MC`s Forest Adventure

[markscastle]

Intresting!

 

[markscastle]

Well got up late, cool nights and mornings slow me down. Today I`m making a second trip to town to get some 55 gal barrels , sand bags, dump my trash and take in recycle. Maybe a few other things along the way. Tomorrow I`ll start working again on my Greenhouses. need to take the doors off stain and fill some spots to be better air tight for CO2 use. I`m not sure I`ll put up the screen until next Spring, may just skip that until then and put the plastic up earlier than planned for winter. Running out of time and way behind. Plants are looking good . They could use more attention but I`m still building and getting ready for winter. Still they are looking good. wish I had everything ready for winter and the construction all done though, I haven`t had time to pull the dead leaves off like I`d like to. way to much to do around here and I`m so dam slow making progress!

 

[markscastle]

Oh forgot on yesterdays trip to town ( visited Grandkids) I bought a whole new alarm system for the greenhouses! It has a new feature, remote control so I can disable the alarms before going into the greenhouses. They are also much louder so I can hear them better inside the greenhouses. Like to get ones that are silent in the future so I`m alerted in time to catch any rippers in the act, but this is an improvement. Thinking on these is to scare off any rippers before they do to much damage. Silent alarms would be better because I`d then have free labor for trimming, LOL!

 

[markscastle]

Went yesterday and picked up 10 55 gal. steel barrels to hold diesel fuel for the generator. lot cheeper than buying a fuel tank for 500+. I dumped my trash and had dinner with my son and his GF but didn`t have room to pick up sandbags. also didn`t have room for recycle so it`s loaded in the blazer. I wasn`t going to put the trash bags in the Blazer so I choose to take it to town while I had my Silverado on the road. Also filled the fuel tank while it was in town. Got my chores done and ready for expected rain tonight. Not sure what I`ll do with myself now. I know if I start something it will just start raining on me ! May take the recycle into town and stock up on gas ? Now I will be able to see if my ruff patch works on the sky light in the motorhome anyway.

 

[markscastle]

The rain seems to be over and it put me behind on things so I`m up to get my chores out of the way early. Going to start some tea and water this morning early then work some more on the greenhouses. Plants are looking good and really putting on the buds now, starting to smell a little. Pictures coming later! This is where it starts to look interesting. Going to be a hard work day but got to keep up and well try to get ahead.

 

[markscastle]

Oh looking at a couple acres just off the pavement with a well. It`s only 2 -3 miles away from me if I take a short cut. I could use the water and build a cabin on the property later. Not a good grow spot for outdoor as it is well in the radar for code enforcement, but I could use it to winter out and maybe put up a grow room for moms and clones and maybe some indoor. Price is good so if nothing else it would be a good investment property. Power polls run along the street front and the road is plowed when it snows. It would need a septic. Also if used in winter I`d need a backup generator to insure constant power as it gets disrupted from storms sometimes. Maybe able to put a fixer upper modular home in ? Be nice to be in a home again, even part of the year!

 

[markscastle]

 

[markscastle]

Getting there! They will be 9 weeks on Nov. 29th. Some may be ready before that and others later.

 

[markscastle]

Just got done with all the chores except watering the garden and the survey team showed up out of know where. They said they`d have two corner markers in today, want to take bets? I`m betting they don`t even get one in. Anyway that puts a monkey wrench in my plans to work all day in the garden. I`ll have to sneak watering in as it is. I don`t want them knowing where my garden is.

 

[markscastle]

Well I didn`t see the survey team take off but I`m guessing they didn`t get two corner posts in yesterday. Not sure if they will be back today or not. Looks like rain again in the morning. I`ll try to get some work done today in the garden but need to take a trip to town some time today for more fuel for the generator and to pick up my diabetic meds. I guess I`ll have to get ready for the storms again today and put everything up before tonight. I think I can spray in the daytime when it`s raining if it is light enough to see when it`s raining , nice to have cover. Little worried about the temps dropping every storm. I still need heaters and it`s going to be getting much cooler before harvest. I don`t think it will get cold enough to kill my plants but they slow their growth way down when it gets to cool. Could effect growth/yield. Running late isn`t a gamble with heaters, but without? I think I could get by with 30,000 BTU for each of the Greenhouses. Goal is to be able to keep them at 76 degrees and under 50% humidity. I can always run the fans but the generators would need to stay on 24/7 unless I can run them on batteries with a inverter , solar charged or generator charged system is what I need. maybe able to get by with an 1800 watt system. Looking at a few systems that are plug `n play. just not sure if they would have enough battery storage to run the fans all night without using the generator to charge them . If I go with a military diesel furnace I`d need to power the fan and also would need ducting. I may also need to run dehydrators than use a lot of power so 1800 watts may not be enough. I could use several charge systems but they need to stay dry so they would have to be set up in the shed. wish I had the shed built nearer to the greenhouses. What I`d like to have is a wood fired furnace with thermostats on the fans but they cost so much to buy! I have an abundance of firewood around here for fuel but other than camp fires I can`t make use of it until I get set up. I`m not wanting to get that envolved until I`m moved onto the property more permanently .

 

[markscastle]

So pissed! I had two refills on my meds but the scripts were over a year old so I could only pick up an emergency supply for the weekend. How could that happen? Insurance would not cover the script. The doctor should have renewed the script and called it in as a fresh script ! Got to take an other trip to town because of that on Monday. I have little time as it is ,but to have to take extra trips! Nothing I can do, I can`t even walk without the nerve meds. and I can`t be going without my diabetic meds ether.

 

[markscastle]

I`m ready to go out and water, break coming in the rain. Bad thing about a Greenhouse is when it rains you still need to water. Oh well it`s worth the trouble. I just will also need to replace the water, maybe in the rain? I think the Honda pump is good for it and I can sit in the truck most of the time. I can`t spray neem but I could spray some milk and Monterey BT , may a little organic calcium ? Buds could use a boost of foliar spray to go with the tea they got in the last drench. I like to water heavy and wait until the top two inches are dry to water again. keeps root rot away and cuts down on other problems. You get a lot less pest/ mold issues between above ground beds and having a cover/in closer. I don`t use AC so it is well vented in summer and has circulation fans. Still up at this level it`s not set up well enough for hard cold like you can get up here with or without snow. Need to finish all my projects and stop working on up coming ones until I have the road fix in and a good pad in on the property. It`s going to be madness moving things as it is.

 

[markscastle]

Thinking if I start over to make artic greenhouses, better in the summer and winter. I was going to start with all passive design and see what they would need tech wise. Less the better.

 

[markscastle]

My friend out on the HWY has offered a deal. They want to be able to go roaming in their motorhome and see family and friends out of state. They wanted to see if I wanted to take over there house and rent for about $600 a month. I would have the house furnished and his grow room and stock. He has about 12 four ft. plants right now. I could use them as moms or flower them , etc.. I would have well water, a washer and drier , shower , kitchen and a big shed for drying plants. Also he has about 6 years worth of fire wood all cut and a 35 ton splitter for the wood stove. They would be back and stay in the motorhome off and on. Was thinking they have the garage set up as a bedroom and I could convert that into a grow room also. They have a tenant that pays 300 for rent that would continue to have house privileges that stays in a motorhome on the property. She could also be a trimmer , house keeper, etc. I could set up my veg room and maybe do some indoor or seed runs. I`d still be here most of the time. It`s about 8 miles away. They would grow there 150 sq. ft. in the back yard in the summer time if they are around so not likely I could do an other outdoor there. I`d just use the grow space, power, water, laundry , and maybe the shower sometimes. I might also use some of the storage space to cut down on my storage bill in town. I still have everything from my old house still in storage. That would cut down some of the expense of the 600 a month rent. I`d have to pay for power. Something to think about.

 

[markscastle]

Man were getting a lot of rain ! Soaking type but not that cold. We need every drop ! should be over by the afternoon some time... then back to work again !

 

[Ned Kelly]

Thinking if I start over to make artic greenhouses, better in the summer and winter. I was going to start with all passive design and see what they would need tech wise. Less the better. View attachment 546947 View attachment 546948

how much light do u lose with these Mark ? Ur greenhouses r looking nice , respect .

 

[markscastle]

Well the plastic cuts the light a little, the biggest problem is the dust that keeps getting on the plastic though. You lose maybe 3-4 % with the plastic but have to keep washing the dust off(except when it has rained) or that percent goes up fast. You could actually use a sun screen to cut the heat in the summer`s full sun and still do good. In fall the light gets weaker also. But that`s one of the signs to the plant to start flowering. Got to remember the sun light is about equal to 17,000 watts of light. it may go down in Fall/Winter but still stronger than using 1000 watt bulbs inside. That's not to say you don`t lose a little yield from the plastic, but it`s a trade off because you don`t get nearly as much dust on the flowers and there is much less chance of bud rot from direct wetness from a rain. Once it`s screened in you can keep lady bugs inside and larger bad bugs outside like moths that lay caterpillar eggs. once it gets and stays cool enough you can inclose the greenhouses all the way and use CO2 to kill off mites without spraying. Doen`t kill eggs so you need to raise the CO2 to lethal levels for 20 mins every week to ten days until all the eggs have hatched and you have the borg defeated. You can also do than with neem spray but it is time consuming work. Biggest down side is the cost or if you make your own add the labor to build greenhouses. I didn`t start out to build greenhouses , just evolved. Now I`m trying to make it through a late harvest and maybe set them up for winter growing , back on back with this grow. And it makes it much tougher to do this off grid !

 

[markscastle]

Stopped raining for now. Thought I had everything tied up good but several plants are leaning and have broken the tape holding them. Really putting on the bud despite the low light from the storm! Every year my plants keep growing later and later and refuse to stop putting on bud so it will be interesting to see what they do after forsing them to stay lat in veg and flowering late. They seem to be playing catch up.

 

[germinator]

They are thanking you for your hard work and diligence, your work and tlc are second to none. You are to be saluted and rewarded.
I shall handle the salute sir. Your harem shall reward you better than ever I hope. Only good vibes to you.

 

[markscastle]

Got the chore done and can`t stay on my feet any longer. Neuropathy hurts so much and my feet are like ice cubes. Took some extra Gabapentin 300mg for the pain in my nerves and going to medicate with some orange cookies hash. Got to get some work done during the break in the weather!!! Thinking of baking some meatloaf tonight so need to find my pans. Extra lean HB, small amount of ;oats, whole wheat flour, coconut flour, eggs, purple onion chopped, small amount of chopped squash and tomato from the garden and maybe some chopped Anaheim pepper. Add some spices(garlic, black pepper , dried onion) and cooked slowly until well done. I like the leftovers for sandwiches more than I like it right out of the oven. Can`t have most comfort foods because of all the carbs that turn to sugar in the blood. I can have meatloaf though. oh I need my nerves in my feet to settle before it starts to rain again! I still need to tie up some and water a little. I don`t think I can stay on my feet to spray today. I need to retrieve my step ladder from storage in town anyway because the tops of the plants are so high I can`t see to spray them.