today is mlk day
shame on two local schools for not celebrating his day
his i have a dream speech is one of  the most famous speeches
of the last century

i remember where i was when jfk was killed
i remember where i was when mlk was killed

mlk was one of the most important figures in american
history during the 1900s
his peaceful movement for civil rights had ended up
transcending all races, all politics, both genders
the rights we all have from that movement may not have
occurred without it

the 60s was a radical time
thank goodness that cnn, msn, and fox wasnt around then
there was a radical antigovernment, antimilitary, antieverything
movement that could have destroyed us

the mlk movement transcended all of that

take a moment of silence for this great man and what he stood for
and hope that we continue to progress peacefully into the future

i have a dream...

W4AD5
week 4 aricept (donepezil) 5 mgm
no new side effects
still with more energy in daytime
still with some insomnia
no changes good or bad are noted
next week go to w1ad10

ASPARAGUS
there is an aspargus crowns shortage at the local nurseries
because of the excessive rains in the western united states
they should be available soon
it wont be too late to plant them

10 SIGNS OF EARLY ALZHEIMERS
will post these warnings signs for early alzheimers each day

i dont have any of these signs yet
as i have early mild cognitive impairment amnesic type that is
thought to be the precursor to early alzheimers

my findings only show up on more elaborate neuropsychological
testing however i do notice them but others dont yet

#1 memory changes that disrupt daily life.   one of the most
common signs of alzheimers, especially in the early stages is
forgetting recently learned information     also including forgetting
important dates or events, asking for the same information over
and over and relying on memory aides( eg reminder notes or electronic
devices) or family members for things they used to handle on their own.

whats typical or 'normal'
sometimes forgetting names or appointments, but remembering
them later

this is from the alzheimers association website www,alz.org

FOR KD RE WASTING SHOWER WATER
a local organic gardener keeps a 5 gallon bucket in his
shower to catch that first run of water until the shower water
gets hot      this water is then used for flushing, watering plants,
etc

he also has a feature on his shower head that limits the flow
rate on the shower and a lever that you can turn off the shower
if you are doing a navy shower

he also catches the excessive water from showering and uses
it to flush his toilets

if you have a rainwater collection system you are more
sensitive to the overuse of water
if you overuse it you run out

thats not good

thats not ever happened here even with  the droughts we have had






BDAY
today is the birthday of another great american
benjamin franklin
(he was also noted for this swimming ability)

the organicgreen doctor