I have about eighty square feet of deck space, on which I have planted the following (and leaving plenty of room for a table, two chairs, and space to maneuver around them):

-- One 3' x 9" x 7" deep tray pushed up against the deck railing, in which grows two cherry tomato plants and one each of basil, rosemary and garlic chives (I learned last year to keep the tomato plant separated from each other at opposite ends of the tray, and the smaller herbs between them).

-- One cast-iron enameled basin, 12" across and 4" deep, filled with oregano (the stuff grows monstrously well despite my ferociously harvesting its leaves), three green onions, one garlic clove that insisted on sprouting in the refrigerator crisper (hey, if it wants to grow, who am I to deny it?), some more chives (did I mention I like chives?), and a shallot I got from the grocery store that sends out shoots like mad. There were three snap pea plants as well, but I didn't water them as often as I should have -- plus I suspect they were feeling a mite crowded -- so they didn't last very long before they gave up the ghost, though not without a few pea pods.

-- One 8" by 10" pot stuffed with shallots (none of which are doing as well as my grocery-store purchase: go figure) and a leek in the middle (which is doing a bit better -- I like to harvest the outer leaves and leave the central stalk to grow).

-- One 12" tall strawberry pot with a dill plant on the top level, thyme and small onions on the middle level, and (why not?) strawberries on the bottom level. (I got a small pot so I could easily tip it on its side to water the strawberry plants.)

So far, the onions, tomatoes, oregano, thyme, and chives are doing the best, despite a northern exposure that only gives a few hours of really strong morning sun. The strawberries aren't producing as I'd hoped, but that's probably both because of the minimal sun and because I stressed the poor buggers early on when I went away on a long weekend during a dry spell. They do look pretty, and one of them's sent out a runner which I may or may not attempt to root.

My biggest lesson learned so far: Try to alternate big and little plants, so two big plants aren't competing for resources.

Does this even come close to feeding me? Nope. Does it provide some extras for my purchased salads as well as root veggies and herbs to store for the winter? Yup. Is it fun and relaxing? Yup -- and cheaper than therapy.

Then again, they gave their game away when terkoy made his "Chigroes" comment.

As a blogger myself, I fear that the demise of the print media (taken down not so much by bloggers as by Craigslist) is also the end of a time when there were certain facts that were universally agreed upon by our culture. Instead, we all scurry off to our respective Amen Corners, never to meet on common intellectual ground.

Things fall apart, the center cannot hold, and all that. Neil Postman predicted this in Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death), and he died just as blogs were getting off the ground. Or as he said in that book:

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.

Look at what dominates our headlines, our blog posts, our Twitterings. Matters of substance, or shocking behavior by entertainers?

Kids usually know by the time they're toddlers what genders they are. Should surgery be done on them? That's their decision to make, and theirs alone.

As shown in two of his recent Salon letters:

#1:

Daddy! Daddy! I's jest done been bit by a chigger!

[Read the article: The Obamas' first harvest]

[Read more letters about this article: Here]

"Around here, son, we calls 'em chigroes."

Permalink Sunday, July 5, 2009 09:03 PM

#2:

First joke I heard was they were going to dig up The Rose Garden

[Read the article: The Obamas' first harvest]

[Read more letters about this article: Here]

and turn it into a watermelon patch.

Permalink Sunday, July 5, 2009 09:02 PM

Keep giving the game away, terkoy. Each of your posts undermines any effort by your beloved Republican party to pretend that it's inclusive and welcoming to any but a few token black and brown people.

It answers your questions:

http://letters.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/07/07/flanagan_marriage/permalink/6897a86f6d430043b6b635e3a2606c92.html

Of course, the people who are invested in the whole "Handmaid's Tale" concept of women's place in society won't believe it, but what the heck.

Caitlin Flanagan and Michael Wolff (see also here: http://www.dependablerenegade.com/dependable_renegade/2009/07/michael-wolff-is-scared-of-strong-rich-women.html) should be locked in a room together. They are the opposite sides of the same sexist coin.