Winter Is Walking Up The Mountain

Yes, it is true. Winter is walking up the mountain. We have cleared the morning glories from the greenhouse and let the sides down and stored all of Jill's plants in there, hoping they will winter-over well.

The leaves are showing all the varied colors and have begun to fall and carpet the ground. We have wrapped the exposed pipes, cleaned up most of the garden and done all the "chores" that need be done before winter arrives in full force. I believe we will have a hard winter this year.

I will soon finish my undergraduate work and graduate from UT Martin this fall. The past 18 months have been very challenging and demanding, but I will finish my undergraduate studies this fall and receive my Bachelor of University Studies degree. I plan to enter graduate school this coming spring and pursue a Masters of Education and Related Studies degree and then teach Criminal Justice at the college level.

I have returned to my genealogy investigations in my spare time, on rainy days when I can't get outside. All of the firewood needed for the winter has been cut, and most of it split. John, Sherisa and Ethan have settled into life in the cabin and all is well on the mountain.

It's June Already

It's June and we have added another super, a honey super, to hour bee hive and the hive is thriving.

We have completed, except for the covering, a 12 X 16 greenhouse, which we built for about 1/3 the cost of a commercial kit and expect it to give us a "jump-start" on our spring garden and to offer protection to Jill's plants and flowers during the winter months. Jill can move from her cramped, small, and dark potting shed to the greenhouse to pot her plants and flowers. She plans to landscape around the greenhouse with flowers and rock scapes and yard sculptures, of various kinds.

We have added another load (19 tons) of crusher run gravel to the driveway - an 800 foot drive way and the county E911 service has renamed our driveway Powers Lane. Good, it is a name I can remember.

The garden is producing as expected. The compost bin is serving us, and our garden, well and the plants are very healthy. We have already gotten squash and raspberries from the garden and the carrots will be ready in another week.

Rabbits Released - Blueberry's Planted & Screen Door's Hung

It has been a busy two weeks despite the incessant rain.

Jill successfully raised (rehabed) the baby rabbits to the point where they were eating clover and could be released back into the nearby "wild." The blueberry bushes we ordered and were planted and the screen doors, which should have been hung, and rehung, last year are finally in place and look pretty good.

I will begin a compressed semester at UT Martin in an upper division criminal justice course (have to write some legal briefs in this one) and I am getting ready. I look forward to the challange and expect a good outcome - translation - an "A."

More when time allows.

Jim

Green Walking Up The Mountain

Green Is Walking Up The Mountain

Folks who live in the mountains will be familiar with the phrase: “green is walking up the mountain.” It means that the leaves turn green in a progression from the valley to the top of the mountain. It’s logical really. It is warmer at lower elevations (the valley floor) than it is on top of the mountain. Plants will typically, in our area, get green and bloom, in the valley, about 3 weeks before they do at our place.

In our garden the compost in the compost bins is ready for use this year and should return dividends of much larger and healthier vegetables. We have added raised strawberry beds this year and are also adding blueberry bushes to our garden. In addition we are adding 1 hive of honeybees (Carniolain), which are not aggressive and resistant to a number of problems that plague honeybees.

We have added a cabin for Ethan (grandson) since our last post and we are looking forward to seeing him enjoy it for many years. He is moving here in a few months (and bringing his momma and daddy with him) and we expect to teach him some helpful mountain ways.

New Garden, New Computer, New Problems

All the talk about rising food prices, rising gas prices and an overall rise in the cost of living got me to thinking about growing a part of our food needs.  We decided to put in a garden that was not labor intensive or dependent on roto tillers, tractors or any gas burning equipment.

We choose to do container gardening or as our grandson Ethan calls it: "a Pod garden."

We bought a 20 foot length of culvert pipe, cut it into 1 foot sections and filled them with horse manure.  Some nice folks, just down the road, own a stable and let us get all material from the stalls.  The plants love it.  We choose to plant root crops that keep well and of course tomatoes. We choose heirloom, open pollinated verities.  We added several 2x8 foot "grow boxes" and planted blackberries and Jerusalem Artichokes.

Then, I spilled coffee on my laptop (I knew better) and the keys would not respond - so - it was time to upgrade and I decided to go with the Mac.  The Mac is great! Beats the PC by a country mile - But - there is a leaning curve, not huge, but takes a little getting used to.  I would never go back to Windows again.

More later....Jim

Planting Time On The Mountain

It is planting time on the mountain.  I am thinking about, and planting, crops that store well over the winter.  Root crops, Turnips, Rutabaga, Sun Chokes, and Butternut Squash, and in my "pod" garden this year

Planting On The Mountain