Ireland

28 March, Wednesday
In the morning we left for the airport. We arrived, met Uncle Bill and Lynnea and got our bags ready to check. We happened to see Aunt Judy who was flying back to Miami the same day, that was quite cool. We got through everything fine, although they did have to get out my Dublin cheese and bacteria wipe it. We got on the plane, waited a nearly 45 minutes and the pilot said the weather was too dangerous in JFK airport. So we got off and waited to collect our bags (they carry-on luggage was put with the check because of space) about 5 minutes had passed when the pilot came back on the plane and said everybody on, were going to do this. So, we got on the plane and took off for JFK.We got off the plane in JFK We found a place that sold sandwiches and we shared those with each other. Around 8:15pm we boarded the plane to fly to Dublin. 29 March, Thursday
The entertainment wasn’t working so we couldn’t watch any films. The food was pretty bad, but, I didn’t expect better I guess. I mostly read a book Uncle Bill had brought and slept. I slept for only about 3 hours, but because of the time change those three hours were from about 11pm-6am. I woke up, ate the food they served for breakfast (a little better, they had a banana) and waited to arrive. We got off, got our checked luggage and drove one in a half hours south of Dublin to explore a little as we had time before Josiah arrived. We saw Kevin’s Church (which was fun to sing in!), a round tower and enjoyed driving on the left side of the road in VERY narrow streets! We went to a grave yard and there was a creek there and people through money into it. So I first went down and started collect coins, and then Lydia, and so did Uncle Bill. We had to hide under the bridge when people came, we called it the Gollum game. :) We didn’t get quite enough for any lunch, and Uncle Bill didn’t have cash, so we headed back to Dublin. We stopped at a small cafe for lunch. It was really good, and the waitress had an awesome accent as well as reminding me of an actor (brilliant blue eyes, jet black hair, dark tan complexion) I’ve seen. We left around 4:15pm to go back to Dublin. We picked up Josiah from the ferry and I squeezed in the back with the three girls. We drove across Ireland and stopped at Dunnes Store to pick up some cider and beer (as well as stretch our legs, 4 people in 3 seats?! TIGHTNESS!). From there we drove on to a hostel and arrive around 10pm, quite exhausted as most of us had had around 3-4 hours of sleep! The hostel owner looked JUST LIKE Cadfael, it was very cool! We popped a few cans, wrote in journals and went to bed. All of us were tired, but ready for tomorrow!
30 March, Friday
We woke up around 9am (Lydia and Lynnea slept in closer to 10am), I took a shower, packed my bags, and made some coffee in the hostel open kitchen. They didn’t serve breakfast, but they had a kitchen you could cook in, store your food in. We had no food so we asked the owner where to eat, he suggested a place and after we had had coffee we headed to town ( a couple miles away). We found Jae’s Cafe, it was a bakery/cafe and smelled amazing! Hot brewed coffee mixing with freshly baked goods! We were seated upstairs (they had room for maybe a dozen people, another reason why I love Ireland!) and chose from the menu and ordered. The kitchen was the next room over where they cooked everything to order. Londa and I got scones, Uncle Bill got an omelet, Josiah got a savoury pancake, Lydia and Lynnea got pancakes. We finished around 11:15am and headed towards the Island. We stopped by a grocery store, the equivalent of Aldi, and picked up some stuff. Right before then we were trying to talk to someone crossing the stree and instead it looked more like we were trying to run him over (at 2mph), the dude gave us an angry look and walked across. We later saw him in the store and as he passed us said “bleepin’ Americans”. We felt bad because we weren’t trying to make him angry, oh well. We drove to the dock where we waited for Patrick. He arrived around 3:30pm, we met him, loaded up and boated (is that the right word?) over to the Island. It was a good 20min ride to the Island. We got to the Island, unloaded, found out what was in every nook and cranny and made ourselves at home. We went out on a walk and explored the Island a good bit. We brought some plastic bags with us, so we collected muscles for supper. When we got back around 8pm and made supper. We boiled the muscles in water, and while those were cooking ate bread, cheese and apples with some red wine. The muscles were very tasty, we dipped them in a garlic butter that Uncle Bill made. Afterwards we cleaned up, washed the sihes, and played Rook. We decided to do teams of two, Lydia and Uncle Bill, Josiah and Lynnea, and Londa and I. It was a fun game, despite Lynnea getting the Rook five out of nine times. Uncle Bill and Lydia ended up with the most points and won. After the game we divided up the bed rooms, Uncle Bill got the master, Josiah got a single bed room, as did I upstairs, the three girls got the double bunk beds. I set an alarm for 7am.
31 March, Saturday
I woke up at 7am to my alarm. Actually I woke up around 6:30 and went back to sleep. Unlike some people. I love mornings and will sacrifice sleep for them. I don’t take sleep where ever I can get it because that’s not who I am, or what I do. It’s hard to say if we’ve/I have adjusted to the time change. I think it helped the first day that we were so tired that when night came we slept very soundly. It’s ahrd to say what my body says the time is, because I pay more attention to the light rather than what it feels like. The last tw days we’re only had two meals a day! :) We got up late enough and ate breakfast late enough that it basically counted for lunch. I wanted to go running today because I like doing it and because it is Fun. That is the main reason why I got up when I did. I went out behind the house and retraced where we had gone yesterday, hoping to find a good beach, I went about a mile and couldn’t find what I was looking for so I went back. I took a slightly different route and came out by the front of the house. I went on down to the dock, still in search of a place to run. I found a flat place, 300ft long maybe. I took off my socks and shoes and tried it. Besides the water being freezing cold, the rocks hurt more than I thought, (maybe I’ve gone too long with shoes on) I put them back on and came back. I started running along the beach, and despite the largish rocks the running was quite good. I got in maybe a quarter mile of pretty good running, enough to get my heart rate up and my breathing hard. I came to the house and made myself a cup of joe. Josiah woke up around 8am and went outside exploring/walking with his camera. The others got up around 9am and we ate breakfast. After breakfast I read some from The Golden Thread of Time, the three girls went exploring, and Josiah and Uncle Bill went to the boat to try and figure out the GPS. I went out and skipped stones near the boat. At a little after 10am we all got in the boat and took it out so Uncle Bill could get a little more used to it. We went back to the house, picked up some stuff and went to the main land. We picked up Patrick and went to the main land. We got groceries and got nachos and fish and chips. We were picked up by Patric around 6pm. We got to the house and I ended up jumping into the water to help pull the boat up! We made spaghetti for supper. After suppwe we went outside to see the sunset, we went out behind the house. WE came back to the house, played Rook for a while. Around 10pm we went to bed.
1 April, Sunday
I woke up at 6am thinking the clock said 7am. I went back to sleep (wasn’t hard) till 7:45am. I went outside after a shower. Bright blue sky and a warm sun! It was glorious! Londa was outside (as well as Uncle Bill) and I showed her some spots to take pictures from. I found a boat underneath some brambles, I’m hoping to find out more about it today. For breakfast we had pancakes, I soaked some of the flour with milk to make it easier to digest (healthier). I also made some yogurt that I used for milk in the pancakes. So this morning I made pancakes and they were very good. Last night we found the two kayaks in the shed, I’m hoping to try them out today with Lynnea! I’m also planning to do some swimming as well. The water is very clear, and yesterday when I got in the water I soon adjusted to it. We’re going to church today, a stone church we saw yesterday in town. We got to the church a little before it started, so we sat in the sun outside. The church was very cold, but we met one particular gentlemen who was very nice, he talked to us before and after church. The service was very much like I would think high church tends to be like. The prayers and most everything was written out and read, etc. I was glad we were able to go to church though. After church they had tea and biscuits for refreshment, and we met a few more people, including the pastor/priest? Then we went across the street to the service station to use the toilets. From there we drove around trying to find a place that had wi-fi. We would have been invited over to the gentlemen’s house that we met, except that his son and family were over for Palm Sunday and we wouldn’t’ve fit. We finally found some wi-fi and decided to eat lunch. So we went back to a park and ate lunch and then drove to the hotel to send a few emails. The bread here is quite tasty, as well the cheese. Around 4pm we headed back to the Island. We got back, planned when supper owuld be and went out separate ways. Londa took a nap, Lydia and Josiah went off, Uncle Bill went exploring, and Lynnea and I took the kayaks out. I have to say the two kayaks were quite fun! I came back and Josiah took the kayak out and around the Island. I found the boat again and looked it over. I plan to take it out tomorrow. For supper we had Parsnip and Carrot soup. It came in envelopes and I sautèd carrots to add to the soup. We had soup, bread, and a salad, and to accompany it we had cider. After supper we started a fre in the fireplace and played Clue, Londa won. After Clue we played Catch Phrase. We had a very enjoyable evening. We went to be around 11pm.

English Vintner

Gardening 2012

It's been a long time since I was last on. For the last 4-6 months I was not that motivated to garden this year, I felt like I had accomplished something, I'd learned how to do it, and I was moving on. I was some what disappointed because I like gardening; but if I don't have the motivation, it won't happen.
I ordered seeds in January, a much smaller selection than previous years, I was cutting back some. I wasn't as energetic about it this year, and I was going to be gone for the latter half of the summer into Autumn.
Then March happened. We started getting warm weather, much earlier than usual for North Carolina. I started getting plans together for renovating my greenhouse. I started seeing seeing more plants budding, and that was when it happened. I got the gardeners fever. I went to work on getting my compost piles up and going, clean out some old compost, started new piles, dug out the area in front to clear weeds and provide a more level and faster draining slope.

Last week, Saturday morning was one of those Saturdays that you just love. I got up at 7am, which was sleeping in some for me. I had a leisure breakfast and a start to my day. At 9:30am I took our van to Lowe's to pick up 2x4s. The cheapest lumber was treated, so I got 24 2x4x8's. I started the project after an early lunch and continued to 6pm when I had to stop because light was running out, and I had a few other things to work on. I framed up the sides of my greenhouse with 2x4s (before it was 1x6) and secured plexiglass to it. It was quite enjoyable to be out all day in the sun, and it was fun to do some construction work. I love working with my hands!

I now am working on framing up the other half of my greenhouse, putting a level floor in, putting siding on the walls, and a shingled roof that I can collect water from. I will instal two windows in it for lighting. Two weeks ago I spent the afternoon digging out a whole to put my fridge in that I'm using as a root cellar (I calculated that I moved 2 tonnes of dirt in 2 hours). The fridge will be level with my shed floor and I'll have access to it from inside my shed. The shed will house all my tools, wheel barrow, and anything else I might happen to have down by my garden. It will protect them from UV, provide me with some water generated from the roof, and provide a stable place that motivates me to be down in the garden, as well as making it much easier to maintain my garden.

A week ago with the help of my dad I got the right pvc connectors to hook up my rain barrel at the house (330gallons, 1 ton of pressure) to a 300ft long hose that goes down to my garden. I have enough of a drop that I have really good pressure all the way to my greenhouse, which is amazing. So, I now have a hose to water my garden with, something I'd been doing without for the past 3 years. Not only will I have more water to water with, but it will require less effort and my plants will benefit from it. My plan is to take down two other rain barrels (each 330 gallons) and fill them up with water from the hose. If I do that I should have around 1200 gallons of water when we get a drought this year. With the mild winter they are predicting record heat, which I believe in turn will give us at least a temporary drought, I plan to be prepared.



The one other new thing that I have going on is soil blocks. Soil blocks are compressed blocks of soil that you direct sow into for transplanting out later. They eliminate the need for plastic or ceramic pots and reduce transplant shock to almost zero. Because all four sides of the soil block are in contact with air, the roots will not grow further than the block, keeping the roots in check which is one reason why they transplant so easily. The other reason they reduce transplant shock is because you are not taking them out of a pot, you simply take a tray of soil blocks out to the garden, lift it up, put it in a hole, fill around with dirt, water, and your plant is off to a great start. The only cost for starting seeds is the initial cost of the soil block makers, and if you decide to buy the soil mix, or make it yourself. Johnny's Seeds is where I bought mine from, they come in a variety of sizes, from 3/4" to 4". What a lot of people do is start small seeds in the 3/4" blocks, and move them into the 2" blocks and keep blocking them up until transplant time. I bought a 4 2" soil block maker for $30, well worth the investment, most people spend at least that much every year on seed starting supplies.

To learn more about Soil Block Makers: http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-video_soilblocking.aspx


What do I have started so far?
40 zucchini
40 loofa
6 bushel gourd
13 sweet potatoes (growing them for slips)
40 basil (I plan to do 3 kinds, so far only 1 kind has been planted)
pea shoots (I filled a 6x18" container with peas about 1" apart)

What's next?
Peppers
Herbs
Pumpkins
Squash
Beans

More to come!
Cheers,
English Vintner

Spring, or is it Winter?

It's hard to tell what exactly the season it is right now in NC. We've had it quite mild, December got pretty cold several nights, but January was quite warm. No snow yet, though I'm still holding on to the chance that we'll get a little snow storm in late Feb. or March that will make winter fun.

Lately it's been rather warmish and rainy, and many people are saying how much they like the warm weather. Here's what I say to them:

I'd rather see the Sunrise and have a frost, than have it warm and raining. At least in the month of February.

Gardening plans are making their way around my head, I still haven't ordered seeds, though I have lots left over from last year's so I won't be ordering many.


English Vintner

Thanksgiving Poem

I wrote this the week after Thanksgiving on my way to work. Some how I often am inspired on my way to work, driving.

Can one week really go so quickly,
The long expected day of the year?

The anticipation builds as the week draws nearer,
And at long last the day is here.

The excitement the friendship
that bonds each time,

Reminds me again God is so kind

The laughing the games that go on each night,
Frost in the morning each day so bright.

And at long last as the week comes an end
I can’t wait for it next year
And the friendships we’ll mend.

English Vintner

Frost

Jack frost plays across the stage
turning everything frost white,
Leaves and twigs frozen in time
Until the light of dawn.

English Vintner

Garlic

Well well, it's been a while I confess. I've been busy. Work is going well, school is pretty good too. Garden has had some care, but needs more of it. It's raining right now, so I won't go down and work on it, or so my excuse is.

I planted garlic last week. I ordered $60 worth of garlic, which was 3lbs. Yes, thats way more than I would pay for eating garlic, but it will come out to about 10 cents per clove or so, pretty cheap. I got 2lbs of hardneck, or stiff neck (sounds like the Israelites! :) and 1lb of softneck. I planted softneck last year, and softneck is what most people are used to. Stiffneck is more gourmet, their stalks are stiff (hence the name) and they produce a flower stalk which should be plucked.

I have total about 150 bulbs in the ground. I would like to do some more, take from what I have right now that I grew last year, and maybe do another 150 or so. If it does well I will sell some.

I have greens and lettuce under plastic in the garden. I have two 5x20ft beds. I have quite a bit of swiss chard (I LOVE swiss chard), leaf lettuce, romaine type, some other greens, and some carrots. Oh, and plenty of chickweed (a weed in this case).

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving next week! 35+ people! It is going to be a blast, plenty of good food, good coffee, fellowship, games, laughing, crying (from joy!), joke telling, LATE nights, EARLY mornings, and some fun cooking! I can't wait!

English Vintner

Journey

Life is but a journey, and it’s road is all too short,
For when the road becomes a rut, and mud is turned to dirt
We’ll look on the horizon, and see the setting sun,
But knowing in our hearts, the day has just begun,
It’s hard to see the sun shine, when tears obscure the view,
For tears like rain are falling, like grace for me and you,
Like sharp thorns on a rose bush, they guard their beauty well,
So thorns upon our saviors brow, he died and went through hell,
But earth could not contain this man, who lived a sinless life,
For all the sin within this world, and all this hellish strife,
Could not contain the Son of Man, who died for you and me,
So, life is but a journey, and you decide the road,
But some day then, the journey ends, and your road decides your fate.

English Vintner

Greens

Well, yesterday I planted a little more space with a mix of mustard, spinach, and kale. Now all I have left to plant is lettuce. I have 3-4 different kinds of lettuce I am planting.

I might be able to plant today, but we've had rain or clouds for the past 5 days, I've seen the sun less than 6 hours this entire week. It brought us out of the drought we were in, filled up the creek some (and that creek was bone dry), hopefully it didn't do anything to my sweet potatoes, they say not to water during the last few weeks of growing, so as they don't split. Well, I haven't watered them since I put them in the ground. I let the plastic mulch conserve as much water during the dry seasons...and the water from heaven water them when it rained.

I'm at a stoping point with my Whizbang Apple Grinder right now. I've got almost everything I need, all the wood and all. I've got my disposal even. However, the motor I ordered doesn't work, the shaft is frozen up. I'm not a good engineer, so in trying to take it apart I'll probably lose all the screws. So, then I was going to use my lathe motor. But, a 3lb sledge hammer won't take the spindle that is attached to the shaft of the motor. I've tried just about everything I can think of to get it off. The one thing I haven't tried is torching it trying to heat up the spindle so that it expands and moves. The problem would be if the shaft heated up too, cause then both are expanding....

Ya....and I've been looking online and can't find any cheap motors for under $50. I can't even find very man under $100. We're looking at going apple picking around Oct. 8, a Saturday. I'd really like to have everything ready by then. I have two weeks....If anyone knows of where to buy a cheap farm motor, let me know.

English Vintner

Sunrise

The sky a stream of colors,
red, violet and blue,
They stream from hazy darkness,
And make the sky anew,
What once was dark, what once was drab,
Is now a crazy hue,
The array of color baffles me,
And makes each morning new.



English Vintner

Trip to Farm pt. 2

This morning I woke up at quarter till six from the brightness of everything, even though the sun doesn’t come in the widows till 7:10am.

Before breakfast Joel and I went out and fed the chickens being raised for meat. He gave me a small tour of the garden. Then we went in for breakfast. I ate a breakfast of sweet potatoes and fried eggs cooked by Megan, it was quite good. After breakfast Joel and I went out to the laying chickens, they have 150 of them, and we fed them. They keep them inclosed in a fence and have them in a field grazing rotation. We then herded four cows to an inclosed area of the field and then went back to the house. We didn’t have that much to do so I read some and hung out for a while. Then Shawn went out to harvest greens and other vegetables so I went out to help him. He had me harvest sweet potatoes. I harvested about 45 pounds (the average length of the sweet potatoes was 10 inches long) of sweet potatoes. Then I helped Caroline (I think that is her name) sort out the vegetables for their CSA customers, they had 6 that day. After that Joel and I fed the pigs two barrels of food that they get from a shelter.

Then I took a bike and biked back to where my truck was, threw it in the back and drove around to the other side of the farm, the other way to access the farm. After I got back I went up to the barn where they hold events and such. Joel and Megan were serving food for the event, I joined in and afterwards while the speaker was announcing we ate. Then I went on the tour that Greg gave to everyone at the event. The tour was helpful to me, explaining some questions, giving me a clearer idea of what the farm is like.

After the tour I helped do a few things. While Joel and I did the chores we had a good bit of time to talk about farming, Rockland’s Farm, what my goal is, Joel and Megan’s goal....it was very good.

When we had cleaned up everything Joel, Megan and I talked some, I have to say Joel, Megan and I share the same view pretty much of what we like about the farm, what we would eventually like to have or do. We all agree that we don’t really like the business or marketing so much of farming as much as farming it’s self. We would like a more simplistic and less expensive farm then what Rockland’s is. However, Rockland’s is a new farm meaning that the interns can try out different ideas and see how they do, where as if it was an older farm you wouldn’t have as much leeway.

To conclude I really think that Rockland’s would be a good place for me to work at, learn exactly what I do and don’t like about farming and learn all the aspects of it. I would especially be interested in it if Joel and Megan stay on, which, at this point they are planning to do so, though that is not set in stone.

So, if they do end up offering interns next year I would like to intern. If not I would still want to spend a few weeks working there in the late spring or summer.

(please pardon any mistakes, I didn't read this twice, tell me the errors and I'll correct them if you are so inclined.)

English Vintner