I received a curious little glossy pamphlet in the mail yesterday. It was called Imprimis. The main article was on tariffs. I figured that skimming that article would be quick to spot what kind of publication it was, and I was right. President Trump was praised for his work to level the playing field. Never mind the damage that he's doing to the world, it was all about us, and screw the rest of the world. That attitude is ultimately going to bite us in the ass too, but people aren't going to believe this until they see the teethmarks.
Flipping through, I saw that it was a free publication from Hillsdale College, and they had a very easy way to sign up for a life long income, done by turning over your property to them. You continue to live there, I guess, and they pay you a monthly income. When you die, your stuff becomes their stuff.
For anyone who doesn't know, Hillsdale College also assisted in crafting Project 2025 and has close ties to tRUMP's current White House. The latest from them is that they suggest Harvard simply align themselves with the current administration because it is the right thing to do, and if they don't want to do that, than they should not be receiving federal money.
I called the number and asked to be removed from their mailing list. "Just the magazine?" the young woman asked. "Well...no," I said. "I am not sure what else you are dropping in the mail, but I am not interested in any of it, really."
Today was another knee work out. We filled the two remaining raised beds and I got them planted. We spent the afternoon spreading the dirt and topping everything with mulch and planting. I also got bit the heck up by some sort of bug that was chewing on the back of my arms and my elbows. Tim was unaffected. He's always unaffected. I'm not sure why this is.
I will admit to pulling a completely amateur gardening mistake. I started my tomato seeds and they were all carefully marked. Beefsteak, San Marzano, and cherry tomatoes. When they got too large for the trays, I transplanted them into larger cups, and was happily working away. I put them on to two trays...and realized that I had no idea which tomatoes were which.
So.
Always room for improvement.
The idea with these beds is that every fall, the plants will be cleaned out, a layer of manure and compost added on top of what is there and the beds will be tarped off for the winter, and remain tarped over the winter and uncovered just before we are ready to plant again. We are hoping to avoid picking up blight, which is why the garden was abandoned. Every year, the blight just got worse and worse.
So. Fingers crossed.
The couch we got yesterday.
I also drove for the first time today. I drove to Titusville to pick up some cypress mulch.
So that was today. The hot shower at the end of it felt quite wonderful.
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/05/29/nx-s1-5414345/american-doctors-look-to-relocate-to-canada-to-avoid-the-trump-administration
I like your mistake of mixing the tomato varieties. Why? I've done that and it feels pretty silly.
ReplyDeleteOh Red. You make me feel so much better. So did you still get your varieties, or did you wind up with a hybridized mishmash of strange fruit?
DeleteWell the good thing about the tomatoes is that they don't care if they're marked correctly or not. They'll still grow their fruit and you'll figure it out. The San Marzano are plum tomatoes, and the beefsteak are big and round. And I've done that too, probably more than once:)
ReplyDeleteIs that your house in the background of the raised beds? Those raised beds are beautiful. I have one, but I also have a small yard.
Yes. We plan to side it this summer.
DeleteThe area looks lovely. I love all the trees. What colour siding are you guys going to be putting up?
DeleteSigh. Still being negotiated.
DeleteOh the tomato mishap sounds like something I would do!
ReplyDeleteI think I would be torn between demanding the mailing stop or having them continue to spend the postage money.
You are doing so well with your knee! And I love the couch.
I just don't even want to have that mess in my house. If I wind up with different varieties of plants, I won't mind. I worry about whether they will cross pollinate and I'll have a strange hybrid fruit.
DeleteI did the same with my tomatoes, I have 4 plants and no idea what they are. Trump has stated if UK don't take USA chlorinated chicken tariffs will follow, it's against our food standards, so therefore I and many folk will stop purchasing anything from USA, it's OK to put your country first, but to stampede over others, he's a bully.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot force other countries to buy our goods. That shouldn't be legal at all. Likewise, we are not required to buy their exports. It's called free trade.
DeleteA friend always gives me some tomato plants every year, and I have 7 now in the ground. No idea what varieties they are. It will be fun seeing what grows on them...all different!
ReplyDeleteThat couch looks comfy, but I only see pale grey, although the wall in the background looks green!
Well, it blends quietly. I'm quite fond of it.
DeleteWe have four tomato plants of varying varieties. They just get planted together and we wait in excited anticipation to see if anything appears before the autumn
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for my first home grown tomato. Honestly, I could eat a tomato sandwich every day.
DeleteWe recently got a really troubling political leaflet pushed through our door. At first sight it was pushing a very green, eco-friendly agenda, talking about how love of nature goes hand in hand with love of your country, but it then went on to rant about over-population, immigration etc. I had never heard of the party, so I looked it up and found that it was founded by a couple of white supremacist neo Nazis. You can guess where that leaflet ended up...
ReplyDeleteIt really makes me sick that so many of these political flyers are being disguised as something else altogether. How many people never look into it any farther? I was receiving info from 'the Marginal Mennonite. That group started out pretty mainstream but got pretty radical, pretty quickly.
DeleteThe bit I noticed was that you drove! Yay!
ReplyDeleteIt was a big moment, Boud!
DeleteIt will be fun watching the tomatoes grow. I hope they're really productive for you.
ReplyDeleteI hate political pamphlets.
I hope they are productive too. The idea of being able to go out and pick a tomato for my breakfast sandwich is very thrilling.
DeleteIt is very scary to me in Canada to see the speed and audacity the takeover has been. Is it too late or have you lost your Constitution already. tRump is trying to bully the world and the more we push back, the more he bullies. He needs the spanking he never got as a two year old. Now the tariffs are up again. No wonder why Canada and China are looking elsewhere to trade. We are doing better than USA at the moment. Probably only the orange one is better off than anybody else in America. Loved the Taco Bell one. We are waiting for the next chicken out. Lol Glad you are driving again, such freedom. Gigi
ReplyDeleteI don't know Gigi. I just feel like it is important not to give up hope. I will push back as long as I can.
DeleteGood on you for actively removing yourself from the mailing list.
ReplyDeleteTomato surprises await you.
The couch looks ok, without the silly long seats that leave your legs sticking up in the air. It also looks rather comfortable, and that is a good thing.
Off to read the about the emigrating doctors.
It is a comfortable sofa. Since Tim and I are both short people, we like a couch that we can sit on and still have our feet touch the floor. A surprising number of couches don't fit that one criteria.
DeleteI like your raised beds Debby. You can plant winter vegetables now like leeks and swede.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure. I'll have to look into that. My goal is to prevent blight from forming in the soil.
DeleteThe raised beds impress me, but I would need them even higher. 😀
ReplyDeleteMaybe you are very tall. They are about 2.5 feet all. I bend a little to work on them. No kneeling required.
DeleteI love the couch! I suggested to Mr. Moon that we get a couch with some color in it for the cabin but no, only leather will do. Brown leather. Leather-colored leather. (Insert mild profanity here.)
ReplyDeleteCan I just say one thing about cypress mulch? Please, don't buy it. Here's a quote from a University of Florida paper on mulching: "Cypress is an example of a mulch with a questionable origin. Unfortunately, some of this mulch comes from Florida’s endangered wetlands."
Cypress trees are precious to our environment here and if left unmolested can reach ages of over five hundred years, some over a thousand.
Oh dear. I not only bought six bags, I used them. It was the only mulch they sold without color (red, black, or brown). I now know better.
DeleteWe have two livinroom sets. One is a delicate white silk set. The other is brown. Two different color browns. I am a little ashamed at how much importance I am placing on color coordinating. I hope I get over this.
There is NOTHING shameful about using colors in a way to please you. Nature does it all the time!
DeleteI don't think many people at all know where their cypress mulch may come from. We use a lot of fallen oak leaves which Glen shamelessly drives around in neighborhoods to collect when they are already nicely bagged and ready to load into his truck!
Once we are up there full time, I want to compost leaves. Here, we can get free compost, but you know, I don't trust that. I think that people treat their lawns with a lot of stuff, and it actually seemed not to work out for us in the garden.
DeleteMy ex husband is a trumper and a lot of his mail still comes to my home so I'm always throwing out trump stuff. It feels good to tear it to little pieces and put it in recycling. (I do breathe a sigh of relief that we are divorced!)
ReplyDeleteTim was initially for tRUMP back before he was elected president. Within weeks he was over it. "If you listen to him, he just sounds like a cartoon." He is now protesting.
DeleteI wonder how you got on Hillsdale's mailing list? That's so bizarre. Dave's sister went to Hillsdale. She's a piece of work. :/
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to find out, Steve. One thing that I noticed inside this was that there is a form you can fill out to provide addresses for these mailings. You have the opportunity to give them anonymously or provide your name to let the person know who picked them for the mailings. So...one of two things. Either someone gave it anonymously or it was a freak thing. It was in my name.
DeleteIt made me laugh. They offer a Classical liberal arts degree. "Hillsdale College presents itself as a bastion of classical education and free thought, but in reality, it operates with a rigid ideological agenda that prioritizes conservative politics over genuine academic inquiry." In other words, a liberal arts degree without the nasty 'liberal'.
I have only ever grown surprise tomatoes - sometimes without design! Enjoy the results no matter what, I say.
ReplyDeleteI had three different varieties by design. Now I have surprise tomatoes. I'm interested to see how they turn out.
DeleteGlad you are moving around and feeling better. Your raised beds are quite impressive and I hope they produce quite the bounty for you this season. Take care, enjoy that driving and the couch looks great.
ReplyDeleteI am quite excited to see what my garden grows.
DeleteI have raised beds that we made years ago. My huuband put a 4 or 5 inch board around the top so he could sit and weed and not have to bend over. The board served as a nice little bench and saved an achy back.
ReplyDeleteThere is a guy down the road from us that has about 15 raised beds. I really would like to stop in and talk to him about his operation. I'm very eager to see what my garden grows! I can see myself adding a bed or two every year.
Delete