nbacres, I was just reading an article in a magazine at the orthodontist office yesterday while waiting for DS. I think the magazine was Cottage Gardens or something? A lady had turned a wire corn crib into a gazebo of sorts. She just put some wicker furniture in there and planted clematis and runner beans around it. I don't think it had a top on it but it was beautiful and shady once the vines covered it. You might check out that magazine if you get a chance and haven't already! Good luck! I haven't done any totems so can't help you there, but check the inspiration album, here's a link... Robin Here is a link that might be useful: GJ inspiration album

It's not so much the population gain making intensive farming necessary.......or at least wasn't when the practise started, it was economics, and being taught in agricultural universities like religion. The concept of an acre's production or even a tree's potential production seems like such a simple concept, but it isn't. It should seem to be a no-brainer that a hundred bushels off a plot, verses ten, should be a good thing.....right? Well, it depends on what and how you do it and concerns an issue of burning bridges behind you. Agriculture is big business. Big, big multi-national business and it overlaps other industries in conglomerates and it funds all sorts of grants and grows all sorts of research and essentially has directed what has become of our farming sector. I was studying agriculture when the tide was turning in that direction and was being embraced at university level without question towards intensive farming. Not because it was necessary in our country, but because it was profitable (more so to the supply, seed and chemical business, than the farmer, btw) I think of Orwell's "Animal Farm" and I think of the horse. That is what we are doing to our (family farmers) and farmland. It was not done out of necessity to feed the starving multitude like seems to be the general concensus here, but choice and is profit driven. You all have heard of farms being paid not to produce to their potential? It wouldn't exist if we had to use intensive production to feed our people. What has happened to farming is exactly parallel to what has happened to every other business in this country, and that is the failure of myriads of smaller independent producers who simply could not compete with the capital and backing of corporations. In this case the factory farms. If you look to other countries in Europe, you will find they have finally awakened to farmland protection and trusts to keep arable land in banks for future needs. It's not so popular here. When a small farm starts struggling and throws in the towel, they don't have any incentive to put it in a trust to keep the land value cheap enough so another farmer can buy it. It's sold to a developer and fertile farmland ends up under macadam or McMansions. It's a very short-term and nearsighted choice. Think monocultures and think the lack of genetic diversity. Think the Irish potato famine. Then think of what will become of our food suppliers who are obliged to plant the latest seed provided by one or two companies who produce it for half the world, who have it under patent, and who comes up with things like terminator genes to protect their profit. We need to be independent with our food supply. We will lose that capability one day, just like we lost the ability to be independent with our energy supplies. When we do that, we depend on "developing" countries to supply us and then whine when they cut down rain forests to do it. What's going to happen when there are no more countries to develop?

Here are some pics I took today. Some things blooming and things that I don't know what they are, lol. I got the pond done and then dummy me put the pea gravel in and it was nasty so now I have to drain it and refill it or wait and see if it settles and clears up. I still have a lot to do but I can finish the rest by myself. He is coming back next week to till around my gazebo and then I will see what else I can talk him into tilling up for me, lol. He is a nice guy and took a bunch of mulch up to my pomagranate tree and put a nice thick layer under it after he heard me telling it I promised to give it some of that good compost soon, lol. He probably thinks I'm nuts. I moved the little trailer and hid it behind the shed. If you know what the other two plants are please let me know. I need to divide the big one with the wierd hanging flowers or repot it. Thats the itchy plant. The hairy one I don't know what it is either but it makes cluster of flat pink blooms and I got a couple of blooms on my candy corn vine. The other is my pink bower vine starting to bloom. The close up green one is of what I think are mealy bugs? I put alcohol on them yesterday but it didn't faze them. Time for more drastic measures.

Whew! I’ve finally recuperated from the onslaught. We had a blast! The pig came out perfect, the weather was great and everything went smoothly. Here are a few pictures I took: Dawn Saturday morning. Pig went in the smoker at 4 PM Friday. We all stayed up until midnight then DH & I went to bed and slept until 4 AM. We got up and relieved the midnight to 4 AM smoker crew and started our day. Almost Done Done Inhaling & Decorated RedNeck Style. Go Patriots! Last year it was Hawaiian Style complete with lei. My cousin carving the Pig. Saturday midnight...end of a long day