ABC Wednesday --Round 10 C

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is:




And today my C word is Compost.

At the Master Gardener Class last weekend, the instructor mentioned how valuable Compost is, but went on to say that it is so much bother to make it and you can never make as much as you need, so you should just go ahead and buy it, or try to get it free from your local city.

Now for those of us with more money than we have brains, this is of course the most logical solution, but for the rest of us, there are things we can do at home to help make our gardens better.

How many of you have a compost pile?

How many of you actually try to compost, vs having a pile you throw stuff in and just forget about it?

Have you tried worm composting?

Today, I spent the day at the princess's preschool, setting up a worm farm. The kids were all fascinated with the worms, the teachers too. They all held them and petted them, and I think maybe they were even trying to name some of them.

I am so glad that I am getting a chance to reach, not just one child but a whole group of them. I hope some of the things I teach them and show them about growing and using good clean healthy natural methods to produce your own food will stick with them in their lives.

Anyone else raise worms?

Tell me your composting stories!

ABC Wednesday Round 10 - B

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is




I was all set to write about Binomial Nomenclature, the process for assigning scientific names to living organisms.

But, between you and me, that can get boring.

I will try to add some life to that post and post it later, but something happened today that was of such significance to me that I had to Bypass Binomial Nomenclature.

**Warning, I am about to embark on a long rant about a personal experience. If you are here to planning read something deeply educational I suggest you stop reading now.


We bought Diann a new laptop for Christmas this year. (actually waited until after Christmas to buy it.) Her old one was worn out, and falling apart at the seams and it was time to replace it.

So, we spent a Bunch of Bucks at Best Buy and Bought a Beautiful new laptop.

Now, Before I go on, I have to note that in the last 9 months, between a new desktop, a new camera, a new printer and now this laptop, we have spent about $2000.00 at this particular Best Buy, so although we may not be their best customers, we certainly have been loyal and regular customers.

But that was all about to change.

I set up her laptop, downloaded the antivirus protection software offered by our ISP (Comcast) and Diann was ready to go.

Last night, for the first time, she opened it up, logged on and started reading comments on her blog. About 2 hours later, her screen went crazy, and the computer shut down.

It had a virus.

So, today we took the laptop back to Best Buy, to ask them for help.

Mike, the Geek Squad Tech offered to sell us a protection plan for only $200.00 that would include up to three computers in our home, and then he could fix the problem. Or, if we didn't want to do that, we could contact the manufacturer on our own and buy the disks to reformat and reinstall our operating system.

I explained, as politely as I could, to Mike the Geek Squad Tech that since we had just paid a whole bunch of money for this computer and since it wasn't really working, and since we have owned it less than 3 weeks, and since we had never even really used it yet, and since we had spent a great deal of money there in the last year, I had hoped that they would be able to help us fix our problem.

Mike the Geek Squad Tech, told me that there was nothing else he was authorized do, and so I asked if I could speak with someone who had authority to do more.

After a 15 minute wait, Eric the Assistant Manager came over and spoke with me and explained that since the way the Geek Squad makes their money is by fixing things, that it wouldn't be fair for him to ask them to fix this computer without first paying them $200.00.

I graciously offered to simply accept an exchange for a laptop that actually worked, but Eric the Assistant Manager said that they could not accept that computer as a return because it had a virus.

I pointed out that the virus was definitely a factor in my wanting to exchange it, and suggested that perhaps it was on the computer when we bought it, since it WAS in fact a factory refurbished model, but Eric the Assistant Manager bluntly told me that there was no way that could have happened, and that the virus was a result of our actions.

I asked Eric the Assistant Manager if perhaps they could run a smitrem or a malware removal program on our computer and see if that would help. I was annoyed at this time, but still willing to give Best Buy the benefit of the doubt.

This was when Eric the Assistant Manager started with the B.S.

Now, I may not be an expert on computers, but I am somewhat of an expert on B.S. and I know it when I hear it, so when Eric the Assistant Manager told me that they couldn't run anything on this computer in the condition it was in, I immediately recognized that he had no intention of doing anything to help me, no matter how much I may have spent in his store up to that date, and that he was simply throwing words at me to get me to go away.

So I did.

Best Buy lost more than just a $200.00 service contract today. They lost a loyal customer.

I may not have ever been their biggest customer, but as of today, I am no longer even their smallest.

I am personally Boycotting Best Buy.

Fortunately, all's well that ends well.

I called my Brother, who works on computers all day long. (I hate bothering him, because I know he does this at work all day, so when he gets home it seems like he should have some time off.) Actually, I left him a voice mail, since he was busy, and he responded with a text message. He was able to text me the information I needed to remove the virus by myself, at no cost to me.

Now why couldn't Mike the Geek Squad Tech, or Eric the Assistant Manager have taken the five minutes it would have taken to talk me through this process?

So for me, today, B stands for Bravo for Brothers, and Boo-hiss to Best Buy.

ABC Wednesday - Round 10 - A

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is


I have been ABSENT for this blog for a really long time, as I ALLOWED other things in life to take priority.

I'm going to see if I can give my blog some ATTENTION, now that the market season and the holidays are over.

In keeping with the herbal theme, which seems to be the primary focus of my life, today's A word is ASTRAGALUS.



I have been hearing a lot about this herb just recently. It seems like it is the new Buzzword for new age coffees and teas that are being sold at craft shows.

I have my own theories about this which I will cover in a moment, but for the record, here is a basic summary of ASTRAGALUS (Astragalus mollissimus).

A perennial plant, about 16 - 36 inches tall, that is native to the northern and eastern parts of China as well as Mongolia and Korea Astragalus mollissimus is characterized by hairy flower stems; numerous, hairy, small, light green leaflets, usually arching; and long and narrow pink-purple flowers that have a pronounced backward flare at the upper tip of the rather small banner. It blooms profusely in the early spring and where you find one plant you will usually find many. The root is the medicinal part, and is usually harvested from 4-year-old plants.


Astragalus has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. It was often combined with other herbs to strengthen the body against disease. Astragalus is called an adaptogen, meaning it is thought to help protect the body against various stresses, including physical, mental, or emotional stress. It is believed to specifically promote immunity in the lungs.

Commonly known as: Goatsthorn, locoweed, bei qi, huang qi, ogi, hwanggi, or milk vetch, among other names.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of culinary use for this herb, it appears to be primarily a medicinal herb and is used both internally and externally. It is high in antioxidants.

Now, as to the fancy high dollar coffees?

I have seen these coffees selling for $1-$3 for a packet of instant coffee, which has some herb in it. The packet comes with a free cup of hot water so you can mix it up and drink it. By selling it that way, the vendor does not have to have a food license, and avoids a lot of paperwork.

They generally contain Astragalus and Ganoderma, a type of mushroom purported to have amazing health benefits.

Why use herbs and botanicals that few of us are familiar with and fewer of us can spell, or even pronounce?

Well, would you buy a cup of coffee that claimed it had garlic in it? Garlic has some incredible health benefits, but we have preconceived notions about it's taste and smell. Whether justified or not, these notions affect our decision to try a new product.

But by using unfamiliar products, the manufacturer avoids any preconceived notions about the herbs and supplements added.

If I tell you I have a glass of sugary lemonade, it sounds mundane. But if I tell you I have some water, infused with the essence of citrus fruit, and gently sweetened with crystals made from the sap of an all natural sustainable cane product grown in Florida, it sounds like I have some exotic new drink that you simply must have!

Well, it works the same way with most products, and especially well with things that sound exotic.

So, next time you hear about a cup of coffee, enriched with powdered mushrooms, and ground roots that are the secrets of ancient Chinese medicine, by all means go ahead and try it. But just remember that the value of any herb does not automatically increase in direct proportion to our inability to pronounce the name.

Herbs are good, they have a lot of health benefits and are part of an effective health regime, when combined with a good diet, active lifestyle and healthy habits.

But there is no "wonder herb" that will magically cure your ills, reverse aging, and make you more attractive all in one capsule.

They just don't work that way.

However, Astragalus certainly seems to be an interesting herb that those serious about herbalism may want to explore more fully.

Criminal Veggies

Do you have rogue, criminal vegetables in your neighborhood???


With all that has been happening this summer, between selling at six markets a week, working with the high school to maintain their herb gardens, keeping our own herbs in line, and making product to take to the markets, I havent had a lot of time to dedicate to my blog.

But I couldn't, just absolutely couldn't ignore this when I saw the story.

This is a local story... Oak Park Michigan, about 40 miles away from us.

Julie Bass, a homeowner in Oak Park, recently had her front lawn torn up to do some work on a sewer line.

Instead of replacing it with grass, she decided to plant a garden.

What a great idea!

What an opportunity, to instill a love of home gardening in the next generation. To follow the example set for us by the wife of our very own president, Michelle Obama, who planted gardens at the White House.

So, Mrs Bass, called the city and asked if she could plant a garden in her front yard. The helpful employee told her that since nobody had ever asked before the answer was probably not. She called another employee and was told that only "Decorative plantings" were allowed.

Mrs Bass was unable to find any rule or law that prohibited vegetables in the front yard, so the Bass family hired a contractor to build attractive raised beds, landscaped around them, added stones and ornamental elements and planted their vegetables.



Like I said, a great idea!

Unfortunately, the city of Oak Park didn't think it was such a good idea.

They sent her a warning, telling her that her vegetables would have to be moved to the back yard.

Back to City hall she went, seeking the ordinance that prohibited vegetables in the front yard. But alas, there was no ordinance to be found. The city ordinance says that " all unpaved surfaces shall be covered with grass, shrubbery, or suitable live plant material."

Apparantly a code enforement officer had decided that, absent any legal definition, vegetables were not suitable live plant material.

Mrs Bass was cited, and charged with a misdemeanor. She has now been informed that since she requested a jury trial, the city prosecutor intends to ask for the maximum penalty, which could be up to 93 days in jail.

That's right, 3 months in jail for planting a garden.

In her blog, oakparkhatesveggies Julie writes:

"rumor has it that the city will not back down on our case because they are afraid it’s a slippery slope.

i’m not sure what that means, exactly, in the context of our garden. are they afraid someone might decide to grow bigger tomatoes? more aggressive strawberries? i have heard whisperings that they are afraid of… (imagine the most menacing vegetable possible!)- corn. yep. if they give us permission to have a garden, someone might grow corn.

so, i guess based on the need to protect the citizenry from rampant cornstalks, they are probably right to be concerned…

i’m being sarcastic, in case you haven’t read this blog before…"

I spent the last hour reading her blog and shaking my head in amazement.

I have seen some boneheaded things done before, in the name of government, but this one breaks the cake.

When people started to find out about this, letters of encouragement started coming in, prompting Mrs Bass, to discuss with her attorney how people could best help her cause.

It was determined that the best thing those who are not local could do is make sure that their local news agencies get the story. Make sure Oak Park knows that the entire nation is watching with bated breath to see if they will really put a mother in jail for 93 days for planting a garden for her children.


So here you have it. I am officially letting the city of Oak Park know that I and my readers are watching.

Perhaps you can do the same.

You can read the story and watch a newsclip here

ABC 4.2.8 T

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is



But first, for those who collect my signs, here are the last two, I have been terribly delinquent, and have missed two weeks.

If Denise finds out, I will be in so much trouble!





Now, on the the letter T.

I wanted to talk about the THREE TYPES of THYME that we are growing this year, but then I realized that we have four, not three, and I could never admit that I have more THYME than I thought I had.

After all, we are all short on THYME.

So instead, I decided to repost an old, old, post from way back in the dark ages on my blog.

This originally appeared in August of 09, when I had less than 10 loyal readers, so I though I would share it with you now that I have made so many new friends.

T is for ...

TIRES!

OK, This post has nothing to do with herbs.

For some of you this may be boring, for some it may be interesting, for some it may be a review, but I wanted to share it.

We had to replace the tires on both of our vehicles this week. They have both been riding on a wing and a prayer for several thousand miles. The Original Equipment tires for our F150 were rated for 40,000 miles and we just passed 60,000 on them.

As for the tires on the Ranger, I have no idea how many miles they had, but they were dry rotted so bad that they were starting to leak, and I had to keep adding air to two of them. We put it off long enough. It was time to bite the proverbial bullet and buy new tires.

Some things to keep in mind when buying tires.

When comparing the cost of tires between different dealers, make sure and ask for "out the door" pricing.

Some shops will charge you for mounting, balancing, valve stems, old tire disposal, and anything else they can sneak in, while others will just charge a flat rate for tires. This is important to know when comparing prices.

For example. WalMart sells tires. They charge $5 to mount and balance, $2 for new valve stems, (they won't mount a new tire without a new stem) and $1.50 to throw away your old tire. So there is a minimum of $8.50 per tire added on to the price they quote you. They also do not include sales tax in their quote. So, a tire that they sell for $100 will cost you "out the door" $114.51. That $14.51 doesn't seem like that much until you multiply it by 4.

If a Mom & Pop shop tells you $450.00 out the door, for four tires and Walmart tells you the tires are $100 each, the Mom & Pop shop costs less.

The most important thing to remember however, above anything else, and I cannot stress this enough.
Never, ever let a salesman sell you a tire with a lower service description than your vehicle had originally. Even if they have them on sale, for a really great price, this is never a good deal.

How do you know your service description? It's one of that big string of numbers on the side of the tire. Have you ever looked at all those numbers and wondered what they mean?

Because I delivered tires for years, all those numbers made sense to me, but it occurred to me, as I was tire shopping, that not everyone delivers tires for a living. Before I had that job, those numbers would have all just been a meaningless stream of mumbo jumbo.

So, let's take a minute and explore the number on the side of a tire.

Our F150 Tires are P265/70R17 100S

For those who like secret codes, get your Goodyear Decoder Ring and lets go to work. First let's break the string up a little.

P -- 265 -- 70 -- R -- 17 -- 100 -- S

Now lets go to work:

The first letter indicates the service type, or what the tire is intended to be used for.

P = Passenger tires.
They could also say "LT" for Light Truck.

The difference between Passenger and Light Truck Tires, is the thickness of the rubber in the sidewall of the tire. An LT tire has a thicker sidewall and can hold more air. This allows your truck to carry more weight without damaging your tires. If you haul a lot of weight, if you use your truck for industrial work, or if you pull a fifth wheel trailer, LT tires may be a better choice.

If you use your truck mostly for light hauling, P Metric tires (as they are commonly called) will do the job just as well, and, as they have less rubber in the sidewalls, they will be a little more flexible and therefore will ride a little smoother.

If the first letter is a "T", these are temporary tires, such as an emergency spare, and are not intended for long term use or for highway speeds. (In the tire industry, these Mini spares are often referred to as Donuts)

"ST" indicates a Special Trailer tire, designed for use on a trailer. These tires should never be used on cars or trucks.

There may not be a letter at all. In that case, you probably have a Euro-Metric tire. Although they are used mostly in Europe, a few have found their way here, mostly on mid sized SUVs and mini vans. Euro-Metric tires are comparable to "P" metric tires, with only very minor weight differences.

The next number is the tread width.

265 - Means that the tire is 265 Millimeters across. This is the measurement of the amount of tire that touches the road, and not, as some people believe the width of the tire from sidewall to sidewall.

For those of us non metric people, 300 millimeters is about a foot, so 265 is about 10 inches. Those of you who are perfectionists can figure it our exactly if you want, but for most of us, That's close enough.

The next number is known as the Aspect Ratio.

This is a fancy term for the height of the sidewall, or the distance from the road to the rim. This number is a percentage of the tread width, so 70 means that the sidewalls of my tires are 70% of 10 inches, or about 7 inches tall.

The R indicates that these are Radial tires.

This used to be much more relevant than it is today. Most tires on the road today are radials.

This is a reference to the internal construction of the tire. There are cords, generally steel or fiberglass that run back and forth inside the tire and add strength. Radial tires have those cords running straight across the tire, while Bias ply tires have the cords running diagonal and criss crossing.

Radial tires get better fuel economy, and wear longer, since the cords do not rub back and forth against each other as the tire spins. Bias tires are almost obsolete.

The next number is the rim size.

For whatever reason, tires are measured in millimeters, but rims are measured in inches, so 17 means my rims are 17 inches across.

I was never much of an artist, but this may help:


The final numbers are what is known as the Service Description

The first part is the weight capacity and the second is the speed rating.

There are charts and tables available to break down service description codes, in fact you can find a good one, (and a lot of other helpful tire information) here
Click Me

By looking it up on the chart, I can see that the 100 S on my tires means that each tire can carry up to 1764 pounds and be safe at speeds up to 112 miles per hour.

If I ever decide to drive faster than 112 mph, I will run the risk of overheating my tires. My tires are simply not capable of dissipating heat at speeds higher than 112 mph.

Of course I also run the risk of getting a ticket, losing my license and having my wife take my truck keys away, but those are all insignificant when compared to a blowout at over 100 mph.

So, to recap,

P265/70R17100S Breaks down like this:

P..........Means my tires are designed to be used for standard highway use,
265/70......are about 10 inches wide and about 31 " tall (7+17+7)
R...........are radial tires
17..........Have a 17 inch opening in the center
100......And should be safe carrying a vehicle no more than 7056 lbs (1764 X 4) S ..........at speeds of less than 112 miles per hour.

Now that you understand my tires, you should be able to figure out your own. Armed with a basic understanding of what the numbers mean, you should be better equipped next time you have to go to the tire store. Remember, knowledge is power.

And the most important thing to remember? Above everything else, do not EVER put tires on your vehicle that have a lower service description code than the original tires.

If you do, your tires will not be designed to carry the weight of the car at the speed the car is designed to run.

Putting a lower Service Description tire on a car is like asking for a blowout.

As for the rest of the numbers, be familiar with what they mean on a general basis, but a good rule of thumb is to just buy the same size, and type that the vehicle came with.

You can find more helpful information about tires at these places:

How Stuff Works

Tire Tech, Tire Info.

If you want help with metric conversions, a handy guide can be found here:

Memorial Day 2011

Some call them veterans, I call them heroes.


The men and women who have answered the call when it came.


Who placed themselves in harms way.


Who wore and wear, our country's uniform.


From those brave colonists who took a stand against the British Government in our revolution, to those who fought side by side against neighbors and brothers in our civil war, to those who answered the call, and fought in WWI and WWII, to those who fought in a series of less and less popular wars in the last 60 years, and all those who wore the uniform in times of peace.


No matter why they wore it, no matter what they were asked to do, they are part of something bigger than themselves.


They are part of the great force that stands between me and the loss of everything I hold dear.


I thank them each for their service, pray for their safety, and dream of the day when their service will not be necessary.




Yeah, he's my brother, yeah, I'm proud of him.

Have a Happy Memorial Day everyone.

ABC.4.2.8 Q Quandary

OK, Here it is, ABC Wednesday time again. This is the day to join in the ABC Wednesday Challenge, and share a little bit of our world with friends all over the world, and learn about them as well, one letter at a time. You can participate too, in either the sharing, or the learning, or both, by visiting ABC Wednesday,Where this week, the letter is


But first, several people have told me that they like the little letter signs I make each week, and are saving them and using theme in teaching, so since I was away from my files last week and couldn't make the letter "P", I promised I would do one this week. So here it is:



Now, back to Q.

I am in a bit of a quandary and I need advice from my loyal readers.

I recently got some new herbs to add to our garden, among them soapwort and some medicinal herbs that are good for skin conditions: Feverfew, Lamium, Yarrow, along with the Comfrey we already grow.

So I wanted to make some herbal soap and shampoo to sell at the Farmers Market.

There are a couple of different directions I can go with this, and I need some advice.

Traditional soaps are made by adding Lye to fats and oils. This causes a chemical reaction, called saponification, which makes the oils water soluble and solidifies them so the can be molded into bar form.

A by product of saponification, should one choose to take the steps to separate and reclaim it, is s substance called glycerin, which is used a lot in making clear soaps and liquid sops.

Soaps made from glycerin, or saponified fats have a very low water content and are relatively shelf stable.

But they are made with Lye, which is a harsh chemical. Although the lye is no longer present in finished soaps, it is, nevertheless a component of the process.

However, using soapwort root, I can make a soap and a shampoo that are lye free and chemical free. I can use herbal extracts and tinctures to add the herbal elements.

These are a water based solution, and as such have a short shelf life. They should be kept refrigerated and will last for about 2 weeks. Or I can add a chemical preservative, glycerin based, that will prolong the shelf life substantially.

So that is my QUANDARY.

And here are some QUESTIONS:

Do I sell a chemical free soap product, that has a short shelf life, or do I add preservatives?

Or, do I sell a dry package that can be added to boiling water, allowed to stand for several hours and then strained? Kind of a do-it-yourself shampoo kit?

Or do I just go ahead and use traditional saponification methods with lye and oils to make bar soap?

Would you rather buy a completely natural chemical free product, that must be refrigerated and will only keep about 2 weeks, or would you rather buy a product that is mostly natural, but has a few chemicals to prolong shelf life?

This is my QUANDARY.

I need your help...