Rock Garden Tour

SAVE THE WHALES FOR ANOTHER DAY

We've been talking about ourselves a lot lately. Yes, our Deadwood performance went gang-busters. Yes, we sold that mother out. Yes, Oil Can sang harmony on a Bob Dylan cover. And while, yes, we'd prefer to live in that moment forever there is life after Deadwood. Time to move on. We've wanted to tell you about the Plain Green Conference for some time now. It's a sustainability conference that takes a humble approach to saving the planet, or should I say plain-et. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it. You can't accomplish huge things without taking care of small things. But don't take our word for it (we're still in Deadwood singing tunes about Frenchy Gale the fingerless farmhand) instead do exactly what this whale-man crusader says. 

 
LETWAN AND HER LITTLE BUD

 
Dear friend,

In the coming weeks you may or may not notice an absence of new material from Rock Garden Tour. As you can see from the photo above, there is a good reason for this. Letwan from Pest Control and I are expecting a little bud to sprout any second now. We're right on the edge. Badger has offered to take over production responsibilities in our absence, but with him also acting as our primary dula I'm not sure that this is a reliable solution. Just kidding about that, Oil Can is our primary dula. Badger is our back up. So anyway, in the mean time you can get your rock and roll garden variety fix over here or here or follow the action over here or here. Thanks. We're going to do our best, and that's the best we can do.

-Flowerman 

Hot Crimes In Hot Springs

Rock Garden Tour Family Band, featuring Jimmy Goings on kazoo, rehearse a tune about horticultural crime in Hot Springs, SD. Last week on the original rock and roll garden show News From Pierre reported that a serial pruner has been illegally pruning trees in Centennial Park after dark. A Red Oak tree (a species that is particularly sensitive to early pruning) gifted to the city by South Dakota State University is nearly dead. 

BACKGROUND CONTROL: MOON SHOES

 
Rock Garden Tour Fact Checker, Jesse Black, clears up some confusion regarding a subject that most rock and roll gardening shows wouldn't touch with a 5 foot garden hoe, moon shoes.  

If you listened to this week's show, you may have heard the chief spotlight operator make a quick mention of moon shoes. For those who were unaware of their existence, or are uncertain about the functionality of a moon shoe, here's a brief history:

In the early 1960’s, an unnamed toymaker had the idea for a shoe that sought to give kids the experience of reduced-gravity foot travel...kind of like walking on the moon.  Kids, growing up in a culture infatuated with outer space, saw the need to spice up their strides with these spring-loaded sneakers. 

After the moon shoes were strapped on, children were able to jump a little higher and walk a little clumsier.  Former moon shoe owner, Steve Bormis, describes his experience with the toy: “They’re impossible, there’s no way you can jump on them.” 

However, along with the supposed increase in elevation came an increase in major and minor “boo-boos” (i.e. broken ankles, sprained wrists, dislocated knee caps, shattered hip sockets, and scraped elbows).  As a result, these shoes were recalled from stores not too long after they were introduced.  Since then, various imitations have been and still are sold, but none able to replicate the jumping power of the spring-coiled original from the early 60’s.  Fortunately, holding true to their roots, today’s versions still allow uncoordinated children to injure themselves much more effectively than any regular shoes are capable of doing.

Tips for the avant gardener who wants to wear moon shoes while gardening:

1. Don’t.
2. Wear elbow pads, knee pads, a helmet, a mouth guard, and have a pair of crutches readily available.
3. If you feel that you are improving with each use of the moon shoes, be warned: it’s just an illusion.  You are bound to fall and eat dirt again—failure is inevitable while using moon shoes.  Don’t get cocky.

A few questions we're still looking into: 1. What happens if you wear moon shoes in the Cosmos Mystery Area? Okay, that's really the only question we're still looking into. This is the audio segment from our radio show that Jesse Fact Checker was referring.

Download Rock garden tour 114 podcast

Rock Garden Tour 67: And That Was The End Of Mr. Bendo

This week's Rock Garden Tour podcast features some witty banter about Canistota, SD, and a heartfelt Mr. Bendo tribute by the Rock Garden Tour Family Band. If you like what you hear, listen to the full hour show at www.sdpb.org/rockgardentour/ Enjoy this week's podcast and keep it rural.

Download Rock garden tour 67 podcast

 

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.