Mr. Bitterman's Garden
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Once More, Dear Friends, Into the Breach ...

4/21/2021

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​It has been interesting.
After a relatively dry winter, at least by what I consider a dry winter, March and April have been dumping on us pretty good, every other week.

70-67-72-16-14-23.

Good Lottery numbers, lousy temperatures.

​
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Essentially, between the storms, we've been working on the soil, building compost out of coffee grounds and egg shells and spreading them through all the gardens and pots. What will this accomplish? Lord only knows, but it did give us something to do this winter.

​NICK:
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Nick has had his share of troubles over the past few seasons, mainly because he hasn't gotten the love and attention of the others. We really focused on building him up this year with fertilizer, calcium and the compost concoction. At this precise moment, I'm not sure what's going in him this year. The master plot is downstairs and I'm too lazy to go get it.

NORA: 
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Nora has really been the pride and joy over the past few years. She's the biggest garden and has had the most success with tomatoes and pumpkins. As you may remember, the pumpkins went crazy last season and took over the pine tree in the back yard. We're hoping for continued success this year, to the point that I am already working on a pumpkin hammock design if one climbs the tree again this year.

ASTA:
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Asta has become the dedicated pepper garden again with this year's crop being Hatch Medium, Hatch Mild and two Ghost Peppers. Part of the winter was spent enjoying ghost peppers whenever we could, along with any number of other exotic hot sauces. Enjoying may be too strong a word, now that I think of it. Thought it might be fun to grow a few and watch the squirrels bite into them.

BUTTERFLY GARDEN:
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Every spring is spent adding new soil to the butterfly garden in the hopes that we can have a full season of wild flowers and herbs. We've already got borage going indoors, all in the hope of getting it into the garden well grown, first thing. It's a good bee attracting crop, and, since we'll be raising bees about four feet to the right of this picture, it should be an interesting summer. 

My hobbies used to be a lot cheaper.  (Actually, I can't back that up. All my hobbies since childhood have been expensive, equipment intensive efforts that drained my lackluster bank accounts and eventually wound up in corner of the basement: "Hey, look! Trains! (Or skeet targets or scuba tanks or glass cutters or oil paints or ...  ad infinitum, ad nauseum.)
​

​MORE BUTTERFLY:
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The gardens, I'm pretty sure, are prepped and fertilized and ready to go. The seedlings are progressing well indoors (as long as I don't try to transplant them to fiber pots with my fat little sausage hands. (The tremor doesn't help either as I tend to spray potting soil all over the kitchen, causing a mess and momentarily burying a sleeping Boston Terrier.

THE POTS IN QUESTION: 
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​The replanted, transferred, shocked-to-its-very-roots Borage is upfront, while the chiles hang out in the background. The Ghost Peppers are farthest from the camera, just to help you avoid any possible sneezing fit from them being too close.

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Meanwhile,  Tomatoes, Radishes, Pumpkins and something else I've forgotten, are hanging out in the dining room under artificial lights. It is said, well, it's not said, I just read it someplace, so it might have all the weight of a fact from some guy who makes pillows, but artificial light is better for seedlings as it builds sturdier stems. These are currently in the dining room getting 12-hours of grow-light a day, at which time I get 12-hours a day of inquiries from law enforcement and passersby as to what the hell I'm growing in my dining room.

LITTLETON TRAIN STATION:
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Stopped by the Littleton Train Station last night to pick up the boys from the Anaheim Express  (Anaheim to LIttleton with one stop in East Nowhere, Utah). Mr. Bitterman had been in Anaheim with his mother, while Furious George had joined the train at East Nowhere, where he had been doing some extreme rock riding with Kermit the Frog.

A PHOTO MEMORY OF THE TRIP:
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​Mr. Bitterman 
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​Furious George (Hungover)

Both are looking quite good, though Furious George spent his time in the Club Car getting Blotto. It was a quiet winter for both as Disneyland was still pretty much shut down due to Covid. They picked up work where they could, but there wasn't much. They're always welcome here,  but Bitterman promised his mother and Furious is still in a snit with the Bat-Shit Crazy Neighbors about one thing or another, so, he didn't want to spend his vacation here next door to them and the perpetually dancing martini shaker.
​
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As for Young Otis Gumpox, he's been working diligently in the basement for the past six months, watching Sean Hannity on Fox News and sending him daily letters that review his arguments and performance. Sean, as you can well imagine, ain't having none of it. Young Otis, on the other hand, loves it, saying it's a pleasure to "twist Hannity's knickers" each and every day. Next up, Young Otis is determined to find a spine for Lindsey Graham, though, that might be like be searching for the 7 Cities of Cibola.

THIS SEASON'S WATER FEATURE: 
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Young Otis Gumpox has also been helping with the new water feature. Built out of Lego Bricks and Silly Putty,  at the moment, we're calling it "American Politics, 2020," though we agreed we're both sick of that thought and are looking for something new.

​Suggestions are always welcome.

​
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So, What Survived?

9/17/2020

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Well, After the Frost, Which Was Not Quite the
KILLER
Freeze the Weather Guy Had Predicted, 
We Went Out Back and Pulled the Tarps.
​

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I Was Very Pleasantly Surprised.
Everything Seemed to Survive,
(With the Exception of One Pot of Coleus Out Front.)
Helped Along, No Doubt, by the Heavy Layers of 
Pumpkin Leaves Growing Everywhere Out of Nora. (Right)
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The Chiles did Beautifully, 
the Moisture Even Reviving a Few Plants
I Had Given Up for Toast.
You Gotta Love Nature.
Life Will Find a Way.
​

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We're Even Seeing Some New Growth Here
After a Fairly Comprehensive Harvest Two Weeks Ago.
(We Seem to Be Growing Some Bricks as Well)
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The Covered Pumpkins Seemed to Do Well.
We've Got Two Hidden in the Pine Tree.
(We Harvested Bungee Buddy)
​

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As You Can See,
​(Well, Maybe You Can't)
They're Doing Quite Well.
​
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Huey, Dewey and Louie Were All Carefully Moved
To Nora, Where They Were Covered.
And Where They Survived.
​

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Also Surviving,
The Sweet Potatoes
(Petite Purples Were Harvested by Furious George)
And the Multi-Variety Basil.

(What I Did Enjoy About the Freeze Was Fining Flash Frozen Japanese Beetles on the Basil.)
(Take That, You Little Beasts!)

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Also, Tomatoes Survived. We're Still Not
Getting Much
In the Way of Harvest on the Big Tomatoes.
Once Again, Bitterman is Convinced That
It's Soil.
We're Going to Have to Test and Renew It Over the Winter
With Money That Will Have to Be Found Somewhere.
​
"Gold Doubloons and Pieces of Eight,
Now Belong to Applegate ..."

Maybe I Should Get Frank and Joe Hardy On It.
They're Always Looking for a New Mystery.
​
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As for the Garden Help, We're Not Sure What Caused the Argument Seen Above, but I'm Sure It Had Something to Do with Furious George Nailing the Frost Blankets Down with Railroad Spikes, Rather Than the Incredibly Expensive "Little Gardener Frost Blanket Extra Flimsy Nail Down Thingies" Mr. Bitterman had Ordered Specially for the Frost Event. 

Meanwhile, Young Otis Gumpox is Putting the Final Touches on His "Mechanical Chimp" Impersonation for the Next Kindergarten Virtual Zoom Class. He Appeared Last Week Fresh Out of the Shower, Wearing Only a Towel and the Teacher Fainted Dead Away.
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An Ill Wind Blows ...

9/8/2020

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Remember the Other Day?
Like, three days ago,
When it was only 101-degrees?
Then, 97?
Then 91?
​

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Well, Today it is 39.
With Low Tonight of 28.
What One of the Local Weather Jockeys
LOVES to Call:
"A Killer Frost! Did you Hear What I Said?
KILLER!
​

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Which is Par for the Course in Colorado.
We've Had this Happen Before.
It Will Happen Again, and, Likely, More Often, Given Climate Change.

And, So, We Covered Everything
With 9x25x2 Tarps
From Amazon,
(Who Now, Pretty Much, Own My Life)
And We Harvested Everything We Could.

Will the Late Tomatoes Make It Through
"The Killer Frost?"
Lord only Knows.​

(Though, Once We Had the Plastic Sheeting in Place,
Fighting the Wind Every Step of the Way,
The Weather Noodge Told Us to Use "Breathable" Tarps.

There is No Winning with These Folks.
(I Think They Wait to Tell Us These Things
Because They Have a  Kickback Deal With Amazon.)
​
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We Harvested Everything that Even Looked Close,
From Petite Purple Potatoes 

To Hatch Chiles (68 now and Counting!)
A Few Tomatoes
(They're Still Slow)
And a Few Last Cukes and Acorn Squash.

And, of Course,
Ten Quadzillion Pumpkins

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You May Recall the "Bungee Baby"
Who Was Growing Through the Limbs of the Pine Tree?
He Had Turned Bright Orange
So We Saved Him From a Frozen Fate.
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He's the Bright Orange Pumpkin
In the Upper Left
Of This Photo.
(Had to Save Him!)
​

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I'm Hoping We Get More,
Especially From the Tomatoes,
But We'll Have to See.


It Has Been One Short and Screwy Season
Down on the Farm.
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Speaking of Tomatoes,
It Seems that Young Otis Gumpox
Has Been Tasting All the Red Ones He Finds
To Make Sure They're Ripe.

We Spent An Afternoon Explaining to Him Why
This Was Not a Proper
Attitude in Backyard Farming
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Not a Single One
of the Garden Guard Dogs
Bothered to Step in
And Stop Otis From Eating the Tomatoes.

I'm Not Sure
What Deal They've Cut
But It Must Be Something Good

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Furious George Had the Bright Idea of Buying
A "Little Firebug Just My Size Flame Thrower."
He Decided to Sit Under the Plastic and Touch It Off
Whenever the Temp Got
​A Little Too Chilly for the Plants.

It Was a Great Idea,
Even Through We Had to Cut Him Out of a Well-Sealed Package
Of Plastic Wrap
Come Tuesday Morning.

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As for Mr. Bitterman, He Was Momentarily Upset
With Furious and the Flame Thrower,
But Seeing that His Drunken Assistant
Was Suddenly Vacuum-Packed,
Wanted to Leave Him Til
Spring, When We Could Open Furious "Fresh."

We Couldn't Do It.
They'' Just Have to Learn to Get Along
And Watch Each Other's Shows
in the Basement all Winter.

At the Moment it's Between "Love Island" and "The Donna Reed Show."


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Also, While We Did Turn
The Main Sprinklers Off,
We Forgot to Check the Line
To Our Stalin "Little Dictator"
Water Feature.
​

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It Not Only Froze Uncle Joe,
But Frizzed his Hair
And Made Him Look
Suspiciously 
Like
Albert Einstein.

Now, If You'll Excuse Me,
I've Got to Start
The Gas Grill
With Furious George's Flame Thrower.


See You Next Week.
Likely, From High in a Tree
In the Next County.
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Harvest Time -- Absent Certain Tomatoes

8/30/2020

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Okay.
So the Photo is
A little cockeyed,
but, at this point in 2020, aren't we all?


All three Gardens, Nick, Nora and Asta,
Continue to go Great Guns.

Asta and Nora are the Best,
With Nora's Pumpkins Taking Over the Yard
(23!)
And Asta's Chiles Providing a Bumper Crop
(52 and Counting!)

Also, Look Closely
And You Can See 
Young Otis Gumpox 
Riding His Mighty Dog
Wrigley
Through the South 40 (Square Feet)
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​
The Slow Movers
This Season
Have Been the Bigger Variety of Tomatoes.

They've Been Growing
in Nick, the Upper Garden,
And Have Taken Forever to Get Going.
(Depleted Soil? Low Acid to Start? Not Sure.)
​(This Will Be a Re-Building Winter, For Sure.)

Here it is, August 30 and Our First Beefsteak
(At Least, I Think It's the Beefsteak, Everything Got Mixed Up in the Green House)
Is just Barely Starting to Grow.
One Fellow Looks to Have Been Attacked
Another Seems to Have Been Exposed to Radiation.
​
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Also, after a Season FREE,
Free, I tell you,
Of Japanese Beetles,
The Little Bastards Have Come Back in a Cloud.

We've Been Hand Plucking them Off the Basil and Chiles,
Keeping Them From Sending Off 
Attractant Pheromones
(When They're Squished)
We've Then Invited Them to Swim in Our 
Community Pool with Dawn (tm)
Added in.

I Know,
I Should Have More Concern 
For All of God's Creatures,
But I Draw the Line at 
These Ass-Hats.


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Despite the Wicked Attempts of Insects
And The Great Horse Wrigley
To Eat Every Growing Thing,
We've Had a Pretty Good Crop This Year.

Chiles are Outrageous,
As are the Sweet 100s (Container Grown)
And We're Now Getting the Yellow GE Lightbulb Tomatoes.
We've Also Done Well on Cucumbers, But
About Half Have Been Really Bitter.
​Gonna Have to Look Into That.
​
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Early This Morning,
Both Looking Somewhat the Worse for Wear,
Mr. Bitterman's New Assistant,
Brynn, 
Joined Me in the Harvest.
She's Fresh From LA and Tested Negative,
So, Bitterman is Letting Her Harvest
What He Doesn't Want to Carry Up to the House.

As You Can See,
Pumpkins and Acorn Squash
Are Starting to Reach
​The Picking Point.
​
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This is What Has Been Passing
For Joy and Surprise Around Here.
Bitterman Simply Wanders Off to Chew On Another Leaf.
I'm Not Sure What They Are.

He Says They Came From Peru.
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Meanwhile, When He's NOT Chewing on
"Bitterman's Special Leaves,"
He's Putting Up Posters of Winston Churchill
Exhorting the Plants to 

"Grow, Damn You!"
As Only Winston Can Say It.

​All but the Tomatoes Seem to Listen.

​
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Furious George Has Spent His Summer
Learning About Wine
With The Bat-Shit Crazy Neighbors.

It's in a Nice Glass, Sure,
But That Shit Came Out of a Box.
(I've Known Those Neighbors Too Damned Long.)

Furious is Convinced
We'll Grow Both
Wine Grapes
And 
Bananas 
Next Year.


Bitterman Told Him
To Keep Drinking and Dreaming.
​
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Young Otis Gumpox has Spent
The Hot (95+) Afternoons
Watching Old Hopalong Cassidy Movies.

He's Now In a Heavy Western Phase.
Shooting Bad Guys Only in the Hand
And Then Riding Off to
The Melody Ranch
For a Song or Two with Gene Autry.

Furious George Refuses to Play His Smiley Burnette.

(This Was His First Horse, "Topper,"

Before the Mighty Steed "Wrigley' Showed Up From LA)

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This Is Young Otis Gumpox's New Buddy,
A Pitty-Lab Mix Named Wrigley.
He's Saddle Broken and a Sweet Ride for Young Otis.

As Long as the Hopalong Cassidy Cowboy Outfit
Doesn't Come With Spurs We Should Be Fine.
​

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​Now, THAT is a Happy Dog!
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August 15th, 2020

8/15/2020

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When All This Nonsense Began,
The Little Birdhouse Was Standing Upright,
The Gardens Were Empty
And It Was Easy to Traverse 
The Backyard.
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Now, Even Roscoe
Can't Find His Way Through
(Yes, He's In There Somewhere)
And, No Matter How Much He
Pees
On Pumpkin Leaves,
They Continue To Grow 
Completely
Out of Control.
(I Must Say, The Container Basil is Doing Exceptionally Well!)
​
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So Are the Sweet Potatoes,
Which Came as a Bit of a Surprise,
As I Grew Them From Seed Potatoes,
Something I Had Never Done Before 
And Was Basically Guessing
At the Process.
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Godzilla Appears to Have
Lost the Gnome Among
The Acorn Squash.
(At Least 4 This Year, Possibly 8 if the Season Goes Long.)
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This is Vlad's Garden.
He's the Furless Sphinx Grandcat
That Likes to Explore
Gardens.
(With Spotters at Every Conceivable Exit.)
His Wanderings Tend to Drive Young Otis Gumpox Crazy.
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As a Former Employee of GE
(We Bring Good Things to Light)
I Have Been Contracted to Grow
These Lightbulb Tomatoes.
They'll Eventually Turn Yellow
And Give the Company
Another Green Initiative to Point At
While Hoping Everyone Ignores All the Other Stuff They Do.
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And For Those Of You Who Were Wondering:
The Tree Pumpkin
Continues to Grow.
Last Time I was Down There I Had to Adjust the Bungee.
It Seems the Bungee Had Lost Its Bounce.
Bitterman is Convinced the Tree Groaned for a Moment Under the Weight
As He Passed By.
​
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We're Trying to Be Careful With Water Usage,
As We're In the Middle of a Big Damned Drought.
Furious George Is Convinced It Would be Cheaper and Safer to Switch Over to Vodka
As Fish Have "Relations" in Water.
I Don't Think We'll Go That Far, But, I May Join Him.

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Young Otis Gumpox Finished
"The Umbrella Academy 2"
Last Night.
He's Now Determined to Write His Own 
Thriller-Sci-Fi-Comic-Drama-Fantasy-Time-Jumping-Series,
"The Colorado Home for the Exceptionally Mundane."
He Has Great Hopes.
(Ah, the Foolishness of the Young Writer.)
(Though, I Hope He Does Mention Me When He Wins an Emmy.)

​
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As for Mr. Bitterman,
He's Tired of Readjusting Hoses and Sprinklers Every 30-Seconds.
So, He Just Bought a New Water Feature.
​

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The Stalin Fountain Goes Well
With the Vladimir Lenin Fountain
Bitterman Found in Warsaw
Last Year.
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If He Gets
Malenkov,
Khrushchev
And
Brezhnev,

 We'll Have the Whole Set
of
​Early Soviet Leaders!


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The Hammock -- She's 'a Growin'

7/23/2020

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If You Recall from Our Last Episode,
The Pumpkin Caught in the Tree
Required a Little Hammock to Protect Its Stalk.
(Here It Rests Comfortably)
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Problem is,
I Believe Him to Be
One of Those Two-Hundred Pound Mammoths
That Mr. Bitterman Insisted on Buying This Year
As He Wanted a Jack-O-Lantern
That "Made a Statement."

(Well, Hernia or Not, HE'S the One
Who Is Going to Be Hefting
This Sunzabitch Around Come October.)


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Bitterman Has Also Taken to Sowing Fries Along the Sidewalk,
All in the Hopes of Attracting New "Crow Buddies" to the Yard.

(Thank God He's Not Thinking That Sowing These Would Reap Potatoes.
We'd Have to Get Him Into One of Those Presidential Cognitive Tests.)
("That, my good sir, is an Elly-font!")


One of the Crows is Spelling Out Words in the Fries.
With this "Ey!" We're Starting to Call Him "The Fonz."


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​
Here is The Fonz,
Beginning His Daily Message to Mr. Bitterman.
It Has Progressed Beyond "Ey,"

To Chemical Formulas Necessary for Nuclear Fusion.
We Might Be Onto Something Here.
​
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Meanwhile, Everything is Growing
At a High Rate of Speed.
The Pumpkins Had to Be Cut Back
As They Were Blocking the Water
From Everybody Else.
And, We've Got a Beautiful Collection of Cucumbers Going.
(Not That You Can See Them.)
​

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Wait a Minute. Oh, There They Are ...

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(I Keep Losing Them Among the Ornamental Squash.)
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Mr. Bitterman Keeping a Close Eye
On His Crow Buddies,
In Case They Spell Something 
That Offends His Delicate Sensibilities.
(Or, If They Decide to Sell
Their Fry Formulas to the Russians,
​Chinese or Sonic Drive In)
​
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Meanwhile,
Furious George Finished
His Decorative Fountain 
For the President.
Federal Agents Will Pick It Up
Today in Unmarked Vans.
And, Maybe, Furious Himself.
(Just So the President Can Congratlulate
Him on the Lifelike Image.)
​

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Young Otis Gumpox is
Learning to Drive.
Truth be Told, I Didn't Know
We Were Growing Bananas.
​And that Background Ain't Our Yard.
​
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Meanwhile,
I'm Just Hoping
We Have
A Bumper Crop of Potato(e)s
This Year.

​Onto the Garden!

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What You Do For Your Children

7/15/2020

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There Comes a Time
For Each and Every Backyard Farmer
When Imagination Takes the Lead
Over Sweat and Worry
And Knocking Hailstones Aside with a Jack Kramer/Wilson Tennis Racket
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One of the Pumpkins Decided
To Shoot a Frond Through the Neighboring Pine Tree
Which Left Us With a Baby Pumpkin
About 2 Feet Off the Ground
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With The Wrap from an Old Hose
And a Couple of Bungees,
I Made the Little Guy a Hammock.

Now, if He Turns Out to Be
One of the 200 Pound
Variety,
We'll Have to Re-Think
This...
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Once Again,
Some of the Borage is Doing Nicely.
While Others are Being
Sucker-Punched
By Voles and Pumpkin Vines.
​

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Today, the Game Became
"Do We Have Any Cucumbers?"
The Answer, After Some Searching,
Is
Yes.
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Yes, Mr. Cuke ​is in There.
Just Try to Find Him.
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And, While You're At It,
You Might Want to Find 
Furious George.
He Enlisted Becky to Help
With the Weeding,
Then, Disappeared, 
​Leaving Her to It.

He Re-Appeared an Hour Later,
With His Fingers Covered with Orange
Eating All the Cheesy-Poofs
Left Out for the Crow Buddies.

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Young Otis Gumpox Has Followed
Ivanka Trump's Advice,
"Find Something New, You Damned Slacker!"
And Now Works

In Downtown Lompoc
For Former Atty Gen Jeff Sessions
​

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Meanwhile, When Not Drinking
With the Bat-Shit Crazy Neighbors,
Furious is Busy
Getting Cheese Dust 
All Over My Comic Book
​Collection.

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As For Mr. Bitterman,
He's Hiding Out Somewhere
In the Butterfly Garden.
He Wants Nothing to Do With Any Of Us.

(He's Convinced the Pumpkin Hammock Was His Idea)
(Patent Applied for, US Pat Off. 27941)
​
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Meanwhile …

7/10/2020

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In Our Last Episode,
We Investigated the Jungle of Nora,
Where Pumpkin Leaves the Size Of
Brazilian Gunnera Manicata Leaves Grow.
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With That In Mind,
Professor Michael King
Decided to Perform an Experiment:
Releasing an Ill-Tempered Sphinx Cat
Into One End of the Garden
In Order to See Where He Came Out.

When He Does, 
We'll Let You Know.

And Professor King
Can Climb In
To Find All the Little Surprises Said Cat Has Left Behind.

​The Creature in Question:
​(Note the Condition of the Top Sheet)
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Meanwhile, While the Cat Was Away,
The Beans Took Off.
We've Got a Great Crop of Green Beans
​Among the Acorn Squash …
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… And, the Beginnings of Acorn Squash Among the Green Beans.
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With That in Mind,
We Also Made Our First Harvest Today
Wax Beans.
They're Real Beans,
But They're Wax.
Not Like Paraffin Wax,
But Wax Beans.
Not Like The Wax Fruit Grandma
Had in the Bowl on Her Dining Room Table
That You Ate and Barfed for a Full Afternoon,
But Real Wax Beans.
Beans.
Not Wax.
​Wax Beans!
(Oh, for God's Sake, Ignore the Wax Part!)
​
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During Our Gardening Intermission,
Furious George Had Decided
To Help the Postal Service
Get People to Use the Correct
Zip Code on their Cards and Letters
And Packages.

Hell, It's Easier Than Getting Them to Wear
A Goddamned Face Mask.
​
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And, While We Have a Break in the Action
Before Harvest,
Mr. Bitterman
Has Traveled to The Red Barn Theatre
in Saugatuck, Michigan
In Order to Star With
Mr. Kirk Swenk
in the new Musical Version of
"Death of a Salesman."

As Woolly Loman,
Mr. Bitterman Gets to Sing
Such Show Stoppers as:
"Let's See What I Have in My Bag"
"Won't You Please Buy Something, I'm Dying"

"Why Are the Police Here?"​

And, Young Otis Gumpox Has Decided to Stick Around Here
And Pick Up Where Furious Left Off.
He Pretends to Drink Martini's
With the Bat Shit Crazy Neighbors.
Then, He Excuses Himself,
Goes Inside,
And Steals All Their Toilet Paper.

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Well, At Least Now We Know
Who Has Been Eating
​All the Figs.

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Uhhhhh … Ya Know Them Punkins I Told You About?

7/7/2020

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The Instructions on a Pack of Pumpkin Seeds
Called for Me (Hereafter Known as "The Farmer")
To Thin the Seedlings Soon After Emergence.

I Couldn't Do It.
They Worked so Hard to Grow Out of the Soil 
That I Had to Give Them All
A Chance to Thrive.

And Thrive They Have.
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The Little Bastards Have Essentially Taken Over the Lower Garden
(Hereafter, known as "Nora")
And Pushed Everything Off Into a Space
The Size of a Rhode Island Postage Stamp.

Cucumbers and Beans are Currently Fighting for Sunshine
While the Pumpkin Vines are Reaching Over
Into Other Gardens and Need Serious Redirection.
(And, Look! We've Got a Pumpkin!)
​
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The "Surprise Pumpkin" in All of This
Continues to Take Over the East Side of the Small Garden
(Hereafter known as "Asta")
And Threaten The Health and Well-being
of the
Hatch Green Chile Plants.

Once again, I should have Pulled This Sucker
Early,
But I Simply Didn't Have the Heart.
​

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About the Only Plants Not Affected
By the Continual Advance of the 200-lb Pumpkin Plants
are
The Borage
The Sweet Potatoes
The Purple Petite Potatoes
and
The Basil
(Hereafter known as "Basil Rathbone")
​ 

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"Basil Rathbone" (Seen Above). Just Returned from His Triumphant
Tour of the North Counties
in
"Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Basketballs."
​

The One Potted Plant
That Couldn't Seem to Outrun Pumpkin Clutches
Was
The Garlic.
The Pumpkin Threads were Using
The Garlic Sprouts
To Pull Themselves Across to the Tomato Patch.

It's Like Watching A Vegetable
Version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

(It's Odd, Because Furious George Argues that The Body Snatchers
Are, in fact, Vegetables. He Tried to Order Some Pod Seeds from
O'Toole's, but Got Turned Away.)

(They're on Back Order with the Big Box Stores --
Seems There's Been Quite a Run on Pod People in Washington.)
​
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How The Garlic Escaped All This, I Just Don't Know.

In The Upper Garden
(Hereafter known as Nick -- or "Neeeck" as Young Otis Gumpox Calls It)
We've Got Slowly Growing Tomato Plants
That Are Receiving Special Attention.
​
Picture

And Some Slowwwwly Growing Plants That Require
Special Dispensation from The Vatican.
(Becky and Mr. Bitterman Have Been Adding Egg Shells
And Coffee Grounds for the Spindly 'Maters
In the Hopes That They'll Think It's Breakfast and Wake Up.)
​
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​

On the Other Hand,
The Acorn Squash Have
Caught Fire 
And Are Growing Well
Thanks to Regular Miracle Gro Liquid Feedings.
​

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Lately, We've Had a Family of "Crow Buddies"
Visiting 2-4 Times Daily.
They're Not Bothering the Gardens,
But Have Loved the Cheez-It
​Cheese Crackers
We've Left Out For Them Daily.

Young Otis Gumpox (Just Off Stage Left in This Picture)
Has Been Trying All Afternoon
To Convince the Crows to Share
Their Cheez-Its.

So Far, No Joy.
​
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Mr. Bitterman has Foregone Any Efforts
to Convince the Crows to Give Up 
Treats. He's just Been Taking Them
And Sharing Them with Roscoe.
​

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Picture
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While Furious George Has Determined
To Dive Deep into His 
Ancestry.
He is Four Movies Into the MGM
"Tarzan" Series.
And While He Thinks Weissmueller
is Ridiculous,
He Does Love How The Movies Portray
His Uncle "Einar"
(Hereafter Known as "Cheeta")
​
Picture

Young Otis Gumpox
(Hereafter Known as Young Otis Gumpox)
Is Seen ​Ignoring Warning
Caws from the Crows and Heading
For "The Great Cheez-It Roundup"

(Cheez-It Cheese Crackers Is a Registered
Product of The Kellogg Company
​ Through Their
Sunshine Biscuit Division.)

Though They Aren't Necessarily Designed
As Dog, Chimp or Crow Treats,
They Work Wonderfully Well
With All Three.
And,
You've Got to Admit -- 
They're Awfully Tasty

Dear Kellogg's: If Anyone There in Battle Creek Would Like to Send a Year's Supply of Cheez-It Baked Snack Crackers in Order to Save The Bank Account of A Poor Backyard Farmer, You Can Reach Me Through The Comments Section of this Here Blog.
Mmmmm. Cheez-It. 
​Personally Endorsed by Young Otis Gumpox.
0 Comments

I'M NOT REALLY SURE WHAT HAPPENED ...

6/24/2020

1 Comment

 

Everything was Quiet around Here for Most of June.
The Seedlings were Slowly Growing.
(And By Slowly, I mean SLOWWWWWWLY)
Until about a Week Ago when, BAM!
The Pumpkins in Nora and Asta took off Like a Shot.
​As Did the Cucumbers.
​
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One Pumpkin we Didn't Plant
And Weren't Expecting
Was the Surprise in the Chile Garden.


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The Sumbitch Just Appeared One Day.
I'm Not Sure
If it was a Leftover from Last Year
Or a Transplanted Seed
Courtesy of One of the Seven Squirrels 
Bitterman has Befriended in the Back Yard.

It has, however, Forced Me to Consider
Moving at Least Two Chile Plants.
​

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Meanwhile, as Furious George sipped Martini's
With the Bat-Shit Crazy Neighbors,
We Had a Visitor.
​

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While I went Down to Investigate,
Becky Found Mr. Bitterman
And Asked him to Help Shoo the Turkey Away.

He said, "Which one?"
At Which Point They Both Laughed and Went Inside for More Wine.

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We've also Got a Beautiful
Crop of Basil 
Going in One of the Barrels.
(The Others Have Sweet Potatoes and Petite Purples)
​

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We've Also Had Very Good Luck
With the Acorn Squash.
​

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About the Only Thing
I'm Really Worried About
Are the Tomato Plants 
We Have Growing in Nick,
The Upper Garden.

 They're Ridiculously Puny 
And Refuse to Grow.
I've Tried Building Up the Soil
And Adding Some Acid to the Ground,
But Nothing Seems to Work Yet.

Tomatoes May Be a Farmer's Market
Purchase This Year.

(We've Had Soil Problems with Nick in the Past,
We May Just Have to Clean Him Out
And Replace the Soil.
​

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​Meanwhile --
The Butterfly Garden is Going Great Guns.
​

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Everything We Sowed This Season
Has Seemed to Have Paid Off
Bigly.

We're Very Happy With It.
​

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Furious Wanders Down to Sit Among the Flowers
For His Evening Martini's.
By Number 4, 
He's Talking to the Alligator Sculpture
And Dancing Amidst the Buds.
​(Artist Representation by Al Hirschfeld)


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As for Mr. Bitterman,
When He's Not Drinking Wine 
With the Missus,
He's Been Spying on The Tiny Tomatoes,
Trying to Discover
Why
They Refuse to Grow.
​

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Young Otis Gumpox Invited His Family to Join Him
For Part of the Summer.
It Has Been Crowded, but Fun.
Mom and Dad Are Great
But Uncle Hezikiah
(Left)
Is a Real Piece of Work.

He's a Real Grumpoid
Unless He Gets to Watch
Endless Reruns of
"Pawn Stars."
(As He Explained, "They Get Some Really Interesting Shit on That Show.")
(I Hope He Doesn't Discover "American Pickers."
​
Picture

And He's Drinking All My Beer.
​

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​Just Another Day in the Garden ...
1 Comment
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    Greg Moody is the long-time Critic-at-Large in Denver, CO. He has developed a love of raised bed gardening with the help of his simian assistant, Mr. Bitterman.

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