The SMGB has all the time been a gathering of these with soiled fingernails

Back in the dark age of the internet (2005 to be precise), when Daily Kos was still a young upstart political blog, on a sunny Saturday morning in February, Frankenoid wrote:

The first daffodils bloom. Sprinkled with Johnny jump-ups everywhere. It’s a fine morning, a little too cool to work outside, but I am [psyched]- go out and tidy up, put a few more lightbulbs in the ground, sprinkle poppy seeds, the iPod pounds Grateful Dead in my ear. My 4th attempt with a Daphne cneorum survived the first year – yes! I’m going to be trying to take air-grafted cuttings from my giant Carol Mackey-Daphne this year. Moonflowers have already started, tomatoes are next.

In the tradition of Friday Night Cat blogging, how about a Saturday Morning Garden blogging? I’ll show you mine, you show me yours.

Frankie resigned in 2015, handing the group over to a team of administrators and writers who continued to run it. Missy’s brother says “SMGB is like neighbors talking about their garden fences. We all learn from each other and there are no stupid questions, only those that are not asked. Every week or so someone new comes up with a gardening question or requests plant identification, and if we don’t know the answer we all work together to get one. ”

“Our personal gardens and courtyards are usually the starting topic for our diaries here, but we cover a lot of space in the comments! We’re a picture-heavy bunch; Flowers, vegetables, trees, winemaking, hot sauce, travel, pets, weather … ”says DownHeah Mississippi. “I’m the resident tomato and pepper freak here at SMGB. As I like to say: “Except old and cranky, that’s all I grow …” I’m also the official (self-) appointed Greeter and Keeper of The Official SMGB Visitor Log … We have members, regular visitors and occasional commentators from almost every country in the Union as well as Australia, Denmark, Switzerland, Great Britain and Sri Lanka. It’s just a remarkable group of beautiful people !! “

Sixteen years and over 500 weekly stories later, and those Garden blog on Saturday morning continues to welcome regulars, newcomers, and lurkers for garden-centric conversations that can develop in any direction. This welcoming street corner in Daily Kos stays at the three-way intersection where things grow, eat, and enjoy the flowers along the way. “We have a wide rotation of contributors,” writes Mahdalgal, “With topics related to gardening (terrace / balcony / small courtyard / wide stretches of land), climate change, xeriscaping at zero (new), weather (always), new plant finds, general information on native plants and diseases, butterfly gardens, raised beds and greenhouses or building cold frames, stump building, grafting methods, winemaking from dandelions and berries grown in the garden, and simple ancient general information – essentially a very comprehensive gardening guide written by other ancient gardeners. “

Beginners are welcome.

SIX DRIVEN STORIES FROM JUNE 25, 1:00 PM TO JULY 2, 2021, 1:00 PM PDT

Community Spotlight gathers well-written, interesting, and overlooked stories to give the community one more opportunity to read them. Rescue Rangers look for work that offers an original point of view and doesn’t get the attention it deserves. At least one ranger reads every story posted by community writers. When we find work that deserves more credit, we save it in ours Group blog and post a weekly collection – like this one – every Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Pacific time. Rescue priorities and measures were outlined in a previous edition: Community Spotlight: Rescuing your excellent stories for over 14 years. And remember, this is an open thread.

Now for the saved stories!

“For centuries or more, people have paddled these waters in canoes. Until the last century the river flowed through forests and swamps. Now there is only a narrow green strip on both sides, trees and bushes grow close to the steep banks that between the river and the streets, houses and shops of our city there are small areas of grass in most places. “This is how it works AliceT4 refers to the positive changes a pandemic slowdown has made on a metropolitan river that is now fed by various species of animals and humans. home Life on the river. The river is idyllic but threatened and, like life itself, needs constant attention. AliceT4, an activist on social, economic and environmental issues for 50 years, has written 18 stories, this is her fourth salvation.

Advertisers pound the sidewalk in Georgia in late June It is hot! Why we rummage in this moisture, part 2 by snowy. This second in a series of four stories explains why it is important to be out there right now and speak to the voters. The short answer: to counteract the electoral obstruction constructed by Republicans by telling voters how to comply with the new restrictions (and helping them to overcome these roadblocks), familiarizing voters in the redistributed areas with their candidates, and most importantly listening to the voters Better meet them where they are. Playing catching up after the pandemic, the author writes: “We are considering how to weaken and circumvent efforts to suppress voters and ensure that we have ‘super compliance’ to help our voters meet and vote . “Organizing early takes effort, but it’s good for voters and great for volunteers and activists. Snowbored, whose advice is good for any activist in any district in the country, has written 49 stories for Daily Kos. This is the second salvation on this one Theme.

in the About ‘Leave Me Alone’ policy, Flylooper remembers his working-class grandmother as a woman with limited education who worked at a San Francisco brewery and loved Roosevelt for what he did to help working people. “My grandmother’s colleagues in the 21st century – uneducated like them and fighting day in and day out – believe that if the government would just leave me alone with their weapons, their Savior Jesus Christ, their ‘family values’ and their hatred of people Word ‘socialism’. were deceived by the Rupert Murdochs and Koch Brothers of the 5% who pervade public discourse with lies aimed at separating people from the truth and turning them against one another. “He sees in President Joe Biden an opportunity to alternate reality breaking through the Republican and getting the working class to believe in the social contract we have with each other. Flylooper, a Cossack since 2006, has penned 93 stories. This is his eighth salvation.

Ferret father and ninja cartoonist Curd pounder writes, “I read about William last week. Barr and others in Donald Trump’s Inner Ovoid try to distance themselves from Glorious Leader, and some of their remarks remind me of a line from Gilbert & Sullivan’s operetta. The mikado.” In the Distance yourself: The Mikado shows how it’s done, the author explains how one of the main characters in the comedy, the pompous and haughty Pooh-Bah, if caught with the goods, claims “I wasn’t there,” an excuse that makes up a good number of “I barely knew “He covers” and “Coffee Boy” Trumpists today, proving that everything old is new again, from Gilbert & Sullivan to rapper Shaggy to the Trump administration. Quarkstomper has written 503 stories, 86 of which were saved .

Boatswain addresses the biggest question of all The climate crisis and the meaning of life. Her meditation is inspired by readings for a continuing education course that begins with philosophers writing before the philosophical “death of God” in the 19th century. Boatsie’s first readings, especially by Tolstoy, inspired further readings in Hindu philosophy and brought them to the biggest question we face: the meaning of life and especially our purpose when we not only face the spreading climate catastrophe and possible extinction of humans, but most living things. She writes: “Are our ideas of what life is ultimately about different in view of the real possibility of our species becoming extinct? For example, what would Nietzsche have written if he was alive today? ”Her meditation is not only for philosopher types, but every thinking person: Boatsie, Cossack since 2006, has written 699 stories for Daily Kos.

Admiral Naismith’s regular function for Readers & book lovers is usually an extensive tour of the current reading, but this month Monthly book contribution: June 2021 mainly focuses on the nominees for the Hugo Award 2020, ranks the six nominees for the best novel and highlights NK Jemisons The city that we became for special attention. “I’m a transplanted New Yorker and Jemisin brings to life the neighborhoods I used to frequent! No … it literally brings them to life! The premise is that six strangers (fateful elect, whatever) attain superpowers representing the five boroughs of New York City, plus one more for the united unity of NYC itself, for in each generation a chosen city is BORN with the Power to fight ancient evil that seeks to destroy cities with the terrible weapons of gentrification, conformity, bigotry, and misogyny, and long white tentacles bursting from the ground. “Author of 328 stories, this is the 36th rescue by Admiral Naismith.