Going . . . Going . . . Relocated

This was the last shot of Grenville’s greenhouse in mid-February, as it travelled down the street away from The Frog & PenguINN. The greenhouse was sold as part of our current downsizing.

Our friend and new greenhouse owner, Matt, was taking it to its new location – Sparky’s Farm.

 

This past weekend, we visited the greenhouse (and Matt too). The greenhouse is full of plants; Grenville suspects it’s much happier living on the farm.

Its new location is not far from a small pond. These young ducklings waddled over to check out what was going on.

The goats and garden toad were not as curious.

Since You Asked

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the Green House post. To answer some questions .....

1. It was NOT made of glass.... Not even corrugated poly. The walls were aluminum frame and poly carbonate panels. It was very light, which is why you see 4 old folks walking it over to the trailer.

2. YES it is going to a very good home. I have been told that it will be living next to a nice farm pond. I wish i was so lucky.

3. YES the new owners are nice folks. We have known them for a while. They are as close to 'Self Sustainers' as you can get. If you haven't checked out their website www.birdcarvings.net treat yourselves to a stop there. On the down side, their cow was attacked by dogs recently and sustained serious injury to her utter. Gangrene has set in and it doesn't look very positive as of yesterday. This, along with a few goats, was their source of fresh milk. YES, they milked their cow every day.  Just think how fresh their milk was.

SO what's next for the Green House Plot??????? Well, you'll just have to keep checking back to see.




The question of the day is:::: Can you train a Sharp Shin Hawk to eat Starlings, Grackles, and Cow Birds?????? It seems our neighborhood SS Hawk prefers Cardinals and Bluejays. Maybe if we spray paint some of the grackles???????

Grenville

What Green House???????

Another downsizing mile stone has been reached today. Our friend Matt (the Master Attacker of Tiny Turips), who can be found at www.birdcarvings.net, bought our Green House and like Mr. Peabody of Paradise down the Green River, "done hauled it away". He and his lovely wife Grace, and another friend Ed (I've got a pocket full of ROCKS) came this afternoon and we loaded the greenhouse onto Ed's trailer.

Plans now for that space is a small garden for this year. A little compost and some tilling and we should be ready. Two Tomatoes, a Pepper, a Cucumber to climb the trellis and that is about all. Maybe a nice little fence to use up our surplus lumber.

If you are worried that the Princess was left out of all this fun, fear not. She stood bravely behind her trusty lens and risked life and limb to snapped these for us.
In a few weeks we will go up to Matt & Graces to see the results of the move, and of course will share them with you'se guys!!!! Just one closing shot.......

Bye Green House,,,, We had fun with you!!!!!

It’s been a quiet week in Lake Onleybegone!!!

Tuesday was a big step forward at the “Historic Onley Station”. We started constructing the first model train table for our new kid’s program “Play With Trains”. This is a version of a program which started in Danville Pa. http://aaahgraphics.webs.com/wcengineerhome.htm. Ours will be open to all kids, regardless of age (even older kids like me). Wednesday evening, thanks to Chief Engineer Dennis, the board was finished, the track was layed, and the first test run was accomplished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday the ‘Historic Onley Station’ got a new sign designed like a main  line Pennsylvania Railroad station signs. The original sign was ‘lost’ many years ago, so our group, Society for the Preservation of the Onley Tran Station, Inc. (SPOTS) had a new one made. For more info click here http://onley-spots.blogspot.com/

Planting season is always a busy time here. The  tilling was finally finished Thursday and Friday a large lump in a neighbors yard was ‘tilled off’. The babies in the green house are all doing well and are getting anxious to make their debut.

  

 

 

                 With luck they will get planted Monday. That gives them a week to get watered in before having to survive a week on their own.

You might remember the story of the Maple tree we took down in front of the house, who’s chips are now part of the new “Butterfly & Hummingbird Meadow”. The spot where the tree was finally got spruced up and seeded with wild flowers (what else).  It will be a while before we see any results.

Friday started out with the simple job (not) of giving our hedges along our property line their annual trim. We are not ones who have the perfectly trimmed hedge row let alone a sculptured ‘Topiary’. While this may sound like a simple task you must understand that trimming 9 foot hedges are anything but simple, especially if you missed trimming last year (don’t know how that happened). To do ours our 8ft farm trailer has to be hitched to the tractor, Beatrice drives really really close to the hedges, I stand in the trailer with the electric trimmers with a long cord trailing me, and off we go. The project went very smooth. Beatrice even took a turn with the trimmer (and didn’t cut the cord). Unfortunately Saturday Beatrice went back and lopped off the last tall ones that we missed, then said “Could we take out that crape myrtle tree in the middle?”. Well out came the chain saw and down came the offending tree. This left a gaping hole in the hedges, luckily at the end of the row. THEN Beatrice said “Maybe we should just get rid of the stumps and last hedge”. Well out came the John Deere and removed the offending stumps. For some pics of this operation see her post. 

Saturday was a great day for planting anything according to the Farmers Almanac. So 8 rows of corn, 1 hill each of cucumbers, yellow squash, and zucchini went in (forgot the Butter Nuts) Lettuce, spinach, beets, beans, carrots, and leaks, were next to get planted. Next week the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant should be hardened off enough to plant. And what are tomatoes without some fresh Basil and a little mozzarella. So now it’s just a matter of waiting. Till then  there is asparagus and strawberries to hold us over.

Till next week, be kind to someone in need. Grenville.

Grenville Returns

and seems better than ever. Of course that’s one of those statements that may need a little qualification. AND thanks go out to all of you that sent get well wishes, and to those that didn’t,,,,, well you know who you are (and so do i). My stay at the Betty White Clinic and Creamery did the trick, and i lost some weight too (what a deal). For the rest of the week i have been in the green house working on a new Hybrid of the Fudge Tree. I realize that it doesn’t look like much now,  but wait till it blooms.

And since we are in the green house, the Spinach is starting to look like Spinach. The Broccoli, Cauliflower and Scallions still have their cotyledon   leaves but are doing well. Hopefully we will see some edible results in a few weeks.

Tomorrow starts a new project for a group i belong to , Master Naturalists (no not the ones who run through the woods nekid!!!!), as we start reclaiming another 75 acres of a  former farm as part of a Natural Area Preserve for the VA. Dept. of Conservation and Recreation. This will be the third area we have reclaimed on this farm in three years. Our starting method is to plant Wax Myrtle (Myrica cerifera) bushes which are a native species here and a fast grower. They are very similar to the northern Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica) and have the same type of berries which provide great food and habitat for the birds and other critters.  Eventually Loblolly Pines (Pinus taeda) will take over through natural succession. More pictures from this tomorrow.

But now it is time for for another romantic movie,, “French Kiss” with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline.

Grenville in Recovery

Hi Folks. Reclusive Hermit here again. All this blogging is really cutting in on my reclusivity. BUT the good news is that Grenville is on the mend. The Hot Fudge Flushes has almost restored him to his old self (if that is a good thing), but has caused him to be a little heavier in a rotund sort of way. Beatrice told me that she took him out to the beach for a walk and some kids tried to use him as a beach ball, and a pilot whale was making eyes at him. So they have put him on the Water and Lettuce diet for at least two weeks (I suggested the two week pre-colonoscopy treatment since he is always so full of it). With luck he will have the energy to soon be back here bloggin’ away (and i can go back to being a recluse).

He is hoping that his spinach will grow a little faster so he can switch off the lettuce now and then. Don’t worry about the lightness of the picture. The soil here is really moist.

But for now let me tell you of a woodland friend of mine.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

He has become known as the elbow tree for obvious reasons. Legend has it that as a young sapling he was on a major baseball teams Forrest  League, which is the minor minor leagues or slightly above High School. His father, a mighty Oak, wanted him to go to Loiusville and become a Slugger but he insisted on pitching. His father grew so angry he enlisted the aid of an evil wood sorrel named Mandrake.  It is told that he was just about to complete his first ‘no-hitter’ when Mandrake cast a spell that froze him in mid pitch AND mid scream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He has been standing like you see ever since. He does make a good neighbor though. Never any trouble, loud parties, just a few fox squirrels hanging about.

Grenville thanks all of you for your concern, and will be back here soon.

What do you mean where is Grenville????? I’m right here!!!!

Actually almost everyone was right in their guesses where i was. But Possum wins the Super Sleuther Award. And as Poetic Justice she gets a full day of weeding at the F&P. Just pick a day in late July or early August and the farm will be yours for the day.

Grammie i wish i was on my way back to Maine for some snow shoeing. Sounds like you’ll have lot of that later in the week. Elaine, you are so right about the call of the wood. I still haven’t figured which way is up on that piece in front of the shop. Sipping Blueberry juice was right Pat in MN but it has been too chilly to lite the fire on the patio. And out playing with JD is always on the schedule Christer. LOIS!!!!! You make it sound like i’m lost in the wilderness. Now that we have a ‘Super Wal-Mart’ there is no wilderness left here. AND Steve, don’t let the cat out of the hat full of spilt beans about the ‘Exotic Island Trip’ planned for Valentines day, her Birthday, and of course Muskrat Day (more on that as it unfolds). Don’t feel bad Mona, there are lots of daze when i’m not sure where i am either. Your right Ann. When the Jets and Patriots crumbled i hit the very bottom of favorite teams, and that was really stretching it. I’m not even sure if i’ll watch the Super Bowl.

SOOOOOOO ,,,, yes i have been a little busy of late. Between teaching English as a second language and working in the shop for the most part.
 
The first 5 photos are the same piece of walnut from start to finish. This years product is going to be candle holders. The last photo is a piece of wild cherry that was hanging around the shop for about a year and just begged to go for a ride on the lathe. It became a pair of tea light holders.

After patiently (not) waiting for something to break the surface, we finally have some Broccoli on the left and some Spinach on the right.
  
You really have to look really close, but there is spinach and broccoli just starting. Their little cotyledon  leaves are barely visible.

And there was lots of stuff to do at the Historic Onley Train Station. About a week before Christmas the nice folks at the IRS sent us an early gift, our 501 C3 certificate. That makes us officially a Non Profit Tax Deductable organization and culminates a year and a half of work. Now we are in full gear going after some serious grant money so we can finally get a new roof. Then there was some Planning Commission stuff and Master Naturalist fun. And lets not forget those all important afternoon naps.

And you thought i was goofing off!!!!! BUT thanks to all for wondering where i was. Without you i might still be lost!!!!!!

The Great Greenhouse Pt 2.5

The experiment with the incandescent lights didn’t work very well. At best they kept the air temperature about 5 degrees above the outside temp which was in the low 30’s. So tenting over the heated beds is going to be the answer. he lights will be switched back to the CFL’s to reduce costs.

AND after some serious reading about growing tomatoes in the winter, i found out it only works here from October to January. NOT January and February (does that fall under the ‘day late and a dollar short’ philosophy????). But there is great hope for some lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and maybe some early peas. The tomatoes will have to wait till march to get started, but next fall i hope they will be in the greenhouse till New Years.

Tomorrow i’m getting more of the brooder lights lights (at $7 a piece they are a real steal. Don’t get any ideas Possum!!!!!). According to the Farmers Almanac Monday will be a good day to plant above ground plants.

Sorry, No pictures today. I meant to take a picture of the green house lit up last night. Next week i will.

The Great Greenhouse Pt2

We are really moving along on this. Today i added the last of the soil. So far the soil heaters have kept it to about 50F even when the air temp has dropped to match the outside temp (in the 20’s and 30’s at night). Next came watering with some tea made from water and chicken  manure (an Eastern Shore staple). And finally i decided on the lighting. Since we only have sunlight for about ten hours a day i like to add some extra hours of electric light so the plants get about 18 hours a day. I got lucky today as the local building supply had ‘brooder fixtures’ on sale this week. These are usually used in chicken brooding operations and can take up to a 250 watt bulb or a heat bulb. I’m using 60 watt bulbs. Two fixtures came to $12.

I have gone back  and forth on whether to use florescent lights as in the past, or the compact florescent bulbs, or the standard incandescent bulbs. After some research i found that the standard incandescent bulbs cover about the same light spectrum as the others and generate some added  heat to the air in the green house. The down side is that they cost more to operate. For now i’ve opted for the extra heat even though there will be some extra expense. As it warms up in the spring maybe i will go to the CFL’s. Tonight will be the test to see if the amount of heat generated is worth the added expense.

With luck i will be planting some lettuce, broccoli, and cauliflower this weekend (i’ll let you know when the salad is ready Possum). If that works maybe one tomato and one cucumber plant.

The Great Green House Experiment

has begun. Remember that neat little green house we put up this spring? Good, cause now we are finally going to try out the idea i had in the beginning. Growing some veggies all winter long so we have fresh salad stuff.

Yesterday i filled them with some top soil. The layers were soil, heater wires, chicken manure (a favorite here on the Shore), soil, manure, soil, manure, soil, manure, with a little topping of lime. The heat wires are supposed to keep the soil at 70 F. and hopefully the air space above the soil surface. Next was tying them into the weather computer (the one that gives you that cute little weather box up on top) to monitor the air temp, soil temp,  and soil moisture. YES, YES i know how geeky that sounds. So far the soil temp has gone up ten degrees (from 42-> 52 F). The air temp inside ranges from 90’s on a really sunny day to about ten degrees above the outside temp at night. If necessary i can cover over the boxes to hold the heat. Monday i probably will add another bag of soil to each bed too give it a little more depth so the plants don’t fall over.

So what will the crops be??? Lettuce and spinach are a must. Broccoli and cauliflower are also good cold weather candidates. I’m thinking some beets (Beatrice is not happy). I would like to try one (and only one) tomato plant (maybe a cherry or grape) and maybe one cucumber vine that will be trellised. Beans and peas are another possibility.

More as this story ‘grows’…… :-)

Grenville

It's almost here,,,,I's almost here!!!!!!

Just checked UPS tracking and our Green House left Salisbury Md. (our closest almost large city) at 6:54 am FOR DELIVERY!!!!!!

So what does that mean!!!!! Get your green cloths on for the Grand Opening Party (and you thought GOP was a bad word.....) Best plant costume contest, the great F&P Vegetable Parade, and hay rides.... What a treat. Date to be announced some day.

OK OK OK gotta go out and sit by the side of the road and wait for the nice UPS lady to get here.... OH BOY!!!!!!!

The Green House is UNDERWAY!!!!!

YES, our green house is finally started. Yesterday we cleared a section of the Wild Flower garden by moving some plants to the back of the property, creating a new circular garden (we are telling the locals that it is a Heli-Pad for our new ‘Sport Copter’.)  Today we laid out the edge of the foundation, added some sand, and layed the blocks.

Beatrice stayed busy handing me the blocks and then sweeping in the sand. Tomorrow we will finish the 4x4 edging and keep sweeping in the sand so everything is nice and tight when we start erecting the Green House.

Now it is time for some Tylenol and a good night sleep.

GTB