Archive for October, 2003
Posted: October 31st, 2003 by
Frank
The last day of October was one of the few bright clear ones we’ve had. These late fall days with nothing but oak leaves left on the trees aren’t as flashy as when the maples are burning, but the dark red-brown against the green pines is still a fine show. Lyle Handy showed up earlier
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Posted under Driveway, Mulch, Pond scoop, Reviews, Soil, Tractor.
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Posted: October 26th, 2003 by
Lisa
Okay, we got that one bed, the primary one for the spring flowers, put to bed for the year. It turned out to be a huge amount of work, but I’m hoping to not have to repeat it in the spring. We covered it all with a couple of inches of beautiful black compost and
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Posted under Bulbs/Corm/Rhizomes/Tubers, Deadheading, Marmalade, Mulch, Planting, Princess, Pruning.
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Posted: October 26th, 2003 by
Frank
Lisa and I have been making our living more or less on the road since we came back here in 1999. Just this month, several things have come together to let us get serious about getting off the road, working together again, and making our living from ‘here’.’ The non technical stuff will be cogitated
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Posted under Tech Stuff.
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Posted: October 25th, 2003 by
Lisa
It actually turned out to be quite nice today. Sure, it was windy, which makes it difficult when I am trying to rake leaves, but still, no snow except in the really shady spots like the front porch, no rain, pretty warm, and sunny. Not bad after two days of snow. We got outside pretty
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Posted under Coffee Grounds, Compost, Deadheading, Harvesting, Honey Mushrooms, Mulch, Ornamental Grass, Potatoes, Spreading, Weeding.
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Posted: October 24th, 2003 by
Lisa
Whew! It is melting, though slowly. I don’t think it got out of the 30s today, but Frank insisted we go out after work and at least start spreading compost and mulch. Mostly, I wimped out and watched him learn to use his scoop. I think he’ll get better at it, but right now it’s
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Posted under Compost, Mulch, Pond scoop, Spreading, Tractor.
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Posted: October 24th, 2003 by
Frank
We’ve been going slow on adding garbage to give the worm population time to build up, but we seem to be okay now. We’ve got the second bin about half full of garbage, and it’s just squirming with worms. We also got a quart of worm tea for the houseplants. The first bin still has a bunch of worms in it, which is good because the coir bedding that came with the bin still has a lot of decomposing to do. I suspect we didn’t add enough garbage, because that seems to be gone. I’m taking this as meaning that we can now start putting all our garbage in there, which is great since it means I won’t have to go out to the compost pile in the snow. The downside seems to be the flies. They’re there there, and the manual for the composter pretty much implies they’re a normal feature. Oh well.
Posted under Harvesting, Reviews, Scraps, Shredded Paper, Worms.
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Posted: October 23rd, 2003 by
Lisa
Well, there’s no getting around it. It stuck. I woke up this morning hoping the snow had turned to rain overnight, and instead I saw two inches on the ground and the snow was still coming. It’s pretty, I admit, but I’m not ready. I need more fall, please. I like fall. To outline the
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Posted under Bulbs/Corm/Rhizomes/Tubers, Compost, Deadheading, Firewood, Mulch, Planting, Pond scoop, Spreading, Tractor, Weeding, peony.
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Posted: October 22nd, 2003 by
Lisa
No! Not snow. We’re not ready. We have too many fall chores left, and we really worry that snow is a sign that the season is almost over. Oh. I just looked to see when the first snow was last year. I guess maybe then that this isn’t too early. But it is! We’re not ready. This will melt. The weather forecasts are promising that after this front passes, we’ll still have weeks of fall, and that we’ll get into the 50s tomorrow. We consoled ourselves all day with the thought that at least it wasn’t sticking. It’s sticking. One funny thing was that the southern part of the state, which is where we are, was supposed to have rain only, and the northern part was going to get snow. I guess it’s our higher elevation that makes us just like the northern country.
Posted under Snow.
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Posted: October 21st, 2003 by
Lisa
I hate it when I travel in October, and somehow it seems to happen every year. I’ve been gone for nine days, and I missed my favorite season! Peak has come and gone while I’ve been out in California and Texas. And of course, the weather is so rainy and wet that we are constantly
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Posted under Compost, Grass Clippings, Lawn, Rain.
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Posted: October 14th, 2003 by
Frank
Last night I was watching the sunset from the balcony. It was cooling down, and I’d lit the woodstove at lunchtime. The last leaves were still beautiful, and I caught a whiff of smoke on the breeze. It all just seemed so right, so comfortable. Somehow, that bit of woodsmoke made the dying year and
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Posted under Farm Life, Politics.
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