THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANTIGONUM

LET THE record show that Constantin, the character by Keanu Reaves, in the film with similar tittle appeared last night in a not sure if dream/nightmare and commanded your humble servant to write these lines.

In our times there are now: dance instructors, motivators, personal trainers and life coaches, too many with a high school like culture. Everyone into these fads is making a buck helping people without much creativity, stamina, or research skills. In Puerto Rico, some of the greatest jerks and jerkettes minds are into this kind of service.

I learned how to lift weights, exercise from magazines, watching others. Dancing was learned practicing at home, sharing with others. It seems that is no longer the case and people must go to dance school for lessons. However, I find too baroque the dancing styles nowadays, the couples seem very foolish as in a ball room competition...

AT any rate, it is time to share my views, based on experience, life observation, regarding trees that no one should ever plant in an URBAN context. Particularly in sidewalks a la Puerco Rico five feet wide, driveways or ANY paved surface close by the tree in question.

That is a priority, please keep in mind electrical wires also. The
beyond imbeciles providing maintenance to those wires in Puerco Rico will mutilate an destroy any tree close by, even if the branches are not
a hazard, they will amputate by impulse, it is a habit. Therefore plant small trees. Do not be a jerk. Look around and calculate how tall will your preference grow upwards in five/ten years. How will the roots spread? Be humble, get rid of it, if mistaken when it is less than eight
inches in diameter. Or do as I do. Calculate how many years you have left to live.

ANTIGONUM CAJAN
BANNED TREES
FOR ANY URBAN CONTEXT
with conditions similar to
Puerto Rico, USA in the tropics

Lagerstroemia speciosa
Terminalia catappa
Couroupita guianensis
Eucaliptus pauciflora
Swietenia mahogani/macrophyla
Cassia javanica
Ceiba pentandra
Barringtonia asiatica
Dilenia indica
Ficus nekbuda/any Ficus
Delonix regia
Peltophorum inerme
Enterolobium cyclocarpum
Cananga odorata
Pithelobium dulce
Mangifera indica
Tectona grandis
Bucida buceras
Spathodea campanulata
Pterocarpus indicus
ANY PALM
no
exceptions

that is that.

If you are wondering for reasons here they go. Leaves. The following are the worst: Terminalias, Bucidas and Mahogany, in terms of leaves drops, they fall like snow. Leaves on the ground, in the neck of the woods may seem picturesque. They are also useful in terms of protecting the soil providing nutrients with decomposition and slowing the force of rains,
decreasing erosion .

However, leaves on any paved surface create not only a problem of aesthetics, particularly around a house or any type of property/building,
but of safety/hazard when wet.

More important some leaves will STAIN the surface. Mahogany/Bucida
are known for that. The stains may be cool if you have an artistic vein, but of a rusty/swamp water brown color, not my favorite.

With these trees you get a bonus, they get soapy slippery after it rains ..If you fall fine, but if some else does, you may be in court with a law suit. Seeds from Mahogany are a real nuisance due to their hard skin.

The roots are another type of problem since they may wrap around your
water pipes, or may lift the paved surface looking for oxygen. It is that simple. Most roots in any tree grow in the top 18 inches of soil. They have great hydraulic power, lifting not only sidewalks, driveways, but also
houses! It depends on the tree and its age.

What do I have? Murrayas, Calliandra, Bauhinia, Coccoloba, Pithelobium,
Dracaena, Jatropha gossyfilia, and five varieties of Frangipani on the ornamental department. Of this list, only the first two in the ground. In the orchard there are lemon, oranges and Malpighia in pots. Carica papaya, lemon in the ground. None of my trees will create any of the problems mentioned.

From the list of banned trees many are evident in the most absurd spaces imaginable creating all the mentioned problems. They would do fine in great expanses, but not around structures unless forty feet around to
spread, and no paved surfaces. Time to go..

Editors Note
'Tree Maintenance'
Oxford University Press
by
P.P. Pirone
is the only book
I care to use and
suggest
as
reference.

NOISE POLLUTION BLUES AND BONUS

I DO not know what are the noise levels in your country, or your surroundings. I am certain however that if your houses, buildings, backyards are mostly concrete as ours, the heat at night, the constant noise night and day as Cole Porter, most be unbearable, unless you are deaf.

Behind our residence there is Universidad Sagrado Corazon. They installed what seems an illegal cafeteria, for many years. Since the owner
is a feeble minded fool without the adequate freezers, almost daily, I have
to deal with the diesel fumes, the noise of the motors, the beeps when in
reverse, the anti theft cars systems activated by the delivery trucks vibrations.

That is not all unfortunately. The garbage dumpster truck comes daily, it
used to be at 3AM until I protested. Now is at seven. Right now there is a
refrigerated truck waiting to be unloaded. I have to listen to the diesel one and the refrigerator also... There is also the voices, always hollering,
of the illegal/natives cheap labor they contract for the cafeteria and maintenance.

The next door neighbors from hell, I will call them the vampires, have those stupid play station games. These are only car racing, paintball,
and war games. The roar, explosions all the way up is all one hears at any time to an extent that the house vibrates, believe it or not.

They can not open the kitchen cabinet doors without slamming, or the uneven entrance, bedroom doors there always some kind of noise among
these weirdos. There is one, Darky, who can not make a five word sentence, spiced with foul language, without hollering at 1, 4 or 5 AM.
His car has a muffler gadget sounding almost like a Harley Davidson.

On top, the garbage truck at 3AM to avoid traffic jams. The fools with their cellular phones, sound as if in the living room, while walking in the west sidewalk in front of the house.

This alone is a great reason to plant whatever is suitable in your residence, if in tropical surroundings with a yard,
to reduce a little this maddening, irritating, annoyance.

Which reminds me of my last address in NY, 736 W 186 St. #6J. On top of
us there was a black ugly couple. It was a 45 apartment coop and rental. The rest of the population as most of the Upper West Side, is mostly Hebrews of all kinds and Hispanics.

Alfreeta Jonhson, had breasts as rugby balls and lips of fish with a flat, square butt. She 'played' the harp. Unless you live in an apartment in those cold places with wooden floors and sheet rock walls, one has no idea how LOUD any musical instrument sounds. These fish lips ugly witch could not play but five or six wedding type tunes, a pain in the ass.
She enjoyed practicing after nine pm...We ended in court when I stopped
paying the rent.

On top, when fornicating one could hear not the hollering but the squeaks of the cheap, shitty bed...When walking it was done on the heels, every step just like hitting the floor with a rubber mallet. Pure torture that has caused the death of many, or wounds when the irritation reaches that point beyond reason.

What is worst? I believe that deprivation of sleep is the cruelest form of torture. If you add some noise, you have created the perfect one.
In NY or any place where one has no choice but to be inside because of the
cold, it creates the most intense anxiety one could imagine.

Other repugnant noises are jukeboxes, home stereos, people/children in
malls chatting loudly non stop. I wonder why acoustics are not considered while designing those damn malls that I avoid like the bubonic plague.

A last word before the bonus. Noise is always increasing, everywhere. It is impossible to go to a bar, doctors office without a television blaring.
Always in the shittiest possible show, never any kind of documentary. A
really disturbing experience, the pollution no one talks/writes about.
It is like it does not exist.

GUERRILLA ACTS
OF YESTERDAY

Attempted planting of
seeds of Ipomoeas, Merremias,
Cavalina, Thespesia populnea in
Hospital San Carlos, an abandoned
building. Aborted since some strangers
were in the surroundings placing cinder
blocks on were the stolen aluminum windows
had been removed.

Armed with my weeder, I moved to the 2ND option, the official
Guerrilla Garden, planting the seeds
between the cyclone fence and the sidewalk
right by a huge Pithelobium dulce.

I moved to the next site, Banco Popular. The high ground
is mostly gravel, once white, I dug a four inch
deep hole as an experiment.

From there we attacked the Sagrado Corazon.
This college has a concrete/iron fence about four feet high.
In total, 50 seeds were planted, equally distributed. Fortunately, as I
write is raining....I expect that perhaps ten will survive for a while.
That is that....

CATTLE OF THE SEAS

A COUPLE of weeks ago your humble servant went the ecotourist way to Old San Juan, a pretty old city, one of the first down this continent. It was a terrible mistake. Here is why.

For some reason, explained by extreme boredom, thousands, or even
hundred of islanders go for the sucker's spin. It consists of driving in a slow jam starting in el Condado through Ashford Ave, making a right after the temporary bridge (7 years in construction), perhaps six hundred meters long, to continue to the former walled city.

We parked about half a mile from the city, knowing that the traffic moves
as quickly as a quadriplegic turtle. The we is not for effect, I was not alone. The smoke, noise, heat, was like a Nordic fog. Hundreds of tourists from one of the many cruisers that stop by were strolling with that peculiar speed that people show when lacking stamina and little time to see as much as possible in a hurry. Like a matter of life or death.

Now imagine narrow streets, some with cobble stones, with cars parked on one side, cars trying to move on the right, in the tight space, beeping of horns, people in groups trying to maneuver in the four feet wide sidewalks, spilling into the gutters..A real trip that would make the socially dysfunctional get some cosmic nausea.

As one get closer to the US CUSTOMS pink building, where the ships anchor, the street vendors of everything imaginable, snacks, hats, pinha coladas, cotton candy, you name it, making the small room to maneuver even smaller, plus the noise, smoke and heat ever present. Why people
think this is any way fun, you tell me. Now after this intro...what matters to me...

The first famous liner the Titanic, sank on the maiden voyage on 14 April
1912. Of the total passengers 2,223, 1517 died. In 30 May 1914, the Aquitannia made its debut.. The day before, The Empress of Ireland sank,
with 1,000 dead. Where am I going? Not the dead or sinking but pollution. Imagine all the pollution that ocean liners cruising has created
since...That is why these ships are mentioned.

When I see the modern liners as floating buildings a certain fright comes
to mind. I am not a water salty or not, fan, particularly water sports. But
what I am getting into is that cruise ships and their passengers/large crews generate more than the average amounts of sewage, greywater and solid waste. Do you think of it, at all?

A polluting industry for the entertainment of mostly bored, fat, old people. I know a couple that go traveling along the surrounding darkies
islands, on their return, it never fails, their conversation is only about food, eating with no end. That seems the goal of cruise lovers.

Now to finish these post on cattle, lets mention the pollution by those
oil tankers like endemismo, spanning the globe. They spill bilge and ballast water anywhere, without much remorse..

The USA is really worried about the consequence of ballast water in their
territory. The Asian carp is about tho reach the Great Lakes. The fear is so real that plans to close the Mississippi river connection to the lakes are being discussed. That is not the only problem. Mussels are clogging the pipes in the region thanks to this ballast water....If interested in the subject, start in Wikipedia,
under, 'cruise ship pollution'. IF planing to go cruising, ask your travel agent if the water is treated, or just thrown up to three miles from shores, as international law allows them to do.

If you cruise, cruise responsibly. And that is that, time to go...

CARDINAL MOVES AND EXCERPT BONUS

AFTER SEVEN days with rain, the sun is back.. I can not imagine what a trip would be to have such a wet season for six months in a row, as it happens in other places.

Two pink Frangipanis propagated from seed went from the east side to the old cement round pots, a present from Don Miguel, in the north. Both trees are about a year old, measuring about two feet. They flank the handsome Dracaena in front of our decorative garage, since we prefer to park in across the street in front of the house.

The Ochna mossabicensis and Bauhinia tomentosa former residents, are now in the south side with a Bauhinia blakeana and Bixa orellana as new
garden mates. Some dwarf Ruellias were planted not far on the ground,
after the final eviction of the Wedelias and Bejucos, pain in the ass. A few
Wedelias are left in other areas but they are not a priority now. The compost pile was aerated and shredded newspapers added to increase volume and reduce humidity. Earthworms love them.

Another day, another rain. The sky looks pretty much as those autumn
days in the northeast of USA, Northampton comes to mind...At any rate,
I found a couple of paragraphs in a book mentioned recently.

THE BROTHER GARDENERS
Amy Wulf

In many ways, Thorndon was the first garden in which Enlightenment thinking found its visual expression. It was, as Collinson wrote, a garden based on "Hints Borrowed from Nature."
For centuries , high walls had excluded untamed nature from the garden, providing protection from the landscape beyond. Now, with the Enlightenment and man's growing knowledge of the natural world, gardeners embraced the idea of letting nature reign. Petre had planted his trees
and shrubs in such a way as to allow the visitor to think of them not as an object of singular delight but as an integral part of a larger landscape. He had followed Miller's advice that his plants should "appear accidental as in a natural Wood," and grow like "Spontaneous acts of
Nature." Clumps in the lawn like those at Thorndon created drifts of dense growth on the smooth grass, unlike the complex patterns of baroque gardens, which were better enjoyed from the windows of the first or second floor. Thorndon could only be appreciated by walking along its meandering gravel paths.

Petre had carefully tiered the trees and shrubs that lined these paths so that they rose in height, almost like seats in a theatre, the smallest flowers at the front, the largest trees at the rear. And
whereas, in the past gardens had been experiences just for the eyes, now they were for all senses.
Some of the flowers come so close to the path that the hooped petticoats of the women visitors brushed against them, releasing the fragrant scents of the blossom. And instead of motion less
rigid hedges that used to enclose parts of the garden like "Prison Walls," here at Thorndon the leaves dance to the maraca rhythm of the wind. Pages 93/94

IN Puerco Rico USA, these simple, ancient principles are IGNORED. The landscape architects/agronomist jerks are still in the DARK AGES. I have been wondering what is the great difficulty to understand this rule. A garden should look natural. Feel natural, appealing to all senses. I am sure in your country, many gardens have that stiff, with abundant overkill trimming/pruning also.

In endemismo I have mentioned a hundred times the ridiculous, absurd
garden installations all over the island, in public/private contexts. Costly to install and a pain in the ass to maintain. With these excerpts there should be no doubts. I did not pull the principle out of my sleeve. It seems that it has been there to be studied for two hundred years.

A few last words. I used to love the essence of the ZEN/Japanese/Chinese garden, however, it is exactly the contrary of what I practice/preach nowadays. From this gardening school I still enjoy those elements found in those rectangles with walls, with just white gravel/sand, raked in classical designs, rocks/stones placed accordingly and a few not stiff bushes in the classical/standard impair groupings, in total quiet to meditate or hang out. Time to go...

TOOLS FOR THE MASTER GARDENER

IF YOU ARE NOT, into tools, may not know names, please check: amleonard.com or gempers.com for illustrations. I tell you one thing, if you buy anything for the first, be willing to pay the same
price for shipping as for the merchandise. A strange trick that does not make much sense to your humble servant. Caution with brands, ergonomic cute tools, some stink, are useless, Fiskars, hand pruners for example.

• Pick axes, are the best for digging. The ones I have are about 18" long, not to heavy, great for small, hard to reach places. On the other hand, 2ouglas Kndelabro, the isle gardening guru of the feeble minded, uses a monster that weights about eight pounds, with a 3/4 feet handle. More adequate for planting a palm tree. I have never seen someone looking more stupid while digging a hole to plant, lest say Petunias. So do not be a jerk; get the proper gardening tool!
  

• Nursery spade. Mine has a wooden short handle. Not expensive. Some are really works of art. I use it for digging, cutting roots, to create edges and so forth. One spade will do if you know what you are doing.
• Trowel, cultivator, transplanter are great tools if you are constantly planting/propagating in the ground or in pots.
• Grounds keeping maintenance/cleaning. 24" spring brace rake. This tool is necessary if there are leaves, grass to remove. If you have a yard with lots of these get a good, expensive if necessary rake. You will use it a lot. The handle should be adequate to your height, not too short/too long.
  
• Picking up within bushes requires a 9" shrub rake. Unless you want to spend hours like a fool, in uncomfortable hard to reach positions, organic debris within your plants.
• If you have gravel, sand, or into the ZEN bag, a wooden rake will make the surface,really neat and attractive.
  
• Push broom. It there are areas covered with concrete/pavers get one. Also a regular broom, not a wimpy for inside the house and dust pan. Save the environment, no blowers please.
  
• 30 gallon Pop Up Container. The best there is. Light weight, sturdy, weights 2 pounds closed! When you go pruning take it with you, place it close by. Cut and throw. You could use a plastic bag or drop later in one. But do not be a fool, cutting, throwing on the ground, to pick up the mess later when you are tired.
• 10 gallon Pop Up Container, just as the above for smaller shores..
• Pistol grip handle reacher. If you have, live by places where garbage, organic or not accumulates. Instead of bending like fools do here, holding the plastic bag in one hand, struggling to keep it open against the wind, and using the free hand to pick, follow the steps above. Place the pop up close by, while gripping with the handle reacher.
• Hand pruner. Like the rake, get the best your money can buy, it does not have to be expensive, just comfortable, well built. If you practice gardening with passion, no other tool is more important, you will probably use it daily, if you have a big garden.
• 18" high speed precision pruning saw. It could be of the folding kind or not. One thing I tell you. I hate loppers. They are awkward to use, not getting a clean cut always. With this saw I cut anything above 1" diameter branches. I have used it believe it or not for 6,8 inches. It is a matter of being patient, and a good saw of course.
• If you have trees, a Telescoping pole saw is necessary. Or climb twenty feet in a ladder and cut with the 18" pruning saw above. Please get someone to hold it for safety.
  
• A seat and/or cushion to kneel. This is pertinent, if you are over 55, or fat, out of shape.
• Asparagus knife for weeding. An excellent tool, particularly in concrete and other crevices.
• Glysophate. The only chemical I use, against weeds, grass or broad leaves. Do not buy Roundup. Too expensive and little of the real thing, check the labels. What you want is the highest percentage of glysophate. That is that.
• Compression sprayer. Mine is a one gallon. Get one with a filter. Otherwise, when using it with tea compost it will get clogged. Even if you filter the tea, some fibers may go free.
• After the hand pruner, broom, dust pan, the sprayer is the tool I use the most. With compost, foliage fertilizer or plain water to scare insects, particularly white flies.

Perhaps I have missed something. Maybe you have your own favorite tools. If you ask about
the budget for all these, it may reach over three hundred bucks. But not all were bought at once.
I remind new arrivals that once I tried to do landscape maintenance for hire. Not every
person into gardening may need all these tools, however I believe necessary to know of their
existence and uses. If you consider yourself a trend setter in the gardening sphere, then you need tools to set the example, some reference books, a nice collection of plants. Most important perhaps, as I often do, to demonstrate great humility...haja bilingual laugh...Time to go.....

from the editors
REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
part I

A couple of Spindalis, were surprised
this morning while constructing their
future home in MY garden, by the
ipomoeas, cavalinnas in a pot
in the south side.

GUERRILLA GARDENING STRATEGICS AND GARDENING TOOLS

I HAVE had this post in mind for a long time. TOOLS. I believe that a wise gardener will have the right, precise tools for the task at hand. You may have noticed a certain
ability here for criticism, tools are not an exception. A gardener could be judged by
the knowledge and use of tools, even if he/she never has a chance to use or buy them.

Lets start with the hands, gloves, cheap or expensive. If you use ridiculous gloves for
construction, you will have no tact, for planting/re potting, fool. USE gardening gloves.
My favorites are the rubber/fabric type. You decide what is best starting with your budget and comfort. If you use gloves you will not get bruised/cut easily.

If you are an 'elegant' former ladies man, you do not want sandpaper textured palms/fingers. Ladies will not go for it.. Neither will the ladies tolerate to have ugly
hands. Please do not use dish washing gloves, unless dealing with wet situations.Using them will reduce dirt on nails. You could find web sites selling soaps, scrub, hand care lotions and other products to protect your skin when gardening.

A nice cool hat. Not the clown tourist like with a huge wide rim. Get something elegant, not an absurd baseball cap. The material should be breathable, preferably in a light color, perhaps washable. If your hat make you look like a clown, just as the one
preferred by Alberto Areces Mallea, it will give away your sophistication and your gardening skills, in this case, ZERO.

Something to protect your eyes is relevant, particularly among shitty Gingers/Heliconias. Short pants and long sleeve shirts/polos if under the sun for long periods of time. That is that in this department. Since I do not use trimmers, blowers, or lawn mowers, nothing on that. You may research on your own.

To be continued....

On strategics for the legal/illegal, authorized/unauthorized planting of whatever, or Guerrilla Gardening, a movement originated in England, with many chapters over there, here is what
my practice has taught me. This is for Puerco Rican islanders. You in your country of preference should think, develop, convenient strategies.

Distance

The chosen site should be at a walking distance or by car. If there are too many cars and no parking then, you see it. Carrying of water is also a consideration, to irrigate when necessary.

The planting of the chosen ones should take place during rainy days or afterwards. First reason
is that a softer soil will be easier to dig, even if mostly construction debri as my chosen site. The second, is reducing the stress for vegetation on a saturated soil will increase survival odds.

Planting on a site close by, will allow for irrigation trips and inspection. As reported recently
the Tamarindus indica was mutilated with a machete. One maguey uprooted. The
first has a great chance to survive since the cut at around twelve inches from the ground, a healthy root system, will help the healing. The second cut in two pieces and thrown away, was
replanted in the original place and the other piece with roots perhaps twenty feet away.

My guerrilla in statistics and possibilities required a new stance. Two casualties. Fifty percent of survival rate is better than nothing, but not good enough. Therefore, I took around twenty seeds of Cavalinna maritima a vine/climber; planting them in ten different spots, concentrating intion e bare ground spots where the trimmers may not come, without grass. In adition, tree Turneras ulmiforme about 18' tall in a wise spot.

Now you may inquire, why do I insist? For the hell of it! Not all the seeds will grow at the same time, some will live longer. The Turneras will have to produce some seeds to be able to sustain the struggle, otherwise they may end like the Tamarindus, dismembered or uprooted like the Maguey. From now on I will concentrate on short bushes, preferably self seeding types, seeds of all kinds and watch what happens.. Time to go.

SHOOTING AT RANDOM

IT HAS RAINED for the last thirty six hours. All is wet, even the air. It has finally cooled as it should during this season. November and December were too hot, I know.
You are thinking global warming. I remind you concrete/asphalt. All that heat absorbed and irradiated at night...

Yesterday I went to monitor the guerrilla garden. I found the Maguey, of the Agavaceas, similar in shape and color, to the Blue Agave if you are into tequila. One
of the illiterate members of the weed whackers squad, had pulled it out and thrown
ten feet from where I had planted it. Why you may wonder? I do not know. The laborers into gardening shores here, are among the most feeble minded segment of
the general feeble minded population.

The trimmers obliterated the twenty four Cosmos sulphureous reported recently. The tall grass, with plenty of seeds for the small birds, was also eliminated. ANY wild vegetation adequate for this type of urban space destroyed. Any tree, bush, vine, plants, with objective or subjective natural value gone. Nonetheless your humble servant planted the victim again where it was. Collected some pods of Pithelobium dulce. I had a chance to taste it. Not bad. The texture and flavor not out of this world
but with gastronomical possibilities. If you have tried the fruit from the Tamarindus indica, you may like this one. However, while on the tree it opens spirally, dark brown in the outside,
reddish borders, revealing the white pulp, hiding the dark seeds. Birds love it. I think that it could be used for juice, some deserts with imagination. I finished the adventure planting some seeds in adequate places, knowing their slim odds to reach adulthood.

In the home garden, the weight of the rain has bended some of those who tend to grow in a vertical versus wide, Hibiscus, Murrayas, Cosmos, Turnera ulmiforme and others.
After it has rained, is probably the best time to plant, relocate, propagate, but not for
pruning, since wetness increases the possibilities of spreading diseases.

Taking advantage of the situation the following from the north garden went south: Pseuderantemun carrutherssi/reticulatum. By accident. These two bushes are perfect
to create texture, color contrasts. One is a variegated purple, the other a chartreuse green that gets darker as time go by.. I did not think of the eventual effect until later. The other two were some ferns that I am not two fond of. These ferns belong to a group of plants found in the residence when we moved. I left them to keep some of the original vegetation, hoping that some day I may grow to like them, a little more. Somehow one's tastes are beyond analysis. Ferns are generally overused. In some contexts their architectural shape is spectacular but not always. Some are really beautiful, but have the same problem as the following: Gingers, Heliconias, Bejuco de puerco and Wedelia trilobata. You have to watch them constantly or
they will take the whole garden. I used these two ferns because they may grow nicely in this corner of the south.

After the success with the Yucca manihot, and the batatas, (Ipomoeas) I will start a pot
plantation, in one of my fiberglass rectangular ones to see what happens. This reminds
in terms of edible gardening for the tropics, perhaps it would be more pragmatic to plant tubers of all kinds instead of just herbs, lettuce, tomatoes and such. To do something original, swapping this for that, bartering among the gardeners should be the goal. I have so many lemons, capsicum that often I have to give some away, unable to use them. If planting is done with a purpose, many people will benefit, the hungry ones and the not so....

To finish with some thought provoking information... The Chinese are moving in a direction that will certainly surpass the USA in environmental destruction. In thirty
years they have destroyed as much as this country in a hundred and fifty. The Meckong River is one of their victims, along with other countries sharing it and building dams to the left and right reducing the amount of flow reaching Vietnam.
This in turn will eliminate sediment/nutrition and voila,,,a two billion dollar fishing
industry feeding the surrounding population gone....

China again is into the nuclear reactors fever...To reduce the GLOBAL WARMING,
believe or not.. This are the people that make toys with lead, poison in tooth paste,
killing chemicals in milk, will construct a HUGE river to bring water to desert areas.
And so long and so forth. This country is certainly going to screw up the WORLD, particularly ASIA.

India, is moving in the same direction, destroying the environment will reach a similar amount of inhabitants as China, in 2025. If these two countries follow the USA consumption models: cars, private houses, highways and malls it will be interesting to speculate as to how will they feed those rabbit like propagating people in one hand,
and the most significant: how do you built water treatment plants for sewage for such amount of people? Who will pay for it? Without clean water there is no possibility of any kind of life. With or without quality.

Dubai, the fools from this little piece of hell hole are the idiot CHAMPIONS of the world after my compatriots of Puerco Rico. How do take water up to the highest building of the WORLD? Imagine the cost of a gallon of water in that desert, mostly
concrete and asphalt? Burning fossil fuels 24/7 to keep electricity running to keep
those concrete buildings cool day and night for ever and ever. Is there something more
stupid on earth? What about those sinking islands in the shape of hated PALMS?
Who is going to buy these houses sinking in the ocean? How much will the be the cost
of the maintenance? Where do you go for fun the sand dunes or the malls? Perhaps
ice skating under roof. One interesting finance number is the one hundred billion
bucks, this foolish sheiks owe. Good luck to them...

The sheiks will have some difficulty to pay those real estate loans, however who cares?
The worst scenario would be a bankrupt country, nothing new if you think of Haiti.
However there are similarities between Dubai and the cultures that built pyramids
Mexicans/Egyptians. All those silly, useless, unnecessary buildings in that country will
be a monument not to inventive, but to stupidity and arrogance. Just for the afterlife.
Sorry for the shooting. Time to go....

From the Editors

The information presented
is taken from the NY Times,
BBC, RTV. ES
the rest is
my world known humble
opinion.
Nothing is fiction

CARL LINNAEUS SUCCESS IN GARDENING

A COUPLE of days ago I reviewed a book that some followers of the blog may enjoy.
I decided to present these excerpts for the hell of it. Also for a simple reason, I have
always stressed the need to identify whatever I plant or write about when possible. Some of the names may be/not be pertinent, but if you are into research, find out.
Or get the book: The Brother Gardeners, by Andrea Wulf.

In the summer of 1736, as Peter Collinson was attempting to placate John Bartram, and Philip Miller was working on a new edition of his Dictionary,
a young Swedish botanist thought it necessary to travel from the Netherlands to England to meet all the important gardeners and botanists.
Not yet thirty years old, Carl Linnaeus was already celebrated by botanists in Holland, who he claimed, "sought him as a small oracle".

Such self promotion was a constant feature of Linnaeus's personality. He was conceited and arrogant, calling himself the "prince of botanists" and
insisting that he could achieve more in nine months than the best of his colleagues in several years. The son of a keen gardener, Linnaeus had been fascinated by plants for as long as he could remember, and he liked to tell the story that his love had been installed by his "mother's milk",
for "whenever he cried.... she [his mother] put a flower in his hand, and
he was quiet immediately".

For the past ten months Linnaeus had worked for the wealthy Anglo-Dutch merchant George Clifford, in Hartekamp near Haarlem. As the director of the Dutch East India Company, Clifford had access to the flora from across the world, and his four hothouses held hundreds of plants from southern Europe, Asia and Africa.

In Puerto Rico is impossible to find a garden installation worthy of merit. The last paragraph is significant because in those years, even with the great difficulties of keeping seeds viable, cut stems and plants alive, through long travels by ship, there were hundreds of plants available.
In this pathetic isle in the tropics, I bet dollars to doughnuts, no nursery has more
than thirty if that. When there are thousands! I clarify that plants here equals species.

Success? When I think about all the written words, the vegetation propagated, planted, identified, those that are still alive and those that passed away, a great feeling
of joy flows through the spirit. I may seem arrogant, feel like "small oracle" for the irritation of foes. But will go further...When I was working with the scam artists and environmental criminals of the Luis Munhoz Marin Foundation and Parque Donha Ines, I did in a couple of years, what the incompetent, illiterate fools doing the grounds keeping never did in ten! I propagated hundreds of plants, tens of species
in that shitty hell hole full of thieves, out of my pocket.

After all these times I believe that something here and there, may have been of use to you far away reader, perhaps even a laugh, regarding gardening, landscaping maintenance/installation, environmental, ecological, political, migratory issues, music, movies, books and so forth. I confess that it has been a pleasure, even with the flimsy criticism of one shitty architect who has not built/design a side walk/gutter, Climent, his last name, and the King of the agronomists JERKS: Edwin Gonzalez Bauza.

If we are to "save" the environment, lets do it for us, now. Without water, air, food
and a roof, what kind of life is there?

The reading of this book has helped me to put some things in perspective. My gardening practice, is all I care for. Not necessarily to maintain my bragging rights, but to enjoy the flora/fauna around the house, since outside these boundaries, what is
there, what I have shown in pictures, what I see stinks...

That makes the feeling of success, of sharing it with others more satisfying.Time to go....

BOOK REVIEW GARDENING IN THE DIRT NEWS

The Brother Gardeners
BOTANY, EMPIRE
AND
THE BIRTH OF AN OBSESSION
BY
Andrea Wulf
Alfred A. Knoff , New York 2009

On an early summer's day 1n 1716, Thomas Fairchild went into his Hoxton garden, closed the door of his potting shed and set in motion a chain of events so momentous that in time no gardener would ever think about plants in the same way again. At the same time, it let Fairchild, a devout Christian, to live in fear of God's wrath for the rest of his life.

That is the first paragraph of this wonderful book, with excellent illustrations, bibliography and references. If you are a native from one of those countries originally under the British Empire, even if you are not, you will have great reading pleasure.

Another requirement to enjoy it, is some interest in history, botany, botanical names,
plant collecting and so forth...Evidently, England has done a lot for gardening. This activity is what I do and enjoy more in life. If you want to go beyond the surface, your
intellect will appreciate it.



SOME FANS may wonder how much time I spend in the garden. Well, I sweep daily,

sometimes twice a day, daily, monitor for insects, watch everything carefully to
see any odd events, with Diva, the Cyperus lover dog, this is alternated with ball games, throw and fetch kind. Even in her senior years, Diva keeps that joy and quick
energy, present in many happy children, when the time to play comes. Determine which garden activity has to be done right away or later.. Out of the seven days I spent, twenty hours between this and that on the premises. A little less if it rains...

The eradication of Bejuco de puerco and Wedelia trilobata in the south garden, is almost complete and the area looks more tidy. It was done in three stages to avoid that anxiety that once in a while arrives suddenly when getting into tedious, unpleasant tasks. This is one of them. Getting rid of vines behaving like grass with rhizomes/stolons, a real pain.

Other events more or less interesting were traditional relocation from one bed
to a better one, pot to bed or vice versa.. A Bauhinia blakeana has taken the place,
pot and corner of the now in Guerrilla Territory, Thevetia peruviana. By the way
I went to check it finding it on the ground. It was too heavy on top, plus the ground somewhat saturated..Got rid of some branches, looking sharp, and is now with the Tamarindus indica close by, the Maguey and the DK, in the chosen triangular space.

The forgotten Crotton slow as nothing else is now in a new spot, 3 species of Tradescantias were propagated to substitute the eradicated ones, the Bauhinia
tomentosa is now in a new pot looking refreshed. Clitoria ternatea, Merremia
quinquefolia were planted from seeds to increase the vegetation volume in the metal fence in the north garden.

Some white flies were discovered in the Murrayas paniculatas. It is a problem that
comes and goes. They were sprayed and that was that. In general there are not many
pests in the garden. The amount of lizards, birds, spiders take care of them.. Once in
a while snails come, so do beetles, but it is not a great concern because the damage
is mostly aesthetic.

Finally, collected seeds from the Cosmos sulphereous to spread them by the Guerrilla Territory. And that is that, time to go....

AFRICANS IN ITALY MIGRATION ISSUES

IT WAS recently on BBC. Some black fellows from that continent being whipped by the police native forces. Apparently some bored Italians, used them as target practice. The victims retaliated unwisely, destroying
private property. Lucky them Africans when one think of it. Had it been 5o years ago in USA, in the south or any other region/area where they are still not welcome, the story would have been a little different for the blacks....probably hanging from trees.

Since no one invited them, all are illegal, that is the price to pay. What I do not comprehend is the brouhaha about their infra humane housing/living conditions. They are exactly the same, never worst, as their countries of origin, except for the cold, snow, rain of the season.

SPAIN. The news presented stories of Spain nationals, who went on holidays, finding Romanians and Nigerians have taken residence with all their belongings, in their apartments at their return. Up till recently it was almost impossible to get rid of tenants unwilling to pay rent. The procedures in court would take a year or longer. Now all has
changed with a new law expediting both situations in thirty days. Pretty
similar as what takes place in NY City.

The shooting and beating up of migrants also takes place here. Prostitutes or sex workers in Spain are over 95% immigrants from Romania, Nigeria, South, Central America and the Caribbean. They are
exposed since they spend most of their time in the streets waiting for
customers.

MEXICO. From my perspective, in USA the situation is radically different. If you review the relationship between Mexico and USA, you will find that one third of the territory of the latter, was stolen/taken in that silly war moons ago. Therefore, MEXICANS are not entering a territory/country where they are not WELCOME. They are entering legally or illegally to the lands stolen from their ancestors in an
unfair, unnecessary war. That makes their immigration very peculiar since there seems that no other countries share this situation.

Immigration is consequence of over population, destruction of the environment and inept governments. Look at the countries providing
all these mostly ugly, welcome/unwelcome migrants. They are in four continents. Democracies and dictatorships alike. It is getting worse and there is no room for change.

In the case of CHINA, the immigration is from country to city to work for peanuts. It seems that the capacity to exploit others has no ethnic, cultural, social boundaries. The destruction of the environment, building 24/7 in China and some other countries in the region will have dire consequences soon. With the wild changes in climatic conditions, it is going to be hard to cultivate enough rice, to have one cup a day.

Migration is a rule in nature. Whales, birds, turtles to name a few travel in season to search for warmth, food, rest. The earth used to provide for
all, before men destroyed their habitats in every conceivable way.

Now the problem of people procreating as rabbits traveling, entering illegally to countries that are getting fed up with the situation has reached the limits. Some jerks with blindfolds will attribute the REJECTION of ugly people to RACISM. But think for a moment of countries like SPAIN,
ITALY, TURKEY. They are not dark if you compare, many are blond with blue eyes. They were certainly not welcome in Germany, Switzerland during the sixties, was that also racism? I believe that one do not want strangers around, ugly or not around, even if they speak the same language. Puerco Rico is no different. But I will not get into that.

This is getting too long. Is time to go. But a final word. I was a migrant
in USA for half my life, lived for 18 months in Deutschland, during my
time as a freedom fighter in German discos in the 70's. What I think
is result of what I have lived. And with clear sight, everything we do
is possible thanks to air, water, food and a roof. Life will not remain
if the destruction continues for anyone, flora or fauna.

I could stay in my garden admiring my Frangipanis, writing only about that, or the beauty of the Spindalis, hummingbirds,or the singing of the always high in some perch mockingbird that is on his performance while
I write these lines, but sorry, it does not suffice. Now I leave.

ENDEMISMO TRASNOCHADO A JACK OF ALL TRADES

YESTERDAY was blog hunt day. As usual in the island, only jamborees are done properly, is in the blood. The most original blog tittle this time: "Ideas without thoughts".
A wide segment of the blog population believe that such tittles are original, witty, unique. There is one Alphabet, Ms. Conscience and so on. With such nomenclature one would expect some, maybe one, really wild ideas, a word, a concept, jargon, but no, is all make believe. The same manure, another day.

In the evening it was GEOAMBIENTE time. An entertaining, educational, TV program about everything related to the Puerco Rico's environment with host, Maria Falcon. She owns some w i d e hips, humongous thighs, not far from those of Victoria Zanabria, a folk singer, some sizes bigger, something wild if you are into anatomy and symmetry. At any rate, Ms. Falcon, also the producer, has an extremely squeaky, annoying voice, with speech gestures, enunciation, that wild drive you nuts even if you are just reading her
lips. Something out of this world.

The program is inconsistent for a tendency to ask silly questions to uninitiated people, unable to respond briefly, originally, to the point. This is a consequence of either nervousness or just language challenged people. A national patrimony observed in
many, too many television figures in any type of show, news, comedy, you name it. This program should/could be better. I have written with suggestions to the above mentioned falling in deaf ears.

EL YUNQUE, was the subject. Ariel Lugo, with his sour, unhappy like speech delivery, talking about ecosystems, biodiversity and water, his
area of expertise. Since shrimp for example, hang out in fresh and salt water, migrating, what happens to one or the other precious liquid, affects the possibilities of survival.
If you remember previous posts, the Atlantic ocean/Caribbean sea are our sewage treatment plant. So long
for the shrimps.....

The surprising theme, is the care, methodology, systematic study of that doomed forest, EL BOSQUE NACIONAL DEL CARIBE, a TREASURE, the only rain forest of this king in USA, territory. There is some Institute of Dasonomy, with plenty of well paid federal employees, from top to bottom. What is wrong with this picture?

Simple. Puerto Rico is a platform of concrete/asphalt that grows like a skin cancer. The amount of heat irradiated by these kind of materials is amazing. Therefore I would take some of these bright, bilingual scientists to the URBAN CONTEXT to study what has survived in depth:plants, trees, birds, insects and else.

Why should I care about el YUNQUE now? Tomorrow, whatever is being researched today is meaningless since the ecology, near by biodiversity is destroyed daily with a snap of the fingers, as fast as possible, avarice, the motivation, by the private industry, construction developers, landscape installation/maintenance enterprises, with bribed accomplices in every government agency. Even the tribunals are in the same bag as demonstrated by the Paseo Caribe affair.

The AAA with sewage in every body of water imaginable on one hand and their
electricity counterparts the AEE, jerks in charge of mutilating, destroying the architecture/scaffold of millions of trees with machetes/chainsaws to 'protect'
the electric wires that should be underground to begin with.

Do not go yet. This Francis Bacon portrait of PUERCO RICO is not over. Please
add the accomplices of ARPE, in charge of permits, 007 Recursos Naturales, Fideicomiso and Parques Nacionales directed by feeble minded, with overlapping
duties, totally absurd. The last tree agencies should be able to provide at least
an inventory of this or that, but it is not the case. The blind leading the blind.


Meanwhile the useful idiots have an Internet campaign to convert EL YUNQUE into
some WONDER WORLD MARVELOUS whatever...With the destroyed infrastructure, not a clean toilet in sight for miles, a road/highway not reminding of the moon paved......What else but...time to go...

2010 FIRST GUERRILLA GARDENING ACT

IF YOU are a regular here, the tittle will sound familiar. If not, let it be.
I planted one Thevetia peruviana, from seed, in a pot 3 years ago. It was collected right in front of a landmark cemetery in Santurce, where Ismael Rivera, is buried. An OLD lady sell flowers under it. At the time, I did not
know the name of it, but found it attractive, not a common place, nor being aware of the incredible amount of daily organic waste it drops, in terms of seeds/flowers/leaves. It is something that I became aware watching Tito Collazo, the graphic artist from ESPIRAL, who has one similar, twenty years old, while he cleaned.

AFTER the intense rains of yesterday, I decided without much pondering
to plant the Thevetia, with the company of the Tamarindus indica and DK in the area described previously by the train station in Sagrado Corazon. I feel it has
a fifty/fifty percent of possibilities to survive the illiterate municipal trimmer weed whacking squad in a near future.

This morning from the time I took it off the twenty gallon pot, remove some soil from the ball, placed it in the light weight trash can, walked the
six blocks to the planting area, digging the whole and planting it, thirty
minutes went by.

If you, no matter where you live, read this, and feel something is wrong with your surroundings, in terms of the environment, why wait for the government, private/avaricious enterprises to solve it? Do something. I have noticed that Cosmos sulpherous or any other self seeding plant is excellent for Guerrillagardening. Some I spread on mostly gravel
have survived. There are twenty, between four inches to twelve in height. Try to spread them once a week or every two week. This will give them a chance to survive the weed whackers or lack of water. Preferably during a rainy season or days....You will not have to irrigate increasing the survival rate....

One thing is evident. You should not go like a fool and install a garden in
the third world as Puercorico, without experimenting. Plant something
that may be recognized by the illiterate trimmers executioners, or the illiterate supervisors. That may be the difference.

At any rate. Even if your action is successful or not, you will have accomplished something, broken the inertia. You have ACTED, when most people just speculate, write, and bullshit. You will have learned something from the action. It is really the opposite of just complaining. Time to go...

New section
send him a line
saying hi from Antigonum

Toke feeble mind of the week
alex@americanlawnpr.net

This firm does maintenance in Monte Hiedra and other similar
places. American Lawn, is their name.
They will go tree topping if you
request it or for capricious reasons.

They thought at one time that your
humble servant over estimate his talent,
vision and credentials...jaha bilingual laugh

EDITORS NOTE

Today
12 January 2010

I noticed the illiterate municipal
wheed whacker squad mutilated
the Tamarindus Indica with a machete.
Fortunately, these killers left a 12 inch
trunk, around 2 inches in diameter standing.
That may be enough to come back.
The Maguey was also destroyed, with
the trimmer.
There are two standing the DK and
the recently planted Thevetia peruviana.

YENYERE YUCCA MANIHOT AHE!

FORGIVE ME intercontinental reader if I go back to the edible gardening stories, but I must share this gardening adventure. Some of you may think that humor is something that is forbidden down these quarters, but no, I do have some humor that may/may not be appreciated by the feeble minds that surround me, but is there...

Regarding the tittle, lets take a wild twisted turn lexicon music wise...Ray Barreto the late conga drummer from New York, was one of my favorite NY salsa bands for around a decade. Also my favorite conga drummer until Gerry Gonzalez and his brother created Fort Apache Band. His best singer was Tito Allen, and the one who lasted longer Adalberto Santiago. Allen's recording INDESTRUCTIBLE was a landmark that I have heard probably a thousand times. Particularly at the time it came out and I was into smoking natural herbs with Luis Aviles, convicted, Fernando Monteverde, god knows where the hell he went; and Juan Rosario the important guy with Mission Industrial. So important, he can not respond to your humble servant messages, SCREW THEM all.

To make this long story longer, lets be a little bit brief. The last record by
Ray Barreto with Adalberto Santiago, went out in 1974. QUE VIVA LA MUSICA. There was a guajira, Bruca Manigua, that I still enjoy
because it swings. And there without any further re due the tittle.

Yucca manihot is one of the edibles in my garden, if you got a chance to check my inventory of August 2009, you will see it. I never thought of digging up for it until today. For your humble servant, it was just a really ornamental small tree/bush with a canopy that reminds me of the Draco.

First I had to get rid of the twelve feet four inches thick trunk/leaves. Cut
in pieces with the right tools was not a big deal. Then I got into the nitty gritty, feeling a pleasure hard to describe. It is the first time in almost four decades of cultivating that I get something of such weight/size
to eat, growing under the soil/view.

Well, being more precise the second. The first was a Batata, the orange kind from one vine I thought for many years as just an ornamental. On the right of the blog there is a picture under Cascade or something similar. It is chartreuse green a not common color in nature, at least in tropical pastures.

Taking a spiral turn, twisting again, let me remind you that I keep a thirty
gallon pot to make my compost. Diva's poop, is the latest ingredient added
to shredded newspapers, soil, dry/green leaves, dust, dogs hair, coffee grounds, onion/garlic skin that makes the 'secret' combination.

The last time I went through the layering process, (if you make compost
you know what I am writing about) noticing it on the dry side, I added too much water! If you make compost you know what it smells like
when all is right. When is not, the anaerobic conditions, create the smell found in any of Puerco Rico's beaches: Luquillo, Guanica and Fajardo.
pure sewage and urea, that will make you sick if you use/visit these public rest rooms. A vile national disgrace (one of many) swept under
the carpet among the happy go lucky, native islanders.

What to do? With the compost of course...Wonders the lay man/woman... Let it dry a little, get some fresh air...In the process, the smell is so intense that many big gigantic flies came out of nowhere to enjoy the man groove like smell, creating a festivity kind of atmosphere among the lizards waiting for lunch, ready for the hunt.

Perhaps you are one of those children who grew up with dinosaurs as a toy, (I did not), the most exciting adventure today gardening wise, somehow, was to find a Frangipani caterpillar in the pupa stage on the ground. As mentioned before, this cute, thick, green/black caterpillar is an eating machine. Something learned recently, their pellet like poop is mostly nitrogen, to feed the soil. Time to go....

DOWN BY THE ORCHARD

IT SEEMS that in Puerco Rico, those into edible gardens, agriculture, sustainable and organic bags, fair commerce, are into ostracizing tendencies (think Free Masons) ignoring others with original, trend setting virtues, I do not. I go and read their blogs, more like pompous treatises with instructions to do this and that, but no imagination beyond their tropical noses or avaricious tendencies. Everything is GOSPEL like, particularly in the northwest region, where many of these luminaries reside. Some inhabit in other distant prairies. You can observe their aesthetic less gardens, family pictures, with wide, all teeth showing, strange smiles, stoned like ones. But no mention of GANJA ever surfaces, What the heck!

DOWN HERE in Santurce, some people know the issues, with gigantic
humility have the know how. After all, planting and propagating anything is a matter of practice, doing, observing, experimenting, taking notes,
getting references; not following written/verbal instructions from some self proclaimed holistic guru.

The orchard here is about grafted lemon and orange trees. The first gave
two crops of that versatile fruit in less than a year. I used them for juice, dressing, salads, marinating, sangrias and else. If you have children you could make some popsicle like cold treat for the summer days in plastic cups. Just make sure your lemon/water/sugar/honey mix is a little thicker than for just the drinking. Freeze it and voila...

The Valencia oranges are still there, riping as fast as a quadriplegic turtle.
The fruit color/texture of this grafted, tree feet tall tree, reminded some ugly, dark as a blood sausage, woman from the Environmental Quality Board, of PUMPKINS! I do not know about you, but I find very difficult to
comprehend how one can confuse a much bigger vegetable that grows
in a vine with a fruit in tree, just for that.

The Carica papaya tree is about 14', planted from seed. It reached that height in less than a year. There are four fruits already about six inches long and two around. A couple of lizards have moved permanently within the boundaries of its leaves. We greet in the mornings when irrigating and monitoring for insects.

The most recent inductee, acquired yesterday is a Malpighia emarginata or
Barbados cherry. It is a member of a very exclusive group in the collection. Those BOUGHT in nurseries, not even ten. This tree, is one of the most elegant for the symmetry of height/canopy in the tropics, even if there was no healthy and beautiful fruit bonus involved. It grows about 15', I have never
seen one taller than that. Resistant of heat and insects. A rare, great conversation piece in any collection.

Just like many fruit trees from seeds, I will have to wait many years to taste them, (Caricas the exception). However, its slow growth and beauty will allow your humble servant to enjoy it at length, without any absurd pruning.

There are aromatics in the garden also.. Oregano, Capsicum, Basil, Rosemary and Ginger. So far in this department, they all show resistance
to heat, salty breezes and diseases.

Almost forgot. In one of the aromatics/herb/ edible gardens, in far away
prairies you can go work under this damned sun/heat as a volunteer for lunch! Time to go humbly...

RUM AND COCOA

THE NAZIS were the wise ones, probably the first, to use a lie with the efficiency of an advertising campaign transforming it, converting it in
certain, a truth true repetition. The feeble minds within the government ranks in Puerco Rico, USA, probably 95% of all elected officials and employees will start promoting rum. "Puerto Rican Rum", in USA and perhaps far beyond.

I see the lameness of it and want to share it with you. If you drink gin or
vodka, perhaps you will be attracted to the color. There is nothing else in common. The exception are caramel colored rums, that I assume are more
attractive to single malt, blended scotch, bourbon, and similar to discriminating drinkers in the world.

The intention is to increase the drinking to rise the tax revenue to pay
the isle national debt that as you know, is probably the same problem in your country. At any fiscal crisis, lets make a loan. But I will not get into that since you got my drift.

As part of this 'original' campaign, to improve the "reputation of rum" a group of mixologists/bartenders will be exported to different drinking holes in America, the country, with new rum recipes in an attempt to grasp the clear alcohol(vodka/gin) drinkers in those prairies/concrete/asphalt megalopolis.

In this concrete/asphalt platform in the Caribbean, the favorite rums are
Palo Viejo, Ron Llave, Don Q and Bacardi, in that order, from what I see
in my drinking oasis. There are others for export, but who cares, if one lives here. The point is that Bacardi, the last in sales here, is the first one in USA, with million of cases sold annually.

As an horticultural creative critic, sugar cane is originally a plant, a tall grass with impressive flowers, remember the subject in the first paragraph. There are no Puerco Rican Rums since there is no SUGAR CANE in Puerto Rico! The molasses are imported from that beautiful island of Dominican Republic. I suggest that either ALL PUERTO RICAN
denominated RUMS start to plant, collect and grind sugar cane in Puerto Rico, or move to any country with sugar cane plantations and abundant cheap labor.

At one point CUBA was the headquarters of the BACARDI family, originally from SPAIN. They moved in a timely fashion to Catanho, Puerto Rico, not long after the victory against imperialism in 1959. Therefore if BACARDI Puerco Rico, claims to be the best rum in the world, lets give some credit to that island. One in a group, where this humble blog spanning the globe, has no readers. Sure, I am aware of
the web situation and freedom of speech down there, but that is no excuse.

I remember reading as a younger fellow of the failure of a gigantic Cuban
sugar cane crop in the sixties. Over 10 million tons was the goal. But there was a blunder. Some fools bought some tractor machines to cut/pick the sugar cane. Unfortunately, they also picked up dirt, rocks, stones. Imagine the results when all the collected material was dropped in the mills! They blew up.... and that was that. Sugar cane as far as I see, has to be cut by hand. A miserable, perhaps one of the worst jobs in agriculture, due to the itchiness on the skin by the leaves and the tropical heat. However, it is a good work out.

To finish in some logical fashion. Drinking alcohol is no different than
smoking herb, snorting a few lines. It is a way of socializing or destroying oneself, other selves while driving, or while watching boring, prone to leave players crazy or with Alzheimer, American football.

These feeble minded Puercorican officials, should have thought of going to the former Soviet Satellites with this bright rum ad campaign. If they conquer that VODKA market, they will probably pay the national isle debt accumulated for the last four decades in four years; have some extra cash to bribe their officials and save some for themselves.. What? You are right, no mentioning of that possibility. Time to go...

EDITORS NOTE
Sorry there is no room for
Cocoa. But sometime in the
near future. Hint:
cultivators and producers
galaxies apart.

SECURITY PRIVACY QUIET AESTHETICS IN YOUR RESIDENCE WITH PLANTS

IT IS REALLY amazing the amount of money many people are willing to spend in their residences to have all those sensations in the tittle. While at home, or after leaving the premises. However, it seems that not many think of the whole picture in the long run, particularly the most important, AESTHETICS.

It is easy, perhaps also expensive, to build a wall lets say eight feet, with concrete, cinder blocks, rocks, wood, galvanized steel, iron, you name it. But what about the breeze? Light? With some of these materials there will be none.

What about privacy and quiet? With iron and galvanized steel you get
air and light but not the others. What to do? THINK! That is the first
step. Determine destruction of the soil, noise, pollution/dust around while all the action takes place.

Any kind of fence may require barbed wire on top, or that razor blade serpentine that will surely give your residence the sexy appearance of a concentration camp or the county jail!

For all the above inconveniences I planted the Bouganvillea that appears to the right of the blog . This corner of the residence is the only one could climb without much difficulty. Some can grow really tall, and not straight, one has to guide the branches with tutors, not pruning. Unless you do not mind being a pruning slave.

The thorns are really effective. I know, since every time I cut off a few branches, no matter how careful I am, I get pricked. Bouganvilleas, originally from Brasil, come in many colors to match or contrast your walls. I do not know of any small tree/bush more versatile for dry/hot climates for this purpose.

Pereskia bleo is a bushy plant with more thorns than necessary. Some may reach eight/ten feet, with a vertical tendency. It provides beauty, security, with impressive delicate orange flowers similar to those of many cacti, since they are relatives. Pereskias will enhance any garden. It is propagated by cut stems and not difficult at all.

Finally, if you live in some neck of the woods any cacti will be efficient for privacy. Since you are all intelligent and pragmatic fellows I do not have
to stress that children/pets, areas with constant pedestrian traffic are not
the best places to plant THORNS.

Vines, climbers of any kind will also provide privacy, security, fragrance, and quiet for a simple reason. It is almost impossible to climb any surface
with thick vegetation. Now, if you add the thorn element to the maze of branches all over the walls, you have created a fairly safe natural environment that is more attractive, definitely less costly, improving the aesthetics of your residence.

Not many people will tell you, or write about this. I do not know why, but
is one more example why this a lonely blog within the crowd. It requires patience to have a great, well thought garden. Horticulture/gardening is more than putting a seed/cut stem in a hole...Time to go.

THE UGLY DUCKLING OR JUST A SWAN AMONG A GAGGLE OF GEESE?

THE YEAR STARTED pretty well. Painted with ochre a metal pot with Turnera subulata, the Bauhinia tomentosa is now on his own pot, the only survivor out of 20 seeds, and irrigated everyone in the yard. Placed some new pictures still wondering
if it is worth it, since this is not a blog of photography.

If you wonder about the tittle, I thought appropriate to express how I perceive this humble blog among the tens found in the Puercorican blogosphere. It could be my imagination, or just the not pretty scenery
surrounding yours truly, a painful, real hell like picture.

I have kept my focus on the issues, trying to level anger with objective, even when it has been useless most of the time.
Regarding the environment in the Puercorican concrete/asphalt isle, there seems to be an urgent need to appear in the news, printed and electronic among some fools into lobbying for this or that.

I bet too many of these do gooders play golf, have lawns, hedges and palm trees in their residences. Those are four capital sins in the world according to endemismotrasnochado, your humble servant and the keyboardist in charge.

The most recent band wagon issue is a Northeast Corridor by the Atlantic.
50 'scientists' in this persuasion, went to do some inventory, however, what they found was in the salty waters...Surprise...some what else "in danger of extinction coral reef species", and a turtle. That was that! No
vines, trees, bushes, weeds, plants, ground covers, birds, insects or reptiles were mentioned in the news paper. The emphasis was in the
local mantra "danger of extinction". I ask again who determines that,
compared to what and the credentials of those propagating such rumors,
that not many inquire about accepting any DOE (danger of extinction) story of the moment accepting it as gospel.

I do not know where the hell exactly is this Corridor, but is not near my
residence, is not in the Metro Area where hundred of trees have been mutilated and or destroyed. This is my concern. This is where trees should be planted and cared for. THE URBAN CONTEXT, JERKS! Get
of your cars and watch what happens.

The Corridor is around three thousand acres. Their fear? The HOUSING DEVELOPERS with their GOVERNMENT accomplices and 007 Recursos Naturales will take some of these lands to construct resorts...And there
goes MOTHER NATURE. However, if most of the best soils, scenery, has
been destroyed previously, without any opposition what is the big deal now? I think is too late. Planting a thousand trees seems the solution to
any environmental destruction. The wrong trees, never the right ones,
are not planted in the urban context where they are needed the most,
but the hell away in any outskirt, where they will not help me or the flora/fauna close by..

These jerks have to get out of their cars and look around the streets, sidewalks, highways and face reality. They need not be afraid of the powerful Housing Developers/Banks, Highway Developers and fight
face to face without beating around the bushes.. Accuse and sue in court.
The Federal Forum preferably since the native courts are for sale constantly.

Now is time to go with the tittle in mind...

Those pictures

Diva the Cyperus lover dog
Bouganvillea, a work in progress
and Facade
not necessarily in
that order.