Eagle Nest

This is a bald eagle's nest here locally on Lake Norfork. I drive by it every time I go to town and make a point to at least glance in it's direction, if I don't stop along the side of the road to watch the goings-on. Sometimes there's nothing much to see, but some days I get lucky and can view both prospective eagle parents, sometimes just one, going about their eagle business. They seem unfazed by people stopping to watch.

It struck me the other day as I was driving by that maybe I was taking this pretty wondrous opportunity to keep tabs on an eagle's nest for granted. Not everyone gets to see an eagle's nest every day and the thought "blog fodder!" crossed my mind, so I grabbed my camera and snapped a pic. The mama is sitting in the nest, though you can't see her due to distance and angle - you'll just have to trust I didn't take a picture of a sparrow's nest. The nest is so massive usually all a person can see is her head poking out.

Dad and I set up his spotting scope last year to take a peek, and sure enough - she was there, her eye glaring a hole in us as if to say, "If I weren't busy with eggs at the moment, I would gladly fly right down there and rip your face off."

Folk Alliance - part Dos

You're absolutely right, I am unabashedly milking our Folk Alliance experience for all it's worth by making it into two posts. But, as I've said before, it's my blog.

During fiddle lessons this week, Violet and I both lamented that we're still walking on a musical cloud, hearing tunes in our heads, still tapping our feet when there's nothing to listen to. After hearing so much music round-the-clock for days, it seems kind of quiet and empty this week. I guess there's always a little bit of blues that come around after a really great experience, even though you're glad to be back home. At least we have some really good new cd's to listen to.

Here's a few more pictures from last week.

This is Violet "lobby-jamming" with the banjo picker from the Virgina band "Old Sledge", Delmer Holland's grandson (white hat), and Matt Kinman from North Carolina. You can't see me since I'm of course behind the camera, but for most of these jam sessions I played fiddle on the tunes I could play and the spoons on the ones I couldn't. Matt Kinman is a crazy-good fiddler (as well as guitar and banjo-picker), and eventually he picked up a fiddle to play and handed me his guitar, drawling, "Here, you wanna jine in an pick 'iss fer a while?" Sadly, I don't know the first thing about guitars, and had to decline, to which he smiled and said, "Girl, you need to be larnin'...yer sure missin' out."

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Yeah, tell me about it...

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One evening during all the crazy goings-on, I left Violet and Sterling listening to another old-time band to go hear Ray Wylie Hubbard, who was performing in one of the bigger, very crowded, conference rooms where they were feeding live to XM Radio. I caught a second-row aisle seat because I had it on good authority from my brother that I didn't want to miss seeing Hubbard. It's hard to put Hubbard into a particular genre - he's kind of Texas Red Dirt country meets blues meets back-porch strumming meets rock. My brother was right for insisting I make a point to see him...unlike most of the performers at this conference, Hubbard has gained some modest popularity, and I was familiar with a few of his songs. But not just that, he was a heck of a performer, even with just himself and a guitar. I was really hoping to hear "Redneck Mother", but he said he was playing some of his "better songs" he'd written due to this "higher class" audience. That made me laugh out loud. So, he mostly sang ballads, but he did sneak in "Snake Farm", which I'm pretty sure is my new favorite song. Kind of makes me want to go get a tattoo of a python wearing a sailor hat eating a mouse. Not really...

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One of the events we participated in was the Fiddle Summit, hosted by Matt Brown. Fiddle Summit consisted of a bunch of fiddlers from very different genres and playing styles. This is Tennessee fiddler Delmer Holland (what better name for a fiddler) and his grandson showing off Delmer's old-time style, with Matt looking on. As you can imagine, Delmer and Violet hit it off like peas and carrots.

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Delmer is quite an inspiration to me. He was a guitar picker who's Dad and other relatives played the fiddle, but he'd never had much interest in learning. When he was in his 60's their band needed a fiddler, so he took the instrument up and taught himself. Now in his 80's, he's an old-time fiddling whiz, winning competitions left and right. His story is a good lesson on "it's never too late." In addition - I couldn't tell by listening to him but he ONLY notes with his first two fingers! He said when he was learning, he could just never get the other two fingers to work...pretty amazing if you hear him play. (To hear him, youtube "The Blue Creek Ramblers")

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Here's Matt Kinman at the Fiddle Summit. I was quite enamored with Matt's playing - you can't tell from a picture how he was flying all over that fiddle in some crazy cross-tunings while playing it in the real old-time style - with the instrument at his chest. This is the way Violet's Dad played, and how she first started playing. I can play a few songs this way, but certain parts of my anatomy make it difficult. That, and, I tend to get wild tapping my foot, which makes this style of playing practically impossible for me at this point.

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Here's Violet, as she says, "showing out" at Fiddle Summit. She was quite proud of my fiddle, and insisted on playing it during the Summit. I didn't argue.
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The Fiddle Summit was our last scheduled appearance, and we spent the rest of our time jamming with other Old Time enthusiasts. Matt Brown writes about us on his blog:
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http://www.brownsdream.us/blog

It's funny that he recognized that the "Old Timers" (one of the conference organizers called us all "The Old Time Kids") couldn't resist jamming at the drop of a hat, in any given area at any given time, unlike some of the other music genre performers who were a bit more refined and reserved.

While at the conference I was asked what spurred me to all of a sudden learn the fiddle in my 30's. I don't have a really good explanation for why I never started early, except that it didn't really cross my mind as something I could actually do. Kind of like when you're a kid wishing, "I wish I could go to the moon and live in a rocket ship and have a pet Martian." I'm sure if I'd asked, my folks would have done whatever was needed to get me playing, but as it was my heart wasn't really into the piano lessons they were paying for, and I was thinking much more about sports and boys and how to finagle my way into getting the latest "in" pair of jeans. I've always been drawn to the fiddle and stringband music, hid my bluegrass cd's under the driver's seat in my car in college, and always kept it in the back of my mind that I might want to learn someday - someday when I could stand the "un-coolness" of it. Then all of a sudden out of nowhere, age 30 smacked me right in the face, and I realized that I was either going to spend my life whining and wishing I'd played a fiddle, or I was really going to buckle down and do it. I had a false start in my 20's - the desire was there, but not the dedication it takes to learn a particularly difficult instrument.

I've been surprised to discover how many people find an interest in learning an instrument, a language, or an appreciation for a new sport or hobby far into adulthood, so I don't feel QUITE so "johnny-come-lately" as I have in the past. In addition, I have the hope that I can become a good musician in my lifetime, even though I didn't start as a kid - as long as I'm having fun.
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By far, the best part of last week was the playing of music simply for the sheer joy of it, and not caring who was listening. When you can join in with other instruments, everything else in the world falls away and it's just pure happiness. I guess that's why I'm addicted. At one point in our jams, we'd attracted nearly 30 other players, and I was surprised to notice that not only had we attracted all those musicians, but quite a crowd of onlookers taking pictures, as well as a documentary film crew.

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The best compliment I received all week, besides the person who told me my fiddle didn't look handmade (that had me walking in the clouds), was the lady who'd been playing fiddle her whole life, turned to me in a jam session and said, "Wow - how do you do that? You play JUST like Violet." I nearly melted into the floor.

I really look forward to having much more music in my future.

Folk Alliance - part Uno

(Thank-you Hannah for the title)

Whew! After nearly five days at the 2010 Folk Alliance Conference held at the massive downtown Marriott in Memphis, as Grandpa would say, I'm worn to a frazzle. It's nice to be home after what had to have been some of the craziest days of my entire life, but what a great experience and awesome opportunity it was to hob-nob with some truly amazing musicians and performers.

I can safely say this conference was really nothing like I expected. Yes, there was plenty of "traditional folk" performed by typical granolas that you think of when you hear the word, but this group's definition of "folk" encompasses MUCH more than I dreamed possible. There were Jazz and Blues groups - some with only string instruments, some with brass, Old Time string bands (my favorite, of course), Bluegrass bands, Cajun fiddlers, Gospel bands featuring steel guitars, International bands featuring everything from traditional Irish/Celtic performers to Australian bands with drums and didgeridoos - and everything in between, including blends of different genres and styles. I saw every instrument you could possibly imagine - aside from every stringed instrument from fiddles to cellos to harps, brass and wind instruments, harmonicas, every kind of drum (even trash can lids for cymbals)....I even saw a huge xylophone being wheeled through the lobby.

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I witnessed some heated debate between many participants as to what the broad term "Folk" actually encompasses...which I found out was not just an ongoing debate, but additionally spurred by the Alliance's decision to recognize Bob Dylan with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Apparently this is a touchy subject with a lot of people in the folk world, and really I didn't understand the argument, but it seemed to center on "is Dylan really folk since he was popular and went electric?" Of course Bob Dylan wasn't there, but since his response likely would've been incoherent it probably didn't matter. During some performances, especially by older performers who were a self-proclaimed part of the "Big Folk-Scare of the Sixties" (whatever that was), disparaging remarks were made toward Dylan, as well as other popular folkies of the time like Peter, Paul, and Mary and Gordon Lightfoot. Apparently to some you're not "folk" if you get popular...because if you get popular you bow to "The Man" and are a puppet of "evil corporate America." Seriously - that is verbatim.

Eventually through the course of the week, Violet, Sterling, and I were drawn together with the other old-time string band musicians to hang out, visit, and jam, as well as listen to each other's performances.

The FA Conference is a bit hard to describe, but seems mostly to be a way for musicians, groups, singers, and songwriters to be heard by agents, producers, record label representatives, festival organizers, etc in the hopes of getting recorded or to be hired for gigs, and to just get a little publicity. The way the FA organizers allow so many performers to be heard is by having "Showcases" in all the conference rooms, one after another all evening. all at the same time. In addition, the three upper floors of the hotel were nearly round-the-clock smaller "Private Showcases", where in every room a performer or group were able to do a few songs for whoever could jam themselves into the room long enough to listen...each room on each floor a constant revolving door for all kinds of performers until well into the wee hours of the morning. The halls and elevators were crammed with agents with clipboards, musicians, instruments, and us. And while all this was going on, jam sessions were happening all over the place. In every nook and cranny of the huge fancy lobby, in the elevators, hallways, and even on the street outside just a few blocks from Beale street.

Our small part in this conference was mainly to get Violet to the Awards Ceremony, where she received her award and performed a song for a pretty huge audience. She also had a 30 minute interview in one of the conference rooms. Then, she was given a Showcase of her own to perform.

Here are some pics from the week. Unfortunately the pictures don't do the conference justice. If you can imagine a couple thousand people running around this hotel, all carrying instruments, jamming everywhere...that's pretty accurate. Music was coming from every corner of the hotel at any given time of day or night.

Here is Violet in her interview done by fiddler/banjo-picker/producer Matt Brown, from Pennsylvania.

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Violet played "Buffalo Nickel" with plenty of accompaniment at the Awards Ceremony on Wednesday night for a crowd of several hundred in one of the hotel's big conference rooms.

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Violet jamming with the awesome bluegrass group "The Chapmans", who play the kind of bluegrass that really rolls around in your gut. I'd seen them perform at Silver Dollar City before, and they were one of the best groups at the conference - definitely the best in the bluegrass genre.

Sterling and Violet playing in the Showcase, along with Matt Brown (banjo) and Tracy Schwartz (guitar). By the time she finished, there wasn't even standing room left, and people were stacked out in the hall. To say Violet was "The Belle of the Ball" is pretty apt.

More to come! There are just too many pictures, and too much to describe in just one post.

My Fiddle

Yesterday, after a year and a half of hard work, big aggrivations, small victories, and a lot of inhaled sawdust and literal blood, sweat and tears, I finished my fiddle. Once I got the strings strung, the soudpost set (a hard thing to do with shaking hands), and the instrument tuned up, I handed the fiddle over to Violet so she could play the first tune, which was "Angeline the Baker", followed by "Marmaduke's Hornpipe." Then I played a few songs. Then we both got giddy and giggly because is sounded so good, and started calling people to hear it...I'm pretty sure we hit all of Violet's kids, as well as my folks and husband.

Since everyone interested probably wants me to shut up and see what the finished product looks like, here are some pictures:

Here's my fiddle with the finish on, nearly ready for assembly. I used several coats gun stock finish, which REALLY changed the look and brought out the beauty of the sassafras, walnut, and cherry.


The completed walnut chin rest, ready to go on.
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Making the sound post, which is a round peg of soft pine about 1/4" thick which stands up between the top and the bottom inside the fiddle. Kind of tricky to get it set up and in the right place, especially when it's the only thing left before hearing the fiddle.
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Drumroll......Ta Daaa! Strung, tuned, and ready to play. This is also the part where I came dangerously close to crying.
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My fiddle mentor seems very pleased.
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Holy Cow, it sure does feel WONDERFUL to have completed something I wasn't really sure I'd be able to fully tackle. Technically it isn't "completed", as I still need to add the purfling, which is the decorative line that goes around the perimeter of the top and back. It also supposedly will stop a crack if it forms. I was on the fence about adding it and wanted to take some time to think about it, but now that I've pondered it over, it does seem unfinished without it.

Even without purfling, I am incredibly happy with the result. The fiddle has good deep tone and is very loud, which was exactly what I was after. For at least two weeks of hard playing the fiddle will continue to improve in sound, and as the wood and strings settle it'll gradually even out and keep changing a little over the next six months or so. At least, that's what I'm told happens with a new fiddle.

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I've already been asked if there will be a number two. I think yes...I already have some beautiful flamed maple for a back and spruce for a top, which will make a much more "traditional" fiddle, as most factory made fiddles are made with maple and spruce - not sassafras and cherry. And of course I can't give up my days with Violet, though after we move they'll likely have to be spread further apart. Violet is already planning on me making another. She told me yesterday, "you've got the touch." Haha...I don't know about "the" touch, but as much fun as I have both playing and making them, even though I'm not that good yet, I think fiddles will be sticking with me for a good long while.

Nearing the End of My Fiddle Quest

Before I start talking fiddle, I want to say congrats to the Saints for their first Superbowl win. I wish I were a little more invested in the game last night, but unless the Chiefs are involved (fat chance there), or I have the opportunity to root against the Broncos, Raiders, or the Cowboys, it's hard to get really into it. But, I watched the game, and called my friend Laura, a New Orleans native, upon the interception that pretty much sealed the game. I can only imagine what Bourbon Street was like last night by the way Laura answered the phone...she had slipped back into New Orleans speak, screaming, and I couldn't understand a word she said for a good five minutes. She was excited, to say the least. Enjoy basking in the glory, Laura!

Back to the real point of this particular blog post...

For a year and a half now, I've been keeping what I hope are interested readers updated on the progress of making my own fiddle under the tutelage of famed fiddle-maker Violet Hensley. This week I'm finally nearing the end of what feels like a monumental quest, and it's probable, barring no unforeseen difficulties (and I've learned in fiddle-making to expect the unexpected catastrophe) that this will be the week I finally find out what my fiddle will sound like. However, it won't be me doing the initial playing - Violet already called dibs on the first song. To me this is akin to the Pope giving a blessing (if I were Catholic), so when the time comes I will happily hand it over.

Here are some highlights of the past few weeks:

Heating the hide glue (it's made from animal hide, which should give a good idea to how it smells) that is traditionally used to glue the body of the fiddle together. This glue is water soluble and makes future repair jobs possible, since water can be used to break down the glue without damaging the wood.

Top glued and clamped...

This was a biggie - gluing on the fingerboard. I used Elmer's glue for this step, which feels oh so permanent, which meant no room for error getting it lined up with where the end pin will go, risking the strings not lining up with the fingerboard. I also did some heavy-duty stressing out because it turned out my neck wasn't really tall enough, so notice the strip of "decorative" maple between the neck and fingerboard.
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Carving the chin rest out of walnut. I could've just bought a plastic one, but I wanted to make as much as possible by hand. (I keep reminding myself of this when I know the fiddle could've been completed long ago by using factory-made pieces for the end-pin, saddle, nut, chin rest, and tail piece).

I'm already wondering what to do when this fiddle is complete. During this difficult transition time when hubby is working in Little Rock while I'm here trying to sell the house and get packed, fiddle lessons have not only kept me grounded, but have been a real outlet for stress relief. Soon, though, the whole "Hooter crew" will be together again, forging ahead into a new life phase. I hope fiddles will be a permanent fixture.

Stay tuned for the Grande Finale!

Spending Spree

Yesterday I woke up to the omnious news that our country is in imminent danger of losing it's AAA credit rating.

Holy Cow.

I guess the thing that gets me the most is that as I did my morning cable news channel surf (even though Obama says we shouldn't watch these channels now), not everyone was reporting on this. And, most people don't get it. If we lose our AAA rating, interest rates will skyrocket, and life as we know it will change big-time. I should think that fact would be a little more important than discussing the latest American Idol episode. We're already seeing China, who owns the massive portion of our debt, starting to flex some political muscles.

And of course, all this talk of federal debt and spending has me thinking of our own debt and spending.

A few weeks ago our massive 40-something-inch rear-projection TV gave up the ghost and went out. For months now, we've been content to watch the ailing television, pretending not to notice the bright line forming at the top of the screen, which soon became a screen-wide permanent fixture along with an ever-increasing fuzziness and compression of the whole picture. A few weeks ago it degraded further, until the picture was like trying to watch a 3-D movie without the glasses, all slanted to the side. I resisted the knee-jerk reaction to run around the yard, arms flailing, yelling, "OH NO OUR TV IS DOOMED!"...and also resisted immediately jumping in the car and running to Sears to drop the several thousand dollars that we need to spend on new flooring in our new house on a new big-screen television instead.

It's amazing how quickly we adapt to technology. What we used to live just fine without are now considered essential parts of our lives. Daily Internet access, Smart phones, and ipods, as well as big screen TVs, are just a few of the things that didn't exist a few years ago, but now we can't seem to live without them.

When Marden and I first started dating, I was amazed he had such a huge TV (compared to my 19" I bought on a meager park ranger salary) and didn't think I could ever get used to it. Now that we've switched back to my old 19" upon the death of his big screen, I feel I should be using binoculars from the couch.

My husband summed up his feelings with, "I guess we need a new television." I was quick to agree...until it hit me - do we really? My 19" provides a clear picture, clear sound, and does everything our old TV did, just on a smaller scale. Do we really need to buy a new television just because this one, new just four years ago, is working fine but is just too small for our standards? Should we not wait until we're in a better financial situation to upgrade our television? Then answer is a big, fat YES...and not only that, it should be common sense.

The whole TV experience has me thinking about our current values and the way we spend money, and how we our definition of "needs" and "wants" has gotten a bit skewed. It's been discussed over and over again how Americans are not smart with money, and how we constantly spend beyond our means...and from the individual to our highest government, spending is totally out of control. It's the view of many economists that our cavalier attitude about money is what kicked our economy in the nether regions in the first place.

I've actually had the "unaffordable health care" conversation with an individual who was lamenting about not being able to afford health insurance, but who's house is chock full of the latest in entertainment technology. It's hard to take someone seriously when they are saying, "we just can't afford to buy our own insurance" when in the background there is a 50" flat-screen LCD television with a surround sound system topped off with a Blu-Ray player and 100+ movies and video games, not to mention the gazillion-channel HD dish package. Really? You can't afford $300/month for your family's health care? And the sad thing is, I'm afraid this person represents the majority. It's the entitlement mindset creeping in. The true feeling with some people is, "I shouldn't HAVE to spend $300/month on health insurance because I want all this other stuff."

I'm not going to beat the health care debate drum or get overly political in this post, but to me it's all pretty closely related. I hear people gripe about not having enough and that our government should do something about it, instead of taking steps themselves to improve their situation. Just go to Walmart and pay attention to what people buy - nearly every cart I see is full of luxury items and very unhealthy food choices.

I'm not in any way downplaying the seriousness of the state of our economy, nor am I putting everyone in the same category. There are plenty of people out there doing the best they can and making wise decisions with what they have who still need help. But I wonder about the attitude of our society as a whole. It seems the attitude of "keeping up with the Jones'" has become the acceptable norm rather than a negative way to conduct personal affairs. We're in bad need of re-evaluating what are "needs" and what are "wants."

Believe it or not - I'm not trying to be preachy. It's something I take serious and intend to seriously evaluate in my own life.

When we live in an ever-increasing entitlement mentality world where WANTS are now NEEDS...and people are looking to other sources for their perceived needs. It seems more and more people are choosing not to rely on themselves, but would rather look for the hand-out, without even really realizing it.

Amazing how the simple loss of television can cause you to question not only your own values, but the values of society as a whole.




"We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our selection between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude..." - Thomas Jefferson



"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." - Thomas Jefferson



"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves." - William Pitt in the House of Commons, 1783.



"Any people that would give up liberty for a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin

Snow!

It's not often that we a substantial amount of snow here in north Arkansas, but we got lucky this week! Our immediate area had about a foot of the white stuff. Yeah, a lot of people gripe about it, which irritates me. Many Arkansas natives don't want to deal with snow, and the far-north yankee transplants puff out their chests and scoff that no amount of snow or ice could compare to what they had to deal with. I really enjoy snow, even if I am in the minority. I can see how living up north it would get old - the things that makes it so fun here is that #1) a good snowfall is fairly rare, #2) it stops life as we know it, causing a holiday-like atmosphere and a diversion from business-as-usual, #3) it makes me feel less guilty about spending the day curled up on the couch with a book, and #4) despite the fact that (as much as I hate to admit it) I'm in my mid-30's, it's fun to play in and breaks up the mundane blahs and blues of January.

I thought maybe the snow would stay around for a while, but the sun came out today (the day after the snowfall) and started making it stick. So, I took full advantage of abundant sticky snow. I REALLY wanted to take a sled to the top of the great big hill nearby, but unfortunately my mother made me promise "not to do anything stupid"...and sledding by myself, while hubby is stuck in Little Rock, out in the middle of nowhere possibly fits into that category.

Instead I decided to make a snowman...which when finished ended up being a trout.

And here's some snow pics from around the house:

Gettin' Folky

A few months ago my fiddle teacher, Violet, received a letter announcing she had been awarded the Mike Seeger Scholarship to attend the 2010 Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis in mid-February. Mike Seeger, who died last year, was not only a very well-known guy (in a well-known family) in the folk music world as a musician (just Google him), but he was also, in a nutshell, hugely responsible for the popularity and preservation of old-timey, traditional, and folk music. His scholarship fund furthers the cause of preserving and promoting traditional music. For Violet it provides for her and an escort the registration fee for the conference, as well as a hotel room and gas money to get there, as well as a performance in a special Showcase meant to honor her and her achievements.

http://www.folkalliance.org/

And who is the lucky escort? Yep, you guessed it. Going to a folk music conference probably isn't too high up on most people's lists, but for me, an old-time music geek, the chance to attend something like this has me dancing on the ceiling. Originally a member of Violet's family was going to take her, but it seems nobody can get away for several days during that time. I promised to take her in the event nobody else could...I couldn't let her miss this event. Long story short, Violet did some shrewd finagling with the conference organizer, who seemed to be willing to stand on his head to get her there, and he has now agreed she can have two escorts - me - as her student, and Sterling - her 17 year-old guitar-playing grandson. (He's now dancing on the ceiling, too)

At first I thought this conference was only for American old-time string band front porch-type music, but I was mistaken. I've since discovered that "folk" actually encompasses a LOT of different music, played by a lot of "different" people...not just old-timey string band, but everything from Celtic stuff played by musicians from Ireland, to acoustic blues, to hairy arm-pitted women singing "If I Had a Hammer", to coffee-house beatnik style whatever-you-call-that, to fruity-acting guys playing flutes. And all taking up what seems to be the whole Mariott in downtown Memphis. In my youtube searches for this conference I've seen all kinds of instruments - ones you expect to see, like fiddles, guitars, banjos, dobros, base fiddles, etc, to the ones you don't expect - pan flutes, accordions, tubas (seriously), tambourines, bongo drums...you name it. In addition, this conference is a full round-the-clock experience, with people staying up all night, going from room to room, band to band, jam session after jam session. The whole conference is a celebration of folkish music by some of the best musicians in the world, as well as a way for musicians to find bands, and bands to find musicians.

The conference organizer asked if we'd like to be on the "quiet floor" or the "jamming floor." After seeing some of these videos, I think we made the wise choice of the "quiet floor", if only for my benefit. I think Violet could and would stay up all night jamming. He also warned me that it was pretty wild, and we'd better get used to walking down a hallway and have someone jump out and start playing an instrument at us without warning. I have a feeling I'm really going to feel totally out of my league and much like the complete fiddle novice I am.
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In any case, I think this is going to be quite the experience. I'm don't exactly know what to expect, but I am definitely taking my camera.

Raised Beds 101

I've yakked incessantly in the past couple of years about home gardening and my evolving attitude toward food-growing and local consumption, and have been asked more than a few times about my gardening methods. So, I decided to post more on the subject for anyone who'd like to start raised-bed gardening but is not sure where or how to start. And what better time - we're enjoying spring-like temps here in January, and spring fever is really starting to tickle my toes. Get ready for a real blab-fest.

My official disclaimer: I'm not by any means an expert, nor do I want to appear know-it-all or egotistical...I'm simply attempting to answer quite a few questions and also trying to further something I feel strongly about - that everyone who's interested can and should have a backyard garden...you don't HAVE to be an expert. And like most activities in this world, there are endless, sometimes extremely strong opinions considering proper methods and materials, especially when it comes to gardening. In other words - if you have a better way or better idea, since I'm still learning myself I'd be very interested and receptive to new or differing opinions.

When I was first thinking about building my raised-bed garden utopia, I made the mistake of immediately diving head first into a LOT of research from all kinds of sources - books, the Internet, magazines, the library, and word of mouth. I heard and read that raised bed gardening was "so easy", but couldn't figure out why all the information was making it seem so incredibly complicated. The biggest problem is the sheer volume of easily-accessible information and opinions out there that makes it difficult to sift through and process it all. It's easy to get overwhelmed and start questioning whether it's worth the effort, and if it just might not be better to stick to the conventional gardening that you know...or just buy produce from someone else or the store.

After much aggravation, I took a step back and put into perspective what I was trying to do. Raised-bed gardening is really nothing more than building or buying a box, throwing in some dirt, and planting seeds or plants. It really can be that simple. I calmed down and started out with an Internet search on the materials and dimensions for raised-bed gardening, as well as consulting my Mother Earth News magazines.

(Side note - I've since cancelled my subscription to Mother Earth News. While it's a good magazine with lots of excellent information, I found it harder and harder to put up with the increasingly extreme eco-centric attitude. After one too many condescending and preachy articles on how we're horrible beings who are all going to cause everyone to die a slow painful death and implode the planet if we don't immediately start using "energy-efficient" light bulbs, and how we should all live in yurts made from hay bales, live on a government-mandated $4000/year salary and never eat meat, I'd had enough. While I agree we can do better in many areas to be more responsible with our resources, I do think it can be taken WAAAY overboard and I sure don't want it shoved down my throat.)

The first thing I had to figure out was what size to make my beds. I found out that the most common dimensions for a raised garden bed are 4' x 8'. It needs to be narrow enough to be able to sit down on the side and reach across to weed or gather produce. As far as the length - deciding that will depend on available space, personal preference, and the materials used. There are differing opinions on depth, but the general consensus seems to be least 12" deep, though I added a couple of quickly-built beds last year that were only 8", and they seemed to do just fine.

Materials can be pretty much anything you can build a box out of...it depends heavily on how much money a person wants to spend and what may be readily available. I found widely varying opinions on this and got pretty frustrated trying to figure out what to build my beds out of without breaking the bank. One of my mom's friends stacked concrete blocks, and they are apparently very functional. Another benefit of concrete blocks I can see would be that the beds would be less permanent than other structures. The drawback for me would be that I happen to think concrete blocks are a bit on the ugly side. But, if I had access to a bunch of free ones, I could sacrifice some aesthetics for practicality.

My folks used 2x12 treated boards, and have had very good luck. This is also pretty economical, and the current method I'm considering for my new beds at our new place, though the practice of using treated boards is a bit controversial in the eco-friendly world. Some people prefer to use un-treated lumber and treat them with boiled linseed oil. From what I've heard this does offer some protection from the elements, but isn't a really long-term solution, and a person can spend a small fortune on linseed oil if there are many boards to treat.

Railroad ties are another option many people use, though I've read that the creosote is a problem and can be harmful to soil and veggies. I avoided RR ties for that reason.

Commercially made beds are available, though they are very expensive. However, most are made out of plastic and are pretty darn durable, and look very nice to boot. If time is short and a person doesn't mind spending the money, that's a route to consider.

Other materials I've seen used include landscape timbers, landscaping blocks, stacked rocks - even logs put together log-cabin style. My point is - the possibilities are only limited by what works and imagination.

For my first beds here I got lucky when it came to building materials. While I was agonizing over the decision on what to make my beds out of, Marden was offered a whole truckload of free rough-cut cedar boards. Cedar is great because it's naturally rot-resistant. However, they turned out to be extremely difficult to build with because I had loads of boards with varying widths, thicknesses, and lengths - even in a single board. In addition, the wood split and cracked horribly, and I had to pre-drill every hole and use outdoor-quality screws. And, while I THOUGHT I was in a level area, I wasn't. To get the beds fairly level meant digging down into the ground and burying one side several inches, or just building one side higher.

As for looks...they turned out a little more redneck than I envisioned, but they work.

...

When you're in the middle of all this hard labor, an aspiring gardener starts to wonder if the benefits are going to outweigh the effort. I say a big, fat YES. Benefits of raised beds over regular ground-level gardening are almost endless, but I'll name a few.

Dirt Management: It's much easier to manage your dirt by adding composted material, fertilizers, sand, etc, and have them stay put even in a flooding rain deluge. After a real toad-strangler it's terribly disheartening to see all your nice dirt end up at the neighbor's, or down the hill, which happens in conventional gardening more than you'd think.

Good Drainage: After one of those all-night gully-washers the carefully-tended plants aren't sitting in puddles, since drainage is so much improved from ground-level gardening.

No Rocks! If you live here in the Ozarks, like some other areas of the country, you're going to engage constantly in the Battle of the Rocks. No matter how many you pick up out of the ground, there are fifty for every rock removed. Unless you use rock-picking as a punishment for your children (as mine did...often...), not having rocks to pick out saves literally days and days of irritation.

Better yields. I had to see this to believe it, but it's definitely true. Plants are not only more productive when grown in managed raised garden beds, but grow bigger and fuller.

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They look pretty. This may be a moot point for many ultra-practical folks, but I like a nice-looking, neat and tidy garden. Even my redneck beds have a nice, ordered look to them, even in the summer months when gardens tend to get out of hand.

Best of all...Less work and more convenience - Building raised beds and filling them with dirt is a lot of work at first, but once the garden is established the work drops off dramatically. Say goodbye to back-aching crawling around on the ground and wallering in the dirt. No more "drive-by mouth lickings" from the dog while you are bent over at ground level weeding or planting. Weeds are more easily managed, and can be dealt with by simply sitting on the side of the garden bed.

While I feel I started my garden out pretty simple, every year I add something to my gardening goals to research and try. This year or the next I hope to improve my composting, devise a gravity-fed soaker system from a rain barrel, start a worm farm (yes, a worm farm), and build a hot box for cold-season crops out of an old sliding glass door I saved. I also want to start doing some research on beneficial veggie relationships - instead of planting a single veggie in one box, you can plant different certain plants together that mutually benefit each other. Finally, somewhere down the road I'd like a full-blown greenhouse, which will complete my green-thumb nerddom.

So in a very large nutshell, gardening decisions are going to rely heavily on personal preference, what's available, and where you live. Just don't stress out and remember, there are no Gardening Police going to come smack you upside the head with a fine if you decide to deviate from the "norm" or "gardening gospel." Fancy or simple, many or few beds - it really is your choice. And if I can do it...ANYBODY can.

Cause for Cautious Optimism

Unless you reside in a cave, you know that as of last night for the first time since 1972 a Republican, Scott Brown, has been elected to a senate seat in uber-liberal Massachusetts...not just any senate seat...the seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy. I'm not sure everyone gets how monumental this event is, and how loudly it screams at our other politicians. People are just plain sick of being ignored by their elected officials...which has evolved from being ignored by some to being treated with utter disdain by others.

While I've always disagreed wholeheartedly with the Obama administration's policies from the get-go, he did make some pretty smart promises. He promised transparency, open debate, to reach across the aisle to shrink the divide between parties, and most importantly - to listen to the people. Even though I disagree with his party's policies, I was hopeful that he would do what he promised. Instead we've seen the practice of bullying and childish ridiculing of anyone who doesn't float along with extreme leftist policies, and a continuation of everything he promised to stop.

We've plunged deeper into debt than we've ever been, seen constant closed-door meetings with special interest groups, continued corruption, and been told we're getting health care reform whether we want it or not because we're not smart enough to decide for ourselves, as if we lived in western Europe. Everything proposed so far has been bigger government that dictates to us, more control, loss of personal rights, and a huge increase in taxes and entitlement programs. The increasing downward spiral reminds me of a massive toilet bowl that started flushing years ago.

While I'm no longer a Republican, I do believe that this new senator gets it. I'm waiting for others to get it, Democrats as well as Republicans, and live in a country where WE THE PEOPLE are listened to by our elected representatives as designed by the founders. People are waking up - no longer content to let the government do what it does, and no longer content to say, "Nothing I can do about it."

I remain cautiously optimistic.

I'm Dreaming of a Green Garden...

Dang, it's still January. January has always been my least favorite month. The excitement of the holidays are over, the Chiefs are usually not in the playoffs, and spring is still so distant and the world so dreary it seems impossible that things will ever be green again. I don't usually mind winter, but this year I'm dreaming of spring earlier than ever. I'm chomping at the bit to get settled in our new place in Little Rock, and paranoid I'll be too busy during the most important gardening time to get anything done. Every time I open the freezer I smile at the heirloom seeds sleeping in there, thinking of their potential...but now worry that we'll be in the middle of transition when they need to be in the ground, doing their thing.

Right now is when I should be building raised beds, and the fact that I can't just yet is making me extremely antsy. I'm totally addicted to raised-bed gardening, and the thought of going back to conventional gardening isn't appealing at all. My only other alternative, if I'm not able to get beds built in time and filled with decent dirt, is to improvise with what's available. Container gardening can be productive. I've also considered planting veggies in the existing flower beds. Likely if I'm going to have a garden this year, I'll be resorting to all three - maybe build a couple of beds, plant in containers, and utilize the flower beds.

Even after moving to the city, I still plan on continuing our quest to eat/preserve more of what we grow ourselves, as well as trying to eat more locally grown items. And actually, this might even be easier with better access to larger farmer's markets as well as small grocery stores that carry locally grown items. My chicken flock was decimated by a marauding raccoon this fall, so I'll be starting all over on that front, too.

The bottom line is that I won't have my dream garden this year. Even though I'm basically starting from scratch again, I can look at the bright side - my experiences in the last couple of years here have taught me what works and what doesn't, and that the process is where the enjoyment is...and until spring, I'll keep dreaming of something that looks like this:

Happy New Year! Yeah I know...that was a week ago. We've now jumped fully into 2010...here's hoping this year is a drastic improvement over the one we just muddled through. I haven't made any New Year's Resolutions because like most people I never stick to them...but I will try to blog more than I have lately.

This year I'm hoping get us, our pets, and possessions quickly moved to Little Rock, our house successfully sold, and put an end to the back troubles I've been fighting. Not such a tall order, I should think, though I'm not sure yet how it's all going to pan out. We seem to do everything the most difficult way possible, but I'm cautiously optimistic about this year.

And to those of you who don't know, we have found a destination for us and our stuff in Little Rock. We decided to take advantage of an opportunity to live on the base. And here it is:

Yup...it's a double wide, which is all that on-base housing offers. Still, we feel strongly that the benefits and security of living on post will outweigh any negatives. The current tenants are supposed to get the moss off the siding. They make some trailers pretty nice these days, but I can't seem to get the Sammy Kershaw song "Queen of my Double-Wide Trailer" out of my head. I hate to say good-bye to the Mountain Home area, but we must follow the job security. And, there are much worse places we could live. Just ask my brother and sister-in-law.

That's pretty much all I've got today...maybe if we get out of the deep freeze I'll be more inspired.

Here's to new adventures at a new Homestead in 2010!

"This is the queen of my double-wide trailer with the polyester curtains and the redwood deck..."

Griswold Christmas

Lately I've been lacking motivation, as if you hadn't noticed by my blogging hiatus. That is, if I still have blog readers at this point...right now it's entirely possible that I'm only blogging to myself. If so, not only am I unmotivated, but I'm now touched in the head. Oh well.

I did recently discover why I can't seem to get into the Christmas spirit. Someone in Conway is totally hogging it all. The proof is in the yard, which we tracked from several blocks away.

Holy friggin' electric bill...

Bethany: "Is your house on fire Clark?"

Clark: "No Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights."

Buffalo Float

It stopped raining and warmed up a couple days this week, long enough for a beautiful day of floating the Buffalo river with some friends. This was the first time in years I've been in a canoe, since I much prefer my kayak. A canoe is so much work and so much more unstable and less manuverable than a kayak, but this time circumstances made dealing with a canoe easier. Luckily Daryl and I were able to remember how to canoe enough so we didn't dump and made it appear as if we knew what we were doing.

With all the rain this year, we had plenty of water and for once didn't drag over the shoals, and we shared the river with only a small handful of other floaters and fishermen. Without a doubt, this was one of the best days I've spent on one of my favorite rivers.

Ready for launch...

Daryl at the stern of our canoe, with his Michael Jackson glove.

Me.

A dab of fall color.

Lunchtime!

Alan, Daisy, and Yvonne. Alan plays a heck of a mandolin, Yvonne the bass and autoharp. Daisy just listens.

Raccoon tracks.

Picturesque.

Chewing Gum Fail

I consider myself quite the chewing gum connoisseur, and I while I'm not steadfastly loyal to one brand, I do particularly enjoy Orbit gums. You may have noticed the same trend as I have of late of outlandish and wacky sounding gum flavors appearing on store shelves. At first I was tempted by these new taste sensations, but after Orbit Sangria made my stomach flop around like a dying guppy I decided to stick with the old standby of some kind of mint or cinnamon.

However, hubby had yet to learn this lesson. At a recent gas station stop, he picked up Orbit Maui Melon Mint. I thought I'd give it a try, since it did have the word "mint" on the package.

We each popped a piece in our mouths and chewed. Marden summed up the taste in one astute statement, "Tastes like I'm eating Noxema!"

That's EXACTLY what it tasted like. And no, we don't go around tasting facial cleansers. But we've all had the experience of washing your face, and a little bit gets on your lip, and your first reaction is to go, "Pwaaahaaahwaaaaaaaaaaa!" That's Maui Melon Mint. I wonder if it also prevents blemishes?

And not only does it taste like facial cleanser, but it's the gum that keeps on giving. The next morning when I opened the door, I was immediately brutally assaulted by a rotten-fruit stench. On my mission to find the ginormous over-the-hill mangotangerinepineapple that must surely be stuck somewhere, I found the gum...the rotten stench emanating from within it's seemingly harmless package.

Yup. I don't care if it means I'm boring or an old fogey. I'm sticking with plain 'ol doesn't-stink-up-your-car-or-make-you-puke mint or cinnamon.

Honor Roll Eagle Scout Suspended For Pocket Knife In Car

And the idiocy continues...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,565520,00.html

Good Freaking Grief

Again, I must ask the question...when exactly did we start collectively losing our minds? This morning during my morning cup of coffee I nearly dropped my cup when I heard the story that hopefully you've heard by now. Six-year-old Zachary Christie, who was so excited about joining the Cub Scouts, took his combo knife/fork/spoon to school to use at lunchtime. As a result, he was expelled for bringing a "weapon" to school, and now must attend reform school. Here's the story you can read for yourself:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/education/12discipline.html

And, here's a link if you think this is just as much ridiculous idocy as I do:

http://helpzachary.com

You know, I'm not THAT old. I can't believe things have changed SO much just since the 90's. I vividly remember our school parking lot full of farm trucks, complete with gun racks - and guns IN the racks. I remember once in history class, the teacher had recieved a box containing new books, and she asked who had a pocket knife she could borrow. Nearly everyone in the room offered her one. How have we come to this point?

How far will we go?

Congrats Caveman Cuisine!

A few years ago, my cousin Chad decided to take up bbq-ing. Not just your average Joe backyard grill bbq - this is some serious no-holds-barred-bbq-sauce-in-your-face competition bbq-ing. Soon, Caveman Cuisine was born (cue lights and angels).

I'd never known Chad to be a real Maestro in the kitchen, so his bbq dream came as a bit of a surprise to me. Surprise which turned to drooling awe after the first bbq sauce smeared taste. And, over the past few years, his bbq has only gotten better, with tender brisket, beyond tasty chicken, perfect pulled pork, and my favorite - ribs that you don't even have to chew - they just magically float from the plate to your mouth to your very happy tummy. As Grandpa would say, Chad's bbq is "larrupin'".

This past weekend Chad and crew, with smokers on their log cabin kitchen trailer in tow, headed up to Kansas City to the American Royal BBQ Competition Invitational, one of the most prestigious bbq competitions in the world, to stack their meat up against 123 other teams. Chad walked away victorious, with...drumroll... Reserve Grand Champion. They took 1st in pork, with a perfect score of 180, and 13th in brisket. For Sunday's open competition, out of 473 teams, Caveman Cuisine took a very brag-worthy 54th.

I'd like to say my slammin' logo design had a hand in the win, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it was actually the food. Congratulations Chad, Nicki, Brett, Cole, Jodie, and BJ!

By the way, I'm always available for a taste test...

Yay China!

This week marked the 60th anniversary of the rule of Communism in China, which was celebrated by lighting up the Empire State Building in red and yellow. This caused numerous human rights organizations - such as Human Rights Watch, who has offices in the building (as well irking many Americans who are still paying attention), to exclaim, "say WHAT?!?" due to this political party's tendency to um...deny people basic human rights. But, even though communism is the antithesis to the American ideal, a classic American icon is lit up in China's colors to celebrate. Of course, they do own us now. Hooray! So put on your ultra-cool Che shirt, read up on Marx, and give a salute. It's good practice.