Blossom-end Rot spoils more than Tomatoes

 

This summer’s perfect tomato eludes me. A couple have come close. But 

my winter dreams of ripe red globes nurtured, ripened and delicious are 

ruined by blossom-end rot (BER). 

I dug in special tomato fertilizer to the planting mix. I switched to high calcium

 fertilizer mid-season.  I relished the smell of the growing plants. I counted the

 pearl-sized fruit. And as the tell-tale spots began, I added dried milk to my 

watering can.  As a last resort, I crushed anti-acid tablets high in calcium and 

dug them in around the plants. I hope they like the fruit flavors. 

Oh, fellow gardeners, you know the keen disappointment when you are robbed 

of the once-a-year gastronomic prize. 

Now I’m in rescue mode, picking fruit that shows signs of the rot. I let them 

ripen just a bit more, and cut off the browned portion. At least I’m getting a 

delicious sample if not the bounty.

I find that red tomatoes with flat brown bottoms make for apt analogies.

Consider these.                   

disagreement:friendship::BER:tomato

You have a wonderful friend. Then some disagreement or disappointment 

occurs to spoil it. Rather than give up, I try to put the conflict aside, and 

rescue the good that's left.

disease:body::BER:tomato 

A disease in a healthy body is like a rot. Preserving life may require 

bombarding it with medication, or poisons like chemo, or cutting out the 

sickness. Thus the organism can be saved, if not restored.

cancelled vacation plans:summer::BER:tomato

We cancelled our summer plans one by one because we wanted to avoid 

possible corona-virus infection. We finally threw up our hands and declared 

we’d enjoy the pleasures at a later time. The hoped for trips are postponed, 

not eliminated. We rescued the dreams. 

disappointment:life::BER:tomato

On a grand scale, life has disappointments the feel like bruises and look 

like scars. But if I cut out the festering bitterness, some of the sweet 

satisfaction can be preserved. 

What analogy could you write? Add it as comment on Facebook if you can. 

Theos Thursday: Guidebook or God's Book?

The guidebook for tourists advised it was best to ignore beggars, and warned of teams of pickpockets posing to rob do-gooders.

photo by 3 centista, pixabay

But God’s book showed me that when Peter met a beggar he said “I don’t have any silver or gold. But I’ll give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk.”      Acts 3:6, New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

While traveling in Spain I maintained my habit of daily Bible reading. The first morning in Barcelona I read the above account. Great story, but I failed to see that it applied to me.

I closed my Bible, went out sight-seeing, and passed by two beggar women without even remembering what I’d read. 

The next day I reread the passage and felt the Holy Spirit pinch. I confessed my self-centeredness and devised a simple plan for the next opportunity. 

On a street busy with foot traffic I saw a clean-cut middle aged man sitting in a doorway with a sign that said “I have problems. Help me.” He looked defeated. I stooped down to be on his level and using my barely-adequate Spanish asked him what the problems were. He said he was sick, and unemployed. I asked his name. After I dropped a few euros in his can, I told Antonio I would pray for him in Jesus’ name. 

I walked away convinced God had caused our paths to cross. 

Not ten minutes later another man, rumpled and needing a shave, approached me. He also needed help, and said his name was Antonio. Really, Lord? He looked as if drinking might be his biggest problem, and I didn’t want to be generous. I briefly pretended I didn’t speak Spanish, but the Holy Spirit prodded again. I promised to pray for him in Jesus’ name, and shared more euros.

The Antonios keep coming to mind and I have prayed for them many times. 

When I first read Acts 3:6 I was just completing an item on my do-list. When God opened my mind and heart to his word, I found I could give what I had—a little Spanish, a few euros, and faithful prayer in Jesus’ name.

 

Ask God to show you how he wants you to obey him today. Maybe he’ll send you an Antonio. 

This was originally published on christiandevotions.us, where you can find daily devotions.

Private Trade War with China

    

TikTok isn't the only nefarious plot against Americans by the Chinese. There's the less known underwear bait and switch. And it started my own private trade war with China.

I took the bait when an ad popped up for a bra that looked so comfortable I had to have it. 

I waited three weeks and contacted customer service. They assured me it had shipped, and sent the tracking number.  Uh-oh. 

First lesson learned, verify the location from which the item is being shipped.  (When I saw another interesting product online I emailed that customer service center and learned that although the company was German, the product would be shipped from China.  No thanks. )

I waited another month and then asked to have the order canceled. Too bad, so sad, it had been shipped.

I found the translate-to-English button on the original tracking order which revealed that my item was in Chengdu China, 6,287 nautical miles from here. The package had been passed off to an airline transport center on April 28th.

There it sat until May 5th when it was returned to the processing center for a security concern.  I bet my US addressed was the trigger.  A day later, it was cleared. 

Sounds like Chinese job security. Agent A says to Agent B "Ooh, look, a very tiny package. Very light.  It's going to an American. It could be something dangerous." The next day Agent A gets it back with yet another official stamp on it and it's no longer a security issue. 

June 16th it arrived in Los Angeles. Perhaps the plane island hopped? 

A week later it arrived in my mailbox. 

I opened the package carefully. I didn't want to slice the garment along with the package. I should have because there is no way a senior woman with a filled-out shape could wear that thing without cutting it open. It wouldn't fit MY body. Labeled M for medium, it looked like M for minuscule. Perhaps they measured in centimeters, not inches.  I couldn't even get it over one arm and my head at the same time. 

Whew,  Chinese women must have veeerry tiny rib cages.

Second lesson, confirm the unit of measurement and ask for the garment's circumference.

So I waited three months for an undergarment that is ridiculously small and unwearable by any adult or child I know.  

I wrote again. Asked if I could exchange it THIS SIDE OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.  No, they said, and I would have to pay the shipping back to China. For crying out loud. Third lesson, sometimes it's just better to take the loss and move on.   

 I wish I could hover around the ARC display bin to see who takes the bait the second time.  

Complaining to a friend about the experience, she recommended a sports bra. It came fast. Once I got it on, it was comfortable. But as I've said before, a garment that requires a ladies' maid just isn't practical. Maybe the next size up will be the ticket. 

What was your worst online shopping experience? What wisdom could you share with us? 

If I Were a Plant, I'd be a Thistle

One of the great pleasures of a garden is how it ties you to the current season and the cycles of growth for each plant.  Lacking a garden, I go out of my way to stay tuned to the natural rhythms of the plants around me. 

At the end of June, I tramped around a small wetland. The overgrowth was unsightly, but I was hunting for a prize—the thistle. While many people look at them as aggressive agricultural pests, I cut freely from neglected lots as soon as the buds are plump.

I studied it carefully. The geometry of the bud compelled me to look more closely.

Note the bud, how the thin green bracts spiral around the head.   (If you like the mathematical properties of plants, enjoy close-up photos here .)

The thistle is Scotland’s national flower, and wherever it is found its nectar attracts pollinators like bees and butterflies. Painted Lady butterflies like to deposit their larvae among the prickles. Goldfinches like the seeds. And there’s even evidence it has medicinal value, as it contains anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

The stems are edible if peeled and boiled. This speaks to the extreme and barren nature of the Scottish Isles, that prepping its spiky leaves and stem is worth the effort. Here’s a link to instructions and a recipe to prepare them. Let me know if you try.  

I enjoyed the cycle of bud and bloom in cut flowers and other years have gone back for the  dried seed head for fall flower arrangements. 

All parts of the cycle require leather gloves and sharp pruners. 

I agree with this description of the plant (from scottish-at-heart.com)

Scottish thistles have:

• Delicately beautiful flower heads,
• Viciously sharp thorns,
• A stubborn and tenacious grip on the land,
• The defiant ability to flourish in spite of efforts to remove it 

I think it fits me, too. I recognize myself to be stubborn, and according to my family, I have a prickly personality. 

I hope I have a bit of that defiant ability to flourish in the face of adversity. 

All that from a "weed." What do you do with thistles, curse or enjoy them?