Smarter Planet

I'm going to IBM's "Smarter Planet" event in November. It's about technology, of course, but I was glad to see that there is also a section called "Water - It's Not Just for Drinking". With the floods of the past few days -- who can forget those pictures or not think about the people who were killed in this disaster? -- it's hard to think of water scarcity, but that is truly what Planet Earth is facing, so kudos to IBM for paying attention to that.

How NOT to Grow Stevia

I could not help it – this title. Jeanne Grunert, who blogs from her farm in Virginia, just posted “How to Grow Stevia” and I simply had to take advantage of it.

Nothing wrong with Stevia, mind you. I just planted mine all wrong.

A friend had given me a lovely Salvia last May (about a foot tall and very skinny) and it did not grow much at first. So, when I brought a tiny Stevia home a month later, I put it about 15 inches from the Salvia and expected the two would happily coexist. Well, not quite!

That Stevia took off and hasn’t stopped yet. Today, after a week of rain, it is flopping all over the place and I finally put a few stakes near it, hoping not so much that it will survive (it will!), but that the poor Salvia will still have a chance.

So, my advice, in addition to what Jeanne teaches you, is this: if you are going to plant Stevia, give it plenty of space!

Lawns

I hate turf grasses!

Why do we need to have imitation miniature golf courses in front of our houses?

There are better uses for the space. A vegetable garden, for example. Or a meadow, or a grouping of trees and shrubs.

I used to be rather lonely in this opinion, but the idea is spreading and there is now a "Lawn Reform" group, started by gardeners, writers and activists in different parts of the country. Brilliant! Let's hope it catches on fast and reaches far.