Sunday, June 7, 2009
Alachua Rambling Red
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Rain barrel
The first rain barrel is in. It's not pretty, but it serves its purpose. The storage container is a 55-gallon, food grade plastic barrel. This one had a previous life as a greek pepper container and still had a few errant peppers in it when we got it. We added a hose bib fitting about 6" from the bottom and a fitting for attaching to another barrel about 6" from the top. The center part of the threaded top of the barrel was cut out. The lid was then fastened back on with a piece of screen to keep bugs and leaves out. I placed a grill on the top to keep cats, squirrels, opossums, etc. from falling through the screen. The whole thing sits under one of the downspouts from the rain gutter, which was cut to the correct height. The barrel sits up on concrete blocks to add a little extra vertical height.
We got all the parts from the Indigo green store, here in Gainesville, and even attended a class where they supplied all the parts and we constructed the barrels as a group. The construction of these barrels is so simple, we would not have had any problem with it ourselves. But finding all the parts, especially the barrels would not have been easy at all. This store is a fantastic resource for us here in North Central Florida for any kind of green building or household products.
The barrel is about 2 feet vertical and 40 feet horizontal from the square foot garden. We had our first rain early this morning and it worked in principal, with a few minor glitches. (1) The downspout had not been riveted back together (yet) and it came apart. OK, need to finish the job. (2) There is a small leak at the hose bib. Again, easily fixed with a little caulk. (3) And the rate of gravity drainage is very slow. There is not nearly enough pressure to supply a sprinkler, so hand watering was necessary. And it took over an hour to drain the barrel, which was about half full. There are a couple of potential fixes here. First, we will put the barrel up on another set of blocks for a little extra height. And second, we need to work on a distribution method so watering can be done without physically sitting there with the hose. A slow system would not be so bad then.
This barrel is much too small to get all of our irrigation from it. But it's a start. We will add at least two more barrels at the other two downspouts from the house, but only if we can figure out a camouflage method for the one which will have to sit at the front of the house. We could also connect multiple barrels together at the same downspout. The system should work well for our small gardens for most of the summer growing season, when we have generally reliable rainfall which will refill the barrels and reduce the demand for irrigation. The barrels will probably be inadequate for the winter garden, when we can go weeks without any rain.
Sweetwater

The picture above is John Moran's appropriately named "Paradise Found". That's exactly what it feels like when you are there. The rest of the pictures are from our trip there last year.

Another hammock was hung from a huge oak tree that hung out over the spring. That oak tree dominated the views of the spring while providing shade and respite for the locals. What an amazing place! I can imagine that this must have been a favorite resting spot for native Americans who no doubt also enjoyed the cool, crystal clear, soul healing waters, quite possibly under the somewhat less extensive shade of that same magnificent oak.

SF Garden -- Late Winter Update
Now for the broccoli story. Last family dinner night, I decided to pick the one big brocolli stalk and give everyone a bit of raw veggies fresh from the garden before dinner as appetizer. We all tasted it and politely declared it good. But soon it became apparent that the aftertaste left something to be desired. It was a bit bitter, maybe coppery even.
We've had some really cold nights this year. It's gotten below freezing on four separate occasions, and once down into the teens. To protect the plants, we place wire tomato cage supports around the edges of the raised beds. Then we place clear plastic over the frames and hold it down with spare 4x6's left over from making the raised bed. This has worked really well, but would not be the best in high winds or heavy rainfall. We generally wait for the front to go thru before setting up the "greenhouse". It's cheap, easily assembled, and easily stored between bouts of cold weather. We have been toying with various ideas for a more permanent-type greenhouse, but for the number of days that we actually need cold protection here in North Florida, this works just fine.
Monday, January 5, 2009
The Grandma Garden

We started the Grandma Garden even before my mother died. She helped plan it and we moved some of the plants from her garden here after my Dad sold their house. The backbone of the garden is formed by the concrete stepping stones, which my parents cast whenever grandkids were visiting. The stones bear the imprint of all the grandkids hands, feet, and initials. All else in the garden changes with the seasons and with the years, but the path remains.
When we started the garden, it was in a very sunny part of the yard. But the wax myrtles and other surrounding trees in the yard have gotten a lot bigger and provide some welcome shade. Lately, I've been putting in various kinds of ginger because they love the shade, they are beautiful and provide a nice scent when they bloom. I've got this white butterfly ginger and some blue, purple and red varieties that bloom at different times and have very different shapes and sizes.
When we started the garden, it was in a very sunny part of the yard. But the wax myrtles and other surrounding trees in the yard have gotten a lot bigger and provide some welcome shade. Lately, I've been putting in various kinds of ginger because they love the shade, they are beautiful and provide a nice scent when they bloom. I've got this white butterfly ginger and some blue, purple and red varieties that bloom at different times and have very different shapes and sizes.


The eagle represents Dad, the clan patriarch, who keeps a stern watch over the flock. The kazoo on his shoulder is ever ready for a quick tune or an organizing call.
The sign next to the Commander came from Christy and says:
The kiss of the sun for pardon
The song of the birds for mirth
One is nearer God's heart in the garden
Than anywhere else on earth
The song of the birds for mirth
One is nearer God's heart in the garden
Than anywhere else on earth



Friday, January 2, 2009
Cranes on Payne's Prairie
The sandhills were a real treat for us. We see them frequently, but rarely in th
ese numbers and rarely so close. But an even bigger treat was the pair of whooping cranes. This is one of the most endangered species on earth. They are making a comeback after dwindling to about 20 individuals. Now they number about 300 total. And we had never seen any before. I think it may be the first time they have visited the prairie for decades.
The cranes are very large, very noisy birds. When they fly over our house during the spring and fall migration seasons, I can't resist the impulse to run outside and spot the flock. Sometimes I can hear them so clearly, but can't find them because they are so far up or hidden behind the trees in our neighborhood. But this time, we were just 200 feet or so from a huge flock of the birds foraging on the ground. And more birds were joining them as we watched, in small groups of 2 to 10. The new birds didn't seem to care if there was enough room for them -- they would land right in the middle of the flock.
The cranes are very large, very noisy birds. When they fly over our house during the spring and fall migration seasons, I can't resist the impulse to run outside and spot the flock. Sometimes I can hear them so clearly, but can't find them because they are so far up or hidden behind the trees in our neighborhood. But this time, we were just 200 feet or so from a huge flock of the birds foraging on the ground. And more birds were joining them as we watched, in small groups of 2 to 10. The new birds didn't seem to care if there was enough room for them -- they would land right in the middle of the flock.
Note: We found out later from a park ranger that the two whooping cranes are "newlyweds". Whooping cranes mate for life and these two just paired off this year. May they live long and prosper!
Garden Update
The beans, of course, did not survive the first freeze. I should have known. But when it's 90 degrees out and I'm planting a garden in my bathing suit so I can cool off in the pool when it gets too hot, it's hard not to think of warm weather plants.
So far everything in the garden is organically grown. I am not morally opposed to using inorganic fertilizers, if needed. Nitrogen is nitrogen, as far as the plant is concerned. But the soil is healthier if it contains enough organic matter. And the right proportions of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus can supply all the nutrients necessary for growth.
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