Snowing like Crazy! 12.30.21

Amazing how much it snowed. Not cold enough so far to cause any damage. Still the coldest months to come. We will see how it goes.

My Grandparents in their Garden. About Mid1960s.

This is my favorite photo of my mom's parents. They lived in Western Illinois (Mt. Sterling). It's diffficult to see the garden in this photo. My grandfather, Glenn Wilbur Alcorn, always grew sweet potatoes, tomatoes, potatoes, sweetcorn, turnips, dahlias, zinnias, balsam. I'm sure those are dahlias to her right and balsam to his left. I recall my mom telling me that his doctor told him to garden, after he had a heart attack. I don't remember if my grandmother, Ivy Icenogle Alcorn, also worked in the garden. I'm thinking she must have, but my recollection is more of him.

More pH Tests. 12.28.2021

This is the pH of the bed that currently contains garlic. This is the only raised bed whose soil is entirely from our property, having been salvaged from a neighbor's road building on an easement on our property. This soil color is dark brown, compared to the purchased topsoil being black.

This is New Raised Bed #1. This time I'm doing it right, soil:distilled water 1:1 and letting it sit in a tall jar overnight to settle and clarify. I also did that with the garlic bed soil.

This is comparison of distilled vs. tap water. I assume the pH paper is calibrated with distilled water, since that is what they direct us to use, and I did. D for distilled and T for tap. Our tap is well water run through a purifier and softener system. It's not as acidic as distilled water.

I feel much more reassured about the adding lime and/or wood ashes. New raised bed #1 (and #2) soil is from the top level of the beds, which is soil I have amended with compost, lime, wood ashes, las year. It's certainly not alkaline, and the garlic grew very well, so I think I have a good system going.

Topsoil pH and Chemical Tests. 12.27.21

I used a home test to check the pH, N P K content of the topsoil I've been using to fill raised beds. This is a test of the un-amended soil, nothing added. pH

Nitrogen

Phosphorus

Potassium

pH, using pH strips and dilution 1:5 to make it readable.

I think these are a little difficult to interpret, but maybe OK. If Im reading correctly, pH using the liquid reagent is about 6, maybe 6.5. Nitrogen looks depleted and both phosphorus and potassium look deficient. By the pH strip method, the pH is about 6, maybe 6.5 so similar to the liquid reagent test. I'm not surprisd the topsoil would be depleted. Now I feel more comfortable fertilizing and adding a liming agent (wood ashes).

Fungi. 12.26.2021

There are mushrooms growing all of the time. Last winter I spread a layer of tree chips in several areas, often on top of a newspaper layer. The newspaper is completely gone now, and the woodchips are starting to disappear. Meanwhile mushrooms continue to pop up. They like growing in those wood chips.

The benefits of fungi are legion. The soil should be interlaced with fungal mycelium, for soil health and therefore plant health. Often, I remove some mushroom caps and place them on the raised bed soil the get them started in the new soil.

Winter Day. Raised Bed. Deer. Rufus. 12.26.21

It snowed again. Rufus got to take a walk. He likes to snoop. He sticks his nose under the snow, then snorts like a horse. Then he sticks his nose under the snow, then snorts like a horse. Then...

There were some deer between the woodshed and the woodlot. They like it there. It gives them a chance to see if I leave the garden gate open so they can eat the remaining plants and fruit trees.

They grew nice and big, munching on my fruit trees and flowers and veggie plants. I set a goal of not more than 10 to 15 buckets a day in the raised bed. Today I added about 15, lost count. More is too much for me. At this rate, it will be filled within two more weeks. Next layer is compost from a year-old compost heap, then what I imagine will be the topmost layer of topsoil.

Rufus supervised.

Saving Squash Seeds. 12.24.21

These are seeds from the Pink Banana Squash that I hand pollinated. When I gutted the squash (like making sausage, gutting a squash is not for the squeamish), I rinsed the seeds and then left them to dry for a week on newspaper. I stirred them a few times so they would dry thoroughly.

The bits of newspaper stuck to the seeds are harmless and I don't remove them. This is enough Pink Banana Squash seeds that, if I planted them all, and they all made squashes, I could feed a moderate sized city.

Garden Raised Bed 1/2 Filled With Soil. 12.24.21

Due to space constraints, I have to fill this raised bed, bucket by bucket. I tend to overdo the work then regret it and get mad at myself. I have all Winter, and Spring if needed, before it gets planted with the main crop. This year, a community of moles moved in under the previous raised bed and had big mole parties. I think they were mole weddings, or maybe mole political rallies. They dug up the paths and mixed dirt with the nice thick layer of tree chips I had as a pathway. So the pathway is useless now. So, I dug off the top layer, which made the bottom four inches or so of the rebuilt raised bed. Eventually the tree chips will compost themselves and just be soil. Then I covered that with about six inches of new topsoil. Then a bag of leaves, which wont add much volume but will add a little organic matter and feed the soil fungi and earthworms. Now I've started adding the top layer of topsoil. When completed, the bed is 18 inches high, a good height for accessible gardening.

I'm ahead of schedule. If I set my goal for a half dozen buckets a day, it will be done in January. Then I'll put down a barrier in the pathways and cover with something that stays reasonably clean and comfortable to work on.

Next Step on Quilt - Making The "Quilt Sandwich". 12.21.21

I struggled with ways to make the "Quilt Sandwich"- Backing layer, inner batting layer, top pieced quilt layer. With my first quilts, I tried spray adhesive that washes out when the final quilt is washed. That stuff is aweful - fumes like an auto body shop. Even with windows open and fan running. Plus, I still couldn't get the layers matched up to my satisfaction. It was a mess. With the last quilt, I spent a few hours pinning it together on the sunroom floor which is big enough and is porcelain so won't be scratched by the pins. That worked OK but took a lot of trial and error. Working on the floor isn't that much fun for me, either. Taping the bottom layer to the floor helped a bit but not a lot. This time, I cleared off the kitchen island and used that. That actually worked a lot better. I can work while standing, fold the quilt layers over as I pin them together, smooth under and over as I go along, the coffee pot is close by for emergency infusions. The island surface is slick enough that I can slide the quilt back and forth to smooth it and pin.

Now this quilt sandwich is all together and ready for sewing. That will take a while, but is rewarding because the final quilt begins to emerge. Even before it's sewn together, with the layers all there it now has the thickness, the feel and the weight of a real quilt. I think putting the quilt sandwich together is one of the most difficult parts. Working on the island helped tremendously.

Rebuilding the Last Raised Bed. 12.21.21

Today I laid down a mole barrier, and rebuilt the raised bed that Ms. amd Mr. Mole destroyed in late summer. I had emptied the soil earlier, which I used for filling the newest raised beds. Today I smoothed the base ground a bit more. I think what happened was part of the original mole barrier was chicken wire, which rusted away. There is still galvanized hardware cloth in place. The moles had undermined the corner supports, which splayed outwards, then the boards collapsed and I no longer had a tidy and functioning raised bed. The base is galvanized deer fencing, with a second layer of plastic deer fencing. These were previously used around trees, so nothing new was needed and I didn't have to dispose of those used fencing.

Around the sides, later I will put down walkways, and the mole barrier overlap wont show any more. The rebar that runs through the cement corners was two feet long, so only 6 inches into the ground. the new rebar is 4 feet long, so 2 1/2 feet into the ground. That should help anchor the corners better. After installing the lower two layers of cement corners and boards, I ran wire from rebar to rebar, to tighten them a little more against splaying outwards too.

Then I added the top layer of cement corners and boards. The wires will not show at all and wont be in the way.

Now all that remains is a sheet-plastic liner on the sides, and fill again with soil. The liner is meant to reduce contact between the boards and soil to a minimum. I can get that started this week, and gradually fill, taking as long a time as I want. This bed wont be planted until May or June, although I'd like to plant a cover crop or cool weather stuff like spinach lettuce, radishes, in Feb or March.

First Snow. 12.19.21

We had the first snow of the year. Rather than putting lights up high, we just put them in the sunroom and on the rail.

My contribution was to make a holiday curtain for the kitchen windows.

Very slowly working on checking pH in garden beds. Most seem around pH 7 so far.

Saving Seeds. Pink Banana Squash. 12.17.21

Today I cut up the Pink Banana Squash that I had hand-pollinated so I'm confident the seed is true to type. The flesh is still pretty good, noce fragrance but a little dry now. I washed some of the seeds and laid them on newspaper to dry for a few days.

Nematocidal Mustard Winter Ground Cover. 12.17.21

I think it's very, very late to be planting a ground cover. However, if the ground is turned over, weeds will sprout and grow thickly before I need thw garden bed in May or June. I think mustard might be as hardy as any weeds, and might either germinate soon and survive fhe winfer, or ferminate afte the coldest weather before I can work the soil again. So I took a chance. This mustard variety is used by potato farmers as a green manure cover crop, because it kills nematodes better than nematocide chemicals.

I used a garden claw to roughen up the soil a bit. It didn't need tilling or digging. this area has been sweet corn for two growing seasons, so I will grow squash here next year. The leaf covered area needed more enrichment, so it has a thick blanket of leaves that will be turned in next Spring.

It was nice to get out into the garden today. This chore was a bonus - I didn't plan on doing it, and I'm curious to see if/how well the mustard seeds grow.

A Doggie Raincoat For Rufus. 12.17.21

The last rain coat kept slipping sideways. The inside of the vinyl is quite slippery. I keep meaning to make one with a much less slippery lining and now I did. The raincoat vinyl was a large human raincoat that I bought two or three years ago at BiMart for $4. If necessary, it has enough remaining for a third rain coat, maybe more. That contrasts to Joann's which had the actual fabric for something like $17 a yard. I forget how much but it surprised me. Might have been more. The corduroy shirt was at thrift shirt for half price, so $3.50. Again, to buy the fabric itself would cost many times that. My goal was less than $10 for the rain coat and we much more than met that. I priced them in the past at the pet store at $35 and more, and they never fit him. He has a big chest for his stubby legs, skinny belly and short body. This one fits him perfectly. Before making.

After, inside.

After, outside.

The black rectangles are Velcro. It works great except when wet, then is comes open. It's a raincoat so it gets wet. I will replace it with snaps. I hope those do better. I already had the yellow polyester bias tape edging and the velcro, somdid not include that in the cost. Also, I used a washable spray adhesive to hold it together without pins. I already had that too. I rough cut it, sprayed, bonded together, trimmed for nice edges before sewing on the bias tape fabric.

Rufus doesn't mind wearing it at all. It does the required function of keeping most of him dry. I doubt he would allow a hood, but I may try later. My initial thought was to use flannel, which I think would have worked fine but I could not find any that met my cost constraints. I was actually leaving the store when I saw the corduroy shirt that someone had cast aside in the wrong aisle. I think that probably works even better than flannel. There was a lot left over, and I'm sure it will go into other projects.

A Flannel Doggie Jacket For Rufus. 12.13.2021

This jacket started as a small, heavy, flannel shirt. Several years ago, I re-sized it and cut it back to make a jacket for my dog Charlie. He is no longer wit us, and Rufus is much shorter stature but as big a body. I decided to modify the jacket to suit Rufus. Then he can stay more dry on long walks in drizzle.

The pockets don't serve a purpose and the sleeves hang too low and too awkward for Rufus to walk comfortably. The coat is too long for him. I made a pattern.

I removed the sleeves, cut the sides below the sleeves and extended them to the front.

Then I cut the shirt to fit the pattern. Instead of hemming the flannel, I sewed on bias tape. I used extra fabric to make a belt. I used velcro to fasten the belt, and fasten the collar. All pretty easy. He didn't like the shirt tail touching his tail, so I re-sized it a little more so he wouldn't mind wearing it.

I thought this came out pretty good. It would probably be easier to just use a flat piece of flannel, maybe a double layer. The placket looks a bit awkward but that doesn't seem to doesn't affect him.

Batik Disappearing Nine Patch Quilt. 12.12.21

Yesterday I sat down at the sewing machine and put together all of the quilt blocks for this batik fabric quilt. I arranged, rearranged, re-rearranged the blocks over the last few days. It's nothing like what I thought two weeks ago. I think it's actually coming together and nicer than I initially thought. I started this quilt in Jan but was sidetracked by medical issues which are now better.

This is a situation where having the Iphone and Ipad helped a lot. I kept taking photos so I would know how it looked and how to put together. The i-phone camera over-emphasizes the contrast, so dark patterns all look darker, and light patterns look almost shocking white. That does help in a way, because it identifies unwanted and unintended patterns when the quilt blocks play with the eye. I used post-its to mark how I liked it, but used the I-pad more to guide based on how I finally arranged the blocks. This is how they looked before sewing together.

Before doing all that, I put together the Morse sewing machine and got it running. I took a while to get used to it but it is a lot of fun. The stitching is quite different from modern machines. I think I'll replace the inner light with an LED like I did the Kenmore. Then I took the Kenmore machine apart, blew out the lint using canned keyboard cleaner compressed air spray, oiled, and it ran like new. It's interesting how much nicer it sounds. I have a pdf of the manual which helps a lot.

"Vintage" Morse Fotomatic ZigZag Sewing Machine. 12.8.21

Yesterday we made the trek to Portland and tried out a Morse sewing machine that was offered on Craigslist. It works differently and it will take some time to learn sewing on it as well as the maintenance. However, it has a wonderful sound and feel, and I'm sure I'll enjoy learning to use it, very much.

Morse sewing machines were made from the late 1940s to the early 1960s, as far as I can determine from internet histories. The company owner, Philip Morse, imported them via his own company, from Japan. They removed the Japanese factory labeling and marketed the machines as American made. Eventually, the FTC got on him and the company jyst sort of vanished. As far as my readings, Morse sewing machines were made by Toyota, Brother, and Pine factories in Japan. There is no way, apparently, to tell who made this one. The fraudulent labeling was because American thought at the time was that Japanese goods were inferior to American. However, they were very high quality, solid, innovative sewing machines. Some modern sewing enthusiasts are quite fond of their Morse sewing machines. This machibe must weigh 45 pounds, has an enameled steel body over a cast iron frame, and I bet it will outlast my new-ish digital Brother sewing machine. Also, that new digital machine is very picky about the thread, tension, and needle, and often skips or messes up stitches that the 1990s non-digital Kenmore has no problem with. I hope this Morse is just as good. Even though I read that the Japanese labeling was removed from Morse sewing machines, mine does show country of origin.

The previous owner told me she recently oiled the machine, so I have a little tine to learn before it needs it again.

Soil pH. 16.6.21

I want to check the pH of garden soil before I do anything that might change it. As it is, the existing raised bed soils have been very successful and productive. Of course, I want the soil to stay healthy for the long term, and replace minerals that the plants might remove and that might leach out from watering. I also want to add biochar for long term soil carbon and drainage, and that might raise the pH. How much is an unknown quantity. I bought a paper strip based soil pH testing kit. Here is the prelim result for one sample from a raised bed whose top layer of soil grew garlic and beans in 2021 and the majority of that soil was from a source that screens yard soils that are brought in to their facility.

My guess is this is read as closest to pH 5.0. Then again, that might be the shadow, and maybe it's much higher. Maybe the bottom row is reading 7.0. This is confusing. Maybe I'll try a different test.

Quilt Notes. 12.5.2021

Here is that same quilt. Once I get going, it all starts coming together.

Next comes the border, then start putting it together with cotton batting and a backing. The only part that isn't men's shirt fabric is the white border. I made multiple miscalculations with that, and wound up with slightly too little to complete the quilt. I have more ordered. Crossing my fingers that it is the same. Otherwise I will figure out something else, I guess. It's a very good feeling when something starts coming together and I can see the beginning of how it will look. I think this one is my favorite so far.

Quilt Notes. 12.3.2021

Here is the progress on a quilt started this summer. So far I'm very happy with how it's coming together. Squares cut out, ready to start.

Sewn into traditional "Nine-Patches".

Now sewing on the borders, which are a white on white texture cotton fabric. So far, this is the most enjoyable I've done. Some aspects become more comfortable with time, and I'm still learning. The old Kenmore sewing machine is definitley more enjoyable than the modern digital Brother machine.