River picks a peck of perfect pumpkins!

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Originally uploaded by rivercarrot

I picked 5 pumpkins last week! They were grown in 100% organic soil with zero herbicide and zero pesticide. And they got HUGE.

every 15 seconds

So I have an AVEDA t-shirt that says EVERY 15 SECONDS A CHILD DIES DUE TO LACK OF CLEAN WATER. Disturbing, no?
You know what else is disturbing? A guy came to our house today to analyze our drinking water and made a glass from the tap look like Nigerian well water. Wow. Gross. It was rather unnerving to see all of the minerals, chlorine and sediments that are in the water coming out of our pipes. So unnerving, in fact, that I might be brushing my teeth with Culligan water tonight.
Seriously though, despite the hidden grossness, I count myself extraordinarily lucky that my water is as clean as it is. I mean the odds of me getting giardia from drinking my city water are infinitesimal and that is something I quite appreciate. However, eww. All the sediments and minerals and icky floaties this guy showed us in our water gave me the creeps. No wonder our water tastes like crap! No wonder it takes me a handful of shampoo to wash my hair! I was seriously considering investing in a combination softening/filtration system to clean and soften all of the water that we use in the house.
But is it worth it?
The salesman that came to conduct the test was (of course) also peddling the solution to our every water quality problem: a whole-house water purification system. It cost more than my car. However it is said to extend the life of water-loving appliances, like the dishwasher and clothes washer, as well as cut our costs on cleaning and soap consumption, as well as make our daily personal hygiene practices and household cleaning tasks "green", which simply means it would make biodegradable soap and cleaning products their most effective. It all sounded good. But I noticed our salesman/mad scientist had a few tricks up his sleeve. For example, when testing our water's hardness, he used the hottest water from the tap in order to ensure his sample contained sediments from our ancient gas water heater. I thought that was funny at the time, but now I'm really curious- how hard is the cold water that we use for 90% of what requires water, like cooking and clothes washing? I should have asked!
Alas! Amidst the noise of rushing water and clanking beakers, I was whisked away to Clean Water Land. Dr. Salesman had us wash our hands, one hand in the purified water and one hand in our icky water. I fell in love with the softness of my left hand, and discovered a fresh hatred for tap water due to the gritty feeling it left on my right one. He tested two glasses of water, one which was straight from the tap, and another glass of tap water which he'd had Jason swish his fingers around in. The tap water contained chlorine; the finger water did not- proof of how human skin absorbs toxic chlorine every time you shower, wash your hands, or wash your face! Save us, Dr. Salesman! He then went on to prove, through a series of simple tests, how poor a rinsing agent hard water is, how abrasive it is to clothing in the wash, and how much money we "poured down the drain" by using too much soap to compensate for our hard water, among other things. "This unit will pay for itself in just a few years! Think of your health!"
This company, which is endorsed by a major home improvement store, seems rather reputable. The water tasted good and felt luxurious compared to the gritty city water we drink and (attempt to) lather up in daily. But I'm torn. Is $5,000 (around $75- $100 per month for 5 years) a reasonable price for *better* water? Or am I just being lavish with myself? I mean, there are people in the world who contract unspeakable illnesses from their drinking water, and I'm concerned about the ~luxurious feel~ of mine?

Drinking Water Analysis

We are scheduled to have some people out to test the quality of our drinking water this afternoon! I'm rather curious to see how Dayton's city water performs... I will post the results as soon as we receive them!

UPDATE: Our water is HARD. Almost as hard as water can get!

Posting Pictures

Why must posting pictures on Blogger be so tedious a task? I've tried linking directly from Photobucket, but the pictures just come out enormous and bad. Oh well! I guess I'll just stick to the old fashioned way that takes three hours!

Crazy Pumpkins

My pumpkins are going insane! My garden, which I like to say is 100% organic and about 95% weeds, is going okay. I have carrots and beans and squash which seem to be doing fairly well, as well as a Mr. Stripey tomato plant, two bell pepper plants, and ten stalks of corn. However a cucumber beetle invasion has attacked my pumpkins, killed my watermelons and seems to still be nibbling on the tender sprouts of my cucumber plants.
Despite this cucumber beetle situation, I simply could not bring myself to spray my plants with anything, not even a home-made organic solution like pepper spray or a diluted soap solution. The home's previous owners took perfect loving care of this garden and its soil since 1948, and I simply cannot bring myself to do anything to the plants and/or soil that might damage its quality. Our soil is famous throughout our neighborhood because it has been so well cared-for and expertly cultivated for so long. I simply can't risk changing it. Especially after how my pumpkins have taken off!!!
My pumpkins are growing like MAD. In just a few weeks, the two pumpkin plants in the back of my garden have reached out their little curly-cue phone-cord-looking vines and pulled themselves about eight or ten feet into my garden, sprawling out hugely into several of the spaces between the rows. Big, bulbous female flowers have started to sprout, which I can only pray will fill out into huge orange moon-like gourds come September. I am praying that they have really overcome the horrible onslaught of cucumber beetles, (the damage from which is evident in the picture of my pumpkins chewed-up flowers above.) But I suppose only time will tell. My success with this plant has so far been my only victory, which might account for why it makes me so happy. My neighbor's garden is really something to envy but my pumpkin plant is bigger than hers. She said she thought my pumpkin was doing great and I just beamed with pride. (Because I've never grown a pumpkin before and she really knows her stuff when it comes to gardening so I took it as quite a compliment! I think the only reason my pumpkin is doing so well is because of the conditions of my garden. Her garden is a little shady, and very full of other much more delicious and fruitful looking stuff, so the pumpkins don't have as much room as they might like to sprawl out in the brightness. My garden, on the other hand, has so much room and sun and good fertile soil, that even though I hardly do anything to the plants I've planted there, I can hardly contain my pumpkin. It's growing like a weed.
The other above-mentioned plants, however, are only doing so-so. Have I mentioned I know almost nothing about gardening?!