The Invincible Eagle! (Fourth of July Made in USA Bonanza and Victory Garden Update)

     As Henry sullenly reflects on all the sacrifices that have been made to make this great nation of ours what it is today, I've decided to take a more lighthearted approach to commemorating this Fourth of July. I realize, on the morning of the Mighty Fourth, that I have not made quite as many "Made in the USA" posts as I intended to, so like any good American, I'm going to clump a bunch of them together to get it over with, so I don't have to do more work.
     Don and I went backpacking a couple weeks ago, and as a result I got to try out some of the made in the USA things I bought before I cut my finger, with the intention of doing a good amount of bike camping and regular camping this spring, but didn't get to until now (at least not in the Great Outdoors). So here:

Therm-A-Rest NeoAir Sleeping Pad (Made in Seattle, WA) - This amazing little sleeping pad weighs just 13 oz., rolls up to the size of a 32 oz. (which are also made in the USA), and is a very comfortable (and warm) 2.5 inches thick when inflated. Sure, the self-inflating pads are a little more convenient when it comes to inflating, but the 1-2 minutes it takes to inflate this one is fine with me. Also, you can roll this up inside your sleeping bag stuff sack, inflate it, and it will make a great camp stool.

Wickers Wool Blend T-Shirt and boxer briefs- Wool shirts are generally expensive, and wool shirts made in the USA doubly so, but these Wickers wool blend shirts, which are 50/50 wool/Viscose rayon, and available through Sierra Trading Post, are extremely affordable. STP has different sales all the time, and I think I got mine for about $16. When we were backpacking, we went from flat ground to fairly steep, long climbs in the 85 degree sunshine, and once those climbs began, we were soaked in sweat after about 2 minutes, and when I say soaked I mean soaked. But the wool/rayon blend wicked the sweat away from me, kept me cool, and after the climbs were over, dried very quickly. The shirt also stayed very comfortable for the duration. They also make boxers out of the same material. Wickers wool things are a great deal for doing outdoors things.

Wiggy's Sleeping Bags - Like most made in the USA things, Wiggy's sleeping bags are more expensive than their Chinese counterparts. But Wiggy's has been around forever, they are rugged and durable no-frills bags. They are filled with Lamilite, which supposedly retains its loft forever and will keep you warm even when soaking wet (there are videos of people outside, in the soaking rain, with temps in the mid-30s, who still claim they are warm). I have the Ultra-Light, which is good down to 20 degrees (probably lower), and weighs 3 1/4 pounds. I could never really justify the price of this, which is generally around $140, for the amount or type of camping I do, but I found it very lightly used on ebay for less than half that. The backpacking trip was the first time I used this outside, and I realized, after lugging it for miles, that it was completely unnecessary for the temperature, but it was comfortable to lie upon.

I think that's it for the backpacking and camping stuff, at least that's all I can think of for now.

 One pint in my stomach, 23 pints in the bags, and 26 miles back home to go. It's blueberry season again, and Sunday morning I decided to ride out to Hammonton to pick up two flats of blueberries, which, of course, are made in the USA, and once you get hooked on Jersey blueberries, it's hard, if not impossible, to go back to imported blueberries in the off-season. The price is $15 dollars a flat, which is a little more than last year, but still pretty good. I devoured a pint immediately. More made in USA tie-ins:

Lone Peak H-100 Handlebar bag - (not my bike above, but it's a better picture than I have. Also, the H-100 is the bag in the middle of the bottom) This bag is a great bag. It's got really heavy duty construction, a convenient quick release bracket, tons of room, and has a really classic design. This bag is really all you'd need for most commutes, but when I combine this with the basket on the back of my bike (Wald, also made in USA), I can carry tons of stuff. The one downside is the price has gone up about $10 since I bought mine, but you can find them pretty reasonably priced on ebay lightly used. I also have a H-75 that I may be selling, if any of the two people reading this want to buy it. It's slightly smaller, but not that much and a great bag in its own right. Lone Peak also makes some other great bike bags, all of similarly tough construction.

Jandd Mountaineering Mini Mountain Panniers - Like the penny-pinching, but still economically-domestic minded self that I am, I got these on ebay for the price you'd pay for Chinese panniers of a similar size. They were (and still are) in great shape. I like these because they are smaller than full-size, but still have plenty of room for a lot of applications, plus are expandable to hold even more but retain a smaller size when you don't need it. Plus, they perfectly hold about 10 pints of blueberries each, and more room for other things in the external pouches.

That's all I want to do for this Made in USA section, because I want to get to the beach, go in the made on Earth ocean, lounge in my Chinese beach chair, and catch some made in Outer Space rays.

Now, for the Victory Garden update (it's really just my normal garden, but isn't every garden a Victory Garden today?)

 The square foot gardening method I have adopted keeps things well organized, and allows you to grow a lot in a little space. The tomatoes are growing non-stop this year, some have outgrown the 7-foot-tall trellis already!

 I love growing squash and zucchinis because not only are they delicious, and usually produce a plentiful bounty, but the leaves often grow to near-mutant sizes!

Some cherry tomatoes, which are just about to start ripening, and once ripe, will probably never make it in the house.

Mr. Waltham Butternut in his infancy.

Although this is a Chinese variety of eggplant, I can rest easily knowing that by growing it in the USA in my Victory Garden I have helped to defeat the Red devils on the other side of the world. JUST KIDDING!

 Fifth delicious zucchini almost ready for picking.

I planted two varieties of carrots, one called Danver's, which are traditionally shaped, and one called Paris Market, which are round. Unfortunately, I think these were the former. They still tasted good though.

Chioggia beets. None of my beets got too big, but the nice thing about beets is that even if they completely fail, the greens are still usually plentiful and very delicious when sauteed or steamed, so you still get something out of it.

That's it! Happy Fourth of July! Hooray for American! Down with the Hun! Long live Freedom and Victory forever! May England forever wallow in the filth of defeat and a faded empire! Hoorah!

If these don't make you love our country, then get out (I don't know why someone chose in the first three to have an awesome space photo, other than to imply that the USA is the King of the Universe, and Sousa is its soundtrack!)