inveniam viam

I'll be leaving for Wiscon tomorrow morning. I've decided to go by train and bus. I'll leave East Lansing (home of MSU) tomorrow morning at 0830 and arriving in Madison by 1530 -- I hope! I have to be in the ConSuite at 1700 for my volunteer shift.

This morning, my son Sam and his wife Kayla helped me get the pear trees grafted, and then I planted them in big pots. We'll see how they do! It's my first try at grafting -- well, honestly, Sam did most of the work. What I'm worried about is that we put the wound goop on and then the wrap. I think we were supposed to do it the other way. Here's to hoping that the wound goop doesn't come between scion wood and the root stock.

So, I was out driving yesterday, on my way to drop something off for one of the residents where I work, and I'd been fretting over not getting the trees done. I needed to get the goop that keeps the insects out and wasn't finding it around town. I was taking the back road from Lansing to East Lansing and drove right by the tree research station -- Hey! I bet they know where I can get stuff for fruit tree grafting!

I pulled in and Dr. Paul Bloese was there in the greenhouse. Not only did he give me the goop and the ties that I'd need, but he loaned me his second best grafting knife!

So the pear trees are done. We've also started putting the vegetable garden in-- still a few more seedlings to set. When Mike comes home we'll *finally* start the mead. Then I will pack.

My return trip isn't until Tuesday morning, so if anyone wants to do anything Monday evening, lets!



The pears: Keiffer, Summercrisp, Clara Frijs, Normannischen Ciderbirne, and Barland. (last link goes to google books)

I won't be able to buy property until I'm out of school, but I should graduate in December of this year. There's several pieces of property I'm looking at, and the one on the top of my list is hilly.

I like hilly for dealing with extreme rains. A flat field will be flooded; a terraced field will drain. If it's dry, you have to water both.

So this morning I was thinking about terracing. One that's appealing for both it's low cost and low tech is cribbing.

This is actually one of the best pics I could find:


Except I'd probably use untreated cedar logs. The "boxs" are filled with dirt until only the front is visible -- finished, it looks like this:


Edit: I've been looking for products that will last a long time buried. Cedar logs should last about 29-30 years. But. PVC will last 100 years. So, pvc pipe filled with sand and with holes drilled every so often for drainage. That should do.

Edit #2: Since Mike really doesn't like the idea of using wood and maybe redoing the terraces every 20 yrs, another option, perhaps a better option, would be poured concrete treated with a non-toxic concrete sealer like Green Building Supply, Penetrating Concrete Sealer. For this project, we'd probably go with a cement/sand/stone volume mix of 1:1½:3. As long as the cement "logs" aren't damaged, they should last a pre' long time. We'd use concrete forms that would look something like Lincoln Logs, and we'd need a small concrete mixer. I can see how we'd do it -- working on site, pour four forms on day one, next day, strip the forms, set the new "logs" on some 2X4s to cure, pour four more. Next day is a repeat of day two, but we'd also be painting the top of the first set will the sealer. Next day, same as previous day, but flip the first set over and paint the bottom of those with the sealer. So each "log" would take 4 days to complete. I figure we'd make them 10'X½'X½.

I just had a thought: would we work from the bottom of the hill up, or from the top, down? Huh.

Here's a map of the land I'm looking at. This is an 80 acre parcel. It consists of two hills with a saddle of swampy ground in between. The northwest corner is at about 46.565295, -87.8385602 and the southeast corner is at around 46.558049, -87.8349354


I'm thinking we'd grow on the south side of the north hill, and on the flat area on the south hilltop. Or something like that.

I have to have something to think about, to plan with, or I'll go a bit crazy. As soon as my tuition is paid (soon!) I'll start saving a hefty amount every month for the down payment. So we'll see if this one is still available in eight months...

It's pre' crazy to think that I can do a garden this year. I'll be into the third semester of nursing school, and I'll (hopefully) be working as an LPN at Hospice of Lansing (well, they told me to call them, please, when I pass the LPNCLEX) -- so it's ridiculous to consider a garden.

Except that *not* having a garden will make me Very Sad. So.

I have three 20'X4' beds (about 7mX1m) and two vertical planters (about 4' high), and I've got some berries planted along the fence.

I'm going to move the raspberries that are currently in my very small side yard to the fence line in the Guerrilla Garden across the street , down from the blueberries and asparagus. That'll give the rhubarb room to breath.

I yearn to do a hanging squash garden.

Because this is amazing.

Not this year, but it will happen.

Here's the plan:

I will attempt sweetcorn and quinoa in the north bed again. This time with a fence. Last year, my neighbor thought the quinoa was over-grown weeds (they are lambsquarters, or rather, lambsquarters are wild northern quinoa) and mowed them down. And then my grandsons had great fun running through the tall stalks of corn. I got one very lovely ear of corn from the whole bed.

Last year, most of the mid-bed was taken up with collard greens, a couple cauliflower, and rutabaga. The rutabaga where terribly tough and wormy. I will try growing them again. Reading about soil remediation has made me more determined. The collards came up nice and we had several neighbors who loved them too. But I think this year, I'll plant at least half of the bed with broccoli.

And the final bed, which was broccoli and zucchini last year, will be tomatoes and peppers this year.

The planters will be strawberries on the top half, and squash and a couple of melons on the bottom. The planters had issues last year with being too dry. I'm not sure if they'll work, but I'm going to try mulching the heck out of the top, because I think I was losing a lot of moisture through the top, with the sun beating down there and all.

I'll also do the potato tires again; I have second generation seed potatoes and I'm curious on how they'll do.

A couple of zucchini will go in back, where the raspberries are now, because if you grown zucchini next to pumpkins, they'll cross pollinate and then the pumpkins have rinds of steel. And they taste a little different.

I've got some seed saved from the last harvest, but a lot of my seed got accidentally tossed, so I'll have to (sob!) look through the seed catalogs and order up some new (to me) varieties.

*happy sigh*

The garden was all about tomatoes this year. And broccoli; we had a ton of broccoli. But we also harvested pumpkin, acorn squash, zucchini, rutabaga, sweet corn, collard greens and kale. It's been in the mid-70s all week (22.5ºC - 24.5ºC), which is just weird but expected. I still have tomatoes that are ripening. I'm not sure when the first frost will hit us, but I'm not expecting it for a few weeks.

Next year, I'm hoping to be in my third semester of nursing school, so I'm not sure how much we'll do. But I love it, it makes me serene and happy, so I think it would be wise to find the time.

so I can find them again --


Lungwort


Japanese painted fern


Brunnera, "Jack Frost"

I posted this over on LJ yesterday, and forgot to put it on DW.



All the seedlings are planted, and I got three tires of potatoes done. I got most of the first swale done, too. I purchased the PVC that I needed to replace the one the city took for the 2nd vertical planter. Tomorrow I'll call the garden project dude for my compost for the towers and rocks for the swales.

We also purchased a second car. We've been limping along with one car for over a year now -- when Sam and Kayla lived with us it was pretty easy because Sam and Mike work at the same place (Meijer warehouse) -- but it's getting difficult now, and if I have to go to classes in September, it'll be very difficult. So, we are the proud owners of a '97 Aspire. Nice little runner, rusty but trusty and 40 mpg.

Also, Silvia gave Mike her lawn mower since she hires someone to do her lawn and she never uses it. It was very generous of her and I'm really happy to not have to always borrow one.

I got a 3.66 for the semester; 4.0s in algebra and anatomy and a 3.0 in physiology. The physiology grade has me annoyed because I would have got` a 3.5 in I hadn't totally tanked in the final.

All the nursing application stuff is done except the basic life saving for health professionals (that's a CPR/First aid card - a one day seminar) -- I'll take that in June or July, and it's ok if it's late. But I really don't know if I'll get in this semester, and it's driving me a little crazy. I'll know by the end of June.

The day after finals, I came down with a cold. Not just a cold, but one of those sudden bone weary, congested, hacking cough things that stopped me in my tracks. Bleh. So now it's Friday and I work tomorrow -- and then next week I have three days off. I will spend them gardening as much as I can and thinking of Wiscon as little as possible. Really, though, have a great time, folks, and tell me all about it.

I'm off to sign Luke up for the summer children's theater. He did their spring show, working on prop construction, and he really liked it, so he's doing that again. I need to get some butcher paper or something because we're doing one of those history timelines that shows what was happening on all the continents.

I'm very pleased to announce that I got a 90% on my last algebra test, which means I'm getting an 4.0 in the level of math that I took in my junior year of high school. Yay me! Really, I'm both extremely pleased and eye-rolly at the same time. But the really pleased part is definitely winning. And the 4.0 will be very good for my nursing school entrance points. It looks like I'll get a 4.0 in anatomy too, but only a 3.5 in physiology. Still, exceeded my expectations for the semester and my hopes are high for getting in this autumn.

Last day of classes is Monday, May 11.

Last week I told my client's mom that I was only going to work four days a week this summer, and that July 31 would be my last day. We have a fair relationship; she does crap that irritates me like whoa, and I'm odd to her. But we both try to get along. So she won't exactly miss me, but she knows that my leaving will be hard on her son, who's become very fond of me (and visa versa.) And I know that she'll miss my steadiness and work ethic. I'll try very hard not to dance out the door.

Last week, the city came and "cleaned up" my guerrilla garden so now it's not so guerrilla. They took about $50 worth of fencing, landscaping cloth, and lumber as well as all of my bags of leaves that were going into the vertical garden towers, and they cut down the PVC tower that I had up but not yet put together with the fencing. But today I licensed the garden with the Ingham County Land Bank Garden Project and I'm kinda kicking myself for not doing it sooner because it will be a wonderful resource of not only information (like, there's a guy who's gonna show me how to start up bees) but also they'll give out all kinds of free stuff, like *3 yards* of free compost, very cheap organic seedlings ($3 a flat) -- Also, he said that there were folks he knew who where experimenting with aquaponics, so there's another resource. And! Garden Dude said that when I'm ready and if the neighbors are cool with it, he'll help me with setting up for chickens. It was so fun to talk to someone about my garden, to watch the small smile of appreciation when I described my rain-catch and swale system. And the garden shed is ok to put up. So -- vertical garden towers, bees, chickens, 4 20' long double dug beds, greenhouse and aquaponics pond, and the stackwood garden shed. It's all gonna come together this summer.

Everyone should come on over sometime in late August. We'll barbecue and I'll hand out zucchini.

Guys, there are a bazillion kinds of apples and they are all amazing. I'm going start with two trees (for cross pollination) (also? apple pollination is kinda tricky) and then two more but I don't know where the heck I'm going to plant them. I'll figure it out, hey?

So, here's a list:

Calville Blanc d Hiver
Origin: France or Germany 1598 Ripens: Oct/Nov Zone: 3 - 6
Uniquely shaped medium to large size fruit, skin yellow with light red flush. Fine textured. Flesh is tender, yellowish-white; flavor sweet, subacid, aromatic. Higher in Vitamin C than an orange. This is the gourmet culinary apple of France, excellent for tarts. Flowering group 4.

Centennial
Origin: Minnesota 1957 Ripens: late August Zone: 3-6
The fruit runs approximately two inches in length and about half as wide, sometimes with tapered ridges at the base. It is fully striped, bright and dark red, ripens late August at Mount Vernon. The flesh is yellow, tender, crisp, and juicy with a most luscious taste. (from Southmeadow Fruit Gardens)

Connell Red
Origin: Dunn County, Wisconsin and introduced in 1957 Ripens: Oct Zone: 3 - 6
It is red sport of Fireside which itself is a cross of McIntosh and Longfield. It is a large round apple with a solid red color and a sweet perfumed fragrance reminiscent of its parent McIntosh. An excellent fresh eating and cooking apple and a superb keeper, holding well into April.

Freyberg or Rubinette
Origin: New Zealand 1934 Ripens: Sept Zone
A small, golden, reinette-type apple, Freyberg is a cross between Cox's Orange Pippin and Golden Delicious. Georges Delbard, of the famous French nursery, has described Freyberg as "a veritable cocktail of flavors with the merest touch of anise and producing a juice that combines the taste of apple, pear and banana." The flesh is creamy white, lightly acidulous and sugary. Ripens shortly after Cox's Orange in September.

Rubinette is without doubt one one of best-flavored apple varieties, with an unsurpassed balance of sweetness and rich sharpness.Although it is a cross between Cox's Orange Pippin and Golden Delicious, Rubinette's flavor comes almost entirely from Cox's Orange Pippin - it has all the same aromatic qualities. Flowering group 3.

Hooples Antique Gold
Origin: Ohio recent (Sport of Golden Delicious) Ripens: Oct Zone: 3 - 6
The antique in this case refers to antique gold coloration with russeting, not the age of the variety. Found on the Hoople Fruit Farm. Some stripes against a yellow background, sometimes russeted, medium to large size. Rich, lightly aromatic flavor, juicy sweet flesh with excellent flavor. Flowering group 3.

Margil
Origin: France 1750 Ripens: Sept Zone: 3 - 6
Medium to small, slightly conical fruit. Orangish red skin with dark red stripes over gold russet patches. Always russeted on one side. Firm, sugary, yellow flesh. Intensely flavored, rich, aromatic, deep cream flesh. One of the best flavored. Low in vitamin C. Moderately vigorous. Flowering group 2.

Quebec Belle
Origin: Ripens: Sept/Oct Zone: 3 - 6
Open-pollinated seedling of Northern Spy. Red fruit. Resembles Delicious in appearance and Northern Spy in quality. Keeps well. Hardy to -50 degrees. Flowering group 5.

Regent
Origin: Minnesota 1963 Ripens: Oct Zone: 3 - 6
Medium size fruit. Bright red over yellow. Very pleasing flavor and texture. Honeyed, plenty of acidity, crisp, crackling, juicy flesh. Cooked keeps shape, light flavour, sweet, fruity. Delicately favored, all purpose apple. High dessert quality does not diminish in storage. Fruits store into the winter. Tree is vigorous, bears young, sets good crops. Resistant to cedar apple rust. Susceptible to fire blight and scab. Fruit hangs well, rarely dropping before harvest.

I make plans for things all the time. Sometimes I'm able to pull it off and sometimes not; I think I'm running about 50/50 right now. I'm excited about this new tank idea because it's very doable. Here are the steps and estimated time frame for getting it done.

1) reorganize the basement -- the area that I'm putting the tank in is full of stuff that needs to be hauled to the opposite side of the basement. This will take several hours and I'll have to strong-arm Luke into helping.

2) purchase supplies -- I'm getting 100 ft. of galvanized wire fencing, extra because I want some for a project over in the garden area, fan-fold ridged insulation, and 4 mil plastic sheeting. Total cost of about $200. I should have the money for this in about four weeks.

3) construction -- it's pretty straight forward; cut out a circle for the bottom of the tank, cut the fencing and wire it together, cut the insulation, and lay in the plastic.

4) plumbing -- the tank will need a sump pump and timer, and water lines to feed up to the growing beds. I'll have about 50 sq.ft. of growing bed, but haven't planned out exactly what I'll be growing there. I'll need another $200 for the pump and water lines.

5) garden beds -- I'm going to make raised beds right on the ground. I'll need 1x6 boards for the sides and more of the heavy-duty plastic to line it. Hopefully, I can find scrap wood for this. Then the beds will need to be filled with pea gravel I think (that's what I'm going with for now) -- so for 50 sq ft of surface area that's 1 foot deep, I'll need 50 cubic feet of pea gravel, or 1.8 cubic yards.

Actually, sitting here thinking about it, I just figured out how I'm going to design the beds. I'll have one long bed running east-west along the back of the house and another C-shaped, raised bed in the greenhouse. I'll have a used leaf-gutter hanging above the raised bed for lettuce or spinach. Or maybe strawberries, I dunno.