Sunday, March 30, 2008

rained-out

i really wanted to get some fencing completed this weekend. the rain has saturated the ground. when i tried to dig the corner post holes they filled with water faster than i could dig them out.

i tried to work on the root cellar. flooded..

i set up the solar pump and started to pump it low enough so i could work on the door area. it started to rain in earnest. i fled.

i moved some gravel to the bathtub drain overflow. it was making a muddy ditch. the rain had saturated the little leach field that is under the yard. the bees were drinking from there and i'd prefer them to get better quality water that is available just a few feet further from them.

my kombucha addiction has infused into my soul. i can't believe that i'd never had the stuff before my recent discovery. i drink at least a pint of the stuff everyday--i would drink more if i had it. i have three gallons brewing at any given time. sometimes i get a little anxious and pour a glass a little before it is finished brewing. too sweet. i like a dry dry strong kombucha. i have to start another gallon so i can start bottling it for those hot summer days where i'll need a few pints to keep me going.

i tried to brew some from a bottle from the health food store. it was a dismal failure. i really need to split another scoby and start another gallon i figure it i have five gallons going at any time i might be able to bottle some for long term carbonation. i have only ever filled six grolsch bottles at a time. by the sixth day and the last bottle they were really tasty--effervescent.

tristan got a guitar from the goodwill yesterday. he loves it. he had been writing songs. drawing the little notes on paper. where did he learn that? one of them titled horrible song. the other on is called jack into a box. such a fun boy.

toly is down to prevacid every other day. he smells a little acidic every now and then. we have aloe juice which seems to help. we are trying to wean him from the strong drugs--taking our time. he is mostly happy. luckily nothing has come back from all the tests so we want to try to deal with this via diet.

i really hope our carrot experiment works out. it was a ridiculous amount of work getting the beds ready. i guess it can take up to two weeks for carrots to germinate. we planted two separate heirloom short-carrot varieties. we eat lots of carrots.

we feel very lucky to have squeezed our spring garden planting in. the rain intervals have been relentless. the list goes:
    beets a big wide row
    swiss chard another big row
    half a row of broccoli
    half a row of cabbage
    a row and a half of onions
    half a row of mixed greens, beets, chard
    two raised beds of carrots
    jerusalem artichokes
    the garlic has been in since fall
    the asparagus is perennial


stuff left to plant at a later date
    pole beans
    pumpkins
    squash
    cucumbers
    melons
    sweet potatoes
    edamame
    okra
    basil
    more greens


seedlings started
    tomatoes
    tomatillos
    hot peppers
    chamomile
    rhubarb
    nasturtiums
    lavender
    thyme
    fennel
    celeriac

8 comments:

The Polar Bear said...

Hey Karl- where did you guys get your Kombucha starter? I think the dodger would really enjoy it.

LannaM said...

What (growing) zone are you guys in again?
I could swear you were supposedly in zone 5 like me, but I can't plant squat until early May at the earliest (heck, I've got 8-10 inches of snow on the ground still, and that's after about 4 inches has melted!).

Robbyn said...

You've really piqued our interest in Kombucha. We're about to try kefir and Caspian sea yogurt for starters, to kind of kick things off in the fermentation experimentation department. LOVE following you guys' progress. Garden looks great...hope the carrots do well :)

Omelay said...

dogfight cove, we got it online and mailed overnight to us. yeah, i bet dodger would love it.

lannam, we are in 6b. yeah but you get to grow long day onions--we can't.

robbyn, kombucha, imo, is vastly superior to keifer, which i also enjoy.

Wendy said...

Your garden sounds wonderful. Sorry about all of the rain. We're having a different problem here that is impeding gardening progress - snow ;), but from other comments, it sounds like I'm not alone.

I'm glad to hear Toly is doing better. It's so hard when the little guys aren't feeling well, and sometimes worse is the feeling of helplessness from not knowing how to "make it better."

LannaM said...

Yeah, long day onions, but not so much Brandywines in that department... ;)

Woody said...

Karl...I don't think it is ever gonna stop raining. I can only hope that some of this will fall in july and august this year. Happy to hear ya'll are doing alright. The garden is looking great.

peace

Ron said...

Hey, Karl. I was going to leave a comment yesterday but it loaded so slowly it forced me to go outside. I was puttering in the barn when the rain started coming in horizontally. Huddled in the hallway while the county was under tornado warnings. Hearing the rain fall is like some kind of torture.

But, happily, the sun is out now. :)

I love the horrible song... I bang out lots of those. I hope your carrot experiment works good for you too, if it does I may have to do the same.

Take care,
Ron

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