Looking Forward to March

With lots of good stuff ahead

There is much to look forward to in March:

- 18 days from today till Spring arrives

• Covid 19 vaccinations will increase

• the decline of Covid 19 new cases are flattening in some states

• In NY and NJ, some rebounding signs are appearing

• Mar 4 and 6 still garner mentions from Q-Anon and others as days the ex-president will regain his rightful throne that US voters stole from him with their conspiracy to legally vote

• CPAC participants amused many with Sen. Ted Cruz ‘Freedom!’ screams, Rep. Paul Gosar’s decision to speak before a nearby White Superiority convention, many CPAC speakers proclaiming voting fraud was massive because their favorite president lost (despite the proof that he lost because election officials counted the votes accurately), and the gal they got to sing the National Anthem couldn’t. So we can look forward to no more CPACs in 2021, with better comedy ahead

• In coming weeks, the extra Capitol and DC security precautions are likely to be drastically reduced so most National Guard employees can return home

• FBI prosecutions of the participants in the violent January 6th effort to overthrow Congress won’t begin soon because there’s still many arrests to be made and more evidence collected. Actual prosecutions aren’t likely to start before May or June and some may not be completed this year

• Spring training games for Major League Baseball began last Saturday and on April 1st, the regular season begins. The league and its ultra-wealthy owners hope to get a full 162 game season completed this time. Fantasy baseball gamers can safely ignore all the statistical aberrations of the 2020 season but will still have to contend with players underperforming due to lingering covid after-effects

  ---

• There are also things NOT to look forward to in March
  

• Bipartisan support for anything Joe Biden proposes. Republican Senators will try to block the $1.9 trillion Covid Rescue and Recovery plan and will claim that a balanced budget is necessary (which they only deem necessary when Democrats control the White House)

• Elected Republicans and their media magaphones will claim that aid to states will bail out wasteful states controlled by Democrats

• Elected Democrats will cite studies done by JP Morgan, Moody’s Analytics and a researcher at the Brookings Institution that indicate more than half the states lost revenues, that most of the states that suffered were Republican controlled ones, and things would have been far worse without the previous bipartisan bailout efforts

• Using the figures from those studies, my graphic displays the state tax revenues that declined from April to December 2020. More Republican states suffered and would be aided by the Biden Rescue Plan. The two largest red states (TX & FL) suffered massive losses. The graphic shows the two large blue states (NY & IL) suffered far smaller losses. It doesn’t show the largest state by far: the very blue CA, which gained 1.2%
  
  

As for me, I’ve been busy with garden dreams. Every home gardener typically spends February perusing seed catalogs with newly ordered seeds arriving soon. I grow a very limited array of vegetables and herbs, putting extra review effort into a good selection of tomatoes, most leaning to a preference for heirloom varieties.

I have a small postage-stamp size yard but with a new tenant in the other half of this duplex, I got approval from her yesterday to grow tomatoes and companion-plant herbs on her side, as I’ve done in recent years.

I’m calling attention to my short list of tomatoes as very worthy of your consideration. I’ll only have room to grow one plant of 6 different varieties, so will have to exclude a few of these.

Cherry

Orange Paruche (67 days) - still haven’t found one to beat this hybrid from Territorial Seeds. It’s very sweet while retaining some great tomato flavor with a skin that’s neither too thick or thin.

Still snack-size at 2 to 2.5 oz

Garden Gem (81-93 days) - sounds like a long time but I start mine indoors for 4 to 6 weeks, setting them outdoors around May 20, so the first fruits should be ripe around July 20 and continue till frosts in October. This comes from the University of Florida, which says they were “developed to have true heirloom taste, with modern disease resistance and high fruit yield. It has firm, juicy fruit with a smooth, balanced flavor. These plants will produce tomatoes for an extended period of time and thrives in heat and humidity.”


Medium Sizes

Momotaro (65-70 days) - popular in Japan, taste-test winner elsewhere, the 6 to 7 oz fruits are described as “sweet and tangy” and “durable, heat tolerant, and crack resistant with good storability.” Other gardener reviews add that it’s not very seedy and picture perfect. I may have to buy a plant instead of the seed which is currently out of stock. Or maybe I’ll get the less expensive seeds at Nichols. I expect these to start harvest the last week of July too.

Cosmonaut Volkov (72 days) - An heirloom taste-test winner, 2”-3” wide.

Cherokee Purple (72 days) An heirloom and multiple taste test winner and the prettiest shaped, non-cracking of all the varieties I’ve grown. Slightly smokier flavor than a Brandywine. I don’t have enough room to include it this year but expect to grow it most years and it deserves your consideration.

Berkeley Pink Tie-Dye (65-75 days) - prized for its color array by chefs, the first year I grew it, it tasted almost as good as the Brandywine. Last year it was not as tasty, though it’s hard to determine if the strain differs or whether it was just a bad season for tomatoes as I had several others with problems in 2020. It’ll be this or the Cosmonaut for this year.


Large and Beefsteak Sizes

Pink Brandywine (80-85 days) This heirloom has won the most taste tests and in my own experience, is the best to measure all others against. They’re not as productive, they can take longer than 85 days so I typically harvest them from mid-August to early October. The taste alone makes them worth it. Territorial calls theirs Brandywine without mentioning if it’s pink or red. I had better results from Nichols than Territorial, but both, plus Baker Creek’s have all been excellent.

Hillbilly (85 days) - One to two pound fruits, another taste test winner plus it’s lower in acid, which some folks require.

Big Rainbow (75-80 days) - If I don’t grow the Hillbilly, I’ll try these as they’re also low acid but sound more productive from reviews as far north as Minnesota.

Other Plants of Note

Ajvarski (sweet) Pepper (time unknown): I’ve read so much about these Macedonian roasting peppers the past 2 years, I’m definitely growing them this year. You just need to read the description at this link or elsewhere.

Lipstick (sweet) Pepper (70 days): They’re supposed to be great raw, roasted, or sauteed, so this will be my salad and omelette pepper this year.

Petit Gris De Rennes Melon (85 days) - Been wanting to grow melons for several years but have been torn between super short season varieties, small ones for one person, and a few others. Finally taking the plunge with this French Charentais variety because the reviews from home growers and chefs alike make it sound heavenly.

I’ll grow some herb staples: basil, thyme, rosemary and garlic chives. And some jalapeno peppers. And as a legal medical cannabis grower, I’ll grow some great varieties of that, too. But after being plagued with thieves the past two years, I’ll either move them offsite to a friend’s garden or will have to install a foolproof alarm system that’s likely too expensive. I have a handful of friends nearby that treat different ailments with them, but if I can’t keep the thieves off, this may be my last year growing them.

That’s what I’m looking forward to: tasty food, baseball, some cannabis, the usual fake concerns of elected GOP Senators. And an end to the pandemic. Which, I’m happy to say, I’ll be getting my first vaccine shot for on Saturday.

What are YOU looking forward to? Do tell.

The perfect conclusion.