The Farm Report

So, I'm finally feeling better better - my larger incisions are still a bit sore but other than that I'm back to it. Work was a bit crazy coming  back, I'd been sick and out for so long it was hard to get started again, but last week was much smoother I think.  We went with Kim and Steve yesterday to celebrate his birthday a bit early, they drove here and then we drove them to Longview as there's a brewery there we've been dying to try. Scythe Brewing is in an industrial part and when you drive up it looks like a plumbing warehouse. But you walk in and it's this beautiful, huge restaurant brewery with soaring ceiling and fireplaces. Super fun and the food and beer were amazing. So, that was yesterday.  

Today I tackled the green house, or more specifically the Dutch Buckets which did not fare well. The thing with Oregon weather is we DO occasionally get a cold spell, snow, ice etc..., but it will only last a week or so and then you're back in the 40s/50s. The green house is largely unheated but I do have a small heater if I need to use it. The hydro unit has done wonderful, I am still picking lettuce daily and have shared the overload with neighbors and friends. And you don't pick it all in one go - it's just like a garden, you only take what you're going to eat and leave the rest, it just continues to grow.  But it more than survived the 20 degrees we had - the reservoir sits on the floor which is actually a deck but the unit itself sits high up so the water doesn't get that cold. The buckets however, sit directly on the deck and the water got so cold it froze the plant roots and killed the plants. Except one and one thing of lettuce. Because  of my lifting restrictions I've had to let it just sit there full of zombie plants which stare at me in the most accusing way every time I come out to get salad. Ugh. 

This morning I put my boots on and spent most of the morning emptying and scrubbing down everything - and it's a lot! Everything is reusable with the exception of the starter plugs so it all needed to be soaked with hydrogen peroxide and dish soap,, rinsed ,dried, stored - I managed to save one passive dutch bucket which will hopefully survive. This has been an ongoing learning experience - David had mentioned we could have moved the buckets into the sunroom or they could have lived there for the winter. I couldn't move them after they were set up because the air stones are all on one unit, if you disconnect them the water runs out of the bucket. Oh well, I am starting another round of seeds today and then after that I have to get fertilizer for my garden  and get started on that. Here it warms up much sooner than back in PA, Last year I think I had everything in the ground by early April and my hydro until started producing around May. So we shall see!!