Both beautiful in their own way

Biked to work today. 50 minutes. Took a less obvious route, felt safer and did not take any longer. Will sleep well tonight.

Picked 2 more PN figs. 2 ripe lemon boy, 1 small ripe cherokee purple.

Should be doing homework right now, there is enough of it. Is it possible to call in sick kwhen you are not on the clock?

Found a home for one of the big Hardy Chicago fig trees - a coworker who was born in the Near East. I hope that she likes it. It's hard for me to give them up after raising them for 6 months, from a little twig to a sturdy looking tree.

The lilies make it nice to be in the yard in the evening. Better than what the dogs leave there.

Petite negri fig has yielded 6 ripe brebas so far, and expect about 6 more. If the main crop makes it to fruition, that could mean dozens.

Brown Turkey has about 2 dozen main crop.

Brunswick has one breba which is starting to ripen, and a couple dozen main crop.

All-in-all, I'm very happy about the potential for this year's figs. They are finally starting to yield.

Will try to find an interesting link of some sort.

Ning and his Apple Tree

Unwatered grass, so it's dormant.

Frog in compost bin

A bit blurry, but it's the best that I know how to do. This frog and some green frog friends has been hanging out in the compost bin for a few weeks.

I havent had a close enough look to see if these frogs are 'mutants' - but given the concerns about effects of pesticides on frogs, at least they have a pesticide - free yard here.

Now we get to eat them

Tomande, Sungold, and a few others. Plus some Japanese eggplant.
Look at all of those figs.
Mixed up together - Northpole apple, a cucumber, and a bunch of other things. The lilies are very fragrant.

Bike Route and Comments on BIke Commuting.

There are probably better maps. This one is from the Clark County page of the WA State bike site.

I tried to map out a route from home to the Kaiser Interstate campus in Portland for an appointmnet today; maps were not detailed enough to come up with a safe and reliable route. Tried Barnes & Noble at Jantzen Beach & didn't find much either. The problem is getting across the Columbia on the I-5 bridge (I know it can be done, there is a path) then probably to the light rail line from Jantzen Beach. Once on the light rail, the rest is easy.

Most of the bike info at the book store was about touring, not commuting. Same as most of the bikes & accessories. I dont need 30 speeds and ultralight frame. I dont need trail-quality shocks and super rugged frame, either. I need low maintenance, reliability, simplicity, comfort, and a moderately resilient frame. It's difficult to find that combination. Also, a simple way to carry work papers and clothes/food for work (a small covered Rubbermaid bin and bungi cords seem best for that purpose)

One of the most important parts of bike commuting is planning ahead. Since I ca't ride in work clothes / cant work in bike clothes, it means either carrying clean clothes to work, or storing some there. I don't get to leave work for meals, so there is also a need to keep food at work. (Even if I could leave, the local fare is McDonald's and similar ilk, expensive bad nutrition). So, on driving days, I carry clothes and food. I have a refridgerator in my office to store a few days of food. If there are meetings away from my usual work place, I'm stuck - I have to drive. If I work split location (part day one location, part day another), then I have to drive.

My estimate is that I can bike 2-3 days per week. I used to go in on my "day off" to work, but now have a home computer connection and can telecommute on those days (no commentary here on the issue of working on my "day off" and how I feel about that). So, about the best that I can do is reduce driving to 1-2 days per week - still, not bad.

Anyway, the route from home to work has a number of alternative streets, and this is a start at putting some variety into the commute.

I will try not to fall off and break any more ribs.

I agree with the legend below. Stay away from brown areas and be very careful around red. Mostly I stick to blue and green.

Legend:
Blue = high bike level of service.
Green = moderately high bike level of service.
Orange = low level bike level of service, requires skill.
Red = Caution area.
Brown = failed bike level of service, use extreme caution

It is hard to be patient right now...

Tomande - I'm not sure- should it be red or orange?













LemonBoy - almost there.












Petite Negri... where is that beggar's robe?

If we don't change our direction we're likely to end up where we're headed.”

(Title line from a Chinese Proverb)

Rib is (mostly) better. Wrists are less painful. Tires are pumped. Water bottle in the fridge.

update:
7/25/06
Beautiful morning for a bike ride. 55 minutes to work. Stayed away from traffic. Excellent start back to riding.

Too Impatient

This is what I was supposed to wait for - a neck for the hangman, a robe for the beggar, and a tear for the penitent (Condit). (Does it need to be this morose?)


Here is the first Petite Negri of the year. I didn't give it enough time to ripen - it was droopy ( so did have the neck for the hangman) and starting to soften, but few scratches in the skin - "robe of the beggar".

As soon as I cut it into halves, I knew - not dark red like last year. Pink. It was sour, not sweet. Like an unripe strawberry.

Will wait longer for the next figs.

Ancient Egyptian Grape Arbor

As long as we are on the topic of growing fruit in ancient Egypt, we can add some interesting information about grapes. According to this website, Grapes were grown as a stone age crop in Europe, and the ancient Egyptians grew grapes for wine. Certainly, grapes are a biblical crop.

If I was prepared to limit myself to a "theme", it would be fun to grow "ancient" crops - but would that leave the tomatoes? No can do.

Fig Illustration from Ancient Egypt, in Condit's Fig Monograph

"Illustrations of tree and fruit of the fig are found on monuments and tombs of ancient Egypt. [This illustration]... represents a fig harvest and, as LUDWIG REINHARDT(1910) states, lobed fig leaves are clearly recognizable. Three monkeys(Cynocephalus ursinus) are feasting on the figs and two men are harvesting the crop. EISEN (1930) regarded the figs... as belonging to Ficus pseudo-carica of Abyssinia, a species bearing fruit much inferior to that of F. carica" Quoted from the above reference.

The entire monograph contains a wealth of information about the history, horticulture, and biology of figs. This is the single most respected work of "fig science". I became aware of this link from postings in the Gardenweb Fig Forum, and it is on the Cornell agricultural school web site.

Re-printing from the figure legend (since it is difficult to read here): "Picking figs in Ancient Egypt (Scene on west wall of grave No. 2, Beni Hassan, 12th Dynasty, 2500-2400 BC..... The vignette... shows an Egyptian peasant offering to the sycamore [fig]... The sacred sycamore here stands at the end of a field of corn, and would seem to extend its protection to the harvest... "

Some additional information on the sacred sycamore fig of ancient Eqypt is available here.