11/17

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Hard frost tonight. We got another sheet of 4 mil plastic today so are able to give an emergency cover to two more beds. We also used sheets for the collards that seem sensitive to a good frost.

We went to Jamestown today for caution tape and materials for the low tunnels. They had a roll of 9 gauge wire cheap and bought it thinking we'd try Coleman's design for low tunnels, with wire hoops instead of conduit. But after getting home and researching it, it doesn't seem that compatible with our broad 5' beds. So we'll go back to Jamestown at some point for conduit and rebar stakes. This will be more durable. Though we've planted right to the edge of the beds, and the arch of the hoops at either end will crowd the plants, we'll harvest from the outside of the beds successively and next year not plant so close to the edge.

I'm using 3' rebar t-stakes for fencing the perennials. Where the plant is big enough to call for 4' fencing, I wire a 4' sapling to the stakes to extend them to the right height - it works for such a light application. The jujubes are now fenced and mulched. I'm now working on the goumis [silverberries] at the front of the house. Next is fuyu persimmons.

Going to get a dozen hens soon as we're down to an egg a day at best. Tonight the guineas and ducks are out in the run refusing to go to bed. I guess something's spooked them again in the coop or they're just stubborn [or stupid]. Tonight will be very cold. I've left the run door open in case they decide at some point to go in. It's nearly impossible to herd them into the coop from the run.

Very cold and windy today. It's good we installed the support brackets for the chimney last week, or this wind may have torn it off. The brackets work great and the chimney's immovable.

After having moved all the barrels to the front of the cabin for the last rain, we now have nearly infinite water for drinking, dishes, and laundry. We've hardly made a dent in the 330 gallons we collected. But I'll do a few loads of laundry tomorrow - I use about 25 gallons a load with a wash and double rinse. Heavy rain is forecast again in a few days. Storing the water long-term was an issue for us over the summer, but now it's so cool and the barrels stay covered so the water keeps well.

Cranes calling and flying high overhead tonight. There was a screech owl calling up near the coop.

Creosote is building up quickly in the chimney with all the subpar wood we've been burning. We got a cresote-remover product today. We'll see how well it works.
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