A lot of potatoes!

The potato containers are growing at a fast pace.  It seems we are filling them every week.

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And that takes quite a bit of time considering the number of potato barrels we have.

The white barrels are just about full!  We expect to be harvesting them in a couple of months.  We dumped the original barrel already.  It had been planted with left over store bought potatoes and because of chemical they are treated with they did not do well.  Lots of green, but just a handful of potatoes.   All of our other taters are planted with real seed potatoes, so we expect better.  The ones in the field we have been harvesting, red and white potatoes, and we have been pulling in quite a lot per plant.

Companions and Planters

Last year we noticed that some of the stuff we planted didn't do so well.  It wasn't a case of some varieties failing while others were fine, but rather within the same variety we had mixed results.  A family member from Knoxville, TN sent me a guide about companion planting.  After reading I began to understand why.  Some plants are beneficial to each other, some are not.  The garden we laid out last year had some non companion varieties next to each other and as a result it hindered their development.   This years plantings are being laid out according to the companion planting guide.  In addition to planting companion vegetables together we are planting some plants just for their beneficial effects.  Borage near the tomatoes to deter hornworms and to attract the honey bees,  Radishes next to just about everything.

 As I looked further into companion planting I also found some good information on the use of containers to increase production on a smaller footprint.   Even though we have plenty of land in which to expand, some types of container planting seemed more efficient.   The most appealing to us was the idea of growing potatoes in barrels. 

Potatoes work well here, but take up a lot of space.   We decided we would try one barrel so we could compare the results with our field grown potatoes.  We got a new large container (yes, it is a trash can) and put some seed potatoes in it.

 As they grew we added more mulch to cover them up.  They grew fast.  We were adding more mulch almost weekly.  Much easier to do than hoeing in the rows of potatoes,

Once the mulch reaches the top we will let them finish their growth cycle then dump the barrel and collect the results.    As long as the harvest is as productive this may be the only way we grow them.

We were given a large quantity of left over seeds potatoes by the local hardware store, over 50 pounds.  Even though we have yet to harvest the first batch of barrel potatoes, the new fields are not ready, so barrels are the only option.  We estimate we will need around 10 barrels.  Using trash cans is pricey, so after a little research we found some inexpensive food grade barrels.   They are perfect.


We have a couple of other containers going as well.  There are some plants that have not done well in the field garden, or that we only grow small quantities for personal use and therefore prefer closer to the house for easy access.  

A couple varieties of squash interspersed with corn and radishes.  Corn does not do well in the big garden because it attracts a variety of wildlife that like to eat it.  Radishes are just there for the beneficial effect.  We put these containers in the patio area off the basement which has 4-5 foot retaining walls on all sides.  This area is not visited by deer, bunnies, racoons or other creatures because our dogs like to hang out there.

 Some tomatoes, peppers and basil.

Newly added.  Cucumbers and dill in the red container, companions in life and in death!

Peppers, Chard and strawberries.  Chard is hard because of the hot weather.  Being in containers we can relocate it as the summer progresses to shadier areas.  No real reason for strawberries other than the kid wanted them.

Planting

The blueberry bushes are starting to ripen.  We back filled some empty spots in the field with about 90 new plants.  The new plants should grow fast and fill in the empty spaces because they are rabbiteye (the old plants are highbush).   

The grapes we put in last year may actually produce this year.

The back end of the vegetable garden was planted with potatoes and onions  and they are doing well.  We had some of the potatoes for Sunday dinner last weekend and they were quite delicious.
Due to the cold weather, and then the heavy rains, the rest of the vegetable garden got a late start.  We had previously dumped about a foot thick layer of compost in the garden and now the soil looks black (it's usually redish in this area)

Because we don't use chemicals weeds are a constant problem here.  With a small garden hand weeding was doable, but we are expanding the fields this year so hand weeding is just not feasible.  Time for a new piece of equipment, a mulch layer!

 It forms the planting beds, applies the mulch and drip tape.

 Took a few practice runs to form the raised beds.  The soil was still a bit wet.

 This smaller garden is for tomatoes, mostly Roma and Cherry.

The long garden will contain Peppers (jalapeno, green, banana) and the Beefmaster tomatoes.  The potatoes and onions are still at the far end.

The long garden was the wettest and not very level, a bit harder to form the rows.  Of course, we are still learning to use this equipment, so not bad for beginners.

A bulb planter is used to pop holes in the plastic and dig the soil.

The next step is to get straw to put on the ground between the rows.

It's been a while since I posted.  The Well house is about 95% complete. 

We ran out of shakes just as we hit the last peak.  We knew there were some more scattered around but the snow had come and buried them.  Now that it is spring we may have found enough to finish the siding.

The second well pump still has to be moved, but that will have to wait until the spring planting is done.

Shake Shake Shake!

The windows and door are in!  Originally we were going to reuse some windows from the old house we tore down, but when we went to where they were being stored we discovered that someone else had already claimed them.  Termites.  I think these look better anyway.

As I mentioned before, the siding is cedar shakes.  The real thing, not the fake kind that comes in sheets.  These come in all sorts of sizes and are installed one shake at a time. They take longer to install, but you don't have to paint them!

 

It is looking less like a Well House and more like a beach cottage my Grandparents had on the Jersey shore.

Well Staged

Staging was put up around the well house so the roof sheathing could be installed.  Now I'm not sure the staging was quite up to OSHA standards.  Granted I'm not skilled in such matters, but it seems to me that staging shouldn't act like a teeter-totter as you walk across it.  So be it, it was what it was and it got the job done without causing too much harm (I'll heal).

Sheathing almost done. 

While we were in the framing stage we thought it would be nice to have an area with a sink and potting station that was covered, so we decided to extend the roof beyond the well house walls and create an overhang. 

Before we could continue we needed to pour footings for the posts to hold the roof up.

Frame the overhang roof.

And now finish the roof sheathing and trim it out.

 

The next step, the shingles.  We chose to use leftover shingles from when we built our house. Partly because they were paid for,  but mostly because they would match the main house.  

We had stored the shingles in a stack next to the woods.  They had to be picked up and moved to the area of the well house.  The shingles were no longer wrapped in neat little bundles and they were dirty and had lot's of bugs and spiders mixed in, but no snakes.   

Another fun task for me. 

I started to load them into the little Farm Vehicle (remember the xB?) but thought I had better not after I saw the bugs crawling all over them.  After all, I didn't need to discover some misplaced bugs on my drive to my day job.  I got them over to the well house using the truck, bugs and all (yes, the farm does have a truck.  So why do we always use the xB?).

It took a couple of days to finish the shingles. It might not have taken as long had we not ended up spending a good part of a morning at the Orthopedic Doctor's office getting a large chunk of wood removed from my hand.  Remember that staging? I swear it had it out for me.   

Roof is now done, next task: windows, door and siding.

The Well House

Here on the farm we have two older wells, one for the home, one for the fields.  The wells were dug long ago, but still function just fine.  Problem is the buildings they reside in.  Both wells are in the backyard area of the house.  Long ago someone built cinder-block buildings around them, complete with metal roofs and plywood doors.

There is absolutely no insulation in either well house.  Not that it would do any good, because the doors are thin and they don't shut very well.  It is not uncommon for the water pipes in them to freeze during the cold weather. Thawing frozen well pipes in the early morning hours when it is 10 degrees out is not an enjoyable task.

This past year as the GeoThermal heating system was being put in one of the little well houses got damaged.   It went up against a rather large excavator and lost.  Part of the metal roof was ripped off and a couple of the walls sustained serious damage.  Now I guess most folks would see this as an unfortunate accident, but I knew better.  I think the excavator driver (a.k.a.my husband) had a deep seated hatred for these well houses.  They were ugly, dysfunctional and right in the middle of the backyard.  We have over 60 acres here and they put them 20 feet from the back door...maybe that is so you don't have to go far when you need to thaw the pipes?  Anyway, I think the accident was more of an act of hatred.

Regardless of the reason we were now tasked with rebuilding the well house.  As is the case with all projects around here a simple rebuild was not in the cards.  If we had to go thru the pain and expense of building a new well house, we might as well build one large well house to take care of both wells, then we could eliminate both ugly block buildings.    The next day when I came home from my day job that second well house was completely gone.  I'm not sure, but I think that he used his deep seated hatred for the little building to rip it apart with his bare hands.

And so we began the creation of a new well house.  No real plans, just a general idea.  The location was going to be where the second building was.  The size was going to be roughly twice as long and twice as wide as the old building.  The siding was NOT going to be block.

We created concrete forms out of scrap wood from another demo project (what a painful task that was) and poured a foundation for the walls.  Then we poured the floor.  The original pad of the old well house is in the front left corner, the large rusty bullet is the well tank.

Our budget for this project was $400. LOL.  I think that was just the first drop.  We chose to use pressure treated 2x4s for the framing.   We didn't have to use this for everything.  They are a LOT harder to work with, very very heavy, and they will twist if you let them dry before you use them.  But the PT 2x4s were less than half the cost of regular 2x4s and we had a budget.

OSB for the sheathing.  The siding will eventually be cedar shakes, we have a lot of them left over from the house we built and they don't require painting.

We decided to put in 3 windows and a real door with a glass upper half.  This will give us plenty of light.  No windows on the back or far side because we plan to have shelving on those walls.  The size of the windows was based upon what the local discount store had on clearance (many of our design choices go this route).

The roof pitch was tricky.  I said not too steep but not so shallow it looks like a manufactured building. He figured it out :)

Next task, build the staging so the roof sheathing can be put on.