tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-13:3063484Suburban Permaculture ProjectSuburban Permaculture ProjectSuburban Permaculture Project2010-06-09T10:32:00Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-13:3063484:17246http://gailmom.livejournal.com/Rain2010-06-09T10:32:00Z2010-06-09T10:32:00Zpublic0Posted by: <span lj:user='gailmom.livejournal.com' style='white-space: nowrap;' class='ljuser'><a href='https://www.dreamwidth.org/profile?userid=567653&t=I'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png' alt='[identity profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='http://gailmom.livejournal.com/' rel='nofollow'><b>gailmom.livejournal.com</b></a></span><br /><br />It's raining. That's good and all, but it's revealing a serious problem I will have to make time to deal with as soon as it isn't..ya know...raining.<br /><br />I just went out to feed the chickens. Who look very silly when wet, btw. They are ALL soaked. Because the roof of their pen has failed, and the drainage in that yard isn't working well, and the full rain barrell is backing up into the gutter and spraying everywhere.<br /><br />Which is, of course, also not good for the house. :(<br /><br />So I think we have some major yard work to do when it is no longer pouring.<br /><br />In other chicken news: the little girls are about a month away from being integrated with the flock, and they are HUGE (comparatively speaking). The top one of that flock (Cleo) is determined to squeeze out of the door when I go in to feed. She thinks she is ready to take over the older flock.<br /><br />Boy, is she ever in for a shock.<br /><br />Spot has been saved from the stew pot (theoretically), because an acquaintance has a friend who collects "pretty, loud, non-laying hens" to use as pets and alarms. Well, if ever Spot qualified as anything, it's as pretty and loud an uselessly laying. I explained about her shell-less egg messes, and the friend still wants her. If all goes as planned, she'll be picked up this week and head to her new home. <br /><br />So I guess she gets to be useful a while longer. Good for her.<br /><br />And that's about it. Not a lot of progress around here. <br /><br />So now I just have to try to contain my "stop raining!" thoughts long enough for everyone's gardens to be happy (so I don't feel guilty in some weird way if it does stop raining), and then get to work. :P<br /><br />Well, that and figure out where to hang the laundry to dry...since it's now wetter than when I hung it out yesterday. ;)<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=the_yardening&ditemid=17246" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-13:3063484:9186http://gailmom.livejournal.com/Yard evaluation2009-06-30T12:21:00Z2009-06-30T12:21:00Zcheerfulpublic4Posted by: <span lj:user='gailmom.livejournal.com' style='white-space: nowrap;' class='ljuser'><a href='https://www.dreamwidth.org/profile?userid=567653&t=I'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png' alt='[identity profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='http://gailmom.livejournal.com/' rel='nofollow'><b>gailmom.livejournal.com</b></a></span><br /><br />It is summer here...100 or more degrees most days, and dry dry dry. Drought all around us, and burn bans for, as far as I can tell, most if not all of Texas.<br /><br />In fact, we are having our first rain in MONTHS as I type this.<br /><br />We dutifully went out in it naked to say thanks, of course. Honestly, it felt like my skin was soaking it in..... I can't bear to dry off, so I'm sitting here dripping as I type. :P<br /><br />Our sprinkler system has a leak, and I can't fix it until the temperature drops to 80 degrees so the glue will set. What this means is that we have not been watering anything but the garden. It wasn't our intention, but it seems we are doing the "native and adapted stress test" on our yard. I did this with my overly-landscaped first house as well, for a year, I did not water. If it died, we pulled it out. This eliminated all the "baby me" plants from the yard. It wasn't a conscious choice to do so this time, as it was then, but since we are halfway through the summer...hey, why not carry it all the way?<br /><br />We have also learned, as we deal with trees-leafed-out-for-summer shade, that while the side yard is excellent for winter crops, it does doodly in the summer...not enough sun. The trees committing this anti-garden shade crime are large and old, and make what will be the only remaining kid-play-space lawn area pleasant...so they stay. (Plus, they are trees! duh! not something to remove on a whim) This requires some small revamp of our plans.<br /><br />Better to learn it now than later, huh? :)<br /><br />And now, I go to enjoy the rain a bit more before we have to run our errands this afternoon...I wish we could delay them, I want to just lay around and be grateful for a while while I breath the ions deep into my lungs.<br /><br />As a side note, it physically hurts me to see all the water flowing out of our gutters...rain barrels are definitely at the top of the "saving money toward" list.....<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=the_yardening&ditemid=9186" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-13:3063484:3327ext_6748Rain2009-02-14T04:02:00Z2009-02-14T04:02:00Zpublic0Posted by: <span lj:user='gryphynshadow.livejournal.com' style='white-space: nowrap;' class='ljuser'><a href='https://www.dreamwidth.org/profile?userid=6965&t=I'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png' alt='[identity profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='http://gryphynshadow.livejournal.com/' rel='nofollow'><b>gryphynshadow.livejournal.com</b></a></span><br /><br />Y'know, it's when I'm up for no real reason in the wee hours of the morning that I stumble upon the most depressing things. (consider that your warning)<br /><br />Texas is suffering a drought. The worst we've had in 100 years, they say (they being climate and agriculture researchers at A&M). Farmers are debating whether or not to plant, since right now the ground's so dry nothing will germinate.<br /><br />I have noticed that this has been a dry winter. The rains last week were needed, but not enough. The creek out back should be running and chortling over the creek bed; instead it's mostly still, and you can see the bottom.<br /><br />I'm still keeping an eye on craigslist for rain barrels, just in case. I suppose I could go do a rain dance, too. A big one.<br /><br />Link: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/us/12drought.html?_r=1">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/us/12drought.html?_r=1</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=the_yardening&ditemid=3327" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments