Bashful Giant

We've been letting plants come up where they may in the lavender beds this year. Included in the rogue plants are several beautiful purple poppies (and the California variety that gets promptly pulled out), a wayward Russian kale and a giant sunflower. The sunflower is the most impressive with a 3 inch diameter trunk and a flower that's at least a 19 inches across. I attribute its enormous size to its DNA but also to the fact that it planted itself close to where we recently planted our cat, Bonnie. Cat's grow giant sunflowers, I guess. The rose we planted over her isn't doing to bad, either.

Unfortunately, the public walking up the sidewalk isn't able to ponder its incredible size as the flower head started facing due SW, away from public view and now its weight has given it a droopy, sad presentation, sort of Charlie Brownish. There's evidence of squirrel activity, though. Empty seed shells have been discarded in the depression around the top rim of the bloom. The squirrel sits up there and reaches under for the ripening seeds. Luckily, he can only reach under so far, so hopefully he won't get them all. But there is evidence of the varmint chewing his way down the bloom! Luckily, mostly collect the seed for next year's planting rather than to eat. They're just fun to grow. This particular plant might have been planted by that very squirrel, last Fall, which is rather funny that he picked the largest variety to perpetuate his food stash this year.

Admittedly, we've been feeding a squirrel on our front porch for dog entertainment. It sits just outside the front window staring at our dog, Snorky popping a gasket barking at it and bouncing around the back of the sofa, frustrated with the glass barrier. When the squirrel alarm goes off, we toss some peanuts on the porch. The fun lasts about 10 minutes, then Snorky spends the next hour keeping vigilance in case it comes back. He sits on the top of the sofa back with his front paws draped over the wood frame, head resting on them like a bored kid hanging on the back of church pews. The whole routine usually ends with snoring noises coming from his direction. Our useless cats sit on the porch and watch the whole thing happen without moving a whisker. The squirrel is so brazen that it literally climbs over the cats to get to the randomly tossed peanuts, acting as if they are part of the furniture. I guess that's what happens when they're all well fed.

Who the Heck is SDOT?

Several of you wanted to know what SDOT stands for. Technically, it is the Seattle Department of Transportation, but I have a few titles of my own that are far more descriptively accurate of this entity:

Seattle Department of Totalitarianism
Seattle Department of Tyranny
Seattle Department of Torture
Seattle Department of Turkeys (although I wouldn't want to insult these intelligent creatures)
Seattle Dysfunctional Office of Twits
Seattle Disorganization of Twaddle

Of course they serve a real function of keeping our roads drivable enough, managing the remnants of our infrastructure. In fact, they are actually trying to become rather progressive. This transformation is evident in that the plethora of potholes which exist remain unfilled because SDOT can then claim they use a permeable paving material as part of the city's storm water management plan.

And of course, our experience is all part of the City of Seattle's push to make the city government more "people friendly and accessible," so said Mayor Mike McGinn during a conversation we had with him when he was campaigning at a Seattle Tilth event. Consequently, SDOT is making sure that they follow that prime directive, no?

Bloomin' Bureaucracy!

If you think the lovely City of Seattle or government in general for that matter, can't get anything done on a large scale, try applying for a permit to landscape your parking strip. This process is a microcosm of the bigger picture and pretty much illustrates the inefficiencies and dysfunctions pervasive in our government system.

After years of out of control grasses, daisies, black-eyed Susans and dandelions in the parking strip, we finally pinned down Dr. Dirt who happens to live 2 blocks away to come over with his excavator and dig it all out. He hauled the refuse away and brought back 6 yards of soil. We had visions of large edible annuals, blueberries and espaliered apples planted in order to expand our food supply and beautify the area. We wanted to build a small fence along the length on the sidewalk side in order to keep out the K9P. I had visions of a stone mosaic border between the fence and the sidewalk (to accommodate the one foot setback required) and bricks along the parking area as a firm walkway. It was going to be beautiful. Then SDOT showed up.

I wasn't present, but while Roland was working out in the yard, some woman from SDOT appears out of the blue (they know, somehow they know) and tells him that we can't do anything until we have a permit and have to cover the new soil with a tarp so it doesn't run out into the street, less we get a large fine. She also stated that we have to have a 3 foot set back from the street, and a one foot setback from the sidewalk (that's 6 feet wide) less someone trips over something. We can't plant any fruiting trees. She also informed us that the City owns 2 feet of land on the house side of the sidewalk (city right-of-way). When Roland asked her about all of the non-compliant parking strips just on our block she replied, "Well, those people didn't get caught and we don't make them tear it out (our 2 raised beds in the strip are non-compliant - oh, darn)."

"Then, how do people know that they need one?"

"Well, it's always been the law and we don't do a very good job at letting people know that they need one."

At least the thing is free. So, like good little proletariat citizens, we went to the SDOT web site and filled out all of the on-line forms. Around a week later, we got a computer generated e-mail stating that our permit has been approved and go to such-and-such link for the details. It ended up being the link to nowhere. The next e-mail from a "Rex" stated that he needs a sight plan (surprisingly, he didn't need GPS coordinates, satellite photos, and a note from Roland's mother). So, having been a draftsman in a previous life, I drew up the plans to scale and we faxed them off to "Rex." After a week or so, we didn't hear anything back from "Rex" and when Roland called in on several occasions, "Rex" was on vacation, took the day off, out to lunch, etc., etc. Finally, he made a WTF call and was told that "Rex" was "on (perpetual) vacation and that our permit application would be handled by "Liz." Roland was told that "Liz" would get back to him. In the mean-time they asked Roland to re-fax the plan to "Liz" because they claimed they never received the one sent to "Rex." She actually did send an e-mail to Roland confirming that they got the plan, bless her heart.

Several weeks went by and no "Liz" call. Instead, "Jennifer" calls back and says, "All my God, there's a fence on your site plan! You can't do a fence blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...the worlds going to come to an end....It's a $174 fee for the permit." So I redrew the plan, and fence was transformed into a pea trellis. Roland faxed the revisions off to "Jennifer." Apparently, "Jennifer" got swallowed by the computer generated paperwork monster and has disappeared.
We never heard from "Jennifer" again.

In the mean-time, Roland gets 3 more computer generated e-mails telling us that we haven't given them a start date nor scheduled an inspection for permit number blah, blah, blah and a 4th e-mail threatens us with massive fines with if we do any work, block traffic, or obstruct the freeway. etc:

Our records indicate that you have not performed any action on your permit application for at least 10 days. Please provide the following: JOB START CALL REQUIRED FIELD REVIEW If you no longer wish to obtain this permit, please respond to this e-mail to notify us that you wish to cancel the application. Your permit application may be cancelled after ninety days if we do not hear from you. To review the status of your permit application, please go to: http://olp.seattle.gov/DP1/Metroplex/seattle/login/wiz_login.asp

and,

Before beginning work in the right-of-way, you must notify Street Use to verify your start date. Notice must be provided 24-72 hours prior to the start of work. The notification must include: 1. Permit Number 2. Job Site Address 3. Start Date 4. Brief description of work 5. Job site contact name, phone number and email address If you do not fulfill this requirement, a No Job Start penalty fee will be assessed in the amount of $300, or such other amount as may be established in accordance with SMC 15.04.074.

Two weeks later on Monday, Roland makes another WTF phone call directly to SDOT questioning the e-mails and the lady on the other end says, "OMG, your permit hasn't been approved! Don't touch anything, don't plant anything, don't walk on it diagonally, breath on it, don't look at it for more than 60 seconds!" She also stated that the e-mails don't mean anything. She then transfers Roland to "Liz" and he gets her voice-mail and leaves a WTF message . "Liz" finally calls back the following Friday afternoon.

Happy, bubbly "Liz" said that she would allow a fence up to 18 inches tall otherwise it's a tripping hazard (huh?), and no pebble mosaics because they kill people by the thousands when walk on (apparently, folk in Europe are more agile). Roland says, "Fence? we're calling it a pea trellis."

"Liz" replies that the plan says it's a fence which means she's looking at the original lost plan. Then she tells him that we can start anytime as soon as we pay for the permit.

"WTF! I was told it was a free permit!"

Well, apparently as soon as any hardscaping or structure goes in it's a $174 permit fee. However, there's no charge for planter boxes not higher than 5-1/2 inches tall or they're a tripping hazard (huh?).

Now we have to submit site plan number 3, sans the hardscaping, indicating strictly vegetation and topographical details of the mounds (and any planting boxes we wanted). And, apparently people getting out of cars can trample on any low, slimy, slippery vegetation, but as soon as you want to put down a harder surface for good footing, cough up the bucks.

The permit process is obviously a bait and switch operation - they dangle the free permit in front of you, but really, who doesn't add some sort of pavers, rocks or other non-vegetative product into their landscaping design!

So, after 2 months of this rigamarole where in limbo. The project started with noxious weed removal and we ended up in noxious government weeds. In defiance, I planted a zucchini. Take that, you parking strip Gestapo!

And I wonder why the viaduct hasn't been replaced or the 520 bridge expansion is taking so long, or where's the light rail? Silly me.

More to come on the SDOT plot...

You Think You Got Weeds!

It's been a long winter, as most of you have probably come to that realization on your own. Here in the PNW, it's been rain with a chance of sun this Spring. June temperatures have barely left the 50's much of the time. Now that June is behind us, July is actually starting out rather nice, a phenomenon that doesn't usually happen until July 5th.

Now that the weather's been getting warmer, it's evident that the weeds have been waiting in ambush; tiny miniature landmines waiting to explode at the first opportunity. One minute you're contemplating what to plant in all those empty spots in your garden (OK, well last Fall), then you wake up to the answer that nature gives: super sized weeds in every nook and cranny. Some are well over 5 feet tall. They're making up for lost time this year.

Somewhere in this explosion are specimens I have actually planted such as, blueberries, weigela, iris, and several perennials, but you'd never know it. In fact, I had forgotten exactly what is there as I haven't been paying too much attention to the beds over the winter. It was Christmas in June, as I uncovered cultivated surprises underneath the spurge.

Common knowledge among horticulturists is that weeds indicate a disturbed soil. I think in this case, weeds indicate a disturbed mind. How many of us have started grandiose projects that languish for years because we have more ideas and ambition than time. Part of what's supposed to be where the weeds have taken over is a path to the deck. These beds have been a work in progress since I've been in this house for over 10 years. I've been spending most of my time at my BF's place, Mog Cottage in Seattle, that my place has been mainly a mail stop. Having started this project in the front section in the courtyard, I have around 90 feet to go to the deck. Do I want to lay a simple gravel path? No! I want to do something with stone and brick as an artistic expression, silly me. So, with everything else in my life, this project has found itself continuously put on hold. When I do have some time, I find myself getting out of the weeds (if you're not familiar with culinary terms, being 'in the weeds' indicates being overwhelmed in the kitchen).

Spending hours yanking out butter cup, nightshade and spurge, it's a never ending battle. Some weeds are easy to yank out, while others, such as that hideous buttercup, spread by the most minute root remnant left behind. It doesn't help that I don't like to use chemicals. The water table here is very high and the neighborhood borders a wetlands.

I've stuffed my yard waste container and waited an entire week for it to get emptied so I could stuff it again. To add insult to injury, Waste Management missed it this week. Now I've got piles of pulled weeds waiting to get gathered up and disposed of in the yard with no place to go until after next week. I guess I'll double up with additional bins along with the yard waste container pulled out into the middle of the street so they don't miss it! The garbage dude's name must be Murphy.

The Desire for Really Big Melons Blows Up in China

Once again China's food practices hit the news, but instead of poisoning people or animals things blew up farmer's faces, so to speak. Apparently farmers in the Jiangsu province got a little over indulgent with the growth enhancer, forchlorfenuron, on their watermelon crops and along with higher than normal precipitation, created a perfect storm of exploding watermelons.

Now, you might think that it's a major tragedy for these farmers to lose their crops, but producing watermelons from a country that values karma, you could say that their farming practices came back to bite them. The desire for higher yields and faster production for the market activated the greed gene and now they've lost their entire crops within 3-4 days. Pow, pow, pow, pow.

Being one who appreciates black humor, I couldn't help myself but break out in hysterical laughter upon hearing about this incidence as I visualized water melons exploding in the fields like land mines. Perhaps future harvests will have to be done from armored vehicles. Looking at the photos of the aftermath, I'd say some of the melons resembled big red and green popped popcorn. Many were simply cracked in pieces.

The farmers want to blame the seed that came from Japan, as apparently some of the melons that didn't get sprayed with the growth enhancer also blew up. The melons that were sprayed started exploding within a day or two of the treatment. Of course there is the possibility of drift or chemical leaching into neighboring farms. As investigators have not come up with a solid reason for the exploding melons, I can't help but think that, as with most agricultural catastrophes, it's probably a combination of things; weather, temperature, timing, ignorance and in this case, growth enhancers. A lesson in humility? perhaps. It is also a lesson in how better farming through chemistry often isn't. Mother nature always wins and it's better to work with nature than try and always control it. Bad farming practices have plagued agriculture since its beginnings. Human fixes seem to present unintended consequences causing more problems that require fixing. This seems like just another example of human hubris.

A lesson for us PNW veg gardeners? Since we don't grow watermelons on this side of the mountains this particular crop isn't an issue for us. But with all of the rain we've been getting this year, don't use forchlorfenuron on your zucchini.

Here's an article and video about this story from the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13421374

It's Spring and the Purple Sprouting Broccoli is Back!

As you know, it's been a while since I've posted anything. With horticulture classes starting up again for winter quarter, and the bleak, cold weather to boot, it's been nearly impossible to find the time or get motivated. I've been a total couch potato, stuck to the sofa with the laptop glued to my thighs doing homework or playing computer solitaire. A grim existence. Veg. Gardening has been far from my mind and the garden looks it.

With all of the crappy, cold weather we've had in PNW world this winter, you'd think nothing edible from last season would've survived. I planted the garlic, onions and fava beans last fall, and they have started to show their greens through the straw as expected. But, the Purple Sprouting Broccoli that was so enormous, looked pretty done-in from the big freeze this winter. It was all leaves and no florets last summer and I was hoping it would winter over better than it did. All the leaves drooped and most of the large stalks turned mushy and became these tree-like snags sticking up or flopping over in the bed.

But recently, I've become an optimist (yeah, that's what I said) because when I went to take stalk of the beds to see what prep work needs to be done., low and behold, some of the broccoli has resurrected! Just in time for Easter. A sign from God! OK, maybe not, but I am bursting forth with Purple Sprouting broccoli florets at this very moment. In fact, if one of the plants wasn't flopped over like a ground cover, it could be trained as a standard topiary tree, like what is done to roses. Hmmm, maybe I should try and stake it up. I'll let you know, if I succeed. The others are sending out new shoots all along the barren stems. I should have a bumper crop of PS broccoli this spring. Yay. . . .Crap! There's a white cabbage moth fluttering about.

Pinky's gone missing!

Our 13 year old big boy, Pinky, disappeared the Friday before Thanksgiving. He went outside that Friday morning and never came back. At first we thought that he might have been locked in someone's garage somewhere, but it's not like him to wander off like that. He is getting a little arthritic, so he pretty much sticks around the laundry room or huddles on the front porch with several others in our herd.

Before his disappearance, he had an operation for an infected ear growth. It healed very well and he seemed to be fine. He was on antibiotics the whole time and wore the cone of shame. We had him barricaded in the laundry room for 2 weeks. After that, it was business as usual. The morning of his disappearance, he was acting rather strange though. I found him sleeping on the bathroom rug and then he started pacing around the bathroom when I was in the shower. Roland let him out and that was that.

We checked Seattle Animal Shelter, and left a notice in their log book (I could have come home with several replacements! That's why I don't volunteer there.)

Apparently a coyote had been spotted a few blocks away, so that might have been his demise as he is fat and slow, so would make for good tender vittles. Maybe he had an underlying illness and had a kitty stroke or something and crawled into a crevice within the back yard vortex. He could be anywhere. Roland did have a poke about when Pinky first disappeared and didn't find anything.

Pinky is somewhat shy and scroungy, so I doubt anyone would want to carry him off (except the coyote). In fact, Roland kept insisting that Pinky's just big boned and really is an athlete. I said, "Yeah, like a Sumo Wrestler!" His very large blue eyes in proportion to his head, along with the way he 'beaches' himself on the furniture, makes him look like an arctic seal pup.

So, the one cat that shouldn't have gone missing, has gone missing. You'd think several of our problem children would get into trouble first such as, Mamah, who entraps herself on a neighbor's roof periodically or of course, Floyd. But Pinky? Call this one a new Mog Cottage unsolved mystery.