Spring rain finally came. Almost four inches of it in a day. Let me show you why erosion control is import here. The gravel driveway didn’t erode anywhere, despite the enormous amount of rain. You know what that is? That is the sweet taste of victory. Pond, upper rain garden, and the catch basins are […]
Water Water Everywhere Read More »
Concrete is a strange thing. Magic rock goo. You will be unsurprised to learn that I used the concrete to build another dam. This one is much smaller, about a foot and a half high, and five feet long, with the purpose of slowing water descending the trough into the ravine, and catching some in
Thoughts on Pouring Concrete Read More »
My largest and grandest outdoor project to date, I give you: a dam! Now, first, let’s be clear. This is a check dam. So not Hoover Dam, but something smaller meant for water to go over. The general purpose is to slow the water. In low water flow, water will pool behind and gradually be
Taking fresh fruit and turning it into jelly takes rather a long time. Is it worth the time? Yes, I believe so since I generally enjoy the process and the end product. But this time around I was curious what the value of the time was, financially. Comparative Cost of Store-Bought Jelly 1 cup of
The Value of all that Jelly Read More »
Willow bark is definitely the most common herbal medicine in any fiction book. No doubt that is because the very common real drug aspirin is directly related to it, so we all feel comfortable prescribing it. Which of course means I need to try it. It is really quite simple. Strip the inner bark from
We are in the perfect time of year for work outdoors: cool enough to not get very sweaty, no bugs, minimal vegetation in the way, yet still surprisingly dry. Firstly, I would like to share with you just how wonderfully the rain garden I built at the top of the new trail is doing: My
Busy Around the Farm Read More »
I want to build a check dam bridge thingy. In order to do so, I need to get our little Kubota excavator and tractor into the ravine in the right spot. I also need to get into the ravine for some other erosion management beneath a big trough that carries all the runoff water from
Building a Trail, Deep into the Ravine Read More »
As part of my time series forecasting package, I have invented my own algorithm. Which sounds really cool, but in reality isn’t that special. The reason it isn’t that special is it is just a combination of existing ideas applied together to this specific domain. On the positive side, the method isn’t really that difficult
Inventing My Own Algorithm – Motif Simulation Read More »
It looks like I will be stuck at the farm for several months, as I expect my job starting will be postponed for quite a while, and finding a different one impossible in the receding economy. Which makes this the perfect opportunity to dig into the massive wishlist/backlog of projects I have here for the
Chicken Coop Entrance Upgrades Read More »
Growing up, I always had the notion that one simply planted trees, waited, and with little to no work the world was vastly improved. Trees are good, but not so simply, alas. Firstly, trees grow like weeds. Black walnuts are a particular problem here at the farm, in that they grow quite robustly everywhere, and
Maintaining a Balance with Trees Read More »
