Rough outline of Garden

Devra wanted to know what my plans for the kitchen garden are. So I drew up a rough sketch for her. Kevin, you will recognize the basic design from the garden I had on the canal bank in Los Banos. Only the paths won't be grass.... just mulch over plastic. I am claiming the roll of black plastic in the basement.

This is obviously not to scale. Ummm.... Way Not to Scale. There will be arches on all four sides, like the one we have right now near the house. The Egyptian onions and the garlic are already in, and bedded down for the winter. If anyone touches them, I will have their hide. Probably the potatoes will go in next to the garlic.... and of course all the climbing stuff like the peas and runner beans will go along the arches. And everything else will go in somewhere....

Your hoop house(s) will be to the East of the garden.

And, no, I didn't use the Google SketchUp, even though I know that's everyone's favorite package right now. Just call me a late adopter.

Buildings: Solar Panels for the Biffy

Out here the biffy gets less attention than it should. For illumination we've used the old kerosene lantern solution (smelly), candles (inflammatory with five kids), Aladdins (highly satisfactory but it takes them a long time to warm up and they're fragile). The kerosene lantern also heats the biffy in the winter, very effectively.

We've thought about running an underground feeder wire from the house to the biffy, but it's 100 feet, we move the biffy to a new hole every year or two, and we only have one empty fuse socket in our ancient 60 amp service panel. A more localized source of power would be better.

For thirty bucks and a visit to Cabela's, we can buy a 12v solar panel with some leads on it. It's designed to charge smaller batteries (motorcycle size) to run deer feeders and game cameras. No mention on the Cabela's website as to the wattage (low, I'm sure) or whether it has a diode to prevent nighttime leakage. Apparently it can't keep a larger battery charged, but a small one is okay for a few bulbs.

One of these on the roof, a lawn mower batter inside, and then either a 12v high-intensity LED light cluster or two, or even that old standby, the 1156 automotive blinker bulb, and we can see to find our anatomy in the dark with both hands.

And a switch, of course. Some wire.

Off the Beaten Path

Well, here we go.....

We've owned this particular 25 acres for six years now, and we've been "meaning to do something with it" for that long. And now that the kids are getting older, and AIG is bankrupt, and no one has ever really recovered from Katrina, and eggs are nearly two dollars a dozen, and milk is over three dollars a gallon, and you and I ain't getting any raises....... or, for that matter, getting any younger.....

It appears to be time.

Over the years, we have talked about lots of things we want to do with the place, but the plans never get put down anywhere easy to get at. Hopefully, this little blog will fix that.

So, these are the basic topics we have agreed to use as labels:

Food

Water

Power

Heat

Transportation

Shelter

Income

Gardening

Buildings

Animals

Sanitation

Recreation

Education

Health

Wildcrafting

Community

Are there any others you can think of right now that we may want to use?