Author: Richard

chicken coop door opener

After several weeks spinning my thoughts, I finally got down to it and built and installed an automatic chicken coop door opener.  For the time being it is half automatic - it will open the coop door in the morning (time set for 7.30am) and I will close it in the evening after I have housed and fed the chicken.  Cost of components, excluding scrap wood, hardware, and the transformer which was laying around, was less than $50. I have included full details and photos under the "Self reliance" Read more [...]

growing oyster mushrooms

The oyster mushroom is one of the easiest to grow.  Available free on the internet is a +300 page handbook on oyster mushroom cultivation which has as its central premise that: "Mushroom cultivation has been evaluated as an effective means for poverty alleviation in developing countries due to its possibility of low cost production, high profit and quick return".  A handy insight into mushroom growing around the world. I purchased grain spawn grey dove oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) in February Read more [...]

contour ditch construction

My land slopes and since I rely entirely on rainwater for irrigation, I catch the rain however I can - in storage tanks or directly into the ground with contour ditches.  Contour ditches are similar to swales - built on contour or dead level survey lines to intercept and hold water and to let it infiltrate the ground, therefore they are not compacted or sealed.  While a ditch is narrow, a swale can be broader like a basin and, according to the permaculture bible by Bill Mollison, trees are essential Read more [...]

hand watering

All my irrigation is from harvested rainwater.  I used to pump the water from the main storage tanks to an elevated tank near the growing area but since this tank was only  a few feet off the ground and the water was moved by gravity, it trickled slowly from a hose.  And so I gave up and installed water lines and bubblers and let the water do its own thing at its own pace.  An unsatisfactory result, since I wouldn't notice when individual bubblers clogged and, more importantly, I missed out on Read more [...]

summerizing the coop

Before I get to the coop, a quick update on my "Spring activity" journal.  I mentioned that pokeweed is an unwelcome visitor, difficult to extricate because of its long thick taproot.  In permaculture "the problem is the solution" and it occurred to me that the taproot, like that of comfrey was performing a valuable function mining minerals two or more feet below the surface.  But this seemed inadequate justification for its presence until I noticed that it, and it alone, has been attacked and Read more [...]

something new every day

I learn new things every day.  If I was an attorney I would be studying up on the impact of new legislation and recently decided cases.  An accountant - the impact of new GAAP and the merging with international standards; a business executive - new moves by competitors as they strive for competitive advantage.  For me, my classroom is observing what's going on around me. In my post of February 23 I noted that one of twelve muscadines (grape vines) I transplanted did not survive and I provided Read more [...]

spring activity

We have had a warm March to date here (latitude N34 22'52"), 50 miles north of Atlanta, with several days breaking 80 F. Not surprisingly, there is a lot of growing activity. My Kiowa blackberry has begun to flower and the American elderberry I bought last year, which looked anemic throughout the year, is leafing strongly.     Some of the blueberries are in flower - most of my blueberries are rabbiteyes, which have a lower chill requirement than the highbush variety. Read more [...]

to thine own self be true

I was forking the compost into a new bed (better to use a fork than shovel to save the earth worms) and my mind as usual was galloping along revisiting past scenarios, themes and friends. And the phrase from Hamlet "to thine own self be true" hovered into view. Of all the bandied guidelines such as "a good name is better than great riches" or "love your neighbor as yourself" being true to our own self is for me the most difficult. And the difficult part is figuring out my own self. I worked Read more [...]

corn origins

I received a gift from west coast visitors - Floriani Red Flint Corn. The accompanying information mentions it is a staple polenta corn and family heirloom grown for many years in the Valsugana Valley of Italy. The uninitiated would assume this corn originated in Italy, but it did not. I am enjoying snippets from "1491" by Charles Mann which describes the Americas before Columbus. As we know, the corn kernels we eat grow on a corn cob. It is also apparent that a corn cob cannot self seed - Read more [...]

TGFI – tractor top link

"TGFI" - you may have thought this was a typo and should be "TGIF" - Thank God its Friday, but for me it is Thank God for Internet. Most tractors have a three hitch system, which means the heavy implements at the back are hitched or connected to the tractor at three points, two horizontal at the bottom and one at the top. The top point is connected to the tractor with a top link. I damaged my top link and needed a replacement - one of the arms of the top link was bent, which meant I could not Read more [...]