Thirst Things First

Critical equipment installed. Two bottle openers. One by the dock at the lake. Another across the way in the orchard.

Growing Food for the Food We're Growing

Time to start making our own compost. Built bins to try several methods. One a traditional pile compost out at the orchard. Simple moveable design. Will be adding another unit like this to age a neighbor's horse manure. The other is a worm bin for kitchen scraps at home. Fattening some red wigglers we can use for fishing later on.

Rainy Season

Simple weather station installed. Mainly for watering management.

Winter's Back

What's in fashion in Orchardwear this season.

Polar Bear Sighting

After an Indian Summer fall that's continued into winter, we thought we'd inaugurate a January Polar Bear Club. So far Mark's the only member. (Even Jessie thinks this is a bit crazy.) Water temp was about 48°, certainly not as bad as it could be, but Mark didn't stay in long. Air temp was a balmy 70°, so it was nice to get out, and find a towel. If we have a normal January next year, this might be a very short lived tradition!

Accessorizing the Forest

The last two weeks have been unseasonably mild, which allowed us to get bulbs and trees in the ground.

500 more daffodils (joining last year's 500) through the forest, interspersed among 100 dogwoods. Plus, 100 river birches lining the road and driveway. In a few years, our entrance should look something like these.

The bulbs were purchased commercially, but the trees came from the North Carolina Forestry Service, a real bargain.

Winter's Here

But that isn't keeping Leslie from enjoying the lake.