All Along the Watchtower, Starting Home Hydroponics

Took the ferry to Vancouver just to see an old favorite of mine (and many others, it seems) – the aging legend, Bob Dylan. When I told Hedgehog that I was going to get tickets to his concert, she burst out laughing. It seems that nothing short of Miley Cyrus or Hilary Duff impresses her in the area of music. “Why would you wanna go see him? He sounds like an old man…” Sara and Jim weren’t interested, either.

Dylan does sound like an “old man” these days. Perhaps it’s because he has passed his 67^th birthday. But Friday night at GM Place his voice was just as powerful and commanding as in his younger years, when he played concert halls in London and New York solo, singing and playing an acoustic guitar.

He played the guitar only during the first song this time. Then he took his position at an old keyboard and stayed there for the rest of the concert. A few times he wandered around the stage and he even did a few songs crooner style, with outstretched arms.

Dylan re-works his old tunes and sometimes adds a totally new melody line, along with a new rhythm structure. Some of his stuff Friday night had a rockin’ the cradle feel to it, with a steady, back and forth beat that comforted the nearly sold-out audience. Some even flicked on their cigarette lighters, seventies style.

But during “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” he was back in his old groove. When he got to the line “…even the President of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked,” the crowd erupted in cheers. “Propaganda, all is phony…flesh-coloured Christs that glow in the dark, it’s easy to see, without looking too far—not much is really sacred.”

The Master of the Apropos Line, Bobby Zimmerman of Hibbing, Minnesota has matured into an elderly gentleman of dignity, who can out rock many who are decades his junior. “He not busy being born, is busy dying.” By re-working his old songs constantly, even the lyrics sometimes, he ensures that he is busy being born continuously, and surprising us all in the process. He earned his standing ovation with two encores.

It was a very satisfying concert and a reassurance that a super-talent like Dylan still walks the Earth with us and helps light our metaphoric night of economic despair and panic.

Sara’s flower garden and my vegetable patch are slowly turning yellow and some major trimming is in order to prepare the beds for winter. A few cherry tomatoes are still ripening on the upside-down tomato plants, and once in a while I pop one into my mouth, straight off the vine. The burst of incredible flavour again reminds me why we grow our own vegetables.

I’ve set up a hydroponic experiment in the basement, where we’ll continue to grow some simple vegetables and fruits throughout the winter. I’ll be using Iguana Juice Grow and Bloom to continue producing 100% organic produce, since the family’s health warrants it.

More about home hydroponics in future blogs.

Upside Down Tomatoes Thriving--Garden Glorious!

Those readers of this blog who are curious about how our upside down tomatoes are doing will be glad to know that they are flourishing! Some of them have tiny tomatoes and most of them are in flower! We've had some glorious days of sunshine and the plants are just soaking it all up!

The rest of Sara's garden is also magnificent! She gets so many compliments from neighbors and people just walking by that she asked me to print out some information about Iguana Juice, which is the miracle fertilizer responsible for the huge increase in yield this year! The Delphiniums, Foxgloves, and Campanula are towering over the Rose bushes and Daisies. "I've never seen Foxglove that's eight feet tall," said a passer-by. "Well now you have," chuckled Hedgehog.

Instead of filling this post with words, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Our garden is so popular that someone came while we were elsewhere and snipped all the pods off our huge red poppy plants. Sara left the pods on the stems in order to let them dry. Ah well, I guess they thought they could get high--but they'll soon discover that these are not Opium Poppies (those are illegal) they're just a cousin of the opium variety--grown strictly for ornamental purposes.

Hedgehog and Jim made handmade signs and posted them on the edges of the garden. "Please do not steal these flowers or seeds. These plants were grown with love and nourished by our family. Learn to grow your own!"

Gone are the days when people used to leave their doors open all over the island.

Six-Foot High, Saucer-Sized Poppies

Sara’s poppies have outdone themselves this year, due no doubt to the huge containers of compost and composted horse manure that she trucked in during the winter months, prior to spring planting season. These poppies are the cousins of the opium poppies of the Middle East, but the seeds are not narcotic. This year she has blood red, bright orange, and pinkish cream colored flowers and being that they are so high and huge, many of our neighbors have come to admire them.

Due credit should be paid to the 100% organic Iguana Juice Grow and Bloom that we use to feed all of our flowers and vegetables. It is truly the magic ingredient in our super sized blooms and veggies. Advanced Nutrients mixes the finest organic ingredients (fish based, alfalfa, krill, yucca extract, kelp meal, and earthworm castings) that not only cause lush, vegetative growth, but also promote prolific flower and fruit development.

Our first rose of the season has opened! In spite of the rainy weather, we do get occasional glimpses of the sun, which is as much appreciated by the flowers as by us. Walking our Golden Retriever Max through the neighbourhood every morning, I am amazed at the variety and resurgence of the flora all around us. This is truly an amazing season and no matter what the weather, it should inspire us to value Nature and all of its bounty.

Upside Down Tomatoes, Anyone? My wife, Sara, read in the Lee Valley catalog about upside down tomato planters. She was intrigued, but they were all sold out. So I Googled the subject and found plenty of online places to buy these, but they were all sold out too. It seems the manufacturer had underestimated the demand, so many gardeners were left without. However, I did find a build-your-own video on YouTube and decided--why not? I bought ten utility buckets at Home Depot, drilled two inch holes in the bottoms of the buckets, used a coffee filter to keep the potting soil from falling out, fertilized the mixture with Advanced Nutrients Iguana Juice Grow, planted six small tomato plants and four pepper plants, and hung the ten buckets upside down on the rafters of our courtyard. Sara even decorated the tops with some annuals! Some lids were left on, but they all had open watering holes. Oh, and our daughter, Hedgehog, helped drill air holes on the sides of the buckets to get some oxygen to the roots.

Tim, Sara, and the kids