This is why I love autumn so much
Today is a postcard perfect autumn day, the kind of day that makes you forget that most autumn days are not like this. But somehow a day like today is what represents the season rather than damp winds and gray skies. It is the kind of day I yearn for and that only happens a few times, which makes it even more precious and beautiful.
Fall has thus far been quite warm but we will be taking a turn this week first cooling, then warming then cooling again with snowflakes in the forecast for Friday. Because we are finally sinking into cooler temperatures, I decided it was time to plant the garlic. The Dashwoods had to help, of course! We covered the bed with straw mulch after planting and then put row cover fabric over it to keep the Dashwoods from digging it all up. They wouldn’t eat the garlic, but digging in the straw and the loose dirt is what they love to do best.The garlic bed this year is near the bed where the cabbages were growing so when we chased the Dashwoods away from the garlic bed they decided to go pick at the sad remains of the cabbage. First they ate the middle out of all of them and then they started nibbling at the outer leaves. Now there is hardly anything left but cabbage stalks and purple poo all over the garden.
After the garlic we planted something new, potato onions. What is a potato onion you ask? It is a perennial multiplier onion kind of like a shallot only much larger that multiplies from bulbs rather than seeds. The onions are small and reportedly flavorful. In the right spot they are prolific. And once they get going you get onions year after year without the fuss of buying seeds or sets or wondering if you need a long or short day variety. I already have walking onions and green onions and both are growing gangbusters. I just learned about potato onions earlier this year and since I have never been able to get a decent onion from seeds or sets, I thought I would give these a try.
Starter sets aren’t sold many places because they are not that well known these days and so aren’t in demand. I got mine from Jung Seeds, the same place I get my garlic, and out of all the places I buy seeds and garden things, they are the only ones who had them. From my reading about potato onions they used to be a garden staple both in the U.S. and Europe. But when people stopped growing much of their own food, they fell out of favor because they are not easy for commercial growers to harvest. Plus, when we go to the grocery store or farmers market we generally want big onions because, well I’m not sure why, but I have to admit there is something satisfying in the heft of a baseball size or larger onion. From what I can tell, potato onions vary in size but golf ball-ish seems to be about the norm. I am very excited about them and hope they do well.
I have to mention a disturbing report that came out last week in case you missed it. Environmental pollution kills more people EVERY YEAR than all war and violence, smoking, hunger, natural disasters, tuberculosis and malaria combined. About 9 million people died in 2015 from environmental pollution (air, water, etc). Scientists think the number is actually higher than that because there are parts of the world that do no yet monitor things like air or soil pollution. And of course, it is in the poorer countries and the poorer areas of wealthier countries where people suffer the most.
This is not OK.
Think there is nothing you can personally do about it? Think again! Do you drive a car? Heat your home? Throw stuff in the garbage? Do you buy things made in China and India where in some cities the air is so polluted they have regular warnings telling people to not go outside unless absolutely necessary? Do you fly on airplanes a lot? Do you buy food shipped in from far away places? Are you an electronic gadget junkie or do you regularly update your gadgets when a new version comes out? These things all cause pollution from the mining of copper, coal and rare metals, the drilling for oil and natural gas, the manufacturing processes, and the end-of-life disposal. Governments might be doing their best to get rid of environmental regulations, but we as individuals have quite a lot of power to choose how we live our lives as consumers.
None of us are perfect and I am as guilty as anyone else for wanting a $10 t-shirt made in China instead of a $30 organic cotton t-shirt made in a non-polluting factory by workers paid a fair wage. I am working on changing the way I approach things — fewer, well-made belongings that last rather than lots of cheap crap that will be worn out in a year or less. If we can all manage to stop and think before we buy/drive/turn up the heat, etc. and consider the long term, consider the effect of what we are about to do, make a conscious choice instead of wanting all the things because sale! I think that mindful moment, that conscious choosing, could go a long way in making a big difference for 9 million plus people a year.
I love the idea of the potato onions, I suspect they wouldn’t grow here though. I’m really careful/frugal (mean?!) with everything , mainly because I’m aware of all the pollution that consumerism entails. Sadly I see neighbours who have their landfill bins overflowing, when ours has virtually nothing in it, and as I keep saying – every ‘disposable’ nappy ever produced is still in existence in landfill.
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piningforthewest, your climate and mine aren’t that much different. If I manage to have success with them I bet you would be able to as well. Frugal is good! It’s the same with my bins and my neighbors. I have a small bin that is nearly empty and some of my neighbors have two large bins that are almost always overflowing. You are very right about disposable diapers.
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I love Autumn too. In many ways it is the best season, partialally early ajtum, before daylight savings ends.
As for pollution. My it is hard not to feel guilty a lot of the time. Every bit of thoughtfulness helps, I know, but I also know I could do better.
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whisperinggums, you are well into spring now so it must be getting green and pretty there as we have our burst of color before everything turns shades of black and white.
Definitely hard to not feel guilty all the time regarding pollution. The system sets us up to fail but thoughtfulness about our actions can still make a difference even if it does not fix the root of the problem.
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Yes, I agree re thoughtfulness. It can never hurt.
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I agree. That’s a beautiful fall day view, but it is funny how that’s the image we preserve for fall when most of the time it is cold and wet. 🙂
Nice PSA about environmental choices. I know you have flying there, but I want to be able to go home and back to school… So, do you have an alternative for me?
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wanderwulf, heh we like to remember the best part instead of the miserable parts 🙂
As regards to flying you are kind of in a bind. Best you can do I think is try to limit the amount of flying you do or try to offset it in other ways by not driving and doing other things to lower you impact.
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Well, I never drive, so all my other time is spent commuting by public transport or bike, so I guess I’m a little in the green?
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I love Autumn…I think you know that by now 😉 The next few months are really my favorite! Environmental Pollution is a huge problem, but for my poor neighbors and in a nation like ours where people struggle to etch out a daily living the choice of $2 shirt will allow to them to spend $3 on buying rice. I know what you are saying but we need a better plan to ensure that those living on the margin still have choices!
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cirtnecce, do you get colorful autumns in your area?
You are right regarding jobs. Of course the ideal is to have those factories not pollute and pay their workers better. Some companies are better at this than others and I think part of making a conscious choice is to also learn what companies are trying to do right and supporting them.
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We get some color in the Autumn, but nothing like yours. Fall in India is more of a sensory thing – smell of woodfire and the last of flowers and all that. I agree that we all need to become aware especially in supporting companies that are trying to make a difference. P.S. I will take some pictures over the weekend of the Fall here and mail them over to you!
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Would love to see photos of fall in you part of the world! 🙂
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I’m envious of the colorful autumn that is not happening here–such a glory of color! Another disturbing trend is how much clothing ends up in the dump. I do try to re-purpose clothing, but eventually those t-shirts will make it to the dump in one form or another.
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oh jenclair, sorry to hear your autumn has been disappointing in the color department. If it weren’t for the color I think I’d find autumn rather dull. Sadly, yes, regarding clothes in landfills. At my house we use old t-shirts and stuff as rags until even the rags fall apart, but even then they still end up eventually in a landfill. Cotton will decompose over time because it is organic but synthetic fabrics, those will be around for a very long time.
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Gorgeous colors! We’re not having a colorful fall down here in TN, unfortunately. As for onions, we’ve got a gigantic green onion that sprang up in our compost heap! Ha ha! Never heard of potato onions but I think maybe we should try to grow some because we do use a lot of onions in cooking.
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Laila, sorry to hear you aren’t having a very colorful fall. Aren’t the things that spring up in the compost pile great? We had tomatoes growing one year and they did really well.
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Last week and this past weekend were absolutely glorious, with changing leaves, lots of sun, blue skies, and warm temperatures (I wrote about it too–blog post synchronicity!)
Today, though, it is raining and a cold front is coming through that will force me to bring my plants in for the winter.
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Jeanne, too funny! On my way over to read it! It’s always a surprise when the gradual change of season turns into a crash. You know it is going to happen but when it does I am always taken off guard!
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Good reminders for sure! So often we/people are inclined to get all defensive about areas in which we believe we cannot improve (without a sacrifice we are unwilling to make), but there is always something we can improve. And that works to offset other choices we make which do have negative impacts (directly or indirectly on others). One thing I’ve been working on is reusing the rinse water in the kitchen sink as I am a big rinser by nature and this way the quantity is greatly reduced and still allows for things to be mostly cleaned, so they can sit by the side of the sink until there are enough dishes to fill the sink and wash them up.
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buried, yes, yes yes! That’s fantastic you have been working on reusing rinse water. such a simple thing does make a difference. A couple years ago we put a bucket in the shower to run the water into while we are waiting for it to get warm. Then we use the water in the bucket to flush the toilet. At first it was a little annoying but now we don’t think about it at all and the amount of water we have saved has made its way to saving us money on our water bill.
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What a beautiful fall scene! I hope you have great luck with the potato onions. I did hear about the pollution report. Talk about frightening. I dream of one day being able to live without a car. We try to do as much as we can with my husband riding his bike to work, we recycle, compost, etc. but there is still so much more we can do.
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We have had a very nice, warm fall, haven’t we, which has made the really cool (pretty much cold) mornings a little bit of a shock! I am really enjoying the fall and am not quite ready for the really cold yet–hard to think about those coming months when cold is just going to be the order of the day. Lovely photos, and that leafy sidewalk is quite picturesque. We may get just a very light dusting of snow on Friday here. Did that report say what people die of (am guessing there is some illness related to the pollution?)? I am trying hard to be better at reusing and recycling, too. It is always good to be informed so thanks for the reminder and link!
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Wow that first pic looks unreal. I know, it’s real, for you though. We’re having snow. 😦
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