It's official

The season is ripe now because we finally had our first meal of the year that came mostly from our gardens.

Sure, there's been plenty of herbs, a tomato or two spread over time. And sure, I'm late like always.

But last night I got to cook a ragu with eggplant, bell pepper and tomatoes from our beds. And the rosemary, basil and oregano were ours as well. To round it out I threw in some garlic, garbanzos, wine and zucchini (our Lebanese squash is almost ready). It tasted a lot like summer.

Tip on the eggplant. Buy it young, maybe at the farmer's market at Sunset Center Tues., Thurs. and Sat. mornings, cut it into one-inch chunks and put it on a plate covered with a layer of coffee filters. Salt it and microwave on high for about eight minutes. That gets the water out and precooks it before the saute. No mush, no fuss.

Got another e-mail from Boone, well, his aggressive pr people. It quoted U.S. Senate leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, as being a member of "the Pickens church." Scary. See what natural gas and a lot of money can do to you.

I threw in these pictures from an e-mail newsletter I get. It puts up links to all the wind stories I write, so it can't be all bad. Disclosure about the site that publishes the newsletter - it can get a little negative about wind energy. But it asks good questions. I like it for balancing other sources. I mean, I listen to Rush, too, for balance.

There's no good reason for the photos except they're kind of cool. The first is from Minnesota, the second from West Yorkshire in England.

My pal Pickens

Just got a personal note from T. Boone Pickens about his $10 billion wind farm near Pampa.

Well, I guess the note actually went to all his Pickens Army people who promote the Pickens Plan. See any Pickens Pattern here?

He says the wind farm isn’t cancelled, just postponed to 2013 when the transmission lines are due to be completed in the Panhandle for the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones. That's counter to what many news outlets said recently

Oh yeah, and he’s a victim in this.

“This misreporting is no doubt being fueled by those aggressively trying to convince Congress and the American public that wind and solar power can’t contribute significantly to solving our energy problems. They are wrong,” the note says.

And don't forget all the natural gas he wants to sell drivers for their cars since it won't be needed for electricity. That will cut our gasoline use and teach the Saudis and Chavez a lesson.

The 667 turbines he ordered from GE to be delivered in 2011 for the first phase are still coming, apparently. Pickens told a Bloomberg reporter he might use them for smaller farms or just “put’em in the garage.” That would be some garage, but I guess he could afford to build one before his investment fund crashed harder than my 401K.

And then we get all touchy-feely like Boone always does.

“I cannot ever thank you enough for your continued support for the Pickens Plan.”