It’s been kind of strange. For several years, Brandon garden writer Monica Brandies wrote for the Brandon News, a small newspaper owned by the same company that owns The Tampa Tribune, my source of food, bought plants and utility bills, among other essentials.
When I became the editor of the Trib’s (now defunct) At Home section a few years ago, I tried to steal Monica from our Brandon brother. They said, flat out, “No.” Then times got hard. The Brandon News became part of The Tribune and the At Home section died. People got laid off. Kim and I started writing gardening stuff because, even though we’re not the greatest gardeners ever, there’s nothing more fun than to write about what you love. And, heck, there was no one else to do it.
But it’s been kind of weird to know there’s another garden writer for the Trib who I’ve never met. Monica is popular, very knowledgable (she’s written and co-written 11 gardening books, probably best known is “The Florida Gardener’s Book of Lists”), and heck, we both work for the same paper now! I’ve always wanted to meet her and to see her garden.
Here she is!
Thanks be to mangoman (Eric Young) for telling us about Monica’s Open Garden, an annual event. She held it last Saturday and today. I discovered lots of new plants, along with some old favorites—bigger and better than I’ve ever seen. (Mine will never get that big. Monica has the magic thumb. I do not. But one can dream!)
I also got to finally meet our garden-writing triplet, which was a thrill. Monica is the nicest person!
But back to plants. My hands-down favorite, which I MUST find, is Coks comb celosia, an annual that so looks like a perennial. Monica got hers from a flower someone gave her. She saved the seeds from the flower, planted them in the spring, and had flowers in the fall.
The plant is an upward growing shrub with canes. The blooms look like softest velvet but, as Mangoman pointed out, looks are deceiving. They’re hard!
Oh, I failed to mention that this was a mini Dirt reunion. Janna Begole was there, and Mangoman was giving tours! In apology for Kim’s horribly pixalated photo of Eric (Mangoman) posted from the Riverview Flower Farm tour, I submit this much more accurate depiction of our handsome garden guide. (Eric, I want you to know, there was a better photo of me, but your eyes were closed. I’m totally sacrificing for you here!)
Another plant we loved, which I didn’t think would grow in Hillsborough County, is poinciana. This one’s a “dwarf” but Monica says it will get 25 feet tall if you don’t cut it back. The secret to growing them here? Plant it in a protected, warm spot. she says. Her’s is right up next to her house.
Last (only because I’m tired and hungry) is yellow salvia. YELLOW! I love salvia because it flourishes in my %$* sand. But all I’ve ever seen is purples. Monica started this one from a cutting snagged at the Hillsborough Extension office a few years ago. I may just have to poach in her yard, because I certainly haven’t seen this in nurseries.
It’s a pretty tall perennial, about 4 feet, with an upward growth habit and sort of caning branches.
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The doc sent me to have some X-rays taken this morning to make sure no ribs are cracked or broken from my football games Monday night.
I still haven’t gotten the results, so I assume everything is OK.
In the meantime, I’ve developed an intimate relationship with Aleve and Peas.
The doc said to ice as much as I can stand. I can’t.
I jokingly asked if a bag of peas would work. He said if I wanted, but he suggested investing in one of the newer cold packs they sell at local drug stores.
So I checked out CVS. And voila!
I found Peas!
I bought the medium cold pack that “conforms when cold” and “stays colder longer.”
It is so cool! Literally! And too cute.
The Peas therapy packs contain blue and white gel-filled peas that mold to your body. Use the pack over and over again.
Believe me when I say I hate icing, but I actually did it twice at work because the Peas cold pack was actually fun to use!
Peas come in various sizes and styles:
*Large
*Lower back (with a strap that goes around your waist)
*Neck or shoulder
*Knee
*Wrist
*Youth joints
*Little duck (for the kiddies!)
*Little fish
*Little starfish
I recommend using Peas while drinking hot chocolate and wearing a winter coat!
Say what?
Apparently that’s what people like me get after bringing it to win a flag football tourney.
It hurts to:
*Laugh
*Cough
*Sneeze
*Breathe deeply
*Wash my hair
*Put on my seat belt
*Roll out of bed
*Stretch
*Sing
*Get out of the car
*Rock climb
*Sky dive
*Surf Facebook
The doc diagnosed me with costochondritis, or a rib injury.
It traces back to the semi-final match-up with Rarely Caught Sober on Monday night.
RCS captain Nicole manned up on me for the game. She was lined up across from me as I focused on my route.
As soon as G yelled hike, I took off, concentrating on him the whole time. That’s when I crashed into Nicole, smashing into her shoulder with a direct blow to my chest.
The pain was excruciating Monday night after we won, but I still made it to Bar Louie to celebrate. I woke up the next morning in even more pain. That’s when I knew I was in trouble.
The doc says I probably bruised my ribs and tore them away from the cartilage that attaches them to the breastbone.
Ouch!
I go for an X-ray tomorrow, and the doc recommended taking pain pills for a few days (even though I hate taking drugs). The magic words: You’ll probably heal faster. Unfortunately he recommended icing, too.
Even worse, the doc instructed me to cease and desist with all activity for a week. When he saw the look on my face, he said it might even take two weeks.
No activity for at least seven days??
Boo. I guess that’s the price I have to pay for being a champ.
On Monday night, history was made.
Team That’s What She Said put the exclamation point on a perfect flag football season!
That’s right. We are the new fall 2009 Monday Coed Rec League Flag Football champions!
The league is with Tampa Bay Club Sport. It’s guaranteed to be a good time.
We played Rarely Caught Sober—our favorite team—in the semi-finals and won 45-0.
Then we watched the other semi-final game between No. 2 Uncensored and No. 3 TD’s N Beer.
We naturally thought we’d be playing Uncensored in the finals, but with less than two minutes left in the game, the score was 0-0.
It was a battle of the defenses. First team to score wins, literally.
And it was TD’s N Beer that made it happen, 6-0.
In the championship game, our offense and defense were stellar in another shutout—34-0.
G controlled the game well at QB. “Speedy” Jarrod rocked the rushing. Jimmy racked up three interceptions.
That’s What She Said went all the way!
We’ve come a long way since season No. 1, when we won ONE game!
Great job this season!
I caught the last of the food and wine fest at Disney’s Epcot with FOD Janna Begole and her daughter, Jenn, last weekend. We feasted well (for future reference, Argentina’s beef skewers are THE best.)
Here’s Janna and Jenn in Morrocco.
At The Land pavilion, guests take a boat ride through four experimental greenhouses and a fish farm, where everything’s grown with cutting-edge, environmentally sensitive technology. After seeing the huge tomato trees and foot-long cucumbers, Janna and I just had to take the Behind the Seeds tour.
The small, guided tour walks you through all the greenhouses. It costs an extra $16, but we figured it was worth it to learn how to grow a giant tomato tree. And non-gardener Jenn, bless her heart, was game.
The big thing coming out of the pot in the middle of the photo is a tomato tree. It started as a cutting from a tree that grew a world record 1,151.84 pounds of tomatoes from May 2005 to April 2006.
The plants are grown hydroponically—without soil. Some grow in a mixture of peat, perlite and sand. Some grow in water. Some scoot along on a conveyor belt and their dangling roots get shot with sprays of water and fertilizer.
Many are grown vertically. Removing the lower leaves helps cut down on pests and disease, and those leaves don’t get a lot of sun, so they don’t help the plant all that much anyway, we were told. I’m guessing that holds true for ye olde traditional veggie beds, too.
Check out the cucumbers (Chip!):
How’s this for a HydroStacker, Eric? That’s red and butter lettuce. Just like your doo-hickey, the water and fertilizer runs down from top to bottom to hit all the plants.
Vining plants, and some others, are trained to grow up and across a screen. Pipes below keep the roots fed with water and fertilizer. Some growing areas were covered with sand to demonstrate how people who live in very sandy regions can do the same thing. But the Epcot folks have learned that not even Disney magic can stop evil nematodes. They love sand. (I could’ve told ‘em that.) They’re experimenting with a bacterial nematode killer. (No, it’s not available at Home Depot. Yet.)
A lot of the crops here grow super big, and 80 percent of them supply Epcot’s restaurants. The least used crops? The Ghost Pepper—the world’s hottest pepper. And bananas! Go figure.
Check out the 9-pound lemons. (Kim has a hard time just finding uses for all her hefty 12-ounce lemons, so I’m not sure big is always best.)
I think it was about here that I noticed the first signs of horitcultural coma in Jenn. She was given ladybugs to carry around for awhile, then she got to dump them on a plant. That got her through the first part of the tour. But by the 45-minute mark, she was in hyper-glaze. I was a little concerned. She seemed headed toward a true vegetative state—very risky in experimental gardens.
And then she spotted ... Ears!
Strips of screen in a tank in the fish farm area had clearly been shaped into mouse ears. “Hidden Mickey!” Jenn cried, quickly regaining consciousness.
Apparently, there’s a whole Hidden Mickey subculture. Those in the know search for the three circles that are officially—and unofficially—hidden throughout all the Disney theme parks. Jenn also spotted three hoses left coiled on the floor in a most recognizable shape.
Janna and I quickly lost interest in the tour and started looking for Hidden Mickeys (mea culpa—short attention spans.)
One parting shot ... some of the Mickeys are not so hidden. Here’s an eggplant destined to become a mouse.
Baseball player Sammy Sosa appeared on Spanish language station Univision to talk about his lightened appearance. He said he can’t believe his face has attracted the “tsunami” of attention it has.
Sosa said years of playing in afternoon games under the blazing sun caused skin damage, and he’s been using a rejuvination cream to treat it; not to mention, flashing cameras make his appear lighter in photographs. He is not trying to be Michael Jackson (Rest in peace).
Some say Sosa could be suffering from vitiligo (the same skin condition Jackson said he suffered from), others say he got a bad skin service, maybe too many laser treatments.
I’ve had lots of skin rejuvination treatments and I’ve never changed colors. A lot of peeling, shedding and redness, maybe, but I always kept my chocolate hue. If Sammy is using something, he should stop, because he was very handsome with his normal complexion.
And if it’s a cream he’s using that altered his face this way, Sosa needs to give up the name—and file a lawsuit against the company who created it.
If you’ve ever watched “Project Runway” you know who Tim Gunn is. If you’ve never seen the show, you should try and catch a few episodes on Lifetime. Gunn’s a scene-stealer and essentially walks around offering advice and encouragement to aspiring fashion designers.
The Chief Creative officer at Liz Claiborne, has got an eye for fashion and knows what works and what doesn’t—and he isn’t afraid to tell you. I wrote about Gunn in my Hot Pursuits column. Hopefully, I left you wanting a little more of Gunn.
What do you think about Michelle Obama’s style? “I worship the ground she walks on. She’s wonderful. She gets it right.”
On celebrity fashion lines: “Most of the celebrities have nothing to do with their line.”
On Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen’s fashion line: “Interesting work. They are kooky.”
As a former Chair of the Department of Fashion Design at Parsons, how do you think Lindsay Lohan and Lauren Conrad would have done? “I don’t doubt Lindsay Lohan and Lauren Conrad would it beyond the first semester of freshman year.”
Who are your favorite designers? “Coco Chanel, Claire McCardell, Donna Karan. My personal favorite because of staying power and iconic look would be Diane Von Furstenberg.”
Fashion is a competitive industry. Any advice on how to survive? “You need to be like a weeble-wooble. You need to bounce right back up because the industry is trying to knock you over.”
Your thoughts on green fashion? “Eventually, I believe that everything in this nation is going to be green. We should be proud of it.”
“The silver lining to this economic calamity? If I never see another $26,000 handbag I will be perfectly happy. How about a $2,500 handbag? That’s an expensive bag—and you can give the balance to charity.”
Favorite era in fashion? “I wouldn’t want to go back for anything.”
On anorexic models? “When a model’s knee is bigger than her calf it’s ghastly! The industry has to be a partner in preventing it as opposed to enabling it. I blame the modeling agencies.”
On cosmetic surgery? “As long as you don’t notice it, it’s fine. Just don’t look like your walking in a 200 mph gale.”
What was your favorite season of Project Runway? Your favorite design? Season 1. The corn husk dress.
If you could make anyone over, who would it be? “I’d like to talk to Meryl Streep. She’s an incredible actress…but.”
Susan Gillespie’s planter, Boots, won third place in the Hillsborough County Recycled Yard Art Contest!
Yay Boots (and Susan)!
Susan gets a first place from The Dirt—and, judging from the comments—all Friends of the Dirt. But technically speaking (as in, those who walk away with the big checks) there were a couple others.
People’s Choice, voted on by people who went to the Hillsborough County Fair and stopped by the contest tent to vote, went to the purple orchid by Bob Dickey. He made it from a shovel and floor tiles and won $100.
First place went to the Prehistoric Metal Dragon, also by Bob from Brandon who got another $100. He made it from truck parts, railroad parts, shovels and chains.
Second place was Lawnmower Flowers by Alexander Fernandez of Plant City. He deftly skirted nematodes and aphids with old lawn mower blades, anchor bars and plastic roll paper ends.
There was also a category just for schools. Dowdell Middle won for its Toad Condo with Rooftop Squirrel/Bird Feeder.
I’m going to run some of these in The Tribune on Sunday. I’m hoping to include in the little Dig This story some ideas for good-looking recycled yard art that doesn’t require the skill of a mosaic artist (a la Susan) or the metalworking abilities of a guy like Alexander. Just easy, fun things that look cool. Like the rake-head wine glass holder idea I stole from a magazine.
Help me out, friends! If you’ve got ideas, put ‘em in a comment or shoot me an email (address up top of the blog here.)
I’m a day late (but not a dollar short!) in telling you about Hillsborough County’s recycled yard art contest. I’d hoped to post something yesterday to get y’all out to the Hillsborough County Fair today to vote for our own Susan Gillespie’s definitely win-worthy entry. And maybe get some good plant deals at the FNGLA auction (see Chip and Diane’s comments on the post before this.)
But I was having fun and nowhere near a computer when I thought I might be. So, my apologies. But I love yard art, and better still, creating it from stuff that might otherwise go to a landfill. And, as an objective journalist, I have no qualms about pouring on the love for an FOD’s entry.
Our own Susan Gillespie made this beauty (I love it!) from a wooden plant holder she bought at a yard sale. She bought tiles on-line, but did the front and back of kitty’s face from dishes purchased at Goodwill for about $1.
I love Susan’s kitty and I hope it wins! (There’s a People’s Choice award, where fair-goers vote on their favorite, and a first-place voted by judges. Each comes with a $100 prize. Today was the last day for voting, which is why I feel bad about my late post. Mea culpa!!)
Here are some other entries—not as good as Susan’s (in my opinion) but certainly deserving of a polite round of applause.
Bird bath and/or feeder made from an antique aluminum bowl, platter and copper pipe. Submitted by Zachery, Everett and Nathan Salazar.
An orchid submitted by Robert Dickey, Brandon, FL. Made from a shovel and floor tiles.
Banjo made of an old fire pit, wood from recycled telephone pole, plastic straps from hay bales and a grill rack. Submitted by Nicholas Fernandez, Plant City.
Dragonfly! (Looking at this one, I have to remind myself—GOOD bug!!) No details on what it’s made from.
If you’re even mildly creative, I’ll try to give better notice about next year’s contest. Get thinking! (I am.) My fingers are crossed for Susan’s cool cat.
Today, during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ home game against the Green Bay Packers, Lee Roy Selmon will become the first inductee in the team’s Ring of Honor at Raymond James Stadium. He’ll be joined by teammates from the 1979 Bucs squad that made the franchise’s first playoff run.
‘Twenty-five years after his retirement, the Hall of Fame defensive end is probably as well known in this area for his namesake restaurant (and expressway) as he is for his legendary football prowess.
I had a chance to sit for lunch with Selmon recently at his Boy Scout Road restaurant to talk about new dishes recently introduced on the down-home Southern-meets-gameday menu.
A plate of sliders — diners can choose from brisket, pulled pork, ground beef or hot dogs — are is now on the lunch and dinner menus ($5.99 to $6.49).
Peppercorn-crusted ahi tuna with wasabi, ginger and soy sauce ($6.99) and sweet potato fries with sweet vinaigrette ($5.99, above) are new appetizer choices. Spicy Jalapeno Rocket Pockets ($4.99), with bacon, jalapenos and three cheeses with red peppers sprinkled on top inside a crispy shell, are a great starter, too.
Selmon said his favorite is the Tropical Salmon Salad ($10.99, above), which features grilled and glazed salmon on a bed of baby spinach tossed with fresh strawberries, feta cheese, toasted cinnamon pepper pecans and sweet banana chips in a strawberry balsamic vinaigrette.
Yes, Selmon loves salmon. Keep the giggles to a minimum, please.
The new items are an effort to refresh the menu and give diners less expensive offerings so they can afford to eat out during the economic downturn.
Selmon learned about food while* working on the family farm as a boy in Oklahoma. He learned about restaurants while under the umbrella of OSI Restaurant Partners, home to Outback, Carrabba’s, Bonefish Grill, Fleming’s and Roy’s.
Selmon’s isn’t known for items like ahi tuna, but he said it reflects an effort to stay flexible in the marketplace.
“I relate a lot to my sports background and how the game changed somewhat from the time I came in as a rookie until I got out of it 10 years later,” Selmon said. “There was a lot of running when I came in and a lot of passing when I left. The fans changed, the presentation changed. Over time, we’ve been doing some changing at the restaurant as well to enhance the customer experience.”
“Our core values don’t change, like the fundamentals of sports,” he said. “I think it brings out the best in us when it happens.”
Next up are plans to expand to a seventh location, this time on State Road 60 in Brandon. It’s expected to open in March.
