All the Dirt on Gardening

Growing fruits and vegetables is a satisfying activity that can yield a bumper crop. After all the work of planting, weeding and harvest, we prefer not to toss extra produce on the compost pile. Most of us give friends and family a considerable amount of cucumbers, squash, tomatoes and corn. Gospel Rescue Mission (326 S 2 and 918-682-3489) welcomes produce donations to feed local families in need. When it comes to preserving and storing some of the extra to use over the winter, gardeners each have a preferred method. To keep food safe and nutritious, four problems must be conquered. (See Piers Warren reference below.) 1) Enzymes cause food to begin to lose nutritional value and to spoil quickly. Extreme heat used for canning stops enzyme action, as does freezing. 2) Bacteria cause most food poisoning and their growth can be stopped through freezing, high heat, and high concentrations of sugar, salt or acid used for pickling. 3) Yeasts cause the kind of food spoilage seen when jam ferme...

Remember when the expression McMansion came into our vocabulary? It was when people started tearing down small-ish houses and building big homes on the lot, crowding the neighbors. Also, the term is used when someone buys a hillside and puts up a ginormous house that isn't quite a 50,000 square foot Steve Jobs size place but an eyesore nonetheless. Today on the radio, a panel was discussing McThinking. They say Americans McThink now that we are drowning in McFacts. We do not take the time to actually think and we are dumber than our parents were. An Internet search on the word McThink yields the usual two-million results with hits for McWriting (blogging), McReading (scanning everything available on the Internet and magazines as well as skimming books), etc. No real reading or thinking. Annie of Annie's Annuals calls McGardening , the practice of shopping only for common plants in full bloom. I was doing what I considered McThinking today while McGardening. I was actually pulli...