yard discoveries part 2

more poking around the yard, more things in bloom.  we have started defining beds, pruning back some bushes, and mapping the yard, but beyond that we have been trying to be low key with what we do, mostly observing what is happening.

in my poking about the yard i’ve had some pretty delightful discoveries.

this appears to be a flowering crab of some sort.  i’m not really into ornamentals especially when i could have lovely apple blossoms on an actual fruit tree instead.  next to the crab is this ornamental pear. my plan is to collect scion wood in the winter and graft on to these trees some edible apples and pears.  if it doesn’t work out, it’s really no loss, and if it does, i’ve got apples and pears.  not really in the location that i would like, but it does gain me several years of establishing a tree, and increases the speed at which they will bear.

in the back yard i’ve also discovered this mixed blessing stinging nettle.  i’ve come to love stinging nettle, it’s great in compost teas, in soups in the spring, and it gets lots of use as a tea especially when allergies get to be too much.  this year’s foraging trip didn’t go so well, and i was a bit surprised to see the nettles coming up in the yard.  i trimmed them and S quickly dried them for tea.  of course they are also a pain in the ass, they have a tendency to spread, and if you are not paying much attention they can remind you of their presence for some time to come though their painful sting.

in the category of things i really didn’t want to see growing in the garden was this guy:garlic mustard.  i know, i know they make some tasty pesto first thing in the spring, but man are they a pain in the ass.  i’ve always felt like i was a pretty good karmic gardener, having now improved the soil for others at many rental houses and community gardens, so i’ve been wondering what i’ve done to deserve this.  to add insult to injury i’ve also found a pretty heavy presence of bindweed and quackgrass in the yard.  i’m forced to deal with my most hated weeds in this yard.  i just hope i can keep them from overrunning me.

bee’s new home

a house is not a home until you install yr first hive right?  i’m happy to report we installed two new packages at the new house a couple weeks ago – we lost our last hive over the winter.  in anticipation of the install S painted the hive bodies to look so pretty.  
this color is light celery, a little classier than basic white – not that we would really bother to purchase paint just for our bees, but this lovely tint is left over from the previous owners.  we picked up packages for work and several friends.  here are packages siting on the back porch.  they were all installed within a day!  here is video for those wanting to see the activity in the packages.

the lady did a great job of installing the packages – i did very little, mostly just dodging flying bees and trying to snap some good pics, i was especially happy with this shot of her dumping the bees in with plenty of bees flying around. the next morning i went out to take a look.  everyone was calm and seemed to be happily enjoying their new home.  a few days later we installed the bee pool – a bunch of corks floating in a bus tub for them to drink out of.  they found it within a couple of minutes.  clearly they are happy to have a place to drink from.  i’ve been walking out into the yard most morning and checking on how they are doing.  i’ve not enjoyed having hives like this since the first package we installed at our old house many years ago.  it really is something lovely to watch the bees go in an out of the hive, pulling pollen, collecting nectar, somehow it really gives perspective.  all my troubles and worries seem so contrived when i watch them.

for more on package installs, here is a video i made the last time we did an install.

yard discoveries

i have high hopes of discovering all kinds of fun things in the yard.  certainly high on my list would to have a ton of spring bulbs, but alias the previous owners dont’t seem to have planted many.  but still there are a few things that bring me delight, and as i discover more, i’ll be sure to post more.

while not too many spring bulbs, there is this little ring of crocuses around one of the trees. out front i’m happy to see these forsythia blooming as well.  they look  like they need a solid pruning, and there is some yet to be identified  tree growing in the middle of them.  final discovery is this apricot tree blooming.i’m really not sure how well this apricot is going to bear fruit.  it has two trunks coming up from what looks to me like below the graft union, and what i think was the top stock seems to have died.  i’m going let it grow for a year or two and see what it does before i decide if i need to graft new top stock.

as the spring progresses i’m looking forward to what i find in the yard, and sharing with you.

low cost rat resistant home composting

i teach composting and often get questions about keeping rats out of compost piles.  i’d had the good fortune of not having too many problems with rats in the past, and would often smugly answer that all one needed to do was to bury food waste deeply in the pile and you were ok.

in this last year the rats started finding our compost pile at the old house, and it turned into a rat buffet.  despite putting scrapes deep in the pile, despite not using any post consumer food waste, those rats would just bury though and rip it open.  coming home at night, when they were most active, i could see at least a half dozen, and i can only assume more were lurking about where i couldn’t see them.

i’m determined not to let the situation arise again in this house hold, but still feel the need to compost kitchen scrapes.  good friends recommended using trashcans sunk in the ground for a rat resistant kitchen scrap composting solution.

first thing that needed to be done was to dig a hole.

the soil in this photo makes it look like i’m dealing with better quality soil than i think we are.  while it’s not bad, this spot appears to have been a dumping spot for the household, and at least a good portion of the darkness in the soil is from old coal and other junk.  i pulled out all sorts of pottery etc.  i also was able to find the old slab of what i assume to be the garage.  i didn’t explore too far as to how big it is, but at some point i may find my self with a sledge breaking up concrete.

with the hole dug, i just needed a trash can.  i’d been toting this trash can around for years, it had mainly been used for sanitizing beer bottles for home brew.  since i haven’t been  brewing too much, the current needs out weighed the possible needs.  with a large drill bit and cordless drill, in a minute or two it was full of holes, to allow excess moisture out and microbes in.

sunk into the ground, and then covered with a lid it doesn’t look too bad.  certainly less unsightly than a bunch of rats chowing down, and it costs a lot less than some of the those fancy compost machines that you can buy.  i plan to use this one mostly for food scrapes, throwing in some leaves and straw to absorb liquid and balance carbon  and perhaps some worms.  i’ll still use am open pile for other organic matter that’s not so tempting to the rats.  once this can is filled up, i’ll dig another hole and sink another trash can next to this one.

while i fill up the other can the first one can do it’s decomposing thing, and when both cans are filled up, i’m thinking can number one will be finished with the decomposition process and can be spread on the garden.

 

tree sale 4/21

thanks to all those that contacted me about hazelnut and chestnut trees.  i’m really looking forward to sharing them with you.  the plan was to have them dug up and ready for you this past weekend, but it was so windy, i was worried it would be too hard on their sensitive root stocks.

not really a problem, as the rainy weather that is called for will help make digging easier, as well as making it easier on the plants roots.

for those that are wanting to pick up trees – here’s the deal, i’m gonna be at detroit farm and garden from 11-1pm.  for those that have already ordered trees, they will be potted up and ready to go.  for those that haven’t ordered trees, you can go ahead a contact me (dirtysabot (at) gmail (dot) com )to reserve trees, or i will have a small number of extra’s potted up and ready to go.

detroit farm and garden is located at 1759 21st street (but you enter on 22nd st) in detroit.  there is going to be a class from 1-3 on organic landscaping at the store, so you might want to stick around for.

super cheap, simple grey water

one big change in owning my own home is having to pay my own water bill.  as we get into the growing season that will certainly affect our gardening habits, while taking showers i’ve been thinking of how to re-plumb my bathroom to collect grey water to water the garden.   i’ve been imagining doing rainwater catchment off the roof with large totes.  thinking about the low-flow drip irrigation to install.

in a place like the great lakes region, it’s easy to forget how important water is. we take it a little for granted.  even more so when your landlord pays the bill.

certainly i wouldn’t say i’m a water hog, i take short showers, i let it mellow if it’s yellow, but still i could be a lot better – and getting a water bill has made me think more about how to save water.

until i get those totes for the garden, i’m focusing on simple methods to save water.  nothing major, but a few little things that save water here and there add up to a lower water bill, and saved water.  best of all they require absolutely zero plumbing to do, so those that are not too handy can still do it.

1.  shower with a bucket.  when i start the water, i tend to let it run until it  gets to the temprature i want to shower with.  that’s a bunch of water wasted.  when i stop taking a shower, the water has to drain out of the shower head and the tap, another bit of wasted water.  my solution is to put a five gallon bucket in the tub and catch the water at the beginning and the end, and it grabs a little extra during the shower portion too.

total savings is about 4 gallons of water.  not a huge, but i take shower most days – so in an average month i  figure i save about 100 gallons of water this way.  it can easily be used to bucket flush the toilet, or water the house plants.

2. use a tub while doing dishes:  think of all the water just going down the drain.  instead filling the sink (which frankly is too shallow in our house any way) we have a tub that we put in the sink to wash dishes in.  i start with an inch or two of water and soap, wash the flattest things such as silverware and saucers first and then every time i rinse, capture the rise water in the tub.  with each batch of dishes rinsed i raise the water level and wash dishes that need more water with each progressive batch.  here is the tub all filled up with all the water i used for doing dishes – wash and rinse water. this is about six gallons that i can then take outside and water the perennials with, or add to the compost pile (but not annual food crops without some sort of filtering and processing).  six gallons of reduced water use.  it’s actually more, since i’ve made double use of water – wash and rinse are combined, if i’d filled the whole tub up to wash and then rinsed with other water, i would have used at least 9 gallons of water to wash dishes total. even if i don’t bother to take the water outside (and why would in freezing cold months) i still saving at least 3 gallons a load.  since i do the dishes at least once a day in an average month i figure i’m saving 270 gallons in warm months and 90 gallons in a cold month.

between these two methods i calculate 3,360 gallons of water saved.

what are your low tech or other solutions to saving water you use?

planting garlic in spring

conventional wisdom says that it’s best to plant garlic in the fall in northern climates like michigan.  while i’ve always planted my garlic in the fall, the fact is that you can plant it in the spring – and generally get good results, though not as high a yield.

with the knowledge that we were looking for a new place to stay, i didn’t bother planting a fall crop of garlic as i didn’t want to have to come back and dig it up.  but i also didn’t want to lose my crop of seed garlic – and the best solution seemed to be to keep it safe and sound in paper bags in the darkest coolest spot i could find in the house, and plant in the spring at our new place.

even in a cool, dark spot the garlic was still wanting to get in the ground, putting up plenty of sprouts.  the previous owners of our house kindly built raised beds in the back yard.  i’m hoping that’s not because the soil tested with a high degree of contamination, but just cause they thought they would look good.  we still haven’t done soil tests – that’s still to come.  there are two little ones and one big raised beds.  one of the little ones seemed like the perfect place to plant at least enough garlic to use as seed garlic for the fall, even if i don’t have enough to eat.  the soil seemed high enough quality, and so i didn’t bother adding any compost or feather meal as i usually do, i mostly just wanted to get the garlic in the ground.  i’ll top dress with a little compost when i prepare other beds, in a few weeks.

i managed to make pretty good use of the space and get 12 rows of garlic in – two each of ohio amish, german red, bogatyr, samarkand, siberian, and georgia fire.

i can’t help but pause to stop and think about the origins of these garlics, so far away from here – such a world away – the name samarkand gives hints of garlic’s origins in central asia, samarkand being a city in uzbekistan.  i admit to being painfully ignoroant of central asia – but it seems to be the cradle to so many of our most imporatant foods – apples being an obvious one.  gary nabhan wrote the excellent book “where our food comes from” in which he retraces the footsteps of famed russian plant breeder nikolay vavilov’s explorations to collect genetic material to improve plants resilience, and help to end famines.  much of vavilov’s explorations take place in central asia, because so many of the wild predecessor of our food plants survive their.  he talks of literally forests of wild apples.  it certainly sparks the imagination.

whenever i plant seeds i spend some time thinking about my ansesters, those that went before me and saved these seeds.  i think about why these varities were imporant to them, how did these seeds connect to their culture.  i feel the need to honor them, thank them, pause and  be grateful to them that i may hold these seeds in my hands at that moment.

my little bed of garlic ends up being a miss mash of cultures – full of varties developed from around the world – but i appreciate them all, and look forward to the green sprouts emerge in a few weeks, the heads that will develop in mid summer, and the fiery hot flavors to enjoy in late summer.

i have some extra garlic that i’m not going to plant, and is sprouted too much to eat.  i’d love to share it with folks that would enjoy it.  shoot me an email if you want to get some garlic – dirtysabot (at) gmail (dot) com

trees for sale

remember these trees?  i’m digging them up this weekend and looking for homes for them.  hazels nuts and chestnuts are about 1.5-2 feet tall, and are entering their 3rd growing season.

these are high quality crosses that originate from mark shepard’s work in developing the highest yielding hazels and chestnuts ( he recently wrote the really great book restoration agriculture, which you should check out).  these are not your run of the mill trees.

i’m not looking to get rich off these trees, i’m just looking to find homes for them and cover my labor, ten dollars a tree.  shoot me a email if you are interested and we can work out the details.  dirtysabot (at) gmail (dot) com

sorry  for all the sales pitches as of late – i’m working on some not money generating posts and hope to have them up soon – in the meantime, the truck is still for sale!

amazing rare opportunity – buy our truck

do you remember the joy we had when we got our truck monday?  me too.  the joy hasn’t worn off, and i still love driving the old girl, but the deal is that we need to tighten up the old belt, and expenses need to be reduced.

so monday is on the table – and you have the rare opportunity to buy our truck.  it is in fact the only truck we have ever owned.  and if we never buy another truck you end up owning the only truck we have ever owned.  even if we do buy another truck, no one can ever take away the title of owning our first truck.

the details – monday is a green 1986 ford f-150 xlt lariat 4×4 pickup truck.  odometer doesn’t work, so who know how many miles are on her – but the engine is newer – only has about 35,000 miles on it, and runs great.

since getting her, we have replaced the gas tank, full pump, exhaust system, and heater core, plus plenty of odds and ends.

she needs a little work – the wipers have a mind of their own – and don’t always function, she has plenty of rust, and stinks a bit when you turn on the heat.  my mechanic can’t figure out what’s going on with the stink, but assures me that it won’t kill me.

she drives like a tank, and everyone gets out of yr way when they see you coming, a nice thing when driving in detroit.  she has a ton of room in the bed for hauling all kinds of crap, and a bench seat for yr dog and couple close friends to ride with you.

considering the price we paid, and the work we put into it, i think 1400 dollars is a fair price – but you will have to decide for yourself.  i’ll throw in the club for free!

 if you are interested - shot me an email and we can set something up – dirtysabot at gmail dot com.  act fast – you don’t want to miss this chance.

moving on: the end of the little house

the dirty little secret of the little house – is that it’s not really all that little, it’s not even a house, it’s a lower story flat.  but all that is history.

we are moving on – actually have moved on.  we purchased a house, and that’s certainly part of the reason for a lot less posts as of late.  the process of purchasing a home is stressful, time consuming, and a lot of work, but that’s nothing compared to moving six years worth of accumulated crap.  you can obtain a lot of crap in six years of being in a place.  last night we grabbed the last few things, took a last look around the house and turned the keys in.

it was bittersweet.  i’m excited about the new house, but there are a lot of memories and experiences in that old house.  i’ll miss all the sun, the bank of south facing windows helped keep the whole place so very cheery even in winter days.  i’ll miss all the great neighbors.  i’ll miss being so close to my community garden.  i’ll miss all the urban ag projects going on in the neighborhood.  i’ll miss our upstairs neighbor bill and his little dog scout.

i won’t miss all the traffic, i won’t miss all the tourists stopping to take photos of spaulding court, i won’t miss the ugly lights from the casino in the back yard.

the new house is nice – it’s got some improvements to do, but it’s certainly not the gut job that so many of my friends have purchased.  it’s totally livable and comfortable and i’m already settled in.  it’s got a lot and half of extra land, so a good amount of space for us to grow on, and lot of open land around it for me to scheme about using.  i’m looking forward to spring and the snow receding and seeing what is growing in the yard.  i’m looking forward to planting perennials that i’ve never felt i could plant since i wasn’t sure how long i would be living in the rental.

so expect new posts soon – and new backgrounds in the new house.  but it’s gonna be some time, as i have work to do around the house to get us more settled in.  and expect that you will have to deal with home improvement posts – for better or worse.