What did you say that was? Oh Another Tuesday!

"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread." ~Anatole France

"The greatest and most amiable privilege which the rich enjoy over the poor is that which they exercise the least - the privilege of making others happy." ~Charles Caleb Colton

"I have found out in later years [that] we were very poor, but the glory of America is that we didn't know it then." ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

"The difference between a rich man and a poor man is this - the former eats when he pleases, and the latter when he can get it." ~Walter Ralegh

"I've been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better." ~ Sophie Tucker

Welcome to my blog.. It is Tuesday and today we do have another what is it? I think someone will get this one pretty easy. But I have been wrong at least once in my life so far.. Maybe I'll be wrong again someday.. Take a good look at this and then give me a comment if you think you know what it is. Give me a comment even if you don't have a clue or could care less. Some of you who have lived on a farm or just out in the country have probably grown this before yourself. Maybe you knew someone who grew them in the past. My daddy grew them as did my Aunt Lucy and my Grandma. The first one I ever saw was at Grandma's little house in the woods. They are really kinda ugly aren't they? Believe me it's just from this angle that they are ugly. Everyone wants seeds for these from my yard. They make a beautiful exotic plant.Everyone used to have this plant on their farm... now they are very hard to find... They have no close relatives in the plant world..

It is native only to Africa but has been carried around the world. By people who thought them to be beautiful. They also have a special purpose that if you recognize the plant you should also know what their purpose was or is...

In tropical areas it grows as a shrub or a tree that can reach 40 feet in height along streams and rivers and on bottom lands with well-drained, nutrient rich soils. In temperate areas,they are grown as annuals. Up North they are grown as ornamentals and can be directly sown into gardens in late spring, or started earlier indoors and transplanted outdoors when the weather warms. I personally have never had luck with moving one or transplanting one.. These plants grow at an amazingly fast rate, if they are situated in full sun and provided with ample fertilizer and water. Ten-foot tall plants are not uncommon by late summer. I often have clumps of the huge trees by the end of summer each year. The leaves are giants.. Dave always says he could make an umbrella from just one leaf... They will often drop their seeds and will come up the following year in bigger and bigger clumps. They hate cold though and die as soon as the temperature drops below 32^oF.

Do you know what this plant is called? Do you know why the old time farmers grew it? .. have you ever grown it? Give it a guess. Who knows you might be right..


~~ And now for a small bonus.. On this day in 1572 the English Poor Law, the first known welfare legislation, was adopted under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Local churches were responsible for distributing food; clothes and very rarely money; to those who couldn't work... this included the very old.. mothers of babies.. orphan children.. the blind or crippled... and in some cases widows... public jobs were created for the able-bodied and if they refused work they could be beaten or jailed.... healthy unemployed persons were considered vagrants and were punished... Many were jailed.. You could be cast out of your neighborhood if they thought you were simply lazy.. others in the neighborhood could whip you if they caught you being lazy and getting welfare when you were able to work.... They had people chosen to watch over the welfare receivers.. Of course it was much easier then when they weren't as many people to watch and it was all handled by Churches.. I personally think the welfare system that we have now is unfair.. I went through the system many years ago and if I hadn't grown a lot of our food we would have starved.. Now I hear young and yes, able bodied women talk about how they get over a thousand dollars a month in just food stamps... that is not to mention that they get help on their housing and electric bills.... plus a check for their children... Most don't work because to get a job would cut their assistance.. What I'd I'd like to know is if I can go under the old law and beat them????? What do you think? I wouldn't really beat them.... (or would I????) Maybe we should go back to the public jobs for public assistance... I am in favor of giving to the elderly and the mothers of the very young children.. How-ever I do think they should have to do something .. anything.. to get their money! Maybe the Old widowed Grandma's can babysit the babies for the Mother's to do some kind of work... I know that many will disagree with me and that is OK... I do have my own opinion.. And I am sure you have your opinion too.. Thanks for reading about mine! I will be glad to read about yours if you care to leave me a comment!

Don't forget to make a guess on the plant! Have a great day!
Patsy