Last Of The Freaky-Looking Vegetable Series...For Now At Least

Alas, this is the last in my series on freaky-looking vegetables. This one is really probably a second run after a fashion, because the purple carrot showed up in an earlier photo.

This is called the Purple Dragon Carrot. I don't know what dragons have to do with it, but there you go. I find it interesting that it is purple on the outside and orange on the inside. Kind of cool actually. I wonder how they cook? Do they keep the two colors, hang towards the purple or migrate to orange?

Dad plowed up a plot at his place for me to plant some corn. I plan on planting that Ruby Queen corn and some Silver Queen corn. (No it doesn't look silver!)

I suppose I'll probably get him to bring the tractor over so that I can dig up my plot here at the house. That will be for the other veggies. I still don't know what I will plant. I think that I will do broccoli, fordhook limas, green beans, and tomatoes at the very least. I'd also like some bell peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, and okra. I suspect that will keep me plenty busy. I may do some pea varieties too: sweet, blackeye, and maybe purple hull.

It would be great if we keep getting rain like we have been since winter rolled in. Here lately we have been getting rain at least once a week. It is really making the grass grow. I guess that is good. It serves as an additional source of income for me. Well, I have some other things to write about tonight and some general catching up to do, so I'll wrap this post up. Have a great week, and thanks for reading!

Lovely Vegetables...

I thought I'd share another of the interesting looking vegetables that I discovered. This is my next to last one I think. Perhaps I will go out and look for some more. But we'll just have to see about that.

This is a Chioggia Beet. It is supposed to be particularly sweet. The website where I discovered this picture said that it looks like a piece of peppermint candy. I can go with that. If you are looking for this variety you can find them on the Burpee Seed Company website.

I really don't have a whole lot of varied experience with beets. I have only had them pickled. They wouldn't make my list of favorites in that form although I do crave them from time to time. From what I have been reading, you can eat the greens and there are other ways to prepare the beets themselves. I may have to experiment with these this year.

Another thing about beets is that they are supposed to be better for producing ethanol than corn. Of course that will probably be a non-issue since everyone has decided that the ethanol route was a bad idea. I hope that people will continue to explore ethanol though. There really hasn't been enough research put towards it to find out all of the possibilities or to improve on production techniques and yield. And one thing is certain; we need an alternative fuel source for petroleum.

Well, that is all for tonight. Hopefully tomorrow I can update you on the SJB gig this weekend and perhaps get to some of those other posts that I have been meaning to do. In the meantime, have an excellent week!

A Quick Update... And Some Lovely Swiss Chard

Anyone for some colorful Swiss Chard? I have a feeling that it probably wouldn't taste as sweet as it looks like it should. It kind of reminds me of rhubarb. I have never eaten Swiss Chard before. My best guess would be that it is like any other salad green or cooked green. Still, the colors are nice.

I have been able to spend a decent amount of time outdoors the past couple of days. I spent a little too long today and ended up with my first farmer's tan burn of the season. It doesn't hurt that bad and it is in about the only place on my body that will tan - my arms.

Today I mowed my dad's place. I have been in a mowing mode. Tuesday I mowed my grandfather's old place. Yesterday I mowed my yard - well, most of it anyway. And today I mowed my dad's place. I expect to finish my yard tomorrow. It should be a good day for it. Unfortunately, it sounds like it is going to get cold again this weekend. I could do without that. I've been without fuel oil for the furnace since January, and I'm tired of being cold. Still, it could be worse. At least I have ways of getting warm. There are plenty of people in the world who can't.

I nearly bought some oil towards the end of February, but at $3.52/gallon (with a 100 gallon minimum) it was a little too rich for my wallet. These folks don't even act embarrassed when they tell you the price. I asked the fella if it came with dinner and a show, and he laughed and said no. That's what I figured....

I don't know about y'all, but I have to throw the BS flag when they come on the news and say that we're not experiencing inflation. Everything is up except the housing market - and even that still is in many markets. There is just no way to avoid inflation when the greedy oil tycoons are pushing the prices up higher and higher with no end in sight. It is bound to effect everything else. All of our goods are shipped using some petroleum derivative. (THIS is the reason that we need alternative fuels!) Add to that the inflation in food due to the push towards ethanol and there is no way to deny that prices are going up, and it is getting harder and harder for folks to make ends meet.

In other news...

Yesterday I also began work on a website for my sister. It is amazing how quickly you can put one together once you have learned how! Hers is nothing too complicated, just a nice basic informational website for her interior design business. I am awaiting a logo device from a friend who is an expert with Photoshop and with about one more day's work I think that I can have her site finished. I'll give you a link when it is done. I think my layout is improving.

By the way, I have heard yet another confirmation of the story that I published a few days ago. This one was from a nationally recognized individual who hears from God quite clearly. Batten down the hatches, y'all, it looks like some stormy weather is approaching.

Saturday the StillWaters Jazz Band will be playing for the veterans at the NC Veterans' home in Salisbury, NC. I'm really looking forward to getting to serve these folks. I hope that they enjoy the show. I am humbled by the sacrifices that they have made on my behalf.

Well, that is about all the stuff that is floating around the front of my mind at the present. Thanks for reading!

Tomatoes With Flames On

I thought these tomatoes were pretty cool looking. It's like they are ready for race day. They are called Red Lightning. It is kind of hard to tell how big they are from the picture, but based on the size of the grain of the wood behind them they don't look much bigger than cherry tomatoes.

Unfortunately, I can't remember anything about them. I may not have read anything particular about them. I got the picture directly from the Burpee Seed Company website.

They look like they would really dress up a veggie tray though! OK. I have very nearly convinced myself to take the plunge and do a garden. Now if it will only stop raining just long enough for me to get the ground prepared. (Mind you, I'm not complaining about the rain. God has blessed us greatly this spring! Hopefully it will continue on through the summer.)

Last year's drought did a number on the trees and shrubs around my house. I came very close to losing one of my beloved dogwood trees. The blossoms have begun to come out and it looks like they are going to be tiny this year. Once they are fully out I will take and post pictures. It doesn't look like I will even have any blossoms on the tree that I nearly lost.

I have been thinking of trying to make a way to conserve rainwater for use this summer. I think that I'd like to find some barrels and run my gutter drains into them. I could also save gray water if necessary this summer. I hope to never see a summer as dry as last summer ever again.

Yet Another Curiosity

Here's an attractive-looking bean for your garden. It is called the Italian Rose bean.

I've always been partial to red and white, which is the colors these are when they are fully ripe. The green and red looks pretty good too.

I'm not sure, but I think I remember reading that the beans inside are just boring old white. I wonder how they taste?

Today's Weird-Looking Vegetable

OK, I'll admit that this one doesn't weird me out as much as the purple carrot did. I'm actually tempted to try to grow this kind.

Unfortunately, they don't keep their color as they cook, but according to the website where I found them the color is a good indicator of how long they need to cook. I suppose that they return to a nice green color once they are cooked. I would think that the color would be a great benefit to picking the beans, though.

The big decider would be how they taste. All snap beans are not created equal. I have tasted some that were just plain nasty. Last year my grandmother grew some that someone had given her that didn't get tender when you cooked them. They stayed kind of crunchy. The general consensus was to NOT grow any more of them.

I still haven't decided for sure if I am going to do the garden. I really think that I'd like to. I guess I'd better get on with making up my mind. It will be planting time in just a couple of weeks. That means I need to get my plot tilled, finish deciding what I want to grow, and figure out all the other details. Who knows? I may even give these beans a try!

More Odd-Looking Vegetables

How the heck did they get a carrot to turn purple? I can kind of see how they would get a yellow carrot or a pink one, but purple? I'm not sure I could eat a purple carrot. It is kind of like that green ketchup that they came out with a few years ago. You'd almost expect it to taste like grape.

Know What These Are?

Believe it or not these are potatoes! I found this picture when I was looking for a picture of ruby queen corn to show you. From what I understand, they even retain some of their color when they are cooked. Can you imagine Calvin eating those?

Stuff...

No earth-shaking words from Heaven last night, but I was able to quiet myself down some and get a good night's rest. I'm not sure if I didn't get "unplugged" sufficiently, or if I am just too over-stimulated to quiet myself enough to hear. I had a couple of things bugging me last night. I must say, though, that I got a very encouraging word from my friend Rick this morning regarding the things that had been bothering me. Perhaps God spoke to him for me...

Today has been an interesting day. I spent a few hours running around with my sister and my niece which was fun. I bought some seed and some soil. I even found a new hybrid corn that produces RED ears (on the corn, not on people - at least I hope so). That was too cool-looking to not buy a packet of seed. I also bought two kinds of basil, rosemary, lavender, and white and purple alyssum. This all got me thinking, "Maybe I should grow a garden this year." Of course I know that it is a lot of work. But I do enjoy working in a garden. Hmmm...

This led to me pondering where I would put this proposed garden, and I have a couple of possible locations picked. Next, what should I plant? I guess that will all depend on how big of a garden I make. Wisdom tells me that I had better start small. I could grow a couple kinds of peas, and tomatoes, and beans, and squash, and cucumbers.... I will need to make up my mind pretty soon, because it is time to start preparing the ground now. At least we have had enough rain lately to soften up the ground.

I have terrible soil here. It is what I have heard called 'bull-tallow' around here. Last summer I planted a tree and it was like digging through un-fired brick. (It probably would have been like FIRED brick by the end of the summer. I thought I'd NEVER get that hole dug.

On the website development front, it would seem that I am heading deeper into the rat-hole. I am afraid that there is no way to avoid doing some database work to make the project fly. Something new to learn I guess. My good friend DP joked that I should go ahead and get my Computer Science degree! It looks like I am earning it one step at a time. I did create an auto-responder that actually did what I wanted it to do the first time tonight! Whoo hoo!

I think that the hardest thing to do is keep all of the details about the business straight in my mind. There are 1,000,001 things to keep up with. I'm pretty sure that if I had known what I was getting into when I started with this crazy idea, I would have never started. But I have to say that I am proud of what I have accomplished so far. Now to start making some moolah from it....

I have to set aside some time soon to start learning PHP. I also have to set some time aside to do some reading on that Content Management Bible. I figure I have read about 50 pages, but in a book with over 1000 that's not even scratching the surface.

The most pressing project right now, however, is to finish up my pricing page, finish a couple of marketing letters, and get geared up to make some phone calls to builders and real estate agents. This part of the project shouldn't be taking me as long as it is. I'm afraid that a little procrastination has kicked in because I know that this is the part where we make it or break it. Oh well, "Blast the torpedoes!"

By the way, I would seriously appreciate any links to RealSalisbury.com.

One of the fun things about learning this stuff is that it gives me a bigger hammer to use in those times where the computer is being a pain. Makes me kind of feel like Thor...

On to global warming.... Just kiddin' I don't have time to launch into a tirade about that tonight. Although I have accumulated some interesting articles about the subject since I last dedicated a post to the topic. I'll have to get back to it soon. In fact, I have several interesting articles to comment on when I can get a little bit of guilt-free blogging time to write some. We'll tackle big oil, the Congress' failure to restrain themselves, and, of course, global warming. I can feel a few good rants coming on...

I suppose that is all for tonight. I hope that each of you will take some time this weekend to worship and reflect on the significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.