Garden Updates

Sunday:

Corn
Early Choice, 67 Days, Aug 21st
Incredible, 83 Days, Sept 7th
Silver Queen, 92 Days, Sept 16th
...I sooooo have to plant earlier next year.

Cucumbers
Straight Eight, 60 Days, August 14th.

Monday:
Rototilled a strip of the lawn for a bean row. Planted part of it with Zukes (nearest road), still have to finish planting rest of beans plus rototill a shorter row for the Jacob's Cattle beans

Beans:
Soldier Beans, 30' row

Squash:
Black Beauty Zucchini

Sunflowers:
Grey Stripe, by back fence.

VJ Day in Hawaii

Cool link with color film of VJ Day in Hawaii. VAJerry stumbled on it today looking for D-Day stuff and posted it on the antique tractor board.

Baked Beans & Books

So I decided I wanted to grow some dry beans this year, with the goal of making baked beans on the woodstove this winter.

Agway didn't have any (plenty of greenbean varieties though!), and Putnam Co-Op was already closed. I need to plant them ASAP, so no time for mail order.

So I took a trip up to Old Sturbridge Village which sells heirloom seeds in their gift shop.

Picked up a packet of "Soldier" beans and their last packet of "Jacob's Cattle" -- two of the several varieties suggested to me on a thread I started at the organic gardening board I like to hang out at.

Those added up to $5.69.

And while I was there I picked up $65 worth of books:



*sigh*...that's going to take an awful lot of baked beans to capitalize out that expense. But I should have lots of good reading this summer.

Not sure yet were the beans will get planted, I may need to till up a strip of my lawn near the house as a new "bean patch" for this year. Next year I can plan for them inside the fence where I already planted tomatoes this year.

Just counted them up -- 100 Jacob's Cattle Beans, at 4" spacing that's 32' of row, while there's 260 Soldier Beans which will need 86' of row. Hmmm, might not be planting all of them :)

On the plus side, beans are probably the easiest of all seeds to save so you don't need to buy them in the future. They don't hybridize easily naturally like squash, and heritage varieties like these are not hybrids themselves like most tomatoes or corn. So I may add some new varieties next year, but I shouldn't need to buy more Soldiers or Jacob's Cattle.

My Lucky Day?

So Sunday afternoon I hear a commotion outside.

It's warm and sunny, but there is a gusty wind around mid-day (was calm earlier and later).

I think maybe the gate to the deck blew open, dogs are outside so I go right to the front door...

Eek!

Good thing I wasn't in the hammock:

Memorial Day Garden Report

Lots of planting done today...hmmm, seems I don't have any corn from last year? Should check the "mouse proof" in the garage before I buy some though, maybe I stored it there.

Taters before hilling:


Taters after hilling:


The main garden, yeah I still don't have the fence all up. I'll get the other long side tacked up this weekend "good enough for this year."


Planted today:

Tomatoes (all from starts):
Beefsteak ... est. August 5th.
Jet Star ... est. July 27th.
Rutgers ... est. August 5th.
Big Boy ... est. August 2nd.

Pepper, start
Sweet Ivory

Eggplant, start. Unknown variety. est. July 14th.

Bush Beans
Long Tendergreen ... est. July 31st.

Summer Squash
Goldbar Hybrid ... est. July 27th.
Black Beauty Zucchini ... est. July 27th.

Pumpkin
Connecticut Hybrid ... est. October 7th.

Potatoes
Some red variety, finished off about 12' of row.

This year I could've safely planted earlier. But hey, you never know when the last frost will hit. I don't think planting before Memorial Day here, for most things, makes a big difference -- plants usually just stay hanging out until the warmth hits them and drives them forward. I've seen that before with corn planted two weeks apart, once the heat came on heavy at the end of June the younger plants caught up with the older ones pretty darn quick. Planting earlier would help with time management, though. I may not get corn and a few other things in till next weekend now, and that's getting later then I like.


5/29 Garden Expenses:

6 six-packs of tomatoes and peppers @ $2.50/each, Putnam Farmer's Co-op: $15

2# seed potatoes, Agway: $1.50

1 six-pack, eggplants, Agway: $2.25

My life would suck without you

Incredibly well done fan video (and since it is the first by the username, I wouldn't put it past this being an "official" fan video :) ):



I know I have issues, but you're pretty messed up too.

One of my favorite song lines ever.

I'm also heavily under the influence of a very strong Crown & Coke.

Kittery Trading Post

Took an unplanned Sunday drive on a Saturday today up to Maine.

Kittery Trading Post, specifically. Wanted to fondle the guns. Although afterwards I did take the coastal roads up through York and to Kennebunkport. I wonder if the Secret Service tracks folks who leave KTP and go to Kennebunkport?

KTP keeps about 1,000 new and used guns on the main floor for anyone to handle, plus a large number more behind the counters and handguns in the cases:



Pic shamelessly copied from here which has more photos of the store. My cellphone camera wouldn't have done justice, and I didn't want to be the geek lugging my bigger camera in the store :)

First gun I drooled over was a Remington 870 20 Gauge slug gun with a 18-1/2" barrel and synthetic stock. That did it. That will be my next firearms purchase (considering I only have a .22 bought about 25 years ago, I don't buy them often :) ).



Except the one I handled had a much simpler non-magnifying "Red Dot" sight...definitely what I want for a quick shot.

The other gun I drooled over has no practical application in New England except it would absolutely drive tacks on the firing range...a Sako 85 (made in Finland!) stainless steel with synthetic stock in 7mm Remington Magnum, like this:



The bolt defined "silky smooth" ... it's almost scary that metal can slide over metal as smoothly as it does. I didn't ask for a dry fire adapter...I didn't want to know how smooth the trigger is. It was priced around $750, and the worse thing is with a rifle of this quality I'd need to spend about that much again for a scope that matches it's capabilities.

Some garden expenses

Cleaning up the office, found some receipts:

Fence Project:

Tractor Supply, cable ferrules, crimping tools: $77.23


4/5/10 Putnam Farmer's Co-Op, onions & garlic: $4.00

Potatoes and Asparagus

Picked my first batch of Asparagus! Didn't weigh it, let's call it 1#.


Red Pontiacs. I did spread them out a bit before I covered them with a layer of well rotted manure.


In order, I planted a total of 5# of Red Pontiac, Yukon Gold, and Green Mountain taters. I'm hoping to get some rotted leaves from the town dump next week and mix those with soil for the next layer...I've never tried this mixture for potatoes yet.

Cut down a white ash

Got to pop my cherry on using a chainsaw bar bigger then 20"...put the 25" one on for this one!

Was cutting out some small stuff, all under 4" diameter, red maples yesterday and decided this would be a good BTU donor:


Sized it up this morning, decided I could justify the 25" bar. First time I used the bar I bought last year. My MS-360 with the 25", and the 024AV with it's 18":


Tree started to lean on it's own, so I didn't wedge. I should've stopped at that point and checked to make sure I was cutting straight, because I didn't my hinge was wider on the off side.


Mostly down. I'll let this settle a bit, then after I cut some of the rest away I'll twitch the small hang up out of the other tree with my truck and a tow strap.


That was all for today. I had a half-dozen medium sized red maples and boxelders I wanted to drop, but the wind picked up a bit, not a lot but enough to make it difficult to drop them with precision. I'll leave those for another morning when it's dead calm again.

Front section of fence is up!

Well, the front section of the fence is up. Not the most photogenic...even if you click for the larger version it's not easy to see the 1" x 2" mesh.

As I was admiring my handiworked, I realized at 40' x 20'...there will be a larger area inside the fence then the square footage of living space in my home!

Hopefully I can get the potatoes in this weekend (they'll be outside of and in front of the fence), and get the back side of the fence up this weekend. Still have to trench the backside, install knee braces for the 4x4 posts there, and I'm going to make a "cage" out of some fencing for the southwest corner post which is the shallowest one...that cage will be filled with all the rocks I've been digging up and the weight will help to brace it.

Amish Business Principles

Well, probably their general principles! From http://highcallingblogs.com/7394/figuring-out-success-with-the-amish/#more-7394

Legacy. Who will want this after I’m gone?

Passing on values. How can this help me teach the important things to my children?

Home and family. How does this business bring us closer, rather than push us apart?

Giving back. How can I use this to help others, even those outside my immediate sphere of influence?

Garden Updates

On Sunday I got a trench "rototilled" and dug on the front of the fence...gotta finish it by hand tighter to the posts then put up fencing on that side. Rocks anyone? You pay shipping, I'll send them.

Also rototilled the beds towards the driveway. They need another pass to break up the grass from being fallow last year more. I'll have the load of manure this year delivered here.

Today I got the Tall Telephone peas planted and garlic in.

Interesting article on shyness

http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/why-am-i-shy-new-study-offers-insight-on-introverts/5744/

Researchers have determined that about 20 percent of people are born with a personality trait called “sensory perception sensitivity,” or SPS, which facilitates an inhibited, even neurotic, demeanor.

Colloquially, we say those people are “slow to warm up” to social situations, or may cry easily, or offer deeper than expected thoughts, according to the study.

The results suggested that highly sensitive individuals:

* Prefer to take longer to make decisions.
* Are more conscientious.
* Need more time to themselves in order to reflect.
* Are more easily bored with small talk.

Those attributes complement previous research, which found that highly sensitive individuals are more bothered by noise and crowds, affected by caffeine, and easily startled compared to “non-sensitive” individuals.

All that may seem obvious, but the research suggests that sensory sensitivity is a result of an inherent nature to be more attentive to experiences — not the other way around.

I'm batty!

I have bats again!

I have bats!

At least four of them.

I didn't have them last year, for the first time since I bought this place in '99 they were missing. I assume it was that white nose fungus that's been killing them in their hibernation caves.

Let the dogs out a few minutes ago...and I look up and see a bat! Then another!

Sometimes I just lay in my pickup bed on summer evenings at dusk and watch them fly.

I'm a happy, happy camper.

More work done :)

Trellis netting is up, had to "stitch" a bunch of pieces together with wire ties to make it fit without stretching.

Peas (Little Marvel) & Onions planted along the front of the trellis. Bought more peas (Tall Telephone) to go on the back side but haven't planted.

Put up the brace wires on one corner. Learned I needed bigger turnbuckles then I had to properly tension it. Also learned too much tension makes them go out of square!

This is a great blog post explaining how H-braces work:
http://colliefarm.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/the-case-for-the-h-brace/

Who, me? Muddy? What are you talking about?

Dalmatian Heaven

If the photo doesn't show up, you may have to click on this link

Garden Fence

Need to get the prices so far...have the stack of receipts in my truck, but it's raining cats and dogs!



It is starting to look like a fence anyway :)

As I started laying it out, I decided at least the front will make a nice dual-use as a grape trellis and fence. That's when I committed to the heavy H-braces. Kind of hate seeing that much pressure treated in the garden, but gotta make compromises.

I'll be using 1" x 2" welded wire as the actual fencing material, with metal U posts to help hold it up between the corners. The front will have one more 4x4 in the middle to support the trellis wires. It will be 6" below ground, 4-1/2' above.

Running out of budget for this year, so I won't make the H-braces for the rear corners till next year, and I'll just use a flap of fence as a gate this year...next year I'll make nice swinging gates. I'm planning on two 4' gates on both short sides, which will give me an 8' clear opening which I should be able to drive my truck or tractor through if I have to.

The metal frame is something I bought years ago from Northern Tool for $99 with free shipping, it was never good as a tent, but it makes a nice frame for trellising. It used to be on the very left of the picture (you can still see some trellis netting I haven't moved yet on the ground).

Provided the soil drains out from the 6" deluge we're currently getting...peas and onions should go in the weekend. Then I have to put on the diagonal wires on the H braces that they depend on for strength, pound in the U-posts, rototill and dig the trench for the underground part of the fence, and hopefully I'll start to get the fence up this weekend too.

The area outside the fence will be used for stuff like corn, taters, squash that so far I've never had a problem with animals.

Top 5 TV...

Shows I couldn't live without in 2010...even if they're in hiatus...

#1: Mad Men
#2: Chuck -- although they better bring things together soon to save this season
#3: Caprica -- this show has thoroughly surprised me since I didn't think I'd like it. It is better then Galactica which it is the prequel too.
#4: Glee
#5: Life Unexpected -- if Glee made you consider revoking my man card, this removes all doubt.

Honorable mention:
Bones, House, Community (growing on me like an unwanted fungus), 30 Rock, and Modern Family (if for no other reason than Sofía Vergara's Colombian accent could probably get me to do *any* thing.)

Inspired by Becca...

And God Bless Google Images. I present the Streetzies High Heel Bunny Slippers.

Stilettos would have been even more humorous, but this proves that Yes, Virginia...there is a Santa Claus.