tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72779881480627905962024-03-06T12:01:37.798-08:00Deb's Vineyard BlogThe Adventures of a Florida Girl Growing Winegrapes in IowaDebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-57672723107713543522015-06-08T07:53:00.001-07:002015-06-08T07:55:02.027-07:00Best Seat in the House!Here's a quick picture of the Sabrevois Grapes in our vineyard. They are thriving this year.<br />
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<br />Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-36640463691396752752015-06-08T07:44:00.000-07:002015-06-08T07:44:08.724-07:00A Nice Surprise!This trailer was just released on Friday. It's a documentary about the growing Midwest Wine Industry. It's very exciting! <br />
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<br />Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-89208052178729775932015-05-19T18:46:00.001-07:002015-05-19T18:46:10.789-07:00Shearing Day 2015Howdy folks! Long time, no posting. Sorry, things just seemed to get away from me for a while. I'll try to do better. LOL. (we'll see).<br />
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Anyway, what's happening down on the farm? Well, a lot actually. The vineyard has come to life and we are mowing, spraying, weeding, pruning, shoot positioning, and scouting for pests. We've had a fairly dry spring thus far and cooler than usual lately. I have not put in the garden yet, and it's just as well because it's been in the 30s and 40s overnight this past week or so. I did manage to buy all the transplants that will eventually become the garden, but I'm currently tending them on the deck, until I can clear out the beds and get them into the ground. The cool temps have been a blessing for the sheep as I have not yet had a chance to get them sheared. That's scheduled to happen today. I'll post pics of their nakedness as soon as the deed is done. <br />
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I did manage to finally rescue the yard from the sheep. Several weeks ago, Greg had to go to Germany for a week and one of the last things he said to me before he left was "I want my yard back. The sheep are eating everything." He was right of course. My landscape has suffered and my garden last year was a total fail because of having to move the sheep around and move hot wire, which they promptly trample, and try to rotation graze them. I managed to let them way overgraze the front section and it's just now starting to recover so they are not allowed out there for the foreseeable future. They can't stay in the vineyard once the new tasty shoots are long enough for them to notice so in the past, they've been around the house way too much. I decided that before Greg got back from Germany, he would have his yard back. I called my neighbor/friend who does fencing and got his opinion and we settled on a date and a price. We ended up fencing off about an acre around the house, which will be "The Yard" and the sheep can have the rest. It adds the complication of additional gates but it's manageable and it gives me multiple areas to rotate them so one area doesn't get scalped down to dirt. Now Greg can plant his fruit tree orchard, and I can do a little permaculture with some wild black raspberries and the elderberries that pop up all over the place if you fail to control them. My garden is safe and there are no more little sheep poop-berries on the driveway. That's a win all the way around.<br />
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Well, Edward Scissorhands (not his real name) is here to shear the sheep. Back soon, with pictures...<br />
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Two and a half hours to shear 13 squirming and kicking sheep. It takes two people to wrangle them, even though they're in a small 16 x 16 foot stall. I sell the white wool and keep the black. I have 6 fleeces to wash and pick out the burrs, grass and weed seeds, then I plan to send it off to a fiber mill to process into yarn. Every year I say this, and it just keeps piling up. This year will be different because I have plans for this beautiful brown/gray/black wool. I'm going to take a refresher knitting class and put it to use.<br />
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Here's what they looked like before all the drama began...<br />
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... and here's Lefty being sheared, with Pancho in the background, enjoying Lefty's misery.<br />
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They're all back in the pasture now, enjoying grass and weeds, and acting like nothing even happened, other than that fact that they do not appear to recognize each other at the moment. </div>
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I'll deal with the black wool tomorrow and get it bagged up in mesh bags, ready for the picking, skirting and washing steps. </div>
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<br />Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-1896868214757074732012-08-27T05:32:00.000-07:002012-08-27T05:32:47.701-07:00Freebies... er, I mean Free Bees<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ever since I started keeping bees, I've flirted with the idea of capturing swarms and putting them in empty hives, thereby increasing the number of hives I have, without the expense of ordering new bee packages from a commercial supplier. Since I still consider myself a novice beekeeper, the idea of catching bees in the wild is still a little scary. I'm not sure when I would have gotten around to pursuing it, had I not gotten a phone call the other day from a guy who got my number from my friend CJ, the County Conservation Officer. The guy had a boarded up basement window with a feral colony of what he believed to be honeybees in it. He said he wasn't sure how long they'd been there but at least since early spring. He asked me to come take a look and see if there was a way to save them. I said I would. After I hung up the phone, I immediately kicked myself because although I sounded totally confident on the phone, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.<br />
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I set up a time to go over and have a look, telling myself if this wasn't an easy access, or required some amount of demo, I was out of there. Turns out, the window was not terribly large, and was right at ground level. Pretty much ideal in terms of access. There was a rotted piece of OSB plywood over the window, with a small hole at the bottom. This is where the bees were coming and going to their nest. It seemed like it might be a small enough job that I could handle it without getting in over my head. I told Brad I could get the colony and try to re-hive it in one of my empty hives. We set a date the following week, which gave me time to do a little research, and build a contraption to vacuum the bees out of the cavity and trap them in a screen cage.<br />
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I set about watching numerous youtube videos of experienced beekeepers collecting colonies out of various inconvenient places, and drew up plans for my bee vacuum contraption. I hit Menards over the weekend and picked up a small Shop Vac, and some plywood and miscellaneous hoses and fittings, then set about building a box with an inlet and outlet hose. Inside this box, I left room for a screen cage to catch the bees and prevent them from being sucked into the Shop Vac itself. The Shop Vac hose attached to the outer box, creating suction inside the box. Then, I attached a second hose to the opposite end of the box and this is the hose I would use to manually vacuum up every bee I could find. Inside the box was a smaller screened box so everything that I vacuumed up would be caught in this smaller box, essentially a trap, but the air would pass through the screen and exit the larger box through the Shop Vac hose. Clever design. No I didn't come up with it, there are numerous variations on YouTube that I used as a guide. <br />
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The night before my scheduled bee capture, I called my Beekeeping Class Instructor, Craig, and talked through what I was planning to do. He raises queens in addition to being a commercial beekeeper, so I wanted to make sure I could get a replacement queen if the one in the feral colony didn't make it through the capture process. He made some recommendations, and gave me a lot of support, and told me to call if I had any questions once I got over there. He also gave me some tips on what to do once I got the bees home. <br />
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On the big day, I loaded the truck with all of my equipment, including my suit, smoker, veil, tools, Shop Vac, bee vacuum contraption prototype (the Suck-A-Bee), and enough 5-gallon buckets to hold 10 hives worth of honey. I stopped by the pharmacy and bought a bottle of Benadryl (just in case, LOL) and arrived at the house. I drove around to the side of the house where the window was located and talked to the homeowner for a few minutes and hatched my plan. He backed off and sat in his jeep while I set everything up in easy reach of where I'd be working, suited up, duct taped my gloves to my wrists, lit the smoker, and grabbed the big crow bar he'd left for me. I took a couple of deep breaths and laid into the plywood with that crowbar. It was partially rotted so it came apart in several pieces. <br />
<br />
Once I exposed the nest, I got down on the ground and had a look. It was my lucky day. The colony did not fill the entire window cavity, which was good news for me. I had hoped this first "cut out" would be small and easy, and it looked like that would be the case. There were about seven individual combs, each about 1.5 inches thick, 7 inches wide and 10 to 12 inches tall. The comb was pale yellow so was probably no more than a few months old, meaning this colony probably took over this window sometime this spring. The nest was shaped roughly like a basketball, and was about that size. The bees were surprisingly gentle, and there weren't many in the air buzzing around. I did not get stung.<br />
<br />
I took my hive tool and started cutting the combs loose from the top of the window, which luckily was the only place they were attached. Each one was full of brood and honey, and completely covered with bees. I put each comb into the five-gallon bucket, along with the bees that continued to cling to it, then fired up the vacuum and started sucking the remaining bees into the box. This went on for several minutes and then the vacuum hose lost suction. I'm not sure what happened by my best guess is that the hose got clogged by some of the stuff other than bees that was getting sucked in. I made the decision at this point to abandon the bee vacuum and suction the remaining bees with the actual Shop Vac. I was worried it was too much suction and would kill the bees, but I didn't know what else to do and I had to capture as many bees as possible to get them out of this guy's window. I carefully finished vacuuming every bee I could see, and hoped for the best. When I finished, I grabbed my roll of duct tape and tore off several pieces of it, then shut off the Shop Vac, pulled the hose off, taped the inlet hole, and the outlet hole, and put it in the truck. I then opened the box and removed the screened trap inside, and taped that opening as well. I put a plastic bag over the 5-gallon bucket, and taped around the rim to keep those bees inside, and that all went into the back of the truck as well. I removed my bee suit, gathered up the rest of my equipment, and got ready to leave. The homeowner cautiously came out and I recommended to him that he stay away from the window for a couple of days and since the queen was gone, and all of the comb, they would eventually leave. I recommended that he board up the window tightly so a new colony doesn't move in. <br />
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After I got home, I set up my empty hive, and covered the entrance at the bottom with a piece of window screen, to keep the new bees inside, and any bees from my other hives, or the local area from trying to get in there and rob the honey. I'll wait a few days and put this hive somewhere and take the screen off, and then they can decide whether or not they are going to stay in their new home. All in all, this was a pretty successful experience. I learned a lot, and the failure of the bee vacuum wasn't as bad as it could have been. It appears that the majority of the bees in the Shop Vac survived. Hopefully the queen did. I'll know in a few days when I open up the hive and look for newly laid eggs. <br />
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I will need to figure out exactly what happened to cause the loss of suction and then go about fixing the problem, or redesigning it. I think I either need a bigger, non-corrugated hose or I need a way to periodically clear the current hose. Not sure a more powerful vacuum would have made a difference if the inside of the hose was clogged with debris glued together with honey... I need to figure out a way to not pick up a bunch of debris while I'm vacuuming up the bees, because there was all sorts of stuff in the Shop Vac that was not bees. Most of it looked like pieces of old comb, and dirt from the bottom of the window well. <br />
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Hopefully I won't need to do this again until next year, and I can work out the kinks over the winter. I'm putting the word out among the people I know that I'm willing to capture swarms, and do cut-outs as long as they're fairly accessible and don't require a lot of demo (or the use of a ladder!). I'll capture them at no charge, in exchange for the bees and whatever honey is in the comb. Unfortunately, not all colonies take up residence in easy-to-reach places so they can't all be saved. Sometimes there's nothing to be done except call an exterminator that specializes in bee removal. If you can find one. <br />
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I wish I'd gotten a few more pictures but once I taped my gloves to my wrists, it was not easy to even handle the phone, much less push the buttons. Next time I'll plan ahead for that. <br />
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<br />Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-7335926278210688662012-08-02T16:47:00.000-07:002012-08-02T16:47:48.075-07:00MEDIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!So, Friday was an ordinary day, just like any other
Friday this summer. Hot, humid, unpleasant to be outside. I got
everything done outside that I needed to do and was inside doing
some things when Greg got home. He casually mentioned that he
hadn't seen Gibbs and Sophie out with the sheep when he came
through the gate. Hmm, I thought. I wonder where they are. I
went outside to find out and to put the sheep up in the barn. No
Dogs. Anywhere. This has been an on again, off again problem
since Gibbs came to live here but I thought I had solved the problem with the fence. He's a wanderer. Sophie pretty
much sticks with the sheep and has rarely if ever shown any
interest in what's outside our perimeter fence. Gibbs is not a
purebred Great Pyrenees. He's half Pyrenees and half Anatolian
Shepherd, and the instincts of Anatolians are a little different from Pyrs. I
would describe him as more of a Sentry than a true
Sheepdog. He patrols. The entire property. He walks the fence.
He barks, even when there's nothing to bark at. <br />
<br />
Inevitably, he has "discovered" ways to escape the fence and when
he does, I have to figure out how he's getting out and patch up
the fence. I know, it seems like this would be a simple task but
remember this is 40 acres and most of the fence was here when we
bought the place. He doesn't go over, he finds ways to go under it. The fence is overgrown with weeds, sticker bushes, small trees
and vines, and Poison Ivy :( so it's not like just looking for holes in a nice pristine fence. Sometimes the only clue that I've located the
escape route is little tufts of white fur tangled in the barbed
wire. <br />
<br />
Anyway, Gibbs has escaped maybe four or five times in the
last seven months. On two occasions, he convinced Sophie to go
with him. The last time they left together, I got a phone call
from my neighbor about a half a mile away, letting me know that they were
in the pond in his pasture. That was a simple fix. I just drove
around to his place, went through his gate, drove down to the
pond, and convinced them that they needed to get in the Jeep and
come home. Other than a smelly back seat, no harm, no foul,
although Greg was not pleased at the condition of the Jeep. <br />
<br />
Fast forward to Friday and Gibbs had managed to get out of the
fence. Somehow, he coaxed his well-behaved sister to join him.
Here's how I think that conversation went.<br />
<br />
Gibbs: Hey Sophie, look, I'm outside the fence!<br />
<br />
Sophie: So?<br />
<br />
Gibbs: I squeeeeezed between the gate and the post. Come on, try
it.<br />
<br />
Sophie: No. I'm busy.<br />
<br />
Gibbs: Come on Soph, let's get out of here. <br />
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Sophie: Where will we go?<br />
<br />
Gibbs: The lake, Silly!<br />
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Sophie: What about the sheep?<br />
<br />
Gibbs: They'll be fine. It's the middle of the day. What could
happen? Hurry up.<br />
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Sophie: I dunno.<br />
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Gibbs: Let's go for a swim. We'll come right back.<br />
<br />
Sophie: Welllll, Okay. <br />
<br />
Gibbs: Sweet! <br />
<br />
(four or five hours pass, it's getting dark and I'm driving around
the lake and up and down our road trying to find them)<br />
<br />
Sophie: Gibbs, we really should go back. We're gonna be in deep
shit if Mom finds out we're gone.<br />
<br />
Gibbs: Nah, she'll never miss us. <br />
<br />
Sophie: Come on Gibbs, I'm leaving.<br />
<br />
Gibbs: Oh, alright. I'm tired anyway but lets do this again
tomorrow.<br />
<br />
Sophie: We'll see...<br />
<br />
<br />
Okay, so by now it's 10:30 p.m. and Greg happens to be out on the
deck. Here they come up the driveway. Sophie sees him and drags
herself up the steps onto the deck, with her head and ears down,
and rolls over on her back right at his feet. She knows they're in trouble. Greg takes her by the collar and they head out to the barn and Gibbs follows, jumping around like a kangaroo
trying to get Greg to play with him. He locks them in the barn
and comes back in the house. Everyone is safe and sound.<br />
<br />
So, Sunday morning, we get up, head out to the vineyard to mess
with the bird netting, and when we get back to the house I decide
I'm going to give them both baths because they stink and they are
covered with burs and muck from who-knows-where, and so forth. I mean literally covered with thousands of
little quasi-sandspur dealies, all tangled in their long fur. <br />
<br />
Here's where it gets ugly. <br />
<br />
Gibbs was the worst so I put him on
his leash and took him out in the yard and gave him a bath, then
dumped probably eight ounces of conditioner on him and let it sit for
about five minutes, then proceeded to try to comb the burs out of
his fur with a fine comb. This worked okay but there were
literally thousands of burs. I abandoned the little comb, rinsed
off the conditioner, and decided I would just trim the burs off with
scissors. Well, about 30 seconds into this, I almost amputated
Gibbs' front leg. Yep, I cut him with the scissors over his front
left elbow where the loose skin of the armpit area (or whatever the dog equivalent to an armpit)
is. As soon as I did it I knew I'd cut him. He flinched a
little but didn't cry, and then just stood there staring at me with this pathetic look. Well, immediately there was a huge gush of
blood, and it was as bad as I'd feared. It was a flap and when I
lifted it, I could see his elbow joint. Awful. I grabbed him and
took him over to the hose and washed the blood off and then picked
him up (all 77 lbs of him) and ran to the garage, grabbed my Vet
First Aid kit, and then hauled him and the kit up the stairs onto
the deck. I put him down (fortunately he was still on the leash)
and opened the door and yelled for Greg to "get me a towel, Gibbs
is hurt" and he came running with a big bath towel. He asked what
happened and I simply said "I cut Gibbs' leg with the scissors."
He responded "why'd you do that?" to which I had no explanation. <br />
<br />
I used the towel to stop the bleeding and then took a look at it.
It was a big gash, probably an inch and a half long, curved like a
"C" and right over the elbow joint. I doused it with peroxide,
squeezed a big glob of Neosporin into it, mashed the flap down and
wrapped the area with an Ace bandage. <br />
<br />
Then I started crying. <br />
<br />
I called the vet's emergency number and got the recording telling me to call another number. Since the bleeding had stopped, I decided it was probably not necessary to drag the vet into the office to stitch up my dog, and decided to wait until the following morning. Since he was still pretty much covered with burs, I decided to keep him up on the deck and work on removing them, and also keeping him from messing with the bandage and possibly making it start bleeding again. I brushed him until he was dry and got probably 95% of the burs off of him, and then I brought him in the house (which I never do) and made him lay down next to my chair for a while. After a bit, I took him out to the barn and locked him in
there with Sophie and hoped for the best, as far as the bandage was concerned. <br />
<br />
Monday morning I called the vet's office. Lisa,
my regular vet, was there and said to bring him in right away.
When I got there, I told her what I'd done, and that if Gibbs was
a child, I'd have already been visited by Child Protective
Services. She laughed and said "don't be so sure. My sister
accidentally cut my niece's Achilles tendon with a hoe while
working in the garden and no one came out to investigate her
fitness as a mother." She recommended stitches and said to leave
him with her. She called at about 2:00 and said I could pick him
up but I decided to leave him overnight just to give him a day
off, and keep him reasonably clean. I picked him up Tuesday morning and except for a stitched up elbow and a shaved upper leg,
you'd never know there was a thing wrong with him. <br />
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<br />
He's back to his normal self. If the stitches are still there
after 10 days, I'll take them out. No more scissors. My sister suggested I invest in a pair of clippers for occasions when I feel
like playing Edward Scissorhands... <br />
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Ugh!!!<br />
<br />Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-11928576373330850222012-06-16T12:25:00.000-07:002012-06-16T12:25:47.482-07:00Studio UpdateStarting in late October, Greg and I decided to build a small art studio next to the house, so I could finally get my pottery wheel out of the barn and into a usable space. We built a 12 x 16 foot framed building on piers with a 12 x 6 foot porch on one end. There were several reasons for putting up this building, including the art studio space, but also to accommodate guests when we have them, and also as extra storage space. When I sketched out the idea, I wanted a loft that extended out over the porch, accessible from inside by a ladder. I also wanted vaulted ceilings in part of it so we compromised and put the loft above only half of the building. This left a cool vaulted ceiling, which we covered with 4 x 8 sheets of grooved plywood siding, painted white. It turned out great. We put a ceiling fan up there as well. <br />
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Anyway, one of my goals was to have it ready for my parents to stay in when they came up for their annual spring visit. We plugged along on this building until the end of April, then Greg went to work putting on the siding, soffit, fascia and so forth, and I kept working on the inside, painting the cabinets, and building the Murphy bed. The place is pretty good size for a studio but there was not going to be any room for a permanent bed so I decided to build a folding bed. It's technically not a Murphy bed because there's no mechanical hardware that easily folds the bed up, only a set of hinges and the strength of two people lifting and pushing it against the wall. Anyway, Greg let me use his tools but mostly let me build this thing on my own. I made a few design errors but these were easily fixed, and I made a couple of minor mistakes while putting it together, but I eventually got it assembled, painted and set up for my parents the day before they arrived. <br />
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The only snag I hit was I didn't fully appreciate how tall the thing would end up being. I wayyyy overbuilt this thing, and used probably twice the lumber I needed. It's definitely sturdy but the top of the mattress is at about 36 inches from the floor, way too tall for my 5'3" tall mother to safely get in and out of, so Greg and I have been sleeping out there and my folks have been sleeping in our bed. It's pretty comfy!<br />
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Here are a few pictures of the place. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYpRXWKSl-48C5Jd5uDQuUdBBVrBBZ8-8Dfns6AGBbZM7mnVK0TKVRjoUp3MBeodzrC37zuOmJmwbrDjMC8jgHHjhCsrMk11SkFnmi0eV_Aj18kw8d-mAJjf2XsHfzf6VTQjXXofs8GyY/s1600/cabinets+and+counters" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYpRXWKSl-48C5Jd5uDQuUdBBVrBBZ8-8Dfns6AGBbZM7mnVK0TKVRjoUp3MBeodzrC37zuOmJmwbrDjMC8jgHHjhCsrMk11SkFnmi0eV_Aj18kw8d-mAJjf2XsHfzf6VTQjXXofs8GyY/s640/cabinets+and+counters" width="480" /></a> <br />
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The mess in the corner is the stereo Greg bought for out there. It's sitting on the counter right now but he's going to build a cabinet to hang on the wall, with a glass door, and it will have room for the stereo, a place to dock a lap top or whatever, and maybe eventually a TV receiver. At this point the place is still pretty bare bones, but I got a nice rug for the floor, the cabinets are painted, the counter-tops are installed, and the fan and A/C work. There's still a good bit of stuff to do on the outside. On the inside the windows need to be trimmed out, and the baseboards installed. I need to get some kind of blinds for the windows, and I still need to build the rolling platform for my wheel, and the work-table that will also function as a dining table when we have guests. The plan is to have the work table at about counter height, built out of 2 x 6 lumber and plywood. The platform will be built the same way, with heavy duty casters so I can move it around. The wheel probably weights 400 lbs or so. When we have guests staying out there, table will fit on top of the platform and the whole thing can be pushed against a wall. The table will then be at bar height when it is on top of the platform, and I have a couple of bar stools to go with it. <br />
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I used MDF board for the bottom of the Murphy bed. I bought a can of chalkboard paint and will paint the underside of the bed with it so when the Murph is folded against the wall, the chalkboard will be exposed and I can sketch out pottery ideas on it. <br />
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Still a work in progress but it's almost finished. So, come on out for a visit!Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-61601731387713845332012-06-12T06:54:00.001-07:002012-06-12T06:54:28.242-07:00Bird Nest in the VineyardI was mowing the vineyard yesterday, and tucking the shoots up inside the trellis wires so they wouldn't get caught on the tractor as it goes by. I spotted this little nest and stopped to take a few pics. Tiny nest, tiny eggs, about the size of your thumbnail. Beautiful!<br />
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<br />Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-53350805710658130152012-06-06T16:59:00.000-07:002012-06-06T16:59:02.138-07:00uh oh...Here are a few pictures of what may or may not be herbicide drift damage to our grapes. Stay tuned...<br />
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<br />Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-30580794030070996992012-03-25T16:41:00.004-07:002012-03-26T03:12:50.550-07:00Pruning, 2012<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ElzXvBkD9mkt-ge8bDsbai3uRRbbqMUjymPLR47usWwLspaOB_xhmVm4f7zbKz3qR6KWSY0xLoTip8bWQtUp2dYo9Fo-dG-UxurWQOeYfIiRsepy1nMBeMcT5SyHLoTCIPxuZ1axOJ4b/s1600/budbreak.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 481px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ElzXvBkD9mkt-ge8bDsbai3uRRbbqMUjymPLR47usWwLspaOB_xhmVm4f7zbKz3qR6KWSY0xLoTip8bWQtUp2dYo9Fo-dG-UxurWQOeYfIiRsepy1nMBeMcT5SyHLoTCIPxuZ1axOJ4b/s320/budbreak.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723985036729754338" border="0" /></a>Now it's a race! The Sabrevois vines have broken their buds and the first leaves are popping out on the canes. This is very early, even for Sabrevois. This ridiculously mild winter, followed by what appears to be an extremely early spring has pushed everything out of dormancy a good month before our typical last freeze. Hopefully the trend holds and it's like this from here on out. A late freeze really does a number on tender new shoots and buds. I'm pruning as fast as I can and I'm leaving extra buds and longer than normal canes for this year's growth in case we do get a freeze and it kills the vines back. It happens.<br /><br />The good thing about grape vines though is if you leave extra length to the canes you are pruning, typically the buds that are near the tips pop open before the ones closer to to the cordon and trunk. This means that by leaving extra buds near the ends of the canes, if you get a freeze, those might get killed back but the ones that haven't started pushing out new growth are still a little protected. It creates an extra step if you don't get a freeze and have to go back and prune a second time to get rid of the excessive growth, but it's cheap insurance.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjww3p_AizJOgqJIi3yG86rJkbu3Bn_upaG9EEeR7suoCCnAANYAED3zsinPTH3xdSJJZ3LvTe9O3JqeGVpEv3YLQob3-lwVgU2V6Nn3TMnYl4UJhBNx9hSJbZwsXtkWj_qbTml1HHhkwWt/s1600/pruning2.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 344px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjww3p_AizJOgqJIi3yG86rJkbu3Bn_upaG9EEeR7suoCCnAANYAED3zsinPTH3xdSJJZ3LvTe9O3JqeGVpEv3YLQob3-lwVgU2V6Nn3TMnYl4UJhBNx9hSJbZwsXtkWj_qbTml1HHhkwWt/s320/pruning2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723985041242051266" border="0" /></a>I'm about half way done with pruning. I'm done with the Sabrevois vines and I'm almost done with the three-year-old Traminette. I'll be starting on the four-year-old Traminette sometime this week, and then go to work on the Cynthiana after that. Sabrevois is completely in full bud break now. The Traminette and the Cynthiana are a little behind but just about ready to go too. The longer it takes to finish pruning, the harder it is because once the buds start to swell and open, they're really fragile and are easily knocked off, essentially wasting a cane and leaving a gap where this year's growth should be. I'll have to be more careful while I prune to avoid knocking them off, which means no tugging and yanking on the canes while I prune. I'm hoping to be done with this by the end of next weekend. That may be a little ambitious but we'll see.<br /><br />One little adaptive strategy that grapes have is that within every node where a bud pushes out, there's also a tiny secondary bud, and a really tiny tertiary bud that will push out if something happens to the primary and secondary buds. The only problem with this is that while the secondary and tertiary buds create new shoots that grow into canes, these buds are not fruitful so you don't get a cluster of grapes from this node (there are a few hybrids that do have fruitful secondary buds but none of the cultivars we are growing do this). So, a late freeze can do a lot of damage to this season's crop, but not necessarily damage the entire vine.<br /><br />Hopefully we're out of the frost window and well into spring at this point. Hope-Hope-Hope...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHfPMPvc6Zp2i8YgKzzjjZyBw1pqrg8nsM95KsZUSxaPRMiIDpJXkWj8wDW8tJKjLRcPu7-vJqkeYwRLIZmJvwsSdoDWz5rAwnultvN6GRMYS-IchAGCPaGWPdFN0qt_kvdYSMsoQ2PIXB/s1600/newly+pruned+vine.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHfPMPvc6Zp2i8YgKzzjjZyBw1pqrg8nsM95KsZUSxaPRMiIDpJXkWj8wDW8tJKjLRcPu7-vJqkeYwRLIZmJvwsSdoDWz5rAwnultvN6GRMYS-IchAGCPaGWPdFN0qt_kvdYSMsoQ2PIXB/s320/newly+pruned+vine.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723985047736046098" border="0" /></a>Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-64227340245147841162012-03-03T18:11:00.004-08:002012-03-03T18:57:38.942-08:00Winter GardeningOne of the long-term goals I've had since moving to Iowa has been to have a greenhouse so I could extend the growing season both in the early spring and also the late, late fall. Over the past month or so, I've been putting together some ideas on how I can transition to full-time farmer. One way is to be able to grow produce for local farmer's markets, restaurants, and eventually start a CSA/subscription farm. One of the things I'm really interested in is food security on the local level, and helping the community, in my case my little town, grow and produce more of what it consumes. Our vineyard is the first step in this direction. Greg and I hope to be marketing wine under our own label in the next few years and in spite of the dramatic growth of artisan wineries in Iowa, and all over the Midwest, there isn't one in our county. We intend to change that. Expanding into raising other types of produce gels well with the existing vineyard, as we have already purchased the tractor, implements, and tools we need, so the additional expenses are fairly minimal. <br /><br />In conjunction with the vineyard/winery, we've got plenty of space for several greenhouses/high tunnels, and Iowa State and Cornell have been researching growing raspberries and blackberries in tunnels with some very good results. I'm considering doing this along side the vineyard, and there are several potential markets for the berries, including restaurants, wineries, farmer's markets and bakeries. I'm researching the feasibility of putting up a big tunnel and raising fall-ripening berries. I already have the majority of the equipment I would need, I'd just need the tunnel and the plants. Oh, and I also have two hives full o' bees!<br /><br />In the meantime, I bought this... <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCfcQi-kwevSesBxHuJyqMFepfpFMP8Q_l0gcWtlEh8z4u_yjBR98U4Qlmd9shza2hhImeHvGjpU0499aoZKaHAuMAgm4NLN41iZ1KKn7veudq419dqP0F6Yynu2GIygDsS5j9ABREUjY/s1600/greenhouse2"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 451px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCfcQi-kwevSesBxHuJyqMFepfpFMP8Q_l0gcWtlEh8z4u_yjBR98U4Qlmd9shza2hhImeHvGjpU0499aoZKaHAuMAgm4NLN41iZ1KKn7veudq419dqP0F6Yynu2GIygDsS5j9ABREUjY/s320/greenhouse2" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715864034694742290" border="0" /></a>on Craigslist last week. It's a 14 x 44 foot tunnel greenhouse that I bought from some folks up north. They used it to raise cut flowers and nursery plants and got out of the business and put the tunnel up for sale. Nice people. They're delivering it next Saturday. This is a decent sized greenhouse and it comes with all of the fans, benches, lumber, and so forth that we would need. We'll put it up this spring and use it get a jump on this year's garden, and see what kind of production we can get from it before it's warm enough to start the outdoor gardening. I'm going to use this season to get a handle on growing for markets and one restaurant customer who's interested in what I'm doing. I'm going to start out at our little Albia Farmer's Market and spread out from there. There are five markets within about 20 miles of me, all on different days of the week, starting in early May and running through October. Keeping good records this season should allow me to estimate the volume I'll need to grow to cover the markets, restaurant(s) and a small CSA.<br /><br />I'm taking a self-directed crash course in all of this and I'll document the progress on this blog. Feel free to ask questions or offer input.Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-68874283484671724262012-02-24T17:10:00.007-08:002012-02-24T17:27:54.450-08:00Snowy Morning Pictures<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfVwafrCmTX1p3WIxhRGRa6qz6hNJF_BaGv6Q6nU_7SJbA40Irz-iFf2BNXr3WyD7e3UMscOi8YZtKqHhaJewLRCl7BzRP3Oo1wRlg_AeK-5zCuJioNKOGnM1kizVyRB2fdmhv6QhpFhqm/s1600/snowy+driveway.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfVwafrCmTX1p3WIxhRGRa6qz6hNJF_BaGv6Q6nU_7SJbA40Irz-iFf2BNXr3WyD7e3UMscOi8YZtKqHhaJewLRCl7BzRP3Oo1wRlg_AeK-5zCuJioNKOGnM1kizVyRB2fdmhv6QhpFhqm/s320/snowy+driveway.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712877931985196402" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4kwxjHPjOxsVUOiDzq6c2omh-pM35jCUOwDj3I4M2yhm83SP6yiwO9Q0JGQhGgh8eUphBi_YVYRI_9VdQGUHWaaaAy5rmWRBEWFzpF_yBl5uAsurea-bVwcq_G-wsyKy52sZUXoe3z6z/s1600/frozen+vineyard.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4kwxjHPjOxsVUOiDzq6c2omh-pM35jCUOwDj3I4M2yhm83SP6yiwO9Q0JGQhGgh8eUphBi_YVYRI_9VdQGUHWaaaAy5rmWRBEWFzpF_yBl5uAsurea-bVwcq_G-wsyKy52sZUXoe3z6z/s400/frozen+vineyard.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712877058507251730" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4kwxjHPjOxsVUOiDzq6c2omh-pM35jCUOwDj3I4M2yhm83SP6yiwO9Q0JGQhGgh8eUphBi_YVYRI_9VdQGUHWaaaAy5rmWRBEWFzpF_yBl5uAsurea-bVwcq_G-wsyKy52sZUXoe3z6z/s1600/frozen+vineyard.jpg"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPFYYcp99-kmhXPLFttJvbO3X7W8a8tBzo8_2EgI9lsRAGqq6EuMwYvrFcXFSfSoKt_0AkliZ8ztrgA6cfwiQHcqWYPoLRvNmYBiQA2OQs8RTrOFSafrnG21TxfwzGTR1O0ZgLLGeyXyq0/s1600/breakfast.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPFYYcp99-kmhXPLFttJvbO3X7W8a8tBzo8_2EgI9lsRAGqq6EuMwYvrFcXFSfSoKt_0AkliZ8ztrgA6cfwiQHcqWYPoLRvNmYBiQA2OQs8RTrOFSafrnG21TxfwzGTR1O0ZgLLGeyXyq0/s400/breakfast.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712875466074072258" border="0" /></a><br />Here are a few pics I took this morning. That's the frozen vineyard out there. I've done a little pruning but have most of the vineyard left to do.<br /><br />After having almost no snow all winter, conditions were perfect last night for light, fluffy snow. It was fairly calm all night so the snow stuck to every surface. It was beautiful this morning. Of course, the wind kicked up and blew most of it out of the trees<br />by mid morning, and by this afternoon, the snow was drifting across the roads making little snow dunes in open areas. I went to the dump to get rid of some construction debris, and had a fun time getting it out of the truck. I'd loaded the truck on Monday thinking I'd get to the dump on Wednesday when it was 40-something degrees, then procrastinated until today, and of course everything was frozen into one solid chunk of drywall scraps, trash from the barn, and assorted pieces of plywood and other lumber from constructing the studio. What a pain that was... I finally situated the truck on enough of a slope that I could get into the bed and shove the whole frozen pile out to the tailgate, and finally tipped it out, and drove out from under it.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nmLdnVaD6RezVhK0Xf6_4qRnqALpqk1a6KInVP6KsWClewQyO_tofsZ1kuU31SLtaHcOkSMW3wO4cRa52h-9uEritZdpejKe999ub-cOs4Hg375NvIJCrnGPXTQ8p9Ws1DgNGqFgHo3r/s1600/winter+tree.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nmLdnVaD6RezVhK0Xf6_4qRnqALpqk1a6KInVP6KsWClewQyO_tofsZ1kuU31SLtaHcOkSMW3wO4cRa52h-9uEritZdpejKe999ub-cOs4Hg375NvIJCrnGPXTQ8p9Ws1DgNGqFgHo3r/s400/winter+tree.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712877624645695058" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZutdBZAqdVkmW-0gFufpeiz51OgawfbOY4Elbb6K8kE9rLwrRMaPaXFQl1ksPK17ujXxgCMNPr8VhRze-cQK7RHOT5FBxP2gwYLdXYAfM92t4QZU2D273-MdWKhAkdaA2w1poh-_JynDB/s1600/sleepy+gibbs+and+tebow.jpg"></a>Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-54698836903386310992012-02-23T08:01:00.000-08:002012-02-23T08:36:50.042-08:00Cracking the CodeIowa wines have been getting some very good press lately. Here's a link to a story that aired last night on our local news. Slowly but surely, Midwest winemakers are learning how to make terrific wines with the cold climate grapes we're able to grow here.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.kcci.com/video/30523859/detail.html">http://www.kcci.com/video/30523859/detail.html<br /><br /></a>... and here is a write-up on the growth of small-scale wineries popping up all over the place. If you have the chance, take the time to stop in and check out what they have to offer. <br /><br /><a href="http://westernfarmpress.com/grapes/local-wineries-boosting-us-economy">http://westernfarmpress.com/grapes/local-wineries-boosting-us-economy</a><br /><br />... and here's a link to a review of a local Iowa winery's offerings. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.kcci.com/video/30523859/detail.html">http://blog.nowandzin.com/2012/02/16/wine-country-iowa---schade-creek-vineyard--winery.aspx</a><br /><br />... and finally, here's a link to the Iowa Winegrower's Association, to see how much has happened in only about 12 short years. <br /><br /><a href="http://iowawinegrowers.org/">http://iowawinegrowers.org/</a><br /><br />Very exciting times around these parts!!!Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-67266974475874930312012-01-28T21:13:00.001-08:002012-01-28T21:23:38.792-08:00Hunnerd bucks!Whoa... I had to go around the block and come back for a picture of this masterpiece. A riding mower with a wheelbarrow mounted on the hood! <br /><br /><br />Heh... Want! That!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8D1HguRWvQknCtRWyNfCdktpuPMF4agNjNBKLcygzC0xGrteZkPhMFtNEy_EHS3JdPX5CH4mR31gQm6RarPPuhAvM5UAnOlDyHue0FOEQbjsTtvs7kyzny9oUrodSPKWPZG4P8bojCMd/s1600/mowerbarrow"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8D1HguRWvQknCtRWyNfCdktpuPMF4agNjNBKLcygzC0xGrteZkPhMFtNEy_EHS3JdPX5CH4mR31gQm6RarPPuhAvM5UAnOlDyHue0FOEQbjsTtvs7kyzny9oUrodSPKWPZG4P8bojCMd/s400/mowerbarrow" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702919554947949074" border="0" /></a>Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-77294145891471683152012-01-27T20:28:00.000-08:002012-01-27T21:22:35.972-08:00"Gibbs"<span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">There he is...</span></span><br /><pre face="arial" wrap=""><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF2bOnZi9W4dzmO3kVarBUnze9QKytX2X-hQjGtmBfSXUcY65Pi1B3_sG4oG6mBzxNDxoGHLOkgFHnIGYpCB9MoKjBGL4E4IDDPZk-RvH6rPB-QD_16nz07RreiTBAoG3TkXo_wGRtUuCj/s1600/jethrogibbs"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 444px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF2bOnZi9W4dzmO3kVarBUnze9QKytX2X-hQjGtmBfSXUcY65Pi1B3_sG4oG6mBzxNDxoGHLOkgFHnIGYpCB9MoKjBGL4E4IDDPZk-RvH6rPB-QD_16nz07RreiTBAoG3TkXo_wGRtUuCj/s400/jethrogibbs" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702541723359115042" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">For those of you who don't know, we lost our sweet old boy Doogan about three weeks ago. I'm still barely able to think about it. He had been slowly going down hill for a while and we were getting very close to the point of having to make a really hard decision. Before we did, he made it for us. He died one morning and I found him in his bed, and hope beyond hope that he went peacefully. We should all be so lucky.</span><br style="font-family:times new roman;"><br style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Before Christmas, Greg and I had been discussing the possibility of adopting another livestock guardian dog as a companion for Sophie, and to help with Coyote Patrol once we move the sheep back out to the vineyard, but it just didn't seem right to bring another dog into the mix with Doogan having such a hard time. In December, I had emailed Diane, the lady who runs the Great Pyrenees Rescue of Iowa. She had found Sophie for us. I wanted to give her the heads-up that we would be looking for another guardian dog, maybe in the early spring, and she said she'd get back to me. I didn't hear from her for a couple of weeks and then we lost Doogan. About a week later, she called and had a couple of dogs we might be interested in. I had very mixed feelings about making this change so soon but she sent pictures and I decided to go up and visit her farm and meet them. One of the dogs, "Junior" was available and sounded like he might fit in well with Sophie and our farm. I went up there with the intention of bringing him home if we hit it off, and we did. He's very, very funny and friendly, and still very much a puppy, in spite of his size. He's only about a year old and very playful. I felt like he'd be a great buddy for Sophie. She loves her sheep but boy are they boring...</span><br style="font-family:times new roman;"><br style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Anyway, I signed all of the paperwork for the adoption, and loaded him up in the Jeep, and off we went. The Rescue is near Cedar Rapids, about two hours from my place, and he fell asleep about five minutes into the trip, and never made a peep. I had brought a crate for him to ride in, not knowing what to expect, and he just curled up in there and did great. We got home just after Greg got home from work so he met us on the driveway.</span><br style="font-family:times new roman;"><br style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I went out to the barn and got Sophie on a leash and brought her out to the driveway. We introduced her to him, and it was a little sketchy at first because guardian dogs are hardwired not to trust strange dogs around their flock (which is why we took her out of the barn so they could meet in sort of a neutral place. We gave them lots of treats and let them do a lot of sniffing and growling and finally they worked it out. We then took both of them back out to the barn and put Sophie in with the sheep and kept Gibbs outside of the pen for a little bit, while he explored the barn and got used to things. Then, I took him inside the sheep pen and although Sophie was nervous, she let him investigate the sheep and sniff around the pen. He was curious about the sheep but didn't act up at all. He'd been living with a flock of goats at the Rescue, (BIG GOATS!!!) so we knew he was "livestock safe" but you never know what can happen in a high-stress situation, and I was more worried about Sophie being defensive than "Gibbs" eating a sheep. </span><br style="font-family:times new roman;"><br style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Anyway, it all went fine, and he's part of the pack now. If he crowds her, or tries to keep her from getting close to me, she lets him have it but he's learning that for now she's the boss of the barn and he seems to be okay with that. Sophie has laid the smack-down on him maybe twice and he seemed perfectly okay with doing things her way. We'll see how long that lasts as he's going to be much bigger than her. He is a true sweet heart and extremely affectionate.</span><br style="font-family:times new roman;"><br style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I kind of felt like it would be a good idea for Greg to give him his new name so that he "belongs" to Greg the way Doogan did and the way Sophie belongs to me, so that is how he came to be named Jethro Gibbs... </span></span></pre>Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-13369756465246828332012-01-25T22:17:00.000-08:002012-01-30T07:22:01.220-08:00Okay, but what are you going to do with it?<span style="font-size:100%;">Sooo. In my initial plan for the studio we are building, I had planned to use a small wood-burning stove that I picked up on Craigslist about two years ago for a hundred bucks. The title of this post is the question Greg asked me when I arrived home with it in the back of the truck.<br /><br />Unfortunately, once I had laid everything out on paper when we were contemplating the studio, and I took into consideration the very large clearance from combustible materials that is required for a cast iron wood stove, I realized it was going to eat up a whole lot more floor space than I thought. I haven't solved this dilemma completely, but I'm looking at a few options, including a direct-vent gas (propane in my case) fireplace that recesses into the wall and has a low profile on the inside (most of the stove bumps out of the wall to the outside), and does not require a chimney. I also found a very small Vermont Castings cast iron gas stove that is only 13 inches deep and can sit as close as three inches from the wall since the combustion chamber is insulated. This would eat up very little floor space.<br /><br />Anyway, I'm still working on this issue and cost is a factor. We'll probably wait until next fall to deal with the heat issue because we can limp along with a small electric heater for the time being, except when the temps drop into the single digits. I just can't store anything out there that will freeze until we solve this issue.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Anyway, I have this old second-hand, wood-burning stove that looks exactly like this... <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9Phl0PlfW79ALzcK6PnOxN5WeRtHtY3aR8z7c08kZRtFxvCuWszEATqxltdTAevdwDhJXwuqviAh4vJQYpWR0-4FzbcpfkbLegetYZ_tPsaoOGNhZY7gRjfIiEiahpsWeHNZANuv4xvZ/s1600/boxwood+stove.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 175px; height: 188px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9Phl0PlfW79ALzcK6PnOxN5WeRtHtY3aR8z7c08kZRtFxvCuWszEATqxltdTAevdwDhJXwuqviAh4vJQYpWR0-4FzbcpfkbLegetYZ_tPsaoOGNhZY7gRjfIiEiahpsWeHNZANuv4xvZ/s400/boxwood+stove.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701821778213431266" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> It's a Vogelzang Deluxe Boxwood Stove and that's the image from their website. Mine is buried under a bunch of stuff in the barn at the moment. </span><span style="font-size:100%;">I figured I'd hang onto it and eventually use it to heat a greenhouse since it turned out not to be ideal for my studio. It's a nice little utilitarian stove, no window, just a cast iron box with a flue. It's pretty cute and you can even cook on it in a pinch. It's perfect to heat a greenhouse if you have a way to move the air around the space. There's even a little gadget that you can add between sections of the stove pipe that will capture much of the heat going up the stove pipe and send it out into the room rather than having it escape to the outside. It makes the stove much more efficient. Anyway, the problem with cast iron stoves is that they get super hot, and once the fire goes out they lose heat pretty quickly. There's just not enough thermal mass to really retain a lot of heat for very long.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Or so I thought... check this out!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcEurKeuNacvMwfhDO9Kazlzja3qmsiJKV4jAlBilk9BVLF4hAHRGtAKUXy2xX0CB6s15JU8IJwaJ1-nqh62YOb8dTYOt1gd-hOj1aCH03mHYqVEn-vjoBMIw42qGSw2OuSBqu0P3MuJJ/s1600/stovehat.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcEurKeuNacvMwfhDO9Kazlzja3qmsiJKV4jAlBilk9BVLF4hAHRGtAKUXy2xX0CB6s15JU8IJwaJ1-nqh62YOb8dTYOt1gd-hOj1aCH03mHYqVEn-vjoBMIw42qGSw2OuSBqu0P3MuJJ/s400/stovehat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701825880763759458" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.handprintpress.com/ovens/bring-in-the-mud/">http://www.handprintpress.com/ovens/bring-in-the-mud/</a><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">This is from Kiko Denzer's webpage. He's the guy I got the original idea from, for Sunny the clay oven. Look at that thing! He's basically created a "clay hat" for his stove and inside this hat is a serpentine tunnel that winds around and around inside that thing. The clay heats up and becomes basically a radiator and the winding design inside there is basically a big heat exchanger, with lots of surface area to soak up the heat. After the clay absorbs the heat traveling through the tunnel, the stove pipe exits "the hat" and the smoke and some of the hot air goes on up out of the roof, leaving most of the heat behind in the Hat. The hat slowly radiates the heat into the room, just like my clay oven radiates heat back into the baking chamber. Genius! (although I do have some concerns about the ability of those spindly legs to support what has to be several hundred pounds of clay. Looks a tiny bit precarious. <br /><br />Anyway, it sparked an idea about how to heat a future greenhouse, using a stove I already have, and the abundant supply of oak firewood we have accumulated over time.<br /><br />I could really extend my growing season if I could put a little bit of supplemental heat into a tunnel or lean-to greenhouse, particularly if I use twin-wall polycarbonate or a double layer of poly film. I'd start by taking the legs off the little Vogelzang stove (they're bolted on), and right smack in the middle of the greenhouse, I'd dig down several inches and put a scrap of foam insulation in the hole about 4 x 4 feet square. Then, I'd pour gravel on top of the foam insulation until it was level with the ground. Then, I'd basically build something similar to Sunny, but embed this stove inside the mud dome, leaving the front of the stove exposed, for access to load the wood, build the fire, and clean out ashes. Access to the damper is also in the front part of the stove. You could make a hearth out of the clay too so you could sit by it and warm up when working in the greenhouse in the winter, and even build out to the side, a chamber that could hold your firewood. The heat from the clay would probably get warm enough to help dry the firewood so it burns better, with less smoke, and it would also give you a place to store several days' worth of wood without having it piled up all over the place. I'd cover the stove pipe with a thick tube of clay up to about six feet or so, then stick another damper in the stove pipe at that height, to help draw the air upward, then add that little gadget to capture residual heat that is still in the stove pipe, and then vent it out through the roof. Basically, the stove becomes the firebox for a big masonry heater, and all that clay (probably 12 or more inches thick) would absorb the heat through the walls of the stove, and slowly release it into the greenhouse. You could really make this a massive thermal storage device and really get a lot of bang for your buck with each fire.<br /><br />I think you could still do what Kiko did and form a small chamber above the firebox that you could use as an oven, and get double duty from this contraption. Not sure what you would want to cook in a greenhouse but, whatever... Although, you certainly could bake bread in there when it is too cold outside to use Sunny.<br /><br />It would look like a big adobe fireplace in a pueblo except for the cast iron door. By enclosing the stove inside a big envelope of clay/mud, I think you would eliminate any issues of minimum clearance to the wall, and with the exception of the door, none of the surface should get hot enough to actually burn you. The thermal mass of the clay structure should help avoid the extreme temperature swings that you get with a typical wood stove.<br /><br />One thing you'd need to keep track of is the humidity level in the greenhouse. As a rule, you want a lot of humidity in a greenhouse, and the hotter the air temperature, the more water it holds. This is a good thing when trying to raise plants. However, raising the air temp in the greenhouse way above the outside temperature is going to cause a lot of condensation on the walls/ceiling of the house. This water is going to come from somewhere so you would need to make sure your planting beds are not drying out too much, or figure out a way to recapture the condensation as it runs down the walls of the greenhouse. Hmmm, surely there's a solution for this. People grow food in heated greenhouses at latitudes above 50 degrees so this is not a unique problem. It might be something as simple as having an open tank of water as your humidity source, which slowly evaporates, providing the necessary water for the surrounding air, and then capturing the condensation along the bottom of the greenhouse walls and feeding it back to the drip irrigation system. This could help prevent the soil from drying out. Sounds complicated but I'll research this issue and figure out what other people have done. <br /><br />This might be a fun project to do when my folks come up sometime. It would be much more challenging than building Sunny, which took the better part of a weekend. My dad would have a blast doing this with us. Based on the amount of clay, sand and straw I used when I built Sunny, a clay heater of this size would probably require at least a full pickup bed each of sand and clay, and probably not as many bales of straw. The straw strengthens the mix but too much straw creates an insulating effect, trapping the heat inside the stove, which was perfect for the clay oven but not what I would want for this heater. I would want the heat moving through the clay walls and out into the room. I'd have to mess around a bit and figure out how little straw I can get away with and still have a strong structure, particularly the chimney part.<br /><br />Best part about this project is the cost. I already have the hundred-dollar stove. Local clay is free or almost free (I probably can use the tractor to dig some really decent clay out of my pond that will be easy to work with) and coarse sand is a few bucks a ton. Literally. I just need to go to the sand pit and get it. The rest is just manual labor. As for fuel, we have numerous dead trees on our property that need to be dealt with anyway. Much of the wood is useable lumber but the limbs and so forth are perfect for firing this little stove, and we have an almost unlimited supply of them.<br /><br />If I eventually do this, the greenhouse should be stay comfortable in all but the worst part of winter, and I ought to be able to grow all kinds of cool season veggies well into December or perhaps... even... dare I say it? January????? Eliot Coleman would be proud!<br /></span>Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-54828601099682083332012-01-23T18:08:00.001-08:002012-01-23T18:45:59.747-08:00Studio Update #2Once we finally got the roof finished, we turned our focus on the inside of the studio. When we built our house, Greg did all of the rough electrical so he's got a good handle on how to do this stuff. We discussed where I would need outlets, where switches would be handy, and how many overhead lights I would need and where they should go. We picked up a small ceiling fan with lights at Home Depot and figured out where it would go, what height would be best, and where we might want to put stereo speakers (probably in the ceiling over the porch, and a set aimed out at the firepit area). Once Greg completed the electrical rough-in, we spent a couple of days putting the insulation in the rafters and the walls, then covered the walls with plastic vapor barrier. <br /><br />Last week, we picked up six 4 x 8 sheets of grooved plywood (grooves every four inches) which I had thought would look great on the ceiling. I primed them and painted them with the paint I got at the Habitat Store, which is an off-white, semi-gloss latex. On the rough texture of the panels the paint still reflects quite a bit of light down and makes the room look much bigger than it is. We attached these panels to the rafters with screws, and then moved on to the drywall. <br /><br />Last Saturday, we rented a drywall lift from a tool rental company and used this to lift the grooved panels up to the vaulted ceiling and Greg attached them, making sure everything was square and lined up correctly. Once we did that, we lifted several sheets up into the loft so we could finish the ceiling up there. This was fun because the drywall sheets just barely fit through the loft doorway. We put several full sheets up there so we can cover the loft ceiling when we get around to it. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWkQ74S9AcNPhDyCwpKOyL4A2S_uZxpw0orsr8JagVIS9cQz2T2Bm-iT3SYjHDqkC-EzeA_UoWhZmLhN6g6Zr9uNMN6g-lRHvPlOJoqBHKdGNdHugSTi5jyO37D9OTQX4okBIHmgl5fnq/s1600/ceiling3"></a><br /><br />We also used the lift to hold the drywall sheets underneath the bottom of the floor joists of the loft. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWkQ74S9AcNPhDyCwpKOyL4A2S_uZxpw0orsr8JagVIS9cQz2T2Bm-iT3SYjHDqkC-EzeA_UoWhZmLhN6g6Zr9uNMN6g-lRHvPlOJoqBHKdGNdHugSTi5jyO37D9OTQX4okBIHmgl5fnq/s1600/ceiling3"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWkQ74S9AcNPhDyCwpKOyL4A2S_uZxpw0orsr8JagVIS9cQz2T2Bm-iT3SYjHDqkC-EzeA_UoWhZmLhN6g6Zr9uNMN6g-lRHvPlOJoqBHKdGNdHugSTi5jyO37D9OTQX4okBIHmgl5fnq/s400/ceiling3" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701015159451587954" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Here's a picture of us shoving the drywall sheets up into the loft space. They barely fit through the opening and I'm not sure how we would have gotten them in there without using the drywall lift. I guess we would have had to cut them into smaller pieces. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmT8VtuX9_TreJxhi71E7tR6FCuJJnrGdJAA_vA4cIXMAaaKcSW_rMu2bXqLrt1tMbd2cgBssvnmhU3mrFid8q6tjTgxL8WWgX-EFm3xY3qu5qmvdVaAcQgSCz6fqooB3HoxONzSraWZJp/s1600/ceiling4"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmT8VtuX9_TreJxhi71E7tR6FCuJJnrGdJAA_vA4cIXMAaaKcSW_rMu2bXqLrt1tMbd2cgBssvnmhU3mrFid8q6tjTgxL8WWgX-EFm3xY3qu5qmvdVaAcQgSCz6fqooB3HoxONzSraWZJp/s400/ceiling4" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701015164447778594" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMEPzjpX4FjaJUxsi7GffDgVH1d-K8cMmfFIrH0xRG84BSrW0Kp0iNiglb22TPwmiPPZOF0axN7DPhmkt8DCdzfBRJfGgRr0ZfAsPrRFhletnH7rSbQrZy6Vz9wsAVxc8cLTnh19UDFTtb/s1600/ceiling2"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINi9wdJWQsfqQJmNBYwZdI_fI4CQzdUAlDhbe4hYM5mH0coLNi6m73oEmDl5NpRZRqNZJJPCmen6xKNHgsO5c150Gkyzdq7AYFHbfDzUbyWnOD4EfdD1kkkly9M6kW7WFNn9JG60gMdYy/s1600/ceiling1"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmT8VtuX9_TreJxhi71E7tR6FCuJJnrGdJAA_vA4cIXMAaaKcSW_rMu2bXqLrt1tMbd2cgBssvnmhU3mrFid8q6tjTgxL8WWgX-EFm3xY3qu5qmvdVaAcQgSCz6fqooB3HoxONzSraWZJp/s1600/ceiling4"></a>Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-615048454128571972012-01-01T09:35:00.000-08:002012-01-23T18:07:54.377-08:00Warning: Non Vineyard Content Ahead...Here at Bluff Creek Vineyards, we've always got one or more projects in the works. Over the summer we decided that we need to think about putting up a pole barn to store vehicles and vineyard equipment, and it needs to be planned in such a way that we can eventually convert some or most of the space to a commercial winery. We got things rolling in terms of where to put it and how we were going to prepare the site but for multiple reasons did not get much further than the dirt work before the weather got too cold to bring in the concrete people and the builders. We considered doing this project ourselves and we still might but it's quite a large building and we'll need some specialized equipment to tackle the roof and so forth so this may end up being one we farm out to the pros. Anyway, we've postponed that project until spring, and I've seeded the bare ground around the building site with winter wheat to help prevent erosion in the spring when the snow melts. The sheep can mow it down once it's established, if the deer don't get it first.<br /><br />Since Greg is making wine in the garage on a fairly large scale but still in the "hobby" category, we really need some space for storage, particularly since we're going to need to fit at least one car into the garage this winter. We've been discussing building a studio next to the house that would allow me to set my pottery wheel up and have a heated place to work during the winter months. Once we decided we probably weren't going to get things rolling on the pole barn before winter got rolling, we decided to put up the studio, and build a loft big enough to move a lot of stuff in the garage out to the studio for storage. This will give us some space in the garage to work with the wine and still get one vehicle in there when necessary.<br /><br />I'd drawn some plans out for what would be an ideal studio and then got to thinking about how that building could serve double duty and be a guest cottage when we have visitors. My folks visit several times a year and they stay in a cabin up the road at a campground. The cabins are nice but it would be a lot nicer if they could be here at the house. Once I got this idea, the studio plans were adjusted to allow for this. I've always wanted a Murphy bed and I think it will be the perfect solution for when we have guests. After looking at plans on the Web, I think I can make one myself for less than a hundred bucks not counting the mattress. Since the studio needs storage anyway, I'm going to use off-the-shelf Menards cabinets on one long wall, and fit the Murph into this wall so that it all looks like one big built-in. When Murph is flipped up against the wall, the underside will be plywood spraypainted with chalkboard paint so I have a big area to sketch projects and write down glaze recipes and so forth. Double Duty!<br /><br />As most of you know, I love me some Craigslist and once I had a plan, I started shopping for some of the things I would need. Greg of course is the brains behind the actual structure and how to go about getting the materials to build it so I've left that part up to him, but things like doors, windows, cabinets, and so forth I'm searching for on Craigslist and the Habitat Restore.<br /><br />Best find so far is the 32" steel entrance door I found on CL. I saw the ad pop up and immediately called and was the guy's first response so I got the door. Thing is, it was listed as Free. He just wanted it out of his house immediately. I said I'd be right over. I drove down to Centerville, which is about a half hour away, and when I got there he asked if I wanted a storm door and some bi-fold doors as well. "Of course" I said, so we loaded them up to.<br /><br />The next score was four huge casement windows that came out of a restaurant up in Ankeny. Not free but only $25.00 a piece and they're in great shape. I had to drive over an hour to get them but that was a huge savings over new windows. They're casements, about 38 tall and 60 inches wide. They will let lots of light into the room and will go on the south wall so I can use the sun to help heat the place in the winter.<br /><br />While I was near Des Moines, I also picked up a couple of gliders (rocking chairs) for 30 bucks each. I only needed one but the ad said 40 bucks each or both for 60. If I end up not needing both, I'll just sell one on Craigslist.<br /><br />Finally, I got all the paint for the interior of the studio at the Habitat store for about 4 bucks per gallon. You have to be careful there because sometimes stuff is not marked down much below what you can find at Home Depot or Menards, but sometimes there are really good deals, and this paint was one of them. Plus, your money goes to a good cause.<br /><br />Anyway, as usual, I got the cart before the horse and had several of these items before we even got started on the actual building but we finally broke ground on the studio and here are a few pictures of the progress so far.<br /><br />We decided to put the building up on posts to avoid the labor and expense of pouring a foundation (the frost line here is at about 42 inches so we would have had to go down below that). Once we had everything plumb and square, we set the corner posts in concrete and hung pressure treated 2 x 12s on these post. In the pictures, you can see that the ground slopes under this building. We had to take out one big tree that was literally "looming" over the house. I wanted it gone before it blew over on the house or we had another ice storm that caused limbs to crash down onto the deck. I had the tree service I'd used before come out and take it down. This left a perfect spot north of the house for the studio.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuo6LC1Cs1ZWSQiVBCe5IUvhjpgmXLXIii4LLLSoM1NBtThpQGAOSV_VwHkha55XHBQOXBI39E_gTaPzdD8cwRzM18jhjVCk_rO7yLhVn0wrctltl4yPLK9_D42wAeWCux-Yy8aSGOjWjg/s1600/cabinbeams"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuo6LC1Cs1ZWSQiVBCe5IUvhjpgmXLXIii4LLLSoM1NBtThpQGAOSV_VwHkha55XHBQOXBI39E_gTaPzdD8cwRzM18jhjVCk_rO7yLhVn0wrctltl4yPLK9_D42wAeWCux-Yy8aSGOjWjg/s400/cabinbeams" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701005531188490834" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />We attached OSB (oriented strand board) to the beams. The OSB has a vapor barrier on the underside. We attached the floor joists to the beams, screwing them through the OSB. We put these 12 inches on center. We then put insulation in the cavities between the joists, and then screwed down the floor sheathing on top of the joists. This created a solid, sturdy, well-insulated floor.<br /><br />Once the floor was finished, we framed the walls and erected them and braced them in place. We used the same OSB sheathing on the wall framing, and once everything was plumb and square, we started on the rafters and the ridge beam. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPWA56wI1jbrkyJYQ2i7OdDSiO6HaVRJO4BKURgw0gWtEDZXT4pY2cwYTfivFDi89x8qE126Zj4YAaFPlk40d_9gGjg1l9nMKs2B-HmwlANfXEgiL-JBlVEhWHEwgWwIWLUjXOjoD1rMfz/s1600/rafters"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPWA56wI1jbrkyJYQ2i7OdDSiO6HaVRJO4BKURgw0gWtEDZXT4pY2cwYTfivFDi89x8qE126Zj4YAaFPlk40d_9gGjg1l9nMKs2B-HmwlANfXEgiL-JBlVEhWHEwgWwIWLUjXOjoD1rMfz/s400/rafters" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701010379005285826" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We basically built a 12 x 16 foot box with a 6 foot covered porch. The roof took a lot of time and wasn't easy to figure out, and trusses would have been a whole lot easier, but I wanted the vaulted ceiling, and we wanted a loft where we could store a lot of stuff without climbing over and through trusses to get to it. Greg installed the Craiglist windows and doors, and started on sheathing the roof. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8GmuRZyVqcZ24C-ELuo8j3LP7aTZozGRIsmYFUJrtLR_ejD8YGOJaR8lN7HGGtNA2YIV1lzue9cww2f6RyQxHLNBlBTucVpLHjqiCZBq1D0rPJ6NEj_l6q73VmEf1iyxv4yY4cAhqGrh/s1600/gregloft"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8GmuRZyVqcZ24C-ELuo8j3LP7aTZozGRIsmYFUJrtLR_ejD8YGOJaR8lN7HGGtNA2YIV1lzue9cww2f6RyQxHLNBlBTucVpLHjqiCZBq1D0rPJ6NEj_l6q73VmEf1iyxv4yY4cAhqGrh/s400/gregloft" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701010379449525778" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We sheathed the roof with OSB and then ran nailers across it and attached the metal roofing to the nailers. <br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ56ve81ttLM8u15o4ul-MYvBYDZ_KBPMUD45lVcdbP5LIrfD2_JkbaOA3WEdgyRaHy1yELauHgggLy7TRAUeUamb42vn7IC80UtOAj0rClec6GC6kfu1A9IDamIZTmMpYHqztd1-StpsJ/s1600/roofpanel"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ56ve81ttLM8u15o4ul-MYvBYDZ_KBPMUD45lVcdbP5LIrfD2_JkbaOA3WEdgyRaHy1yELauHgggLy7TRAUeUamb42vn7IC80UtOAj0rClec6GC6kfu1A9IDamIZTmMpYHqztd1-StpsJ/s400/roofpanel" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701013268153487234" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheJwvuR8gAus3gTzBnHCUONGQzYnNDuokShHR2OEhzafhtRna3d_eNPE8U4_CqGVvixJyNSQNXf1-7uqVeKKvVsKgu1isd__WTjJYhhpWD6f2bgPyoFih3LwP1vBNAIguGnDQexh1X1avm/s1600/ridgecap2.jpg"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The final step for the roof was attaching the ridge cap, which Greg is doing in this picture. The roof is now dried in and we're starting on the inside. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheJwvuR8gAus3gTzBnHCUONGQzYnNDuokShHR2OEhzafhtRna3d_eNPE8U4_CqGVvixJyNSQNXf1-7uqVeKKvVsKgu1isd__WTjJYhhpWD6f2bgPyoFih3LwP1vBNAIguGnDQexh1X1avm/s1600/ridgecap2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheJwvuR8gAus3gTzBnHCUONGQzYnNDuokShHR2OEhzafhtRna3d_eNPE8U4_CqGVvixJyNSQNXf1-7uqVeKKvVsKgu1isd__WTjJYhhpWD6f2bgPyoFih3LwP1vBNAIguGnDQexh1X1avm/s400/ridgecap2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701011854091563906" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8GmuRZyVqcZ24C-ELuo8j3LP7aTZozGRIsmYFUJrtLR_ejD8YGOJaR8lN7HGGtNA2YIV1lzue9cww2f6RyQxHLNBlBTucVpLHjqiCZBq1D0rPJ6NEj_l6q73VmEf1iyxv4yY4cAhqGrh/s1600/gregloft"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjH3dFQcIuvoZ3HUdoSxtyXHGHFkgBlG0tiRNFxVIYI5jcoSTh9Sef1ADdvTNuhA1gd96LHoGImNQMPyRFGanf3bpYdPP5J5egL-kJBRPjFajrj0SQDvQqzRIXvt38SH3qVE6AZACFmVPx/s1600/frontdoor"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjH3dFQcIuvoZ3HUdoSxtyXHGHFkgBlG0tiRNFxVIYI5jcoSTh9Sef1ADdvTNuhA1gd96LHoGImNQMPyRFGanf3bpYdPP5J5egL-kJBRPjFajrj0SQDvQqzRIXvt38SH3qVE6AZACFmVPx/s400/frontdoor" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701005535580097874" border="0" /></a>Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-77172667133235588822011-09-04T13:50:00.000-07:002012-01-27T21:18:59.014-08:00Honey Harvest 9/4/2011Back in January and February of this year, I took a class on beekeeping through the ISU Extension Service. I've always wanted to do it and after meeting a beekeeper in Hawaii last year, I was dead set on starting a couple of hives. After finishing the class, I ordered two 4-pound packages of bees, and all the equipment and gear to get set up with two hives. In April, itl arrived and Greg and I put it all together and installed the bees. All summer I've been monitoring them and watching them build comb, forage for nectar and pollen, raise baby bees, and make honey. Because this was the first year, I wasn't sure there was going to be enough honey for me to take any and still leave enough for them to survive through the winter. Turns out, they were pretty busy this summer, and apparently had no problem collecting plenty of nectar. Last week I checked on them and decided Labor Day weekend would be Harvest Day. I ordered a small honey extractor, five-gallon buckets, plastic jars, filter screens, and gathered up some odds and ends from around the house to use as tools (bread knife, stainless steel pot, metal colander, clean towels).<br /><br />Saturday morning, Greg and I washed all of the equipment and set up a work table on saw horses in the garage, after cleaning the place up as much as possible. Then, I suited up in my bee suit, gathered up my smoker, hive tools, and other equipment, and Greg and I headed out to the hives. The plan was for me to pull the boxes off, sweep the bees off with the brush, and put the boxes into the Jeep. Greg's job was to get it all on film.<br /><br />Before we headed out there, I made a small wooden frame, about the size of the perimeter of a hive box, out of scrap wood. I stretched a black dish towel over this frame. This was my home made fume board. I had ordered this stuff called Bee Robber which comes in a bottle, wrapped in a plastic bag, then stuffed inside a larger plastic container. It Stinks!!! The triple packaging is to prevent any of it getting on anything you intend to keep. This fume board frame dealie was going straight into the trash as soon as I was done with it. I drizzled a few drops of this stuff onto the black fabric. The way it is supposed to work is the stuff starts to smell as the sun heats up that black fabric. You put the frame on top of the hive box and leave it for a minute or so, and it is supposed to drive the bees down into the hive and out of the box you are intending to harvest. Well, since it was only about 70 degrees when we went out there, I don't think it ever heated up enough to really have an effect, or maybe I didn't use enough of it or whatever, but after several minutes, it had had no effect on the bees.<br /><br />After putting the fume board aside, I took off the top two boxes and set them aside since neither contained completely filled frames of capped honey. The third box was mostly full but there were a few frames that were not capped, indicating the honey was not yet dry enough to be harvested. Instead of harvesting full boxes, I ended up taking about six frames out of the fullest box on each hive, and just putting the frames in the back of the jeep. I reassembled the hives, gathered up all of my tools, and we headed back to the house. Pretty painless. No stings, and no mess in the Jeep. The bees will continue making honey until probably mid October. The goldenrod and ragweed are about to really start blooming so the honey they store from now on will be darker and have a more rustic or molasses like taste. I'll let them keep it for the winter, and I'll probably put the feeders back on in a couple of weeks to make sure they make enough food and get it stored before it gets cold.<br /><br />Once we got back to the house, we carried the frames into the garage and set them in an extra hive box. With both of us working, we used the serrated bread knife to shave off the cappings, which fell into the metal colander that was suspended over a stainless steel pot. Then two frames at a time went into the extractor. This extractor is essentially a plastic drum with a contraption that sits on a bearing in the bottom of the drum. It holds two frames at a time. You hand crank it to spin it as fast as possible, and the uncapped honey that is still left in the frames, gets thrown out of the combs and up against the inside walls of the extractor. It then runs down and collects in the bottom of the plastic drum, and there is a gate valve at the bottom that allows you to drain the honey out of the drum.<br /><br />I had ordered three filter screens, a 600 micron, a 400 micron, and a 200 micron. They nest inside each other and fit on top of a five gallon bucket. The extractor was on top of the work table with the valve extended over the edge. With the valve closed we spun/extracted about a half dozen frames, then stopped, opened the valve and allowed the honey and some of the wax comb to run down through the screens and into the five-gallon bucket that was sitting on a small stool directly under the valve. Once we had processed six frames, we shut the valve and did the other six. We tilted the extractor forward and propped it up on some scrap wood so it could drain completely. We also poured the honey that had collected in the stainless steel pot during the uncapping step, into the filter screens. All in all, I think we have about three gallons of honey and a big pile of very clean beeswax to play around making candles or lip balm or whatever. I'll need to compress the wax to squeeze any remaining honey out of it and then melt it down in a coffee can or something into a block and then save it until I'm ready to use it for something.<br /><br />After several hours, the filters were finally empty and all of the honey was collected in the five gallon bucket, which also has a gate valve. I had ordered two cases of 12 ounce plastic bottles and nutrition labels for them from the beekeeping supplier, Mann Lake, out of Minnesota. Since Greg and I had plans to have dinner down at Honey Creek Resort on Lake Rathbun, we decided to take a bottle of honey to Pat Koffman, the chef there. Pat's a good friend of ours and is always interested in what's going on the vineyard, what we're growing in our garden, and so forth. At some point I hope to be growing herbs and vegetables for the restaurant, probably once I have a high-tunnel greenhouse and can grow veggies from March through December. Anyway, I wanted him to have some of the honey so we washed and dried one of the bottles and filled it with the honey from the five-gallon bucket. Ideally, the honey should set for a few days so any trapped air bubbles can float to the surface of the bucket and be skimmed off, but since we were headed down there for dinner, I figured it'd be okay. Turns out, it was almost crystal clear, hardly any bubbles at all, and a beautiful golden color. I had made some cute tags for the bottles so I tied one on it and it was ready to go. The restaurant was packed to the gills but we caught up with Pat and I handed it off. Can't wait to hear what he thinks about it. We'll wait a day or so to bottle the rest of the it.Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-38337244309880544852011-08-30T18:30:00.001-07:002011-08-31T15:19:55.944-07:00Open the Pod Bay Doors Hal.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4evLV1BF_zQFhG0k6ZoT4Y6eerxl_u9jeogyUEJL18xC0Hl54REx31euDesga_KthUqOOaRAoZRpzOO4x4x43JwVBiFhLlgvH6_UzKn2ge_ES4LN7onrlp_yQznwK8v6K74WxXOhL6mO2/s1600/sprayer"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4evLV1BF_zQFhG0k6ZoT4Y6eerxl_u9jeogyUEJL18xC0Hl54REx31euDesga_KthUqOOaRAoZRpzOO4x4x43JwVBiFhLlgvH6_UzKn2ge_ES4LN7onrlp_yQznwK8v6K74WxXOhL6mO2/s400/sprayer" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647147443874721298" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-size:180%;">I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
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<br />Heh, no this isn't the escape pod from the International Space Station... It's our new air-blast vineyard sprayer. It arrived today on a flat bed trailer. It's a few years old and we got a good deal on it. We'll clean it up and use it once the vines go dormant this fall to spray lime sulfur fungicide on the canopy once we move the sheep out of the vineyard.
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<br />Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-52057020788545273732011-08-29T18:12:00.001-07:002011-08-29T20:30:33.566-07:00CynthianaThe Cynthiana grape is only marginally successful in Iowa because it has a very long growing season and in some years we get a hard freeze early enough in the fall that it is not yet ripe when the vines shut down for the winter. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFyNf65Q5WiVYp0ECaNJsMB-rxepBoeXAhYZm2K3cQbTlwyyslzJvobzYzu_4mGRFzqgzaSOuDvMRK2GtbDiZ0TxrH2fn3g3EdEAorL1veud_D7qDeAaonqLW9kI6VVt5JrEypZ7aQegc9/s1600/cynthiana3.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFyNf65Q5WiVYp0ECaNJsMB-rxepBoeXAhYZm2K3cQbTlwyyslzJvobzYzu_4mGRFzqgzaSOuDvMRK2GtbDiZ0TxrH2fn3g3EdEAorL1veud_D7qDeAaonqLW9kI6VVt5JrEypZ7aQegc9/s400/cynthiana3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646451193224763938" border="0" /></a>We put this vine in our vineyard because we're pretty optimistic that we are far enough south in Iowa that we have a good chance of getting it to ripen in most years. This is the first year these vines have produced a decent crop as it has taken a while to get them established in our vineyard. We think it is worth trying to grow this grape here because it makes a very good, full-bodied red wine when fully mature, and fills a niche that most of the cold-climate hybrids are not able to fill. It ages well, responds well to oak, and has lots of tannins, which smooth out as the wine ages.
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<br />Cynthiana is considered to be a genetically true American grape (Vitis aestivalis) as opposed to the more familiar European grapes of the genus/species (Vitis vinifera), such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. It was grown extensively in the Eastern US, particularly in Virginia where it was first noted, and also the Midwest prior to Prohibition, which pretty much wiped out the wine industry east of the Rocky Mountains for decades. It is grown extensively in Missouri and parts further south, and is actually the state grape of Missouri. It is often made into a high quality dry red which is aged in oak barrels, and once bottled, some additional aging is usually recommended before drinking.
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<br />Wines made from cold climate hybrid grapes (the majority of the grapes grown in the Upper Midwest) tend to be a little thin when it comes to mouth feel so being able to grow the non-hybrid Cynthiana in this area really fills an important space in a cold climate winery's repertoire. New hybrid reds are coming along and eventually grape breeders will come up with other combinations of cold-hardiness, good disease resistance, and good red wine qualities, maybe knocking Cynthiana of its perch. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEvVSDTcnNumvGsBy21WOtBoOC9oBQ6wbp4RBZCij-2vrUV1YOy7XzO88nYOd3dC2TmkEyq0G1cLSFgHYjQcLuYAOgHVqu-5UW8gc6tggcVRd_HTvcnPVO_ZBPw1Mz2PYCrIkpu92GZf0i/s1600/cynthiana1.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEvVSDTcnNumvGsBy21WOtBoOC9oBQ6wbp4RBZCij-2vrUV1YOy7XzO88nYOd3dC2TmkEyq0G1cLSFgHYjQcLuYAOgHVqu-5UW8gc6tggcVRd_HTvcnPVO_ZBPw1Mz2PYCrIkpu92GZf0i/s400/cynthiana1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646451186507134770" border="0" /></a>In the meantime, Cynthiana, also known as Norton, is holding down the fort for cold climate winemakers looking to make a dry, red wine.
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<br />This is an exciting time in cold climate grape breeding and research. There are interesting crosses being made with obscure Eastern European and Russian grapes that have just recently made their way across the Atlantic. There is a huge blank canvas out there, with lots of room for new grapes to take their places in the cold-climate viticulture lexicon.
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<br />The more, the merrier!
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<br />It comes at the perfect time because more and more wine drinkers seem to be in the mood to try new things. That's great news for winemakers in areas of the country not considered traditional wine regions, as it allows for the development of regional signatures or fingerprints, so to speak. It's a fun time to be learning the ropes. Things are certainly moving quickly as more research and breeding produces better hybrids with the characteristics necessary to succeed in the challenging conditions in the Upper Midwest. It also fits nicely into the Local Food movement. The State of Iowa has been out in front in trying to support and demystify the wine experience by getting out of the way and allowing wineries to do tastings and sell wine at farmer's markets, treating wine as the agricultural product it is, and enabling the public to really get to know their local winemakers and grape growers. It's benefited the wine industry here in a big way (as well as wine drinkers!!!).
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<br />Here is a closeup of our Cynthiana grapes as they approach ripening. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQBSDR3Y486_R0Jskg32yfEuNimD9bHp91CVmJT6eb6IgcVB6srAUn1SvqmXTSCesPq1TAxA7ZARdm24eIF3nIsLKMg_TG9ZT3SfSaFZitPvJXiakqXOzVwM2nvW77hTedK5yKb5XUvMBV/s1600/cynthiana2.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 228px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQBSDR3Y486_R0Jskg32yfEuNimD9bHp91CVmJT6eb6IgcVB6srAUn1SvqmXTSCesPq1TAxA7ZARdm24eIF3nIsLKMg_TG9ZT3SfSaFZitPvJXiakqXOzVwM2nvW77hTedK5yKb5XUvMBV/s400/cynthiana2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646451198858605602" border="0" /></a>We are probably still at least three weeks from these being ready to harvest. Greg will be checking the brix (soluble sugars) with his refractometer in the next several days to determine where things stand. We'll need to net these vines soon because the birds will start grabbing them as sugar content goes up.
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<br />Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-66882448262106513852011-08-26T09:49:00.000-07:002011-08-27T21:22:30.309-07:00Log Rolling...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhCBdEQS_nehzrK-xDt_nAm3L4zJcS2K7d3LqICGJcO_c5RGbxjaZgDbjgDs-71UlpVnUS1Urk2jwnmNymZQUrKKuP6el1JMkDOjzicLQ42Yi3JB98p2N2Sp2mwlU5rrfGCrwZorVEqgfC/s1600/0827111202d.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 434px; height: 326px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhCBdEQS_nehzrK-xDt_nAm3L4zJcS2K7d3LqICGJcO_c5RGbxjaZgDbjgDs-71UlpVnUS1Urk2jwnmNymZQUrKKuP6el1JMkDOjzicLQ42Yi3JB98p2N2Sp2mwlU5rrfGCrwZorVEqgfC/s400/0827111202d.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645591480108429906" border="0" /></a>One of the hardest things we had to do when we turned this former cow pasture into our home and vineyard was taking out several huge oak trees. I made a commitment at the time to turn the logs into something other than firewood. Eventually.
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<br />Since we built the garage/apartment back in 2005, we've been procrastinating and postponing building the rest of the house. I guess we've become comfortable in our cozy one bedroom "loft" and the longer we live in it, the harder it is to imagine having a full sized house. Really the only time we notice how small the place is (880 sq ft) is when we have company or when trying to find something in the overcrowded kitchen cabinets, closets, or the garage. We really do need more space around here and have started thinking again about what we'd like to build. We even attended the Greater Des Moines Home Expo to check out about a dozen new homes by various builders and to talk to some of them about our potential project.
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<br />Anyway, earlier this month we took a trip out to Wyoming and Idaho with my parents, and we stayed in a cabin/lodge on the South Fork of the Snake River. The home was gorgeous and had been constructed with salvaged timbers from an 80-year-old factory that had been torn down.
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<br />This got me to thinking again about the numerous logs just sitting around the property, waiting for me to decide what to do with them. The easiest solution would be to find someone with a portable sawmill that would be willing to come on site and mill all of these logs into usable lumber. Some of these logs have been on the ground for over five years and I've been sort of half-heartedly trying to find a portable sawmill for at least three years. After numerous leads fell through, and after putting it on the back burner several times, I finally located a guy on CraigsList about an hour from here with a portable sawmill. I contacted him last week and he said he'd work us in sometime in October. Great! Well, that gave us plenty of time to plan on what to do with all of this wood. Greg and I are planning to build a small building this fall and some of that lumber would come in handy when we finish the inside, including trimming around the windows, possibly some tongue and groove ceiling or paneling, possibly the floor (?) and definitely some pieces of rustic furniture.
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<br />We discussed various options for cutting the wood, and finally settled on 1 x 6 boards for flooring and 6 x 6 timbers that could be used for any number of things, and milled into 1 x 6 boards if we ended up not needing the timbers. On Monday of this week, I got a call from Duane, the guy with the mill, and he said he'd had a cancellation and would I like him to come on Thursday. Of course, I said, without really thinking about what that actually means, including moving some logs out of the front sheep pasture, and figuring out where we were going to dry and store it.
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<br />On Wednesday evening, Greg and I moved several logs to one staging area using the tractor and a pull-strap, and one really long log had to be cut into two pieces in order to move it. It was probably 3o feet long.
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<br />On Thursday morning, Duane showed up with his sawmill and after some discussion he decided to set up the saw on the top of the hill by the vineyard, which is pretty much the only level spot on the entire property. Not an exaggeration! There were at least a dozen logs up there and we decided that I'd take the tractor and haul all of the logs we'd staged out front up to the vineyard and he would mill all of the logs up there in one spot. After Duane and I manipulated the first log onto the saw, he went to work cutting it into boards and I headed down the hill to start hauling the logs up the hill with the tractor. These logs were all somewhere around 15 to 20 inches in diameter and 14 to 18 feet long. I have no idea what they weighed but based on some of the timbers they yielded, it would not surprise me if some of them exceeded two thousand pounds.
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<br />This sawmill was pretty amazing. The logs are rolled onto some curved arms that reach down to the ground. The arms then hydraulically lift the log up onto the platform, and then a giant band saw is lined up and makes a cut horizontally from one end of the log to the other. The log is rotated 90 degrees and another cut is made, and this is repeated until the log is a four sided beam. At that point, the beam is cut into boards or timbers, making the best or most efficient use of the log. Here are a few of the timbers, including one that is 17 feet long. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsUCnKF3vaHJ_myhubReQSUGo4D9TGA_TeRqIdrU8m6UGHGpzNXWUsWvaN0l_hW9bymlTzF8MKykKuI5xqEAHLEvL33o-7We-xsyWnQcRU-FqIX3Wyeys52dlzUl6I0xriKzNalCb6Ysv/s1600/0827111153.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsUCnKF3vaHJ_myhubReQSUGo4D9TGA_TeRqIdrU8m6UGHGpzNXWUsWvaN0l_hW9bymlTzF8MKykKuI5xqEAHLEvL33o-7We-xsyWnQcRU-FqIX3Wyeys52dlzUl6I0xriKzNalCb6Ysv/s400/0827111153.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645591469983226418" border="0" /></a>
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<br />Once the lumber comes off the mill, it is stacked and the scrap thrown off to the side in a big pile. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtt4Zc-5kyGH9hXpvzJnKJa1LikDhNSRML_rLpyLFOJLfHhUrakq3ISjTXzViJC5HQy7nWZViLLQasVgyeXZyeAUgBkzBhZiOp4sDWb-0GjrorwGeW5l4NxHrPreEWs-EQOVKhsEHrEi9o/s1600/0827111202b.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtt4Zc-5kyGH9hXpvzJnKJa1LikDhNSRML_rLpyLFOJLfHhUrakq3ISjTXzViJC5HQy7nWZViLLQasVgyeXZyeAUgBkzBhZiOp4sDWb-0GjrorwGeW5l4NxHrPreEWs-EQOVKhsEHrEi9o/s400/0827111202b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645591478151876754" border="0" /></a>
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<br />Here is a picture of the stack.
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJSMt7fjT7bSQDcXn_Z08Mqbd-1xIQ7FGABAUhUqHoWYzBr9Wi8E4pevb5FtXsuwRhBBc1humX9nfWCWD5i7H87ieC3_sSsRg2CkLWjOOByLZLCRv2Ef7ran5H2X0yEvj3fAJIV397tRX/s1600/0827111201.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJSMt7fjT7bSQDcXn_Z08Mqbd-1xIQ7FGABAUhUqHoWYzBr9Wi8E4pevb5FtXsuwRhBBc1humX9nfWCWD5i7H87ieC3_sSsRg2CkLWjOOByLZLCRv2Ef7ran5H2X0yEvj3fAJIV397tRX/s400/0827111201.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645591471812678066" border="0" /></a> This is about half of the logs. Needless to say, he ended up getting about ten logs milled before running out of daylight, and I have at least that many left to go. Most of the really big ones are done and I think, including the timbers, we are at right around 2000 board feet of milled lumber. The ends of a few of the timbers will need to be cut off to get rid of some bug damage but for the most part, these logs are incredibly solid all the way through. I was pretty surprised that there wasn't more than this little bit of bug damage, given how long these logs have been lying around outside.
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<br />By the time we're done with the rest of the logs, I don't think we'll have any trouble getting enough wood to cover any size floor in whatever size house we end up building, plus we have nine timbers that can be used in the house possibly in a timberframe vaulted great room. The flooring will be six-inch wide planks. Some of these logs are over a hundred years old and have very distinctive grain. We'll dry it and play around with some different stains to see what the future floor will look like.
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<br />On Saturday morning, Greg and I moved some stuff around in the garage to make room for storing the wood. We initially thought we would need to build a kiln to dry the wood before it could be used, but after talking to the guy with the sawmill, our heated garage should work just fine to get the wood dry enough to use. Here's a picture of where the wood will be stacked. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX-n5zc_S4YZbVHi8Mc3zT25WaDKbxH9DupfinBXnHdcQuaB3jPTy40JCsfaTMdiw9OqbhbqZe0V-znc4tNpMDrThltiOoxf_jQbnXZYHHMb59Q4qwx0O7l_A74mqMgYtTV_Mk0B4WjXQH/s1600/0827111210a.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX-n5zc_S4YZbVHi8Mc3zT25WaDKbxH9DupfinBXnHdcQuaB3jPTy40JCsfaTMdiw9OqbhbqZe0V-znc4tNpMDrThltiOoxf_jQbnXZYHHMb59Q4qwx0O7l_A74mqMgYtTV_Mk0B4WjXQH/s400/0827111210a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645591486380987026" border="0" /></a>
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<br />We'll set up a small fan to circulate the air so the wood dries uniformly. Tomorrow we plan to move the remaining four timbers and all of the 1 x 6 and other miscellaneous boards into the garage so it can start drying as well.
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<br />If we get the little building built this fall, we'll have all winter to play around with different things to finish the inside of it. In particular, there is so much scrap left from the mill that we can sort through and rip with the table saw to make furniture quality boards out of. I see some new tools in Greg's future... We plan to put up the little 12 x 16 building and at least get it to the point of being weathertight before winter really gets going and it will be a nice project to work on through the winter. We plan to put a gable loft in it for storage of things like Christmas, luggage, camping gear, and so forth, all of which is currently taking up shelf space in the garage. The majority of the space will be a spare "cabin" for guests.
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<br />Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-72628444484174432312011-08-12T11:48:00.000-07:002011-08-12T11:55:22.785-07:00Sometimes The Middle Of Nowhere...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTn6jsIuc9ZWGct1KgnhuYmy5MQ9-gGthWXdmPHi9xtMdgYjU1KIcoXYhCEn8VmOv8OW2tH_hQS8XKKtFyEdmDyTgmJdRPuSf33IyUbCC4ssH4HNv_jU0BeHF7wCgnYT59xCksWWs6Buu/s1600/IMG_3437.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTn6jsIuc9ZWGct1KgnhuYmy5MQ9-gGthWXdmPHi9xtMdgYjU1KIcoXYhCEn8VmOv8OW2tH_hQS8XKKtFyEdmDyTgmJdRPuSf33IyUbCC4ssH4HNv_jU0BeHF7wCgnYT59xCksWWs6Buu/s400/IMG_3437.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640044916944776354" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Is breathtakingly beautiful!
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<br />Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-90381586202455472052011-07-30T14:50:00.001-07:002011-07-30T15:45:25.244-07:00Honey, it's hot in here...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGEe06XQDIV2qZt-tsUdWit_HtzrH6KD06w1MJNggdisCfXOLVk59QfdaTsFp0pf7RePK1eslbHk4Y31ED5VoYxHWiD3saTBFRrHwCiUfybOm_vk-BmQImsi6CGRbKx3IEgSdRsz_O3fQ/s1600/julybees"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGEe06XQDIV2qZt-tsUdWit_HtzrH6KD06w1MJNggdisCfXOLVk59QfdaTsFp0pf7RePK1eslbHk4Y31ED5VoYxHWiD3saTBFRrHwCiUfybOm_vk-BmQImsi6CGRbKx3IEgSdRsz_O3fQ/s400/julybees" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635266729087950834" border="0" /></a>Do you know what comes with Late July heat and humidity? Tons of wildflowers, that's what. I've been checking on my beehives about once a week this summer, watching them slowly build up the comb and fill it with eggs. It's pretty interesting to see the eggs, which are only two to three millimeters long, white and attached to the very bottom of each comb cell, quickly grow into a grub-like larvae that get bigger and bigger until they fill the entire cell. At that point, the bees seal up the cell and each larva transforms into a fully developed bee in about 21 days. <br /><br />While I've watched the bee population expand in the bottom two boxes of each hive, I've added additional boxes one by one, and these have been filled with pollen and honey, and eventually just honey. I put the sixth box on each hive today and they'll probably need at least one more each by the end of the summer. I plan to steal the top three boxes off each hive around Labor Day and extract the honey and bottle it. I've already stolen a frame (about two weeks ago) just to see how much the yield would be, and how it tastes. Since it was early season honey, it had a very mild flavor and a light color. As the season progresses, and the bees forage for nectar further from the hives, on more and more diverse flowers, the honey will be darker and the flavor will be more intense in character. A lot of commercial beekeepers collect the early honey in mid summer and leave the darker honey for the bees to feed themselves through winter. Since this is the first year for these hives, I've decided to wait until September to see how much honey they actually make before making the decision about how much I'm going to steal from them. I'll be able to compare the September honey to the sample I collected a few weeks ago to see how much of a difference there is between the two.<br /><br />If I end up pulling off three boxes from each hive, I'll end up with a total of 60 frames. If each frame yields two pints, I'll end up with roughly 15 gallons of honey, and that's still leaving at least two full boxes of honey on each hive to get them through the winter. As I was lifting the boxes off the stacks this morning, there were two that were 100% full of honey and I was shocked at how heavy they were. <br /><br />I took each hive apart this morning because I wanted to get a look all the way down in the bottom box on each hive to see if there were any empty frames or if they'd all been built out with comb. I mainly wanted to make sure there was enough room for the queens to keep producing eggs through the rest of the summer. It looks like that is the case. In the process, however, the bees got pretty cranky and I ended up getting stung three times; twice on my right hand, and once through my suit just above the knee. I had one whole hive taken apart and had to walk away for a few minutes to see if they would settle down, and they really didn't. I ended up closing things up and getting out of there but I did add the 6th box on top of each hive before putting the covers on. Greg's going to have to put together another 20 frames soon because with all of the wildflowers blooming right now, they are definitely not even close to shutting down the honey production. I will probably keep adding boxes until I see the first ragweed blooming, then I'll pull off what I'm going to keep, and let them make honey out of the fall ragweed bloom, which they can keep. I've had several beekeepers tell me ragweed honey is not particularly tasty but the bees apparently don't care.Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-33549701338545042152011-07-04T08:42:00.000-07:002011-07-04T08:49:13.041-07:00Happy Independence Day!We'll be firing up Sunny, the clay oven for homemade pizza tonight, and listening to the outlaws up the road fire off the artillery shells or whatever the hell that thing is that goes off every 4th of July...Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277988148062790596.post-28307507952216842422011-06-01T16:26:00.000-07:002012-01-27T21:21:39.173-08:00Shoots!Seeing as this is a "Vineyard Blog," how about some blogging about the vineyard? As usual, spring comes roaring in with lots to do, including mowing, spraying, training vines, and scouting for insect and fungal pests. There's plenty to do out there this time of year. Once the temperatures start getting up in the 80s you really need to stay on top of any disease pressure because warm wet springs set the tone for the rest of the growing season. Diseases that take hold on the leaves and blooms are impossible to eradicate later in the summer once they've affected the fruit.<br /><br />So, what am I up to out there today? Well, I'm working on the Sabrevois vines, which are well ahead of the Traminette and Cynthiana vines in terms of growth stage. They are really taking off. We grow this particular grape on a trellis style called Vertical Shoot Position. This trellis is typically used with upright growing cultivars and there is a main wire that holds the horizontal cordons, the lateral arms from which the rest of the shoots grow vertically. The main wire is roughly 40" above the ground and then at eight-inch intervals above that there are additional pairs of catch wires. These catch wires are attached on either side of the wooden vineyard posts with little plastic clips that hold them in place during the growing season. These movable catch wires provide a sort of cage that holds the shoots straight up, allowing for good air circulation and good sun exposure for the fruit, which is essential to ripening it. What I'm doing this week is walking along each row of vines and tucking the shoots, some of which are a couple of feet long, inside these catch wires. I'm spreading the shoots out and untangling the ones that have wrapped around each other, and I'm also stripping any new shoots that are coming out of the lower portion of the trunk. I usually let the sheep do this part but I have them out of the vineyard right now because we are spraying a fungicide that they cannot ingest. There is a window of time between the last spray of this particular fungicide and when the sheep can get back in there to graze, so the vineyard is off limits for the time being. Not to worry though, I have run hot wire around the house and I have them currently mowing part of the yard and an area with a lot of brush and weeds that have been a pain in the butt for a couple of years. They're making quick work of it and it will soon look as nice as the rest of the yard.<br /><br />The Sabrevois grapes are starting to bloom this week. The grape blossoms smells incredible. There's really nothing that smells like a blooming vineyard, but it only lasts for a few days and then it's gone. We've had several days of warm, dry weather which bodes well for good fruit set. This grape is the first to bloom, out of the three cultivars we are growing. It typically ripens in Iowa in mid to late August. We have five rows of roughly 60 vines each of this grape and it is absolutely full of tiny clusters of flowers which will become clusters of tiny grapes in a few days.Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04042042069098896769noreply@blogger.com0