Fences, greens, vegetables, and rain...

Building the Fence

This Saturday, in addition to the harvesting of greens and vegetables that I do every weekend, Dan decided to finish installing a fence in the utility area of the yard. In this community, fences are restricted to chain link fencing only with heights of either 36" or 42". It was a bit of a challenge to find a supplier of  42" chain link fencing, but one new place in town stocked it. The 36" fence was just too short for my preferences. Most of the other places in town stocked 48" fencing, but this place doesn't allow it. Luckily, one place carried what I needed.

After purchasing the supplies a week ago, waiting for the weather to cooperate, and having the underground utilities marked on the grass, Dan dug the holes for the fence posts yesterday, securing them with cement and waited for them to dry. Originally it was thought that the fence would hook onto the back of the shed; however, once we saw where the utility lines were, we decided to move the fence line back a couple of feet and allow for another free flow entry area into the the workspace. 

Today he proceeded to dig another for the gate, install the gate, and put up the chain link with the braces. Getting those clamps to hold the chain link can be a bit of a challenge as the fencing has to be taught enough to be straight, yet with just enough give to be able to get a clamp around the edge. This was harder than I thought! Of course, upper body strength has always eluded me. Fortunately, some clamps and man muscles got the job done.

In the utility work area there is the shed for tools and supplies infinitum, a tall ladder hung on the side of the shed, the compost area constructed from used pallets and painted to match the shed and the house, a kitchen table sawed in half and secured to the side of the house with a long board and some screws, the trash bin, and the portable green house. The daughter of the neighbor who gave us the table couldn't believe that a table could be sawed in half and used as such! Children of this generation just haven't seen these practices exhibited by the adults in their lives as was done by the adults of my parent's generation. My parents, having grown up during the Depression learned to use everything they had in their lives and wasted nothing. My generation who grew up with abundance bought stuff and threw it out, gave it away, or sold it at garage sales. I haven't seen people be so clever as to take stuff and repurpose it as was done by the generation before me. Perhaps this Recession/Depression (depending on if you are out of work or not) will help us remember some of the practices of the past and discover bounty that once was overlooked.

One of the neighbors said she'd bring over three more pallets for making another compost bin. By so doing, there can be the initial dumping area of the kitchen scraps (Keep in mind only fruits, vegetables, egg shells, egg cartons, and newspaper go into the compost from inside the house. No meat or meat juices of any kind. This keeps the critters out of the compost.), a second pile in the large bin for the compost that is mid-way in the breakdown process, and the last bin for the compost that is fine, decomposed, and ready to use. We have found that the vegetables that have had the compost added to its soil are strong and excellent producers. Straw, egg cartons (the paper kind), and shredded newspaper can also be added to the compost to add bulk and air and fiber.

One neighbor and another friend have already asked if they can bring their vegetable waste to our compost bin as a way of incorporating recycling into their lives and teaching their children good habits about how to be in the world. It just makes me happy that something as simple as a compost bin can help to bring people together. Great job, Dan... another excellent construction job!

As for the week's harvest... my camera is going kerplunky some of the time and the images end up being pink and smeared. Anyone have experience with this symptom and what could be wrong with my camera? I have a Canon PowerShot A95. I've had for the last 10 years or so; maybe it's time to replace it. I really like this camera because it's not too heavy, takes good pictures, is easy to use and upload onto my computer, and is generally just swell. I hate the thought of parting with it, but maybe there's something better out that coming into my life. Suggestions welcome.

During the week, the harvest included three large heads of cauliflower, five zucchinis, three tomatoes, another bunch of beets that I've already boiled and will be preparing to eat for lunch before long, and three bags of lettuce and greens. The jalepenos will be ready for picking this week. The green beans are sending out their tendrils to cling to the supports provided for them. They look pretty terrific. Coming from heirloom seeds, I'm interested in find out what kind of bean they produce and will be interested in capturing some of their seeds.

I harvested the rest of the arugula seed pods and am beginning the drying process of them. 

There is a lot involved in this gardening adventure. Pretty soon we'll be taking a peak at the potatoes at the bottom of the potato tower to see how far along they have come in their development. oooooh! Can't wait!

Bon appetit!

May wellness and peace be upon you.