MC`s Forest Adventure

[markscastle]

Wow it took longer than I thought. I got the plastic down on the ends and the sides rolled up today. It`s cooled down but still warm to work in the afternoon. Thinking I can set up work lights and work on the soil at night. Need to put a rush on this, plants are starting to out grow the 5 gal nursery pots. I need to run once again to town to get staples for the staple gun. The landscape fabric is lose around the inside of the beds and I`ll need them to put up the screening. Screening will keep good bugs in and bad bugs out of the greenhouse while allowing natural circulation, but it does more. Digital photos can not be take of the inside of the greenhouses from a chopper. No evidence, no warrants. Hey not really a big fish but caution is always preferred. What I`m worried about the most is code enforcement. I`m close enough to the roads they could smell the flowers in the Fall. I have filters but I`m not sure I can cut the smell from open screened areas of the greenhouses. If it get and stays cool I could put the plastic back up on the ends and roll down the side. If it is warm I`d need AC to be able to enclose the greenhouses All that would be a nice set up , but power is generators so not practable.

 

[markscastle]

Taking longer than hoped to re-attach the landscape fabric back onto the above ground frames. Almost done noe though. so far I`ve gone through 3500 staples. My hands are so sore! I`ll put up some of the screen that would be hard to reach next and finish the rest after the plants are in the ground. I will be working mostly on the soil next. then I`ll finish up the rest of the screens. Pictures when they are all in the ground.

 

[markscastle]

I got the hardest part of the screens done today. I have two of the greenhouse`s soil mixed with lime and oyster shell dust. I`ll cultivate the last one into the soil in the morning and then water it in well. I need more screen to complete the greenhouses but getting the plants in the ground comes first. Should be just a few more days. the plants are doing good in the 5 gal. pots for now and it`s cooling down which will make transplanting much easier on them. Most of the ferts I have are going to be made into tea and applied as needed later. I did buy 30 bags of chicken manure and that will go into the holes to sweeten up the soil for the young plants when I transplant. I also got a bag of pellet ferts for top dressing the beds. In all I spent $1000 of ferts and amendments. Most of what I got is raw ingredeince, not storm bought mixes. I`ll be glade when they are in the ground and I have a little time for other projects I`m putting off for later. Getting broke fast. I still have about $20,000 in gold coins but holding on to them as the prices are climbing on gold these days. I`m also hoping fuel costs don`t go up very much this summer ! I think this will be a better year for me if I can pull off this grow. I have yet to see most of my inheritance as it will take some time to sell off properties. All that money is ear marked to improvements to the property.

 

[markscastle]

I got the last of the beds mixed with lime and oyster shell and got started with the watering. It`s so dry it`s going to be a lot of work to get the beds all wet. Work on it again tomorrow. Used 500 gallons of water so far. Can`t do anything else until I can get the beds soaked. It will take multiple even watering's to wash the lime in evenly without letting the water run off .

 

[markscastle]

Just want to indorse a company. I have no interest in this company but they do have a kit that helps grow older seeds and does a good job. Very similar to how I`ve been doing it for years. Company is Monster Garden . com Only adding this because I`ve been asked how I do it for years. They also have plant tissue products I may even try myself. Do shop around though because they are not the only company out there!

 

[markscastle]

Two days and 4500 gallons of water and the beds are only hydrated to 4 inches deep ! I` going to have to rethink this. It will take me an other two plus days to refill my water tanks. Thinking maybe I`ll dig out the wholes in the beds and pool the water up just around the plants for now. I`ll have while until the roots expand enough in the beds to need the whole beds wet anyway. I`m also thinking I`ll find a few bales of straw to cover the tops of the beds so they don`t dry out so fast this summer. It will keep weeds down also. I`m just worried it could cause mold to grow, but people do this in there gardens all the time. Hell this is a lot of work!

 

[markscastle]

Today just sucks. It rained off and on all day and everything is all wet. I can`t use my pumps to get water or water the beds. I ache all over from? Happens alot when it rains . I did go to town and got more screening and some supplies. Mostly in bad all day hurting like an old man. Oh , I am an old man! To make maters worse my fingers are all red and swollen and took a fall tried to catch myself and cut one finger to the bone. Got it to stop bleeding and bandaged it all up but can`t get it wet or dirty. My work gloves won`t go over the bandages. I`ll figure something out. I guess I`ll work on watching a movie and hope it is a better day tomorrow. But I hate being delayed about as much as standing in lines !

 

[markscastle]

Today is looking better! Some clouds so could see a few light sprinkles yet but I can run my pumps. I feel better and it`s cool and moist outside this morning. shouldn`t go past the mid 70`s. I`m all ready to plant and I thunk I have enough water on hand to do so. I`ll get what I can to start filling the water tanks after the plants are in the ground and before It starts warming up. After the tanks are full I`ll need to clean out the 325 gal mix tank for making tea in and continue putting up the screens. I`ll also have to do some more weeding as the rains have fed the weeds so they will be growing back . It`s going to head back to being hot again soon so going to get my hump on while it`s cool . ;-)

 

[markscastle]

Got 30 wholes the size of a 55 gal drums dug to the bedrock in the above ground beds. . Half filled with lose soil and chicken manure and fill to the brim with water today. I could keep working on planting as I have the water, but my 12v battery is dead and needs a charge. Can`t pump the water without the power and I`ll need to water as I plant the clones. I`m so sore anyway. I got about a half of a bag of chicken manure per plant left over that I`ll use as a top dressing. The tank is in the truck and the water pump is gassed up and in the truck as well. So planting in the morning and then going for water the rest of the day. My back hurts and I`ve got blisters all over my fingers now but I`m happy with the progress today.

 

[markscastle]

This sucks!!! the new generator isn`t working. It only has 611 hours on it . I need it to charge everything up and run 120v stuff (AC, TV, DVD, Stereo, battery charger) . I can charge the shore batteries and 12v batteries with jumpers off the truck , but it will take a lot of gas and more time to do everything. The solar helps but it takes 3 days of good sun to fully charge batteries. And it`s going to get hot! I have a hard time getting the generator into the truck and it takes days, sometimes weeks to get it fixed. The lister needs a muffler and is very load. It also needs to be wired up and I don`t have any fuel for it. Well happy Father`s day! Maybe I can get my son -in-law to help me load the generator into the truck? I need to get water so hope the water tank doesn`t need to be taken out or I`ll have to put in back in only to take it out when I pick up the generator and put it back after. I need a lift gate on the truck badly.

 

[markscastle]

I am going to have to unload my gold coins, regardless of what I can get for them. Going to buy an other gas generator for a spare and maybe a lift gate for the Silverado as well. Part of the problem is getting heavy things on and off the truck. I have a hard time finding help doing that. Seems everyone I know has a bad back ! Really, most everyone I know is also lazy. I wish I could work harder myself. Being disabled is so much a drag.

 

[grayarea]

This sucks!!! the new generator isn`t working. It only has 611 hours on it . I need it to charge everything up and run 120v stuff (AC, TV, DVD, Stereo, battery charger) . I can charge the shore batteries and 12v batteries with jumpers off the truck , but it will take a lot of gas and more time to do everything. The solar helps but it takes 3 days of good sun to fully charge batteries. And it`s going to get hot! I have a hard time getting the generator into the truck and it takes days, sometimes weeks to get it fixed. The lister needs a muffler and is very load. It also needs to be wired up and I don`t have any fuel for it. Well happy Father`s day! Maybe I can get my son -in-law to help me load the generator into the truck? I need to get water so hope the water tank doesn`t need to be taken out or I`ll have to put in back in only to take it out when I pick up the generator and put it back after. I need a lift gate on the truck badly.

cant you just scale up on the solar until you don't need a generator? or is that not a possibility.

 

[markscastle]

I`ve scaled up as much as I can for now. Once I`ve moved onto a new pad and have septic and well in place I want to put up a new solar system that can handle a mobile Home. I`ll still want a system with a generator back up for extended winter weather though. I think my Honda should be covered under warrantee . The problem is getting it loaded on to the truck and also waiting maybe weeks to get it back. That`s why I want a back up generator.

 

[markscastle]

I got the top greenhouse planted but can`t do the rest yet because the plants in 5 gal planters are still to moist to transplant. If the dirt isn`t dry enough it just falls away from the roots. I`m going to work on water and screens until it`s dry enough. Oh and the generator!!!

 

[markscastle]

Took my generator into the shop, hope it covered by warrantee and doesn`t take long to get running again. Going for water all day today to fill up my tanks again. starting soon as it turns light outside. Dam gold prices took a dive again. just going to keep a watch on prices and soon as they are up again I`ll look into cashing my coins in.

 

[markscastle]

Got 4 loads of water yesterday. Filled the 225 gal fresh water tank for the RV and the 1000 gal tank up. I still need to fill the 1200 gal tank up. I`m thinking an other two days for the 5 gal pots to dry out enough to plant the plants in the ground. None are root bound so won`t effect the growth much but trying to plant them while moist could set the roots back. Really wish I hadn`t watered them as much . Hope the generator gets done today !!!

 

[markscastle]

Didn`t get anymore water ,but I did get my generator back and also got clean gas and a water separator for my pump. I`m spending most of the day planting and may cash in my coins if the prices stay above $1300.00 per oz. But I need to plant now so coins will have to wait!

 

[markscastle]

I decided to stop planting until the morning. It got to hot and was stressing out the plants. Got 2/3`s of the planting done. Gold is at 1333.20 an oz. so going to work on planting more in the morning and then head over to a coin shop in the morning ( after I check prices again). I was offered around $20,000.00 when the price per oz. was $1271.00 so lets see how much I made hanging on to the coins awhile.

 

[markscastle]

Change of plans, it cooled down and had enough light to finish planting tonight. Really could have used an other couple days to dry out the 5 gal pots but I didn`t break to many roots. The pots weren`t root bound at all. Nice white, fluffy roots. Hope they all like there new home! Going to give them all of my love !

 

[markscastle]

I did my chores and spent the rest of the day running around with my coins until I got them converted into cash. Didn`t get much else done. I did get a good price for them however. Going to do chores in the morning and maybe some cleanup around the greenhouses, then fetch water until it gets to hot in the afternoon. long 21.5 hour day!