Off Season

Haha! Time to start all that non-growing season fun. Never really an off season. Trying to get the transmission back in order. The John Deere will not be traveling much anymore.

One Step Closer

Moving closer and closer to my first foray into hydroponics. With this block of styrofoam I clear another hurdle. Now, I need a fish tank pump and black paint. Oh, and a grow light.

Número Dos

Day #2 of the peanut project. Yes, I will be posting every day I can. The news of the day is that the peanuts are spending nights in the kitchen for now to keep the soil temp up. We'll figure something else out when the day time temps drop below 70 and stay there consistently.

Yes, We Have Peanuts

This is Day 1 of the peanut experience. We planted these bad boys on September 28. The idea is to learn how to work with peanuts before we plant in the spring. I know it's not peanut season but grow lights will help get us through the growing process.

Attempting Peanuts

Planting peanuts on the deck. Just trying to see if they'll germinate. We may try and mature them under a grow light.
The first picture is from last Saturday. Claire is busy aerating the soil for optimum oxygenation. The second picture is from this past Monday. Third, is from this past Wednesday. Keeping the fingers crossed.

Cool Jelly

Wild hare tonight. I made jelly from store bought juice.
All it takes is 11 ounces of frozen juice (I used grape), 4.5 cups of sugar, 3.5 tbsp (1 3/4 ounces) of pectin, and 3 cups of water. Put it all in a pot, boil and stir, boil and stir. Jar it all up, and boil it in a water bath.
Then as Aunt Shirley says, "... take the jars out of the water, tighten the lids, dry off your jars & let them cool that way." She sits her's on a folded towel or something like that to cool.

Getting Ready for Next Year

I just grew corn this year. Okra was planted, but went to feed the local fauna rather than any gumbo or corn meal. Fall planting was not accomplished, but in the next week Pearce and I hope to get work done prepping for next season.
Also, there might be an interesting experiment or two going on. One to do with water and year round growing and another to do with growing my favorite legume.

TTFN

Buckhead Chicken Farming

Yes, the chickens have teak furniture in their yard. I never thought I'd envy a fowl like this before.

A Little Gender Misidentification

SMRR, LOOKING FOR IMMEDIATE HOME OUTSIDE THE CITY -- Single, roughly mixed race (black AND white) Polish tophat rooster, in current discernment of gender and sexuality, previously known as Zsa Zsa, now Liberace, looking for legal residence,which is not here if s/he keeps up that damned crowing. S/he's not at all good at it yet (kind of "ruh ruh roo"), but that seems to be the direction this is headed. Exotics come straight run, so I had a 50/50 chance of this outcome, but I'm still disappointed, as s/he's gorgeous and a real piece of work from a personality standpoint. Also, the feather hat is a knockout.

Ansley Park: A Chicken Story

With the happy additions to the chicken yard yesterday, I also have to mention the untimely passing of the second of the two Beatrice. Beatrix (of course we have no idea whether she was B1 or B2), was one of my team of prodigal chickens, the wanderers who never wondered why a chicken should cross the road, but just did so with total chicken abandon -- pecking, scratching and always clucking around. B2 (or not 2B, that was always the question) was discovered lying peacefully in the chicken yard, an apparent victim of Sudden Chicken Death Syndrome, like her teammate B1 (or B2, depending). Both Bs served well and truly as chickens, and we will miss them. Of our original January 2011 team, only Mahalia Jackson remains, but the new varsity egg team is going to be really strong. Cosette and Marie Antionette, our new Cuckoo Marans, and Zsa Zsa, our Polish tophat, will begin laying in about two months and are going to be big contributors to our production. Susan B. Anthony, Frida Kahlo, Charo, Isabelle Allende and New Ophelia round out the roster as solid performers. None has the wanderlust or imagination as the Beatrice, though. May that peripatetic pair live on in our totally entertained imaginations in greater chicken glory.

Della Wager Wells

Repaired ... Again

If this week hasn't been fun enough, I was unloading at a clients yard and the weld between the tongue and frame failed again. I called a friend, Mike, with a flat bed to come rescue me. I went and got the trailer and we loaded my trailer and the lawnmower up and Mike had me run by his house first.

Once there he cleaned up the weld and re-welded it. He also brazed on a support for the repeat offender joint. Friends are awesome. He also welded other parts of the frame that were skipped last time.

Oh, Mike also has a set of discs that are garden tractor sized. When I get the JD back in action I'll disc my garden spot! ;D

Need Some Corn for the Ribs

Smoking ribs on the deck and realized I didn't have a side dish. Pearce, Claire and I ran down and whipped off a few ears of corn.
I wrapped the corn in aluminum foil (shiny side in) and tossed them on the warming rack of my grill. They'll roast for about 30-40 minutes and we'll see how they do

Time To Make The Butter

I started making some butter from the cream I skimmed off the milk I got this week. When the punkins got dressed they had to "help." Pearce even showed Mr. Artichoker, his pet turtle.

My next project with this milk is to make some mozzarella. Stay tuned for that. Oh and there may be video later.

An Hour Before Daylight

I know it's not an hour before daylight now, but I have already done a load of clothes, set up and started the irrigation (sprinkler, still haven't fixed any of the soakers), made coffee, caught up on my devotionals, and just now realized I need to go post today's devo for WPC.

I need a detached workshop so I can work on stuff during this time. Actually, putting an under deck roof on the deck would do. I really want to refrain from putting any structures in the yard for now. I want to get what needs to go gone (stumps that have turned into gigantic bushes and the ivy in the corner) before I add much of anything. 

A Little Farming, A Little Chilling

Farmer Small and Farmer Big chillin' like villains (or pirates) in the pirate deck boat.

The Latest Addition to the Farm

Kristi brought this pepper home yesterday. Gonna put this one in a planter and watch it take off.

Slowly I'm Getting the Garden Under Control.

I let the garden get a little ahead of me. Slowly, but surely, I'm getting the weeds down and manageable. I'm going to try and get the mantis running to help get the big weeds out of the way. Otherwise it will be elbow grease and Lucy hoe for me.

All In A Days Work

This is my first client's (neighbor) front yard. It's nice and small. The backyard is about half an acre though. Just got the front done yesterday. Busy, busy, busy doing Extended School Year, getting the yard, having a dishwasher delivered, and picking the kids up. I've been doing this yard for a month now. I'm picking up a new yard today. Hopefully the will come geometrically, not arithmetically.

Dr. Livingston I Presume

I played Stanley to my trailer's Dr. Livingston. I pulled that bad boy out of the jungle behind the Japanese Maples at Mom and Dad's. It had a regular Maple or two growing through the tailgate. The wiring had provided a feast or two for local varmints. The lights had been demolished and the floor no longer existed in this dimension. Hey, the tires however hold air and have tread (after a fashion). There was one small valve problem. It failed.
All things being equal the rescue was a success since the picture you see is in the back yard in Rome. With some excellent guys from Meineke in Roswell, up in front of M&D's, providing some handy welding the repairs went more quickly than I expected.
Yes, the lawnmower on the trailer used to live on the carport. It was the cargo for the test run. Next will be a swap of the Toro for my JD tractor. The JD deck is being untrue so the tractor will have to stay with Mom till the end of the season or the deck gets leveled, whichever comes first.

Landscape Testing Ground

Those plants need me. A snip here and a cut there and she'll be good as new.

One Step at a Time

Not something I'm very good at. I got the trailer "cleaned" up, and plotted out a course of action. Then, I went to the store to get all the necessaries. Of course, I got a 3/8 drill bit to drill holes for a 3/8 bolt. Yes, I figured it out on my own when the bolt wouldn't fit in the hole I drilled.
We ate at Becky's, went back to M&P's to sleep, got up and made cheese toast, sausage, and coffee. Pearce and I went and got a C clamp (Pearce calls it a G clamp) and a 7/16 bit.
Now the work began, and I got the separated cross bar bolted back to the frame before lunch and time to return to Rome.
Soon I'll head back and try to straighten out the tongue (literally) and reattach the frame pieces that had welds fail.

Out of the Depths of the Jungle

My trailer has been at Mom and Dad's house since the day, six years ago, that a weld failed and I nearly lost my lawn equipment on Canton right in front of Peachtree Salvage (or whatever it was called then).
Today, I pruned and hacked my way through the under growth to clear a path to haul it out. I managed to get the QX4 back there and hooked up to the trailer. I pulled that booger out of there and took a small tree or two that had grown through the tailgate with us.
Well, tomorrow will be an interesting day. I will bolt the joints back together in an attempt to fix the trailer and render it fit for duty.

Me and Lucy Getting Some Work Done

Couldn't tell weed from corn this afternoon so I decided to break out the loosey hoe. Of course, I started to weed by reaching down and pulling the weeds out by hand. Then I got smarter and started pushing Lucy around the garden. It's too hot to keep at it right now. When it's cool in the morning I'll get back to it. This weekend I'll show Pearce the difference between weed and veggie. Then he can go behind me and toss the weeds out of the garden.

Oh! That's Irrigating

My soaker hose is leaking (make all the cracks you want). I'm not surprised, I only paid $1 a piece for 2-50' hoses. I've taken care of leaks at the connections but there is a tear or two in each of the hoses. The trick is these bad boys are flat when not under pressure so it might be tough to fix with the standard hose clamp.

Well, that is what I'll be up to tonight probably. In the mean time I have found a 50' piece of "normal" soaker hose that is not compromised. This length will be put into emergency use till I can fix one or both of the "flat" soakers.

I have a sprinkler but that will be an absolute last resort. Sprinklers waste a hefty bit of water, especially the dryer the air is. They are not the most accurate method of water dispersal and shooting water through dry air, some of it is going to evaporate.

First Non-MBE Landscape Job

I got to spread pine bark today. Came up one bag short stretch as I might. Looks good though doesn't it?

Putting in Corn Rows

A Tiller The Hon'

About a month late, but the ground is about ready for veggies. Pearce got this picture from the weeping cherry. I think that tree may survive (I had wanted to eliminate it last year). It seems there might be cherries on it. Also, it was really pretty this spring (it was really pathetic last year). First time I've seen it with flowers on it.

Woops

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture. I was doing some finishing passes in the back yard when I made a sharp left and the right front wheel went right. &$@€><?!*^%+•=¥~#. Well, I buried the axel in the dirt and left it to finish edging. When the edging was done I went back with a jack (the kind that we had in the Darts) and levered the mower up onto bricks and put the wheel back on. Yep, I'm brilliant. I did get the mower back into the garage, sloowwwlly.

How this happened.

The right front JD wheel has a tire with a slow leak in it. The folks at Rome Lawnmower Repair didn't bother to fix the flat when they had it in to get it ready for mowing. Well, I put a wheel and tire I had kept from Roy's tractor. That wheel happens to be narrower than the JD. Now, when a wheel slides side to side on the axle eventually the c ring holding the wheel on will come loose and fall off.

Gonna have to fix that.

I'm am not happy I forgot the picture.

Got Tiller Will Till

I borrowed a tiller from the Jones' and will get to the tilling on the next non rainy day (hopefully Saturday).

Andrew Elkins

Got a Load of ... Recycled Grass

Ken Davis brought me a trailer load of "recycled grass" today. Once I get it unloaded I think I am going to borrow the Jones' tiller to prep a little growing plot.
I have filled all of my containers for use around the house and on the deck. I'm not sure what will get put where, but I am ready to plant stuff.
Oh, yeah. Claire snuck up beside the trailer and got a little dirt shower. She brushed the trailers side and caused a mini-landslide. That would be why she's sprinting for open ground.

Getting Ready to Work on the John Deere

Have a chronically flat front tire on the John Deere. Pearce and I put a temp salvaged from Poppy's lawnmower on till I can get it patched.

Laundry Day

Laundry Day means a little something different here on Keown Rd. and finally the littlest laundress is taller than 10 gallons of detergent.

Getting Ready for the Season

I've been cleaning up the garage storage area. This weekend I set two shelves for mason jars. One for pint jars and one for quart jars. I also discovered that I have for different kinds of jars. I have an Atlas, some Ball, a couple of Golden Harvest, and a few Kerr jars.

Chicken Wars: Jere Versus the Opossum

It was a terrible night in the chicken yard, but Jere is a hero. He leaped out of bed at about 1:30 saying that the hens were upset and making a lot of noise. He jumped into his clothes and ran downstairs, and after he didn't come back right away, I followed him. I opened the gate and found him locked in mortal combat with a 20-pound opossum. I am confirmed in my view that they are vile creatures. The opossum had killed my sweet TED, The Empress Dowager, Jere said, and he was not in a catch-and-release mood with the opossum. We are very sad to lose TED and are now convinced that an opossum must have also killed Tina. It was dark, I couldn't see, and Jere didn't want to make me suffer through a graphic description of the carnage, but I gather that the evil creature went up into the roosting area of the coop and cornered all of the chickens, grabbing TED in a kind of coop invasion. Jere says Craig Maxwell's hockey stick came in handy, as Jere's usual animal control tool, the lacrosse stick, is a better implement for live flinging than for exacting justice for The Empress Dowager.

Della Wager Wells

November 16, 2012 Buckhead, GA

A Little Winter Clean Up

Ok, I was playing with my power tools. I had a little help to begin with.