Total Pageviews

Sunday, March 27, 2011

What is going on down in the basement?

Waterproofing....  So the bottom of the stairs is done - had to tweak it due to the door - just placed large bead of the caulking under the door frame to keep the water in the channel.  Kind of had to do the same thing in front of the step up to the dark section of the basement... the baseboard units were too tall.  Just need to the keep the water in the channel over to the "gutter" in the floor which takes the water to the floor drain.


Big black hose is from sump pump - but in a week or so my neighbor is installing
real pvc pipe from pump to the outside.  Can't wait for that big hose to be gone!


Still waiting for my problem corner to dry up so I can finish installing
the Squidgee product in this room.  Then the water will be captured behind the
baseboard and taken to the sump pit.
 

New cement I added over the weekend.
Finally got it all to the level of the water pump stand.

Cemented in the "gutters" along the edge in this part of the basement so I can install
the waterproofing products to push water to floor drain - before the water
would flow to opposite side of the room and flood it.

Trying to get my plants all started for the garden.  In the flat along the back wall are tomatoes and peppers on a heated mat.  to the right are all the cauliflower, cabbage, basil & oregano.


Baby basil & cabbage....
Still to eat....  canned pasta sauce, salsa, whole tomatoes and beans from last year.


My new project is building stuff with PVC pipe...  I'm going to make cold frame/hoop row covers and boxes to put over my strawberry patch to attach bird netting.  Once I get more comfortable with building with it - I'm going to try to build an actual greenhouse!
Ready to build!!!
Next post will hopefully be with finished waterproofing in basement & something built with pvc pipe.  If only the weather would warm up a bit.....

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

So Happy Spring is Here!!

So last Saturday I was outside trimming trees, digging trenches, cleaning the workshop up.  I thought its so nice out the goats should go out to the pasture. Mo was inside so I thought I'd just put them all on leashes and hook them to the eye bolts in barn and pasture fence posts as I move them all out there.  Took Arby out to pasture... no issues...  take Piggy out there... go to get Hammy and Mo come out of the house saying something about he is gonna hurt himself.  I look out at pasture and here Piggy tried escape again UNDER the fence - mind you there is a lower elec fence line.... that he then BROKE!  so here he is on the outside of the fence on his little knees cause there wasn't much left of the leash line.  Stupid goats!  Needless to say they are all in the barn again.  The ground was a bit too soft yet anyhow - they tore it all up just with standing out there (and crawling).  So I will have to run a new elec line along the base and Mo is working on taking dirt I was digging up and moving it out there to have less gap under the fence line in certain areas.

So the dirt I was digging up is from my mini pond I'm making that my garden will drain into.  the drain line from the house runs under it so it should help in moving the water.  I might have the guy who put the drain line in come out and pop a line straight up and cap it.  I can then fill some of it up with spare rocks etc that we always find around here.  You can see the trench around the garden I dug out...I have learned that I can not dig a straight line to save my life....lol.  I also put out the blue tarp to help warm up the soil early since that is the area some of my cold weather plants will be going in the coming weeks.  Once I get the garden tilled and ready to plant then I'll dig trenches between the rows making all the rows more like raised beds.




Apple Trees & Raspberry Canes

 I got my shipment from Stark Bros Nursery.  I ordered 2 new apple trees (Fugi & Lodi), Red Raspberry (Joan J Primocane), 2 Blueberry bushes (Northcountry & Earliblue) and an order of 25 Eversweet everbearing strawberries.  Along with their strawberry food, blueberry fert & 2yr time release pills (for apple tree planting).  I got the raspberries planted and holes dug for blueberry & apples.  Waiting for AEP to remove the tree in our yard before I plant the apples so they dont get damaged by falling branches.

Rest of these are just photos taken around the house to show how things looks at the beginning of the season...  enjoy!
Weeping Pussy Willow

Driveway Entrance Beds, Daffodils coming up.

One of old apple trees I'm trying to prune.  Tree to left of it is being removed.

West side of house

Pathway bed.... so bare since I chopped the grasses down.

1st bloom!  Scallia

Frankie's Bed - all the green is daises.

Other pussy willow by large barn & firepit.  Should get 15-20' eventually.

Blackberry & Raspberry bed

Roses - buckets removed but keeping straw on for a while yet.

What I have to make look like a driveway & grass again this year.
From the new drain line install last fall.

Columbine

Garlic!

Chives

Bleeding Heart

Was a bit windy...

Front East view

Strawberry bed

Blueberry bush

Butterfly Bush coming back to life.
More on the basement project later. I still have water coming in so I have yet to be able to install my waterproofing products. I keep praying that when it says rain in forecast that it will just be a tiny tiny bit so it doesn't raise the water table level anymore! Today is one of those days... rain schedule for today & tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

March is finally here - HOORAY!!!

So as I am creating this posting, it is exactly 18 days till the official start of Spring!  I was walking around outside and I saw some great proof that Spring is definitely on its way!  I had to grab the camera and get some shots of the signs of life I was able to find.

Scallia (?) bulbs poking out... usually the 1st flower I have blooming.

Bleeding Heart

Sedum

Lilacs budding

Not sure if Daffodils or Tulips

White perennial geranium

TONS of daisies coming to life in Frankie's garden.

Both Pussy Willows are budding...
They made it successfully thru their 1st winter here!
They have to be loving the amount of water in the ground right now!


Mo bought me a new tape measure.... no more having to go 25' marking...remeasure.  100' super tape measure - yippie!  I used to tell people I had a 80x40' garden...  now I know its officially 73'x33'.  I was pretty close for never measuring!

Today in the mail I got my latest garden purchase.  2 products from the same company.  The 1st is a liquid that is supposed to help with clay soil (which we have!!).  Terra4M - according to their website: "breaks up and loosen clay, compacted soil, and hardpan. Creates organic matter, unlocks nutrients in your soil and neutralizes pH"  Its actually a very interesting product.  Here is a link to details about clay soil and how this product is supposed to help: Terra4M Clay Soil Details

The other product is called SoilRenu.  This 10lbs worth of granules is supposed to treat 2000 sq ft.  Here are the highlights of what this product does:

  • Replacing Lost Soil Microbes
  • Adding Humic and Fulvic Acid to Stimulate Plant Root Growth
  • Growing Nutritionally-Balanced Plants and Aiding in Root Formation
  • Reducing Insect Problems
  • Helps Detoxify the Soil Non-Chemically and it is Environmentally Safe!
  • Loosens Hardpan, clayish and rocky soils permanently

 I have to wait to put these products on until temps avg 55 degrees.  I can't wait to see if this really does help at all.  Also found another similar product in my latest edition of one of my gardening mags - called John & Bob's Smart Soil Solutions - their website also has a lot of great information.  www.johnandbobs.com   (and fellow Yehls reading... I was disappointed as you to find out the owners were not John & Bob Yehl... I was hoping for some free samples....lol). 


WINE UPDATE:
Sorry I haven't posted any thing about my wine making projects yet.  I have 5 gallons of blackberry wine going strong.  I used the blackberries from our garden that we froze last fall.  I had to add over 9 lbs of sugar to get the sugar level to be correct for the yeast to have enough "to eat".  I have racked it 2 times now and the fermentation is getting close to being done as the small bubbles are not as active as they once were.

I also started a small 1 gallon batch of grape wine with a red grape juice concentrate I purchased at my local brewery supply store.  I was so happy to find out there was a nearby dealer so I can just run over to Bucyrus if I ever need anything in a pinch.  They also have an online store - www.hopsshack.com  Aaron is a really nice guy - if you buy anything from him - tell him you found their store thru Peggy.  =)   I'm trying to help their marketing efforts - I like to support small local shops!  

mmmmmmmmmm.....alcohol!  =)

So after the huge amount of snow we had got, we then got warmer temps along with LOTS of rain.  Crazy flooding all over the Ohio area.  We were pretty lucky at our house, no major damage.  Had some water in the basement so that prompted me to make a major purchase of the SquidGee waterproofing products that I used in the basement landing.  I wanted to test the product in that smaller area before shelling out a lot of $$ for major areas of the basement.  Basically it is a plastic 'baseboard' that you use with this special adhesive that creates a water tight seal to the cement.  You are supposed to drill weep holes at the floor level into the cinder blocks to re-leave any hydrostatic water pressure from your foundation walls.  All the water then stays trapped in behind the baseboard, which you create an opening in so any major amount will then float into your sump basin.  I measured for all the different 'rooms' of the basement and product was ordered and UPS shows it should be delivered tomorrow.  So tomorrow night I will be busy trying to get at least one section installed.  This Friday, Saturday & Sunday there are 60-70% chances of rain - estimated at 3"+.   I can only IMAGINE what the flooding will be if we get all that is called for!   I live on a hill and I might be trapped based on the lower roads being flooded out.  The website for the waterproofing product is www.WaterProof.com - it has some good reading and explanation of the product.  Its a LOT cheaper & cleaner than having floors dug up to put in drains!  Its very easy to install yourself!  Here are some pics of areas in the low sections of our basement as of now...  Notice a theme?  Litter boxes can come in handy to keep things dry & off the floor!  =)  I will post some during & after photos in the next week or so after I get this project completed.







Also in the basement  is more signs of Spring (bringing this blog entry back full circle)...  lots of little oregano and the baby cabbage!

oregano

cabbage - planted 2/26/11