Where to Connect with TK Kenyon -- Google+ and Goodreads and Twitter, oh my!

Google+ is the hottest new site, right? https://plus.google.com/114092439743576593278/posts 

If you’re into science, connect with me here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tkkenyon

Great blog for creative writing tips. http://tkkenyon.blogspot.com/

My Amazon profile. http://www.amazon.com/T.-K.-Kenyon/e/B001JP4HK4

Here I am at BlogCritics. http://blogcritics.org/writers/tk-kenyon/

I even MySpace, occasionally. http://www.myspace.com/tkkenyon

Tweet with me! I tweet links to free e-fiction on the web and happy thoughts! https://twitter.com/#!/TKKenyon

A great place to see what I’m up to, writing-wise. http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/malachitepublishing

Shelfari is another great book site: http://www.shelfari.com/tkkenyon

All my reviews on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A2QSSNUGVG5II8?ie=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0

This is a great science fiction anthology, and I gave it 5 stars because it deserved it. http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2011/08/guest-review-tk-kenyon-on-the-best-science-fiction-and-fantasy-of-the-year-volume-five-edited-by-jonathan-strahan/

Connect with me on Goodreads: A great site for readers: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/202809.T_K_Kenyon

All my blogs: Gluten-Free, creative writing, other stuff. http://www.blogger.com/profile/13756031460622964015

Fuel for Diesel Ebooks: http://search.diesel-ebooks.com/author/Kenyon,%20TK/results/1.html

Like to blow things up? Here’s a guy who did it for a living. Now that’s job satisfaction! http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/magazine/articles/26-4-science-and-celebrity.aspx

Do you #kindleboards #KB? I do! http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php?topic=71383.0

Having trouble with your overprotective parents? Try being Indian, in the theater, and lesbian. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/66664 http://www.amazon.com/Nag-Hindi-Cobra-ebook/dp/B0055WXKDW

Think you can beat Las Vegas? Frank thought so. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68208 http://www.amazon.com/Law-Large-Numbers-ebook/dp/B0057AFHJC

In 1942, Nazi subs hunted ships off the US East Coast. Read more: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/79924 http://www.amazon.com/Hooligan-Navy-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B005GL8V1S

Review of Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2011/09/review-cryoburn-a-miles-vorkosigan-novel-by-lois-mcmaster-bujold/ Only 4.5 stars?

Where to Connect with TK Kenyon -- Google+ and Goodreads and Twitter, oh my!

Google+ is the hottest new site, right? https://plus.google.com/114092439743576593278/posts 

If you’re into science, connect with me here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tkkenyon

Great blog for creative writing tips. http://tkkenyon.blogspot.com/

My Amazon profile. http://www.amazon.com/T.-K.-Kenyon/e/B001JP4HK4

Here I am at BlogCritics. http://blogcritics.org/writers/tk-kenyon/

I even MySpace, occasionally. http://www.myspace.com/tkkenyon

Tweet with me! I tweet links to free e-fiction on the web and happy thoughts! https://twitter.com/#!/TKKenyon

A great place to see what I’m up to, writing-wise. http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/malachitepublishing

Shelfari is another great book site: http://www.shelfari.com/tkkenyon

All my reviews on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A2QSSNUGVG5II8?ie=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0

This is a great science fiction anthology, and I gave it 5 stars because it deserved it. http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2011/08/guest-review-tk-kenyon-on-the-best-science-fiction-and-fantasy-of-the-year-volume-five-edited-by-jonathan-strahan/

Connect with me on Goodreads: A great site for readers: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/202809.T_K_Kenyon

All my blogs: Gluten-Free, creative writing, other stuff. http://www.blogger.com/profile/13756031460622964015

Fuel for Diesel Ebooks: http://search.diesel-ebooks.com/author/Kenyon,%20TK/results/1.html

Like to blow things up? Here’s a guy who did it for a living. Now that’s job satisfaction! http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/magazine/articles/26-4-science-and-celebrity.aspx

Do you #kindleboards #KB? I do! http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php?topic=71383.0

Having trouble with your overprotective parents? Try being Indian, in the theater, and lesbian. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/66664 http://www.amazon.com/Nag-Hindi-Cobra-ebook/dp/B0055WXKDW

Think you can beat Las Vegas? Frank thought so. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68208 http://www.amazon.com/Law-Large-Numbers-ebook/dp/B0057AFHJC

In 1942, Nazi subs hunted ships off the US East Coast. Read more: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/79924 http://www.amazon.com/Hooligan-Navy-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B005GL8V1S

Obamas are Eating the View

I have been pleased to be part of the "Eat the View" Campaign, a petition asking the Obamas to plant a garden at the White House to showcase the many benefits of gardening: economic, nutritious, physical, emotional, and environmental. 

Michelle Obama is going to break ground at the White House on the South Lawn for the first formal vegetable garden in decades. 

Bravissimo, Michelle! 

TK 

Newpaper Seedling Pots, Gardening for Your Fellow Folks, and Unemployment

February private-sector job losses are worse than expected, as expected.

In the NYTimes:

ADP said private employers cut 697,000 jobs in February compared with a revised 614,000 jobs lost in January. The January job cuts were originally reported at 522,000.

Economists had expected 610,000 private-sector job cuts in February, according to the median of 23 forecasts in a Reuters poll, which ranged widely from a drop of 730,000 to losses of 500,000.

About 700,000 new people are going to need your help. Food banks are already pushed to the limit, and they need more help.

It's time to plant a garden for your fellow folks.

If you live in the North, it's time to start your seedlings. Below the fold is a video showing how to make easy origami newspaper seedling starting pots. They're free, biodegradable, and organic. I made two dozen last night during American Idol.

Starting seedlings indoors is one of the best ways to start your garden early. I shoveled 1.5 feet of snow off the driveway yesterday, by hand, with a shovel, so I really want spring to come so I can plant my flippin' garden. Seedlings are at least something pretty and warm and growing in the house.



Now, we should plant our gardens on the cheap, as the point of these gardens is not to grow $3 Lima beans. If you're going to spend $500 growing $200 worth of food, it's better to just donate that money to the food bank. They'll know what to do with it.

Seedling starting kits run $8-$40 at my local HD. And they look puny.

Newspaper seedling pots are free, biodegradable, and organic.



Plants you should start from seedlings: tomatoes, peppers, eggplants. Squashes are also good to start.

These newspaper pots are quick and easy, plus they are only two sheets thick on two sides and the bottom, so you can plant the whole pot in the garden and the roots will quickly penetrate the newspaper and turn the whole thing into biodegraded mush.

They also have nifty flaps to label what you planted in each one.

After I fold them, I store them stacked under a heavy book to press the folds even more. That makes them even sturdier when you fill them with starting soil and plant those seeds.



I nestle them in a big, plastic tray or a low cardboard box lined with a lawn and leaf bag.



(Hee, hee. You can see my pajamas under the glass table.)

Happy planting!

TK Kenyon

Companion Gardening: Reduce pests, disease, and vermin organically

Unemployment has reached 8.1%, a staggering figure and the highest since 1983.

Really, it's even worse than that.

When you include people who have stopped looking for work but would like to work, the percentage rises to a 9.1% unemployment rate. (Click through the slide show on the front page for these numbers on a graph.)

When you include the underemployed, meaning people who are working part-time who want to work full-time, the figure jumps to 14.8%.

In addition, people are out of work longer. Almost 40% of those who are unemployed have been unemployed for 15 weeks or longer. That's the highest number of long-term unemployed since WWII.

Time to plant that garden. If you don't need it, people you know or food banks will.

Below the fold: Gleaned from the excellent book Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte and sources on the internet, here's a listing of vegetables to interplant to reduce pests and disease.

As organic farmers know: monoculture doesn't work. Just planting the same plants interspersed with each other reduces the amount of pesticides and antimicrobials you'll need to use.

Some plants help each other ward off pests and even vermin by masking scent or providing a physical barrier. "Companion planting," as detailed in the excellent book Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte, available at Amazon and in local bookstores and libraries. This book goes into much more detail about each vegetable and its beneficial and inhibitory companions.

I've grouped plants together for easy reference:

First Group: The Three Sisters

Beans
Corn
Peas
Cucumbers
Pumpkins and winter squash (like butternut)

To Native Americans of the Southwest, corn, beans, and squash were known as the "three sisters," composing a majority of the diet.

Plant corn in the middle, at least 7 rows of it, then plant beans or peas at the base of each corn stalk. The beans will climb up the corn, anchoring it more firmly. Plant pumpkins and squash around the stand of corn to deter predators like raccoons. The broad leaves will create a barrier. Cucumbers enjoy the shade on the ground from the tall corn.

If you aren't growing corn due to space limitations, use poles or trellises for the beans or peas.

Second Group: Salad and Herbs

Tomatoes
Lettuce
Radishes
Parsnips
Onions
Chives
Garlic
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme
Nasturtiums

Plant tomato seedlings in the center of the garden, no closer than 30 inches from each other, preferably 4 feet apart. This reduces disease incidence.

Plant salad vegetables under and around the tomatoes. Plant lettuce where it will get some afternoon shade from the growing tomatoes. Intersperse aliums (onion types and garlic) between the vegetables.

Plant herbs around the perimeter.

Third Group: Getting A Head (Cabbage Family)

Cabbage
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Turnips
Onions
Chives
Garlic
Thyme
Rosemary
Sage

Intersperse aliums and herbs with cabbages to repel pests and varmints.

Fourth Group: Melonheads

Melons (all types)
Onions
Radishes

Intersperse a few aliums or radishes to repel pests and vermin. Placing a square of waxed paper under melons will keep worms from tunneling up through the dirt and into the melon.

More Articles:

Tomato Primer for Growing Tomatoes

More Tomato Wisdom from DailyKos Tomato Mavens -- Taken from excellent comments to the above DailyKos post.

Why plant a garden? (Garden of Eatin' post)

Why is TK doing this?

TK Kenyon

Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte

This is a simply wonderful book that promises reduced pest and disease problems just by interspersing vegetables rather than planting monoculture. What a great idea! 

Shade-Loving Garden Vegetables

Big, beautiful trees increase your home's value, shelter your house from the sun in the hot summer, and are beautiful. 

Unfortunately, shade is the bane of gardens. The vast majority of vegetables need a "sheltered, sunny spot." 

We're trying to make the most of our gardening, however. Sometimes, a really nice spot for a garden gets less than full sunlight. 

So, what can grow in the shade? 

Cucumbers: keep well watered, especially when flowering and fruiting. Sow in rich soil with lots of manure or other high-nitrogen compost. 

Zucchini: same advice as above. Support vining varieties as necessary. Yes, zukes are the fecund bunnies or HeLa cells of the garden. You don't need 1000 zucchini, so don't overplant. 

Spinach: as spinach does not do well in hot conditions, shade during the afternoon is beneficial to this fast-growing crop. High-nitrogen fertilizer or compost increases yield. 

Peas: peas, snow peas, and sugar snap peas prefer damp, cool, shaded spots. Apply lime if your soil is acidic. Compost or aged manure helps peas grow. Support vines with twigs. 

String beans: sheltered, light shade is preferred. Keep the soil very moist, especially during flowering. String beans have deep roots and prefer deep soil. Pick often, as this encourages more beans.