December 21 2012 , the world ends !

"You People" are on your own

I've been so busy playing Farmville and keeping up with American Idol  I completely forgot  we have 2 days to live ...Doh    Don't get me wrong I'm totally stoked that Mariah Carey is the new Judge  , but December 21 2012 is the end of the 13th b'ak'tun  !  wow   time flies . Yesterday  I picked up a  Mesoamerican Long Count calendar  at the Dollar store ,   no doubt  its over !   I was on the back porch smashing a few cold ones , pondering how does a person prepare for the end of the world ??  and even if you do survive good luck getting internet or an  iced caramel macchiato !   I can't disclose my secret  plan for survival , but I can  give you a few tips. 

If you find my Dog , please give her a good home . she had a dysfunctional childhood

Purple Haze, Physical Graffiti, L.A. Woman and David Bowie

 You have to love the names given to Dragon fruit  varieties  .  I have  4  varieties in my side yard;  Vietnamese Jaina, Natural Mystic, Dark Star and Halley's Comet.

The Vietnamese Jaina is the large white fruit. I got  3 cutting's from a   neighbouring farm , The plants flower on the same day as the parent plants . The texture is similar to kiwi fruit with crunchy little seeds

Propagation is easy ; cut on and angle and stick in a pot. you don't even need root hormone . These are the easiest plants to propagate . Even if you just drop it on the ground it will likely  root  !

I always use  a premium potting mix , Tall pot and moist soil . I don't use any  fertilize for about 6 weeks ,  then light Organic 6-6-6

I get best results putting the pot's under the shade of an  Oak Tree

The  first bud's appear  in mid June

The plant produces large beautiful night blooming flowers   

I pick the fruit  after it turns this pale red. There is no benefit to leaving it on the plant longer it will not become any sweeter 

The plant is Cactus like and makes a great place for birds to nest 

weather or not

    This year the weather has been different ; We had one night January 5th very cold, frost and near freeze with selective crop damage but over all it was warm and mild . Spring was about 3 weeks early and our rainy season was early as well, I have never detected a pattern  .     We are seeing Record heat in the South and Northeast , Record Drought is killing Corn crops in 6 States and Wild fire rages in Colorado and we are having an early and active Hurricane season . I have also seen more Tornadoes this summer than ever before, The Tornadoes seem to pop out of storm clouds in the late afternoon then struggle to form , rarely touch down . Some suggest an above average Hurricane season and trouble for South Florida . What does it all mean ?  I dunno 

Thankfully these are not the F 3 or  F 5 Super cell monster  storms seen on the Oklahoma and Kansas plains 

These Tornadoes are called by some "Landspouts". . They generally are smaller and weaker than supercellular tornadoes, though many persist in excess of 15 minutes and some have produced F3 damage. They bear an appearance and generative mechanism highly similar to that of waterspouts.