Today, for the first time we took advantage of a local provincial park, only 20 minutes away! It's a gigantic campground, with a huge irrigation reservoir in the middle. Lots of mature trees, swimming area, a small sandy beach. There's a concession stand too, but the guy said it wasn't open, someone broke into it! He actually did let us buy some ice cream though, super nice guy : )
It's officially summer, and it's hot enough to prove it too. Although for us in Alberta, hot isn't really that hot. We just feel hot, and complain a lot, but it's really quite nice. We've had some rain, not a lot, but enough to keep the trees alive for a few more days. For some reason quite a few of my poplars are dying, while other ones are doing quite well. All of the dead ones are in a certain area, so I should probably test that area's soil and see what's wrong. I'll replant them next year, once I've amended the soil or whatever.
I've been brainstorming on behalf of our best friends, who have said that they would like to move out here with us. I really want to see them succeed in that, but I also don't know exactly how serious or dedicated they are. We haven't talked about it for months, and it's the middle of the year. Winter will be upon us in a heartbeat, if we're not careful! Once August rolls around, I should have enough money to build the barn, and hopefully, we'll have enough time as well. It's a huge project, and I'll need lots of help, and I really like to have some extra hands out here for that sort of thing!
The idea that I had, was to build the barn, and put a large 5th wheel trailer right next to it, connected by a temporary "hallway" to the door. We'd have to insulate the crap out the the trailer, since they aren't strictly designed for winter, per se. Have an insulated and frost protected water hose from the barn, into the trailer, and build some temporary bedrooms in the barn (which will have a dirt floor, and a woodstove for heat), for the kids. We can all use the water out of the large tank, and if it's not terribly expensive, I plan to put a well out here, for all of our use. I'm hoping $5000 or less will take care of that. We'll see.
If this works, they could move out here as early as the end of July or August, and we could then put our muscle into the barn-building project! The only cost that they would have to pay for is the trailer itself, and maybe a generator, but I've got a plan for that too. A large diesel genny could run two houses at once, and use waaaaay less fuel as well. We won't need too much in the way of extra electricity, if we can get another turbine set up, and maybe a few solar panels. Just a boost charge here and there will keep us afloat...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
GalaxyFest (aka NerdiCon 2009)
So this weekend is the famous "Star Trek" festival in the county we live in, and the town puts on a big fair, not unlike the summer fair in thousands of small towns across N America, except this one has a "Star Trek" theme. Why? The name of the town happens to be the name of a famous "planet" in the Star Trek universe, and the county wants to capitalize on that, and bring in tourism. Good idea, I suppose, but really, really, really nerdy! We did see the parade this morning, which, thankfully was mostly just average hillbilly floats, the Shriners cars, and a pipe band. There were more floats than I expected, and I did get some pics, which I will upload a few of next post.
We got some ice cream, filled up the water tank, and came home.
My wife is in another town at the moment, she went to visit a friend, so as soon as she returns, were going for a free swim!
Oh, I planted a few more tires, I now have about 25 tires sitting out here, and about 4 of them filled with dirt (but they're the biggest ones!) I soaked a pile of broccoli and asparagus seeds in water for about 36 hours, then I put them right on top of the soil, and covered them with straw. Hopefully the seedlings will punch through the straw layer, and start growing soon!
We have had almost no moisture in the last 6 days, and none predicted for the next 6, and June is supposed to be the wettest month!!!! I have been watering the trees faithfully, but I'm starting to wonder if this isn't going to be the harshest summer we've ever had, both in terms of late frosts, and lack of moisture.
Lord, please send rain!
We got some ice cream, filled up the water tank, and came home.
My wife is in another town at the moment, she went to visit a friend, so as soon as she returns, were going for a free swim!
Oh, I planted a few more tires, I now have about 25 tires sitting out here, and about 4 of them filled with dirt (but they're the biggest ones!) I soaked a pile of broccoli and asparagus seeds in water for about 36 hours, then I put them right on top of the soil, and covered them with straw. Hopefully the seedlings will punch through the straw layer, and start growing soon!
We have had almost no moisture in the last 6 days, and none predicted for the next 6, and June is supposed to be the wettest month!!!! I have been watering the trees faithfully, but I'm starting to wonder if this isn't going to be the harshest summer we've ever had, both in terms of late frosts, and lack of moisture.
Lord, please send rain!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Some garden pics
I can't remember if I mentioned it last post, but whatever. I'm going to be doing most of my gardening in old rubber tires, from here on. That is to say, I'm going to experiment with several different methods, and whatever works the best will be my primary method. I gotta say, this gardening in old tires concept has already got me hooked though!
1. Tires are practically indestructable. Our great-great-great-great grandchildren are going to be swimming in them if we don't find a better disposal method.
2. You can get them for free. Just ask (be prepared to load them yourself)
3. They come in many sizes. From wheelbarrow tires to the big tractor sized ones, with benefits to each size.
4. They allow you to heat the soil faster. Black rubber absorbs heat, and could allow you to start your plants a bit sooner, especially if you put some kind of plastic or something over it. I plan to stack two or three to get a earlier start on some seedlings!
5. They exclude weeds and pests. You can place a barrier below them if you want, but you won't get the beneficial worms if you do that.
6. They are MUCH less work to fill and plant, than digging down below the compacted prairie soil, which has to be well worked to get a good bed. No rototilling for these suckers!
7. The side of the tire makes a good place to sit while you weed, seed, or whatever.
8. You will get fewer pests stealing your garden, and fewer animals will rampage through your delicate plants. Especially with the larger tires, something actually would have to climb up on top to wreak havoc, and it's less likely, especially with larger "animals" (children).
9. You can paint them, but I like them black myself.
10. Did I mention free?
The above picture is a few "normal" sized tires awaiting some dirt, but I really don't know what I want to put in them. The place I got these from did not have many normal tires, but for the average gardener, these are the easiest to work with. The large ones, even the semi-truck ones, are really heavy.
Here are four of the semi-truck tires, partially filled with topsoil. I scraped this soil off last year to put the mobile on, and it's composted down to some excellent stuff! These are heavy, and will not fit in a car. You should have a buddy if you're getting these, to help get them in the truck.
We have two of these monsters on our property. I dragged this one about 500 meters with the truck. My daughter thought that was just awesome, and talked about it all day! This one took a lot of dirt to even partially fill, and I planted carrots in it. I mulched the top to conserve precious moisture.
This is a non-tired spot where I'm trying to grow potatoes in straw. I've got a bunch of these, and they've already done ok despite the very late frosts we had. The straw protects them from cold, and holds in moisture. I bought a small bag of seed potatoes on sale, and only used half of them! I tried to use more, but I don't have more tilled spots, and besides, we don't use enough potatoes to make it worth planting more. I doubt we can eat what I've seeded now. Perhaps I can sell some!
Any how, I've got the next three days off work, and I'm grateful for it. I just worked 7 days straight, and I'm tired to say the least.
Another small project that I attempted (and needs more work, or better design or something) is a rainwater collection system, using black drainpipe. Unfortunately, the pipe, which is flexible, just allows the water to pool in one spot, which eventually spills all over the ground. I need more supports for the pipe, seal up some joints that leak, and add the first-flush diverter. Once all of that is in place, I should be able to collect at least some of the rainwater from the gutters. Water is expensive for us, and has to be hauled from town in my truck. It costs about $11 to haul 350 gal, including the truck gas (which comprises half of the total cost). I might work on this tommorow, if it's not too hot out. I'm a bit of a pansy in the heat, but I can work like a dog in the cold, even in -20 Celcius, which is about -10 F (I think).
Some of my trees are showing good growth, which I'm thankful for. I need some fruit trees though!
1. Tires are practically indestructable. Our great-great-great-great grandchildren are going to be swimming in them if we don't find a better disposal method.
2. You can get them for free. Just ask (be prepared to load them yourself)
3. They come in many sizes. From wheelbarrow tires to the big tractor sized ones, with benefits to each size.
4. They allow you to heat the soil faster. Black rubber absorbs heat, and could allow you to start your plants a bit sooner, especially if you put some kind of plastic or something over it. I plan to stack two or three to get a earlier start on some seedlings!
5. They exclude weeds and pests. You can place a barrier below them if you want, but you won't get the beneficial worms if you do that.
6. They are MUCH less work to fill and plant, than digging down below the compacted prairie soil, which has to be well worked to get a good bed. No rototilling for these suckers!
7. The side of the tire makes a good place to sit while you weed, seed, or whatever.
8. You will get fewer pests stealing your garden, and fewer animals will rampage through your delicate plants. Especially with the larger tires, something actually would have to climb up on top to wreak havoc, and it's less likely, especially with larger "animals" (children).
9. You can paint them, but I like them black myself.
10. Did I mention free?
The above picture is a few "normal" sized tires awaiting some dirt, but I really don't know what I want to put in them. The place I got these from did not have many normal tires, but for the average gardener, these are the easiest to work with. The large ones, even the semi-truck ones, are really heavy.
Here are four of the semi-truck tires, partially filled with topsoil. I scraped this soil off last year to put the mobile on, and it's composted down to some excellent stuff! These are heavy, and will not fit in a car. You should have a buddy if you're getting these, to help get them in the truck.
We have two of these monsters on our property. I dragged this one about 500 meters with the truck. My daughter thought that was just awesome, and talked about it all day! This one took a lot of dirt to even partially fill, and I planted carrots in it. I mulched the top to conserve precious moisture.
This is a non-tired spot where I'm trying to grow potatoes in straw. I've got a bunch of these, and they've already done ok despite the very late frosts we had. The straw protects them from cold, and holds in moisture. I bought a small bag of seed potatoes on sale, and only used half of them! I tried to use more, but I don't have more tilled spots, and besides, we don't use enough potatoes to make it worth planting more. I doubt we can eat what I've seeded now. Perhaps I can sell some!Any how, I've got the next three days off work, and I'm grateful for it. I just worked 7 days straight, and I'm tired to say the least.
Another small project that I attempted (and needs more work, or better design or something) is a rainwater collection system, using black drainpipe. Unfortunately, the pipe, which is flexible, just allows the water to pool in one spot, which eventually spills all over the ground. I need more supports for the pipe, seal up some joints that leak, and add the first-flush diverter. Once all of that is in place, I should be able to collect at least some of the rainwater from the gutters. Water is expensive for us, and has to be hauled from town in my truck. It costs about $11 to haul 350 gal, including the truck gas (which comprises half of the total cost). I might work on this tommorow, if it's not too hot out. I'm a bit of a pansy in the heat, but I can work like a dog in the cold, even in -20 Celcius, which is about -10 F (I think).
Some of my trees are showing good growth, which I'm thankful for. I need some fruit trees though!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Two more days...
Oh man, I'm getting tired! I'm on a really long run of shifts, thanks to a team change. I had to adapt to their schedule, and they were on 3 more day shifts after my last 4 days, for a total of 7 9.25 hour shifts in a row! Two more left, and I get 4 days off though, not too shabby.
So, I did get some tires, and my God, were they freakin heavy! I went to the local Fountain Tire, and just asked them for some old tires, thinking they would have a bunch of small car and truck tires. Turns out they do mostly semi-trucks and the occasional tractor, so they have a lot of those tires. I did get a few smaller ones too, though. I also found two large tractor tires in my field, and I've dragged one over to the garden, and the other one will be on my days off. I filled the one with some nice, rich soil over top of newspaper, layered with some straw, and more soil over that. I put a chunk of really old manure crumbled on the very top, and sprinkled a bunch of carrot seeds on the dirt. Then, I mulched that. We've got another frost warning tonite!!!!!!!! Are we actually going to get a summer here?
So, I looked into the selling ice cream idea. I need 5 permits. Seriously. To sell frozen, prepackaged ice cream, I need 5 permits, and an inspection from Health Canada. Is it even worth it? Each permit has a fee attached, and the inspection is almost certainly quite costly. I'm not sure I could make much money at it, after all the expenses! What a gyp...
I have all the material to make the cart, so I might do it anyway, and then use it for some other nefarious purpose.
I have kind of settled on the type of farm I would like to operate. I want a large orchard, and a small U-pick operation, with some various types of berries, including raspberries, saskatoons, and some cherries. I'm lazy, and I'm not going to make this a very "intensive" operation. That means wide tree placement, very little pruning, and no spraying of any kind. If the birds eat my fruit, then they get some, and I get some. I'll keep the raspberries from spreading, and try to add lots of organic material, but as I said, the less work, the better!
I'll post some pics of the tire gardening, and my potatoe hills as soon as I take some. The potatoes are actually sprouting, despite the numerous frosts. They are under straw, which probably saves them from freezing.
So, I did get some tires, and my God, were they freakin heavy! I went to the local Fountain Tire, and just asked them for some old tires, thinking they would have a bunch of small car and truck tires. Turns out they do mostly semi-trucks and the occasional tractor, so they have a lot of those tires. I did get a few smaller ones too, though. I also found two large tractor tires in my field, and I've dragged one over to the garden, and the other one will be on my days off. I filled the one with some nice, rich soil over top of newspaper, layered with some straw, and more soil over that. I put a chunk of really old manure crumbled on the very top, and sprinkled a bunch of carrot seeds on the dirt. Then, I mulched that. We've got another frost warning tonite!!!!!!!! Are we actually going to get a summer here?
So, I looked into the selling ice cream idea. I need 5 permits. Seriously. To sell frozen, prepackaged ice cream, I need 5 permits, and an inspection from Health Canada. Is it even worth it? Each permit has a fee attached, and the inspection is almost certainly quite costly. I'm not sure I could make much money at it, after all the expenses! What a gyp...
I have all the material to make the cart, so I might do it anyway, and then use it for some other nefarious purpose.
I have kind of settled on the type of farm I would like to operate. I want a large orchard, and a small U-pick operation, with some various types of berries, including raspberries, saskatoons, and some cherries. I'm lazy, and I'm not going to make this a very "intensive" operation. That means wide tree placement, very little pruning, and no spraying of any kind. If the birds eat my fruit, then they get some, and I get some. I'll keep the raspberries from spreading, and try to add lots of organic material, but as I said, the less work, the better!
I'll post some pics of the tire gardening, and my potatoe hills as soon as I take some. The potatoes are actually sprouting, despite the numerous frosts. They are under straw, which probably saves them from freezing.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
AAAH! KILLER FROST!!!
Ok, so last night, I set out the tomato, watermelon, corn and asparagus seedlings. This morning as I was getting in my car to head in for a court appearance, I noticed frost on the back window! I absently thought "Uh oh", but I didn't think any more about it. Just now, as I was putting some potatoes in straw mounds, I looked at where my other seedings were, and they were gone! Imagine my surprise to see that all of my seedlings, cucumbers, corn, tomatoes and all the rest were dead, killed by the frost...it's so discouraging. How could there be frost this far into spring? It's June, for crying out loud!!!
Last frost out here is supposed to be around May 19th (on average) I guess this isn't going to be an average summer, especially since there's probably going to be ANOTHER frost in a few days ??!!
If I had known, I would have put buckets over the seedlings! Crickey...
Last year my garden went in around June 1st, and I didn't get very much of anything, at least of cucumbers, but the broccoli and carrots did really well, despite the late planting.
I really, really, really need a greenhouse. I can start the seeds in flats inside the house, put them out in the greenhouse around mid May to harden off, and plant them on June 10th or so. I can't risk losing my plants again!
In other, happier news...I'm going to start an ice cream stand! I bought the cooler today, some tires for the cart, and I just need some paint, handles and stuff, and I can build the cart. I'd like to have it ready for the 13-14th of June, there's a huge "festival" in our local town, and I want to part some sweating tourists with their money, in exchange for ice cream. If I can sell a few times a month, make a couple hundred dollars, I can stop bleeding money, and maybe even get back in the black! If nothing else, I could probably recover my investment. I really think I could make some good coin though.
Maybe next year I'll try planting in old tyres, people who live waaaaay further north than I do have had success with that. I've got to do something different, anyway.
Last frost out here is supposed to be around May 19th (on average) I guess this isn't going to be an average summer, especially since there's probably going to be ANOTHER frost in a few days ??!!
If I had known, I would have put buckets over the seedlings! Crickey...
Last year my garden went in around June 1st, and I didn't get very much of anything, at least of cucumbers, but the broccoli and carrots did really well, despite the late planting.
I really, really, really need a greenhouse. I can start the seeds in flats inside the house, put them out in the greenhouse around mid May to harden off, and plant them on June 10th or so. I can't risk losing my plants again!
In other, happier news...I'm going to start an ice cream stand! I bought the cooler today, some tires for the cart, and I just need some paint, handles and stuff, and I can build the cart. I'd like to have it ready for the 13-14th of June, there's a huge "festival" in our local town, and I want to part some sweating tourists with their money, in exchange for ice cream. If I can sell a few times a month, make a couple hundred dollars, I can stop bleeding money, and maybe even get back in the black! If nothing else, I could probably recover my investment. I really think I could make some good coin though.
Maybe next year I'll try planting in old tyres, people who live waaaaay further north than I do have had success with that. I've got to do something different, anyway.
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