Sponsored Content




Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!



Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups

NoVaMoMe 2024: 06/08/2024
Arlington, VA
Details to follow


Texas MoMe 2024: 10/18/2024-10/19/2024 Corsicana,TX
Contact Ben Had for info





















« May I have a word with you? [KT] | Main | Model Trains, Planes, Woodworking, Painting, and Bodging Thread »
June 20, 2020

Summer Solstice, 6/20/2020 [KT]

Trumpts.JPG

Happy Summer Solstice! Be on the lookout for revelers. And welcome to the Gardening and Puttering Thread!

Did you know that there is also an annular solar eclipse today? You can watch a live, virtual version of the eclipse right from your phone or computer. The scientific consensus is that this does not mean the world will end today. Other predictions, like the Mayan one, are briefly described at the link.

The Trumpet Lily above and the lily below were sent in by 40 miles north. The lily below is from a different species (or maybe it is a hybrid). An Asiatic Lily, in any case.


aasiatlil.jpg

Science

After our Japanese Maple feature last week, Gordon sent in a piece about a Minnesota-hardy Japanese Maple that was discovered in someone's yard. It has weeping branches.

Here's a link to a story about a cold-hardy version that created itself. . .

The US dairy industry resulted from the work a farmer did in Chaska, in the southwest metro. He took lucerne seed, which we know as alfalfa, and planted it. Those plants which survived the first winter were used for more seed. It took a few years but he wound up with alfalfa which could handle Minnesota winters. When wheat crops in Wisconsin exhausted the soil, farmers switched to dairy, with the cow's non-milk output returned to the fields as fertilizer. And in winter, with the cows indoors, there was dried stored alfalfa hay for the cows to eat.

Of course that is artificial selection.

Hay is about as unsexy a crop as there is, but it is very important. There are some interesting videos on mowing and gathering hay on the sides of steep slopes in Switzerland.

Gordon knows lotsa stuff. I'm not sure if Gordon means Swiss wild hay, but cows are a big cultural thing in Switzerland. Video and photos at the link.

The real Swiss supermen

For centuries, farmers in alpine regions have made superhuman efforts in order to harvest hay from the most remote spots in the mountains. Every summer, they would climb from the deep valleys to their pastures high up in the Alps to manually cut grass for hay production. Thanks to its nutritional value, this 'fancy' hay was used as animal feed during the long, cold winters.

Here's a shorter video:

Now you know how to be a Swiss Superman. Wanna give it a try in a vacant lot near you?

Critters

BeckoningChasm sent in the following photo of a spit-bug:

I used to see these all the time when I was a kid. They're insects that secrete a web of bubbles around themselves. Actually, according to Wikipedia, the spit is formed by the larval form. When they're adults, they're leaf-hoppers. Leaf-hoppers jump so fast it almost looks like they've teleported.

spit-bug.jpg

And here are some shots of bees from a member of the Niece Network in Washington State. Recognize the flowers?

beew.jpg

ceow2.jpg


Gardens of The Horde

Got my first tomatoes yesterday, from over-wintered plants. We haven't tasted them yet, but they look good. Kinda small, for beefsteak types.

BeckoningChasm sent in some flower photos:

I think people mostly hate mimosas (mimosae?) because the flowers make a big mess when they fall, but when the light hits them they look pretty spectacular.

I've also attached a pic of a Queen Anne's Lace. Another really pretty flower.

mimosa glow.jpg

mimosa glow2.jpg

queenanneslace.jpg


Anything going on in your garden?

If you would like to send information and/or photos for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden
at g mail dot com

Include your nic unless you want to remain a lurker.

digg this
posted by Open Blogger at 01:33 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Nova Local: "69 "Local news here quietly discussed that most/al ..."

redridinghood: "Wishing all a blessed Good Friday. ..."

LinusVanPelt : "No. Burr was a POS, certainly. But it was a duel, ..."

Rufus T. Firefly: ">>>Local news here quietly discussed that most/all ..."

Village Idiot's Apprentice: ""Local news here quietly discussed that most/all w ..."

Ben Had: "..., boggles the mind, it does. May Spring bring ..."

Nova Local: " And the names of the two deceased workers who's ..."

... : "We MUST defend Ukraine. And we MUST stop Israel ..."

Dem Propagandists: "Republicans made Obamacare expensive and unafforda ..."

Ben Had: "JT, Good morning. Hope all is well with you ..."

JT: "Hiya BenHad ! ..."

m: "Where's our SFGoth? ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64