Perfect Timing

The reefer is finally finished!

The Boss actually got it finished on Thursday.

After letting it run to cool down, we carted all of the onions out of the walk-in and put them on the newly installed shelves. We figure there are about a thousand pounds of onions in there.

That made the walk-in MUCH easier to use. There was actually shelf space to spare when getting ready for Market. Now that we are starting to harvest an abundance of fall greens, this is especially nice.

A number of checks on the temperature; we are assured that it is staying cold and not running constantly. That’s good…I was worried that the next electric bill might be frightening.

It’s a wonderful thing that the reefer got finished Thursday. We had a frost overnight…
and woke to see ice crystals on Friday morning. The first frost means an end to the growing season for a number of things, like tomatoes and peppers and maybe the squash. It also means that it’s time to get serious, real serious about getting those potatoes out of the ground. The completed reefer means we will have a place to store them.

Thankfully, that was the only COLD night, and we could put the potato harvest off until next week. That will be job #1…no, Job #2 for next week. Job #1 will be the sweet potatoes. They don’t need refrigeration, but more about them another time.

Next week, the reefer/cooler will be full of taters and onions. With a reefer/cooler of taters and onions…we’ll be ready for winter!

Home Away from Home

As I pulled into the Lowe’s parking lot for the FOURTH time in a week on Wednesday morning, I had to chuckle to myself. Yes, I know it’s only the third day of the workweek…I made 2 trips on Monday. I truly think that if I started one of our vehicles, pulled it through the gate, and waited…it would probably just drive itself straight to LOWE’S!

We have been to Lowe’s so often over the years that once we were asked if we were a husband/wife construction team. Well, we are….just not for profit. I have been the Boss’ helper for years. We are a team. I guess it looks like we’re serious when we go for lumber and have our own gloves in our back pockets. The daily trips help maintain the image, too…I reckon. Seriously, we don’t go every day…it just seems that way.

Today, I was the runner for the Boss’s big project. There are some things I don’t know how to do, but I can drive to town and buy stuff. As I was walking around the store, shopping the list, I heard a familiar voice say, “hey, I see you made it back! Hahaha” I looked up to see one of the cashiers we’ve known for years laughing at the fact I was in the store as often as he was as a paid employee!

I suppose it says something about me that I can find most anything I’m sent for…if I am in Lowe’s. However, I wander around blindly when I go to one of the local department stores. I don’t even want to think about how much money we have spent there over the years. Just consider it a contribution to the local economy!

There is also a social aspect to going to Lowe’s. It is an odd trip if we don’t see at least one friend, customer, neighbor or family member while shopping. That may be the best part of the extra trips.

But, now the big project “du jour” is finished. No Lowe’s trips are planned until sometime next week. I sure hope I don’t suffer some type of withdrawal over the weekend!

Rollin', Rollin' on the REEFER

There is a change in the light around the first of September. Some mornings there is a little chill in the air. Acknowledging the seasonal changes and anticipating the impending harvest of potatoes, last week The Boss was heard to say …”I gotta get rollin’ on the reefer!” One thing about our long shared history, we often get a chuckle when we least expect it.


So, with apologies to Credence Clearwater Revival, here’s what’s happening in the reefer remodel project.

After a slow-down in momentum (Home Depot did not have the special insulation necessary…we had to make a return trip), the action began in earnest this week.


As the entire reefer is not going to be used as a cooler (yet), it was necessary to put in a door.


Since the door was only primered, I got to paint.

A hole had to be cut for the a/c unit. The original hole for the refrigeration unit had to be filled in.


The electrical work will be happening today. That will complete the cooling portion of the reefer. Then, we’ll be chillin’ big time.

A big project completed with only SEVEN trips to Lowe’s. That may be a new record!

I only wish I could think of some appropriate song lyrics...

A Sign of the Times

Despite the weeks of oppressive heat, summer is the time to think about winter time warmth. That is, if you heat with wood.

We’ve heated with wood for years and years. We love the zonal warmth you get with a woodstove and the atmosphere the first creates. Our current woodstove also has a flat top for cooking amazing beans and chili…and soups, too. Oh, I’ve got myself looking forward to winter!

“Back in the day”, The Boss would source the wood, cut the wood, haul the wood, split the wood, and then he and the girls would stack the wood. Our move to the Valley changed a lot of that. Then our wood-stackers moved on as well.

Still committed to wood heat, now we have it delivered. It is said that wood provides heat many times…in the chopping, splitting, and then the burning. Despite the fact that we miss out on some of the steps these days, we still get more than one warming from our load of wood.

While that big mess of firewood is another item on the “to-do” list, it is also a sign of the times.

Winter is comin’…and we’re gonna be ready!

Magnificent Creature

As a giant dog breed, the sheer size of a Great Pyrenees is astounding. A well-groomed Pyr can be an awesome sight.


Our neighbor is a lover of the giant dog breeds. As a past president of the local chapter of the SPCA, a former dog breeder and owner of 3 or 4 Great Danes, he is most definitely a “dog person”.

When we first got Jed, Neighbor made friends with him, bringing him cookies and talking nicely to him. Once Jed reached maturity, Neighbor referred to him as “oh, you magnificent creature” repeatedly. It may have gone to Jed’s head.

Between the excessive heat and the recurrent thunderstorms of late, Jed has felt it necessary to dig himself a bunker next to the house. The reason for the location of the bunker remains a mystery to us. Tucked between the compressor and the storage shed, he’s out of the wind and rain and can hide from the thunder.


The bunker has grown quite large of late, and the fine, fine dust that makes up the inner part of the hole looks like it might offer some level of comfort. Although the combination of the dust and Jed’s wet, wet fur have caused a new issue.


He’s not looking so magnificent these days!


Oh, dear….dog bath blog…here we come.

Power-less

Beep, beeeep, beeeeeep! Something was disturbing my sleep….

BEEP, beeeeep, beeeeeep! Huh? What is it?

BEEP, BEEEEEEP, BEEEEEEP! What is that? “It’s the computer.”The Boss’ voice came out of the darkness.

Huh? I didn’t realize I had spoken my thought aloud. As I started to get up, it seemed I must not have opened my eyes.

It was DARK! No, my eyes were definitely opened. What happened to the alarm clock? Oh no, we have no power!

“The power’s out.”

”Yeah, I know”, he said, “That’s why the computer is beeping.” Oh…duh! He found a flashlight, crawled under the desk and ended the obnoxious sound. What a relief! I was getting a headache.

Okay, it is four-fifteen…the power’s out…and we’re suddenly wide awake.

Now, what? We never think about how dependent we are on the electricity until it goes out. Then we (I) begin to worry big time. The vast bank of freezers full of meat and vegetables immediately spring to mind. Just how long until things start to thaw? We also have week old chicks in the brooder, without the warmth of the heat lamp; they will go the way of the deceased chicks of last week. Hmmm…

Sipping sweet tea by candlelight, wishing the outage had happened AFTER the coffee had brewed, we contemplated our next move. The generator could be fired up, but it’s a hassle to get running and it’s loud, the gas supply was questionable. If the outage was a short one, it would be a waste of time and energy. A call to the power company indicated it shouldn’t be too long.

Still groaning about the lack of coffee, we headed out for chores. Once it was light enough to see the animals, we could feed them all with little difficulty. The overnight rain precluded watering them. Chores were actually kind of easy.
Another check on the power indicated that the outage would be longer. We needed extra gas for the generator, so we headed out for our weekly feed/town trip earlier than normal, hoping to find a cup of coffee somewhere. We hurried through our errands, praying the power was back on when we returned.

Yay! It was back on, the freezers were still frozen,
the chicks were not chilled and all was right with the farm once more.

This morning proved something to us. We are far too dependent on our morning routine of coffee and weather page updates and emails. Candlelight is not romantic when one is worried and caffeine-deprived. …and flashlights...
you can NEVER have too many flashlights!

Let's Get this Thing in Perspective

As I headed out to the Post Office to pick up the last batch of broiler chicks, things were looking pretty good. We had accomplished a great deal the day before, and we were on track to keep on schedule again.


The box of chicks seemed rather “subdued” on the ride up the hill. Ordinarily, the chicks are peeping loudly, very loudly, announcing their need for food and water and freedom. This batch was making noise, but not at the level I have come to expect.

Upon opening the box, we discovered that a proportionally large number of them were dead, several were dying, and even more didn’t look too good. Ugh! Not a good way to start a project. It looked like they must have gotten too cold in transit, as all the dead ones were in the same compartment. An email was dispatched to the hatchery, and we went off to our various projects for the day. The dead chicks were a real bummer.

Somehow that seemed to color our thinking about everything. The weeds were suddenly bigger, the bugs suddenly more destructive, the weather hotter, the job list longer. (you get the idea) Things that seemed just “part of the deal” suddenly seemed insurmountable.

Then I remembered a story I had read about earlier in the day. In all the flooding from Irene last weekend, Vermont took some of the most significant agricultural damage. I had been keeping up with a story about the Brattleboro Farmers Market. This led me to the story of Evening Star Farm. While they were not the only ones to incur damage, the small farm similarites caught my attention.

Evening Star Farm is a CSA farm in Cuttingville, VT. (check them out on Facebook, look up their website) These young farmers were enjoying a successful first year on their farm. Then the floods came through.
In a single event, hoophouses, gardens, tools, their dreams and aspirations were all washed away. While the community has come together in an amazing way to help them re-build, the enormity of the task may be insurmountable.


That made me realize that I was just feeling sorry for myself, letting a small problem affect my day when it shouldn’t have even been a “blip on the radar”. The hatchery will refund the money for the lost chicks, we can weed a little more, battle the bugs a little aggressively, and so on.

While the work remains, so do the possibilities for next year. We didn’t see our lives wash downstream like the folks in Vermont.

By comparison, we should have no complaints…no worries…at all...ever!