California - What are you doing this month?

Any damage reported?

sanderson wrote:We just had an unusual earthquake.  Not the usual wiggly bowl-of-jello type, but a boom!

I felt it, it was a sharp, short jolt.  Enough that I instantly knew it was an earthquake not the dogs hitting the house or some (they rough house and sometimes shake the walls!)

It was about 60 miles from me (90 from you) and I think about a 5.4 or so.

We are on a fault as well. We got a 6.4 quake a few years ago, centered about 60 Kilometers away. It sounded like a freight train coming through our house. Hope you guys in CA are OK.

No damage.  It makes sense that Audrey, in the foot hills (on rock), experiences the "Jolting" type.  Whereas, I am on valley fill and have always felt them as a rolling bowl of jello.  Jiggling, giggling and chattering.

This is the first time I have ever heard more than felt.  It boomed and rattled.  First I thought Ken came back for something, then, someone is trying to get in the front door, (grab the 38), then boom like 100 pound animal dropped onto the roof, then frantic skittering across the roof, (yep must be big mammal), and lastly, the grandfather clock bonged once.  A neighbor told me it was an earthquake.  On the Earthquake watch, 4.8 at 15:04 and 4.3 at 15:27 with 8 aftershocks between and after.

TD, Wow! As I said, this is my first "sonic boom" quake.

I just checked the records and it looks like the earthquake I mentioned was a 5.2 not a 6.4. Nowhere near as strong but it was still a wake up call. It sent me scurrying from the second floor of the house and out into the yard. To make matters worse the Ottawa area has a lot of "leda clay" also known as "quick clay" which can turn to a fluid when disturbed (e.g., by an earthquake). I experienced this clay a few years ago when I was digging some footings for a shed.

My 2' x 7' Valentine's bed finally filled with new MM.  It took the whole 3.5 cu. ft. bag of coarse vermiculite, most of the 2.2 cu ft of packed (then fluffed) peat moss, and a whole 33 gallon garbage can plus part of another can of home made compost.

Here's how I set up everything for ease on my back and physical strength.  Picnic table next to the bed so I could slide the smaller cement tub into the bed.  Metal horse buck as the perfect size measure for the cement tub.  Large cement tub and screen to fluff the compost before measuring.

One bucket of vermiculite covered with one bucket of fluffed peat moss.  Soak thoroughly and mix.  This keeps the dust down.

Nice wet mix of vermiculite and peat moss.  Add compost and mix for a perfect moist MM.  Slide over and dump into bed.

Start by filling and building up the sides to hold the weed fabric in place.

NICE!

That is the set up of a woman who has endured a backache or two from mixing Mel's mix, lol!  Nice 

I had a huge compost pile that I gathered 12-18 months ago (can't exactly remember).  It was gathered from neighbors in our community that had materials they wanted hauled way.  It had long aged hay and other feedstocks, llama poo, goat, chicken and other animals poo.  Add in some leaves, some fresh cow manure and it heated up nicely I kinda-sorta turned it once and then just let it sit all this time.

It is magnificent.  

Here's the well-aged compost - the top left over hay fines scraped away to show just under the surface.


Here's this fall's compost pile - it looks much larger but is actually very fine just somewhat in clumps due to the rain:


I filled two of my 4 x 8 beds back up with compost, they had shrunk nearly 3 inches in a 2x6 depth so it was much needed before replanting with spring goodies from my greenhouse.  

I mulched the established beds with 1-2 inches of compost that will wash down into the soil.  

Now unfortunately we have to leave for a week as my hubby's sweet mother had a massive stroke and is not expected to live much longer.  We're off to say our good byes such as they are    So I won't get to check in much if at all for a little while.

Beautiful compost!

I'm so sorry about your mother-in-law. You and sweet hubby take care while you make this sad journey.

So sorry, Audrey-Jeanne.  Safe journey. Hugs.

Nice Valentine's Day box, Sanderson, much better than a box of chocolates!

And AJR, nice compost! So sorry to hear of your dear MIL. Safe travels, (((((hugs))))).

Oh, Audrey.Jeanne, I'm so sorry about your MIL.

Safe journey...

Audrey Jeanne, I'm so sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. Stay strong and hope for the best.
Dave

It's 80*F today in Fresno so I harvested heavily today - 2 kinds of kale, Swiss chard and broccoli flowers and small leaves.  Now I have to find a good place to transplant the chard for the summer.  I wish I had more boxes just for the "perennial" chard.  Shocked  I covered all of these with bridal tulle for insect control and it worked really worked.

On the worm front, I started added compost to the beds.  I cleared the straw off of one box, and something was different.  Then I realized that the grids and drip lines weren't there.  They were buried with castings!  DH is making some more 3" white PVC worm tubes.

Oh, my.... What a NICE day!

I know the photo is a little fuzzy but here is the new 2' x 7' bed with cup holders for future frames, worm tube and string grids.  I know, string grids, just do as I say and not as I do.    Three Tomato cuttings (Black Krim, Atkinson and an unknown orange tomato from the farmer's market from which I saved the seeds.  I cut these from over-wintered tomatoes bucketed in the green house. I'll put 7 tomatoes in alternate squares and under plant with amaranth seeds from Dstack, NZ spinach, French breakfast radishes, maybe even move the winter Swiss chard into a couple squares.

Hmm.  Your worm tube looks different.  Can you take a close up of just the worm tube and an explanation.

I love the look of newly made beds.

Wow, Sanderson, very nice!

sanderson wrote:I know the photo is a little fuzzy but here is the new 2' x 7' bed with cup holders for future frames, worm tube and string grids.  I know, string grids, just do as I say and not as I do.    Three Tomato cuttings (Black Krim, Atkinson and an unknown orange tomato from the farmer's market from which I saved the seeds.  I cut these from over-wintered tomatoes bucketed in the green house.  I'll put 7 tomatoes in alternate squares and under plant with amaranth seeds from Dstack, NZ spinach, French breakfast radishes, maybe even move the winter Swiss chard into a couple squares.  

So pretty!  I found the grids unnecessary in my 2 foot beds - maybe it's that I'm an artist so getting the spacing is really easy in that narrow of a space :-)

I'll post photos of worm tube also under "worm tube".  I love grids, and as Admin of SFG F, I had better love 'em!  DH accidentally made in ID length 6'9" so each square is 12" x 11.6".  The MM is 7" with plenty of room for straw mulch, 3 1/2" worth.  The top of the upper holes are located at 5", to allow for MM shrinkage. Two heights for 7 1/2" and 10 1/2" beds.

sanderson ... Your new SFG bed looks great. I also like the worm tubes. 

I think my focus for the coming year will be on building a table top bed and getting it into production. I would like to try worm tubes in all my SFG beds as well, but the worms will most likely not survive the winter in my climate.

TD, Worm tower in the formal dining room?

Looking at the weather forecast, it looks like we may get several days of rain this March, so I'm not panicking so bad about being late getting the seeds started.  I finally got 2 trays of seeds planted yesterday.  15 varieties of tomatoes, 11 varieties of sweet and hot peppers, verde tomatillos, amaranth Molten Fire from Dstack, and 2 varieties of eggplant.  I could kick myself for not noticing I only had one seed of Snow Fairy tomato left from the seeds that Audrey sent me.  So I ordered a pack from Baker Creek as well as 2 packs of Rattlesnake pole beans.  Seems there is always just one more seed I forget to order.  I did finally find and buy my favorite eggplant from Territorial Seeds, Millionaire for Japan.  I had one plant in 2014 and loved the smaller, tender-skinned fruit.  Been looking for the seeds ever since. The New Zealand spinach plant (Audrey) is still going strong. Cut and grow. It survived our hot summer and our light winter freezes, so I will try to grow some in a couple hanging baskets. The blue jays, mocking birds, and doves are helping themselves to the coconut (?) fibers for their nests, so I need to get out there and inner-line and outer line the baskets and fill them with new MM.

Not realizing that the weather was going to turn colder and wetter, I started taking down the green house.  So back on with the plastic.  It's making a nice warm area for the seeds and the cat.  I cut some tomato suckers and put them in water to get some roots going before I stick them in the new bed.  Two (2) of the suckers in the photo op didn't survive.

We are off to Sacramento tonight for a 24 hour visit for a family birthday.  My first borne male child is 40!!

You all behave, now, and beware of Trolls.  It's been quite a while since we had one so we were well over due.

sanderson wrote:TD, Worm tower in the formal dining room?

Shhhhhh!  Don't tell Mrs TD what I am doing.  I've gradually started to bring seedlings (onions and herbs) into the living room and placing their containers in front of the south facing window. Maybe if I do it bit by bit she will not notice.

Sanderson ... have a safe trip.

TD, how on on earth do you think Mrs. TD will not notice what your are up to?

Sanderson, what do I do about this as TD is sort of under my jurisdiction?

Kelejan, I'd encourage him, but I'm not a typical female....

If I had a formal dining room, I'd use it for seedlings too! And probably a whole lot of other things as well. Beading, crafting....