September Garden Report

Autumn has fallen upon us and the garden is starting to wind down.

The strawberries are alive, but not really producing. The green beans may still produce some, but I am not counting on it.

One of the tomato plants is done, but two others continue to bear fruit. However, ripening happens slowly, and the first frost that we get will kill them all, so I now need to keep an eye on the weather forecasts. The first time it looks like we will dip below freezing, I will pick everything left and see what sitting on the counter can do for them.

However, the second planting of peas and the lettuce seeds are growing. That frost could still ruin everything, but I continue to hope.

I am still getting some new zucchini and crookneck squash, but they are not getting as big. I am not sure how much longer they will last. The pumpkins would have actually thrived under cooler conditions if they had grown, but that leads me to one of the big questions of this whole gardening experiment - why didn't they grow? I am starting to think that they simply mutated.

I guess the idea was planted when talking with one friend about gardening, and worrying about nutrient sharing and competition, and she mentioned in passing that the only risk was squash cross-breeding.

At the time it didn't seem important, but yes, there are many different kinds of squash, some of which are quite similar to each other. I would not automatically be suspicious that the crooknecks are thriving and that I never got a single pumpkin fruit, but there are a few things that make me wonder...

1. One of the crookneck vines is extending from the area where I planted the pumpkin seeds. Things can get mixed up a little, but it is pretty far away from where I put the crookneck seeds.

2. Some of the crooknecks are suspiciously orange, instead of the regular pale yellow. Are they really mutated crumpkins?

3. One of the other garden patches has some squash that are dark green and elongated at one end, but yellow and narrow at the other. Crookini?

My zucchini have remained intact, but they started as plants, and had time to get established while the crookneck and pumpkin seeds were just sprouting.

Really, the most suspicious thing is that yet another garden patch has some thriving crooknecks in the space that they planted watermelons. Are crooknecks like the Borg? You have been squashimilated?

Fortunately, they are pretty flexible for cooking. We have sauteed them with onions, cooked them au gratin with zucchini, and baked them with sausage. I think I will be trying squash breads and cookies soon.

Preparing to have a mission

I know, in the church that means something else. However, we also have our own definition of calling, where most of the world uses it more in the way Newport does, as something you feel drawn to as a life purpose, and a sense of mission goes along with that.

The final section of So Good They Can't Ignore You is Rule #4 Think Small, Act Big (Or, the Importance of Mission). It starts with a chapter called "The Meaningful Life of Pardis Sabeti".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardis_Sabeti

I still recommend reading the book, but if not, Sabeti's Wikipedia entry is still pretty impressive. What she does with her work is impressive, but there is also impressive field and charity work, and she plays in a band and in a volleyball league. It is a good life, and she does a lot of good in the world.

It is also a life that demonstrates the previous rules coming together. She did not automatically know what field she would work in, but worked at it, developing her skills and becoming very good at what she could do. She has skills that people are willing to pay for, and it gives her some control, both for the projects she sets up and for giving her the time for a personal life. As she goes down that path, she finds more things she can do.

For me the most intriguing part of this sentence was a reference to "the adjacent possible". The idea is that at the edges of what we know, there are new discoveries for which the base is already in place. Once those discoveries happen, they become the base for more knowledge and innovation, but at any given moment there are some things that are available.

The description made me want to know more, which is why I am now reading Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson. (For what it's worth, I also recently finished Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin because I wanted to know more about deliberate practice.)

I believe Newport mentioned Crick and Watson's discovery of the double helix formation as an example of a breakthrough that other people were working on simultaneously, and Johnson covers many more such examples, but there were two things that I got from Johnson's book that relate to Sabeti.

One of the common characteristics of people who make large discoveries or innovations is that they have hobbies, or they have studied other things. Working out the double helix required tools from biochemistry, mathematics, genetics, information theory, and a sculpture metaphor. And, perhaps because it is so impossible for one person to know everything, it is important to have contact with different sorts of people in different fields.

From that way of thinking, it is not just that part of a good career is that it gives you a chance to play volleyball against the other departments, or play in a band and spend time with musicians and music fans, but that it makes you better able to do well in your job.

I know many members whose jobs have been influenced in some ways by their time spent in the mission field, if for no other reason than that they have picked up a new language. I have also heard stories of older couples going on service missions where they use knowledge acquired in their career to serve others.

Even without a formal mission in the mix, life can be like this. We learn, we connect to people, we learn more, and there is a circle where knowledge leads to knowledge, connection leads to connection, and we not only make our own lives better but the lives of other people. That is something worth working for.

Preparing to exert career control

We are now at Rule 3: Turn down a promotion (the importance of control)

Newport used to opposite examples to demonstrate this principle. One example had written up a list in her early 20's of things she wanted to do. They included making her way across each continent without normal power, like maybe unicycle for one, and dog team for Antarctica, learning to eat fire, and surviving in the wilderness for a month without supplies. She dropped out of school to do this, but then found her job prospects did not really support her goals.

The other started out with a very basic entry level code testing job, but she became very good at it, learning ways to debug and automate and consistently rising in terms of her level of ability and responsibility. She then was able to request various things that they would not normally give, like Fridays off, or a three-month leave. If the first person had followed that kind of a path, she would have been more likely to be able to follow her interests.

One point of this is that you have to be able to offer something that people will pay for. Someone who has traveled the world by unconventional means may be interesting to talk to, but it doesn't automatically make them a good employee. Even if you look for ways to monetize it, by writing a book or creating a reality show, there are no guaranteed sales.

The most detailed example was about Red Fire Farm: http://www.redfirefarm.com/

As a teenager Ryan tried various things for making money, including some very typical ones. One of those ended up being selling wild berries that he picked. That led to selling extra produce from his parents' garden, then taking over the garden, expanding the garden, and renting land to grow more. By the time he was ready to purchase his own land, he had acquired career capital that he could put to work. It started as a way to simply make cash, but it became a career.

One thing worth noting is that the first few rounds wouldn't have required much of a financial investment. If the berries hadn't sold, he could have moved on to something else easily. As he succeeded, there was a gradual progression to bigger things. At various points the risk would increase, but there had been a commensurate increase in knowledge and experience before each expansion. He is now doing what he wants in the way he wants, but it started small.

As the proprietor of a family business, he has control, but also has responsibility for his own financial well-being, which is going to affect decisions. When you work for an employer, you may have less risk, but also a trade off with less freedom, and that requires other decisions. That's where turning down promotions may come in.

I have a friend who works at a large chip manufacturer, and is not on the typical career path where he should be seeking higher advancement. He is looked down on for that, but he knows that the normal route will seriously compromise family time, and mental health, and evaluating what his family needs are financially and emotionally, has made his choice. That takes some strength, but it also takes clearheaded analysis.

This section of the book had many examples of people who did turn down promotions or walk away. When you are valuable to your employer, they may want to nail you down more. They will probably not want you to be gone for three months or to work four days a week. If that's what makes the situation workable for you, that may work, as long as you have something to offer them that is worth the concession.

For the woman who did take the three-month leave, part of it was that in preparation for it she trained her team to function without her. She wanted to know that they could do it, it would be a relief to her company to know that while she was valuable she was not irreplaceable, and it was probably good for the individual team members to expand their abilities.

Exerting career control is a two-part process. One is knowing what you have of value, so that you have something to offer and to barter with. In addition, you also need to know what you value, so that you can decide the worth of various options. Combining those things can help you build a desirable career.

Preparing to get good

After realizing that it was not possible to capture the entire book So Good They Can't Ignore You in a single post, I started thinking that perhaps I should do additional posts, with one going over each rule.

I still think that if people are interested they should read the book, and I can also confirm that there are copies of the book in Washington County libraries, but I suspect that spending more time writing about it will be valuable for me.

The overall cycle is that as you become very good at your job, having skills that are valuable, you can take more control, which allows you to not only improve your job conditions but also to control the direction your work takes, allowing it to become more of a mission, thus making this a job you are passionate about.

Building skill is the most basic step, but part of that is also deciding where to focus. There may be jobs where you should leave instead of try to become better. Newport gives three possible scenarios for that:

1. The job presents few opportunities to distinguish yourself by developing relevant skills that are rare and valuable.
2. The job focuses on something you think is useless or perhaps even actively bad for the world.
3. The job forces you to work with people you really dislike.

Many of the people who would benefit from this book are those just starting out, but it can also be useful for those who are already working but dissatisfied with their situations. In that case, the first step may need to be to examine why it is not satisfying. If the reasons fit into the three situations above, it may be better to move on than to try and fix.

(I will say that I have noticed that a lot of stories -- not from the book; just that I have heard -- about people who changed jobs and been happy, or were miserable about their jobs on their deathbeds seem to involve the advertising industry.)

If you are ready to stay and build, then Newport talks about the "craftsman mindset" and gives examples of those who have followed it well, along with five habits.

1. Decide what Capital Market You're In
Newport divides these into "auction" and "winner take all", which basically means whether there are several types of skills and niches to fill, or basically one necessary type of skill. He uses one person working in venture capital and one working as a television writer for examples.

2. Identify Your Capital Type
The venture capitalist had some experience and knowledge about energy that made him valuable for firms focusing in clean energy, and making that connection helped him in focusing his search and making choices. The writer just needed to keep producing better scripts.

3. Define "Good"
This could mean having a script good enough to land an agent or being able to quickly assess whether a company with a new energy saving device will be successful. Having identified your capital type, knowing what makes it valuable should give you an idea of the level of skill that is needed.

4. Stretch and Destroy
This is where the deliberate practice comes in. We have all heard about the 10000 hour rule for becoming an expert at something, but it looks like how you practice is more important than for how long.
Neil Charness did a study of chess players, and of many tracked over 10000 hours, some became grand masters and some stayed intermediate. The grand masters had spent half of their time on serious study of the game - reading books, working with teachers, and identifying weaknesses. The players who were still intermediate had spent only about 1000 hours on this, spending more of their time on tournament play.
Deliberate practice is not always enjoyable, because you are constantly finding the weak spots, and the areas where you are not very good, and attacking them. At the same time, you end up eliminating those weak spots.

5. Be Patient
The point in the previous habit is that thousands of hours don't automatically give you valuable career capital, but it does not mean that you won't still need thousands of hours. For the two main examples, it took them two and five years of deliberate practice to get where they wanted after deciding what they could do and how to get there.

Of course, those years would have passed anyway, whether they had been working toward a goal or not.

Preparing to have a good career

I don't think I've ever done a book report for this blog before, but I found some things that are helpful in one book, and with the costs of education rising, and wages not really doing the same, the advice may be more valuable than ever.

The book is So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport.

The book came about as Newport was finishing his education and applying for jobs. There was reason to believe he might not be able to get a good job offer, and especially not in an area where he would like to live, so he needed to consider alternatives. He started questioning how people end up loving their jobs.

Newport breaks the book into four sections, or rules.

Rule #1: Don't Follow Your Passion
Rule #2: Be So Good They Can't Ignore You (Or, the Importance of Skill)
Rule #3: Turn Down a Promotion (Or, the Importance of Control)
Rule #4: Think Small, Act Big (Or, the Importance of Mission)


Many people will tell you to follow your passion, and the money will follow. Steve Jobs has advised this, but not only are their many people who have found it not to be true, it is not how Jobs himself became successful, and wealthy.

Jobs dropped out of college and bummed around for a while, and then he saw an opportunity to make some quick money that incorporated the skills of Steve Wozniak, who was very passionate about technology. Finding a need in the market, they worked on filling that, and Jobs ended up being really good at finding technological needs and filling them.

Technically, the part of his life before, when he was studying Eastern mysticism, sleeping on floors and scrounging for meals, and traveling to India, would more accurately reflect his passions, but he got tired of being poor. Once he succeeded in business, that gave him the option to do things that he really wanted to do.

One way of looking at this is that you should have passions in your life, but maybe not the job part of your life, but many people find that they are passionate about their work. Newport cited three needs that, on being fulfilled, led people to love their work:

Autonomy
Competence
Relatedness

These relate directly to the other rules. Feeling that you are good at your job is a good feeling, but it also increases your chance for autonomy, which makes it possible to do other things to improve your job satisfaction. Using that autonomy to make projects you care about happen is satisfying, but also indicates that you see a higher purpose in your work, which adds to satisfaction that way.

Initially what I found most significant in the book is that there is not a rush to nail down your purpose and follow it right away. In fact, it takes time to discover what your passion will be. Through many interviews, people were found who thought of their work as a job, a career, or a calling, but the biggest common denominator of those who thought of their work as a calling is that they had been at it longer. It took time to know what was going on and to gain an appreciation of it.

The parts that I found most interesting were under the second rule, regarding the "Craftsman" mentality, and using "deliberate practice" to become better. Which parts will resonate most will probably depend on where you are in your work, but there is a lot of good information, and simply getting a different vantage point from what is commonly said is helpful.

I cannot go over everything in the book here. If the ideas sound helpful, you should read it. I do feel I need to add that for Rule #3, you would not automatically turn down any promotion. It is more about not being afraid to turn down a promotion that is wrong for you. This advice could rid the world of many poor middle managers.

On not being deceived

I have written about this topic before. It was actually the last newsletter I did for the singles ward:

http://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2010/12/december-2010-preparing-to-not-be.html

Almost four years later, the topic might be ready for revisiting anyway, but it also came up last week, and I do have some things to say.

I usually avoid commenting on other people's political posts, because nothing good tends to come of it, but last week I did. Maybe it was because my sister had commented too, and I wanted to back her up.

Neither of us were appreciated really, which was expected. We were foolish for believing news from the Washington Post instead of a book that goes over a long conspiracy involving the Illuminati and the New World Order, and it was sad that we were so ill-informed.

I thought about just leaving it, because we weren't going to get anywhere, but I realized that the real reason that I commented in the first place was that she always sounds so unhappy. Everything is about our stupid and evil government, especially the president, and while the ignorance and the racism do bother me, the problem was that she always sounds so unhappy.

This is not to say that people who are blissfully ignorant and racist aren't a problem, but there may not be a lot you can do there. Here, I felt like maybe there was an opportunity to help, and so I had to try. And it didn't work, but I still had to try.

At some point I would like to be able to offer some tips on getting trustworthy news. There has been a real decline in the media, which I won't deny, and that is a problem, but it is not the main problem here.

As we enter more disturbing times, it becomes ever more important to be led by the Spirit. That will help us to know truth, it will makes us happier, and it will lead us to greater charity.

I thought of so many scriptures while this exchange was going on, including Matthew 24:26:

"Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not."

And yes, if we are leaning toward the idea that there is just a small group of us who knows what's what, and most people are fooled, that leaves a great vulnerability for deception, so that does matter.

That's really not what it came down to though.

1 Corinthians 13
1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

 2. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

 3. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

And Galatians 5
 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

 23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

And I thought about sheep and goats and foolish virgins.

What we need most in these days is charity, and many voices in this world are doing everything they can to sow division, where instead of feeling love for your fellow man you feel contempt. That is spreading.

That does work against your salvation, but it also makes you miserable. (That's not a coincidence.)

There are painful things about loving people, but there's a lot of joy too. If we turn that off, condemning people because of their skin color, or because they vote liberal, or because we assume that if they are poor they must be lazy, then we are damaging our charity, and you have to shut the Spirit down to do that, because the Spirit will be telling you to love.

There is a natural progression to things. We have faith, even if only a seed, and because of that faith we can have hope. That eases the burden of our worries, and gives us a better view of all of humanity, and that combines together to increase our love. As we act on that, and see how it makes everything better, our faith increases. This is a beautiful and joyful cycle.

It can be sent backwards too. Don't do that. You don't have to agree with people to love them. You don't have to think people are perfect to love them. (Actually, trying it that way will fail spectacularly.)

My love is not perfect, but it is deepening, and that may be the only thing that will keep me going as the world keeps going downhill. 

Don't let go.


Related post:
http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2012/11/normal-0-foxis-mainstream-media-iwas.html

August Garden Report

Frustration and despair are factors, but there is also satisfaction and hope.

The main source of frustration is the powdery mildew mentioned last month. Despite clearing out many leaves, it has spread. I can see why some people have given up on squash, but I am not ready to do that.

The other thing that makes me very sad is that I think I have to accept that I am not getting any pumpkins. For a while I could think that mine were just running late, but it kind of looks like I have had only male blossoms, and they are finding no females to pollinate. I did look into the possibility of playing bee, which is way more complex than you might think, because the pollen ferments after two hours and overhead watering can wash it away, but still, I would have to see at least one good female blossom to do it, and I'm not seeing one. I really wanted pumpkins.

However, I have now not only eaten things fresh from the garden, but I have cooked with ingredients from the garden. In the past there has been this salad that I would make with pea pods, orange bell peppers, lemon juice, olive oil, and almonds. I didn't have bell peppers, but I had the peas and I ended up tossing them with chicken for something a little heartier, and it worked out.

Also, many years ago in the Intel cafe they served up a gratin of cherry tomatoes and zucchini. Their gratin was perfectly arranged and layered, which mine was not, but nonetheless I made a zucchini tomato gratin with zucchini and tomatoes I grew myself, and my mother said it was better than how she remembered her mother cooking it. That was pretty cool.

(Mom's father was a great gardener, which was helpful not just for their large, not particularly rich family, but he was also always taking vegetables to the nuns. I would like to get a good enough harvest to be generous with it.)

So there are these ups and downs. I have had to let go of three of my six zucchini plants already. The mildew hastened their demise, but they were going to go in a month or so anyway, I am sure. I am getting more tomatoes than it looked like I would at one time. Also, there is hope that the next round of peas and the lettuce will start popping up soon. And things can be late; the beans suddenly came to life after doing nothing for weeks.

Also, when I went Friday night to water, it had looked like the zucchini was about done, but suddenly there was one really large one, and two that are growing. I hadn't seen any new crookneck squash, but there are a couple forming now. Tomorrow night I will trim more powdery leaves and hope for the best.

I can guarantee that I will not delay spraying the milk next time, and I feel like maybe I want to add a lot of lime to the soil. That's one thing that is probably worth noting - this season is not over, but I am thinking a lot about next year. Gardening is good for that.

Tomato Zucchini Gratin - my style

Lightly coat a casserole dish in olive oil.

Slice up zucchini and tomatoes. I sliced them separately, and then while I had the slices together but not piled on top of each other, I salted and peppered them. I then put them into the casserole dish, did more salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil, and then tossed them. The initial salt and pepper was partly to keep the zucchini slices from drying out, but also I wanted a good distribution of the flavorings, all of which are very basic.

Top with bread crumbs and shredded mozzarella. (Every other recipe I have seen calls for Parmesan, which texture-wise makes perfect sense for mixing with bread crumbs, but I prefer mozzarella. I also always substitute provolone for Swiss.)

Bake at 400 degrees for twenty minutes.