Let’s fleetingly debate the beginning of one of America's bloodiest of all wars - Our American Civil War. The war did not just materialize out of thin air, but undeniable events progressively led up to the internal conflict. I believe there were explicit milestones established within the preceding decades, which ultimately interposed the Civil War. Most historians will accredit the Civil War to the decades of division, which climaxed into a series of confrontations founded upon the moral and legal ethics of slavery. Shadowing the years after the Louisiana Purchase, our Congress was tasked to inaugurate guidelines for the expansion of slavery into any new territories on the western side of the country. With the influx of Missouri's application for statehood (pro-slavery) we perceive a new spark of debates opening up. It was not so much the moral disputes posed by the institution of slavery, but I contend it was more of a power struggle. Missouri's entry as a slave state would bestow the slave state faction in congress a larger majority than the north had.
A few months back my wife Pam became the proud owner of a donated French Lilac Shrub. Although there are literally hundreds of diverse varieties of these types of Lilacs, we have no idea which one this actually is, perhaps in the springtime we will have some insight into its variety.
Being a writer, I often have a considerable amount of paper that I need to shred for security reasons. This is in addition to the monthly statements for my credit cards and utility bills. All this normally ends up in the trash bin to be taken to the local dump and tossed into a huge hole. Well, I no longer contribute to filling holes at the dump, but rather use my shredded paper to create compost for my garden. In this short lecture I intend to explain to you how I go about this task. It is easy and simple.
A while back I was fortunate enough to be able to take a course in Herbal applications. During the class one of the formulas which the instructor provided was for a natural homemade fungicide. Many people would prefer not to use any of the commercial chemical-based fungicides on the market today. This solution to the common garden fungal diseases is simple and above all inexpensive. This easy to make homemade product will work well for your cucurbits you have planted such as cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, and watermelon. These plants are usually prone to a fungal disease known as powdery mildew.
Pam and I like to stop and take a cutting from plants which attract our attention, assuming it is legal and permitted. In order to do this, we needed a kit of some sort which included all the supplies and equipment that we would possibly require. This kit is helpful because we never know when we may find something of interest in our travels. Everyone who is interested in plants and growing them should have such a kit. This field kit is nothing as elaborate as the professional botanist kits, but it is adequate for our use.
As with any other type of nut tree that one undertakes to grow, pecan’s take a considerable amount of patience and skills, especially in their early years. To grow a tree for the nuts you will require several trees rather than just a single one, otherwise you will end up with a beautiful shade tree void of any nut production. Cross-pollination is required by these trees. The patience requires six to eight years of watching the tree slowly grow before seeing any nut appear on it. These trees also require a considerable amount of space since they grow as tall as 150 feet high, thus they between 35 and 50 feet per tree. Pecan trees are able to be cultivated in U.S. zones 6 through 9, thus with Delaware being in zone 7, we are right in the middle.
Today I made one of my many trips to the Dover Produce Junction and found an unusual fruit for sale. The fruit is a tropical plant known as Rambutan. Rambutan trees are native to the Indonesian region of the world. It is now distributed worldwide, thanks to the 13th century traders. The plant is an evergreen tree which grows to approximately 65 feet high as a mature tree, under the proper conditions. There are three types of Rambutan trees, the male which produces flowers but no fruit, the female which produces flowers only and the hermaphroditic which produces female flowers and a small percentage of male flowers.
My article today concerns an event from August 6, which was my wife’s birthday. On the occasion I bought her a beautiful bouquet of roses. These dozen roses were of an unusual color making them especially attractive. With that thought in mind, I plan to talk about rooting roses which one receives as a gift bouquet and producing a living memory. We often encounter special events in our life where we wish that we could keep the set of roses forever, well, you actually can. Most people dry roses from special events in their life, but you can create a complete bush with very little effort. Imagine how romantic it would be to preserve a complete rose bush from your wedding bouquet or other special event.
As I sit at my desk and wonder what I can write about it has dawned on me that today’s entertainment consists largely of a huge dose of Zombie related movies and shows. In general, most people will quickly say that it is merely fiction and nothing more. They will contend that there is no truth what so ever in the concept of zombies however perhaps we should see what exactly the bible says about such events. With that thought in mind I will discuss and show references to zombie or undead taken from the good book.
As an inspiration for today’s rant, I watched an older movie last evening and at its conclusion, my mind, as usual, started gears clicking inside. Immediately as usually is the case, I decided to try and evaluate and analyze the values of good and evil within the confines of this 1942 movie entitled Casablanca. This American classic film was based upon a stage play entitled, “Everybody Comes to Rick's.” The movie film set was that of World War II and focused upon a man who was drawn between the love he felt for a woman from his past and his desire to assist her husband in his efforts to escape from the Moroccan city of Casablanca.
