Archive for the ‘gardening’ Tag
I spent an hour this morning working in the garden and freezing my ass off. Another night in the mid-twenties and the fourth hard frost in as many nights. Gardening with a heavy coat, hat, and gloves is cumbersome to say the least. The garden frames have been upgraded and extra soil added to all of the areas. There’s nothing more left to do except add some fencing then relax on the deck until Spring decided to actually show up. This cold weather has got to go.
My better-half and I spent the last two weeks being good little dieters. No alcohol, no sugar, and no carbs. In other words we’ve been miserable. This morning’s weigh-in showed me down 5 pounds and her down 3. It’s a slow start but we have a long way to go to meet our final goals. So far, so good.
Our celebrating of our two week diet brought us to the Great Lost Bear tavern in Portland. It’s known for it’s excellent chicken wings and draws my better-half to it like a giant magnet. Her obsession for wings is beyond belief. She wolfed down a platter of the super hot variety while I had a chicken sandwich soaked in what they call their Hellfire sauce. The name is no joke, believe me. My mouth, throat and lips were burning for an hour after we left the establishment but it was so damn good. I remained alcohol free and settled for some rather good ice tea to help put out the fire in my mouth.
Tomorrow we sit down to discuss what will eventually be planted in our garden for this year. We’re hoping to change things up a little to have a more diverse selection of crops. The discussion should be interesting since we have totally different tastes in food. Every year it’s the same process but we’ve had much in the past with our decision making and who can argue with that.
Tonight will require another lengthy hot shower to work out all of the kinks, aches, and pains resulting from this mornings work. I’ve been looking forward to that shower all day.
WHAT’S BETTER THAN HOT WATER ON SORE MUSCLES?
I was happy yesterday when the last of that surprise April snow storm melted away. Spring Fever immediately returned and thoughts of gardening and yard work filled my stupid head. I rushed to Lowes after making a list of supplies including a new grill, a grill cover, and eighty 50 lb. bags of assorted potting soils and dirt. I was in heaven for the remainder of the day even though none of the stuff wouldn’t be delivered until next week but I didn’t care. I slept well dreaming about warm weather and many other Springtime activities. When I awoke this morning it was snowing again. I’m such an idiot.
As I was watching the snow flakes fly buy the window I remembered something else that was scheduled for today that I wasn’t looking forward to either. My better-half and I decided a few weeks ago that it was time to get rid of all of the extra holiday and winter weight we’d accumulated. Today was the start of our new and improved weight loss program (sarcasm). If that doesn’t depress the crap out of you nothing will.
We did our weight-in’s separately because neither one of us wanted to announce the results to the other. It’s just too effing depressing. This next month is going to be more than a little difficult but absolutely necessary. We both want to be healthier and thinner but the road to those things is a bumpy one. Eat more salads, less carbs, less calories, no snacking, no candy, no dairy, no alcohol, and OMFG just shoot me now. I’ll keep you posted on our progress regardless of the results.
I took a walk around the property a few days ago and it always amazes me just how resilient the plants are. We have things sprouting everywhere regardless of the snow and colder temperatures. Here are a feel quick snaps.
‘Chives’
‘Daffodils’
‘Rhubarb’
THE FUN SPRING IS JUST BEGINNING
It’s 4am and my insomnia has me sitting in a comfortable chair, drinking a hot coffee, and reading one of my favorite authors, John Sanford, and enjoying his finest character, Lucas Davenport. The Prey series is 25 novels that are as well written as any I’ve ever read. If you like murder mysteries you should pick up some of these and just sit back and enjoy.
For the first time I finally have the complete series on my Kindle and I’m reading them in the order they were written. It’s now 730am and I just finished "Certain Prey", book number 10 in the series. I’m still not sleepy but I think it might be the four cups of coffee I’ve already had today. I’ll read one chapter of the next book “Easy Prey” and then I’ll get my day started.
The weather forecast is for warmer than usual temps with some sunshine thrown in for good measure. I’ll be outside in the garden shortly to begin the winter cleanup of my garden. I need to repair some minor damage to the fence which I caused last Fall and then a remodel of the frames surrounding the rhubarb patch.
‘Remove the old frame.’
‘Discard the old wood.’
I made my first Lowe’s trip for 2016 yesterday to pickup some pressure treated lumber. This was the first of many more trips I’m anticipating. I ‘ll take a few photos today just to begin the documentation of the garden for this year. I keep good records of all of my mistakes and failures so I never repeat them again accidently.
‘Replace with the new lumber.’
It’s now 900am and my main chore has been completed. I tore out the old nasty lumber, expanded the rhubarb area , and rebuilt it with new PT lumber. The job was much easier than expected because I happily discovered that the ground had thawed during the last few weeks of warmer weather. Hooray for me.
I know I’m jumping the gun a little with this garden work but it just feels so good to breath some fresh air and to get my hands a little dirty.
My Summer ending activities continue apace. The garden was composted a few days ago and has finally been tilled to await planting in the Spring. I‘m officially done with the garden which will happily require no more labor from me. These final photos will end the year once and for all as far as the garden is concerned.
These next two photos are the final surviving flowers on the property that haven’t been killed off by the cold nights. They won’t last much more than another week so enjoy them.
This sunflower looks a lot like I felt this morning as I rolled out of bed. Able to stand upright but just barely.
Now I can move forward with other projects and chores I’ve been given by my better-half. Her list never seems to end no matter how hard I try. My father warned me this would eventually happen but I wasn’t a believer until it was too late.
I was able to get around to working on my Dish Network Memorial table once again. I knew grouting a bunch of bottle caps would be difficult but it was more like a nightmare. The table was grouted and so was I. I had damn near as much white grout on me as was on the table. Thank god it’s done. I’ll let it dry for a few days and then seal the grout.
‘Step 1’
‘Step 2’
‘Step 3’
The table will be completed right on schedule for my better-half’s birthday celebration that’s coming up soon. She likes me a little and she likes beer a lot so she should love this table.
I found myself somewhat motivated yesterday after beginning the Fall cleanup of the garden a few days ago. The least favorite task I have in the Fall is the one I completed yesterday. Most of you are familiar with the term “compost pile” but never have had the pleasure of using one. Today was my turn.
After removing the garden fabric as I mentioned in a previous post it was time to get serious. I spent some time yesterday uprooting all of the better-half’s marigolds. They’d grown so large that they completely filled my trailer. I then pulled any additional weeds from the frames and took the combined load to the compost pile set aside for 2017.
I continued in the herb garden by removing the rosemary plants that I cleaned and immediately placed into the dehydrator. I love the smell of fresh rosemary and my hands will probably carry that aroma for the rest of the day. On top of that the downstairs of our house will smell of rosemary for a couple of days at the very least. I then removed the remnants of the radishes, pea pods, cabbages, and carrots from the smaller frames and off they went to their compost pile.
Then the hard work began. I removed the tarp from the current compost pile and began filling the trailer. I have to remind you that as a general rule compost had a bit of an odor. Fortunately the longer it sits the less it smells. This pile was more than two years old and only a little bit stinky.
I took four trailer loads of compost to the garden and spread the contents evenly over the frames. I’ll let the garden rest for a day or so because they’re forecasting rain for tomorrow. I definitely wouldn’t want to be knee deep in wet compost because I’ve been there before. Never again. Once things have dried out completely I can return and rototill the compost into the soil.
One more solid day of work and the garden will be finished for this year and won’t be touched again until May of 2016. I may be forced to wait a while until the weather decided to cooperate which it hardly every does.
I’ve actually been busy this week preparing to deliver most of my once beautiful garden to the compost heap. I posted a few days ago that I pulled most of the remaining plants to prepare for further work that was needed. That work began this week with the removal of all of the fabric from the frames and the collection of more than 100 metal clips used to anchor it in place. I always take my time with this part of the job because missing a clip or two isn’t an option. Two years ago I was happily rototilling the garden until I hit a few clips I’d missed. It wasn’t pretty when those few clips were twisted around the blades of the tiller which then jerked out of my hands when the motor jammed. Fortunately when the tiller hit me in the chest it wasn’t blades first. A close call and one I never intend to repeat. Who said gardening was a safe hobby?
As I pulled the sections of fabric from the frames I got another surprise. Apparently we had a few moles that somehow made their way into the frames and under the fabric. There were a number of tunnels where they were apparently nibbling on the roots of some of my plants. My first stop next spring will be to buy something that will discourage them from returning. Dead or alive is my motto, it’s up to them. You can just barely make out one of the tunnels in this photo.
‘Here are those clips I mentioned. A necessary evil.’
Removing the fabric itself is easy enough and worth every minute of my time. Never having to weed the garden all summer saves me a lot of back breaking work every year. The fabric is a little pricy but fortunately it’s reusable for at least a couple of years. The sprinklers I currently use are removed easily enough and I’ve been using them for five years. A good value for the money spent.
‘I cleared all of the fabric, clips, and sprinklers leaving just barren frames.’
Later this week if the weather cooperates I’ll be filling the entire garden with four or five inches of dark and rich compost which has been sitting under a tarp for two years. It’s rich with all of the necessary nutrients to give the garden a good start in the Spring.
Id like to continue writing but I’ve got more work to accomplish before the weather turns really cold and the ground starts freezing. More to follow soon.
This week isn’t one I ever look forward to. It’s the week every year when I begin to dismantle our garden. It’s been a priority for my better-half and I for the last six months requiring a tremendous amount of TLC and just as much water. It actually began last winter when we sat down at the kitchen table and planned it all out. As with all plans it never seems to workout perfectly without problems of one sort or another cropping up.
First it was the damn stunk that did everything in it’s power to destroy things. It was one lucky SOB because he survived a number of night time surveillances where I sat in the dark on the deck with a loaded rifle waiting to end his life of vandalism and mayhem. He must have a really hardworking guardian angel because I seriously wanted to do him harm. After all of the repair jobs and the new fence we reached a mutual agreement to avoid each other for the rest of the summer. I smelled him a few times at night but never met him in person (Thank God).
The weather was for the most part cooperative but you can always use more rainfall with any garden. After a slow start things picked up rather well making the garden fairly productive. Was it the best ever? No. It was just an average year due mostly to the skunk.
These pictures were taken this morning and as you can see most of the plants have been harvested and removed. All of the herbs we need for the winter have also been harvested, dried, and stored. Beginning next week I’ll begin removing the garden fabric and composting all of the frames. Then it will be tilled under and left to sit for the winter to be ready for planting in June.
Here’s the final tally for the garden and all of our efforts for 2015. The pantry has been restocked with just about everything we need for winter. My one last contribution will be a large pot of my favorite chicken soup which will supply us with at least ten to twelve hardy meals during the winter.
41 Pints of canned habanero hot B & B pickles
13 Pints of Habanero Dill Pickles
3 Pints of tripleberry jam
8 Pints of strawberry/rhubarb jam
3 Pints of strawberry jam
8 Pints of blueberry jam
2 Pints of jalapeño/rhubarb jelly
13 Quarts of Four Bean/Corn chili
14 Quarts of Black Bean/Corn salsa
2 Quad Berry/Rhubarb Tarts
15 Lbs Rhubarb
5 Loaves of Chocolate/Zucchini Bread
4 Loaves of Spice/Zucchini Bread
9 Lbs of Fresh Pea Pods
16 Lbs of Cherry Tomatoes
15 Lbs of Jalapeño Peppers
7 Lbs of Assorted Hot Peppers
20 Lbs of Fresh Zucchini
13 Lbs of Assorted Lettuces
2 Lbs of dried onion chives
1 Lb dried habanero peppers
1 Lb dried garlic chives
4 Lbs of dried and assorted mints
2 Lbs of dried oregano
1 Lb of dried parsley
This just goes to show how easy it is to supplement your food supply from a medium sized garden and a few cheap purchases from local farmers. All in all not a terrible year but next year will hopefully be even better.
How often do you open your eyes in the morning and spring out of bed to face the day? If you do, congratulations, but if you don’t then you’re like me. I lay there for at least ten minutes with my eyes tightly closed and not moving a muscle. If I made any movement my big hairy alarm clock (the cat) will pounce on me in a flash. He wants fed and watered and won’t take no for an answer.
If things are really quiet I know my better-half has already left for work making it possible for me to ease into my day. I make my way to the WC, take care of that business and then to the kitchen to feed the effing cat and get COFFEE!!!!. Without the promise of coffee I’d never leave the bedroom.
I made a trip to Lowes yesterday and purchased some lumber for today’s project. I decided to get a jump on 2016 by making a few alterations to the garden before the snows arrive. I’m hardy ever this motivated but I convinced myself to get off my butt and do something useful.
The better-half and I discussed making garden changes last week and I think I even surprised her a little yesterday. I decided to add two side frames to the garden that will be used to grow nothing but sunflowers. The total square footage will increase by only 32 square feet but that’s more than enough room for a lot of sunflowers. The better-half loves them almost as much as the birds that eat them do.
The first chore was to dig up the existing grass for removal to other areas of the yard to re-sod a few bare spots.
The soil in this area contains a lot of clay and it makes growing things difficult. That’s the reason for the frames. They are are to be filled with a lot of good topsoil and fertilizer to help those sunflowers along.
It’s takes a lot of work and time to carefully move the sod. We have one section of the yard that’s refused all of our efforts to grow grass. I’m hoping this effort today will finally solve that problem once and for all. After all of that work I’m left with two area like this:
Come April and May I’ll be so glad I finished this project today. Thank God for dark roast coffee.
Today’s posting is just a little of this and a little of that, nothing earth shattering by any means. With Fall and the holidays in my immediate future I’m just taking a few deep breaths and resting up for the on-slot to come. I’ll need all of my energy to deal with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and everything that entails.
Topic one is the ongoing Dish Network table project. I was able to complete the first two coats of red paint, the staining of the base, and the creation of the coax cable pieces needed to make it a little more interesting. It’s coming together fairly well with only a few minor problems that were easily dealt with.
The hard part is coming. I finally have the finished version of the mosaic for the table top laid out but getting it installed perfectly will be a challenge.
Topic Two is the garden cleanup. Yesterday I removed many of the plants that have been producing for most of the Summer. The cucumbers, zucchini’s, beans, and kohlrabi’s made their way to the compost pile. I left the tomatoes and peppers alone for now. In another two weeks they too will be gone. All in all 2015 was a very productive year for us.
Topic three; After working in the garden for a while my better-half and I made a quick trip to Federal Jacks restaurant and micro-brewery in Kennebunkport. I was in dire need of seafood and a large cold glass of Goat Island Light beer. Here’s the view from the second floor dining room overlooking the harbor.
And last but not least here’s a cold glass of Goat Island Light. As I’ve stated many times before, I’m not a beer drinker. After all these years I finally found a decent beer I can occasionally drink and enjoy. I never thought it could happen but I’m glad it did.
I finally was able to motivate myself yesterday to begin the process of collecting and drying herbs from the garden. It’s one of the sadder things I have to do every year as Fall approaches. I’m forced to admit to that Winter is closing in on us and that my garden is beginning to fade away.
My better-half has been threatening to restart her daily regime of drinking healthy but unappetizing smoothies and wants some of the ingredients fresh from the garden. Today was kale day.
I started out with a trip to the garden and harvested two large baskets of freshly cut leaves. I then spent almost an hour cleaning and cutting the leaves and making sure no little critters were hanging around. We occasionally have slugs attacking some of the plants but I found only a few and they were disposed of (I hate slugs).
Then it was upstairs to wash the leaves, blanch them in boiling water, and then drop them into an ice bath. This kills any bacteria and gives the leaves a vibrant green color. Using a Salad Spinner I removed the excess water to prepare the leaves for dehydration.
I spread the leaves on a series of shelves and placed them into the dehydrator for four hours at 140 degrees.
‘In’
‘Out’
After the dehydration was complete I removed the leaves from the shelves and ground them into a fine powder with an herb grinder. Here’s the end result of all my efforts. Approximately 3/4 of a cup of clean and healthy smoothie ingredients. Drop a half teaspoon of the kale into any smoothie and you’re good to go.
‘Done’
I do have to admit I’m not a big fan of healthy smoothies. Give me a good old-fashioned, high calorie, sugar loaded, milkshake made with ice cream. You can bet I won’t be sprinkling kale on that.
‘Oh Yeah!’
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