2010 Container Garden

This year we are repeating our container garden efforts. This time we have lettuce, kale, chard, spinach, basil, and one stray cabbage plant. The cabbage plant came with the one of the chard seedlings. I am reusing the containers from last year, but with new soil. The tomatoes haven't been planted yet. We were gone over Memorial Day weekend and I didn't trust that there wouldn't be a frost. So this summer I will probably have the latest tomatoes of anyone I know. Oh well, such is life. By the way, no peas this year. For the handful we harvested last year, it wasn't worth the effort. Maybe next year.

Wyandotte to Get Farmers Market

Read an article in the News Herald that the city of Wyandotte has approved a farmer's market for this summer. On Thursdays, from June 17 through September 16 (excluding July 8, Thursday during the Street Fair) there will be a farmer's market on the site of the old Wyandotte Theater, corner of First and Elm.

Superweed outbreak triggers arms race

This article from today's Wall Street Journal raises some interesting thoughts. Think about the implications and consequences. - Mike

The Wall Street Journal, By Scott Kilman (June 4, 2010)
Hardy superweeds immune to the Farm Belt's most effective weedkiller are invading fields, prompting a counterattack from agribusiness that could leave farmers using greater amounts of harsh old-line herbicides. The flagging weedkiller is Roundup. Its developer, Monsanto Co., also sells seeds for corn, soybean and cotton plants unaffected by the chemical, enabling farmers to spray it on freely without fear of harming their crops. Farmers now do so en masse, using "Roundup Ready" crop varieties for 90% of the soybeans and 80% of the corn grown across the U.S. The rise of Roundup, more than a decade ago, sent older herbicides that damage both weeds and crops into deep eclipse. But now, as nasty invaders with names like pigweed, horseweed and Johnsongrass develop immunity to the mighty Roundup, chemical companies are dusting off the potent herbicides of old for an attack on the new superweeds. (The complete article is available on page A1 of today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal)