Well the cable ship is in place and as of this afternoon, they were supposed to start the work that would bring the cable ashore and into the big cement boxes in the parking lot. Won't know till we see the boat moving along slowly.
Been enjoying the sunshine for the last three days, and so have the few seeds I have planted in the ground. All the plants in the High Tunnel are doing really well. The tomatoes are up to about a foot tall at his point. Cabbage, Cauliflower, Brussell Sprouts, beets , bush beans, hot peppers are all soaking up the welcome warmth. SO far the Lima's and the Okra haven't put in an appearance yet. Although I did soak those seeds in a water bath with a 325 mg. aspirin dissolved in it. For some reason that slipped my feeble mind, the aspirin helps to start the seed covering softening, ergo quicker germination. As an added benefit of the soak, it wards off lots of fungicides and quite a lot of pests.
Just as an aside when I was a Survival School Instructor in the Northern Maine woods, we used to take an aspirin before we went out in the woods to do battle with the midges, black, and deer flies, no-see-um's, mosquitos, and other assorted insects who dwelled there. It made your skin acid and therefore unpalatable to the little beasties!
Well back to the Homestead doing. The little piggies are doing well and getting bigger b the day. They come running when I call them and can't wait o get a good belly scratching. The minute they figure out you are going to pat them, down they go and roll over on their back! Damnedest thing I've ever seen.
Just received my order from Nourse Farms and I have them all in the ground and hopefully taking hold. We got five Elderberry bushes, two Samdal, and three Samyl, Then there were three Red Currant, and three Gooseberry. Heard a lot about Gooseberries and Elderberries making some of the best pies ever. Well we won't know that for another year. Also the Elderberries after being soaked,macerated, and put in a jug with some Everclear,and in a few weeks you have an elixir that awards off all sorts of germs and if enough is imbibed at one time, IT MAKES YOU HAPPY TOO!!
Turkeys will be here on the 27th. This year we are getting just the one kind which are the Broad Breasted Bronze species. These babies can grow huge! 40/45 pounds for the males and 35 + for the girls! SO it looks like a lot of turkey burgers this winter! Come on over! TIFN
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Lovely Weather Eh?
Well I had this thing all written and when I hit the post button, it ran off and hid never to be seen again! SIGH. SO I will see just how much of it I can remember.
I remember saying that the Town Council needs to do some really long term planning, as regards the Neck Road from the Yellow Kittens down to the corner of Beach Ave. or maybe further.
I was down on the beach with my golf cart and I noticed that the rip-rap wall put in after Sandy has begun it's inevitable slide down hill. Don't know how anyone thought that that wall was anything other than a very temporary solution to a long term problem.
I would have thought that someone with a little thought could have come up with a solution that would last for at least 60-80 years. Well, it did take me a long while, but I had a lot of help.
What needs to happen, is for all the rocks that were put there after Sandy's little trip up the coast to be pulled back out onto the beach. Then a big assed crane should be brought in to pound in to the ground a continuous wall of 60-80 foot long steel bulkhead material, and when it is done move all the rocks back up in front of it to conceal its ugly face.
Yes, over time and the actions of the wind and water, those rocks will also be undermined somewhat, but others can still be brought in to sit atop those underpinnings. But the one very good outcome of the whole exercise would be that the waterline would remain in the self same place! No more encroaching on the road and the Beachead parking lot! All should be well till all the glaciers melt and the whole East coast is under 250' of water, if you believe all that global warming propaganda. Then the only piece of ground that would require attention would be the top of Beacon Hill, if that last person living up there really cared! TIFN
I remember saying that the Town Council needs to do some really long term planning, as regards the Neck Road from the Yellow Kittens down to the corner of Beach Ave. or maybe further.
I was down on the beach with my golf cart and I noticed that the rip-rap wall put in after Sandy has begun it's inevitable slide down hill. Don't know how anyone thought that that wall was anything other than a very temporary solution to a long term problem.
I would have thought that someone with a little thought could have come up with a solution that would last for at least 60-80 years. Well, it did take me a long while, but I had a lot of help.
What needs to happen, is for all the rocks that were put there after Sandy's little trip up the coast to be pulled back out onto the beach. Then a big assed crane should be brought in to pound in to the ground a continuous wall of 60-80 foot long steel bulkhead material, and when it is done move all the rocks back up in front of it to conceal its ugly face.
Yes, over time and the actions of the wind and water, those rocks will also be undermined somewhat, but others can still be brought in to sit atop those underpinnings. But the one very good outcome of the whole exercise would be that the waterline would remain in the self same place! No more encroaching on the road and the Beachead parking lot! All should be well till all the glaciers melt and the whole East coast is under 250' of water, if you believe all that global warming propaganda. Then the only piece of ground that would require attention would be the top of Beacon Hill, if that last person living up there really cared! TIFN
Saturday, April 16, 2016
FBI ---Integrity on the line
I was reading an article this morning about the ABSCAM debacle back in the eighties. It was written by one of the FBI agents who did the investigation. He talked about the then head of the organization, who told all the agents that the credibility and integrity of the organization was on the line here in the USA, as well as with the rest of the world. So it was imperative that they get it right.
If you forgot or didn't even know about ABSCAM it involved three sitting Congressmen and at least one Senator that were involved from taking bribes, big ones, over a period of time. Eventually they were tried and convicted and as I remember got put in jail for some years. During that whole affair the US Justice Dept. was in full accord with the whole sting affair.
Five or six of those Agents recently sent a letter to the present head of the FBI Mr. Comey re-iterating everything listed above, and emphasizing the absolute necessity in the Hillarygate investigation, that if she did ANYTHING wrong with this email farce, that they have to recommend to the Present DOJ that an indictment is called for and necessary!
That is all well and good, but with Loretta Lynch running the show over there, Hand picked by obummer to dismantle that organization just like the crook she took over from. So even if the FBI does its job, there'll be NO indictment of shrillary and they will by default have given their blessings that there are to be two whole different standards in the application of the laws of this,"used to be great country" for the "elites ", and a much stricter applying to the rest of us.
We are truly screwed and this upcoming decision by the DOJ will be the proof! TIFN
If you forgot or didn't even know about ABSCAM it involved three sitting Congressmen and at least one Senator that were involved from taking bribes, big ones, over a period of time. Eventually they were tried and convicted and as I remember got put in jail for some years. During that whole affair the US Justice Dept. was in full accord with the whole sting affair.
Five or six of those Agents recently sent a letter to the present head of the FBI Mr. Comey re-iterating everything listed above, and emphasizing the absolute necessity in the Hillarygate investigation, that if she did ANYTHING wrong with this email farce, that they have to recommend to the Present DOJ that an indictment is called for and necessary!
That is all well and good, but with Loretta Lynch running the show over there, Hand picked by obummer to dismantle that organization just like the crook she took over from. So even if the FBI does its job, there'll be NO indictment of shrillary and they will by default have given their blessings that there are to be two whole different standards in the application of the laws of this,"used to be great country" for the "elites ", and a much stricter applying to the rest of us.
We are truly screwed and this upcoming decision by the DOJ will be the proof! TIFN
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Election Crap, well, just a little bit
I am at the point where I just cannot listen to anymore of the claims put out by the candidates. So I am quiting watching any more of it till it comes time to vote, and then we'll see how it goes with the true election runup!
Sick of the name calling, he said she said, outright slander etc. They act like a bunch of middle schooler's trying to be the big dog on the playground! They sound more juvenile than the kids for Christs sake!
If they, the republicans continue the way they are going, this election will be handed to Shrillery on a gold platter
The repub. hierarchy is scared shitless that Trump will win, and they see the end of all the backdoor, backroom, under the table deals all flying out the window which incidentally, is exactly where it should all go.
The time has come to institute term limits and gut the good ole boy network that gets things done on the sly. Then it would be time to clean out the Federal workforce and stop letting those unelected drones make major rule and policy changes with NO consultation of the voters.
While we are at it, do all you can to get those two turkeys, Reed and Whitehouse booted out!
I promise not to post another tirade about politics for a whole week! That gives me time to get the blood pressure down! TIFN
Sick of the name calling, he said she said, outright slander etc. They act like a bunch of middle schooler's trying to be the big dog on the playground! They sound more juvenile than the kids for Christs sake!
If they, the republicans continue the way they are going, this election will be handed to Shrillery on a gold platter
The repub. hierarchy is scared shitless that Trump will win, and they see the end of all the backdoor, backroom, under the table deals all flying out the window which incidentally, is exactly where it should all go.
The time has come to institute term limits and gut the good ole boy network that gets things done on the sly. Then it would be time to clean out the Federal workforce and stop letting those unelected drones make major rule and policy changes with NO consultation of the voters.
While we are at it, do all you can to get those two turkeys, Reed and Whitehouse booted out!
I promise not to post another tirade about politics for a whole week! That gives me time to get the blood pressure down! TIFN
Monday, April 11, 2016
Better late than never
I finally got the Cayenne hot peppers in the High Tunnel this afternoon. That was in between doing a lot of prep things for the little piggies.
They finally arrived here today on the last boat. They are about 20-25 pounds apiece and are cute little buggers. Going to taste good in December!
Time for the people of this country to rise up and demand that the election process be reformed to exclude any and all behind the scenes, backroom, super delegates, and other forms of manipulation done away with. Go to the one man/woman vote and that is it! Popular vote carries the day! This would apply to all primaries and the general election. The Electoral College is a farce and has been for generations.
Back to more mundane and less stressful things. Got a bunch of Curly Parsley put in the ground as well as some hold over onions from last falls harvest. They will take root, hopefully, and produce all the seed I need for the following years crop. we probably use at least one onion a day in our meal prep and so a good dose of them are needed.
San Marzano tomatoes that I started in the Green House are all up and doing well. They just put out their third set of leaves. If it decides to stay warm they will be off to the high Tunnel next weekend sometime. And then if it continues to stay warm I am going to start the Roma's, Big Boys and Tommy Toes in the ground from seed and see how well that works. You usually don't want to be putting tomato started plants in the ground up around here till Memorial day. If you do they usually just sit there for a couple of weeks before they take off if they do at all, and you are no further ahead than if you did the seed in the ground thingy! But with a whole lot less messing around.
Potatoes finally arrived and I have been digging the furrows for them all. There will be seven rows of them divided up between four types of spuds. Kennebec's, Norland Reds, Russet's, and some generic small white ones I had given to me.
Had to move the patch to a new piece of ground as all the other ones had become infested with late blight. The only way to get rid of that is to cover the plot with clear plastic, well anchored down, and let the summer sun,"solarize" the dirt. This means that the dirt underneath is heated up to about 120 degrees or more and to a depth of five to six inches which kills the little "blighty bastards"! The only trouble is that it takes about six weeks to do the job, and the touts it out of use for the summer.
I am digging the furrows by hand, as I sold my big troy-bilt tiller with the furrowing attachment. It is a chore using 78 year old muscles. I dig one row a day and consider it a day well spent. Those little guys sure taste good when the wind is howling a gale and snow coming down in January !
Spinach in the patio beds by the house is up and doing well. Now it is time for the second planting to keep it coming at a steady rate.
TIME FOR DINNER, It is soul food for white folks tonight---meat loaf and Mac and cheese!--TIFN
They finally arrived here today on the last boat. They are about 20-25 pounds apiece and are cute little buggers. Going to taste good in December!
Time for the people of this country to rise up and demand that the election process be reformed to exclude any and all behind the scenes, backroom, super delegates, and other forms of manipulation done away with. Go to the one man/woman vote and that is it! Popular vote carries the day! This would apply to all primaries and the general election. The Electoral College is a farce and has been for generations.
Back to more mundane and less stressful things. Got a bunch of Curly Parsley put in the ground as well as some hold over onions from last falls harvest. They will take root, hopefully, and produce all the seed I need for the following years crop. we probably use at least one onion a day in our meal prep and so a good dose of them are needed.
San Marzano tomatoes that I started in the Green House are all up and doing well. They just put out their third set of leaves. If it decides to stay warm they will be off to the high Tunnel next weekend sometime. And then if it continues to stay warm I am going to start the Roma's, Big Boys and Tommy Toes in the ground from seed and see how well that works. You usually don't want to be putting tomato started plants in the ground up around here till Memorial day. If you do they usually just sit there for a couple of weeks before they take off if they do at all, and you are no further ahead than if you did the seed in the ground thingy! But with a whole lot less messing around.
Potatoes finally arrived and I have been digging the furrows for them all. There will be seven rows of them divided up between four types of spuds. Kennebec's, Norland Reds, Russet's, and some generic small white ones I had given to me.
Had to move the patch to a new piece of ground as all the other ones had become infested with late blight. The only way to get rid of that is to cover the plot with clear plastic, well anchored down, and let the summer sun,"solarize" the dirt. This means that the dirt underneath is heated up to about 120 degrees or more and to a depth of five to six inches which kills the little "blighty bastards"! The only trouble is that it takes about six weeks to do the job, and the touts it out of use for the summer.
I am digging the furrows by hand, as I sold my big troy-bilt tiller with the furrowing attachment. It is a chore using 78 year old muscles. I dig one row a day and consider it a day well spent. Those little guys sure taste good when the wind is howling a gale and snow coming down in January !
Spinach in the patio beds by the house is up and doing well. Now it is time for the second planting to keep it coming at a steady rate.
TIME FOR DINNER, It is soul food for white folks tonight---meat loaf and Mac and cheese!--TIFN
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Second post of new Blogger era!
Sitting here on another rainy day trying to figure out all the in's and out's of this new system. Man this thing has way more options etc. than the old one did.
Started 20 Rosemary plants back on the 4th of March and not one of them germinated! So I did it again on the 20th and here it is another 18 days later and still no plants. I know they are hard to grow but never had this happen before. Oh well, do it one more time but first I'll dissolve a 325 mg aspirin in some water and soak the seeds for a few hours and then plant them again. Don't know just how it works but it helps soften up the outside of the seed shell I guess. Works great on Okra and other hard shelled seeds!
I was going to transplant some of my hot pepper starts in the High Tunnel today but being a wimp, I didn't feel like getting soaked just getting them down there. Maybe tomorrow.
So this is it for this kind of short attempt! TIFN
Started 20 Rosemary plants back on the 4th of March and not one of them germinated! So I did it again on the 20th and here it is another 18 days later and still no plants. I know they are hard to grow but never had this happen before. Oh well, do it one more time but first I'll dissolve a 325 mg aspirin in some water and soak the seeds for a few hours and then plant them again. Don't know just how it works but it helps soften up the outside of the seed shell I guess. Works great on Okra and other hard shelled seeds!
I was going to transplant some of my hot pepper starts in the High Tunnel today but being a wimp, I didn't feel like getting soaked just getting them down there. Maybe tomorrow.
So this is it for this kind of short attempt! TIFN
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
The Second Resurrection Try
Well I am going to start putting up posts here after having taken some grief about stopping. The main reason I quit was most of my posts were about the terrible state of the Nation and this State in particular.
I have finally decided that there is nothing that will ever be done to straighten out the mess this State is in, without a complete and total throwing out of every single State wide elected official and the election of new ones who have never been there before, AND term length restrictions put in place. Then the new people need to totally clean house of all the present unelected bureaucrats who make up their own rules without benefit of public input.
So how's that for a beginning rant? Right back where I was two years ago!
In a lighter vein, I'm going to be putting up here all the mundane, day to day, actions that I am doing around the old homestead. Most of you, if you travel the roads of BI, may have noticed that there is is 50' x 30 ' High Tunnel sitting down there in my lower yard. This is the third summer it has been up and the first two were kind of learning the in's and out's of one of these things.
Last spring we put a bunch of new compost in there and tilled it in. Well it was just not rotted down fine enough 'cause I could hardly get a plant to stand up in the dirt. To many large pieces of wood, bark, stones, and general deitrus,(sp). So the only practical solution was to take the Skid Steer and dig it all out and run it through a screening plant, which we did, and continued on to do the rest of the whole gardening plot. I mean to tell you, it is some fine stuff right now and about 2 foot deep throughout! Hopefully this summer will bring to actuality, the reason for buying it its the first place. We should now be able to start things much earlier and extend them into the fall.
A guy by the name of Eliot Coleman up in Maine grows greens and other types of hardy veggies up there all year long! And that is with no auxiliary heat in the houses. I do believe I will give it a try myself this year.
Two years ago my very good friend Herman Mast brought to me, three white peach trees. They were whips at the time, and we planted them in cut in half blue plastic barrels and have fed and pruned them so that they will hopefully assume a dwarf stature. Be nice to see some blossoms on them this spring.
Well I guess that is enough drivel for this time. Tune in again in a couple days for more of the same if you can stand it! TIFN
I have finally decided that there is nothing that will ever be done to straighten out the mess this State is in, without a complete and total throwing out of every single State wide elected official and the election of new ones who have never been there before, AND term length restrictions put in place. Then the new people need to totally clean house of all the present unelected bureaucrats who make up their own rules without benefit of public input.
So how's that for a beginning rant? Right back where I was two years ago!
In a lighter vein, I'm going to be putting up here all the mundane, day to day, actions that I am doing around the old homestead. Most of you, if you travel the roads of BI, may have noticed that there is is 50' x 30 ' High Tunnel sitting down there in my lower yard. This is the third summer it has been up and the first two were kind of learning the in's and out's of one of these things.
Last spring we put a bunch of new compost in there and tilled it in. Well it was just not rotted down fine enough 'cause I could hardly get a plant to stand up in the dirt. To many large pieces of wood, bark, stones, and general deitrus,(sp). So the only practical solution was to take the Skid Steer and dig it all out and run it through a screening plant, which we did, and continued on to do the rest of the whole gardening plot. I mean to tell you, it is some fine stuff right now and about 2 foot deep throughout! Hopefully this summer will bring to actuality, the reason for buying it its the first place. We should now be able to start things much earlier and extend them into the fall.
A guy by the name of Eliot Coleman up in Maine grows greens and other types of hardy veggies up there all year long! And that is with no auxiliary heat in the houses. I do believe I will give it a try myself this year.
Two years ago my very good friend Herman Mast brought to me, three white peach trees. They were whips at the time, and we planted them in cut in half blue plastic barrels and have fed and pruned them so that they will hopefully assume a dwarf stature. Be nice to see some blossoms on them this spring.
Well I guess that is enough drivel for this time. Tune in again in a couple days for more of the same if you can stand it! TIFN
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