Another problem

Khim and hippygeek - thanks for following my blog!

Crap. Now I have a cold.....Oh well, it'll prepare my immune system for the work to be done outdoors during the winter months. I stayed in bed for almost 48 hours straight, and the coughing is unbelievable. God, I feel so wimpy right now....a big baby even. All of the rattling in my chest is quite annoying, and thankfully the Nyquil keeps the coughing under control.

Photo below - I wanted to show you the Rubbermaid 18 gallon totes I picked up at Kmart a while back, for only $2.50 each. Yeah...talk about a sweet deal! These will be turned into swc's, then sold to friends next spring. They only had 1 lid, so attaching plastic mulch will be questionable. A large rubber band would proably work well, I bet.....

Photo below - I couldn't help but notice this cluster of ladybugs in the little playhouse out back. Sadly though, they had to go. I had to fumigate the interior completely, because of an unbelievable infestation of brown recluse spiders. Poor little ladybugs......

Photo below - Here's a juvenile brown recluse spider. I still don't know why it's butt looks like that, others looked like that, too. I must have counted 20 of these in there the other day, and thought "Holy Crap! I need John Goodman!". However, some "Demon" wettable powder from the farmer's cooperative took care of these with no problems. It will kill anything! While at it, I sprayed all of the outbuildings, and my parent's cupboards too. I found a big one in a pot under the kitchen sink last summer, and told Dad to wash any pot/pan that he removed from there after generously spraying the area. I'd sure hate for them to get sick from it. Oh yeah......this one is dead. I may be crazy, but not that crazy.....

In other news, the month of November has lots of banquets and such that pertain to the Master Gardener program, and also the local extension service. I'll get my name tag, a t-shirt, and diploma for the Master Gardener Program on the 19th, and get to attend the Farm City Banquet on the 24th. The Farm City banquet is all about the 4H program - which I am a big part of. Who knows? Maybe i'll win some kind of prestigious award.....That would be sweet!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Acquiring more buckets

First of all, I want to tell you that I have injured myself the last 2 weekends. Sheesh....Last weekend was a strained muscle on my left shoulder, and today was a muscle in my back. I don't know what happened this morning at about 9 am. I mean, I had just finished the roof of the shed, came down the ladder to pet Jude on the head - and it hit me. Oh gosh....talk about a bad way to start a weekend full of outdoor plans!

Anyway, I still managed to do some more stuff - even though every move was a painful one. The buckets are still coming in slowly, and in different sizes, too. In the photo below, from left to right: back row - 5 gallon, 4 gallon, and 3.5 gallon buckets.
Front row: 1 gallon, 2 gallon, and 4 gallon buckets.

Photo below - since I had to buy a 9-pack of broccoli transplants a while back, I decided to put one of them in a swp constructed from two 1 gallon buckets. I like to experiment, and this was better than letting them go to waste. I really don't think it will make it, but it will still be fun trying it.

Photo below - here's the 2 planted a month ago in 4 gallon containers. They are doing very well, and so far no pests have bothered them. Oh, you can bet that I check them daily, because I know the cabbage worm is bound to show up before this grow cycle is complete.

Back to the shed - It's now time for the vinyl siding, and i'll pick up some j-channel and corner pieces next week. I should be able to have it completely covered by the end of Thanksgiving weekend, and the wiring will take place after that. This "daylight savings thing" really makes it hard for me to make any progress in a timely manner. Thank god for weekends....

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Big things are in the works - Compost extravaganza

I don't have any pictures for today's post, but I wanted to share some exciting news with my readers.

There will be no searching for bagged leaves by the curbside, because I can get all the shredded leaves I want delivered to my house. It's true. All I had to do was call the street dept. supervisor for my little town, and ask some questions. It seems that they are collecting people's leaves left by the curbside with a vacuum fitted truck, and gather about 5-6 large truckloads a day. After telling the man what I wanted them for, he only asked me 2 questions...
1. How many truckloads did I want?
2. Where did I want them to be dumped?

Jackpot! And they're already shredded....hehe....

It also seems that my desire to construct a system that will turn the piles for me will come true. I have a very good friend that has his own electric motor winding business, and he will provide me with the necessary components to build the system. All he wants in return is enough homemade compost for his 16' x 16' garden each year. I'll give him tomato seedlings next spring, too. Man...it's good to have friends!

I have to start designing the system soon, but only after the exterior part of the shed is finished. Yay!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

November 4th, 2009

First of all, i'd like to tell my friend Judy that I can't leave comments for your blog again. Sorry, it won't accept my sign-in.

Also, I'd like to thank Daphne and Granny for educating me on the dangers of grapes to dogs. Gosh, i'd never heard that before. Even though I will refrain from feeding them to her, I don't know how I will keep her from eating the ones that fall to the ground. Sigh....


In gardening news, the broccoli is still doing well, but the leaves were kinda droopy when this photo was taken. It was pretty warm this day, and definitely the reason for it. Also, when the swc was assembled, the effective water/soil exchange surface area was reduced drastically - in hopes of reducing the rate of capillary action. Initial tests conclude that the soil moisture level measures 3-4 with my moisture meter. That's fantastic! That is exactly what I was shooting for.....This should be really good for tomatoes next year.

Photo below - Remember those containers at the edge of the woods, that I tried corn in? Well, there's a good reason why they didn't perform very well....

They were filled with my (unfinished) compost that was heavily comprised of pine needles, which hasn't decomposed after all this time. No wonder they didn't grow well, because it looked awful!

Photo below - However, the compost that I made during the summer looks fantastic, and another container was filled for growing more onions. These are from seed, and are a granex hybrid. Granex is the original cultivar for the "vidalia onion", I believe. Boy, I hope they do well! Jude was lookin' at me like "Hey, retard.....why all the fuss about this dirt-looking stuff? Don't ya wanna play?"

This next look was convincing, so I had to put away the camera and play frisbee for a while.

Since moving the clocks back last weekend, it's already dark when I get home from work each day. With flashlight in hand, I still make the daily trek out to Jude's pen, and play with her for a little while. Sadly, all of my projects will have to be done on the weekends, now. I'll finish the roof on Saturday, and start on the soffets, too. The vinyl siding should be started the following weekend.

BTW....I made my homemade spaghetti sauce the other day, and only have 4 pints to show for my efforts. As usual with anything I can for the first time - I reduced it too much. So much for pouring it from the jars - because it's really thick! heh. No biggie....water will be added to it when it gets used in the future. One thing's for sure, i'll be growing at least twice as many tomatoes next year, because it takes alot!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Onions and weeds

Lots of leaves are falling

Here's a video I shot behind the house. I hope you enjoy it!

Greenhouse alteration

I changed it. The previous design had an issue causing the bottom part of the frame to bow upward, and I felt this new layout would work much better. Hehe...it still looks weird, though. Initially, I had intended on constructing 3 of these, but this will be it for now. Besides....I need to see how it performs, and if there are any unforeseen problems with it. A few more pieces of pvc pipe might be added, but only along the front, as they'll probably be needed for the door.

Photo below - I installed some screws thru the existing wooden cross pieces, and into the corner of the pvc framework. This anchors it into place very well, and wind shouldn't be an issue, now.

Photo below - Since the little fan was now exposed to the elements, I covered a piece of cardboard with foil tape - then skewered it with the upright machine screws. Since foil tape is water resistant, rain shouldn't get into it now. I love foil tape.....it's expensive, but very useful. This protection will be temporary, because I have other plans for the top.

Photo below - here's the view of the circuit board from the backside. Lots of tedious work was done right here - let me tell ya!

However, the component side looks very neat. You're looking at the entire controller - minus the thermistor. Not much to it, huh?

After the entire greenhouse is finished, i'll probably shoot a video of the controls in action, and also every aspect of this design. Since making changes to the framework design added more area to the enclosure, the little fan will only do a complete air change every 2 minutes now. Oh well....it shouldn't be a problem. The added height will come in handy when tall plants are being grown in it next year. It also gives me the option of placing a two tiered shelf system on the inside, which will come in handy if I need to place all of my seedlings in it. As usual, the project just keeps getting bigger...

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG