Broccoli Babies and Spring Chores

The only thing growing at the moment is broccoli seedlings. I was pleasantly surprised this week when the snow melted and I took a day off to do a little gardening and found red beets in the compost pile! I pulled small ones last fall that didn't materialize and threw them on the compost pile and low and behold, they grew over the winter. It was a delightful dinner surprise. The asparagus patch was cleaned up and the raspberry canes were trimmed back. I'm hoping to be off a day this week to start cleaning up dead stuff. Let the games begin!

Weed Killer Castrates Male Frogs

Could man be working on a population control device without realizing it??? Check out this article in CNN.com about about a popular weed killer in the Midwest castrating male frogs and turning one in 10 into females. All the more reason to give up the chemicals.

Just Released - Organic Manifesto

It was just ordered and I can't wait to read it. Maria Rodale, the 3rd generation of organic gurus in the Rodale family, just published her version of why organic is important - the Organic Manifesto. She brings organics into the modern world of today and pulls together all that we already know about pesticides, farming practices and GM foods and lays it out in a difference perspective. From the Rodale website:

Rodale was founded on the belief that organic gardening is the key to better health both for us and for the planet, and never has this message been more urgent. Now Maria Rodale, CEO and Chairman of Rodale Inc., sheds new light on the state of 21st-century farming. She examines the unholy alliances that have formed between the chemical companies that produce fertilizer and genetically altered seeds, the agricultural educational system that is virtually subsidized by those same companies, and the government agencies in thrall to powerful lobbyists, all of which perpetuate dangerous farming practices and deliberate misconceptions about organic farming and foods. Interviews with government officials, doctors, scientists, and farmers from coast to coast bolster her position that chemical-free farming may be the single most effective tool we have to protect our environment and, even more important, our health.

We should lean towards more organic and Maria tells us why. Chemicals are killing us and the environment. Thanks Maria! I can't wait to read it and re-enforce my beliefs.