Author: Richard

revising practices

As the months and seasons roll by and I learn what works and doesn't, I change my practices.  For me, raised beds work best.  I produce mainly for my family and the area under cultivation is about 1/4 acre and worked by hand (my hands).  For this situation raised beds are optimum -  they drain better, they resist weed invasion better, easier to work (less stooping) and warm up quicker in the winter.  I have 8 beds now - mostly 8 or 10 ft by 4 ft, though I just installed a 20ft by 4ft addition. For Read more [...]

as the season winds down

It has been some time since my last post.  Coursera, the online education system, has absorbed a lot of my time.  I can spend 10 to 15 hours a week just on the calculus course with The Ohio State University. Plus I am enjoying Animal Behavior with the University of Melbourne, Australia, and What a Plant Knows with Tel Aviv University.  And for an unconventional outlook there is A Brief History of Humankind from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  Plus I am busy with Fall tasks. This summer Read more [...]

lawn tractor transmission problem

When a neighbor departed I purchased from her a Murray 14.5hp 40" lawn tractor.  The engine fired but the tractor wouldn't budge.  After some basic repairs I got it running fine and have kept it going the past 3 years.  Since I use it over rough ground it occasionally needs repairs - such as replacing shattered mandrels when the blades hit concealed rocks, beating out the housing from rock collisions and replacing the mower drive belt.  I now use my big tractor with a pto bush hog for the rough Read more [...]

coursera – it’s great

Coursera, the MOOC (massive open online course), has kept me very busy.  Last year I took the sustainability course and earlier this year, 2 physics introductory courses.  My background is accounting, business and the humanities.  Now, with access to excellent tuition from top flight college lecturers, all for free, I am greedily imbibing the sciences.  I am currently taking 4 courses: Animal Behavior (University of Melbourne, Australia), Preparation for Introductory Biology - DNA to organisms Read more [...]

growing update 0822

Good news - my squash have not (yet) been visited by the dreaded borer and are growing rampaciously. So I have a new pest to respond to and I have set a live trap with some enticing carrots to try catch the rabbit.  A more tedious, though inevitable response will be to better secure the growing area and the fence which surrounds it.  Here is a welcome visitor. My most productive bed which is just 4ft by 4ft and was an afterthought, in addition to pumping out tomatoes and cucumbers Read more [...]

growing tomatoes – a curious result

Why is one plant outperforming the other tomatoes? This year, as in other years, I grew several varieties of tomatoes in my greenhouse and in May planted out 32 tomatoes in wire cages in a new growing area.  We had heavy rains and this set the tomatoes back but now they are producing, though with average/poor yields. In a nearby 4ft sq raised bed I planted a few vegetables including a tomato and a cucumber plant.  Both have been growing gangbusters. I pick 3 to 4 large tomatoes each Read more [...]

hatching chicks

My second round of hatching chicks In my May post I described my process for hatching chicks.  I hatched 5 chicks from 7 eggs using a Brinsea incubator.  I did not mention that one of the chicks had part of its intestine protruding, presumably could not digest food, and died 2 days later.  The 4 remaining chicks grew at a steady pace and are now almost the size of their mothers.  It appears they are all hens. I began chicken keeping with 8 purchased (1 rooster and 7 hens) and 6 gifted Read more [...]

seized engine repair

how I diagnosed and repaired a seized engine I heard of  a seized engine and hoped never to experience one.  And then my luck ran out.  Not really a matter of luck as carelessness.  At the Atlanta house I use a chipper/shredder for branches and foliage en route to the compost heap.  The shredder has functioned flawlessly since 2000, except for one bearing which was easily replaced. I regularly checked the oil level - by positioning the machine on level ground, removing the oil plug and Read more [...]

building a bookshelf

how I built a large bookshelf My logcabin has a large basement and I have many books in piles around the living areas - time for a large bookshelf.  The Atlanta house we bought 20 years ago had a built in bookshelf in a couple of rooms (that's what attracted us) and in the attic was surplus wood shelves of varied lengths - 36", 33" and 32". Preparation I cleared a wall and corner in the basement, polyfilled the holes in the sheetrock, painted the wall with the color I will use for the rest Read more [...]

erupting fungi

Rain continues to drench our region and, unsurprisingly fungi are erupting in the woods.  Domes up to 1 ft diameter shoulder aside pine needles and mulch.  The underside where new life is stored and released is mysterious and almost cavernous when you get close enough and small enough. There is no shortage of feasters - here is a slug at work And no shortage of color, sizes and shapes   Some seem a bit drab   And some are half eaten   And Read more [...]