What's in Bloom

A Japanese plant that was introduced to the American nursery trade a few(?) years ago, whose name I can't quite remember. I think I remember Kiringoshima, but none of the catalogs I looked at list anything under that. There is Kirengoshoma, but the plants are very different. This plant puts out one or two leaves, a few interesting but not very showy flowers, then goes dormant from mid-summer until next spring. I'm hoping it will spread a bit, as a clump would be a nice feature, bridging flowering between spring and later summer/early fall.


UPDATE 7/10/09: After searching around on Google, I am pretty sure this is Kirengeshoma koreana. As the specific name implies, it is from Korea. Pictures show some variability in the leaves, from a deeply incised maple shape to the rounder form of my plant's leaves. K. koreana is also described as having less pendulous flowers than the Japanese species, K. palmata. I haven't found an exact match for the ragged-edge flowers on my plant, but the general characteristics seem to match. All the descriptions say this plant achieves a tall (anywhere from 3-7 feet!) shrub-like form, which my struggling little plant has never done. I think a dose of fish emulsion is called for.

Critter Blogging - Fort Magg

Maggie took over the Zappo's shoe carton; it's become her second-place favorite place to hang out, after the donut bed on the chair next to the computer desk.

Props to Bill S

This is the funniest thing I've read in ages - comment by Bill S at World o' Crap


Oh yeah-Eve chopped down the apple tree and said the snake did it.

But God said, “Oh, c’mon! He’s got no hands! How would he hold up a hatchet? Oh my Me, you’re stupid!”

At which point the snake interjected, “Well so much for it being the Tree of Knowledge! I hope you still have the receipt for the darned thing.”

To which God replied, “Aaah, shaddup.”

And that is why, to this day, snakes don’t talk.

Remarks on the Tiller Murder

It can't be said often enough - anyone who thinks abortion is morally wrong doesn't have to have an abortion. Ever, under any circumstances. You can give birth to a doomed baby, you can risk your own life if you have medical complications, you can have as many children as you want.

It's only the irresponsible and selfish who want the right to abortion, isn't it? Women want abortions for "convenience," so they can fit into a prom dress. Why bother with condoms and pills when you can just have a surgical procedure once or twice a year? Pregnant women routinely wait until the third trimester to decide if they really want a kid, then waltz off to abort as casually as they would go to have their teeth cleaned.

The responsible and unselfish, on the other hand, think it's moral for a 13-year-old incest victim to give birth. It's moral to give birth to a child who will likely die shortly afterward; likewise if the child is merely severely handicapped and will spend its life in an institution. It's unselfish to have a child you can't care for, even if you have other children whose care will also suffer. They told me in catholic school that there is a special place in heaven for women who die in childbirth, so aborting for medical reasons is just pure selfishness. Do you think you have a right to life?

The moral and unselfish think abortion is wrong because god said "Thou shalt not kill." In a little-known footnote, god added "Unless you disagree with them on the abortion issue."

What Smut Clyde Said

If I had been involved in the process of compiling the Old Testament, then Leviticus 19:19 would read like this:
Thou shalt not sow thy prose with mingled metaphor, for this is confusion, and abomination in the eyes of the L*rd.

Catholics in the News

I admit to an addiction - no matter how often I swear off reading anything about the catholic church, I fall off the wagon when I see an article like this one in Slate about the late John Neuhaus. Granted, "catholic intellectual" is a contradiction in terms, but whenever I feel low on adrenaline, the church can be counted on to give me a boost.

Neuhaus's views, as summarized by Winters, are so intellectually flawed I hardly know where to begin. Pro-choice advocates are not in favor of eugenics; tarring us with Sanger's views from nearly a hundred years ago is intellectually dishonest. If blacks are disproportionately opposed to legalized abortion, why do black women have a disproportionate share of abortions performed? I have heard the accusation that they are pressured into it repeatedly since the 1970s, but have never read a statistic or even heard an anecdote about how this is happening. Sorry, a vague accusation that society is responsible is not proof. There is a disparity between "blacks" being largely opposed to abortion, and "black women" choosing abortions. Is the opposition to abortion inflated by the opinions of men, while the decision to actually abort is made by women? Society should address poverty, but until that glorious day comes, women are faced with decisions about their very particular lives. Should individual women be forced to take on a burden that society shows little inclination to help them bear?

The Catholic Church's dogma about human dignity is a canard. The true social policy of the Church is a hierarchical one - rules are made from the top, by wealthy men who claim particular insights into the mind of God. Woman have no dignity in this view - they are simply to obey, and to let their bodies be subject to the whims of nature in a way that no man facing illness or hardship is expected to.

Puttin' Up Time

Here, as promised, is a post about putting food by. I froze 4 pints of collards from my garden, and made a pot of beans-and-greens soup for now.








Collards, washed, trimmed, and cut up.











Put a big pot of water on to boil.















Have ready a big bowl of cold water with some ice in it, and an array of clean freezer containers.




















When the water is boiling, dump the greens into it, stir them around, and bring back to a boil. If you're doing more tender greens, like Swiss chard, heat just until they turn bright green. Then transfer the greens via a slotted spoon to the ice water.






Again via slotted spoon, pack the greens into the freezer containers.









Containers nicely labeled, ready to put into the freezer.










Beans-and-greens soup: Put a 4-6 ounce chunk of smoked turkey wing, 1 cup chopped onion or leek, and a couple of crushed garlic cloves into 2 quarts water (or half water, half chicken stock) and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Add 4 cups chopped collards, a medium carrot diced, and about the same amount of diced turnip, a bay leaf, 10 peppercorns, an allspice berry or two, and if you like, some thyme or sage. Simmer for another 30-45 minutes, until veggies are soft. Add one can drained and rinsed white beans, bring back to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes. I like to top a bowl of soup with a spoonful of yogurt and have a piece of toasted, buttered whole wheat or pumpernickel bread with it. Note: I didn't add salt to this because the smoked turkey and canned beans have enough salt for me.