earth day post

April 22nd, 2008 | Uncategorized

garden

We must cultivate our garden.

Here’s a handy instructional video. The most important part is the sled.

Hey, in case you’re wondering about The Daily Distress, it’s still in the works. The Houghton Mifflin marketing people are planning to have it completed in time for Book Expo America, a big publishing convention, at the end of May.

62 Responses to “earth day post”

  1. Al et al says:

    Very nice. Happy Earth Day! And may I be the nth person to say your girlfriend is really hot?

  2. bruna says:

    i’m in love with you since i read fun home. i dream about you every night.

  3. Ian says:

    There is nothing so ridiculously exciting as watching seeds sprout for the first time. It’s strangely thrilling and I can’t work out why.

  4. geogeek says:

    Sadly, my radishes and lettuce seem to be getting gnawed already (they’re

  5. geogeek says:

    What happened to the rest of my comment?

    Shoudl read:

    (they’re less than 1 in. high), and the beets haven’t germinated where I thought they were, or maybe I forgot to plant them.

    Oh, well, I put in enough lettuce seed that _some_ will survive the over-enthusiastic gastropoda.

  6. sunicarus says:

    Lovely. What fun!

    The sled? Water from below and and easy way to move the flats depending on the amount of sun? or maybe a toy for Dr. W.?

  7. Dale says:

    I’ve already got six inch tall plant babies. Well, Mom says they’re more like toddlers now. HA! I started mine in a mini-greenhouse and they took off in less than a week.
    It will be fun this summer, since there are still water restrictions here in Atlanta. Yes! We can fill our swimming pools but we can’t water our gardens or lawns.
    *groans and wishes she lived in Ohio or the Carolinas*
    Anyone want to adopt some zucchini plants?

  8. Ann S. In Madison says:

    Truthfully? I’m a little disturbed by the blatant lesbian gardening porn. I mean, come ON, the gratuitous close-ups of soil-covered fingers? The “realistically flexed” biceps? The reference to “Turkish bath” and the hosing money shot?! The only thing missing is a bow-chicka-bow-bow soundtrack.

    Honestly, what is this site coming to? You should be ashamed.

  9. Erika says:

    Sorry if this is inappropriately off-topic, but now that I know there’s a DTWOF/gardening nexus, I can’t help but ask Mpls./St. Paul denizens: what are the best nurseries in this area? I moved here recently and would like to find a good place to buy perennials.

  10. KarenE says:

    You are both so freakin’ cute I can’t stand it. I hope the basil produces bountiful luscious pesto all summer!
    No catnip???

  11. Deena in OR says:

    ::laughs::

    Alison, I have a gray feather in my hair in almost exactly the same spot you do.

  12. Eva says:

    Hats off to Ann S. for providing the appropriate soundtrack idea for this luscious little “instructional video” – bow-chica-bow-bow – indeed!

  13. sunicarus says:

    Ann~Indeed. Earth Day will never be the same. Ann Bannon would be proud.
    Bring on the pulp fiction lesbian gardener’s guide to basil planting!

  14. Maggie Jochild says:

    As good as it gets.

  15. Rosa says:

    Twin Cities Garden Centers – Erika, I like Gertens for large decorative stuff and grass seed. They’re out in Inver Grove but all the trees & shrubs are for our climate.

    The previous owners of our house got a lot of flowers at Bachman’s – I still find lavender tags in the yard.

  16. j.b.t. says:

    Erika –

    In the Twin Cities, I like “Mother Earth Gardens” in the Phillips neighborhood, the garden co-operative (forgot the name) on 36th and Bryant, and the one on 38th street and 42nd Avenue. All of these have organic plants.

    Oh! And if you really want the best best best – go to the Friends School of Minnesota plant sale in May. It’s held at the Fair grounds and you can find info about it on their website and at food co-ops around town. Plus your purchases benefit peace-lovin’ Quaker education for today’s youth!

    Good luck!
    J.

  17. Ellen O. says:

    Will you transfer the peas after they sprout or will they grow in place? My community garden plot has been over-planted with peas, but you can never have too much, right? I was thinking it would be nice to watch some grow closer to the house too.

  18. Chris (in Massachusetts) says:

    BowChickaWowWow, indeed!

    “Dear PENTHOUSE Forum:

    I never believed all those letters until my girlfriend came over to help with the garden…”

  19. Alex K says:

    @geogeek:

    “Gastropoda”. Brava! **clap clap clap**

    Filing THAT one away for uncredited use, I am.

  20. Tone says:

    I am so happy you’ve got an “earthy” girl-friend! It has always concerned me that there has been so little soil, compost and plants in Dykes to Watch Out For. Harriet and Mo’s community garden stunt many, many years ago was just pathetic. I always wondered why you didn’t like flowers and gardeners. And then I read Fun Home, and the lack of flowers and gardens made more sense. But I am glad to see you are back with your hands in the compost!

  21. Ariadne says:

    Besides…food plants=much nicer than ornamental plants, cause they give you food!
    My girlfriend has been repotting our tomatoes this week. They’re about finger-high. It keeps snowing here at unauthorized intervals, so the tomato babies live inside for now, on a heat mat. Trout the cat likes to cuddle up to them.
    Ariadne, OlyWA

  22. Mac Guy says:

    Nice video, Alison!
    I am so happy to see you in love. And she is kinda cute, too, even with those glasses. 😉
    Lesbian gardening porn indeed!

    BTW- what is “we must cultivate our garden” a ref to? I can’t quite place it…

  23. toadfood says:

    MacGuy — it’s from Candide.

  24. spoilsport says:

    Tomatillos grow like CrAzY! Trade some with a pal.

  25. Kassie says:

    Alison, at first I thought you were asking, “Is it all bagels, this flat?” Living in Brooklyn has affected my hearing!

  26. Ian says:

    It’s very weird for a Brit to hear it called “bay-zil” rather than “bah-zil” (as in Fawlty Towers).

    Today I planted 2 types of tomatoes, sweet peppers, peas, rocket and spinach. We even have aubergines (egg plant) growing after the seeds sat there for 2 months doing nothing!

    New life! New growth! Sunshine after 11 months of rain!

    *dances down the street singing “this is the dawning of the age of aquarius”*

  27. Ginjoint says:

    TODAY

    was
    my
    last
    day
    of

    CHEMO!!

    This relates to gardening in that I’m going to go find a patch of daffodils to roll around in naked. Wheeeee! Springtime, here I come!! ::Snoopy Happy Dance::

  28. Nickel Joey says:

    Whenever I hear that quote from Candide, I always think of this piece of Bernstein’s:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwM35ENXm_A

    “We’ll build our house and chop our wood / And make our garden grow” — sounds like Vermont to me!

  29. mlk says:

    I’m with KarenE . . . and Tone. feels good to get one’s hands in the dirt!!

  30. Nickel Joey says:

    CONGRATULATIONS, Ginjoint!!!

  31. Chris (in Massachusetts) says:

    And may you have countless (and chemoless!) anniversaries of this happy day!

  32. Ian says:

    That’s fantastic news Ginjoint! I imagine you doing this now, while pushing your cat in its stroller naked through the daffodils …

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FETsaFG778

    By the way, I know we used to complain about visibility in the 70s and 80s, but with Peppermint Patty and Marcy and Bert & Ernie in Sesame Street, could we have had more realistic role models? Or is this just hindsight …

  33. Ginjoint!
    WOO HOOOOO!

  34. sunicarus says:

    Ginjoint! Happy Dance in the garden!

    I think I’m going to get one of those strollers, btw, because my partner figures our dog ( I know…..I know…. petriarchy and all) will look like the tasmanian devil as we walk down the sidewalk. Paints a picture, eh? He’s quite a spaz.

  35. Ginjoint says:

    Thanks everyone! Yeah, Ian, the cartoon nails how I feel! That was sweet of you to find. I have to have a couple more minor surgeries to finish the breast reconstruction, but…it sure feels good to have a second chance. (A third one, actually, ’cause my first go ’round with breast cancer was 4 years ago. This time it was a lot more serious.)

    Anyway….everything seems richer now. Including myself.

  36. Ginjoint says:

    Sunicarus, that company I linked to up above was great to work with – real nice folks, and I had the stroller in just a few days. Plus, often, there’s no shipping fee.

  37. sunicarus says:

    Thanks, Ginjoint!

    Indeed. Being a survivor of anything does often give one a sense of true wealth.
    Enjoy the spring colors from emerald green to lemon daffodils. Then there are the herb gardens (which as Allison and Holly have demonstrated) hold a hearty variety of playful opportunities. Have fun cultivating!

  38. Maggie Jochild says:

    So, so glad Ginjoint. Cue Doris Day singing:
    “And when you see clouds upon the hills
    You soon may see crowds of daffodils”

    The Times Online UK has an article stating that playing around in the dirt is a natural antidepressant. As well as an aphrodisiac and good for nutrition, o’course.

  39. Cate says:

    Congratulations, Ginjoint — that’s a fantastic milestone.

    PS. Loved the video.

  40. sunicarus says:

    Interesting article, Maggie Jochild. Thanks!

    I’m off to make mud pies… ;o)

  41. LM says:

    Ginjoint,

    Congratulations and the best of wishes. Here’s to good milestones! I just had a ten year one slide by.

  42. iara says:

    Congratulations Ginjoint!
    Congratulations LM!

  43. Straight Ally says:

    I’ll jump in here too–I’m just about at my third-year anniversary as a survivor.

    Mazel tov, Ginjoint and LM!

  44. ready2agitate says:

    Amandla! (Strength!) to you Ginjoint, and all our sisters.

  45. Lisa (Calico) says:

    Wow Ginjoint and LM – congratulations, peace to you and yours, and Happy Spring! : D

    Side note – for all you compost and comics lovers, Sally Forth is kinda cute today…

  46. http://EncoreSeraphine.com says:

    Never trust anyone
    without a little dirt
    under their nails.

  47. ksbel6 says:

    Congrats Ginjoint…hope all the rest goes well!!

  48. Deena in OR says:

    ::cue Linus and Lucy theme::

    Ginjoint, LM–

    Happy dancing here in Oregon for you!

  49. iara says:

    Congrats to Straight Ally too and to all celebrating anniversaries!

  50. Ginjoint says:

    Thanks to all, and congrats to LM and Straight Ally! Today, of course, I’m feeling crappy, but at least I know that I don’t have to do it all over again next week.

    I have A LOT of gardening planned for this spring, which will aid my spirit immeasurably, a la the article Maggie linked to.

    ksbel6, how’s the puppy doing?

  51. ksbel6 says:

    Ginjoint,

    Thanks for asking, his name is Peppa and he is actually around 4-5 years old. He is doing better…I would love to say “much better” but we just aren’t there yet. He gets out of his doghouse (which we don’t have a door on) when he thinks we aren’t paying attention and pokes around the yard. He is eating/drinking really well now, those first two days that was very slow going. At night he is in the kitchen in a pet taxi/kennel that is open and again, he will roam around the kitchen as long as he thinks we aren’t paying attention, but any sort of eye contact and he bolts back into the kennel. He is just REALLY scared of everyone. Not the cats or other dog though, he totally ignores them.

  52. Feminista says:

    Joke of the day,courtesy of Margaret Cho:

    On the presidential election…”I’m between Barack and a familiar face.”

    I heard her a week ago here in Portland,OR and laughed harder than I have in ages. More Cho-isms to follow.

  53. iara says:

    My daughter, who is in 7th grade, told me that she and many of her classmates are planning to observe the lgbt day of silence tomorrow. She goes to a pretty progressive school in Philadelphia, but still! I was very pleasantly surprised that the kids would decide this on their own and that she really seemed to understand the meaning of it with respect to the feeling of being silenced.

  54. ready2agitate says:

    Wow ksbel, you could write a chronicle – just to open eyes abt what Peppa has suffered…. Big hopes for all of you!

  55. Ginjoint says:

    ksbel, thanks for the update, and I hope you keep us posted as to progress. You are doing such a good thing. Iara, when I remember what school was like when I was in 7th grade (during the late seventies), it boggles my mind that kids today can do this.

    Two different rays of hope, huh?

  56. ksbel6 says:

    Hey, this new line is right up my alley also…I teach in a school of about 850 students in northeast MO (I have said that before, but I don’t expect you all to remember) and we have a fairly large GSA (about 20 members) and we are doing LOTS for day of silence. We all have tshirts, and much of the student population purchased buttons to wear. We put up a few posters (1 was a group of teachers with tape over their mouths, 1 was a huge wall poster with a list of GLBT who have been killed over the past 25 years or so, and others were about discrimination in general). It is quite a day 🙂

  57. NLC says:

    Thank you, Feminista, for the Margaret Cho line.

    That summarizes my feelings exactly.

    I know that I’m living in the real world. And I know that all actions have consequences, etc, etc… But I’m so tired of each election coming down, finally, to a choice of the “least bad”…

  58. Deena in OR says:

    Iara-my daughter was one of 7 who participated yesterday out of a student body population of over 2000. (Today is school release, so they did it yesterday.) She said it went well.

    NLC-just a thought…since we’re all human, and therefore inherently imperfect, isn’t it always going to be a choice of the “least bad”? Or am I over-philosophising?

  59. judybusy says:

    And getting back to Erica about nurseries in the Twins: (and a wee correction to jbt) Mother Earth Gardens is actually the one on 42nd Ave. and 38th st. While you’re in that neighborhood, you can visit the Riverview Winebar and catch a movie at the Riverview Theater, with some of the best popcorn in town and _$3_ movies! Also, Uncommon Gardens at 56th and Lyndale, Tangletown (53rd and Nicollet) and Phillips Garden (Cedar Ave. S. and 25-ish)are cool and all unique. Don’t miss the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market either; that’s where I get most of my plants, actually.

    Last night I pricked out all my seedlings into individual pots: around 120 plants under two four-foot lights. Huh, I never did that math before. No wonder it takes two hours to do that very fun garden task!

    This is getting long, but I wish Ginjoint the happiest of gardens and warm congratulations to the other survivors!

  60. Anonymous says:

    I did day of silence today. It went really well at my high school.

  61. Feminista says:

    Re: Day of Silence

    I substitute taught at a high school in Portland where they had a well-organized plan put together by the GSA and a health educator; about 100 out of 1250 students participated. There were posters on the wall by the main office,and participating students wore name tags or had tape over their mouths.

    Teachers were given info and statistics about the meaning of and reasons for the day; I summarized the info for classes and urged them to treat each other with kindness and respect every day and to honor diversity.

    **Deena**Hooray for your daughter! Are you interested in another meeting of the western OR DTWOF fan club?

  62. MikeSTL says:

    Hand working the soil . . . few things more beautiful!