cat scratching toilet paper

Family Bibles

GARDEN ART

peas in black and white.

Some 'arty' pictures from the garden

BC Ferries

Backyard Gardening in North American Grow Zone 4 (north of 45 parallel)

Backyard gardening in Canada can be a challenge, although most garden variety vegetables can do quite well with a little oversight, and not much care.

This is an account of some successes

and some not so success over several years, but starting with this year's bounty.

Selection of space:

Garden has 3 8 foot x 8 foot plots, with clearance from 12 foot hedge by 6 feet on two sides. Additional plot space is 2 x 8 ft, plus another 4 x 12 foot, and a 6 x 12 foot plot.

So, total, is 64 x 3, + 48 + 16 + 72 sq ft. (metric sizes will follow) to roughly 300 sq ft. total size.

South facing lot (encircled by 12 foot hedge, and large sunshine drinking maple tree compete for sunlight) with 10 hours of sunlight on most of the main sections (8 x8 plots).

Tomatoes are taking about 45%, beans (climbing and bush), 30%, zucchini 10% and rest is some peas, beets, basil and rhubarb.

The total yield of this current planting will be 30 zuchinni, 4 bushels of tomatoes, 1 1/2 bushels of beans, and some peas (2-4 dinners total) and beets (marginal). The sheer amount of tomatoes (mostly Beafsteak, 20% roma), zucchini, and beans means there is for a 2 month span, 5x more than a family of 5 adults (sometimes  6) can consume during that time. Luckily tomatoes, zucchini squash and string beans can be cooked in a chili stew or pasta sauce and be stored.



Pictures:

global warming....more than just CO2 levels rising. 400ppm (average) in atmosphere now....

Preamble

Note that this Blog entry is a work in progress and will grow every week....

My background is Chemistry (MSc, BSc Honours) with considerable background in the infrared spectrometer sector, having worked at Bomem (now ABB) of Québec City  which continue to produce high quality infrared spectrometers. Bomem, in the past, was a major contributor to supplying specialized spectrometers for study of ozone layer, both wing borne, in U2 high altitude aircraft (NASA owned and operated) and high resolution land based units at South Pole and at near North Pole, also for study of atmospheric gases (including CFC radicals, which are ozone layer scavengers) and other high altitude gases.

As such some of this background will support these fundamental  arguments, so that, perhaps, some folks will start to understand the concept of 'greenhouse gases' and how it could (could, but most probably will) cause or accelerate global climate change. This is not to promote a cause from either side, just a simple, but from scientific principles, explain what the heck is greenhouse gas effect, and why should we care.

Climate Change,

What are Greenhouse Gases, and How it all Works.

Climate change can be brought about by changes in the gases in the atmosphere. There is a mixture of gases in the atmosphere, mostly being nitrogen (N2, that is two identical atoms of nitrogen, bonded together in triple bond) and O2, oxygen molecule also with two identical atoms (O, or Oxygen), bonded together.

Both form symetrical diatomic (two atoms) molecule (a collection of 2 or more atoms...two being the simplest). They do not absorb energy in the infrared region (heat) and are therefore not considered to be contributing to the 'greenhouse' effect.

CO2 (carbon dioxide, three atoms), water (H2O), and methane (CH4) are all molecules that can exhibit vibrational motions, which are those that absorb infrared. This happens when the molecule has a dipole moment, which means they can have an asymmetry in their look, due to the stretching, wagging, scissoring vibration movements that can occur. Molecules are not rigid (well, maybe at absolute zero or 0K, -273.15C.) and so have this property of absorbing energy in the infrared region (which is from 1000nm and higher until microwave region).

CO2 sources are plants  (at night, during day they use 'breath' CO2 and 'drink' water from soil to make sugar (chlorophyll does that, using sunlight), and liberates O2. Sugars are basic building block to make cellulose, which forms cell wall of plants, and imparts rigidity. Cellulose is for all intents and purposes, a polymeric form of sugar (which appear in different forms).

CO2 levels (concentrations) continue to rise and fall, but trend is upwards (to higher atmospheric concentrations, see below chart) so that now it has surpassed (for now) 400ppm in atmosphere. This is somewhat out of date, now we are 2014 (at time of writing). There is a correlation between atmospheric concentation of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, or so this chart is implying, so that for every 50ppm more of CO2, average worldwide temperature rise +0.5C. This is average, in entire world. Arctic is running above the average (+2-3C higher decade over decade) and other parts of world less, so this all contributes to an average. The old story about averages is 'two hands; one is in an heated oven (say, 500Kelvin, or 225C), one is in liquid nitrogen (77K, or about -210 C), and on the average, 15 C, its pretty comfortable',

AS MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, THIS IS  A WORK IN PROGRESS AND WILL CONTINUE TO GROW WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND OTHER NIFTY GRAPHICAL STUFF TO FOLLOW AS I HAVE TIME.

Baker Field Columbia and Dyckman family in Manhattan

Baker Field of Columbia University is at the northern tip of Manhattan Island, in New York City.

This is mostly dedicated to athletic pursuits, with the football pitch located there as well as the rowing club along the shoreline. 

This land was previously part of the Dyckman farmland and estate, centered on the mansion, Mon Désir (My Desire) which was in the middle of this land. The topography here is flat, and only 30 feet (10 meters) above the Hudson (to the west), and Spuyten Duyvil (north) and East River. To the south, it is the highlands of Inwood Heights. This was also at one time, part of the Dyckman family farm holdings and it is where the Dyckman House (last Dutch style farmhouse on Manhattan Island) is situated.

The Baker Field area was sold at the turn of the last century to Columbia University for $700,000 which was obviously not a huge sum for such a valuable piece of property. However, Columbia didn't develop the land as a real estate venture, but preferred to keep this holding as a wide open area.

The Mon Désir mansion was kept as a place to house visiting teams and as equipment storage for up to the 1950's, but was razed to make way for more purpose built batiments. 

See the evolution of Spuyten Duyvil region over the centuries, as the channel was straightened to allow for ship travel. At the same time it was widened and dredged . The municipal borders remained the same so the northmost part of Manhattan, now part of the mainland, (Marble Hill) is still technically part of Manhattan. A bridge (called Farmer's or Dyckman Bridge) spanning the East River at one time is now a roadway (see middle panel).

Spuyten Duyvel showing the marshland, and bridges (Farmers and Kingsbridge, which was Philipse toll bridge) Philipse Manor started directly north and was run with iron hand by Frederik Philipse, using slaves to build a feudal farming enterprise (of which Philipse was lord and master).

Another perspective looking north west from The Bronx

 

Johnson Iron Works on shore of Spuyten Duyvel 

 Aerial view of Baker Field with the widened Spuyten Duyvel waterway

 

one of the prettiest songs you'll ever hear....our late Jesse

Jesse Winchester Sham-a-ling-dong ding


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uKGWpqnS8E


More about Jesse Winchester (amazing songwriter / singer).

https://music.yahoo.com/blogs/music-news/remembering-jesse-winchester-165957116.html?bcmt=comments-postbox

Images from a moving car (don't try this at home)