D has not handed the reigns to E & I, yet he has taken a step back in order that we have a chance to call shots, together, for an extended period. As the workload becomes incrementally lighter, we'll have the breathing room to weigh decisions/priorities that would take little to no time for D. Of course, he'll be around to help with questions etc, but we're definitely planning/executing most things day to day. Exciting.
At this point in the season:
W1, 2 & 3 are sewn into cover, save for 5 beds still growing (Celeriac, Parsnips, Kale, Chard).
Y is cover except for Half a bed of Chard, 1 bed of Sweet Potatoes and 3 of Tomatoes.
Z is still pretty active. 3 beds of Brassicas and 6 rows of potatoes (just hilled today by E as the Purslane was getting a little too comfy).
A is in complete cover
B is in complete cover except for a very small patch of Cilantro/Coriander being allowed to go to seed. Curry comin up!
C & D are where most of the action is (Asian Greens, Lettuce, Beans, Herbs, Turnips, Radishes, Chard, Scallions.... mas y mas)
E has just gone to cover (E, the person, tilled in the newly vacant Leek bed)
F, as of today, is down to 4 active beds (1 Squash/Zucchini, 3 beds direct seeded, by me, to Asian Greens, Salad Mix, Turnips, Radishes)
Upper Solar is losing a little bit of steam, but still going fairly strong with Peppers and Eggplants (The plants are actually flowering AGAIN. Soooo much Eggplant this season. They just don't wanna quit).
Lower Solar is half in tomatoes (that have probably another week or two) and half in cover.
The 3 Sisters Field is sadly on its way out. We're holding on harvesting the squash. Some plants are still alive. I ate some Red Noodle Beans from the gazebo vines. Quite tasty. The other varieties are dry beans so they still have a while to go. The corn is also being given time to dry.
E harvested the Amaranth today and laid it out in the greenhouse to dry.
Speaking of harvesting, today we knocked out some more items from the endless list for Saturday:
Chard (cleared and cleaned the bed)
Turnips (which are HUGE right now and which, I have just learned, are "squircle" shaped. go know.)
Squash/Zucchini/Cucumber (what was left of the mostly spent plants. we mowed and tilled them in before and after lunch.)
Peppers (285. There are more there to get, but we'll be doing so tomorrow with volunteers who will also help us pull all the "bad" ones as well. nice to have extra hands)
After Peppers I mowed some seedy weeds in the strawberry patch near W, weedwhacked the path between Chard and Kale in W1 and moved back to the farm proper to corral all the drip tape that has been sitting (and will now remain) idle.
And that was the end of my workday... of course I couldn't help mowing more after work. Just NEEDed to be done. I know there are those that can relate.
One more thing. I want to thank the ragweed in the area for having gotten rid of most of its pollen. My sinuses thank you...
Dig.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
square wednesday
A jacket this morning?
A jacket this evening?
Low of 40 tonight?
I am in heaven!
----
Started with a tour.
Weed pressure, mad low.
Mowing must be done.
Pasture weeds are seeding.
Mile long harvest list.
3 days to gather.
Incl: Kale, Chard, Radish
Turnip. Have missed them.
This morning we harvested
the last of leeks,
the first fall radishes
and yellow wax beans.
I jumped the tractor.
Attached the potato spade.
We made a decision.
Adirondack Blue for Saturday.
----
After lunch, harvesting potatoes.
One 400 foot bed.
Digging through the dirt.
900 lbs in all.
Finished up beans afterwards.
103 lbs in all.
Just scratching the surface
with what we harvested.
Finished up my day
by hitting the mower.
What else to do
in such beautiful weather?
Another thought on mowing:
I miss the angles
of the big city.
Nice to make some...
----
Forgot to mention yesterday.
D planted cover crop
this past Friday afternoon.
Watered in by Hannah.
Oats, Rye, Vetch, Clover.
Oats slow to grow.
Rye is much faster.
This in 3 days.
----
Here are a few
pics that I forgot
to post last night.
Err.. umm.. yeah. Dig.
A jacket this evening?
Low of 40 tonight?
I am in heaven!
----
Started with a tour.
Weed pressure, mad low.
Mowing must be done.
Pasture weeds are seeding.
Mile long harvest list.
3 days to gather.
Incl: Kale, Chard, Radish
Turnip. Have missed them.
This morning we harvested
the last of leeks,
the first fall radishes
and yellow wax beans.
I jumped the tractor.
Attached the potato spade.
We made a decision.
Adirondack Blue for Saturday.
----
After lunch, harvesting potatoes.
One 400 foot bed.
Digging through the dirt.
900 lbs in all.
Finished up beans afterwards.
103 lbs in all.
Just scratching the surface
with what we harvested.
Finished up my day
by hitting the mower.
What else to do
in such beautiful weather?
Another thought on mowing:
I miss the angles
of the big city.
Nice to make some...
----
Forgot to mention yesterday.
D planted cover crop
this past Friday afternoon.
Watered in by Hannah.
Oats, Rye, Vetch, Clover.
Oats slow to grow.
Rye is much faster.
This in 3 days.
----
Here are a few
pics that I forgot
to post last night.
Err.. umm.. yeah. Dig.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
what goes up...
be that an adze... moisture (rain)... plants/crops... 12ft tall sunflowers.
up and down. cycles.
Thursday, as I recall, began at 8am. E & I chose to do so (nts: start at 7. the day ends earlier. more daylight left.).
We transplanted the last succession of lettuce for the season.
(on the left)
We moved to harvesting leeks after that. D joined us as we were finishing.
I think we hand-weeded for the better part of the rest of the morning after that.
In the afternoon we cultivated sweet potatoes. The heat was strangely stifling as the temperature wasn't that high, yet we were all pouring sweat.
E and I spent most of the rest of the afternoon hand-weeding herbs and beets in D.
Then....
I continued working on the log/bench. I was consciously attempting to plane, what will be, the bottom of the bench (though it's just going to be cut out) with the adze. Getting away from gas powered tools where possible is of interest to me. Safety is also of interest to me. That's why when I put the corner of the adze blade into the side of my foot I was definitely, umm, surprised.
Yeah, I made a good swing with the adze, but it glanced off the surface of the wood and through my boot to give me a nice bit of "wood carving memorabilia."
In short, I'm fine. I am healing without stitches. I have pictures. I won't post any more than this one.
Very grateful to have avoided ANY serious injury. And now I'm anxious to "get back on the horse and ride."
So I was sidelined on Friday. Being chair-bound while everyone else was harvesting like mad, was, well, maddening. As both D and I knew I was going to be out for Saturday's distribution as well, I made the choice to head to the city Friday afternoon.
Happily, I got to rest my foot quite a bit and my short recovery time is a direct reflection of that. The rest of the weekend was great too...
-------
Oh, and thanks to the remnants of Tropical Storm Hannah for dumping (quite evenly) 3 inches of badly needed rain on the farm. And, yes, thanks to EVERYONE who did their own little rain dance. YOU ROCK!
-------
Yesterday was slow going for me as I was still in hop-along mode. I did, however, manage to work half the day on my feet. The other half was spent harvesting from a sitting position.
E and I got
Leeks
Squash
Cucs
Peppers
Eggplants
Tomatoes
We also had a few visitors throughout the day. D tended to them. The first visitor was a farmer from the lower Hudson Valley who wanted to see our operation and compare notes. The second group was from a different farm on Long Island. They were also here for the same reason. Talk to D and compare notes on operation.
Laundry was an evening necessity. Happy it's done now.
------
Today began with a moderate harvest list as we got quite a bit yesterday. E and I cut lettuce first (as usual). We moved right to turnips next, but were unfortunately, lightninged and thundered off the fields. As far as we could tell from the online weather station, the stormy weather was going to be around for a couple hours (we ended up getting 1 1/2". nice).
Change of plans. Straight to packing distribution boxes for the city while the rain came tumbling. Seemed to all work out rather well. We got done what we needed to and the shares were still up to par.
I ran distribution in the afternoon. All went smoothly.
I ended the day by walking the farm and taking pictures.
There are quite a few examples of "decline" right now. Kinda sad, but definitely part of the cycle...
Dig.
up and down. cycles.
Thursday, as I recall, began at 8am. E & I chose to do so (nts: start at 7. the day ends earlier. more daylight left.).
We transplanted the last succession of lettuce for the season.
(on the left)
We moved to harvesting leeks after that. D joined us as we were finishing.
I think we hand-weeded for the better part of the rest of the morning after that.
In the afternoon we cultivated sweet potatoes. The heat was strangely stifling as the temperature wasn't that high, yet we were all pouring sweat.
E and I spent most of the rest of the afternoon hand-weeding herbs and beets in D.
Then....
I continued working on the log/bench. I was consciously attempting to plane, what will be, the bottom of the bench (though it's just going to be cut out) with the adze. Getting away from gas powered tools where possible is of interest to me. Safety is also of interest to me. That's why when I put the corner of the adze blade into the side of my foot I was definitely, umm, surprised.
Yeah, I made a good swing with the adze, but it glanced off the surface of the wood and through my boot to give me a nice bit of "wood carving memorabilia."
In short, I'm fine. I am healing without stitches. I have pictures. I won't post any more than this one.
Very grateful to have avoided ANY serious injury. And now I'm anxious to "get back on the horse and ride."
So I was sidelined on Friday. Being chair-bound while everyone else was harvesting like mad, was, well, maddening. As both D and I knew I was going to be out for Saturday's distribution as well, I made the choice to head to the city Friday afternoon.
Happily, I got to rest my foot quite a bit and my short recovery time is a direct reflection of that. The rest of the weekend was great too...
-------
Oh, and thanks to the remnants of Tropical Storm Hannah for dumping (quite evenly) 3 inches of badly needed rain on the farm. And, yes, thanks to EVERYONE who did their own little rain dance. YOU ROCK!
-------
Yesterday was slow going for me as I was still in hop-along mode. I did, however, manage to work half the day on my feet. The other half was spent harvesting from a sitting position.
E and I got
Leeks
Squash
Cucs
Peppers
Eggplants
Tomatoes
We also had a few visitors throughout the day. D tended to them. The first visitor was a farmer from the lower Hudson Valley who wanted to see our operation and compare notes. The second group was from a different farm on Long Island. They were also here for the same reason. Talk to D and compare notes on operation.
Laundry was an evening necessity. Happy it's done now.
------
Today began with a moderate harvest list as we got quite a bit yesterday. E and I cut lettuce first (as usual). We moved right to turnips next, but were unfortunately, lightninged and thundered off the fields. As far as we could tell from the online weather station, the stormy weather was going to be around for a couple hours (we ended up getting 1 1/2". nice).
Change of plans. Straight to packing distribution boxes for the city while the rain came tumbling. Seemed to all work out rather well. We got done what we needed to and the shares were still up to par.
I ran distribution in the afternoon. All went smoothly.
I ended the day by walking the farm and taking pictures.
There are quite a few examples of "decline" right now. Kinda sad, but definitely part of the cycle...
Dig.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
get rhythm
There was a noticeably smooth rhythm to the day.
From breakfast to even now, it feels as if all events have taken just as much time as they've needed when they've needed it. Not sure if that makes much sense. A real internal flow to things today.
We began by moving irrigation (just E & I today as D was with his sons) from one side of the newer crops to the other. Turned it on. All was good.
Down to W field to move pipes from the Celeriac to the Chard & Kale (yes, the same beds that were planted in April and are still going. amazing).
With no D, we thought we should paint with the broadest strokes possible.
Meaning, tractor work. E harrowed all the bare fields with the Perfecta.
Yes, they are rather dry and we did lose a little topsoil (dust) in the process, but have no fear, our cover crop seed will be here Thursday or Friday and this is necessary prep for seeding. If you would like to help with soil preservation, do a rain dance for us. We need it. And we've already done our own....
I prepped 5 beds for transplanting and seeding. 2 in B and 3 in F (mad rocky in the lower half of F).
We took a short break (before which I switched irrigation flow from B to W) and I picked up the disc harrow with the John Deere and made some rounds on the recently vacated winter squash field. We use the disc for two main reasons: 1) It chops up the remnants very well without clogging, giving them a proper chance to fully break down so they can be turned back into the soil. 2) The disc doesn't tear apart the structure of the topsoil as much as a rototiller does.
Lunch
2 projects for the afternoon:
Harvest/Weed Tomatoes in Y (670+ lbs worth!). Thanks to Gordon for being an extra set of hands when we needed it.
Harvest Peppers. E z nuff.
Actually, while E and Gordon harvested Peppers, I made the 3rd irrigation move of the day. I switched irrigation flow from W back up to C. I also prepped the drip tape that's still in the Leeks in E so they can be watered in the morning.
A few minutes cleaning garlic and the day was done.
I immediately hopped on the riding mower and cleaned up the area around field A (former winter squash).
I'm a happy neat freak again.
After mowing I got the chainsaw ready for a little bench work. Made depth cuts on the opposite side that I rough planed two days ago. Like butter now that the teeth are sharp. However, cutting off each section laterally is still much more work than necessary so I figured I would try a hand method. The adze.
Worked like a charm! Made my way down the log, rough planing just as fast as the chainsaw and with zero gas used. I'm happy to be getting a better idea of the handtools' capabilities and how to use them. And, yes, I'm happy with how the log is coming along, but I must say that I am truly enjoying the PROCESS of working with the material. Discovering all the time.
That ended the day for me save for some eating and phone conversation.
A couple pics from my rounds closing up. Beautiful evening. For real.
Dig.
From breakfast to even now, it feels as if all events have taken just as much time as they've needed when they've needed it. Not sure if that makes much sense. A real internal flow to things today.
We began by moving irrigation (just E & I today as D was with his sons) from one side of the newer crops to the other. Turned it on. All was good.
Down to W field to move pipes from the Celeriac to the Chard & Kale (yes, the same beds that were planted in April and are still going. amazing).
With no D, we thought we should paint with the broadest strokes possible.
Meaning, tractor work. E harrowed all the bare fields with the Perfecta.
Yes, they are rather dry and we did lose a little topsoil (dust) in the process, but have no fear, our cover crop seed will be here Thursday or Friday and this is necessary prep for seeding. If you would like to help with soil preservation, do a rain dance for us. We need it. And we've already done our own....
I prepped 5 beds for transplanting and seeding. 2 in B and 3 in F (mad rocky in the lower half of F).
We took a short break (before which I switched irrigation flow from B to W) and I picked up the disc harrow with the John Deere and made some rounds on the recently vacated winter squash field. We use the disc for two main reasons: 1) It chops up the remnants very well without clogging, giving them a proper chance to fully break down so they can be turned back into the soil. 2) The disc doesn't tear apart the structure of the topsoil as much as a rototiller does.
Lunch
2 projects for the afternoon:
Harvest/Weed Tomatoes in Y (670+ lbs worth!). Thanks to Gordon for being an extra set of hands when we needed it.
Harvest Peppers. E z nuff.
Actually, while E and Gordon harvested Peppers, I made the 3rd irrigation move of the day. I switched irrigation flow from W back up to C. I also prepped the drip tape that's still in the Leeks in E so they can be watered in the morning.
A few minutes cleaning garlic and the day was done.
I immediately hopped on the riding mower and cleaned up the area around field A (former winter squash).
I'm a happy neat freak again.
After mowing I got the chainsaw ready for a little bench work. Made depth cuts on the opposite side that I rough planed two days ago. Like butter now that the teeth are sharp. However, cutting off each section laterally is still much more work than necessary so I figured I would try a hand method. The adze.
Worked like a charm! Made my way down the log, rough planing just as fast as the chainsaw and with zero gas used. I'm happy to be getting a better idea of the handtools' capabilities and how to use them. And, yes, I'm happy with how the log is coming along, but I must say that I am truly enjoying the PROCESS of working with the material. Discovering all the time.
That ended the day for me save for some eating and phone conversation.
A couple pics from my rounds closing up. Beautiful evening. For real.
Dig.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
blogged
Oatmealed
Lettuce
Leeks
Squash
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Washed
Broke
Packed
Rinsed
Lunched
Drove
Dropped
Returned
Stacked
Wheel-Hoed
Benched
Squared
Closed
Shot
Ate
Showered
Blogged
Tomorrow we start @ 8am. Nice.
Dug
Lettuce
Leeks
Squash
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Washed
Broke
Packed
Rinsed
Lunched
Drove
Dropped
Returned
Stacked
Wheel-Hoed
Benched
Squared
Closed
Shot
Ate
Showered
Blogged
Tomorrow we start @ 8am. Nice.
Dug
Monday, September 1, 2008
labor days
I've got a number of pics to post so I'll keep the words to a minimum.
Friday we harvested. Volunteers helped through the morning.
Arugula
Red Mustard
Goldenfrill
Dill
Cilantro
Parsley
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Potatoes (We finally pulled up the row of Cornell Co-Op Extension Trial potatoes. 15 different varieties. Some fared well. Adirondack Red/Blue. Marcy. Reba. Lehigh. Some not so well (riddled with Scab). Mostly Prince Harry.)
Squash
Zucchini
Cucumber
Peppers
Yep. That was a long one.
After work I moved straight to the bench project.
Made my first depth cuts with the chainsaw and ripped the first section off the deck.
While I was happy with the results, unfortunately the saw blades were very dull which made for about 3 times the work cutting out that piece. I remedied that today though. More later...
----
Saturday's distribution was solid. I was there the whole time too. Nice.
Picked up H for the weekend.
Later that evening we were invited to Gayle's (a star volunteer) house for some drinks and tasty food. Thank you! Thanks to Jada and Frank too!!
-----
Sunday was a late morning and a wonderful brunch. Eggs, toast, fresh fruit, coffee. Man...
In the afternoon, H and I cruised to Rhinebeck. We stopped in at the Beekman Arms Tavern for a glass of wine. Lovely place. Lovely wine.
When we got back to the farm we fired up the drip irrigation in Y. Broccoli, Cabbages, Rutabaga, Kale. Patched some small holes and were good.
Took an early night as I was crazy tired. Good to "catch up" on some sleep.
--------
Today we had a great turnout of volunteers for our Winter Squash Harvest. Quickly, the process:
Clip squash from plant with lopping shears.
Line squash up the length of the field.
Place squash in bin that sits on tractor forks.
Full bins get taken to the greenhouse.
Squash is placed on greenhouse tables to cure.
We processed 6,500 lbs of squash in 2.5 hours!! Go team!!
With the day finished after lunch (Thanks D!), I concentrated on all things "bench." My first focus was to visit our neighbor who (as a longtime woodworker) has loads of hand carving tools. After explaining what I was doing, he gave me: an Adze (or as he calls it, The Devil's Shinhoe. Funny), a Scrub Plane, and a Slick.
These in concert with a little chainsawing should get pretty much all the way.
Back to the farm to sharpen the teeth on the chain saw.
With that done I tackled the log.
I sawed with much less effort. Yay. With another 1/4" to 1/2" of planing to do to get to my desired depth, I took the opportunity to feel out the three tools I was borrowing. They all require one's full attention and quite a bit of finessing. But all were surprisingly easy to cut and shape with.
Where things stood when I finished for the evening?
So happy to have the first cuts out of the way. Feeling a little more confident that I'll be able to coax what I see in my head from the log. A little trial and error and A LOT of patience.
Dig.
Friday we harvested. Volunteers helped through the morning.
Arugula
Red Mustard
Goldenfrill
Dill
Cilantro
Parsley
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Potatoes (We finally pulled up the row of Cornell Co-Op Extension Trial potatoes. 15 different varieties. Some fared well. Adirondack Red/Blue. Marcy. Reba. Lehigh. Some not so well (riddled with Scab). Mostly Prince Harry.)
Squash
Zucchini
Cucumber
Peppers
Yep. That was a long one.
After work I moved straight to the bench project.
Made my first depth cuts with the chainsaw and ripped the first section off the deck.
While I was happy with the results, unfortunately the saw blades were very dull which made for about 3 times the work cutting out that piece. I remedied that today though. More later...
----
Saturday's distribution was solid. I was there the whole time too. Nice.
Picked up H for the weekend.
Later that evening we were invited to Gayle's (a star volunteer) house for some drinks and tasty food. Thank you! Thanks to Jada and Frank too!!
-----
Sunday was a late morning and a wonderful brunch. Eggs, toast, fresh fruit, coffee. Man...
In the afternoon, H and I cruised to Rhinebeck. We stopped in at the Beekman Arms Tavern for a glass of wine. Lovely place. Lovely wine.
When we got back to the farm we fired up the drip irrigation in Y. Broccoli, Cabbages, Rutabaga, Kale. Patched some small holes and were good.
Took an early night as I was crazy tired. Good to "catch up" on some sleep.
--------
Today we had a great turnout of volunteers for our Winter Squash Harvest. Quickly, the process:
Clip squash from plant with lopping shears.
Line squash up the length of the field.
Place squash in bin that sits on tractor forks.
Full bins get taken to the greenhouse.
Squash is placed on greenhouse tables to cure.
We processed 6,500 lbs of squash in 2.5 hours!! Go team!!
With the day finished after lunch (Thanks D!), I concentrated on all things "bench." My first focus was to visit our neighbor who (as a longtime woodworker) has loads of hand carving tools. After explaining what I was doing, he gave me: an Adze (or as he calls it, The Devil's Shinhoe. Funny), a Scrub Plane, and a Slick.
These in concert with a little chainsawing should get pretty much all the way.
Back to the farm to sharpen the teeth on the chain saw.
With that done I tackled the log.
I sawed with much less effort. Yay. With another 1/4" to 1/2" of planing to do to get to my desired depth, I took the opportunity to feel out the three tools I was borrowing. They all require one's full attention and quite a bit of finessing. But all were surprisingly easy to cut and shape with.
Where things stood when I finished for the evening?
So happy to have the first cuts out of the way. Feeling a little more confident that I'll be able to coax what I see in my head from the log. A little trial and error and A LOT of patience.
Dig.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
just like a thursday
A not-so-unique day today. Surely nothing close to negative in there, just very "meat and potatoes."
What I might mention before the meat & potatoes, though, is the ragweed pollen that's been kicking my nose's butt for the past week. Hoo wee!! Did you say you want me to sneeze... AGAIN?? Okay! Here goes!! ....Thank you sir, may I have another?!?!?!
For real. It's been quite the sneeze fest. Local honey has offered a modicum of relief, but with levels as high as they've been, nothing short of my own bubble is going to offer clear sinuses.
On with the day...
I began by pulling drip tape back into the peppers that we weeded a few weeks ago. This time though we are using only one line per bed as the plants have peaked and will not need such a big push. Plus their roots are far down and spread laterally enough to be able to tap water from a greater depth and distance.
Eggplants received a little water as well. Luckily the lines were still set up in the beds.
With the focus on irrigation (as our 10-day forecast shows little to no rain), I moved the overhead lines from our squash and cucumbers in F to the beans/herbs/chard area in D. Poised to irrigate, but not until peppers and eggplants were done. Must make sure to run one zone at a time so as not to exceed the capabilities of the well pump.
All the while, D & E were cleaning out the greenhouse. Major cleaning too. Looks awesome. All ready for the squash on Monday.
When that was finished, we all cultivated the two new beds of squash and cucs in F. The cucumbers are not doing too well for some reason. The germination rate was about 50%. And those that did germinate are barely over 3" tall. We cultivated them anyway (instead of tilling them in) to see what will come of it.
We took a quick break.
E & I went straight to harvesting. Lettuce first, then leeks.
We killed 10 minutes before lunch trimming garlic. Good time killer.
-------
After eating, I hopped on the Cub to basket weed the freshly handweeded beds in C. While handweeding is the most thorough method of cultivation, it's still good practice to turn over all the weedlings that were left for dead before they have a chance to re-root.
Turned on overhead irrigation in D then.
Straight to the sweet potato bed in Y to help D & E cultivate. My weapon was a collinear hoe. Now, the soil in that field is rocky to begin with, but add sunny/dry weather for over a week and you get a soil whose tilth is somewhere close to "sidewalk." Regardless we made our way through. As an aside, some creature(s) has managed to nibble its way down the length of the 400' bed. Taking the outermost leaves from the vines. Not bad damage, just don't want anymore than that.
Our last harvest of the day was peppers. All red all the time. Beautiful.
To end my day, I made a trip to a farm close by to pick up chicken feed. Wouldn't want those guys to miss out on their daily game of "pecking order breakfast." It can get kinda violent in there. Believe me.
After the workday, I moved straight to the log. Using a drawknife I shaved off all the unwanted bark and rotted wood around the outside. With that done I plotted a 13 x 15" rectangle on the end of the log so I can rough cut it with the chainsaw tomorrow.
More pictures then.
Laundry came after. Then a very tasty dinner and now this.
Ok, not as "meat and potatoes" as it felt. Perhaps... with a few tasty side dishes.
Dig.
What I might mention before the meat & potatoes, though, is the ragweed pollen that's been kicking my nose's butt for the past week. Hoo wee!! Did you say you want me to sneeze... AGAIN?? Okay! Here goes!! ....Thank you sir, may I have another?!?!?!
For real. It's been quite the sneeze fest. Local honey has offered a modicum of relief, but with levels as high as they've been, nothing short of my own bubble is going to offer clear sinuses.
On with the day...
I began by pulling drip tape back into the peppers that we weeded a few weeks ago. This time though we are using only one line per bed as the plants have peaked and will not need such a big push. Plus their roots are far down and spread laterally enough to be able to tap water from a greater depth and distance.
Eggplants received a little water as well. Luckily the lines were still set up in the beds.
With the focus on irrigation (as our 10-day forecast shows little to no rain), I moved the overhead lines from our squash and cucumbers in F to the beans/herbs/chard area in D. Poised to irrigate, but not until peppers and eggplants were done. Must make sure to run one zone at a time so as not to exceed the capabilities of the well pump.
All the while, D & E were cleaning out the greenhouse. Major cleaning too. Looks awesome. All ready for the squash on Monday.
When that was finished, we all cultivated the two new beds of squash and cucs in F. The cucumbers are not doing too well for some reason. The germination rate was about 50%. And those that did germinate are barely over 3" tall. We cultivated them anyway (instead of tilling them in) to see what will come of it.
We took a quick break.
E & I went straight to harvesting. Lettuce first, then leeks.
We killed 10 minutes before lunch trimming garlic. Good time killer.
-------
After eating, I hopped on the Cub to basket weed the freshly handweeded beds in C. While handweeding is the most thorough method of cultivation, it's still good practice to turn over all the weedlings that were left for dead before they have a chance to re-root.
Turned on overhead irrigation in D then.
Straight to the sweet potato bed in Y to help D & E cultivate. My weapon was a collinear hoe. Now, the soil in that field is rocky to begin with, but add sunny/dry weather for over a week and you get a soil whose tilth is somewhere close to "sidewalk." Regardless we made our way through. As an aside, some creature(s) has managed to nibble its way down the length of the 400' bed. Taking the outermost leaves from the vines. Not bad damage, just don't want anymore than that.
Our last harvest of the day was peppers. All red all the time. Beautiful.
To end my day, I made a trip to a farm close by to pick up chicken feed. Wouldn't want those guys to miss out on their daily game of "pecking order breakfast." It can get kinda violent in there. Believe me.
After the workday, I moved straight to the log. Using a drawknife I shaved off all the unwanted bark and rotted wood around the outside. With that done I plotted a 13 x 15" rectangle on the end of the log so I can rough cut it with the chainsaw tomorrow.
More pictures then.
Laundry came after. Then a very tasty dinner and now this.
Ok, not as "meat and potatoes" as it felt. Perhaps... with a few tasty side dishes.
Dig.
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