New Project - Could send me to the insane asylum

[PrairieMom]

Browsing this thread and loving it ❤ From one Manitoban to another. I grew up in the Winnipeg area and live in Westman now. Those black Hungarians are the only darn peppers I can seem to grow!

 

[DThille]

Older ovens (electric anyway) would also keep running with the door ajar, which would lead to a bit cooler temperature. Our new oven turns off as soon as the door is opened...stupid safety protocols...sigh.

At permies.com (Paul Wheaton / Wheaton Labs), they have done a number of solar dehydrators. I saw one that looked a bit like a small grain elevator with a glass / Plexiglas side that faced south. Things to consider are humidity and venting to allow moisture to escape. I'd like to do something like this and actually avoid using electricity, but it will only work so late in the season in our climate. There are some dehydrators out there that aren't very expensive, but you may get what you pay for.

On to yesterday's adventure....

It was a rare day...I got everything done on my list for the country property. The cold room is working quite well for keeping the root vegetables overall.

One of the pieces of homework for the permaculture design course (PDC) was to do a soil composition test - this is to determine the proportion of sand, silt, and clay particles in your soil. It was almost too late in the season for that, but not quite.

It was about -4C so a nice enough day to be traipsing around, digging in the soil.

Starting to see some snow drifts developing among the cherries. One of the big things I'm learning about is the importance of moisture and either harvesting it, infiltrating it into the soil, or slowing it's movement.

This tree had blown down some time in the spring / summer...there was enough attached that it remained alive, but it needed to be removed.

We also get a lot of drifting on the south side of the house. Note that we had a couple days previous above freezing so some snow has melted.

After I got through with the chainsaw. I left the litter out there for now. It can be cleaned up in the spring easily enough (I didn't want to start the tractor) and if critters want to use it for food or shelter over the winter they are welcome to it.

On my way back from gathering soil samples around the property, I scared up a snowshoe hare...I was probably within 10 m of it. They are quite large.

After gathering up some potatoes and a cabbage, I headed back home. I was pleased on the drive to see a snowy owl. They are beautiful birds. Hopefully I'll get more opportunities through the winter. We've had one on the property some previous winters, so perhaps I'll be able to get a photo.

A cup or so of soil gathered for the composition test.

Water added and everything mixed up.

A few hours later. You may not be able to make it out in the image, but sand is the biggest particle so settles to the bottom (there's really no detectable sand here). Silt particles are the next largest and clay particles are smallest. Thus far it looks to be about half clay and half silt. Floating on top is organic matter / debris. The water remaining coloured is an indicator of the presence of humic acid and / or fulvic acid. Both are indicators of organic matter present in the soil. Without having measured anything, it seems to be about 50/50 clay to silt which isn't ideal, but better than many others.

 

[DThille]

Browsing this thread and loving it ❤ From one Manitoban to another. I grew up in the Winnipeg area and live in Westman now. Those black Hungarians are the only darn peppers I can seem to grow!

Serrano Del Sol (from T&T Seeds) has historically been a solid producer for us. As I move forward though I want to grow more of the heirloom varieties rather than hybrids if I can.

Welcome to the site. I don't get out west as often as I used to. For a time I had a brother in Roblin so got out there every now and again.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

I hope the studies are going well

Glad you got everything done that you wanted. Especially with snow incoming that might become a little tougher.

Maybe some day I'll build a solar dryer, for now I'm tempted to use vegetable bags and just hang them to airdry herbs... if that's even needed. Maybe I should hang my herbs indoors again. I have done that before but they got covered by dust and I don't dare eat them. Living next to a highway, everything just gets covered in dust, no matter how often you clean (we don't have aircon, so windows are always open).

Very interesting test! I already know without testing that most of my soil is clay... the earth was dry as could be (or so I thought), but when I pulled some dead plants from the ground, their roots were absolutely soaked. A little dig by hand and water just started pouring from the sides of the small hole, maybe wrist deep, if that. And here I thought my tomatoes had died because they didn't get watered for well over a week...

Are there any plants that you are intentionally overwintering, or not this year? I do recall you having some berry bush that got ravaged by bunnies last winter.

 

[DThille]

That was the cherries that got hit hard last winter. We'll see what this winter brings. The downside of life plus weather is that we didn't get anything protected from hares / deer for the winter. That said, with the standing cover crop / weeds, there are alternatives for them, so hopefully that will reduce pressure. We did plant some elderberries and blueberries this year...they should get good snow cover so hopefully they'll overwinter well. One thing I recently realized is that I need to get an approximate measurement of the annual gardens...sigh.

I think it was yesterday morning it was -30 C...quite a bit cooler than typical.

I recently placed a seed order with my new favourite supplier and it arrived this week...some of the same, some additional varieties, and some completely different things. We'll see what next year holds.

Supper last night...apparently She Who Must Be Obeyed needed to try it before deciding it was photo-worthy. That's half of a small/medium spaghetti squash. Almost all the sauce is stuff we grew including the last of the fresh tomatoes. It was quite tasty. You can see at the top that it sort of shreds into spaghetti-like strands. I'd forgotten it has a bit of a sweetness to it.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Time will tell
There is a fair chance that the pressure may be taken off those, though if the snow grows over the other plants and can only reach that one... who knows.

I hope your plants survive the cold, that's colder than I've ever experienced!

I can't wait to see what you have in store, haha. The past year has been a delight.

The food looks amazing! I bet the sweet strands bring a whole new aspect to spaghetti.

 

[DThille]

By sweet, I'd say sweet for a squash...perhaps the pumpkins are sweeter, but that varies by variety too. It was a tasty meal.

I'd been out to the acreage Saturday and unfortunately, the furnace wasn't heating. Thankfully, it wasn't that cold and inside the house was still well above freezing. The furnace techs weren't able to make it out but we did some troubleshooting over the phone / via text and I was able to get it heating again. Keeping in mind we needed to keep an eye on it, I was out again today (Monday) and we had the same state. I was able to get it running again, but obviously there's a problem. Considering the furnace was manufactured in 1998 and is one of the early high efficiency types, I spoke to someone about getting an estimate for replacement...so I get to go back out on Wednesday.

Based on this, and the fact it is supposed to get cooler near the end of the week, I started loading vegetables we were storing there (root vegetables and squashes) since we have the space. I'm a bit surprised I got them all in the vehicle...I didn't have room for human passengers though. Working through it, there's probably 500 lbs of squash, at least 200 lbs of potatoes, plus some beets and cabbages. I wound up leaving some sugar beets - we have some in the city and I was out of space. I then had the privilege of moving at least half of them into the basement at the city house. My back has felt better.

Back of the Buick Envision.

Settled into their new home.

I really do need to contact a charity that would be interested in some of these. With our son not caring for squash (likes pumpkin and spaghetti squash is "acceptable"), we definitely have more here than we'll be able to get through.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Fair enough. Definitely did look tasty.

Oh no! Glad you got it "working" again though. My parents had to replace theirs (before Covid) and I already thought it was quite expensive. Fingers crossed they don't give you a ridiculous quote.

Oh wow! That's quite the amount of food. It definitely looks good though. I don't blame your back one bit for aching, they must've weighed a ton! I hope you recover swiftly.

Are charities hard to find where you live? Or do they get so many squash they get sick of it? I hear pumpkin basically grows like a weed here, and people try dropping them off at your door for free, haha.

 

[DThille]

Only about half a ton actually

I was back out today and the house remains above freezing although outside temperatures were about -17C. The predicted range of our daytime highs through the weekend is about -20C and we approach -30 overnight...definitely a bit cooler than average, but when is life average?

We have a couple charities in mind that we support, but I just haven't gotten in touch with them to see if they are interested.

It begins again...what is life, but cycles? I had a couple things I needed to deal with today, so didn't move that snow, but did a bit by hand in front of the house...a couple days from now you may not know I was there...sigh.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Oof, that's painful. Wish it was less.

That's definitely cold! We're having an average of 35C during the day, and 26 at night. It's mad to think you've literally got the opposite temperatures.
Hopefully this winter won't be as harsh as last years'.

Ahh fair enough. I'd say they'd be extra happy with getting fresh produce during winter. Pumpkins can quite easily be turned into hearty soups. I've always been told that pumpkin soup is great against colds and the flu as it boosts your immune system.
My mom would actually make Dutch split pea soup (snert / erwten soep) during winter and share it with neighbours, or even take it to work (she's in elderly care).

Yeah the snow can be quite the hassle. As pretty as it is, it's troublesome.


Couldn't find a picture of mom's snert so I had to find a picture on the internet. It'd basically look like this (minus the fresh herbs). It was definitely a neighbourhood favourite and people would ask my mom to make more.

 

[JP 1983]

That's it Mandy, now you've done it.

I'll call your smert and raise you a pumpkin & wattleseed soup! Actually it also has plantain (Plantago) in it as well, which made it have a velvety texture.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Hahah nice!

 

[DThille]

There is pureed Turk's Turban in the fridge awaiting being turned into soup. I may have to do something about that this morning so that I can make space for the turkey in the fridge.

Language is interesting...the word snert made me think of a critter name that Dr. Seuss would have used.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

I hear you, our fridge is chock full as well. I've been stuffing every nook and cranny full of food, and there's still not enough space... Considering starting up our Brass Monkey (if it still works). Can't say I hate it though - I love food!

Haha, I suppose it could be. To me it's such a "normal" word... well, I think most young people might not know it. It's a very old word and I think it's actually Frisian (spoken in the Northern parts of The Netherlands mostly).

 

[DThille]

I was out briefly today to check in on the house temperature...at least today was moderated somewhat. The water is off and toilets drained, so hopefully it won't be too bad, but I'm hoping we can get the furnace replacement dealt with sooner than later.

It is amazing what a little bit of cover will do for drifting and allowing snow to build up. Just off to the right, in the neighbour's field, you can see pretty much bare earth. As soon as you get into our property with tall plant matter and bales about, the snow is holding...from a quick look, there were spots I estimate to be about three feet deep (approaching 1 m). There are days I wish I wasn't going through elementary school in the days when Canada went metric....

I got the tractor out and moved some snow to make life easier. As I pulled onto the property I saw a snowshoe hare, but couldn't get the camera out in time.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Ah yes, smart thinking, Hopefully the pipes won't freeze. I hope they'll fit you in asap.

I'm guessing because the snow and the ground are insulated from each other, that the snow doesn't melt quite as quickly for you. In saying that, the roots of your plants could maybe be more protected that way? In the past all plants that were in bare earth tended to just freeze over, whilst the snow provided insulation and most plants survived through winter.
But I understand wanting to move it. In your case, there is a thing as too much snow. I've seen it last year, haha.

Yeah, going through changes in school is quite challenging. When I went to school, we were one of the first to ever get taught English as a subject in equivalent to grade 7 and 8. Not that is was any good, really.
And when doing our high school exams, we were the first to get tested for calculating (basic mathematics?) rather than just advanced Mathematics. There were so many complaints, and I believe they didn't do it again. Too bad, I always loved mathematics and was pretty good at it.

Happy holidays and stay warm

 

[DThille]

I'm a bit torn about moving snow out there...on the one hand it makes it look like there's activity around, but on the other, if the drifts were left, it would be hard to get to the buildings and anyone trying to steal anything would be more exposed for longer. I'm only moving snow from the driveway.

I got another heater going and the temperature is pretty stable in the house, although I can see by the electricity meter it's much less efficient this way. Everything is a go, it's just a matter of scheduling for the electrical work and furnace installation.

Yes, snow is a good insulator, but we typically get a frost depth of 1.5 - 2 m deep...that is, at the worst, the ground is frozen that deep...below the frost line is above freezing. Good snow cover helps keep the frost depth shallower.

Now, She Who Must Be Obeyed was off yesterday as a statutory holiday and she'd been on call through the weekend, so was looking for a change of pace. The two of us and the poodle packed up and headed out for a bit. It was nice, only about -10 C and relatively calm.

Conditions were right recently for formation of hoar frost...it's about humidity and temperature moderation. This is a line of either pincherry or chokecherry that started as one plant when we purchased the property...the birds like the fruit and deposit the pits, so it continues to expand into a hedge.

We definitely have some snow already.

Three guesses as to where the edge of our property is...and the first two don't count. This is the eastern edge looking north.

Same location looking west...it's amazing how short a distance it is before the neighbour has no snow.

A brown sentinel from summer. Some of the sunflower heads are being worked on by birds, which is part of the reason they are there in the first place.

Phoenix inspecting another, smaller sunflower that is seeing consumption.

Another hoar frost image. Today looking out the front window it almost looked like big fluffy snow flakes falling from a clear sky - a bit of wind was knocking the frost from the trees.

I'm the king of the drift! He was lying on it moments earlier, but got up when I laughed and I couldn't get the camera out quickly enough...at least he turned around and took up a sentinel pose.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Oh my, right now it looks like a winter wonderland

I can definitely understand that. Really, I'd probably only keep one entrance and most the driveway cleared if you're not there every day. Just so that it doesn't freeze over and you cannot enter anymore.
Yes, sadly external heaters aren't quite as effective. We notice it with our portable AC. Definitely not the most efficient and really it can't keep up. But it's better than nothing when temperatures hit the higher end of 30C.

Cheers for confirming my suspicions. Where I live now we don't get any snow at all, but I think I would've liked a slightly harsher winter so that I had a wider variety of crops I could grow. Even in Winter daytime temperatures easily enter the 20s. At the coldest last winter, in the middle of the night, it was I think 5 or 6 degrees Celsius.

Love that you can still see the sunflowers. I bet the birds (and other hungry animals) are very thankful to have something to eat in the harsh conditions.

Phoenix looks right at home in the snow. Such a handsome pose sitting on the snow, haha

 

[Lunai]

that looks so freezing cold I'm really really really not a winter person but it sure looks great I'm very happy, that our snow is gone for now, and we do actually have a mild winter this year.

 

[DThille]

The days are getting longer...it's so nice. That said, it's about -17C...for the most part, January was warmer than typical.

At any rate, I wanted to update everyone with my PDC project submission. I don't aspire to do a lot of videos personally. I speak slowly, so one could speed it up, except that the way these videos were to be set up so that a mentor could review and they will pause to look at the details. When one is used to presenting from a slide show, I had to break my habits...I was still supposed to speak less as it was to be under 10 minutes ideally.