FlishFun.com

I’m sure a lot of you out there have been seeing the cost of food rise in the stores, and if you’re someone like me who has started eating healthier, you’ve probably noticed the veggies having a pretty sharp increase in cost. Even Barack Obama said (while on a farm in Iowa):

Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula? I mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff.

While I don’t eat arugula that often, I have noticed that the peppers I used to pay just $2 – $3 for, are now closer to $4 – $5. While it’s not a major difference, I’ve actually cut back on buying so many vegetables lately. So where am I going with all this “veggie” talk? Down to my new garden, actually!

Since I haven’t been feeling good, and since it’s been warm out, it was suggested I restart my garden that I’ve had on my balcony, except this time grow food instead of just flowers! Check out the start of my crops:

Siam Queen Thai Basil:

Flat-Leaf Italian Parsley:

Garlic Chives:

Winter Savory (This + Lamb = Best):

Kale (Mmmm… Kale):

Purple Bell Peppers:

Fresno Peppers:

San Marzano Tomatoes:

Brandywine Tomatoes:

Now… with all those out of the way, I mentioned a bit back that I got an AeroGarden and even had a pic of my Purple Basil sprout. Anyways… with my cat being bad and trying to eat it, and with it being nice outside, I thought I’d attempt to transplant the herbs to soil. Will it work? I dunno. At worst, I’m left with an empty spot I can plant flowers. At best… more food! Anyway, check ‘em out!

Purple Basil:

Italian Basil:

Mint:

Italian Parsley:

Chives:

Neat, huh? Amazingly, for the most part, the plants themselves cost less (or the same price) as the veggie in the store. So, assuming they grow well, if I can get two peppers and two tomatoes, they’ve paid for themselves and I don’t have to pick up any on shopping days! How sweet is that? Now, I did get some flowers… I can’t have a garden without Marigolds for Jess:

I’ll probably make a post in the coming days to let everyone know about the transplanting of the herbs from the AeroGarden. I figure if they live, I’ll explain what I did for others to try. If they die, well, it’s sad and I’ll explain what I attempted.

Anyway, there is the start of my garden! Pretty cool, I think! Now all I have to do is take care of it and see if we get some payoff!!

These are my daily “Good to Know” links for 05/04/08 … please enjoy:

The 10 Most Creative Mario Paint Compilations | Kezins

You know the saying ?Classics never die?, and when you have Mario Paint addicts out there, their work will always be appreciated. Listed below are the ?Most Creative Mario Paint Compilations?.

How scientists plan to recreate the Big Bang with the 7,000-ton Atlas detector | the Mail

This huge tangle of wires and metal is the kind of machine scientists have been dreaming of for generations: one that will take them back 13billion years to the dawn of time and the Big Bang.

The man who grew a finger | BBC NEWS

Mr Spievak re-grew his finger tip. He used a powder – or pixie dust as he sometimes refers to it while telling his story. Mr Speivak's brother Alan – who was working in the field of regenerative medicine – sent him the powder.

Central Washington offers the ultimate act of sportsmanship | ESPN

In a world of spoiled players and ego-maniac coaches, it's nice to see a college softball player display an act of sportsmanship we can all point to and say, "That's how the game should be played".

2008 Cherry Blossom Timelapse | Brooklyn Botanic Garden

This timelapse was created by Dave Allen, BBG's Web Manager, from over 3,000 digital photos, one taken every 3 minutes from April 18 to April 26, 2008, of Brooklyn Botanic Garden's famed Cherry Walk.

Come back for more links tomorrow!!

My brother just got his diploma (magna cum laude) 10 minutes ago (watching via webcast… not the best quality) in Engineering from the Citadel in South Carolina. Check it out:

Proud of ya, little bro!!

UPDATE – Now with YouTube goodness, watch here:

Jon Graduates | YouTube

And check out the story of the Five Monkeys here:

Story of the Five Monkeys

Awesome!

Welcome to the first edition of my Helpful Article Corner (HARC)! I think once a week I’ll post some articles that you can read that will all fit a common theme of some sort. This will be different than my daily links, as those are just random interesting links that I’ve come across each day or so, and these will be articles I’ve chosen over the week that all fit a common theme! So sit back, enjoy, and let’s see how this goes!

————————————————————————————————————–

Today’s topic will be “Vista Tips for the Average User.”

As you may know, Windows Vista is the brand new Operating System for your home PC that was released by Microsoft as the long awaited successor to Windows XP. A lot of people have expressed concern over Windows Vista and it has caused a lot of grief, as it is very different from XP and most of the support is quite technical in nature. Here to help you along are some great articles, written for non-technical people, that should help with some of the questions surrounding the new OS.

Tips for installing Windows Vista on your computer

You’ve had your eye on Windows Vista since it debuted and now that you know you can make your desktop look pink, shiny and have bubbles floating around as your screen saver you have every intention of spending your next bonus to ensure you get your very own copy of Vista as soon as you can. Your only concern now is if your three year old computer can handle a Vista installation and if you will be able to install it on your own. [Click to Read More]

Tips for starting your computer faster with Vista

We’ve all been there…sitting at our computer desk, waiting, tapping impatiently for our computer to finish restarting so we can continue playing our favorite game. It’s terribly frustrating to watch your computer begin to start up only to have to wait another ten minutes for it to be usable, but thankfully for all of us impatient people in the world, there are ways to decrease the amount of time it takes for your Windows Vista computer to start up. [Click to Read More]

Using parental controls in Windows Vista

As parents, we now have to worry about not only strangers approaching our children at school or on the playground, but we also have to be concerned about strangers approaching our children online. With social networking sites, emails, and role playing games abundant on the internet it can be incredibly difficult to track our child’s movements and protect them. With the parental control feature found in Windows Vista, we can use our operating system to help monitor our children online, keep them from sites that as parents we feel are unsafe, and even keep them offline when they have too much school work to do! [Click to Read More]

Using Windows Vista System Restore

At one time or another we’ve all installed a program or opened an email with a virus that caused our computer to blue screen with random errors or simply operate at a snail’s pace. It can happen to the novice computer user or even the skilled technical support guru and thankfully Microsoft knows this and plans for it. [Click to Read More]

How to downgrade from Vista to XP

If you are one of the many computer users who have been using Windows Vista only to find yourself unhappy with it’s features and your computer’s performance, you still have the ability to downgrade to Windows XP. As long as you own your own Windows XP version on a CD, the process is simple. [Click to Read More]

There you have it! Five articles for the maiden voyage of our new Weekly segment! I hope you all enjoy this, and if you have any suggestions, please let me know!