Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

a productive trip (mentions politics)

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 22:04:27 GMT

I went downtown to get a half-price Charlie card (fare card), which went pretty well and quickly even though I was a little distracted. I have a card with "TEMP" written on it in red, good for 30 days while I wait for the permanent card to arrive in the mail. I had a card that had expired last year, and one that stopped working one day. I brought both of those with me, and they transferred the value to my new card.

Next stop was the farmers market at Copley, where I was surprised to find tomatoes that looked and smelled worth buying. I picked out several, and didn't buy anything else, because I didn't want to risk squashing the tomatoes.

The final stop was a nearby CVS, where I got an RSV vaccine, and then bought some band-aids. When I had paid and was ready to leave, I realized I'd left my hoody on the chair where they vaccinated me, so I hurried back upstairs, found it, and assured the pharmacy clerk that yes I was OK, I'd just forgotten something. I would have gotten it sooner, but was waiting two weeks after the flu and covid boosters, at my doctor's recommendation. However, given the news, I am trying to figure out what if any other vaccines I can sensibly get before the anti-vaxers take over the Department of Health. Is five years and one month too soon for another tetanus and whooping cough booster? (In normal circumstances, I might be considering it seven years after the last dose.

On the way home I was feeling a bit worn out, mentally more than physically, but I remembered that I had achieved the primary goal of this outing, the half-price Charlie card, and both the secondary goals.

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ordered tomatoes

Sat, 09 Oct 2021 17:30:39 GMT

I just pre-ordered three Paul Robeson tomato plants for delivery next spring. I was going to get two plants, but added one because it felt silly to be paying more for shipping than for the actual purchase. I do not need, and did not order, $50 worth of plants: I'm just getting the three tomato plants, and will get some non-heirloom cherry tomatoes locally next spring, if all goes well.

I am also planning to buy lettuce plants locally. I am not going to even try to grow cucumbers, after two years of dismal failures. (The plants flowered, and produced fruit, which turned a sickly yellow last year, and a weird orange this year.)

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planted one tomato

Sun, 13 Jun 2021 19:29:55 GMT

I have put one (1) tomato plant in a container, and watered the previously transplanted cucumbers and tomatoes.

I was going to transplant three tomato plants, and maybe a couple of cucumbers, but instead of the full bag of potting/garden soil I thought I had, found a partly empty bag of soil that I know isn't the one I bought.

I will probably pull out the non-lettuce salad greens, which are working on being ornamental (flowers!) and use those containers for other two tomato plants. The tomatoes arrived significantly late, which seems to miss the point of pre-ordering seedlings. And then I was sick enough that I wasn't even going outside.

The tomato I transplanted is an heirloom strain, Paul Robeson, which I discovered at a farmers market when we lived in Washington. It's said to need a longer growing season than average, which means putting it in the ground halfway through June, in Massachusetts, may be cutting things close. (What puzzles me about this is that it's a Russian variety, supposedly bred for that climate.)

Sometimes choosing things because you like the name works.

Also, the lettuces are still small, and tasty (not bitter), and I saw a flower on one of the cucumber plants.

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