busconews.com

by Bob Smith

Hi there.

There is not a lot of gardening going on this week, we aren’t ready to start our long season garden seeds indoors, so we can move the resultant plants outdoors to grow and mature in the warm spring and summer weather of Northern Indiana, - so I want to tell you about my son, and my old 1999 Mercedes.  When new, without the sales tax, that car cost $90,000.  I bought it after its first owner turned it in towards a newer one, and I loved it.

I turned it in towards a smaller, more economical, used German car, but thought it was worth more than I was given, so I bought it back, and gave it to my 55 year-old lawyer son, who lives in San Diego, California, thinking that like the older classic cars being sold in Auburn Labor Day auctions, it might help him enjoy a richer retirement.

Two weeks ago, while I was in the hospital with my syncope, he called about three times, left no message – then called Saturday at about nine our time, from his cell phone.  He was fleeing the rising sun, on his way to Las Vegas, where he was to pick up his daughter at the airport, and drive to the Colorado Mountains to ski with his niece, and then his sister and her husband would join them for more skiing.

He was really sorry to tell me that the Mercedes had been wrecked!  There was no snow in San Diego when it happened, he was in the right lane of a six lane street, when the car in front of him slowed, he checked to see that the lane to his left was clear, turned on his turn signal, then he started to turn but the car that had been slowing in front of him had stopped! It was just a little foreign car, not too badly damaged, but he felt the Mercedes was totally destroyed! The police had called a wrecker, who towed his car away, said they were taking it to a “good auto repair shop,” and they would call him to give him an estimate on repair costs.

I had given him a copy of the insurance I had carried, and its cost here, which might have been affected by my driving accident record (I had received some million miles of safe driving awards from North American Van Lines – when much younger) although I had maybe a few feet of wrecks scattered in as well!, and told him I had never had a single claim filed against me, - maybe he should consider a lower level of coverage to protect damage he caused to others.

Well, he analyzed his insurance – his way – and, thinking that he had learned driving from me, he had driven for 40 years without an accident, and so - - he cancelled his collision insurance on his own vehicle, and continued insuring and protecting everything that got damaged by his actions or that his car hit!  When I first analyzed my insurance, I learned that financing an expensive truck, we were required to have $500 deductible on the unit, and I started paying cash, and increased the deductible.  Young kids!

He really enjoyed the quality ride and luxurious comfort of my mature elderly classic auto, and really feels guilty about its early possible demise, and will, if necessary, provide a proper ceremony and disposal near the pleasant and beautiful Southern California Pacific Ocean Coast.  Please, teach your children to be independent, accept and be respondent, then give them nothing you value.  Please join me in a moment of silence.  .  .  Thank You, Happy New Year, and.  .  .  .  good gardening

by Bob Smith

Hi there.

I remember, away back when I was young, there were no inside restrooms, even at schools, and everyone got their water from a nearby well, and clothing did not fit as well, and was not as colorful.  But we enjoyed country life, everyone we knew had a similar life style, and growing up was fun.  We did not, however, have TV, and had no idea how wealthy people lived, and weren’t envious, nor jealous of anyone we knew. People did, of course, go to jail, but usually for horse or cow stealing – Bonnie and Clyde didn’t come on the scene until I was about eight years old.  We were used to taking care of our own problems, mistakes, and refuse.  We recycled all manure by spreading it on our farm fields, we cut up trees from our own forest areas to burn to warm our homes.  At night, we worked, cooked, ate, sewed, and read by candle or kerosene light.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Well – at least in daylight, the ground floors were warm – but where the kids slept – upstairs – was usually cold enough that ice formed on the windows, and when we woke up in the morning, we would jump out of the bed, grab our clothes, run down to the living room where Dad would have, about 4 a.m., built a big fire in the huge stove so that when we ran down, we could hold our clothes close to the heat, making them comfortable to slide into. By then, while Dad fed our farm animals, Mom would have enough fire in the kitchen stove to cook breakfast for the whole family, and we would start the day’s hard work.  We didn’t realize it then, but we were re-cycling everything, without a bi-weekly pickup of what is today, considered re-cyclable. Now one of the problems the recyclers have is – we (or some of us) seem to be overloading the provided barrels with plastic materials they have no market for.  What they can’t currently dispose of are:  Plastic grocery bags; Paper contaminated by food or grease; window or mirror glass; dishes or ceramic items; light bulbs; PLASTIC PRODUCTS WITH NO NUMBER. Currently, they will only take plastic products LABELLED No. 1 and 2, but after January 1, 2011, they can take plastic materials labeled one through seven.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                They can dispose (or recycle) only those items listed above, and it costs taxpayer dollars to get rid of the other, illegal material that is placed in the recycling containers, and hauled away biweekly.  In Whitley County, they are not allowed to recycle the following items: PLASTIC GROCERY BAGS; PAPER CONTAMINATED BY FOOD (such as greasy pizza boxes, etc) WINDOW OR MIRROR GLASS; DISHES OR CERAMIC ITEMS; LIGHT BULBS; PLASTIC PRODUCTS WITH NO IDENTIFYING NUMBER!  Maybe some of the new chemicals, articles, and practices aren’t as good as in the old days!                                                                                                                                                                                 PLEASE, PLEASE – recycle, and recycle properly, and this world will be improved, and we will have helped, and we won’t be arrested, and life will be better, and gardening will improve!  We know that I, and probably each of you, can do just a little better to help our friends and neighbors, and what better time to think and plan than this time, between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  From Our House to Your House, Our Best Wishes for Your Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year, 2011!  .  .  good gardening

by Bob Smith

Hi there.

I have had a most enjoyable week already, and all because I had a “syncope” (look it up! You might have one!) at breakfast. I felt lightheaded, just wanted to sit still, head bent –Judy said, “Bob, you look bad, why don’t you go lay down?”  I couldn’t reply, didn’t even think I could get up and walk – and suddenly we had more welcome guests in our kitchen than ever since our last hog roast back in the early 1980's.                             Judy now says that I had fainted, been unconscious long enough that she had called 911.  The first ambulance that arrived was from Noble County, sent down to cover a nearby emergency because some of the members of Whitley emergency workers were attending a funeral of one of their members’ family, and the emergency had been resolved as they approached Merriam, and when they heard on the emergency channel of mine, they realized they were probably closest to the scene.

They were almost immediately joined by a Whitley ambulance crew, with an accompanying two person Churubusco VOLUNTEER fire team. They were so good, well trained, and experienced that they, together, stretchered me out, almost ignoring my directions, without touching our Christmas Tree or Lights, down the front steps, and into the first ambulance in line, and whisked me over formerly rough Road 450 East to Parkview Whitley Hospital.  Our fire department is made up of volunteers: volunteers also perform many of the necessary duties at our hospitals, and we all should thank God (and them), frequently!                                                                                                                                                                       Volunteers are often called on to do jobs that societies, communities, and public facilities can not get done on our taxes and contributions, which we grudgingly pay, and we should thank them in every way possible, just as we should thank our family members, friends, and neighbors.  Thanking is much better than criticizing, and I have done both, and experienced both, and firmly recommend the “THANKING.” The next day after Judy drove me home, neighbors who had noticed all the emergency vehicles in our driveway, called to see if they could help, and I am thankful for all the attention.  This is like country life when I was a child, many, MANY years - and tears ago.  Well, on Monday, Dr. Willyard, my wonderful country Doctor, will explain what “syncope” means, (what the hospital discharge paper says I had!) and how he was successful in getting me early release from the hospital so I could return home and write this!                                                                                                                                          In the early 1930’s, we had an early phone, high on the wall, in the kitchen. My mother had been a nurse before she married my father, and in an emergency, our nearest doctor would hitch his horse up to his buggy, and the horse would trot to our house.  He wasn’t paid much – mostly products from our farms – and he was the only trained Doctor around; there were no labs, no technicians, no ambulances! We live in a wonderful, modern, medical community.  I saw, heard, and experienced more computerized, non-invasive examination of what – if anything – was going on in my head, heart, and body, than was even thought of when I was in the Marines, exposed to danger.  And now, because of laws passed under presidents elected by us in the past, we even have Medicare to help pay the high cost of the available medical miracles – if you live to the required age, and paid the taxes as required – but I believe we also should thank those who provide this excellence – with no more than adequate pay – but also with frequent “Thank You, For What You Do.” And if you, as we do, live in Whitley County, where us old people on Medicare get free emergency service, thank your government! .  .  .  .  good gardening

by Bob Smith

Hi there.

Our Indiana County Extension Offices have a lot of Agricultural and Horticultural information available to residents of the area, either by phone, by a personal visit to their office, by mail, or by attending a public meeting about particular subjects.  They also have updated publications, about most details of growing plants and trees available.  Our taxes help support the Extension Offices, and we really could do better gardening, easier if we would utilize them more.

One is entitled “Starting Seeds Indoors,” a General Horticulture publication, HO-14-W.  Mine was reviewed and updated in April, 2001.  When I was an active Master Gardener, copies could be picked up free from the office, or mailed to anyone who included a self-addressed, stamped envelope with their request.  The six pages of my copy have a lot of information, and I value highly what I gained from having it in my bookcase, and have used it every year.  Among the subjects covered are; Selecting seeds for planting; Containers for sowing seeds in; Soil, Soil mixes and other growing media; Sterilizing mixes and containers; Germination time; Time to start seeds before last frost (but not that last frost date for every year);  Damping off;  Growing seedlings;  Transplanting and thinning;  Pinching (when to, and when NOT to); Hardening off (prior to planting outdoors);  Planting outdoors;  and a table of the time to seed before last frost for most garden plants, the germination time for each, as well as the growth rate, cold and frost tolerance after hardening. I also have a 29 page booklet entitled  “The Germination Times,” published in England, but available from Thompson and Morgan, P.O. Box 1308, Jackson, New Jersey, 08527.  It has a price on my copy of 99 cents but the information about planting Indiana seeds from your County Extension office is available for almost one dollar less, with no sales tax!  Allen Boger, the Horticultural Agent (now deceased) was my first Master Gardener trainer, and co-wrote our publication. Seeds could be started in our own garden soil, we start ours in purchased potting soil.  Seeds do not need to be fertilized, they come including everything necessary to get started in life except warmth and moisture, and they can develop stems and leaves, but they need light, preferably warm sunlight, but that can be duplicated by hanging a two bulb electric fluorescent fixture just above the growing plants, one cool white, one warm white bulb in each fixture, hung four or five or six inches above the leaves, and so they can be raised higher as the new seedlings grow taller. We grow started plants in commercial potting soil, in six - six cell units, with drainage slits in the bottom, each six-pack labeled as to contents, contained in waterproof 11 X 22 inch plastic trays.  We fill each of the cells with moisturized potting soil, I have screwed pieces of inch plywood, the shape of the open top of each cell of the six cell container.  They have been screwed to another piece of plywood, the shape of the open top of a six cell unit, so I can compress the soil in each unit to the proper density.                                                                                                                                                                                                       I leave one cell on the outside of each flat empty, because I prefer to water my plants from the bottom, and this allows me to view the amount of moisture remaining in each level flat.  Again, light similar to the sun’s rays need be provided these growing future garden residents, and two bulb fluorescent light fixtures (being frugal, we use one warm white and one cool white four foot long fluorescent light fixture), attached with chain, which will cover two 11 X 22 inch flats, on the shelves that I grow my plants on. It is really enjoyable to go downstairs frequently and make sure everything is going well with my growing garden plants, and if  something untoward happens, we can still buy plants at planting time, for the same price others pay.  .  .  .  good gardening

cn  12-1-10

Good Gardening

by Bob Smith

Hi there.

Garden catalogs usually start arriving around Christmas, but maybe because we had a dry year, or maybe because their sales were off, we started getting garden catalogs before Thanksgiving, and we don’t mind a bit; gives us more time to plan for a much better garden year in 2011!

Remember when packets of seeds were only ten cents? They aren’t any more, and we for several years have bought larger packets of our favorite garden crops, and store those not planted that year in sealed containers (used gallon milk containers for us), in our refrigerator. We also save some seeds from our own gardens, in labeled envelopes, in the same containers. We have started seeds that we stored for five years, and they did as well as new bought ones did. Expect at least a four year life span for beet, cucumber, lettuce, muskmelon, pumpkin, watermelon and, tomato, and radish seeds, and the same four-year-or-more applies to flowers such as alyssum, calendula, celosia, dianthus, nasturtium, poppy, and zinnia.

If you feel unsure about the viability of any leftover seeds, it would be prudent (I get so upset when I haven’t been prudent!) to take a random sample of 10 or so. (Pick a number you can remember! I write my 10 down on the table!) Spread the sample seeds out on a paper towel, roll the towel up with the seeds secure inside, identify each rolled towel, and  write the name of each plant seed down where you won’t loose it, wet the rolled towel thoroughly, and put somewhere warm, such as on a plate, on the top of a refrigerator in your kitchen.

If you don’t know the germination time, from the seed supplier, the Internet,  call your extension office for it, and I write down the date each packet should germinate- a few days later, I unroll that towel, and count the number of new little plants, struggling to exist.  If all 10 germinate, that is wonderful.  If nine do, we have 90 percent germination, etc. Each state requires the percentage of germination to be printed on packaged seeds. If my tests show 60 or 70 percent germination, I may plant double the number of seeds when planting time arrives, just in case!

Proper storage is crucial to successful seed storage.  Keep them as dry as possible, as cool as possible, and as dark as possible.  I store ours in the shop refrigerator, which mainly contains pop and stuff for our rest breaks during spring and summer gardening efforts. The freezer might be better, but it is full of frozen meat, bought in anticipation of rising prices.

We love gardening, the exercise is good, we know what our produce has been fertilized and sprayed with, and we start a lot of our garden plants with seeds, from the most reputable source.  We have started most of our plants from seeds for a long time since I learned how from material provided when I became an Indiana Master Gardener, all of which is available currently from your County Extension Office, in your County Seat, as well as their knowledge, friendship, and many ways of helping you in horticultural matters like seeds, plants, lawns, shrubs, trees, etc. There are ways my parents used to start seeds in the 1930 s, that are now antiquated, and a lot of work. Most  garden catalogs  you will receive soon have many of the things you should have to successfully start seeds, but not the kind of detailed knowledge available at your extension office. They stay open, except for major holidays, have phones, love to help you, all gardeners, farmers, housewives and 4-H young folks.

We have bought, made, been gifted with, and borrowed a lot of seed starting materials, and we currently use seed starting waterproof plastic trays, (about 11 X 22 X two inches), disposable trays (in sections of six cells with drainage holes, six sections fit easily inside each waterproof tray, we use several).  All necessary starting tools are available from GOOD garden centers, some we adapted, or made ourselves.

We start our seeds in a white waterproof tray, with permanent markings one inch apart on both long sides in moistened starting soil, filled loosely to the brim, then compacted an inch. We use an almost 11 inch piece of this plywood to mark deeply enough across the 11 inch width, into which we place seeds one inch apart, and we carefully drop 10 seeds evenly spaced in each row. We identify what seed we planted in each row, alternating sides with the identities of each row. We place the clear plastic top on to prevent evaporation, seeds need their moisture, they have everything else included to create a new plant.

Mercy me. I am out of space, and I have another column to fill next week, because I think you should know the whole story of how to start your garden seeds easily and inexpensively (once started!), and I will continue next week, because - next year things we buy will probably increase in price, and I don’t know about you, but it has been a long time since I have been offered a job  with significant salary! Any at all, actually! . . . Good gardening