Waiting patiently for the time to garden

January is always the slowest month of the year around here, and there's just not that much going on. Staying busy can be a challenge, and everyone knows that i'm a busy-body. A busy EG is a happy EG, and I literally pace the floors when caught up with everything. However, that'll change in about a week, because quite a few tomato seeds will be germinated. Yeehaw! Anyway, here's a few things going on at a snail's pace on the property.....

Photo below - here's the first 6 compost bins just sitting there doing their own thing. Before turning the piles, I really want the ingredients in each to compact a bit, so have put heavy bags of leaves on top for weight. Reason? A full bin is almost impossible to turn in place, but a pile that has shrunk a little bit allows room in each one so that the ingredients won't spill out as it's turned. Maybe after a month or two, they'll be ready to turn, because the piles are pretty cold right now, and I like for them to stay pretty hot.

Photo below - The carrots growing in the little greenhouse are still doing well, but have yet to form any nice sized roots. Perhaps a little bit of fertilizer will be added within the next week, because in 2 months they'll have to go - ready or not. That's when the large tomato transplants will take their place, and it's possible that some of the tomato transplants will be in gallon containers by then. I bet a 12" tall Cherokee Purple plant growing in a gallon container would go for about 5 bucks at least, and a few transactions like that would certainly help on the propagation costs....

In other news, we awoke to a new blanket of snow on Wednesday morning, and that's the 4th time this winter it's snowed at our house. Quite frankly, I don't like it one bit! Having been a Refrigeration Service Technician for the world's largest industrial refrigeration company a few years ago allowed me to see enough snow in the states all of you live in - and I hated it...hehe..So, I hope it doesn't happen again this year.....

Also, tomato seeds will be carefully placed into their little germination containers this weekend - finally kicking off the gardening season for me. I look at it as being a teenie weenie garden..hehe...The biggest propagation system has been prepped for the arrival of about 100 new babies sometime during the first of next week, and I look forward to tending to the little fellas. Oh, and the rope light under sand raises the temperature inside the propagation system by 8 degrees - which was quite unexpected.....Needless to say, i'm very happy about it!

Lastly, i'm hoping that the weekend allows me to work on a few construction projects outside, but my services are usually in high demand on the property for other things/people. Oh well, at least boredom is never an issue....

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Looking for a refrigerant leak on one of our heat pumps

Rain Frances - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

Refrigerant (commonly referred to as "freon") never gets old or wears out. The only times it has to be replaced, is either when an hvac technician has to replace a defective component within the sealed system, or when some has leaked out. That's just the way it is....Well, one of my split systems required more refrigerant being added to it when warm weather arrived last year, and had a tiny leak somewhere in it that would become a problem again toward the end of summer. With that being said, i'll show you the best method I know for locating a leak in one, and hope that it may help someone down the road...

Note - before this method can be used, all remaining refrigerant must be removed from the system with methods and special equipment that follow guidelines set forth by the EPA. I have this equipment on hand, and realize that most homeowners do not. Anyway, a person shouldn't vent refrigerant to the atmosphere, because stiff penalties/fines are the result from doing so....EG does things the correct way, and you should too. :-)

The first thing to do, is pressurize the entire system (indoor coil, outdoor, and connecting copper tubing between each) with nitrogen at 200 psi. Use soapy water (I use water with dishwashing liquid or children's bubble solution with wand inside the bottle) to spray every bit of copper tubing on the system. A leak will appear as bubbles forming from the leak.....Anyway, in my case this still didn't indicate where the leak was, so more drastic measures were called for.

Photo below - here is the outdoor coil (condenser) removed from it's original outdoor housing. The ends of the connective piping were sealed off, and a shrader valve installed for adding nitrogen to it. It was then pressurized with nitrogen at 350 psi, and isolated to see if the pressure would drop. After allowing it to sit for a couple of hours in this state, no drop in pressure indicated that this part wasn't leaking.

Photo below - Size 128 bottle of dry nitrogen with pressure regulator attached. With around 2,200 psi in the bottle when originally filled, the regulator allows a person to adjust the outlet from the hose to meet their pressure needs, and keeps stuff from exploding, too! Never try this without a working regulator....

Photo below - due to a small rise in ambient temperature for the day, the system pressure actually increased by 5 psi to 355. With the condenser coil under pressure, you can spray more soapy solution on the entire coil, or even dunk the entire thing in a vat of water if needed. Either way, a leak will reveal itself at this pressure. (Sometimes you can even hear it hissing).

Photo below - the connecting copper lines that run through the walls, attic and ceiling of your home are referred to as the "line set". If the leak is in this part, you've got serious problems - requiring walls to be broken into for access or even the hated task of crawling around in the attic or sometimes the crawlspace under your home. Either way, it's a real pain - especially for a big person such as myself (6'4" 250 lbs). Anyway, I just isolate the line set on both ends by pinching the ends - then soldering them up, so that it can also be pressurized to 350 psi. Follow the same procedure as done with the condenser coil, and if a leak is present, the pressure should decrease a little after a few hours.

Lastly, the evaporator (or indoor coil as it's sometimes called) is isolated the same way, then pressurized to the same amount as done before on the previous 2 parts. Making sure that all service manifold gauge hose connections are tight and not leaking, allow the 350 psi to remain in the isolated evaporator coil for a couple of hours. As before in the other parts previously pressurized, a drop in pressure indicates this component is the source of the leak.

Anyway, in my situation, the brass nut that connects the high pressure liquid refrigerant line to the orifice assembly would prove to be the source of the leak. Just as a precaution though, all valve cores in service valves on the condensing unit were tightened, then the entire system was connected back as it was originally. For the record, finding a tiny leak in an air conditioning system is perhaps the most dreaded problem that a service technician is faced with.However, if they would drag out a bottle of nitrogen instead of one of those stupid little electronic leak detectors, life would be much more simple for them. Ha! EG doesn't play when it comes to fixing his AC......

I'll try to do a post on charging the unit back up with refrigerant in a month or two, and might even shoot a video of it.

Take care, and stay cool!

EG


     

Squirrels and peppers

Tricia and Willow Dove - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

Everyone knows that there's an area by the shed where I attempted to grow tomatoes last year, and pretty much lost all of them to the squirrels. That's why the funny looking trap was built, so the little devils could be caught and relocated. Well, perhaps the biggest reason for this happening is because the area is completely unprotected. So, I began thinking of things that could be grown in the spot that might not be appealing to a squirrel. Peppers are a possibility, I guess, and that's just what i'm aiming to try. Jalapenos are a no-brainer, but I wonder if they would eat a bell pepper? We'll see, I guess....Anyway, here's a photo of the squirrel problem location......

Photo below - After 2 grow seasons with sweet potatoes in them, these planters will be relocated to the area above, topped off with compost, then planted with the peppers. Best I can figure, they hold about 20 gallons of soil, and hopefully that'll be enough to support 2 peppers in each. One thing i've learned about growing in these things - the soil needs to be mounded as much as possible when filled, because it settles quite a bit during the season. Anyway, i've already started to empty each one into 5 gallon buckets, so that the landscaping fabric stapled to the bottom won't rip off when lifted for relocation. Two are already in their new home....

Photo below - A 1/2" layer of sand was added to the bottom of the largest propagation system, then the 22 ft. long rope light coiled along the entire length. Once in place, the entire thing was covered with more sand, then smoothed out. Hopefully this will provide some bottom heat for the seedlings growing in there later - at least that's the plan...

In other news, most of the weekend was spent working on one of our heat pumps for the house, as it had developed a tiny refrigerant leak....all is put back together now, and i'll do a post on it in a few days. I'm sure thankful that working on one is one of my best skills, because hvac companies are some of the most crooked people out there. Oh, you'd be surprised how much the stuff they charge you for really costs...sheesh...

Also, more work will be done to the tomato-growing area over the next few weeks, because it's just not tall enough to keep grass/weeds from spilling over into it. Another layer of landscaping timbers will be added, then leveled off with dirt from the new flowerbed.(Wife doesn't want to use the native soil of the flowerbed)

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

   

Introducing the tomatoes for 2011

Color my world, Wonderweitzel, and Ali - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

Perhaps my favorite thing to post about each year is the unveiling of tomato varieties to be grown in the upcoming garden. New varieties are just waiting in anticipation, and this year is gonna be a good one. I'm quite excited about it, and will start seeds next weekend. After germination takes place, that should make them ready for the lights around the 2nd of February. Most will be in the "black category" - meaning their color is brown/purple/blue of sorts. Anyway, here's my grow list for the warm season garden of 2011.

Photo below - Cherokee Purple - this is a long time favorite at my house, because the taste is absolutely incredible. However, i'll only grow 1 plant of this variety this year. Reason? I wanna try more varieties....

Photo below - Paul Robeson - I grew this one last year, but the squirrels got all but one single tomato. Thankfully, it allowed me to save seeds from it though.

Photo below - Black from Tula - First time for this one. I've read that this is the largest of the black varieties.

Photo below - Black Krim - First time for this one too..

Photo below - Brandywine Black, seeds shared by Dan. Oh boy, this is the one that I can't wait to try.

Photo below - Cherokee Chocolate - First time for this one

Photo below - White Tomesol - seeds from Robin. Strange looking tomato, but perfect for my weird little garden. It's gonna get alot of comments from visitors to the garden, I bet.

Photo below - Giant Belgium, seeds shared by Dan. Another new one, and i'm hoping for a whopper!

Photo below - Pineapple, seeds shared by Megan. First time for this one, too.

Photo below - Green Zebra, seeds shared by Dan. First time for this one.

Photo below - Brandywine Red - a staple in my garden....This is truly an impressive tomato, and I had tons of big ones last year from just 2 plants.

Photo below - Goose Creek. First time growing it....Kinda small sized, but i've heard great things about taste.

Photo below - Red Siberian, seeds from Charles. First time growing it, and it's capable of setting fruit at 38 degrees farenheit. You can bet that this one will be in the garden sometime in March, then most others in April.

Photo below - Stupice - grew it last year, but under less than ideal conditions. Only 2 tomatoes were gotten from the plant, but this year should be much different.

As you can tell, it's gonna be an interesting season, and i'll sure be able to judge which black variety becomes the favorite at our house. All plants will be grown in swc's/swp's right in front of Jude's pen, and squirrels won't be an issue this time around. Haha...
As usual, the progress of the seedlings in the propagation system will be shown throughout the cycle, and if anyone in the local area wants to come by to purchase some around the first of April, just let me know. Cherokee Purple and Brandywine will be for sale - and cheap, too!

After much thought, I have decided to only start 96 plants this time around. This will allow me to grow the seedlings to a much larger size before use, and facilitate the 28 oz. containers they'll be potted up to after the first true leaves have emerged. So, that leaves about 16 plants for me, and 80 plants to sell. I'll also be incorporating a bottom-heating system into the largest propagation system for better germination time - consisting of some playsand and a rope light that is 22 feet long....

Since peppers typically take much longer to germinate than tomatoes, I went ahead and began the germination process for them last night. Bell and Jalapeno will be grown inside the cat litter bucket propagation system, and 6 of each should be more than enough.

Lastly, I spent some time the other evening combining 4 different fertilizers to come up with an entirely new mixture for tomatoes. I made 2 gallons of the stuff, and it'll be used solely in the swc's that will grow tomatoes and cucumbers. The finished NPK value is about 6-3-6, and should do very well in my opinion. You know how I just love tinkering with things!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Heating up the newest compost pile

Starting a new compost pile in the dead of winter certainly isn't the preferred method to use for things to get going easily, but sometimes you just have to take things as they come. Most composters get things going when the fresh grass clippings become available in the spring, because they're both bountiful and effective, too. However, no matter what time of year it is when my new piles are built, i'm gonna do whatever is necessary to get things cranked up. Anyway, all nitrogen sources on hand were used to fill the older bins recently, so me and the wife were off to gather some more last Saturday for this newest addition. This first one is a no-brainer, and at $4.99 for a 16 lb. bag - is certainly a good investment for the return. Dry dog food is one of my favorite things to add in the winter time, but we don't put any of Jude's high dollar "Beneful" in there...That stuff's expensive! Some think that using dog food is just asking for racoon trouble, but not the way I do it..

Photo below - We also spent an entire day shopping for Auburn BCS Championship apparel out of town, and you can bet that stops were made at 5 different Starbuck's in the area. By the day's end, we had about $100 worth of Auburn stuff (WE'RE #1!...WE'RE #1!), and also 100 lbs. of UCG's. Yeehaw! Talk about a great day....

Photo below - On Sunday, the new pile of leaves was raked back away from the center to create a trench, then the entire bag of dog food and 10 lbs of the UCG's were sprinkled on top.This was done at about 2 feet from the bottom, because doing it at the very bottom of the pile would be senseless. I mean...those UCG's would just fall right through the leaves, and end up on the ground....

With lots of rain forecast over the next couple of days, no water was added before topping the whole thing off with at least a foot of more leaves. It's easier to just let Mother Nature water it for me. :-) We'll check the temperature in about a week to see how things are doing, then add 10 more lbs. of UCG's and also a bag of dry molasses before turning. These 3 ingredients are pretty much all I use in the winter, but grass clippings reign supreme in the warmer months.
With that being said, this composting cycle is finally in high gear, and time can be spent on other things for a while. It seems like alot of compost to most people, but I really need alot to fill everything on the property as planned...

In other news, I went to my local Lowes, and found a clearance rack that had all kinds of gardening goodies on it. There were 3 containers of organic granular fertilizer normally priced at $7.98 each that had been reduced to only 99 cents. Man.....if I would have only gotten there sooner! Dangit.....

Lastly, I wanted to mention that i've added another blog to the blogroll on the right side of the page - toward the bottom. I encourage everyone to check it out. Heh.

Take care, and happy composting!

EG

All about fertilizer

Lorri - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

In case you didn't already know it, the best time to purchase most gardening supplies is in the dead of winter, because stores really like to move items leftover from the previous year. Oh..I really load up on them, and have already acquired all fertilizer needed for the upcoming growing season - and at half price. Yeehaw! Shoot....most of it came from the freaky merchandise store I frequent, too. For instance, this "Mater Magic" can be purchased at The Home Depot for $4 each, but I got 4 of them at half that. I must admit that the name is kinda pathetic, but it has an NPK value of 8-5-5. Not bad for tomatoes.....

Photo below - "GardenTone", which has an NPK value of 3-4-4. Lowes has it for $10.99, but I got 6 for $5.99 each. I really like to add this stuff during the initial planting, but opt for much more aggressive levels after fruitset occurs. Anyway, these first 2 are gonna be used exclusively in the swc/swp's being used for growing tomatoes this year - combined for a 50/50 blend of each. That should result in a fertilizer with levels at 5.5-4.5-4.5.

Photo below - There's also 4 of these containers that were purchased at Lowes. The NPK value is 12-3-13, and got them at half price, too. It'll most likely be used on stuff like corn and cucumbers, and possibly even blended with one of the others for tomatoes...Lots to think about, that's for sure.

In other news, the snow is finally gone and i'm glad! It's pretty to look at for a day or two, but i've had my fill of it for this year.
Tomato and pepper seeds will be started in 2 weeks, and i'll likely go ahead and fill the seedling flats with starting mix, and any other little tasks to get prepared for it. As stated earlier, about 100 plants will be started inside the largest propagation system, and that should leave me plenty of room for facilitating the plants in larger containers once potted up. Once that time arrives, the other 2 propagation systems will be available for them. Since the daughter wants some flowers for her yard, we may even start some from seed for that purpose, too.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

I think I have a valium deficiency or something. Ha!

Both Melissas, Bethany, Mike - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

Like I said - it could be a valium deficiency.......
Hehe....I mean, who in their right mind would sacrifice 36 sq.ft. of garden space for an entire season just to make more compost? My biggest problem, is that I think too much...That last truckload of leaves was just sitting there on the ground in their respective bags, and I looked over at the 4x9 box next to the woods and thought "hmm..." After thinking about the less than ideal yields it's produced over the last 3 years (because of limited sunlight exposure), I started dumping leaves into the enclosure lickety split. This newest addition increases my composting area to 388 cubic feet, or a little over 14 cubic yards....When completely decomposed, all efforts should yield about 4 cubic yards of finished compost. Ha! I know...it's insane! Now, where's my crown? hehe...(the undisputed king of backyard composting)

In other news, the garden planning for 2011 is complete, and is gonna be comprised of mostly melons and tomatoes. I figure about 6 different kinds of melons and 15 different varieties of tomatoes will be grown - making this the year of vertical gardening around here. The only thing to get worked out, is where to put the beans....If I don't grow beans - there will be a revolt, for sure! Hmm....I wonder if squirrels will bother beans, if tried in the "squirrel hot spot" next to the little playhouse? Something to think about, for sure.

Speaking of squirrels, the trap was put in storage about a month ago, because acorns were (and still are) in abundance for them to eat. So, I decided that it would be better if implemented toward the last part of winter - when food is in short supply...hehe...yeah, i've got a plan!

No outdoor projects have been done around the house, but I did manage to do some work on one of the heat pump units in our 2 story home. It's had a very slow refrigerant leak for a while, and has to be fixed before warm weather hits. So, I spent last Saturday methodically testing the unit to get a vague idea of which part the leak was in, and finally determined that it was where I suspected - the condenser coil. I'll likely do a post on the repair, just in case anyone might be helped from it.

Take care, and happy composting

EG

Game Day at last!

I've been a big fan of Auburn Tigers football for at least 30 years now, and am thrilled that they will get an opportunity to play for the National Championship tonight. Honestly, I didn't think it would happen in my lifetime, but alas it is finally here. Whether we win or lose - i'm just happy for the opportunity. War Eagle!!!!

In other news, it snowed 6" last night, and I didn't even attempt to drive the 20 miles to work this morning. Besides...since the roads are officially closed, insurance wouldn't pay for an accident. Oh! and Jude has already been out playing in it...the little stinker....