Calendar of Events – May 2008

Compost Month

We think compost in May. Compost is on our minds as we get it ready for our spring planting.

Our compost has been waiting all winter for us. Now is the time to get it ready to do its job in the garden.

The Joy of Compost

Click here to get to a web page titled "The Joy of Compost." I was fearful it would be too "joyful" . . . too exciting . . . to read. I was pleased, however, to find that it is a really boring article. It is only text, no pictures. It is has detailed instruftions on how to compost.

An informative thing I found in the article is about worms. Composting with worms is called "vermicomposting" (I did not know that until I read this article.) The redworm is the best composting worm. It was used by Julius Ceaser. Back then it was called Esienia Foetida. It can eat half of its weight in food scraps every day. It poops out a super high quality organic fertilizer, called "castings". It breeds faster than any other worm.

Wiggly Worm on You Tube

Click here to watch Wiggly Worm and his wiggly friends teach about composting.

Master Composter Lecturing on You Tube

Click here

National Egg Month (in U.S.)

Click here to get to the website that is the home of the Incredible Edible Egg and the American Egg Board.

National Hamburger Month (in U.S.)

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May 2, Friday — Sir James Dyson's Birthday

Although Sir James is not dull, one of his many inventions is a favorite toy of dull men — his see-through vacuum cleaner. We enjoy using it and watching the dust gathering in it as we hoover for hours on end.

May 5, Monday — Stilton Cheese Rolling

[May Bank Holiday Monday]

Cheese rolling is an annual even in Stilton. Hundreds of villagers and visitors line the racecourse, which begins at The Bell Inn and ends at the bottom of Fen Street and Church Street. Contestants group together in teams of four.

They have a wonderful web site for this event, click here to get to it . . . great pictures like these:

Here are the Holy Rollers:

 

 

May 4-10 — Compost Awareness Week

[First week of May]

Compost Awareness Week is a publicity and education initiative designed to raise awareness of the importance of compost and the composting industry. This event takes place simultaneously in the UK, Canada, the US, Australia, and across Europe. It began in Canada in 1995. It was brought to the UK by The Composting Association, based in Northamptonshire.

Were you aware that ten million tons of organic waste is produced in Britain each year? This fact and much more are revealed in the Know Your Compost Campaign that is carried out during Compost Awareness Week.

Typical events at Composted Awareness Week are:

• Backyard composting training sessions set up at peoples’ homes and at schools

 

• Tree planting ceremonies using compost to prepare the soil for planting the trees

 

• Compost Tea Parties where local residents are invited to learn about how to use compost not only for composting but also to make Compost Tea

May 4-10 — National Doughnut Week

During this week in May bakers throughout the UK sell doughnuts to raise dough (pun intended) for The Children’s’ Trust, a charity that provides care, therapy, and education for children with disabilities and health needs.

Participating bakeries, listed on the web, sell special doughnuts during this week and contribute the sales proceeds to The Children’s Trust. Celebrity chefs Ainsley Harriot and Brian Turner support the campaign. Special events are held such as bake-a-thons, doughnut and spoon races, doughnut raffles, doughnut eating competitions, and doughnut breaks at work.

The study of donuts is interesting indeed. What are particularly fascinating are the various theories about holes in donuts — who invented them, what’s their purpose? It is reported that in 1847 a young man, Hanson Gregory, suggested to his mum that she put a hole in the middle of her fried cakes so the cakes would cook in the middle.

Another story is that Hanson Gregory suggest the hole to his mother not for cooking the middle of the cakes but so that Hanson, a sea sailor, could hand the donuts on the handles of his ship’s steering wheel.

And then there’s the story than an Indian attached a woman on Cape Code who was making doughnuts. The Indian shot an arrow at the women. The arrow missed the woman but hit one of the doughnuts, leaving a hole in the doughnut.

Doughnuts in History:

• In World War I millions of American soldiers were served doughnuts to relive their homesickness. The soldiers became known as “Doughboys.”

 

• Dunking doughnuts began when actress Mae Murray accidentally dropped a doughnut in her coffee at Lindy’s Deli on Broadway in New York.

 

• A machine for making doughnuts was invented in 1920 in New York by Adolph Levitt, a refugee from czarist Russia. With these machines, doughnuts spread like wildfire.

 

• At the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, doughnuts were billed as the “Hit Food of the Century of Progress.” Doughnuts took on a futuristic image as people watched them being made by machines at the fair.

 

• Admiral Richard Byrd took 100 barrels of doughnut flour, a two years’ supply, on one of his South Pole expeditions.

 

• The record for eating doughnuts was set in 1981 when John Haight ate 29 doughnuts in six minutes.
  

May 9, Friday — Lost Sock Memorial Day

This is a day to face up to the fact that your lost sock is not coming back. You’ve looked everywhere and to look further would be a waste of time. Like any loss, it’s time to morn and then move on. Say a prayer in remembrance of the sock, remembering how fuzzy and warm it was, the places you walked with it, and complements people paid to you when they saw you wearing it.

Also recognize the fact that the sock was not going to last forever. At some point, it was going to need to be replaced.

Look at it this way: one door closes, another door opens. After the memorial service for the sock, start looking to the future. What kind of socks would you really like to have now? Then go out and buy those socks. You can even have them gift-wrapped and present the package to yourself. Enjoy opening your present, and wearing the new socks.

One other thing we should mention: in our experience, dull men rarely lose their socks. Pairing socks after they’ve been washed is a fun thing to do — it’s very satisfying.

Just in case you think you might lose a sock, however, here’s a tip: buy the same kind of socks every time. That way, if one gets lost, the survivor will have a mate ready and waiting for it. Socks are polygamous.

Lost Gloves — there’s hope:

January 20, 2008

Dear DMC,

Although gloves like socks live as couples, for a glove that becomes a single, there is hope for a reunion.

A web site, onecoldhand.com [click here], locates wayward gloves. It was founded by Jennifer Gouch in Pittsburgh. Sister sites are being set up elsewhere in the U.S. and also in Canada, Germany, and Italy.

Sincerely,

Mitt Glover

May 11-17 — British Sandwich Week

This is a week sponsored by the British Sandwich Association to celebrate sandwiches “as not only Britain’s favorite food by a long way but also as a world-beater in terms of one of Britain’s great exports.”

“From France to Japan and everywhere else around the globe the British sandwich is establishing itself as one of the great foods of the 21st century. The key to the success of sandwiches is that, not only do they taste good, they are versatile and fit busy lifestyles.”

During Sandwich Week retailers will be launching new sandwiches as well as running special promotions and offers.

Awards are given each year — in 16 categories: Sandwich Manufacturer of the Year, Sandwich Bar of the Year, Independent Sandwich Bar of the year, Sandwich Retailer of the year, Baker Sandwich Maker of the Year, Workplace Sandwich Supplier, En-route Sandwich Retailer of the Year, Coffee Bar Sandwich Retailer of the Year, Sandwich Marketer of the Year, New Sandwich of the Year, New Sandwich Ingredient of Accompaniment of the Year, New Product or Service Award, Innovative Sandwich of the Year, Sandwich Industry Export Award, Best Stand at Total Sandwich Show, Sandwich Photographer of the Year, International Sandwich Association Manufacturer of the Year, and – the top award – The British Sandwich Association Lifetime Award (to an individual or business that has made a substantial contribution to the development of the industry).

An early winner of the Lifetime Award was, of course, The Earl of Sandwich. Other winners have been Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham, of Pret a Manger, and Marks & Spencer.

Winners of the New Sandwich of the Year Award in past years have included Waterfields (Lancashire and Real Ale Chutney Sandwich), Marks & Spencer (New York Deli Pastrami Sandwich), and Somerfield (Chicken Jalfrezi Sandwich).

May 14-25 — Be Nice to Nettles Week

Nettles Week, organized by CONE (Cramlington Organisation for Nature and the Environment), based in Northumberland) is celebrated throughout the UK. There are nettle safaris (long sleeve shirts recommended) — followed by lunches of nettle soup, nettle pasta, nettle and chestnut risotto, and dandelion salad.

In Praise of Nettles:

“Within the Buckingham Palace gardens nettles play an important role in the wildlife habitat areas providing a valuable food source for caterpillars."

" I hope National Be Nice to Nettles Week is a great success and congratulate CONE on this exciting initiative.”

Mark Lane
Head Gardener, Buckingham Palace

Nettle Trivia:

• The name “nettle” is thought to have been derived from the old Anglo-Saxon word “noedl” for a needle. Or it may have been derived from the Latin word “nere” which means to sew.

 

• Nettles are very nutritional. They are an excellent source of calcium, magnesium, and iron.

 

May 23, Friday – World Turtle Day

Click here to read about this important day