Wal-Mart and you can make a difference

After having viewed the movie Food Inc there is one conclusion which is hard to overlook, purchasing from Wal-Mart is a way to invoke change in our food supply. I know this is a conclusion difficult to accept, especially to those who believe in organic, chemical free foods or those who believe Wal-Mart is evil.

Food Inc, shows how we as consumers can make a change in our food supply. A prime example is milk produced without rBST. When the world’s largest retailer begins to market milk without rBST it’s hard not to notice. Wal-Mart can single handed change the course of the food supply but they can only do it if we vote with our dollars and purchase rBST free milk from Wal-Mart.

When other retailers see the direction Wal-Mart has taken they have no choice but to follow suite. It won’t be long when all milk sold is free from rBST because the Wal-Mart has given us what we ask for, affordable chemical free milk.

Another example is Wal-Mart’s choice to sell Stoneyfield organic yogurt. Again, we must support Wal-Mart in order to bring about change in our food supply.

Don’t get me wrong. Wal-Mart is not doing this to be nice. They are here to make money and lots of it by giving us what we demand, more affordable organic food choices.

Hard to believe, but you can make a difference by buying from Wal-Mart. Sometimes common goals make interesting bedfellows.

Can you trust your dentist?

Never have been excited about visiting a dentist but since we have a decent dental plan through work I go about twice a year for routine visits.

Recently my dentist recommended I have a Full Mouth Debridement or FMD for short. I was told it would cost me $85 for the FMD. I am leery of dentists who always seem to find something to do inside your mouth as a way to get inside your wallet.

When I go to my dentist I just can’t seem to get out of there without being told I need this or that and it will cost this amount. It feels like I am being hustled at a traveling carnival.

My standard reply is let’s keep an eye on it and see what it looks like in 6 months.

For the FMD I called my dental plan to learn why it was costing me $85 when my plan states they pay the full amount. The customer support representative gave me an excellent tip. Ask the dentist what value am I receiving for $85?

Upon asking the dentist staff this question they stated the FMD is covered under my plan but the antimicrobial rinse is $85. At this point I am thinking to myself, $85 for “Listerine” mouth wash. I smell a fish.

I ask them what are the ingredients of this antimicrobial rinse? They respond by stating I do not have to purchase the rinse if I do not want it. Now I’m thinking is this a scam or what? All along I was lead to believe the $85 was for the FMD. Upon closer questioning, the truth comes out. It’s only for the rinse since my dental plan pays for the FMD. This rinse is not something I take home afterwards. It is only used to rinse my mouth during the FMD.

Today I had my FMD minus the $85 antimicrobial rinse. Took along my own $2 travel bottle of Listerine which “Kills Germs by Millions on Contact”. Afterwards, I proceeded to rinse in the parking lot. Does anyone know if Listerine will harm trees?

Is this a scam? You decide.

Why Google Chrome is NOW Green!

If you followed my last blog on this subject (http://justforducks.blogspot.com/2009/06/why-google-chrome-is-not-green.html)

I was not going to use Google Chrome until a special feature was activated. I liked everything about Chrome except it was lacking in this one feature.

I rely on being able to visit a website and print only the selection of the information I am seeking. Printing the whole webpage when I only need some of the information is a complete waste of paper.

Today I checked in with Google Chrome to see if any changes had been made and sure enough the feature I had been waiting for is now available. I can now highlight the information I need from a website, hit print selection and I get what I need without wasting paper.

I have imported my bookmarks from IE 8 and set Chrome as my default browser.

Adios Microsoft, Hola Chrome!

The taste was terrible

Just want to report on the taste of the giant watermelons. As you can see, they were anemic looking and tasted as bad as they looked.

We are now looking forward to next Spring when we shall try again.

Santa Barbara hole in the wall has great food

Recently spent a weekend in Santa Barbara, Calif. Ate at a hole in the wall Mexican bakery which also serves real homemade Mexican foods. Enjoyed the large taco plate. Delicious.

If you ever happen to be in Santa Barbara go to 832 N. Milpas St. Drive to the back of the parking lot. Look for a small shop named La Tapatia Bakery. Enjoy the hospitality and food served by the Vela Family.

Harvest Day for the 200 lb watermelon project

Today is day 111. It’s weigh-in day. The watermelons stopped growing several weeks ago so I stopped watering them last week. I read somewhere it helps to sweeten the melons up if you stop watering them just before harvest.

Let me summarize this project before we get into the weigh-in. This was my first year of planting a serious garden. Everything was in the ground by April. We had tomatoes, zucchini, green cucumbers, lemon cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon, beets, onions, blackberry, raspberry, sun flowers, cayenne peppers, chayote, crook neck squash, corn, garlic and radish. I was feeling pretty good that we were going to have a great garden.

In late April as I was browsing the seed rack at Wal-Mart, there in front of me was a packet of Burpee Carolina Cross #183 Watermelon seeds. On the package beneath the picture of a giant watermelon it said “Gigantic Fruits – up to 200lbs.”. It took me a split second to decide, “I can do that”.

If you read my previous postings, you’ll see that it is not easy to grow large healthy fruits and vegetables.

Fast forward to today. After losing two of the five watermelons to BER we were down to three. Last week I harvested the smallest of the three remaining melons. It weighted 11.4 lbs and was marginally sweet. The seeds were large, about six times larger than a normal watermelon seed and white instead of black.

Today I weighed the largest melon from this project. It was an eye popping 17.6 pounds. Yes, my genetically capable 200 lb watermelon was a tiny 17.6 lbs. It was an eye popper because your eyes popped out straining to see such a tiny watermelon. I wish I could say it was 176 pounds like the picture seems to show but it's not. Look careful to view the decimal point. What a disappointment. It was nowhere near my goal of growing a 200 lb watermelon. What went wrong? Everything. I started late. I over watered. I over fertilized. I didn’t check the ph of the soil. I used the wrong type of soil.

I would not say I failed, only that I learned a lot of what not to do. I am already making plans for next Spring to try again.

I need to chill the melons down before we eat them so I can’t tell you today if they were sweet or not. Next week I’ll post the sweetness factor.

Day 90 – Sad to report BER

Sad to report 2 of the 5 watermelons have succumbed to BER (blossom end rot). This is new to me. Apparently due to a possible lack of calcium in the soil the watermelon begins to rot from the blossom end. Shows up as a brown spot which becomes larger as the rot spreads.

That leaves 3 watermelons which still appear to be healthy. They have slowed down in growing larger. WP3 is about 15 – 20 lbs which is only a small fraction of what it should be after 90 days. Here in the Sacramento Valley we still have warm days all of September and most of October. The nights begin to chill down and the daylight is definitely much shorter.

I now appreciate farmers more. It is not just plant and water. You need the proper type of soil, soil ph, water amounts, fertilizer, bug repellant, daylight and on and on.

I have plans for next year to start earlier and make it more of a scientific process.

What is the largest vegetable or fruit you have grown?

Safari West - What it is and what it isn't

A few weeks back my wife and I booked an overnight stay at Safari West. Safari West is an animal preserve located in the hills of Santa Rosa, California. A visit to their website explains exactly what they are and what they do.

For some reason people read past the description “Not a zoo, not a drive-through park, it's a wildlife preserve” and expect to see lions taking down zebras as they drive through the park.

Safari West is a wildlife preserve located on 400 acres. They house many different types of African animals and birds. Their two main purposes are to breed and preserve exotic and endangered species and to educate the public about endangered animals.

There are several ways the public can engage the activities of Safari West. They offer behind the scenes tours, a 3 hour safari ride, overnight stays in African style canvas cabins and other choices. We stayed in the overnight canvas cabins. They are very rustic but comfortable. Each has its own full bathroom including hot and cold water, flush toilets, and hot showers. The cabin décor is African themed. Just imagine a comfortable hotel room with wooden floor and canvas sides and roof. You have visual privacy but very little audio privacy.

Our cabin had an excellent view of the giraffes. During the evening it was a lot quieter than I had expected. Every now and then the flamingos would chatter noisely.

The only way to actually roam the back acres is to take their safari tour ride in one of their beat up old Dodge converted power wagons. It’s about a three hour tour but well worth the cost.

For meals, they offer a snack bar or buffet style B-B-Q. Continental breakfast is included with the overnight stay. Due to dietary concerns we did not participate in the B-B-Q but the food looked delicious.

I would recommend the overnight stay with the safari tour. The prices are not low but everything about Safari West is eco-friendly and as such you can expect to pay a little more.

Think of Safari West as a working African ranch where endangered and exotic animals are bred and visitors are welcomed. Check out their website. http://www.safariwest.com/

Day 77 – And the Heat Goes On…. And On and On

Not too much exciting to report on the status of the 200 pound watermelons. So far we still have all 5 watermelons surviving and growing. The high temperatures (98 – 102 degrees) in the Sacramento Valley have been brutal. During midday the plants look like they are half dead. The leaves are collapsed and drooping. I have placed umbrellas to shade each watermelon.

I don’t know if the umbrellas actually help the plant but they do help me think I am doing the right thing. On hot days I water in the morning then again late afternoon. Is it possible to over water on a hot day?

At the present time the watermelons look like normal midsize melons. I have started rotating them to prevent flat spots on the underside. When the watermelons reach 50 pounds then I will feel like we have hit the first milestone.

I have also started using pigeon manure to fertilize. Soon I will construct closed cell foam cradles to distribute the weight evenly and prevent flat spots.

My current favorite is WP4 (watermelon plant 4 with the black umbrella). It is not the largest but it is the most symmetrical of all the watermelons. It is actually the 3rd largest of all 5. The current largest is WP3 but it has an odd looking end point.

Does anyone have any comments on what I should or should not be doing to achieve the goal of growing a 200 pound watermelon?

Day 62 - Doubled in size in one week.

WP2

Not much to write about since last week. WP2 and WP3 doubled in size in one week. I am wondering if that is a normal growth pattern or special for these soon to be 200 pound watermelons.

WP3

Actually WP3 seems to be growing faster than WP2. Read blog Day 55 to understand what WP3 means.

One thing I do not understand is why they are not growing symmetrical. Do they fill out later or are they going to be odd shaped watermelons?

The sun is starting to rise a little later and set a little sooner. I think I should have started growing these much earlier. It seems like they may run out of warm weather.

Tuna Patties with Sun Dried Tomatoes

This past weekend I experimented by creating a new recipe which was assembled from items already in the kitchen.

Items used were:

2 Cans Albacore in water (7oz ea)
2 large eggs
¼ cup of sliced green onions
½ cup sun dried tomatoes preserved in olive oil
¼ tsp ground pepper
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ cup olive oil


I used Albacore but you could also use Tuna.

Drain the Tuna well.
Cut the sun dried tomatoes into pieces half the size of a raisin.
In a bowl, mix all the ingredients except the eggs.
Mix well.
Add more or less pepper and garlic to your liking.
In a separate bowl, stir up the eggs well then pour into tuna mix.
Stir well.
Make 3 to 4 patties depending on size of patty you want.

In large pan add olive oil and heat well.

Carefully place a patty into some olive oil and cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side.
Flip carefully until egg is thoroughly cooked.
It may brown a little on each side but that is fine.

If you try it out, let me know how it came out and what you think.

Enjoy.

Day 55 – Giant watermelons are beginning to grow fast

Day 55 is just past the half way mark of 100 days to harvest. The 5 plants are spreading out with little yellow flowers and baby watermelons.

In order to keep track and describe the progress of each plants I have assigned them numbers, WP1, WP2, WP3, WP4 and WP5 (Watermelon Plant #).

WP2 has the largest watermelon so far. Look at the picture with the measuring tape. The watermelon is almost 4 inches long. Very good WP2!

WP3 has the most large watermelons. It has three which are between 1 ½ to 2 inches. I will allow these to grow just a bit larger before I decide which one to keep and trim the rest off. I heard plants will grow larger fruit if there are no other fruits to take away resources.

WP1, WP4 and WP5 all are healthy growing plants with 1 watermelon about an inch long on each plant.

This past week I gave WP1 and WP2 pigeon manure instead of the regular 20-20-20 fertilizer I have been giving the other WPs. I would like believe WP2 has such a large watermelon because of the pigeon manure. I am a little hesitant to use pigeon manure on all the watermelon plants because of the fear I may over fertilize them and burn them and cause them to die. That would be a tragic ending to this experiment.

I may just slowly introduce pigeon manure to the other plants. I know using pigeon manure is the right thing to do but I don’t want to ruin this experiment.

I am also thinking about placing a padding of some type under the watermelons to get them off the ground and perhaps cut down on any insects pests.

Does the watermelon fruit need sunshine or will it do better if shaded? I don’t mean shading the whole plant, just the fruit.

Day 55 and counting.

Day 46 – The Baby is born

I don’t know what happened but I looked and suddenly it was there… the future 200 pound Baby. I was waiting for the yellow flowers to appear, then the bees then the Baby. Instead I came home from work and saw the Baby.
Somehow the flowers and bees showed up. I believe in the immaculate conception of Virgin Mary but not in the immaculate conception of a watermelon. No way!

Now the race is on to grow this Baby as large as possible. If you believe the seed package this little Baby will be up to 200 hundred pounds by mid September. I guess it’s possible with plenty of water, fertilizer, sunshine and heat.

Here in the Sacramento Valley we are starting the hottest time of the year. Between mid July to Mid August temperatures can easily reach into the 100’s and the nights stay warm. I use to dread this time of the year but this year I am thinking this is going to be great for the Baby.

I have never grown watermelons before so I have questions. Is it possible to over water a watermelon? Should I water daily? Should I water deep then wait until it dries out then water deep again? What is the best ratio of fertilizer? How often should I fertilize? What do I do to make the plant use it’s energy and resources to grow a large watermelon and not waste them on growing a larger plant?

Once the Baby grows about the size of a walnut I am going to start pinching off any new flowers and fruit. If you read my previous postings you’ll notice I sprouted five seeds and they are all doing well. Three of the plants have babies. Soon I hope to have one Baby on each plant in order to spread my bets.

If you have any suggestions I am all ears. I really want to see what a 200 pound watermelon looks like.

I will be posting more often now that we are seeing results. Maybe I’ll have a weekly weigh-in.

What do you do with a 200 pound watermelon?

Day 35 - Giant Leaves

It’s day 35. Not much to report. The magpies are being held at bay by Mr. Owl. In addition I placed small plastic snakes on each watermelon hill.

All five plants continue to grow and grow. The leaves are much larger than a normal watermelon plant. This picture has a quarter for reference. The leaves are about the size of my hands.

Soon I hope to see the flowers appear. There are still many bees in the area so I expect to get quick fertilization and formation of fruit.

Until then stand by.

Day 24 - The attack of the Magpies

The watermelon transplants appear to have survived going from the paper cup starter pots to being planted into hills of topsoil.

This week I noticed the Magpies started to show up in the garden area. They stand on the top edge of the watermelon hills and disturb the loose soil. On one plant they picked at it and cut off a leaf.

I thought about making a scarecrow or something similar. Instead I stopped by my local Lowe’s and sure enough there was this scary looking owl. It claims to keep the birds away but you have to move the owl around. For $13 it is worth a try.

While purchasing the owl I wondered. What is the real purpose of the owl, to scare birds away or catch the eye of the gardener so he would purchase it?

Somewhat like fishing lures. They are all made up pretty and shiny with promises to catch lots of fish. But is the real purpose of those fish lures to catch fish or catch buyers?

Mr. Owl is now perched on his pole looking stately and in control. The big question is, will the birds respect him and leave my garden alone, especially the 200 lb watermelon plants?

Stay tuned.

Day 20 in the life of the gigantic watermelons

Today I moved some top soil into the garden area to create hills. On top of each hill I transplanted a watermelon plant. These aren’t just any watermelon plants, these are going to produce watermelons up to 200 lbs each. That’s what the package states.

I also located a neighbor who raises racing pigeons. He has offered to keep me supplied with pigeon manure for this special project. Picked up my first sack of manure. People swear by pigeon manure claiming it is the best fertilizer to use. Things are starting to move forward now that the plants are in the ground.

The package states fruit can be harvested in about 100 days. The seeds were planted June 1st. This means harvest time is around mid September. Once the plants are large enough to produce flowers it will probably be mid-July. This leaves about 60 days to grow a 200 lb watermelon. This works out to a watermelon averaging 3 lbs of weight gain per day. Something does not seem to add up. I guess it also means they will require lots of water during the growth time since watermelons are about 90 – 93% water.

Only time will tell.

The King's Brass Concert

http://www.kingsbrass.org/

I had the opportunity to attend a concert by Tim Zimmerman and The King’s Brass last night. Wasn’t sure what it would be like other than there would be no singing, just a brass band.

They were good!!!! You must see them if they come your way. For their 2009 tour they have 9 members. Each member is very talented in their choice of instrument. The band had 3 trombones, 3 trumpets, 1 tuba, 1 drummer / xylophone, 1 keyboard / piano and different sizes of trumpets / horns throughout the concert.

The band started the show by playing “Fanfare for the Common Man”. From there it just got better and better. At times, part of the band would disappear away then show up playing from the back of the concert hall. What an incredible stereo effect that filled the hall. They mingled with the audience as they played while strolling down the isles. There were a few solos including the drums, trumpets and tuba. The tuba solo was a blast.

Other crowd favorites they played were, “American Salute” (a rendition of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”), “Bugler’s Holiday”, “Yankee Doodle”, “Armed Forces Tribute”, “When the Saints Go Marching In”.

During the “Armed Forces Tribute”, members of the audience stood up when they heard the song of the service branch they served. The audience clapped hard to show their appreciation of our service men and women.

They couldn’t leave without the crowd standing and applauding for an encore. They came back on stage and played “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”. They left and again the crowd stood up to applaud for another encore. Once again they returned and this time played “The Stars and Stripes Forever”.

It was a very positive and uplifting experience which lasted almost 2 hours. The concert was free but a love offering was passed around and music CD’s were available after the concert.

Check out their website for their concert schedule and other interesting information about Tim Zimmerman and the King’s Brass. http://www.kingsbrass.org/

Take your kids, take your teens, take your friends, take your neighbors but don’t miss out. How often do you get to listen to a top performing brass band in person?

Day 16 in the life of the gigantic watermelons

All 5 seeds have sprouted. That’s a 100% success rate so far. This weekend we’ll be transplanting into the garden.

Not sure what I need to do to make these grow into 200 lb watermelons but I have a few ideas I’ll be testing out.

I did learn the other day there are male and female flowers on watermelon plants. Most of the flowers are male flowers and only the female flowers can produce a watermelon. I have seen many bees in the garden this year so pollination should not be a problem.

What I am not clear on is how much water to give these plants. Should I keep it moist or allow them to dry out between watering?

I also know they will require fertilizer. I will try to locate a source of pigeon manure. I hear it works well and does not burn the plants. I may also test the soil pH. For watermelons I’ve read the pH should be between 6 – 7.

I still have the nagging question in the back of my mind. What do you do with a 200 lb watermelon?

We only have about 100 days till harvest time so visit often as the warm weather arrives and growth kicks into high gear. I’ll be keeping this blog updated regularly.

Giant Watermelon – Day 11

Three of the five seeds have sprouted. Hopefully the other two will cooperate and also show up for the party.

Now I need to start thinking about transplanting and protecting from each and all potential hazards. Things like dogs, snails, slugs, skunks, birds, bugs, jealous gardeners. Hmm… maybe I should build a machine gun tower in the corner. Do I need an electric fence or just a razor fence? So many variables to deal with. I didn’t know growing gigantic watermelons was going to be so complex.

It’s going to be great watching these puppies grow and produce 200 lb watermelon. What do you do with a 200 lb watermelon?

The concerned husband

A concerned husband went to a doctor to talk about his wife. He says to the doctor, "Doctor, I think my wife is deaf because she never hears me the first time and always asks me to repeat things." "Well," the doctor replied, "go home and tonight stand about 15 feet from her and say something to her. If she doesn't reply move about 5 feet close and say it again. Keep doing this so that we'll get an idea about the severity of her deafness". Sure enough, the husband goes home and does exactly as instructed. He starts off about 15 feet from his wife in the kitchen as she is chopping some vegetables and says, "Honey, what's for dinner?" He hears no response. He moves about 5 feet closer and asks again. No reply. He moves 5 feet closer. Still no reply. He gets fed up and moves right behind her, about an inch away, and asks again, "Honey, what's for dinner?" She replies, "For the fourth time, vegetable stew!"

How to Geocache with a TomTom One

Geocaching is the sport of locating a hidden item with the use of a GPS. The longitude and latitude of the hidden object is entered into the GPS which then guides you to the objects location.

The TomTom ONE (TT1) is a budget priced GPS which works well under normal driving conditions. I received my TomTom ONE as a gift but didn’t think about geocaching until I realized I could enter the destination as longitude and latitude.

Geocaching locations can be found at http://www.geocaching.com/ the premier site for all things geocached. You will need to register but there is no fee unless you want the paid membership. For starters the free membership is all you need.

Once you are logged in locate a geocache near your home and print the longitude and latitude coordinates. Now enter the coordinates into your TT1. Next follow the driving directions to the general area of the geocache. Most geocaches are located away from the road sometimes in a park but generally in a location which you must walk to.

Here is where it gets tricky since TT1 expects to guide you along a road instead of across a park area with no roads. Once you park, you will want to change your TT1 to pedestrian mode. This is found under Planning preferences. In addition you want to set TT1 to display GPS status. This shows the N and W coordinates as you move about.

Remember, the printed coordinates is where you are headed to and the TT1 displayed coordinates is your current location.

With the printed coordinates in hand you start walking in any direction until the TT1 coordinates begin to change as you walk. The printed coordinates are your final destination.

If the TT1 North coordinate is smaller than the printed North coordinate then you must walk North. If it is larger then you must walk South.
If the TT1 West coordinate is smaller than the printed West coordinate then you must walk West. If it is larger then you must walk East.

The rule is:
While viewing the TT1 GPS status screen if you want to move toward a larger coordinate you walk in the direction of North or West.

You will know you have arrived when the TT1 coordinates match the printed coordinates. At that point then you must figure out where the Geocache item is hidden.

Good Luck and Happy Geocaching!

Why Google Chrome is not GREEN

Excessive printing is a waste of paper. There are times as I surf when I need to print information from a website. I don’t want to print the whole page, just a paragraph or two.

The normal process when using MS IE is to highlight the portion I want to print, choose Print Selection and bingo, I get what I want on the fewest sheets of paper.

Google Chrome is great EXCEPT it will not allow me to print a selection. The few times I tried printing, it dumped more pages than I wanted. What a waste of resources! That’s why Google Chrome is not GREEN.

I submitted the request but no one is listening. Until Print Selection is added to Chrome, I won’t be using it.

What do you think?

Saga of the Gigantic Watermelons

This is our first year we planted a serious garden. Lawn area was converted to garden area. An area about 12 feet by 44 feet now has tomatoes, corn, zucchini, crook neck squash, peas, cucumber, strawberries, flowers, sun flowers, black berries, red raspberries, onions, garlic, beets, radish, cayenne pepper, watermelon, cantaloupe and chayote squash.

We planted everything not really understanding what might and might not grow. This would give us a good education for next year’s garden.

Then I came across some large watermelon seeds, the Carolina Cross #183 by Burpee. The package states gigantic fruits grow up to 200 lbs. I can’t let a challenge like that just pass me by.
Since I will be tending the garden this summer anyhow, what’s another half dozen gigantic watermelon plants to water and nurture?

I will post weekly updates as these monster watermelons grow for the next 100 plus days. That’s what’s great about being new to gardening. You believe you can grow anything. You haven’t established preconceived boundaries.

Day 1 – June 1st: Today we placed 5 gigantic watermelon seeds in Miracle Soil. Package states the seeds will sprout in 7 – 10 days.

Hmm… has anyone ever really grown a 200 lb watermelon?