By John, on April 23rd, 2011 |
 This past weekend the rain barrels were set up, though not without mishap. This is always a bit of a chore because it involves the not-so-nice task of climbing a ladder and cleaning the gutter of all the rotting debris that has accrued through the fall and winter. The barrels were righted and the fittings were all re-taped and reseated to ensure a water tight seal…except that I dropped one of them and the threads cracked. Sadly, this is a composite part consisting of a slip elbow and a union. So I schlepped on down to Lowes and purchased the requisite pieces only to find out on my return home that the PVC cement that I thought I had was actually CPVC cement. Crap! …continue reading
By John, on April 18th, 2011 |
 On Monday I went out to the asparagus bed and counted eight spears poking their way up through the soil. By the weekend that number had tripled and most of them look to be nice and fat. I’ve read that asparagus planted too shallow will result in thin, spindly spears. Planting deeper yields fewer but fatter spears.
With asparagus, the third season is supposed to be the first full harvest. Last year was our third season but, after a promising start, it ended up being disappointing with a lot of thin and misshapen spears. I’m praying that we don’t have a virus. I lavished some extra attention on them over the season last year in the hope of coaxing them into a better harvest this year. Within a matter of weeks I’ll learn whether those efforts have paid dividends or whether our asparagus has a problem. So far, so good. …continue reading
By John, on May 18th, 2010 |
  The last few years we have been watering the east garden by hand, which was manageable but tiresome. Earlier this year I experimented with some old soaker hoses I’ve had lying around but the results weren’t acceptable. Soaker hoses just don’t …continue reading
By John, on May 5th, 2010 |
 The weather has been unseasonably warm and I’ve already lost several of my lettuces due to lack of water. They were under row covers and when last I looked at them they were doing fine. And even though it has rained each of the past several days it appears the accumulation has been minimal. (*Note to self – build rain gauge). Anyway, I carved out a block of …continue reading
By John, on May 24th, 2009 |
 For the second time this season someone in our family (“I think it was me”, he said sheepishly) inadvertantly left the rain barrel valve open and drained the barrels dry. Over 200 gallons of precious rain water lost, again! It’s amazing how quickly we’ve come to rely on the rain water for our garden and how reluctant I am to use our public water supply. It is such a waste of resources and money. …continue reading
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This past weekend the rain barrels were set up, though not without mishap. This is always a bit of a chore because it involves the not-so-nice task of climbing a ladder and cleaning the gutter of all the rotting debris that has accrued through the fall and winter. The barrels were righted and the fittings were all re-taped and reseated to ensure a water tight seal…except that I dropped one of them and the threads cracked. Sadly, this is a composite part consisting of a slip elbow and a union. So I schlepped on down to Lowes and purchased the requisite pieces only to find out on my return home that the PVC cement that I thought I had was actually CPVC cement. Crap! …continue reading
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