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Showing posts from May, 2013

You are not a Jedi yet, young gardener

Corner house + double lot + 10-foot parkways = whole lotta lawn. And that lawn had been ignored for years when we bought the house. Moving in, we admired the pretty white flowers covering the grass. Uhhh. Yea. Those would be bindweed flowers. Bindweed, nicknamed "Devil's Guts," is an invasive weed with roots 20 feet deep and 30 feet wide. Or more. Even the tiniest bit of root propagates a new plant. Not that that's necessary: the seeds are viable for 60 years. Once I realized what a monster it was, I knew I had to get rid of it. So, being a devout organic gardener, I tried heavy mulching, black-plastic solarization, clear-plastic solarization, hoeing, tilling, pepper spray, vinegar spray, weed torches, salt, soap, hand pulling, and ultimately hair pulling. I kept reading cheery accounts of how these methods worked on any weed, but my 7,500 square feet of heavy, well-established infestation gave not an inch. So I began reading up on chemicals. It's a class

Michael Pollan lecture

"Lean in!" That's the new catch phrase, isn't it? And here I am doing exactly that as Michael Pollen talks about his new book, " Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation ." I've long been a fan of Pollan's, starting with his very first book, which was about his discovery of gardening. Of course, once he got on the topic of food, he really had me, since it's one of my main interests. His new book, as the title suggests, is about cooking. I haven't read it yet, but in the lecture, he offered a few tidbits. The book covers some of the history of cooking and its effect on the development of human beings. It also talks about what impact cooking has on your health. He said whether or not you cook is more of an indicator of your overall health than the types of food you eat. He also said that, on average, Americans spend more time watching TV shows about cooking than actually cooking. Hm...interesting. And surprising. I can hardly wait to re