A few years ago, I was on a cruise in the Western Caribbean with a wonderful group of friends to celebrate my 50th birthday! It was a MEMORABLE trip to say the least. We promised (like we always do) to get together afterwards and keep up our momentum. My friend, Mark, who was on the cruise, was already an over-committed builder at the time, but I convinced him to help me with my dream project…to have my own greenhouse! Around that time, I was at a fellow Master Gardener’s house and saw some ideas for greenhouses in a magazine she had. In the environmental mind of being cost effective and trying to recycle/reuse, I rediscovered some old windows with wooden frames that had been replaced on my home; this was the catalyst to start the project. They became the framework of my greenhouse dream. Then I searched flea markets and…
A Bit of Dirt – Fall 2009
Editor’s Cuff Notes – by Dan Willis. THE 1621 THANKSGIVING The tradition of the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving comes from both myth and legend. Few people realize that the Pilgrims never celebrated Thanksgiving in 1621 or any year thereafter. President George Washington made it a one-time Thanksgiving holiday. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln finally made it a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November (which could occasionally end up being the fifth Thursday and hence too close to Christmas for businesses). President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed Thanksgiving Day to the fourth Thursday of November in 1939 and Congress approved that day in 1941. The Pilgrims’ first mythological Thanksgiving Day occurred in early October. The date of Thanksgiving, set by President Lincoln, seems to correlate with the anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, which supposedly occurred on November 21, 1620 according to the Gregorian calendar (It was…
Wild Chanterelles And Their Look-a-Likes
Wild chanterelles are truly a beautiful sight to see in early June until early July here in the Atlanta area. Not only do they add color to the forests and woodlands but they are also a gourmet’s delight. I recently meet a young couple, however, that became violently ill after eating what they believed were wild chanterelles. Unfortunately, none of the “wild chanterelles” were kept for identification purposes. When picking and eating wild mushrooms of any kind, always save a few for later identification in case there is a toxic reaction. The following describes a number of mushroom species that could be mistake for chanterelles. I do not recommend eating any wild mushroom unless you personally can identify them. Common Name: Golden Chanterelle; Chanterelle: There may be as many common names for Cantharellus cibarius as for Boletus edulis. From the French we have chanterelle and from the German we have…