August 2022 ramblings
8/1
Been a while since I wrote an actual journal entry (months). I did sort of start a notebook journal, but really only did a couple entries in it. It's so much faster to type out entries, but I get tired of staring at a screen.
I love my work keyboard; I can feel the keys, and they require a little bit of force and lots of distance compared to my Macbook, where I don't feel like I'm engaging the keyboard fully and end up making more mistakes.
Gardening has been disappointing this year as I've previously said, but I feel like pieces are coming together for successful strategies in the future. The deer have gotten aggressive the past couple months, literally just stepping over and pushing down the nets I have in place (okra is crack to them), smashing through the cheaper netting. I've determined I'm going to have to use stronger t-posts and drive them 2 feet into the ground so that they don't lean easily, that way the netting (and we'll go with the more expensive netting) stays tight and I'll be able to keep wires tight as well, one along the top of the netting (4 feet up), and an additional one or two 5 and/or 6 feet up to keep them from trying to push the netting down and consider stepping over it, this all being for the beds outside the fence that I want protected (I will do a similar strategy for the orchard), although I also need to consider instead using shade/bug netting, which I'm thinking of doing for greens, but then I'm also thinking of moving most if not all of the strawberries out from under the muscadines into the orchard area and using that strip along the inside of the fence for greens, since it will be open during the winter but shaded by the grapevines during the summer just when it starts to get hot (this I think was hurting the later production of strawberries in late May and June). I've also learned the flats dry out too easily and I need to use larger containers for winter-sowing or else modify my flat strategy, and get started earlier, like early to mid-December (which is going to suck with Christmas). I'm also learning what the deer like and simply won't touch, at least from what I have in the yard, so I can make adjustments this fall there to get the borders looking better.
Getting late, losing my train of thought, lots more to say.
8/4
Got a few minutes to write. Struggling with time the last couple days. Not even getting a workout in. Got a trip coming up, Krystina has soccer training on Tuesday and Thursday evenings all of a sudden--not mandatory but for her with zero experience necessary, and she was really into Tuesday's session, having no problem getting rough with the other girls (as she was instructed to).
Just out curiosity I listened to parts of a podcast and sermon of the pastor at work at the newish church just down the street from us, Greater Life Church. It's funny how long their sermons are, same with the Baptist church almost next door to MSLC; perhaps they are making up for the lack of liturgy. It was interesting to hear how anti-government/anti-WHO he was, relating them to the end of times in Revelations. Still, here's another person who is so sure of himself, but does he really know anything? There is no hell, no heaven, except where we are right now and what we can create right here.
Perhaps it may be time to make a vision board or something. While at the beach I want to get a list together of what I need to buy as far as t-posts and accessories, plants, and make some final decisions on layouts in the perennial areas. I need to move on this stuff when we get back and start getting some seeds in the ground.
I want to get active, involved in something as school starts back up, though don't know how I would fit anything in. I should probably get involved with the kids' schools, but sometimes I feel like it's a waste of time; I don't have much hope for anything government-run.
I wrote Tim a perhaps too honest email last week; he hasn't gotten back to me yet. I think I will reach out the next couple days to see if wants to zoom with Stu and me, as I had asked in the email. Maybe he's thinking of a way to respond, or maybe he was turned off. Don't blame him if it's the latter.
8/14
We returned yesterday from our annual Sunset Beach trip. It's nice to get away and be able to spend time with kids in ways that seem impossible to find at home, for whatever reason. I feel like the trips are getting far less stressful, at least food-wise. Weather was nice; we got hit by a freak rainstorm Sunday afternoon, and some early Monday morning I think, but then clear and relatively cool until some rain on Friday afternoon, which we almost welcomed as the kids were pooped out from the beach, and it gave us the opportunity to play some games. We played Mario Kart on the Switch quite a bit with Ryan and Shelley, which was fun. I missed Ryan help someone's grandfather get out of a rip current. Oh, and someone decided to fire off a series of very loud fireworks on the beach right near our house at 1:00 in the morning our first night there; the sound of it literally shook our house and woke many of us up. On Friday we decided to get out early, like at 7:00am, which worked really well in avoiding traffic and getting home with plenty of time to unpack, grocery shop, mow the yard, and settle back into to normalcy; we will probably repeat this strategy next year.
I was feeling pretty good until this afternoon; now I'm just mildly irritable. Didn't write at all at the beach, nor read much except a little bit in the seed-saving book I have. Did figure out some deer strategies with the yard and a supplies list. Got some fall-crop seeds in the ground today using the SFG-cardboard method: broccoli, kale, collards, arugula, parsley, dill, cilantro, carrots, mustard, may be forgetting something. Yard needs a lot of weeding and cleaning up, and need to get woodchips and get areas covered.
Tim finally got back to me with a phone call on Friday, apologizing for not getting back to me sooner because he doesn't check that email very often (though in hindsight I still think he read the email when he commented on the video--though it's possible he got a notification on that elsewhere--so maybe he was really apologizing for not responding sooner). It was a nice conversation, and he mentioned that he and Susan have been on rocky grounds as far back at least as when he was asking me for help with writing a song last year. Stu, Time and I started a 3-way text conversation, which Tim was active in until Stu and I tried to schedule a time to do a 3-way Zoom and he has so far stopped responding. I guess there are some things going on with him that are outside our perspective scope.
I guess at this point I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way to garden for production, while flushing out my established perennial beds with natives and edibles. Cardboard may need to be finetuned because crops that need to be seeded close together don't lend themselves well to covering the cardboard with woodchips lest the chips find their ways into the holes, at least not until the crops are of substantial size, which will take a month.
One of the sun annual beds will be deer-protected with 8-foot T posts (6-foot tall after driven into the ground 2 feet), with netting along the bottom four feet and fishing line along the top 2 feet in some orientation; the netting will be reinforced with a metal wire to limit deer being able to push it down; the north end will have some sort of trellis so as to grow a vining crop, perhaps something similar on the south end. The other bed I will likely keep some permanent row cover on for greens rotation, specifically lettuce; shade cloth in summer, some basic netting in fall/spring, and plastic in winter.
Along with getting the seeds in today I also started a couple of cells, one broccoli one kale, and placed them outside in a lettuce container with slits cut 1/2 inch from the ground to allow drainage but keep a little bit of water in to make sure soil stays moist while seeds are germinating. I almost think I want to turn the bed by the A/C units into a little transplant starting area. I've said I want to direct seed as much as possible, which is still true, but at this moment I just want to be growing food and it may be worthwhile to begin some plants that take up decent space and that transplant well as transplants.
Greens and side veggies are my focus and what I want to perfect--talking lettuce, kale, collards, mustards, arugula; broccoli, green beans. The other stuff is important, especially fruits that are nigh impossible to find in the store, at least of the quality of homegrown, but it's all kind of pointless if I can't get the green foundation sound.
8/15
House was cleaned today. They couldn't start until noon, so I got most of my work in in the morning. Only Tina had camp today, so rest of the kids were home. We went to Sue and Steve's after lunch, but they said I could take off and get stuff done, so I went back with our beach chairs and boogie boards and hung those up and worked in the yard, mostly weeding. I think tomorrow morning I'll take Christian with me to Renfrow's to get a few packets of seeds and see what else they have as far as garden infrastructure: posts, wire, bamboo, carabiner clips, shade cloth/bug netting.
I'm kind of at a loss for words here. What does it mean? Should I be reading? Am I just tired? Helped Boone order some shoes today, some "barefoot" style shoes, light, flat. Hopefully they work out. I worry about the kids' feet developing poorly as mine did, and now are struggling to build themselves as I've made the transition and become injured. I hope they feel good soon, like in the next year. They were really sore at the beach in the morning, and felt worn out at the end of the day, more so than I'm used to. Part of that may be that I was working them out more there with all the walking and wave pushing. I miss running.
Kids will be starting school in a couple weeks. I wish I could homeschool them, but that could be the idealist in me speaking. School will fail them in many ways; I just hope I can keep their minds open to that fact. I think it's so important that they learn to type properly, and I'm afraid I might not be able to get them to learn that.
As I get older more and more people that I actually know are dying. It's weird: They're there, and then they're not there anymore. And you go on, because what else are you going to do? Our time on this earth is finite, and every second counts. So what am I doing with them? I feel like my dreams are fading, the things that mattered no longer matter; they're just not that important; they really only mattered to me, and I'm just not that significant. I will die, and everyone else will go on. What will be my legacy, my echo through time, and is it egotistical to think so? So many questions impossible to answer.
Took a break to shower, and brain was firing, but I sit down and draw a blank. I look in the mirror and see that I'm getting old.
8/16
Went to Renfrow's with Christian as planned, got red onion seeds (yellow was 50¢ more), spinach mix, snapdragons and California poppies, and got a salad container seeded out with onions to see if I can get some starts going and planted out in the fall. I would like to get some spinach planted out this week as well. One thing that caught my eye there was a pack of 4-foot bamboo stakes, which I think I can use to create a frame to cover the 2nd sun garden bed to support netting/shade cloth/greenhouse plastic.
Need to make some mild chili powder, salsa, beans (need to start right now!), rice. I was hoping to make some granola bars I've been wanting to try, but that may have to wait until tomorrow unless Krystina's soccer practice tonight gets rained out.
8/17
Feeling pretty good today, energetic. Left toe tendon and right heel still seem a ways away from being 100%. I did fail to mention in the post-beach entry that I came down with something the Thursday or Friday before, very mild cold I think that Tina brought home, but easily the easiest illness I've had all year and all remnants gone by Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully these are signs of things to come.
Feeling optimistic about the yard; mustards and brassicas are already starting to sprout through. Knowing where I will and will not be protecting crops from deer gives me some focus, and I think with the 2nd sun garden bed I'm just going to use the 5-foot t-posts I have and hammer them 2 feet in--or at least as far down as I can; yesterday I was trying it out and only got one down 3 inches shy, and wasn't sure if it could go any further. Space them 4 feet apart for a total of ten, tie sticks or wire horizontally to support the netting or whatever I'm going to lie across, which means I will need something at least 10 feet wide and 22 across. Nope, still not sure how it's going to work, because I'm going to have to find a way to stitch netting together to get the desired size and figure out how to fasten it down. If I'm just using the netting I could just attach it directly to the posts and stretch it out--with the posts deeper they won't lean--but I can still see deer testing them and tearing through them with their weight. Maybe I can stretch 4-foot chicken wire across the top, with netting around the sides.
8/18
Finally heard from Tim yesterday; he said it looked like his schedule was starting to clear up, but that was it really.
This morning spent some time finding stakes for the 2nd sun bed, and got them in the ground, and started tying up the cross beams, of which I only got two done. That leaves 13 more (15 total). I initially miscounted how many I needed, thinking I only needed 9; whoops. It's hard to find good straight thin but sturdy sticks in the woods around here. I may just buck up and get some more bamboo. Assuming the stakes only last a year as I'm predicting (the parts in the ground will rot away), I may invest in some rebar, but this will at least give me an idea of how this will work. I like the bushwhack look of a wooden frame, just don't want to have to rebuild the frame every year as it is taking some time. I guess this is becoming my central focus because I want to get some lettuce in the ground to start a circulation, without having to rush anything in the orchard garden, because that's going to take some time and best dealt with in the fall.
Also in focus: finalizing a plan for perennials and a seed order. Need to stay ahead of the game this time. I spent some time working on this today during Tina's soccer practice.
Been having some vivid dreams, which we know bugs me. Maybe it's the Double Bubble I've been chewing; we got stuck with a bunch of it at the beach after Shelley bought a bunch to fill up a piñata.
I need to get into more of an exercise routine, but just finding it too difficult these days, with all the summer rigmarole, though I can't imagine that improving with school starting up. Well, maybe, unless I get full-time hours soon, which doesn't appear to be the case as this has been a slower than normal week. Also not really that motivated: Feet still nagging, and what else am I really trying to achieve; coitus isn't an ambition these days, and I'm not trying to impress anyone or have anything to prepare for.
8/19
Did some clean-up of the first 4 feet of the 2nd sun bed, raked off the mulch, tossed on some azomite, a bag of city compost from over a year ago, forked, added a second bag, and raked, then seeded out the first 1-foot strip (4 sq. ft. in total) of lettuce and spinach. Also finished framing that section, so just need to weave a large enough net together to place over it. I've got a few days for that before they start sprouting and putting on any significant growth.
Still fine tuning my cardboard seed-starting strategy. I think fairly large flaps are the way to go; they allow to put some woodchips on the cardboard while keeping it away from the seeds. Two, three, or four flaps depending on SFG spacing (4, 9, 16 plants/sq. ft. respectively).
Still can't decide if I should incorporate some more transplanting. Pros are I don't have to mess with mulch or as much watering; I can push the mulch aside, plug in the plant, and tuck the mulch back around. I need to figure lettuce first and foremost: I want to eat a lot, they take a week to germinate, but apparently need light to germinate as well. Maybe I could do a single flap (not double flap like I have been), let it lie down, then raise it or even tear it off once things germinate.
8/23
It's amazing how time can get away from you: it's been four days since my last entry. Weekend was busy with Grace's performance in SpongeBob SquarePants; definitely my favorite show I've seen at Spotlight with the exception of Matilda. I most enjoy the shows that aren't the typical Disney fare or that involve romance (which is difficult for me to watch as the cast is almost always all teens). Grace didn't have a huge roll this time but did have a show-stopping number ("Daddy Knows Best"), and there were some new actors as well as long-standing Spotlight actors that were really fun to watch.
Sunday night we were up ridiculously late because of her last show and post-show party, and then we spent time watching Dropout and chatting with Grace; we didn't get to bed until midnight, and then I couldn't get to sleep until after 1:30, though I made the mistake of finishing watching the Woodstock '99 documentary and Taxi Driver on Netflix. As a result I was out of sorts yesterday, and it spurred a modest migraine episode, so I was just trying to get through the day and to bed on time. It still took me some time to get sleep though. I really need to get back into an exercise routine.
One other thing I've been doing the past several days is mulling over the best possible seed-starting strategy, and I think I finally settled on one, which is using 2"x2" cardboard cylinders, basically toilet rolls cut in half, or I found I can use cereal boxes cut into 2"x6" strips and rolled up with half-inch slits in the middle of each end to slide and hold them together to maintain shape. The cylinder would go where I want the plant nestled into the soil just deep enough to secure it, at which point I can sow the seeds. Once an area is seeded, I take a few 2" strips of cardboard to lie over the cylinders and hold them down either with one hand or some rocks (to help prevent any woodchips from getting into the cylinders), fill in the spaces between the cylinders with any cardboard scraps followed by woodchips up to the top of the cylinder, then carefully remove the cardboard strips so that no woodchips fall into the cylinders, and water well. This way the cylinders provide a secure "valley" in the mulch, giving the seeds a clear space to sprout while still getting the benefit of nearby woodchips, namely the moisture they provide, which will aid in germination. You could something similar with appropriately shaped rocks or wood pieces, but I like this approach better specifically for intensive annual beds because what is surrounding the seeds is continuously decomposing.
I also like the idea of having drain holes (or slits, as the case has been lately) a little bit above the bottom of the pot/container, which traps just a little bit of excess moisture from being able to escape by way of gravity, because it should better ensure that the soil does not dry out. Along with the above direct-seeding strategy I also decided I like as similar strategy with transplants: 3-4" cardboard cylinders with 1/2-to-1" slits at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o' clock at one end and folded in for the bottom--basically toilet-paper-roll-style seed-starting pots--placed in a topless lettuce container with drain slits as above described, kept moist, with a weighted piece of cardboard covering the top (using cardboard, I can make notes on it about what I have and when it was started) to trap moisture in. Once seedlings sprout, I can move them to a similarly slit container outside in the sun with no covering, with some water kept in the bottom, which I can check daily and replenish if left near a hose in almost no time, until I am ready to plant in the ground, which can really be anytime after they've sprouted since the entire pot will go in the ground with no disruption to roots; the container outside is really just a hold-over station to get the seedlings in the sun until I get around to planting them.
If the direct-seed strategy proves to be reliably successful, I don't know how much I would bother with transplanting unless (1) I am trying to get frost-tender plants started early in the late winter, or (2) cool-season plants in the late summer, or (3) I want some plants for backup in case I lose plants due to pests, frost, failed germination of direct-sown seeds, or unperceivable and thus mysterious circumstances.
Another benefit about using cardboard cylinders is I can write directly on them (on the outside for transplants, on the inside for directly seeded), most importantly what it is, as weed seeds tend to get into my compost, so I know what type of sprout I'm looking for, but also when it was sown so I know when to give up on something if I'm dealing with a vast mix of plants and starting times and thus I lose track.
8/25
Been shuffling kids to their open houses at school today. First was Boone, then Grace. Still have Tina and Christian, followed by getting Tina to soccer. So far so good, as far as I can tell. I worry about Boone as he is a small gentile thing, and Grace to a lesser extent for the same reason, as they are simply not interest in athletics and late bloomers, and getting eaten alive, but maybe kids of this generation and/or area are less prone to being shitty.
Tim finally got back to us with an available time to zoom, and so we have it on the books for this Sunday afternoon. Should be fun.
Still a little sore from running on Tuesday, feet definitely so, particularly right heel. Not sure if I should keep at it or lay off.
Got a few more lettuce and spinach seeds in the ground yesterday. Still on the fence about whether to lean more direct seed or cardboard-pot transplant. Hopefully will know with more experience this fall. Maybe transplants make more sense until soil is better quality?
Yesterday was busy for some reason. It was Wednesday so did my Aldi trip, got Tina to her last day at Blair Road, took Grace over to her Nana's to get more contact insertion training, stopped at the local community garden where someone is growing a papaya, learning doing so involves growing it in a wooden box raised off the ground a few inches with doors on the top to close during winter after it dies back (I'm assuming), went for a short hike with Christian while we were there, came home, got seeds in the ground (as already mentioned), made lunches, started working, made dinner, picked up Tina, took Grace and Boone to youth group and D&D respectively, came home and finished eating, sort of watched a video from Grace's principals (while looking at other stuff), played some Mario Kart with the littles and Beth, got them to bed, cleaned up, watched some Dropout with Beth, picked up Boone.
I'm probably going to have to bite the bullet and start using the iPhone 7 we have; I'm having to charge my phone fully twice a day now; it's just not holding a charge and not making it through the night.
8/27
Last 24 hours have not been good. Bad mood, feeling pointless, hopeless. So bad I read some of A Wizard of Earthsea, which always warms my heart a little when I'm in those moods.
All the rain we were supposed to have gotten the past week never came, and it's looking dry and hot for the next week.
I feel like the soil is drying out too much with my direct-seed cardboard methods, and if that's the case, what's the point in going through the trouble? I may as well just go back to trenching in woodchips.
Should I trench to soil with added compost?
Should I trench to soil with a sprinkling of woodchips back on top?
Should I trench leaving an inch of woodchips and sprinkle the seeds on top, maybe work them in by lightly tickling the woodchips?
Should I overseed to account for lower germination?
I should probably only use aged woodchips, adding chips from the adjacent path as needed, at least with starting seeds or younger plants.
I've seen a couple praying mantises the past few days, one especially big one hanging out on the back porch screen, which is a good sign.
Futile?
8/29
Got some time to kill until the little kids threaten to get home. They were given the wrong stop, for a neighborhood on the other side of 51, and I'm hoping their correct stop is on that same bus's route, otherwise I'll be chasing it back to their school to pick them up. Right now it looks like it's having trouble getting to the school (I can track the bus on an app) because of the terrible traffic situation, which was already pretty bad with just the middle school. It took my 40 minutes to drop off all three younger kids when under optimal conditions it should have taken me under 10. I guess they were victims of wishful thinking. I can relate.
Stu, Tim and I had our Zoom powwow yesterday, at long last. Yeah, it felt really good talking to them both again; we talked for about an hour and a half before Tim had to go. Tim is still very much the same guy, always propelling the conversation, remembering things neither of us had remembered, at least not without his help. They're living in a house on his step-parents farm in Disputanta VA; he was talking to us from the original home on the property where he has a gym. He told us the stories of how he found he was adopted, at 23 after he mentioned to his parents that was thinking about marrying his then girlfriend. He said the only clue he had that he was adopted prior to that was when he was doing a family-tree project when he was 15 his father mentioned the hospital he was born in, but then later mentioned that he was born in a different hospital than what he was originally born in. He found his biological children a couple years ago (with the help of some stranger in an adoption group on Facebook whom he gave access to his Ancestry account and found his father almost immediately). His father (Chris Brown) was an intense guy who looked just like him, and through his father he found his mother (Carrie, they lived nearby and apparently were still in touch) who is much more easy going and still keeps in touch with him. They had him when they were teenagers and they were $40 short of an abortion. He also told us about Susan's journey into a job in a non-profit anti-abortion organization; they were living with a couple, the male of which went a little cuckoo and the female was working at an abortion clinic while Susan was pregnant, and they had a heated argument. Tim works for Verizon, originally as a technician after getting certified through ECPI but is now doing something with setting up new branches--I'm not really sure and should get more clarification on that some other time. It sounds like his relationship with Susan is under some tension; hopefully they can figure it out.
Got Stuart's address and am going to send him the extra Tuttle Twins book I have. We put off our meeting that was scheduled today, probably for the Monday after Labor Day.
Feeling a little better today. Feet have been doing significantly better the past week or so, and I got a run in this morning. I was going to do some calisthenics but got running a little late and so think I'll do it tomorrow. The talk was great, and Beth and I got to spend some reset time together two days in a row. Getting the kids ready and out the door this morning had its stresses, but besides the traffic went relatively well. We'll see how everybody is doing when they get home.
Besides exercising, I really need to take this time I have and start cleaning up the yard.
8/30
Got a few minutes to write while I eat my lunch of peach-banana smoothie and some raw malabar spinach leaves from the garden. I enjoy the malabar, though I think it's best to eat the raw greens before they get large, and think they will be a mainstay, would like to figure out how to save seed if possible.
Things are about to get a little busy: Beth is in Columbia and doesn't get home until late (I think), it's taco night and Tina has soccer, tomorrow I have my monthly inventory stock up grocery trip, which I have to work around a 10am work meeting online, and a f/u eye doctor visit with Grace to make sure her contacts are fitting, and in the meantime making dinner early and getting the big kids to youth at church. I think I may run while Tina is practicing tonight so I feel good about skipping any exercise tomorrow.
Corruption is intrinsic to taxation--ANY taxation. What is taxation but legalized theft, the seizure of property without the owner's consent? Unjustified theft is evil--unjustified meaning the owner of such property did not commit an act of theft or other evil in that by infringing on another's property rights he comprises his own. Theft is theft regardless of excuse, be it "for the greater good" or "because the majority of citizens in this community agreed to give me this authority". No excuse for evil is justifiable. The patterns of horror we relentlessly experience will never halt until this fundamental flaw in how the organization currently "taxed" with upholding the rights of the innocent is exposed and removed.
8/31
I have a few minutes to squeeze in one more August entry. Watching a little bit too much YT this week. I don't like being alone and bored, which is kind of what work is, but I can usually handle it with work if I'm trying to bust it out so that I can to something else. These past couple of days were supposed to be busy, and they were, but didn't feel as much, maybe because the work I had I was able to plow through relatively quickly. Generally the situations that get me into trouble are where I have a little bit of a time but not enough of it or energy to dive into something serious, like reading, or writing, or gardening, or where my hands are busy, like eating, or working.
School seems to be settling in. Boone was not happy Monday, but I get the sense that he was just overwhelmed with all the newness and shitty commute situation. Today I was able to get the littles to school on time, and they got home when they were supposed to (i.e. their bus was there when school let out), although Boone missed his bus because it was substituted and he didn't know to look for the bus in a different parking slot. Things may get more harrowing as homework kicks up. Thank God Grace is so self reliant.
Tomorrow I intend to spend a lot of time cleaning up the yard, weeding, and taking down the netting and netting posts in the backyard, hacking back the weeds, getting a few balloons for Tina's birthday.
Been a while since I wrote an actual journal entry (months). I did sort of start a notebook journal, but really only did a couple entries in it. It's so much faster to type out entries, but I get tired of staring at a screen.
I love my work keyboard; I can feel the keys, and they require a little bit of force and lots of distance compared to my Macbook, where I don't feel like I'm engaging the keyboard fully and end up making more mistakes.
Gardening has been disappointing this year as I've previously said, but I feel like pieces are coming together for successful strategies in the future. The deer have gotten aggressive the past couple months, literally just stepping over and pushing down the nets I have in place (okra is crack to them), smashing through the cheaper netting. I've determined I'm going to have to use stronger t-posts and drive them 2 feet into the ground so that they don't lean easily, that way the netting (and we'll go with the more expensive netting) stays tight and I'll be able to keep wires tight as well, one along the top of the netting (4 feet up), and an additional one or two 5 and/or 6 feet up to keep them from trying to push the netting down and consider stepping over it, this all being for the beds outside the fence that I want protected (I will do a similar strategy for the orchard), although I also need to consider instead using shade/bug netting, which I'm thinking of doing for greens, but then I'm also thinking of moving most if not all of the strawberries out from under the muscadines into the orchard area and using that strip along the inside of the fence for greens, since it will be open during the winter but shaded by the grapevines during the summer just when it starts to get hot (this I think was hurting the later production of strawberries in late May and June). I've also learned the flats dry out too easily and I need to use larger containers for winter-sowing or else modify my flat strategy, and get started earlier, like early to mid-December (which is going to suck with Christmas). I'm also learning what the deer like and simply won't touch, at least from what I have in the yard, so I can make adjustments this fall there to get the borders looking better.
Getting late, losing my train of thought, lots more to say.
8/4
Got a few minutes to write. Struggling with time the last couple days. Not even getting a workout in. Got a trip coming up, Krystina has soccer training on Tuesday and Thursday evenings all of a sudden--not mandatory but for her with zero experience necessary, and she was really into Tuesday's session, having no problem getting rough with the other girls (as she was instructed to).
Just out curiosity I listened to parts of a podcast and sermon of the pastor at work at the newish church just down the street from us, Greater Life Church. It's funny how long their sermons are, same with the Baptist church almost next door to MSLC; perhaps they are making up for the lack of liturgy. It was interesting to hear how anti-government/anti-WHO he was, relating them to the end of times in Revelations. Still, here's another person who is so sure of himself, but does he really know anything? There is no hell, no heaven, except where we are right now and what we can create right here.
Perhaps it may be time to make a vision board or something. While at the beach I want to get a list together of what I need to buy as far as t-posts and accessories, plants, and make some final decisions on layouts in the perennial areas. I need to move on this stuff when we get back and start getting some seeds in the ground.
I want to get active, involved in something as school starts back up, though don't know how I would fit anything in. I should probably get involved with the kids' schools, but sometimes I feel like it's a waste of time; I don't have much hope for anything government-run.
I wrote Tim a perhaps too honest email last week; he hasn't gotten back to me yet. I think I will reach out the next couple days to see if wants to zoom with Stu and me, as I had asked in the email. Maybe he's thinking of a way to respond, or maybe he was turned off. Don't blame him if it's the latter.
8/14
We returned yesterday from our annual Sunset Beach trip. It's nice to get away and be able to spend time with kids in ways that seem impossible to find at home, for whatever reason. I feel like the trips are getting far less stressful, at least food-wise. Weather was nice; we got hit by a freak rainstorm Sunday afternoon, and some early Monday morning I think, but then clear and relatively cool until some rain on Friday afternoon, which we almost welcomed as the kids were pooped out from the beach, and it gave us the opportunity to play some games. We played Mario Kart on the Switch quite a bit with Ryan and Shelley, which was fun. I missed Ryan help someone's grandfather get out of a rip current. Oh, and someone decided to fire off a series of very loud fireworks on the beach right near our house at 1:00 in the morning our first night there; the sound of it literally shook our house and woke many of us up. On Friday we decided to get out early, like at 7:00am, which worked really well in avoiding traffic and getting home with plenty of time to unpack, grocery shop, mow the yard, and settle back into to normalcy; we will probably repeat this strategy next year.
I was feeling pretty good until this afternoon; now I'm just mildly irritable. Didn't write at all at the beach, nor read much except a little bit in the seed-saving book I have. Did figure out some deer strategies with the yard and a supplies list. Got some fall-crop seeds in the ground today using the SFG-cardboard method: broccoli, kale, collards, arugula, parsley, dill, cilantro, carrots, mustard, may be forgetting something. Yard needs a lot of weeding and cleaning up, and need to get woodchips and get areas covered.
Tim finally got back to me with a phone call on Friday, apologizing for not getting back to me sooner because he doesn't check that email very often (though in hindsight I still think he read the email when he commented on the video--though it's possible he got a notification on that elsewhere--so maybe he was really apologizing for not responding sooner). It was a nice conversation, and he mentioned that he and Susan have been on rocky grounds as far back at least as when he was asking me for help with writing a song last year. Stu, Time and I started a 3-way text conversation, which Tim was active in until Stu and I tried to schedule a time to do a 3-way Zoom and he has so far stopped responding. I guess there are some things going on with him that are outside our perspective scope.
I guess at this point I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way to garden for production, while flushing out my established perennial beds with natives and edibles. Cardboard may need to be finetuned because crops that need to be seeded close together don't lend themselves well to covering the cardboard with woodchips lest the chips find their ways into the holes, at least not until the crops are of substantial size, which will take a month.
One of the sun annual beds will be deer-protected with 8-foot T posts (6-foot tall after driven into the ground 2 feet), with netting along the bottom four feet and fishing line along the top 2 feet in some orientation; the netting will be reinforced with a metal wire to limit deer being able to push it down; the north end will have some sort of trellis so as to grow a vining crop, perhaps something similar on the south end. The other bed I will likely keep some permanent row cover on for greens rotation, specifically lettuce; shade cloth in summer, some basic netting in fall/spring, and plastic in winter.
Along with getting the seeds in today I also started a couple of cells, one broccoli one kale, and placed them outside in a lettuce container with slits cut 1/2 inch from the ground to allow drainage but keep a little bit of water in to make sure soil stays moist while seeds are germinating. I almost think I want to turn the bed by the A/C units into a little transplant starting area. I've said I want to direct seed as much as possible, which is still true, but at this moment I just want to be growing food and it may be worthwhile to begin some plants that take up decent space and that transplant well as transplants.
Greens and side veggies are my focus and what I want to perfect--talking lettuce, kale, collards, mustards, arugula; broccoli, green beans. The other stuff is important, especially fruits that are nigh impossible to find in the store, at least of the quality of homegrown, but it's all kind of pointless if I can't get the green foundation sound.
8/15
House was cleaned today. They couldn't start until noon, so I got most of my work in in the morning. Only Tina had camp today, so rest of the kids were home. We went to Sue and Steve's after lunch, but they said I could take off and get stuff done, so I went back with our beach chairs and boogie boards and hung those up and worked in the yard, mostly weeding. I think tomorrow morning I'll take Christian with me to Renfrow's to get a few packets of seeds and see what else they have as far as garden infrastructure: posts, wire, bamboo, carabiner clips, shade cloth/bug netting.
I'm kind of at a loss for words here. What does it mean? Should I be reading? Am I just tired? Helped Boone order some shoes today, some "barefoot" style shoes, light, flat. Hopefully they work out. I worry about the kids' feet developing poorly as mine did, and now are struggling to build themselves as I've made the transition and become injured. I hope they feel good soon, like in the next year. They were really sore at the beach in the morning, and felt worn out at the end of the day, more so than I'm used to. Part of that may be that I was working them out more there with all the walking and wave pushing. I miss running.
Kids will be starting school in a couple weeks. I wish I could homeschool them, but that could be the idealist in me speaking. School will fail them in many ways; I just hope I can keep their minds open to that fact. I think it's so important that they learn to type properly, and I'm afraid I might not be able to get them to learn that.
As I get older more and more people that I actually know are dying. It's weird: They're there, and then they're not there anymore. And you go on, because what else are you going to do? Our time on this earth is finite, and every second counts. So what am I doing with them? I feel like my dreams are fading, the things that mattered no longer matter; they're just not that important; they really only mattered to me, and I'm just not that significant. I will die, and everyone else will go on. What will be my legacy, my echo through time, and is it egotistical to think so? So many questions impossible to answer.
Took a break to shower, and brain was firing, but I sit down and draw a blank. I look in the mirror and see that I'm getting old.
8/16
Went to Renfrow's with Christian as planned, got red onion seeds (yellow was 50¢ more), spinach mix, snapdragons and California poppies, and got a salad container seeded out with onions to see if I can get some starts going and planted out in the fall. I would like to get some spinach planted out this week as well. One thing that caught my eye there was a pack of 4-foot bamboo stakes, which I think I can use to create a frame to cover the 2nd sun garden bed to support netting/shade cloth/greenhouse plastic.
Need to make some mild chili powder, salsa, beans (need to start right now!), rice. I was hoping to make some granola bars I've been wanting to try, but that may have to wait until tomorrow unless Krystina's soccer practice tonight gets rained out.
8/17
Feeling pretty good today, energetic. Left toe tendon and right heel still seem a ways away from being 100%. I did fail to mention in the post-beach entry that I came down with something the Thursday or Friday before, very mild cold I think that Tina brought home, but easily the easiest illness I've had all year and all remnants gone by Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully these are signs of things to come.
Feeling optimistic about the yard; mustards and brassicas are already starting to sprout through. Knowing where I will and will not be protecting crops from deer gives me some focus, and I think with the 2nd sun garden bed I'm just going to use the 5-foot t-posts I have and hammer them 2 feet in--or at least as far down as I can; yesterday I was trying it out and only got one down 3 inches shy, and wasn't sure if it could go any further. Space them 4 feet apart for a total of ten, tie sticks or wire horizontally to support the netting or whatever I'm going to lie across, which means I will need something at least 10 feet wide and 22 across. Nope, still not sure how it's going to work, because I'm going to have to find a way to stitch netting together to get the desired size and figure out how to fasten it down. If I'm just using the netting I could just attach it directly to the posts and stretch it out--with the posts deeper they won't lean--but I can still see deer testing them and tearing through them with their weight. Maybe I can stretch 4-foot chicken wire across the top, with netting around the sides.
8/18
Finally heard from Tim yesterday; he said it looked like his schedule was starting to clear up, but that was it really.
This morning spent some time finding stakes for the 2nd sun bed, and got them in the ground, and started tying up the cross beams, of which I only got two done. That leaves 13 more (15 total). I initially miscounted how many I needed, thinking I only needed 9; whoops. It's hard to find good straight thin but sturdy sticks in the woods around here. I may just buck up and get some more bamboo. Assuming the stakes only last a year as I'm predicting (the parts in the ground will rot away), I may invest in some rebar, but this will at least give me an idea of how this will work. I like the bushwhack look of a wooden frame, just don't want to have to rebuild the frame every year as it is taking some time. I guess this is becoming my central focus because I want to get some lettuce in the ground to start a circulation, without having to rush anything in the orchard garden, because that's going to take some time and best dealt with in the fall.
Also in focus: finalizing a plan for perennials and a seed order. Need to stay ahead of the game this time. I spent some time working on this today during Tina's soccer practice.
Been having some vivid dreams, which we know bugs me. Maybe it's the Double Bubble I've been chewing; we got stuck with a bunch of it at the beach after Shelley bought a bunch to fill up a piñata.
I need to get into more of an exercise routine, but just finding it too difficult these days, with all the summer rigmarole, though I can't imagine that improving with school starting up. Well, maybe, unless I get full-time hours soon, which doesn't appear to be the case as this has been a slower than normal week. Also not really that motivated: Feet still nagging, and what else am I really trying to achieve; coitus isn't an ambition these days, and I'm not trying to impress anyone or have anything to prepare for.
8/19
Did some clean-up of the first 4 feet of the 2nd sun bed, raked off the mulch, tossed on some azomite, a bag of city compost from over a year ago, forked, added a second bag, and raked, then seeded out the first 1-foot strip (4 sq. ft. in total) of lettuce and spinach. Also finished framing that section, so just need to weave a large enough net together to place over it. I've got a few days for that before they start sprouting and putting on any significant growth.
Still fine tuning my cardboard seed-starting strategy. I think fairly large flaps are the way to go; they allow to put some woodchips on the cardboard while keeping it away from the seeds. Two, three, or four flaps depending on SFG spacing (4, 9, 16 plants/sq. ft. respectively).
Still can't decide if I should incorporate some more transplanting. Pros are I don't have to mess with mulch or as much watering; I can push the mulch aside, plug in the plant, and tuck the mulch back around. I need to figure lettuce first and foremost: I want to eat a lot, they take a week to germinate, but apparently need light to germinate as well. Maybe I could do a single flap (not double flap like I have been), let it lie down, then raise it or even tear it off once things germinate.
8/23
It's amazing how time can get away from you: it's been four days since my last entry. Weekend was busy with Grace's performance in SpongeBob SquarePants; definitely my favorite show I've seen at Spotlight with the exception of Matilda. I most enjoy the shows that aren't the typical Disney fare or that involve romance (which is difficult for me to watch as the cast is almost always all teens). Grace didn't have a huge roll this time but did have a show-stopping number ("Daddy Knows Best"), and there were some new actors as well as long-standing Spotlight actors that were really fun to watch.
Sunday night we were up ridiculously late because of her last show and post-show party, and then we spent time watching Dropout and chatting with Grace; we didn't get to bed until midnight, and then I couldn't get to sleep until after 1:30, though I made the mistake of finishing watching the Woodstock '99 documentary and Taxi Driver on Netflix. As a result I was out of sorts yesterday, and it spurred a modest migraine episode, so I was just trying to get through the day and to bed on time. It still took me some time to get sleep though. I really need to get back into an exercise routine.
One other thing I've been doing the past several days is mulling over the best possible seed-starting strategy, and I think I finally settled on one, which is using 2"x2" cardboard cylinders, basically toilet rolls cut in half, or I found I can use cereal boxes cut into 2"x6" strips and rolled up with half-inch slits in the middle of each end to slide and hold them together to maintain shape. The cylinder would go where I want the plant nestled into the soil just deep enough to secure it, at which point I can sow the seeds. Once an area is seeded, I take a few 2" strips of cardboard to lie over the cylinders and hold them down either with one hand or some rocks (to help prevent any woodchips from getting into the cylinders), fill in the spaces between the cylinders with any cardboard scraps followed by woodchips up to the top of the cylinder, then carefully remove the cardboard strips so that no woodchips fall into the cylinders, and water well. This way the cylinders provide a secure "valley" in the mulch, giving the seeds a clear space to sprout while still getting the benefit of nearby woodchips, namely the moisture they provide, which will aid in germination. You could something similar with appropriately shaped rocks or wood pieces, but I like this approach better specifically for intensive annual beds because what is surrounding the seeds is continuously decomposing.
I also like the idea of having drain holes (or slits, as the case has been lately) a little bit above the bottom of the pot/container, which traps just a little bit of excess moisture from being able to escape by way of gravity, because it should better ensure that the soil does not dry out. Along with the above direct-seeding strategy I also decided I like as similar strategy with transplants: 3-4" cardboard cylinders with 1/2-to-1" slits at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o' clock at one end and folded in for the bottom--basically toilet-paper-roll-style seed-starting pots--placed in a topless lettuce container with drain slits as above described, kept moist, with a weighted piece of cardboard covering the top (using cardboard, I can make notes on it about what I have and when it was started) to trap moisture in. Once seedlings sprout, I can move them to a similarly slit container outside in the sun with no covering, with some water kept in the bottom, which I can check daily and replenish if left near a hose in almost no time, until I am ready to plant in the ground, which can really be anytime after they've sprouted since the entire pot will go in the ground with no disruption to roots; the container outside is really just a hold-over station to get the seedlings in the sun until I get around to planting them.
If the direct-seed strategy proves to be reliably successful, I don't know how much I would bother with transplanting unless (1) I am trying to get frost-tender plants started early in the late winter, or (2) cool-season plants in the late summer, or (3) I want some plants for backup in case I lose plants due to pests, frost, failed germination of direct-sown seeds, or unperceivable and thus mysterious circumstances.
Another benefit about using cardboard cylinders is I can write directly on them (on the outside for transplants, on the inside for directly seeded), most importantly what it is, as weed seeds tend to get into my compost, so I know what type of sprout I'm looking for, but also when it was sown so I know when to give up on something if I'm dealing with a vast mix of plants and starting times and thus I lose track.
8/25
Been shuffling kids to their open houses at school today. First was Boone, then Grace. Still have Tina and Christian, followed by getting Tina to soccer. So far so good, as far as I can tell. I worry about Boone as he is a small gentile thing, and Grace to a lesser extent for the same reason, as they are simply not interest in athletics and late bloomers, and getting eaten alive, but maybe kids of this generation and/or area are less prone to being shitty.
Tim finally got back to us with an available time to zoom, and so we have it on the books for this Sunday afternoon. Should be fun.
Still a little sore from running on Tuesday, feet definitely so, particularly right heel. Not sure if I should keep at it or lay off.
Got a few more lettuce and spinach seeds in the ground yesterday. Still on the fence about whether to lean more direct seed or cardboard-pot transplant. Hopefully will know with more experience this fall. Maybe transplants make more sense until soil is better quality?
Yesterday was busy for some reason. It was Wednesday so did my Aldi trip, got Tina to her last day at Blair Road, took Grace over to her Nana's to get more contact insertion training, stopped at the local community garden where someone is growing a papaya, learning doing so involves growing it in a wooden box raised off the ground a few inches with doors on the top to close during winter after it dies back (I'm assuming), went for a short hike with Christian while we were there, came home, got seeds in the ground (as already mentioned), made lunches, started working, made dinner, picked up Tina, took Grace and Boone to youth group and D&D respectively, came home and finished eating, sort of watched a video from Grace's principals (while looking at other stuff), played some Mario Kart with the littles and Beth, got them to bed, cleaned up, watched some Dropout with Beth, picked up Boone.
I'm probably going to have to bite the bullet and start using the iPhone 7 we have; I'm having to charge my phone fully twice a day now; it's just not holding a charge and not making it through the night.
8/27
Last 24 hours have not been good. Bad mood, feeling pointless, hopeless. So bad I read some of A Wizard of Earthsea, which always warms my heart a little when I'm in those moods.
All the rain we were supposed to have gotten the past week never came, and it's looking dry and hot for the next week.
I feel like the soil is drying out too much with my direct-seed cardboard methods, and if that's the case, what's the point in going through the trouble? I may as well just go back to trenching in woodchips.
Should I trench to soil with added compost?
Should I trench to soil with a sprinkling of woodchips back on top?
Should I trench leaving an inch of woodchips and sprinkle the seeds on top, maybe work them in by lightly tickling the woodchips?
Should I overseed to account for lower germination?
I should probably only use aged woodchips, adding chips from the adjacent path as needed, at least with starting seeds or younger plants.
I've seen a couple praying mantises the past few days, one especially big one hanging out on the back porch screen, which is a good sign.
Futile?
8/29
Got some time to kill until the little kids threaten to get home. They were given the wrong stop, for a neighborhood on the other side of 51, and I'm hoping their correct stop is on that same bus's route, otherwise I'll be chasing it back to their school to pick them up. Right now it looks like it's having trouble getting to the school (I can track the bus on an app) because of the terrible traffic situation, which was already pretty bad with just the middle school. It took my 40 minutes to drop off all three younger kids when under optimal conditions it should have taken me under 10. I guess they were victims of wishful thinking. I can relate.
Stu, Tim and I had our Zoom powwow yesterday, at long last. Yeah, it felt really good talking to them both again; we talked for about an hour and a half before Tim had to go. Tim is still very much the same guy, always propelling the conversation, remembering things neither of us had remembered, at least not without his help. They're living in a house on his step-parents farm in Disputanta VA; he was talking to us from the original home on the property where he has a gym. He told us the stories of how he found he was adopted, at 23 after he mentioned to his parents that was thinking about marrying his then girlfriend. He said the only clue he had that he was adopted prior to that was when he was doing a family-tree project when he was 15 his father mentioned the hospital he was born in, but then later mentioned that he was born in a different hospital than what he was originally born in. He found his biological children a couple years ago (with the help of some stranger in an adoption group on Facebook whom he gave access to his Ancestry account and found his father almost immediately). His father (Chris Brown) was an intense guy who looked just like him, and through his father he found his mother (Carrie, they lived nearby and apparently were still in touch) who is much more easy going and still keeps in touch with him. They had him when they were teenagers and they were $40 short of an abortion. He also told us about Susan's journey into a job in a non-profit anti-abortion organization; they were living with a couple, the male of which went a little cuckoo and the female was working at an abortion clinic while Susan was pregnant, and they had a heated argument. Tim works for Verizon, originally as a technician after getting certified through ECPI but is now doing something with setting up new branches--I'm not really sure and should get more clarification on that some other time. It sounds like his relationship with Susan is under some tension; hopefully they can figure it out.
Got Stuart's address and am going to send him the extra Tuttle Twins book I have. We put off our meeting that was scheduled today, probably for the Monday after Labor Day.
Feeling a little better today. Feet have been doing significantly better the past week or so, and I got a run in this morning. I was going to do some calisthenics but got running a little late and so think I'll do it tomorrow. The talk was great, and Beth and I got to spend some reset time together two days in a row. Getting the kids ready and out the door this morning had its stresses, but besides the traffic went relatively well. We'll see how everybody is doing when they get home.
Besides exercising, I really need to take this time I have and start cleaning up the yard.
8/30
Got a few minutes to write while I eat my lunch of peach-banana smoothie and some raw malabar spinach leaves from the garden. I enjoy the malabar, though I think it's best to eat the raw greens before they get large, and think they will be a mainstay, would like to figure out how to save seed if possible.
Things are about to get a little busy: Beth is in Columbia and doesn't get home until late (I think), it's taco night and Tina has soccer, tomorrow I have my monthly inventory stock up grocery trip, which I have to work around a 10am work meeting online, and a f/u eye doctor visit with Grace to make sure her contacts are fitting, and in the meantime making dinner early and getting the big kids to youth at church. I think I may run while Tina is practicing tonight so I feel good about skipping any exercise tomorrow.
Corruption is intrinsic to taxation--ANY taxation. What is taxation but legalized theft, the seizure of property without the owner's consent? Unjustified theft is evil--unjustified meaning the owner of such property did not commit an act of theft or other evil in that by infringing on another's property rights he comprises his own. Theft is theft regardless of excuse, be it "for the greater good" or "because the majority of citizens in this community agreed to give me this authority". No excuse for evil is justifiable. The patterns of horror we relentlessly experience will never halt until this fundamental flaw in how the organization currently "taxed" with upholding the rights of the innocent is exposed and removed.
8/31
I have a few minutes to squeeze in one more August entry. Watching a little bit too much YT this week. I don't like being alone and bored, which is kind of what work is, but I can usually handle it with work if I'm trying to bust it out so that I can to something else. These past couple of days were supposed to be busy, and they were, but didn't feel as much, maybe because the work I had I was able to plow through relatively quickly. Generally the situations that get me into trouble are where I have a little bit of a time but not enough of it or energy to dive into something serious, like reading, or writing, or gardening, or where my hands are busy, like eating, or working.
School seems to be settling in. Boone was not happy Monday, but I get the sense that he was just overwhelmed with all the newness and shitty commute situation. Today I was able to get the littles to school on time, and they got home when they were supposed to (i.e. their bus was there when school let out), although Boone missed his bus because it was substituted and he didn't know to look for the bus in a different parking slot. Things may get more harrowing as homework kicks up. Thank God Grace is so self reliant.
Tomorrow I intend to spend a lot of time cleaning up the yard, weeding, and taking down the netting and netting posts in the backyard, hacking back the weeds, getting a few balloons for Tina's birthday.