The back of the card:
Published by Sudeep Johnson
Doggie Paw Cards, Inc.
www.doggiepawcards.com
Many thanks to Paddington the little white dog, without whom there would be no card.
Here is last year's: Holiday Card From The Johnsons]]>
The back of the card:
Published by Sudeep Johnson
Doggie Paw Cards, Inc.
www.doggiepawcards.com
Many thanks to Paddington the little white dog, without whom there would be no card.
Here is last year's: Holiday Card From The Johnsons]]>
Below: The tasting begins.
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What Fruits and Veggies Are In Season? Courtesy of WEBstaurant Restaurant Supplies
First, the deep, killing, subfreezing cold of winter typically eliminated many damaging insects and pathogens. ... Beyond killing the baddies, proper cold serves another important purpose: For perennial crops, shorter days and sustained low temperatures bring a cycle of dormancy, a deep, almost anesthetized sleep, during which growth is temporarily halted.Go read... ]]>
Why can't we just be with things for a while? Why can't we think about what we can do to help mankind instead of flitting off to the next thing. You can't help mankind in 5 minutes once a year.
End of rant.]]>
Our little white dog Paddington does a "ballet" with his back legs, and this card shows him doing a holiday Nutcracker ballet.
Here is last year's.]]>
Once all the contestants had arrived, off-loaded their entries and moved on, the gracious hostess did her magic. She cut up the tomatoes and carefully listed each entry on a sheet with a letter attached to each entry so they became anonymous. She then laid them out onto the "tasting" table each with a letter displayed. The tasters had to taste each entry and vote on which variety they preferred by writing the letter down on a small piece of paper.
Below is the Tasting Table.
It soon became evident that the cherry tomatoes needed a class of their own! They were so much stronger in flavor than the regulars that they were overpowering. So a quick change of voting rules occurred! The tension could be felt in the room. Who's entry was going to win???
Below - the list of hopeful contestants. Who will win?
List of entries - regular category:
Early Girl (several)
Brandywine
St Pierre
Beafsteak
Early Challenge
(Couple of "unknowns")
List of entries - Cherry category:
Sun Gold (two entries)
Black Cherry
Sunella
And the winners were....drum roll....
SUN GOLD - Cherry - 1st Place
EARLY GIRL - Regular - 2nd Place
SUN GOLD - Cherry - 3rd Place
SUNELLA - Cherry - 4th Place
Below - the happy winners. Our happy 1st/4th winner seems unbeatable. He keeps on winning year after year! Challenge anyone?
...and then we all had dinner - tomato soup (delicious), garlic bread and a salad with tomatoes in it of course!
It was a really fun and friendly event and everyone enjoyed it whether losers or winners, we all won by being there and enjoying the fun!
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Same village, surrounding a statue of Matthew Flinders who lived in Donnington in the 18th century sometime and who was supposed to have "discovered" Australia - although I imagine there were some native Australians who may have some fault with that statement! It just shows how any opportunity to brighten up a small available area with flowers is taken.
I discovered many allotments full of plots of vegetables around England - way more than I have ever discovered in USA. Here is one large community allotment where different people come to garden. Check out the red runner beans. I saw these favorite beans of the English in many gardens
I saw many private backyard gardens from the top of buses, but the one below I was just walking along a small country lane and there it was. A lot of the backyard vegetable patches are very close to ornamental flower beds, so one part of the yard is saved for the veggies and in this way is integrated into the whole look of the yard.
As a whole I think that the British are just more into gardening than in the US - whether it is ornamental or culinary and they do both with taste and a flare for attractive arrangements.
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