The temporary chicken run didn’t work out so well–the wire sides folded over and the top netting sagged enough that Miss Thing managed to get herself tangled up in it and nearly strangled herself. So a more permanent solution was called for. Our more permanent (but still constructed in such a way as to allow for easy reconfiguration) solution involved a whole bunch of 4′x4′ frames made of 2×2 treated lumber and 1×2 welded wire fence, held in place with sturdy stakes and covered with chicken wire stapled to the top.
We haven’t had a car (working or otherwise) in over two years, and we have no plans to get another. We do have plans for a lot more vegetable gardening, though, and the driveway was just taking up space we could be using for more raised beds. So last weekend we took out most of our driveway.
Using only a 6-foot pry bar, a 4-lb hand sledge and chisel, and some 4×4s (plus, later, a borrowed 10-lb sledge to break up the larger chunks once they’d already been lifted out), we got about 3/4 through before deciding to call it a day. We thought we might have to borrow a jackhammer, but it turned out that once we got the first chunk out, it was all possible with proper leverage and hand-chipping.
I think we’re looking at putting in another couple of large beds there, and maybe a wood-fired pizza/bread oven. We’ll see. For now, I still have to find the carbide blade for the sawzall to see if it will work on the last section, which isn’t already cracked at the point where we want to stop pulling it up.
I swear, I looked away for just a moment, and pow! Mushrooms! The kit I started on the 19th has started producing, right on time. Unfortunately, the mushrooms are showing the long skinny “octopus” formation that indicates that they’re not getting enough light. I’m not yet sure what to do about that. I don’t think I have a spot that provides better indirect natural light. Time to get out the light-meter.
Besides learning that I needed more light for good fruiting, I’ve learned a few other things from that kit, not the least of which were to use a humidity tent and to get the coffee grounds pretty damp. (They’re really not all that hydrated when they come out of the espresso machine.) That was probably the major problem with the batch I started from grocery-store oyster mushrooms. I should have hydrated the grounds. And I think it would have been better to start with a more modest batch of substrate and then expand the mycelium out into a whole bucket; the mycelium wasn’t quite keeping up with the bacteria on the bottom, I think.
planted two rosemaries in pots. Maybe if I overwinter them inside one year, they'll be big enough to survive future winters outside.02:19:12 PM March 24, 2010from web
Put up some old tanglefoot codling moth traps in the apple tree. The pheromones are probably toast by now, but hey. (Should've frozen 'em.)01:47:34 PM March 18, 2010from web
The plan: dry plums, eat over the winter. The reality: dry plums, eat immediately.07:03:46 PM September 26, 2009from web
All those gross old coffee grounds that were sitting around in bags in the back yard for months still had it in 'em: compost is 132F.07:01:51 PM September 26, 2009from web
Cover-cropped the shady back raised bed. Josh made a compost bin while I made encouraging noises. (That counts as helping, right?)01:28:48 AM September 21, 2009from web
Principe Borghese is a lot better dried; still, probably not on my must-grow list.01:27:41 AM September 21, 2009from web
