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.

Planting Third & Last Apple Tree Hybrid, Calypso™ x Golden Sentinel™ 11.30.2021

This was the last of the three seedlings from the Calypso™ x Golden Sentinel™ cross that I grew out this spring. It is the least promising of the three - leaves are green, although petioles are red. The tree had more vigor and more widely separated internodes, so I strongly suspect not columnar. The branchlets are long and spiky, not short and stubby, so I suspect they are branches, not spurs, so I suspect not columnar. There is also no red color to the roots, another indication that the appkes will either not have red flesh, or not much of that. Still, it's hard to throw away a tree I grew from seed, without giving it a chance to prove itself. So I planted it in a sheltered (fenced) although not ideal spot. Here it can grow and not be in the way or too much work, and maybe we'll see what it can do in a couple of years. This was the most vigorous of the three. It also had the heaviest root mass. Not root bound but headed there. I bare rooted it using the garden hose as usual.

Planted, watered in, and the start of vole collar added. I need to get out there with tin snips and wire or zip ties to do the rest.

Stratifying Apple Seeds, Cross of Redlove™ Era™ X Urban Apple™ Blushing Delight.™ 11.29.2021

This Spring, I protected some flowers of Redlove™ Era™ and Urban Apple™ Blushing Delight™. I pollinated the Era™ with pollen from the Blushing Delight™. Actually, the Urban Apple™ was mislabled, the one I bought was Tasty Red™ but the apple is clearly Blushing Delight™. One ripe apple resulted from that cross. I kept it in the garage for 2 months and just got around to cutting it today. The long keeping didn't hurt it a bit. I think the flavor is better. Still pretty tart, almost lemony with berry flavor.

To make typing easier, I'll call the first "RLE" and the second one "BD". I think it could be a good choice, because RLE has such deep red internal and external color, and BD is considered disease resistant, is columnar, and has nice large, sweet apples. I placed them in moist paper towel, then into a zipper plastic bag and into the fridge. A four month stratification would mean I can plant them about April 1. It's interesting, one apple had so many seeds. I expected five. The goal, as before, is a columnar tree with red flesh apples. I will use leaf color to help with selection - I think red leaves on an apple indicate red flesh although some red flesh apples do have green leaves.

Planting Young Apple Tree Hybrid, Calypso™ x Golden Sentinel. 11.29.21

I wanted to get the apple seedlings into the ground. These are the hybrids I made by crossing the red flesh, red leaf,pink flowered "RedLove™ Calypso™ with the columnar, yellow skin Golden Sentinel™. My hope is a red flesh, red leaf apple tree with columnar growth habit. Golden Sentinel™ has some great flavored, nice size sweet apples as ancestors. Of the three seedlings that resulted, two were red leaf, so probably red flesh if they make apples. Also, the internodes seem close together, which might suggest columnar form, I don't know but I think maybe. Also, there are tiny branches that look like fruiting spurs - a bit much to hope for the first year, but you never know. That also suggests to me possible columnar form. The third had red leaf petioles but green leaves, more vigor, and the little branches are longer, so it probably wont be as red flesh if at all, and probably not columnar. Anyway, I planted the other, shorter red leaf seedling in the garden a while ago, and today planted the shorter one.

I'm impressed by the nice root mass. Not root bound, not winding around, but a lot of stong thick roots. I hosed them off to bare root the tree as much as I could. I don't have a great spot for it in my garden, but as long as it's columnar, the spot where I planted it us OK. Plus it can be moved if needed.

Now it's in the ground, so any freezing shouldn't hurt. Plus, it has a chance to grow more roots with first Spring flush of growth, into the earth. Watering will be much easier, less frequent, than in containers. I may be able to extend irrigation to this one next, even better. One more apple seedling to go.

Fig Tree Starts. 11.29.2021

My Hardy Chicago fig tree here in Battle Ground was destroyed by voles. Voles are cute looking little mouse-like creatures with cute looking little perky ears, that are really Satanic demons They chew through tender trees at the base, killing them. They also sometimes gnaw at potatoes underground. Yes, voles are pure evil. In this case, the tree fell over. I thought if I propped it up, it might survive. But no, it's now a dead stick. The parent tree, source of the start for this one, is still thriving in Vancouver. It needs a major pruning. It also had three big, six foor tall shoots growing out of the base. Yesterday I tried to remove those shoots, thinking if I can get one with roots, that's a head start at replacing my dead Hardy Chicago fig tree. It's a good, solid, hardworking and hardy tree, and makes a good reliable fig crop every year. Reminds me of me. Back to the shoots, this was the best I could do. I could not get the others with roots. If I was smart, I would have air layered them, say, starting last March. Then I would already have nice size, well rooted Hardy Chicago fig trees. We wont go there. Anyway, it's not much root for such a long stick.

That's a lot of tree with just some puny little roots. I planted it anyway. I might cut it bit shorter, I don't know. It has a long Winter and Spring to grow new roots, and if fig trees are good at anything, it's growing roots. Well, and making figs, too, but that'll be a year two ahead. I once stuck a plum stick that big into the ground as a garden stake, and it grew very nicely. In case that start doesn't survive, I cut some nice sticks to root as hardwood cuttings. Some times, those will root if you just shove them into good soil and leave them pretty much alone. Just water if they need it. If they don't grow, at least they are there as row markers. So I did that.

With one exception, I grew all of my fig trees from cuttings, and more than that to give away. It's been a while since I did that. I usually started them midwinter, not this early. I could store the sticks in the fridge for the winter, but there's no room. So, I'll see if I can start them now. I cut the sticks short enough to fit into plastic bags. I washed them with soapy water. Then I scored each with a razor blade, making an incision through the cambium layer which is where cells are regenerated and serves as stem cells for making baby roots. Then I treated each one with Dip'n'Grow rooting hormone. Then wrapped in wet paper towel, placed into the zipper plastic bag, and put them on a seed starting warming mat. Possibly (probably?) the incision and rooting hormone are not necessary, and I have done it without a warming mat, but I have it so why not? Might help.

So that's my fig tree starting experiment for this year. We will see if any of these methods work, or all of them. If there are extra fig trees started, that's fine. I can always find them a new home.

Raised Bed #4 Is Put To Bed For the Winter. 11.29.2021

Raised Beds #1 and #2 are the two biggest and new ones, already all done for the winter. Raised Bed #3 was the onion bed in 2021, then cleaned up and planted with garlic back in Sept and Oct. This is Raised Bed #4. It was mostly peppers, but also lettuce, radishes and odds and ends that got messy. Today I cleaned it up, got rid of the weeds, loosened the soil a little. At one end, I replanted shallots and some potato onions that I had stuck into there among the other plants. The shallot was grown last winter from a grocery store shallot, and made four jumbo bulbs I separated and replanted them. The potato onions are much smaller and I'm growing them out of curiosity. The other end of the bed is two rows of garlic. Except for the garlic end, I added a layer of tree leaves, then seven big buckets of the new top soil, then a thicker layer of tree leaves on top. The additional top soil makes up for this year's settling.

So this bed is ready for the winter. So now there is just one bed to get ready. It needs some parts from the hardware store, so it will take a while. There is no rush, it won't be planted until May or June. However, I want to give ut a chance to settle and cure, so my self imposed deadline is mid Dec. Meanwhile, I have completel cleared the bed and contents to ground level. So that's a start.

Raised Bed #2 Is Completed. 11.24.2021

Well, this one is done. On top of the purchased top soil, I added a layer of leaves, then a layer of compost. Not a lot, but maybe enough to provide some humus and inoculum for the leaves. It will get more mixed up when it's time to plant. Then I finished emptying out the former garlic-then-bush beans raised bed that needs rehab, transferring that soil to the new bed. One nice thing, there were lots of earthworms in that soil. Of note - none of the green bean plants had rhizobium nodules. So, when I plant the late winter legume, they will need an inoculum. Anyway, then I added the soil from that former garlic / green bean bed, added a little horticultural lime, mixed it up, and smoothed it a bit. It was notable, how much easier it was to work a bed at this height. Very nice! I think the soil was not crumbly enough. It will get lots more leaf mulch and compost to help with that. It grew great crops thus year, however, so may be perfectly fine as is.

Then I gave it a blanket of Mapke leaves. They are already becoming moldy, so maybe most will break down by Spring.

The bed that will be taken apart, put back together but with a better mole barrier (I hope). There is no rest for the wicked.

I'll disassemble this the rest of the way, then probably add two layers of fencing, then reassemble the bed with wire stays for the rebars that hold the planks in place. It will take some effort, but not even 25% of the work I did on those cement block beds. After that, the final raised bed just needs cleanup, and the pathways need some thought and a bit of work. One bed already got cleaned up when I planted garlic in Sept or Oct. I have all winter long to do that. Just for my first thoughts, I like the size and height of these new beds very much. It's a good thing. I intend never again to do such a labor intensive project. Time to make the best of what I have already made.

Tree Leaves and More Tree Leaves.

This sounds like work but isn't bad. Plus it will save a lot of labor, plastic, and garden food. Here are where the second and third truckloads of leaves went - Half of the bed where I raised sweet corn this year, will be squash next year -

Most of the bed, where I raised squash this year, to be sweet corn next year and some former lawn to expand that bed a bit.

Here, the thick layer of leaves will kill all of the weeds and grass, and prevent them from growing next Spring until I work the soil to plant those crops. The lower layers of leaves will decompose and add humus, and make it easier to work, more fertile, and absorb / release water better. Any leaves that remain when I want the garden beds, will be mulch. I could hire someone to rototill instead, in the Spring, for weed management, but that doesn't improve tilth. I could buy compost, but the leaves are free. Also people need to get rid of their leaves, so it's win/win. I could lay down black plastic to kill weeds, and will in some areas. But the leaves work just as well and have those benefits. I do this every year. Collecting and using tree leaves have improved the soil so much - fertility, earthworm populations, moisture managenent, tilth.

Raised Bed Project, Continued. 11.22.21

Here is the second raised bed so far. I leveled the ground, placed wire fencing and plastic mesh on the ground to frustrate moles, built the sides, and filled most of the way, 2/3 full with the new top soil.

I waited to build the end wall, so that I could haul in most of the soil using a shefl barrow. Then I built the end and finished the first 2/3 layer of topsoil.

Then I added a few inches layer of leaves to build up organic matter a bit during the winter.

Next I'll add some compost, then top the bed with enriched soil from the bed where I raised garlic, then green beans, this year. Then top it off with leaves and add the occassional mushroom or earthworm as I find them. This is too much work. I'm glad the worst is over, although those last layers are still needed and then rehab / rebuild the bed that moles destroyed. That onechas plank sides, and isn't as tall, so maybe not as much hard labor.

Holiday Cactus (Schlumbergera) Blooming. 11.19.2021

Some of these started blooming a few weeks ago, others just started. I repotted these last winter. They are about three years old, maybe four.

This one is much older. Maybe ten or fifteen years.

These are cuttings Im took last winter from the older red one and a salmon colord one that is not blooming yet. They may need another year to start blooming.

Raised Bed Progress. 11.13.2021

Today I topped off the first raised bed with a layer of tree leaves. During the winter, earthworms should pull some of those underground and start their composting. I thought about buying a soil inoculum, since the topsoil was processed by the recycler and probably devoid of much life. Instead, I've added my own compost, and added a top layer of soil from my existing garden bed. That should give it life. Also, I collected mushrooms of various sorts and added those on top of the soil, prior to the leaf layer. To an organic gardener, soil is a living community of microorganisms. Whenever I happen to see an earthworm, usually a result of digging, I re-home them in the new raised bed. Earthworms are nature's tiny farmers. They tunnel through the soil, aerating it. Their mucous binds soil particles together. Their castings make minerals available to plant roots. They till organic matter from leaves and roots, into the soil. Meanwhile, the other raised bed is about 20% built now. Not bad. Rain is expected tomorrow.

A Very Good Pumpkin Pie. 11.13.2021

This was one of my best pumpkin pies ever. I used puree from Galeux d'Eysines pumpkin. It's basically the Libby's pumpkin recipe, except I used light coconut milk for baking, instead of evaporated milk. I also rolled sesame seeds onto the crust before transferring it to the pie plate. I blind baked the crust, leaving the aluminum foil on the crimped edges throughout baking. Definitely grow Galeux d'Eysines pumpkins next year.

Winter Cover Crop. 11.13.2021

I have not tried this mix before. I've grown buckwheat as a cover crop. Deer love it. This seed covered 1/2 of the area where I want to plant sweet corn next year, and where I grew squashes this year. I don't know if this is too late, or how they will do, or if deer will eat all of the plants, or if they will be too weedy. It's an experiment. I don't want to leave the soil bare, or encourage thistles, so it is worth a try. Today was a break in rain. It should rain again over the next several days. That should get them settled in and starting.

Here is the seed mix: Austrian Winter Peas Winter Wheat Triticale Forage Collards Hairy Vetch Daikon Radish Fenugreek Crimson Clover Berseem Clover Yellow Mustard

Persimmons. 11.23.2021

Birds have started eating the ripest persimmons, so I picked them all. Persimmons ripen just fine indoors. Most of these are "Nikita's Gift". There were also more "Saijo" than I expected.

New Raised Bed #1 is Done. 11.10.2021

This one is completely done. I topped it off with some well aged compost, then a layer of good raised bed soil from the one I'm digging out. I also planted a few dozen topsets from Egyptian Walking Onions at the ends. Still thinking about whether to plant a cover crop on the rest, or just a thick layer of leaves.

I cut the wire fencing and plastic fencing to use as mole deterrents for the bottom of new raised bed #2, and moved some blocks nearby. When these, and the rebuilt smaller bed with wooden sides are done, I really don't want to do more big garden construction projects after this. The entire idea is to reduce heavy work. Meanwhile,the hardest part is to level the soil for the blocks, and lay the blocks kevel and plumb. After the base rows are in place, it goes better. Maybe ten more days? Also thinking about pathways between raised beds. This year, moles did a lot of damage, undermining sides and corners of beds and burying the woodchips with soil. Plus, I got behind pulling perennial volunteers - mainly four o'clocks and potatoes - and it became a challenge to access those garden beds. I'm thinking laying down wire fencing in the walkways, top with black plastic, then I don't know. Wood chips? Gravel? Depends on how I think moles will affect this area.