Rock Garden Tour

Beware of tulip.

Weeks ago, Scott Gibson (Rock Garden Tour Garretson, SD correspondant) hooked us up with a pot full of tulips. Forcing bulbs is just one way that you can overcome the big winter blues in South Dakota. If you're thinking that these particular tulips look a wee bit Autry II, you're right. That's what happens when you jam the Misfits - I Turned Into A Martian at least once daily throughout the growing cycle.

Keep it rural.

A Sand County Almanac - Forward by Oil Can.

Oil Can: If I could quote the great environmentalist Aldo Leopold from the mighty "A Sand County Almanac";

There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing breakfast comes from the grocery. And the other is that heat comes from the furnace. To avoid this danger, one should plant a garden, preferably where there is no grocer to confuse the issue. To avoid the second, he should lay a split of good oak on the andirons, preferably where there is no furnace, and let it warm his shins while a February blizzard tosses the trees outside.

Thanks for the message Oil Can, Hopefully your message helps us keep things in perspective tonight on the Rock Garden Tour from 8-10pm 89.1 KAUR - as we dsicuss whether or not the garden is big enough to accomodate both hybrid seeds (AC Slater) AND heirloom seeds (Charles Ingalls). 

Of course you know how I feel about it. I don't care if you plant mutant hybrid sea monkeys, if you're tilling the soil you must be my kind of beet farmer. Keep it rural. 

Bonafide Public Service Announcement By Oil Can (and Flowerman)

We've all heard the news - the planet is in strife. The wheels are off the wagon (Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show is one of our favorite free range rock & roll tracks of all time) and the boat (BOAT is also a band that we play from time to time) USS Earth is taking on water. We're choking on carbon emissions, chopping down forests and sticking it to our fragile ecosystems. The planet needs help, but what can one rock gardener (Garden Island Song by the Mountain Goats is so good I don't even want to talk about it) do? Here you go:

A well-planned residential landscape, incorporating trees (Treefinger by Radio Head is a choice track if you plan on doing some late winter pruning), can reduce the demand for artificial heating and cooling in a building. This reduces the rrequirement for energy derived from fossil fuels. In fact shading your windows with trees on the eastern, northern, and western aspects of your home can reduce household heating and cooling costs by up to 20%. This is significant, as up to 25% of a household's yearly energy consumption is attributed to artificial 'climate control'.

By utilizing gardens and landscapes to provide external shading, radiant heat from the sun won't bust into your home. This allows your home and mother earth (if you've ever listened to Earth To Buffalo by Ruben and the Jets you win a sweet virtual Kevin Kostner bobble head doll) to operate like Reggie Jackson (Coach always says there isn't enough mustard in the world for Jessie Jackson because he's one big hot dog, more or less) and the 77 Yankees - in a delicate balance of harmony (Beach Boys Good Vibrations is the only song on my top 10 list that will probably remain there until I die).

Why not consider planting a deciduous tree or seven in your landscape, and, while you're at it, remember there are some amazing deciduous fruit (I just added Peach, Plum, Pear by Joanna Newsome to tonight's playlist) trees! Reducing energy costs, absorbing greenhouse gases, all while growing healthy (I wonder if members of The Joggers are named after exercise), fresh produce?...Holy H! (Hell by the Roadside Graves is great free range rock & roll), now that's sustainable. (Keep it rural)

There's your public service announcement.

Ferret Killers

This week the Rock Garden Tour focuses on dorm/small apartment/vw bus-gardening. And as always, safety first: You'll want to keep any pets, exotic or otherwise, away from the following poisonous plants: Cyclamen, Amaryllis, Diffenbachia, Kalanchoe, Poinsettia, Norfolk Island Pine, Devil's Ivy, Philodendron, Dracaena, Nepthsis, Peace Lily, and the list goes on.

Link warp to a more complete list. You'll note that its a long list, friggin' long, so long that you'll probably wonder why anyone would own a pet in the first place. That is the question isn't it?

Keep it rural. 

PS. Did you know that the Kinks once partied with John Wayne Gacy? They didn't realize he was a serial killer at the time.