This and That
Yesterday we drove down to San Rafael to vote for delegates for the California Democratic Central Committee. This selection is made once every two years; they form the platform and decide which candidates the party will endorse. Democrats in liberal Marin/Sonoma would presumably all be acceptable but we focused on the Progressive slate of 7 men and 7 women. One man lobbied us for a vote and we had already decided to vote for him. I in turn (of course) proselytized Daily Kos which he was quite aware of already. There were huge crowds and very little parking which pleased me; participatory democracy at its finest.
I have baked my own bread by hand and with my bread machine so I know what good bread is. But I use so much bread that for many years I have shopped for price, purchasing most at the day-old store. I even used the free ?-bread available at the recycle center. It was for me something to hold the stuff I put between the slices. Recently I needed a loaf and I was near a tiny store in Bodega. I found a loaf of Dave's Killer Bread at 4 times the price I have been paying. Well, I needed it so I bought it. OMG was it good, even great. Astounding even with only butter. Interesting and tragic story about Dave himself. I am a convert. No more cheapo bread.
Winter garden.
You know, I do like birds. I have even gone on many wonderful Kossack bird hikes. But there is a down side to birds, and I don't mean geese. I planted twelve brussel sprout plants which I was certain would be plenty of sprouts at harvest. I covered them with mesh but there were apparently some holes which allowed small birds to enter and
eat all the leaves.
Note that the onions I planted in between are still there…so far.
But there are successes. I planted 100 fava beans and only two were dug up.
Yes, I do have a bottle of "nice Chianti" in my wine rack.
Some of the favas are for eating but their main purpose is to resuscitate the tomato bed which had been used for too many years. Favas are legumes which form nitrogen nodules on the roots and the cool thing is you can actually see the little pink nodules of pure fertilizer upon harvesting them.
The garlics are doing well. I planted them in my newly-invented cheap gopher-proof bed.
Lay hardware cloth on a flat area and pile the blocks around the edge. You can tear it down as needed and, unlike wood, it can't decay.
The final photo is taken in front of my poolroom deck. Extra bulbs from our former flower business were planted all over on the property. When I told Mrs. side pocket that I had taken that photo she looked chagrined and confessed she had cut most of them yesterday to sell at a local flower stand. She did leave a few, fortunately.
So flowers, bread, and politics. Plenty to discuss around a kitchen table.
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