Configuring

The plow only did a little good for the width of the trenches I am making this year. Wound up making several rows but the trenches were half or less what I wanted. To plow again next to where I had just plowed only resulted in pushing the same soil back and forth, over and over.

So, I grabbed my heavy rake and started raking the small rows together. The end result will be six large rectangular mounds on the south and five of the same on the north. I'm leaving the trenches at about 2 1/2 to 3 ft between mounds.

There will also be a barrier trench between the edge mounds and the grass, which I can keep tilled and treat heavily with acid. Thought being the acid will kill weeds and grass in the trenches but eventually seep laterally into the mounds, having a chance to buffer and not kill off crops due to acid shock. 

If the money is ever available, wood chips would be a good choice for the trenches, making them a lot more attractive and help moderate overall soil temperature while retaining moisture. 

Can only work on the garden a little while longer. Because of the respiratory inflection, it's wearing me out. Need to get to the car, any way. Just wanted to get this done so I can water and let the mounds settle before planting out in them. 

Lazy

Being lazy so far this morning. Had to call off sick due to a respiratory infection. Not dying here but not so energetic. 

I usually do get well rather quickly. More so if I don't sit around without moving. Maybe some of that is psychological. Improve your environment, improve your attitude, improve your tolerance for discomfort. 

Any way, no shortage of projects to work on around here. Try and tackle two or three rather large ones today. The CV axle on the car, plowing and cleaning up the workshop. Long as I'm not breathing too much dust during any of them. Once again, the advantage of these projects over work is pacing. Even with the car, if I start on it today and have to stop, I have 3 more evenings to finish it before the weekend. 

If I finish it these projects, need to get the automatic seatbelt on the passenger side fixed. Not sure what that will take because I'm not certain where the problem lies. Could be wiring, motor or mechanical issue. Have to start by seeing if there is even an electrical impulse going to the motor and go from there.

Long as I'm plowing and have the tiller running, today may be a good day to reroute the invisible dog fence and bury the wires, so the pups stop destroying the wires. Right now the system isn't even turned on, so the dogs are only behaving from conditioned response. That only lasts so long, though.

Misplaced parts

Went to go plow the garden this evening. Forgot I had removed the mount for the plow from the tiller. Couldn't find it right away. Finally found it a few minutes ago. Have to plow tomorrow or later in the week.

Came down with a sinus infection and not feeling all that energetic to work on the car. I inhale a lot more dust and dirt sitting/laying on the ground when wind is blowing than when I'm tilling.

Went ahead and tilled more of the north garden, to get ready for tomato planting. Keeping some empty trenches for plowing and weed control this year. 

The soil in the south garden is more loose than ever before, even after being watered. Until now, it would get pretty solid after watering because of all the clay. Looks like the gypsum is helping. Finally. I think this form of gypsum is better than what I was using before. The old kind was mixed with bentonite. In other words, it was adding clay to the clay. This kind is straight mined gypsum. 

Picked up a new bottle of sulfuric acid this evening. The price about doubled from last year. Think I'll have to check at a few other places. See if the battery shop across the street sells new or only recycled acid. They may sell gallons. Otherwise, check with OReilly auto parts. 

Vapor lock

So, went out to trouble shoot the well pump. Went through same steps as last night except checking power. Nothing. So, left it plugged in while I depressurized the intake to get ready to return it. Motor kicked in and system pressurized in a few seconds. Obviously some kind of vapor lock. Not sure what to think. Keep an eye on it. I'll return it if it happens again. For now, I'm thinking maybe a stuck valve or mineral deposit. When I opened the output, the pressure still shot the water across the yard at least 30 ft. 

I am going to take the pressure gauge back today and see if they have a replacement they'll sell me. I don;t want to waste the replacement on just the gauge. 

In any case, glad I found the receipt. I know it's still under warranty for another 11 months. Not going to have to delay anything for lack of water or run up the water bill. 

Pump locked up

The well pump locked up this evening. Not sure what the problem is. It was working earlier in the day and I heard it pressurize once this evening. Then I tried to run the house and nothing happened. Made sure power is getting as far as the pump cord. Have to check it out further over the weekend. If I can't fix it, it may have to wait two weeks.

Any way, got the main south garden cross tilled and finished up one edge I had not yet completed. 

Before tilling, I sprayed a strong acid solution over the entire area. I'll do that one more time before plowing. 

Have to say the soil looks much better when moist than ever before. The cultivated soil is nearly completely black when moist. Texture isn't as loose as I would like it to be. Still very sticky, which indicates high clay content remains. Going to add more gypsum and see if it helps. 

So, next week I can get the rows formed. Hope it doesn't take too long if I use the plow attachment.   

Edit-

Found the receipt for the well pump. Instead of fixing it, going to exchange it. I had forgotten I got this pump last year and bought the two year replacement plan. Even if I could get it running, best to just go ahead and exchange it. Pumps have a limited lifespan. The newer, the better. 

Hardening off

Finally able to start hardening off some of the seedlings. Started moving some of them outside today. Just cool weather crops that need to be in the ground soon. Lettuce, spinach, etc. Have yet to start kale, cilantro and some other items. Not enough space.

I have to admit it. Peat pots do a much better job than styrofoam cups for seedlings. Although much more expensive. Going to try a different approach. Poke some holes in the side of the styrofoam cups and place them in bins with water for more consistent moisture. 

Hoping for a really good paycheck tomorrow. If it comes in as well as I hope for, I'll order 4-5 tons of compost and get wood chips in a few more weeks. I don't know. Maybe not. Need to do the responsible and patient thing and pay more into the mortgage to bring it current. Mostly thinking of filling some containers with compost. Probably better to use the compost from the bin, top it off with potting soil. Yeah, that's a better choice for now. 

That would allow me to pay more on the mortgage, order the new tines for the tiller and get a couple of cheap bags of potting soil or compost. Better choice work-wise, also. Let me finish much of the labor that needs to be done. Burning, weeding, tilling. Not to mention work that needs to be done on the car. 

Almost

Got the last section of the main south garden tilled yesterday which needed it. Just have to cross-till once to make sure it's somewhat consistent, then form the garden. I'll start with the plow attachment but most of that work will be manual this year because of the wider rows. Hoping I can get all of it done in about 2 hours, one evening after work.

Not going to get it done this week. Training and testing for work and have to work on the car. 

Been too windy to do a burn. That still needs to be done to kill off weeds in some spots before they start. 

One thing I hope I can accomplish this week is changing the layout of the invisible dog fence and moving some seedlings out to harden off in the solarium. Have some repairs to do to the solarium because of wind and dog damage. Then I still have to do something to keep the puppies away, since they're not big enough for the invisible fence collars yet. 

Up and running!

Well pump is up and running! 

My suspicions were correct. The foot valve was clogged with sand from the bottom of the well. Had to pull the pipes, clear the foot valve and install a shorter pipe. 

I had forgotten I had improvised a foot valve last year. Don't recall why. I think either the size I needed wasn't in stock but it may have been because of pressure rating. I had used a check valve and length of PVC with holes drilled inn it, wrapped with nylon netting. Still works really well. The bottom section got torn from being on the bottom (and from me pumping it up and down to prime to pump). So, cleared the valve and replaced the netting. 

I could be wrong but it seems like the pressure is improved with the steel pipe. Very possible the connections are more secure. It's definite they will remain more secure over time. 

Soaked certain areas of the garden really well. Make it easier to till the rest of it this week. Then I can get the irrigation system set up this week or next. 

Still plugging away

Still plugging away at getting the garden tilled. Got most of one row tilled last night but it got dark and started raining. Two more rows in the main garden and I'm done there. Then basically one smaller section to do. That sections wasn't so hard last year but has a lot of rocks.

Had to divert my attention to working on the car this past week. Probably have to spend at least one evening working on the car this coming week or the following week. 

Temperatures still fluctuating wildly. Night temps can go several nights staying around 40. Then one night drops back below 30. Can't plant anything out yet because of the nights dropping below 30. Even lettuce and young spinach would die off. Still hoping that changes soon. Before searing heat sets in.

Oh, well!

Tried getting the well pump running today. No luck. Seems like the foot valve is stuck open or clogged. I may have to get a shorter length of pipe to suspend the pipe higher off the bottom of the well. The pump pressurizes but has a small leak at the gauge. Have to do something about that. 

Just for security, I poured some Muriatic acid in the well. It bubbled so much the foam came out of the top of the well. Must have been a lot of debris in there. However, I did flush the well a little while later. Think I'll pour some more in and let it sit overnight. That may do the trick. If not, I'll have to pull the pipes I sunk and take the foot valve apart, see if I can clear it. If not, have to replace it. 

Going to try something new this year. Kale. I keep seeing it listed as a cool weather crop, figure it's worth a try. Only tried it one time years ago and hated it. However, it was raw. Back then, not even one of the chefs knew what to do with it and none of us liked it as anything but decoration. Now I know it should be cooked. Even since that time, the only thing I have personally seen it in is an Italian soup.