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I went to the store today looking for cilantro seeds (is there some sort of cilantro shortage this year?) and not to be dissuaded from a seed purchase, I settled on some chervil. I’ve never grown it or eaten it (that I know of) but the reviews sound great. Once I have a crop I’m going to try it on some tilapia.

I am fully recovered from the bitter failure of last year’s gardening attempts and am ready to start getting serious about making changes to our property. I’ve been drooling over fruit tree varieties all evening and I came across this great article on the Paw Paw.

With all of the reading I’m trying to do on permaculture design I’ve been overwhelmed by the “big picture” but I did realize tonight that my original plan for the Paw Paws (between the house and the barn) is indeed the right place to plant fruit trees.

High Fructose Corn Syrup and the backlash against it highlighted in the New York Times. The experts in the article talk circles around the fact that sugar is sugar and an empty calorie is an empty calorie and then make my point at the end without getting to my point.

“If people really want to go back to where we were, that means not putting sugar in everything,” she said. “It means keeping it to desserts.”

The only way to do this is to avoid high fructose corn syrup completely. It’s in everything because of it’s preservative qualities not necessarily because of the sweetness it adds.

entire article

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLBup2immMc[/youtube]

On Wednesday, Richard Russo gave a talk at The Dogwood Festival in Dowagiac, Michigan. Never heard of Dowagiac? Go ahead, google the city. Yeah, it’s in the middle of nowhere. The town looks like it is on life support since FDR, but check out their middle school’s (yes, middle school) Performing Arts Center:

Russo’s talk was on humor. I would give a summation, but apparently Darlene Jackson has transcribed a significant portion of his talk. Enjoy.