Processing the Harvest

Just finished reading of Captian Kidd, the privateer turned pirate - hanged in London at the end of the seventeenth century. (He wanted to be a legit privateer, held a royal charter and all - but his crew could not resist plundering some doubtfully legit ships - he did not hold authority over his crew as a military ship does with Marines on board.)

From the days of Henry the Navigator to Captain Cook - and before and after:

"The ship of war is the great bridge of the ocean, conveying over to all habitable places, death, pox, and drunkenness; and it brings back, in return, all the foreign vices that we are strangers to in our own country."

(and now the air liner) And have moved back to reading of Lawrence of Arabia with Lowell Thomas's book (of some doubtful provenance - most of it about his actual interaction with Col. T.E. Lawrence being disbelieved by later biographers - but a very fun read anyway. And educational - Thomas is a good writer for giving local colour, he had really gone everywhere, and done everything, around the world).

And so I have to get my massive tree rope, use my fishing rod to fire a high line over a branch, pull up a cord and then the rope - I want to have it ready for cutting down. A simple felling of a not big tree - but next to the house so best rope it. It is a pine maybe 60 ft tall, but only a foot at the base. Then finish more bad chicken fence; they are getting too bold and wandering too far. I feed them very little so they must graze hard, and so travel to my further garden areas, so it is a sort of self inflicted problem.

The two Chihuahuas are with their owner who has returned for a week - and in 90 days will be able to take them to his new place. Going back to just 2 dogs will be a relief. 4 dogs is quite a load. Now it is cooler, although t-shirt weather again today, the little ones burrow under the covers with you at night making it a bit too crowded.

My kumquats are getting ready for the marmalade making; my last jar finished this week as well.

Black berry bushes - am slowly learning but videoing is hard with my cheap thing, and it always creeps to some magnification by its self - and I forget to scale it back so all is jerky and blurry. I know they are terrible films - but I put in almost no effort, and no one watches them, so it is ok.



And this is on my new computer! A fight to get to work because it is so different that I want to throw it against the wall sometimes. But that is electronic things for you.

 

Lovely to see the sun Colne. In very short supply here at the moment. Your pool's water level has dropped dramatically ?
Jenny

 

I have the pond down because I am digging up the wild iris I collected and established in the terraces at the dock end of the pond - they are really just like rushes mostly - they have yellow flowers but nothing like the domesticated varieties. Then I am moving them to the vertical dropping bank at the far left side. The 12 bought iris rhizomes will replace them with massed daffodils and renunculus and wall flowers and some other things. I have established the fruit, now for the flowers.

The wild iris I collected from ditches and established all around the pond will grow in water, I have some in a foot of water when the pond is up, and the domestic ones will not - so the moving wild ones into the water and the domestic to the terraces.

I cannot help myself and bought another 6 iris at 75% off (1$ each bulb - fancy ones) and some more renunculus and a wisteria. Wisteria grows as an invasive plant here, I cut one down climbing the woods next to the pond 8 inches across! But this is a domestic one that I will keep in check - the wild ones do flower but not like the bought kind.

And I am off to do it. The lumber supplier I use had a death in he family so I have not bought the pressure treated 'cull' wood for more raised beds - but next week hopefully. Then raised beds everywhere. I have some structural drawings I have to do, planning applications hopefully completed, trees felled, and shelving built - so may not get too much gardening done.

And I must make the marmalade! The kumquats are ripe and the marmalade they make is excellent.

 

I'd like to see your plants in bloom next season after moving Colne. Also the Wisteria, so pretty, it's a shame their flowering season isn't longer.

 

My father said that he loves the movie of the garden. It takes him back to his allotment days, (once getting second prize for the county for his 1000 sq ft plot). He will be delighted to see the 80 Hyacinth bulbs in bloom, so rich in scent, and is taken with the diversity of fruit, berries, veg. you adopt and nurture. Oh and Paul Robinson! We like it all.

 

Hi, and Jack is so fun to fallow as he does his, just wild, running when he is so happy to be out in the garden with his friends. Sometimes he will run up and down the road, back and forth, full tilt, stopping to bark and snap at Flora dog - then gone again. Fur just flying and a dog grin from happiness and hard breathing.



Those are some of the bulbs, two buckets full and the ones set out. I have spent a day digging out iris to clear out two terraces and replanting them in the Iris shown set out in the video, a big selection of daffodils, and ranunculus.

Also planted the 10 X 4 foot raised bed at the library with: carrots, beets, turnips, onion, radish - it has the raspberry in it that I bought a bit ago.

Today we took out the biggish pine next to the house, about 50 foot tall, 16 inches diameter, with the rope and saw. Then 5 popcorn trees - a terrible invasive, and a tall but thin pine. To pay my friend for his help I am going to give him a hand patching his roof. I will also help him buy the materials cheaply to do a completely new roof as his is finishd. (after years in the business I an expert at getting cheap construction materials. Like I know how to get roofing at about 1/3 price buy getting end runs from the main dealer. (I have a business with business credit cards so can buy wholesale on some things - or at least get a better price.)

Having a fascinating read of Churchill's "The Gathering Storm"; military history, and especially military ethics, and politics, are my main interest in reading. The book is about what lead to WWII, which Churchill said basically is just the conclusion of the thirty year European war, brought about by the handling of Germany post WWI. (A great point is how Churchill advocated a constitutional Monarchy for them instead of democracy - (which lead to Hitler)) - Germany always had been a Monarchy and were fantastically devoted to their head of state -

As the Japanese Emperor was spared War Crimes trial, and inevitably being hanged, in order for the Japanese people to endure the reconstruction without falling into revolution. This angered the USA voters but that was ignored by MacArthur.

Funny how that worked. The Japanese post WWII reconstruction and occupation were managed by MacArthur who had complete and utter control wile the WWI occupation of Germany was basically financed by USA but controlled by France, Italy, and Britain and retribution was the goal rather than fixing Germany. The German post WWI debacle was made by a committee of politicians who were mainly concerned with their own political futures by catering to the voters anger rather than a single military man who was not elected.

Post WWII Germany was managed by USA and lessons had been learned.

 

Now reading on the Norway Campaign WWII when the Soviets were taking Finland and were slightly allies of Hitler. Churchill as First Lord concerned himself with so many small incidents like sending a theatre/cinema and NAFFI ship to stay in Scappa Flow for the sailors stationed there - to ensuring class was not a barrier to promotion by merit to Commissioned rank - even going as far as promoting specific individuals he heard had been passed over because their humble class; but mostly with big strategy in a completely unknowable situation. It is interesting to get the story from the top instead from the field.

I am off to measure a roof and make up a materials list and then to the lumber store for some treated wood for raised beds here - I wish I could afford marine treated - 10 to 16 times the amount of treating material is put into the lumber making it able to last indefinitely. But costs mean just normal full ground contact lumber will be what I get. And I must run - no time to post the picture I wanted to.

 

I would like to shoot flicker - I use a Dutch IP address a lot - but if I try to sign onto flicker without changing it flicker locks my account thinking I am hacking it; then I have to go to some e-mail account and reset the password. Later I think.

Anyway - imagine a picture of my kumquat tree ready for picking - I am getting ready for marmalade making. So this picture from the net - but mine is better, in a bigger pot, more fruit; and I have those 5 I bought this year for $5 each scattered around with a small amount on them.



And an annoying thing! I take some sour oranges from a side garden of a rich person's house that is empty - they live elsewhere and keep this as a beach house; and the gardeners have stripped the tree because no one eats them but the dropped fruit make a mess. Drat - they are part of my kumquat marmalade making.

I bought 40 foot of 2 X 10 pressure treated lumber for $25 - culls from the lumber yard (that is cheaper than they pay for them) because I am an old customer. Culls are the bent or split ones. Time to make the raised planters for several shrubs and trees I have that need planting.

 

That's a bummer, you'll have to get your own Kumquat tree now.

At least you got the timber cheap

Don't talk about culls at the moment, reminds me i'm missin Stargate Atlantis and i've got no telly

 

No Telly? May as well become a vegan and take a vow of silence and go the whole hog of closing out the world. Not that I watch tele proper - I never watch anything broadcast, and do not get cable - but I do stream movies, documentaries, and shows, onto my TV via this computer. On the 32 inch one I bought at Black Friday! (I did install a strong antenna 37 foot in the air so can get broadcast TV if I did wish)
I tend to think streaming bit torrent is unethical so do not pirate, but do Netflix - and can get the different Nations Netflix because I do use a VPN so can have any IP I wish. (USA and UK Netflix are very different, the USA has much more content. And I do use the BBC occasionally; it is blocked to any non UK - IP, but just use a British IP. Still if you wish live BBC it says to not stream unless you hold a TV licence (honour system) so I only watch old shows.

And it is lovely out, a feel that it is winter, the deciduous leaves dropping fast and the grasses and brush browning - only it is warm enough to not even need a sweater in the sun. This is my porch just now. The bayou full is of mullet and I plan to can some for the chickens, they can be netted in quantity right from the bank.



And I love my fryer, cheap at Walmart, I think $39. Makes lovely Southern Fried, crunchy, fish. I use it below my house set on my washing machine. (My washing machine began to leak a bit so instead of fixing it I put it under the house, hooked it with garden hose, and it discharges onto the lawn (lawns love washer discharge, much greener where it pours out.)

My freezer is bursting with fish and shrimp so have this often:



And the pots in front of the house are now all getting going with their gold pansies -one pot has purple pansies, and one red petunias. The lemon at the end has 4 lemons, last years heavy freezes killed it way back (3 days the bird bath stayed frozen solid) The first pots are for tomatoes and winter flowers - the last 4 have 2 kumquats,1 pecan, and a lemon - and also winter flowers. (taken minutes ago)



Finally the terraces -the middle two on the left side; dug the large wild iris out - put in 20 gallons of sand/compost topped with 20 gallons of rotted leaves and dressed with a bag of leaves. Planted a dozen fancy, domesticated, iris, and other stuff for spring. See where the old iris are moved to the pond bank - I cut off the green so that is lots of iris - to hold the bank, it is a near vertical drop off in the water. The lower terraces above where I moved the wild iris are planted in tiny iris bulbs and above is ginger making a bank side hedge.

 

I haven't had a television for four years Colne.....and don't miss it!

The planting round the pond looks good.

 

No TV? 4 Years? How do you keep up with the flavour of political correctness currently expected? Actually I read the Guardian and Telegraph daily, couple others briefly, maybe the independent for Middle East stuff - see how Fisk is blowing in today's breeze, so stay pretty current that way; especially by reading the comments.

And I am back from the beach watching the Geminid Meteor shower, saw some dazzling ones. It was reminiscent of my childhood in the deserts where my father always had us out for celestial things. I have watched many showers all my life, once getting to see the most massive 'fireball' of probabaly magnitude -10 in the daytime Colorado sky, end of the earth looking thing with a large smoke trail: http://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs/faqf/#2

1. What is a fireball? What is the difference between a fireball and a bolide?
A fireball is another term for a very bright meteor, generally brighter than magnitude -4, which is about the same magnitude of the planet Venus in the morning or evening sky. A bolide is a special type of fireball which explodes in a bright terminal flash at its end, often with visible fragmentation.

And to keep on topic - I have blackened trout (a New Orleans dish) I use the local Zatarains spicing. (picture from web- but looks just like mine) and garden veg for dinner.

 

So today several things to do - and planting the 4, 2' x 2' x 10" boxes I made with 32' of the pressure treated lumber.

This is under my house - you can see the pilings the house is built on - 30 foot marine pilings driven 16 foot into the ground, and the house built 13 foot off the ground on them. Mid top right is my outdoor shower, common here - all the old houses had them for washing off after being at the beach - and has musadine growing on it, and where we shower in the hot months. To the upper far fight is the asparagus bed I put in this spring, with a muscadine grape at one end, which all are doing vey well.
And then the hardest thing is to decide where to put the boxes - so many different considerations. Most of the soil is sodden silt which gets regular salt water inundations, the rare bits are right at the road, which are topped with sand from the ditches being dug many years ago and also drain because they are on the cut ditch bank. So one has to figure which plants can handle wet soil, salt, or shallow sand over silt - but with a bit of draining. The water table varies from the surface to 2 foot down depending on rain and flood.

I have 1 Kioa blackberry I grew from a cutting and is now big and in a pot. A kumquat, 2 lowquat trees in pots I bought last spring from the 4-H (agricultural club for children, mostly farmer's, or outdoor, children sponsored nationally by local government's agricultural agents so is serious - it is for educating young farmers and is in most counties in USA) as tiny things, for $1 each and now are big and can take some salt. A wisteria, muscadines (the only grape which can take a bit of salt and wet soil) I could dig up.

So where and what? Also I should buy a Satsuma - they are the citrus that grows well here, taking this climate better than all others, able to take 26f, -3.5c comfortably; and lower if well wrapped. They cost about $30 because deals will not come around till April next year. But I could one buy a plant full price. They could handle the sandy ditch bank location, in a box for even more drainage. They can take some salt if flushed with fresh water afterwards.

And I still have loads of bulbs to add to the boxes with the trees or shrubs. Bulbs rot in the wet silt. If the box is 3 cubic foot, sand weighs 100 pounds a cu ft so it will be some work filling them. I have those piles of dirt (almost all sand) the city gave me - 2 dump truck loads left, and my huge compost pile.

 

I was fed up paying for an extortionate television licence that enabled me to view rubbish and little else! I don't buy newspapers either......no news is good news! I'm not interested in politics and anything of any importance filters through to me one way or another.

I'm not a vegetable grower Colne, so can't help you with the salt/sand situation unfortunately. I only grow a few salad items in my greenhouse.

 

No Newspapers? You realise you are on a ball of rock and stuff careening through infinity and no one knows why - newspapers help one take interest in the more understandable surroundings as greater reality is a bit too much. I was just taking to my mother a couple hours ago about the dilemma of war, the Bomber Harris and firebombing side, (I am reading of Guadalcanal by Churchill now) and realised how Leibniz (Best of all possible worlds) I was sounding and so read a bit of Voltaire, and so Cacambo's practical truth.

"If we do not meet with agreeable things, we shall at least meet with something new."


And so I filled the planters and tomorrow will make the decision part, which is picking what to plant. When ever I go a bit wild and buy a bunch of marked down plants the deciding where to plant them is harder than planting. But then I have things crammed in all the spots of high land.