| notes... |
[15 Oct 2009|10:18am] |
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look into making base skid for hoophouse out of recycled plastic wood.
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| Ah...might get one of these... |
[23 Aug 2009|01:33pm] |
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music |
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Sigur Rós - Hafsól |
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StoveTec Rocket Stoves (this is the not-just-for-profit wing of the fine folks of Aprovecho (one of the organisations that Ianto Evans (of the Cob Cottage folks) founded.
===I have been looking at making a portable rocket stove for myself, but I have not gotten around to it. This looks rather nifty in design, and might be worth getting for when I am out at an event.
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===Yes, I am indeed alive, and will perhaps post a bit more soon. I am in the midst of plotting out my winter gardens for Mithlond)
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| Quick Thresholds post... |
[07 Jun 2009|11:49pm] |
===Everything went very, very well.
===More later....we still have a few guests, it is late, and I should get some rest.
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| the end of the weekend.... |
[31 May 2009|09:51pm] |
===Very nice day..went to the farmers market, and got some more interesting tomato plants to put in the garden (I now have about 10 different sorts that will hopefully produce...this newest batch should not have to deal with a slight frost like the others did...), I did more weeding in the garden in the beds that have not been sheet mulched....munched on tasty greens while weeding....plated the small barrel of everbearing strawberry goodness..(these will be interesting pink-flowered variety...)
===Wandered the land a bit...that was very nice.
===Currently? Resting a bit, sipping some wine, then getting ready for the return to Rockville. (Yes, I am waiting at least an hour before driving....)
==Oh, and I did hear back from the folks with the giant prickly pear cactus. (it has pads the size of a human head, or perhaps larger......) I will be able to get pads to start my own plants from! I am giving them two gooseberry plants in exchange...they were very excited.
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| more gardening stuff... |
[30 May 2009|09:15pm] |
===We got a few more things in....some direct-seeded tomatoes, a small stand of buckwheat, a few more cucumbers, African red beans from my sister-in-law, erm...not recalling what else.
===Tomorrow we will likely pick up a few more plants for the other beds that have not been planted yet.
===Many of the plantings today were straight into the soil,in un-mulched beds. we are finding that the mulched beds are not the best for starting seeds in, at least not how they are set up now. Next year, we will likely still build up the mulched beds, but we will lay soil on top of them in spots if we want to start seed in them. (I am hoping ot have a functioning greenhouse before then, and be able to place started plants in the mulched beds. I will pull the mulch back more and make more "soil-pots" around the transplanted plants.)
===The perennial herb beds are looking really good. The Hyssop is doing the best at this time.
===Oh, the potatoes are doing rather well...I would say that the experiment of sheet mulched beds with tubers and straw on top is looking like a very good way to go. In a few weeks, I will likely be bringing my wooden posts to put in and be able to keep those beds neat and rising as high as i can get them.
===I will also have to design some much higher deep beds for root vegetables such as Parsnips...which I really, really like.
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| More plantings... |
[30 May 2009|06:41pm] |
===3 orach plants came up...will likely re-seed a few spots....
===Planted some replacement blue corn...the other blue corn did not come up, so I put some Blue Hopi corn in its place. (nicely, of course)
===Spinach did not come up, so plated tatsoi, chioga beets, and hamburg parsnip (a sort of root parsley).
===Planted to back fence squash line of doom...(winter and summer squash...bwahahahahaha)
===Direct-seeded a good number of tomato plants. (I am told that they actually do quite well here done this way. we will see.
===Planted a few pole beans to brow up the corn (stuff already sprouted.)
===Dill seeded.
===Jerusalem Artichokes planted to start the process of reclaiming a bit of area from a patch of poison ivy/oak/whatnot.
===So far,a rather productive and relaxing day. More posts later!
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| Ah...Sorrel.... |
[30 May 2009|11:10am] |
===ahhh....I have a number of favorite greens, and right up there on that list is garden sorrel. It may be (for me) be one of those "perfect greens". It has an amazing taste, it is very productive...and it is a perennial. I get a deep sense of satisfaction from eating it, to be honest. (satisfaction is probably not quite the right word, but it has the closest feel at the moment to the feeling I am trying to capture.)
===Also on that list is Lambs Quarters....which I need to grow here. Yes, they are considered weeds by some, but they are so very tasty, and they are actually one of the most nutritious of greens. (I actually found a place that sells the seeds, so I am ordering them soon.
===In other plant-like stuff...I have moved the carnivorous plants to their new domicile. My father had a rather large spherical terrarium in his basement, which I have rescued. I still need to get the substrates in so that I can formally plant it right, but I placed the pots in there,sitting in collected rainwater. (I have two flytraps and one pitcher plant at the moment.)
===Now, to get some work done in the main garden. My parents are coming over sometime today to order their computer online (Yes, they are going with Dell...they are a bit more comfortable with having the supposed service plan so they have someone to call...they recognize the name and my brother had good experience with them 5 years ago....AND they do not want to have to harass me every time something goes wonky. I can respect this.)
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| Ah...wonderfull evening... |
[30 May 2009|02:03am] |
===I sit here up at Mithlond, and am amused to note that Make Magazine has an article on Permaculture and mapping in it. (rather helpful one at that, actually).
===Now to observe the steampunk permaculture movement begin! (grins)
===Anyway....weather looks to be nice this weekend...not too hot. More later after I have gotten some sleep.
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| oaks and allergies... |
[22 May 2009|11:37pm] |
===it is always interesting how allergies can make you more aware of things you might otherwise not notice...
===In this case, I am allergic to oak pollen....have been for many years. It bothers my eyes and my nostrils.
===My allergy only acts up severely at dusk to about 11:30-ish.
===Of course, this seems to run counter to what I have heard on oak pollen...which is supposed to be a daytime/morning irritant...
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| 18 days....(Walking the Thresholds) |
[17 May 2009|10:35pm] |
===This is your 18 day warning....
===Walking the Thresholds starts in 18 days.
===Pre-Reg rate ends on MAY 27 (Wednesday). (We need about a week for any Pay-Pal payments to clear.)
===So...if you have not pre-reged, and would like that rate, let me know. I would like to get a reasonable estimate in to the site in the next week, if possible. (I have a general idea, but I would like to confirm it.)
===Comments set to screened for possible need of some privacy for folks....
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| Plans for the weekend.... |
[16 May 2009|12:22am] |
===So, my weekend so far is plotted out thusly:
===Get up early, go over to Rivendell to get my father, the truck, the trailer, and the tiller. Bring tiller and all to Mithlond. Go out with father and truck/trailer to get sawdust. Depending on ou survival/energy, possibly go back to get a second load. (the trailer is effectively two pick up truck loads worth and a bit more.) We have to shovel it in ourselves...so we will see.
===While we are doing this, Helen wil be at Mithlond, doing what she has plotted out for herself.
===Possibly folks will be showing up in the afternoon, We will be mostly tilling, bed designing/possibly planting...and my father and I will be stringing the electric fence
===I will return my father to his place of residence, and I will get over to Mithlond.
===If guests are here, there will doubtless be much interesting and intelligent conversation.
===Sunday will be most likely more gardening and other fun...but mostly gardening. I have a bunch of nifty seeds to put into the ground, including a few things from my sister-in-law, one of which we do not have an identification for, and she is out in Kenya at the moment. we will be planting it anyway.
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| Bees and weekends and such. |
[10 May 2009|11:19am] |
===It has not been quite the relaxing weekend I had hoped for.
===Bees being bashed by bear, having to run about and get things for the electric fence (rather than gardening as I had hope to do)...
===Had a good time visiting a friend last evening (small little birthday thing...nice crew.)
===Today, waiting for the conservation officer to come over to look at the bear damage, my parents are coming over with the interim fence controller, as the controller we got is a good one, but it needs three days in the sun to be properly charged up for the first time. (Yes, we went with solar....it makes the most sense out here.) I did not move the bees last night...they were not amenable to moving last night, and I would rather get them moved into the electrified enclosure after we have it set up and actually protected. (We have decided to fence off a bit of field outside the main garden, put the bees in there, and protect the entire garden and beeyard. I will be growing vining things like hops between the beeyard and the garden, so there is not the immediate "HELLO BEES" effect when in that side of the garden.
===I like how things are developing...I only wish I had not had to deal with a bear effectively making me lose one hive, and have to really baby my other two. But the design is looking to be a good shift.
===I still have a bunch of planting to do this weekend and next weekend, and I want to lay out where the meditation/rest area is going to be inside the garden. (curling paths, keyhole beds, and a place to sip tea=win.)
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rialian's journal