November

November was a great month for me this year. It's not every year I get to harvest a deer, and a big buck at that. The deer of Missouri are very special to me and I thank God for them every deer season and especially if I get to harvest one. The benefits from this animal are incredible in my mind. I can't trust the store to provide me with meat like this. I love eating this venison and extras (that includes the wonderful organ meat) knowing what this animal ate and how it's pure and natural, like my organic garden. Can anybody say, deer sausage, deer jerky, or venison steak.














My brother Kevin help pull him into position for a field dressing.

















I all ways love this part because it feels like I'm a doctor doing surgery.



















The autopsy reveals the reason for death, one shot one kill. Sorry kids Bambi was a great sacrifice so that I may live and enjoy it's great and wonderful pure protein harvest.

October

Here once again is the winner of the #1 veggie of the year award Sucrine Du Berry!!! yeahhhh. In September I showed this squash on the vine, now here is the reason it won. The flesh is a wonderful tasting delight and the color is even more orange after being cooked.



















Here is the chicken coop I built over the month of October. I loved working on this project for me ole college friend Heather. When I heard she had chickens I was motivated to help her out just thinking of the possibility of the chance to get one fresh egg. With Heather and her family on a farm not but a couple miles to the west of were I live in Willard it made for a nice job. The coop is made entirely from recycled wood and a lot of it old barn oak, no joy to hammer nails in.


One day in October I was talking to my Aunt Arlene about trees I should plant in my back yard to replace my lost austrees and that the only one I could think of was pecan and pin oak. Arlene soon warned me of the reasons not to plant pecan trees, and that I would regret it, if I did plant those trees. Arlene soon came up with good idea that she could help me with. Why not plant fruit trees and name them Arlene and Bill. So that's what I did. And also plant some friends to help the other fruit trees fruit.


















Richard Apple and Rita Pear
















Bill Pear & Merry Cherry
















Barbara Apple


Arlene Cherry


After a Day of planting the Family met at Dads for a nice meal

Thank you guys for making a dream come true.
Love
Shawn

September

September was a good month for my fennel. One of my favorite herbs due to its plushness (is that a word) and very hearty growth, its November and its still growing like crazy. I didn't do much with it this year because it started small and I wanted to let it grow to harvest it's seeds. There was one weird thing I used the fennel for, get this, Pickles. You never know what pickled fennel will taste like. And that's why I'm avoiding opening it, can you imagine pickled lickerish.



















Now here is a heirloom melon called Anne Arundel. A pre 1800 American melon from the state of Maryland. This melon was grown by farmers in Anne Arundel county in Maryland. This great American heirloom nearly vanished in the last hundred years due to the people of Maryland being to lazy to plant it. Just kidding, calm down. This melon is famous because it was in many paintings of the famous Peale Family, who ever... that is? But thanks to William W. Weaver rediscovering the variety this great melon lives on in gardens abound.
















Ahh... now who couldn't love a big hand full of jalapenos, these are great just put them in any thing you stir fry.



















Spaghetti Squash have you ever ate anything so cool. A vege that you cook and it ends up looking like spaghetti the pasta. Split that bad boy down the middle throw a couple pads of butter and salt and pepper and you have a meal. And what a meal they grow bigger then footballs!



















Ahh... la Chair Délicieuse Merveilleuse!
My favorite this year. Sucrine Du Berry a winter squash. A very old and famous, traditional heirloom squash variety from the heart of France. I was so impressed by this heirloom that I give it my "Best Plant Out Of My Garden" award. This squash was impressive from the day it started growing, it even had to wait to be planted. I only have so much room in my garden so some plant have to wait to get a box. When my potatoes were finished and the box was ready I started the winter squash thinking it will be to hot for them to grow. No problem, the Sucrine Du Berry took off like a plant on compost crack. Then when I went to pick the winter squash there was a lot more then I expected and it blew my mind, squash heaven. Come to find out this plant is treat to eat as well. Another just cook it up any ole way. Any... Raw, chopped stir-fry, baked, eat the seeds, soup, skin on or off, shishkabob. What a nice vege. maybe I'll send you one.

Garden Haul 2009

Watch Out! it's Pickling Season. If you hold still to long you might be canned and end up in some sort of strange brine mixture.
And Yes I can not spell. Hey! it was hot outside.
















Turnips Love the Onion Bed.















The Japanese Cucumber is very productive. And Yes they will be a victim of canning.















My invention of the Cuc Cube was a great space saver.



















Another very productive plant, the Chinese Long Noodle bean.















My favorite haul is always the watermelon. The Georgia Rattle Snake, and that one was just a baby.

The Garden Matrix

Running a large scale garden is a lot of hard work at first. Then comes the long hot days and rain storms that make your work pay off with green.

This last months Tornado damage was rough on my yard and put me behind in garden work two weeks but that didn't stop anything from growing. Not in a long time have I experienced everything growing on schedule. From Asparagus to Zucchini the garden is now a plethora of wonderful taste and smells and colors.

I am excited this year about my tomatoes and other plant that will need support. The massive amount of nice straight sticks off my now dead Austrees has left me with plenty of working material for some nice looking trussing. 

I call this one pictured bellow my Tomato Matrix. I think it will work out. The truss system is simple just make two A-frames at both ends, jabbed into the dirt, and tie the rest of the support with some good ole hemp rope. As the plant grows you just weave in support sticks. It is surprisingly strong and has made it through one wind storm.

So save your sticks for the Matrix.     

After all these years of living in tornado alley, I finally was nipped by a small one. This is my first close call Tornado, it was an F1 with 85 mph winds. To me it was like a Tornado, Hurricane, Earthquake, and flood together. When the Austrees blew over their massive roots snapped and shook the house. From inside I thought the house was lifting off it's foundation. There was no Roar like a train but the house was shaking like I was in one. After the wind calmed down I went outside and found my trees flat, my neighbors fence down and shingles every were. The trees tipped over left massive holes. The ground sprung forth the locust. it was a sign.  

Big Clean Up.

Light filtered in Black

I like this one because it is simple, there is no show on, just light. This one was kinda Pink Floyd inspired. The rock band Pink Floyd used a lot of play of light in their album cover art. Actually my whole garden is PF inspired. Look at the album Momentary lapse of Reason, how the light absorbs into the beds. I want light to play in my garden and keep it simple. 

And it shall be done by thy.

Light Travel ...

In modern physics, light or electromagnetic radiation may be viewed in one of two complementary ways: as a wave in an abstract electromagnetic field, or as a stream of massless particles called photons. Although either is an acceptable description of light, for purposes in astronomy and light travel, the particles fits my theory.

All you have to do is watch the movie K-PAX and that will help explain it better since you don't want or have the time to here me wrangle on for hours talking about harnessing the energy of light and light speeds in multiples of C. 

See here, what I'm trying to say is we as Humans already have the ability to travel at the speed of light and my boxes are the method of which to do that in the form of filters. And to further my theory Don't most of us stand around and talk to our selves and smile and frown for no other reason then we have a piece of plastic held against the sides of our heads. 

It's all about the particles Dudes.  

 

Old Time TV

This one was originally called~ Nothing On~ but then I changed the name to fit the mood. 

This is the moment when the boxes first took on a personality of there own. I found my self thinking the boxes were speaking to me through the light. The soft evening light low on the horizon was moving slow in my mind but fast in space. Every thing in the space around me was in the same dimension with my brain. Dude! every thing was clicking. I wasn't on any sort of stimulants or caffeine level. The thing was, every thing was just "One" for a moment in time.

In reality the light was telling me what to do in that moment. 

I have come to a realisation, I need to spend more time with light and art. 

And it shall be done.   

Properties Of Light

This is the long awaited series of digital pictures based on an accidental discovery of light though filters made of a simple six mil plastic on a cold frame box.

One evening while getting ready for that nights freeze I had dropped off the cold frame boxes for my garden in my yard. It was in that moment that I had discovered that the light shining through the boxes plastic was an epiphany of sorts. 

For the rest of this month I will be displaying a different picture each day from the series shot that evening in thirty minutes of evening light from my Dads old backup 2.0 mega pixel camera.

This first picture is simply the moment of discovery of the light.

I call this one: Light in Green

 

 

The Whirling Shawnish

This is the best description of me that has ever been drawn. My niece Avery, age 4, shall end up being a comic book illustrator. This Drawing best depicts me flying out of control in my wheelchair. Note my arms flailing out as my wheels are spinning out of control. But the best part of the drawing is that very large smile, which is what I do when I fall out of my chair. The end result of acting silly in my chair is I usually end up on the ground laughing hysterically. So in truth this picture by Avery's of me is right-on.

Happy Easter Everyone,

God Bless Your Day.

Look at this Monster.

My Dad still has the fishing "Kovorka". While he was down Snow birding in Texas acting like nothing was happening but playing golf, he came back with some awesome stories.

Dad tells the great story like this. One evening while doing the usual fishing routine down on the old Colorado river that empties into the Gulf coast or Matagorda Bay. It was going a little slow that evening just sitting talking and enjoying the sunset with other LCRA Rv Park fishers. When suddenly while talking his pole went flying towards the water and he had to get up and grab to set the hook. It looked like it was going to be a struggle because Dad only had ten pound test line and the sun was going down. Back and forth up the shore he fought the mighty beast. Every body was giving different guesses as to what it was fighting the master. This old dude was starting to draw a crowd following him up and down the shore. With his little pole in the bent position pointing out into the dark unsettling waters of the River Dad was struggling. With the dawn of the day closing in the great beast was finally within netting range. In a flurry of crowd excitement a volunteer with great bravery ran into the water to net the "IT", even at the risk of not knowing what lurked at the end of the line. No body had a clue what this thing was; could it be a Shark, or Sting Ray, or... Alligator Gar. Dad's old fishing friend next to him whispered him "I know what it is, a...". As the excitement built the young volunteer netted the beast out in the ol' muddy Colorado river. What ever it was it took up the whole net. A Black Drum weighing in at 35.5 pounds and length of 4o inches long, the old fishing buddy had guest it right. "Wow!" I said "how long did it take to real it in". "One and a half hours" Dad said. 

The luck of the Irish, caught on Saint Patties Day. Dad told me he prayed that evening saying if he catches a big one Lord, I let it go. So Dad took a picture and let the beast go to be enjoyed another Glories Day.  

There was a strange noise out by the stock tank

early this morning. It sounded to me like a gurgling 

somebody voice. Zeke is sniffing around.

Something not right.

I awoke to find this mysterious Crate by my

front porch. I don't know what's in it?  

Something is odd about it, there is no note

or return address. Should I open it, who sent

this to me. Who put these plants here, 

Something strange is going on.  

Old Wives Tale

23rd of March should be the first day of the 

gardening new year, or at least in my garden.

I mark this great day by the arrival of the first

Asparagus. The asparagus must have some 

sort of internal clock that tells it when to

come up. And the little shoot usually bring 

with it good weather, a good indicator of

when to start planting other goodies.

There is something else odd about this plant

and when it pops up. I've heard tell of an old wives 

tale that says asparagus likes to come up after a 

lighting storm. Well guess when this first batch

popped up, you guest it, the first good lighting storm 

of the year. This odd little plant has always been my favorite.

Tune in Next for friend and foe of my garden and planting updates.

I call this one Honeyweed. Does any body know the name?

More Garden Adventure

The Queen was a little grumpy when I moved her out of my bed. 

Zeke always stands guard with a bone.

The Broc bed is always the first to be transplanted.

No Donny this is not Nuclear fuel dust.

Fossilized diatoms dust from 5,000,000,000,000 years ago, helps my garden with bugs.

Garden is Zen

Potato Box nice and tight.

Corn and Okra Boxes Ready to go.

Worm bed my Dad made with steel.

The Mulchanator. 

Who needs the DC cherry blossoms.