It's official, Fall has arrived. Seems like some years I really look forward to it, and it takes forever to finally get here. Other years, I barely get into the swing of summer and the leaves are off the trees!
Having a house makes the changing of the seasons much more apparent. For example, I decided this morning to forego watering the brown front yard because the rain will start soon. The same reason was given for waiting to transplant a few perennials. Why move them now and stress about watering when Mother Nature will soon do it for me? Other perennials got cut back for the winter and mulched lightly with the leaves they dropped after transplanting last spring. My hope is that they will resprout just a wee bit before cold weather hits, and I'll have nice little green mounds in the beds like last winter.
The garden is also getting ready to bed down. It's a delicate dance. I want to give ample time for the last few things to ripen, but I also have to admit at a certain point they just never will. This year there is also the added stress of needing to remove all of the garden to make way for new grass. It has been determined that since the house will go up for sale, and the group most likely to be attracted to it is young families, they would sure appreciate having lots of room for kids or a dog to play. Really, that grass ought to have been planted a few weeks ago, but I wasn't going to give up all of my tomatoes and winter squash!
We are also only a week from my birthday. It's kinda silly but I still get excited about them, and dissapointed when absolutely nothing happens. After one disheartening year, I decided my gift from Sweetie would be a pie every year. He would be welcome to do more, but he's not big on celebrations or gifts. Most years, it's pumpkin pie. Once was a Ginger Peach. Oh my goodness; it was heavenly. Since I am back to being "good" with food and trying to lose the 15lbs I've gained over the last year and a half, I think it will have to be something decadent but small.
Fall is also really great for eco-friendly craft supplies. I start looking for acorns and pine cones. Not that I do much with them, but I like to collect anyway. One of these years I will get really motivated at the right time and make christmas ornaments or something from them. I have seen very classy pinecones dressed in glitter. Once, I painted two acorns to look like a penguin. It was super cute until the acorns finished drying and he wound up with a split in his pants.
Not everyone is so happy, however. Porter loves the sun and hates the rain. Pretty soon he'll be miserable, and it will become difficult to get him up and moving between breakfast and dinner. Fellow drivers also get a little cranky when they don't get to see the light of day; going to and from work in the dark just isn't good for them.
Strange, I never think of winter as snow or frost or ice... Oregon winters are about rain and grey skies. Guess that will change when we get to Indiana. What sort of culture shock am I in for when we arrive in January?
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
A New Chapter
Today begins a new chapter of life. Today, I began working for the company that, if all goes well, I will likely retire from/die working for. At 26 years of age, I think that's sort of an accomplishment.
Sweetie's parents own a company that makes things from recycled rubber. Next time you're stuck in a construction zone, look at the black things holding the orange cones to the road. There's a decent chance you'd be looking at one of our products. Ever tried to lift one?! They're really heavy. Some are over twenty pounds, just for the black base. When you start thinking of them in pallet sized quantities you'll understand why shipping, and the rising cost of fuel for the trucks that do the shipping, is a major concern for us. In an effort to combat fuel consumption, they decided that they needed a second location. Since we do a lot of shipping to the Chicago area, we decided to set up our second facility nearby in northern Indiana. This puts us a few hours away instead of a few days away.
Naturally the person they first looked toward to run this new factory is the eldest son, the enginner, the man who has spent nearly a quarter of his professional career in China helping them fix their factories... Sweetie. Since we come as a matched set, that means formulating a plan for me as well. While he runs the shop, I'll run the office.
Under normal circumstances, a person would go to work and go home. Rarely do you hear of a company relocating upper management positions without prior experience in the matter. Neither is true for us. Since the current factory is a two hour drive from our home, we have packed up our clothes, our food (I'll try to get a post about our strange eating habits sooner or later), and the dog for four days and three nights each and every week at the factory. Yep, we sleep in the office. Really odd, but we're making it work. The only kinda terrible thing is that the shower is across the parking lot in another building which means trying to get our timing right so showers happen during the half hour of down time between shifts. Fortunetly, Mr. I-am-used-to-travelling has been doing this for six months already and has a system already in place that I can just slide right into. He's even willing to make a few adjustments to accomodate me so we can sleep in a little longer on Monday and come home mid-day Friday instead of late Thursday night. We'll see if the change actually happens, though. :)
This setup will go on for about three months, while we pack up our belongings at home, put the house up for sale, and get ready to move to Indiana in January. Only twelve short months in this house. It made a good practice house, and I have to say, I think we'll do better the second time around.
In January we start a mirrored version of the life we're living now. We are actually going to move into the office full time, then look for a house. No sense in paying rent when the company can build an apartment in the office as part of a capital expenditure they can do magic tax tricks with! Besides, if we having nothing else to do, we'll likely get more done on office projects.There's certainly no shortage of those.
In the meantime, I get to learn the company top to bottom, inside and out. Today, that meant helping Sweetie sort the tooling we use to make the product. Being a family business, passed down from his grandfather, there is a lot of remnant items and practices that all need looked through as we become a modern company. I think it's a critical time in any business when growing pains could get the best of them. I believe we have success in the future, and I am excited to watch a slumbering beast shed its 70's skin while keeping the heart of a 40 year strong presence in the industry.
Sweetie's parents own a company that makes things from recycled rubber. Next time you're stuck in a construction zone, look at the black things holding the orange cones to the road. There's a decent chance you'd be looking at one of our products. Ever tried to lift one?! They're really heavy. Some are over twenty pounds, just for the black base. When you start thinking of them in pallet sized quantities you'll understand why shipping, and the rising cost of fuel for the trucks that do the shipping, is a major concern for us. In an effort to combat fuel consumption, they decided that they needed a second location. Since we do a lot of shipping to the Chicago area, we decided to set up our second facility nearby in northern Indiana. This puts us a few hours away instead of a few days away.
Naturally the person they first looked toward to run this new factory is the eldest son, the enginner, the man who has spent nearly a quarter of his professional career in China helping them fix their factories... Sweetie. Since we come as a matched set, that means formulating a plan for me as well. While he runs the shop, I'll run the office.
Under normal circumstances, a person would go to work and go home. Rarely do you hear of a company relocating upper management positions without prior experience in the matter. Neither is true for us. Since the current factory is a two hour drive from our home, we have packed up our clothes, our food (I'll try to get a post about our strange eating habits sooner or later), and the dog for four days and three nights each and every week at the factory. Yep, we sleep in the office. Really odd, but we're making it work. The only kinda terrible thing is that the shower is across the parking lot in another building which means trying to get our timing right so showers happen during the half hour of down time between shifts. Fortunetly, Mr. I-am-used-to-travelling has been doing this for six months already and has a system already in place that I can just slide right into. He's even willing to make a few adjustments to accomodate me so we can sleep in a little longer on Monday and come home mid-day Friday instead of late Thursday night. We'll see if the change actually happens, though. :)
This setup will go on for about three months, while we pack up our belongings at home, put the house up for sale, and get ready to move to Indiana in January. Only twelve short months in this house. It made a good practice house, and I have to say, I think we'll do better the second time around.
In January we start a mirrored version of the life we're living now. We are actually going to move into the office full time, then look for a house. No sense in paying rent when the company can build an apartment in the office as part of a capital expenditure they can do magic tax tricks with! Besides, if we having nothing else to do, we'll likely get more done on office projects.There's certainly no shortage of those.
In the meantime, I get to learn the company top to bottom, inside and out. Today, that meant helping Sweetie sort the tooling we use to make the product. Being a family business, passed down from his grandfather, there is a lot of remnant items and practices that all need looked through as we become a modern company. I think it's a critical time in any business when growing pains could get the best of them. I believe we have success in the future, and I am excited to watch a slumbering beast shed its 70's skin while keeping the heart of a 40 year strong presence in the industry.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Master Plan: Garden!
Note: If you haven't already read Master Plan: Backstory, I would recommend it. While not essential, it will give a little more, well, backstory for this post
THE MASTER PLAN
Step 1a. Find a house with an RV pad! Yes, yes, I realize that RV pads have not changed and are still the boon to yard lovers. However, they are also the boon to weeds and are a stable basis for building a structure, and therefore will be utilized to the greatest extent possible. As we will be moving into RV manufacturing heartland, finding a property with a pad ought to be easier than finding one without.
Step 1b. In the unlikely event that an RV pad is not available, we will dig out and level an adequate portion of the property. This is subsequently prepared for pavers, leaving space for beds described below.
Step 2. Have pallets of cinder blocks delivered. The blocks are to be arranged in approximately 3x12 foot beds, about 2 feet high, with three foot walkways between. Whether these ought to be cemented together or not will depend greatly on whether or not they are set on concrete or gravel/sand. A few 3x3, 3x6 or 3x9 beds may also come into play depending on the space.
Step 2b. In the event we do not have a large expanse of cement to work with, we will pave the spaces between beds with large cement pavers. I believe the ones we looked at were 8x16. One paver-width will surround the entire garden area so that weeds have a much more difficult time getting a foothold, and we have a nice clean edge to mow up to. Also, without the RV pad, we would need to prep the area under the beds with chicken wire to keep burrowing marauders away from my veg. In either scenario, dealing with the weeds that come up between pavers, under and between cinder blocks, etc are easily removed or killed.
Step 3. Notice the recurrance of 3's and multiples thereof, in Step 2. This is on purpose. :) The reason, is that supports will be place at exactly three feet apart, all through the garden. The actual measurements of the beds and walkways will be slightly different depending on how we set up the support system.
Step 4. Build a modular system of support, trellis, and covers. These will lock into the supports and give us the utmost versatility in planting and crop rotation. This, is what makes our plan so amazing, so I will elaborate at the end.
(fill beds with planting medium. This is a natural assumption and does not deserve a step of it's own, however, it will happen at this point in the process.)
Step 5. Once the beds are filled with soil, a system of perforated pvc pipes will be laid out at exactly 1 foot intervals for watering, with a main shutoff at the source, and valves for each bed. Depending on how it goes, there may be additional valves in the beds so that we can turn off the water for areas that are not actively being used. In addition to effective drip watering, this will be the basis for our continued use of square foot planting methods.
Cinder block beds are not unusual, drip watering is not unusual. What is different about our plan is the support system. This started when we saw a different type of yard fencing that used 4" livestock fence, with redwood frames around it. Secure enough for pets and kids, but providing lots of visibility. Then, a friend of the family extended an invitation to her house, where we noticed she used the same style of framed livestock fence as garden trellis. It was just as attractive on the end of a bed as it was at the end of a yard.
From there, we decided, that if we exchange the heavy and expensive redwood for light and cheap pvc pipe, we could extend the sides into legs and set them into larger pvc supports or off-the-shelf pipe brackets. By making the trellis legs exactly three feet apart, we could attach them at any end, side section or even over top of a bed. It could also be temporarily covered with a sheet or other like item and used as a shade for cooler weather crops like lettuce.
After watching snap peas overtake our six foot stakes this year, we thought it would be nice to be able to attach a "roof" piece between two parallel trellis pieces and provide more growing room. This would also be framed livestock fence. Lightbulb moment... rather than letting the peas (or whatever) grow over the bed, why not let them grow over the walkway! Of course, we may still want them over the bed, so the same roof piece needed to fit both locations; hence the three foot support system.
As native Oregonians, we understand that a midwest growing season is going to feel incredibly short. Intellectually, anyway. In preparation for that, I decided that those special roof pieces ought to be able to connect to shorter supports that would allow me to cover them in inexpensive plastic drop cloths, and create little hoop houses over my garden. Naturally this extension of the season will minimize the amount of space dedicated to starting seeds indoors, as well as extend harvest into the fall. Watering will not be an issue because the system is already in place under the hoop!
Contrary to the midwest, western Oregon does not have snow to speak of. It is my understanding that snow has a tendency toward being heavy. Having Midwest-quantity of heavy snow on top of my garden soil is likely going to compact it into uselessness; maybe within the year. Fluffy soil is a gardener's friend. It absorbs water without getting soggy, and doesn't provide an obstacle for healthy roots. Therefore, snow on soil is not a gardener's friend. Since I already had modular hoop houses, I didn't see any reason why the roof pieces could not be supported just above the soil to prevent snow pack. How easy it would be to brush off even very wet and heavy snow from a flat plastic coated surface? Since the whole area is on concrete, I don't even have to get my boots muddy! And, if midwest snow is as light and breezy as I am led to believe, I won't have to do a darn thing, it will just blow away with the next gust. Mwahaha! There is nothing much like feeling as though one has conquered the winter.
The last thing that the modular system would allow for is mobile seating. We would be able to make a bench that spans the 3 foot walkway and attaches directly to the existing trellis supports. A three foot wide bench would be plenty wide enough for two people, one person plus a harvest basket, etc. It could also provide temporary shade for potted flowers or herbs in the heat of the summer.
Finally, after any number of seasons, the soil will be worn out. The final season, we plant root veggies there. As we dig out potatoes, onions, garlic, yams, turnips, beets and carrots, we pull out the soil too. My hope is that once we get into the swing of it, we can rotate at just the right rate that we remove the soil from one bed per year and produce enough compost to replace it. The exeption would be, of course, crops which do not get removed, like artichoke and asparagus. These would probably get top dressed with compost and worm castings. Still not sure how to combat compaction, but I guess a little more education, and Mother Nature will take care of that.
THE MASTER PLAN
Step 1a. Find a house with an RV pad! Yes, yes, I realize that RV pads have not changed and are still the boon to yard lovers. However, they are also the boon to weeds and are a stable basis for building a structure, and therefore will be utilized to the greatest extent possible. As we will be moving into RV manufacturing heartland, finding a property with a pad ought to be easier than finding one without.
Step 1b. In the unlikely event that an RV pad is not available, we will dig out and level an adequate portion of the property. This is subsequently prepared for pavers, leaving space for beds described below.
Step 2. Have pallets of cinder blocks delivered. The blocks are to be arranged in approximately 3x12 foot beds, about 2 feet high, with three foot walkways between. Whether these ought to be cemented together or not will depend greatly on whether or not they are set on concrete or gravel/sand. A few 3x3, 3x6 or 3x9 beds may also come into play depending on the space.
Step 2b. In the event we do not have a large expanse of cement to work with, we will pave the spaces between beds with large cement pavers. I believe the ones we looked at were 8x16. One paver-width will surround the entire garden area so that weeds have a much more difficult time getting a foothold, and we have a nice clean edge to mow up to. Also, without the RV pad, we would need to prep the area under the beds with chicken wire to keep burrowing marauders away from my veg. In either scenario, dealing with the weeds that come up between pavers, under and between cinder blocks, etc are easily removed or killed.
Step 3. Notice the recurrance of 3's and multiples thereof, in Step 2. This is on purpose. :) The reason, is that supports will be place at exactly three feet apart, all through the garden. The actual measurements of the beds and walkways will be slightly different depending on how we set up the support system.
Step 4. Build a modular system of support, trellis, and covers. These will lock into the supports and give us the utmost versatility in planting and crop rotation. This, is what makes our plan so amazing, so I will elaborate at the end.
(fill beds with planting medium. This is a natural assumption and does not deserve a step of it's own, however, it will happen at this point in the process.)
Step 5. Once the beds are filled with soil, a system of perforated pvc pipes will be laid out at exactly 1 foot intervals for watering, with a main shutoff at the source, and valves for each bed. Depending on how it goes, there may be additional valves in the beds so that we can turn off the water for areas that are not actively being used. In addition to effective drip watering, this will be the basis for our continued use of square foot planting methods.
Cinder block beds are not unusual, drip watering is not unusual. What is different about our plan is the support system. This started when we saw a different type of yard fencing that used 4" livestock fence, with redwood frames around it. Secure enough for pets and kids, but providing lots of visibility. Then, a friend of the family extended an invitation to her house, where we noticed she used the same style of framed livestock fence as garden trellis. It was just as attractive on the end of a bed as it was at the end of a yard.
From there, we decided, that if we exchange the heavy and expensive redwood for light and cheap pvc pipe, we could extend the sides into legs and set them into larger pvc supports or off-the-shelf pipe brackets. By making the trellis legs exactly three feet apart, we could attach them at any end, side section or even over top of a bed. It could also be temporarily covered with a sheet or other like item and used as a shade for cooler weather crops like lettuce.
After watching snap peas overtake our six foot stakes this year, we thought it would be nice to be able to attach a "roof" piece between two parallel trellis pieces and provide more growing room. This would also be framed livestock fence. Lightbulb moment... rather than letting the peas (or whatever) grow over the bed, why not let them grow over the walkway! Of course, we may still want them over the bed, so the same roof piece needed to fit both locations; hence the three foot support system.
As native Oregonians, we understand that a midwest growing season is going to feel incredibly short. Intellectually, anyway. In preparation for that, I decided that those special roof pieces ought to be able to connect to shorter supports that would allow me to cover them in inexpensive plastic drop cloths, and create little hoop houses over my garden. Naturally this extension of the season will minimize the amount of space dedicated to starting seeds indoors, as well as extend harvest into the fall. Watering will not be an issue because the system is already in place under the hoop!
Contrary to the midwest, western Oregon does not have snow to speak of. It is my understanding that snow has a tendency toward being heavy. Having Midwest-quantity of heavy snow on top of my garden soil is likely going to compact it into uselessness; maybe within the year. Fluffy soil is a gardener's friend. It absorbs water without getting soggy, and doesn't provide an obstacle for healthy roots. Therefore, snow on soil is not a gardener's friend. Since I already had modular hoop houses, I didn't see any reason why the roof pieces could not be supported just above the soil to prevent snow pack. How easy it would be to brush off even very wet and heavy snow from a flat plastic coated surface? Since the whole area is on concrete, I don't even have to get my boots muddy! And, if midwest snow is as light and breezy as I am led to believe, I won't have to do a darn thing, it will just blow away with the next gust. Mwahaha! There is nothing much like feeling as though one has conquered the winter.
The last thing that the modular system would allow for is mobile seating. We would be able to make a bench that spans the 3 foot walkway and attaches directly to the existing trellis supports. A three foot wide bench would be plenty wide enough for two people, one person plus a harvest basket, etc. It could also provide temporary shade for potted flowers or herbs in the heat of the summer.
Finally, after any number of seasons, the soil will be worn out. The final season, we plant root veggies there. As we dig out potatoes, onions, garlic, yams, turnips, beets and carrots, we pull out the soil too. My hope is that once we get into the swing of it, we can rotate at just the right rate that we remove the soil from one bed per year and produce enough compost to replace it. The exeption would be, of course, crops which do not get removed, like artichoke and asparagus. These would probably get top dressed with compost and worm castings. Still not sure how to combat compaction, but I guess a little more education, and Mother Nature will take care of that.
Master Plan: Backstory
I recently promised to give an account of our amazing garden plan, and so I will. So simple, it's stupid.
But first, a little backstory. When shopping for our current house, less than a year ago, Sweetie firmly stated that we would NOT buy a house with an RV pad unless the property was massive. We like yard (or thought we did), we have a dog that needs to use the yard, and I wanted to dig up a vast quantity of yard for vegetable gardening. Naturally, even more would have to come out for landscaping.
The house we bought, does not have an RV pad, there is adequate space for Porter to utilize, even some clean grass in the front for the neighbor dog, Midnight, to utilize. I did cover about half the back in veggies, and all but one flower bed has been revitalized or removed.
Because we took possession of the house in December, I had limited time to get a garden in order. This was exacerbated by my reading the date of last frost wrong, and shorting myself by nearly two months. I decided that a modified version of lasagna gardening would do well for the soil. I could build on top of the grass, it would be inexpensive, and my garden would be "weed free." Yeah, right. Also, I would utilize square foot gardening to get the most out of my space, however I would plant less intensely because I was sure my soil wouldn't be perfect
Fast forward to today, where I have so much vegitation in that section of our property that I can hardly walk, and the dog has given up trying to get in to eat the grass because he can't manage to get back out safely and without getting corrected for stepping on my nice fluffy compost. Seed packets simply don't tell you how large squash vines get, therefore I have completely lost almost half of my walkways to vines. The other half have been lost to grass (yes, large fluffy bunches pushing their way through three carloads of cardboard) and other garden weeds. The areas I planted less intensely than recommended by the square foot system, are a constant battle with grass and weeds. The areas I planted according to square foot recommendations, are blocking out weeds fantastically, but often the plants are so dense I can't find the produce.
So, since this is only a practice house, and we will be offloading it this winter with plans to buy in the Midwest, we have created a much more user friendly plan for the next garden. (More on the midwest later, when I know something about the location).
To prevent the appearance of excessive rambling, continue on to Master Plan: Garden! for the details of the actual plan.
But first, a little backstory. When shopping for our current house, less than a year ago, Sweetie firmly stated that we would NOT buy a house with an RV pad unless the property was massive. We like yard (or thought we did), we have a dog that needs to use the yard, and I wanted to dig up a vast quantity of yard for vegetable gardening. Naturally, even more would have to come out for landscaping.
The house we bought, does not have an RV pad, there is adequate space for Porter to utilize, even some clean grass in the front for the neighbor dog, Midnight, to utilize. I did cover about half the back in veggies, and all but one flower bed has been revitalized or removed.
Because we took possession of the house in December, I had limited time to get a garden in order. This was exacerbated by my reading the date of last frost wrong, and shorting myself by nearly two months. I decided that a modified version of lasagna gardening would do well for the soil. I could build on top of the grass, it would be inexpensive, and my garden would be "weed free." Yeah, right. Also, I would utilize square foot gardening to get the most out of my space, however I would plant less intensely because I was sure my soil wouldn't be perfect
Fast forward to today, where I have so much vegitation in that section of our property that I can hardly walk, and the dog has given up trying to get in to eat the grass because he can't manage to get back out safely and without getting corrected for stepping on my nice fluffy compost. Seed packets simply don't tell you how large squash vines get, therefore I have completely lost almost half of my walkways to vines. The other half have been lost to grass (yes, large fluffy bunches pushing their way through three carloads of cardboard) and other garden weeds. The areas I planted less intensely than recommended by the square foot system, are a constant battle with grass and weeds. The areas I planted according to square foot recommendations, are blocking out weeds fantastically, but often the plants are so dense I can't find the produce.
So, since this is only a practice house, and we will be offloading it this winter with plans to buy in the Midwest, we have created a much more user friendly plan for the next garden. (More on the midwest later, when I know something about the location).
To prevent the appearance of excessive rambling, continue on to Master Plan: Garden! for the details of the actual plan.
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