I'm going to have to replace my air conditioner condensate pump. It's not pumping the water out of the pan at all. I'm going to need that condensate water to get through the summer without a giant water bill.
Maybe next year we'll have some gutters up around the house. More barrels for collecting early rain will help too. If I put in the raised beds I want to I'll definitely need more water.
Claire joined us this morning to water the corn and thoroughly enjoyed herself.
Pearce didn't want to get out of bed, he was awake but didn't want to get out of bed. Of course it was 5:30. Then I asked if he wanted to water the corn. Out of bed and straight for the door. He fussed when I made him put on shoes and a jacket. Dang, it was 47 this morning. Pman loves to play in the dirt.
The whole shooting match got out on the deck and planted some corn and tomatoes. Kristi, Claire, Pearce,and I all dug in the dirt of our big planters on Sunday.
We're taking a while to get any garden started so I decided to start something on the deck. Planted corn in the two biggest planters. After that gets going good (2-3 feet) I'll plant some beans in there and then some sort of squash. I intend to plant the "Three Sisters" in the garden, but I wanted to do them on the deck as well. I figured it'd be easier for the kids to see than in the garden.
We also started some "jelly bean" tomatoes in the smaller pots on the deck. Doing the "jelly beans" on the deck for ease of access. Those will be salad and snacking 'maters.
I'll post pictures when stuff starts popping up. I should have gotten a picture of Claire. She was covered in dirt from head to toe. She and Pearce really enjoyed breaking up and turning over the dirt from last year.
Working on the John Deere with Daddy. I’ll get this lever to move.
Miles came by Monday and took the broken part off of the Rally and helped me get the blade on the John Deere to engage. Of course I still couldn’t get the wheels off. The lock rings on the wheels would not yield to my ministrations. I even kept forgetting to bring home my pump from school to get the tires useable.
Yesterday, we finally got the lawnmowers both working at the same time. Miles installed the replacement part and blade. It took us a few minutes to get the blade engage lever to actually work. Got it working and took a turn or two around the back yard. Then the rains came.
This morning I took the Rally out and knocked the tops off the rest of the backyard. Then I pumped up the tires on the John Deere and mowed down the rest of the “Back 40”. The John Deere is better at dealing with the thick overgrown stuff than the Rally.
They now have there assigned purposes. The Rally will be used for catching grass for composting(especially since it has the catching attachments) and the John Deere will be set to doing most of the hauling and heavy mowing.
I was sweeping off the front walk this weekend and saw a pecan. I cracked it and tasted it. It was small but tasty. I can't wait till fall now.
No new damage from this weeks storms, but we still have a load of cleanup to get done in the back. The trees are almost gone from our neighbors behind us.
Tops on my list are (and I'm not joking) 55 gal food grade barrels for water storage (2or3), Lowes GC's for the purchase of roofing supplies (under deck roof so I can put the lawn mowers down there), 2 boxes of 3" decking screws (for deck repair and improvements).
You may think I'm joking but I'm not, for the barrels the best place to look is the farmer's and consumer's bulletin. Everything else is self explanatory.
If you want another option I need a new front wheel, a chain, a set of aero-brake levers. All of these are at Ordinary Bicycles (George's Shop) I'll check and see if they're still there.
Andrew Elkins
Tim, my "landlord", came by and cut up the trees down on our back fence. He took off two truck loads and we'll decide later if we're going to chip or burn the leftovers.
The Farm 