To The Surbiton Manor Born

So this is it. The last basket of veg for the growing season is pictured above.  Last night we had a hard freeze. Bird bath froze. All of the leaves on all of the plants wilted. October 22. That's just a little behind the average frost date of October 8.  It does necessitate removing the plants from the many, many garden beds. Made a start at that this morning, digging out the tomato plants and a few stray carrots, and adding several wheelbarrows full of compost (Steepmeadow compost!).  Kiki planted tulip bulbs among the blueberry bushes at the side of the garage. They are said to be good companion plants, bringing in the pollinators. All things considered, it's been amazing. All of those things in that picture came from seeds. So did everything else we harvested and ate all summer long. We're a long way from self-sufficient, but we've made a start. This year was far, far better than last year, and next year should be better still.  Those beds aren't going to clean

It was a sunny weekend at Steepmeadow, and there was a lot of action. On Saturday, Kirstin used her new garden tool to plant daffodils, tulips, & crocus. She very nearly took us on a visit to Woodwinds Emergency Room after cutting herself on the new tool and filling her gardening gloves with blood. Today, Sunday, I planted as much garlic as I could in the bed that I'd prepared yesterday by removing the failed cauliflower and the last pumpkins (which will be carved at Halloween). I used our very own Steepmeadow compost to lay down a nice couple-inch thick layer of good, fertile soil, and then used the dibber to drop in garlic. It seems to be a matter of some debate how deeply to plant and how to space the garlic. I used the instructions from Seedsavers Exchange, because those worked last year, and aimed to separate the cloves by about 6 inches and plant them about 4 inches deep.  Our Seed Savers cloves were compromised and we were refunded the money. Still, many of them seemed h

  Today, at long last, we threw the switch ! We brought life to our solar array. LIFE!!!

Typically, I like to stay away from the "news of the day." But this was a big one. California just banned the future sales of gas powered lawn equipment - mowers & leaf blowers. I can tell you that the decrease in noise pollution, alone, would be worth it. I never realized how ubiquitous the perpetual cacophony was until I started working from home. There is a townhome association across the street that clearly hasn't got the news that, according to the California Air Resources Board , just one hour of gas leaf blower use is the equivalent of driving 1,100 miles. Running a gas lawn mower for the same period equates to a 300-mile drive.  Or, taken from a darker point of view, perhaps they've got the news, but don't care.  I would love to see Minnesota go the same way, and I'll be writing to the governor later today. 

We began an experiment today. Since early summer, I've been using the other side of the compost bin, letting this side marinate. It looks like dirt now. It probably is dirt.  I pulled the plants left over in the squash bed. I raked the dirt. And then I threw a shovel full - about an inch to two inches of our own Steepmeadow compost into the bed, mixed it in, and mulched it to protect the soil over the winter with a mix of leaves and grass clippings. This first bed with this treatment will be home to snow peas and cucumbers next spring. Ideally, the soil will have been recharged by the compost.  We shall see. We're going to do a few different things in different beds. It looks like we have compost enough for a few of them, and I trust it enough to do that. I also want to try a sack of manure in at least one (we had good luck with that up by the house), and the beet/broccoli bed has a cover crop of wheat grass. We'll see what works best. I'm rooting for the compost. It

  I had the day off today, and spent it processing garden bounty. I have found the perfect gig: stay at home dad with no kids. This would be the way to live.  Before noon, I managed to make two loaves of zucchini bread, a jar of refrigerator banana peppers, and two pumpkin pies from scratch.  The pies are the bit I'm especially proud of. I've never made a pie in my life. Not once. Not ever.  But this spring I planted a seed that we'd saved from last year, much like this one here: It grew into a big fat pumpkin, which I baked: Even my first attempt at a crust turned out O.K. It actually tasted good. Intensely satisfying.  I also managed to use up the last two yellow squash and turn them into curry. Some went in the freezer, some went in the 'fridge.  It is a fair amount of work, but satisfying. 

  Zipper, apprentice electrician We'd planned to get outside to plant crocus and daffodil bulbs this weekend, but thought better of it. Despite it being October, the extended forecast doesn't have a low that goes below the mid-40's for at least ten days. We don't want the bulbs getting any ideas. Likewise with the garlic. We're going to have to wait. Sadly, our last fully formed cabbage, which had looked really tasty and fully formed, was chewed on by some small, furry wildlife. Could be bunnies. Could be squirrels. We weren't interested in their leftovers, and composted it in sadness. Planted eight cabbages and harvested one. Cabbage was not a resounding success. "Pass me a Phillips screwdriver, will you?" Instead of planting bulbs, we installed bulb - a new light fixture in the kitchen, with Zipper's help. It is a new LED fixture that is capable of channeling the blinding light of 10,000 suns  (see 4:37...), as the Moody Blues would have it in th

The Solar Panels are Installed...Only 75 more steps or so to go... Wednesday & Thursday the crew from All Energy Solar installed the system. Before We've only been waiting since the end of March. The loan company had to run another credit check to approve a 60 day extension.  Here are the things between us and generating our own solar electricity: Electrical Inspection - 10/5 Building Inspection - to be scheduled Submit documentation to Xcel Xcel finalizes documentation and orders a bi-directional meter  Once the meter is ordered, I'll schedule your meter installation with Xcel - the appointment when we turn your system on! We'll configure your monitoring and send you the links so you can see your energy production on any internet browser. I'll schedule your closeout visit with Colin to walk through your monitoring, and warranty, and answer any final questions.  It is absolutely maddening. Meanwhile, all the sunflowers except these are now pretty much exhausted: The